Haldiram's History

Haldiram's Has Over 100 Products

Private limited with share capital 
Industry Food industry
Founded 1937
Headquarters Nagpur, India
Area served:
India, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Thailand and others
Products: Snacks, sweets, beverages, frozen foods
Revenue: 35 Billion INR
Website: www.haldirams.com

Haldiram's was founded in 1937 by Gangabisenji Agrawal, as a retail sweets and namkeen shop in Bikaner, Rajasthan. In expansion, the company's first manufacturing plant was located in Calcutta.[In 1970 a larger manufacturing plant was established in Nagpur. Another manufacturing plant was established in New Delhi, the capital of India, in the early 1990s, which also had a retail store. In 2003, the company began the process of developing convenience foods to be marketed to consumers. In 2008, the chairman of the company's Nagpur branch was Shivkishan Agarwal. In 2014, Haldiram was ranked 55th among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory.

Haldiram's has over 100 products Its products include frozen foods such as frozen meals, ice cream, and kulfi, namkeen, sweets, cookies, crackers, sherbet, papad, savories, chips and other snacks. Haldiram's also produces fruit-flavored beverages and dairy products. The company also produces ready-to-eat food since 2010. In the 1990s, the production potato-based foods was enabled by the importation of machinery from the United States designed for these purposes.

McDonald's no match for Haldiram here

Bhelpuri beats burgers just as comprehensively as farsan beats fries. Haldiram's revenues, at Rs 3,500 crore, is more than the combined revenue of Domino's (Rs 1,733 crore) and McDonald's (Rs 1,390 crore; adding toplines of the two separate operations in India). Or take that popular two-minute snack, Maggi, which netted a revenue of Rs 1,200 crore; Haldiram is almost three times bigger. These figures for 2013-14, the latest available in official records, when combined with the fact that Haldiram's commands 40% of the Rs 5,500-crore traditional snacks business, conclusively demonstrates one thing. Whether in fast food or munchies, and despite the profusion of MNC brands with high cool quotient in both categories, good old-fashioned Indian offerings from Haldiram's still dominate the market.

Equally interestingly , Haldiram's, present both through its ubiquitous casual dining eateries and its packaged snacks, is a success story with some unusual twists. First, the brand has survived disputes and break-ups in the original Agarwal family that started with a small shop in Bikaner in 1937. Haldiram is the biggest brand of those launched by Agarwals. Second, Haldiram's itself has succeeded as a national brand although the business is broken into three distinct geography-based entities. In 2013-14, Haldiram Manufacturing, which looks at North India, clocked Rs 2,100 crore in revenues. Haldiram Foods, catering to West and South India, had an nual sales of Rs 1,225 crore. And Haldiram Bhujiawala, which does business in East India, earned revenue of Rs 210 crore.

Third, owners remain old-fashioned in that they aren't looking at exiting. "Contrary to many consumer company founders who have taken an exit route in the last few years, we are more interested in building and preserving the business for the next generation," says 40-year-old Kamal Agarwal, fourth generation member of the founding family. Fourth, every savoury and sweet items sold by Haldiram's is made inhouse, in units closely monitored by family-dominated management."Developing and manufacturing products in-house in over ten dedicated units has also helped the company experiment with a host of new products," Agarwal says.

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Non-Subsidised LPG Rate Cut By Rs 113

Non-subsidised LPG rate cut by Rs 113, jet fuel prices by 4.1%

Price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) was on Monday cut by a steep Rs 113 per cylinder and that of jet fuel (ATF) by 4.1% as international oil rates slumped to multi-year lows. A 14.2-kg cylinder of non-subsidised LPG will now cost Rs 752, down from Rs 865 previously, in Delhi, oil companies announced on .This is the fifth straight reduction in rates of non-subsidised or market priced LPG, which the customers buy after exhausting their quota of 12 cylinders at subsidised rates, since August. In five monthly reduction, non-domestic LPG rates have been slashed by Rs 170.5 per cylinder, bringing the price at three-year lows.

On similar lines, the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF), or jet fuel, at Delhi was cut by Rs 2,594.93 per kilolitre, or 4.1%, to Rs 59,943 per kl. This is the fifth straight monthly reduction in rates. This reduction follows a steep 7.3 % or Rs 4,987.7 per kl, cut in prices on November 1. Since August, ATF prices have been cut by 14.5 per cent or Rs 10,218.76 per kl and rates have dipped below Rs 60,000 per kl level for the first time in three years.

Brent, the benchmark grade for more than half of the world's oil, have dropped to USD 68.34 a barrel, the lowest level since October 2009. Prices declined 18% last month and are 38% lower in 2014. In Mumbai, jet fuel will cost Rs 61,695 per kl from today as against Rs 64,414.98 per kl previously. The rates vary because of differences in local sales tax or VAT.

Rival Airlines Team Up to Clip Tata SIA Wings in Indian Sky

India's fiercely competitive airlines have teamed up to oppose the entry of another new airline.

IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and GoAir have asked the aviation regulator to deny an airline permit to Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, ajoint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. These airlines, under the banner of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), have argued in a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that foreign airlines can invest only in existing ones and not startups according to the previous government's change in policy in September 2012. The May 23 FIA letter addressed to DGCA head Prabhat Kumar has been reviewed by ET. In February, FIA tried to block another joint venture by the Tatas, a no-frills airline with Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace. The DGCA dismissed that objection--which the airline lobby had again based on the same policy interpretation--ruling that the government had made it clear that the policy was meant for both existing and startup airlines.

AirAsia India started operations on June 12. AirAsia Bhd owns 49% of the venture and the remaining 51% is held by Tata Sons (30%) and Telestra (21%). ADGCA official said the regulator will dispose of the latest objection by FIA in a day or two. Another DGCA official said the argument in the FIA letter, filed in response to a public notice seeking objections or suggestions from the public and all the persons likely to be affected by the grant of permit to Tata-SIA, does not hold as the government made its stand very clear. A spokesman for Tata SIA, in which the Tatas own 51% and Singapore Airlines the rest, said his company was aware of the development. He had no further comment.

Sanjiv Kapoor, chief operating officer, SpiceJet, said the view of all FIA member airlines on the issue is represented by the grouping. Spokespersons for Indi-Go and Jet had no comment. A spokesman for promoters of GoAir, the Wadias, said a representative for the airline was unavailable. Apart from the interpretation of policy, FIA objected to the airline venture on four other counts: The substantive and efective control (of Tata-SIA) is not vested in Indian hands; the mandate of Schedule XI of Aircraft rules, 1937 (related to minimum airworthiness, operations and other general requirements for grant of air permit) hasn't been satisfied; foreign airlines are not entitled to use sensitive airports; and the matter is sub judice in the Delhi High Court. The second DGCA official said three cases against these new airline ventures — two against AirAsia and one against Tata-SIA by the FIA — are pending in the Delhi High Court. The court will hear all these cases and a separate one filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy against AirAsia on July 11.

"All these cases are being considered as one since the objections are all the same," said the DGCA official. Tata-SIA plans to start operations by early November. It received permission in April from the aviation ministry to start operations. The entry of AirAsia and Tata-SIA is expected to intensify competition in the struggling airline Industry. Indian airlines have posted accumulated losses of $10 billion and their debt has risen to nearly $20 billion, according to aviation consultancy Capa. Besides FIA's letter, DGCA received five responses to its public notice on Tata-SIA. Two were from individuals favouring a permit to the venture. Two were representations asking DGCA to fix norms for hiring pilots. One objection came from a Mr Jain who said the DGCA should not permit investment in a startup airline.

RBI to Sell Govt Securities Worth Rs 15,000 Crore

The Reserve Bank will sell dated government securities worth Rs 15,000 crore in four tranches on Friday, RBI said.

Dated government securities are long term securities carrying a fixed or floating coupon or interest rate paid on the face value. It is payable at fixed time periods, usually half-yearly. The tenor of dated securities can be up to 30 years. In a price based auction to be held on June 20, RBI will sell 8.35 per cent government stock 2022 for Rs 3,000 crore, 8.60 per cent government stock 2028 for Rs 7,000 crore, 9.20 per cent government stock 2030 for Rs 3,000 crore and 9.23 per cent government stock 2043 for Rs 2,000 crore. "Up to 5 per cent of the notified amount of the sale of the stocks will be allotted to eligible individuals and institutions as per the scheme for non-competitive bidding facility in the auction of government securities," RBI said.

RBI said both the competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on on the RBI's Core Banking Solution ( E-Kuber) system on June 20, 2014. The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30am and 11.30am and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30am and 12 noon, it said. The result of the auctions will be announced on the same day and payment by successful bidders will be on June 23, 2014, it added further. The stocks will be eligible for "When Issued" trading for a period commencing from June 17, 2014 in accordance with the guidelines on "When Issued transactions in Central Government Securities" issued by RBI, it added. Securities trade on a when issued basis when they have been announced, but not yet issued. The transaction is settled only after the security has been issued.

Tollywood Highest Paid Actor Pawan Kalyan

Pawan Kalyan is highest paid actor of Tollywood, according to Forbes India. The Power Star is charging Rs 23 crore for a film and Mahesh Babu is in second position with 21 crores. Coming to Kollywood, Rajinikanth is on top with 32 crores and is followed by Vijay and Surya with 22 crores and 20 crores respectively. Here is Forbes Highest paid actors list for Tollywood and Kollywood:

pawan tops here, rajinikanth tops there

Tollywood highest paid actors and their remunerations:
1. Pawan Kalyan 23cr
2.Mahesh Babu 21cr
3. Ram Charan 18cr
4. AlluArjun 17cr
5. Jr NTR 15 cr

 Kollywood highest paid actors and their remunerations:
Rajinikanth 32 cr
2. Vijay 22 cr
3. Surya 20 cr
4. Ajith 18 cr
5. Vikram 17 cr

Blogger Throwing $40,000 Birthday Bash

You have to hand it to local lifestyle blogger Sara Shantelle Lim for being one smart cookie. She approached several businesses to sponsor her 27th birthday bash and promised to generate publicity in her blog for them in return. But her luxury lifestyle blog, which she started with her sister last January, has received a total of only 340,000 views to date. Popular local blogger Xiaxue claims to get 40,000 views daily.

And a check of Miss Lim's Instagram profile shows that she has only 610 followers. Most popular local bloggers have more than 20,000 followers on Instagram. Still, she did not let her relative obscurity stop her from generating a whopping $40,000 worth of sponsorship for her birthday party tonight. On Sunday, Miss Lim put out a press release about her "Candylicious Neon Birthday Bash 2014" on Sunday, naming her sponsors and listing the freebies she's getting. She even explained how she managed to get so many sponsors - "mainly her close friends, who wants (sic) to throw Sara an amazing birthday party" while others believe that she can "help them to promote their brand well on her luxury blog" and "tap into her strong network of contacts".

In the press release, she called sponsor Kim Lim, a "good friend". She went on to describe Miss Kim Lim as "the daughter of billionaire Peter Lim, who is known to have recently bought over Valencia Football Club".

Google Partnership With Ray-Ban And Oakley Frames

Google Glass set to go stylish with Ray-Ban deal

Google is hoping to make its internet-connected eyewear more stylish as part of a partnership with the makers of Ray-Ban and Oakley frames. The alliance with Italian eyewear company Luxottica Group, announced on Monday, represents Google's latest attempt to make wearable technology look less geeky as it tries to develop new ways to ensure people can stay connected to the internet wherever they go. Last week, Google disclosed that fashion accessory maker Fossil Group is working on an internet-connected wristwatch that runs Google's Android software for mobile devices. Luxottica will develop frames equipped with Google Glass, a computing device that includes a thumbnail-sized screen above the wearer's right eye to view internet content.

The $1,500 gadget also includes a camera that can take hands-free pictures and video, a feature that has raised privacy concerns. Google so far has only sold Glass to a select group of test subjects known as 'Explorers', who have frequently been mocked for wearing a piece of futuristic eyewear that looks better-suited for cyborgs than for humans. Luxottica is expected to help broaden Glass's appeal. Google is also planning to tap into the more than 5,000 stores that Luxottica runs in the US to help sell Glass once the device is released on the general market. Google still hasn't spelled out when Glass will be broadly available, although the Mountain View, California, company is still aiming for later this year.

More than 10,000 people have bought Glass as part of the Explorer programme. In another move to make Glass more practical, Google in January unveiled four frame styles that could also be outfitted with prescription lenses. Those frames cost an additional $225. The prices for Luxottica's line-up of Google Glass products won't be announced until they are closer to going on sale. Besides Ray-Ban and Oakley, Luxottica's other brands include Vogue-Eyewear, Persol, Oliver Peoples, Alain Mikli and Arnette.

Hindujas Third Richest Family In Britain

Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja

The Hindujas, owners of the Hinduja Group conglomerate, have emerged as the third richest family in Britain, according to an analysis by anti-poverty charity Oxfam released on Monday. The latest rich list from 'Forbes' magazine showed that London-based Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja have a combined wealth of $10 billion, Oxfam said in its report titled 'A Tale of Two Britains'. The five top UK entries analysed for its report found the family of the Duke of Westminster as the richest, followed by David and Simon Reuben, the Hndujas, the Cadogan family, and Sports Direct retail boss Mike Ashley, who between them had property, savings and other assets worth 28.2 billion pounds, or $46.81 billion (with respect to 1 pound = $1.66).

The report implies that Britain's five richest families now own more wealth than the poorest 20 per cent of its population, with their wealth totalling 28.1 billion pounds - an average of 2,230 pounds each. The UK government should explore the possibility of a wealth tax after revealing how income gains and the benefits of rising asset prices had disproportionately helped those at the top, Oxfam said. "Britain is becoming a deeply divided nation, with a wealthy elite who are seeing their incomes spiral up, while millions of families are struggling to make ends meet," Oxfam's director of campaigns and policy, Ben Phillips, said.

"It's deeply worrying that these extreme levels of wealth inequality exist in Britain today, where just a handful of people have more money than millions struggling to survive on the breadline." The charity has urged UK Chancellor George Osborbe to use his Wednesday's Budget to make a fresh assault on tax avoidance and introduce a living wage in a report highlighting how a handful of the super-rich. The report asserted that widening inequality is creating a "vicious circle where wealth and power are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, leaving the rest behind".

"This means the rules are constantly rewritten in favour of the rich, for example through policies such as lower taxes for high earners." In January, an Oxfam report found that the richest 85 billionaires on the planet own the same amount between them as half the world's population, or 3.5 billion people.

12th Floor of Sundarban Park Building In Fire Video

Couple charred to death in Thane high-rise blaze

A Fire broke out on the 12th floor of Sundarban Park building here on Sunday. According to the initial reports, many got trapped inside the building in Samta Nagar.

Four fire engines were rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control. The fire, which residents claim broke out at around 6:00 am today, was caused due to a short circuit.

According to the officials, Shivajirao Choughule, 82, and his wife Nirmala, 78 were killed in the fire, and two others on a lower floor were injured while attempting to escape.

Fire on 12th floor of a Thane building leaves 2 dead, 2 injured

Best Small Cars to Buy In 2014

While crossing the road, 8 out of 10 cars that you see on the road belong to the small car segment. The Indian roads are perfect for them and this also justifies their popularity amongst Indian consumers. 2014 will see a couple of new launches in this segment. According to you which is the best small car to buy out of these options?

Abarth Punto

Chevrolet Beat 2014

Datsun Go

Honda Jazz

Maruti Suzuki YL7 (A-Wind Concept)

Maruti Swift 2014

Bollywood Movie Highway Collections

Sajid Nadiadwala Is Super Happy That Highway Becomes A Super Hit

Sajid Nadiadwala is a very happy man with Imtiaz Ali's Highway turning out to be a super hit and profitable for all stakeholders. The Alia Bhatt-Randeep Hooda starrer, presented by Sajid was made at a cost of Rs 18.25 crores (including P&A). The movie has already clocked more than Rs 27 crores at the Indian box office and and is still running successfully across theatres. What is even more incredible is that the film has garnered this collection from just 800 screens where it was released. That apart, the film had made Rs 15.5 crores revenue even before release and the international theatrical collection is more than Rs 8 crores till date and still counting, making the total revenue pie more than 50 crores.

Says Sajid: "It was both an honour and a challenge when Imtiaz entrusted me with the big responsibility of Highway's release. We worked with our distribution partners at UTV to give the film an appropriate release across 800 screens with carefully selected cities and cinemas across the country." The film, with Anil Mehta's unmatched cinematography and A.R. Rahman's unforgettable music, has created a very strong word of mouth wave in the audience all over. "Highway was always a profitable film, made and marketed at a tight cost but what was really heartwarming was the way the audiences warmed up to the movie," adds Sajid. "We not just made a super hit film but a much loved one which will be seen and remembered with much fondness for years to come." Says Imtiaz Ali, "Happy that the film has reached the audience. We are moved by the response and very thankful. This experience has taught us many new things."

Pakistani Economy Beats Growth Target, Up By 5%

Pakistan's GDP grew by 5 per cent during the first quarter of the current fiscal, beating the target by running high on industry and service sectors, the country's central bank said on Friday. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)'s first quarterly report said since macroeconomic indicators were favourable at the start of the year, the increase in real GDP growth in FY14 was discernible.

Pakistan's economists had set a growth target of 4.4 per cent for the current financial year and the central bank in earlier reports had forecast growth of four per cent. The report suggested that the government should speed up structural reforms in fiscal and energy sectors to maintain the current growth momentum and to take the economy to a higher growth trajectory.

"Estimates for growth exceeded expectations: GDP grew by 5 per cent during Q1-FY14, compared to only 2.9 per cent in Q1-FY13, and a target of 4.4 per cent for the full year," the report said. Industry and services were the major drivers of growth, as agriculture performed below target. As the industrial sector revived, import pressures reappeared, especially for capital goods and raw materials, it said.

Sahara Chief Subrata Roy lodged in Forest department guest house

Sahara Chief Subrata Roy was tonight lodged in a guest house of the Uttar Pradesh Forest department here after the state police was directed by a local court to keep him in its custody till March 4 when he will be produced before Supreme Court.


Police sources said Roy was taken to the guest house located in Kukrail area after the Chief Judicial Magistrate Anand Kumar Yadav directed the UP police to keep him in custody till 2 PM on March 4 and ensure that he is by then produced before .. 








Sahara Chief Subrata Roy

Modi Signals Shift In Favour Of Big Retail

Indian opposition candidate for prime minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday the country's millions of family-owned traders must learn to work with large modern stores and online retailers, in comments that could signal a shift in thinking. Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposes a policy to allow foreign supermarkets to open in India, which it says is a threat to millions of grocery stores and traders who are a backbone of the party's support.Sketching out his economic views ahead of a general election likely to be held in April and May, Modi declined to reiterate that stance or oppose a proposal to allow foreign investment in online shopping, which is growing rapidly in India. Instead, he said small traders should put an emphasis on the quality of their products to compete better. He said they could enter into contracts with big online retailers to create "virtual trade".

"We should not worry about the challenges from global trade," Modi told a meeting of the Confederation of All India Traders. "The government should not look to curb online trade. We should not worry about these things, our children have taken IT to the world. We'll have to embrace it." Modi also said he favoured introducing a nation-wide goods and services tax (GST), a long-planned reform to usher in a uniform market, cut business costs and boost government revenue. The country's states have stood in the way of a GST, fearing that they would face revenue losses if the current array of inefficient levies were replaced. Chief minister of Gujarat, one of the country's most industrialised states, Modi is campaigning on the back of a record of strong growth over more than a decade in office. But until Thursday he had given few details about how he would steer the economy, which has seen growth at its slowest in a decade.

Economic diplomacy

The Hindu nationalist leader also said India needed to cut red tape by reducing the number of laws, and called on the foreign ministry to focus on "economic diplomacy" to improve India's commercial standing in the world. "Times have changed, the core work of external affairs ministry today is trade and commerce," he said. In an effort to attract overseas investment and revive the economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh threw open the country's $500-billion retail industry to foreign investors late in 2012. That allowed companies such as Wal-Mart Stores and TESCO Plc to own majority stakes in Indian chains for the first time, pending approval by individual states.

This month, the newly elected BJP government of the western state of Rajasthan became the second state government to roll back the policy. Fewer than half of India's 28 states have agreed to implement the policy.
The traders had hoped Modi would vow to make opposition to foreign retailers a part of the party's manifesto, which is due to be released in the next few weeks. "This looks like a strategic direction which is being set ahead of the elections and it's a very welcome one," said Kishore Boyani, chair of the retailer Future Group. "These comments and clarity will help everyone in the industry and foreign players to take decisions."

Infosys to give 5-7% salary hikes in FY15

Infosys, the information technology services giant, told its employees in India on Wednesday they would get pay increments of five to seven per cent in FY15, a source told Business Standard. Though the second pay rise in nine months, analysts say it is much below the sector average and could lead to several more staffers resigning in the coming months at the Bangalore-based company, especially with the recent improvement in demand. "Everyone was expecting at least 10-12 per cent more. Five to seven per cent is really low," said an analyst with a domestic brokerage house. "Already the company is seeing elevated levels of attrition and this is more bad news for that front."

Despite the earlier salary rise of an average eight per cent, announced soon after co-founder N R Narayana Murthy returned to the company as executive chairman, staff attrition has continued to be steep. For the October-December 2013 quarter, it was 18.1 per cent, highest among peers and in marked contrast to close rival Tata Consultancy Services' 10.9 per cent. Infosys refused to share details about the development and said, "We will announce the salary increments for FY15 during our financial results announcement on April 16. The new salary hikes come nine months after we announced our last salary increases in July 2013."

Some media reports had earlier claimed Infosys, after several senior-level exits in recent months, would look at giving double-digit raises to boost employee morale. While the Indian IT services sector has seen subdued pay rises in the past two years, amid a slump in the business environment globally, experts and employees had high hopes this year. For, demand in the key markets of America and Britain had started showing sign of recovery and most companies have said they expect 2014 to be better than 2013. Experts had said Indian IT services companies might give double-digit raises, going as high as 18 per cent in 2014, against the tepid three to nine per cent in previous years.

Their optimism was fuelled after Nasscom, the sector body, had earlier this month said it expected 13-15 per cent growth in the Indian software and business process outsourcing export segment during 2014-15. In 2013-14, it estimated the growth at 12-14 per cent; the sector managed 13 per cent. In 2012-13, the growth was 10.2 per cent, compared to the original prediction by Nasscom of 11-14 per cent. "IT firms are expected to be quite positive on compensation this year, with expectations of salary hikes to be an average of 11-18 per cent," Surabhi Mathur-Gandhi, senior vice-president at TeamLease had said earlier this month. "We will definitely see a skew of hike considerations on the basis of experience levels, skills specialisation and demand generation by individual firms; ranging from eight to 10 per cent on the lower spectrum to as high as 18-22 per cent on the higher end."

Indian Railways Modifies Rules, No Refund For Non-Travellers

Indian Railway informed on Wednesday that passengers not turning up or less number of persons travelling in groups will not be refunded from March 1. Central Railway senior divisional commercial manager (SrDCM) Dr Sumant Deulkar said that Railway Board has issued a circular to all general managers in the country, intimating them to implement the decision from March 1.

This new move is part of a modification under 'Computerized Coaching Refund Scheme'. However, refund will be granted for reserved and RAC tickets in cases of lower class travel, failure of AC in coach, discontinuation of journey by passengers due to dislocation of train services, accommodation not provided and cancellation of trains. For waiting list tickets, refund will not be granted under this system but will continue to be granted as per existing rules. Earlier, one could get 50% of the fare refunded if the ticket was presented for cancellation up to two hours after the actual departure of the train irrespective of distance.

United Bank of India Chairperson Archana Bhargava Resigns

According to sources, Bhargava cited health reasons for her resignation. Bhargava had taken charge on April 23, 2013, and her term was due to end on February 28, 2015. 

United Bank of India Chairperson Archana Bhargava has resigned from the state-owned lender that is being probed for misreporting bad loans. "She has taken voluntary retirement and her request has been accepted by the government," Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru told PTI. The application for voluntary retirement of Archana Bhargava, Chairperson and Managing Director of the bank, has been accepted from February 20, 2014, he said. According to sources, ited health reasons for her resignation. Bhargava had taken charge on April 23, 2013, and her term was due to end on February 28, 2015.

Executive directors Deepak Narang and Sanjay Arya will be jointly in charge of the Kolkata-based bank until the CMD's post is filled. An administrative enquiry is under way to find out why United Bank's non-performing assets, or bad loans, had been under-reported. Narang had yesterday clarified that there are no "inherent deficiencies" in the software that had initially been blamed for faulty classification of UBI's loans.
UBI's gross NPAs rose 188.3 per cent to Rs 8,546 crore at the end of December, an addition of Rs 5,582 crore. It had Rs 2,963.8 crore of bad loans on March 31, 2013. The gross NPAs of the bank had risen to Rs 6,285.89 crore at the end of September from Rs 2,417.73 crore at the end of the second quarter of the previous financial year.

Following the rise in NPAs, the Reserve Bank of India had ordered a forensic audit by a firm, which has submitted its report to the central bank. The government holds an 88 per cent stake in the bank and had provided Rs 700 crore as capital in this financial year. Hard-pressed for funds, UBI plans to raise an additional Rs 1,000 crore as capital. The board approved raising Tier-I capital of up to Rs 1,000 crore through bonds on private placement basis to eligible institutions or the issue of preference shares to the central government or other institutional investors, the bank said in a recent statement. 

Uninor loss at Rs. 132 crore in December quarter

 Mobile service provider Uninor, controlled by Norwegian firm Telenor, today reported an operating loss of Rs. 132 crore in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs. 444 crore in the same period a year ago. The figures are converted at an exchange rate of 10 into rupee from the Norwegian krone. "In the fourth quarter, we have seen solid intake of consumers. ARPU increased for the fifth quarter in a row and reached Rs. 106, up by 17 per cent compared to same period in 2012," Telenor Group CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas said while announcing result. Uninor was one of the company whose licences were cancelled in 2012 by Supreme Court and the company had to buy spectrum afresh to continue operations. The company now operates in six service area- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Prdesh East and West.

The accumulated loss of company also narrowed to Rs. 14,300 crore at the end of 2013 from about Rs. 16,100 crore in 2012. Uninor will deploy 5,000 mobile tower sites in the six service area to expand network coverage. "We plan to redeploy 5,000 sites this year primarily for geographic expansion in our existing circles where we cover about 42 per cent of population. With this redeployment of sites it will go above 50 per cent," Baksaas said. The company estimates investment in India during the year to be around Rs. 600 crore which will comprise Rs. 300 crore on capital expenditure and Rs. 300 crore on operational expenditure.

Revenue of Uninor increased by 3.2 per cent to Rs. 836 crore during the reported quarter from Rs. 810 crore its posted in same period of 2012. "The competitive environment seems to be improving with signs of price increases with some natural consolidation leaving few operators in some circles," Baksaas said. Telenor report said that gross margin of Uninor in six service area improved by 4 percentage points to 66 per cent due to price increases at the end of reported quarter. For year ended December 2013, operating loss of the company narrowed to Rs. 576 crore from Rs. 6,283 crore in 2012. The annual revenues of the company in 2013 declined by 18 per cent to about Rs. 3,001 crore from Rs. 3,716 crore. Uninor net subscriber base during the quarter grew by 20 lakh. The company had 3.23 crore subscribers at the end of November 2013 as per latest data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Worried Industry Asks RBI to Cut Rates After Dec IIP Contracts

Worried over industrial output shrinking by 0.6 per cent in December, India Inc today asked the Reserve Bank cut key rates and demanded that the government take immediate steps to revive manufacturing.
"We are especially concerned about the performance of the manufacturing sector, which continues to be in the red even as the mining output shows muted growth rates during the month," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said. "We look forward for an accommodative monetary policy to spur demand and revive investment activity especially as inflation has started receding," he added. Industrial production growth rate remained negative for the third month in a row, contracting 0.6 per cent in December 2013, mainly due to sluggishness in manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, declined by 1.6 per cent in December 2013 as against a contraction of 0.8 per cent a year ago.

The mining sector, with a weight of about 14 per cent in IIP, grew by 0.4 per cent in December as against a dip of 3.1 per cent in the same month in 2012. "The significant fall in the production of consumer durables indicates that high level of interest rates has been affecting growth through demand contraction. Therefore, we strongly recommend for a paradigm shift in the RBI's policy approach," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

The consumer durables segment contracted by 16.2 per cent in December 2013 as against a decline of 8.1 per cent in the same month in 2012. "The negative growth of the capital goods and the consumer durables sector reinforces the view that the escalating interest costs are adversely impacting investment decisions in the respective sectors," Banerjee said.

"The industrial sector continues to face structural constraints, such as inadequate, relatively inefficient and high cost infrastructure, high costs of borrowed funds, inflexibilities in labour markets and other institutional rigidities that inhibit the pace of industrial restructuring," PHD Chamber of Commerce President Sharad Jaipuria said. The RBI should soften its monetary policy stance going forward, he added. "While the negative growth in manufacturing is certainly disappointing but we hope that growth has bottomed out. Government and serve Bank need to work in tandem to create balance between growth and inflation," Ficci Secretary General Didar Singh said. In terms of industries, 8 out of 22 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during the month of December.