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Plan more investments, PC tells
From Holy City to shopper’s paradise Coal scarcity artificial, rues brick-kiln industry
Sony eyes Rs 1200-cr turnover
Fortis to build North as healthcare hub |
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P&G inks pact with CSIR
TCS issue oversubscribed Graphic: Top 20 Software Exporters
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Plan more investments, PC tells textile traders
New Delhi, August 5 “Industry must plan for investments in the range of Rs 1,40,000 crore and exports of $ 50 billion within the next two to three years to make a dent in the market-driven trade in textiles, which will come into force after January 2005,” Mr Chidambaram said while releasing a ‘Vision statement for the textile sector’. Mr Chidambaram said the Budget 2004 has spelled out a zero excise duty rate structure for all natural fibres. “Only man-made fibres remain under the excise duty regime. It is for anybody to guess the direction of the next Budget and the Budget after that regarding rationalisation of the duty structure,” he said. The vision statement, a study of the textile and clothing industry, was sponsored by the Indian Cotton Mills Federation and carried out by Crisil. Textiles Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela and ICMF President Dr B.K. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar were among those who addressed the audience from the textile sector. The Finance Minister disagreed with the vision statement, which envisages an investment of Rs 60,000 crore in the next three to four years and an export target of $ 40 billion. Borrowing from the Olympic motto of ‘faster, higher and stronger’, Mr Chidambaram asked the industry to emulate this. “This requires investments of Rs 1,40,000 crore and an export target of $ 50 billion not in the next three to four years but, in the next year or the year after that,” Mr Chidambaram said. He regretted that he was not able to correct the entire inverted duty structure in this Budget itself, but assured the industry that the anomalies will be a thing of the past in the coming budgets.
— UNI
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From Holy City to shopper’s paradise
Chandigarh, August 5 It is tap this avenue that the Singapore Airlines ( SIA) has chosen to start direct flights between Amritsar and Singapore from October 1, said Mr B.K. Ong, General Manager India, SIA, in a talk with TNS today. He was in the city to wrap up the deal with the Punjab Government and the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Catering to the sentiments of pilgrims flying from all over the world, specially the Indian diaspora, SIA offers a menu option that should not hurt their sensibility. Mr Ong said they can opt for vegetarian Indian fare served on air. ‘‘The gourmet cuisine comprises signature dishes created by a panel of culinary experts, including Mr Satish Arora of India,’’ he informed. Customers on the Singapore-Mumbai-Manchester route already have the choice of picking from two non-vegetarian dishes and one Indian vegetarian dish. Of course, for those to whom it is no issue, are available Western, Japanese and Thai cuisine delights and Singapore specialities as well as a selection of fine wines. Meal requests are taken at the time of reservation. To make the travellers feel at home, they also have Indian hostesses (famously known as Singapore Girls) who are recruited for language skills. On the other inflight facilities offered by SIA that makes it a better choice than rival international carriers, the General Manager rates their entertainment and connectivity by phone as unique. Every passenger is provided with a personal video monitor and control unit to enjoy games, music, news bulletins and movies. Called KrisWorld, it offers more than 250 entertainment options. The phone allows customers to make calls and send short text messages to anywhere in the world. To promote both inbound and outbound traffic in this region, Mr Ong announced an inaugural package of up to 15 per cent discount on air fares from Amritsar to Singapore, Malaysia, Bangkok, Manila and Australia. The return ticket to Singapore will cost Rs 18,807 till November 5. The Boeing B777-200 will operate thrice a week — on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
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Coal scarcity artificial, rues brick-kiln industry New Delhi, August 5 Though most of the brick kilns are closed due to the rains, the industry has threatened that if the government failed to improve the coal supply to the around 50,000 brick-kilns in the country, the kilns may not start production from the next season starting August-end. It would affect the housing sector and around one crore workers employed by the industry. Talking to The Tribune, Mr R.P. Chandel, vice president, All-India Brick and Tiles Manufacturers Federation, said, “Despite repeated representations, the government has failed to ensure adequate coal supply to the brick-kilns from Coal India and other public sector companies. Consequently, we have to buy coal from the black market at higher price or have to burn wood, rubber and rice husk to manufacture bricks and tiles.” He lamented that during the previous season alone, the industry had to pay about Rs 200 crore extra to black marketeers because of an artificial scarcity created in the market. Further, Coal India has decided to increase coal prices by 16.7 per cent. This would result in a further hike in brick prices by around Rs 300 per. Coal constitutes about 60 per cent of the total raw material costs in the manufacturing of bricks. Officials in the Ministry of Coal point out that since coal prices were decontrolled in 2000 by the government, no separate provision of coal could be made for any industry. Industry experts estimate that the brick-kiln industry has an annual demand of 20-25 million tones of coal, but it does not get even a fraction of total required coal at market price. Since the brick kilns are mostly unorganised, and spread in the semi-town and rural areas as well, the “coal mafia” exploits them that create an artificial scarcity of coal in the market in the season. “We have to pay Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,500 per tonne to the coal traders as against the market price of Rs 2000 to Rs 3,000 per tonne. Since the industry is a seasonal one, traders jack up prices by creating artificial shortage in the market,” said Mr Ramanjit Singh, a brick-kiln owner. Industry representatives point that situation of coal supply has become serious in North India, thus affecting around 2500 brick kilns in Punjab, 1800 in Haryana and over 13,000 in Uttar Pradesh. Since this region was far away from coalmines in Jharkhand and Assam, the traders were exploiting the situation. Mr Chandel urged the government to intervene to save the industry adding that government should also consider removing the mandatory mixing of 25 per cent fly ash to manufacture bricks in the vicinity of thermal power units. “The use of fly ash should be voluntary and not mandatory. The thermal units should be held responsible for their pollution and not the industry,” he added.
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Sony eyes Rs 1200-cr turnover New Delhi, August 5 At present, Sony CTVs command 8 per cent of the market share, which was far below that of its competitors, Samsung and LG. Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Mohit Parasher, General Manager (AV/IT Division), Sony India said: “We have adopted an aggressive growth strategy to push sales.” He said the company had introduced state-of-the-art WEGA engine technology in its premium home entertainment products. The new technology enhances picture quality by offering high resolution without accompanying high-noise levels, the company’s Pan-Asia Business Division Senior General Manager Negishi Neriaki said.
Stops CTV production
Close on the heels of shutting down its audio manufacturing unit, consumer electronics firm Sony India has suspended production of colour television facility and said it was evaluating whether to close down the CTV unit. “We are evaluating the viability of the CTV manufacturing unit in India. At this moment, we cannot say whether the company will continue with the unit,” its General Manager (sales and Marketing) Mohit Parasher said on the sidelines of the launch of ‘WEGA’ technology “We have given VRS to our employees, who used to work for the audio plant,” he said. In view of India’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Thailand coming into force, the company may start bulk import of CTVs from that country.
— PTI
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Fortis to build North as healthcare hub Chandigarh, August 5 The first of the Fortis hospitals in the NCR is a Rs 100-crore project at Noida. It will be launched shortly. This will be followed by Fortis Jessaram Hospital on Pusa Road. The other hospitals will be in different parts of Delhi and Gurgaon. According to Mr Shivinder Mohan Singh, Joint Managing Director, Fortis aims to establish an integrated health delivery system in India offering comprehensive health services and addressing all needs from minor ailments to high-end surgical procedures. Each of the hospitals will have multi-speciality capabilities and be a centre of excellence in one or more super-specialities. All hospitals across the region will be linked through a strong IT backbone and will have high-end IT services. This will allow all Fortis hospitals to access the cumulative capabilities of internal medical fraternity and its knowledge base. “In line with its Ranbaxy heritage, Fortis is dedicated to research. Its focus will be on the super-speciality areas and this will further help to improve the quality of health services delivered by physicians and health care workers, through the Fortis system,” he said.
Ranbaxy
After the WHO decision to remove three generic HIV/AIDS drugs of Ranbaxy Labs from its recommended list due to quality concerns, India’s top drug maker has started new equivalence studies and suspended business with the independent laboratory that carried out the original tests. The WHO said, in a statement yesterday, Ranbaxy has not proved that the medicines are biologically equivalent to patented drugs. The Geneva-based UN agency said it was dropping the three Ranbaxy products because the laboratory, which had carried out bio equivalence studies, did not meet international standards of good clinical and laboratory practices. The WHO decision is a setback for Ranbaxy, which recently announced plans to file its anti-AIDS drugs with the US Food and Drug Administration.
— UNI
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| P&G inks pact with CSIR
New Delhi, August 5 The strategic partnership will lead to a range of collaborative research, using the rich and varied expertise of both organisations for mutual benefit, in beauty care, healthcare and fabric and home care among others. The Letter of Intent was signed by P&G vice-president (Research and Development) Shekhar Mitra and CSIR Director-General R A Mashelkar here. Dr Mashelkar said: “With this tie-up, we look forward to provide even greater value to P&G in the field of research and technology in products and services.” The $ 50 billion P & G is establishing a Connect and Develop hub in Bangalore to help develop collaborative partnerships with various Indian organisations, including research laboratories, academic institutions and companies.
— UNI
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TCS issue oversubscribed
Mumbai, August 5 According to market sources, the issue attracted over 7 lakh applications from retail investors across the country while subscriptions from qualified institutional investors (QIBs) was more than 7.16 times. About 60 per cent shares were offered to QIBs and 25 per cent was reserved for retail investors and the remaining for high networth individuals.
— UNI
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Amritsar-Singapore flight from Oct 1
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