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INDIA
BUSINESS WORLD -
APRIL 2004
THE MONTH THAT WAS
ECONOMIC
& LEGAL NEWS
NO BAN
ON EXIT POLLS: The Election Commission's proposal
for an ordinance to ban exit and opinion polls was denied,
with the government endorsing the attorney general's view
that such a step would be violative of the fundamental right
to freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the Constitution….
MTNL
SLASHES ISD RATES: One day after BSNL announced reducing
long distance call charges, another government-owned company
MTNL announced slashing ISD charges by up to 25%.
SUPREME
COURT CLEARS THE SECURITISATION ACT: The SC has cleared
the legislation of the vice of unconstitutionality (barring
the mandatory requirement of pre-deposit of 75% of the claim
amount) but with a couple of caveats..
ONGC OFFER
CLAUSE LETS GOVT OFF THE HOOK: While investors were
forced to default on deliveries for ONGC trades undertaken
before the faulty allotments were frozen, the government is
well protected against any legal action on this front..
HCL TECH'S
PROMOTER FIRMS FACES RS 811-CR TAX BILL The income
tax (I-T) department has raised a tax demand of Rs 811 crore
on Shiv Nadar-owned Slocum Investments, a promoter company
of HCL Technologies on grounds that it has concealed income
from capital gains.
BANKS
HAVE LITTLE ROOM FOR MORE FII FUNDS Foreign investment
in an increasing number of Indian banks is close to hitting
the upper limit set by the government, shrinking the headroom
available for offshore investors to buy more.
ECBS
CAN'T BE USED TO REPAY RE LOANS The Reserve Bank of
India has said that external commercial borrowings cannot
be used for working capital, general corporate purpose or
repayment of existing rupee loans.
INDIA
TO LOSE $350-MN IN EXPORTS ON EU'S PREFERENTIAL TARIFFS:
……
INDIAN
OIL CORP'S $2 BN RESERVE FOR ACQUIRING FOREIGN E&P FIRM:
Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest refiner, has
put up a war chest of $2 billion for acquiring a medium-sized
foreign oil firm to set up its own exploration and production
division.
BUSINESS
NEWS
BHARTI'S
ANNUAL PROFIT RS 619-CRORE: Bharti Tele-Ventures'
annual profit zoomed to Rs 619 crore, compared to a loss of
Rs 134 crore last year...
POST-QUOTA,
APPAREL EXPORTS WILL DIP, THEN ZOOM: Removal of quotas
would lead to decline in exports from India in the near term
BANKS
TO ACKNOWLEDGE CHEQUES DEPOSITED AT BRANCHES - NOT INSIST
ON DROP BOX FACILITY : The Reserve Bank of India has
directed new private and foreign banks that they must acknowledge
cheques deposited at various branches and not insist on customer
using the drop box facility.
WISDEN
CRICINFO SHARE SALE PROPS SIFY NET TO RS 2.3 CRORE IN Q4:
Sify has reported a net profit of Rs 2.3 crore ($0.5m) for
the fourth quarter ended March 31, '04 . The profit has been
aided by a one-time gain of Rs 6.3 crore ($1.5m) on the sale
of shares of Wisden CricInfo.
DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES TO DISCUSS POST-QUOTA PLANS: As the removal
of the global textile trade quotas are just nine months away,
there is a new fervour among developing countries to devise
a cohesive plan for the post-quota era.
THIRD
MAJOR OIL STRIKE IN RAJASTHAN BY CAIRN ENERGY: UK-based
Cairn Energy has announced its third major oil strike in Rajasthan
from the same block.
MARUTI,
PEUGEOT IN TALKS FOR DIESEL ENGINE PLANT: The company
is learnt to be in negotiations with Peugeot of France to
set up a dedicated facility to manufacture diesel engines
for passenger cars and sports utility vehicles.
GM DAEWOO
AUTO MAY SOURCE PARTS FROM INDIA: GM Daewoo Auto &
Technology (GM DAT) is looking at India as a sourcing base
for auto components as well as a major market for supplying
completely knocked down (CKD) kits.
UB GROUP
NOW WORLD'S FOURTH LARGEST SPIRIT MARKETER: The UB
Group on claimed it has been ranked the fourth largest spirits
marketer group in the world by Impact International, a New
York based global news and research digest.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
AND JOINT VENTURES
GOVT
TO SIMPLIFY NORMS FOR BIO PHARMA GOODS: Indian biotech
firms can rejoice. Worrisome environmental regulations for
biotech pharma products are finally being liberalised.
KUOK
GROUP COMING TO INDIA WITH PACKAGED FOOD: The Kuok
Group of Singapore, owned by Forbes billionaire tycoon Robert
Kuok, is now entering India with a slew of brands for foods
ranging from edible oils and milk products, to biscuits, flour,
packaged water, sugar, beverages, and vanaspati.
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