Success in my Habit

Monday, February 21, 2011

Asba now mandatory for institutions, HNIs

Mumbai: In his last press conference as chairman of the Securities & Exchange Board of India, C B Bhave extended the scope of some market reforms he initiated when entering office three years ago.

Asba, or applications supported by blocked amount, has been made mandatory for qualified institutional buyers and high net-worth investors when applying for public or rights issues. Bhave had introduced Asba in the second board meet that he chaired in May 2008 after assuming office in February that year.

“After taking into account the feedback received from market participants, it has been decided that Asba will be mandatory for the non-retail segment from May 1 onwards,” said Bhave while addressing the media here on Monday.

Under Asba, an applicant can submit a bid, even as the money remains in the bank account. The money is debited only at the time shares are allotted. This eliminates delays related to refunds, speeding up the whole process. While the facility was initially available only for retail applicants, it was extended to institutional investors in April 2010.

When asked if Asba would be made mandatory for retail investors, too, Bhave said, “A decision would be taken based on a review of the current change.”

Expectedly, the media interaction after the Sebi board meeting on Mon day started off on a nostalgic note. “All of us must remember that Sebi is an institution. Chairmen come and chairmen go. Sebi as an institution has only progressed since 1992, when it was first formed. This is a journey of the institution,” said the seventh chairman of the market regulator. Bhave is due to retire on February 17.

Sebi does not want interested shareholders, including promoters, to vote on special resolutions and will forward this recommendation to the ministry of company affairs. The recommendation, which has its roots in the Satyam fraud, calls for amending Clause 166 of the Companies Bill, 2009.

“You may recall, during the talks of amalgamation of Maytas and Satyam, questions were raised on whether Satyam shareholders, who are interested in this transaction, should be allowed to vote or not. That amalgamation never took place, but this point was definitely raised,” explained Bhave.

“This will protect small and diversified shareholders in listed companies from abusive related-party transactions. This view was taken based on the learning from the investigation into the matter of Satyam,” said a Sebi release.

Sebi has also decided to bring in uniformity in the period of initial registration granted to market participants. The initial registration will be for a period of five years.

Thereafter, based on a performance assessment, permanent registration will be granted. “(Intermediaries) should not be required to come time and again,” said Bhave, while explaining the rationale.

Sebi has also decided the currency derivatives segment would have self-clearing members that have a net worth of Rs 5 crore.

The Sebi board decided to defer a final decision on the proposed Takeover Code, as the government is still in the process of talking to industry participants on some recommendations. The Takeover Code was sent to Sebi in July 2010.

The board also did not take up the pending issue of the Bimal Jalan report, as Sebi is still not through analysing feedback from market participants. “Comments have come to us. These comments are being collated by the department. That issue was not taken at this meeting at all,” he said.

India ratifies double taxation avoidance pacts with SAARC

NEW DELHI: India has ratified the new Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements with SAARC nations taking forward its efforts to track and unearth black money. The revised treaties will come into effect from next fiscal, according to a government notification.

"The central government hereby directs that all the provisions of the said agreement shall be given effect to in the Union of India with effect from 1st day of April, 2011," the official government Gazette notification said. According to the notification, the new agreement will apply to persons who are residents of one or more member states.

However, the notification said SAARC limited multilateral agreement on avoidance of double taxation and mutual administrative assistance in tax matters shall be applicable only in the member states where an adequate direct tax structure is in place. "In case of a member state where such a structure is not in place, this agreement shall become effective from the date on which such a member state introduces a proper direct tax structure and notifies the SAARC secretariat to this effect," the gazette notification said.

India is in the process of negotiating DTAA with 65 countries. This is to broaden the scope of article concerning exchange of information, specifically regarding banking and taxpayers not covered earlier.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had recently unveiled a five pronged strategy to check and curb black money in the country. He said DTAA and Exchange of Taxation Information Agreement are two instruments under which information can be obtained and that the government has already amended pacts with 23 countries to get information from various banks.

Ministry releases new guidelines for eco-zones around national parks

New Delhi: The environment ministry has come out with new guidelines to create eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) around the protected areas to prevent ecological damages caused due to developmental activities around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

The new ESZ guidelines, declared by the ministry on February 9, would also ensure that these areas act as “shock absorbers” to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas. The guidelines were updated on the ministry website today. “It is prerequisite that an inventory of different land-use patterns and the different types of activities, types and number of industries operating around each of the protected areas be made,” the ministry said.

For this purpose, the ministry has asked all states to constitute a committee comprising the wildlife warden, an ecologist and a revenue department official of the area concerned to suggest the requirement of an eco-sensitive zone and its extent.

The panel could also suggest the best methods to manage such zones and broad-based thematic activities to be included in the master plan for the areas, which have been classified as prohibited, restricted with safeguards and permissible. The guidelines said activities, including commercial mining, setting of saw mills and industries causing pollution, commercial use of firewood and major hydropower projects, are prohibited in such areas.

It also prohibits tourism activities like flying over protected areas in an aircraft or hot air balloon, and discharge of effluents and solid waste in natural water bodies or terrestrial areas.

Felling of trees, drastic change in agriculture systems and commercial use of natural water resources, including groundwater harvesting and setting up of hotels and resorts, are the activities regulated in the areas.

Activities permitted in the areas include ongoing agriculture and horticulture practices by local communities, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, adoption of green technology and use of renewable energy sources.

The width of the ESZ and type of regulation may vary from protected area to area. However, as a general principle, the width of the ESZ could go up to 10 kms around the protected area. The ministry said all states and union territories were asked to forward site-specific proposals to set up ESZs. But only few states have forwarded the proposals. “This ministry after careful consideration, has therefore, decided to frame guidelines to facilitate the state/union territory for declaration of eco-sensitive zones around national parks and wild life sanctuaries.”

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Etisalat keeps option to leave DB venture open

Etisalat, the $8.7 billion telecom major based in the UAE, may exit the joint venture it has with Dynamix Balawas (DB) group depending on the outcome of the investigation into the Rs 1,76,000 crore 2G spectrum scam. Etisalat is simultaneously in negotiations with telecom operators like Idea Cellular of Aditya Birla group and Reliance Communications (RCom) to pick up equity stake in either of them. Both of them have 3G spectrum. One thing that Etisalat has signalled is that it will continue to stay put in the Indian telecom market that offers opportunities as well as challenges.

Nokia Siemens Networks leads Indian 3G market

Nokia Siemens Networks has emerged as the leading 3G mobile infrastructure and services vendor in India with 30% market share. The company has won deals from Aircel, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices and Vodafone for the deployment of 3G networks in twenty of the country's telecom circles. With the rapid growth of smart mobile devices in India, a strong 3G infrastructure will boost the country's broadband penetration. Nokia Siemens Networks recently demonstrated the world's first TD-LTE video call on 2.3GHz using commercial hardware in its Bengaluru R&D centre.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Suzlon gets $1.28b order from Caparo

Mumbai: Suzlon Energy has received an order worth $1.28 billion for supply of wind turbines aggregating to 1,000 MW to Caparo Energy (India), the Pune-headquartered company said in a statement on Friday.

Caparo Energy, an independent power producer, plans to commission 500 MW by March 2012, and another 500 MW by March 2013 in India.

"Price of the turbines for the first 500 MW is fixed, while the next 500 MW would have index-based price so that cost rise can be absorbed," Chief Financial Officer Robin Banerjee told ET.

Caparo's order comes at a time when Suzlon is struggling with order inflow as global demand for wind energy continues to be muted.

The Switch enters India's booming wind and solar market

The Switch, a Finland-based new energy technology company, announced the expansion of its international presence by establishing a wholly-owned The Switch India office in Chennai. The new home base serves as the company’s beachhead to strengthen its business network and to lead business development efforts in the fast-growing wind and solar power market in India.

Pertti Kurttila, VP, Supply at The Switch: “India’s growing wind and solar power market is highly attractive for us. The government’s wind and solar power program has been the fastest growing sector of the country’s energy planning process. India’s wind power potential exceeds 45,000MW and the country also possesses a large and high-potential solar energy resource. By 2022, India’s target is to have 38,500MW of installed wind power capacity and 20,000MW of solar power respectively, part of which is based on grid connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.”

The Switch has more than 5,000MW of installed wind power capacity in the global market and in solar solutions the company’s focus is on high-power level applications starting at 500kW. “Our strategy is to provide efficient and reliable technology to help India achieve the government’s energy goals and to meet the country’s growing energy needs also in the future,” Kurttila explains.

Permanent magnet technology gains momentum in the Indian wind power market

By focusing on permanent magnet technology, The Switch has helped the world’s top turbine manufacturers, such as Goldwind, Doosan and Powerwind generate more high-quality electricity.The Switch products are already also gaining momentum in the Indian market. Through the recent wind turbine purchase agreement signed by Chinese Dongfang Electric and Indian KSK Energy, The Switch will be contributing to the export of 166 1.5MW wind turbines to India. The Switch is a technology provider and key component supplier of permanent magnet generator and full-power converter packages for Dongfang Electric.

“For us, the Dongfang Electric and KSK Energy deal is a step in the right direction, and we look forward to participating in many more businesses in the Indian wind and solar power market,” said C.Sundar, who is responsible for the sales and marketing activities for the Switch in India. “Of the total 18,000MW of installed Indian renewable energy capacity, some 13,000MW come from wind energy alone and the number is expected to grow. Our intent is to be the partner of choice for our Indian customers for multi-megawatt power generation and to help them develop the country’s vast potential for clean energy.

About The Switch

The Switch is a leading supplier of megawatt-class permanent magnet generator and full-power converter packages that effectively capture power from highly variable new energy sources like wind and solar. The technology ensures reliable, future-proof grid compliance and maximized energy yields. Since starting operations in July 2006, The Switch has reached net sales of EUR 125 million, with 5,000MW of installed wind power capacity. The Switch is headquartered in Vantaa, Finland with production facilities in Finland, China and the US, and offices in Denmark, India, Germany, Korea and Spain.

Non-life insurers clock 22% growth in April-December

Non-life insurance companies registered 22.41 per cent growth in premium collections during the first nine months of the financial year.

Mumbai: According to data released by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda), non-life insurers collected a total gross premium of Rs 30,813 crore during April-December, as compared to Rs 25,172 crore in the corresponding period last year.

“The overall economic scenario is good. Health segment is growing at 35-40 per cent while motor at 20 per cent,” said ICICI Lombard Chief Financial Officer Rakesh Jain.

Auto sales increased by 28.62 per cent in the first nine months. It has helped to increase motor insurance, which accounts for their 50 per cent business.

“Insurer’s see surge in premium income when auto sales go up,” said a senior executive of a non-life insurance company.

At present, health comprises 25 per cent of the business for the industry, whereas motor generates 40 per cent. Private players grew by 24.35 per cent while four public sector insurers saw a growth of 21 per cent.

Online marketing industry size to touch Rs 2k crore by 2013

Mumbai/ Ahmedabad: As rules of the advertising game change rapidly, online or digital marketing market size in India is estimated to touch close to Rs 2,000 crore in the next two years from a Rs 1,400 crore now, say management experts.

At the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) conference on 'Best Marketing Practices', experts felt that no company could now possibly ignore the power of social networking sites in creating today's brands.

"Apart from search engines like google.com and yahoo.com, the next top sites in India are social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and Linkedin. Facebook users have increased nearly nine folds during last year, and now companies are sitting up and taking notice of the importance of advertising through such websites, especially when it is possible now to do hyper local marketing targeted at specific customer," said Mahesh Murthy, founder Pinstorm, a leading digital marketing firm.

He added that with revenues worth Rs 800 crore, Google India is bigger than any television channel in the country.

It gets 100 million unique users every year in India, of which 70 million are on desktop, while the rest access it through mobile phones.

As online marketing opens up newer avenues and prospects of acquiring new clients, even major banks like HDFC have jumped on to the bandwagon. Soma Sharma, head, liability campaigns, HDFC Bank said that they launch 100 to 200 new online and digital campaigns every month.

"Nearly, 20-25 per cent of our new customers come in through online sources, either they visit our website or through any banner advertisements that we have put up at relevant websites. And if we talk about the quality of these new customers, they are almost two times better compared to those we acquire through offline modes like branches and agents," she added.

The business of buying online railway tickets is worth Rs 5,500 crore in India, while that of airline tickets is close to Rs 12,500 crore.

Experts felt that companies would have to increasingly come up with ways to manage the perception of brands more efficiently, and one has to do that continuously as perceptions and brands today change much faster than they used to.

"Earlier, we had time to test a creative for a soap commercial or campaign for three months, now three months can be the entire product lifecycle," Murthy said. He recalled one mobile handset company's demand of coming up with a creative within a week.

"When we asked for more time, they said they had to go live with the campaign in three weeks and that they would come up with their another handset within eight weeks. So that is all the time they had to sell this particular product," Murthy explains.

GDP growth revised to 8% for FY10

GDP growth revised to 8% for FY10
New Delhi: The Central Statistical Organisation on Monday revised growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) for 2009-10 to 8% from the previous 7.4% due to robust growth in manufacturing and services sectors. The government also revised the GDP growth for 2008-09 marginally to 6.8% from the previously announced 6.7%.

The per capita income at 2004-05 prices is estimated at Rs 33,731 for 2009-10, up from Rs 31,801 in 2008-09, showing an increase of 6.1%. Per capita income at current prices rose 14.5% to Rs 46,492 in 2009-10 compared to Rs 40,605 crore in the previous fiscal. Per capita income refers to the earnings of each citizen in the country if the national income is equally divided among the population. National income or the size of the economy rose 16.1% at current prices to Rs 60,95,230 crore compared to Rs 52,49,163 crore in 2008-09.

"The growth rate of 8% in the GDP during 2009-10 has been achieved due to high growth in transport, storage and communication (15%), community, social and personal services (11.8%), financing, insurance, real estate and business services (9.2%) and manufacturing (8.8%)," CSO said. Farm sector growth in 2009-10 stood at 0.4%, up from the 1% decline in 2008-09. It said the GDP estimates and other aggregates for the previous years have been revised due to the new wholesale price index with 2004-05 as the base as well as the revision in the index of industrial production.

GDP for 2009-10 at 2004-05 prices is estimated at Rs 44,93,743 crore compared to Rs 41,37,125 crore. Gross domestic saving (GDS) at current prices in 2009-10 is estimated at Rs 22,07,423 crore compared to Rs 17,98,347 crore in 2008-09. In absolute terms, the household sector savings increased from Rs 13,31,033 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 15,36,071 crore in 2009-10, the savings of private sector rose from Rs 4,38,376 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 5,31,403 crore in 2009-10 and that of public sector increased from Rs 28,938 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 1,39,949 crore in 2009-10, data showed.

The economy is expected to grow 8.5% in the current fiscal but some policymakers say it could reach 9%. It has grown 8.9% in the past two quarters of the current fiscal year.