Daily Excelsior...Business

Indian automobile industry bounces back, sales up 9.83 pc

BHEL to invest Rs 1,000 crore in Tiruchi plant

No link between futures trading & inflation: FMC

Interest rates expected to be stable for now: Kamath

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 8: LG Electronics India Pvt Ltd today formally launched three new mobile phone handsets with a commitment of rich features and best technology at viable prices.

A press handout said that the three handsets: KF510, KP320 and KP110 will target different segment and cater to the requirements of different consumers respectively.

Underlining features, it said that KF510 has distinctive look with dynamic touch pad having quality of interactive touch lighting and emotional animation. The handset combines a slim style with metal frame and scratch resistant tempered glass. The set is targeted towards style-oriented customers.

LG KP320 model is fully loaded phone with three-megapixel camera with auto focus, video recording and high internal memory with TV out feature targeting new generation customers.

Similarly, KP110 is a step forward in expansion of Bullet series and is targeted towards first time phone buyers with inclination towards music.

Commenting upon launch, business group head, GSM, Anil Arora said, "We are expecting tremendous response from the customers as all the three sets are manifestations of unique features and economically priced."

He further said that all the three handsets of mobile phones including LGKF510, LGKP320 and KP110 would be available in the market at Rs 12,250, Rs7, 990 and Rs 2, 899 respectively.

Tatanet VSAT service launched at Falcon Int’l

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 8: Ram Sahai, president, Chamber of Commerce and Industries Jammu, today launched the VSAT services of Tatanet at Falcon International, its channel partner in Jammu.

Vishal Kohli, CEO, Falcon International and Ravi Kumar, from Tatanet, Mumbai, were also present at the launching ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ravi extended congratulation on behalf of Tatanet to Falcon International for becoming their channel partner.

He said, "We are focusing on building strong and mutually beneficial relationships with our channel partners, that will allow us to together take Tatanet into the furthermost corners of the country".

Tatanet is a division of Nelco Limited, which commenced operations in 1995 by supplying and setting up a hub and a VSAT network. It made a foray in the commercial market in the year 2003.

It is to mention here that with this service, the customers can enjoy an "always on" connection that saves time when connecting to the internet and also eliminates the need for an extra telephone line dedicated for internet use.

Dr IT Group organizes Business Summit’08

Excelsior Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, May 8: Dr IT Group of Institutes, Banur organized Business Summit’ 08, a discussion programme, at PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chandigarh.

The discussion was held on the topics "Inclusive Development and Its Impact on Corporate Sector", "Role of Private-Public Partnership for Inclusive Development" and "Corporate Social Responsibility".

Union Minister of State for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal was the chief guest on the occasion. The summit was attended by dignitaries from corporate sector, politics, eminent educationists and students.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, "There is a need to think about inclusive development seriously, then only economy can grow". He praised the initiative of Dr IT Group for raising such an issue at the summit.

Notable among others who spoke included Prof A C Julka from Department of Economics, Panjab University, Ashok Khanna, former president PHDCCI, Prof P P Arya, Director, Dr IT Business School, R K Gupta, General Manager PNB, Dr Parvinder Singh Behuria, Secretary, Public Enterprises Selection Board, Rajneesh, BDM, Microsoft and M K Mahajan, Chairman, Dr IT Group.

Earlier, Deepti Mahajan, CEO of the group presented the welcome address.

Sprite launches ‘kholega toh bolega’
digital initiative scheme

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, May 8: Sprite- India’s lime brand, today launched a unique scheme ‘Sprite Kholega Toh Bolega’ digital initiative by using mobile phone technology.

Venkatesh Kini, vice-president marketing, Coca-Cola India, said that Sprite’s 2008 summer campaign ‘Seedhi Baat, No Bakwaas, Clear Hai?, was the first of its kind digital initiative and specially designed to engage youth in a simple, honest and straight forward manner. The initiative was taken to connect and engage the youth across the country by tapping their key passions, Mobile, Internet and Downloads, said Kini.

He further said that initiative offers the Sprite drinking consumers a chance to win ‘free talk time’ worth Rs 1.5 crore and would be applicable to 230 million GSM and CDMA mobile consumers (both pre-paid and post-paid users) of all leading mobile service operators.

The entire digital mobile initiative was backed and powered by technology partner, Oxigen, who would help to distribute ‘free talk time’ to lucky winners of Sprite consumers. The technology innovation will also enable the distribution of ‘free talk time’ ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 5000, every hour from 10 am to 10 pm everyday for two months, till 4th of July.

In addition, the winners of Sprite consumers would be able to download the latest music videos, movie clips, games wallpapers, ring tones and a host of other digital content free through www. mobibuzz.in/sprite.

Sprite’s ‘Kholega Toh Bolega’ digital initiative has been made extremely consumer friendly as only standard SMS charges would be applicable instead of the usual premium SMS charges.

High density polymer prices up on poor demand

NEW DELHI, May 8: High density polymer prices today fell by a rupee a kg in the national capital due to fall in demand from moulding units.

High density (HD) moulding (deshi) and HD moulding (colour) polymers were down by a rupee each to Rs 80 and Rs 84 a kg respectively due to reduced demand from plastic moulding units.

Following were today's quotations in Rs per kg:

LD No 40 - 100, LD No 400 - 99.00 LLDP blowing 85.00, colour 75.00 HD Blowing 82.00, HD moulding (deshi) 80.00, HD moulding (colour) 84.00, PP No 100 83.00, PP Colour 107, ABS (Indian) 97, acrylic 130-140, colour 139-144, crystal (Indian) 80, colour 90, poly carbonate 180-190, Nylon No-6 165, Nylon No 66 -181-191, PVC resin deshi 60.00, PVC pest grade 80. (PTI)

Cement producers assure Govt to cut prices

NEW DELHI, May 8: After prevailing upon steel producers to reduce prices, the Government today got assurance from cement producers also that they would substantially cut prices voluntarily.

"We have talked to cement producers and they have assured us that very soon in the course of 2-3 days, after consulting among themselves, they would put forward their proposals of how best the cement prices can be brought down further," Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar told reporters here today.

The cement manufacturers along with steel producers have been accused of raising prices through cartel, would get back to the Government after discussing as to what extent they could cut prices.

However, the cement manufacturers could not be contacted on the issue. The assurance from manufacturers came after government announced to take tough action against them, besides banning exports and allowing duty free import of cement.

Through these measures, he said, about 3.65 lakh tons of cement has been made available in the market. The cement prices have gone up from about Rs 150 a 50 kg bag to about Rs 220-260 per bag in the past two years.

"In the course of coming few days, significant reduction in prices of cement can be expected," the Minister said. On the industry’s demand to lower tax burden, he said Government was "open to consider every measure."

He further said the Ministry has submitted a proposal to the Finance Ministry in this regard and a final decision would be taken by the Cabinet. (PTI)

Tin, nickel down on strong global cues

NEW DELHI, May 8: The wholesale prices of tin and nickle today fell by Rs 15 each a kg in the national capital, tracking strong global markets.

Tin ingot prices, which had gained Rs 50 per kg yesterday, fell by Rs 15 to Rs 1,035 per kg mainly on the back of a fall in its prices at the London Metal Exchange (LME).

At LME, tin traded 115 US dollar down at 24,000 per metric tonne while nickel moved down by 355 dollar at 28,545 dollar a metric tonne.

At wholesale market here, nickel plate 4x4 prices were down by Rs 15 to Rs 1365-1455 a kg.

Lead ingot (hindustan zinc) lost Rs 10 at Rs 120 a kilo after the metal prices fell by 135 dollar at 2420 dollar a tonne.

Following were today's quotations per kg (in Rs):

Tin ingot 1035, zinc ingot (Hindustan) 110, zinc dross 98.00, nickel plate (4x4) 1365-1455, cadmium plate 475, Rod 420, antimony (china) 275, gun metal scrap 250, bell metal scrap 245, copper wire scrap 348, copper super d rod 370, copper wire bar 355, copper mixed scrap 322, C C rod 352, Utensil scrap 307, Mixed scrap 302, Chadripital 240, brass sheet cutting 230, bullet scrap 245, bharat scrap 240, accessories scrap 243, brass boring 222-235, brass radiator scrap 218 and huny scrap 227.

Lead ingot (hindustan zinc) 120, Lead imported 140, Aluminium ingots 110, sheet cutting 110, aluminium wire scrap 112 and Aluminium utensils scrap 105. (PTI)

Indian automobile industry bounces back, sales up 9.83 pc

NEW DELHI, May 8: The automobile industry has got its momentum back with April’s overall vehicle sales rising by 9.83 per cent, thanks to reduced excise duty in the 2008-09 Budget.

According to figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the domestic passenger car sales managed a growth of 17.15 per cent in April.

Total domestic vehicles sale in April stood at 8,06,238 units, against 7,34,103 units in the same month last year.

The Union Budget 2008-09 proposed a reduction in excise duty on small cars to 12 per cent from 16 per cent and a similar cut on two and three wheelers, and buses and chassis.

The passenger car segment clocked a sale of 98,740 units during the month, against 84,283 units in the same month a year ago, SIAM said.

Segment leader Maruti Suzuki India registered an increase of 22.30 per cent at 51,766 units, against 42,326 units in the same month in 2007.

Rival Hyundai Motors sold 21,492 units during the month, against 15,697 units last year, up 36.92 per cent.

Tata Motors, however, recorded a decline of 17.10 per cent at 11,193 units, against 13,502 units in the same month previous year.

General Motors India had a 21.65 per cent jump in its sales with its hatchback ‘Spark’ continuing a good run. The company’s overall sales stood at 3,411 units, compared to 2,804 units last year.

On the motorcycles front, the industry witnessed a reasonably good growth in April with the segment registering a jump of 8.31 per cent at 5,01,592 units, against 4,63,091 units during the year-ago month, SIAM said.

According to SIAM, during April, motorcycle market leader Hero Honda Motors registered sale of 2,76,580 units, against 2,55,408 units in the same period during 2007, up 8.29 per cent.

Rival Bajaj Auto also recorded a similar increase of 9.19 per cent at 1,38,117 units, against 1,26,494 units last year. TVS Motor sales were up by 2.35 per cent at 49,186 units, against 48,058 units in the same month last year.

Total two-wheeler sales in April rose by eight per cent at 6,16,038 units, compared to 5,70,381 units in the same month last year, it added.

In the scooters segment, total sales witnessed a 11.93 per cent increase at 81,002 units, against 72,369 units.

Scooter market leader Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, however, registered sales of 47,396 units, against 48,488 units, down 2.25 per cent, while Hero Honda Motors pushed its sales over four-fold at 5,832 units from 1,291 units in the same month last year.

The new entrant in the scooter segment during the month was Suzuki Motorcycle India, which sold a good 5,877 units.

Pune-based Kinetic Motor had a slump of sales at 2,798 units, against 3,221 units last year, down by 13.13 per cent.

On the three-wheeler segment, total domestic sales stood at 26,916 units, against 25,545 units, up by 5.37 per cent.

Sales of commercial vehicle also increased by 7.62 per cent to 33,271 units during April from 30,914 units for the year-ago period, SIAM data said.

Medium and heavy commercial vehicles sales were up by 5.28 per cent at 18,608 units, against 17,674 units last year. Light commercial vehicles also registered a rise of 10.75 per cent at 14,663 units, against 13,240 units in the same month last year, SIAM said. (PTI)

BHEL to invest Rs 1,000 crore in Tiruchi plant

NEW DELHI, May 8: State-run power equipment-maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd today said it would invest Rs 1,000 crore in its Tiruchi plant in the current fiscal to increase boiler capacity.

"We are planning to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the Tiruchi plant to increase the boiler capacity from 5,750 MW to 10,000 MW by June-July ‘09," Bhel’s Tiruchi Complex Executive Director, R N Misra told reporters here.

The current order book of Tiruchi plant stands at Rs 7,200 crore, "We would take this figure to Rs 17,000 crore in three years time," Misra said.

BHEL also plans to form joint venture with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) to build boilers, in which it would have 26 per cent stake. "The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TNEB to form joint venture," Misra said.

The company is contemplating more joint ventures with other state electricity boards. The company has already designed 800 MW boiler, but the order for the same are yet to be placed.

BHEL and country’s largest power producer NTPC Ltd formed 50:50 joint venture on April 29 last month to carry out engineering construction procurement contracts for power plants and infrastructure projects, manufacture and supply equipments in India and abroad. (PTI)

No link between futures trading & inflation: FMC

NEW DELHI, May 8: Commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission today said it doubted that the ban on futures trading in four farm items would help curb inflation, but would surely eat into the turnover of commodity exchanges.

"It is quite unfortunate that the government banned four items despite there being a strong evidence against futures trading (driving up prices)," Forward Markets Commission (FMC) Chairman B C Khatua said.

The ban may not contain inflation in the coming weeks as there is no direct link between inflation and futures trading, he said, adding that it was, however, sure to "bring down about 60 per cent of the NCDEX’s turnover."

"The significant impact would be on Indore-based National Board of Trade (NBOT) that deals in only single commodity-soy oil," Khatua said.

He hoped that the suspended commodities would once again be available for futures trading.

The Government yesterday announced suspension of all futures contracts in four commodities - chana, soy oil, potato and rubber - with immediate effect for four months.

This brings the total commodities suspended for trading to eight, including wheat, rice, urad and tur that were banned last year.

Khatua, however, assured investors that he would make efforts to bring back all eight banned commodities on the exchange platform. (PTI)

Interest rates expected to be stable for now: Kamath

NEW DELHI, May 8: Interest rates are expected to remain stable for now despite the Reserve Bank squeezing money supply through a hike in percentage of cash that banks must keep in reserve, ICICI Managing Director and CEO K V Kamath said today.

"At this point of time I think no change (in interest rate) is seen," he told reporters on the sidelines of a presentation by renowned economist C K Prahlad.

Kamath said at this point of time the market has not judged which way interest rates are going, but if yield on 10-year Government bond is taken as an indicator, there is in fact a drop in interest rates.

Bankers and market players will need signals as to what is the true level of interest rates, he said.

The Reserve Bank had last month announced a 0.75 per cent hike in cash reserve ratio to 8.25 per cent to reduce money supply in the banking system.

On rising global crude oil prices, which has crossed the USD 122.31 per barrel mark, Kamath said its impact has to be seen.

"Given drivers of our growth, impact of oil in day to day life is getting less. This is not to say that it is not a pain but pain could be borne," he said. (PTI)