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24 per cent Rise in Reliance
Profit in Q3 MUMBAI: India's biggest petrochemicals maker, Reliance Industries, on Friday reported a 24 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit, beating market expectations and prompting its shares to rise more than four per cent. Reliance, India's largest private sector company by sales, posted a net profit of Rs 10.83 billion in the third fiscal quarter to December 31, up from Rs 8.73 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected profit to drop because the company had lowered prices of key petrochemicals and had shut its refinery for some time during the quarter. Doubts Over India-Iran Gas
Pipeline Project (Go To Top) KARACHI: Despite assurances from the Government of Pakistan about a safe passage for the proposed Iran-India gas pipeline, oil experts have expressed doubts over the project in view of the recent rocket attacks on the Sui pipelines. "We have to be realistic. The recent incidents of Bugti tribes blowing up the Sui pipelines are giving red signals to foreign investors, especially the Indians, that the safe passage is doubtful," said an oil expert while talking to the News. The expert said that foreigners would feel that when a Government could not provide safe passage for its local supplies how it could protect the billion-dollar Iran-India gas pipeline project. Another expert said the Government must call a meeting of the tribal chiefs and settle the matter amicably, as was done during the British Raj. Iranian President Khatami concluded his four-day visit to India on Monday and asked New Delhi to consider the construction of the pipeline that would help Iran sell gas to India. Since the pipeline is proposed to run through Pakistan, the country is likely to get 500 million dollars annually in transit fee. The construction of the pipeline may cost up to 1.2 billion dollars, according to Iranian estimates. Pakistan has already extended all guarantees to Iran and India about the pipeline. It has signed an agreement with the Russian oil and gas firm Gazprom to undertake a study of the proposed pipeline, both under water and on surface. Since India is concerned about security of the pipeline because of tension with Pakistan it wants a study on cost estimates of the pipeline if laid under water. Six Indians Win AT and T
Leadership Award (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Six Indians are among the 30 students from Asia-Pacific who have won the 2002 AT and T Leadership Award designed to provide financial support to students studying in the United States, according to a press release. XXX The Indian students selected for the award this year include Tripty Arya and Surbhi Leekha of New Delhi, Vaishali De of Kolkata, Subramaniam Ramanarayan of Chennai, Rahul Sagar from Haryana and Indian native Sandeep Bose of Singapore. The programme, which is open to students from Asian and Pacific countries enrolled in accredited colleges and universities of the US for first-year, under-graduate and graduate courses, carries a cash award of 4,000 dollars each. Satyam Net Profit Falls
to Rs 1.1673 bn in Q3 (Go To Top) HYDERABAD: IT giant Satyam Computer Services Limited has recorded a 2.26 per cent decline in its net profit during the quarter ended December 31 as compared to the corresponding period in the previous year. The company posted a net profit of Rs 1.1673 billion. The total income of the company, however, jumped to Rs 5.2150 billion during the quarter as against Rs 4.46 billion during the corresponding period in the previous year, registering a 16.9 per cent increase while income from other sources came down drastically. The audited quarter results were approved at the company's board meeting here on Thursday. Taj Mahal Hotel Is 100 (Go
To Top) MUMBAI: India's first luxury hotel, Taj Mahal, built by the late Sir Jamshedji Tata in 1903, celebrated its 100 years last week. This was probably the grandest birthday celebrations Mumbai has ever seen. The unbelievable guest list of 1,800 celebrities included distinguished personalities from business, politics and entertainment. They all showed up to raise a toast on the occasion. A 40-minute show of video clips, newspaper clippings and AIR recordings served as history books while being projected on the grey stone walls of the hotel. There were fireworks and dancers swirled and swung onto each other as they recreated the parties and entertainment they used to have at the hotel in the 1990s. The reserved and reticent chairman of the Tata Group Ratan Tata said the Taj has endured and stood the test of time because it never compromised on that one thing that defines great institutions and that is Quality. A film is being made on the hotel. A special commemorative stamp will also be released to mark the centenary. A fact which is not known to many is that the Taj Mahal hotel preceded the famous Gateway of India by over 20 years. Till then, the Taj was the first sight for ships calling at the port. But, after the coming up of the Gateway, its photograph in which it is flanked by the Taj, has become a global symbol of Indian hospitality. The Taj group of hotels is among the largest companies operating 50 hotels in 34 locations throughout the country with an additional 11 international properties in Maldives, UK, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Africa and Middle East. Famous guests of the hotel included MKGandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Aldous Huxley and Somerset Maugham. Supercomm IT Show in Delhi
(Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Supercomm India 2003, being held in New Delhi, highlights the telecom sector in India, and witnesses the presence of the biggest names from the telecom and IT world. The three-day event, Supercomm is a platform for professionals for all disciplines and industry segments to explore the universe of communication. Supercomm India 2003 will see the participation of 15,000 professionals of the telecom industry in the US and Asia. The event would present authoritative insights on issues on immediate relevance - the emerging technologies, market trends, investment opportunities and the regulatory updates. The event will bring along anyone important in the telecommunications industry, from customers, strategic partners, channel partners, industry analysts, mediapersons and investors. Business World Award for
Jet Airways (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Jet Airways has been recognised as "India's most respected company in the travel and hospitality sector" by Business World magazine of Ananda Bazaar Patrika Group. The award was announced at a function held in Mumbai on Thursday. This is the second consecutive year for the airline to have won this award, says a press release. A glittering awards function was organised at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai. LK Advani, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, was the chief guest. On behalf of Jet Airways, Saroj K Datta, its executive director, received the award. Jet Airways has a fleet of 32 modern and next-generation Boeing 737-400/700/800 aircraft and eight modern ATR 72-500 turbo-prop planes. With an average age of 3.31 years, the airline is among the operators of the youngest aircraft fleet in the world. It operates over 240 flights daily to 41 destinations within India. Jaswant Launches Retail
Trading in Govt Securities(Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: India allowed three domestic stock exchanges to trade in Government securities on Thursday to enable retail investors to buy and sell bonds easily and widen the debt market. Launching the scheme in New Delhi, finance minister Jaswant Singh said the move would open new opportunities for retail and small investors. Until now, retail investors had to approach banks and mutual funds to buy and sell Government securities which had led to the alienation of the small investor from the debt market. The scheme would facilitate easier access and wider participation in Government securities market in order to buy and sell Government securities through stock exchanges. Finance Secretary S Narayan said the scheme will turn out to be a safe option for investors and help improve the efficiency of federal securities market alongwith transparency, depth and liquidity. Re-structured UTI Goes to Banks
(Go To Top) NEW DELHI: The Government on Wednesday bifurcated the State-run fund manager Unit Trust of India (UTI) by handing over the net asset value-based UTI-II to State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BOB) and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). Speaking at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the new promoters in New Delhi, finance minister Jaswant Singh said the objective of re-structuring the UTI was to benefit the average Indian investors. The agreement would pave the way for transferring all net asset value based schemes of UTI-I and II to a new Rs 100 million asset management company floated by the four players. Singh said trading in US-64 will be initiated very shortly and that the Government would honour its commitments for providing security to employees and officials. Singh said SBI, PNB, BOB and LIC would have 25 per cent stake each in the company that would take care of UTI-II, which will manage the NAV-based schemes worth over 170 billion rupees. UTI, which manages half of the Indian mutual fund industry's assets of about 20 billion dollars, stunned investors in 2001 when it froze redemptions from its flagship fund US-64. UTI-I would continue to be managed by Government-appointed administrator, M Damodaran, till the fund completes its commitments to the investors of US-64. Reliance IndiaMobile
Service Launched Nation-wide(Go
To Top) MUMBAI: Reliance Infocomm on Tuesday rolled out its all-India mobile service, Reliance IndiaMobile, with product and service demonstrations in Mumbai and other major towns and cities with registration of customers. Its rate of 40 paise per minute is the lowest telephony rate in the country, whether it is mobile or fixed line, local or STD, claims the company. The real cost of a call is lowered further with billing at 15 seconds pulse rate and free incoming calls. It also offers the lowest STD rates in the country at 40 paise per minute - from Reliance IndiaMobile to Reliance IndiaMobile under the Dhirubhai Ambani Pioneer Scheme. Speaking on the occasion, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd, said over 50,000 Dhirubhai Ambani Entrepreneurs (DAEs), enrolled across the country, are ready to acquire customers. TRAI Accused of Favouritism
(Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Indian cellular operators on Tuesday accused Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) of favouring wireless-in-local-loop (WLL) operators while penalising the ten million cellular subscriber base. "Equitable, transparent, fair treatment of service providers is a must. We believe it's our right as much as anybody else's. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the sole authority to ensure that. We believe whatever has happened over the last many months does not remotely qualify as fair, equitable, transparent or equitable to various categories of service providers," said Rajiv Chandrashekhar, chairman of Cellular Operators' Association of India, in New Delhi. The move comes on the heels of TRAI's direction to cellular operators to provide connectivity to the basic telecom operators for WLL(M) calls. Chandrashekhar said TRAI should address basic issues to the cell operators. "This chaos will only be perpetuated further and become worse unless the regulator gets back to the basics and addresses the basic principles that define TRAI as a regulator which is equity, which is fairness, which is transparency, which is consultation," said Chandrashekhar. Last week, TRAI had directed the cellular operators to offer inter-connectivity to all basic telecom operators for completing calls originating from WLL(M) network and had asked them to comply within three days. The cellular operators also raised the issue of licence fee which they had paid at the time of procuring licence while it was given free of cost to basic telecom operators for offering mobility. Currently, cellular subscribers have to pay Rupee 1 for every call made from a cell phone to a landline or WLL phone, which is collected by the cellular operator on behalf of the Fixed Service Provider (FSP). At present, about 70 per cent of calls made from a cellular phone are to a FSP. ICICI Bank to Open Branches
Abroad (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: As part of the overseas expansion programme, ICICI Bank has decided to foray into Canada, the UK, Dubai, Singapore and China for which it has already obtained RBI permission, bank officials said on Monday. The move, aimed at targetting NRI deposits and trade accounts, is part of the broader strategy to shore up its overseas business to 15-20 per cent of the bank's total business in five years. Lalita D Gupte, joint managing director, ICICI, said that the bank has already obtained RBI nod for setting up subsidiaries in the UK and Canada, open a branch in Singapore and representative offices in China and Dubai. New York Stock Exchange-listed ICICI Bank already has a representative office in the US but intends to expand its network. Coca-Cola to Invest $ 100
Million in India(Go To Top) PALAKKAD (Kerala): Coca-Cola Beverages is planning to invest about $ 100 million in India in the next one year, of which about 45 million dollars would be in southern part of the country, according to a top company executive. Vice-president of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Deepak Mehrothra, who is in-charge of south India, told reporters that the company was vigorously considering setting up a tender coconut water manufacturing plant in Kerala provided the right kind of technology, environment and location were available. He also said that though many States have shown interest in the various projects being planned, none has been short-listed so far. On the current controversy about Coca-Cola's Plachimedu bottling plant in Palakkad district using most of the surface water and having dug up several bore wells thus depleting the water table in the region, Mehrothra said that the plant had dug up only six bore wells and was open for inspection. "The company was using rainwater harvesting and recycling the borewell water for its needs. The bottling plant needs six lakh litres a day during peak season and about three lakh litres a day during off-season", he added. Indians Can Buy Shares, Property
Abroad(Go To Top) NEW DELHI: With foreign exchange reserves touching an unprecedented $ 70 billion mark, a confident Government of India has further opened up the economy allowing resident individuals, companies and mutual funds to invest in stocks and buy property abroad. Finance Minister Jaswant Singh told a meeting of overseas Indians in New Delhi on Friday that non-resident Indians can also sell property and other assets in the country and take away up to $ 1 million from such sales. Resident Indians, companies and mutual funds will now be allowed to buy shares of companies listed on the stock exchanges in New York, Nasdaq, London etc. However, the companies whose shares are sought to be purchased should have 10 per cent holding in companies listed on Indian stock exchanges. Unlike other categories, mutual funds can invest up to $ 1 billion (as against the present limit of $ 500 million). The ceiling on Indian companies buying holdings outside will have to be proportionate to their net worth (25 %). Indian companies can also buy business and residential property abroad without any clearances. Individuals too can make such purchases abroad without having to pass through bureaucratic red tapes, but with a limit of $ 1 million. At present non-resident Indians are allowed to repatriate up to $ 100,000 from sales of their immovable property and other assets. The new relaxation raises the limit to $ 1 million. The Government has also lifted the limit of $ 20,000 for remittance under the employees stock options scheme. Although all these are for a six-month test-run, they take the Indian rupee a step ahead in the implementation of the proclaimed policy of convertibilty. The finance minister has also welcomed investment in providing potable water by throwing open water treatment projects and offering a slew of tax reliefs to foreign entrepreneurs. He announced wide-ranging concessions to attract investment in drinking water supply, one of the most neglected infrastructure sectors in the country. "For water de-salination, water purification, deflouridisation, for transporting water, should any enterpreneur invest in India, we will get that enterprenuer 100 per cent of depreciation every year. It will be totally tax-free, 100 per cent tax free for 10 years. It will be totally free of import duty. Should any plant machinery be needed, it will be totally free of local taxes and excise duties," he told the conference of non-resident Indians. Infosys Shares Fall by
7.5 Per Cent (Go To Top) BANGALORE: Investors were worried about tightening profit margins in the fiscal third quarter amid stiff competition and cost increases. They were also disappointed by a modest increase in Infosys' full-year profit forecast declared before the markets opened on Friday. The Bangalore-based firm was the first major Indian company to kick off the earnings season. The results spell trouble for investors in other Indian software companies, such as Wipro, India's No. 2 listed software exporter. Infosys shares fell by Rs 360.30, or 7.5 per cent, to Rs 4,436.10 after the results, dragging the entire tech sector down. The stock had rallied about 39 per cent since October, out-performing a 25 per cent rise in Mumbai's technology index. Saudi Firm Seeks Rights to
Sell Petrol, Diesel in India(Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia-based Jazira Enterprises has sought marketing rights to retail petrol and diesel at all major districts in India, Government sources said on Wednesday. In its application, the company said that it would import fuel from Saudi Arabia's State-owned Saudi Aramco for sale at about 200 petrol stations in every major district of the country. Marketing rights to retail petrol, diesel and jet fuel (aviation turbine fuel) are conditioned to a company investing Rs 2000 crore in oil infrastructure or giving Rs 500 crore as bank guarantee. BSNL, MTNL Slash Long Distance
Mobile Rates (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: State-run telecoms giants slashed on Tuesday (January 7) their national mobile-to-mobile long-distance call rates in a move to match tariffs offered by private cellular service providers. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) said in a statement it would now charge 4.80 rupees per minute during peak hours for mobile-to-mobile calls and mobile-to-fixed line calls for distances beyond 500 km from 9.0 rupees earlier. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd said it would charge 2.90 rupees per minute for mobile-to-mobile phone calls for distances beyond 50 km from 9.0 rupees earlier. Prithpal Singh, Chairman and Managaing Director of BSNL, said, "We have a seamless roaming with MTNL, that is BSNL customers get automatic roaming into MTNL and vice-versa and as far as BSNL is concerned we are not charging anything extra on that." The cuts came after money-losing private cellular firms lowered national long-distance call rates beyond 50 km by 67 per cent last week to a similar level in a bid to counter competition from cheaper limited mobility services. Singh said the State-run firms have several attractive packages in store which await clearance from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), country's premier telecom body. The two State firms account for some 10 per cent of the total mobile subscriber base of over 10 million customers. India's nine-year-old mobile industry, billed as one of the fastest- growing markets globally, has been expanding by more than 80 per cent annually. It offers the world's lowest cellular charges for local calls. MTNL also provides fixed-line telephone services and Internet access in New Delhi, the Capital, and Mumbai, India's financial hub, while BSNL has a nation-wide network of similar services. Maruti Finance Crosses
Rs 500-cr Mark in First Year (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: Maruti Udyog Limited on Tuesday announced that car loans disbursed under Maruti Finance have touched a whopping Rs 500 crore. Launched on this date in Mumbai last year, Maruti Finance has since been extended in phases and now covers the entire country, barring parts of North India and Gujarat where it will be rolled out soon, says a press release. In a statement, Maruti Udyog also disclosed that the number of customers of Maruti Insurance had reached one lakh since the business was launched nation-wide in May 2002. Maruti Insurance has achieved about 60 per cent market share for new Maruti vehicles being sold. Lanka to Import Tata, Maruti
Cars from India (Go To Top) COLOMBO: Sri Lanka will be importing about 225 luxury cars worth over Rs 55 crore from Tata and Maruti in India for its legislators, officials said on Saturday. The Lankan Cabinet has approved the release of Rs 55.60 crore for the purchase of the vehicles. According to officials, the Government could use a 200-million-dollar Indian credit line to finance the purchase. The country's parliament members had earlier been using luxury Japanese models such as the Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Landcruiser. LPG Prices May Go Up Before
Budget (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Petroleum Minister Ram Naik has hinted at a possible increase in cooking gas (LPG) price before this year's Budget in order to check the growing subsidies. The Union Cabinet would soon decide the amount of the hike, keeping in mind the consumer's interest, he said on Friday. Naik explained: "The international price of crude oil as well as of imported LPG have gone up substantially. We being 70 per cent import dependent, naturally there will be some revision. It's a matter to be decided by the Cabinet." According to official figures, the Finance Ministry has pegged the subsidy on LPG at Rs 71 per cylinder, which falls short of the average import parity price by about Rs 50-60 per cylinder. Maruti Announces Rs 50-crore
Bonanza for Customers (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI:Maruti Udyog Limited has unveiled a mega campaign that offers hefty cash prizes and hundreds of free gifts to customers buying Maruti cars during January 3 to February 28, 2003. Customers during this period can participate in a lucky draw by entering in the chassis number and model name of their new car and answering a simple question in a computerised system available at all Maruti dealerships, a company statement said late on Thursday. The system will instantly throw up the prize that each customer is entitled to. Under the campaign, titled "Change Your Life", customers can win two cash prizes of Rs 21 lakh each, two cash prizes of Rs 11 lakh each, 2030 gift vouchers or each worth between Rs 5000 and Rs 1 lakh, for LG Digital Home White Goods. Maruti has also decided to offer free first year insurance for Re 1 on the Omni, WagonR, Zen, Alto and Esteem. The company expects to spend about Rs 50 crore on the entire 'Change Your Life' campaign. Cellular Firms Slash Rates
Further (Go To Top) NEW DELHI: Indian cellular firms, facing a threat from a cheaper limited mobility service, slashed national long-distance calling charges on Thursday in a bid to keep customers and woo new ones. The phone companies cut mobile-to-mobile long-distance charges beyond 50 km to 2.99 rupees a minute from a current peak of nine rupees a minute. "Beyond 50 kilometres whatever may be the distance and whatever may be the time...day or night ... the cellular industry has decided to charge you two rupees 99 paise per minute as a flat rate. With this rate they have not only killed distance but time too," Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan told a news conference here. TV Ramachandran, Director-General of the Cellular Operators Association of India, said the rates have been slashed to retain the cellular market share facing stiff competition from rivals. India's hotly competitive telecoms sector, billed as one of the fastest-growing markets globally, already has the lowest local mobile call charges in the world with prices of a rupee on average for both incoming and outgoing calls. "We wanted to demonstrate and get into the market in a very aggressive manner to protect the cellular market share against competition and to deliver more value propositions to the end user ... not that we have a margin to do it as we all know we are having a crippling accumulated loss but we believe that we will get a fair deal at the end of the day," said Ramachandran. Analysts say the move has been taken in order to announce a phased reduction in tariffs to match rates offered by limited radius service provider Reliance Infocomm, a telecom unit of the powerful Reliance group. Reliance, switched on a range of cheaper services on December 27 in a bid to grab a large chunk of the nascent telecom sector. The service is priced at 0.40 rupees a minute for outgoing calls, while incoming calls, voicemail, text messaging and Internet access are free of charge. Cellular firms, which are unprofitable, on an average charge at least one rupee a minute for both incoming and outgoing calls. India's major cellular firms are Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, Hutch, the Indian telecom unit of Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa, and unlisted Idea Cellular Ltd. There are more than 10 million mobile customers in India and the number is expected to grow to 120 million by 2008. The number of limited mobility users exceeds 500,000. Hike in Petrol, Diesel Prices
(Go To Top) NEW DELHI: : In step with a surge in global crude oil prices, the State-owned oil companies have increased petrol and diesel prices by around Re 1 per litre, with effect from midnight of Thursday-Friday. Petrol would cost Rs 29.93 per litre in Delhi as against the prevailing Rs 28.91, while diesel prices have been increased from Rs 18.06 to Rs 19.07, official sources said. Diesel prices in Kolkata increased from Rs 19.43 to Rs 20.45 per litre. In Mumbai, the hike was of Rs 1.21 to Rs 24.24 while in Chennai it rose from Rs 19.43 to Rs 20.93. -ANI & India Overseas |
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