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FIPB clears Vodafone deal
Govt to exit Maruti soon |
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Manmohan for job-oriented industrial policy
NPAs of public sector banks decline
Deora seeks more gas from Iran
India’s GDP crosses $1 trillion
PAC seeks review of IT return form
IOC moots specialised retail outlets
Corporate Results
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New Delhi, April 27 HTIL controls 67 per cent in the Hutch-Essar joint venture, with India’s Essar Group holding the rest. Two-thirds of the Essar Group’s 33 per cent stake is held overseas, which counts as foreign holdings. Reports said ministries involved in the deal will study law ministry's opinion, which had given a clean chit to the holding pattern in Hutch-Essar. According to reports, the law ministry had sent its no-objection certificate to the FIPB, stating that there has been no breach of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap norms and that allegations of “benami” shareholdings by Hutchison through Ananjit Singh and Asim Ghosh could not be established. At its last meeting on March 29, attended by representatives of these companies, the FIPB took the view that the companies could not give a satisfactory reply on the unfettered right of disposal of the 15 per cent shareholding held by Asim Ghosh, Analjit Singh and IDFC in Hutch-Essar. In addition, the National Security Council (NSC) has called for scrutiny of the multi-billion dollar deal and has urged the FIPB not to clear the deal without considering views of the ministry of home affairs and intelligence agencies. The NSC’s view is that the change in ownership of a big company in a strategic sector needs detailed examination and the FIPB should examine if the deal has any defence-related considerations. Also, screening for the strategic reasons is also necessary. Meanwhile, communication and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran has given a clean chit to the Hutch-Vodafone deal, saying there is nothing wrong with the transaction. — UNI
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Airtel to invest Rs 15,000 cr
New Delhi, April 27 The company’s total revenue was up by 58 per cent year-on year at Rs 5,393 crore and it also posted EBIDTA of Rs 2,241 crore, which is 75 per cent up year-on-year. “Hutch in India has given highest quality of competition and I don’t see Vodafone being different,” Bharati chairman Sunil Mittal said. “But our market share has gone up significantly and we have been able to manage increases in our margin.” He announced an investment of Rs 15,000 crore in 2007-08 to enhance its telecom network across the country. He also stated that the significant investment will also go in expansion of broadband and enterprise services. Airtel has added the highest ever net addition of 53 lakh customers in a single quarter. The company, which has so far invested about Rs 32,000 crore on networks, will set up 30,000 more base stations that carry mobile signals adding to its existing stations of 40,000. Most of the additions will be new and rural areas, Akhil Gupta, joint MD, Bharti Airtel said. It is also gearing up for the 3G or advanced mobile data and voice service launch policy and it will be announced shortly. Bharti, which recently bagged the GSM license in Sri Lanka, is on the look-out for acquisitions also.
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Govt to exit Maruti soon
New Delhi, April 27 Official sources said the government was likely to invite soon the financial bids for sale of its stake in MUL. Based on today's closing price of Rs 795, the government could raise an estimated Rs 2,350 crore. The government will sell around 2.96 crore shares in the country's top carmaker. Although the government had invited expressions of interest (EOI) from potential bidders in February, a decision was deferred in view of the high volatility in stock markets. Sources said more than 20 public sector banks, financial institutions and mutual funds had shown interest in acquiring the government's stake when the EOIs were sought. Japan's Suzuki Motor holds 54.2 per cent stake, while the remaining stake is held by banks, financial institutions and the public. — PTI |
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Manmohan for job-oriented industrial policy
New Delhi, April 27 Addressing the 41st session of the Indian Labour Conference here, he said the UPA Government was committed to working with labour and business class to create a new era of “inclusive and employment-oriented economic growth”. He also stressed that the government, employers and workers could work together with an accommodative approach and address challenges facing the nation. The Prime Minister said the challenge is to increase the skilled workforce from 5 per cent to 50 per cent, norm in the developed countries. He urged the industry to involve itself in every aspect of skill development so that skill creation is demand driven and relevant to market opportunities. Earlier, the minister of state for labour and employment Oscar Fernandes said the government is working on setting up of a national mission for skills, which would recommend measures to meet the requirement of skilled manpower during the 11th five-year plan and beyond. Addressing the conference, labour secretary Sudha Pillai said the amendment to payment of the Bonus Act is on the anvil for enhancing the eligibility and calculation ceilings.
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NPAs of public sector banks decline
New Delhi, April 27 The banks and financial institutions have recovered Rs 21,202 crore, Rs 22,169 crore and Rs 25,335 crore during 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 respectively. He said the net NPAs of banks came down from Rs 18,320 crore to Rs 14,614 crore, while that of the financial institutions declined from Rs 5,118 crore to Rs 969 crore during this period. He said RBI has also issued instructions to all commercial banks and NBFCs regarding credit card operations, including that the lender should not harass anyone in their debt collection efforts. |
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Deora seeks more gas from Iran
New Delhi, April 27 Petroleum minister Murli Deora during his meeting with Iranian President Mahhmoud Ahmadinejad said India requires more volumes of gas and additional volumes could be imported from Iran at current prices. India expressed interest in procuring an additional quantity of 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum. Iran agreed to examine this proposal of India, said an official statement released here today after the minister’s week long tri-nation visit. Deora, who made an unscheduled stopover at Tehran after his trip to Syria, Algeria, and Egypt, pressed for early implementation of June 2005 contract to sell 5 million tonnes of LNG annually to New Delhi. New Delhi has maintained that it has a water-tight legal case if Iran goes back on the contract where in National Iranian Gas Export Co (NIGEC) committed to delivering gas in its liquefied form to Indian consortium of Gail-IOC-BPCL from end-2009 but will prefer dialogue to resolve issue rather than going for arbitration.
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India’s GDP crosses $1 trillion
New Delhi, April 27 The country's GDP crossed the trillion-dollar mark for the first time in history when rupee appreciated to below 41-level against the US greenback, Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse said in a report. Countries like the US, Japan, Germany, China, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, Brazil and Russia have all breached trillion-dollar GDP level in the past. The bank put the country's GDP at around Rs 41,00,000 crore, which translates to slightly more than $1 trillion at the current currency level of Rs 40.76 per dollar. Besides, the country's stock market capitalisation has rose to $944 billion, which is also closing fast on the trillion-dollar level, it added. The rupee has gained close to 13 per cent since moving past 47 a dollar in July-August last year. Continuing its uptrend for the fifth day in a row, the Indian currency rose to as high as 40.72 to a dollar yesterday after breaching the 41-level to its highest level since May 1998. Before the rally began about a month ago when the rupee was hovering at 45 to a dollar, the country's GDP was estimated at around $900 billion.— PTI
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PAC seeks review of IT return form
New Delhi, April 27 “The committee is not impressed with the justification of the government for the revision of the income tax return proforma (Saral form) and the introduction of a new form in its place,” the PAC in its 47th report on the ‘Status of improvement of efficiency through the restructuring of the Income Tax Department’, tabled in Parliament said today. “The form should be as simple and easy to fill and not deter taxpayers or potential taxpayers from filing returns at all. It should neither instill needless fear into the minds,” the PAC, headed by BJP leader V K Malhotra said. |
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IOC moots specialised retail outlets
Chandigarh, April 27 These retail outlets — priority retail outlets and Xtra care retail outlets — will sell the premium petrol — Xtra premium and Xtra miles (diesel), besides the normal petrol and diesel. As of date, Xtra premium has a market share of 31 per cent and Xtra miles of 41 per cent within the premium fuels segment. Official sources informed TNS that the share of Xtra premium is 12 per cent of the total petrol and Xtra miles is 13 per cent of the total diesel sale by IOC in the region. With the opening of these specialised retail outlets, the oil major hopes to increase the share of premium petrol to 30 per cent and of premium diesel to 23 per cent. Other than this, these outlets will bring an altogether new customer experience as these will offer a plethora of services like bank ATMs, tuck shops, eateries, toilets and an increased workforce to give extra service to the customer. Though most of the existing retail outlets are being upgraded to Xtra Care and Priority Retail outlets, some new outlets, too, would be added. IOC has already identified sites for setting up these outlets and mapping of facilities is being done. The company officials are already in talks with leading fast food MNCs for setting up eateries in their Xtra Care retail outlets. Top officials in the regional office of IOC said here today that they would now introduce 30-35 priority retail outlets along various state and national highways in the region.
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Allengers Systems bags international award
Chandigarh, April 27 Instituted by the Business Initiative Directions (BID) founded by management guru Jose E. Prieto, the award was bestowed on the company "in recognition of the outstanding commitment to quality and excellence" at a ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, on April 23. Suresh Sharma and R.S. Kanwar, managing director and head of international operations, respectively, received the award. The company merits the award in the realm of customer satisfaction, leadership, strategic planning and benchmarking as established in the TQM system, the citation says. In fact, the award has come as a surprise for the engineer-turned entreprenuer Suresh Sharma, who founded the firm in 1987 "to serve the society for its healthcare requirements". "It is God's grace and our motto — we are global—has been vindicated with the award," Sharma told The Tribune on his return from Geneva. The rare honour has catapulted the company into the top rung of the Indian industry as only a few companies, including the Sahara Group, Reliance Energy and IndianOil Corporation, had been presented with this award, presented annually to major industrial players selected from all over the world. The company's track record in supplying and exporting medical equipment, including X-ray machines, mobile C-arm image intensifiers, lithotripter, mammography unit, mobile cathlab and ultra sound scanner is enviable as the company had been rubbing shoulders with global giants such as GE, Philips and Siemens for years now.
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Corporate Results
New Delhi, April 27 Ranbaxy’s consolidated sales in the quarter grew by 22.6 per cent at Rs 1,564.4 crore. It also reported a 26 per cent growth in its sales in India at $65 million. The company’s business in Europe grew by 78 per cent to $93 million dollars in the quarter. Romania, where the company had acquired generic manufacturer Terapia last year, alone contributed $37 million to its European sales. Wockhardt profit soars 10-fold Wockhardt today posted an over 10-fold jump in net profit at Rs 52 crore for the first quarter ended March 31. Total income of the company increased to Rs 296.1 crore for the January-March quarter, up by nearly 12 per cent as against Rs 265.2 crore in the same period a year ago, Wockhardt informed the BSE. The group posted a profit of Rs 66.3 crore and the total income grew to Rs 525 crore in the three months ended March 31, 2006. GlaxoSmithkline GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited today reported a 22.6 per cent jump in PAT to Rs 42.3 crore for the quarter ended March 31. Total revenues of the company rose by 20.24 per cent to Rs 340.4 crore for the January-March quarter over Rs 283.1 crore for the corresponding period in 2006, GlaxoSmithkline informed the BSE. HCL Infosystems HCL Infosystems today reported a net profit after tax(PAT) of Rs 173.12 crore for the third quarter ended March 31, while the total income stood at Rs 7,472.62 crore for the January-March quarter in this fiscal, HCL Infosystems informed the BSE. Consequently, revenue and PAT are higher by Rs 6,779.38 crore and Rs 197.92 crore respectively for both the quarter-end and nine month-end periods. The board of directors has approved the payment of third interim dividend of 100 per cent on the paid up share capital of the company for the year 2006-2007. The consolidated results show that the group posted PAT of Rs 87.98 crore for the quarter ended March 31 and the total income stood at Rs 2,916.48 crore for the January-March quarter. HCC declares 75 pc dividend Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC) today announced a lower net profit of Rs 79.28 crore in 2006-07. HCC posted a turnover of Rs 2,394.5 crore for the year ended March 31, 2007 as compared to Rs 2,028.15 crore for the previous year registering a growth of 18 per cent. The board of directors has recommended a dividend of 75 per cent. HCC real estate has enhanced its stake to over 63 per cent in Lavasa, the hill township near Pune, and is planning to commence marketing of this township in the last quarter of 2007. According to a statement issued by the construction company, profit before tax stood at Rs 117.89 crore against Rs 98.27 crore, up by 20 per cent. Hindustan Zinc net surges by 16 pc Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) today posted a 16.58 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 935 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, as compared to Rs 802 crore for the same quarter in the last fiscal. Total income of the company, part of the Vedanta Resources Group, increased to Rs 2,095 crore for the January-March quarter this fiscal, up by 15.55 per cent, Hindustan Zinc Ltd informed the BSE. Meanwhile, the company’s board has recommended final dividend at the rate of 25 per cent for the year 2006-2007. The results for the year ended March 31 show that HZL posted a net profit of Rs 4,442 crore and the total income reached Rs 8,791 crore. — Agencies
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