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| MUL not to roll
out any new model in 1999-2000 NEW DELHI, Apr 25: The Board of Directors of Maruti Udyog Limited ...more Asian Clearing Union to KATHMANDU, Apr 25: Chastened by the East Asian financial...more PHDCCI suggests NEW
DELHI, Apr 25: The
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has
suggested setting up......more MUMBAI, Apr 25: The Reserve Bank of India is ready with the off-site surveillance...more |
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Uncertain pol
situation affects markets’ progress MUMBAI, Apr 25: The uncertain political situation in the country affected the progress....more MP Govt regrets failure of BHOPAL, Apr 25: The Madhya Pradesh Government has submittedbefore the...more Ageing Tarapur MUMBAI,
Apr 25:
Asia’s first nuclear power plant at Tarapur in
Maharashtra may serve.....more NEW DELHI, Apr 25: Continued political uncertainty at the Centre cast its shadow on the principal ....more |
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MUL not to roll out any new model in 1999-2000 NEW DELHI, Apr 25: The Board of Directors of Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) has decided not to roll out any new model in the 1999-2000 fiscal even as the company is readying three new vehicles, including variants of Baleno and Wagon-R, to be launched beginning the first quarter of next financial year. Besides, the engine upgrades of the existing vehicles would be introduced from April 2000 in keeping with the emission norms, company sources told here. Despite the three new launches planned for the next year, the Company Board has decided not to phase out the existing line-up, "as they are among the best in their price segment and it would be difficult to oust them". Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, which control 50 per cent stake in MUL has agreed to provide technology for all the three models. "In fact, work has already started on developing these models, which would be creating new market segments." Though the company has shortlisted Baleno and Wagon-R to be among the three new cars for the Indian market, it is still working towards finalising the third car, which is most likely to be a new small car, the sources added. It would be positioned between the existing 800 cc model and the Zen model. The Wagon-R would be positioned below the esteem but above the Zen, while the Baleno will be an expensive luxury car that will take on the might of Ford Escort and Opel Astra in the upper end of the luxury segment. Regarding the likelihood of existing vehicles being phased out with the introduction of new cars, the sources said, "the existing cars still command a good market and it is not possible for any car manufacturer to address their price segments. So, it does not make good business sense to discontinue these models. They will continue to be made with slight upgradations." MUL has already started working towards localising the components for the new vehicles. "Vendors are already working towards this end." Though the company is trying hard to keep the prices of the new models at an affordable level, Maruti is finding it hard to meet the base price of Maruti 800. "It is extremely tough meeting the Maruti 800 base-price. Even the small car would be priced over the 800," the sources added. The final price tags of all the four vehicles are presently being worked out. Meanwhile, MUL has already appointed Denso Corporation of Japan to provide the crucial fuel injection systems to be fitted into the existing vehicles post April 2000. This is in line with Maruti Chairman Yoshio Saito’s statement last year that no new models would be rolled out from the Maruti stables before the year 2000. The company has already pulled down curtains on its plans to introduce a diesel version of its multi-utility vehicle — Gypsy. However, it is still toying with the idea of sporting a diesel heart on the Esteem. The decision to this effect was primarily influenced by the cold response received by Maruti’s only diesel offering on the Indian roads — Zen-D. "Besides, the cost add-ons for rolling out a diesel vehicle are too high and the whole process is not economical and viable," the sources added. Meanwhile, faced with poor sales volume, Maruti dealers are offering a Rs 60,000 rebate on the Zen-D as a desparate attempt to clear stocks. This comes close on the heels of a Rs 37,000 drop in the price tag of the vehicle by the company on December 30, 1998. The Zen diesel is currently priced at Rs 418,185 (ex-showroom) in Delhi. Besides, Maruti is working towards fitting Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) kits on all its petrol-driven vehicles, including the ‘Maruti 800’. The company has already drawn up plans to promote CNG vehicles in Delhi in the current fiscal. (UNI) |
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Asian Clearing Union to enlarge its membership KATHMANDU, Apr 25: Chastened by the East Asian financial crisis and facing critical challenges as member countries undertake various economic reforms, the 24-year-old Asian Clearing Union has stressed the importance of enlarging its membership to strengthen its role and scope. Limited to seven members since its inception, the ACU now is firmly of the view that it needs to enlarge the list in view of the increased requirement for regional co-operation in trade and payments and the attractiveness of regional clearing mechanisms following the debacle of the Asian tiger-economies. And finally, the Dagon kingdom of Bhutan has expressed keenness to joinwhile, keeping their cards close to their chest, the Chinese, too, attended a recent meeting here of the ACU Board of directors -though non committed so far, there were ample indications that the largest Asian economy was not too averse to joining as member. So far, South Asian economic giant India has continued to dominate the ACU just as it has done in other regional groupings. India’s trade within the ACU, at 2,329.4 million dollars during 1998, far outstripped others with second-placed Bangladesh recording only 1,421.2 million dollars. According to the annual report for 1998 presented to the 28th meeting of the ACU Board of Directors by its Secretary General Mohammed Firouzdor, India also remained on the top - as also in the previous four years—of the credit positions with 1,876 million dollars or 66 per cent of total transactions. The second country was Iran with 485 million dollars. And for the fifth consecutive year, India stood as the main net creditor with 1,422 million dollars followed by Iran with 233 million dollars. Meanwhile, also for the fifth consecutive year was Bangladesh placed the main debtor with 1,302 million dollars. In percentage terms, India registered a growth of 61 per cent in net credit compared to the previous year- the Indian surplus the result of an increase of 27 per cent in export earnings and 24 per cent reduction in payments. Established in 1974, under the suspices of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the pacific, the ACU currently stands out globally as one of the most successful regional clearing unions. While a number of similar arrangements elsewhere in the world have shut down owing to accumulation of debt and lack of repayments, the acu has yet to record a single default in its 24 years of operations - the achievement of "zero default" is considered to be a landmark of ACU’s success. Moreover, it has now acquired grater relevance following the financial crisis in East Asia where a regional mechanism to cushion financial shocks is yet undeveloped. Acu came into being when five central banks - of India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - signed the relevant agreement in December, 1974. Bangladesh and Myanmar later joined the arrangement which envisages facilitation of payments among member countries for eligible transactions, thereby economising on foreign exchange reserves and transfer costs, besides promoting trade among the participating countries. (UNI) |
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PHDCCI suggests setting up of exclusive builders bank NEW DELHI, Apr 25: The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has suggested setting up of an "exclusive builders bank" for providing easy access of funds for the housing sector as there is no institution in India which gives long-term funding for builders. In a communication to the Reserve Bank, the Chamber said the National Housing Bank does not lend money to builders. It only lends money to housing boards or to State Governments for further lending to low income group housing, Mr Ashok Khanna, president, PHDCCI has pointed out. The Chamber further says that HUDCO is very restrictive in lending money to builders and for the banks, the building industry is not a priority sector. With the budget offering a lot of incentives for the housing sector, it is imperative that the builders have easy access to funds, the PHDCCI has stressed. In this contexts, the Chamber says that the banking sector is flushed with funds having sufficient lendable resources and their liquidity position has further eased after RBI’s recent policy initiatives. The financial sector is in a position to step up flow of resources to enable productive activities to improve output performance but quality-borrowers aren’t available, as capital markets and credit off-take have constrained industrial production. There has been a slowdown in investment in real estate and construction activity coupled with low planned investment expenditure by Government which has affected employment and industrial production. Recent budgetary measures may help to increase investment in agriculture, housing and allied sectors, the Chamber note said. Infrastructutre is most critical areas for growth process. Any postponement of infrastructure, development and investment is postposing growth and inhibiting flow for foreign investment. Policy ambiguities and lack of resources have been the main factors. The Chamber emphasises that the need of the hour is stimulation of demand and banking and financial system can play a pro-active role for boosting growth process, and the SMEs can be an effective vehicle for lifting the recession if they get adequate finance at reasonable cost. It says that despite recent measures by RBI to ease the liquidlity position and soften the lending rates, there is no perceptible change in the off-take of bank credit because of its high real cost and hesitancy on the part of bankers to lend particularly, to small and medium sectors. The decelerating growth of non-food credit isn’t a healthy sign for the economy, the Chamber said. In the light of the operational freedom granted to banks by RBI on various aspects of credit management namely working capital assessment, credit delivery, ground rules for consortium arrangement and transfer of borrowal accounts, banks should quickly lay down transparent guidelines as a part of their lending policy and procedures with adoption of cash-flow mechanism, rather than old tendon/chore norms. (UNI) |
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Off-site surveillance for FIs to be in place by next June MUMBAI, Apr 25: The Reserve Bank of India is ready with the off-site surveillance system for financial institutions and is expected to circulate it by June next. RBI officials said the guidelines were on the point of finalisation and the only thing holding it up is preparation of the software through which it would be implemented. The off-site surveillance norms for FIs have been hanging fire for some time now, though the RBI was working on it for a long time. Apex Bank sources said the surveillance system was patterned closely on that of the banks and "covers the entire gamut of prudential norms which have to be filed by them." The prudential returns include asset-liability outstanding positions, group exposure, capital adequacy, funds flow statement, investments and the risks involved, among others. In some cases the FIs would have to file quarterly returns, half-yearly returns and yearly returns depending on the importance of each parameter in the operations of the organisation, the sources said. The RBI is also planning to put in place an effective regulatory system for term lending institutions, which included FIs and other development institutions, they said. (PTI) |
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Uncertain pol situation affects markets’ progress MUMBAI, Apr 25: The uncertain political situation in the country affected the progress of the capital markets during the week, particularly the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) that showed partial recovery in share prices after last Saturday’s stock crash. The fall of the Vajpayee Government last weekend caused panic among the broking fraternity but later shares staged a smart recovery last Monday when all the political parties came to an understanding to pass the Finance Bill by mid-week. However, the question of formation of an alternative Government remained unanswered with the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh undecided on his support for a Congress-led Ministry at the Centre. As a result, despite the passage of the Finance Bill that ended fears of economic crisis in the country, the capital markets remained hesitant and witnessed dull activity in the light of adverse turn of events on the political front with possibility of formation of a new Government fading away when Mulayam Singh reportedly informed the President K R Narayanan that the SP would not support any political group including Congress in the formation of a new Government. The changing political scenario gave rise to fears of the mid-term polls forcing operators to turn cautious and lighten their commitments. Dealers said the capital market strongly depends on the political developments and would move in line with happenings in future, adding that it is likely to respond positively if a new Government was formed and dip further if mid-term polls were announced. The BSE sensitive index recovered smartly to 3468.05 on Monday but later stayed depressed and closed at 3406.59 as against previous Saturday’s close of 3326.98, netting a gain of 79.61 points. The BSE-100 index rose by 37.29 points to 1481.85 from last weekend close of 1444.56. The BSE-200 and the dollex were quoted remarkably up at 338.57 and 131.89 compared with previous close of 330.79 and 128.80 respectively. On the NSE, the S&P CNX nifty and the S&P CNX defty showed handsome gains by 15.05 points and 14.80 points at 982.00 and 794.50 as against last weekend close of 966.95 and 779.70 respectively. The CNX nifty junior firmed up by 36.45 points to 1789.30 from previous weekend close of 1752.85. The volume of business on the BSE and the NSE during the week was Rs 6617.76 crore and Rs 7926.78 crore respectively. (PTI) |
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MP Govt regrets failure of Centre in implementing ASD BHOPAL, Apr 25: The Madhya Pradesh Government has submittedbefore the Eleventh Finance Commission that an "Alternate Scheme of Devolution" (ASD) based on "vertical resource sharing" was a welcome initiative, but regretted that the Central Government failed to implement it. Arguing the case of the biggest state of Madhya Pradesh before the current Finance Commission, headed by eminent economist Prof. A M Khusro, the State Government said there was a general consensus amongst the states on asd, but the Central Government had not implemented it. The ASD, was first time proposed by the Tenth Finance Commission to enable states to share aggregate buoyancy of Central taxes while at the same time allowing the union to pursue tax reforms and retain incentives in imposition and collection of all taxes. The ASD was first discussed in the Inter-State Council meeting in July 1997 and was to be implemented from April 1996. The Inter-State Council meeting had a general consensus that 26 per cent of gross proceeds from all central taxes (excluding stamp duty, certain specified excise duties, central sales tax, consignment tax and surcharge) to be assigned to states, and an additional three per cent of the gross proceeds to be assigned for additional excise duties (AED)and that the AED will be merged with basic excise duties, the State Government pointed out to the commission. The Madhya Pradesh Government informed the 11th Finance Commission that actual share of the states’ in the gross tax revenue of the union has been 27.52 per cent in 1996-97, 27.39 per cent in 1997-98 and 27.07 per cent in 1998-99, and due to lower devolution by the Central Government,the Madhya Pradesh had to suffer from an estimated loss of about Rs 1200 crore so far. The state, therefore, requested the 11th Finance Commission, which had rounded up its two-days meeting here to recommend payment of the amount due to the states based on the 29 per cent formula with effect from april one, 1996 as arrears, regardless of the overall devolution formula finally recommended for 2000-2005. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh who led the team to represent he case of the state said that his state strongly recommend the introduction of Alternate Scheme of Devolution (ASD) as against the present practice of sharing of only specified taxes. However, he added, that there was a case for the review of the proportion that should devolve to the states, mainly due to, among others, the declining direct role of the Central Government and increasing role of the states and local Governments in infrastructure and human resource development. (UNI) |
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Ageing Tarapur atomic power plant to live longer MUMBAI, Apr 25: Asia’s first nuclear power plant at Tarapur in Maharashtra may serve longer than its expected life, thanks to ageing management concepts evolved by the plant operators as well as the good condition of its component materials. Commissioned in 1969, the Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) vessel of Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS) has an expected life of 40 years, of which 30 years will be over this November. But its component material is in good condition and one can expect the life to extend upto 20 years, S C Katyar, Chief Superintendent at TAPS, told visiting journalists of Indian Science Writers Association (ISWA) here. Considering that the economic life of a reactor is 25 years, TAPS, which is under its 29th year, is still reaping profits, Katyar said. TAPS earned a profit of Rs 17 crore during 1998-99 and is one of the cheapest power suppliers to Maharashtra and Gujarat State Electricity Boards, at the rate of 82 paise per kilowatt hour (kwh), Katyar said. (PTI) |
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Political uncertainty cast its shadow on market NEW DELHI, Apr 25: Continued political uncertainty at the Centre cast its shadow on the principal commodities markets in the capital as stockists indulged in large scale purchases while buoyed by a sharp rise in prices in the international markets, silver prices in the domestic market flared up by Rs 210 during the week ended April 24. Arrival of fresh Rabi crop also failed to pull down prices and huge demand from stockists kept up prices. In the local bullion market, silver closed in London at 5.16 dollar bid per troy ounce, which saw prices in the local bullion market spiralling to new highs. However, gold failed to record much movement throughout the week and ended at its previous closing level. Silver .999 ready flared up by Rs 210 to close the week at Rs 7740 while silver weekly delivery rates zoomed up by Rs 190 at Rs 7750. Silver coins also became costlier by Rs 100 per 100 pieces to close the week at Rs 10,500 for buying and 10,700 for selling. Gold, standard and ornaments, ended at Rs 4370 and Rs 4220 respectively while bittur was quoted at Rs 4360. However, gold sovereign gained Rs 25 to close at Rs 3750-3775. With the sugar stockists allowed to sell monthly quota liberally, sugar mill delivery prices had increased slightly. But continued activity from stockists through the later part of the week saw prices go on a North-bound spiral. While gur prices remained stagnant at their previous closing rates, sugar M-30 gained Rs 35 at the lower level and Rs 30 at the higher level to close at Rs 1525-1550 and the M-30 variety gained Rs 20 at the lower level and Rs 40 at the higher level at Rs 1510-1540. Sugar mill delivery gained Rs 15 at the lower level and Rs 25 at the superior level at Rs 1375-1425. Khandsari prices also moved north throughout the week, khandsari bold gained Rs 60 at the lower level and Rs 40 at the higher level at Rs 1440-1460 while the dust variety gained Rs 65 at the lower level and Rs 60 at the higher level to close at Rs 1375-1400. Khandsari desi gained Rs 30 at the lower level and Rs 25 at the superior level at Rs 1350-1375. In the oils and oilseeds markets also, prices flared up on huge buying by stockists. Fresh arrivals also failed to dampen sentiments. In non-edible oils, acid oil flared up by Rs 100 at both the levels to close at Rs 1600-1700 while rice bran gained Rs 50 at both the levels at Rs 1950-1970 and palm fatty looked up by Rs 30 at the lower level and Rs 50 at the higher level at Rs 2180-2400. Rest of the industrial oils remained stagnant at their previous closing rates. Among edible oils, sesame prices flared up by Rs 200 at Rs 5100, rice bran gained Rs 140 at Rs 2840, soyabean looked up by Rs 100 at Rs 3200 and cottonseed by Rs ten at Rs 3310. Palmolein was the only oil to have recorded a drop in value during the week, with its prices dropping by Rs 50 at Rs 3350. In oilseeds, mustard prices flared up on the lower level by Rs 100 while gained slightly by Rs 35 at the higher end at Rs 1350-140. Rest of the oilseeds, oilcakes and vanaspati remained static at their previous closing rates. Prices were on the upswing at the grains market as well. Wheat desi prices flared up by Rs 100 at the higher level at Rs 750-1050 while the dara variety inched up by Rs five at both the levels at Rs 580-585. Atta prices gained Rs ten at the lower level and Rs 13 at the higher level at Rs 570-575 per 90 kg bag. Suji prices moved up by Rs 20 at both the levels at Rs 670-675 while maida gained Rs ten at both the levels at Rs 620-625. In pulses, urad dhova prices flared up zy Rs 300 at the lower level and by Rs 200 at the higher level at Rs 2300-3100 while urad gained Rs 200 at the higher level and dal urad by Rs 200 at both the levels to close a Rs 1200-2200And Rs 1950-2500 respectively. Dal arhar prices moved up by Rs 100-200 at Rs 2300-2700 while arhar shed Rs 100 at the higher level at Rs 1600-1900. Masoor gained Rs 100 at the higher level at Rs 1300-1800 while gram dal gained Rs 50 at both the levels at Rs 1350-1550. Gram lost Rs ten at the lower level and Rs 75 at the higher level at Rs 1150-1240. (UNI) |
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