PNB may acquire majority stake in Kazakh bank

Punjab National Bank plans to acquire a majority stake in a Kazakhstan-based bank to expand its presence in Central Asia, its Chairman and Managing Director K R Kamath said here today.
We are trying to pick up 74 per cent stake in a bank called Dana bank in Kazakhstan, subject to RBI approval," Kamath told PTI.
The bank has completed due diligence, which is now being whetted. "Once that is complete, we will look at pricing," he said.
Outlining the bank's plans for overseas expansion, Kamath said, PNB would set up a bank in Bhutan with a local partner.
For Canada, PNB has received the Reserve Bank's approval to set up a subsidiary in Vancouver.
"We recently made a presentation to monetary authorities of Canada and they are positive. The process of submitting a business case is on. The whole process of starting operations is likely to take one year," he said.
Kamath said PNB would upgrade its representative office in Shanghai, China to a branch.We are trying to pick up 74 per cent stake in a bank called Dana bank in Kazakhstan, subject to RBI approval," Kamath told PTI.
The bank has completed due diligence, which is now being whetted. "Once that is complete, we will look at pricing," he said.
Outlining the bank's plans for overseas expansion, Kamath said, PNB would set up a bank in Bhutan with a local partner.
For Canada, PNB has received the Reserve Bank's approval to set up a subsidiary in Vancouver.
"We recently made a presentation to monetary authorities of Canada and they are positive. The process of submitting a business case is on. The whole process of starting operations is likely to take one year," he said.
Kamath said PNB would upgrade its representative office in Shanghai, China to a branch.

Hyundai mulls new diesel engine manufacturing unit

The Indian arm of Korea’s Hyundai Motors is doing a study on the viability of a diesel engine unit in the country, which could help it reduce its dependence on Korea and gain a pricing advantage with increased localisation.
At present, the company imports the engines directly from Korea after paying a hefty duty.
Han-Woo Park, newly appointed managing director and chief executive officer at Hyundai Motor India, said: “The minimum (sales) requirement for a diesel engine plant to be feasible is 100,000 units (per annum). We are doing the required field study and will take a decision on it at the appropriate time.”
The plant, if given a green signal, will come up close to the company’s existing vehicle manufacturing unit near Chennai where it also makes petrol engines, including the heavily promoted Kappa range.
Park, who replaced his senior, H S Lheem, in the company earlier this month, was non-committal on whether there would actually be a diesel engine unit. He also wouldn’t comment on the investment the project would entail if given a go-ahead.
Although Hyundai was one of the first companies to introduce the common-rail diesel technology (known for its high efficiency, refinement and frugal nature) in India, it failed to capitalise on the lead.
Currently, only a handful of its models, such as the i20, Verna, Sonata Transform and Tucson sport a diesel option, with only the i20 selling in high numbers. Car market leader Maruti Suzuki has installed a diesel engine it had developed in a number of top-selling models such as Ritz, Swift and Swift DZire. Most of these models have high waiting periods.
The company will be relaunching the i10 hatchback next year, strapped with a diesel engine. The company’s famed CRDi technology (which once powered its Accent sedan) will drive the i10 next year, one of the smallest diesel engines in the country available on a car.The Indian arm of Korea’s Hyundai Motors is doing a study on the viability of a diesel engine unit in the country, which could help it reduce its dependence on Korea and gain a pricing advantage with increased localisation.
At present, the company imports the engines directly from Korea after paying a hefty duty.
Han-Woo Park, newly appointed managing director and chief executive officer at Hyundai Motor India, said: “The minimum (sales) requirement for a diesel engine plant to be feasible is 100,000 units (per annum). We are doing the required field study and will take a decision on it at the appropriate time.”
The plant, if given a green signal, will come up close to the company’s existing vehicle manufacturing unit near Chennai where it also makes petrol engines, including the heavily promoted Kappa range.
Park, who replaced his senior, H S Lheem, in the company earlier this month, was non-committal on whether there would actually be a diesel engine unit. He also wouldn’t comment on the investment the project would entail if given a go-ahead.
Although Hyundai was one of the first companies to introduce the common-rail diesel technology (known for its high efficiency, refinement and frugal nature) in India, it failed to capitalise on the lead.
Currently, only a handful of its models, such as the i20, Verna, Sonata Transform and Tucson sport a diesel option, with only the i20 selling in high numbers. Car market leader Maruti Suzuki has installed a diesel engine it had developed in a number of top-selling models such as Ritz, Swift and Swift DZire. Most of these models have high waiting periods.
The company will be relaunching the i10 hatchback next year, strapped with a diesel engine. The company’s famed CRDi technology (which once powered its Accent sedan) will drive the i10 next year, one of the smallest diesel engines in the country available on a car.

Ratan Tata says search underway for successor: WSJ

Tata conglomerate is looking around the world for a successor to Ratan Tata, the 71-year-old chairman of the sprawling salt-to-steel group said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday.

Local and foreign candidates were being looked at to head the group, which includes Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Power among its 27 listed companies

"We are in the process of formalising a successor to me. We have some outside consultants and a formal search process is on. There are no constraints," Tata, who has steered the group for nearly two decades, said in the interview.

The successor could be from within the group or outside, Tata said, adding he hoped the person would carry on the growth path that had been set. All but one of the group's past chairmans have been Tatas, although at the moment no family candidate has been publicly identified to take over the role.

"It would certainly be easier if that candidate were an Indian national. But now that 65 per cent of our revenues come from overseas, it could also be an expatriate sitting in that position with justification now," Tata said.

M&M in final stages for auto facility in Tamil Nadu

Mumbai-based Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s largest manufacturer of sports utility vehicles, is believed to be in advanced talks with the Tamil Nadu government for establishing an integrated auto facility in the state.

Sources in the state government said a memorandum of understanding was expected to be formally signed between the government and the company in the next two to three months.

M&M will invest about Rs 1,800 crore in the new facility, to be located in Tiruvannamalai district (195 km from Chennai), over 450 acres. This plant will have the capacity to churn out 150,000 units annually.

Tata Motors to expand Pantnagar plant

Tata Motors, which is producing the Nano car, apart from other commercial vehicles, at its Pantnagar plant in Uttarakhand, said on Monday it was planning to expand the manufacturing facility and called for strengthening rail, road and air connectivity in the region to boost production.

Company officials called on Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in Dehra Dun and held talks on the company’s expansion plans at the plant, an official statement said. The plant produces nearly 950 vehicles daily, including 150 Nano cars. The company is planning to raise the production to 500,000 vehicles a year from the Pantnagar plant, the statement added.

Oil falls in Asia after overnight gains

Oil fell slightly in Asian trade today after overnight gains spurred by a weak dollar and hopes of improved energy demand amid a global recovery, analysts saidNew York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery eased 20 cents to $78.70 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for January delivery fell 32 cents to $78.44 a barrel.

The two contracts had closed yesterday higher as the US currency continued to weaken despite rare comments from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke that the central bank strove for a strong dollar.

A lower greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities - like gold and crude oil - cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies. In turn, that tends to lift demand and prices.

Crude futures also received a boost from evidence of growth in Japan after data released Monday showed the world's second biggest economy expanded 1.2 per cent in the July-September period.

It was the second straight quarter of expansion.

OPEC president Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos repeated yesterday the cartel's view that $75-80 oil was an adequate level to allow for a global economic recovery.

"Seventy-five to $80 a barrel is a good price... for the recovery of the world economy," de Vasconcelos, who is also Angola's oil minister, said at a Gulf energy security conference in Abu Dhabi.

CBI files memo in Satyam case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a memo in a local court seeking its permission to hear the charges against the accused in the multi-crore accounting fraud case in Satyam Computer, on the basis of material it provided in the first charge sheet.
 
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The filing of the memo was necessitated following Andhra Pradesh High Court's direction to the investigating agency to hasten the process and start trial in the case, the CBI prosecutor said.

"We filed the memo in the XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court yesterday to seek its permission to hear the charges against Satyam accused," CBI Deputy Legal Advisor B Ravindranath told PTI today.

While seven accused including Satyam's former MD Rama Raju and ex-CFO V Srinivas, two former auditors of Price Waterhouse S Gopalkrishnan and T Srinivas are lodged in Chanchalguda prison here, Ramalinga Raju is undergoing treatment for his heart-related ailment and hepatitis 'C' in Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS).

Cipla launches generic drug to treat H1N1

Indian drug major Cipla has launched generic versions of anti-flu drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir in the local market to treat the H1N1 influenza, which is spreading across the globe and in India.
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Cipla will brand oseltamivir in the local market as Antiflu and zanamivir as Virenza. Antiflu will cost Rs 475 for 10 capsules, in line with the price of competing products in the market. Virenza — an inhaled drug — will cost Rs 800, which includes the price for an inhalation device.

Cipla’s Antiflu is a copycat version of Swiss multi-national Hoffmann-La Roche’s Tamiflu and Virenza is the copy of GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza. Both drugs, used globally to treat the ongoing H1N1 pandemic, lack patent protection in India as these are pre-1995 innovations. Such innovations are not granted patents in India, according to the product patent regime introduced in the country since 2005.

Dr Y K Hamied, chairman and managing director of Cipla, said his company was equipped to make 2 million doses of oseltamivir a month, in case of any eventuality. Already 450 people have died of H1N1 in India and the winter season may cause further spread of the virus, he said.

“Now the US is facing a shortage of oseltamivir and we have informed our readiness to supply the drug if needed. We make about 20 drugs in the anti-viral segment and are among the global leaders in this category,” said the Cipla chief, who revolutionised HIV/AIDS treatment globally by selling generic drug cocktails at less than a $1 per day.

Both drugs have patent protection in many developed countries, including the US and Europe. Hyderabad-based Hetero is the only supplier licensed by Roche to market oseltamivir in India under the brand name Fluvir.

On August 28, the Indian government had allowed restricted retail sale of the drug under Schedules X category of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, similar to the sale of narcotics drugs. Six Indian companies — Ranbaxy, Cipla, Strides Acrolab, Hetero, Hetco and Roche — were allowed to manufacture and sell the drug. The government has also stockpiled the drug from these manufacturers for supply through government channels.

Two months ago, Natco Pharma had launched its version Natflu in the Indian market at a price of Rs 475 for a bottle of 10 capsules.

“In 2005, we had stockpiled about 2.5 tonnes of oseltamivir but there was no demand and about $15-20 million worth products had just piled up as inventory,” said Hamied.

Cipla has so far exported about $10 million worth of Antiflu to countries in Latin America, Africa, South-East Asia and West Asia, where the drug lacks patent protection.

Countries with patent protection for these drugs can also allow generic players to manufacture and market it, invoking compulsory licence provisions of the patent rules, which allow breaking of patent rules during emergency.

Wipro sees strong deal pipeline

Wipro, India's No. 3 software services exporter, sees robust deal pipeline on the back of improving IT demand worldwide, a senior off

"The deal pipeline is good ... the demand environment is building up. The IT demand situation is improving," Suresh Vaswani, joint chief executive of the company's IT business, told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

The company last month reported a 18.76 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,161.7 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009.

The IT exporter had a net profit of Rs 978.2 crore in the September quarter of last fiscal.

Total income of the company rose to Rs 7,057.4 crore during the July-September quarter of the current fiscal, from Rs 6,664.8 crore in the year-ago period, as per the Indian accounting norms.

"We see more stability in volumes and pricing as well as an improving demand environment. Our broad portfolio of services and strong delivery excellence continues to position us as a partner of choice with customers, as they focus on capital conservation and cost transformation," Wipro Chairman Azim Premji said.

Subsidy for fertiliser firms declines with use of K-G gas

Fertiliser companies’ revenues have suffered as their costs have gone down with the substitution of cheaper K-G Basin gas for naphtha, since the government subsidy is based on the cost of production.SC resumes gas hearing with RIL's recap of stand so far
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Companies using the low-cost K-G gas since April have reported lower revenues in the first two quarters of the current financial year. The revenues for fertiliser companies comprise the price realisation from sales and the subsidy it receives from the government.

A lower revenue, in this case, points to a decreasing subsidy burden for the government. The Union government is expected to cut its fertiliser subsidy by Rs 3,000 crore in the current year solely due to this shift to use of K-G gas.

Nagarjuna Fertilisers saw its net sales dip 33 per cent to Rs 862 crore in the six-month period ended September 30. R S Nanda, chief operating officer and director, said the energy cost in gas-based fertiliser production is just one-third compared to the usage of naphtha.

The fertiliser companies are purchasing gas from Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) at the government-fixed price of $4.20 per million British thermal unit (mBtu) as against $13-14 a unit they paid for naphtha last year. The impact of shift to natural gas at one of its plants has had an impact of Rs 240 crore on turnover during the first six months, he said.

Similarly, net sales of National Fertilisers in the first half of the year declined over 21 per cent to Rs 2,311 crore. A number of fertiliser companies, including the likes of Nagarjuna Fertilisers, National Fertilisers, Chambal Fertilisers and Shriram Fertilisers, shifted from naphtha to natural gas as feedstock due to availability from the KG-D6 block operated by Reliance Industries from April. The shift to natural gas from naphtha has cut energy cost by more than 65 per cent for these fertiliser plants.

Retailers extract higher margins from FMCG firms

The terms of trade are slowly tilting in favour of modern retail. Despite going through a correction phase, which saw many retailers shutting stores, modern trade is beginning to cash in on its scale and clout by seeking higher payouts from suppliers.
Consumer product companies have increased aggregate payouts by 200-300 basis points over last year, say retailers. These include incentives for timely payment, meeting certain volume targets, and marketing inputs.
Source: Business Standard RBI may stick to loan-loss norms
Adding to the provisioning woes of a host of banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has indicated it would not allow them to include loan write-offs while calculating the loan-loss coverage ratio.
During a meeting with select bank chiefs on Wednesday, in response to a demand from banks, senior RBI officials had said the move was against good accounting practices, something the central bank had stood for even at the peak of the financial crisis,

Mahindra Satyam ties up with defence firm Saab

Mahindra Satyam today announced its plans to collaborate with defence and security company Saab to develop its operations in India for the global defence and homeland security market.
While the company did not give any official figure, the “ongoing-MoU” deal is reportedly worth $400 million (around Rs 1,850 crore) over a five-year period.
“It is difficult to put a number to this collaboration with Saab. The only thing we can say is that this is a first of its kind and has a huge market opportunity,” a company spokesperson said when asked to comment on the deal’s size.
By far, this is the biggest deal that Satyam has secured after it was acquired by Tech Mahindra about six months ago. Mahindra Satyam had 500-odd customers, of which close to 100 dropped their contracts with the then fourth-largest IT outsourcer after the confession by its founder, B Ramalinga Raju, that he had cooked the company’s books for several years.
After the acquisition by Tech Mahindra, Satyam won 30 new logos, most of them single-digit million-dollar contracts, besides a five-year SAP contract with global pharmaceutical major GlaxoSmithKline and a three-year extension of a contract from General Electric.
The collaboration with Saab would require Mahindra Satyam and Saab to jointly address the Battlefield Management System (BMS) for the Indian Army. The solution for BMS, proposed by Saab, is field-proven and deployed in many countries. Both parties intend to work together for the Indian BMS programme and would explore globalisation of co-developed artefacts.
Both the companies have already set up a Centre of Excellence for Network Centric Warfare (CoE-NCW) to offer comprehensive skills and a repository of tools, systems, middleware, integration platforms and system showcases in the NCW field.
This would be a development centre for mission critical applications and Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) solutions for global opportunities accessible to either of the partners.

Maharashtra governor fails to break Congress-NCP deadlock

Maharashtra Governor S C Jamir's efforts to resolve the deadlock in government formation failed on Tuesday, with both constituents of the ruling front -- Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) -- sticking to their positions on power-sharing.
NCP leader and deputy chief minister -designate Chhagan Bhujbal reiterated his party's stance and accused the Congress of adopting "delaying tactics" in forming the new government.
"Congress is delaying the government formation, not the NCP," Bhujbal told reporters after meeting the governor at the Raj Bhawan here.
He said that if the Congress does not agree to the power-sharing formula decided in 1999, then the NCP would offer "outside support" instead of joining the ministry.
"I informed the governor that our letter of support is ready, it is up to the Congress to take the initiative in forming the government," said Bhujbal.
Earlier, the governor also met chief minister-designate Ashok Chavan for half-an-hour in an effort to break the impasse that continues 13 days after the assembly results were declared.

Wednesday is the last day of the outgoing assembly's tenure.

In a surprise development on Tuesday, the governor had summoned both the Chavan and Bhujbal to Raj Bhavan to sort out the issue.

While Chavan met Jamir around 11am., Bhujbal called on him around 11.30am.

The two parties - Congress with 82 seats and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with 62 seats in the 288-member assembly - are locked in a bitter squabble over the sharing of portfolios in the new government.

Both the parties have adopted an uncompromising stand on the issue of certain key portfolios like home, finance, power, agriculture, urban development and public works ministries.

Last week, NCP leader Ajit Pawar had said that in the 2004 elections, even though NCP had 71 seats compared to 59 of Congress, it agreed to accept the post of deputy chief minister and give the chief minister's post to the latter.

"At that time, to keep the CM's (chief minister) post, the Congress offered us (NCP) four extra ministries and three departments," he pointed out.

India ready to face WTO over wines, spirits duties

India is ready to face any action on the issue of high duty on wines and spirits imported from the European Union (EU) even as the two sides meet on November 6 for discussing trade and investment.
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Maharashtra is the only state that has not complied with the Union government advice to lower levies on imported wines and spirits. The issue has already been sorted out with the Goa and Tamil Nadu governments, which have agreed to give ‘national treatment’ to the imported liquor, which stipulates that they be treated on par as domestic items.

Goa, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are among the biggest markets for imported wine and spirits.

“The commerce minister (Anand Sharma) has written a letter to the Maharashtra chief minister urging it to fall in line. The matter has already been settled with Goa and Tamil Nadu. EU knows very well that nothing can be done beyond this as it is a state subject. However, if it still take us to the World Trade Organization (WTO), we are ready,” a senior commerce department official told Business Standard.

The process of dragging a member country to WTO incurs heavy expense on the complainant and takes anywhere between two and four years. On a recent visit to India, Foreign Trade Minister of France Anne Marie Idrac said the country hoped the issue would be sorted out amicably soon without having to move WTO.