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Tourism units earning NEW DELHI, Nov 2 : Meeting a long standing demand of the sector, Tourism Minister Madan Lal Khurana today announced that all tourist units earning Rs six crore as foreign exchange will be recognised as export houses......more BOB chairman favours NEW DELHI, Nov 2: With the economy not showing any signs of early revival and PSU disinvestment eluding the investors, the future holds little for the primary market, which continues to be listless as only one issue hit the market in October like July and August, says an expert in the field.......more |
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Toyota setting
up service centre with Lakozy Motors NEW DELHI, Nov
2: Toyota Tsusho
Corporation (TTC), the trading arm of the Japan-based
Toyota Group, is setting up a joint venture with Lakozy
Motors Private Limited for retail and sales and servicing
of made-in-India Toyota cars in Mumbai.......more NEW
DELHI, Nov 2: The
Delhi Government has rounded up more than 80 traders in a
crackdown on hoarders and black marketers of common salt,
Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister......more LUCKNOW,
Nov 2: The Uttar
Pradesh Government would soon set up a leather technology
park at a cost of Rs 24 crore..........more BHIWADI
(RAJASTHAN), Nov 2:
The 1.8 billion dollar Sakata Inx Corporation of Japan
has started production of liquid printing inks for...more CUTTACK, Nov 2: In a significant order, the Orissa High Court has asked the Grid Corporation of Orissa Limited (GRIDCO)....more Salt prices leapfrog to SILIGURI,
Nov 2: Salt prices
have leapfrogged to Rs 60 in Darjeeling and Kalimpong
after panic buying of the commodity in Delhi......more |
BOB chairman favours more equity dilution MUMBAI, Nov 2: Bank of Baroda (BOB) Chairman K Kannan today favoured further equity dilution in the bank by the Government to enable it to go for a sizeable Global Depository Receipts (GDR) issue and maintain Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at the current level of 12 per cent. Kannan said the Government could have control over the bank even with a 26 to 30 per cent holding. The present 66.22 per cent Government holding did not provide BOB with an option to tap the GDR market with a sizeable issue as Government holding needs to be kept at 51 per cent, he said. Talking to reporters after a press conference to brief on the bank’s performance during April-September 1998, Kannan said the Narasimham Committee had also recommended dilution of Government equity stake to 26 per cent. He said BOB was mulling over options including a Global Depository Receipts (GDR) issue to maintain its CAR, in the wake of acceptance of the committee’s recommendations on some balance sheet items, by Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Acceptance of recommendations on CAR and provisioning norms would put pressure on the banking system, the BOB chairman said and stressed the need for the bank to enter capital market to enhance capital.(PTI) |
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| Beginning to
cheer NEW DELHI, Nov 2: It’s cup that has begun to cheer up all again. Coffee growers, exporters and Government are all happy with the way the coffee sector is shaping up, buoyed as it is with record production and export performance. The Coffee Board has projected a 2.30 lakh tonnes production for the current crop year (October 1997 - September 1998). Of this the arabica variety is expected to be 96,865 tonnes and rebusta 1.33 lakh tonnes. This is against 97,500 tonnes of arabicas and 1.30 lakh tonnes of robustas products Commerce Ministry officials say there is a valid case to bring down the prices of the beverage after prices in the global market has fallen drastically. After raising retail coffee prices to Rs 200 a kg last year following crop shortage and rising international prices, roasters have reduced the prices in phases. In August this year, they reduced the prices further to Rs 150 a kg from Rs 170 a kg. But officials say they have do do more than a cut in price here and there. (PTI) |
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| Primary market
outlook ‘disappointing’ NEW DELHI, Nov 2: With the economy not showing any signs of early revival and PSU disinvestment eluding the investors, the future holds little for the primary market, which continues to be listless as only one issue hit the market in October like July and August, says an expert in the field. This time also ICICI came out with a debt issue, Mr PrithviHaldea of Prime said and added that the balance period of thisfiscal may also be equally disappointing. The real hope of the market is pinned on disinvestment by PSUswhich, however, continues to elude the investors. The only other public issues, all small, in the next two tothree months include those from Sonata software (Rs 19 crore) andWimco Boards (11). These are two of the only seven issues with SEBIclearances as of now, Mr Haldea pointed out. He call for reviewing the entry barrier guidelines andannouncing immediate steps to punish the past offenders. It is now for the 16th month in the running that the primary market has witnessed an extremely low level of activity in terms ofpublic issues, with only 45 such issues between July 1997 andOctober 1998. While September 1998 saw a minor spurt with six issues courtesybanks and institutions, the earlier monthly figures have all beenvery low: August (1), July (1), June (5), May (3), April (2),March (2), February (0), January (4), December 1997 (6), November(4), October (4), September (1), August (3), and July (2). According to Prime, between April and October this year, only 19public issues have hit the market. In terms of amount, almost theentire mobilisation has taken place through the four debt issues fromICICI and one from IDBI. These together, at Rs 2843 crore, haveconstituted 90 per cent of the period’s total mobilisation of Rs 3175 crore. In addition to this, the banks have mobilised Rs 216 crore,though through equity. The financial institutions and banks, as such, have together raised Rs 3059 crore, constituting 96 per cent of the period’s total amount, significantly up from a meagre 4 per cent in 1994-95. Alarmingly, the public issue mobilisation by the privatemanufacturing sector, according to Prime, continues to languish,with a raising of only Rs 111 crore through just eight issues in thefirst seven months. This represents a major fall successively overthe three years, from a high of Rs 11005 crore in full 1994-95. Worse, even this paltry amount of Rs 111 crore has not come fromthe investing public. Mr Haldea said poor sentiments and scepticism,compounded by consistent poor quality of issues which abound despiteentry barriers, have seen the investors reject all of these eightofferings. The two NBFC issues aggregating Rs five crore also wereonly ‘technical’ issues. For the second year in running, equity mobilisation, according toPrime, has suffered, adversely affecting the industrial activity. Such public issues have raised only Rs 332 crore in the 7 monthperiod, the amount in corresonding periods of 1996 and 1997 were Rs2588 crore and Rs 734 crore respectively. The high point was full1994-95 when Rs 13312 crore was raised through equity. The Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) have of course, all butvanished. Such issues had already fallen from a high of 1350 in1995-96 to 716 in 1996-97 to only 51 in 1997-98. These are now downto a meagre 11 in the first 7 months of fiscial 1998-99. Primesaid in a statement here.(UNI) |
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Tourism units earning Rs 6 cr
forex NEW DELHI, Nov 2: Meeting a long standing demand of the sector, Tourism Minister Madan Lal Khurana today announced that all tourist units earning Rs six crore as foreign exchange will be recognised as export houses. "The Commerce Ministry will issue the notification within a week in this regard", Mr Khurana said at a press conference. The decision to give export house status to tourism was taken at a meeting that Mr Khurana had with Commerce Minister R K Hegde and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on Saturday. Mr Khurana said the tourism sector would now get all the benefits and incentives which are given to export houses. He expected that tourism, which brings in Rs 12,000 crore per year, will get a big boost. "After evaluation of all aspects of the demand, it was felt that there is a need to give such a recognition to the tourism units to give a boost to foreign exchange earnings, employment and income generation through tourism", Mr Khurana said. Consequently it was decided that in the case of tourism units, the threshold limit will be half the existing limit for other exporters, purely as an initial incentive for two years, the Minister said. Mr Khurana said it was decided at the meeting that the zero duty threshold limit in the case of imports required by the tourism sector will be reduced from Rs 20 crore to Rs one crore in the case of imports made by the tourism units identified as export houses. Other benefits that tourist units bringing in Rs 6 crore in foreign exchange can avail are Special Import Licence (SIL) free trading of these SIL import of several equipments under these SILs waiver of bank guarantee for imports and import of cars against foreign exchange earnings. Mr Khurana said it was also decided that balance amounts of profits accruing should be allowed to be invested in equity shares of various tourism segments including hotels. The proposal regarding reduction in Excise duty on tourist cars and coaches will be appropriately considered. In the case of reduction of import duties, the Tourism Ministry will take up with the Finance ministry, proposals for reduction in import duties of identified items needed by the Tourism ministry. The Tourism, Commerce and Finance Ministers at their meeting also recommended that suitable marketing development assistance for initiatives by the private sector and state Governments for promotion of tourism abroad should be devised by the Tourism ministry.(UNI) |
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Salt prices leapfrog to Rs 60 in Darjeeling SILIGURI, Nov 2: Salt prices have leapfrogged to Rs 60 in Darjeeling and Kalimpong after panic buying of the commodity in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Meghalaya during the last few days. The sudden rise in prices of the commodity, which became scarce yesterday, is the handiwork of some rumour-mongers who fuelled the panic buying spree, Darjeeling District Magistrate Navin Prakash told today. The administration has taken prompt measures to inform public that there is no shortage of common salt and no increase in its prices, he said, adding efforts are on to trace those responsible for spreading rumours. Reports from the wholesale
market, which caters to North Bengal and Sikkim, said
there is no shortage of salt and no increase in its
price.(PTI) NEW DELHI, Nov 2: Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC), the trading arm of the Japan-based Toyota Group, is setting up a joint venture with Lakozy Motors Private Limited for retail and sales and servicing of made-in-India Toyota cars in Mumbai. Besides, the companies are also negotiating the possibilities of extending their sales and service partnership for the cars to be produced under Toyota Kirloskar Motor private Limited (TKMPL) to other cities, including Delhi, sources told UNI here. TTC would control the majority 93 per cent stake in the venture while Lakozy will hold the remaining seven per cent. The partners have already got the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval for going ahead with the project. "Lakozy Motors is, presently, the exclusive importer and distributor of Toyota cars in India. With the Japanese company deciding to set up a manufacturing base in India, we decided to go ahead with them and form a joint venture for sales and service of their Indian made cars," the sources added. At present, Toyota cars are being imported in India as Completely Build Units (CBUs). This tie-up is part of Toyota’s plans to set up a good service base in the country before introducing its vehicles here. TKMPL is a Rs 1,400 crore joint venture between Toyota Motor Corporation and the Kirloskar Group with the Japanese company controlling 74 per cent stake in the venture. The company will be producing a variant of the Kijang multi-utility vehicle as its entry model for the country. The vehicle is expected to hit the roads in 1999. Lakozy, the sources said, already has a service station and dealership in Delhi for imported Toyota cars. It offers a wide range of vehicles from the Lexus and Sera to Corona and Corolla. However, these models, presently, do not figure in the list of models to be produced in India. When contacted TTC chief representative for India Minoru Toyota said some of the completely built units for special clients like Embassies will continue to be imported even after the TKMPL commences operations. However, the whole scheme of importing these vehicles would be combined with TKMPL and the Toyota-Lakozy joint venture would take care of sales and service of these vehicles in Mumbai. The partners are presently getting all the groundwork done and they expect to get service centre operational next year. Toyota Motor Corporation intends to develop TKMPL as a major part of the Japanese car maker’s global 21st century strategy. "Toyota’s market entry is not based solely on the potential inherent in the vast size of the Indian market. We also intend to develop this plant and our operations to become a major part of Toyota’s 21st century strategy," TMC sources said. Only 20 per cent of the land allocated for the project is being used for the first phase under which a family-type multi-purpose vehicle, specially designed for India will be produced. The plant will have a capacity to produce 50,000 units per year and the first model to be rolled out will be designed in Japan with inputs from India. Besides the ten-seater multi-utility vehicle, the company has also lined up a small car for the Indian market which will be positioned in the Zen category. The car would zip down the country’s streets by 2002-03. The car, which is being designed specifically for India, might be based on the ‘Mira’. "We have many small car models in our stables which includes Mira and several others. We are currently assessing the market for these models and also to find out which will be the right option for India," the sources said. The company is still studying all the options available, the sources said adding that nothing has been finalised as yet. The company is testing the 1000cc, 1300cc and 1500cc engines for the car. (UNI) |
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80 traders held as Delhi Govt
cracks down NEW DELHI, Nov 2: The Delhi Government has rounded up more than 80 traders in a crackdown on hoarders and black marketers of common salt, Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister Purnima Sethi said today. She said, "there is absolutely no shortage of salt and it is available in plenty in the city. She advised the people not to panic and become victims of rumor mongers. On the question of onions, she claimed that the supply has improved with the arrival of stocks from Rajasthan, particularly the smaller varieties from Alwar. This variety is available at Rs 10 per kg in the retail market. Fresh arrivals of the Maharashtra variety has also depressed the market and as a result the usual quality onion is available in Kalkaji and adjoining areas at Rs 22 per kg in the retail market, she added. Ms Sethi alleged that some vested interests were making concerted efforts to defame the Bharatiya Janata Party Government at Delhi and at the Centre for electoral advantage. (UNI) |
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UP Govt to set up leather technology park LUCKNOW, Nov 2: The Uttar Pradesh Government would soon set up a leather technology park at a cost of Rs 24 crore in Unnao district. The park, to be developed in about 300 acres of land in Bana Thara, would provide infrastructural facilities to the tanneries and leather goods producers, an official release said here today. The project report for the park has been prepared by the Central Leather Research Centre, Chennai, while UP State Industrial Development Corporation (USIDC) would execute the project, it said. The complex would accommodate 22 tanneries and 105 leather goods units to provide employment opportunities to about 10,000 persons, the release added. A branch of Central Leather Research Institute would also be set up at Jajmau in the district to help the tanneries and the leather goods producers, it said. (PTI) Sakata starts production of liquid printing inks BHIWADI (RAJASTHAN), Nov 2: The 1.8 billion dollar Sakata Inx Corporation of Japan has started production of liquid printing inks for flexible packaging at its state-of-the-art plant here. The plant capacity is 2,500 tonnes per annum, said Sakata President Toshihiko Tohno. "We have created a Rs 16 crore production facility here that will bring international quality inks into the Indian market." Liquid printing inks for gravure are required for printing on packaging of consumer goods like shampoos, potato chips, confectionery and soft drinks among others. The annual market for such inks is estimated at Rs 700 crore. Mr Tohno said the company is currently setting up a marketing infrastructure and is targetting the premium segment of inks. It hopes to garner ten per cent of that segment and record a turnover of Rs 20 crore in its first year of operations. "This shows our belief in impending revival of the Indian economy which has emerged stronger than those of other Southeast Asian nations in the global economic recession," he said adding that the country offers a huge potential for Sakata products. Mr Tohno said most multinational corporations have already set up bases in India after the Indian economy was liberalised. A large number of middle-class Indians now have disposable incomes for consumer goods. The booming phenomenon will boost demand for high-quality, custom-engineered inks as well, he said. Besides printing inks, Sakata manufactures and merchandises plate making equipment, packaging equipment, information systems, electro-magnetic materials and photo-processing materials. It entered the Indian market in 1995 through a 70:30 joint venture with the Montari Group of industries holding a majority stake. Next year, Sakata raised its stake to 75 per cent. In August 1997, it got permission from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to set up a 100 per cent subsidiary in India. Immediately, it bought the remaining equity from Montari. Sakata, established in 1896 at Osaka, Japan, has 80 manufacturing locations worldwide. (UNI) HC asks GRIDCO to reduce enhanced power tariff CUTTACK, Nov 2: In a significant order, the Orissa High Court has asked the Grid Corporation of Orissa Limited (GRIDCO) to reduce its enhanced power tariff for domestic and commercial sector. A division bench, comprising Justice D M Patnaik and Justice P K Mishra, while disposing of a batch of writ petitions, asked GRIDCO to collect tariff on the basis of the rate fixed by the erstwhile Orissa State Electricity Board (OSEB) on November 5, 1995 last till new rates come into force. The enhanced tariff was enforced from May 1996 after the State Government issued a notification authorising GRIDCO as a provisional licencee for distribution and supply of power under the Electricity Reforms Act, 1996. The petitioners had challenged the ‘arbitrary’ hike of power tariff in both domestic and commercial sectors. The bench, while giving its ruling on Friday last, observed that the tariff hike could not be sustained as GRIDCO had violated norms by collecting tariff above 17 per cent. GRIDCO had enhanced domestic tariff upto 66 per cent and up to 100 per cent for the commercial sector. GRIDCO claimed the rates were fixed as per the guidelines of the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission. However, the counsel for the petitioners, Pratap Mishra said the increased rates were imposed even before the formation of the commission. (PTI) |
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