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Gopalarathnam is new MD of Cholamandalam MS General Insurance

Chennai, April 3: SS Gopalarathnam, President (Operations), has been appointed as the new MD of Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Ltd with effect from April 1.

Prior to his current role as President (Operations), Gopalarathnam was the CFO and VP Finance ever since the inception of the company in 2001.

He has overseen a wide variety of functions like business development, underwriting, reinsurance, finance and investments and operations and CRM within the company.

"I am very excited about this opportunity to grow the business at a time of stiff price-led competition in the de-tariff era and will be targeting a Top line of Rs. 1000 crore and a market share of three per cent in 2008-09," said Gopalarathnam.

Gopalarathnam has been with the Murugappa Group for nearly 29 years. He has rich and varied experience and has held senior positions in finance, exports, strategy and corporate planning, and "business heading" functions across various group companies like TI Cycles, TI Miller and Tube Products of India.

Gopalarathnam succeeds Anandan M who retired as the Managing Director of Chola MS on March 31.

The company offers fire, engineering, motor, health, liability, marine, travel and rural insurance for individuals, SME's and corporates.

Bharti, Vodafone get notice for cartelisation

New Delhi, April 03: In a major set back to the three big telecom operators -- Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular -- anti-monopoly watchdog MRTPC on Thursday issued 'notice of enquiry' against them for allegedly forming a cartel to distort competition.

Admitting a report of MRTPC's investigative unit DGIR, a Bench of the quasi-judicial body, headed by Justice O P Dwivedi, issued 'notice of enquiry' and started judicial inquiry against these operators for cartelising and increasing prices of telecom services simultaneously.

The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission Bench also directed the three companies to file their reply before it within four weeks.

In the investigation report, director general of investigations and registrations has said that the three GSM operators, by colluding, have simultaneously increased the price.

The report stated that despite having different cost factors, structures and profits, they all fixed the tariff of their local call at Rs 1.20 a minute.

The report further said that though the rental and tariff charges of calls and SMS fall under the forbearance category under the Telecommunications Tariff (23rd amendment) and GSM operators are free to fix any tariff for their services, "But it can not be mere coincidence" that the tariff revision by them is of the identical scale."

It also said that the area of operation was different. Also, the operation cost of each operator was not on same scale and number of subscribers was different. In such a scenario, how they landed at the same tariff is a matter of investigation.

"In such circumstances, it is intriguing as to how all the respondents (operators) have revised their tariff rates in Delhi circle on the same date," MRTPC said.

"It is also pertinent to mention that all the three respondents have announced the revision of tariff rates effective from August 10-13 in 2007 but all intimated the Trai post revision on August 16 that year," said the report, adding that this pointed towards a "preplanned and concerted action".

DGIR further said that to prove cartel in the sector, two things are needed. First is price parallelism and second is that it must have been arrived at by prior meeting of minds.

"With issuance of letter collectively to Trai on August 16, 2007 . . . proved beyond doubt that there was meeting of mind," the report further said.

The DGIR said this was a Restrictive Trade Practices by the operators as it distorted the competition and recommended to take action against the three operators under section 2(O) read with 33 (1)(D) of the MRTP Act, 1969.

The investigative arm of MRTPC also slammed the big three for not giving adequate notice to their customers before hiking tariffs as it has inherent effect of 'unjustifiably imposing' increased cost on them.

Calling it as 'arbitrarily burdening' their customers, the report said that it amounted to unfair trade practices under section 36 of the MRTP Act, 1969, and asked to investigate it further by issuing 'notice of enquiry'.

Airtel, Vodafone and Idea had in August 2007 raised tariffs for STD, local calls, SMS and value-added services.

While Vodafone raised STD call charges to Rs 2.65 from Rs 2.40 for pre-paid users, Bharti increased STD tariffs for pre-paid and post-paid customers in Delhi region to Rs 2.65 and Rs 2.40 a minute respectively from Rs 2 earlier.

On August 13, 2007, the three companies increased local charges within their own network to Rs 1.20 per minute for prepaid customers from Re one a minute. The three operators also raised local SMS rates to Rs 1.20 per message for both prepaid and postpaid users from Re one earlier.

These three companies control around 65 per cent of the GSM-based mobile services market and raised local call charges by 20 per cent and STD charges by 20-32 per cent.

Moreover, they also refrained from publicising the tariff hike and brought out customary notices by way of small advertisements tucked inside newspaper pages.

Later, in the second week of September, 2007, taking suo moto cognizance, the Commission directed DGIR to investigate the issue and submit a report.

MRTPC was suspecting formation of cartelisation in the sector and the three big telecom firms were distorting competition in the market.

The commission has listed the matter for July 31 for next hearing.

Tata motors gets nod to produce `eco cars` in Thailand

New Delhi, April 03: India's largest vehicle maker Tata motors has received Thailand government's approval for setting up a Greenfield facility to manufacture "eco cars" at an estimated investment of Rs 760-1,015 crore.

Thailand had invited investment from car makers for manufacturing environment-friendly cars and proposed to give tax benefits subject to certain conditions. Toyota and Mitsubishi too have received nod for similar facilities.

When contacted, Tata motors spokesperson said Bangkok has approved the company's "green car" manufacturing facility but declined to share the investment details.

Sources, however, said investment would be in the range of 6-8 billion Baht (Rs 760-1,015 crore) as the minimum investment criterion is five billion Baht.

Among others who had applied for the project are Honda, Suzuki, Nissan and Volkswagen. Thailand had already permitted Honda, Suzuki and Nissan to establish eco car plants, ahead of the latest round of approval.

As per the criterion for setting up a facility to produce "eco cars", the vehicle should be with less than 1.4 litre engine and four out of the five engine components would have to be made indigenously there. Another condition for the project was to manufacture one lakh units in five years.

On the type of car that the company would manufacture in the country, Tata motors (Thailand) ltd chief executive officer Ajit Venkataraman had said last week, "both Nano and Indica fit into the criteria. And something in between may also come. It can be anything."

Most of the manufacturers would likely export the cars to the neighbouring countries in the region as the size of the passenger car market is two lakh units a year in Thailand.

Spectrum opens for new telecom players

New Delhi, April 03: In a major development, the government on Thursday started allocating spectrum to new telecom players, with Shyam-Sistema becoming the first to receive start up radio frequency for starting CDMA services in various parts of the country.

Shyam-Sistema, a joint venture India's Shyam Telelinks and Russia's Sistema, has been given 2.5 MHZ (equivalent of 4.4 MHZ of GSM) in the seven states of north-east, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam, official sources said to the news agency.

Commenting on the development, Rajiv Mehrotra, Chairman of Shyam Group, said a news agency: "we are delighted that the government has opened up the way for new telecom players to operate telecom services as soon as possible and this is a major step towards offering cost-effective mobile services."

Russian conglomerate has already announced up to five billion dollar (Rs 20,000 crore) investment in the Indian telecom sector. Shyam-Sistema, which currently offers mobile service in Rajasthan, has got licenses for rest of the circles.

Asked about the company's plans to enter GSM arena, company officials said they would be seeking GSM spectrum under the dual technology clause.

But allocation of CDMA spectrum would give advantage to Shyam-Sistema joint venture to start services faster ahead of other new telecom players.

Dot officials said that communication minister a Raja has cleared the file for allocating spectrum to Shyam and may start releasing GSM frequency from next week onward.

Apportioning of spectrum among new service providers will pave the way for more competition and cheaper tariffs.

Duty cuts to cost around Rs 4,000 cr, fiscal deficit may go up

New Delhi, April 03: The government's recent decision to cut duties on food commodities to combat price rise will cost the exchequer up to Rs 4,000 crore and will have some implication on fiscal deficit that is projected at 2.5 percent of GDP for the current fiscal, sources said.

"The duty cuts which are aimed at taming the inflation rate are likely to result in a revenue loss of Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 4,000 crore," said a source in the finance ministry, adding the ministry was further "open to review" duties on other items to bring inflation to "tolerable limits."

The inflation rate touched the highest mark in 13 months at 6.68 percent for the week ended March 15.

The government is worried that the rise in prices of essential commodities by 10-15 percent in the retail market could become a major issue in the coming assembly elections in Karnataka and later in other states.

Official sources said fiscal deficit target of 2.5 percent, estimated at Rs 133,287 crore for the current fiscal, may have to be revised upward besides deferring the target of abolishing revenue deficit next year as the ministry is under tremendous pressure to abolish 5 percent customs duty on crude oil and steel to dampen the rising prices.

Meanwhile, Petroleum Minister Murli Deroa has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to cut customs duty on crude oil to avert financial bankruptcy of public sector oil companies. Deora had an sos meeting with PM yesterday evening to seek his intervention in protecting the state-run fuel retailers.

"Just like the government scrapped import duty on edible crude oil (in the meeting of cabinet committee on prices on April 1), 5 percent customs duty on petroleum crude oil should also be made nil," Deora told reporters here.

BHEL net profit up 17 pc; turnover crosses Rs 20k Cr (2008)

New Delhi, April 03: State-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited on Thursday posted a net profit of Rs 2,815 crore in 2007-08, a 16.6 per cent rise from the previous year, while its Annual Turnover Crossed Rs 20,000 crore mark.

The company's turnover rose to Rs 21,608 crore in the year 2007-08, up 15 per cent from Rs 18,739 crore a year ago, BHEL Chairman and Managing Director K Ravi Kumar said to reporters here.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 2,415 crore in 2006-07, he said.

BHEL'S order book stood at about Rs 85,000 crore, while during Fy08 it crossed Rs 50,000-crore mark, Kumar said.

"The order inflow rose 41 per cent to Rs 50,265 crore in 2007-08, up from Rs 35,643 crore in 2006-07," he said.

The firm doubled its investment on augmentation of manufacturing capacity and modernisation of facilities to Rs 726 crore during 2007-08, against Rs 362 crore in 2006-07.

Also, it has scaled up its capacity to 10,000 mw and would further augment it to 15,000 mw by end-2009.

Kumar said BHEL envisages an investment of Rs 4,200 crore in the 11th-plan period. The amount would be utilised toward enhancing production of thermal, gas, hydro and nuclear sets.

Besides, the company seeks to produce high rated nuclear sets, 765kv transformers and other ancillary equipment.

"While the power business will continue to be the most important constituent of bhel's portfolio in the coming years, the industry sector is also expected to exhibit continued growth momentum," kumar said. The company is also expanding into manufacturing of metro coaches and IGBT-based propulsions systems to gain from the emerging opportunities in this segment, Kumar said.

SAIL, TATA agree to cut steel prices

New Delhi, April 03: India`s large steel firms have agreed to roll back prices of long steel products, Steel Secretary R.S. Pandey told reporters after a meeting with big producers including Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd.


He said the prices would be lowered by 2,000 rupees per tonne.

"We talked about the situation of pricing and availability of steel and for long products like TMT bars, the price of which has gone up more sharply than other products in the past two months," Pandey said.

"There the major producers have agreed that some of their prices are at slightly higher levels, (and) would consider some rollback," he added.

"Companies such as Tata Steel and RINL would provide a relief of about 2,000 rupees per tonne on long products."

The Indian government, concerned about soaring inflation, has announced a series of measures aimed at controlling prices and has held meetings with industrialists to persuade them to keep prices under control.

On March 25, steel producers agreed to curtail steel exports to help increase domestic supplies and check rising prices.

Steel prices have shot up by 33 percent in the last eight weeks. India exports 4-5 million tonnes of steel annually and another 2 million tonnes of galvanised sheets and cold-rolled coils are exported.

JGB futures edge up on Nikkei fall, US data awaited
Thu Apr 3, 2008 10:55pm EDT

TOKYO, April 4- Japanese government bond futures edged up on Friday after five straight days of declines, as investors took cues from a fall in Tokyo stocks and an overnight rise in long-term U.S. Treasuries.

But gains were limited as many players retreated to the sidelines, awaiting an important U.S. employment report due later in the day for clues on the state of the world's biggest economy and the Federal Reserve's future monetary policy path.

"Government debt is unlikely to extend its rise as JGB futures continue to look expensive and are due for more correction," said Katsutoshi Inadome, fixed-income strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

June 10-year futures edged up 0.06 point to 139.54 2JGBv1.

The lead futures contract hit a five-year high of 141.91 on March 19, up more than 5 points from last year's close, as the global market turmoil prompted investors to seek the safety of government debt.

Futures then started to fall due to a wave of profit-taking.

The benchmark 10-year JGB yield slipped 1 basis point to 1.350 percent <JP10YTN=JBTC>, sliding from a one-month high of 1.380 percent first struck on Wednesday.

The 10-year yield has hovered in a range between a three-year low of 1.215 percent and 1.390 percent over the past month.

The five-year yield slid 1.5 basis points to 0.810 percent <JP5YTN=JBTC> after climbing on Thursday as high as 0.840 percent, the highest since Feb. 29.

The Nikkei share average .N225 ended the morning session down 0.7 percent at 13,298.98 .N225.

The two-year yield dipped 0.5 basis point to 0.570 percent <JP2YTN=JBTC>.

Shorter-dated notes were supported as many investors see the Bank of Japan possibly cutting interest rates later this year if the Japanese economy slows further.

The BOJ's tankan survey released on Tuesday showed that business sentiment among big manufacturers had sunk to a four-year low.

Swap contracts on the overnight call rate show a roughly 20 percent chance of a BOJ rate cut from 0.50 percent by June and were implying a 55 percent chance of a cut by year-end, little changed from Wednesday. <JPONIBOJ=TRDT>.

The 20-year yield was down 0.5 basis point at 2.090 percent <JP20YTN=JBTC>, while the 30-year yield edged up 0.5 basis point to 2.405 percent <JP30YTN=JBTC>.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes rose on Thursday after a surprisingly big jump in weekly jobless claims renewed worries that the U.S. economy may be in, or on the brink of, recession.

Economists expect Friday's jobs data to show that the U.S. lost 60,000 jobs in March in its third straight month of job losses, with the unemployment rate rising to 5.0 percent from 4.8 percent in February. (Editing by Chris Gallagher)

HAL turnover crosses the USD 2 billion mark

Bangalore, April 03: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Thursday announced that it has crossed the USD billion mark and achieved a sales turnover of Rs 8,350 crore in 2007-08.

This turnover marks 11.25 percent growth from previous year's figure of Rs 7,505 crore.

Net profit for the year zoomed to Rs 1,500 crore, a growth of 27 percent.

Chairman of the Bangalore-headquartered Navratna Aerospace Company under the defence ministry, Ashok K Baweja, told reporters that it has doubled its turnover in three years from 2004-05 when it crossed the USD one billion mark.

The company had a gross margin of 22.16 percent in the just concluded financial year.

HAL has paid an interim dividend of Rs 300 crore for 2007-08, and also become a zero-debt company.

Wipro to market I-flex`s products in middle east

Bangalore, April 03: I-flex solutions, an it solutions provider to the global financial services industry, on Thursday signed an agreement with Wipro limited to market its products in the middle east.

Under the agreement, it services provider Wipro will also implement and support I-flex's solutions including core banking product suite Flexcube in the region.

Other products include I-flex's analytics offering, an integrated suite of 'reveleus' and 'mantas', that helps financial institutions maximise profitability, minimise risks and deliver enterprise-wide compliance, a joint statement said.

"I-flex has an established presence in the middle east and this partnership will enhance its strategy to penetrate the rapidly expanding market and provide end-to-end systems integration capability in collaboration with Wipro," it said.

I-flex also plans to leverage Wipro's proposed global development Centre in Egypt to equip consultants in the region with expertise to implement and support its products, the statement said.