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loan in pipeline ADB changes outlook after FM’s visit NEW DELHI, June 4: Finance Minister Yashwant.....more
Fiat phasing out NEW DELHI, June 4: Fiat India Limited (FIL), formerly known as Ind Auto Limited, is phasing.....more
NEW DELHI, June 4: Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL) has recorded a seven per cent growth in....more
Govt drops WB funded NEW DELHI, June 4: Government has dropped a Rs 950 crore.....more |
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BHEL enters into NEW DELHI, June 4: India’s largest power equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has entered into a technical collaboration with a German Major for manufacturing eco-friendly boilers which will substantially reduce environmental pollution from fossil fuel fired power plants. .....more Chamber to utilise services
Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, June 4: Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCI) has decided to patronize and to offer every possible help to Dr R S Bali, a retired Professor from Saugar University, who has invented "Tarry-Plast"- an eco-friendly new product of tar and plastic wastes. ......more IFCI embarks on NEW DELHI, June 4: Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) has embarked upon a comprehensive strategy to reduce its massive Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of Rs 4,300 crore to manageable levels over a period of time. ....more NEW DELHI, June 4: The annual rate of inflation dipped marginally by 0.08 percentage points to 6.30 per cent for the week ended may 20, despite a small rise in overall Wholesale Price Index (WPI) during the week. Inflation rate dipped during the week to 6.30 per cent (provisional) from 6.38 per cent (p) after touching a 74-week high the week before on sustained increase in prices of items under fuel, power, light & lubricants. Annual inflation was at 3.33 per cent ...more |
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Fiat phasing out 999cc FIRE Uno NEW DELHI, June 4: Fiat India Limited (FIL), formerly known as Ind Auto Limited, is phasing out its 999cc Uno, powered by the FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotised Engine) powertrain. The company will replace the 999cc Uno with its recently launched 1242cc version of the small car, which has a souped down but Euro-III complaint Siena engine as its heart, senior company officials told UNI here. "We have decided to phase out production of the old Uno and replace it with the new Euro-III version. The exercise has already begun and production of FIRE-powered Uno would be completely discontinued shortly," the officials added. The company has launched the 1.2 litre Uno in three versions —1.2 EL Non AC, 1.2 EL Ac and the fully-loaded 1.2 ELX Ac — priced upwards of Rs three lakh. Powered by a central fuel injection 1242cc engine, the 1.2 Uno delivers 62bhp to provide the Uno range with the most high-performance engine in its class. In addition, the company is also readying a station-wagon version of its mid-size car Siena. Fiat India’s passenger car sales dropped 31.7 per cent in passenger car sales during May, 2000, having sold 1,101 units as against 1,614 cars in the same month a year ago. The company attributed the sales drop to lower production during the month due to a two-week plant maintenance shutdown. During May, 2000, the company sold 901 units of Uno and 200 units of Siena. It had sold 1,365 units of Uno and 249 units of Siena during the same month last year. During the first five months of the 2000 calendar year, the company has sold a total of 6,753 passenger cars, including 5,535 units of Uno and 1,218 units of Siena. Fiat Auto Spa of Italy holds around 95 per cent stake in FIL, while the remaining five per cent stake is with Premier Automobiles Limited of Mumbai. Fiat already has the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to convert the joint venture into a wholly-owned subsidiary. Meanwhile, Fiat India Automobiles Limited (FIAL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiat Auto Spa of Italy, had earlier this week announced an average 30 per cent reduction in its spare parts prices in a bid to boost sales of Uno and Siena models. The company has dropped prices of most essential parts by an average 30 per cent to make the cars more affordable and to bring down the cost of ownership of these models. "It is our commitment not only to increase localisation, but also to thereby provide spare parts at competitive prices and reduce the maintenance costs incurred by our customers for our products," the company had announced. The oft-used parts include wiper blades, wiper arm, timing belt (both petrol and diesel), cylinder head gasket, oil filter and fuses. The company has slashed the price tag of fuses for both uno and Siena by 83 per cent and of Uno wiper blade by 66 per cent. The price of timing belt for Siena has been trimmed by 61 per cent and of exhaust pipe (petrol) by 54 per cent). The company had earlier slashed prices of ‘Siena’ by Rs 30,000 following the company’s decision to pass on benefits of its localisation programme to its customers. Continuously engaged in the development and localisation of its international products, Fiat India has succeeded in achieving much greater localised content for Siena. Through localisation and extensive after-sales upgradation, it has been possible for fiat to enhance both the availability and price of its genuine spare parts, bringing down the cost of ownership and of maintenance, the statement added. (UNI) |
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NEW DELHI, June 4: Bajaj Auto Limited (BAL) has recorded a seven per cent growth in total vehicle sales during May, 2000, having sold 106,000 units as against 99,000 in the same month a year earlier. The May sales include Completely Knocked Down (CKD) sets supplied to group company Maharashtra Scooters Limited (MSL), the company announced in its website — www.Bajajauto.Com. Bajaj Auto’s total sales excluding these CKD sets but including completely built units of Maharashtra scooters, stood at 107,000 units for the month as against 102,000 units in the year-ago period. Production, including CKD sets supplied, stood at 113,000 units in May, 2000, as against 104,000 units a year ago. For the April-May, 2000, period, production stood at 227,000 units, up three per cent from 221,000 units, while sales was up 221,000 units, up 13 per cent from 196,000 units a year ago. Bajaj Auto had recorded an 18 per cent growth in sales of its vehicles in April 2000 at 114,000 units as against 97,000 in the same month a year ago. However, production had witnessed a three per cent decline at 113,000 units as against 116,000 units a year ago. Meanwhile, Bajaj Auto Limited has offered to buy out Maharashtra Government’s entire 27 per cent holding in their scooter manufacturing joint venture — Maharashtra Scooters Limited (MSL). The two-wheeler major, which presently holds around 24 per cent stake in the venture, is currently in negotiations with the State Government concern — Maharashtra State Industrial Development Corporation (MSIDC) for the stake purchase, Bajaj Auto executive director Madhur Bajaj had said. "We are willing to buy out their stake, but they are yet to arrive at a decision," he said. "The State Government has indicated that MSL being the only profit-making venture of theirs, they are not willing to divest their holding...But they would go ahead once divestment becomes the order of the day." MSIDC owns 27 per cent stake in the joint venture, while the remaining is in the hands of public, financial institutions and FIIs. Maharashtra scooters is being viewed as an ideal fit for Bajaj as it would help the scooter major expand its production base and market share. MSL depends heavily on Bajaj Auto for its production and has not made any expenditure provision for research and development for upgrading its models or modernising the plant. Neither has it launched any new products in the market. Bajaj Auto has posted a 13.5 per cent increase in net profit in 1999-2000 fiscal at Rs 613.73 crore. Total sales and other income rose by 7.9 per cent to Rs 4,215.55 crore as against Rs 3,907.20 crore a year ago. The company has also decided to buy back up to 15 per cent of the paid-up capital, numbering about 1.8 crore shares at Rs 450 per share. The buy back would be financed from the surplus funds of the company. (UNI) |
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Govt drops WB funded project due to high costs NEW DELHI, June 4: Government has dropped a Rs 950 crore project to be funded by the World Bank to modernise Indian statistical system due to high cost and need for massive manpower at a time when efforts are being made for downsizing of administration. "We have withdrawn the project from the committee of secretaries as the corpus of the project was too high and it required an additional staff of 6,000. It certainly requires a re-look," Arun Shourie, Minister of State for Planning and Programme Implementation told PTI in an interview. The World Bank aided project was supposed to purchase new equipment for data collection which would require an additional staff of 6,000, Shourie said adding that "it is not modern equipment but adoption of scientific techniques of collecting data which is required." The decision to withdraw the project was taken about two weeks back, he said. The World Bank teams had visited India and negotiations were at an advanced stage with the Ministry of Statistics prior to Shourie’s appointment as minister. However, no funds had been disbursed by the bank for this project. Government has set up a National Statistical Commission (NSC) under the chairmanship of former RBI Governor Dr C Rangarajan to recommend measures for improving the statistical system in the country, he said. Shourie admitted that the Indian statistical was plagued by outdated methods of collecting data, and lack of cohesion among leading statistical institutions — National Sample Survey (NSS) and Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), which called for drastic measures to modernise the system. NSC is likely to submit final report by the end of this year, Shourie said adding that terms of reference for the commission included critical examination of the deficiencies of the present statistical system. The 11-member NSC comprises leading economists and statisticians including Professor S Tendulkar of Delhi School Economics, V R Panchamukhi of RIS and NCAER Director General Dr Rakesh Mohan. The Commission would also review the existing organisation of the statistical units of the Government and make recommendations on their staffing and training requirement, Shourie said. Elaborating on the shortcomings of the present data collection methodologies, Shourie said that more than 40 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was not estimated directly and there was a possibility of wide fluctuations in annual estimates. Similarly, estimates of agricultural production, land holdings and poverty reflected wide discrepancies among different surveys. "There is nearly 57 per cent discrepancy in number of land holdings in Punjab as reflected in the land holding survey and the agricultural census," Shourie said adding that all these required a close review. (PTI) |
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BHEL enters into technical collaboration NEW DELHI, June 4: India’s largest power equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has entered into a technical collaboration with a German Major for manufacturing eco-friendly boilers which will substantially reduce environmental pollution from fossil fuel fired power plants. These special boilers called ‘one-through builers,’ under agreement with Babcock Borsig Power (BBP), will be manufactured at BHEL’s high pressure boiler plant at Tiruchirappally. These boilers are increasingly being employed world-wide to achieve higher cycle efficiency which will also reduce consumption of coal. For the upcoming mega power projects in the country, installation of once-through boilers with super critical paramaters will become imperative due to their higher efficiencies. Utilities like NTPC are already contemplating adoption of super critical technology for some of their projects. Once-through boilers also respond better to load changes, besides reducing the emission of pollutant and greenhouse gases and particulate matter. (UNI) |
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Chamber to utilise services
of Dr Bali Excelsior Correspondent JAMMU, June 4: Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCI) has decided to patronize and to offer every possible help to Dr R S Bali, a retired Professor from Saugar University, who has invented "Tarry-Plast"- an eco-friendly new product of tar and plastic wastes. Addressing a press conference Chamber of Commerce and Industries Chief, Mr Ram Sahai introduced Dr R S Bali, a son of the soil, who did his M.Sc and Ph.D from Delhi University and came back to his State after forty years. Describing Dr Bali’s invention as revolutionary, Mr Sahai said there are about 500 plastic industries in the region which will definitely get benefit from this new product. "Plastic industry is providing seizable, direct and indirect, employment to the people and this new product would generate more avenues in this sector", Mr Sahai hoped and added that Chamber of Commerce and Industries will collaborate with Dr R S Bali to utilise his services to revive dying industrial sector. Mr Sahai admitted that there are some bureaucratic hurdles but hoped that these hurdles would be removed shortly. Dr R S Bali, a resident of Hiranagar tehsil of Kathua district, while giving information about his invention said "both tar and plastics are end products and are known for their endless utility. We are in plastic age to get rid of waste plastic is not that simple. "With providing alternatives, imposition of ban is a bureaucratic arrogance. Disposal of waste plastic is a formidable challenge for environmentalist", he stated. He said that both tar and plastic wastes can be converted into Tarry-Plast through an easy procedure with the help of a powder. "Through this new product we have found a endless burial ground for plastic waste. It is cost effective and eco-friendly in nature. This method is novel and simple in its application", he claimed. Giving details of the procedure, Dr Bali said, "at high high temperature tar dissolves plastic and a new material, Tarry-Plast is formed, a product showing tar like characteristic. On heating, it melts like tar and on mixing with tar it enhances the adhering power and surface strength of macadamized material". About utility of the new product, Dr Bali said that it was impossible to mix a hard Tarry-Plast with any aggregate of the road. It is first melted, he said, and then mixed with hot soft grade of tar as per requirement suiting to the site of its application and environmental temperature. "For effective grouting low grade mixture of Tarry-Plast covers intersfices for better binding effect. At high viscosity level its liquid state is short lived, which further depends on the temperature of the site", he said and said, "high viscosity under heavy traffic causes brittleness of the road but is useful for leaky roofy". He further said that suitable prepared mixture can usefully be employed as cheap foot path carpet. It can check the ‘bleed’ of tar and is better ‘tack coat’ over the old road surface. "A part from binding and waterproofing it gives enameling effect to the surface, where it used as dressing and painting material", he informed and further added that it is a useful material where roads are water logged. Dr Bali claimed that his invention is a twin solution for two most intrigued problems faced by environmentalists and road engineers. The gainful burial of plastic waste is a wedlocked proposition, he said, its credential a a successful road material can pave way for disposal of waste plastic. Dr Bali, who had approached State authorities for utilisation of his invention, expressed his regret over the callous attitude of the Government agencies. "I have spent my precious one year but gained bad experience from State agencies", he said and praised CCI president, Mr Sahai for his quick and firm patronization of present work. |
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IFCI embarks on strategy to recover its massive NPAs NEW DELHI, June 4: Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) has embarked upon a comprehensive strategy to reduce its massive Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of Rs 4,300 crore to manageable levels over a period of time. The Corporation, which skipped paying dividend for the first time in over 50 years of its existence this year, has classified its loan portfolios into four categories and formed different strategies for recovering NPAs in these segments, IFCI Chairman P V Narasimham said here. In the first category, IFCI has identified NPAs in the cyclical industries and other sectors which face difficult times due to the problems in the economy. Narasimhan said Rs 1,500 crore worth of its NPAs comes from this sector and IFCI has decided to reset interest rates and payment schedules of loans from this sector. "This option will reduce profitability (of IFCI) for one or two years. But we are confident that this loss will be compensated in the long-run," he said. The second category relates to NPAs from companies or groups that are unsustainable. This segment, which constitute about Rs 1580 crore of NPAs, comprises companies or group in the textile, Polyester Filament Yarn (PFY), magnetic tape, iron & steel and basic chemicals. Narasimhan said IFCI along with other financial institutions are currently involved in negotiations to sell these units. The third category involves companies or groups that were not willing to sell the units. In this segment, IFCI would pursue the matter with Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) to recover the dues. The last category relates to loans to projects that have become totally unviable. This segment, where the NPAs are estimated to be less than Rs 500 crore, comprises industry segments such as mini steel, mini cement, granite and aquaculture. Narasimhan said IFCI’s strategy in these segment was to sell and book losses. (PTI) |
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NEW DELHI, June 4: The annual rate of inflation dipped marginally by 0.08 percentage points to 6.30 per cent for the week ended may 20, despite a small rise in overall Wholesale Price Index (WPI) during the week. Inflation rate dipped during the week to 6.30 per cent (provisional) from 6.38 per cent (p) after touching a 74-week high the week before on sustained increase in prices of items under fuel, power, light & lubricants. Annual inflation was at 3.33 per cent a year ago. The wholesale price index for "all commodities" (base: 1993-94 = 100) for the week increased by 0.1 per cent to 151.9 (p) as compared to 151.7 (p) in the previous week. During the week, prices of primary articles moved up on account of increase in food articles. Inflation based on the final index for the week ended March 25 stood sharply up at 6.49 per cent as against 4.16 per cent on the provisional index. The final index for all commodities was at 150.9 compared to provisional estimate of 147.6. Compared to WPI, inflation on Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) for April stood at 5.54 per cent, up from 4.83 per cent in the previous month. Commodities which witnessed fluctuation during the week were fish inland, poultry chicken and liquid nitrogen (up 10 per cent each), fireworks (up 8 per cent), cotton yarn cones (up 6 per cent), niger seed (up 5 per cent), tea and hair oil (up 4 per cent each), woolen yarn (down 29 per cent), coffee (down 12 per cent), copra (down 6 per cent), sunflower oil (down 5 per cent) and gingelly seed (down 4 per cent). During the week indices of primary articles and manufactured products moved up while index for fuel, power, light & lubricants stood unchanged. Index for primary articles rose by 0.4 per cent to 163.3 from 162.7 in the previous week on higher prices of food articles, which moved up by 0.5 per cent to 173.1 from 172.2. From food articles, prices of fish inland and poultry chicken (10 per cent each), tea (4 per cent) and maize, moong and masur (1 per cent each) were costlier. Prices of coffee (12 per cent), jowar and bajra (3 per cent each) and vegetables and fruits (1 per cent), however, were cheaper. Index for non-food articles remained unchanged at 143.4. However, prices of niger seed (5 per cent), sunflower (3 per cent) and raw cotton, raw silk, cotton seed and skins raw (1 per cent each) were higher. Prices of copra (6 per cent), gingelly seed (4 per cent), kardi seed (2 per cent) and raw jute, groundnut seed, linseed and fodder (1 per cent) were lower. Index for fuel, power, light & lubricants remained unchanged at the previous weeks level of 193.6. Index for manufactured products, which accounts almost for two-third of the total weight of WPI, moved up marginally by 0.1 per cent to 138.7 from 138.5 in the previous week. Among manufactured products, index for food products declined by 0.4 per cent to 148.9 from 149.5 due to lower prices of sunflower oil (5 per cent), ghee, solvent extracted groundnut oil and coconut oil (3 per cent each) and skimmed milk powder, bran, sugar, hydrogenated vanaspati, gingelly oil and unrefined oil (1 per cent each). However, prices of gur and cotton seed oil (2 per cent each) and atta and rape and mustard oil (1 per cent each) moved up during the week from the sub-group. Index for textiles rose by 0.8 per cent to 117.0 from 116.1 due to higher prices of cotton yarn cones (6 per cent) and hessian cloth (1 per cent). Prices of woollen yarn (29 per cent), texturised yarn (3 per cent) and cotton yarn hanks (1 per cent) declined from the group. Paper and paper products’ index rose by 0.2 per cent 153.3 from 153.0 due to higher prices of other boards (4 per cent). Higher prices of liquid nitrogen (10 per cent), fireworks (8 per cent), hair oil (4 per cent) and medical x-ray films (2 per cent) pushed up the index for chemicals and chemical products by one per cent to 160.6 from last week’s 160.4. Index for basic metals, alloys and metal products fell by 0.1 per cent to 137.5 from 137.6 in the previous week on account of cheaper pipes and tubes (1 per cent). Index for machiner and machine tools rose by 0.4 per cent to 116.1 from 115.6 due to costlier electrical industrial machinery (2 per cent). Indices of all other groups remained unchanged during the week. (PTI) |
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