Saturday, December 4, 1999
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B U S I N E S S | Saturday, December 4, 1999 |
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Excessive protectionism
in textiles: expert Zenith Infotech issue on December
15 Focus on finance India to double potato output BIS norms for Y2K New channel for Hollywood films |
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Tussle in
offing over rabi support price CHANDIGARH: The issue of Minimum Support Price (MSP) of wheat for the 1999-2000 crop which the Centre is expected to announce this month, is going to become a major irritant between the Centre and the wheat surplus States, particularly Punjab and Haryana. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal told IPA that the State would oppose any move to retain wheat MSP at last year’s level of Rs 550 per quintal. Maintaining the status quo would not only be unjustified because of the rise in the cost of inputs, particularly diesel, it would also create other problems for the State Government. Mr Badal was replying to a question about the likelihood of the Centre retaining last year’s MSP in pursuance of the recommendation of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) in its report on the 1999-2000 rabi crops price policy. Both Punjab and Haryana had earlier demanded that MSP for wheat for next year should be raised to around Rs 650 per quintal. Contributions by Punjab and Haryana constitute bulk of the wheat buffer. In the outgoing procurement season, the two States made the highest ever contribution of over 78 lakh tonnes and about 39 lakh tonnes of wheat respectively to the central pool. The total wheat procurement in India was around 141 lakh tonnes. The CACP had not only recommended that there should be no increase in wheat MSP for the next crop but had also suggested that on present trends, it would require at least two years of unchanged MSP and Central Issue Price before market prices rise so much as to bring normal offtakes into balance with normal procurement. The Commission had also suggested a change in the rabi marketing season for wheat from April-March as at present to March-February. Although the CACP had advanced numerous arguments including the stipulation of much lower landed cost of imported wheat, it had frankly admitted its dilemma on the price increase issue. It said that on the one hand, the variable cost of wheat production of wheat was likely to increase by three to four per cent over the coming year but by every other objective criterion considered there was no justification for any further increase in its MSP. The problem has arisen because of the decision last year to fix the MSP for wheat at a level which exceeded the Commission’s recommendation by 12 per cent. This was not only much higher than any conceivable cost increase this year. It had also created other imbalance which would be magnified if there were to be a further increase in the wheat MSP. The CACP also said the credibility and survival of the system of Minimum Support rests on its being carried out in a manner which is both valid in terms of economic analysis and fair to all concerned. Since it is the farming community which stands to lose the most from discredit to this system, the Commission has eschewed any such populist consideration. The Commission, however,
noted that the crux of the present problems lay in an
incompatibility between recent MSP policy on the one hand
and policies regarding trade and subsidies on the other.
It recommended that urgent steps be taken to resolve
these inconsistencies, in particular those relating to
low offtakes and an unproductive build-up of wheat
stocks. — IPA |
Excessive
protectionism in textiles: expert CHANDIGARH, Dec 3 — Mr M. Anson, one of the globally recognised experts in textiles and apparel, said today, that the Indian textile industry suffered from a lot of weaknesses which need to be addressed. These included competing only on the basis of low cost, which is not a sustainable advantage in the long run. Another weakness is the high degree of protectionism in the lndian textile industry. Though the desire to protect employment is laudable, protectionism preserves the inefficient, and does not reward the efficient. Mr Anson was addressing a session on “Strategies of Global Competitiveness” at Texcon’99 here today. Moving away from a stand taken by many in the industry, Mr Anson said that garment might not actually be an engine of growth for the Indian textile industry, and that India’s competitive strength might actually lie in textiles. The session was also addressed by Mr Udeshi, Senior Vice-President, Reliance and chaired by Dr Roy, Group Chief Executive, Arvind Mills Limited. Fine-tuning TUF: The session on “Technology Upgradation Fund — need for fine-tuning?” was addressed by Mr Shyamal Ghosh, Secretary Textiles, Mr R.S. Agarwal, Chief General Manager, IDBI, and Mr V. Chandrashekaran, Chief General Manager, SIDBI, and Mr M. Ramaswamy, Managing Director, Loyal Textiles. The speakers debated the fact that structure of the Indian textile industry is not well adapted to face the new demands being placed on it as a result of changing domestic and international markets. One area is the dearth of state-of-art production equipment. To meet the challenges of the future, the Indian Industry needs to modernise. Modernisation in the present context is not limited to just machinery, it encompasses the entire business process — right from orders coming in to the actual delivery. The fund should be disbursed at an internationally competitive interest rate — which will be 5 per cent lower than the interest rate prevailing in India. The TUF is targeting all segments in the textile chain, from cotton ginning, spinning, weaving and processing to garment manufacturing. Wool & winter wear: At the session on “Wool and winter wear”, there was a good discussion on various aspects of the wool industry. Mr Anoop Thatai, Director of Orient Craft, chaired the session. There were two speakers from the industry who made insightful presentations. Thirtyfive delegates attended the session from various companies operating in textile and apparel industry. Mr J.N. Vohra, a freelance textile consultant, delved into the history of production technology of wool. Mr Naveen Pant, Manager with IWS, gave a holistic perspective to the various issues facing wool industry. He attributed most of the changes to consumer preferences and changing lifestyles and gave stress to an all-round development of wool. Summing up, Mr Anoop Tatai, stressed the need for an integrated approach to wool marketing, monitoring of consumer preferences and development of right products. Shinkwang tie-up: Shinkwang Machinery Co Ltd, a Korean textile machinery manufacturer, has entered into a marketing tie-up with S.K. Global Company to market its rapier loom challenger machines in the country. Shinkwang will import completely built units of rapier and hopes to sell around 2,000 units during the next four years, company Manager Chang Sung Woo told reporters here. The rapiers priced between $ 55,000 and $ 70,000 will be mainly targeted at the decentralised textile sectors in cities like Surat, Bathinda, Bhilwara, Bangalore and Coimbatore. The company has
introduced the Shingwang rapier loom challenger for the
first time at Textech’99. |
Zenith Infotech issue on December 15 ZENITH Infotech Limited is coming out with public issue of 28,75,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 100. Investors will have to pay 50 per cent of the subscription amount on application and the rest on allotment. The purpose of the issue which opens on December 15 is to raise Rs 39.12 crore to finance the building of a software development centre in New Bombay. The issue closes on December 22. Essar Power has posted an impressive jump of 260 per cent in its net profit for the half-year ended September 30, 1999. The total revenue for the period was up by Rs 31 crore at Rs 379 crore compared to Rs 348 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year, according to a company release at Calcutta on Thursday. Glaxo India Ltd today announced that the company’s three trading faces, Glaxo Pharmaceuticals, Glaxo Allenburys and Burroughs Wellcome, would devolve to seven business units with separate sales and marketing staff. As part of the restructuring programme, the company announced that its large portfolio of over 200 product packs would be trimmed, rationalised and re-allocated among the business units. —
Agencies |
Focus on
finance CHANDIGARH, Dec 3 — To help working professionals enhance understanding of finance, a one-day Management Development programme on “Finance for Non-Finance” was held at ICSSR, Panjab University, today. Mr Subash Bijlani, a Management Consultant and President of Magnus consultant, directed the programme. Non-finance executives need to acquire a thorough understanding of the economic implications of their decisions and develop knowledge and skills to bring about cost competitiveness at all levels. The programme focussed on providing understanding of company financial statements and of the tools and techniques of total cost management. Mr Balraj Hora, Head of Finance, Fujitsu Telecom Ltd, inaugurated the programme. He presented important concepts in corporate finance and highlighted the role of understanding finance in acquiring competitive advantage. Mr Subhash C Vaidya,
Prof of Finance & Accounting, University Business
School, Panjab University assisted Mr Bijlani. |
India to
double potato output NEW DELHI, Dec 3 — Plans have been drawn up to double potato production in the country the next 20 years by bringing more areas under the crop and increasing productivity by agronomic means and research, the Director General of Indian Council for Agricultural Research, Dr R.S. Paroda said here today. Crops like rice, wheat and coarse grains alone would not be able to meet the food demands of India’s population which will be the world’s largest in the next millennium, Dr Paroda said in a press conference to announce the global conference on potato to be held here from December 6 and December 11. There is considerable
scope for newly developed varieties which are suitable
for cultivation in States like Orissa and Andhra Pradesh
where the vegetable is not traditionally grown. |
BIS norms
for Y2K NEW DELHI, Dec 3 — The Bureau of Indian Standards has come out with two sets of standards for personnel responsible for testing Y2K problems and isolate troubled areas. The BIS has come out with the standards as the solutions to the Y2K problem or the millennium bug are varied and complex in nature. The first standard calls for providing a consistent set of terms, definitions and related concepts for use in addressing year 2000 problem. “The usage of the
terms defined in this standard will minimise
confusion,” the BIS said. |
New
channel for Hollywood films CHANDIGARH, Dec 3 — Star Movies is in for tough competition. A Time Warner company is planning to launch in the country an exclusive pay channel for Hollywood films which has already got top ratings in 40 countries. The company, Turner International India Pvt Ltd, is yet to decide on the exact date of the launch, though its Vice-President, Mr Anshuman Misra expects the channel to be operational by the first quarter of next year probably February. Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Misra said the channel, called HBO — short for Home Box Office — will screen top blockbusters from Hollywood and there is enough viewership in this country to warrant another foreign film-oriented channel. The Time Warner group
already runs two popular channels in India — CNN
International and TNT Cartoon Network. |
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