Hindustan Motors to report to BIFR

NEW DELHI: Hindustan Motors, the CK Birla group-owned maker of the Ambassador , said on Monday that the company will shortly report to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction as its net worth has eroded by 50% from the peak in the preceding four years.

Hindustan Motors chairman CK Birla told ET that the financial performance of the company will not affect the production of the Ambassador.

“Our net worth has been eroded by 50% and we now have to report to BIFR. There is a significant difference between this and becoming a BIFR case,” Birla said. “We have no plans of phasing out the Ambassador . In fact, demand has been good and we have lined up a lot of plans for the company ,” he added. BIFR is a government agency that helps to expedite either the revival or the closure of sick industrial companies.

Accumulated losses at the end of 31 March 2010 has resulted in an erosion of more than 50% of the company’s net worth from the peak during the preceding four years, the company said in a communication to the National Stock Exchange. This makes it mandatory for the company to report to BIFR as such cases are considered to be “potentially sick” under the norms. The board has also accepted the resignation of managing director Ravi Santhanam .

Hindustan Motors has been losing marketshare in the last two decades, first to state-owned Maruti and then to a slew of foreign manufacturers that brought unprecedented diversity, choice and affordability to car owners following the economic reforms of the early 1990s.

Govt to introduce bill to regulate unique ID project

BANGALORE | NEW DELHI: India plans to introduce a law for regulating the ambitious programme of giving unique identity numbers to nearly 1.2 billion citizens, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Nandan Nilekani confirmed to ET last week. “It’s happening. The UIDAI would be proposing a UIDAI Act to provide for statutory powers and responsibilities to the authority. This Act would address the issues of privacy and data security of the UIDAI database,” Mr Nilekani said.

In fact, the authority was formed last year with a road map to be established by an act of Parliament. The proposed law will authorise the UID to collect identity information, such as name, gender, date of birth, parents’ name, address and finger prints, from people voluntarily seeking a unique identity number.

Mr Nilekani added that the draft proposed UIDAI Bill will be submitted to the ministry of law shortly. Preparations are already underway to prepare a draft legislation and submit it to the concerned as per extant procedures, another UID official added. Constitutional experts like Subhash C Kashyap, former secretary general of the lower house of the Indian Parliament, say a legal act will help the UID authority strengthen its case.

“Planning Commission is in itself not a constitutional body. Getting a sanction of the law for such a body like UID will strengthen its case. To exercise abundant caution in their functions, such bodies often seek legislative approval,” he said. The government has already allotted Rs 1,900 crore to the authority this year. And the finance commission plans to spend another Rs 3,000 crore to give Rs 100 as an incentive to every ‘below-poverty-line’ citizen as a motivation to get enrolled.

Over the past few weeks, several civil right activists and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) have been protesting against the identity project for lack of proper legislation and concerns of privacy. “Passing a law won’t be easy for the government. We are definitely going to oppose it,” said Sanjay Parikh, advocate for human rights at the Supreme Court. Others like People’s Union for Civil Liberties say mammoth citizen data residing in a single database is what worries them. “The authority will have lots of data regarding a citizen that can be misused by vested interests,” said Pushkar Raj, general secretary of the organisation.

Meanwhile, activists also want the government to take a sympathetic view towards thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries, such as Bangladesh, while running the identity programme. “The government should take a sympathetic view towards them and consider them as citizens. They should be allotted UID numbers,” said Rajinder Sachar, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and a human rights activist. Mr Sachar is the author of controversial report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India.

ET

Sensex in positive; auto, healthcare stocks up

MUMBAI: The Indian stock markets opened in the positive Tuesday, tracking a rebound in other Asian markets.

The Sensex opened at 17,371.75 against the previous close of 17,386.08. The BSE sensitive index traded at 17,444.69, up 58.61 points or 0.34 per cent. The 30-share index touched a high of 17,464.82.

Nifty was ruling at 5233.15, gaining 10.4 points or 0.20 per cent. The NSE benchmark opened the session at 5223.90 against Monday’s close of 5222.75. In the early minutes of trade, the 50-share moved between 5250.15 and 5221.65.

Auto and healthcare stocks took the lead among the sectors while consumer goods, which were much in demand in the earlier session, slowed down.

“In line with mixed global markets today, our market may see flat opening and may move in a range bound mode. Nifty has strong support around 5180 levels. If it sustains below these levels, then we may see selling pressure till 5150-5120 levels. On the upside, if Nifty sustains above 5250 levels, only then can we see an upmove till 5280-5300 levels,” brokerage Anand Rathi said in its daily report.
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The brokerage added that reversal of the short term positive trend can be seen below 5150-5100 levels. If Nifty closes below 5150 levels, then selling could intensify and liquidating leverage and excessive positions would be advised.

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ET

Tata Housing to launch 10 new residential projects

NEW DELHI: Tata Housing today said it is planning to launch about 10 new residential projects in both affordable and luxury segments in 2010-11, with an investment of about Rs 1,200 crore along with its partners.

"We will acquire about 10 million sq ft of land in this fiscal, in which we will launch the new projects. While some projects will be developed with our joint venture partners, some will be standalone projects," Tata Housing Development Company Managing Director and CEO Brotin Banerjee told PTI.

The company will roll out the projects in different cities, like Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bangalore, he added.

Tata Housing develops residential properties of four different economic categories - ultra luxury (Rs 3-7 crore), premium (Rs 80 lakh-Rs 2.5 crore), affordable (Rs 15-50 lakh) and value homes (sub Rs 10 lakh).

"We usually tie up with some small local partners, who have the land. The investment is also shared accordingly. To develop these 10 million sq ft, we will require about Rs 1,200 crore," Banarjee said.

When asked about the source of funding, he said it will be a mix of internal accruals, debt and sales revenue.

At present, the company is building about 10,000 housing units comprising 18-20 million sq ft across the country.

Banerjee said most of the projects are being developed in partnership and about Rs 2,000 crore is being invested for completion of the projects by 2011.

Last week, the company had announced to develop a super luxury hosing project 'Prive' at Lonavala, near Mumbai, offering apartments in a price range of Rs 3-7 crore.

On the other hand, in 2009, the company had launched a 1,300-unit low-cost housing project, which offered a room and a kitchen, at Rs 3.9 lakh under 'Shubh Griha' brand at Boisar around 100 km from Mumbai. It plans to take this brand across the country.

ET