Ashok Leyland cuts loss by 51 per cent
Ashok Leyland Limited has managed to cut its losses by 51 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal to record a net loss of Rs 16.22 crore Rs 33.2 crore a year earlier.

‘Five Ministries are redundant’
NEW DELHI, July 21 — Assocham today recommended abolition of at least five Ministries to downsize the Government and asked the political parties for a common minimum economic programme in their election manifestos to foster growth.

Indo-Pak trade comes down by 50 per cent
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Indo-Pak trade that has suffered badly due to the fierce fighting in the Kashmir valley is hoping to get revived.

Markfed, Rajfed sign MoU on chemicals
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Punjab Markfed and Rajasthan State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (Rajfed) signed an MoU here today for the supply of weedicides, pesticides and other agro-chemicals to each other, particularly for wheat, paddy and cotton crops.

MTNL online phone billing from Aug 15
NEW DELHI, July 21 — The Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd will launch on-line billing and payment for its services from August 15 to foray into world of e-commerce even though the cyber laws regulating net based transaction is yet to be implemented.

IDBI seeks 25 crore guarantee for PNFC
NANGAL, July 21 — IDBI has asked the Punjab Government to submit a guarantee of Rs 25 crore before expecting any relaxation in the case of PNFC.

RBI relief for debt-ridden small units
From A.S. Prashar
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 21 — Thousands of sick small scale industrial units in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, facing liquidation because of their inability to pay off their debts, may get a fresh lease of life following a new policy announced by the Reserve Bank of India providing for settlement of loans through negotiations.

In a directive issued to the chairmen and managing directors of all public sector banks, the RBI has asked them to enter into “compromise settlements of non-performing advances” given to the borrowers. The decision will benefit about 5,000 units in the region which owed about Rs 1,500 crore to various banks, according to Mr Kantik Behal, President of the Northern India Federation of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings.

The earlier guidelines from the RBI provided no elbow room to the bank officers to enter into negotiations with the borrowers for the recovery of their debts. The cases were routinely referred to the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) at Jaipur which in turn lost no time in auctioning the assets of the sick units for recovering the dues.

The new RBI policy directive noted that under the old guidelines, the system for recovery of debts was long drawn out. “There were also reports of considerable reluctance on the part of the bank officials to take decisions on compromise proposals. As a result, the NPAs of public sector banks continue to contain a large number of chronic cases which are not effectively pursued for various reasons. There were as many as 5.31 lakh cases filed by public sector banks for amounts aggregating Rs 23915.21 crore pending disposal with various courts”.

The new guidelines will apply to all non-performing accounts, which are chronic and at least three years old as on March 31, 1999, and will be operative only up to September 21, 2000. NPAs which were not yet three years old as on March 31, 1999, and those arising after 31.3.99 will not be covered. It will apply to borrowers in the small scale industries sector, where the accounts have become non-performing. However, cases of fraud and malfeasance will not be covered. Cases pending before courts as well as DRTs may also be covered. However, consent decree to reflect the compromise settlement may be obtained from the court/DRT in such cases.

Mr S.K. Chawla, General Manager of Punjab National Bank, has received the new policy guidelines from the RBI. Under the scheme all NPA accounts in the small scale sector whether before DRT can avail of this opportunity to clear off their dues by paying the principal amount and 10 per cent simple interest. No penal and compound interest would be charged.

Ashok Leyland cuts loss by 51 per cent

Ashok Leyland Limited (ALL) has managed to cut its losses by 51 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal to record a net loss of Rs 16.22 crore Rs 33.2 crore a year earlier.

With this, the company seems to be moving out of the severe recession as its sales for the quarter registered a 30 per cent growth to Rs 476.5 crore from Rs 367.8 crore in the same quarter last year.

Other income stood at Rs 52 lakh, which was lower than the previous year’s Rs 1.16 crore while total expenditure was Rs 452.48 crore from Rs 353.28 crore a year earlier.

Bucking the downturn in the commercial vehicles segment, Ashok Leyland had recorded a 10.6 per cent surge in net profit during the 1998-99 fiscal to touch Rs 20.36 crore as against Rs 18.40 crore in the previous year.

Ashok Leyland’s net sales for the year stood at Rs 2,051.49 crore, up 1.5 per cent from Rs 2,021 crore in the previous year.

Earning per share for the year was marginally higher at Rs 1.71 from Rs 1.55 while cash earning per share was Rs 8.12.

Smithkline Beecham Consumer Healthcare (SBCH) on Wednesday announced a 21 per cent rise its net profit at Rs 39.6 crore during the half-year period ending June 1999.

The company announced an interim dividend of 27 per cent, which is 13 per cent more than the pay out last year. The turnover of SBCH, the makers of Horlicks, recorded 8.3 per cent growth in the first half to Rs 336 crore compared to Rs 310 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Nalco Chemicals India Limited net profit increased by 86 per cent to Rs 2.25 crore in the first quarter of 1999-2000 against Rs 1.21 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

The Board of Directors of the company which met here to consider the first quarter result on Wednesday announced 47 per cent increase in net sales at Rs 14.43 crore against Rs 9.80 crore last year.

Gross profit at Rs 4.21 crore during the quarter was 80 per cent higher compared to Rs 2.34 crore in the first quarter of last fiscal.

Esab India has slipped into the red incurring a net loss of Rs 1.25 crore during the first quarter of 1999-2000 as compared with a net profit of Rs 63 crore a year ago. The company’s sales for the quarter stood at Rs 23.73 crore, down 18 per cent from Rs 28.93 crore in the corresponding period the previous year.

BHEL has bagged an export order worth Rs 106 crore from Oman for supply of a frame 9 gas turbine-based power plant.

Under the export deal, BHEL will supply a frame 9 gas turbine-based power plant of 12 mw with an ISO rating on turnkey basis at Rusail, about 40 km from Muscat in Oman, a company release said here.

Archies Greetings and Gifts Limited (AGGL) is planning to hive off its audio brand — Archies Music — into a separate profit centre under the umbrella brand of archies. Besides, the company is also planning to shed its image as an upmarket Indipop brand and will cater to regional and devotional music, A La T-series, Mr Praveen Sethi, General Manager of Archies Music said.

Herbertsons Ltd has posted a 5.41 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 1.56 crore for the first quarter ended June 1999 on the sales of Rs 73.17 crore, which is 13.67 per cent growth over the same quarter the previous year. While other income has gone up to Rs 1.15 crore in the quarter from Rs 0.85 crore during the same period in 1998, interest outgo has come down by 14.1 per cent to Rs 1.95 crore.

Indo Rama Synthetics (I) Ltd has posted a net profit of Rs 6.70 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal, compared to a loss of Rs 22.37 crore in the corresponding period of last year.

The company’s sales turnover rose by 20 per cent in the same period of Rs 409.57 crore and Rs 341.68 crore, recording an operating profit increased by 69 per cent to Rs 68.39 crore.

— TNS, Agencies

‘Five Ministries are redundant’
Tribune News Service, PTI

NEW DELHI, July 21 — Assocham today recommended abolition of at least five Ministries to downsize the Government and asked the political parties for a common minimum economic programme in their election manifestos to foster growth.

Releasing its economic agenda to be incorporated in the election manifestos of political parties, Assocham President K.P. Singh suggested that redundant ministries like Steel and Fertiliser could be done away with.

“Steel and Fertiliser Ministries were necessary in the 50s and 60s but they have outlived their utility,” he said at a press conference organised by the Chamber.

The different transport sectors like Surface Transport, Civil Aviation, Railways, Inland Waterways and Sea Transport should also be merged into one ministry for reducing public expenditure and better coordination, Singh said.

All ministries and Departments dealing with energy like coal, power and petroleum should be brought under a unified Ministry of Energy, he added.

The chamber also said economic legislation like Insurance Regulatory Bill, the Foreign Exchange Management bill, the prevention of money laundering bill and the Companies Bill which had been pending enactment should be passed in the first session of the new parliament itself.

Mr Singh listed out five major imperatives for a consensus amongst political parties.

These are: a humanised approach to reforms on issues like elementary education, particularly for females, and health care; a safety net for those threatened with job loss through reforms and business restructuring; special; thrust to job creation in the services sector, particularly tourism; and development of knowledge-centred society that puts people first and creates new opportunities.

Mr Singh said the strategic imperatives of economic growth and competitiveness needed to propel India into prosperity in the new millennium are transparency, openness and trust.

Indo-Pak trade comes down by 50 per cent
By Gobind Thukral
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The Indo-Pak trade that has suffered badly due to the fierce fighting in the Kashmir valley is hoping to get revived. From May to mid-July, the trade was down by over 50 per cent, according to exporters and importers in Amritsar, the city that links trade with Lahore.

Trade between India and Pakistan as estimated by the government was worth Rs 750 crore during 1996-97. It picked up by another 10 per cent during 1997-98. But the kind of jump which the chambers of commerce and trade expected after the famous Lahore Declaration did not take place. In fact, since May it has been going down. Interestingly, there was no impact on the trade through third country routes. Trade sources put this figure to a whopping Rs 40 to 50 billion.

The joint task force of Indian and Pakistani traders, which wanted to increase legal trade flourish, had put the target at Rs 100 billion by 2003. But this otherwise a realistic target has suffered a setback with the latest armed conflict and the surcharged mood in both countries. Now not many traders, despite a push from the USA and Europe, talk about trade. Earlier, delegations from each side were visiting and officials in both countries were upbeat. Now business trips would take long time to come by.

“We could begin talking about good trade relations only when the present mood is settled and elections are over. Nothing till then. What we could do now is to allow the present tempo not to get wasted”, say trade officials in Delhi. They agree that trade opportunities have been lost by Pakistan’s misadventure in Kargil.

Pakistan has a list of 598 items to be imported from India and since all trade is by rail, perishable commodities like fruit and vegetables cannot be included.

Illegal trade that continues to flourish either through direct smuggling or through third country routes is said to be gaining at the cost of the legal trade. Both governments lose heavily on export and import duties and consumers too suffer as the commodities traded in this fashion become very costly. Sewing machine or bicycle parts manufactured in Punjab are exported to Pakistan through Wagah.

Punjab was very anxiously waiting for the boom time with Pakistan as far trade was concerned. An agreement signed for the supply of gas-based power from Pakistan for Punjab, Haryana and Delhi during the regime of Mr Inder Kumar Gujral is not even mentioned. It could have been a reality by next year. Pakistan is wasting this costly energy and some Indian States are suffering for want of power.

Markfed, Rajfed sign MoU on chemicals
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Punjab Markfed and Rajasthan State Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (Rajfed) signed an MoU here today for the supply of weedicides, pesticides and other agro-chemicals to each other, particularly for wheat, paddy and cotton crops.

Mr Gurinderjit Singh Sandhu, MD, signed the memorandum on behalf of Punjab Markfed and Mrs Kiran Soni Gupta, MD, on behalf of Rajfed.

After signing the agreement, Mr Sandhu said Markfed would supply agro-chemicals produced at Markfed’s plant at SAS Nagar, to Rajfed for distribution through a network of cooperative societies in Rajasthan.

Markfed had earlier supplied agro-chemicals to farmers of Karnataka for coffee plantation.

Mr Sandhu said Markfed has sufficient production to meet any demand from the home State as well as from Rajasthan even at short notice.

MTNL online phone billing from Aug 15

NEW DELHI, July 21 (PTI) — The Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) will launch on-line billing and payment for its services from August 15 to foray into world of e-commerce even though the cyber laws regulating net based transaction is yet to be implemented.

“We are talking to some banks for arriving at a tripartite agreement involving MTNL, bank and the customers to make this feasible without any legal hassle”, MTNL Chairman and Managing Director S. Rajagopalan said here.

Besides the billing and payment system, MTNL would also allow the customers to register for new telephone connections in Mumbai and Delhi where the company is operational, he said.

New facility also consists of shopping malls and other attractive programmes already offered by the company in the country which include the free toll call facility, he said at a seminar on e-commerce for media organised by FICCI.

“In the initial stage the on-line payment facility would be allowed only to those having bills upto Rs 2,000 and this covers approximately half of our subscriber base in the two metros,” he said, adding that orders for equipments were already in place.

IDBI seeks 25 crore guarantee for PNFC
From Our Correspondent

NANGAL, July 21 — IDBI has asked the Punjab Government to submit a guarantee of Rs 25 crore before expecting any relaxation in the case of PNFC. The demand was made by IDBI at the hearing of the PNFC case before the BIFR yesterday. To revive PNFC, the Punjab Government had asked IDBI to waive the interest and 30 per cent of the principal amount PNFC owed to it. PNFC owes Rs 110 crore to IDBI, out of which Rs 42 crore is the principal amount and the rest of Rs 68 crore is the interest.

The BIFR putting off its final decision has given 15 days time to the Punjab government to sort out its differences with IDBI.

Bullion
Gold Std Rs 3970
Gold 22-Ct Rs 3820
Silver Ready Rs 7640
Silver delivery Rs 7640

BPL gesture
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — The BPL group has decided to donate VHF band communication equipment to 12 Army hospitals. BPL will donate 12 base stations and 116 hand-held sets. These will enable doctors and the hospital staff to be in constant touch with patients who are in a critical condition with speed and save valuable human lives. BPL had earlier donated Iridium satellite phones audio systems, colour television sets and cordless phones.

Corpn Bank
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 21 — Corporation Bank has donated Rs 1 crore to the National Defence Fund. Mr R.S. Hugar, CMD, handed over the cheque to Mr A.B. Vajpayee on Tuesday. The employees are also donating one day’s salary.

Telco & Euro II
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 21 — Telco today announced that it has indigenously developed Euro II compliant engine technology for all its vehicles, including the Indica, and all vehicles will meet the Euro II emission norms by April 2000.