NEW DELHI, Sept 30: Bullion remained divergent, sugar static and grains improved while oils traded mixed at the local commodity markets during the week ended September 29. Prices of precious metals traded range bound in the international markets and the same trend prevailed in the domestic market owing to terrorist ....more

Adverse report creats
severe jolt to poultry
industry in TN

COIMBATORE, Sept 30: An adverse report in a Tamil magazine on alleged malpractices while rea.......more

FIIs & MFs operate in
contrast during Sept

MUMBAI, Sept 30: The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Mutual Funds (MFs) operated in......more

NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The annual inflation rate fell by 0.07 percentage points to 4.93 per cent for the .....more

Services sector likely to
witness a major setback

NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The services sector which contributes nearly 30 per cent to the total exports of .....more

‘Recovery in Indian
economy to take
more than a year’

NEW DELHI, Sept 30: Responding to a snap poll conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry ....more

HLL believes in honesty

MUMBAI, Sept 30: Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) believes in honesty and integrity of its workers...more

COIMBATORE, Sept 30: An adverse report in a Tamil magazine on alleged malpractices while rearing broiler chicken, has created a severe jolt to the poultry industry in Tamil Nadu.

Talking to UNI, broiler co-ordination committee president B Soundararajan said for the last month alone, the loss caused to the industry was to the tune of about Rs 50 crores in the state. We were forced to sell the birds below the actual cost of rs 27 per kg as production could not be stopped and also it was not economically viable to feed broiler chicken for more than 45 days, he said.

Answering a question, he said about 70 per cent of the total broiler chicken production were from this district and it fed the families of 3,000 workers directly and about 4,000 families indirectly. Out of the industry’s national turnover of Rs 4,000 crores, Tamil Nadu alone contributed Rs 1,000 crore per year, he pointed out.

Mr Soundararajan said out of the total production, about 25 per cent had been exported to Kerala and about ten per cent to Karnataka and the rest had been consumed in Tamil Nadu. The transportation of birds was restricted to nearby areas only as the industry had to bear the loss due to mortality and loss of weight of birds during transportation, besides the cost of transportation, he said.

To a question, he said the average consumption of chicken by an individual in the country was less than one kg per annum, as against the world health organisation’s recommendation of 10.5 kg. But, in western countries, the consumption was 48 kg per individual per year, while in Tamil Nadu the average consumption was 3.5 kg per year, he pointed out.

On the current crisis being faced by the industry, Mr soundararajan said the recent adverse report on broiler chicken without any scientific proof had affected the industry drastically. The slowdown in the export market of the fisheries sector also had its impact on the industry, he added.

Reacting to the report’s allegation that chicks were being injected with ‘cortisone’ to accelerate the growth rate of the broiler chicken, he said the charge was true, then the cost of chicken would have gone up to rs 300 per kg. Moreover, the birds cannot bear the stress of the drug if it was administered on them. The birds were being reared in a very hygienic ambience and fed only with maize, soya, rice bran and jowar of high nutritional value, he added.

Dr V S Shanmuga Sundaram, retired Professor of the Department of Animal Husbandry of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), who owns a poultry farm in the city, when asked about the alleged administration of cortisone to broiler chicken, said "it is rubbish. We gave only vaccination to the birds in the form of eye drops on the seventh day and the 19th day .

Scientist of the Animal Husbandry Department of the TNAU Dr R Balagopal said: "In the tropical Indian climate, it is not possible to administer steroid (cortisone) drug to the birds. Further, the birds cannot withstand the stress of the drug even if applied".

Discounting the theory that consumption of broiler chicken led to early puberty among female children, noted gynaecologist Dr Mirudhubashini Govindarajan said the chief reason for this phenomenon was lack of exercise and watching television. Broiler chicken was, in fact, a source of nutrition to the human body, she pointed out.

Noted city-based paediatrician Dr K Selvarajan said consumption of broiler chicken cannot be the source of amoebiasis. Till date, chicken food was not found to be allergic for children. Instead, it had nutritional value as it was devoid of cholesterol content, he pointed out. (UNI)

FIIs & MFs operate in contrast during Sept

MUMBAI, Sept 30: The Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Mutual Funds (MFs) operated in contrast to each other for investments in equities in September with the former net sellers worth Rs 415.6 crore (USD 88.2 million) and the MFs remaining net buyers at Rs 137.29 crore.

MFs were active sellers in debt market with net sales at Rs 239.40 crore. FIIs were also net sellers at Rs 117.7 crore (USD 25 mn), according to the data available with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) here.

Trading activity after September 11, the day of terrorist attacks in the US, saw radical shifts with fiis turning net sellers in equities on six consecutive days.

The Bombay Stock Exchange sensex dipped below the eight year low at 2600.12 on September 21.

On September 20, Reserve Bank of India in consultation with Centre, decided that cap on FII investment in company could now be raised beyond 24 per cent limit set earlier.

The foreign funds abstained from any activity in debt for six trading days in the reporting month.

FIIs were net buyers in equities for nine days with highest net investment at Rs 70.9 crore (USD 15 mn) on Sept 20 while NFs were net buyers on eight days with highest net investment of Rs 116.38 crore on Sept 12, SEBI said.

On September 16, FIIs bought equities worth Rs 168.9 crore and offloaded to the extent of Rs 278.7 crore, thus netting sales of Rs 109.8 crore (USD 23.3 mn), the highest for the month.

MFs recorded their highest net sales in equities at Rs 32.42 crore on September 26.

On the debt front, MFs bought and sold instruments worth Rs 22.49 crore and Rs 206.26 crore respectively, thus turning net sellers at Rs 125.41 crore on September 21, the highest for the month. (PTI)

Inflation falls to 4.93 pc

NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The annual inflation rate fell by 0.07 percentage points to 4.93 per cent for the week ended september 15, even as fuel prices remained firm despite changes in international market due to uncertainty in the wake of US attacks on September 11.

The point-to-point inflation rate based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities (base: 1993-94 = 100) fell from 5.0 per cent in the previous week due to fall in the primary items’ prices. The index was 5.91 per cent a year ago.

WPI, however, remained unchanged at the previous week’s level of 161.8 and the index was 154.2 in the previous year.

The final WPI stood at 161.1 for the week ended July 21 as against the provisional figure of 160.8, while the final inflation rate was higher at 5.16 per cent as compared to the provisional level of 4.96 per cent.

The Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) rose sharply by 1.15 per cent to 5.19 per cent in August as compared to 4.04 per cent in July, while the index based on wpi rose by three points to 466 points.

Primary articles became cheaper by 0.1 per cent to 170.9 from 171.1 in the previous week, despite a 0.5 per cent rise in non-food items’ price. The index was 162.2 a year ago.

However, fuel and manufactured products remained firm at the previous week’s levels of 226.1 and 144.3 respectively and indices were 199.5 and 141.4 in the previous year.

Although prices fell for mutton (five per cent), bajra (three per cent), gram (two per cent) and ragi, urad and fish-marine (one per cent each), food articles’ group fell by 0.3 per cent to 178.5 from 179 due to cheaper fruits and vegetables (two per cent) and moong (one per cent).

The index for ‘non-food articles’ grgup rose to 156.2 from 155.5 on account of higher prices for groundnut seed and rape and mustard seed (two per cent each), while there was price fall for niger seed (four per cent) and cotton seed, copra, soyabean,$skins raw and fodder (one per cent each).

Among the manufactured products, the food products’ group rose by 0.2 per cent due to costlier solvent extracted groundnut oil (eight per cent), rice bran oil (two per cent) and sooji (rawa), atta, sugar, hydrogenated vanaspati and gingelly oil (one per cent each), even as there was dip in the price of gur, salt and groundnut oil (two per cent each) and ghee and soyabean oil (one per cent each)

Textiles’ group was up by 0.2 per cent as prices rose for viscose filament yarn (19 per cent) and polyster staple fibre (one per cent), while prices fell for tyre cord fabrics (19 per cent) and cotton yarn-hanks, viskose staple fibre, hessian cloth and hessian and sacking bags (one per cent each).

Paper and paper products’ fell by 0.6 per cent due to two per cent fall in the price of newsprint and one per cent for white printing paper.

A four per cent dip in liquid chlorine price made the chemicals and chemical products’ group to decline by 0.1 per cent, while one per cent dip in cement price led non-metallic mineral products’ group to fall by 0.9 per cent.

Machinery and machine tools’ group fell by 0.1 per cent on account of two per cent fall in the price of switch gears, while price of ceiling fans rose by one per cent. (PTI)

Services sector likely to witness a major setback

NEW DELHI, Sept 30: The services sector which contributes nearly 30 per cent to the total exports of India is likely to witness a major setback due to global recession and the attack on the US and exports are apprehended to slide back to the pre-reform levels of 20 per cent in 1990-91.

According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), the slowdown in trade will impact shipping, transport, banking and financial institutions in additions to the already suffering air travel and tourism industry and the software sector.

Even the manufacturing sector which is already in the throes of a slump will feel the pinch as critical imported raw material will become costlier. The share of manufacturing sector in the country s export in dollar terms has already come down from 82.03 percent in 1999-2000 to 79.92 percent in 2000-2001.

The chamber’s quick analysis reveals that the increase in export of services in -the post-reform era was mainly on account of the increase in the export of software services. India s export of computer software and services during 2000-01 has been estimated at Rs 27,500 crore (5.98 billion dollars) as against Rs 17,300 crore (4.02 billion US dollars) in 1999-2000, registering a growth of approximately 59 percent in rupee terms (48.59 in dollar terms).

The proposed targets for software and services exports for the current fiscal are placed at Rs 35,750 crore (7606 million dollars) projecting a growth of 30 percent (27.23 percent in dollar terms) over 1999-2000.

These targets are unlikely to be achieved due to the recession.

In the software sector, ASSOCHAM had projected that by the year 2008, the opportunities for the total market for it services would be 38.5 billion dollars, for software products 19.5 billion dollars, for it enabled services 19.0 billion dollars, for e-business 10 billion dollars and the exports for it services would be 23 billion dollars, for software products eight billion dollars, for it enabled services 15 billion dollars, for e-business four billion dollars.

These projects now run the risk of being scaled down substantially.

Export performance, inter-alia, is influenced by international market conditions, export competitiveness of the domestic industry etc. Exports in last few months have been affected due to general slow down in world trade in major importing countries.

Areas where sluggish export growth has been noticed during 2000-01 are gems and jewellery, sports goods, handicraft and carpets, etc.

Though, the Government has taken a number of steps to further enhance the export growth, there is an urgent need to promote exports through multilateral and bilateral initiatives and identification of thrust sectors by focussing on regions.

Measures should also be taken to further reduce transaction cost through decentralisation, setting up agri-economic zones, simplification of procedures and constant review of the export performance sectorwise.

For the services sector, these measures will have to be backed up by a special focus on the markets of Canada, Western Europe and far East Asia, and there is need to enhance infrastructure for improving connectivity, easier and cheaper availability of bandwidth, examining alternate connectivity methods and models.

Also, it is imperative to strengthen advantages by moving towards a diversified it export basket that includes higher value services such as end-to-end solutions as well as it-enabled services and explore the synergy between the hardware and software sectors, through specialization in embedded technology, to sustain our leadership in the global it markets. (UNI)

‘Recovery in Indian economy to take more than a year’

NEW DELHI, Sept 30: Responding to a snap poll conducted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recently at its National Council and Associations Council meeting, most of the CEOs felt that a recovery in the economy could be expected only beyond 2002.

This was a change from the previous poll conducted in July 2001, where a majority felt that economic recovery was possible within a year’s time. The UW effect is perhaps an important factor in the change of perception.

While there is absolutely no doubt about the possibility of an economic impact, the perception about its magnitude varies - an equal split between those who foresee a significant impact and those who believe that it would be moderate.

To gauge the impact on the Indian economy, especially in terms of the external sector, the impact on three critical factors on which responses were sought included Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign Institutional Investments and trade.

Expectations of a significant impact on FII inflows are in keeping with the actual trends witnessed in the aftermath of the attacks on the US. FIIs have been net sellers in equity almost every day since the attacks (77.5 million dollars), except for a few days which witnessed marginal net buying activity.

The recent announcement of a hike in FII limits has not been reflected in daily trading yet.

On the other hand, expectation of a moderate impact on trade was an encouraging signal. Although the poll was conducted before the formal lifting of sanctions against India, its anticipation did perhaps influence expectations of a pick up in trade in sectors affected by sanctions.

A greater cause for concern is the significant impact that the ceos foresee in terms of FDI inflows. With a slowdown in the global economy already reducing the quantum of FDI flows, any impact on inflows from our biggest investment partner would substantially affect India.

The respondents to the snap poll expect the infrastructure sectors to bear the brunt of a decline in FDI inflows. In terms of exports, garments, gems, consumer goods and engineering goods were some of the products, which may be negatively impacted.

However, as expected, the respondents to the snap poll were almost unanimous that the sectors that would be most affected included software, aviation and tourism.

With the impact on the financial markets expected to affect the banking and financial services sectors also, all the key services sectors would feel the strain, according to the CEOs.

Economic growth in India has been riding on the back of a sustained growth in the services sectors over the past five years. These developments may be indicative of the fact that the magnitude of the impact on the economy is likely to be far greater.

The respondents were asked to rank certain short-term measures, including pump priming, focus on implementation, reduction in interest rates, secondary stock market revival and disinvestment, to revive growth in the economy.

The ceos endorsed a complete focus on the implementation of infrastructure projects as the best short-term route towards economic growth.

The majority viewed that its impact would be significant for the respondents own company/organisation - either directly or indirectly.

While the other measures such as reduction in interest rates and disinvestment follow infrastructure implementation as the other desirable measures, they seem to be a distant second to it. Interestingly, secondary stock market revival does not rank too high as a short-term measure to revive growth.

Another interesting response relating to the stock markets was on the reasons for the lack of liquidity in the secondary markets. Given a choice in terms of reduction in bank finance, ban on badla and a general lack of investor confidence, the respondents almost unanimously chose the latter. Ban on badla was the second and reduction in bank finance the third choice for the respondents to the snap poll.

The need to reintroduce badla to infuse liquidity in the secondary market for stocks was emphasised by most of the respondents to the poll.

A ray of hope for the economy is evident in the response to the question on post monsoon demand situation. The respondents to the snap poll believe that post monsoon, demand especially in the rural areas is certain to increase. They, however, were conservative in their growth projections during the second half of the current financial year.

Most of the respondents expect a less than 10 percent growth in sales and profits over the next six months. (UNI)

HLL believes in honesty

MUMBAI, Sept 30: Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) believes in honesty and integrity of its workers and if these are not forthcoming, the FMCG major will not hesitate to pull out from the any part of the country, says HLL Chairman Mr M S Banga.

We will try our best to bring changes in the problematic environment and if fail, we will withdraw ourself from that place, Mr Banga has observed.

Mr Banga said that the safety and security of workers and plant machinery were the top most priority at any factory of HLL. Our strength is the honesty of workers and their dedication to the growth of the company, he said reiterating that if we don’t find such honesty, we will withdraw our industry from that place.

Mr Banga was addressing the workers this weekend at Silvasa under the Union Territory of Dadra Nagar and Nagar Haveli where he inaugurated two state-of-the-art new plants— detergents and tea blending— at a total cost of Rs 50 crore. Both the plants were built in record time of seven months to manufacture 1,80,000 tonnes per annum of bars and concentrate powders and 15,000 tonnes per annum of tea.

Outlining the future growth strategy for the company, Mr Banga asked the workers to be cost competitive and quality conscious through constant upgradation of technology and knowledge. These are essential to face the challenges of the future.

HLL has been able to reduce its capital cost by making 10-12 times savings of its investment through introduction of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) in 25 of its factories across the country. The company has over 40 fully trained instructors who are spearheading the TPM movement, aiming at zero breakdown of plant and production process and higher productivity. The Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance has been instrumental in supporting the company’s tpm initiative.

In Daman-Silvassa region, HLL has seven factories spread across four business—two each in detergents, personal products, beverages and one in chemicals—that provides employment directly or indirectly to about 6,000 people in the region. The total investment in these factories is about Rs 200 crore.

Mr Banga later told newspersons that there was no sign of revival of consumers demand, particularly from the rural areas, even though the rainfall across the country was adequate. However, some parts like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh did not receive the expected rainfall. Rural markets are not showing any dramatic uptrend which is essential to drive the demand growth , he observed.

Hll is currently engaged in focussing on 30 power brands and 10 regional brands which were given shape by restructuring and merging a total number of HLL 110 brands of the past. It has also plans to take confectionery brand max to national level after its successful test marketing at Chennai recently. (UNI)

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