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Saturday,
December
22, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Punjab —
an investment-friendly state Now Punjab
to cultivate prawn SBI
honours 32 industrialists BSNL may
enter ILD Record
procurement by Haryana dairy coops Mayar
India stall 2nd best in Arogya 2001
HFC cuts
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Reliance
to go ahead with Hirma project
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Punjab — an investment-friendly state Chandigarh, December 21 This latest revelation comes in an 18-state survey by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, an off-shoot of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, headed by Ms Sonia Gandhi. The survey, “How are the states doing”? was commissioned by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Mr Ramesh Inder Singh, told TNS today that the survey was based on physical, legal and capital market infrastructure as well as level of human resource development in each state. The report also took cognizance of the following factors—economic and financial performance, investment climate, labour, law and order, consumer demographies etc.—in each state. Punjab, he said has been enabled to have a re-look at its “weaknesses” as also its “strengths”, determined by 12 parameters: general achievements, investment climate, infrastructure, finance, labour, social sector, law and order, affluence, mass media, consumer purchases, personal finance and expenditure on education and health. Both in terms of investment climate and infrastructure, Punjab ranks number two in the country. It is at number three in general achievements. In the over all composite index, it is at number four and in investment rankings at number seven. But seen in the context of “land-locked” states, Punjab is at number one. Mr Ramesh Inder Singh said, “As a result of economic reforms, the focus of policy changes has moved to the level of the states, the cutting edge”. Conceding the general economic slow down, he pointed out that still Punjab had maintained an annual average growth percentage of 8 to 10 against 4 to 6 of the country during the past five years. “Punjab remains alive to the global industrial challenges and suffered as much as other states due to excess capacities created in several sectors”. The survey, in ways more than one, reflects the steps taken by SAD-BJP government in the past five years to develop a “conducive” atmosphere for investment in Punjab. The steps included a “single window” system, an investor-friendly approach, simplification of procedures and delivery system and an all encompassing industrial policy with a string of concessions and incentives attached to it. The past four years have seen an investment of about Rs 4,000 crore, whereas, projects worth about Rs 2,300 crore are under implementation. This was apart from the mega oil refinery at Bathinda. That alone costs Rs 16,000 crore. The “strengths” of Punjab acknowledged are by way of general achievements, investment climate, infrastructure, consumer purchases and personal finance. The “weaknesses” included, finance, labour, social sector, law and order, mass media, expenditure on education and health. Despite “peace” having been restored since 1992, the general perception about the prevailing law and order remains distorted outside Punjab. This, perhaps, explains why Punjab is placed at number 13 on this account, while it is at number seven in investment ranking. The findings showed the following rankings for Punjab — number two in investment climate and infrastructure; number three in general achievements, consumer purchases and personal finance; number four in affluence; number five in social sector; number six in labour and expenditure on education and health; number seven in mass media; number nine in finance; and number 13 in law and order. Besides Punjab, the survey covered the following 17 states: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
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Now Punjab to cultivate prawn Chandigarh, December 21 According to official sources, the plans are to bring around 100 acres each in the states under cultivation in first year. It means substantial revenue inflow from domestic sales as well as exports. Currently, Head-on Scampi (trade name for fresh water prawn in export markets) is offered at around Rs 225- Rs 300 per kg here and in foreign markets around $ 10 a kg. Both Punjab and Haryana are able to achieve productivity of as much as 1.7 tonnes per hectare. “It means that in the first year, even if the productivity level of 1.5 tonnes a hectare is attained, the states will be able to fetch huge revenues”, stated an official. For the first time, the states will get into export of sea-food, which is fetching almost Rs 6,500 crore of export earnings to the nation. The traditional buyers of Scampi — that the USA, Japan and West Europe, Australia and Canada — have also started buying from India. Fresh water prawn cultivation, which has so far been adopted in the coastal areas only, will not only help Punjab and Haryana to diversify farm operations, but also bring vast tracts of salinity affected lands (at present 5,000 acres in both states) into productive use. It will establish an export-oriented sector among the rural land based activities, the official said. Earlier this year, Nabard selected around 30 farmers who were provided training in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh where prawn cultivation is popular. The cultivation season will begin in April for which the farmers will have to make investment of around Rs 4.5 lakh a hectare. Nabard will provide re-financing facility to banks that provide loans to the farmers. The banks can finance up to 80 per cent of the project cost, said an official. After the states attain a bulk production level, the exporters are likely to set up procurement unit here. However, according to the officials, to ensure success of the project timely stocking of seeds — between April and October — is essential. Tie-ups with entrepreneurs in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu will help supplying the seed and feed.
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Punjab to offer green card to ISO firms
Chandigarh, December 21 Mr Ramesh Inder Singh, Principal Secretary to Punjab Government and Principal Secretary — Industry and Commerce, said the Punjab was doing well vis a vis other states in terms of attracting industrial investments, per capita income and many other important economics and social parameters, quoting from a report titled ‘How are the states doing,’ prepared by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, for CII.
TNS
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SBI honours 32 industrialists Ludhiana, December 21 The awards were reportedly given to honour the bank’s clients for their efforts to upgrade the quality of their products. The units were presented cash awards ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 totalling Rs 11.08 lakh along with a trophy and a citation. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rajinder Kakkar, Chief General Manager of bank’s Chandigarh circle underlined the need for the industries to apply quality management systems if they were to successfully meet the challenges of globalisation and WTO. He assured them that the bank would continue its support in providing technical consultancy and guidance in their upgradation. The bank had so far given awards worth more than Rs 1.10 crore to more than 500 units under the scheme, launched in 1996, he added. After presenting the awards to the heads of industrial units, Mr Brijmohan Lal Munjal, Chairman, Hero Group of Industries, said, ‘‘The presentation of awards to so many units is a sign of growing awareness about quality among the industries of the region. The units should aim to cut down their costs and to upgrade the quality of their products to compete in the domestic and national market.’’ Among others, Mr Jatinder Jain, Alloy Forge; Mr G.S. Kahlon, Bharat International; Mr Navneet Jairath, Campbell International; Mr A.S. Sachdev, Daichi Overseas Private Limited; Mr Sanjeev Kalra, Deeepak Fasteners Ltd.; Mr Ajit Singh Kular, Kular Cycle Industries; Mr Surinder Mahenderu, Nicks Auto Industries; Mr Satish Dhanda, Sadem Industries; Mr R.D. Sharma, Safari Bikes Ltd.; and Mr Manohar Singh, Turbo Tools Pvt. Ltd., all from Ludhiana were awarded on this occasion.
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BSNL may enter ILD
New Delhi, December 21 "We are contemplating the opportunities in the ISD market and it is currently under discussion," BSNL sources told
PTI, while declining to be drawn into the issue of whether such a proposal would be accepted by the government in wake of past instances where two telecom Public Sector Undertakings
(PSUs) were not allowed to operate in the same areas of business. Sources said that the corporation was awaiting announcement of guidelines for International Long Distance
(ILD), the terms and conditions for which were accepted by Communications Ministry on basis of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) recommendations. No final decision had been taken on the matter, they
added. TRAI had on November 12 come out with its recommendations on ILD services with an entry fee of Rs 25 crore, revenue sharing of 15 per cent and company networth of Rs 25 crore. It also sought a bank guarantee for identical amount favouring the licensor
guaranteeing due fulfilment of the stipulated roll out conditions.
PTI
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Record procurement by Haryana dairy coops Chandigarh, December 21 Disclosing this here today, Managing Director of Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation, Shakuntala Jakhu, said that last year the procurement of milk had reached the level of 5.27 lakh litres. She said out of five cooperative milk plants, two at Rohtak and Ballabgarh were ISO 9002 certified. As many as 3,000 dairy cooperative societies had been set up at village level. There were five milk unions functioning at Hisar-Jind, Gurgaon-Rohtak, Kurukshetra-Karnal and Ambala and Sirsa. A number of products of Haryana’s dairy cooperatives like milk, ghee, butter, flavoured milk, paneer and dahi are sold under ‘Vita’ brand name. Mr Jakhu said ghee sales had touched an all time high of 2,432 metric tonnes from April to November 2001 as against 1643 metric tonnes during the corresponding period last
year.
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Mayar India stall 2nd best in Arogya 2001 Chandigarh, December 21 Mrs Shailja Chandra, Secretary, Department of ISM and Homoeopathy, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, gave the award to Mr AK Sud, Chairman and Managing Director of Mayar India Limited. The company which is the largest supplier of newsprint in India, formally launched its "Sivananda Range of Ayurvedic Products", on December 17, in Arogya" in New Delhi. Mr Pradeep Srivastava, President biotech division, said Sivananda Ayurvedic range of products conform to the ISO 9002 and WHO GMP standards in manufacturing processes and packaging. The products are original formulations of Swami
Sivananda.
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HFC cuts rates Chandigarh, December 21 MD of the corporation PK Gupta said here today to give impetus to the tiny sector, the rate of interest for loans up to Rs 25 lakh had been reduced by 0.5 per cent and for loans above Rs 25 lakh the rate had been reduced by 0.25 per cent. The effective rate of interest for small scale industry will now be 13.5 per cent per annum for loans up to Rs 25 lakh and 13.75 per cent per annum for loans above Rs 25 lakh after 2 per cent rebate for timely repayments.
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MRF net falls Mumbai, December 21 |
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ISO 9001 Dabur Foods Food licence Rs 1000 notes Corpn Bank pact |
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