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Govt for probe into NEW DELHI, Oct 2: Government today said that there was a need for probing the sharp rise in share prices of CMC Ltd (which doubled to over Rs.....more RCF
approaches MUMBAI, Oct 2: Public sector Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) Limited has approached the Union Government to convert a part of its ......more IBP to complete disinvestment by Dec KOLKATA, Oct 2: The much publicised disinvestment process of IBP Company Ltd, the Rs 8388 crore petroleum giant, will be completed by......more Silvasa,
Daman are SILVASA(DADRA-NAGER-HAVELI), Oct 2: Sandwiched between two giant states—Maharashtra and Gujarat, the twin cities of.....more |
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IOC to operate LPG NEW DELHI, Oct 2: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will start operating from this month the world’s highest location LPG plant, bulk depot and petrol station in Leh (Jammu and Kashmir). .....more SIDBI
wants Indian MUMBAI, Oct 2: The Indian small-scale lock industry, which is still adopting indigenous technology, is yet to cash in on post-liberalisation overseas opportunities and adopt good manufacturing practices, even as their very survival in India, is in danger, says Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).....more RCF
to put each MUMBAI, Oct 2: The Board of Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) Limited has decided to put each of its operational unit at home and abroad...more |
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RCF approaches Govt to convert equity holding into loans MUMBAI, Oct 2: Public sector Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) Limited has approached the Union Government to convert a part of its equity holding (92.5 per cent) into long term loans in order to meet the growing requirement of finances for acquisition of two fertiliser plants and one chemical plant in the next three to six months. RCF intends to acquire about 74 per cent equity stake each in Paradeep Phosphate Limited, Rourkela Fertiliser Project and Hindustan Organic Chemicals for which the expression of interest letter were submitted to the concerned authorities. Disclosing this last night to newspersons, RCF CMD Mr D K Varma said that the reduction of Government equity level would also help the company to fulfill the aspirations of shareholders who preferred to get higher dividend from the company following its improved performance in the last five consecutive years. In last five years, the company has enhanced its turnover from Rs 1100 crore to nearly Rs 2500 crore. In 2000-01, it enhanced its net profit by 85 per cent to Rs 65 crore, he said. This was achieved mainly due to modernisation and expansion of existing plants at Trombay near Mumbai and Thal in Raigad district of Maharashtra. Further, it has made sustained efforts to reduce the cost of production by 15 per cent through rationalisation of manpower and cutting the cost of energy inputs, Mr Varma added. In the first six months of the current financial year, RCF has sold nearly 12 lakh tonnes of fertilisers which is considered to be on line with the expectations. This was achieved inspite of short supply of gas from the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL). Mr Varma said the company has been incurring an annual production loss of about 3.5 lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers due to shortage of feedstocks (gas). To overcome the problem partially, he said that the naptha pre-reformer scheme was commissioned in may this year at a cost of Rs 83 crore that would supplement the requirement of feedstocks to some extent. The company also added another feather to its cap by bagging the coveted international accredited ISO-14001 certificate for aligning its "environmental management system" with the ISO-14000 standards. RCF was audited in July this year by the external certification agency M/s Indian Register Quality Systems (IRQS). The performance of RCF was also hit by severe drought in the state of Maharashtra, the prime market. This resulted in lower turnover in the year. However, the company made inroads into the highly competitive markets of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. It has adopted 16 villages from eight states to improve the overall socio-economic conditions of farmers. (UNI) |
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IBP to complete disinvestment by Dec KOLKATA, Oct 2: The much publicised disinvestment process of IBP Company Ltd, the Rs 8388 crore petroleum giant, will be completed by December this year, IBP Chairman and Managing Director S N Mathur has said. Speaking to newsmen here last night about the company’s future plans, Mr Mathur said the process to divest the Government’s stake in IBP by 33.58 per cent from the present 59.58 per cent in favour of a strategic partner has been proceeding quite smoothly and was expected to be over by December 31. He said of the 15 parties which had shown interest in the disinvestment process, three had opted out leaving 12 serious bidders. However, refusing to divulge the identity of any of the 12 bidding companies, Mr Mathur only said while six of them were international companies, three each were private and public sector units and all of them were related to either petroleum or chemical industries. Answering to queries about the price of disinvestment the IBP CMD said it was yet to be fixed. While the Government was making its own valuation in accordance with the present market value and share prices, each of the 12 bidders after visiting the company and evaluating all pros and cons had simultaneously been preparing their respective offer prices. However, things would be cleared only on the opening of the bidding papers later this month, he said. To a query about the benefits the IBP proposed to reap from the Government disinvestment, Mr Mathur said it would be three prong. After the disinvestment the IBP would not only become a debt free company but also be having several backup products in hand to ensure a healthy 15 per cent growth in an otherwise saturated but fiercely competitive market. About his plans regarding the IBP-Balmer Lawrie and Company Limited, a Rs 770 crore wholly owned subsidiary of the IBP, Mr Mathur said in a major corporate move the the company had decided to demerge from the Balmer Lawrie and set up a new company called the Balmer Lawrie Investments Limited (BLID) by next month. The new company would hold similar financial stake and share holding pattern as that of the IBP-Balmer Lawrie even as the entire 61 per cent share of the IBP to balmer lawrie would now be converted to the blid. The process would also ensure lesser Government control into the new company despite having new product backups. Moreover, even after the demerger there would be no administrative mixups in the new company, the IBP Chairman said and added that the shareholders would be given similar dividend and other benefits as were given to the previous company. Mr Mathur also disclosed his plans to enter into the marketing of premium tea products for the first time. He said the ‘Summer Special’ premium tea from balmer lawrie would be launched in the Kolkata market in a big way before the Puja. To begin with only three types of premium tea, the pure Darjeeling tea, pure Assam tea and a blend of the two, would be released in the city market by next week he said. He said the IBP had also decided to divest its 25 per cent share to the Indian Oil Company (IOC) for the benefit of the Indian Oil Tanking (IOT) Company Limited, a joint venture unit between IBP, IOC, oil tanking limited of germany. He said following the divestment, while IBP and IOC would hold 25 per cent stake each, their German counterpart would have the remaining 50 per cent share in the four year old company. So far the IBP has invested Rs 37 crore to the iot in phases, Mr Mathur said. He also outlined several growth oriented features of the IOC covering the entire retail network to ensure the all round growth of the petroleum giant. (UNI) |
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Silvasa, Daman are preferred destinations for investments SILVASA (DADRA-NAGER-HAVELI), Oct 2: Sandwiched between two giant states—Maharashtra and Gujarat, the twin cities of Silvasa and Daman under Union Territory, are emerging as preferred destinations for investments to leading industrial houses from the neighbouring states, due to two "good feel factors"—no labour union and better fiscal incentives. Besides industrialisation, both the cities have adopted a proactive tourism policy to attract growing number of travellers from other states, be it a leisure trip or business visit. Even politicians like Mr Dahyabhai Patel, an MP from Daman, publicly announced that no union militancy would be allowed in the Union Territory because the workers are generally happy with the management of several factories here. According to Mr Patel, union leaders always have been "hand-in-gloves" with the management of the firms and exploited the workers in favour of their own gains. "I will not allow formation of any workers union in daman," he publicly told at a gathering of workers last weekend. In this context, he cited an incident of last year, when a group of Datta Samant workers from Mumbai made an attempt to form an union at a plant belonging to the multinational Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) at Daman which he had successfully demolished. On tourism front, Mr O P Kelkar, Administrator of Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, said that the fast growth of industry in the region had helped the administration to earn higher revenues which in turn motivated the authority to deploy more funds for widening and developing various roads and other infrastructure facilities such as water supply, construction of tourism spots and development of natural parks in the Union Terrority. While Daman, situated on the bank of Arabian Sea attracts more people from neighbouring dry-state Gujarat, due to availability of plenty of duty free foreign liquor, silvasa on the other hand, draws several company executives and nature tourists due to the growth in industry, natural beauty and also resources. For instance, Hindustan Lever has invested over Rs 200 crore in both Silvasa and Daman that provided an employment opportunity to over 5,000 people in seven factories. Such development has not only enhanced the purchasing power of local people, mostly Adivasis but also provided jobs to thousands of skilled workers who migrated from cities like Mumbai where several textiles and other manufacturing units were either closed or shifted to other places in recent years due to industrial sickness induced by high cost of investments. (UNI) |
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IOC to operate LPG plant, bulk depot, petrol pump in Leh NEW DELHI, Oct 2: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will start operating from this month the world’s highest location LPG plant, bulk depot and petrol station in Leh (Jammu and Kashmir). The bulk depot with petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation turbine fuel tankages along with lubricants and greases facilities was already in operation, company officials said today. They said the depot would receive regular supplies from Jammu and Ambala. At present, IOC stocks about 79,000 kilo-litres of petroleum products and about 1.45 lakh LPG cylinders every year to cater to the needs of the whole Leh region during the harsh winter months. While an Indane LPG plant would be ready for commissioning in the next one month, a full-fledged aviation fuel station already exists which refuels all incoming flights, the IOC officials said. IOC already has a petrol pump which is the lone retail outlet in Leh. The bulk depot and the Rs 27 crore lpg plant have been constructed, ahead of schedule, despite the short working span between May and October every year. (PTI) |
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SIDBI wants Indian lock
industry to tap overseas MUMBAI, Oct 2: The Indian small-scale lock industry, which is still adopting indigenous technology, is yet to cash in on post-liberalisation overseas opportunities and adopt good manufacturing practices, even as their very survival in India, is in danger, says Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The Indian lock industry is concentrated in two major locations, Aligarh and Didigul, in Uttar Pradesh. Between them, Aligarh has the largest concentration of lock manufacturing units. There are more than 7,500 units manufacturing locks in Aligarh including 1,500 registered units, engaged in manufacturing locks and some other brass articles. The artisan units numbering 6,000, with most of them being nothing more than skilled labourers, sell their locks only in the local market. Industry estimates an annual lock production at Aligarh at around Rs 200 crore of which about 35 per cent is exported. Typically, traditional locks (pad, bicycle, furniture locks) made out of brass are manufactured in aligarh units and the industry relies on workers’ skills with little or no documentations. The other century-old location at Dindigul, is known for small lock manufacturers. According to SIDBI, at present there are only 42 units from about 250 units existed in the past and spread over five villages in Dindigul. The 42 units represent the artisan sector besides one workers’ co-operative, which employs about 30 workers. The total turnover of all these units is around rs 4 million and the number of workers engaged in the industry is estimated to be about 150. According to SIDBI, as per the prevailing mind set for industrial development, it was thought prudent to reserve about thousand items for exclusive manufacture in the small-scale sector prior to the liberalisation. Locks were also included in this list and the Indian lock industry was insulated from competition as well as from new technology. A monopoly market further ensured that technology upgradation and product improvement were the least on the priority list of the units. By the time India started integrating its economy with the rest of the world in early 90s, it was found that the lock industry was not in a position to compete internationally. In view of the increasing importance of lock industry vis-a-vis the present status, SIDBI had made an intervention for technology upgradation of Aligarh industry cluster, SIDBI Chairman P B Nimbalkar said. SIDBI Chairman futher said that the programme was implemented by the National Productivity Council (NPC), New Delhi and envisaged technology upgradation of at least 200 SSI units. NPC had prepared unit-specific modernisation reports for 200 units of which 73 were lodged with primary lending institutions. Thirty-eight SSI units in the cluster were sanctioned assistance by the funds. Eight more units required only technical assistance which was provided by NPC. SIDBI had advised the lock industry that it should gear up to face the challenges and must adapt to this situation not only to regain the domestic market, but also to try and make a dent in the global market for locks which is expected to touch US dollar 50 billion by 2005. (UNI) |
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RCF to put each operational unit under Executive Director MUMBAI, Oct 2: The Board of Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) Limited has decided to put each of its operational unit at home and abroad under the direct responsibility of an Executive Director who would be accountable for the performance of the unit. Elaborating on the organisational re-structuring process of the company, CMD Mr D K Varma said,"we are fixing responsibility and accountability on the newly posted Executive Director at each unit such as Thal and Trombay." the ED would directly report to the board on the performance of the unit. This was a part of overall streamlining measures initiated by the management in order to double the turnover from the current Rs 2500 crore to Rs 5000 crore in the next five years and further to Rs 10,000 crore by the end of next year. Mr Varma further informed that the Government has approved a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for the company, focusing certain target groups. However, he ruled out any re-trenchment of workers. Discussing business expansion, Mr Varma said the proposed Rs 300 crore Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) project in joint venture with Hindustan Zinc Limited and Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Limited is at the final stage of implementation. RCF holds 50 per cent stake in the project while other two partners hold 25 per cent equity each. Besides, the company is implementing two major expansion programmes of urea production at Thal in Raigard district of Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs 1446 crore. However, the success of this expansion plan would largely depend on the Government’s new policy on fertiliser trade and also availability of feedstocks such as Liquidified Natural Gas (LNG) at competitive rates. For the current financial year, there are plans to achieve urea production at 17.8 lakh metric tonnes, complex fertilisers at 6.13 lakhs metric tonnes and chemical products at 150 lakh tonnes. The expansion at thal would provide an additional production of 7.68 lakh metric tonne of urea annualy in future, he said. Mr Varma also hinted that his company is contemplating to set up strategic joint venture projects overseas notwithstanding the fact that RCF had to withdraw from the Oman fertiliser project in favour of another Indian partner due to certain controversies. "We have received all our money back from that project", he said. (UNI) |
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