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Non-traditional coir NEW DELHI, Oct 23: In a bid to capture new domestic and global markets, the technology for producing non-traditional coir products will be promoted ......more Parakh
Foods eyes NEW DELHI, Oct 23: The Pune-based Parakh Foods Limited, owner of the Gemini brand of edible oils, expects to register over 47 per cent increase in .....more Asia
stocks up as US SINGAPORE, Oct 23: Asian stocks showed unexpected strength on Wednesday amid relief technology earnings ...more |
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Vidarbha lags behind in NAGPUR, Oct 23: The Vidarbha region continues to remain backward, even while the State continues to enjoy the numero uno position in attracting investments. ........more ONGC
grabs 13 oil NEW DELHI, Oct 23: State-run exploration firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is believed to have grabbed 13 out of the 23 oil and gas .....more PGCIL
planning foray NEW DELHI, Oct 23: Power transmission major Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), which is putting up optical fibre cables on its power ..........more |
NEW DELHI, Oct 23: In a bid to capture new domestic and global markets, the technology for producing non-traditional coir products will be promoted in the coconut producing States in tune with the new initiatives of the 14-nation Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) and the efforts to substitute wood with coir. The leading producers of coconut are Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Orissa, Tripura and West Bengal. The non-traditional coir products include non-woven coir, geo-textiles, wood substitutes like coirply and decorative matting boards and coir pith, said coir board chairman Christy Fernandez. Production of non-traditional coir products will be popularised as a project developed under the ‘clean development mechansim (CDM)’ accepted by the Government, he said. This envisaged a multi-pronged strategy including export market promotion, development of production infrastructure, research and development and development of cooperatives. Coir pith has immense potential as a soil conditioner and moisture-retaining medium for horticulture applications. Another product called coco lawn helps create instant lawns using coir ‘Bhoovastra’ and coir pith organic manure and high density coir pads mixed with sod. Coir geotextiles are used in various forms including woven, non-woven, and stitched blankets, he said. Diversified products like wood substitutes, packaging material, garden articles, automobile accessories and long term biodegradable geotextiles can be popularised for commercial exploitation, Mr Fernandez said. Exquisite products for varying applications can be made out of coir blended with other natural fibres. India is the leading exporter of coir based products, followed by Philippines and Sri Lanka. These are mainly in the form of mats, mattings, rugs, carpets, and rubberised coir with applications in vehicle and furniture upholstery, packaging and insulation material. The prominet markets are North America, Australia, Japan, Korea and European countries. According to a study, the total production of coir fibre in India is 3,64,000 tonnes. The coir industry employs about five lakh people, 80 per cent of them women. However, almost 70 per cent of the husk is wasted as only 30 per cent is utilised for manufacturing various products. An effort to reduce the wastage of husk would result in increased production and revenue growth, creating direct employment for many more rural people, he said. A reduction in wastage of husk from 70 to 50 per cent would result in an incremental production of 2,43,000 tonnes, opening vistas for direct employment to three lakh people, generating rs 1500 crore per annum, he said. APCC has focussed its entire attention on the development of coconut farming and coconut based products like coconut oil, copra, desiccated coconut, cream, and powder. CDM projects in India aim at substituting wood with coir so that felling of tropical trees can be prevented. It is estimated that 40 cubic metres of coirply can substitute for 22 tropical forest trees, Mr Fernandez pointed out. (UNI) |
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Parakh Foods eyes Rs 1,000 cr turnover this fiscal NEW DELHI, Oct 23: The Pune-based Parakh Foods Limited, owner of the Gemini brand of edible oils, expects to register over 47 per cent increase in its turnover at Rs 1,000 crore this fiscal against Rs 680 crore during 2001-02. The company’s recently introduced Freshness Intact Technology (FIT) and restructuring of the edible oil business would enable the company to clock the higher turnover, Parakh foods vice-president N R Dixit said here. The company would set up two more plants at Kurkumbh near Pune to raise its refining capacity by 800 tonnes a day which stands at 1,050 metric tonnes a day at present. Parakh foods is contemplating to introduce value added by-products, he said but refused to divulge details. To achieve the expected turnover, the company will spend Rs 5 crore on marketing activities this fiscal. It is planning to expand the dealer network to 2,500 over next "few" years against 1,500 at present, he said. Mr Dixit claimed that fit technology enables oil to remain fresh for longer duration by preventing oxidation of the product in the process of packaging. The equipment for the new technology is provided by a french company — air liquid. The company has introduced the technology in its gemini brands of sunflower, soyabean and groundnut oils. Parakh Foods had restructured its oil brand last year by bringing soyabean oil under the Gemini brand in almost all parts of the country. Soyabean oil was earlier being sold under the Anand brand and in certain pockets of western and southern parts of the country the company is still selling it under the Anand brand only. The company is contemplating to phase out the Anand brand altogether but no decision has been taken in this regard so far, Mr Dixit said. Gemini is the largest selling brand in the sunflower oil category with the market share of over 14 per cent. The brand has a four to five per cent share in the soyabean oil segment. Parakh foods recently introduced groundnut oil under the brand. Mr Dixit said the proposed two plants would come up by next Diwali. While one of them would be a Vanaspati oil plant with a capacity of 200 tonnes a day, the other would be refinery plant having 600 tonnes per day capacity. The company would invest Rs 12 crore in the Vanaspati plant and Rs 15 crore in the refinery plant, he added. At present the company has five refinery plants at Kurkumbh. (UNI) |
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Asia stocks up as US limits loss, Taiwan leaps SINGAPORE, Oct 23: Asian stocks showed unexpected strength on Wednesday amid relief technology earnings worries had dealt only a limited blow to US shares, with even Tokyo gaining despite the delay of a key report on tackling banks’ bad debts. Japan’s Nikkei 225 average managed to claw back from an early loss of two percent to move 0.3 percent higher by early afternoon as investors decided the stock market had already factored in a delay on Tuesday. The yen was also steady. Most other Asian stock benchmarks were higher too, by as much as 4.3 percent in Taiwan, with traders citing supporting factors such as falling oil prices and the receding threat of an imminent US strike on Iraq. Rising hopes of direct transportation links with mainland China helped Taiwan stocks. There was also relief that US shares had not fallen as much as investors in Asia had feared following gloomy news from chipmakers Texas Instruments Inc (Ti) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). "US markets retreated overnight but the losses were not as big as expected," said Hyun Jong-Won, an analyst at good morning Shinhan securities in South Korea, where the index jumped 2.2 percent. "So it is not likely to affect our market much today." Stock gauges were up two percent in Hong Kong, 0.8 percent in Australia and 0.2 percent in Singapore the biggest loss was in the Philippines, where the main index was down 0.6 percent on budget deficit worries. US stocks snapped a three-day streak of gains as a gloomy fourth-quarter outlook from TI helped rein in enthusiasm over the market’s turnaround in the past two weeks. The Nasdaq composite index dipped 1.29 percent to 1,292.80 and the Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.03 percent to 8,450.16. December Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed in Asia. The US focus looked certain to be on the federal reserve on Wednesday, with Chairman Alan Greenspan scheduled to speak on productivity at a conference in Washington and the fed releasing its beige book on regional economic activity. Ahead of the speech, US treasuries were slightly higher in cautious trade. Benchmark 10-year notes were around 101-2/32, yielding 4.24 percent, against 100-29/32 and 4.26 percent at the US close. Analysts said the Tokyo stock market was spared aggressive selling because the Nikkei had already fallen three percent on Tuesday on speculation the bad loan report could be delayed. "People sold the market yesterday on anticipation of a delay of the report and confusion on the policy front," said Hiroyuki Nakai, manager of investment research at Tokai Tokyo Securities. "So I think we have time before we revisit the recent low of 8,197 (on the Nikkei)." The Nikkei was up 30.15 points at 8,719.54. But shares in banks and their troubled borrowers fell after ruling party politicians sent the report back to the drawing board. Resona Holdings Inc, Japan’s fifth-largest banking group, tumbled nine percent. Financial services minister Heizo Takenaka said the final version of the report will come out by the end of the month, which appeared enough to persuade foreign exchange traders to hold off battering the yen, at least for now. The currency was locked in narrow ranges against the dollar around 124.80 yen the euro was little moved at 97.70 cents against 97.80 in late US trading. "The market is waiting to confirm the contents of the plan and the anti-deflation measures," said Toru Umemoto, currency strategist at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo. "Once it is released, I think we could see 126 or 127 yen." Japanese Government bond prices advanced on bargain-hunting but traders were wary about bidding too aggressively because of the uncertainty about government policy on bad bank loans. Oil was steady, with nymex crude for December delivery at 28.11 per barrel. Gold was softer at around 312.85 compared with New York’s last quoted 312.20. (AGENCIES) |
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Vidarbha lags behind in attracting investment NAGPUR, Oct 23: The Vidarbha region continues to remain backward, even while the State continues to enjoy the numero uno position in attracting investments. This was hesitantly admitted by Maharashtra Industries Minister Patangrao Kadam, who addressed a press conference here last evening on the completion of three years of the Democratic Front Government under the Chief Ministership of Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh. Mr Kadam said the State had received 2,063 proposals involving investments of Rs 59,017 crore between October, 1999, and June, 2002. A joint survey by the World Bank and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) revealed that Maharashtra had the best industrial climate in the country, among the ten industrial States, he added. However, of the total investment proposals, Vidarbha attracted a meagre Rs 1,500 crore with Indo Rama synthetics accounting for a major investment of Rs 600 crore in the five-star industrial estate of Buti Bori in Nagpur along with a few minor investments, Mr Kadam admitted. There had been no new proposal for investment in Nagpur or the Vidarbha region even after the much talked about "advantage Nagpur" earlier this year, he said. Indo Rama, too had announced its investment plan much before the event, Mr Kadam added. The industrialists could not be compelled to come to Vidarbha, the minister observed, adding that the Government had been, of late, taking steps to bring in investments to the region. Mr Kadam, who set up the massive complex in Pune under the banner of Bharati Vidyapeeth, which has been granted a deemed university status, said the Government has granted "D" zone industrial status to Nagpur and "d"" to the entire Vidarbha region to attract investments. A decision to this effect was taken by the Government on October 18, Mr Kadam said, adding that the region offered concessions and facilities to the new units in the area. Commenting on the industrial development of Vidarbha, the Industries Minister said the State had forwarded 227 proposals to the Centre. Of them, 140 projects had commenced with an investments of Rs 1,162 crore over the years. To a question on maintaining the State industrial growth, Mr Kadam further admitted that power position was an issue of concern with no newer projects having come up during the past three years of the DF Government’s tenure. Serious efforts have to be made to improve the power position as even after taking 750 mw power from the phase one of the controversial Enron project at Dabhol in Konkan region, the situation would not improve to the desired level. To another question, Mr Kadam acknowledged that Maharashtra has witnessed a closure of around 15 per cent of the industries due to recession, inefficiency and not adapting to modern technology. (UNI) |
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ONGC grabs 13 oil blocks, Reliance 9; Cairn, Premier draw nil NEW DELHI, Oct 23: State-run exploration firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is believed to have grabbed 13 out of the 23 oil and gas blocks on offer under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) while Reliance Industries (RIL) got nine. However, it was the private sector RIL, in consortium with hardy oil of UK, which walked away with seven of the nine prime deepwater blocks on offer, Government sources said. The empowered committee of secretaries has cleared the award and contracts are likely to be signed by January, they said. Scottish explorer Cairn Energy and premier oil of UK drew blank in the third round of NELP where Government received 45 bids for 23 out of the 27 oil and gas exploration blocks on offer. Gujarat state petroleum corporation (GSPC), consortium with Geo Global Resources (India) Ltd and Jubilant Enpro India Ltd, was the third successful company, bagging the kg-osn-2001/3 offshore blocks in krishna Godavari basin, sources said. State-run exploration firm oil and natural gas corporation (ONGC) bid for 23 blocks out of 27 on offer while Reliance Industries in consortium with hardy oil of UK bid for 15 blocks. Cairn and Premier Oil had bid for one and three blocks respectively. (PTI) |
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PGCIL planning foray into ILD and data centres NEW DELHI, Oct 23: Power transmission major Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), which is putting up optical fibre cables on its power transmission network, is looking at diversification by entering into international long distance telephony, landing stations and data centres. The state-owned 500-million-dollar company, which currently provides optical fibre connectivity on five routes — including the recently-inaugurated Delhi-Lucknow-Mumbai — is also thinking of putting up data centres and getting into telecom network management. "To do well in the telecom business, the company is looking at all the opportunities that the sector offers," PGCIL chief manager (telecom) Seema Gupta told UNI here. Ms Gupta said the company was also open to the idea of acquiring stake in landing station for international telecom cables. "A feasibility study for ILD and landing station is on," she said. The company has acquired considerable expertise in telecom business and is also open to the idea of managing the network for other companies. "PGCIL is also thinking of starting data centres at various places where we will lease out server space to private companies and provide them with world-class facilities," she said. She said the company had recently provided consultancy to Bhutan Power Corporation for its optical fibre network, adding that the Bhutanese Government evinced interest in handing over the execution of the project to PGCIL. The company had provided consultancy to the power distribution company in Mumbai — bses — for its 600-km-long optical fibre network. "Power utilities in Delhi, Pondicherry and Chandigarh have also approached us for similar projects," Ms Gupta said. Apart from connecting Delhi to Mumbai, the company has laid optical fibre cables on the Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Chandigarh, Jabalpur-Itarsi-Dhule and Delhi Meerut routes. "In the next three months, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Pune route will be operational," sources in the company said, adding that Delhi-Kolkata and Bangalore-Chennai-Hyderabad link would be functional in the coming 6-8 months. "By 2003, our entire power transmission network — including that in the North-Eastern States — of 40,000 kms would have optical fibre cable," they said. The estimated cost of the entire project would come to around Rs 1,100 crore, they added. "Apart from this, every new addition to our transmision network will have an optical fibre cable. "As we are expanding our network by six kms a day, our optical fibre network will cross the 40,000-km mark in the coming years," the sources said. Currently Bharti Telecom is the major customer for PGCIL’s optical fibre network with the company getting inquiries from other telecom majors like BSNL, Tatas and Reliance. "Bharti, which has leased bandwidth on Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi-Chandigarh and Jabalpur-Itarsi-Dhule routes, has shown interest in the Delhi-Lucknow-Mumbai link," the sources said. PGCIL Director (Finance) V K Garg said the company is also open to joint ventures if other companies came up with viable proposals. "We expect to break-even in the telecom sector in next 5-7 years," he said. He said their expanding telecom business was presently not contributing significantly to the company’s overall profits but added that with their customers on the rise, they expected noticeable profits soon. On a turnover of Rs 2,861 crore last fiscal, the company posted a net profit of Rs 757 crore. (UNI) |
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WB resumes development funding to Punjab: CM CHANDIGARH, Oct 23: The recent fiscal reforms undertaken by the State Government had made Punjab once again eligible for the World Bank funding for its multifarious development projects in the state, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said. The State Government informed the World Bank that with the passage of budget 2002-03 by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the State Government had been firmly put on the reform course, a statement quoting Singh said here. The bank had stopped extending any development finance to the state due to the reported reverse reform measures taken by the previous Government. Singh said as a first step towards engagement with the Punjab Government, the World Bank had decided to send a mission to the state from November 11 to 16. On the basis of the recommendation of the mission and a quick update of the state’s fiscal situation from an independent agency, the Bank assistance to the Punjab Government would soon resume, he said. The reforms measures included power sector reforms, levy of user charges for various social and economic services with a view to at least cover the direct operation and maintenance costs, disinvestment of restructuring of Public Sector Undertakings and right-sizing the Government. Singh said that during the presentation to the bank, details of reforms measures already implemented by the State Government were furnished and the future projections of the fiscal position on the basis of decisions already taken and to be taken in future were given. It was indicated that the Government was firmly committed to put its house in order and restore financial health of the state by cutting revenue and fiscal dificit and stabilizing the debt stock, Singh said. He claimed the World Bank was quite impressed by the reforms measures incorporated in the budget 2002-03, particularly by the recent decision to do away with free power to agriculture pump sets and free water supply for irrigation. The World Bank indicated that they were very optimistic about the future growth of the state and would be very happy to re-engage with the Punjab Government for funding its various development projects once again as the Government was now firmly pursuing the path of reforms, Singh added. (PTI) |
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France keen on agro-processing, bio-tech JVs in Punjab CHANDIGARH, Oct 23: France today evinced keen interest in the setting up of joint ventures in agro-processing and bio-technology in Punjab, besides strengthening the research and development base for technological advances in the agro-economic sector. Infrastructure, high technology, agro-technology and consumer goods are the key priority areas where India and france could work together for mutual advantage, French Ambassador Bernard De Montferrand said. Addressing the members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Mr De Montferrand said there was a need to positively understand the WTO regime, specially when the international economic situation was not good. He expressed concern over terrorism and on hiccups in building a global consensus against weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. "There has to be a strong global coalition against terrorism," he said, adding that if there would be no consensus on this, the situation would become dangerous. When reporters asked him about the expectations of the international community from India and Pakistan after the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, he declined to answer, saying he was here to talk "business and economic affairs". "Yes, terrorism prevails in Kashmir.... But I want to clarify that this will not have any adverse impact on trade relations between the two countries (India and France)," he said, while requesting the media not to ask any more on the issue. "Well, I have to hold a seminar to answer queries on terrorism," he quipped to the question if there was any effort to look into the reasons of terrorism. Earlier, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh impressed upon the French Ambassador that the state had tremendous potential for food processing industry. A modest beginning had already been made in this regard with the setting up of a modern 30-acre food park in Patiala in collaboration with the key agro processing players of international repute, Capt Singh said. Mr De Monteferrand invited eminent entrepreneurs of agro-processing industries from Punjab to organise road shows in france to encourage joint ventures. The Chief Minister assured the French Ambassador that the Punjab Government would provide all possible assistance besides a congenial environment with harmonious labour to promote bilateral trade, business and commercial activities. Mr De Montferrand said the Indo-French economic relations had improved with major French investment in India in the last three-four years. "Do think of France when you are developing business projects," he told the CII members from the northern region. Stating that his role was more to provide the keys to open more doors to France for Indian enterprise, the Ambassador said several French companies had success stories in India. These included saint gobain in glass, Alcatel in telecom, and Lafarge in cement. He pointed out that the Indo-French bilateral trade had gone up by almost 110 per cent in the last decade with Indian exports growing over 177 per cent in the same period. (UNI) Reports of tax task forces on
Friday, UTI NEW DELHI, Oct 23: Ahead of the budget exercise beginning early next month, the two task forces set up to reform direct and indirect taxes are likely to submit their reports on Friday. Official sources told PTI that the reports, which would contain far-reaching recommendations on simplification of taxes, are also expected to contain measures to do away with most of the exemptions. Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has already indicated he would give top priority to economic reforms including tax reforms and the task forces headed by his Adviser Vijay Kelkar would submit their reports this week. The report on direct taxes might not contain any suggestions to tinker with present rates of 10, 20 and 30 per cent on personal income tax, the sources said adding on the indirect tax, it might suggest lowering of peak customs duty from 35 to 25 per cent on finished products. On raw materials it could be 15 per cent. These reductions in customs duty could be suggested as an intermediate step towards moving on the two rate customs duty structure of 10 per cent on raw materials and 20 per cent finished products in 2004, the sources said. On excise duty it would lay the roadmap for moving towards a single rate excise duty with the introduction of VAT from April one, 2003. The sources also said the ordinance to repeal UTI act is scheduled to be taken up in the next cabinet meeting, expected to be held on Monday. Two other ordinances are also likely to be cleared in that cabinet meeting, but it was not clear on what matter the two ordinances would be. The Government has already indicated that IDBI Act would be repealed to enable corporatisation of the financial institution, and SEBI Act would be amended to provide limited powers for search and seizure of listed companies. (PTI) Additional sugar for Deepavali PONDICHERRY, Oct 23: Two kgs of sugar would be available additionally to all families holding red colour cards through ration shops for Deepavali here. Local Administration Minister A Elumalai said here today in a communiction that orders were issued for supply of the additional quota which could be made use of before Octoer 30. (PTI) |
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