Daily Excelsior...Business

Home trade CEO Agarwal gets CBI custody till June 6

MUMBAI, May 31: Home Trade Ltd CEO Sanjay Agarwal, prime accused in the Rs 92.78 crore Seamen’s Provident Fund organisation scam, was today .....more

ICICI Direct launches
Birla Sun Life
Mutual Fund

KOLKATA, May 31: Icici direct. Com, the integrated online trading service, has launched the Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (Birla Mutual Fund) on its ...more

Dabur Foods’ Real
wins award for highest
sales growth

MUMBAI, May 31: Dabur Foods Ltd’s ‘Real’ brand of juice has won an award for the highest sales growth in the non-alcoholic beverage industry.....more

VSNL MD tightlipped
on Govt criticism

NEW DELHI, May 31: MANAGING Director of recently privatised VSNL S K Gupta today refused to join issue with the Government after criticism of the corporation’s decision to invest Rs 1200 crore in a Tata Company, saying he ......more

Oil reserves are sufficient for 60 days, says Naik

NEW DELHI, May 31: The Government today said it had sufficient oil reserves for two months to meet the demand in case of a war between India......more

Price index increases
by one point

SHIMLA, May 31: All India Consumer Price index number for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) on base 1982=100 for the month of April 2002, has ......more

New law for SSI
sector on the anvil

NEW DELHI, May 31: The Government is formulating special law for the small scale sector encompassing all the laws so far governing the sector with a view to provide them conducive environment to face global ....more

Govt dubs VSNL
decision as breach of trust

NEW DELHI, May 31: Government today asked VSNL to reverse its decision to invest Rs 1200 crore in a Tata group company as it tantamounts to ‘breach of trust’, failing which all legal options will be explored. .....more

Home trade CEO Agarwal gets CBI custody till June 6

MUMBAI, May 31: Home Trade Ltd CEO Sanjay Agarwal, prime accused in the Rs 92.78 crore Seamen’s Provident Fund organisation scam, was today remanded to CBI custody till June 6 by a special court here.

He was brought from Nagpur on May 24 and remanded to custody till today.

Seeking further remand, CBI officers told Special Judge S G Deshmukh that investigations were at a crucial stage and they were trying to find out where the scam money had gone.

CBI alleged that he had siphoned off money through his firms and hence needed to be interrogated to locate the missing funds.

Agarwal is also facing criminal charges under section 406, 409, 468 and 34 of IPC in the alleged Rs 150 crore Government securities scam.

He had surrendered in Nagpur on May 11 and was later brought to Mumbai by State CID for investigation. During his first visit to Mumbai in custody, it was revealed during investigation that Agarwal has 97 bank accounts and had invested some money abroad.

He was again brought to Mumbai on May 24 and remanded to custody till today. Since investigations are not yet over, CBI has sought extension of his custody. (PTI)

ICICI Direct launches Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund

KOLKATA, May 31: Icici direct. Com, the integrated online trading service, has launched the Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (Birla Mutual Fund) on its integrated mutual fund plaza to enable online investment in mutual funds.

Talking to newspersons here last night chief operating officer Anup Bagchi said ten open-ended schemes of Birla Mutual Fund would be available for investing through ICICI direct in a hassle free and paper less mode. He said we are pleased to have Birla mutual fund on our mutual fund plaza. With this, we now have an expanded range of offerings of some of the best mutual fund products to our existing customers in a hassle free environment .

Mr S K Mitra, director-financial services, Aditya Birla group and managing director, Birla Sunlife Asset Management Co. Ltd, said.

Although we are the seventh fund to be launched on Icicidirect, I am happy to learn that our share in ICICI bank’s mobilization is rising rapidly. I am confident that their online channel will put an impetus to this growth. We value this relationship and will work hard to make this a very successful one .

He said the MF Plaza would enable customers of icicidirect to transact online through user-friendly transactions including purchases, redemptions, switches, transfer-in and Systematic Investment Plans (SIP) and Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP). Icicidirect will also answer all the customer queries relating to investments in any mutual fund offered through it, based on a single e-brokerage number.

The Icicidirect would be offering this facility to its 1,69,000 customers. This is the seventh mutual fund to be launched on Icicidirect after prudential ICICI Mutual Fund, Templeton Mutual Fund, Alliance Capital, J M Capital, Sundaram Mutual Fund and Zurich India Mutual Fund. Birla Sunlife Asset Management Company Ltd. Has over Rs 4556 crore as asses under management in India as on May 15, 2002. (UNI)

Dabur Foods’ Real wins award for highest sales growth

MUMBAI, May 31: Dabur Foods Ltd’s ‘Real’ brand of juice has won an award for the highest sales growth in the non-alcoholic beverage industry.

Pepsico Holdings India Pvt Ltd, Parle Agro Ltd, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd and Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation Ltd also won awards for various achievements at the ‘beverage industry awards for operational excellence 2002’ here.

The awards were given away by Union Food Processing Secretary D P Tripathi.

He said the Government is committed to providing all possible assistance to beverage industry players in establishing a vibrant industry and helping them to cater to the demands of the highly fragmented Indian market and consumers.

Pepsico was given the award for highest sales growth by a portfolio, Parle for highest retail availability, Hindustan Coca-Cola for best managed supply chain and Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce for highest machine utilisation.

The awards function was part of a two-day seminar on the beverage industry ended today, organised by Tetra Pak India. (UNI)

VSNL MD tightlipped on Govt criticism

When contacted Gupta, who flew to Delhi yesterday coinciding with an internal meeting Mahajan held with his Ministry officials to review the situation arising out of VSNL’s stand that decision was ‘irreversible’, said "I have not seen what Nahajan has said. Anyway I do not want to comment on anything."

Asked if he would consider reviewing the decision in the wake of Mahajan’s scathing criticism that the decision reflected adversely on business ethics professed by Tatas, who took management control of the corporation in April, Gupta said "no comments."

Earlier in the day Mahajan warned of legal action in case VSNL did not reverse its decision to invest in a Tata company, which was yet to take off and who future was not known. (PTI)

Oil reserves are sufficient for 60 days, says Naik

NEW DELHI, May 31: The Government today said it had sufficient oil reserves for two months to meet the demand in case of a war between India and Pakistan.

"There is no concern over stocks. We have sufficient stocks of oil and petroleum products. They can last for 60 days and all our tanks are full," Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Ram Naik told reporters here.

The Minister, who inaugurated a two-day conference on ‘oil security measures and response mechanism’, organised by Tata Energy Research Institute, however, admitted that a sustained period of high oil prices had affected the Indian economy and that those developing countries that were heavily reliant on oil imports.

India meets about 70 per cent of its oil requirements through imports. During 2000-01, the oil import was to the tune of Rs 80,000 crore while the same in the previous fiscal was Rs 60,000 crore.

The annual average of Dubai crude oil price during the year 2000 and 2001 was around 26 dollars and 23 dollars per barrel, respectively, the highest annual average price during the past decade, Mr Naik said. To reduce dependence on imported crude, the Government had decided to mix five per cent ethanol in petrol in the eight state of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the first phase, to be followed by the entire country, Mr Naik said.

The mix would increase to ten per cent after approval was obtained from the Bureau of India Standards.

The Minister added that the Government had adopted a multi-pronged strategy to ensure smooth supply of petro-products.

"We have diversified the basket of acceptable crude in the refining system. The oil industry is now free to import crude oil of its choice," he said.

Also, direct imports of crude oil undertaken with several oil producers had enhanced supply security, Mr Naik added.

In order to enhance the indigenous oil and gas production, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation had planned to invest Rs 10,000 crore towards implementation of various improved oil recovery and enhanced oil recovery schemes in its major old oilfields, including Mumbai High, the Minister added. (UNI)

Price index increases by one point

SHIMLA, May 31: All India Consumer Price index number for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) on base 1982=100 for the month of April 2002, has increased by one point to stand at 469 points, according to the labour bureau here today.

The increase in index is mainly due to increase in prices of moong dal, groundnut oil, vegetable and fruits etc.

The consumer price index number for March 2001 had increased by three points.

The rise and fall in index varies from centre to centre. In 43 centres, increase in index was noticed between one to 13 points, in 12 centres it remained constant and in 15 centres it recorded a decrease of 1 to 7 points when compared to previous month.

During the month, Pondicherry centre experienced the maximum increase of 13 points mainly due to increase in prices of wheat, vegetables and fruits, saltish snacks, readymade tea etc. Whereas, Kanpur and Quilon centres experienced the maximum decrease of seven points each.

The decrease in index in Kanpur centre is due to decrease in prices of wheat, wheat atta, mustard oil, vegetables and fruits etc. Whereas, in quilon centre this decrease is mainly due to decline in prices of rice, fresh fish, pan leaf etc.

However, the index remained stationary in 12 centres — Ludhiana, Jamshedpur, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Nagpur, Saharnpur, Hubli-Dharwar, Bangalore, Mundakayam, Noamundi, Salem and Chandigarh.

The index in respect of six main centres during April last stood at : Ahmedabad (474), Bangalore (445), Kolkata (524), Chennai (501), Delhi (539) and Mumbai (554).

The point to point rate of inflation, based on the CPI-IW has decreased from 5.17 per cent in March last to 4.69 per cent in April, 2002. In April 2001, it was 2.28 per cent. (UNI)

New law for SSI sector on the anvil

Minister of state for small scale industries Vasundhara Raje today said the Ministry was also giving, in the context of WTO stipulations, final touches to various schemes for strengthening and encouraging technology upgradation, marketing support, capital subsidy and creating processing centres at various industrial centers.

Inaugurating a seminar on sme-strategising marketing and technology upgradation, organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) here, Ms Raje further said there was a need for change in mindset to face the globalisation.

The protection policies of the Government have discouraged the manufacturing sector from becoming increasingly competitive.

She said special subsidy scheme has been formulated for technology upgradation and the focus of the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) was being changed to meet requirements of the SSI sector.

The Minister advised the SSI units to take full advantage of the single unified world market, which have an almost unlimited demand for all kinds of products.

The industry should not compromise on aspects like quality and hygiene. There is an opportunity for the Indian players in the small scale sector to acquire state-of-the-art technology and take lead in the international market. Responding to the suggestions by ASSOCHAM alternate president R K Somany for according priority to factoring services by the banks, the Ms Raje said banks will have to change mindset to willingly finance activities such as advertisement, promotion of products or setting up of regional marketing offices.

The Government acknowledged that SSIs lack proper research and development facilities and, therefore, decided to set of technology institutions, independent laboratories, cluster-wise tool rooms and cad-cam centres for supporting the programmes of the technology promotion.

The Government was also contemplating special schemes to encourage new technology areas such as micro-electronics, process control systems, computer software, biotechnology, pollution control, energy conservation and low capital based enterprises.

The Minister stated that the Government scheme to reimburse for ISO 9000 certification was being made more attractive to induce quality consciousness amongst small entrepreneurs.

The industry should give greater thrust on quality and new concepts such as benchmarking upon such activities.

Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner, SSI, S K Tuteja said India should not unnecessarily be concerned about the Chinese goods and rather upgrade its technology and strengthen its marketing strategies.

He said the Government is fully aware of the likely impact of the wto, inadequacies of finance, need for strengthening the technology base, need for removal of administrative hassles and enlarging entrepreneurial skills.

Mr Somany said the Government should create marketing development fund, promote creation of consortia concept, development of cluster-centres providing centre base technology and processing facilities. (UNI)

Govt dubs VSNL decision as breach of trust

"I am requesting them to reverse the decision. My secretary will write to them. At least Government nominee should have been a part of board subcommittee which considers investment proposals," Communication Minister Pramod Mahajan told reporters after a meeting of the Union Cabinet.

"If this is not done then the Government will do whatever is legally possible and permissible... Afterall Government is Government," he said.

Mahajan’s reaction came after VSNL, in which tatas took management control in April, took the stand that it was well within its rights and would not reverse the decision to invest Rs 1200 crore in Tata teleservices taken on May 28.

Though the Government confronted the recently privatised telecom company the day it took the investment decision, VSNL rebutted the charges made by the Government nominee in the board Rakesh Kumar that the decision was not unanimous and he was not given agenda a week in advance as is stipulated.

Mahajan said the Government nominee had opposed the decision which was wrong as the investment was sought to be made in a company which was yet to take off and whose economic viability was not known.

"The issue is not whether it is asset striping or cash stripping. It is the whole attitude of VSNL... Bombay house (Tatas headoffice) are known for business ethics... Now is it ethical to take out Rs 1200 crore within a month of investing Rs 1500 crore," the Minister said.

"We expected tatas to strengthen VSNL but instead Tata Teleservices is being strengthened which does not have money. There is a game behind it," Mahajan said.

Top Tata official Kishore Chauker and VSNL managing director S K Gupta earlier defended strongly the investment decision. Chauker said "Government as equity holder can’t do anything about it... But Government as Government can do anything." (PTI)