Nalco production up in April-July
NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — Public sector National Aluminium Company Ltd’s (Nalco) production of aluminium increased by around 50 per cent to 66,720 tonnes in the first four months (April-July) of the current fiscal compared to 44,535 tonnes in the corresponding period last.

VSNL public issue opens on Sept 20
NEW DELHI, Sept 6 — VSNL today said the current offer of one million shares to the public at a price of Rs 750 per share would infuse liquidity for its stocks since very few shares were held by retail investors compared to the huge number held by domestic and foreign funds.

Probe into land purchase by Golden group
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, has ordered a vigilance inquiry into the purchase of vast tracts of land by the Golden Forests group of companies in Punjab.

Mr A.P. Pandey, Inspector General, Vigilance Bureau, has been directed to investigate the case and submit the report to the Chief Minister within 30 days.

According to an official announcement here today, Golden Forests Limited, Rajpura, had purchased 1,656 acres in Patiala district. Golden Forests and Development had also purchased 186 acres and 63 acres were purchased by Golden Projects Limited in the same district.

Golden Forests Limited has also reportedly purchased 2,159 kanals in Hoshiarpur district by registering 82 sale deeds.

The purchase of agricultural land by the Golden Forests group of companies allegedly violates provisions of the Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972.

The Act specifically lays down that such a company, association or institution is prohibited from acquiring land in excess of the legally permissible area and that any transfer, exchange, lease, agreement or settlement in contravention thereof shall be null and void.

Certain revenue officials who were involved in the dubious deals were earlier suspended on the basis of preliminary reports received from the Income Tax Department but had to be reinstated as further information was not forthcoming for preparing charge-sheets against them.

The Chief Minister felt that on the face of it the Golden Forests group had “indulged in a most blatant violation of the law” and it is highly probable that this has become possible only as a result of “a conspiracy involving a large number of officials who are perhaps stalling any further inquiries.” It was, therefore, felt imperative to proceed on a time-bound basis to unearth the scandal.

Mr Pandey will be assisted by Mr Jaswant Singh, Joint Secretary, Revenue, in conducting the inquiry.

Panipat refinery capacity to be doubled
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Sept 6 —The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has identified projects worth Rs 60,000 crore for implementation during the Ninth and Tenth Plan periods.

The projects include doubling of capacity of Panipat refinery to 12 million tonnes per annum, laying of the Jalandhar-Udhampur pipeline, facilities for chemical grade propylene and production of paraxylene/PTA at Panipat refinery among others.

The identified projects include projects worth Rs 13,000 crore on hand. Besides expansion of refining and pipelines capacities and marketing infrastructure, these projects will cover vertical integration and diversification in petrochemicals, power, oil exploration and production, LNG and other fuels. Several collaborative ventures have been launched with leading Indian and foreign partners.

Speaking to reporters here today, Chairman of IOC, M A Pathan said that the north-west segment in the country “ has substantial and highest demand in the country”.

“ It is certainly advantageous to set up base and add on to the capacity”, Mr Pathan said while explaining the reasons behind the expansion of the Panipat refinery.

The IOC Chairman said that after the commissioning of the refineries,” the country is likely to become self-sufficient so far as products are concerned”.

Referring to the growing gap between indigenous production of crude oil and refining capacity in the country, Mr Pathan said that net import of crude oil is likely to increase to $ 9 billion by the end of the current fiscal as compared to $ 7.5 billion last year.

The capacities of major crude oil and product pipelines are also being augmented in phases to cater to the future needs of the corporation. The product pipeline infrastructure is being linked through low cost branch pipelines to Meerut, Saharanpur, Tundla, Lucknow and Budge-Budge.

Among the major projects scheduled for completion this year are matching secondary processing facilities at Mathura refinery and capacity at Gujarat refinery by three million tonnes per annum. Work is also in progress on the Eastern India refinery Project at Pradip and negotiations for joint venture partnerships are presently underway, Mr Pathan said.

Announcing the financial results for 1998-99, Mr Pathan said that IOC earned a net profit of Rs 2,214 crore which was 30 per cent more than the previous year. A dividend of 130 per cent was declared with a bonus issue of 1:1.

‘Asian car’ dream still unfulfilled: Tata

PUNE, Sept 6 (PTI) — Telco Chairman Ratan Tata today regretted that his dream of developing an “Asian car” remained unfulfilled and said leading Asian auto manufacturers should join hands to achieve this regional effort.

“Though we have developed Indica, my dream is to develop a car that specifically addresses the market needs of Asia and this envisages collaborative efforts of leading companies in the region, “Tata said at the 39th conference of Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) here.

Drawing an analogy with electronics industry which has grown by leaps and bounds during the last decade, he said IBM was providing marketing support to many products developed by others under its brand name.

“Unless we forge together within and beyond boundaries there is no scope for growth of auto industry in a globally competitive environment where scale of operations and innovativeness play a crucial role”, he said.

Tata said the business norm today was either to stand up to global standards or to face disappointment of failure.

Prof John Humphrey of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex (the UK), suggested that India should specialise in two-wheelers and commercial vehicles instead of fighting a losing battle in the highly competitive four-wheeler segment.

Associate Editor of the London-based Economist group Graeme Maxton said India had great potential to become a leading auto manufacturer as developed countries today were expected to experience stagnation during the next five years.

Forecasting that vehicle production would witness further fall of 2 per cent this year and 4 per cent next year, he said it had fallen by 8.5 per cent during last three years.

The Telco Chairman later presented excellence awards to various auto parts manufacturers.

Brakes India Ltd, Lucas TVS, Sriram Pistons and Sundaram Brake Linings were presented the ACMA trophy for their excellence in the areas of exports, technology, quality and productivity respectively.

ACMA certificates of merit were presented to Sundaram Fasteners, Jay Bharat Maruti Ltd and Harita Grammer.

Nalco production up in April-July

NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (PTI) — Public sector National Aluminium Company Ltd’s (Nalco) production of aluminium increased by around 50 per cent to 66,720 tonnes in the first four months (April-July) of the current fiscal compared to 44,535 tonnes in the corresponding period last.

The company in July exported 5,188 tonnes of aluminium and 24,562 tonnes of alumina.

The total aluminium production increased by 16 per cent to 1.969 lakh tonnes during the period compared to 1.698 lakh tonnes in the corresponding period last year.

However, the actual production marginally fell short of the target production of 1.992 lakh tonnes during the period, an official statement said today.

Aditya Birla’s Hindustan Aluminium Company Ltd (Hindalco) had the highest production of 82,309 tonnes as against 75,908 tonnes, a growth of 8.43 per cent, during the same period last year.

The other State-owned company Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) production was up by 10.17 per cent to 31,463 tonnes of aluminium, as against 28,558 tonnes in the previous year.

Indian Aluminium Company Ltd (Indal) produced 14,301 tonnes of the metal as against 13,665 tonnes.

However, Madras Aluminium Company production decreased drastically by 70.5 per cent to 2,114 tonnes from 7,171 tonnes.

VSNL public issue opens on Sept 20

NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (PTI) — VSNL today said the current offer of one million shares to the public at a price of Rs 750 per share would infuse liquidity for its stocks since very few shares were held by retail investors compared to the huge number held by domestic and foreign funds.

VSNL acting CMD Amitab Kumar told reporters that the current retail offering being made by divesting 1.05 per cent of the government equity, the first ever disinvestment by the Government through a public offer, would open on September 20 and close on September 24.

The government stake in the company would come down to 52.97 per cent from the current level of 54.02 per cent after the retail offering.

He said to enable large-scale public participation, the offer has been designed with a market lot of 10 shares with a minimum investment of Rs 7,500.

The Navaratna company has recorded an average annual growth of 67.09 per cent in net profit between fiscal 1995 and 1999.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 1,376.10 crore, representing an EPS of Rs 144.85.

Cheaper Sumo to take on M & M’s Marshal
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — Telco has launched a stripped down version of Sumo, priced around Rs 30,000 cheaper than the existing Sumo Model.

Telco will now have three variants of Sumo-SE (low-priced variant), standard and the DX version.

The standard version is priced at Rs 4.09 lakh (ex-showroom in Chandigarh) and the deluxe version at Rs 4.89 lakh. Sumo-SE will be competitively priced at Rs 3.79 lakh.

The price cut pits Sumo against Mahindra & Mahindra’s Marshal, to which Telco’s Sumo was losing market share.

The stripped down version will have no air-conditioning, side step and wheel covers.

Forex
US $ Rs 43.47/48
Stg £ Rs 69.76/79
Euro Rs 46.01/03
Jap yen (100) Rs 39.56/58

Punjab loan
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, Sept 6 — The Punjab Government has notified a public loan for Rs 80.47 crore to finance its development projects. The 10-year Punjab State Development loan 2009, bears an interest of 11.85 per cent per annum, payable half-yearly. The loan will be repaid at par on September 8, 2009. The Centre’s consent has been obtained.

Centurian issue
MUMBAI, Sept 6 (PTI) — Centurion Bank Ltd will tap the capital market with Rs 33.75 crore equity issue at par from September 20, in compliance with RBI, guidelines for listing of its shares and also for augmenting its capital base.

Essar card
NEW DELHI, Sept 6 (UNI) — Essar Cellphone, today launched the first mobile card giving customers an option of first trying out the cell service before finally taking up full subscription. It is offered both as a stand alone card and ready-to-use handset packages.

Swagelok
MUMBAI, Sept 6 (PTI) — Swagelok, the one billion dollar US-based fluid systems components major, today launched its Indian operations through four dedicated sales and service partners.