NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Betting big on India, the world’s top semiconductor IP supplier arm holdings has said IT will.......more

Asia gold-pre-holiday
purchases lift trade,
dollar eyed

SINGAPORE, Nov 9: Jewellery consumers, undeterred by gold’s rise to a 16-year high, are making last-minute pur.....more

Honda Siel plans
Rs 150-cr capex, to
sell 37,000 units by ‘05

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) today said it will invest Rs 150 crore to expand its production capacity......more

Infy adding 3.5 mln sq
ft infrastructure in India

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: India’s second largest software exporter infosys technologies is adding 3.5 million square feet of........more

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Despite the steep Rs 20 per cylinder hike in LPG price announced last week, domestic cooking gas.........more

UBI eyes Rs 37,000 cr
business, to wipe out
losses by 2007

KOLKATA, Nov 9: United Bank of India (UBI) is aiming to achieve an ambitious target of Rs 37,000 crore business by......more

Rupee undergoes
downward correction
against US dollar

MUMBAI, Nov 9: The rupee underwent a downward correction against the US currency early today on renewed dollar.....more

JB chemicals launches
MRI contrast media

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd has launched Magnilek, Mri contrast media, a high-tech.........more

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Betting big on India, the world’s top semiconductor IP supplier arm holdings has said IT will develop chips and software tools at Bangalore and is looking at tie-ups with Indian companies in the IT and telecom space to develop innovative products.

UK-based arm holdings acquired US-headquartered artisan components in August this year in a deal valued at over half billion pounds. "Artisan has a development centre in Bangalore, where we will invest after the acquisition is complete. The transaction is likely to be over by January next year," arm holdings chairman Robin Saxby told newspersons here last evening.

The company currently has an office, Arm Embedded Systems Pvt Ltd, at Bangalore. The company has 50 engineers today. "Once the Centre is integrated after completion of acquisition, we will have more engineers as India is an important opportunity for arm," he said.

Mr Saxby said arm had around 20 partners in India including Intel, Wipro, Stmicroelectronics, Proton, Qualcomm and Philips. "We are looking at partnering with companies in India to get ideas and develop products. Arm sees huge opportunity in the smart card market here."

He said the company is also looking at tie-ups with mobile phone companies relating to its trustzone technology, which is implemented within the microprocessor core itself to protect against common hardware attacks and frauds.

Arm is a leading provider of chip technology used in cell phones and consumer electronic products, such as digital cameras and music players. In addition to single processors, its product line up includes chip cores, building blocks and related software and tools. (UNI)

Asia gold-pre-holiday purchases lift trade, dollar eyed

SINGAPORE, Nov 9: Jewellery consumers, undeterred by gold’s rise to a 16-year high, are making last-minute purchases this week before religious festivals begin in main buying countries such as India and Indonesia, traders said.

Gold rose to 435 an on ounce on Monday, the metal’s highest level since August 1988, after the dollar fell to a record low against the euro eur= . Profit-taking has erased some of the gains, but dealers said the rally may not be over.

"It’s pretty busy around here. People are buying gold before they are heading back home, where they would want to show off their jewellery," said one bullion trader in Jakarta.

"A stronger rupiah helps offset gold’s uptrend. But I would expect some sell-back two weeks from now," he said.

By 0523 gmt, spot gold xau= was slightly below new york’s last quoted levels at 432.25/433.00. Dealers said gold had likely only paused before an expected move toward near-term resistance of 440 an ounce, aided by a weak dollar.

Indonesians are beginning to return to their hometown by the millions ahead of a one-week holiday next week to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Ramadan fasting month in the world’s largest Muslim nation.

November is a busy month not only for Indonesia, which is southeast Asia’s main gold consumer, but also for neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, where another main festival is due to begin this week.

The Hindu Diwali celebration normally boosts gold consumption among the Indian communities in both countries. In India, purchases continued ahead of Diwali even though many consumers were not happy about the high prices.

Gold’s main commercial use is in jewellery and trinkets, which in countries such as india, the biggest consumer of the yellow metal, may go into dowry chests or into safe-keeping as treasure.

Amit Gupta, a bullion dealer in New Delhi, said gold could eventually rise to near 440 on the back of a firm euro, which makes dollar-priced gold a bargain for non-US investors.

"There can also be a jump to 445 maximum. But I think there will be a correction" after that if it gets that high, he said.

In Hong Kong, a key bullion trading city in east Asia, gold bars were 30 US cents an ounce below London prices, down from 20 cents last week as investors cashed in recent gold gains gold/Asia1 .

But dealers said sales from mainland China and other investors in Hong Kong were limited.

"People are expecting the gold market to go higher. So, some of the selling from China was held off," said Ellison Chu, a senior manager at standard bank London in Hong Kong.

Gold bars were on par to a premium of 10 US cents to London prices in Singapore, the entry point for much of the bullion trading in southeast Asia, due to some festive buying. (AGENCIES)

Honda Siel plans Rs 150-cr capex, to sell
37,000 units by ‘05

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Honda Siel Cars India (HSCI) today said it will invest Rs 150 crore to expand its production capacity to 50,000 vehicles annually from the present 30,000 by next year and targets to sell 37,000 cars by this fiscal-end.

"We have decided to ramp up our production capacity by 20,000 units with the investment of Rs 150 crore by the end of 2005. The investment will be funded through internal accruals," HSCI president and CEO Hajime Yamada told newspersons at the launch of new Honda Cr-V here.

The company is studying the possibility of introducing new cars in the premium segment "but nothing has been finalised as yet", he said, adding that HSCI’s top priority is to consolidate its position in the premium category.

With the launch of new-look Cr-V, priced at Rs 14.57 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) with manual transmission and 15.57 lakh with automatic transmission, Honda expects a significant increse over 28 per cent market share in the premium category.

Mr Yamada said the company has revised its sales target by 5,000 units to 37,000 vehicles, including 32,200 Honda City, 3,000 accord and Cr-V 1,800, by the end of the current financial year.

The Rs 1,600-cr HSCI, which has wiped out an accumulated loss of Rs 150 crore and made a net profit of Rs 75 crore last year, hopes a Rs 120-crore profit and turnover of 2,500 crore by the end of 2004-05.

The new Cr-V will be available in four colours — Opel Beige Metallic, Premium White, Night Hawk Black and Satin Silver —through 48 exclusive Honda dealerships across the country. (UNI)

Infy adding 3.5 mln sq ft infrastructure in India

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: India’s second largest software exporter infosys technologies is adding 3.5 million square feet of infrastructure across its nine centres in the country as it expands operations to achieve 48 per cent revenue growth this fiscal.

"We are growing all across India. We are present in Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore, Pune, Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and Mohali. Infosys is growing in all these centres," Infosys Coo S Gopalakrishnan told reporters when asked about the additional infrastructure.

He said infosys was currently not looking at new cities. "globally, we are expanding at China," he added.

Bangalore-based Infosys spent 38 million dollars on property, plants and equipment in the past quarter and is expanding infrastructure to achieve the targeted 50 per cent year-on-year revenue growth in the current quarter.

He said infosys was developing RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) solutions as it was a high growth area with massive potential. "We have been providing RFID solutions during the last 18 months and undertaking pilot project with our clients. This is a technology-centric job with massive scope for growth."

It is estimated that by 2008, the RFID market comprising tags, readers, interface software and service providing, would be as big as 4.2 billion dollars.

On the acquisition of Ge’s BPO arm by general Atlantic partners and Oak hill capital partners for 500 million dollars, Mr Gopalakrishnan said, "this shows that investment into India is increasing. Captives are growing with changes in ownership and it shows that offshore is a mega trend and widespread phenomenon."

Infosys reported a 48.64 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 447.37 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2004 over Rs 300.98 crore posted in the corresponding period last year. (UNI)

LPG prices in India cheapest in the subcontinent: oil min

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Despite the steep Rs 20 per cylinder hike in LPG price announced last week, domestic cooking gas in India is still the cheapest in the subcontinent.

A 14.5 kg LPG cylinder in Delhi at the new price of Rs 281.60 is cheaper than cooking gas sold in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangaldesh and Sri Lanka, according to an internal note generated by the oil ministry to justify the November 4 increase in petrol, diesel and LPG prices.

Besides the Rs 20 per cylinder hike in LPG prices, the Government had also announced Rs 2.20 per litre increase in petrol price and Rs 2.10 a litre raise in diesel price. However, kerosene was spared from the increase, that had been necessiated due to a surge in cost of raw mateiral (crude).

A similar quantity of cooking gas in Karachi (Pakistan) is sold for Rs 411.99, at Rs 283.05 in Dhaka (Bangladesh), Rs 372.62 in Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Rs 462.25 in landlocked Kathmandu (Nepal), the note said.

A litre of kerosene in Delhi, priced at Rs 9.01, is cheaper than Karachi (Rs 18.68), Dhaka (Rs 15.44), Colombo (Rs 11.30) and Kathmandu (Rs 15.30).

"No change has been made in the case of PDS kerosene, even though international prices of kerosene have risen to 58.29 dollars per barrel in October 2004 (an increase of 147 per cent) from 23.65 dollars per barrel since March 2002, when the last price change was made. Kerosene requires an increase of Rs 11.28 per litre at Delhi and yet no change has been permitted," the note said. (PTI)

UBI eyes Rs 37,000 cr business, to wipe
out losses by 2007

KOLKATA, Nov 9: United Bank of India (UBI) is aiming to achieve an ambitious target of Rs 37,000 crore business by March 2005 and wipe out its entire accumulated loss of Rs 574 crore by 2006-07 to emerge as a fundamentally strong growth-oriented bank .

In an exclusive interview to UNI, UBI Chairman and Managing Director Parkash Singh said the city-based bank, which is looking forward to a speedy all round growth with special thrust on credit portfolios, has also targetted to bring down its net NPA level to zero per cent within the next two years from 2.56 per cent in September this year.

In terms of recovery of bad debts the bank had adopted a robust strategy and was all set to reduce the total amount of NPA from Rs 742 crore to Rs 460 crore by the end of the year, Mr Singh reiterated.

We are targetting a business growth of more than Rs 5820 crore this year, up by over Rs 4,000 crore from last fiscal, when the total business of UBI stood at Rs 31,179 crore, Mr Singh said.

He said with a view to achieving the target the main thrust had been given on priority sector lending like agriculture, SSI and retail businesses.

He said the bank is expecting a provisional operating profit of Rs 331.16 crore as on September 30, 2004 from Rs 275.88 crore during the corresponding period of last year.

However, by March 31, 2005 we expect that the operating profit margin would touch Rs 661 crore, from Rs 613.30 crore earned during the last fiscal, he said.

This will not only go a long way in helping the bank to wipe out its gradually diminishing accumulated losses by 2006-07, but also encourage to perform better in the coming days with higher motivation, the chairman emphasised. He also claimed that UBI had seen a considerable growth in advances amounting to Rs 10,018 crore till September 30, this year.

Giving full credit to the bank’s present 17,000-odd employees for the encouranging business growth during the current fiscal, Mr Singh, however, ruled out the possibility of any merger or amalgamation of the bank in forceable future.

We are determined to build ourselves organically as a fundamentally strong and growth-oriented bank. We find no reason to merge with any other similar entity just for the sake of it, Mr Singh, accompanied with UBI executive director K N Prithviraj, said.

Mr Singh also pointed to the bank’s healthy capital of Rs 1,300 crore and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 16 per cent and ruled out the necessity of adopting any public issue in immediate future.

We might, however, enter the market after about a year or two after making the balance sheet clean of losses and NPA, Mr Singh replied to specific questionnaire.

Referring to UBI’s programme to double its customer base from about 2,00,000 now to at least 4,00,000 by the end of March 2005, Mr Singh said apart from attracting major corporate giants like Reliance, Tata Telecom, Air Deccan into the bank’s business fold, they had targetted to provide advances of more than Rs 11,500 crore by the end of the current fiscal, representing an unprecedented 36.5 per cent growth over the corresponding year.

Mr Singh said with the growth in the advances the credit deposit ratio of the bank at present has reached 42 per cent from 36 per cent earlier and we hope to take it to 45 per cent by 2004-05 fiscal.

About the massive ongoing total computerisation programme of the bank , he said the UBI had earmarked Rs 100 crore this year for carrying out the work as well as to achieve cent per cent computerisation of the bank’s all the 1304 branches nationwide. So far, we are only 96 short of the target, he said.

We have also engaged National Institute of Banking Management (NIBM) to suggest UBI’s organisational restructuring and submit its report within the next three months on the basis of which the will decide on the fate of its merger of loss making branches in some pockets of the country, he said.

Mr Singh said the bank will also be recruiting 50 IT professionals and 50 probationary officers before introducing core banking, which will be introduced after obtaining the report from the NIBM.

He said the bank, having 1,304 branches, including 1,100 in the east and the northeast, has also obtained licences for opening its branches at Sikkim, Gomtinagar in Lucknow, Sankrail (Howrah) and in Calicut by December this year.

We have also applied for licences for opening Maiden UBI branches at Gangtok, Tirupur (Kerala) and Itanagar, he said adding that the bank also wants to open branches at Dwarka, Rohini, Kottayam, Hardwar, Aizwal and Meleclodgonj (Himachal Pradesh) and have sought the RBI’s permission.

However, he ruled out opening any overseas branch at present since the bank wants to focus wholly on domestic front now.

About UBI emerging as the leading public sector bank in the northeast in the coming days, Mr Singh, who is also the convenor of the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLVC), said, we also see a good opportunity in the sectors like food processing, fishing, cold storages and infrastructure in the northeast where we have around 244 branches at present.

The bank has also tied up with Tata Aig Life Insurance and expects the bancassurance segment to grow by 20 per cent in future.

We also have 57 ATMs with more than 50,000 cardholders which is expected to increase manifold in the years to come, he added.

He said the bank had also networked with other major public sector banks to allow 50,00 odd UBI visa debit card holders enjoy similar facilities with over 1,000 atms across the country. (UNI)

Rupee undergoes downward correction against US dollar

MUMBAI, Nov 9: The rupee underwent a downward correction against the US currency early today on renewed dollar demand even as sentiments remain positive for a fresh rally.

In moderately active trade at the interbank foreign exchange market here this morning, the rupee is currently quoted at Rs 45.23/25 per dollar, sharply lower from Monday’s five-month closing high at Rs 45.18/19.

The rupee opened at Rs 45.16/19 per dollar.

Renewed dollar demand from corporates and importers ensured a sharp downward correction for the rupee early today after it surged to recent five-month peaks due to sustained heavy foreign fund inflows, a forex dealer said.

The outlook for the currency remains distinctly positive owing to persistant heavy foreign fund inflows.

Net investments by foreign funds in the stock market so far during this year crossed USD 6 billion on Monday, just half a billion short of the all-time high inflows of USD 6.6 billion in the whole of 2003.

In cross currency trade, the euro was quoted at Rs 58.39/41, pound sterling at Rs 83.80/82 and the Japanese yen (100) Rs 42.79/81. (PTI)

JB chemicals launches MRI contrast media

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: JB Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd has launched Magnilek, Mri contrast media, a high-tech diagnostic product used for Mr Angiographies, neurological diseases and diagnosis of cancer patients.

The product has been developed entirely by J B Chemical’s in-house R and D division and manufactured at its state-of-the-art facility, the pharma company said in a statement.

The company already has significant presence in the diagnostics segment under the brands trazograf and Lek-Pamidol.

The total market in India for diagnostic products is estimated at Rs 100 crore, of which the company enjoys a 15 per cent market share.

With the launch of Magnilek, JB chemicals and pharmaceuticals expects to further strengthen its presence in the domestic market. (UNI)

Fortis to enter overseas healthcare mart

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Ranbaxy group company fortis plans a foray into overseas healthcare markets by setting up hospitals in the Middle East and the United Kingdom.

"We have plans to set up hospitals abroad and have some foreign locations, including the Middle East and UK, in our minds. But nothing has been finalised as of now.

"Our present priority is to complete the Rs 1,100-crore hospital projects in north India," Fortis joint managing Director Shivinder Mohan Singh told UNI here.

Fortis will follow its sister concern SRL Ranbaxy in global markets, he said, adding that SRL Ranbaxy, which already has a presence in the Middle East, is in an advanced stage of negotiation with UK authorities for undertaking pathology tests.

But in the domestic market, SRL will expand and be located at each fortis hospital.

Mr Singh said the company has put off its Initial Public Offering (IPO) plan and decided to fund Rs 1,100-crore for north India projects through a mix of debt, equity and internal accruals. The option of an IPO will be exercised only when all the three options are exhausted.

After setting up its hospitals in Mohali-Chandigarh, Amritsar and Noida, Fortis plans to set up an integrated healthcare complex in Gurgaon with an investment of around Rs 900 crore and hospitals in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

Besides, the company has already taken land in Shalimar Bagh here, where it plans to set up a 300-600 bed hospital with an investment of Rs 100 crore.

"The target is to emerge as a global healthcare institution in the next 12-15 months," Mr Singh said.

Ranbaxy holds a 17 per cent stake in fortis healthcare, the balance 83 per cent is held by Shivinder Mohan Singh of Ranbaxy.

In the past three years, Fortis has set up four hospitals with over 600 beds. Its plan is to increase the number of beds to over 4,000 by setting up 20 hospitals in north India over the next five years. The hospitals will have centres of excellence in areas like orthopaedics, neuro sciences, oncology and cardiac sciences. (UNI)

Reliance-MTNL case hearing adjourned till Nov 17

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: The Delhi High Court today further adjourned till November 17 the hearing of the petition filed by Reliance infocom seeking to restrain the MTNL from disconnecting its points of interconnections.

Reliance Infocomm today requested the court to adjourn the hearing as certain talks were on with the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), which has demanded Rs 309 crore for alleged routing of international calls as local ones,

The matter was to come up for hearing today before Justice Vikramjit Sen.

According to MTNL sources, notices aggregating to the amount, about Rs 309 crore had been served on Reliance for their failure to pay Rs 309 crore for routing international calls as local ones in Delhi and Mumbai circle.

It is also learnt that reliance yesterday deposited rs 10 crore each for both the circles.

A division bench of the court had last week on a similar charge by the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd directed Reliance to deposit Rs 40 crore, and to confirm through an affidavit that it (Reliance infocomm) has already taken steps disconnecting such routes.

The BSNL was also directed to maintain status quo on the interconnect agreement and the matter was adjourned till November 30. Reliance has already deposited Rs 40 crore with BSNL as directed by the court. (UNI)

Bangladesh C Bank accepts 4.18 bln taka repos

DHAKA, Nov 9: The Bangladesh Central Bank said on Tuesday it accepted eight-day repos for 4.18 billion taka ( 70 million) at interest rates between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent.

On Monday, it accepted one-day repos for 2.42 billion taka at an interest rate of 4.5 percent. (AGENCIES)

Mahindra in JV with Chinese tractor maker

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: India’s top tractor and utility vehicle maker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd today said it has entered into a joint venture agreement with China’s Jiangling motors co to make tractors.

Mahindra said it planned to invest 8 million dollars in the joint venture, whose estimated value is 10 million dollars, and will hold a majority stake.

The joint venture would acquire tractor making assets from Jiangling Tractor Co, a subsidiary of Jiangling motors, which will provide the manufacturing base and distribution network in China.

The leader in India, which is the world’s largest tractor market, Mahindra plans to become the world’s number one player between 2008 and 2010, rising from number four currently. (UNI)

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