NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Delhi Government today made it clear that it would go ahead with the implementation of Value......more

LG elec says to
buy 1.4 bln of
Taiwan components

TAIPEI, Mar 12: South Korea’s LG electronics inc will buy about 1.4 billion of technology products from Taiwan in....more

Share prices
maintain upward
March

CHENNAI, Mar 12: Share prices maintained their upward March on buying support during the week ended on Mar 11 on......more

Foreign currency
reserves up USD 1.9
bn to USD 137.5 bn

MUMBAI, Mar 12: The country’s foreign exchange reserves continued to surge ahead......more

MUMBAI, Mar 12: India’s forex reserve jumped further by US dollar 1.901 billion to a record high of USD 137.559.......more

RIL bags exploration
rights in deepwater
block in Oman

MUMBAI, Mar 12: Reliance Industries Ltd today acquired exploration rights to one of the largest deep water........more

Edible oils remains
centre of trading,
rises further

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Edible oil remained the centre of brisk trading on the wholesale oils and oilseeds market during the......more

Sonnen launches non-life
insurance brokerage business

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Eyeing insurance needs of corporates, city-based Sonnen has launched its non-life insurance..........more

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Delhi Government today made it clear that it would go ahead with the implementation of Value Added Tax from April and sought to allay apprehensions of traders, saying that VAT will be simple, trader-friendly and revenues from it will be used for city’s development.

"We need to replace the 30 year old rules and regulations in our country. VAT is a transparent tax regime and traders will benefit," Delhi Finance Minister A K Walia said at a meeting, organised by the Sales Tax Bar Association here.

Noting that every year five lakh people are added to the existing population in Delhi, Walia said Government has to provide more services and needs adequate funds for development works and "whatever we get (from VAT), would be used for the city."

The minister assured traders that their concerns would be addressed when they join hands with the Government for the sucessful implementation of VAT and said there was no reason for them to worry about harassment. "Punishment under VAT is the same as in the sales tax law," he noted.

Member Sales Tax Appellate Tribunal K Sethuraman said the ultimate objective of the new tax system is to avoid cascading effect of indirect taxation on final user and called for state-level reforms. (PTI)

LG elec says to buy 1.4 bln of Taiwan components

TAIPEI, Mar 12: South Korea’s LG electronics inc will buy about 1.4 billion of technology products from Taiwan in 2005, nearly tripling last year’s spending, its vice chairman said on Saturday.

LG vice chairman and chief executive officer S S Kim told reporters his company, which competes with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in phones, televisions and refrigerators, would source more key electronics components from Taiwan.

"Last year’s purchase was about 500 million and the 1.4 billion we plan for this year will be mostly for electronics components, including semiconductors and LCD panels," said Kim, who was in Taipei to inspect LG’s business on the island.

Kim said the company was looking for Taiwan suppliers to assemble Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) televisions for LG, but he declined to identify potential partners.

The firm mainly sells advanced consumer products, such as flat-screen plasma TVS and mobile phones, under its own brand in Taiwan, Kim said.

Operations in Taiwan make up only 1 percent of LG’s total revenue. Kim said LG expects global sales of 41 billion in 2005, up about a third from 2004, and LG aims to become one of the world’s top three consumer product makers by 2010.

LG electronics, the world’s fifth-largest cellphone maker, swung to a profit in the fourth quarter from a year-ago loss on record sales of mobile phones, but earnings halved from the previous quarter on tumbling screen prices. (AGENCIES)

Share prices maintain upward March

CHENNAI, Mar 12: Share prices maintained their upward March on buying support during the week ended on Mar 11 on the Madras stock market and settled with moderate gains.

However, some other counters dipped on selling pressure coupled with profit taking to end with moderate losses.

Equities rallied on increased buying support and closed with gains on Monday and strengthened further due to fresh buying support and closed with impressive gains the next day.

In a mixed trend, share prices declined on selling coupled with profit taking, while some other scrips like Reliance improved on buying support to end with moderate gains by midweek.

Led by SBI, select scrips strengthened on buying support though some counters met with resistance and finished lower on Thursday.

However, equities turned weak on profit selling on the last day and settled with select scrips gained ground, though some other counters met with resistance and finished lower.

Reflecting the trend, the MSE index, which rose by 9.80 points to close at 4547.88 on Monday and went up further to touch 4560.08 on the penultimate day, before receding to finish at 4550.08 over the previous weekend close of 4538.08, netting a gain of 12 points.

Reliance spurted to Rs 591.80 against the previous weekend close of Rs 556.20. Tisco firmed up by Rs 7.20 to Rs 437.70. SBI rallied to Rs 743.60 from the previous week’s close of Rs 717.60. Dr Reddy was well at Rs 753.80. ACC remained unchanged at Rs 372.

However, Hind Lever declined by Rs six to Rs 143. ITC was weak at Rs 1347. L&T drifted lower to Rs 1096.90 from Rs 1130.90. Dabur Ind, after touching an intra-week high of Rs 121, receded to finish Rs four lower at Rs 115.90.

Among Infotech scrips, Infosys Tech, after initial firmness, went down to touch 2214.70, settled at Rs 2235 compared to the previous weekend close of Rs 2215. Satyam Computers rose by Rs 9.20 to Rs 412.10 while Zee Tele slipped by Rs 6.90 to Rs 137. Wipro wound up at Rs 704.50.

Ashok Leyland edged down to finish at Rs 23.20. Bimetal at Rs 250, Colgate at Rs 185, Castrol at Rs 210, Eid at Rs 518.10 and Essar Ship at Rs 36.70 all posted moderate losses.

Amrutanjan recovered by Rs 7.10 to Rs 126.10. Gas authority (Rs 251.60) and Apollo tyre (Rs 313) finished better Hero Honda was transacted at Rs 560. (PTI)

Foreign currency reserves up USD 1.9 bn to USD 137.5 bn

MUMBAI, Mar 12: The country’s foreign exchange reserves continued to surge ahead and for the third week in a row crossed the US dollar 1.5 billion mark.

The forex reserves for the week ending March four, rose by US dollar 1.9 billion to touch the USD 137.55 billion mark.

The reserves stood at USD 1,37,559 mnillion, a rise of USD 1,901 million over last week, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s weekly stastical supplement.

The inflows are mainly due to increased inflows from FIIs, intervention by the Central Bank in the forex market and revaluation of foreign currencies.

The country’s foreign currency assets also grew by USD 1,917 million to touch the USD 1,31,761 million mark.

Gold reserves were pegged at USD 4,376 million a fall of USD 14 million over last week due to revaluation, while SDRs remained static at USD 5 million, it added.

The country’s reserve tranche position in the IMF fell by USD two million to USD 1,417 million.

Loans and advances to the State Government declined by Rs 1,564 crore to Rs 648 crore while that to the Central Government showed a nil balance.

During the fortnight ending Feb 25, aggregate deposits went up by Rs 23,586 crore (1.4 per cent) to Rs 16,93,862 crore.

Demand deposits rose by Rs 9,341 crore to Rs 2,48,243 crore while time deposits were up by Rs 14,245 crore to Rs 14,45,619 crore.

Bank credit increased by Rs 16,818 crore (1.6 per cent) to Rs 10,63,599 crore while food credit fell by Rs 804 crore to Rs 41,135 crores. Non food credit rose by Rs 17,621 croe to Rs 10,22,464 crore, it added. (PTI)

Forex reserve jumps 1.9-bn to record high of 137.55-bn

MUMBAI, Mar 12: India’s forex reserve jumped further by US dollar 1.901 billion to a record high of USD 137.559 billion during the week ended March 4 on aggressive intervention by the Central bank on the back of flooding foreign fund inflows into the zooming stock markets.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s weekly statistical report here, the foreign currency assets, which shot up by USD 1.917 billion to a historic high of USD 131.761 billion during the week, was the lone factor that lifted the forex reserve.

However, the gold reserve and the Reserve Tranche Position (RTP) with International Monetary Fund (IMF), declined by USD 14 million and USD two million to USD 4.376 billion and USD 1.417 billion respectively. The special drawing rights remained unchanged at USD 5 million.

Forex reserve has surged by a whopping USD 6.381 billion since January 1, 2005, and foreign currency assets spurted up by USD 6.597 billion.

Aggressive intervention by the Central bank, in the wake of huge foreign funds inflows into the Indian stock markets after the reform and growth oriented Union Budget and strong corporate results, was driving the forex reserve to new record highs, dealers said.

The rupee, which had hit a five-year high of 43.40/42 on February 2, was later pulled down and kept in a narrow band of 43.65-75 band by aggressive intervention by the Central bank to support the export competitiveness, they said.

FIIs have pumped USD 1.48 billion in stock markets in March so far after investing a record USD 2.1 billion in February. Besides the foreign fund inflows, appreciation of the non-US currencies like euro, sterling and yen held in the reserve, also helped the forex reserve to maintain an upbeat trend, dealers said.

The loans and advances of the public sector banks remained nil during the week, while that of the State Governments fell by Rs 1,564 crore to just Rs 678 crore.

The aggressive deposits of the scheduled commercial banks rose by Rs 23,586 crore (1.4 per cent) to Rs 16,93,862 crore during the month ended on February 25, while the total bank credit surged by Rs 16,818 crore (1.6 per cent) to Rs 10,63,599 crore during the period.

Food credit dropped by Rs 804 crore to Rs 41,135 crore whereas the non-food credit jumped by Rs 17,621 crore to Rs 10,22,464 crore during the period. (UNI)

RIL bags exploration rights in deepwater block in Oman

MUMBAI, Mar 12: Reliance Industries Ltd today acquired exploration rights to one of the largest deep water blocks in the Sultanate of Oman.

The exploration and production sharing agreement for block-18 was signed in Muscat today by Oman Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammed-al-Rumhy and RIL president and CEO of petroleum business P M S Prasad, the company said in a release.

Block-18 is off the Batinah coast in the Gulf of Oman and spreads over 18,000 sq km (shallow and deepwater upto 1,000 m water depth) and RIL would be the operator of the block with 100 per cent of working interest.

In addition to Oman, RIL has a 25 per cent stake in an exploration block in Yemen, which has discovered oil.

The major objective is to augment the energy security of India, it said.

"By establishing presence in Oman and with a number of overseas projects on the anvil, RIL is active across the petroleum value chain in upstream, refining and retailing, it added. (PTI)

Edible oils remains centre of trading, rises further

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Edible oil remained the centre of brisk trading on the wholesale oils and oilseeds market during the last week ended on March 12, following sustained buying by stockists and Vanaspati units and closed with more gains spread over a wide front.

However, groundnut mill delivery oil was down on restricted buying by mills amid fresh stocks arrival from producing centres.

Traders said the buying in edible oil was brisk in the face of reports that some of the crop in producing region destroyed following untimely rains in the last fortnight.

They said prices also picked up on constant buying by vanaspati units triggered by higher producing region advices and influenced by the Government decision to cut tariff-value on edible oils.

The groundnut mill delivery oil was down on lack of buying amid reports of new stocks of groundnut arrival from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, they added.

The Government last week decided to cut tariff value of edible oils from 585 dollar to 485 dollar per ton which encourage stockists to pick up more stocks.

The market initially remained weak on lack of follow-up support as most of the traders were in festive mood. The market was closed on Tuesday for "Mahashivratri".

In the edible section, mustard expeller oil commenced the week higher at Rs 4000 per quintal and maintained this level throughout on scattered buying.

Mustard pakki ghani followed suit and quoted higher at Rs 675-715 against last close of Rs 665-695 a tin of 15 litre while mustard kachi ghani was unaltered at Rs 685-825 per tin.

Cottonseed and sesame mill delivery oils attracted buying from Vanaspati units and jumped up to close at Rs 3750 and Rs 4350 per quintal respectively.

Soyabean refined mill delivery oil also started the week higher at Rs 4050 per quintal from the last close of Rs 4000 and mainted this level till before winding up at Rs 4040.

On the other side, groundnut mill delivery oil lacked necesary buying support from millers and dropped to close at Rs 4800 as compared to previous close of Rs 4900 a quintal.

Groundnut solvent refined followed suit and quoted lower at Rs 820-835 against last close of Rs 835-850 a tin.

However, industrial oils were continued to be asked at previous levels in limited deals. (PTI)

Sonnen launches non-life insurance brokerage business

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Eyeing insurance needs of corporates, city-based Sonnen has launched its non-life insurance brokerage business.

Sonnen Insurance Broking Services Ltd is aiming to design insurance package with Rs 20-25 crore of premium this fiscal, company principal officer and CEO Rothin Guha told mediapersons here last night.

The company will also provide retail services in select fields like health insurance, personal accident covers and motor vehicle insurance, Guha said.

Sonnen will also foray into life-insurance brokerage business, Guha said. "But it will not be this fiscal," he added.

The company has already designed insurance package of two gold trading companies located in special economic zone of Noida, Guha disclosed.

Unlike insurance agents, broking companies design the insurance package on behalf of those seeking insurance but charge commission from insurer.

The nascent business was permitted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) in 2002. (PTI)

Groundnut oil down; sesame up at oils market

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Prices of groundnut mill delivery oil declined in the local wholesale oils and oilseeds market today on lack of buying support from millers.

However, sesame mill delivery oil found selective buying from Vanaspati units and hardened.

Traders said lack of buying support from millers mainly brought down groundnut mill delivery oil.

They said scattered buying Vanaspati units helped sesame mill delivery oil to move up.

Groundnut mill delivery oil remained weak at Rs 4800 as against last close of Rs 4900 a quintal on poor offtake by millers along with subdued outside advices.

Groundnut solvent refined oil followed suit and quoted lower at Rs 820-835 against last close of Rs 835-850 a tin of 15 litre.

On the other side, Sesame mill delivery oil edged up to Rs 4350 from previous close of Rs 4290 a quintal on increased buying by Vanaspati units.

Following were today’s quotations per quintal: oilseeds: mustardseed 1700-1750, sunflower 940-980, cottonseed 900-1150, groundnut 2000 and sesame white 2150-2450. vanaspati ghee (15 litres tin) 660-755. edible oils: groundnut mill delivery 4800, groundnut solvent refined (per tin) 820-835, mustard expeller 4000, mustard pakki ghani (per tin) 675-715, mustard kachi ghani (per tin) 685-825, sunflower 4400, sesame mill delivery 4350, soyabean refined mill delivery 4040, soyabean degum (delhi) 3600, crude palm oil (ex-Kandla) 3110, cottonseed mill delivery 3750, palmoline (rbd) 4050, rice bran (phy) 3070 and coconut (per tin) 1080.

Non-edible oils: linseed 4000, mahuwa 3450-3550, castor 3900-4000, neem 2600-2700, rice bran 2200-2250 and palm fatty 22530-2350. oil cakes: groundnut dehusk 770-820, sesame 900-1100, mustard 610-630 and cottonseed 610-700. (PTI)

Select dry fruit prices down on sluggish demand

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Prices of cashew kernel, fig and pistachio declined in the wholesale dry fruit market today following sluggish demand along with weak overseas advices and closed with losses.

Marketmen said sluggish demand in the wake of weak overseas advices mainly led to fall in cashew kernel, fig and pistachio prices.

Cashew kernel varieties such as no 180, 210 and 240 were quoted lower at Rs 320-325, Rs 300-310 and Rs 275-280 against last close of Rs 330-333, Rs 318-320 and Rs 280-308 per kilo respectively on sluggish demand.

Fig (superior quality) lacked necessary buying interest and its prices declined to Rs 4000-9000 instead of Rs 4000-10000 per 40 kilo.

Pistachio varieties such as Irani, Hairati and Peshwari also followed suit and quoted lower at Rs 470-500, Rs 440-490 and Rs 505-550 against Rs 475-500, Rs 450-500 and Rs 510-560 per kilo respectively on poor demand.

Following were today’s quotations per 40 kgs bag:

Almond (california) 11,300, almond (gurbandi) 4,900 almond (Girdhi) 3,650, almond kernel (California) 385-390 almond kernel (Gurbandi) (kg) 350-380 and abjosh Afghani 5,500-10,000. (PTI)

Spice prices down on poor demand

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: The wholesale kirana market remained weak today with most of commodity prices declining due to increase offering by stockists amidst poor demand and closed with sharp losses.

Traders said slowdown in buying by local parties with increased offerings by stockists pulled down select commodity prices.

Cardamom small varities such as Chitridar, colour robin, bold and extra bold prices were declined by Rs 5 each at Rs 195-295, Rs 275-385, Rs 295-315 and Rs 390-410 per kilo respectively following lower advices from gautemala.

Mace-red, yellow and netmeg prices were lower at Rs 465-470, Rs 435-445 and Rs 240-250 instead of Rs 475-480, Rs 440-450 and Rs 245-255 per kilo respectively following excess stocks against poor offtake.

Turmeric (inferior quality) dropped by Rs 50 at Rs 3050-4450.

Jeera common and jeera dollar also followed suit and declined by Rs 150 to finish at Rs 7200-7600 and Rs 7600-7800 per quintal due to lack of buying support from local parties.

Following were today’s quotations (in quintal):

Ajwain 3,000-5,000, black pepper golden Rs 7,000-7,200, betelnut (kg) 67-80, cardamom brown (jhundiwali) Rs 8,400-8,500 and cardamom brown (kanchicut) Rs 9,900-13,400.

Cardamom small (kg): chitridar 195-295, cardamom (colour robin) 275-385, cardamom bold 295-315, cardamom extra (bold) 390-410 and cloves (kg) 195-240. (PTI)

Aluminium, tin strengthens on strong overseas markets

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: Aluminium and tin ingot prices firmed in the local wholesale non-ferrous metal market today largely on the back of firming london metal exchange along with pick up in industrial demand.

However, nickel plate continued to remain under some pressure and lost further ground.

Traders said reports that aluminium prices surged to hit 10-year high of 2005 US dollar a tonne at London Metal Exchange (LME) influenced the trading sentiments here.

Aluminium rod and sheet cutting remained in better shape and gathered another Rs 3 each at Rs 105 and Rs 100.50 per kilo respectively.

Tin ingot also found some support and gained Rs 2 at Rs 474 a kilo on firm LME along with increased demand from consuming industries.

However, nickel plate (4x4), (9x9) and (4x24) were down by Rs 3 each at Rs 788-883, Rs 793 and Rs 793-888 per kilo respectively. (PTI)

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