Posts
PSUs to feed state-run banks
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India-Business/PSUs-to-feed-state-run-banks/articleshow/4273299.cms
17 Mar 2009, 0000 hrs IST, Sanjay Dutta, TNN
NEW DELHI: The government has extended by a year an order asking profitable state-run entities to park their surplus funds with public sector banks to ensure that the financial institutions have enough cash at a reasonable cost which they can lend at the present reduced rate of interest through the economic slowdown. TOI had first reported on June 26 last year that the government had ordered PSUs to park funds, or at least 60% of the corpus, with public banks. It came in the wake of debt waiver and fresh loans for the farm sector were announced.
The banks had said raising cash for such schemes were prohibitive as they had to borrow at a higher cost as well as compete against private banks and offer higher interest rates for securing deposits and accounts from public sector units. The order was issued for a year. But with the economic slowdown continuing, it has been extended to help banks to maintain lower lending rates for all borrowers. With the order in place for another year, PSUs are likely to renew their deposits with the same bank. This will ensure that the cost of funds remains low for banks and provides leeway in reducing lending rates further. For PSUs, however, the extension will mean loss in additional income for another year to entities such as flagship explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, which alone parks some Rs 17,000-18,000 crore in such deposits and wrestled about Rs 400 crore extra interest annually by securing higher rates through bidding. The interest rates offered in bids were about 200 basis points higher than their prevailing market rates. Profitable PSUs such as ONGC, generation utility NTPC, equipment manufacturer BHEL, steelmaker SAIL and other entities together are estimated to have over Rs 100,000 crore surplus cash. They used to keep this in term deposits of a year or more with banks chosen through bidding -- whichever offered higher interest.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Top 10 cos add Rs 20k cr in a week; ONGC most valued PSU
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4266709.cms
15 Mar 2009, 1330 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: The country's 10 most valued firms witnessed an addition of nearly Rs 20,000 crore in their market valuation last week, with ONGC toppling Beware of the 'penny stocks' power producer NTPC as the most valued state-run entity.
State-run oil producer ONGC added Rs 6,951 crore last week to clinch the second place in the elite club, replacing NTPC, which lost Rs 5,483 crore to skid to the third spot.
During the week, shares of ONGC surged five per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange taking its market capitalisation to Rs 1,50,994 crore. While, scrip of NTPC dipped four per cent dragging its valuation down to Rs 1,40,338 crore.
The coveted club of top 10 firms, which comprises four private entities and six public sector companies, gained Rs 19,763 crore during the last week with total valuation of Rs 9,86,966 crore.
In the previous week, the valuation of the club stood at Rs 9,67,202 crore.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries regained its Rs trillion turf in valuation by adding Rs 17,595 crore last week. RIL scrip surged by 10 per cent during the week on BSE, taking its valuation to Rs 2,01,816 crore from Rs 1,84,221 crore in the previous week.
Amid the domestic bourses witnessing some rally last week, only two firms -- NTPC and Bharti Airtel-- among the top 10 most valued firms witnessed a combined erosion of Rs 13,731 crore from their valuation.
Power equipment maker BHEL rose to the sixth spot by adding Rs 3,011 crore, while PSU trading firm MMTC dropped to seventh slot despite adding Rs 300 crore to its market cap.
Private telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, which lost Rs 8,248 crore from its valuation last week, stood at the fourth place. Besides, IT bellwether Infosys Technologies added Rs 4,418 crore to its market cap.
Diversified conglomerate ITC added Rs 226 crore to its valuation while the market cap of two state-run firms, SBI and NMDC, rose by Rs 775 crore and Rs 218 crore, respectively.
Apart from the top 10 most valued firms, two private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank together added Rs 5,809 crore to their valuation last week.
While, ICICI Bank saw its market cap surge by Rs 4,386 crore to Rs 34,366 crore, HDFC Bank added Rs 1,423 crore to Rs 57,210 crore at the end of trade on Friday last week.
RIL, the numero-uno in the list, is followed by ONGC (Rs 1,50,994 crore), NTPC (Rs 1,40,338 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,06,054 crore), Infosys (Rs 74,234 crore), Bhel (Rs 67,265 crore), MMTC (Rs 66,140 crore), ITC (Rs 62,408 crore), SBI (Rs 60,507 crore), NMDC (Rs 57,211crore).
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4266709.cms
15 Mar 2009, 1330 hrs IST, PTI
MUMBAI: The country's 10 most valued firms witnessed an addition of nearly Rs 20,000 crore in their market valuation last week, with ONGC toppling Beware of the 'penny stocks' power producer NTPC as the most valued state-run entity.
State-run oil producer ONGC added Rs 6,951 crore last week to clinch the second place in the elite club, replacing NTPC, which lost Rs 5,483 crore to skid to the third spot.
During the week, shares of ONGC surged five per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange taking its market capitalisation to Rs 1,50,994 crore. While, scrip of NTPC dipped four per cent dragging its valuation down to Rs 1,40,338 crore.
The coveted club of top 10 firms, which comprises four private entities and six public sector companies, gained Rs 19,763 crore during the last week with total valuation of Rs 9,86,966 crore.
In the previous week, the valuation of the club stood at Rs 9,67,202 crore.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries regained its Rs trillion turf in valuation by adding Rs 17,595 crore last week. RIL scrip surged by 10 per cent during the week on BSE, taking its valuation to Rs 2,01,816 crore from Rs 1,84,221 crore in the previous week.
Amid the domestic bourses witnessing some rally last week, only two firms -- NTPC and Bharti Airtel-- among the top 10 most valued firms witnessed a combined erosion of Rs 13,731 crore from their valuation.
Power equipment maker BHEL rose to the sixth spot by adding Rs 3,011 crore, while PSU trading firm MMTC dropped to seventh slot despite adding Rs 300 crore to its market cap.
Private telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, which lost Rs 8,248 crore from its valuation last week, stood at the fourth place. Besides, IT bellwether Infosys Technologies added Rs 4,418 crore to its market cap.
Diversified conglomerate ITC added Rs 226 crore to its valuation while the market cap of two state-run firms, SBI and NMDC, rose by Rs 775 crore and Rs 218 crore, respectively.
Apart from the top 10 most valued firms, two private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank together added Rs 5,809 crore to their valuation last week.
While, ICICI Bank saw its market cap surge by Rs 4,386 crore to Rs 34,366 crore, HDFC Bank added Rs 1,423 crore to Rs 57,210 crore at the end of trade on Friday last week.
RIL, the numero-uno in the list, is followed by ONGC (Rs 1,50,994 crore), NTPC (Rs 1,40,338 crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,06,054 crore), Infosys (Rs 74,234 crore), Bhel (Rs 67,265 crore), MMTC (Rs 66,140 crore), ITC (Rs 62,408 crore), SBI (Rs 60,507 crore), NMDC (Rs 57,211crore).
Swiss Banks Agree to end Secrecy
Swiss Banks Agree to end Secrecy
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4266161.cms
15 Mar 2009, 0520 hrs IST, AGENCIES
GENEVA: Wealthy individuals and companies will no longer be able to hide their riches in Zurich's bank accounts now that Switzerland has bowed to international pressure to end the era of no-questions-asked banking.
Under pressure from the US and other troubled economies, the Swiss government announced on Friday that it would cooperate in international tax investigations, breaking with its long-standing tradition of protecting wealthy foreigners accused of hiding billions of dollars. Austria and Luxembourg also said they would help.
Against the background of the financial crisis, international cooperation has grown stronger, especially against tax crimes, Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz said.
The decision was a hard one for the Swiss, whose renowned discretion has long attracted the wealth of famous foreigners as well as refugees fleeing political or religious persecution.
Swiss banks hold an estimated $2 trillion of foreign money, and financial services account for about 12% of the country's GDP. According to the Boston Consulting Group, those holdings amount to one-fourth of the world's foreign-owned assets.
The famed numbered accounts that do not bear the owner's name will still be available for clients willing to pay for added anonymity. But the government will now be able to demand account holders' identities in cases of suspected wrongdoing, and to share that information with foreign authorities.
Switzerland's move comes ahead of a meeting next month in which world powers will discuss stepping up their fight against tax cheats. The greatest pressure has been on Switzerland, which has been embroiled in a dispute with the US over wealthy Americans who have stashed their money in its biggest bank, UBS AG.
Seeking to avoid being blacklisted as uncooperative tax havens, other countries have also announced plans to open their books to foreign tax inspectors. Austria and Luxembourg said on Friday that they would offer more help on tax investigations. Over the past month, leaders have made similar promises in Singapore,
Liechtenstein, Bermuda, the British islands of Jersey and Guernsey, and tiny Andorra on the border between France and Spain.
The move comes as a fillip to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's attempts to clamp down on tax havens at the G20 meeting.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4266161.cms
15 Mar 2009, 0520 hrs IST, AGENCIES
GENEVA: Wealthy individuals and companies will no longer be able to hide their riches in Zurich's bank accounts now that Switzerland has bowed to international pressure to end the era of no-questions-asked banking.
Under pressure from the US and other troubled economies, the Swiss government announced on Friday that it would cooperate in international tax investigations, breaking with its long-standing tradition of protecting wealthy foreigners accused of hiding billions of dollars. Austria and Luxembourg also said they would help.
Against the background of the financial crisis, international cooperation has grown stronger, especially against tax crimes, Swiss president Hans-Rudolf Merz said.
The decision was a hard one for the Swiss, whose renowned discretion has long attracted the wealth of famous foreigners as well as refugees fleeing political or religious persecution.
Swiss banks hold an estimated $2 trillion of foreign money, and financial services account for about 12% of the country's GDP. According to the Boston Consulting Group, those holdings amount to one-fourth of the world's foreign-owned assets.
The famed numbered accounts that do not bear the owner's name will still be available for clients willing to pay for added anonymity. But the government will now be able to demand account holders' identities in cases of suspected wrongdoing, and to share that information with foreign authorities.
Switzerland's move comes ahead of a meeting next month in which world powers will discuss stepping up their fight against tax cheats. The greatest pressure has been on Switzerland, which has been embroiled in a dispute with the US over wealthy Americans who have stashed their money in its biggest bank, UBS AG.
Seeking to avoid being blacklisted as uncooperative tax havens, other countries have also announced plans to open their books to foreign tax inspectors. Austria and Luxembourg said on Friday that they would offer more help on tax investigations. Over the past month, leaders have made similar promises in Singapore,
Liechtenstein, Bermuda, the British islands of Jersey and Guernsey, and tiny Andorra on the border between France and Spain.
The move comes as a fillip to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's attempts to clamp down on tax havens at the G20 meeting.
Women work in oil rigs too
First Alphabet
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4278196.cms?flstry=1
17 Mar 2009, 2119 hrs IST, Hemamalini Venkatraman & V Balasubramanian, ET Bureau
CHENNAI: Energy companies have started throwing doors open to women in the male-dominated oil and gas industry. Be it rigs (on land or sea),
drilling or exploratory work, women are making their mark in frontline operational and engineering roles.
While Schlumberger — a leading oilfield service MNC with a market cap of $30 billion — takes pride in saying that it has a much better sex ratio than anyone else in this field, companies like Cairn Energy too have started deploying women in such challenging offshore assignments.
In all, Schlumberger has about 100 hardcore women technical staff engaged in various roles like research and tool installation. There are about 30 to 40 women technocrats offshore, who spend 24x7 days on rigs, matching their male counterparts. They work in the sea bases of Mumbai, Rajahmundry and Kakinada and land rigs of Assam, Rajasthan and Gujarat, a Schlumberger field engineer said.
Some have been hired from IIT, where campus records peg an Indian posting at Rs 23 lakh per annum. Senior field engineer Neha Sahdev, who has completed three years with Schlumberger, deems field exposure necessary to move up the career ladder. She also has led a crew, which has motivated her to perform better.
Acceptance levels have gone up and there is enough scope for women in this profession. Usually, it takes about three to four years of field experience, before an engineer graduates to managerial or office base positions, she told ET .
Other companies too are catching up on this front. Cairn Energy, for instance, reckoned among the fastest-growing and low-cost E&P (exploration and production) companies, now has women working onsite on one of India’s biggest oil and gas development (onshore hydrocarbon discovery) projects in Rajasthan in the last two decades.
Take the case of Monica. After completing her engineering from Rajasthan, she decided to plunge into an off-beat career at Cairn. She and 19 others from various districts of the state were recruited under Cairn’s campus hiring programme.
MBM Engineering College, Jodhpur, Jai Narain Vyas University and Mody Institute of Technology and Science are the varsity names, from where such candidates were hired. Some of them are first generation degree holders.
Of Cairn’s 900-plus employee base, women constitute 10.8%, but by end-2009, this percentage is expected to change, its HR and administration director P Senthil Kumar said.
"Cairn India has always managed to create new frontiers, be it in local recruitment or focusing on improving the gender ratio through the recruitment process in a male-dominated industry," he told ET.
Aruna and Tharangini, recruited from local colleges, were the first women lab trainees to join the Cairn’s Ravva chemistry laboratory.
Despite extreme climate with temperature hovering around 50 degree celsius at these remote locations, the job environment is conducive, which is attracting more women. "Not for a moment have I felt out of place in this so-called male dominated field. I have received cooperation from all quarters and things have been as difficult or easy as my other colleagues," says geologist Jayayanti Basu Mallik, who has been with Cairn India since 2006.
Geology has limited career options in India — in research, geological surveys and oil industry, she pointed out.
Says Live Connections CEO Hema Subramaniam, the oil and gas sector has still not evolved as an industry that encourages the entry of women. For example, in the Gulf co-operative council region, the head-hunting firm found that the profile of a woman candidate for an HR function was rejected as the Abu Dhabi-based oil and gas company wanted to hire only a man for this role.
While Live Connections has done over Rs 1.2 crore business in the Gulf region between April 2008 and now, it finds that hiring women by this sector is still nascent.
Even ONGC is male terrain. Though women constitute around 5% of its 32,000 plus workforce, they are mostly engaged in non-technical disciplines. "It is men mechanical engineers, who become drilling engineers," said an ONGC official.
Women mechanical engineers are deployed in workshops and other establishments. ONGC refrains from deputing women staff offshore because of dormitory lodging arrangements. "However, a group gathering station (Navagam, Gujarat) — a collecting point for crude oil from many wells — is headed by a lady," he said.
Ms Namita Godharam, who joined Cairn in September 2007 in electrical department (operations), says her career choice has inspired many of her batchmates to consider this path.
To give the work-life balance, companies like Cairn India ensure that the employees onsite get the best of facilities be it in living quarters as well. The onsite employees are supported well, Mr Kumar said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4278196.cms?flstry=1
17 Mar 2009, 2119 hrs IST, Hemamalini Venkatraman & V Balasubramanian, ET Bureau
CHENNAI: Energy companies have started throwing doors open to women in the male-dominated oil and gas industry. Be it rigs (on land or sea),
drilling or exploratory work, women are making their mark in frontline operational and engineering roles.
While Schlumberger — a leading oilfield service MNC with a market cap of $30 billion — takes pride in saying that it has a much better sex ratio than anyone else in this field, companies like Cairn Energy too have started deploying women in such challenging offshore assignments.
In all, Schlumberger has about 100 hardcore women technical staff engaged in various roles like research and tool installation. There are about 30 to 40 women technocrats offshore, who spend 24x7 days on rigs, matching their male counterparts. They work in the sea bases of Mumbai, Rajahmundry and Kakinada and land rigs of Assam, Rajasthan and Gujarat, a Schlumberger field engineer said.
Some have been hired from IIT, where campus records peg an Indian posting at Rs 23 lakh per annum. Senior field engineer Neha Sahdev, who has completed three years with Schlumberger, deems field exposure necessary to move up the career ladder. She also has led a crew, which has motivated her to perform better.
Acceptance levels have gone up and there is enough scope for women in this profession. Usually, it takes about three to four years of field experience, before an engineer graduates to managerial or office base positions, she told ET .
Other companies too are catching up on this front. Cairn Energy, for instance, reckoned among the fastest-growing and low-cost E&P (exploration and production) companies, now has women working onsite on one of India’s biggest oil and gas development (onshore hydrocarbon discovery) projects in Rajasthan in the last two decades.
Take the case of Monica. After completing her engineering from Rajasthan, she decided to plunge into an off-beat career at Cairn. She and 19 others from various districts of the state were recruited under Cairn’s campus hiring programme.
MBM Engineering College, Jodhpur, Jai Narain Vyas University and Mody Institute of Technology and Science are the varsity names, from where such candidates were hired. Some of them are first generation degree holders.
Of Cairn’s 900-plus employee base, women constitute 10.8%, but by end-2009, this percentage is expected to change, its HR and administration director P Senthil Kumar said.
"Cairn India has always managed to create new frontiers, be it in local recruitment or focusing on improving the gender ratio through the recruitment process in a male-dominated industry," he told ET.
Aruna and Tharangini, recruited from local colleges, were the first women lab trainees to join the Cairn’s Ravva chemistry laboratory.
Despite extreme climate with temperature hovering around 50 degree celsius at these remote locations, the job environment is conducive, which is attracting more women. "Not for a moment have I felt out of place in this so-called male dominated field. I have received cooperation from all quarters and things have been as difficult or easy as my other colleagues," says geologist Jayayanti Basu Mallik, who has been with Cairn India since 2006.
Geology has limited career options in India — in research, geological surveys and oil industry, she pointed out.
Says Live Connections CEO Hema Subramaniam, the oil and gas sector has still not evolved as an industry that encourages the entry of women. For example, in the Gulf co-operative council region, the head-hunting firm found that the profile of a woman candidate for an HR function was rejected as the Abu Dhabi-based oil and gas company wanted to hire only a man for this role.
While Live Connections has done over Rs 1.2 crore business in the Gulf region between April 2008 and now, it finds that hiring women by this sector is still nascent.
Even ONGC is male terrain. Though women constitute around 5% of its 32,000 plus workforce, they are mostly engaged in non-technical disciplines. "It is men mechanical engineers, who become drilling engineers," said an ONGC official.
Women mechanical engineers are deployed in workshops and other establishments. ONGC refrains from deputing women staff offshore because of dormitory lodging arrangements. "However, a group gathering station (Navagam, Gujarat) — a collecting point for crude oil from many wells — is headed by a lady," he said.
Ms Namita Godharam, who joined Cairn in September 2007 in electrical department (operations), says her career choice has inspired many of her batchmates to consider this path.
To give the work-life balance, companies like Cairn India ensure that the employees onsite get the best of facilities be it in living quarters as well. The onsite employees are supported well, Mr Kumar said.
Kingfisher is top defaulter on fuel dues
Vijay Mallya Parties. We wondered where he is getting money to buy back Gandhi's Belongings and Frolicking with Miss Indias at GOA in new year. We have wondered how PSUs are USED as tools to SERVE Political Masters. We have always wondered how (pls someone tell me the exact %) 5% of people in INDIA hold on to 90% of wealth of this Country and why POOR remain Poor.. Well here is just one News item. Remember that Kingfisher owner is Rajya Sabha member and these people are powerful enough to make Govt Order PSUs to give what they want.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/04/03002000/Kingfisher-is-top-defaulter-on.html
Kingfisher Airlines owed around Rs1,000 crore to IOC, BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd as of February
Tarun Shukla, Utpal Bhaskar and P.R. Sanjai
New Delhi / Mumbai: On Tuesday, the last day of the fiscal year gone by and the deadline for closing out dues to state-run oil firms who supply it jet fuel, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, India’s largest carrier by passengers flown, missed making good the payments, ending fiscal 2009 with around Rs1,000 crore in arrears.
Airlines such as National Aviation Co. of India Ltd-run Air India and Jet Airways (India) Ltd, too, have missed some payments due to oil firms, but have dues much less than their bigger rival, said two executives at Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC).
“There are some delays and defaults by different airlines. They have agreed to pay in April on different dates. While some have paid, Kingfisher did not pay us anything after their last payment. They have written to us recently asking us for an extension till 10 April,” said a senior IOC executive, who asked not to be identified.
Separately, Kingfisher Airlines also missed paying Airports Authority of India (AAI) dues of at least Rs150 crore over use of the airports run by the regulator, a senior government official said. The airline was to make this payment to bring its dues with limits of its bank guarantees furnished to AAI.
As the consequence of missing the deadline for oil dues, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) has stopped selling jet fuel to Kingfisher Airlines on credit and instead moved to a so-called cash and carry arrangement, joining IOC in adopting a no-credit stance with the carrier, chaired and run by flamboyant millionaire Vijay Mallya.
The 31 March cut-off date was the sixth and last in a series of deadlines set out on 22 October, when the Union government allowed the country’s three largest carriers—Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines—to pay dues amounting to Rs2,962 crore over a period of six months to oil marketing firms.
The dues had accumulated and piled up, mostly in the first three quarters of 2008, as jet fuel prices scaled record highs through the year and peaked in August.
The staggered payment option was extended to the airlines, who had reported losses of a cumulative Rs2,888.13 crore in fiscal 2008. The deal, put together in the presence of oil minister Murli Deora and aviation minister Praful Patel, included fortnightly reviews of jet fuel prices instead of a monthly revision earlier, and offering a credit period of up to three months to help keep the airlines afloat.
But as the fiscal year came to an end, Kingfisher Airlines had not met its commitment, said a second IOC executive, who too asked not to be identified, even as Air India and Jet Airways had paid most of their dues by 31 March. It was not immediately clear how much these two carriers owed the firms.
Kingfisher Airlines owed around Rs1,000 crore to IOC, BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd as of February and there was no change, this executive added. Air India and Jet Airways have not paid interest on payments due, he added.
IOC, the country’s largest oil marketing firm, withdrew its credit facility to Kingfisher Airlines earlier this year, IOC chairman Sarthak Behuria had said in a 13 February interview. “I can only say that what you owe to me, you have to pay. If you don’t pay, you will be on (a) cash and carry basis,” he had said then.
Kingfisher Airlines, which has said it plans to raise $400 million (Rs2,012 crore), is now in talks with banks such as State Bank of India to raise up to Rs3,000 crore loans, said an executive with UB Group, of which the carrier is a part of, on condition of anonymity.
The deal, which is in the final stage of being signed, according to this executive, will help the airline meet its expenses and also help it pay its dues. Kingfisher is also trying to shore up funds from other private banks, he added.
Mallya on Thursday, when asked if his airline was in default of dues to oil firms, did not answer the specific question, instead telling reporters in Mumbai that all his aircraft were flying. Details of loans cannot be made public yet, he added. Kingfisher Airlines operates 400 daily flights with a fleet of 75 planes.
A spokesman for Kingfisher said the airline “does not wish to discuss or comment upon supplier relationships or banking arrangements” in response to emailed questions on dues.
Meanwhile, payment of interest on the dues continues to be a contentious issues between the airlines and the oil firms. The carriers say the issue was not discussed at the 22 October meeting with Deora, Patel, senior officials at both the oil and aviation ministries, and executives of the oil marketing firms, as also Mallya, Jet Airways executive director Saroj Dutta and Air India chairman and managing director Raghu Menon, in New Delhi.
Oil firms argue that is is understood that interest has to be paid on deferred payments.
On Thursday, senior officials at the aviation and oil ministries said they were not willing to intervene any more.
“It is for the oil marketing companies (OMCs) and the airlines to decide the issue. These are business decisions between them. The government had intervened when there were bad times for the airline industry. The time is different now,” said a top oil ministry official, who requested anonymity. “We have not been asked for any intervention in the matter by the OMCs.”
A senior civil aviation minister official, who asked not to be named, said it was a commercial issue that has to be dealt between two business entities.
Shares of Kingfisher Airlines rose 0.73% on the Bombay Stock Exchange to Rs34.55 each on a day the bourse’s benchmark index, the Sensex, surged 4.5%.
tarun.s@livemint.com
My dear Mr Vijay Mallya.. why do you not use your own funds on your Airlines instead of spending them on your women and drinks. Do please spare Public Money.
http://www.livemint.com/2009/04/03002000/Kingfisher-is-top-defaulter-on.html
Kingfisher Airlines owed around Rs1,000 crore to IOC, BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd as of February
Tarun Shukla, Utpal Bhaskar and P.R. Sanjai
New Delhi / Mumbai: On Tuesday, the last day of the fiscal year gone by and the deadline for closing out dues to state-run oil firms who supply it jet fuel, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, India’s largest carrier by passengers flown, missed making good the payments, ending fiscal 2009 with around Rs1,000 crore in arrears.
Airlines such as National Aviation Co. of India Ltd-run Air India and Jet Airways (India) Ltd, too, have missed some payments due to oil firms, but have dues much less than their bigger rival, said two executives at Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC).
“There are some delays and defaults by different airlines. They have agreed to pay in April on different dates. While some have paid, Kingfisher did not pay us anything after their last payment. They have written to us recently asking us for an extension till 10 April,” said a senior IOC executive, who asked not to be identified.
Separately, Kingfisher Airlines also missed paying Airports Authority of India (AAI) dues of at least Rs150 crore over use of the airports run by the regulator, a senior government official said. The airline was to make this payment to bring its dues with limits of its bank guarantees furnished to AAI.
As the consequence of missing the deadline for oil dues, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) has stopped selling jet fuel to Kingfisher Airlines on credit and instead moved to a so-called cash and carry arrangement, joining IOC in adopting a no-credit stance with the carrier, chaired and run by flamboyant millionaire Vijay Mallya.
The 31 March cut-off date was the sixth and last in a series of deadlines set out on 22 October, when the Union government allowed the country’s three largest carriers—Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines—to pay dues amounting to Rs2,962 crore over a period of six months to oil marketing firms.
The dues had accumulated and piled up, mostly in the first three quarters of 2008, as jet fuel prices scaled record highs through the year and peaked in August.
The staggered payment option was extended to the airlines, who had reported losses of a cumulative Rs2,888.13 crore in fiscal 2008. The deal, put together in the presence of oil minister Murli Deora and aviation minister Praful Patel, included fortnightly reviews of jet fuel prices instead of a monthly revision earlier, and offering a credit period of up to three months to help keep the airlines afloat.
But as the fiscal year came to an end, Kingfisher Airlines had not met its commitment, said a second IOC executive, who too asked not to be identified, even as Air India and Jet Airways had paid most of their dues by 31 March. It was not immediately clear how much these two carriers owed the firms.
Kingfisher Airlines owed around Rs1,000 crore to IOC, BPCL and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd as of February and there was no change, this executive added. Air India and Jet Airways have not paid interest on payments due, he added.
IOC, the country’s largest oil marketing firm, withdrew its credit facility to Kingfisher Airlines earlier this year, IOC chairman Sarthak Behuria had said in a 13 February interview. “I can only say that what you owe to me, you have to pay. If you don’t pay, you will be on (a) cash and carry basis,” he had said then.
Kingfisher Airlines, which has said it plans to raise $400 million (Rs2,012 crore), is now in talks with banks such as State Bank of India to raise up to Rs3,000 crore loans, said an executive with UB Group, of which the carrier is a part of, on condition of anonymity.
The deal, which is in the final stage of being signed, according to this executive, will help the airline meet its expenses and also help it pay its dues. Kingfisher is also trying to shore up funds from other private banks, he added.
Mallya on Thursday, when asked if his airline was in default of dues to oil firms, did not answer the specific question, instead telling reporters in Mumbai that all his aircraft were flying. Details of loans cannot be made public yet, he added. Kingfisher Airlines operates 400 daily flights with a fleet of 75 planes.
A spokesman for Kingfisher said the airline “does not wish to discuss or comment upon supplier relationships or banking arrangements” in response to emailed questions on dues.
Meanwhile, payment of interest on the dues continues to be a contentious issues between the airlines and the oil firms. The carriers say the issue was not discussed at the 22 October meeting with Deora, Patel, senior officials at both the oil and aviation ministries, and executives of the oil marketing firms, as also Mallya, Jet Airways executive director Saroj Dutta and Air India chairman and managing director Raghu Menon, in New Delhi.
Oil firms argue that is is understood that interest has to be paid on deferred payments.
On Thursday, senior officials at the aviation and oil ministries said they were not willing to intervene any more.
“It is for the oil marketing companies (OMCs) and the airlines to decide the issue. These are business decisions between them. The government had intervened when there were bad times for the airline industry. The time is different now,” said a top oil ministry official, who requested anonymity. “We have not been asked for any intervention in the matter by the OMCs.”
A senior civil aviation minister official, who asked not to be named, said it was a commercial issue that has to be dealt between two business entities.
Shares of Kingfisher Airlines rose 0.73% on the Bombay Stock Exchange to Rs34.55 each on a day the bourse’s benchmark index, the Sensex, surged 4.5%.
tarun.s@livemint.com
My dear Mr Vijay Mallya.. why do you not use your own funds on your Airlines instead of spending them on your women and drinks. Do please spare Public Money.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Nothing we got from CONGRESS
Nothing we got from Congress Govt.. and its Prime Minister and GOM and etc !!!!
The salary revision order is out finally.. Strike was killed.. PSU officers are Killed.. All the media bullshitting on Bonanza is false! Check the DPE orders on the IOOA Blog page. And see for yourself..
Friends in Colleges DO NOT JOIN PUBLIC SECTOR.. !! Except for Job Security there is NOTHING ELSE.. NO HIGH PAY NO HIGH MOTIVATION.
Govt will own you, bureaucrats will own you.. You will be nothing!!!
The salary revision order is out finally.. Strike was killed.. PSU officers are Killed.. All the media bullshitting on Bonanza is false! Check the DPE orders on the IOOA Blog page. And see for yourself..
Friends in Colleges DO NOT JOIN PUBLIC SECTOR.. !! Except for Job Security there is NOTHING ELSE.. NO HIGH PAY NO HIGH MOTIVATION.
Govt will own you, bureaucrats will own you.. You will be nothing!!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Elections 2009 No More Criminals
Criminals in Politics? Come let us all Ensure "No More"
From: Krishnaraj Rao <thebravepedestrian@gmail.com>
Date: Mar 16, 2009 5:03 AM
Subject: Use this MP3 file to Scorn Criminals Fighting Elections
Let us oppose criminal candidates fielded by any party. Let us condemn them by every means possible, and make them feel worthless. Let us actively arouse public opinion against them.
To spread strong vibes against Netas who deserve to be behind bars rather than in Parliament, my friends and I have created this remix-medley in Hindi. Download this song from: http://www.box.net/shared/7gvq2fclzs
This medley also takes a dig at citizens who shirk social responsibility.
If you like it, please circulate widely. Feedback is welcome.
Warmly,
Krish
98215 88114
From: Krishnaraj Rao <thebravepedestrian@gmail.com>
Date: Mar 16, 2009 5:03 AM
Subject: Use this MP3 file to Scorn Criminals Fighting Elections
Let us oppose criminal candidates fielded by any party. Let us condemn them by every means possible, and make them feel worthless. Let us actively arouse public opinion against them.
To spread strong vibes against Netas who deserve to be behind bars rather than in Parliament, my friends and I have created this remix-medley in Hindi. Download this song from: http://www.box.net/shared/7gvq2fclzs
This medley also takes a dig at citizens who shirk social responsibility.
If you like it, please circulate widely. Feedback is welcome.
Warmly,
Krish
98215 88114
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