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| Indian mutual fund club eyes
half-century mark NEW DELHI, Feb 24: The country's mutual fund space may soon become a 50-member strong industry, with more than .....more' Steel Ministry proposes valoram export duty on chrome ore NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Fearing fast depletion of chrome ore due to phenomenal increase ...more Institutions expect a hike in education loan limit NEW DELHI, Feb 24: The private educational institutions and industry are expecting the Government to raise in the next Budget the limit of educational loans from Rs .......more Indian banks fare poorly in brand value: Study NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Indian banks, barring SBI and ICICI Bank, come a cropper in global stage when it comes to their brand value while their counterparts in communist China have fared better, according to the findings of a study.In a study by London-based consultancy Brand Finance, only two Indian banks-- the country's biggest ......more |
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Govt asks ICAI to prepare report on
IPO valuation NEW DELHI, Feb 24: In the wake of controversy relating to valuation of public issues, the Government has directed the apex body ........more Patents filings from India on decline NEW DELHI, Feb 24: India's penchant for patents seems to be on the wane, with the country's patent filings declining steadily ......more SAIL pledges to invest Rs 10,000 cr in NINL NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Intensifying the efforts to retain its numero uno position, state-run steel giant SAIL today said merger of Nilachal Ispat Nigam with itself would .......more Ambuja Cements to buy three cargo ships for Rs 150 cr NEW DELHI, Feb 24: To tap the growing demand of cement in the country, Ambuja Cements is expanding its cargo fleet for the internal movement of the construction material and is adding three ships by next year at an investment of Rs 150 crore.The company currently has a fleet of seven cargo .....more |
Indian mutual fund club eyes half-century mark NEW DELHI, Feb 24: The country's mutual fund space may soon become a 50-member strong industry, with more than a dozen new players looking to start their businesses either this year or by early 2009. The prominent names likely to start their mutual fund businesses soon include leading domestic financial services firm Indiabulls Financial Services, banks like Axis Bank, Bank of India and Yes Bank, besides a host of other local and overseas entities. Out of these, more than half a dozen are expected to be up and running in 2008 itself, while state-run Bank of India is currently scouting for a foreign partner. Indiabulls received an in-principle approval from the market regulator SEBI for starting its mutual fund business last week and expects its asset management venture to start in next 3-4 months, after putting in place management and compliance teams. Currently, there are 33 fund houses in the country, collectively managing assets worth close to Rs 5.5 trillion. According to industry people, the market could soon attain a size of over Rs 10 trillion given the huge potential yet to be tapped by the new as well as existing players. Besides, industry experts believe that growth would benefit the consumers as well with an increased competition expected to result into various new products and that too with new benefits to the customers. "More than half a dozen new mutual funds are set to enter the industry, hopefully this year. There is enough scope for the new entrants as now, we have just scratched the surface of the market and there is a long way to go. As of now, just about five per cent of the households in the country are covered by the existing players," Association of mutual funds in India Chairman A P Kurien said. (PTI) Steel Ministry proposes valoram export duty on chrome ore NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Fearing fast depletion of chrome ore due to phenomenal increase in exports, the Steel Ministry has recommended that customs duty on chrome ore be made on ad valorem basis of 15-20 per cent in the coming Budget. "We are seeing that exports of chrome ore have risen by about 100 per cent due to its increasing demand in the international market and as such there is an urgent need to conserve and that is why we have proposed ad valorem customs duty on the mineral," Steel Ministry sources told PTI. The ministry's move comes amid serious concerns expressed by the Indian stainless steel manufacturers, who in a recent letter to it pointed out that India only has one per cent of the global chrome ore reserves. "We are fast depleting the important mineral by mining around 3.3 million tonnes (MT) each year and exporting nearly half the quantity," the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA)observed in the letter. Pointing out that the domestic demand for chrome ore is likely to be double from the current level owing to both greenfield and brownfield expansions, the ISSDA demanded that the government should introduce an ad valorem export duty of 20-25 per cent in the coming Budget. It said during the time of the last Budget, the export price of chrome ore in the international market was 200 dollars per tonne which has now doubled to 400 dollars per tonne. The Association also demanded that chrome ore exports be stopped within two years from the current level of 3 lakh tonnes besides increasing the percentage of beneficiation from 38 per cent to 40 per cent. (PTI) Institutions expect a hike in education loan limit NEW DELHI, Feb 24: The private educational institutions and industry are expecting the Government to raise in the next Budget the limit of educational loans from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5.50 lakh without collateral security as the cost of education has gone up manifold in recent years. "Keeping in view the expenses incurred by a student in a business school, the collateral free education loan limit should be fixed at Rs 5.50 lakh," said Amity University Professor Gurinder Singh. In the last 3-4 years, the management graduates have been earning in lakhs. They can easily pay back loans after getting jobs, he said. The industrial chambers, including FICCI, have also asked the Finance Minister P Chidambaram to provide liberal funds for educational loans as the industry is facing a severe shortage of skilled manpower in manufacturing and service sector. The industry had said that education loan needs to be made more easily available to students intending to take up higher education. Currently, banks provide educational loans up to Rs 4 lakh without collateral security and up to Rs 7.5 lakh with security. Meanwhile, the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has also proposed to offer loan subsidies to students below the "creamy layer" in a bid to ensure access for all professional education. (PTI) |
Indian banks fare poorly in brand value: Study NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Indian banks, barring SBI and ICICI Bank, come a cropper in global stage when it comes to their brand value while their counterparts in communist China have fared better, according to the findings of a study. In a study by London-based consultancy Brand Finance, only two Indian banks-- the country's biggest lender State Bank of India and ICICI Bank, the largest in the private sector, figure among the top 100 global banking brands. Compared to the Indian brands in top 100, three Chinese banks find a place in the top 25 brands. "We have seen the emergence of powerful financial institutions from the Chinese market in the top 20 most valuable brands in the sector, indicating significant changes in the global financial market power base," Brand Finance, an independent brand consultancy said in its latest report. The report, Global 500 Financial Brands Index, analyses the financial value of the world's top 500 banking brands. The study incorporates data from the world's largest 32 stock markets. According to the study, State Bank of India has a brand value of USD 2,852 million while for the ICICI Bank it is USD 2,603 million. The findings come out at a time when SBI's proposal to merge its associate banks with itself to attain global scale and size hangs in balance with employees union protesting the plans. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China has a brand value of of USD 8,427 million, China Construction Bank is at USD 7,786 million, Bank of China ar USD 6,741 million, Bank of Communication USD 2,664 million. For China Merchants Bank, it is USD 1,794 million. (PTI) Govt asks ICAI to prepare report on IPO valuation NEW DELHI, Feb 24: In the wake of controversy relating to valuation of public issues, the Government has directed the apex body of chartered accountants, ICAI, to conduct a study on the initial public offer pricing and suggest ways for protecting the interest of investors. "The government has asked the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to study the issue of IPO valuation and system of stock movements. The ICAI will submit a report on the valuation of IPO in due course," Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta said. "The ICAI study would take into account the practice followed in other countries as well as India and suggest ways for dealing with it," he said, adding that the apex body would also advise the Government on making the whole process of IPO valuation more transparent. When contacted, the ICAI President Ved Jain said that the institute has constituted a group of technical experts to study the issue of IPO valuation. The institute, he said, would compare the Indian practices with the best in the world and also study how the other countries have dealt with the problems concerning IPO valuation. The problem of the IPO valuation came to fore with public issue of some companies plunging below the issue price even on the listing day or afterwards, leaving investors high and dry. (PTI) |
Patents filings from India on decline NEW DELHI, Feb 24: India's penchant for patents seems to be on the wane, with the country's patent filings declining steadily since 2006. According to the provisional data from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), under the WIPO Patent Cooperation Treaty, the number of applications from India has come down to 686 in 2007 from 831 in the previous year. Further, the country's 679 applications in 2005 is lesser than the 724 applications in 2004. Again, in 2003 there were 764 applications. The United States, Japan and Germany top the list of patents filings with first, second and third places respectively. The Republic of Korea overtook France to occupy the fourth position, followed by France at fifth spot. Among the developing countries, Republic of Korea and China had the largest number of patent applications last year. While Korea had 7,061 applications, China had 5,456. India (646 applications) stood third followed by South Africa (390), Brazil (384), Mexico (173), Malaysia (103), Egypt (41), Saudi Arabia (35) and Colombia (31) among the emerging economies. Developing countries account for 78 per cent of the Patent Cooperation Treaty membership, representing 108 of the 138 countries that have signed up to the treaty to date. Other countries in the top ten are United Kingdom (6th), China (7th), Netherlands (8th), Switzerland (9th) and Sweden (10th). (PTI) |
SAIL pledges to invest Rs 10,000 cr in NINL NEW DELHI, Feb 24: Intensifying the efforts to retain its numero uno position, state-run steel giant SAIL today said merger of Nilachal Ispat Nigam with itself would definitely create a greater synergy and pledged to invest Rs 10,000 crore to ramp up its production capacity to 3 million tonne. "We are seriously interested to merge Nilachal Ispat with us as it would create a greater synergy. We have decided to invest Rs 10,000 crore to ramp up its production capacity to 3 million tonnes per year," Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Chairman Sushil Kumar Roongta told PTI. The proposed merger received a setback after the Orissa government last September conveyed its disagreement on Nilachal Ispat Nigam's (NINL) valuation by IDBI Capital. IDBI Capital, appointed by the state government, pegged the share value of NINL at Rs 27 which neither the state nor the steelmaker's key stakeholders agree. They argued that IDBI Captial did not taken into account the iron ore mines granted in favour of NINL while evaluating prices. NINL has a 1.1 million tonne capacity integrated iron and steel plant in Orissas Jajpur district. The company has a captive iron ore mine given by the Orissa government. The mine, located in the coastal state's Keonjhar district covers an area of 1,798 hectares and has reserves estimated at 100 million tonnes. The reserves are expected to meet the requirements of a plant with capacity of a little more than two million tonnes. NINL is jointly promoted by MMTC and the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa (IPICOL). MMTC owns the majority stake in the steel company, while the Orissa government owns 26.29 per cent through IPICOL and Orissa Mining Corporation while some stake is also held by MECON. But the proposal received a filip when the top brass of the Commerce Ministry recently held elaborate discussions with MMTC and SAIL and after due deliberations asked both the state-run organisations to expressly finalise their respective views on the proposed merger. The ministry will meet them next month and is expected to formulate its views after giving them an audience. The Commerce Ministry officials were understood to have pointed out that valuation of the company could not be an impediment for the merger as that could be mutually agreed upon by the stakeholders and suitors. Moreover, MMTC has been told that managing a steel plant was not within its core area of competence, a source said. Besides, the Steel Ministry has also sought the consent of Orissa government and MMTC on the valuation to facilitate the merger and circulated a draft note for the consideration of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS). The CoS is also slated to meet soon to begin deliberations on the future course of action of the plant. Adding a new dimension to the merger issue, another state-run steel company Rashtriya Ispat Nigam is also understood to have expressed its keenness to merge NINL with itself saying the merger would create a greater synergy between the two, besides ensuring raw material security for itself. RINL has no captive mines. Meanwhile, the Orissa-based steelmaker is planning to offload at least 10 per cent stake through an initial public offering soon to raise about Rs 80 crore, and the Steel Ministry has sought the Committee of Secretaries' opinion to bail out the PSU from its current fiscal morass. "NINL management will seek the approval of its Board of Directors on diluting at least 10 per cent stake through an IPO soon to mobilise about Rs 80 crore to infuse a fresh lease of life in its operations and enable it withstand the stiff competition from other steelmakers," a Steel Ministry official said. (PTI) ) |
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