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CMIE
downgrades car sales growth to 7 per cent in 2005
New Delhi: The Centre for Monitoring
Indian Economy on Monday downgraded overall car sales
growth projection from the earlier 14 per cent to 7 per
cent.
"There
has been an across-the-board slowdown in car sales during
the first four months of 2005-06. We expect a marginal
pick up in demand in the second half, but it may not be
as high as we had anticipated earlier. We now believe
that car sales will grow by about 7 per cent during the
year," CMIE said in its latest report.
The
report pointed out that cumulative growth up to July was
4.9 per cent compared to 21 per cent last year.
CMIE
said the compact and mid-sized cars, which account for
about 80 per cent of total cars sold domestically, witnessed
substantial slowdown during the current fiscal.
While
the compact cars grew by 12.2 per cent in April-July 2005
as against 38 per cent in the corresponding period last
year, mid-size cars sales slowed down to 13.9 per cent
compared to 30.6 per cent growth during April-July 2004,
it said.
The
report said even demand for the price inelastic executive
and premium categories was also impacted with the the
respective categories registering negative growth of 24.10
per cent and 5.95 per cent in April-July 2005 as compared
to the same period last year.
While
sounding not so bullish on the prospects of the auto sector
in the short-term, CMIE said the long-term prospects were
very bright.
"Although
the short-term prospects of the car market may not seem
very bright, the long term prospects are positive. India
is becoming an increasingly important market for foreign
auto companies," it said.
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Mittal
Steel drops ore export proposal for its steel plant in
Jharkhand
New Delhi: Mittal Steel has withdrawn its proposal
to export 30% of the iron ore earmarked for its 12mt Jharkhand
plant through a letter to the State government. This change
in position paves the way for a MoU to be inked by the
first week of October.
Mittal
Steel had proposed a swap deal to meet the ore requirements
of its US$10bn plant by exporting ore equivalent to its
imports of superior ore.
Confirming
the development, Sudhir Mittal, corporate treasurer of
Mittal Steel, said: "We have decided to withdraw
the ore export clause to respect local sentiments and
the national aspiration of protecting ore for local companies.
The state government has appointed legal consultants and
we hope to finalise the proposal in six months."
Mittal
Steel's decision to rework the proposal comes close on
the heels of Tata Steel finalising the MoU with the state
government for its mega plant on being assured of access
to the rich ore deposits in the Chiria mines.
Mittal
Steel will, however, retain its option of importing superior
ore to meet quality requirements. The company, which will
need about 20m tonnes of ore a year, has been assured
that its plant too will have access to the Chiria mines.
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Idea
posts net profit of Rs.76 crore for 2005
Mumbai: Idea Cellular, the country's fifth-biggest
wireless operator, has posted a net profit of Rs76 crore
in FY05 and according to company officials it aims to
take its turnover to more than Rs3,000 crore in FY06.
Idea's subscriber base has crossed the 6mn mark and is
likely to touch 7mn by March'06, officials said.
The
AVBirla group (ABG) recently hiked its stake in Idea Cellular
to close to 50% by buying a portion of US cellular operator
Cingular's stake through Indian Rayon (now called Aditya
Birla Nuvo) at Rs17.5 per share.
The
proposed merger of Indo-Gulf with Indian Rayon will consolidate
the AV Birla holding in Idea under one entity, the newly-christened
Aditya Birla Nuvo. Idea took over Escotel last year gaining
additional subscribers and entry into newer circles. According
to ABG officials the group is keen on retaining its shareholding
in Idea. Idea's subscriber numbers have risen to about
6mn from less than 2mn in FY03, while revenue has grown
to just over Rs2,000 crore from less than Rs1,000 crore
in the same period.
The
company's earnings before interest, depreciation, and
tax more than doubled to Rs874 crore in FY05.
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W.Bengal
takes up Metal Box rehabilitation issue with BIFR
Kolkata: The West Bengal Government has taken up
the issue of the non-implementation of Metal Box India
Ltd's (MBIL) updated rehabilitation scheme, particularly
in respect of the company's units located in the State,
with the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction
(BIFR).
In
a letter to the BIFR, the State Industrial Reconstruction
Department has said that four years have elapsed since
the updating of the AAIFR-sanctioned modified revival
scheme for MBIL's units in the State but the management
is yet to initiate the revival process in compliance with
the Delhi High Court/AAIFR and as envisaged in the modified
scheme.
A
scheme for rehabilitation of MBIL covering all units located
in different parts of the country was originally prepared
by ICICI Ltd, which was the Operating Agency appointed
by BIFR.
The
scheme was subsequently updated, finalised, and sanctioned
by AAIFR as per its order dated August 18, 2000 following
a Delhi High Court order.
The
West Bengal Government said that despite its offer of
relief and concessions as admissible under its policy
guidelines including grant of a soft loan of Rs 5 crore,
there has been no sincere effort on the part of the management
to initiate measures as outlined in the rehabilitation
package.
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Bharti
opts out of airport modernisation bid
New Delhi: The Bharti Group on Monday expressed
its inability to participate in the bid for the modernization
of the Delhi and Mumbai airports. According to sources
this development has taken place because of its failure
to secure a performance guarantee commitment from its
foreign partner Changi Enterprises.
Of the eight bidders, six have already confirmed participation
with the Civil Aviation ministry. The other joint venture
yet to confirm participation are Piramal and L&T,
with Hochtief Airport as their foreign partner.
In a statement today, the Bharti group said it was unable
to participate in the bid as Changi Airport of Singapore
had conveyed that they were not confident about meeting
the conditions set in the tender.
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Accenture's
India centre to mark higher growth
Chennai:
Accenture, a US$14bn global management consulting, technology
services and outsourcing company, has formally inaugurated
its Chennai delivery centre.
Karl-Heinz
Floether, Group Chief Executive (Technology and Delivery),
Accenture, said globally this year the company recruited
around 40,000 employees, and of this 30 per cent were
in India. There will be higher growth in locations such
as India compared to other centres globally, he told newspersons.
As
on August 31 globally Accenture had 115,000 employees.
In India, the company had around 15,000, including 5,000
in BPO (business process outsourcing), in Bangalore, Mumbai,
New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, says a company press
release.
According
to Basilio Rueda, managing partner, Global Delivery Network,
India plays a significant role for Accenture, and is a
flagship to serve global clients. There was a tremendous
pool of capable people, which the company was leveraging,
he said.
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Gujarat
NRE launches coal trading portal
New Delhi: Gujarat NRE Coke has launched an Internet-based
coal trading portal coalrx.com. The company plans to auction
one million tonnes of coal through this portal during
the current financial year, the vice-chairman and managing
director of the company, Arun Kumar Jagatramka, told newspersons
here.
The
company is already running a steel trading portal steelrx.com.
He also said that the company has acquired 5 per cent
strategic stake in the Australian coal producing company,
Resource Pacific Holdings Ltd, for A$8.1mn (Rs27.4 crore).
This is the third coal mine acquired by the company in
Australia, he added.
Resource
Pacific owns and operates the Newpac No. 1 Colliery situated
in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales and contains
one of the largest identified semi-soft coking coal reserves
in the region.
According
to the agreement between Gujarat NRE and Resource Pacific,
the former will lift at least a minimum of 5 million tonnes
of coal over the next 10 years, Jagatramka said. Resource
Pacific has a target of producing 4 million tonnes of
coal annually following completion of its longwall expansion
and Gujarat NRE Coke will begin the purchase of coal in
2006, he said.
The
new portal will enable the company to sell coal produced
in its Australian mines to small and medium sized non-core
sector consumers in India.
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