Escorts' net has fallen 32 per cent to Rs 110.17 crore in 1998-99 compared with Rs 163.44 crore in the previous year. The sales of the tractor company have declined by 7 per cent to Rs 1,319.7 crore against Rs 1,417.76 crore.

The company board has fixed the dividend at 45 per cent. Meanwhile, in an bid to improve its bottomline in the current fiscal, Escorts has planned to repay Rs 200 crore of debt without recourse to any new borrowings.

FIPB okays 25 proposals

FIPB approves Rs 300cr fdi, hitachi, pizza corner to hike stakes new delhi, FIPB on Monday okayed 25 proposals, amounting to a FDI inflow of Rs 300 crore, including the ones by Hitachi of Japan and Pizza Corner to hike stakes in their respective joint venture companies by purchasing the equity of their local partners.

ABB, Kirloskar Electric eye NGEF

Companies including ABB, Kirloskar Electric and BSES are likely to join the race to buy out the ailing NGEF. The state-owned companyhas asked for expressions of interest from prospective buyers. NGEF will complete inviting global tenders to participate in the bidding process by mid-August.

IDBI to repay Rs 5,000 crore SLR funds

IDBI will phase out statutory liquidity ratio bonds worth Rs 5,000 crore, accounting for 20 per cent of its borrowing portfolio, in the next five years. FIs find SLR bonds as a cheap way to raise resources as banks are required to invest a portion of their deposits in SLR bonds as per RBI guidelines.

Singareni Collieries

Cabinet committee on economic affairs has cleared financial restructuring of Singareni Collieries Company by allowing a moratorium till 2007 on payment of its Rs 663.34-crore outstanding interest to the Government.

SAIL evolves plan to turn corner

Sail has embarked upon a 5-pronged strategy including business and financial restructuring to turn around the public sector steel giant which posted a massive loss of Rs 1,574 crore in 1998-99. The move is expected to helpSAIL mitigate financial risk by reducing its debt-equity ratio.

BPCL refinery gets highest rating

BPCL's Mumbai refinery has been awarded `Level 7', the highest rating for safety-management system under the International Safety Rating System. This is for the first time that the rating has been awarded to any industrial site in the country.

RIL Q3 results on July 8

Reliance Industries will announce its first-quarter unaudited results for 1999-2000 on July 8, a company statement said.

GAIL to lay Rs 1500 crore pipeline

Gail will lay a Rs 1500 crore pipeline for transporting LNG from the Dahej terminal of Petronet LNG. The pipeline will have the capacity to carry about 20 million cubic meters gas per day and is likely to be completed by early 2003.

Maruti, Computer Associates

Auto major Maruti Udyog has signed up with Computer Associates International, leaders in business solutions, for its IT upgradation plan.

MUL will soon have CA's "Unicenter TNG" in place aimedat improving management of its expanding network and reducing operational costs.

LIC projects Rs 90,000 crore sum assured

LIC has projected a 20 per cent growth in its sum assured target for the current year at Rs 90,379 crore. Last year the SA registered a growth of 18.4 per cent at Rs 75,316 crore. The corporation has projected a growth of around 24 per cent in new business premium income.

Sebi bars Mathur from holding office

Sebi on Monday barred former BSE executive director RC Mathur from holding any public position in a capital market related institution for a period of three years and declared him ineligible to become an office-bearer of any stock exchange.

RBI mulls customer-service index

RBI has developed a rating model to evaluate the customer service in banks, based on a similar exercise carried out by the IBA earlier. The apex bank is expected to use its findings to identify and improve the weak areas of services of banks.

StanChart plan

As part of acampaign to counter Citibank's recently launched global card, StanChart will launch a programme that will enable the bank's cardholders to exchange reward points earned on card-spends for products from HLL, Gillete and Addidas.

Sanghi Polyester recast hits roadblock

Hyderabad-based Sanghi Polyester's recast plan is yet to take off as the promoters failed to bring in the initial contribution of Rs 15 crore.

The plan comprises a reschedulement of loans and reduction in interest rates by around 4.5 per cent. IDBI had okayed the plan in August 1998.

Maruti offers discounts on Esteem

Maruti Udyog, faced with dipping sales and rising competition, has been forced to offer hefty discounts on its mid-sized model Esteem, ranging from Rs 15,000 and 25,000 in Mumbai to Rs 40,000 in Delhi effective June 1.

it has also begun to offer discounts of Rs 15,000 in Mumbai on the Zen diesel.

Court stalls Ralliwolf lockout

Mumbai industrial court on Monday stalled Ralliwolf management fromdeclaring lockout at its Mulund facility in suburban Mumbai. The management declared lockout with effect from June 24 on the grounds of indiscipline by the 600-strong workforce.

Tax holyday to continue for FTZs

Even after the conversion of all the existing export processing zones to free trade zones from July 1, they will continue to enjoy the 10-year tax holiday benefit under sections 10-A & 10-B of the Income-Tax Act, 1961.