Thursday, April 29, 1999
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B U S I N E S S | Thursday, April 29, 1999 |
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Punjab to set up centre for
biotech CHANDIGARH, April 28 — The Punjab Government proposes to set up a “Centre for Excellence in Biotechnology” to exploit commercially research being done in the universities, laboratories and by industry in the region. Infosys on prowl NEW DELHI, April 28 — Infosys Technologies today indicated acquisition of a software services company and another round of employees stock option in the near future.
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India lost $ 1b due to US
sanctions |
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Pentafour Soft to pay 1:1
bonus Gujarat Ambuja net jumps 43 pc Rs 37 crore revival plan for
Montari ACC net up 9 pc Nestle sales fall Exim Bank net up |
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India lost
$ 1b due to US sanctions WASHINGTON, April 28 (PTI) — India has accused the USA and its allies of politicising the World Bank and said New Delhi lost one billion dollars in loans from the bank due to US sanctions following its nuclear tests last year. Dr Shankar Acharya, Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, and V. Govinda Rajan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance, said the World Bank President James Wolfensohn shared India’s concern over the way the USA and its allies have politicised an organisation that is supposed to be non-political in character. Briefing newsmen on the outcome of meetings between RBI Governor Bimal Jalan with Wolfensohn and IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus, the senior officials said India has lost one billion dollars in fiscal 1999 ending June 30, in the World Bank group loans blocked by these sanctions. Jalan is leading the Indian delegation to the interim and development committees of the IMF and World Bank. Jalan pointed out in the meetings that despite the sanctions and the unavoidable impact of the East-Asian crisis, India managed to have low inflation and a high growth of 6 per cent. Stating that Indian projects worth $3 billion would have been cleared normally, they said the World Bank and International Development Assistance (IDA) projects for fiscal 1999 are expected to be $2 billion despite the fact that Wolfensohn managed to put the Andhra project under basic human needs. For fiscal 2000, India has projects worth $3 billion but it is not clear how they will fare, the two officials pointed out. Jalan told both Wolfensohn and Camdessus that despite the Vajpayee government being voted out of office, it had managed to complete action on the central Budget and the exim policy which in some ways goes beyond the requirements of the WTO, they said. The RBI also announced a major decision on monetary and credit policy. Wolfensohn, they said, was pleased to find that the disbursement ratio in India had risen to 18 per cent during the year against the bank’s average of 15 per cent. About $1,440 million were disbursed during last Indian fiscal as against $1,395 million the previous year. Acharya said there is near normalcy in international finance corporation operations in India. In answer to questions by Camdessus, they said, Jalan said that reforms and initiatives are broadly on track in such areas as prudential norms. However, non performing assets, he said, are ‘certainly’ a continuing concern but, over time, these have been reduced. Increasing the private sector’s role, Jalan said, will require parliamentary action. But this could only be taken up only after the elections, Acharya said. Responding to questions on the opening up of the economy, Acharya said 90 per cent of economy is open except in areas like free convertibility on capital account. The extent of liberalisation is not realised by critics. With a more supportive international environment, Govindarajan said, India can grow even faster than 6 per cent. Acharya said there appears to be keen interest in Jalan’s proposal to authorise the IMF to issue special drawing rights temporarily to meet the crisis without having to worry where he would find the money. This would be withdrawn
after the crisis is over and the country concerned has
bought back its currency. |
Punjab to
set up centre for biotech CHANDIGARH, April 28 — The Punjab Government proposes to set up a “Centre for Excellence in Biotechnology” to exploit commercially research being done in the universities, laboratories and by industry in the region. Announcing this at a regional workshop on venture capital organised at the TTTI here today, Dr S.R. Nair, Managing Director of Biotech Consortium India Ltd, said the centre will not only concentrate on topics of immediate interest to the State, but also of national and global importance. In India venture funding for biotechnology has been limited. By 1998 only 30 biotech companies had received venture assistance of Rs 300 crore , representing 4 per cent of the total investment, he said. Dr S. Ramesh said venture capital industry caters to new entrepreneurs, new companies and funds commercialisation of new technologies. Its profits come from capital gains at the time of “exit” or disinvestment. The workshop suggested establishment of venture capital funds in Haryana for information technology, in Punjab for biotechnology and in Himachal for agri-business. The workshop stressed the need for awareness of venture capital. Human resource development and training needs within venture capital organisations and outside the industry need to be met. It was also felt there
was great potential for industry-specific and
region-specific venture capital funds. |
Experts
for cut in power subsidies CHANDIGARH, April 28 — Experts, including those from the World Bank, major consumers like Northern Railways and representatives of state power utilities participated in a day-long interactive discussion at Panchkula yesterday to help identify the conceptual framework for determining power tariffs in Haryana. An open-house discussion on “Tariff philosophy and regulations’ was organised by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) to obtain views and suggestions from bodies representing the interests of various sectors in the substantive issues of its tariff policy. The open house suggested:
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Pentafour Soft to pay 1:1 bonus CHENNAI, April 28 (PTI) — Pentafour Software and Exports Ltd today announced a 74 per cent surge in its net profit at Rs 119.1 crore for 1998-99 and recommended a 1:1 bonus issue for its shareholders. The company’s turnover grew 85 per cent during the year to Rs 525.68 crore as against the previous year’s Rs 284.56 crore, Pentafour Software Chairman and Managing Director V. Chandrasekaran said in a release. The board of directors, which met here, recommended a total dividend of 70 per cent in view of the positive outlook for the current year. Chandrasekaran announced that Pentafour was looking at mergers and acquisitions in Asia, Europe and the far-west in a bid to achieve an average growth rate of 50 per cent annually two years from now. While the multimedia
segment contributed 54 per cent to the turnover, the
business software segment accounted for 46 per cent of
the same. |
Gujarat Ambuja net jumps 43 pc MUMBAI, April 28 (PTI) — Gujarat Ambuja Cements Limited (GACL) today reported a 43 per cent jump in its net profits to Rs 46.37 crore for the third quarter ending March 31, 1999, over the corresponding period last year. “Reduction in cost of production and better productivity were the main reasons for the increased profitability,” a company statement said here. The turnover in the
third quarter was up by 3 per cent at Rs 327.92 crore
against last year’s Rs 319.50 crore for the
comparative period. The turnover for the first nine
months of the current financial year stood at Rs 881.58
crore as against Rs 843.78 crore. |
Rs 37 crore revival plan for Montari NEW DELHI, April 28 (PTI) — The IDBI has submitted a Rs 37-crore second draft rehabilitation scheme (DRS) before the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) for reviving sick pharma company Montari Industries Limited. After considering the proposals in this Drs by IDBI, which was appointed as the operating agency for reviving this Ranbaxy group company, the BIFR board has asked it to circulate the scheme among all parties concerned. “It has been
decided to circulate the Drs by the board, based on the
one received from the operating agency for obtaining
consent of the parties concerned, under the Sick
Industrial Companies Act,” a recent BIFR order says. |
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CALCUTTA, April 28 (UNI) — Beating the recessionary trend in the industry, cement giant ACC recorded about 9 per cent jump in net sales turnover at Rs 2606.61 crore during the financial year ended March 31, 1999. Official sources here today said in a board meeting in Mumbai that sale of cement during the year increased to 99.81 lakh tonnes from 94.17 lakh tonnes in the previous financial year. Profit after tax during the year increased sharply to Rs 56.84 crore from a low of Rs 13.44 crore (up 323 per cent) and this was mainly due to other income of Rs 54.75 crore shown as receipts during the year, sources said. The higher profit,
however, failed to encourage the Board of Directors to
announce any increase in dividend to shareholders which
was maintained at 15 per cent, same as last year. |
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NEW DELHI, April 28 (UNI) — Marred by a 55 per cent drop in exports, Nestle India Limited has recorded an 8.1 per cent drop in sales during the quarter ended March 31, this year to touch Rs 340.1 crore from Rs 369.9 crore a year ago. However, net profit during January to March, grew by 31.4 per cent at Rs 20.5 crore from Rs 15.6 crore in the same period previous year. The Board of Directors
of Nestle India on April 9 had declared an interim
dividend of 35 per cent 1999 and this will be paid in May
with the final dividend of 20 per cent for 1998. The
dividend payments in future will be made once a year. |
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NEW DELHI, April 28 (PTI) — Infosys Technologies today indicated acquisition of a software services company and another round of employees stock option (ESOP) in the near future. “If there is a big opportunity which is value for money and synergies with our business, we will go for it (acquisition),” N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chief Executive of Infosys Technologies, told reporters on the sidelines of the CII annual meeting here. Quizzed on the choice of
acquisition, he said it could be in the services sector
or for a product which will provide the company suitable
opportunity for customisation. |
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MUMBAI, April 28 (PTI) — The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim bank) on Wednesday announced a 19 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 239.99 crore, even as its disbursement fell to Rs 1,271 crore during 1998-99. Export contracts supported by Exim bank increased by 75 per cent to Rs 3,307 crore in 1998-99 and Indian companies secured 68 contracts valued at Rs 1,054 crore in multilateral funded projects overseas, Exim bank managing director y. b. Desai told a press conference here. Stating that the income
tax exemption status to Exim Bank has been withdrawn from
1998-99, Mr Desai said the bank has accordingly made
provision of Rs 75 crore. |
Maruti market share plummets NEW DELHI (PTI): Car sales fell by 2 per cent during 1998-99 at 409,966 units and exports declined by 14 per cent despite several new entrants. The two-wheeler segment beat the negative growth trend with Bajaj Auto, LML Ltd and Hero Honda recording impressive performances to contribute to about 12 per cent growth at 340,427 units. Maruti Udyog Ltd, General Motors, Hindustan Motors, Mercedes, Premier Automobiles suffered sales setback that forced them to cut down production, according to data released by the Association of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM) here on Wednesday. In the commercial vehicle segment the overall sales came down by 12 per cent with both Telco and Ashok Leyland pruning down their production drastically. The three-wheeler segment registered a 10 per cent fall in sales and over 11 per cent cut in production by all manufacturers, excepting Bajaj Tempo Ltd, which posted a hefty growth in sales and production. With the entry of new players, the market share of Maruti Udyog declined to 79.65 per cent in 1998-99 from 82.66 per cent in the previous year as its sales also dropped by over 5 per cent to 326,523. But MUL’s production came down by only about 4 per cent at 330,395, though the company recorded an improved production and sales performance during the last month of fiscal 1998-99. Daewoo, however, withstood the market pressures and recorded a marginal increase in sales from 10,108 to 10,221. Production figures of Daewoo Motors (India) Ltd for the year were not available. The multi-utility vehicle segment was also a major loser as total sales dropped by 16.8 per cent with market leader Mahindra and Mahindra along with Telco, Bajaj Tempo and MUL suffering the brunt of it. Telco, which introduced Indica late last year, however, showed a marginal increase in car sales from 4,669 to 4,750. Uno deliveries NEW DELHI (UNI): Ind Auto Limited is working towards reducing the waiting period for its Uno from the present 6-8 weeks to one week by the end of May, 1999. The company has already sorted out the problems of imported components and is hiking production at its Kurla plant in Maharashtra. “We expect to cut down the waiting period for particular Uno models to one week by the end of May,” Mr Gianni Ravina, Executive Director of Ind Auto, a joint venture between Fiat and Premier Automobile Limited told UNI here. Uno demand had spurted following a massive price cut announced by the company in January this year. With the company not being able to meet the increased demand, certain variants of the car were available on an eight-week long waiting period. This has resulted in a Rs 35,000-40,000 premium for the car on the blackmarket. Hyundai Santro NEW DELHI (UNI): Hyundai Santro deliveries crossed the 20,000 mark within six months of its launch, aggregating 20,241 units till date. Hyundai Motor India Limited had earlier planned to deliver 20,000 units by the end of 1998-99 fiscal but had missed the target and had closed the year with total sales of 17,647 units. Santro doubled its sales in March this year with 4,290 units sold. Hyundai Motors also launched the Santro in Korea priced at around $ 4,500. This is the first time an international product was first launched in India and then taken across to be launched in Korea Managing Director of Hyundai Motors India Y.S. Kim said. Avanti mopeds JAIPUR (PTI): Indian
moped “Avanti” will soon ply on England roads
as it was cleared all quality tests. Mr V.K. Talwar,
Managing Director of Monto Motors Limited, said his
company has restarted manufacturing Avanti moped which
was closed down when Whirlpool took over the Kelvinator
group’s products. |
Alfa Laval arm sale approved PUNE, April 28 (UNI) — Alfa Laval today received shareholders’ nod to go ahead with the sale of its tetra pack processing systems (TPPS) division for not less than Rs 25.5 crore at the company’s 61st annual general meeting (AGM) here. Addressing the shareholders, company Chairperson Lila Poonawalla said the amount realised from the sale would be utilised for expansion and modernisation of manufacturing facilities for the core business which would improve the profitability of the company. MRF Limited NEW DELHI, April 28 (UNI) — Tyre Major MRF Limited has recorded a 19.7 per cent surge in net profit during the its net profit for the three month period from January to March to touch Rs 31.57 crore as against Rs 26.36 crore in the same period a year ago. MRF’s accounting year is October-September. Shalimar Paints CALCUTTA, April 28 (UNI) — Shalimar Paints Limited has reported a net profit of Rs 0.42 crore in the third quarter ended March 31. Official sources here on Wednesday after a board meeting said that net sales during the quarter amounted to Rs 32.96 crore while other income stood at Rs 0.14 crore. Gross profit stood at Rs 0.83 crore after total expenditure of Rs 30.43 crore and interest payment of Rs 1.34 crore. Samsung prize CHANDIGARH, April 28
(TNS) — Mr Sanjay Kumar Arora, a city resident, has
won the Samsung ‘Sureshot World Cup Bonanza’
prize of a free trip to England. Mr Arora is the first
winner of the eight persons who will win the ‘All
expense paid trip to England’ prize. |
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| Forex rates MUMBAI, April 28 (PTI) — The following were interbank forex and RBI rates (in rupees per unit). U.S. $ Rs 42.81/82 The RBI reference rate was Rs 42.82. Gold recovers Scholarship Showroom |
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