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Project proposals CHANDIGARH, Oct 28: Project proposals of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of Rs.3132 crore have been implemented in Haryana during the tenure of the ......more Indian
hotels NCD NEW DELHI, Oct 28: ICRA has assigned an LAA" (l double a plus) rating to Rs 100 crore NCD issue, and reaffirmed ...more Cut
bank rate, CRR by NEW DELHI, Oct 28: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must reduce the bank .....more India
to become the WASHINGTON, Oct 28: By the year 2050, India is projected to become the third largest...more |
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SAIL for linking Indian steel with China’s coking coal BEIJING, Oct 28: The Steel Authority of India Limited, which is actively looking at the booming Chinese market, favours a linkage between Indian .......more Salaried
returns NEW DELHI, Oct 28: Reeling under a hefty tax burden, the salaried class has something to cheer about at-last with the Income Tax Department having ......more Volkswagen
taps’ SINGAPORE, Oct 28: The financial services arm of Europe’s largest carmaker Volkswagen....more S Korea
sticks by 5 pc SEOUL, Oct 28: South Korea’s Finance Minister Kim Jin-Pyo stuck by a previous forecast on Tuesday that the economy...more |
Project proposals of FDI for Rs 3132 cr implemented CHANDIGARH, Oct 28: Project proposals of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of Rs.3132 crore have been implemented in Haryana during the tenure of the Chautala Government from July 1999 to March 2003. The investment is about 60 per cent of the total FDI of Rs.5332.67 crore implemented in Haryana since 1991, an official spokesman said adding that this was revealed in a meeting of the industries department convened by Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala to review its functioning, here today. Chautala directed the senior officers of industries department and those of Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation to evolve ways and means to attract more investment in the industrial sector. The Commissioner Industries, S C Chaudhary said that proposals of Rs.4819 crore of FDI were under consideration for implementation in Haryana. He efforts being made to attract FDI would help in bringing new technology, increase foreign reserves of the country and generate employment opportunities, he added. He said that projects worth Rs.28,000 crore were under implementation in the state and these included expansion of oil refinery and petrochemical complex at Panipat. Employment for more than 1.83 lakh persons had been generated since July 1999, thereby achieving the objective envisaged in the industrial policy of the present State Government. He said that the State had been ranked at number one in the country in the implementation of Industrial Entrepreneur Memoranda (IEMs) and letters of intent issued by the Government of India to set up large and medium scale units. He said that as against all India average of 37 per cent in the implementation of IEMs, Haryana ranked first in the country with 54 per cent, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 49 per cent, Andhra Pradesh 45 per cent, Gujarat 43 per cent and Maharashtra 41 per cent. Similarly, in case of implementation of letters of intent, Haryana again ranked first in the country with 58 per cent as against all India average of 34 per cent. Haryana was being followed by Andhra Pradesh with 48 per cent, Punjab 47 per cent, Maharashtra 38 per cent and Uttar Pradesh 33 per cent. He said that 725 IEMs involving an investment of rs.7184 crore and generating employment for 1.23 lakh persons had been implemented during the tenure of the Chautala Government. While 629 IEMs involving an investment of Rs.6570 crore were filed from 1996-97 to 1998-99, as many as 720 IEMs involving an investment of Rs.7890 crore were filed from 1999-2000 to August 2003. Chaudhary said that Haryana was a fore-runner state in north India as it had 1212 large and medium scale industrial units by September 2003. He said that as many as 194 new large and medium scale and 4478 small scale industrial units were set up during last three-and-a-half years. Four food processing parks were being set up at Rai, Saha, Narwana and Dabwali. It was informed that 5739 industrial plots had been allotted during last three-and-a-half years to set up industries. A land bank of 6500 acres has been created for development of new industrial estates.(PTI) |
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Indian hotels NCD gets LAA" rating NEW DELHI, Oct 28: ICRA has assigned an LAA" (l double a plus) rating to Rs 100 crore NCD issue, and reaffirmed the LAA" rating assigned to the existing non-convertible debenture programmes of the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL). The rating indicates high safety. The rating assigned to the Rs 100 crore commercial paper programme of IHCL has been reaffirmed at A1", indicating highest safety in the short term. The ratings take into account the improved business prospects for the hotel industry, leadership position of IHCL in the hotel industry, its diversified presence across locations and segments and the strong support that the company derives by virtue of being part of the Tata group. The assigned ratings also factor in IHCL’s plans to reduce its consolidated debt levels by lowering its exposure in its subsidiaries and divestment of its idle assets. Over the past two years, the profitability of the domestic hotel industry was adversely affected by both international and national events as also by oversupply of rooms in the key cities. Some recovery has been witnessed since the second half of fy2003 with occupancies picking up due to a growth in the domestic business travel and the recovery in foreign tourist arrivals. During the first half of FY2004, occupancy levels for most properties across cities were much higher as compared to the previous year. Occupancies are expected to increase further as the peak season for hotels begins in October. This, together with the expenditure tax cut is expected to give flexibility to the hotel companies to increase room rates. Improvement in ARRs has already been witnessed at certain properties. The oversupply situation that has emerged in some of the key cities is also likely to stabilise over a couple of years as growth in demand catches up with supply. The various steps taken by the IHCL’s management such as, renovation/repositioning of properties, improvement of F B outlets, focus on cost reduction, are expected to enable IHCL to improve its performance and enhance revenues and profits in the coming years. Though IHCL’s gearing continues to remain moderate at 0.85 times as on March 31, 2003, the company has substantial investments in subsidiary companies, some of which, earn low returns for IHCL, but have high levels of debt. The ability of the management to reduce exposure in subsidiaries and dispose off idle assets to bring down the debt level of the group would be critical to support the rating at its current level. (UNI) |
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Cut bank rate, CRR by 1 pc each: PHDCCI to RBI NEW DELHI, Oct 28: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must reduce the bank rate and cash reserve ratio by one per cent each in the forthcoming busy season monetary and credit policy to make funds available at affordable cost, enabling the local industry to compete with foreign companies, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said. While submitting its suggestions to RBI, PHDCCI said the spread between the interest paid and charged by the bank from industry should not be more than 4 per cent to take care of administrative charges, risk involved and the margin of profit. It suggested that RBI may evolve a mechanism to ensure that there is no discrimination on the basis of magnitude of the funds availed by the borrowers. In the last one year, there has been a drastic reduction in deposit rates of banks and the maximum rate of interest on maturities for more than three years has come down to around six per cent. However, there has not been the same amount of reduction in lending rates. The banks have not passed on fully the reduction in interest rate on the deposits to lenders. RBI may evolve a mechanism so that the rate of interest on various advances is in accordance with the rate of interest on deposits. Whenever the rate of interest on deposits is reduced, the rate on advances should also be reduced to the same extent. PHDCCI also proposed that in the case of borrowers, who do not default in repayment of term loan and interest, banks should lend only at Prime Lending Rate (PLR) without any spread thereon. The maximum interest rate in such cases may be fixed on the basis of PLR " one per cent and should not be higher than PLR " two per cent for any category of borrower. In the recent past, the rate of interest of banks and FIS have reduced but are still on a higher side as compared to the interest prevailing in the international market which affects the competitiveness of Indian industry. The PLR of banks are still on a higher side as compared to the libor rate/prime rate prevailing in the Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. At present, PLR of the banks are between 10 to 12 per cent. Moreover, the banks are charging the interest upto PLR " 4 per cent depending upon the different credit rating enjoyed by a borrower account. The RBI should issue instructions to banks and FIS to adopt a flexible system of charging interest rate on the basis of credit rating depending upon the type of industry, working of particular unit pertaining in the given situation and other factors during the year which have affected the working of the unit. The disciplined borrowers should be offered rebate on the lending rate. PHDCCI has suggested that bank should be given freedom to fix own plrs but no bank should be allowed to fix its plrs exceeding a ceiling prescribed by RBI. This is essential to enable the local industry to face competition from foreign companies who enjoy credit at low rates as compared to Indian businessmen. To increase India’s share in the total world trade, RBI should also give clear guidelines for providing pre and post shipment finance at liberal norms to facilitate exports. Although RBI gave freedom to commercial banks to fix interest rate on export credit subject to maximum PLR of 2.5 per cent, many banks continue to have high PLR. Due to this, exporters are denied the benefit of reduction in general rate of interest, as for exporters interest spread has been prescribed by RBI, it added. (UNI) |
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India to become the third biggest economy by 2050: Report WASHINGTON, Oct 28: By the year 2050, India is projected to become the third largest economy in the world, behind China and the United States, in that order, according to a recent report by Goldman Sachs. China, India, Russia and Brazil could outrank the combined economic might of today’s group of six - the US, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the UK - by the middle of this century, says the report quoted by the Wall Street Journal. "The implication is that the economic and financial power is going to shift away from us," says Dominic Wilson, a senior Goldman economist and one of the authors of the report, which sees the US as no. 2 by the year 2050, sandwiched between China and no. 3 India. In making its forecasts, Goldman doesn’t focus on the four developing nations’ current economic-growth rates, even though these certainly haven’t been too shabby. Instead, using demographic projections and a model of capital accumulation and productivity trends, it calculates likely gains in gross domestic product and income per capita, and currency movements. Over the next 50 years, the model assumes that GDP will rise at an average annual clip of 3.8 per cent in Brazil, nearly 6 per cent in India, 4.7% in China, and 3.2% in Russia, versus the US’ projected 1.7%. It also assumes that the value of the four nations’ currencies will rise. For America, the report says, the news isn’t all bad. Although the US would cease to be the most dominant single force in the global economy, it would reap trade benefits from the new megapowers’ hefty gains in spending on goods and services. Although these nations, particularly China, are often viewed mainly as competitors to the US, "probably more important in the long run is that these are economies that are going to be generating a substantial part of the world’s demand growth," Wilson says. The four nations have a projected GDP of 2.75 trillion US dollar for this year, versus the G-6’s 21.25 trillion US dollar, but the report reckons that in another five years, the annual increase in spending from these economies could be greater than that from the G-6 and more than twice as much in dollar terms as it is now. By 2010, the annual increase in spending from the four economies could reach 521 billion dollar, versus the current 159 billion dollar. To be sure, the forecast assumes that China, India, Russia and Brazil "maintain policies and develop institutions that are supportive of growth." According to Geoffrey Dennis, an emerging-market strategist at Smith Barney, China’s biggest challenge is to move towards a fully free-market economy, while Russia’s is to diversify away from its heavy dependence on oil and gas, while creating a consumer society. India’s biggest need, he maintains, is to raise the per-capita standard of living for its huge population, while reducing the "tremendous Government interference" in the economy. (PTI) |
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SAIL for linking Indian steel with China’s coking coal BEIJING, Oct 28: The Steel Authority of India Limited, which is actively looking at the booming Chinese market, favours a linkage between Indian exports of iron ore and steel to China and India’s imports of coking coal from here, a company spokesman said here. "We are in favour of a linkage between Indian exports of steel and iron ore to China with that of Chinese supplies of coking coal," he said. The spokesman termed as "productive" the recent high-level meetings the Indian Steel Association (ISA) had with the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) here. Welcoming the decision to form a joint working group on steel in view of the booming bilateral trade in this sector, he said SAIL supports the initiative that would discuss all issues in India-China cooperation in the iron ore and steel front. The SAIL spokesman said the ISA has taken up the issue of long-term Chinese supply of low ash content coking coal to India and hoped that both sides could discuss the issue at future meetings. "We feel that the India-China trade in the steel sector should be quid pro-co," he said while noting that Indian steel plants require a steady supply of coking coal from China. SAIL, India’s largest steel maker, is keenly looking at all options in China and the booming communist nation has accounted for 30 to 40 per cent of its total exports, he said. Sources said that this is the first industry level group being set up to address issues and discuss specific areas of cooperation between India and China in the steel sector. The cisa-ISA working group would serve to establish a formal link between the two countries and guarantee a smooth flow of information, a Chinese official said. A Chinese steel industry official said that exports of steel from India had increased from 10,000 tonnes just a few years ago to close to 1.5 million tonnes at present. (PTI) |
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Salaried returns not to be scrutinised NEW DELHI, Oct 28: Reeling under a hefty tax burden, the salaried class has something to cheer about at-last with the Income Tax Department having taken a decision not to scrutinise the tax returns of salaried class to save them from harassment. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has taken a decision to exclude this segment during the current fiscal from tax scrutiny, making a departure from the past, says CBDT chairman P L Singh. In earlier years, salaried people were picked up on random basis for scrutiny. The Commissioners and Chief Commissioners have been given the power to take decision regarding the returns filed by the salaried class, Mr Singh said. The Kelkar Committee had projected the number of assessees filing returns of income at over 2.70 crore during 2003-04. Of the total returns, an estimated 1.09 crore, roughly 40 per cent, constitute salary returns. The Central Board of Direct Taxes, however, has put the number of taxpayers at 3.4 per cent crore which will reach five crore by March 31, 2005, which is an increase of 22 per cent per annum. The department has taken several other steps to streamline the working of the Income Tax Department. This includes taxpayer education through web sampark software for 2003-04 outsourcing of work relating to pan one page form of return of income redesigned and integrated forms of TDS returns E- filing of returns of income in seven select cities and E-filing of TDS returns. Another good news for the taxpayers is that refunds through electronic clearance scheme will become operational this month. The department is ready to make refunds online, Mr Singh said. Total refunds from April to October 15 ,2003, were of the order of Rs 17,898 crore, which is 36.6 per cent higher than the same period last year. Mr Singh denies that companies were parking funds with the department to earn higher returns. Earlier, the interest rate on refunds was 8.2 per cent. From October 1 this year it has been brought down to six per cent. During the last four months (July to October) UTI investor services limited received 20 lakh applications for pan number out of which pan cards have been issued to 8.5 lakh people during this period. From July onwards this year the Government had entrusted UTI investor services for making pan cards. Mr Singh says issuing of pan cards has been simplified. In a day 40,000 cards are printed. As a result of the simplification, the pan card delivery period has been brought down to 15 to 20 days. Earlier, it would take one month to one and half months for the purpose. UTI investor services charges Rs 65 for the issue of a pan card to an assessee, which includes rs five for the form. Mr Singh said out of 20 lakh applications, 16,04,669 applications have been processed. The department has issued pan to 13,52,000 applicants. He said 11,85,679 applications have been sent for printing. However, 1.78,920 applications have been held up due to incomplete information furnished by the assesses. (UNI) |
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Volkswagen taps’ pore debt market for car finance SINGAPORE, Oct 28: The financial services arm of Europe’s largest carmaker Volkswagen AG launched a S 500 million ( 287.4 million) multi-currency debt programme on Tuesday to provide funds for car buyers in the city state. Volkswagen, which is tapping the local market for the first time, said the notes would be issued by Volkswagen Financial Services Singapore Ltd in the local currency, although it may issue in other currencies depending on investor demand after a roadshow that began on Monday. The company plans to start with short-term notes of up to one year, followed by fixed rate notes with a maturity of three to five years depending on market conditions. The first tranche of at least’s 100 million would be issued in the next two weeks, it said. Citicorp Investment bank (Singapore) Ltd and HSBC Ltd are the joint lead managers of the issue, which is rated A1 negative by Moody’s investors service and a stable by standard poor’s. "The strategy behind this is to establish ourselves here in the market as frequent issuers in the capital market business," Bernd Bode, head of treasury for Volkswagen Financial Services AG, told reporters at a press briefing. Volkswagen Financial Services Singapore Ltd started operations in March 2001 and had total assets of some’s 146 million in the year ended December 31, 2002. Volkswagen also has financial services operations in Asia-Pacific countries such as Japan, Australia and Thailand. It has applied for a licence to set up operations in China. (AGENCIES) |
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S Korea sticks by 5 pc 2004 growth forecast SEOUL, Oct 28: South Korea’s Finance Minister Kim Jin-Pyo stuck by a previous forecast on Tuesday that the economy could grow about five percent in 2004, as growth picks up steam in the next few months. "The Government’s economy-boosting measures, combined with the ongoing upturn in the global economy, will enable the Korean economy to begin recovering starting this quarter", according to the text of a prepared speech to an Asia-Europe business forum by Kim Jin-Pyo. South Korea’s economy tipped into its first recession in five years in the first half, and full-year gross domestic product growth is now expected to come below three percent, compared with 5.7 percent forecast at the beginning of 2003. The economy has slowed sharply because of a rapid fall in private consumption as authorities struggled to deal with a big credit overhang. Higher oil prices, ahead of the war in Iraq, and uncertainties from North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme have also hurt the economy’s momentum. More recently, frequent strikes and tensions in the labour sector have hurt output from key manufacturers such as Hyundai Motor Co. Kim said in the text he "firmly" believed the North Korea issue would be resolved peacefully with time. He also said South Korea would improve labour market flexibility by easing requirements for layoffs. "The Government aims to reduce the number of labour disputes by half every year through adopting new practices where laws and principles are observed strictly", said Kim, without elaborating. The main bright spot for the economy recently has been robust exports. Economists predict stronger overseas shipments helped manufacturing production rise last month. A poll by forecasts September’s industrial output, due for a release on Wednesday, grew 1.5 percent from August, providing more evidence that the worst for the economy is over. (AGENCIES) |
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Gold, silver open easy on weak global advice MUMBAI, Oct 28: Prices of gold and silver today resumed lower mainly on weak global advice, traders at the local bullion market said here. Prices of standard mint gold 99.5 purity and gold 99.9 purity grades eased modestly by Rs 21 and Rs 31 respectively at the opening session and touched a low at Rs 5,780 and Rs 5,820 per ten Gm respectively. Traders said that there was lack of demand from local customers and jewellery makers. Big operators were getting opportunity of profit-booking, after bullish trend since the last few days, bullion merchants pointed out. Amidst weak advice from international markets, gold was quoted negative at around USd 386.75 per troy ounce from its previous day’s finish, traders said. Similarly, silver .999 fineness grade, was also down by Rs 16 and quoted at a low at Rs 8,335 per Kg at the opening session in line with yellow metal prices, traders said. At London and Hong Kong bullion markets, silver was quoted lower at around USd 5.12/5.14 per troy ounce from its earlier rates, traders added. Following were today’s opening rates at local market: silver (per Kg) .999 fineness grade : Rs 8,445, gold (per 10 Gm) 99.5 purity standard mint: Rs 5,780, gold (per 10 Gm) 99.9 purity variety : Rs 5,820. (UNI) |
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Advantest H1 earnings beat upgraded Sept forecast TOKYO, Oct 28: Advantest corp, Japan’s biggest maker of Microchip testing devices, said on Tuesday half-yearearnings exceeded its upgraded forecast made in September as a recovery in capital investment by chip makers picked up. Advantest’s group net profit, reported under US accounting rules, totalled 2.45 billion yen ( 22.59 million) for the six months to September 30 on revenues of 62.29 billion yen, up 51.5 percent from the same period a year earlier. The first-half results slightly beat Advantest’s upgraded earnings forecasts issued on September 26, when it said it expected consolidated net profit of two billion yen on sales of 61 billion. While peers such as Tokyo Electron Ltd also benefited from the market recovery, advantest also gained in from restructuring, including job cuts. Advantest, in the red for the past two years, forecast a group net profit of nine billion yen for 2003/04 on revenues of 145 billion yen. That was better than its September forecast of a group net profit of 7.5 billion yen on revenues of 140 billion yen. The announcement came just after the close of share trading. Advantest stock ended the day up 4.4 percent at 7,830 yen, compared with a 1.19 percent rise in the topix index. (AGENCIES) |
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Instanex Skindia DR index
crashes, DR MUMBAI, Oct 28: The Instanex Skindia Depository Receipts (DR) index plummeted modestly on October 27, 2003 by 0.30 per cent to 834.74 points from the previous day’s 837.28 points. According to the daily update provided by city-based Instanex Capital Consultants Pvt Ltd, Instanex Skindia DR index P/E also crashed slightly by 0.13 per cent to 16.48 points from 16.50 points. However, the Instanex Skindia DR Index Premium, was up by 4.76 per cent to 22.59 per cent from 21.56 per cent during the same period, the release stated. Out of 15 ADRs and GDRs, there were nine (eight) gainers and five (seven) losers, while only one scrip was unchanged. Wipro (ADR), Ranbaxy labs (GDR) and Bajaj auto (GDR) were the top gainers, while Reliance (GDR), Hindalco (GDR) and State Bank of India (GDR) were the major losers, the release added. (UNI) Sony to cut workforce by 20,000 over three years TOKYO, Oct 28: Japan’s Sony Corp said on Tuesday it plans to cut its workforce by about 20,000 over the next three years as part of a three-year restructuring plan aimed at improving profitability at its mainstay electronics division. The consumer electronics and entertainment conglomerate also announced a joint venture with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics for Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panels. The venture will be capitalised at about 2 billion. These measures are part of Sony’s plan to reach an operating profit margin of 10 percent by 2006/07. Price competition with more cost-efficient rivals, mounting inventory and an aging product lineup pushed its margin down to 2.5 percent in 2002/03. The company aims to restore profitability at its mainstay electronics business and win over investors with details of a three-year, 2.8 billion restructuring. (AGENCIES) |
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