Indian trade fair in Lanka in October
Hyderabad: The Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre is organising the five-day Indian Trade Fair-2004 (ITF-2004) in Sri Lanka, beginning on October 13. The ITF, to be held at the expo facility in Colombo, would focus on diverse trade opportunities in the bilateral trade. The major items identified for display at the ITF were automobile components, agricultural implements, building materials, chemicals, glassware, computer software, consumer durables and non-durables, and jewellery.
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OVL to transfer stake in Sudanese oil blocks
New Delhi: ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) will transfer 3 per cent of its stake in two Sudan oil blocks to Sudapet, Sudan's national oil company. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved OVL transferring 2 per cent of its stake in Block 5A and one per cent in Block 5B to Sudapet, officials said. OVL currently has 26.125 per cent stake in Block 5A and 24.5 per cent in 5B.
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TRAI: One-time entry fee and revenue sharing for FM radio
New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has suggested allowing existing private FM radio operators to migrate from a licence-fee regime to a revenue-sharing agreement. It has, however, not commented about hiking the foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling, leaving it to the Government to decide on the issue. Currently, foreign institutional investors are allowed to invest up to 20 per cent in the radio business, while 20 per cent FDI is permitted in Direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting. News channels uplinking from India can have 26 per cent equity while the cable industry can attract up to 49 per cent foreign investment.

In its Recommendations on Licensing Issues Relating to the Second Phase of Private FM Radio Broadcasting, the telecom regulator has suggested payment of a one-time entry fee and a revenue share of 4 per cent of the yearly revenue as annual fees. For migration to the new arrangement, it has said that operators must be allowed to do so by paying up all pending dues and withdrawing pending litigations. The suggestion to switch to a revenue-sharing arrangement was mooted after private FM companies told the Government that they were making losses of over Rs.120 crore.
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Biotech industry shows healthy all round growth
Bangalore: The domestic biotechnology industry, is set to cross the magic figure of $1 billion in revenue this year, as per a latest survey. A healthy 39 per cent growth in revenues during 2003-04 has put the industry at Rs.3, 265 crore, says the second joint annual survey conducted by the magazine BioSpectrum and the industry body ABLE (Association of Biotechnology-Led Enterprises). Despite several hurdles in its path the sector could expect investments worth Rs.850 crore next year, up from Rs.635 crore. The number of companies in the sector has grown to 235. The first survey conducted last year had put the industry at 135 companies with total revenues of Rs.2, 345 crore.

The industry had healthy interactions with the Government, which through the Department of Biotechnology, is examining a supportive policy, regulatory issues and also models for financing biotech start-ups. Internationally too, Indian capabilities have been noticed; with 9,100 professionals forming arguably the world's largest talent pool, Indian biotech industry ranks third in Asia, while facing some competition from China. The headcount could go to 11,000 this year.

Recombinant vaccines had a huge potential in the regulated markets and Indian generic biodrugs could expect to see some welcome regulatory measures in the US and Europe. The survey has identified top two leading groups: the Pune-based vaccines major, the Serum Institute of India and Biocon, which have each crossed Rs.500 crore in revenue and accounts for a third of the industry size. The Rs.555-crore Serum is the largest biotech group and Biocon follows close behind at Rs.549 crore. In the sale of biotech products, Biocon, with revenue of Rs.502 crore, is ahead of Serum in the top 20 league. The others are Panacea Biotec with Rs.149-crore sales of biotech products; Nicholas Piramal with Rs.130 crore; and Novo Nordisk at No. 5 with sales of Rs.110 crore.
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