CSE bats for more buses, seeks waiver in excise duty ...

Dish TV in talks with Indian Railways for DTH services..

EAC suggests FM to adjust indirecttaxes on consumer goods

Need to increase tertiary education enrollment to 21 pc over next 10 yrs

Cords Cable plans second facility in Rajasthan

NEW DELHI, Jan 16: Cords Cable Industries, which is in the process of hitting the capital market with an an initial public offer soon, today said it is planning to set up its second manufacturing unit in Rajasthan.

The company has acquired 78,800 sq mt land at Pathredi, Rajasthan for setting up the facility and is expected to commence operations from March 2009, Cords Cable CFO D V Gupta told reporters here.

A manufacturer of speciality cables, the company has lined up an expansion cum diversification programme entailing an investment of around Rs 57 crore. The proposed facility, to come adjacent to the company’s first unit, would cater to its domestic as well as export requirements.

The facility would be funded partly through the IPO, which opens for for subscription on January 21 and closes on January 24.

The company seeks to raise Rs 42 crore from its IPO of 35,80,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each. The company has fixed the price band for the issue as Rs 125-135 per share.

The issue proceeds would be utilised by the company toward meeting working capital requirements and other general corporate purposes, besides expanding production capacities.

The issue would constitute 27 per cent of the fully diluted post-issue paid-up capital. The shares are proposed to be listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

Cords Cable supplies specialised cables to clients including BHEL, Tata Steel, Reliance Energy, ACC, GAIL, Siemens and Larsen and Toubro. It also exports to the United Kingdom, Middle East and parts of South East Asia and Africa.

The company posted net profit of Rs 7.01 crore, while its revenue stood at Rs 104.29 crore in FY07. (PTI)

CSE bats for more buses, seeks waiver in excise duty ...

NEW DELHI, Jan 16: The CSE today shot off a letter to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, seeking removal of central excise duty on buses and at the same time no reduction in existing tax rates on cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs).

At present, the government charges 16 per cent central excise tax on passenger buses.

The letter by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) sought a guidance to the State Governments to correct the current distortions, which tax the bus more than the car.

"You will agree this is ridiculous," it added.

The letter urged the Government not to reduce the existing rates on cars and SUVs but also to maintain the differential taxes between small and big vehicles. "Any reduction on taxes on cars will only add to the subsidy being given to such vehicles as against buses."

The NGO further asked for an increase in the excise duty on diesel cars in the Budget 2008 or measures to provide the required disincentive for the growth of private vehicles on "cheap" fuel.

"At present, the car manufacturers use the price differential on petrol and diesel as a convenient loophole to sell cars which run on fuel of the poor," it added.

The CSE also urged the Finance Minister to link central excise duties with fuel efficiency standards once finalised and provide tax breaks to vehicles those meet the advanced clean emission norm.

"The car is not the problem, but the Government policy and regulation is. We strongly believe that the current fiscal and regulatory policies do not adequately take into account the social, health and environmental costs of motorisation," CSE Director Sunita Narain told journalists here.

She claimed that the current fiscal policies were "distorted and downright wrong" as these end up taxing the bus, which moves the largest numbers of people in Delhi, more than the car that drives few persons but "hogs valuable" road space.

"Cars do meet our aspirations, but not our needs. Our needs must be met by the public transport. There is a need to change the policies. The Government talks a lot on public transport system, but does very little in this regard," Ms Narain said.

She claimed that the car owners were already enjoying enormous hidden subsidies in Indian cities. "They do not pay adequately for the disproportionately high usage of road space or for parking," the CSE Director added.

(UNI)

Dish TV in talks with Indian Railways for DTH services..

NEW DELHI, Jan 16: Essel Group promoted Dish TV today said it is looking for a tie up with the Indian Railways to implement DTH services in trains, which will enable travelers to watch Live TV while on the move.

"We are in talks with the Indian Railways for installing our DTH services in trains. We have made a presentation to them... We soon expect to formalise the deal," Dish TV Head-Mobile DTH-Samir Juneja said.

He, however, declined to divulge any further details.

The company is also in the final stages of installation of its DTH services in cars and high-capacity buses and is holding discussions with General Motors, Ford and Ashok Leyland for the same.

"The new product is meant only for niche segment. We expect to sell 10,000 units in the first year of launch," he said.

It has launched two versions of the antenna, which would be mounted on the roof top of cars, buses or trains.

The DTH antenna-Speed Ray, which would work all across the country, would cost Rs 1.5 lakh, while the other one-T5, which would work only in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, has been priced at Rs 70,000.

However, the users in the cars would be charged same as that of a subscription at home in the range of Rs 160-300, depending upon the offer.

The customers would be able to watch 100 channels in the Speed Ray and 75 channels in T5.

Dish TV is already present in about 10-12 aircrafts of Kingfisher Airlines.

For marketing the new product, the company, currently, would rely on its five distributors across the country.

"It would also tie up with car designers to promote the market. After initial response of the product, we would look into other options of making it a mass product," Juneja said.

Dish TV had announced in October last year that it would invest Rs 1,100 crore by 2011, to expand its market share and is expecting over three-fold increase in its subscriber base to eight million by the same time.

The company would also increase the number of channels on its network to 400 from current 180 in the next two years.

Dish TV has roped in Shah Rukh Khan to make people aware about DTH technology and its benefits through a new advertisement campaign. (PTI)

EAC suggests FM to adjust indirecttaxes on consumer goods

NEW DELHI, Jan 16: Expecting the economy to grow at around 8.5 per cent during next fiscal, the PM’s Economic Advisory Council today suggested to Finance Minister P Chidambaram to adjust indirect taxes on consumers goods in the budget 2008-09 to give a push to manufacturing sector.

The council also advised the Finance Minister to increase public investment and make adjustments in income tax slab to stimulate the economy.

"Our own view is that the economy will grow at about 8.5 per cent next year. But, there are some areas of concern where there are weaknesses. They are known like manufacturing," Council Chairman C Rangarajan told reporters after a Pre-Budget with Finance Minister here.

However, the council did not give suggestion on any major reduction in the tax rates. (PTI)

Need to increase tertiary education
enrollment to 21 pc over next 10 yrs

NEW DELHI, Jan 16: Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today stressed the need for a substantial increase in the enrollment in tertiary education to catch up with countries like China which are well ahead in this sphere.

"We have gone a long way in expanding the infrastructure of primary education, the goal of a school in every village. Now we have to concentrate on improving and maintaining the quality... As well as to focus on related sectors," he said.

Dr Ahluwalia noted that now the emphasis should be secondary and tertiary sectors, to cater to the next stages and maintain the level of development.

"We need to focus on secondary education, which is the next stage as well as tertiary education," he said.

Admitting that China had achieved the target of 21 per cent enrollment in the last decade itself, he said this was because it was a richer country than India.

"Their per capita income is double ours, but as ours is increasing, we are also working to achieve this goal," he said.

Dr Ahluwalia said the current level in India was presently 11 per cent and the Government hoped to take it to the 21 per cent level in the next ten years.

(UNI)