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Grains,
oils display mixed trend NEW DELHI, Oct 24: Gold and silver changed tracks...more GAIL looks
for new LNG DUBAI, Oct 24: The Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) is on....more Starwberry
farming gaining HISAR, Oct 24: Starwberry farming is fast gaining popularity in.....more |
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Truckers strike triggers steep inflation rate NEW DELHI, Oct 24: A hefty 35 per cent hike in diesel prices triggered...more ‘Need
to adopt national NEW DELHI, Oct 24: The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry...more ‘Save
the seeds’ making DEHRA DUN, Oct 24: Villagers in the Tehri district of the..more TTKL to
focus on NEW DELHI, Oct 24: The TTK Textiles Limited (TTKTL), a subsidiary of TTK group, has decided to hive off its loss-making spinning unit into a separate ..more |
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GAIL looks for new LNG suppliers from Gulf DUBAI, Oct 24: The Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) is on the lookout for new suppliers for Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) from the Gulf region to meet the yawning gap between demand and supply of gas in the country, GAIL Chairman and Managing Director C R Prasad said. We cannot say negotiations are on. We have had meetings with gas producers in the region but the stage of serious talks is yet to come he told a meeting of India Business Council (IBC) while making a presentation on the GDR issue. GAIL had held preliminary meetings with leading regional producers of gas including Abu Dhabi, Yemen, Oman and Iran for supply of LNG, he said. Under the contract signed with Qatar in August by Petronet LNG Ltd, India will buy 7.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG from 2003. Prasad, who was accompanied by the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ravi Saxena said another deal had also been concluded by Rasgas with an Indian consortium, Dakshin Bharat Energy Consortium for supplying 2.6 milion of LNG a year for 20 years. GAIL also had a joint cooperation agreement with TATA Electric companies and total Fina under which it is to have a one third interest in a LNG terminal to be set up in trombay and access to at least 1.5 million tonnes of LNG annually for domestic distribution. GAIL will come out with 140 million shares during the GDR issue having a greenshoe option on 20 million shares, to be bought and sold in dollars. Kicking off the roadshow in Dubai for its GDR issue, Prasad said India held out tremendous scope for growth in the gas sector as only eight per cent of the current energy needs is met by gas compared to the global average of 24 per cent. GAIL will issue 140 million shares under the GDR with a greenshoe option on 20 million shares, to be bought and sold in dollars. Each GDR would represent six equity shares. GAIL teams are touring, Asia, Europe, the United States and the Gulf to market the GDRs. The Government of India which owns 83 per cent of GAIL will receive the proceeds of the offering. In the last financial year the company with an annual turnover of 1.59 billion dollar reported total operating revenues of Rs 67.6 billion and net profit after tax of Rs 10.6 billion. Prasad said gas will be the energy of the millennium century in view of its advantage over other fuels in terms of less pollution and cost. India is turning to gas in a big in the automobiles and other sector opening up huge demand for gas in the coming years. (PTI) |
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Starwberry farming gaining popularity in Haryana HISAR, Oct 24: Starwberry farming is fast gaining popularity in in this district of Haryana. The farmers are giving preference to this fruit over traditional farming because it is proving to be a beneficial proposition. The crop of strawberry costs almost Rs 5 lakh per acre but in return gives double the profit. This crop is sown in September and bears fruit from December to April. A single plant of strawberry is sold at Rs 3 to 5. In one acre of land about five plants can be planted. As the per acre production of strawberry ranges between 100 and 150 quintals, farmers have been able to gain immensely from this crop. The Haryana Government is providing a number of significant facilities to the farmers for further developing strawberry farming said an official spokesman here. This included grants of Rs 10,000 per acre or up to 70 per cent whichever is less in drip irrigation, Rs 5000 per hectare of 50 per cent milching seat, Rs 10,000 or 50 per cent per 800 sq mtrs and Rs 7000 or 50 per cent per 500 sq mtrs on sanding net. That strawberry farming has caught the attention of the farmers of the district. Is evident from the fact that in 1995 a farmer of pali village brought some strawberry plants from Amritsar (Punjab) and started its plantation. Slowly farmers of neighouring village also started taking keen interest in the farming. Ramphal in Saharwa village produced 20,000 plants from one acre area in 1996-97. Gradually he increased his land holding to ten acres and further developed this farmin reaping giving him benefits lakhs of rupees. On the basis of production and quality the strawberry plants are categorised into sorta, sali master, scott north, albitron gorilla, prebear, local jyolicaur vanglore and dil pasand while gharan and chandler are imported from Italy. The ideal condition for a strawberry plantation is sandy area having a ph measure of 6.5 and proper water drainage system. These plants should be kept moist till it is firmly rooted. They should be irrigated during winters at an interval of three to five days while the wild growths around it should be cleared every ten to 15 days. Monochrotophos is sprayed to prevent the leaves and stem from pests. The fruit should be plucked before pesticides are sprayed. This crop requires a lot of protection and care. The fruit once ripe and plucked is stored in poly packs and later transferred to large boxes. Southern Haryana has proved an ideal place for sowing this crop while this fruit has a great market in Europe. (UNI) |
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Truckers strike triggers steep inflation rate NEW DELHI, Oct 24: A hefty 35 per cent hike in diesel prices triggered a 0.56 per cent rise in the inflation rate to touch 2.51 per cent on October 9, registering the steepest increase during the year. It stood at 1.95 per cent the earlier week. There was a considerable hike in prices of ragi, tea, tanning material, soyabean, hessain, sacking bags and internal combustion engines. However, vegetables, maize, sunflower, raw rubber,groundnut and basic refractories became cheaper during the week under review. But the inflation rate was slightly above the eight per cent mark at 8.07 per cent during the corresponding week last year. It never crossed the double digits for more than four years since April 15, 1995, when it touched 9.90 per cent(final). A whopping 6.2 per cent jump in the index for fuel, power, light and lubricants forced the official Wholesale Price Index for all commodities(base 1981-82) take an upward swing for the second week in succession by 0.7 per cent to touch 367.7 on October 9 from 365.2 the week before. The indices of textiles, machinery and machine tools also recorded a rise during the week. The final wholesale price index stood at 360.3 on August 14 as against the provisional index of 358.9. The inflation rate calculated on the final index worked out to 1.95 per cent in contrast to 1.56 per cent based on provisional data. While maintaining its 17-year low for the consecutive 17 weeks, it crossed the two per cent mark for the third time this year, after remaining below two per cent for two successive weeks. The analysts have predicted that the diesel price hike will have cascading effect on related costs and this will push up the inflation by one per cent. They said inflation based on consumer price index would be a slightly higher since it covers services. With trucks off the road for the fourth day, the prices of vegetables and other essential commodities have already risen their ugly head again. The chartered bank research experts said that the inflation rate was projected to rise to five per cent or more by March 2000 due to diesel price hike. Similarly, the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) said there would be a marginal rise in the inflation rate in October and November. But it ruled out sharp increase in the inflation rate in the coming months. The increase in the Wholesale Price Index will be restricted to 2.78 per cent and 3.26 per cent in october and november respectively. In August, the inflation rate saw low rate mainly due to higher base on the corresponding period last year, when food products prices were shooting up. With vegetables, prices going down by five per cent, maize prices down by three per cent, fish prices declining by two per cent and poultry chicken prices down by one per cent, the index for food articles, under the primary articles group, slid by 0.3 per cent to 477.5 from 487.7. But ragi prices soared by nine per cent, tea prices went up by three per cent, bajra, barley and gram prices rose by two per cent each, jowar and eggs prices increased by one per cent each. Despite tanning material prices skyrocketing by 33 per cent, the index for non-food articles dropped by 0.5 per cent to 377.2 from 379.2. Sunflower prices slumped by 16 per cent, raw rubber prices declined by seven per cent, groundnut prices slid by five per cent, raw jute and lac prices dropped by two per cent each. But soyabean prices spiralled by 16 per cent, cotton seed prices went up by two per cent, raw silk and raw skins prices rose by one per cent each. A whopping 35 per cent hike in prices of diesel oil pushed up the index for fuel, power, light and lubricants by 6.2 per cent to 426.9 from 401.8, after staying static for five continuous weeks. As hydrogenated vanaspati prices shot up by two per cent and gur prices rose by one per cent, the index for food products, under the manufactured products group, rose moderately by 0.1 per cent to 347.9 from 347.4. But solvent extracted groundnut oil, rape seed oil, mustard seed oil, groundnut oil, rice bran oil and oil cakes became cheaper by one per cent each. The index for textiles saw 0.4 per cent rise to 321.4 from 320 because hessian and sacking bags became costlier by four per cent, hessian cloth prices went up by three per cent, poplin/ shirting and miscellaneous rose by one per cent each. A four per cent fall in the prices of basic refractories and one per cent drop in prices of bottles pulled down the index for non-metallic minerals products by 0.1 per cent to 371.3 from 371.6. (UNI) |
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Grains, oils display mixed
trend NEW DELHI, Oct 24: Gold and silver changed tracks and moved northwards, while commodities markets in grains, pulses, sugar and oils ended mixed during the week ended October 23. Gold prices declined sharply by Rs 160 at Rs 4,700 per ten gms with the end of navratras and wedding season coupled with weak trends in the international markets also. Gold registered a loss of Rs 160 per ten gms during the course of the week and silver declined by Rs 190 per kg. Gold prices in the international markets hovered between 317 dollars to 302.50 dollars per troy ounce and silver in the range of 5.22 to 5.11 dollars per ounce. Gold, standard, ornaments and bittur, suffered a setback of Rs 160 at Rs 4,700, Rs 4,550 and Rs 4,690 per ten gms respectively during the week under review as compared to last week’s closing price range. Sovereign also lost Rs 100 at Rs 3,900 per eight grams. Silver .999 ready declined by Rs 190 at Rs 7,970 per kg and weekly delivery by Rs 315 at Rs 7,950 per kg compared to last week’s price level. Silver coins, however, did not witness any change in prices at Rs 11,200 for buyers and Rs 11,400 for sellers as demand matched supplies. Sugar: Sugar prices continued to look up in the local mandis as mill delivery prices were quoted higher because of the ongoing strike by transporters protesting the hike in diesel prices. Sugar mill delivery prices moved up by Rs 20 at the lower level and Rs ten at the higher level at Rs 1400/1470 per quinta. However, sugar m-30 displayed a gain of Rs ten at the lower level and Rs five at the higher level at Rs 1550/1580 and s-30 variety went up by Rs ten at both the levels to settle at Rs 1540/1560 per quintal during the week under review. Grains: Commodity prices in the grains and pulses market displayed a mixed trading tendency following strike by truck operators protesting against the hike in diesel prices. Wheat desi went up by Rs 50 at the higher level at Rs 800/1100 and dara gained Rs five at both the levels at Rs 715/720 per quintal on tight supplies. As a result, prices of atta went up by Rs ten at Rs 720 and that of suji by Rs five at Rs 800 per 90 kg bag. In coaRse grains, bajra prices slipped by Rs 25 at the higher level at Rs 500/600 and maize lost Rs 15 to Rs 50 at Rs 550/650 per quintal for the same reason. In pulses, gram prices went up by Rs 20 at the lower level and by Rs 15 at the higher level to settle at Rs 1370/1415, moong lost Rs 50 at the higher level at Rs 1900/2050 and arhar declined sharply by Rs 200 at the higher level at 1700/2000 per quintal as compared to last week’s closing range. Rice prices did not witness any change due to poor demand. Oils: Industrial and edible oils traded lower during the second consecutive week. In non-edible oils, castor declined by Rs 50 at Rs 3800, rice bran by Rs 130 at the higher level at Rs 1500/1530 and acid oil by Rs 50 per quintal on increased supplies. Linseed, mahuwa, neem and palm fatty did not witness any change in prices. In edible oils, sesame declined sharply by Rs 200 at Rs 3500 followed by mustard expeller by Rs 100 at Rs 3600, cottonseed and soyabean by Rs 50 each at Rs 2650 and Rs 2550 respectively and rice bran lost Rs 30 at Rs 2070 per quintal on increased offerings coupled with lack of matching demand as comapred to last week’s price level. Mustard oilseed recovered by Rs 115 at the higher level at Rs 1600/1825 per quintal on tight inventories. Vanaspati and oilcakes prices remained intact as demand matched supplies. (UNI) |
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‘Need to adopt national policy on hydel power’ NEW DELHI, Oct 24: The PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has suggested the need to adopt a national policy on hydel and thermal power as well as renewable sources of energy generation in the country. Also a time-bound programme for exploiting the hydel resources be formulated and its implementation monitored. In a communication to the Government, PHDCCI president Ashok Khanna suggested that thermal power plants should be located on coal. It also needs to be kept in view that coal is transported on subsidised diesel, which is a drain on our foreign exchange, he added. In this context, the chamber pointed out that the country needs to plan for a power surplus by the year 2010. A national level power Commission should examine the status of the sector in terms of potential, installed capacity, capacity utilisation, generation, shortage, distribution and transmission losses, extent of subsidisation and cross subsidisation, losses of State Electricity Boards (SEBs), and accordingly give its recommendations both at the central and state levels. It also wanted that a reappraisal of the availability of gas needs to be made before any gas turbine for power generation is set up. Also, availability of finances for projects in this area could be strengthened through issue of tax-free power bonds. Further, privatisation of distribution of power should be taken up on urgent basis, including clear guidelines for private participation. Private sector power plants must be allowed to sell power directly to consumers. The chamber suggested constitution of a Central Power Grid (CPG) which could purchase power from various power generation units, both in the public SEBs and private sector, supported by a clearly defined power purchase agreement. The CPG could then distribute electricity on a state or regional basis. Alongwith the developments in the power sector, the chamber also underlined the need for a national policy and concerted action on development of highways and super highways. This would also generate huge employment potential. Private sector should be encouraged to participate in a big way through adoption of clear modalities and competitive bidding. In this connection, clear mechanism for private participation in road development, including modalities for toll collection would be essential. Commercial usage of peripheral land on highways should be permitted to make road projects viable and more attractive, the chamber said in a press release here today. (UNI) |
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‘Save the seeds’ making great progress in Garhwal DEHRA DUN, Oct 24: Villagers in the Tehri district of the Garhwal Himalayan region have benefitted gratly by their involvement in the "Beej Bachao" (save the seeds) movement in the area. This movement was initiated a few eyars ago by a group of committed farmers having knowledge of the needs of the region along with various changes occurring in the agricultural sector. An encouraging trend noticed in Tehri is that many young men are now engaged in farming and stay back to work in the village fields instead of moving to the plains for employment. They are firm supporters of the "Beej Bachao Andolan" and are contributing tremendously to its success, according to Dhoom Singh Negi who is actively leading the movement. The "save the seeds" movement has great importance in the Himalayan region due to the diversity of crops and flora. Threatened by the race for development, this unique diversity is gradually diminishing. Hybrid and genetically modified seeds, chemical fertilisers and pesticides are slowly destroying traditional farming practices, Mr Negi said. The movement has made it its mission to inform farmers about traditional ways of preserving seeds and encourage them to share seeds among themselves. In the traditional hill system of "Baranaja" (twelve crops), villagers of the Garhwal region grow twelve crops simultaneously in the same field. Mr Negi said that a combination of cereals, lentils, vegetables, creepers and root vegetables are grown in the "baranaja" system. This tradition of biofarming helps maintain the ecological balance and enables the farmers to get some benefit from certain varieties even if some of the crops are damaged due to any reason. Besides informing farmers about the importance of biofarming, the "save the seeds" movement has also been making concerted efforts to sensitise farmers about the natural means of obtaining better yields. Promoting consumption of local varieties and reactivating local networks of seed distribution are also improtant aspects of the "Beej Bachao" movement. (UNI) |
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TTKL to focus on tantex after hiving off its spinning unit NEW DELHI, Oct 24: The TTK Textiles Limited (TTKTL), a subsidiary of TTK group, has decided to hive off its loss-making spinning unit into a separate company and concentrate on promoting its tantex brand of undergarments. The sick TTKTL will introduce a vrs and sell off the fixed assets of its paper tubes and cones division before shifting its attention to its brand promotion effort. The TTKTL, in hiving off its spinning unit, would reduce its current share capital to Re one per share and allot fresh shares or securities to the promoters, TTK Krishnamachari and Company and TTK Prestige Limited, totalling Rs 5.35 crore against money due to them. The textile company will also reorganise its asset-liability structure by swapping specific liabilities against specific assets resulting in reduction of debt burden by Rs 7 crore. Moreover, the value of tantex brand would be brought into TTKTL’s accounts and the accumulated losses would be set off against the same. It will enable the company to reflect the true worth of the business and will be able to invite trade and equity partners. The company plans to touch a sale volume of 13.5 million pieces during 2001 as against 5.7 million pieces in 1998. It would be achieved through a combination of a fresh marketing drive and introduction of new products to fill the gaps in its range. At the same time, the company plans to tremendously increase its distribution network. In the past one month, TTKTL has been able to double its retail outlets to 3,000 in the Southern region alone. These proposals form part of a draft revival scheme prepared for the TTK textiles by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. The cost of the scheme is nil since no capital expenditure is to be incurred. The promoters would retain Rs 5.35 crore of the existing loans in the company and convert them into Rs 2.5 crore of 12 per cent optionally convertible bonds and Rs 2.85 crore of five per cent optionally convertible preference shares. It may be recalled that TTKTL comprising three units — spinning, paper cones and tube unit and hosiery (tantex) — had turned sick due to the deep recession in the textile industry. The spinning unit was funded by high cost institutional borrowings for its modernisation and expansion. The spinning unit also involved enormous amount of working capital by way of building up of cotton stocks as well as inventory of finished products. Both cotton and yarn witnessed fluctuations in price and supplies locking up the company’s resources. The erosion in the resources affected the business namely the tantex branded hosiery products. Meanwhile, the secured creditors — Bank of Baroda, Dhanalaxmi Bank and SBI - have agreed to convert irregular portion in working capital amounting to Rs 5 crore into term loans payable within five years. TTKTL, in running the tantex business after the implementation of the above rehabilitation scheme, is estimated to achieve an annual sales of over Rs 25 crore with a pre-interest profit of Rs 2.9 crore in the first year Rs 50 crore and Rs 9.9 crore in the third year. The accumulated losses to the company will be wiped out by December 31, 2002 and the net worth will be positive by a year earlier. (UNI) |
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FDI approval route to go, says Sinha NEW DELHI, Oct 23: The Government will abolish the approval route for the Foreign Direct Investment, launch aggressive tax reforms, cut fiscal deficit even as it has appointed the second Labour Commission to unveil labour reforms, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha said today. Agreeing that the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) had remained sluggish over the last few years, Mr Sinha said that foreign investors would need to go to RBI just for statistical purpose. "The best way to promote FDI is to get out of decision making", Mr Sinha said inaugurating the presidential summit of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here. Mr Sinha would soon call a conference of Chief Ministers and State Finance Ministers to find ways to cut the fiscal deficit of both Centre and States and move towards a single Value Added Tax as quickly as possible. "The states would be involved in the second generation reforms", he added. Instead of resorting to a rigid artificial cap on expenditure, the Centre would discuss the entire spectrum of Government spending with the states based on the zero-based budgeting method. "The casualness and lethargy in expenditure control should be subjected to scrutiny and will start implementing these measures from next year." The proceeds of disinvestment of public sector companies would be used in the creation of new wealth or to retire the existing debt burden, Mr Sinha said emphasising the need to convey these measures to the people in a jargon-free language. Referring to the demand of the industry for labour reforms, Mr Sinha said the second Labour Commission would look into the entire gamut of labour related issues. The Commission would submit an interim report and seek to convey a positive connotation of labour reforms. "These will be pro-labour and will protect their interests since in democracy we cannot do things which meet large opposition." Regretting that Government’s compulsion to increase diesel prices has not been appreciated and projected in the right earnest, the Finance Minister said the mechanism to bring parity of petroleum product prices with international levels was introduced by the previous Government. He dubbed the strike by truck operators as "anti-people and totally unjustified" reiterating that hard decisions would have to be taken and populism eschieved in the long term interests of the country. However, efforts would be made to convince people on these measures. Mr Sinha said the issue of interest rates is totally within the domain of the Central Bank. The Finance Minister’s comments on interest rates are significant as the busy season credit policy of the RBI is just a week away and industry has been clamouring for cut in interest rates. Responding of industry demand to cut subsidies, Mr Sinha said that the subsidy is inevitable for the poorer sections. "Not all subsidy is unnecessary". The Government would look into the hidden subsidies to prune expenditure. He gave the examples of the European Union and Japan which give huge subsidies to agriculture. However, he agreed that the subsidy should be better targetted and system for its disbursement be streamlined. Mr Sinha said the image of India as a difficult country has remained unchanged since over two decades and asked the industry in join hands with the Government to project the achievements of the country. "We need to go out and remove misunderstandings about India." (UNI) |
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