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Panel to study
IDPL revival IDBI may take
over IFCI, IIBI Cheaper air fares
fail to hit AC train occupancy PNB recovers Rs
26 cr from defaulters |
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Radio Mirchi,
Pepsi have best promos 9 pc senior
citizen savings scheme soon
Leather industry
seeks new export-oriented policy The leather industry has called upon the government to bring out the new leather policy during the current Budget session itself to encourage exports and generate additional employment opportunities in this labour-intensive industry.
No logic in
mortgage clause, tractor makers tell banks Tractor Manufacturers Association today asked commercial banks to do away with minimum land holding condition in their offer of loans for buying tractors. Auto
Scene Maruti drives on
high-sales road
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Panel to study IDPL revival New Delhi, August 2 “The names for the experts’ committee will be decided soon and the committee will be given time till September 30 to submit its detailed report,” Mr Paswan told The Tribune here today. A decision to set up the committee comes soon after IDPL Employees Union leaders led by CPM leader Gurudas Dasgupta met Mr Paswan this morning and demanded all-out effort from the UPA Government to revive the IDPL units. Mr Dasgupta and union leaders are understood to have impressed upon the need to revive the IDPL unit not only in terms of protecting the interests of the employees but also to fulfil the promise made in the UPA’s Common Minimum Programme (CMP) to provide essential life saving drugs to people at a cheaper cost. When the delegation
members repeatedly pressed that the IDPL unit could be revived and with prudent management could register profits in due course, Mr Paswan agreed to set up an experts’ committee, independent of the nodal ministry as well as employees’ union, to study the prospects of revival. Mr Paswan, however, said that he categorically rejected the suggestion of some of the delegation members that land and property of one or two units could be sold to revive the organisation. IDPL, having its units in Rishkesh, Gurgaon, and Hyderabad, among others, has been running into huge losses and the Centre had been thinking of closing down the PSU after offering voluntary retirement schemes to its employees.
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IDBI may take over IFCI, IIBI
New Delhi, August 2 The government has provided a Rs 9,000-crore in the Budget to enable FIs to transfer their NPAs to the Stressed Asset
Stabilisation Fund by the end of this fiscal. This is being viewed as one of the steps to facilitate the mega merger. Apart from the troubled FIs, it is now certain that the IDBI will merge its private banking arm IDBI Bank and its home finance subsidiary with itself to emerge as an entity with an asset base of over Rs 1,00,000 crore comparable with only the State Bank of India, FI sources said. Finance Ministry officials confirmed that the Kolkata-based IIBI would be merged with the IDBI. But a final decision on IFCI has yet to be taken. Finance Secretary D. C. Gupta indicated that the government was not averse to the mega merger of IDBI, IFCI and IIBI. “I will not hazard a guess. It is a matter of details. After due diligence, if it is found that this (merger of IFCI with IDBI) is a really workable proposition, then only we can proceed with it,” Mr Gupta said. The merger would depend on synergies of operations and commercial viability would be the main criterion, he said. While maintaining that the IDBI, in which the government has a 57 per cent interest, was open to such mega merger if there is a need, Mr Gupta made it clear that the Finance Ministry would not forcefully merge the institutions but leave it to the respective boards of directors to decide. Mr Gupta admitted that the IFCI was in financial trouble and the government had backed it, considering the relevance of DFI in the country. Referring to the McKinsey report on the IFCI, he said the bad and good assets had to be segregated before it was merged. There were issues like fixed costs that need to be addressed before taking a decision. He said the revamp of the IFCI should not be a mere restructuring of balance sheet, which is the easiest way to address a problem. The Finance Secretary stressed on a long-lasting solution. “DFIs will always have a relevance. Long-term financing will come from DFIs. The FIs also have other strengths like project appraisals,” he added. IFCI board had cleared a proposal to merge it with Punjab National Bank last fiscal and SBI Caps is carrying out the due diligence for the proposed merger. Sources privy to the developments in IFCI said the proposed merger with PNB had hit a legal roadblock, apart from growing resentment from employees of both IFCI and PNB. The institution’s top brass did not accept SBI Caps’ assessment of IFCI as the merchant banker unduly over-estimated non-performing assets of the troubled FI.
— PTI
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Cheaper air fares fail to hit AC train occupancy New Delhi, August 2 According to a press note issued by the Ministry of Railways here today, all air-conditioned berths in various trains to and from Delhi, New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin were running full capacity and there was no decline in the passenger load in air-conditioned classes due to cheap fares introduced by the airlines. The note further states that the number of passengers booked during the plast one and a half years (from January 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004) in air-conditioned accommodation of all trains to and from the National Capital Territory (NCT) were 1,28, 538 in 1-AC, 6,52,516 in 2-AC and 19,41,535 in 3_AC Classes. The Railways operates 15,000 trains everyday. Of these, 9000 are passenger trains and 6000 goods trains.
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PNB recovers Rs 26 cr from defaulters Chandigarh, August 2 Addressing mediapersons here today, the General Manager, Punjab National Bank, Mr B.P Chopra, said the bank had at the zonal level, comprising Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh, issued notices to 731 defaulting borrowers amounting to Rs 113.63 crore under Section 13 of the Act. Of the 326 borrowers, who approached the bank for compromises amounting to Rs 44.55 crore, 315 proposals amounting to Rs 37.76 crore were settled. As many as 254 accounts with balance of Rs 2.64 crore have been upgraded from the non-performing assets (NPA) category, leading to a recovery of Rs 25.92 crore in 516 accounts. Mr Chopra said under the Act recovery of bad debts was being affected within 5-6 months from the date the account went bad. Giving figures, he said PNB in Chandigarh region, comprising PNB network in Chandigarh, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts, has taken possession of 30 properties, of which 11 have been sold through auctions and tenders. In four other accounts, the borrowers came forward to pay the dues. The region made recoveries amounting to Rs 86 lakh.
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Radio Mirchi, Pepsi have best promos
New Delhi, August 2 Pepsi India won the Promotion Marketing Awards of Asia (PMAA) 2004 in the ‘Best in Asia’ category while Radio Mirchi won the gold and bronze for its ‘98.3 Kismat Khol De Promotion and Hungama’ in the interactive media category, a statement issued here said. India won awards in 10 categories among a total of 45 categories. The winners will vie for the 2004 Marketing Agencies Association (MAA), Globes programme to be held in US. Agencies from Europe, the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and South America will participate in the competition.
— UNI
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9 pc senior citizen savings scheme soon
New Delhi, August 2 An official notification in this regard would be issued shortly, Finance Ministry sources said today. The ‘Senior Citizen Savings Scheme’ would have an upper investment ceiling of Rs 15 lakh and it would be in the form of a bond. The bonds that are to be available for persons above 60 years would be taxable. The savings scheme was announced in the Budget by Finance Minister P Chidambaram to provide a cushion to elders who have been hit by falling interest rate regime in the country. The scheme comes in place of the “Dada Dadi Bonds” proposed in the interim budget by former Finance Minister Jaswant Singh. The bonds would have five-year maturity period, sources said, adding that the idea was to continue it beyond that period.
The scheme may offer monthly returns at 9.0 per cent to enable senior citizens to get a regular quarterly income depending on their investment amount.
— PTI
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Mumbai 15th expensive city for office rentals
New Delhi, August 2
Mumbai moved two ranks up from the last quarter ranking of 17 while Delhi moved up six positions from 38th rank at CBRE’s Global Market Rents, as per the survey of office occupation costs in 158 cities. London’s West End is the most expensive office location in the world followed by London (City) and Tokyo (Inner Central), it said. “The real estate market in India is looking up and is on track to achieve the expected space take-up of 20 million sq ft by 2004-end,” Anshuman Magazine, Managing Director of CBRE in South Asia, said. The occupation cost stands at $56.83 per square ft per annum in Mumbai while in Delhi it is $40.6. Technically, occupation cost represents rent plus local taxes and service charge. The highest occupation cost was recorded at $ 177.39 in London’s West End, followed by London (City) at $119.39 and Tokyo (Inner Central) at $116.23. The most expensive US location now is Midtown Manhattan, which ranks 20th at $ 52.04 per sq ft per annum. Out of the top 50 most expensive office locations in the world, 29 have experienced a fall in the occupational cost over the last six months. Though the real estate cost in India remained firm, this upward movement in ranks is attributed to the decline in the occupation costs globally.
— PTI
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Leather industry seeks new export-oriented policy New Delhi, August 2 The industry asserts that due to high livestock population coupled with skilled and cheap manpower, the country is best suited for the manufacturing leather items, like handbags, jackets, luggage, sport-items and garments. The total leather exports from India are estimated to cross Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal year as against Rs 8,200 crore exports achieved during 2002-03. In North India, Delhi, Kanpur, Agra, Jalandhar and Srinagar in J&K are the major manufacturing centres for leather products. Footballs and tool bags are main export products from Punjab, besides jackets. Mr E.V.K.S. Elangovan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry admitted in the Lok Sabha last week that total leather exports from the country had stagnated over the years. In fact, total leather and leather products’ declined from $ 1963.55 million in 2000-01 to $ 1875.21 million in 2002-03. Leather exporters claim the total industry exports could easily be increased to over Rs 20,000 crore in near future by “following suitable policies on the pattern of textile sector.” They lament that except for granting an excise exemption on footwear (up to Rs 250 value), Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has not announced any incentive for this sector. On the other hand, they said, the textile sector has been granted exemptions worth Rs 4,000 crore in the Budget. The industry has demanded zero per cent custom duty on the machinery and plants to encourage modernisation of the industry, besides marketing support to enhance exports. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations, claims that though India’s share was 11 per cent in total leather production in the world, yet its share in finished leather products market was merely 3.6 per cent.
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No logic in mortgage clause, tractor makers tell banks
New Delhi, August 2 “If you take a car loan, you are not required to mortgage your house, so why should farmers have to mortgage their land, in addition to hypothecating their tractor,” TMA president R.C. Jain said in a statement. As per the existing norms, farmers need to have at least eight acres of land to take advantage of tractor finance and thereafter, the borrower is required to hypothecate the tractor and mortgage the land to the bank. If banks remove the norm of land mortgage, the apex body argued, the tractor market will expand. Removing the mortgage norm would complement the decision announced by the Finance Minister to eliminate excise duty on tractors, Mr Jain said. In the face of the looming drought, TMA said, PSU banks could relax the land-holding norm at least in drought-hit areas as a first step. The Association had met Nabard chairperson in this regard and would also be taking up the issue with others concerned.
— PTI
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New Delhi, August 2
