17 may 2003

bajaj allianz opens second office in j&k
mumbai: bajaj allianz general insurance company ltd has opened its second office in jammu & kashmir, in association with the jammu & kashmir bank, located at the latter's corporate head quarters. since the time the bank tied up with the insurance company for bancassurance, the business generated has increased to more than rs 5 crore involving a sale of over 17,000 policies. with the setting up of this branch , the bank expects to generate over rs 10 crore in the current year, said a press release quoting m.y. khan, chairman, j&k bank. bajaj allianz is the first private general insurance company to have offices in the state at jammu and srinagar. the two branches would be networked with the head office and thus would be able to issue policies on-line and other web-enabled operations, said the release quoting sam ghosh, ceo, bajaj allianz general insurance company.

om kotak to focus new policy only in 6 cities
kolkata: om kotak mahindra life insurance company ltd will focus its recently launched policy, kotak safe investment plan (ksip), only in six major cities. the managing director of om kotak life insurance, shivaji dam, announced this at a press conference after launching the product here. he said the product is designed in such a manner that it meets the demands of an urban resident rather than a rural individual. ksip is a market-linked insurance plan that offers to invest in capital market and gain market-linked returns. however, it offers safety against the fluctuations of an equity market. the premiums paid by a policyholder is converted into units and invested in any one or a combination of four managed funds.

nbfcs seek powers under securitisation act
new delhi: it is now the turn of non-banking financial companies (nbfcs) to knock at the doors of officialdom for greater empowerment. after co-operative banks got themselves listed under the securitisation act, the nbfc sector has recently moved the ministry of finance seeking powers under the legislation to enable them to wield the stick against defaulters. the securitisation act provides enormous powers to the lenders to recover non-performing assets (npas) from chronic defaulters allowing them to seize and auction the assets of borrowers unwilling to come for settlement or to change the management of the defaulting companies.

nmc unveils tax-free bonds to execute drainage projects
mumbai: the nashik municipal corporation (nmc) is mobilising rs 50 crore through aa rated tax-free bond issue at 7.5 per cent coupon rate payable half yearly which effectively translates to a 11.75 per cent pre tax returns. nmc proposes to use proceeds for carrying out infrastructure projects including storm water drainage system phase-i and underground sewerage scheme phase-ii for the nashik city. the centrum finance is the sole arranger for this bond issue. banking sources said on friday that so far rs 20 crore have already been mobilised from banks and insurance companies. nmc is the first of the total 13 municipal corporations in the state to have taken the cue from the centre's tax free status being given to municipal bonds.

s&p may downgrade more debt ratings
new delhi: standard & poor's (s&p) has warned of further downgrading of debt ratings in the high technology, insurance, media/entertainment, consumer products and retailing sectors. however, s&p's rating services said on thursday, in absolute terms the number of "fallen angels" may be lower than the record high reached in 2002. the number of "fallen angels" or debt issuers downgraded to speculative ('bb+' and below) from investment grade ('bbb-' and above) has increased each year since 1996, peaking in 2002 amid widespread credit deterioration, combined with anxiety about corporate scandal and accounting impropriety. s&p's pointed out that while the cumulative number of fallen angels recorded year to date indicates that 2003 is approximately running apace with last year, the par value affected by these downgrades has shrunk sizably.

rural co-op banks may get adb recap
kolkata: some of the rural co-operative banks may get recapitalised by the asian development bank (adb). this was indicated by y.c. nanda, chairman of the national bank for agriculture and rural development (nabard), here. nanda said that discussions were on with adb on the issue of fund flow to the indian rural co-operative banking sector. he said some of the rural co-operative banks were under-capitalised and needed to be recapitalised for their survival. the nabard chairman clarified that the apex refinancing bank for the rural credit did not need any recapitalisation. currently, it has a paid-up capital of rs 2,000 crore and an authorised capital of rs 5,000 crore.

federal bank posts rs 105-cr net
kochi: the net profit of the aluva-based federal bank has crossed the rs 100 crore mark in the last fiscal to touch rs 105 crore, recording a growth of 28 per cent. the bank, which has been in a high growth trajectory over the past few years, has crossed several important landmarks during the year, k.p. padmakumar, chairman of the bank said at a press meet here on friday. "we have reached several important yardstick of good financial performance and are in a position to aim for still more aggressive and ambitious growth in the years ahead," he added. the bank's focus on reduction of npa level has yielded good results with its gross npa levels falling from rs 638 crore to rs 528 crore. the net npa levels declined from rs 445 crore to rs 307 crore thus taking it to 4.95 per cent from 8.60 per cent in the previous fiscal. "our aim is to bring down the npa level to 3 per cent next year," he said.

ing vysya net up 26 per cent; to pay 40 pc
mumbai: ing vysya bank has logged a net profit of rs 86.35 crore for the financial year 2002-03, up from rs 68.75 crore last year, a growth of 26 per cent. the board has recommended a dividend of 40 per cent for the year ended march 2003 (results in a payout of rs 4.51 per share including the dividend tax), as against 35 per cent in the previous year. according to a press release, the bank's interest spread went up to rs 216.93 crore, up from rs.182.91 crore last year. for the same period, non-interest income rose from rs 280.59 crore to rs 358.33 crore, an increase of 28 per cent.

cashtech implements cashin for andhra bank
coimbatore: cashtech solutions india pvt. ltd has implemented its cash management product - cashin for andhra bank. according to company sources, this product would enable andhra bank provide its corporate clients with a host of value-added cash management services by ensuring speedy and efficient collection of their receivables from all over the country. the founder director of cashtech, r.n. iyer, said: "besides reducing paper work, the product would help the bank in having greater control over the money."

sbi to bundle mfs with insurance
kolkata: the state bank of india group is finally bundling its mutual funds with insurance, courtesy a proposal mooted by sbi funds management, which has as its usp a cover structured by sbi life insurance. the proposal, magnum income plus, will provide group life insurance for all investors between 20 and 54 years of age, nris included. the sum assured in each case will be the amount of investment, subject to a maximum of rs 2 lakh. the proposal has been recently sent to sebi for clearance, said n. sethuram iyer, chief investment officer at sbi mutual fund. the insurance cover should help the fund attract investors in larger numbers, he added.

16 may 2003

lvb to up tier-ii capital by rs 50 cr
chennai: karur-based the lakshmi vilas bank ltd (lvb) is planning to raise its tier- ii capital by adding another rs 50 crore. the bank is currently in talks with various merchant bankers for arranging the issue. the issue is slated to open sometime in june.

the bank has posted a net profit of rs 34.16 crore during the year-ended march 2003, as against the previous year's performance of rs 30.22 crore. total income was rs 355.21 crore (rs 357.47 crore). business volume of the bank has gone up to rs 4,610 crore. deposits rose to rs 2,770 crore while advances increased to rs 1,841 crore. the bank is targeting a business volume of rs 5,200 crore during the current fiscal. deposits should be rs 3,150 crore while advances should be rs 2,100 crore."

syndicate bank net up 37 per cent, to pay 15 per cent dividend
bangalore: manipal-headquartered syndicate bank has posted a net profit of rs 344.13 crore in fy03 registering a growth of 37.35 per cent as against rs 250.55 crore in fy02. the operating profit of the bank has shown an increase of 74.19 per cent to touch rs 618.79 crore as against rs 355.24 crore in the previous period. the bank has declared a dividend of 15 per cent for fy03.

addressing a press conference here, syndicate bank chairman michael bastian said the bank is targeting a 20 per cent growth in business in the current fiscal. mr bastian also said that the bank has got the permission to raise rs 100 crore tier-ii capital and it plans to pay back rs 100 crore to the government by bringing down the government stake in the bank to around 65 per cent. the pay-back is likely to take place in june.

oriental bank revises interest rates, margins on ssi advances
hyderabad: intended at giving a filling to small-scale industrial (ssi) units, oriental bank of commerce, the new delhi-based premier public sector bank, has announced revision in interest rates and margins on advances to ssi sector. in a press release here, the bank said the ssi accounts with credit limits above rs 2 lakh and up to rs 25 lakh would now be charged plr rate of 11 per cent only as against the earlier rate of plr plus two per cent. according to the bank, the interest rate for ssi borrower with credit limits of above rs 25 lakh and up to rs 50 lakh was also brought down by 50 basis points to 13 per cent from 13.5 per cent.

andhra bank cuts deposit rates
hyderabad: andhra bank has announced a 50 basis points reduction across the board in the interest paid on domestic and nre term deposits. the new rates would come into effect from may 19. while the rate on domestic term deposits of 15 days to 45 days has now come down to 3.75 per cent from 4.25 per cent, the rates have been pruned down on deposits of 46 days to 179 days at 4.75 per cent (5.25 per cent), 180 days to 364 days at 5.25 per cent (5.75 per cent), one year to less than three years at 5.75 per cent (6.25 per cent) and for deposits of three years and above at six per cent (6.5 per cent).

`aaa' rating for tata sons' rs 75-cr ncd issue
mumbai: crisil has assigned `aaa' rating to tata sons ltd's rs 75-crore non-convertible debenture issue. the ratings continue to reflect tata sons' leading business position in the indian software industry as well as its significant financial flexibility arising from its status as the principal holding company of the large and diversified tata group. crisil has also reaffirmed the existing ratings of its rs 1,750-crore worth non-convertible debenture issues, fixed deposit programme and rs 150-crore commercial paper programme.

15 may 2003

peerless general gets rbi stamp
kolkata: the reserve bank of india (rbi) has granted a registration certificate to peerless general finance & investment co ltd, the country's largest residuary non-banking company (rnbc). peerless thus becomes one of the few deposit-taking non-banking companies to have passed the stringent norms set by the rbi way back in 1996 with a 2003 deadline. "we have net-owned funds (nof) in excess of rs 200 crore," peerless' chairman dn ghosh said on tuesday at the launch of a new product. he said peerless had not only met the rbi's nof target of rs 25 lakh long ago, but now it has fulfiled the promises it had made in its 1997 plan.

lic eastern zone tops national charts
kolkata: eastern india continues to be a goldmine for life insurance corporation (lic), with its zonal office here topping the national charts in number of policies sold, sum assured and first premium income (fpi). lic zonal manager, east, mr rk misra, said his zone accounted for a total sum assured of rs 37,247 crore for the year to march 31, 2003, against rs 38,667 crore the previous year. the number of policies sold added up to 62,47,000, with a record 17,75,000 being sold in march alone.

lic plans lower-rate credit card
kolkata: lic is negotiating an interest rate of 12 per cent per annum for a co-branded credit card it plans to offer to select policy-holders. currently, lic is in talks with credit card associations. current card interest rates range from 34 to 44 per cent per annum. credit card issuers highlight their "low" rates of 2.95 per cent, without specifying that these are monthly figures compounded into annual rates.

moody's retains negative view of american insurance sector
new delhi: eight months after it lowered the outlook for the us insurance industry from "stable" to "negative", moody's investors service has maintained the outlook at the same level. it has cited negative trends such as a weak economy, down equity markets and significant credit losses in insurers' fixed income portfolios. the rating agency said in new york on tuesday that the persistence of these negative credit trends will put increased strain on the industry's earnings and capital formation until at least sometime in 2004.

icici lombard to cover medicinal plant cultivation
hyderabad: in a bid to cover the risks involved in the booming medicinal plants cultivation, icici lombard general insurance company ltd (icici lombard) has come out with a policy offering 'planting material input policy' covering losses due to various natural and pest attacks. "we find the export potential for the medicinal plants the world over accordingly we want to encourage the farmers by offering risk cover," kartik jain, head, marketing and retail, icici lombard told the media here on wednesday. initially, the company offers the policy for the farmers cultivating 'safed musli' (chlorophytum biovirilianum), which is a basic ingredient in preparation of chyavanprash. gradually, it proposes to extend a similar policy to all other medicinal plants identified by the medicinal plants board, jain said. further to monitor the farming activity, icici lombard has entered into an alliance with hyderabad-based nandan agro farms, which is engaged as consulting agency for the farmers in medicinal plan cultivation.

oriental bank credit card this month
bhubaneswar: the oriental bank of commerce is all set to enter the market with its credit card this month. "in the next few weeks, the bank's credit cards would be in the market," executive director vk chopra said. though the date is not yet finalised, it would be within the next 15 to 20 days, he said. the board of directors would take a decision on this in its meeting on monday. once the board approves, the card business would be launched all over the country. the bank has a tie up with master card for the card business.

corpn bank 2002-03 net rises 35 per cent to rs 416 crore
mumbai: corporation bank has recorded a growth of 35 per cent in its net profit at rs 415.99 crore for 2002-03 as compared to rs 308.10 crore in the previous fiscal with a handsome growth in income from treasury operations and fee-based activities. total income for 2002-03 grew by 13.20 per cent to rs 2,634.26 crore (rs 2,327.63 crore) and total interest income increased by 8.1 per cent to rs 2,102.52 crore. for the fourth quarter of 2002-03, the net profit posted a marginal rise at rs 47.28 crore compared to rs 45.39 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. total income for the quarter rose to rs 656.94 crore (rs 583.45 crore), the bank's chairman and managing director k cherian varghese, said on wednesday. the board has recommended a dividend of 45 per cent as against 40 per cent for the year 2001-02. the bank will continue its emphasis on low-cost retail deposits, varghese said adding that the cost of deposits of the bank has come down to 6.7 per cent from 7.6 per cent.

co-op bank victims appeal to ap governor
hyderabad: the victims of crisis-ridden co-operative banks in the state on wednesday appealed to surjit singh barnala, the governor, to see to it that their interests were protected. c.c. reddy, the founder-trustee of visu trust, met the governor on behalf of the victims and appraised him about the situation. visu trust is representing the victims and agreed to bear the expenses to fight a legal battle.

idbi bank sees assets on books growing 148 pc
bangalore: idbi bank ltd plans to grow its retail assets on books to rs 4,000 crore in the current fiscal, up 148.75 per cent from rs 1,608 crore a year ago, s. kumar, head-retail assets, said. the growth is likely to be powered by new product offerings and tapping of newer markets in tier-ii cities. majority of the growth would be triggered through housing advances. close to 90 per cent of rs 1,608 crore was through housing finance and such advances are likely to account for 75 per cent of the retail assets for the current year, he said. close to 32 per cent of the bank's book was accounted for by retail assets in the last financial year.

bank of india hikes deposit rates
mumbai: bank of india has decided to increase the interest rate on short-term deposits by 50 basis points. the change in the rates in the maturity buckets of `7-14 days' and `15-45 days' will be effective may 20, a press release from the bank said. for deposits with maturity between 7-14 days, the interest rate has been increased to 4.50 per cent (4 pc) per annum and for deposits with maturity between 15-45 days, the interest rate has been upped to 4.75 per cent (4.25 pc).

icra in talks with arab cos for services
new delhi: after assigning its first international rating along with the kuwait-based credit rating & collection company (crc), the icra on wednesday said that it was in talks with other arab nations for extending its technical expertise. it is also open to picking up stakes in rating agencies in those countries that allow foreign participation. p.k. choudhury, managing director, told presspersons that the rating agency was in advanced stage of negotiations with the sultanate of oman and was talking to a couple of other countries as well for offering advisory and rating services.

amp sanmar's gambit paying off
chennai: the rs 8.5-crore (annualised) premium that amp sanmar life insurance company earned in the year 2002-03 may have fallen short of the company's internal target (of rs 15 crore) for the year. but, the performance conformed to the business plan submitted to the insurance regulatory and development authority (irda), along with the application for the licence, the company's vice-chairman, sankara v. mony, said here on tuesday. the company sold over 16,000 policies, covering around 25,000 lives, involving a total sum assured of rs 120 crore.

hdfc business up 30 per cent in gulf region
abu dhabi: hdfc registered a 30 per cent growth in business in the uae and gulf region in the 2002-2003 fiscal and plans are on to tie up with a service associate in abu dhabi shortly to extend its reach in the emirate. k. bharadwaj, branch manager of hdfc's dubai office,said that lower interest rates and growing confidence in indian real estate developers had resulted in increased number of loan applications and disbursals in the fiscal gone by.

irda devises `simple' pension plan
hyderabad: aimed at providing a plan with a uniform technical structure, the insurance regulatory and development authority (irda) has devised what it calls a simple, standard pension plan for all life insurance companies to offer to the public, following the recommendations submitted by the shinkar committee. according to irda, "the presence of such a plan in the market would increase the general awareness of the public towards pension savings and act as an entry-level product into this vital area of investment that each indian investor should be considering for himself or herself."

14 may 2003

indusind gold trading from july
mumbai: in an attempt to generate another form of non-interest income, indusind bank plans to venture into bullion trading starting july 1, across nine centres in the country. "we aim to capture 15-20 per cent of the rs 25,000-crore gold import market within the first year of operations. we should thereby generate about rs 6-7 crore as commission through this business,'' said a senior official in the bank. having received the reserve bank of india permission for bullion trading in november 2002, the bank is to start trading in the yellow metal in mumbai, delhi, ahmedabad, kolkata, jaipur, bangalore, hyderabad, chennai and coimbatore by july.

canara bank plans 3 more branches in chennai
chennai: canara bank will shortly open three more branches here - at santhome, tiruvallur and one `all women branch'. the location of the `mahila' branch is yet to be decided. "we have the licence for opening a branch anywhere in chennai. we have called for bids for premises," the bank officials told presspersons here on tuesday. further, the bank proposed to open around 10 extension counters in the city. also under plan, was a `depository participant' operation from the habibullah road branch, they said.

hsbc to open global software centre in pune
pune: hong kong and shanghai banking corporation ltd (hsbc) is all set to inaugurate its global software development centre in the city towards the end of this month. the bank's chief information officer, ashok bhatia, said here that the new centre, set up at a cost of rs 100 crore, would develop software for the group's global operations. in addition, he said, the facility had provision to expand to keep pace with future requirements

bank of rajasthan submits case details to rbi
mumbai: bank of rajasthan on tuesday submitted to the reserve bank of india details of the case that led to the arrest of its chairman, praveen kumar tayal, in jaipur on saturday. dr k.m. bhattacharya, managing director of the bank, said the rbi had asked for details of the case, though the case was unrelated to the activities of the bank. he said, "since there is no conviction, tayal's chairmanship has not been questioned." "the rbi has offered full support in case there is any untoward rush for cash.''

om kotak launches new insurance plan
bangalore: om kotak mahindra life has launched an investment-cum-protection plan - the kotak safe investment plan -- that offers safety of capital while permitting the policyholder to benefit from investment opportunities in the equity, debt and money markets.

according to ashutosh bishnoi, vice-president, marketing, the unit-linked insurance plan is unique in that the various funds give the policyholder access to growth markets while the plan guarantees the sum assured - on maturity or death - regardless of the performance of the funds. "this thirteenth product from the life insurer offers complete flexibility in choosing the various funds in different proportions, in switching between funds, surrendering policy (after a minimum of three years) or obtain loans,'' bishnoi said.

andhra bank unveils slew of tech services
hyderabad: andhra bank has unveiled four technology-driven services - visa electronic card (an atm-cum-debit card), e-seva services through atm network for the citizens to pay their utility bills, e-hundi services enabling devotees to make monetary offerings to lord balaji at tirupati, and cashtrack, a premium cash management service for corporate customers. announcing the launch of these new services, the andhra bank chairman and managing director, dr b. vasanthan, said that the andhra bank visa electronic debit card would be accepted at around 50,000 merchant outlets in the country and millions worldwide. it carries lost card insurance to the tune of rs 10 lakh and accident insurance coverage of rs 1 lakh.

brokers to meet irda chief to discuss notification
new delhi: insurance brokers will be meeting the irda chairman, n. rangachary, in delhi later this week, to discuss contentious issues on brokerages and business, thrown up in the notification issued by the regulator in march this year. brokers are peeved that as per the new guidelines, not only is their brokerage substantially reduced, but they have also been banned from all government and public sector business. in fact, some are understood to be weighing their options about staying in the business, and a few are also contemplating surrendering their licenses, an insurance broker said.

south indian bank to launch global debit card soon
bangalore: the private sector south indian bank ltd (sibl) proposes to launch its global debit card shortly once it signs the memorandum of understanding with the service providers. a. sethumadhavan, chairman of the bank, addressing a press conference here, said that the negotiations were in advanced status. he, however, declined to reveal the name of the service provider. the bank also simultaneously planned to complete setting up 100 automatic teller machines before the end of the current year. by this month-end alone, the bank proposed to set up 50 atms, he said. the bank, he said has already invested rs 40 crore for technology upgradation.

rbi shortlists 8 banks for rbs
mumbai: a clutch of eight banks are on the reserve bank of india's (rbi) radar for the first round of risk-based supervision (rbs). "the idea seems to be to start with these select players to get a first hand undestanding of their internal risk systems. these could then even be implemented by others who are yet to have such internal systems," a source said. among the names of banks doing the rounds are idbi bank, bank of america and punjab national bank. sources indicate that the profile of the eight banks or so on the list runs along these lines - two state-run, two foreign, one new generation and an old private bank, and another two banks. the rbi in its monetary and credit policy for 2003-2004 has already said that it proposes to implment rbs of a few select banks on a pilot-basis during april-june 2003.

pricing of idbi bank rights issue expected to be low
mumbai: the board of idbi bank will meet on may 19 to consider a rights issue of its equity shares. the main points to be discussed during the meeting would include the pricing of the rights issue and the people who are willing to subscribe to it.
however, the pricing of the rights issue is definitely poised to be very low, market sources said. the logic for this is simple. if idbi does not sign an agreement to the effect that it will not plan to merge itself with idbi bank, investors (foreign and local) will keep away from investing in the bank. idbi bank, which is a very healthy bank inspite of the reins that idbi has on it, has a long list of investors interested in acquiring a part of its equity. but options are limited for these investors, as great uncertainity looms over idbi's decision to go for the reverse merger.

canara bank to cut plr by 25 bps
mumbai: canara bank has decided to cut its prime lending rate (plr) by 25 basis points (bps) to 11 per cent from june 1, 2003. currently the rate is at 11.25 per cent. the bank has also decided to cut it's prime term lending rate (ptlr) by 25 bps to 11.5 per cent from 11.75 per cent. at a press conference, canara bank general manager (mumbai- city circle) vs reddy said that along with the state bank of india, canara bank would also very soon enter into a joint venture to open up a branch in russia. "we had been offered an opportunity to take over a bank in russia around seven years back, but due to the unfavourable conditions nvolved in acquiring it, wie decided against it," he said.

pandyan grama bank net profit up 16 per cent to rs 13.75 crore
chennai: pandyan grama bank, one of the regional rural banks in the country, has posted a 69 per cent growth in its net profit during the year ended march 2003. net profit of the bank stood at rs 13.75 crore as against rs 8.16 crore in the previous year. total business of the bank has reached rs 1,002 crore registering a growth of about 20 per cent. deposits have gone up by 15 per cent to rs 568 crore, and advances have increased to rs 434 crore (rs 340 crore). priority sector advances account for nearly 69 per cent of the bank's total advances. non-performing assets have been brought down to 4.06 per cent from 4.49 per cent.

13 may 2003

hdfc standard crosses rs 5,000 cr in cumulative insurance coverage
coimbatore: hdfc standard life insurance company has crossed rs 5,000 crore in cumulative insurance coverage during 2002-03. the premium income from new business has more than trebled during last fiscal compared with the previous year. the company declared the third successive bonus to the participating policyholders. but its chairman, deepak parekh, has cautioned that the continuous fall in long-term interest rates may lead to a fall on the quantum of reversionary bonuses that may be declared in the future.

canara bank net rises 38 per cent to rs 1,019 crore in 2002-03
bangalore: canara bank has posted a net profit of rs 1,019 crore for the fiscal ending 2003, registering a growth of 37.52 per cent compared to rs 741 crore in fy 2002. the bank has also announced a maiden dividend of 35 per cent after the bank got listed its initial public offering. it has registered an operating profit of 20.6 per cent growth to reach rs 1997 crore (rs 1665 crore). the total business of the bank stood at rs 112,567 crore (rs 97,157 crore), registering a year-on-year growth of 15.86 per cent.

addressing a press conference on the performance of the bank, canara bank chairman rv shastri said in the current fiscal the bank's growth will be driven by core banking activities and fee-based projects such as insurance, credit cards and forex business. the bank is targeting a total business of rs 1,31,000 crore comprising rs 82,000 crore and rs 49,000 crore advances representing a 15 per cent growth.

sale of 21 state development loans closed
mumbai: the sale of 'on tap' 6.40 per cent state loans, 2013 have been closed in respect of 21 states on monday, the first day of the auctions, on receipt of the respective target amounts and excess subscriptions of up to 30 per cent of their target amounts have been retained. the loans of state governments which have been closed on monday were andhra pradesh, arunachal pradesh, goa, gujarat, haryana, himachal pradesh, jammu & kashmir, jharkhand, karnataka, kerala, madhya pradesh, maharashtra, manipur, meghalaya, mizoram, punjab, rajasthan, sikkim, tamil nadu, uttaranchal and west bengal, rbi said in a release.

canara bank to deploy 3,000 staff for marketing
bangalore: canara bank plans to deploy 3,000 of its personnel on a massive marketing effort this fiscal, according to r v shastri, the bank's cmd. "of the 3,000 persons, 1,000 would be assigned to recoveries," he added. for the current fiscal, canara bank has projected cash recoveries to the tune of rs 650 crore to rs 700 crore. in fy03, this was rs 563 crore. shastri, while discounting the possibility of a second round of vrs, said a decision on return on capital would be taken possibly in the second half of the current fiscal. "we had returned capital ahead of the ipo and have a lock-in of one year," he added. the bank's current paid-up capital stands at rs 410 crore.

more post offices get global money transfer facility
coimbatore: the department of posts has extended the international money transfer service (imts), which facilitates instantaneous transfer of funds from abroad to india, to seven more sub-post offices in the coimbatore postal division. the facility, first introduced in the state in may 2001, is currently available in the coimbatore head post office and r.s. puram hpo in the city.

it is being extended to the post offices at coimbatore central, karunyanagar, peelamedu, podanur, kuniamuthur, madukkarai and ondipudur with effect from may 14.

ifci finalises big npa recovery proposal
new delhi: one of the largest single-lender clean-up operations in the financial sector is to commence soon with ifci ltd having finalised plans for a twin-track assault on its non-performing assets (npas) through its own asset reconstruction company (arc) - asset care enterprise ltd (ace). according to the plan, part of the npas would be transferred through ace to a special purpose vehicle (spv) at fair market value after locating investors for the assets. these assets would subsequently be jointly resolved either by ifci or ace along with the joint venture partners

gsfc delays interest payment on slr bonds
mumbai: the gujarat state finance corporation (gsfc) has delayed interest payments on its slr bonds to banks. gsfc has confirmed that it could not make the payments due to a liquidity crunch. according to an official with a leading public sector bank, gsfc's half-yearly coupon payments, falling due on april 1, have not yet been received.

andhra bank allots rs 69 crore for it
mumbai: andhra bank is venturing on a major it initiative with plans to get all its 1,100 branches online and networked by december. "an allocation of rs 69 crore has been made for the year 2003-04 towards the computerisation project. in 2001-03, the bank had spent rs 100 crore towards the same. at present all our branches are fully computerised but on a stand-alone basis,'' said dr vasanthan. the next step of networking of branches will start through a cluster approach, first among the 100-odd branches in hyderabad in july to be later replicated in other parts of the country.

idbi bank to go for rights issue
mumbai: idbi bank proposes to go in for a rights issue, shelving, at least for the time being, all other plans to raise capital. the bank's board is meeting on may 19 to consider an issue of shares to existing shareholders, the bank informed stock exchanges on monday. the size of the issue and the price at which the shares will be offered is to be finalised at the meeting. an idbi bank official, said, "this is our present plan to raise capital. to what extent the capital requirement of the bank will be met by the rights issue will depend on the size of the issue.''

12 may 2003

high-value loan defaulters still stay off - one-time settlement plan to be extended
new delhi: with high-value loan defaulters continuing to elude the recovery trap set for them against the backdrop of threat of action under the securitisation act, the one-time settlement (ots) scheme for defaults up to rs 10 crore is set to be extended by about three months. the ministry of finance has given its assent for the extension of scheme on a request received recently from the reserve bank of india to extend the scheme by another few months. "we have received a proposal from the rbi for giving more time for borrowers to come forward for settlement. we have given the go-ahead. the scheme would be extended by around three more months," a top official of the ministry confirmed.

uco bank public issue likely in july
kolkata: uco bank is planning to come out with the public issue sometime in july or august, according to v.p. shetty, chairman and managing director of the bank. "we have sought the government's approval and we hope to get it, together with rbi's approval, in this month itself,'' shetty said. uco bank's ipo will be of rs 200 crore, 10 per cent of which will be reserved for the employees of the bank. "there will be no reservation for the nris who can apply for our shares on non-repatriable basis," he said. uco bank, according to its cmd, was yet to decide on whether the issue would be offered at par or at a premium. "we will decide on it at a later date though i personally feel 20 per cent premium may not be too bad,'' he said. "but nothing has been finalised in this regard''.

sars outbreak in hong kong - it's business as usual for hsbc india
thiruvananthapuram: multinational banking major hsbc india is ready with a contingency plan for itself to deal with any situation arising out of a possible outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) and its likely impact on conduct of business operations in the country. that the outbreak has been traced to honk kong, the base of the hsbc group's flagship in asia, is a bit of bother alright, but it has not really affected business in india, niall s.k. booker, chief executive officer, hsbc india, said.

nsic cuts hire purchase rates
coimbatore: national small industries corporation (nsic), one of the approved lending agencies for financing the textile technology upgradation fund scheme (tufs) projects, has announced cut in the interest rate ranging from one per cent to 1.5 per cent for borrowings under hire purchase scheme, composite term loan (ctl) and raw material assistance (rma) schemes. the rate reduction is effective from may 1, according to a communication from the nsic here. the rate reduction offered to the hp scheme would now be made eligible to the tufs borrowings made with the nsic in view of the extension of the tufs to cover the hire purchase of equipment by the inter-ministerial steering committee on tufs recently.

list of reports on finance diary