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Life insurance penetration in India higher than global avg

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 30 November 2012 | 21.03

The government today said that life insurance penetration in India was higher than the world average in 2010. "Life insurance penetration in India was higher than the world's average in 2010 and the combined average is higher than Brazil and Russia and most of other countries of Asia including Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and Sri Lanka," Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Also read: Existing insurance policies doesn't suit now? Here's help
    
"The government periodically receives proposals for providing tax incentives, inter alia, for investments in insurance and mutual funds and examination of such proposals is a part of an on-going process," he added. In a separate response, Meena said, Irda has informed that no foreign company is presently functioning in India. However, foreign companies are allowed as joint venture partners in the Indian insurance industry with a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap of 26 per cent and at present 38 private insurance companies are functioning in India along with their joint venture partners, he said.
    
In another reply, Meena said the pay scales of employees in Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are determined as per the agreement between the management and Associations/Unions every five years. "Besides the pay, employees in banks are also entitled to a number of other allowances and benefits. The pay scale of the Central Government employees are finalised by Government taking the recommendations of Central Pay Commission into consideration and these pay scales are reviewed generally after ten years," he said.
    
The terms and conditions of service of Central Government employees and Bank employees are entirely different and are regulated in terms of the respective service conditions, Meena said, adding that hence, no comparison can be drawn between pay structure of Central Government employees and of bank employees.

To another query, Meena said RBI has initiated several measures to check the menace of counterfeiting of banknotes. These measures include running education campaigns for members of the public and cash handlers so as to facilitate detection of counterfeits.

RBI has been incorporating new security features and designs in the bank notes to stay ahead of the counterfeiters, Meena said, adding that new security features were added to banknotes in all denominations during the year 2005-06. Instructions have been issued to banks to disburse only sorted and genuine notes through their counters/ATMs, he added.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Infosys plans to list ADS on NYSE Euronext

IT services firm Infosys Ltd , the first Indian company to list on Nasdaq, said on Friday it will shift its American Depositary Shares to the NYSE Euronext from Dec 12.

Infosys , India's second-largest software services provider, also said it is seeking listing of its ADS on the Paris and London boards of NYSE Euronext in a move that will not affect its float or capital structure.

The company said the move is aimed at increasing access to its stock for European investors.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

EGoM on Telecom deferred again

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Telecom, which was scheduled to meet today to work out the roadmap for spectrum that was unsold in the recent auction , has been deferred.

The meeting was deferred following the death of former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, sources said. The EGoM, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was scheduled to meet today after it was deferred from November 29 as the key ministers who are part of this panel were engaged in Parliament.

The high-powered panel was to discuss the road-map forauction of unsold GSM spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan and Karnataka.

The EGoM has to decide on reserve price that should be fixed for these service areas. It also has to decide on CDMA spectrum which had no takers.

The recent auction of GSM spectrum attracted bids worth only Rs 9,407 crore, as against minimum expected amount of Rs 28,000 crore.

There is also a proposal to conduct an auction of 900 Mhz band in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata along with 1800 Mhz band but EGoM has to take a final call on the proposal. Telecom operators prefer 900 Mhz band as they need to deploy lower number of telecom towers compared to those in 1800 Mhz band.

The new date for EGoM meeting could not be immediately ascertained.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

MACL files police complaint against leasing airport to GMR

The Maldives Airports Company has filed a complaint with the police here over what it terms as "unlawful leasing" of Male International Airport to Indian infrastructure major GMR.

"The Maldives Airports Company Limited has submitted a complaint to the Maldives Police Service requesting to investigate the unlawful leasing of Male International Airport on June 28, 2010 by the senior officials of the former government and former board members of the Company," the government owned firm said in a statement today.

Also read: Maldives action against GMR unilateral: Assocham

It said that issues raised for investigation include the "unlawful proceedings" in awarding the airport to GMR; "the changing of some of the criteria of the original agreement in a manner that would bring about great losses to the state; amendments made to the agreement that decreases state fuel revenue; allowing GMR to levy USD 25 as an Airport Development Charge; not obtaining the necessary legal counsel before handing over the airport to GMR," among others.

The statement said that the country's Anti-Corruption Commission is also investigation the issue. The move by the company comes just days after it terminated the contract signed with GMR during the regime of previous President Mohamed Nasheed.

Upset over the unilateral decision by Maldives to terminate the USD 500 million Airport project here, India had yesterday made it very clear that it would "inevitably" impact on bilateral ties given the "climate created" there which was a matter of "concern".

Terming as "extremely unfortunate" the campaign against the project, top government officials said it was made a political issue from purely a commercial one while noting that "many interests were at work" in Maldives.



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Banks say no word from Kingfisher even as deadline ends

Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines said they are yet to hear from the grounded airline even as the deadline set by the bankers to bring in fresh equity of USD 1 billion ended today.

However, a banker sounded optimistic about a meeting between the lenders' consortium and the airline "in the next fortnight". "We have not heard from the airline yet and I expect some meeting between the consortium and the airline to happen in the next fortnight," Shyamal Acharya, deputy managing director in charge of mid corporate group at State Bank of India, the lead banker, told PTI.

He said no fresh date has been decided for the meeting with the Vijay Mallya-led airline, which owes Rs 7,000 crore to the consortium of 17 banks, with SBI alone accounting for Rs 1,200 crore. SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri had earlier this month asked the airline, a part of the UB Group, to bring in at least USD 1 billion (over Rs 5,400 crore) by November-end.

Expectations had gone up following the announcement of the Rs 11,100 crore United Spirits-Diageo deal, wherein UB group is expected to receive a large sum. However, Vijay Mallya later made it clear that the proceeds would not be diverted to the troubled airline, saying "both businesses will be dealt with separately".

A senior banker said there are complicated issues, especially regarding how the money from the deal will find its way to Kingfisher's lenders. Such issues will have to be sorted out across the table between the top management of the airline and the bankers, the banker added.

The recent liberalisation of foreign holding norms in airlines--which was supposed to provide succour to carriers like Kingfisher Airlines --also does not seem to have yielded any success yet. In September, the government had allowed foreign airlines to pick up stakes up to 49 per cent in Indian carriers.
According to some analysts, the banks, a majority of whom have already declared their exposure to KFA as non-performing assets, are in a difficult situation as the value of the collaterals they hold is far below the outstanding amount.

Kingfisher, which is saddled with a loss of Rs 8,000 crore and a debt burden of another over Rs 7,524 crore, has been grounded since October 1 following a strike by pilots over non-payment of salaries. Its licence has also been temporarily suspended and aviation regulator DGCA has told the airline that it will be restored only when it submits a revival plan.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

GMR Infra exploring legal options against Maldives govt

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 29 November 2012 | 21.03

GMR Infrastructure is exploring legal options against Maldives Government for terminating its USD 500-million airport development contract for running the Male airport.

"We are seeking legal opinion (against the termination notice) and we will formalise our strategy shortly," a GMR spokesperson said, adding that operations at the Male airport are functioning "normally".

Meanwhile, Maldives has denied a report from local Sun Online that work permits and visas of GMR officials working in Maldives will be cancelled within seven days.

Also read: Maldives issues notice to GMR for terminating airport pact

Maldivian President's Press Secretary Masood Imad said that GMR has been given more time than what is stipulated in the contract. Visas to GMR officials will continue as per the normal procedures, he added.

"As per the contract, either party could terminate contract giving 5 days notice but we have given them 7 days to hand over the project. They have been given more time to remove their equipments after handing over the airport to MACL. The visas will continue to stand as per normal procedures," he said.

The Maldivian Cabinet on Tuesday decided to terminate GMR's contract for developing Male Airport and issued it a notice to hand over the airport within 7 days to state-owned Maldives Airports Company Ltd.

It had also asked GMR to vacate and remove all property from the airport within 30 days.

GMR group, through a consortium with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), had won the USD 500 million contract on June 24, 2010 through a global competitive bidding process to upgrade and manage the Male airport for 25 years.

The contract, termed as single largest foreign direct investment in Maldives, was awarded by the then Maldivian government headed by Mohamed Nasheed.

However, the project was hanging in balance ever since the regime change in Maldives earlier this year as some local political parties, who are now in power, were opposed to GMR levying a USD 25 per passenger Airport Development Charge (ADC). The issue of charging ADC is currently pending in  an arbitration court in Singapore.

Termination of GMR's contract had also evoked sharp reactions from government of India which said on Tuesday that it sends a "very negative signal" to foreign investors.

"The decision to terminate the contract with GMR without due consultation with the company or efforts at arbitration provided for under the agreement sends a very negative signal to foreign investors and the international community", a spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs had said.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Defence min looking into Mazgaon dock's decision on JVs

Defence Ministry is looking into Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Limited's decision to enter into Joint Venture contracts with private parties to construct warships.

The probe will look into the legal aspects and whether there is any violation of rules set up by government for a public sector enterprise before entering into a JV contract with private parties, officials said.

MDL--a defence shipyard-- is looking forward to form a Joint Venture with Pipavav Shipyard, Larsen and Toubro and ABG Shipyard to construct warships which are in the pipeline for over last few years.

Sources here said the step has been taken to ensure there is no violation of government rules set up earlier this year for defence public sector companies to enter into Joint Venture contracts with private bodies.

The legalities of the proposed contract are being looked into as a defence company needs to adhere to rules set by the government, sources said.

MDL's move to sign a JV with Pipavav came out last year, leading to protests by other private shipyards.

Consequently, the defence ministry decided to put the entire matter on hold and issued detailed guidelines for governing any such future move.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Swiss companies scout for opportunities in India

Swiss companies are keenly looking at business opportunities in India and other high-growth markets, amid sluggish economic conditions in Europe, a Swiss official said on Thursday. Switzerland is the eleventh biggest foreign investor in India, according to Chris Watts, part of Swiss government's trade and investment promotion body.

"Swiss companies are now not just looking at China. They are looking at Asian and Latin American markets that have high growth potential. They are looking at the growing middle class (population) as such as the one in India," he told PTI. He noted that Swiss companies have created about 66,000 jobs in India in the last 10 years.

At present, about 100 firms from Switzerland have business in the country. Watts said Indian companies are also very interested to invest in Switzerland. "Bilateral trade (between the two nations) is expected to grow 5-10 per cent over the one to two years. I expect Swiss exports to grow little faster than Indian exports to Switzerland," he said.

The trade between India and Switzerland stood at nearly USD 5 billion in 2011. Watts was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the Swiss Embassy to announce that Glenmark Pharmaceuticals CMD Glenn Saldanha has been chosen for 'Swiss Ambassador's Award for Exceptional Innovation'.



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Govt may form inter-ministerial panel on sugar decontrol

In order to fasttrack decontrol of sugar sector, the government is mulling setting up an inter-ministerial panel to review recommendations of the Rangarajan Committee on sugar deregulation.

The panel could be chaired by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and ministers from finance, commerce, food and new and renewable energy ministries and the Planning Commission deputy chairman could be members in it, sources said. "The PMO is considering setting of an inter-ministerial panel on sugar decontrol to fast track implementation of some of the recommendations made in the Rangarajan Report," according to sources. 

At present, sugar is the only sector fully controlled by the government. The sector is regulated right from production through distribution in the open market and ration shops. In October, the PM-constituted committee led by PMEAC chairman C Rangarajan had submitted a report suggesting scrapping of major controls on the sugar sector.

The food ministry is considering implementation of some of the  recommendations, which do not require approval of the state-governments, by year-end. It has has sought views of the state-governments on the Rangarajan Report.

Barring two key regulations with respect to fixing sugarcane price and sharing of 70 percent revenue by sugar firms with farmers, the Rangarajan Report has suggested giving freedom to mills to sell sugar in the open market and having a stable export and import policy. It has recommended removal of obligation on the part of mills to supply 10 percent of sugar at cheaper rate to the government to meet the ration shops demand.

In the long-term, it has recommended doing away with the cane area reservation and minimum distance criteria between sugar mills besides suggesting removal of controls on byproducts like molasses.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

No plan to set up manufacturing unit in India yet: JLR

Jaguar Land Rover is placing its bets on emerging markets like Russia, Brazil and India. But even as its parent Tata Motors announced a joint venture to invest upto 1.36 billion pounds in setting up a plant in China , India will take significantly longer to catch up with its peers.

John Edwards, global brand director, Land Rover, "We have no formal plans right now that we can come in. We continue quite clearly to look very closer at the Indian markets and we will assemble vehicles rather. Right now we have got nothing more to say about formal manufacturing plans."

"India initially in particular would be a market where the Land Rover Freelander and the Rangerover Voque will be particularly popular in terms of numbers. That's not to say we don't want to sell range rovers or range rovers sports, but in terms of volumes in terms of numbers , the proportion of our total sales than the Free Lander or Range Rover Vogue." he added.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kenya keen to replicate Punjab transport department model

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 28 November 2012 | 21.03

Punjab government's move to computerise and upgrade its transport department got a thumbs up from Kenya which has evinced interest to replicate it in its transport ministry.

In a communique to Punjab transport secretary, Francis Meja, registrar of motor vehicles, Kenya has sought the assistance of Punjab government and its agencies for automating its road transport sector, an official spokesman said today.

Meja has communicated that Kenya would like to send six representatives of a multi-agency committee constituted by them to study the upgradation process of the transport department and replicate it in that country, he said.

The Kenyan delegation is expected to visit here next week and the transport department is coordinating their arrangements, the spokesman said.

He said the Kenyan government has shown interest in replicating the Punjab system for online application of road sector documents such as driving licenses and motor vehicle registration certificates.

It has also expressed desire to replicate the centralised data department of the transport sector and use CCTV cameras to improve traffic regulation. The Kenyan government has sought assistance to implement smart driver licences and motor vehicle number Plates. It has also shown desire to replicate the model being adopted by Punjab for sharing data through both internet and mobile technologies, he said.



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Suzlon crosses 20,000-MW installed capacity

Wind-turbine maker Suzlon on Wednesday said that it has crossed the 20,000-mw of installed capacity operating across 32 countries."We have grown into the world's fifth-largest wind-turbine maker with a global fleet of over 20,500 MW operating across 32 countries," Suzlon group chairman Tulsi Tanti said in a statement.

This follows the company getting a go-ahead from its lenders on Tuesday to recast its Rs 11,000-crore debt. "Crossing 20,000-MW of installed capacity underscores the confidence and trust the customers have placed in us over the years, and our track record in delivering with not only robust and reliable products but also truly dependable solutions."

The debt-ridden Pune-based company, which has a fully-owned subsidiary in Germany under the label of REpower, on Tuesday said it received approval from a consortium of 20 lenders led by the State Bank of India to recast Rs 11,000-crore of its over Rs 14,600 crore of debt under the corporate debt restructuring (CDR) mechanism. Its turbine fleet, spanning generations of products and technology from 1995 to the present day includes turbines ranging from as small as 300 kw (0.30 MW), to the world's largest commercially available offshore turbine at 6.15 MW. "Our focus has been on offering the most comprehensive onshore and offshore product portfolio and delivering customised solutions across the full wind energy value chain. This is highlighted by our service business contributing over USD 500 million in annual revenues, by our firm orderbook of over USD 6.8 billion and long-term service agreements totaling around USD 2 billion," Tanti said.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

India to showcase Aakash-2 tablet at UN

India will showcase the Aakash-2 tablet at the United Nations, amid clarification by the maker of the low-cost tablet over sourcing some parts from China.

The tablet will be unveiled today in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the occasion of India's current Presidency of the Security Council. CEO of Datawind, maker of the tablet, Suneet Singh Tuli would give a presentation about the device.

The unveiling of the tablet at the UN comes even as Datawind said assembling and programming of the low-cost tablet has been done in India and only some main parts have been sourced from China.

Datawind had said that for the first 10,000 units for IIT, and for the sake of "expediency", the motherboards and kits were manufactured in its Chinese subcontractor's facilities.

The units were 'kitted' in China at various manufacturers while the final assembly and programming happened in India. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri had said earlier this month the Indian mission to the UN took the initiative to showcase the tablet at the world body and other UN member states as well as mediapersons would be invited to the event.

Aakash has been "described as the most competitively priced tablet computer by an Indian-origin entrepreneur," Puri had said. Datawind had won the tender in 2010 to supply one lakh Aakash tablets for a price of around USD 49 per unit.

An advanced version of Aakash was launched on November 11 by President Pranab Mukherjee in India. The new version 'Aakash 2', is powered by a processor running at 1 GHz, has a 512 MB RAM, a 7-inch capacitative touch screen and a battery working for three hours of normal
operations.

The first version of tablet had a processor with 366 Megahertz, 256 MB RAM and 2GB flash memory. The first one lakh devices would be provided to students of engineering colleges and universities.



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French Dassault opens Indian subsidiary for Rafale deal

After bagging the multi-billion dollar contract for supplying 126 Rafale fighter aircraft to IAF, French Dassault Systems has opened an Indian subsidiary company here.

The company named Dassault Aircraft Services India Private Limited (DASIPL) was set up recently and it is 100 per cent owned by its French parent company, officials said here. The new company is headed by a French national Richard Lavaud, who has worked in India earlier with defence firms,and will work towards finalising the deal with India, they said.

Earlier this year, Dassault Rafale had emerged as the lowest bidder in the IAF tender for supplying 126 combat aircraft edging out its European rival Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft in terms of prices.

The contract has been offered to Dassault and it is negotiating the terms and conditions and the final price of the aircraft with the Indian Defence Ministry officials. Dassault has also entered into an agreement with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for partnering in defence and homeland security sectors in the country.

There was a possibility of the two companies working together in the combat aircraft deal here. After finalising the deal, Dassault will have to reinvest 50 per cent of the contract's worth back into the Indian defence sector.
Mukesh Ambani-headed RIL has made several efforts in the past to position itself in the defence, internal security and aerospace solutions sectors.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Coramandel shortlisted for USD 500 million project in Togo

Fertiliser major Coramandel International today said it has been shortlisted for mining and manufacturing of phosphoric acid project in West African city Togo that could entail an investment of USD 500 million.

Coromandel, a part of Rs 22,000-crore Hyderabad-based Murugappa Group, is participating in the bidding process through its Singapore-based joint venture firm Coromandel Getax Phosphates Pte Ltd and the company expects to win this project as it is already buying rock phosphate from there.

"We have been shortlisted from 15 bidders. The other two shortlised are from Australia and Israel," Murugappa Group Executive Chairman A Vellayan told reporters here.
    
Expressing confidence of winning the project, he said, "We are the only consumer bidder and we believe that we are going to have an added advantage because we are going to offtake the nutrient. The other two shortlisted are technical and investment bidders."
    
Asked about estimated investment if the company wins the bidding process, Vellayan said: "The total project cost would be over USD 500 million."
    
However, he said the Coromandel Getax need not invest the entire amount as in Singapore it is easy to get investors.
     
Elaborating on the new project, Coromandel International Managing Director Kapil Mehan said it is not known yet whether Togo authority would also partner in this project. "After the bidding, the feasibility study will take 6-8 months time and thereafter we will see," he said.
     
As per the bid document, the Togo project involves mining of 5 million tonnes of rock phosphate and manufacturing capacity of 1 million tonnes of phosphoric acid, he added.
     
Currently, Coromandel International has a fertilsier production capacity of 3.2 million tonnes, which would go up to 3.65 million tonnes with the commissioning of fertilizer plant in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh in January.
     
That apart, Mehan said the company is in the process of buying 50 acres land for setting up of SSP fertiliser plant having a capacity of 2.64 lakh tonne per annum in Bhatinda, Punjab with an estimated outlay of Rs 116 crore.
     
On expansion of agri-retail business, he said that the company already has 640 rural retail outlets selling agri-inputs in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and aims to increase the number of outlets to 1,000 in next two years.
     
Mehan also informed about company's new initiative towards providing extension services to farmers and is testing use of Japanese rice transplanters on a pilot basis in 4,000 acres in Andhra Pradesh.
     
The company has invested Rs 5 crore so far on this pilot project and has imported 30-40 such machines, which aims to address labour shortage, reduce cost of cultivation and raise yields, he added.
     
On revenue growth outlook of the Murugappa Group, the Executive Chairman A Vellayan said, "We are looking at annual growth in excess of 20-25 per cent."



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Impact of coal price pooling to be known after finalisation

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 27 November 2012 | 21.03

The government said that the impact of price pooling of coal on electricity tariff can be determined only after the mechanism is finalised. Planning Commission had said to offset the impact of high import costs, Coal India (CIL) should adopt a pooling formula on prices by combining rates of imported and domestic coal. "The impact of price pooling on electricity tariff and the common man can be ascertained only after the proposal is finalised," Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

Also Read: CIL for supply of imported coal on cost plus basis: Govt

Coal India (CIL) and Central Electricity Authority (CEA) are jointly working on price pooling mechanism and will submit the report to Power Ministry for consideration, the minister said. He also said the West Bengal Government has expressed reservation on the proposed mechanism. "The government will duly take it into consideration while deciding the matter," he said. Odisha government has also opposed to the Centre's proposal to introduce pooling price of coal, stating that it was not relevant to the power generating companies located very close to coal mines.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Telcos using 2G waves post Feb 2 ruling may have to pay: SC

The Supreme Court today said Telecom operators, whose licences were cancelled by it but continued to operate due to delay on government's part to hold fresh auction of 2G spectrum, might have to pay for using the radiowaves on the basis of current price.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan said that it would consider asking the operators to pay for using spectrum as they continued to operate because of delay in auction by the Centre.

"Those licensees which were operating because of delay in auction must pay. They could not have operated if auction would have happened. We would ask the operators to pay for using spectrum after four months time," the bench said.

"By virtue of fact that the government was unable to hold auction as per the direction(February 2 judgement), the operators were allowed to continue with the operation and they should pay at the price fixed now," the bench further said.

The court, however, did not pass any order and said that it would consider the issue at the next date of hearing. The apex court had on February 2, while cancelling 122 2G licences, allowed them to run for four months after which the order was to become operative. The date expired on May 2 but the apex court allowed the operators to continue providing services as the Centre failed to put the spectrum on auction which was done only on November 12.



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OVL's $5-bn Kashagan stake buy pushes ONGC up 1.4%

ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC ), will buy 8.4-percent stake from Concophillips in North Caspian production sharing agreement or Kashagan for USD 5 billion. The transaction subject to approvals is expected to be completed in the first half of next year.

The company's chairman and managing director confirmed it will begin the process of seeking the Cabinet nod for the deal. "After the ECS recommends this for approval by CCEA, Conoco-Phillips will take it up with its consortium partners. There are procedures and the minutes will be made at the ECS meeting, a CCEA note will have to be prepared and circulated. All of this will take its due course of diligence and time," said Sudhir Vasudeva, chairman, ONGC.

At 10:50 hrs, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was quoting at Rs 253.55, up Rs 3.60, or 1.44 percent. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 254.00 and an intraday low of Rs 250.60. 

It was trading with volumes of 91,386 shares, compared to its five day average of 146,086 shares, a decrease of -37.44 percent. In the previous trading session, the share closed down 0.46 percent or Rs 1.15 at Rs 249.95.

The share touched its 52-week high Rs 303.90 and 52-week low Rs 245.75 on 22 February, 2012 and 23 May, 2012, respectively.



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Govt lowers sugar output estimate to 23 MT for FY13

The government on Tuesday lowered the estimate of the country's total sugar output to 23 million tonnes (MT) in the current marketing year that will be just sufficient to meet the demand. At the beginning of the ongoing 2012-13 marketing year (October-September), the food ministry had pegged sugar output at 24 million tonnes, against 26.06 million tonnes last year.

"Sugar production in the current season 2012-13 has been estimated to be sufficient to meet the estimated domestic consumption requirement," food minister KV Thomas said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. In 2012-13, sugar production and consumption is likely to be 23 million tonnes, he said.

"As such, large surplus production of sugar in this season is not expected at present," the minister noted. In 2011, the country had produced 26.06 million tonnes of sugar, while domestic requirement was 22.3 million tonnes. On export and import policy on sugar, Thomas said, "Changes in export policy would be made, if considered appropriate, depending upon the production, availability and international as well as domestic prices of sugar." In May, sugar exports were kept under the open general licence (OGL) only till September.

As regards revision of import duty, the minister said that no decision has been taken by the government so far. However, the food ministry has recommended a hike in import duty on white sugar to 20 percent in order to check flooding of the sweetener in the domestic market.

At present, the import duty on white sugar as well as raw sugar is at 10 percent respectively. To a separate query on hiking price of sugar sold in ration shops, Thomas said, "The price of sugar meant for sale in PDS is Rs 13.50 per kg since March 2002. No decision to increase its price has been taken by the government."



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Hinduja picks Deutsche to weigh sale of Saudi venture

A unit of family-owned Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group has hired Deutsche Bank to evaluate the potential sale of its 49-percent stake in a Saudi Arabian lubricants venture that is valued at up to USD 700 million, three sources said.

Jeddah-based Petromin is a joint venture between Gulf Oil International Group, a unit of Hinduja, and family-owned Dabbagh Group in Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi partner holding a 51-percent stake.

The two partners have had differences over strategy, prompting Hinduja to hire an advisor and consider options for exiting the stake, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter has not been publicly disclosed.

A Hinduja spokesman in Mumbai declined to comment as did Deutsche Bank. Calls and email to Petromin went unanswered.

A potential deal will most likely involve a third party coming in to buy out the Indian partner, one of the sources said, adding the entire business had an equity value of between USD 600- USD700 million.



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Audi plans to start assembling of Q3 SUV in India

Written By Unknown on Senin, 26 November 2012 | 21.03

German luxury car maker Audi today said it is looking to start assembling SUV Q3 in India at its Aurangabad plant.
    
The car maker at present assembles sedan A4, A6 and SUV Q5, Q7 in India. It plans to have an installed capacity of upto 12,000 cars a year in the country within the next 18-24 months, a top company official said.
    
"We are planning to start assembling Q3 in India," Audi India Head Michael Perschke told PTI. The company has invested close to 30 million euros in India since its foray into the country in 2007.
    
The company has about 7,500-9,000 units capacity at the Aurangabad plant with the commissioning of Q7 SUV assembly line.
    
"We have built a new assembly hall called hall-C... Now with a single shift in the new hall, our installed capacity is reaching out between 7,500 to 9,000," he said, adding that if "we go on higher shift we can go upto 12,000 units, depending on market condition".
    
Audi began assembling Q5 SUV in India last year and Q7 this year. It is focused on the Q series expansion.
    
It has set up a dedicated production unit at the Aurangabad plant of Volkswagen group firm Skoda.
   
"Last year we sold 5,511 units in India, and this year we expect to cross 8,000-mark, a rise of nearly 55-60 per cent," Perschke said.

21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Assocham asks for bailout for Kingfisher after AI decision

Industry body Assohcam today suggested a bailout for the grounded Kingfisher Airlines following the government's decision to rescue the ailing national carrier Air India , saying there is no difference in the financial woes of both the airlines.

The suggestion comes within days of reports that LIC and the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) snapped up the entire Rs 7,400-crore bond issue of the debt-ridden Air India.

"If Air India deserves to be given a bailout package, there is no reason why Kingfisher should be treated differently by banks and government organisations," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said in a statement.

Rawat's statement also comes days ahead of the November 30 deadline set by the bankers to the Kingfisher promoters to pump in fresh capital to the tune of USD 1 billion and table a comprehensive revival plan.

Sitting on a debt pile of over Rs 15,000 crore, including Rs 7,000 crore bank loans and payments due to various vendors and tax authorities, Kingfisher has not been operating since October 1 following a strike by its pilots and engineers over the non-payment of salaries.

Following the shutdown, the regulator DGCA had suspended its flying licence on October 19. "The circumstances under which both Air India and Kingfisher went down under are almost similar, largely emerging from demand slowdown, high cost of aviation fuel and other rising overhead costs," Rawat said.

However, some industry experts attribute the mounting losses and huge debt of the Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher to a flawed business model.

As far as Air India is concerned, some parliamentary panels have attributed it's financial woes to factors such as giving away its profitable routes to private carriers and a flawed aircraft acquisition policy for the carrier.

Of the Rs 7,400 crore issue, the LIC has agreed to subscribe to Rs 3,000-crore worth of non-convertible bonds while the rest Rs 4,400 crore worth bonds will be subscribed to by the EPFO.

On its part, the government has announced Rs 30,000 crore bailout plan to revive Air India in April.



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India outsourcing failure blamed for $2.3bn UBS trader loss

Key controls for "detection of suspicious trading activity" failed at an India outsourcing unit, contributing to USD 2.3-billion loss caused by a rogue trader of global banking giant UBS, a joint probe by British and Swiss regulators has found.
    
This is the third instance when outsourcing of key oversight jobs by global banks (British giants HSBC and Standard Chartered being the other two) to India has come under the regulatory scanner abroad for ineffective controls against suspicious financial transactions.
    
UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined UBS 29.7 million British pounds (about Rs 265 crore) for failing to prevent large-scale unauthorised trading in this case, while Swiss regulator FINMA (Financial Market Supervisory Authority) also said it has found serious risk management deficiencies and major control failures at the bank.
    
In its probe report, FINMA said that UBS' back office operations team was responsible for ensuring timely confirmation of deferred-settlement trades, identified through "a specific report maintained by an outsourcing provider based in India (the 'T+14 report')".
    
The probe found that the banks online trade supervision system SCP (Supervisory Control Portal) and the 'T+14' report "were key controls for the detection of suspicious trading activity, but both proved to be ineffective.
    
"The failures of these controls serve to illustrate poor organisation and risk management within UBS," FINMA said.
   
FSA and FINMA jointly initiated a probe in September 2011 after it came to the light that a London-based trader of Swiss banking major had caused substantial losses totalling USD 2.3 billion (about Rs 13,000 crore) due to unauthorised trading on the bank's Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) desk.

21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

RINL may raise Rs 500 cr debt in FY'12

State-owned steel maker Rashtriya Ispat today said it may raise up to Rs 500 crore from domestic and overseas markets during the January-March quarter for meeting capital expenditure needs.
   
"We may raise something like Rs 500 crore in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal from Indian as well as overseas markets. This will be used for capex," RINL's Finance Director P Madhusudan told PTI.
    
The company had earlier projected Rs 1,800 crore capital expenditure for the current fiscal, but subsequently scaled it down to Rs 1,200 crore.
    
"We have already spent around Rs 600 crore on capex and the rest Rs 600 crore will be spent during the course of the remaining period of the current fiscal," he said.
   
RINL will use the fund for its ongoing expansion from 2.9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 6.3 mtpa at its lone steel- making facility in Vizag. This is expected to be completed in the current fiscal.
    
RINL plans to raise funds having tenure of 3-5 years, Madhusudan said, adding that the company does not have any long-term debt but has Rs 3,000 crore short-term working capital loans.
    
The company, he said, would also raise additional debt in the first quarter of next fiscal depending on the prevailing rate of interests for meeting its capex plan for 2013-14 and subsequent years.
   
RINL has plans to increase its capacity further to 11 mtpa, but it is yet to get the Board approval.
    
The company, in recent times, tried in vain to get its share listed on the domestic bourses. The funds from the proposed initial public offering (IPO) are meant for the government coffers as part of its disinvestment plan.
21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Spectrum EGoM to meet on November 29: Sources

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom, headed by Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, will meet on November 29 in the backdrop of lukewarm response to the recently concluded 2G spectrum auction. According to sources close to the ministry, the spectrum EGoM will take a stock of the auction result and future course.

The auction of spectrum that started on November 12 attracted muted response from the market and fetched the government only Rs 9,407 crore out of Rs 28,000 crore which was the minimum value of the airwaves put for auction.

The auction of CDMA spectrum had failed earlier after bidders pulled out. Sources say the EGoM will also mull the future of CDMA spectrum action and one-time fee issue.

Must read: Govt was handicapped; need to reassess auctions, says Sibal



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Some consolidation in banking space inevitable: Chidambaram

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 25 November 2012 | 21.03

Stating some consolidation in the banking system was inevitable, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said India must have two or three world size banks. "Finding new business models will inevitably lead to some consolidation. We should not fear consolidation. I know there is pride and identity, but ultimately some consolidation would have to take place in the banking system in this country," he said at the Bancon-2012 meet here.

"We must create at least 2 or 3 world size banks. China has done it. And if India wants to be and as it will be the third largest economy in the world...we must also have one or two world size banks and some consolidation is inevitable," he said.

Chidambaram further said that while consolidation takes place among top banks, there would also be place for local area banks.

"In fact, I regret that the idea of the local area bank which was started in 1996 stopped after first three licences were given. I think there is place for a local area bank for serving people of the region, local area, drawing strength from those people and serving those people, he added.

Also read: Govt to launch direct cash subsidy transfer from Jan 1

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has acquired board approval for the merger of the its remaining five associates with itself. It has already amalgamated two of its subsidiaries.

SBI merged one of its associate, State Bank of Saurashtra, with itself in 2008 besides merging itself with State Bank of Indore in 2010.



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Italy PE fund, MM in race for Aston Martin: Source

Italian private equity fund Investindustrial and Indian car maker Mahindra have made competing bids for 50 percent of British luxury car maker Aston Martin with a deal expected over the weekend, a source close to the matter said on Friday.

Investindustrial reached a agreement with Kuwaiti investment house Investment Dar, which owns Aston Martin, on Thursday but afterwards Mahindra made a higher counter bid, the source said. "They are in talks. A deal is expected to be finalised over the weekend," the source said.

A spokesman for Investment Dar was not immediately available for comment, nor could Mahindra be reached for comment.

The source said Investindustrial had made a bid worth between 200 million and 250 million pounds (USD 400 million) for the stake and was confident in winning the race because its proposal was "technically" superior.

It said Investindustrial had agreed a technical partnership deal with Daimler AG's Mercedes.

Investindustrial, owned by Italy's Bonomi family, is not new to luxury motor brands. In 2006, it bought Italian motorcycle maker Ducati and sold it for about 860 million euros last April to Volkswagen's Audi division.



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NASSCOM felicitates 50 innovative, emerging companies

Software body NASSCOM is committed to recognising innovative start ups since 2009 and it felicitates the top 50 emerging companies every year with NASSCOM Emerge 50 Awards. Its objective is to recognise, mentor and guide these emerging companies.

National Association for Software and Services Company (NASSCOM) kicked off the ninth edition of the 'Product Conclave 2012', in Bangalore. It is Asia's biggest platform for technology entrepreneurship, the product conclave over 1400 delegates participate and exchange ideas. The highlight was the Emerge 10 Awards for the ten best emerging companies of 2012 were felicitated.

The NASSCOM Emerge 10 companies are as follows:-

B2R (Business to rural)
It is quite literally transforming lives in Uttarakhand. B2R is a rural BPO. It provides knowledge based business support services mainly data crunching. In three years has grown from a 22 member team to 235 members and from one centre to five centres. Dhiraj Dolwani is the co-founder and ceo of B2R Technologies.

Vzury Interactive Solutions
It was founded by Chetan Kulkarni. It is a digital CRM company focused on empowering online businesses to engage with their customers. The product, Visitor Relationship Management delivers personalised ads converting website visitor drop-offs into customers with a data driven approach.

Foradian Technologies Limited
It is betting big on the education sector. Unni Krishnan of Foradian Technologies has built and open source enterprise, a school management system which provides an efficient way to manage an institutions and its data.

Rolocule
Anuj Tandon and Rohit Gupta decided to turn their passion for gaming into serious business and rolocule was born in 2010. Creating simple to play games for smart phones and tablets, rolocule games have already touched more than 1.6 million downloads in over 100 countries.

IKen
As more and more businesses are shifting their focus towards customer centricity, the demand for personalised analysis (not sure) has only increased. Betting big on this opportunity, Siddharth Goyal's found 'iKen".

With a number of mobile phones in India crossing the 900 million mark this year, more and more startups are betting big on the mobile telephony business both in terms of applications for smart phones and other tech related enhancements. Here are the next five startups from the NASSCOM emerge ten 2012 companies that are betting on mobile telephony, innovation and cloud based technology.

Knowlarity Communications
Ambarish Gupta and Pallav Pandey started Knowlarity Communications in 2009 with a dream to provide SMEs and enterprise innovative, inexpensive cloud telephony based products. Knowlarity is targeting a turnover of Rs 30 crore in the next fiscal.

mCarbon
Another company providing telephone based solutions in the value-added services space is mCarbon. Founded in 2008 by Rajesh Razdan and Brij Mohan Mahendru, mCarbon delivers contexts of well offerings that allow communication service providers like Airtel, Vodafone and Docomo to create and deliver smarter and valuable services like 'do not disturb' and 'manage your call'.

Reverie Language Technologies
Taking into account the digital explosion and increasing reach of mobile phones Arvind Pani founded Reverie Language Technologies in 2009. This enables text communication for complex languages on digital platforms like mobile phones, tablets, set-top boxes and navigation devices. Currently supporting 32 languages including 22 Indian languages Reverie clocked a turnover of Rs 1 crore last year.

Knolskape
Founded by Rajiv Jayaraman in 2008 Knolskape is a serious gaming and simulation company focused on training managers and aspiring management students at top B-schools. With clients in south East Asia, India, Middle East and the US, Knolskape creates multimedia case studies with immersive storylines for learners who go on to the next level after solving the previous ones. With a turnover of Rs 3 crore Rajiv wants to transform classrooms and boardrooms using innovative technology.

Asteor Software
Co-founded by Shankar Krishnamoorthy, Asteor Software offers software as a service or offers a software delivery model in which software is hosted on cloud. Having roped in ten customers so far and touching revenues of Rs 66 lakh Shankar and his team hope to touch Rs 1.4 crore this year and breakeven by 2015.



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FM asks RBI to start issuing new bank licences

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today made it clear to RBI that it has the powers to issue new bank licences and expressed the hope it will take the process forward "appreciating" government's position.

"Let me emphasise that the three powers that RBI want are already there with the RBI. It is already there in the regulation; it is there in the powers to grant the banking licences.

"I am sure the RBI acknowledges and appreciates the well-considered position of the Government and will take the process forward," he told reporters after inaugurating the two -day annual national banking summit (Bancon 2012) here. (Watch full speech)

The Finance Minister said amendments to the Act are simply to formalise powers that the Central bank is seeking and bring them together into the legislation.

Last week, after Chidambaram asked the regulator to start the process of issuing the much-delayed new banking licences, on November 16, RBI Governor D Subbarao had said it would be not possible without fulfilling the enabling conditions.

Asked whether RBI has formally responded to the Ministry that new licences could not be issued without the Bill being passed, Chidambaram said, "well, I don't know if a formal reply has been received to the letter that we sent 10 days ago. I don't know what their formal position is."

Asked whether he is confident of getting the Act passed in the ongoing winter session of Parliament, the Minister replied in the affirmative.

"I am pretty confident that the Banking Regulation Act will be passed as early as possible," Chidambaram said. 

"Even if the RBI picks up the thread and resumes the process that was started about a year ago of finalising the guidelines and issuing the first licence, that is going to take six to eight months and the occasion to invoke these extraordinary powers will not come the next day," he said.

"The occasion to invoke these extraordinary powers will come only when that bank does something wrong. And that is not going to happen one day after the licence is granted.

"Therefore, by the time the occasion arises, the powers will be there in the Banking Regulation Act. So as stated by the then Finance Minister's Budget speech, we must take the process of finalising the guidelines and receiving applications for new bank licences as early as possible," Chidambaram said.

The RBI is seeking powers to supersede the board of an erring bank, to authorise acquisition of shares beyond 5 percent in a bank holding company, and an exit policy in case of irregularities.

On November 15, Chidambaram said he had asked RBI to finalise the guidelines for new licences and start accepting applications for the same pending passage of the Banking Regulations Bill.

The last time the RBI allowed new private banks was in 2002 prior to which it allowed new players in 1991-92.

The RBI issued the final guidelines for new banks in August 2011, including those floated by corporates, but is waiting for the necessary legal powers before it proceeds further. The bank licences were initially slated to be issued way bank in 2008-09.

However, the Finance Ministry wants RBI to speed up the process, under provisions of the Companies Act, without waiting for amendments to the existing banking laws, in its effort to create a positive sentiment among investors and the industry.

The amendments to the Banking Regulations Act will invest RBI with supervisory powers over private companies that would enter the banking sector.

On October 30, at the credit policy announcement also, Subbarao had ruled out any short cuts when it came to issuing new bank licences. "We believed, we believe and we still believe that we need these powers to move forward," he had said, adding "an amendment to the Act is pending for giving us the necessary powers, authority and dispensation to deal with corporates entering the banking sector."

As per the RBI's draft norms released in August 2011, private sector entities or groups owned and controlled by domestic promoters, with diversified ownership, sound credentials and integrity, and having successful track record of at least 10 years, would be eligible to promote banks.

The norms have pegged the minimum capital required for promoting a bank at Rs 500 crore and restricted foreign shareholding at 49 per cent for the first five years of operation.

Also Read: Govt to launch direct cash subsidy transfer from Jan 1



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Re-feel recycles cartridge refills for greener tomorrow

Every year more than 350 million plastic printer cartridges are dumped in land fields worldwide and that is enough waste to cover football fields 17 times over. To make matters worse cartridges are made mostly of plastic and can take more than a thousand years to bio-degrade in a land field.

This reality has forced business to look at cartridge recycling and tapping into this nascent market is the foursome of Alkesh Agarwal, Samit Lakhotia, Amit Barmecha and Rajesh Agarwal, the team behind Re-feel cartridges. With a 120 stores in 85 cities in India Re-feel Cartridges is India's largest printer cartridge recycling and refilling chain.

While we would all like to switch to eco-friendly printing solutions, the increased cost of recyclable printers is a real road block. But a young quartet decided to convert this problem into an opportunity with the launch of Re-feel Cartridges, a company that recycles and refills printer cartridges without burning a hole in your wallet.

Founded by techpreneurs - Alkesh Agarwal, Samit Lakhotia, Amit Barmecha and Rajesh Agarwal in 2007 the venture has recycled over 10 lakh printer cartridges across India. The process is simple- Re-feel collects your old cartridge, refills it with out any loss in quality.

Alkesh Agarwal, says that Re-feel is about printer cartridge recycling. When we use a laser or an inkjet printer we use the cartridge and then throw it away in the land field. In this venture we collect empty cartridges, recycle them so they perform like original without compromising on quality and at the same time providing up to 75 percent benefit to the consumers.

Re-feel cartridges has 120 stores across 80 cities in India. On offer our services like refilling cartridges, selling re-manufactured cartridges, specialty paper for printing and even original cartridges. Operating on the franchise model Re-feel has 990 employees working across India and has clocked revenues of Rs 75 crore so far.

Training franchisees is the key to maintaining quality standards, says Agarwal.

"All franchisees need to visit our Head Office in Kolkata for training. Around 10-days training is given starting their retail stores and making it operational. We want to maintain proper standard all across our stores in India. We earn our royalties from franchisees and also from supplying them the necessary raw materials and required technicalities," says Alkesh.

Alkesh and his team also prevent old laptops from filling on landfills. With 100 stores across 60 cities in India Club Laptop is an eco-friendly franchise concept of multi brand laptop repair stores. Recognized for their eco-conscious efforts we feel Re-feel Cartridges has grabbed investor attention with Rs 25 crore coming in from TLG Capital, London but while the running is now smooth the initial days were not.

"The major challenge was relating to the industry- We were the first in the organized industry to establish ourselves that cartridge refilling can be done successfully and the product can be used without compromising on quality. Initially, our mantra was education through awareness. To make this brand successful, we educated corporates, SMEs that quality refilling can be done," says Alkesh.

This foursome is now ready to target new cities and towns and hopes to use the franchise model to serve up more Re-feel and Club Laptop stores. With a sizeable presence in India, Re-feel team is also looking at venturing into other South Asian countries over the next few years.


 



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Some consolidation in banking space inevitable: Chidambaram

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 24 November 2012 | 21.03

Stating some consolidation in the banking system was inevitable, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said India must have two or three world size banks. "Finding new business models will inevitably lead to some consolidation. We should not fear consolidation. I know there is pride and identity, but ultimately some consolidation would have to take place in the banking system in this country," he said at the Bancon-2012 meet here.

"We must create at least 2 or 3 world size banks. China has done it. And if India wants to be and as it will be the third largest economy in the world...we must also have one or two world size banks and some consolidation is inevitable," he said.

Chidambaram further said that while consolidation takes place among top banks, there would also be place for local area banks.

"In fact, I regret that the idea of the local area bank which was started in 1996 stopped after first three licences were given. I think there is place for a local area bank for serving people of the region, local area, drawing strength from those people and serving those people, he added.

Also read: Govt to launch direct cash subsidy transfer from Jan 1

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has acquired board approval for the merger of the its remaining five associates with itself. It has already amalgamated two of its subsidiaries.

SBI merged one of its associate, State Bank of Saurashtra, with itself in 2008 besides merging itself with State Bank of Indore in 2010.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Italy PE fund, MM in race for Aston Martin: Source

Italian private equity fund Investindustrial and Indian car maker Mahindra have made competing bids for 50 percent of British luxury car maker Aston Martin with a deal expected over the weekend, a source close to the matter said on Friday.

Investindustrial reached a agreement with Kuwaiti investment house Investment Dar, which owns Aston Martin, on Thursday but afterwards Mahindra made a higher counter bid, the source said. "They are in talks. A deal is expected to be finalised over the weekend," the source said.

A spokesman for Investment Dar was not immediately available for comment, nor could Mahindra be reached for comment.

The source said Investindustrial had made a bid worth between 200 million and 250 million pounds (USD 400 million) for the stake and was confident in winning the race because its proposal was "technically" superior.

It said Investindustrial had agreed a technical partnership deal with Daimler AG's Mercedes.

Investindustrial, owned by Italy's Bonomi family, is not new to luxury motor brands. In 2006, it bought Italian motorcycle maker Ducati and sold it for about 860 million euros last April to Volkswagen's Audi division.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

NASSCOM felicitates 50 innovative, emerging companies

Software body NASSCOM is committed to recognising innovative start ups since 2009 and it felicitates the top 50 emerging companies every year with NASSCOM Emerge 50 Awards. Its objective is to recognise, mentor and guide these emerging companies.

National Association for Software and Services Company (NASSCOM) kicked off the ninth edition of the 'Product Conclave 2012', in Bangalore. It is Asia's biggest platform for technology entrepreneurship, the product conclave over 1400 delegates participate and exchange ideas. The highlight was the Emerge 10 Awards for the ten best emerging companies of 2012 were felicitated.

The NASSCOM Emerge 10 companies are as follows:-

B2R (Business to rural)
It is quite literally transforming lives in Uttarakhand. B2R is a rural BPO. It provides knowledge based business support services mainly data crunching. In three years has grown from a 22 member team to 235 members and from one centre to five centres. Dhiraj Dolwani is the co-founder and ceo of B2R Technologies.

Vzury Interactive Solutions
It was founded by Chetan Kulkarni. It is a digital CRM company focused on empowering online businesses to engage with their customers. The product, Visitor Relationship Management delivers personalised ads converting website visitor drop-offs into customers with a data driven approach.

Foradian Technologies Limited
It is betting big on the education sector. Unni Krishnan of Foradian Technologies has built and open source enterprise, a school management system which provides an efficient way to manage an institutions and its data.

Rolocule
Anuj Tandon and Rohit Gupta decided to turn their passion for gaming into serious business and rolocule was born in 2010. Creating simple to play games for smart phones and tablets, rolocule games have already touched more than 1.6 million downloads in over 100 countries.

IKen
As more and more businesses are shifting their focus towards customer centricity, the demand for personalised analysis (not sure) has only increased. Betting big on this opportunity, Siddharth Goyal's found 'iKen".

With a number of mobile phones in India crossing the 900 million mark this year, more and more startups are betting big on the mobile telephony business both in terms of applications for smart phones and other tech related enhancements. Here are the next five startups from the NASSCOM emerge ten 2012 companies that are betting on mobile telephony, innovation and cloud based technology.

Knowlarity Communications
Ambarish Gupta and Pallav Pandey started Knowlarity Communications in 2009 with a dream to provide SMEs and enterprise innovative, inexpensive cloud telephony based products. Knowlarity is targeting a turnover of Rs 30 crore in the next fiscal.

mCarbon
Another company providing telephone based solutions in the value-added services space is mCarbon. Founded in 2008 by Rajesh Razdan and Brij Mohan Mahendru, mCarbon delivers contexts of well offerings that allow communication service providers like Airtel, Vodafone and Docomo to create and deliver smarter and valuable services like 'do not disturb' and 'manage your call'.

Reverie Language Technologies
Taking into account the digital explosion and increasing reach of mobile phones Arvind Pani founded Reverie Language Technologies in 2009. This enables text communication for complex languages on digital platforms like mobile phones, tablets, set-top boxes and navigation devices. Currently supporting 32 languages including 22 Indian languages Reverie clocked a turnover of Rs 1 crore last year.

Knolskape
Founded by Rajiv Jayaraman in 2008 Knolskape is a serious gaming and simulation company focused on training managers and aspiring management students at top B-schools. With clients in south East Asia, India, Middle East and the US, Knolskape creates multimedia case studies with immersive storylines for learners who go on to the next level after solving the previous ones. With a turnover of Rs 3 crore Rajiv wants to transform classrooms and boardrooms using innovative technology.

Asteor Software
Co-founded by Shankar Krishnamoorthy, Asteor Software offers software as a service or offers a software delivery model in which software is hosted on cloud. Having roped in ten customers so far and touching revenues of Rs 66 lakh Shankar and his team hope to touch Rs 1.4 crore this year and breakeven by 2015.



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

FM asks RBI to start issuing new bank licences

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today made it clear to RBI that it has the powers to issue new bank licences and expressed the hope it will take the process forward "appreciating" government's position.

"Let me emphasise that the three powers that RBI want are already there with the RBI. It is already there in the regulation; it is there in the powers to grant the banking licences.

"I am sure the RBI acknowledges and appreciates the well-considered position of the Government and will take the process forward," he told reporters after inaugurating the two -day annual national banking summit (Bancon 2012) here. (Watch full speech)

The Finance Minister said amendments to the Act are simply to formalise powers that the Central bank is seeking and bring them together into the legislation.

Last week, after Chidambaram asked the regulator to start the process of issuing the much-delayed new banking licences, on November 16, RBI Governor D Subbarao had said it would be not possible without fulfilling the enabling conditions.

Asked whether RBI has formally responded to the Ministry that new licences could not be issued without the Bill being passed, Chidambaram said, "well, I don't know if a formal reply has been received to the letter that we sent 10 days ago. I don't know what their formal position is."

Asked whether he is confident of getting the Act passed in the ongoing winter session of Parliament, the Minister replied in the affirmative.

"I am pretty confident that the Banking Regulation Act will be passed as early as possible," Chidambaram said. 

"Even if the RBI picks up the thread and resumes the process that was started about a year ago of finalising the guidelines and issuing the first licence, that is going to take six to eight months and the occasion to invoke these extraordinary powers will not come the next day," he said.

"The occasion to invoke these extraordinary powers will come only when that bank does something wrong. And that is not going to happen one day after the licence is granted.

"Therefore, by the time the occasion arises, the powers will be there in the Banking Regulation Act. So as stated by the then Finance Minister's Budget speech, we must take the process of finalising the guidelines and receiving applications for new bank licences as early as possible," Chidambaram said.

The RBI is seeking powers to supersede the board of an erring bank, to authorise acquisition of shares beyond 5 percent in a bank holding company, and an exit policy in case of irregularities.

On November 15, Chidambaram said he had asked RBI to finalise the guidelines for new licences and start accepting applications for the same pending passage of the Banking Regulations Bill.

The last time the RBI allowed new private banks was in 2002 prior to which it allowed new players in 1991-92.

The RBI issued the final guidelines for new banks in August 2011, including those floated by corporates, but is waiting for the necessary legal powers before it proceeds further. The bank licences were initially slated to be issued way bank in 2008-09.

However, the Finance Ministry wants RBI to speed up the process, under provisions of the Companies Act, without waiting for amendments to the existing banking laws, in its effort to create a positive sentiment among investors and the industry.

The amendments to the Banking Regulations Act will invest RBI with supervisory powers over private companies that would enter the banking sector.

On October 30, at the credit policy announcement also, Subbarao had ruled out any short cuts when it came to issuing new bank licences. "We believed, we believe and we still believe that we need these powers to move forward," he had said, adding "an amendment to the Act is pending for giving us the necessary powers, authority and dispensation to deal with corporates entering the banking sector."

As per the RBI's draft norms released in August 2011, private sector entities or groups owned and controlled by domestic promoters, with diversified ownership, sound credentials and integrity, and having successful track record of at least 10 years, would be eligible to promote banks.

The norms have pegged the minimum capital required for promoting a bank at Rs 500 crore and restricted foreign shareholding at 49 per cent for the first five years of operation.

Also Read: Govt to launch direct cash subsidy transfer from Jan 1



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

Re-feel recycles cartridge refills for greener tomorrow

Every year more than 350 million plastic printer cartridges are dumped in land fields worldwide and that is enough waste to cover football fields 17 times over. To make matters worse cartridges are made mostly of plastic and can take more than a thousand years to bio-degrade in a land field.

This reality has forced business to look at cartridge recycling and tapping into this nascent market is the foursome of Alkesh Agarwal, Samit Lakhotia, Amit Barmecha and Rajesh Agarwal, the team behind Re-feel cartridges. With a 120 stores in 85 cities in India Re-feel Cartridges is India's largest printer cartridge recycling and refilling chain.

While we would all like to switch to eco-friendly printing solutions, the increased cost of recyclable printers is a real road block. But a young quartet decided to convert this problem into an opportunity with the launch of Re-feel Cartridges, a company that recycles and refills printer cartridges without burning a hole in your wallet.

Founded by techpreneurs - Alkesh Agarwal, Samit Lakhotia, Amit Barmecha and Rajesh Agarwal in 2007 the venture has recycled over 10 lakh printer cartridges across India. The process is simple- Re-feel collects your old cartridge, refills it with out any loss in quality.

Alkesh Agarwal, says that Re-feel is about printer cartridge recycling. When we use a laser or an inkjet printer we use the cartridge and then throw it away in the land field. In this venture we collect empty cartridges, recycle them so they perform like original without compromising on quality and at the same time providing up to 75 percent benefit to the consumers.

Re-feel cartridges has 120 stores across 80 cities in India. On offer our services like refilling cartridges, selling re-manufactured cartridges, specialty paper for printing and even original cartridges. Operating on the franchise model Re-feel has 990 employees working across India and has clocked revenues of Rs 75 crore so far.

Training franchisees is the key to maintaining quality standards, says Agarwal.

"All franchisees need to visit our Head Office in Kolkata for training. Around 10-days training is given starting their retail stores and making it operational. We want to maintain proper standard all across our stores in India. We earn our royalties from franchisees and also from supplying them the necessary raw materials and required technicalities," says Alkesh.

Alkesh and his team also prevent old laptops from filling on landfills. With 100 stores across 60 cities in India Club Laptop is an eco-friendly franchise concept of multi brand laptop repair stores. Recognized for their eco-conscious efforts we feel Re-feel Cartridges has grabbed investor attention with Rs 25 crore coming in from TLG Capital, London but while the running is now smooth the initial days were not.

"The major challenge was relating to the industry- We were the first in the organized industry to establish ourselves that cartridge refilling can be done successfully and the product can be used without compromising on quality. Initially, our mantra was education through awareness. To make this brand successful, we educated corporates, SMEs that quality refilling can be done," says Alkesh.

This foursome is now ready to target new cities and towns and hopes to use the franchise model to serve up more Re-feel and Club Laptop stores. With a sizeable presence in India, Re-feel team is also looking at venturing into other South Asian countries over the next few years.


 



21.03 | 0 komentar | Read More

See demand push for ethanol producing machineries: Praj Ind

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 23 November 2012 | 21.03

The government is trying to extend ethanol blending with petrol in all states in the country. At present, only 13 states have been brought under this ambit. The decision is likely to imprve demand of ethanol, a by-product of sugar factories . The oil ministry is expected to issue a notification to oil marketing companies for implementing ethanol blending across all states from December 1, 2012.

Shares of Praj Industries were up after the news broke. Pramod Chaudhari, Chairman of the comapny expects a demand push for ethanol producing machineries after the implementation becomes effective. According to him, ethanol generated from food grains are also expected to get a fillip.

Here is the edited transcript of the interview on CNBC-TV18.

Q: How much of this could be a trigger for you? What has been the scenario so far, have you seen domestic demand improving in any case and also what are the export markets looking like for you?

A: This decision from the cabinet committee is much awaited for quite sometime. There are two major developments in this decision. One is the word mandate. Now we will be of course awaiting what it implies in terms of legalities, whether it has to be a compulsory 5 percent blending with petrol or not. Earlier, it was not being used compulsorily and that was the major change.

The second was the issue of price. In the past there used to be a debate about what is the right price. Here it is kept open between the oil marketing companies and the producers. I think these are the two major positive developments out of this decision by the cabinet committee.

Q: What we are driving at now is what will therefore be the demand for ethanol machinery? For instance, since you know the machinery market well or the ethanol market well, what is the capacity of the current sugar producers to produce ethanol at all?

A: The total production is in the range of about 2.8-3 billion liters and roughly, 5 percent will require 600 million liters which is close to 20-25 percent of the total production. That will be the demand for ethanol and the demand ofcourse is growing all the time.

Q: So the industry is well within its capacity to supply this 5 percent, that much ethanol is easily available?

A: That alcohol, basic alcohol will be available which has to be converted into ethanol. That's the small change.

Q: Is there a revenue upside for you in the immediate short term?

A: There will be some opportunities here and there to put those plants. Some of them were put earlier but, there was no consistent policy. We are having this mandate but, the most important thing is that it is going to become an infrastructure available for next generation of ethanol. Hence, 5 percent is just the beginning.

If you go for the bio-energy mission document which the government is trying to prepare, they want to go for close to 20 percent in the next 10 years time and that is something which is happening in many of the developing countries.



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Govt funding can prevent United Bank from more dilution: MD

The board of United Bank of India on Thursday gave approval to raise Rs 300 crore through a rights issue. It will allot Rs 10 shares each at a premium to be decided subsequently on rights basis to the existing shareholders of the bank as on the record date to be fixed subsequently.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Bhaskar Sen, Chairman & Managing Director of United Bank of India spoke about the bank's capital raising plans and the road ahead.

Below is an edited transcript of Bhaskar Sen's interview on CNBC-TV18.

Q: You recently decided to increase your capital both tier, one perpetual bonds as well as rights issue. What timetable do you have in mind? Will that be for this fiscal?

A: Yes, for debt instrument we are trying to complete the process by end of this month, of course there are certain issues and we are talking to the merchant bankers and as far as rights issue is concerned it will take some more time. By first half of March, we should be able to complete the process and raise capital.

Q: You want to raise Rs 300 crore, and if that is done what is the level of equity dilution?

A: As of now government holding is 81 percent and if government also exercises the option for this rights issue there will not be any dilution effectively.

Q: Are you getting a sense that they will exercise the option for this rights issue?

A: Yes, we have certain indications but we are talking to the government. We are also taking to the merchant bankers.

Q: So there is no question of the government giving you money. The government had setout in its budget 15,000 crore as a ballpark figure to capitalise banks or to give those banks capital which are in need, are you in that que?

A: Last year we did not get any capital infusion from Government of India. We got a huge infusion from LIC. This year, based on our projection we have approached Government of India and then decided that instead of relying only on government infusion let us evaluate other options. So, we had a lengthy discussion at the board level.

We discussed all the available options and finally zeroed on rights issue. It's not that we are trying to raise the entire amount of our requirement from rights issue. We will exercise all the options in bits and pieces; will also approach Government of India for the residual amount. There is no hurry, we have time.

Q: What is your capital adequacy at this time and what would you like it to be for which you are raising all the capital?

A: As on 30th September our capital to risk assets ratio (CRAR) was 12.06 within which tier one was 8.46. Ofcourse, that is without factoring the internal accruals, the profit which we had booked up to 30th September. Going forward, if we can complete this process and raise the capital, we are expecting our CRAR close to 13 percent by the end of this financial year.

Q: A word on your financials from what I see in Q2, your NIMs surprised negatively, 45 bps contraction quarter on quarter, while asset quality was relatively stable. What is the trend for both of them?

A: As far as credit growth is concerned, our CD ratio has come down from 72 percent to 67 percent. There was some kind of moderation on the credit side and it was not possible for us to deploy funds very aggressively. We have seen some contraction on the credit book and therefore NIM has come down. Also, there were certain interest reversals because of the restructuring that took place during this point of time and we have seen some impact on NIM. Hopefully, we should be in a position to recover by the end of this financial year.

Q: LIC, once again coming to capitalise banks. Has any conversation begun on that front because LIC recently got the right to increase its stock limit in specific shares? The limit is now 25 percent so they are comfortably off. Like last year, will there be some bank share buying or capital provision by LIC, is there any conversation at all?

A: As far as rights issue is concerned LIC will be entitled. We need to talk to them and also other investors since the board has taken this decision very recently. Now, we have to talk to our major investors, merchant bankers.



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Tata Steel to cut 900 jobs in Britain

Tata Steel said on Friday it would cut 900 jobs across the UK as part of a restructuring plan aimed at improving its performance in "changing markets".

The group said 580 jobs would go in south Wales with the rest being cut in England as part of proposals to restructure its management and administrative functions and reduce the number of steel finishing and processing sites by 12.

"Today's proposals are part of a strategy to transform ourselves into an 'all-weather' steel producer, capable of succeeding in difficult economic conditions," Karl Koehler, Chief Executive of Tata Steel's European operations, said in a statement.

Tata Steel also announced that it would re-start one of two blast furnaces at Port Talbot early next year as part of a 250 million pounds investment programme.



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Refund Rs 400cr fine collected from telecom cos: SC to govt

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the government of India to refund Rs 400 crore that was collected from telecom companies as penalty after they failed to meet the rollout obligations.

The companies included Unitech, Aircel, Dishnet, Systema and Videocon.

More details are awaited.



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Sakthi sees 1% annual rise in ethanol blending for 5 yrs

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, M Manickam, MD of Sakthi Sugars , discussed the implication of the mandatory 5 percent ethanol blending. According to him. sugar prices will depend on cane price moment.

"I don't think we will be able to sell alcohol by itself below Rs 40, if the price comes there. But some (low grade) alcohol, which is sold in the industry, can be sold in to ethanol. That is why we find ethanol would be an ideal option for us," he said.  

As far as sugar is concerned, he expects prices to settle around Rs 33 per kilogram.

Also read: See demand push for ethanol producing machineries: Praj Ind

Below is the edited transcript of his interview to CNBC-TV18

Q: Now this 5 percent ethanol blending with petrol has become mandatory. Does the industry has enough ethanol or is it an issue?

A: Not an issue at all. I think there is no problem over this 5 percent. In fact what is gratifying is that for the next five years they are increasing it by 1 percent yearly.

Q: The mandated price is off and now it is going to arrive at between you and the oil refiners? Do you expect the price to settle well above Rs 27?

A: There was a committee appointed to fix the price for the current year. They have come back with a price of Rs 33. We might settle around Rs 33 or thereabouts, certainly far above Rs 27.

Q: So when will Rs 33 start reflecting into financials, by next quarter onwards?

A: For the quarter ending, March is when you will have full impact because it is not going to be December.

Q: In terms of the 5 percent mandatory ethanol blending that starts from December itself is there any upside that you see in your financials from this quarter onwards or will it come only after Q4?

A: Possibly in Q4. By the time we start supplying, which might be very little in this first month. Maybe to about 8 crore litre, but not going to be a major quantity.

Q: The 5 percent norm was advised even before but people use to do only up to 2 percent. Why do you think this will pick up now? If ethanol was available earlier why did it not happen?

A: I think it was not mandatory earlier. now they have made it mandatory and oil companies are forced to buy. This time, they can have various degrees of blending. It will depend on where they can buy ethanol. They have to show total of some 100 crore litres which didn't happen. Earlier they were saying some zone is not available and that is why they didn't buy it.

Q: If ethanol demand increases would there be an impact on sugar price? Do people like you only extract ethanol from sugar and the residue? Or since you have put in the investments you can even extract it from cane and do you do it?

A: The thumb rule that we have is that whatever the cane price is, sugar price will be one and half times. If you are looking at Rs 24 as a cane price, we should have Rs 36 as sugar price. Normally the alcohol price should be about Rs 8 or Rs 10 more, another 20 percent more on that.

I don't think we will be able to sell alcohol by itself below Rs 40, if the price comes there. But some (low grade) alcohol, which is sold in the industry, can be sold in to ethanol. That is why we find ethanol would be an ideal option for us.

Q: Do you also generate ethanol independently without sugar?

A: Normally not. Most people will not do it because it will be much more expensive to do that directly than what we are doing, ethanol as a by-product.



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17 PSUs committed to invest over Rs 1.63 lakh cr in FY'13

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 22 November 2012 | 21.03

The government today said 17 central public sector enterprises, including, ONGC , OIL and NTPC , have committed to investing over Rs 1.63 lakh crore during the current financial year.

"The total capital available with Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), at present which could be invested is the cash and bank balance...stand at Rs 2,84,153.22 crore...,"

Also read: Check out: Sudarshan Sukhani's trading ideas for today

Minister of heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. He further said that in a meeting held in January under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, 17 CPSEs "committed for investment" totalling Rs 1,63,847 crore during the current financial year. "Capital investment by CPSEs depends upon, their corporate plan, various administrative clearances, market conditions and the best judgement of the management of the CPSE," he added.

Capital with the PSUs in term of reserves and surplus during 2010-11 was Rs 6,65,487.72 crore. Finance Minister P Chidambaram in an interview to PTI had said the central PSUs have been put on notice to either invest their surplus cash or lose it.

He also said that the performance of CMDs of PSUs will be measured, among other things, on how much their company has invested in terms of the declared intention. The projected investment during 2012-13 by ONGC was Rs 40,975 crore while that of NTPC and OIL was Rs 20,995 crore and Rs 10,378 crore, respectively.



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Cancel 3 coal mines; impose BG in case of MMTC, Nalco: IMG

The Inter-Ministerial Group has recommended deallocation of three coal mines, and deduction and imposition of Bank Guarantee of PSU firms including MMTC and Nalco .

"The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) has recommended deallocation of three coal mines -- two mines of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corp (JSMDCL) and one mine of Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corp (MPSMCL)," a government official said.

Also read: Early clearances will make coal auction successful: NTPC

"The mines recommended for deallocation are Semaria/Piparia coal block of (MPSMCL) and Patratu and Rabodih coal blocks of JSMDCL," the official said.

The IMG, which recently reviewed 14 coal blocks of PSU firms, has also recommended imposition of Bank Guarantee (BG) in case of Utkal-E coal block of Nalco and Gomia coal block of MMTC, the official added.

In total the IMG had recommended for cancellation of 11 mines allocated to public sector firms.

Earlier this month, it had recommended de-allocation of eight such blocks after scrutiny of 19 cases. The IMG has completed the exercise of scrutiny of blocks alloted to public sector firms, which were issued show cause
notices for failing to develop mines within stipulated timeframe.

The panel's earlier recommendation for de-allocation of 13 mines to private firms has already been accepted by the government.

The panel has already concluded the scrutiny of 31 coal blocks allotted to 51 private firms and last month the government had accepted its recommendations for de-allocation of 13 mines and deduction of bank guarantees of 14 allottees. A total of 58 mines were issued show-cause notices for their failure to develop blocks within stipulated timeline.

The government had formed the IMG in July to review progress of coal blocks allocated to firms for captive use. The CAG had estimated that undue benefits to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore might accrue to private firms on account of allocation of 57 mines to them without auction.



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BSNL targets Rs 1,600 cr revenue from tower biz in 5 yrs

State-run BSNL has set a target to garner Rs 1,600 crore in revenue in next five years from its telecom tower business, which its plans to hive off into a separate company.

In a recent performance review meeting of the Public Sector firm conducted by Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, BSNL said that it expects to garner revenue of Rs 90.78 crore from tower business in the next financial year and Rs 1,600 over a period of next five years.

When contacted BSNL Chairman and Managing Director R K Upadhyay told PTI: "We have floated request for proposal (RPF) for appointment of consultant who will work on the entire roadmap. The RFP is open for submission this month."

The company has around 70,000 towers and it will explore various business models that can realise value of its infrastructure. "It is for consultant to work out on projects that will lead to revenue maximisation for BSNL," Upadhyay said. The plan to hive off BSNL tower business into a separate entity is in line with recommendation of the Sam Pitroda Committee for revamping business of the PSU, whose profit started declining from Rs 10,183 crore in 2004-05 before showing a loss in 2009-10.

The Committee has suggested to form separate "subsidiary company for tower related infrastructure to aggressively market to other public and private sector customers and unlock whole/substantial potential value through strategic stake sale, mergers and acquisition or separate IPO (Initial Public Offer)".

As per the presentation, last date for submission of bids is November 26 and consultant is expected to be appointed by this year-end. The consultant is expected to complete work by April 2013. BSNL has also said that it expects to garner Rs 400 crore revenue annually by providing broadband connectivity to schools, Rs 250 crore per annum from rental income of its land and buildings, Rs 40 crore per annum from Wi-Fi networks and Rs 100 crore in FY 2014-15 from its telecom factory. The PSU expects to connect 15,000 schools though broadband by March 2013.



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Govt plans to give powers to CCI chief for search, seizure

The government today said it plans to grant direct powers to the Competition Commission chairperson to authorise search and seizure related to investigations.

Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) keeps a tab on anti-competitive practices in the market.

Also read: CCI may complete probe on Coal India by December

"The government proposes to grant the power to authorise such search and seizure to the Chairperson, CCI by proposing suitable amendments in the Competition Act, 2002," Minister of State for Corporate Affairs (Independent Charge) Sachin Pilot said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

At present, CCI's Director General, upon authorisation by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Delhi, has the powers to carry out search and seizure in any investigation. This is under Section 41(3) of the Competition Act, 2002.

Meanwhile, there are plans to reduce the number of days required by Competition Commission to decide on applications seeking approval for merger and acquisition of companies.

The number of days for the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to decide on M&A deals is proposed to be reduced to 180 days.

"The government proposes to reduce the period within which the CCI has to pass an order or issue directions in such matters from two hundred and ten days to one hundred and eighty days by a suitable amendment in the Competition Act, 2002," Pilot said.

In October this year, the Cabinet had approved various amendments to the Competition Act.



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Future Lifestyle to be Rs 4K-cr entity in 1st year: Biyani

Retail chain giant Future Group, which recently demerged its fashion business under a new  brand, is expecting around Rs 4,000 crore from this business in the first year of operations.

"We are expecting nearly Rs 4,000 crore from our fashion business in the next one year," Future Group Chief Executive Kishore Biyani said at an event here last evening.

The country's largest retailer recently demerged its fashion business and set up a new company, Future Lifestyle Fashion, which will be listed soon. "We have brought all our fashion businesses built over two decades into a single entity. This company will begin its journey as the leader and trend-setter in the sector and we plan to give a fresh fillip to brand building, retailing and distribution in the fashion space," Biyani said.

Future Lifestyle, in its first year of operations, will have businesses spanning departmental and speciality retail chains, a portfolio of over two dozens fashion and lifestyle brands, investments in fast-growing domestic labels and a sourcing and distribution network that will have footprint in over 112 towns.
A collection of 24 foreign and domestic brands will be owned and marketed by this company, he added. Departmental store chain Central and outlet mall chain Brand Factory, Planet Sports and aLL will be a part of this entity, Biyani said.

At present, there are 22 Central, 20 Brand Factory, 81 Planet Sports and 19 aLL stores covering over 3.5 million sqft of retail space.

"We will also be investing in a number of fashion labels, including Meena and Sidharth Bindra-promoted Biba, Anita Dongre's AND Designs, the Kolkata-based Turtle and Bangalore- based IndusTree Crafts," he said.

The Group-owned Pantaloon Retail will retain a 20 per cent stake in the new entity, while the rest will be owned by the existing shareholders of Pantaloon and Future Ventures, he added.



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DLF falls 2.4% after court dismisses plea against Sebi

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 20 November 2012 | 21.03

Shares in DLF  fell 2.4 percent, slightly extending losses after CNBC-TV18 reported the Delhi High Court has dismissed the property company's challenge against a probe being undertaken by markets regulator SEBI.

The TV station cited legal sources and did not give details of which probe by Securities and Exchange Board of India was being challenged by DLF.

DLF was not ready to comment immediately as they were yet to receive the court order, a spokesman said.

"We'll decide our next action after taking legal opinion," the spokesman said.

India's capital markets regulator said in October 2012 it would investigate allegations DLF failed to disclose a police complaint against an associate firm in a 2007 share sale document.

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Early clearances will make coal auction successful: NTPC

State-run NTPC today said the proposed coal block auction next year by CIL would be more successful if the the government secures all the requisite clearances before inviting bids.

"Environment clearances, land acquisition should be done beforehand, otherwise the companies may not be interested in bidding for those blocks," NTPC chief Arup Roy Choudhury said here today.
   
He said the geological reserves should be ascertained in advance and coal mining plan should be approved to attract more investors for coal blocks.
    
Fifty-four blocks are likely to be auctioned.
    
However, the Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia declined to comment on the issue of coal block auction.
     
"I do not want to comment on the coal block auction. My immediate action point is to ensure that we get in place the fuel linkages for 60,000 MW so that we can get those projects on line," he said here.
    
Roy also alleged that Coal India Ltd (CIL) is supplying inferior quality of coal to some of its thermal power stations.
    
"We have intimated that there is a difference in the calorific value of the coal which is stated by Coal India when they supply us the coal and what we are receiving at our stations," he told reporters here.
    
"We have not said anything about overcharging and this is an issue which has to be resolved, I am sure the (Power) Ministry is taking it up," he said.
    
He added that it is only happening at some locations, say from some mines in Uttar Pradesh.      

GCV formula or benchmarking coal on the basis of its gross calorific value came into practice, in line with international practices, from January 1, 2012.
    
Prior to this the domestic coal was classified on the basis of UHV (useful heat value) into seven grades from A-G. UHV is based on ash and moisture contents for non-coking coals in line with the government's directive.
    
On the pooling of prices of coal, Choudhury said, "Pool pricing will affect my customer not me, as fuel prices are a pass through, so my customer has to agree to it."



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Ssangyong sees better financial performance in next 2 yrs

Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra 's Korean subsidiary SsangYong today said it expects to improve financial performance in the next two years.
    
"SsangYong is doing better compared to what we have expected. We are happy with the acquisition and so are with their financials. We feel the turnaround will be as what we have planned. We see better financials in year or two," M&M Chief Executive-Automotive Division Pravin Shah said.
    
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of launch of Ssangyong's Rexton SUV in Hyderabad market.
    
SsangYong had posted net loss of KRW 13.4 billion (USD 12.4 million) for the quarter ended September 30, against KRW 35.4 billion (USD 32.7 million) during the year-ago period.
    
Shah, however, declined to reveal when the Korean subsidiary expects to break-even.
    
M&M, which emerged as the preferred bidder for SsangYong in August 2010, holds 70 per cent stake in the company, for which it shelled out USD 463 million (about Rs 2,105 crore).
    
Ssangyong recorded 29,039 vehicles in sales volume, which includes 11,906 CKD vehicles in domestic sales and 17,133 in exports.
    
Its revenues for the third quarter stood at KRW 696.5 billion (approximately USD 634 million).
    
"The performances resulted from a decrease in exports due to recession of global automotive market, despite an increase in domestic sales," SsangYong had said in a release during results announcement.
    
The company showed a decrease of 4.4 per cent in sales volume and 6.8 per cent in revenues in Q3 compared to the same period last year.
    
"In the current year, the domestic market (Korean) and European markets for Ssangyong are not growing. The market situations are known. The whole of Europe is undergoing difficult times. Hence, Ssangyong is also facing the issue (of tough time)," Shah said.
    
Replying to a query on the agitating former employees of Ssangyong, he said they were aware of the situation and the issue would be addressed diligently.
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