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Saturday,
October 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Maruti enters the used car segment
Govt may invite fresh bids for NFL selloff
Government to review
Indo-Nepal treaty |
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CII unveils agenda on VAT system Chandigarh, October 19 The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has expressed serious concern over the fact that neither the states nor the industry are yet adequately prepared for a smooth transition to the VAT regime. The VAT system presents a competitive and uniform taxation structure which is particularly relevant in the WTO setting. Andhra Bank opens
Housing Fin branch
Philips net at Rs 87 m
Boeing net up 7 pc
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Maruti enters the used car segment Bangalore, October 19 True value was one of the four services business in the automotive sector that Maruti had entered. The other businesses to be shortly launched by the company included auto insurance, auto finance and lease and fleet management. Mandovi Motors, a leading Maruti dealer in the country, was the first to launch the scheme. Maruti Udyog Limited Managing Director Jagadish Khattar told newspersons here that the scheme would be launched in Delhi next week with four dealers starting the operations. Mr Khattar said the company had two years ago decided to look into new business in the field and consequently zeroed on the four. He said the used car market in the country was on par with the new car market of over 600,000 unlike in the West where the sale of used cars was double than new cars. The used car business was aimed to expand the family of Maruti customers besides reinforcing Maruti’s image of a reliable and trustworthy company. “We wish to extend the relationship and emotional contact we enjoy with our customer”, he added. Asked about Maruti coming out with options of providing LPG fuelled cars, he said the company would wait for the LPG networks to increase. Further the situation post April 2002 when the controlled price of LPG would be removed should also be reviewed, he added. He said the company hoped to handle 18,000 used cars in five years. Under the scheme, a Maruti dealer would accept purchase of
vehicles less than four years old or have done upto 60,000 km and have not changed two previous owners. Designated engineers from Maruti would be present at the True Value outlets and conduct a standard 120 point check. Under the scheme, the seller would have the option to be paid in cash or get a True Value in exchange or a brand new Maruti car in exchange. The used car would be refurbished and offered for resale under the Maruti True Value brand. It would also carry a one year warranty with three free services. Replying to questions, he said the company maintained its 60 per cent market during the first six months of the current fiscal and had during this period wiped off the loss of Rs 106 crore incurred during the first six months of the previous year. Rights issue New Delhi: “We hope to complete the preferential right issue by March, 2002 to be followed by a public offering”, Disinvestment Secretary, Mr Pradip Baijal, said. It has also fixed the size of the issue at Rs 400 crore while the price and premium for renunciation would be worked out in consultation with global advisor.
PTI, UNI |
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Govt may invite fresh bids for NFL selloff Ropar, October 19 However, after the Balco fiasco, the government dithered on the process of disinvestment in NFL and is now planning that some government organisation should buy the stake in NFL to bail out the company from the financial crisis. The profits of NFL, which was enlisted as a mini ratna company, have dipped from Rs 250 crore five years ago to Rs 11 crores last year. Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, in an exclusive interview with this correspondent, endorsed the fact that the government now wants that Kribhco should buy the stake in NFL. To facilitate it, the government would call for fresh bids for equity in NFL, so that Kribhco, which has reserves worth Rs 1,500 crore, can also bid. Mr Dhindsa was here to attend a function organised by the Punjab Heritage Foundation and Environment Society. Giving further information about the reforms in the fertiliser sector, Mr Dhindsa said the report of the Y.K. Alagh committee, on the methods of reassessment of the capacity of
fertiliser units, allegedly withdrawing excess subsidy, has been recovered. On the basis of the findings of the committee, the investigation in certain cases was being handed over to the CBI. The report of the Expenditure Reforms Committee, which was constituted to reduce the burden of subsidy on the government, has also been received. The Government of India is at present, giving subsidy to the tune of Rs 13,975 crore in the fertiliser sector. The committee has recommended that the subsidy on fertilisers should be reduced by increasing the cost of urea at a rate of 7 per cent per annum. |
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Internet telephony from April 1, says Mahajan New Delhi, October 19 While maintaining that the disinvestment in Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd was on, Mr Mahajan said he wanted to provide cheaper and technologically advanced services to the customers. He said the decision to advance the date for opening up Internet telephony had been taken to coincide with the ending of monopoly of the VSNL over the ISD communication. The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has already sent a communication to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) seeking its advice on Internet telephony, the minister said. On the decision of Carnegie Mellon University to withdraw from the Rs 1,000-crore Sankhyavahini project, Mr Mahajan said efforts were on to create extra bandwith. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd was reviewing the option, including looking for a joint venture partner. Stating that the university’s decision has been communicated to the DoT and the Prime Minister, he said the US university’s withdrawal was not a “setback”. Creating excess bandwith would make access to the Internet easy and the project was expected to be beneficial for the promotion of educational and research activities in the country. The minister said the government was also launching a major scheme called ‘Vidyavahini’ under which information technology facilities would be promoted in 60,000 schools over the next two years. “We have 1,06,000 secondary schools out of which 60,000 have buildings, electricity and IT savvy teachers. So we have decided through Vidyavahini to link all these schools by creating a bandwidth of 128kbs”, Mr Mahajan said. The minister also informed that the merger of the Communication and the IT Ministries had reached the final stage with the government sending the proposal to the President for his assent. The new ministry would be called the Ministry of Communication and IT. He clarified that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry would not be merged with the new ministry. The new ministry would have three departments — Telecom, IT and Post. |
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Government to review
Indo-Nepal treaty Ludhiana, October 19 The textile industry, especially the acrylic-based industry, has suffered a loss of Rs 500 crore during the past five years. Ludhiana alone has suffered a loss of Rs 200 crores and as many as 20 spinning units have been closed down. The first time the treaty was signed on December 6, 1991 for a period of five years for providing access to the Indian markets free of basic and auxiliary customs duty and quantitative restrictions. On April 1, 1993, protocol with reference to the Article V of the treaty was replaced by a new part which provided access to the Indian market free of basic and auxiliary customs duty and quantitative restrictions. On December 3, 1996 a new protocol with reference to Article V of the treaty provided access to the Indian market free of customs duties and the quantitative restrictions for all articles manufactured in Nepal, specifically, “synthetic or blended yarn and fabric” permitted for imports without the condition of its having Nepalese origin of raw material. The Indo-Nepal treaty has affected the synthetic yarn (acrylic yarns), vanaspati and ball bearings and some other consumer goods. Due to the amendments in the treaty, there has been a sudden surge in the import of higher quantities of various products in India from Nepal. To protect the domestic acrylic fibre industry, the government imposed anti-dumping duty on the supplies of acrylic fibre from south- east Asian countries like Thailand, Korea and Japan. With the last amendment in the real, government’s preventive measures against the dumping of acrylic fibre are negated, as to circumvent these provisions, these countries are now exporting acrylic fibre to Nepal, which after spinning, finds its markets in India, thereby defeating the purpose of the anti-dumping duty. The Nepalese spinners get the advantage on both the accounts on duty free imports of fibre from these countries and then duty-free export to India as a result of this amendment. Mr S.P. Oswal, Chairman of the National Textile Committee of the CII, today said there was surge in the imports from Nepal and this should be brought under normal duties. He said the CII was making recommendations to the government that certain items should be treated separately. The last treaty was a one-sided affair as there was no provision for review if there was a surge in the imports. The domestic industry wants that the sensitive items which have high import contents, along with high incidence of import duties on the inputs, should be classified into sensitive list and their imports from Nepal should only be permitted when subjected to an appropriate rate of import. |
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CII unveils agenda on VAT system Chandigarh, October 19 Various state governments have expressed apprehensions that a switch to VAT could lead to revenue losses. Allaying such concerns, the CII points out that international experience on VAT has shown positive results in terms of revenue. Practically none of the countries which have introduced VAT have lost revenue. The states exchequer should also benefit because the tax base will be widened and the entire value addition occurring after the first point of sale will be captured under VAT. The scenario in the northern states shows that VAT laws have not yet been finalised though draft documents are in place in Haryana, Delhi and Punjab. In Punjab, the CII has partnered the state government in drawing up an action plan to develop VAT preparedness in the state. A task force with four members each from industry (CII) and the government has been constituted to work on issues related to VAT. Meanwhile, the CII (Northern Region) organised a Manufacturing Technology Mission to select member companies in Gurgaon and Noida on 18-19 October 2001. Over 30 senior manufacturing-related personnel from the CII member companies comprised the delegation which visited world-class companies like Maruti Udyog, and LG Electronics. |
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Andhra Bank opens Housing Fin branch Chandigarh, October 19 Andhra Bank with turnover of Rs 26,000 crore has a growth rate of 27.82 per cent under deposits, and 31 per cent under advances, has the lowest NPAs of 2.55 pc among the public sector banks. The bank plans to open six branches in Punjab and Haryana shortly, said Mr Murlidhar. The bank has already more than 1000 branches all over India. This specialised branch will cater to the housing finance needs of the residents of Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and nearby areas. Mr Gujral asked the bank management to provide housing loan at cheaper rates. |
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Seminar Vikson Finance Procter & Gamble Education loan |
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