 |
||
|
||
| ICAR identifies new sugarcane
varieties for peninsular zone NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Sugarcane farmers in peninsular areas, who are affected by water-logging and minor floods, have something to cheer about following .........more FICCI suggest CST phase out by 2009 NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Industry body FICCI, in its pre-budget suggestion on indirect taxes, has urged the Government to withdraw Central Sales Tax (CST), in a phased manner, by 2009. .......more Hero Honda to focus on volumes, 100-cc: Munjal NEW DELHI, Oct 29: With an eye on volumes to arrest erosion in crucial market share, Hero Honda has decided to ........more Plan Commission slams delay in NHDP-III; suggests PPPAC route NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Planning Commission has criticised the Government for slow progress in upgrade of national ....more |
|
Railways plans to link state
capitals through ‘garib raths’ NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Maintaining that the success of ‘garib raths’, the maiden scheme to provide plush rail services to the poor at affordable rates, would change ........more RBI may walk middle path to balance inflation, growth NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Reserve Bank Governor Y V Reddy is likely to do a tight-rope walk while reviewing the monetary policy on Tuesday, with a view to contain inflation and ensure adequate credit ..........more SEBI to introduce new language NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Market regulator SEBI is working on a user-friendly online language called XBRL (Extensible ......more Lifting of ban on sugar exports held up due to differences NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Sugar exporters are worried about the delay in lifting the export ban on the sweetner as the ...........more |
ICAR identifies new sugarcane varieties for peninsular zone NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Sugarcane farmers in peninsular areas, who are affected by water-logging and minor floods, have something to cheer about following a breakthrough in development of new sugarcane varieties that would address the problem. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has identified two new varieties having tolerance to water -logging, drought and salinity for the peninsular zone of the country. The peninsular zone comprises plateau region of Tamil Nadu, Interior Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, ICAR said in a release. The sugarcane variety — Co 99006 (Neeraj) — has tolerance to water-logging, drought and salinity and has average cane yield of 111.48 tonne per hectare with 20.48 per cent sucrose and 16.14 tonnes per hectare of commercial cane sugar, it said. The other variety — Co 99004 (Damodar) — has resistance to drought and salinity and has average cane yield of 116.69 tonnes per hectare with 18.76 per cent sucrose and 16.83 tonnes per hectare of commercial cane sugar. While the Variety Co 99006 (Neeraj) is suitable for normal cultural condition, the other variety is fit for normal irrigated condition. Co 99006 (Neeraj) has good field resistance to red rot and moderately resistance to smut. The variety has a good jaggery making quality and is mid-late in maturity, the release said. Co 99004 (Damodar) is midlate in maturity and moderately resistant to red RoT. It has a good jaggery making quality. Besides, ICAR has also identified a Variety CoJ 20193, which would give farmers of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, western and central Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal good substitute for CoS 767. CoJ 20193 is suitable for normal irrigated condition and also for late planting particularly after harvest of wheat. The average cane yield of the variety, which is midlate in maturity, is 75.93 tonnes per hectare with 17.88 per cent sucrose and 9.31 tonnes per hectare of commercial cane sugar. These varieties have been recently identified in the workshop held at G B Pant university of agriculture and technology, pantnagar, the release said. Besides, ICAR has identified four more varieties — CoH 119, CoS 96268 (mithas), Co 98014 (Karan-1) and CoS 96275 (sweety) — for commercial cultivation for the north-west zone comprising Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, western and central Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal. All the four varieties are suitable for normal irrigation condition. CoH 119 variety is midlate in maturity. The average cane yield is 82.81 tonnes per hectare with 17.51 per cent sucrose and 9.86 tonnes per hectare of commercail cane sugar. It is moderately resistant to red rot and smut. CoS 96268 (mithas) is early in maturity. The average cane yield is 69.81 tonnes per hectare with 17.91 sucrose and 8.65 tonnes per hectare commercial cane sugar. The variety has field resistance to red rot. Co 98014 (Karan-1) variety, tolerant to water-logging and drought, is early in maturity. The avearge cane yield is 76.29 tonnes per hectare with 17.59 per cent sucrose and 9.26 tonnes per hectare commercail cane sugar. It has field resistance to red rot and moderately resistant to smut. (PTI) |
FICCI suggest CST phase out by 2009 NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Industry body FICCI, in its pre-budget suggestion on indirect taxes, has urged the Government to withdraw Central Sales Tax (CST), in a phased manner, by 2009. It recommended lowering of CST by one per cent every six months and sought a clear direction on the entry tax policy which the states will adopt post CST. Since the intention of the Government is to put Goods and Services Tax (GST) in place from April 2010, it is important that the Government must bring all items under the ambit of vat regime, FICCI said in a release. To have a national VAT in place, a roadmap should be laid down with total incidence of 20 per cent (cenvat 12 per cent and VAT 8 per cent). This will provide the competitive edge to India in the global matrix as well, the release said. FICCI also believes that there is an urgent need for a massive cut in commodity taxes, especially on demand elastic items to stimulate demands in the economy. There is also need to move away from the over-dependence on manufacturing sector as the major revenue earner and instead widen service tax net and restructure custom duties, it said. Besides, FICCI has also pointed to the need for giving a fiscal booster in terms of tax benefit to sectors like food processing, textile, tyre industry, electronic hardware etc. On oil and gas sector, it said a 10 year tax holiday under section 80 ia be granted to pipelines, storage terminals and other related facilities for transportation and storage of petroleum products. (PTI) |
Hero Honda to focus on volumes, 100-cc: Munjal NEW DELHI, Oct 29: With an eye on volumes to arrest erosion in crucial market share, Hero Honda has decided to strengthen presence in the 100-cc segment where it will launch new bikes. "We are clearly going to focus on volumes and market share and are looking at much bigger numbers," Hero Honda managing director Pawan Munjal told PTI in an interview. Asked about the 100-cc segment, he said, "the entry-level customers are still looking at lower-end bikes. We will continue to focus on 100-cc and launch new bikes in the segment," he said. Interestingly, Hero Honda’s plan to strengthen its portfolio in the low-margin 100-cc segment comes at a time when its close rival Bajaj Auto, which is gradually eating into its market share, has made it clear that it would ultimately exit the segment and make 125-cc as its entry-level portfolio. Munjal, who insists that Hero Honda has "strategies and plans in place" to counter Bajaj’s ascendence, said the company was confident of regaining market share. "We may have currently lost market share. We are confident of regaining it. You are going to see higher and higher numbers from Hero Honda," he said. The company has planned a slew of launches to strengthen its offerings in the market, which it hopes is crucial for getting numbers. "We have already launched four new bikes, including variants, so far this fiscal. Now we will launch another four in the next five months," Munjal said. The bikes to be launched would include a 100-cc motorcycle and one in the premium segment. "We will see numbers coming from the new launches in the coming months and assisted by the other launches, sales will grow," Munjal said. The 100-cc segment has been the mainstay for Hero Honda where it dominates. However, a worrying factor for the company is the poor margins it gets from sale of such entry-level bikes, where the competition is also cut-throat. Asked about declining margins, Munjal said, "margin pressure has been there. But we will focus on the topline and market share through higher production capacities, new model launches and new marketing and promotion initiatives. We are confident that through this we will also tackle the margins." High raw material prices and competitive pressures have seen margins of two-wheeler companies under severe pressure. Apart from realising low margins on sales, most of them have been spending heavily on promotions and on doling out discounts to attract customers and shore up numbers. Munjal said the company was tackling this through improved efficiencies in production and cost management. Asked whether hero honda was contemplating to pass on price increments in production cost to customers, he said the company will try and absorb as much as possible. Hero Honda, in which the Munjals and Japan’s Honda hold 26 per cent stake each, launched a bike with fuel-injection technology in Glamour FI. Apart from this, the company recently launched an all-new version of its phased-out CBZ model to take on Bajaj Auto and TVS in the premium segment. The company has also launched two new variants earlier this month - the new Glamour and Passion Plus limited edition bikes. As it pumps in new models in the market, the company is also ramping up production capacity to meet possible demand. Hero Honda, which currently has two plants in Haryana, recently laid the foundation stone for a new plant in Uttaranchal, where it will make an initial investment of Rs 400 crore to have a capacity of 5 lakh units next year. This will take up Hero Honda’s total capacity to 44 lakh units by the middle of next year, Munjal said, adding that the Uttaranchal facility will have a production capacity of 15 lakh units by 2010. High raw material cost and increased competition weighing heavily on its bottomline, Hero Honda motors reported a 9.24 per cent dip in net profit at Rs 216 crore in the July-September quarter. The company’s turnover, however, went up by 3.6 per cent in the second quarter at Rs 2,289 crore against Rs 2,209 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s net profit in the first half of this fiscal stood at Rs 453.71 crore against Rs 442.37 crore in the same period last fiscal. Total turnover in the April-September 2006 period stood at Rs 4,706.09 crore against Rs 4,216.99 crore in the first half of 2005-06. (PTI) |
Plan Commission slams delay in NHDP-III; suggests PPPAC route NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Planning Commission has criticised the Government for slow progress in upgrade of national highways under NHDP-III and suggested that contracts on bot projects be awarded through Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) route. "The programme is the first new initiative of the UPA Government...Unfortunately, progress in 2005-06 was poor. NHAI should be instructed that all bot projects for 2006-07 should be processed through PPPAC route well in time," the Commission said in a letter to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. It pointed out that against a target of 1,476 km to be awarded in 2005-06, actual achievement was only 699 km of a mere 45 per cent. "Initially, we were informed that slippage in 2005-06 would be made up in the first quarter of 2006-07, but no contracts seem to have been awarded in the first quarter," it said. It asked the Government to direct NHAI to adopt the PPPAC route for expeditious clearance of contracts on which bids have already been invited. "NHAI should establish a time-frame whereby the proposed bot projects for 1,700 km will be put up for bidding. This should be publicised in advance to attract potential investors and high traffic segment should be offered first," the Commission suggested. It said if need arose, the PPPAC could introduce modifications in the concession agreement and advise bidders of the same and thereafter invite bids afresh. This, the Commission said, would not disrupt the ongoing process for the nine projects invited on the basis of the past concession agreement though it may cause few weeks of delay. Similarly, the little progress has been made in the NHDP-V under which 6,500 km of golden quadrilateral is to be six-laned. The committee on infrastructure had given the in-principle approval for the programme in January last year, it recalled in the letter. "NHAI should be directed to formulate a month-wise action plan for inviting bids for six-laning of GQ in 2006-07. A similar plan for 2007-08 should be available by December 2006. Thereafter progress in implementation should be monitored closely," it suggested. The plan panel also expressed its dismay on delays in 50 programmes under NHDP-I on account of land acquisition and other contractual issues. It suggested that an independent critical independent assessment should be made of each of these projects with a view to identifying possible problem areas in each project and advance corrective action. "Based on this a realistic completion date should be fixed and NHAI should take responsibility for meeting it," the Commission mooted. Pointing out that the decision of the previous Government on four-laning of the entire north-south and east-west corridors was flawed, the plan panel suggested that Government should re-prioritise sections within NHDP-II and said ways needed to be explored of reducing costs where contracts have already been awarded. (PTI) |
Railways plans to link state capitals through ‘garib raths’ NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Maintaining that the success of ‘garib raths’, the maiden scheme to provide plush rail services to the poor at affordable rates, would change its economics, the railway ministry plans to link all state capitals with such express trains. "The success of the four garib raths will dramatically change the whole economics of the Indian Railways. We plan to introduce 24-coach trains with 2,200-passenger capacity in place of those with 16 coaches seating 1,700," a top Railway Ministry official told PTI. Introduction of 24-coach trains with increased capacity will increase the economic health of the railways, with each garib rath earning a profit of Rs 20 lakh per trip, he said. The success of the garib raths, one already operating between Saharsa (Bihar) and Amritsar (Punjab), will also result in linking state capitals with these trains and enhance capital generation for the railways to the tune of at least 1,000 crore a year, he said. "According to reports available, the garib rath is a superhit. It is going full during the festival season. We hope this trend will continue and, accordingly, we plan to link state capitals with these trains to attract lower middle class passengers," the official said. "Our strategy is to increase load per train per coach from 62 to 81 in ac classes and from 72 to 90 in general coaches," he said. To simplify the safety norms for launching or introducing new trains, railways is considering one-time sanctions for running 24-coach trains instead of the "train-specific permissions that exist today". The official said the ministry has asked the railways board to get clearance from the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety for running 24-coach trains on particular routes. Railways has also added 500 coaches to old trains in the last two years to earn Rs 1,000 crore. "We will add another 500 coaches in the near future, earning another 1,000 crore," he said. Referring to the economics of train operations, he said a mail or express train with 16 coaches earns Rs 72 crore a year. Its eight sleeper, four unreserved and three AC classes earn Rs 19 crore, Rs 51 crore and Rs two crore respectively. "Merely four unreserved coaches are earning Rs 51 crore as compared to Rs 19 crore by eight reserved coaches. The economics lie in these mechanism. Our strategy is focussed on reducing tariff and increasing (passenger) load," he said. The railways, with an average 16 per cent earnings till 20th October, 2006, is poised for a Rs 20,000 crore profit by March 2007 and will be able to finance major projects like the dedicated freight corridor. The dedicated rail freight corridor corporation has been constituted and its board of directors, on the lines of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, would be announced soon. On the model concession agreement for containerised train operations, the official said global tenders have been issued and december four, 2006 is the last date for receiving applications from private players. The railways was able to raise Rs 30,000 crore for the first two corridors - eastern (Delhi-Kolkata) and western (Delhi-Mumbai). But the remaining two corridors needed another 1.25 lakh crore as budgetary support from the Government, he said. (PTI) |
RBI may walk middle path to balance inflation, growth NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Reserve Bank Governor Y V Reddy is likely to do a tight-rope walk while reviewing the monetary policy on Tuesday, with a view to contain inflation and ensure adequate credit flow to sustain high economic growth. Bankers, who were till a fortnight ago confident that there would be no rate hike in the policy, appear divided after inflation shot up to a four-month high of 5.26 per cent. "Even if the RBI raises the rates, it will be by 0.25 per cent," says an Indian Bank official. But India’s largest lender State Bank of India feels otherwise. "There is a little upward bias on interest rates, though it should not be deemed as pressure," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said. RBI appears to be firm in its commitment to ensure an inflation rate of 5-5.5 per cent in Fy’07 and all indications suggest that RBI’s monetary policy will be substantially less accommodating this fiscal, Asian Development Bank said in a report. With banks moving toward Basel-II norms that require higher provisioning, whatever step the Central Bank takes will be in the interest of the banking sector as a whole, feels an Oriental Bank of Commerce official. The recent upward trend in inflation is likely to put pressure on interest rates, as RBI had raised its two key short term interest rates by 0.25 per cent in July, the fifth such hike since October 2005 to manage inflation. There are also fears that hardening of interest rates may squeeze credit offtake, thereby affecting the ambitious growth rate projected by the Government. The monetary stance may attempt to balance healthy credit flow to sustain economic growth by relaxing the cash reserve ratio. (PTI) |
SEBI to introduce new language NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Market regulator SEBI is working on a user-friendly online language called XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) which will enable the user to utilise the information in the right manner. XBRL taxonomy is a dictionary of data definition that incorporates the mechanism for describing, naming and classifying items of the business information basically financial statement in a document. "We are in conversation with the exchanges as well as some of the issuers to shift to a new language of XBRL which, we believe, is more user-friendly language," SEBI chairman M Damodaran told PHDCCI. Individual business concepts such as cash flow, depreciation and share capital can be represented in the taxonomy. If we move to the language and we also simultaneously ensure that we address the conversion between our accounting standard and IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standard) we would have made a significant progress in the one part of the securities market, Domdaran said. The recently reconstituted 18-member committee on disclosure and accounting standard is also looking in to the matter. The committee first on October 17 and the next meeting is likely to be held in December. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India is also part of the committee and is looking for the role of facilitator of the language in India. "The institute is contemplating to set up task force for developing taxonomy for promoting the language," ICAI president T N Manoharan told PTI. First a consensus has to emerge among all the regulators, stock exchanges and other entities on the issue which will take some time, he said, adding initial process has just started in this regard. Once the language is in place one can understand and harmonise the financial statement very easily, he said. Manoharan said, simple financial analysis like debt equity ratios of a company or companies can be done with a click of button. Currently 11 countries across the world are using the language, he said. In an attempt to reduce compliance cost, SEBI was developing a single platform for e-filing of corporate disclosures. At present, corporates have to file separately on BSE, NSE and SEBI. By having a single platform, there will be no dilution of compliance while at the same time reducing the cost involved in it, Damodaran said. (PTI) |
 |
Lifting of ban on sugar exports held up due to differences NEW DELHI, Oct 29: Sugar exporters are worried about the delay in lifting the export ban on the sweetner as the Government has adopted a cautious approach on maintaining adequate buffer stock. Traders have made representations to the Food Ministry asking them to lift the ban on sugar exports, ministry officials said. Despite Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s assurance on a quick decision on the issue, the matter is still pending following differences on the sugarcane output for the 2006-07 kharif season between the Food and Agriculture Ministries. The Food Ministry officials have exuded confidence over allowing sugar exports on the back of high sugarcane output estimated at 330 million tonnes by Sugar Commissioners. This is against the Agriculture Ministry’s estimates of 283 million tonnes, a figure that is making the Government rethink about lifting the ban on sugar exports immediately. When contacted, official sources said it would be essential to allow at least a small quantity of sugar exports due to the estimated sugar production of 227 lakh tonnes during 2006-07 sugar season beginning October. Sugar output is estimated at 193 lakh tonnes this year as against 127 lakh tonnes during the previous year that had lead to the problem of inadequate availability. According to sugar experts, 283 million tonnes of sugarcane would enable sugar production of 20 million tonnes given a 10 per cent recovery besides cane diversion for other sweetners such as gur and khandsari. Food Ministry officials said even if the export ban was lifted, traders would be allowed to export only 10 lakh tonnes. "There is a demand to allow export of 30 lakh tonnes. But we are likely to allow only about 10 lakh tonnes if and when the decision to lift the export ban is taken," an official said. On the buffer stocks, the official said after releasing a high of 16 lakh tonnes of free sale sugar this month for meeting the festival demand, the stocks had declined to about 26 lakh tonnes. However, a sum of 4 lakh tonnes sugar has also been added during the month due to fresh arrivals from sugar mills, thereby raising the buffer stocks, the officials said. Since sugar production is estimated to grow by about 50 per cent in 2005-06, the stock availability is slated to register a huge increase, traders said, while expressing concern about about a possibility of a glut situation that would have repercussions on the sugarcane growers. (PTI) |
COO Ramakrishnan inducted in Bajaj Electricals Board MUMBAI, Oct 29: Bajaj Electricals Ltd (BEL) has elevated Chief Operating Officer R Ramakrishnan as Executive Director on its board. The elevation of Ramakrishnan, who was also the company’s Executive president, is effective from October 26, a company release said here. During his seven-year long association with Bajaj Electricals, the company has evolved from a Rs 300 crore entity to a nearly Rs 1,000 crore firm besides witnessing a significant enhancement in its profitability, market capitalisation, shareholder value and brand equity. He will be essaying a greater strategic role in the company’s business activities following his elevation, the Pune-based company added. (PTI) |
Garnet Construction to invest Rs 450 cr on three projects MUMBAI, Oct 29: Garnet Construction Ltd (GCL) is set to invest Rs 450 crore over three years starting April 2007 to develop three hi-tech realty projects on the city outskirts. "We have already acquired 400 acres of land for the three projects at Khopoli and the construction work will start from April next year," GCL Director Arun Kedia told PTI here. He said the company, a listed entity, would set up a residential complex on 200 acres, an IT park on 100 acres and an educational and recreation facility on the remaining land. In the first year, GCL plans to invest close to Rs 120 crore towards these projects taking a loan of Rs 15 crore from finacial institutions, Rs 70 crore from customer advances and the rest from internal accruals. The company is targeting non-resident Indians, especially those in the Middle East, as the prospective buyers, he said. "Our tie-up with Sternon, a Dubai-based real estate marketing company, will help us to tap the customers." Engaged in construction activities, both industrial and residential, GCL now plans to strengthen its presence into the booming housing sector. "The demand for residential complexes, particularly for highe quality, is on the upswing and we want to have a larger pie of that market," he said. Replying to a question, Kedia said GCL plans to set up one resort each in Goa and Panchgani, a popular hill station in Western Maharashtra. "We have started scouting for land for these two resorts and hope to identify and possess the plots by the year-end," he added. (PTI) International Cars to invest Rs 1,000 cr in Himachal MUV plant.. MUMBAI, Oct 29: Punjab-based International Cars and Motors Ltd (ICML) will invest Rs 1,000 crore in Himachal Pradesh to set up a plant to manufacture diesel-operated multi utility vehicles (MUVs). The plant will have a production capacity of 24,000 units per annum, ICML Managing Director Deepak Mittal told PTI here. "We would be investing Rs 1,000 crore in next two years for a plant to be set up in Himachal. Currently we have pumped in Rs 300 crore to begin with and are producing 100 vehicles per month," he said. The MUVs would be branded as "Rihno-Rover" and launched across the country from January 2007. The vehicles are currently being sold for test marketing in Punjab and Haryana. The plant spread across 50 acres would have an installed capacity of producing 24,000 units per annum when operational fully and we aim to export 20 per cent of this to South-Asian countries and Africa he added. There would be two models with a price tag of Rs 6-7 lakh. ICML has already sold around 700 vehicles in last 10 months after the soft launch in two states. It aims to open around 100 showrooms by end of 2007. "The biggest advantage of our vehicle would be the cost, bigger space, and power steering being provided in the basic model itself and a localisation of 80 per cent," Mittal said. (PTI) |
Tea Board to discard IBM software for e-auction KOLKATA, Oct 29: Tea Board has decided to replace the software developed by IBM for electronic auction across the country with a new one. Chairman of Tea Board Basudeb Banerjee told PTI that there were lots of complaints about the software from the auctioneers alleging it to be faulty and the Board has deiceded to replace it. He said the IBM software was doing well only in Coonoor among all the auction centres in the country. Banerjee said that Tea Board has formed a special committee headed by Indian Tea Association chairman and Tata Tea managing director Percy Siganporia to shortlist the vendors which had responded to the expression of interest (EoI) invited by the statutory agency. Some of the companies which had responded to the Tea Board EoI were NCDEX, Metaljunction, NSE.IT (an arm of the National Stock Exchange) and MMTC. Banerjee said that the shortlisted vendors would then be asked to submit technical and financial bids. The selected vendor would be then asked to supply the software and hardware for the conduct of e-auction. Earlier, the Commerce ministry had favoured introduction of electronic auction citing that it was more transparent than the present system and more suitable for better price discovery. The idea to implement e-auction was mooted by consultancy firm Accenture which had recommended its introduction in its report to the Board. The Board had also decided to talk with its Sri Lanka counterpart to share experiences. Meanwhile, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, has submitted its interim report on domestic consumption to the Tea Board. An official of the board said that contrary to popular perception that domestic consumption levels were stagnant, the study revealed that it was growing at a rate of three to 3.5 per cent per annum. The IIM(C) study had been based on data compiled by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). According to the study, the growth of domestic consumption of tea was higher than the population growth rate. (PTI) |
|
