Electrosteel Steel gets nod for Rs 6181 crore CDR package

Kolkata: Electrosteel Steel, part of Electrosteel Castings, a leading producer of ductile iron pipes used for water transportation, has received a nod from the Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) cell for its proposed Rs 6,181 crore CDR package.

Recently the Corporate Debt Restructuring Cell of RBI has approved the CDR package of ESL. ESL, which has set up a 2.5 million tonne per annum integrated steel plant in Jharkhand at a project cost of Rs 11,000 crore, had approached bankers for corporate debt restructuring recently.

Incidentally, the company has already invested nearly Rs10, 000 crore in the project.

"While an overwhelming majority of participating banks have confirmed their mandates to the CDR package, there are few banks that are still to come on board. It is expected that seeing the large support from the lead bank and the other banks, the remaining banks that are also likely to provide their confirmation to the CDR proposal," the company said in a statement issued on Monday.

"The banks are also expected to clear the working capital proposal pending with them. This would also be in line with the RBI Circular on the matter," the ESL statement added.

Commenting on the development, Ashutosh Agarwal, executive director (finance) expressed his special appreciation for the initiative in the matter taken by Anil Swarup additional secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, who also heads the sub group of Cabinet Committee of Investment (CCI), for the success of the CDR package.

In January, 2013 a high powered Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) was formed at the initiative of the Prime Minister with the objective of fast tracking large projects with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore and above. In the case of Electrosteel Steels Ltd. (ESL) the CCI has proved to be a major catalyst.

Addressing a meeting of bankers in Kolkata in July 2013, Finance minister P. Chidambaram had impressed upon the bankers to clear the pending issues of large projects especially where substantial investments have been made by the promoters and the bankers. Subsequent follow up by Mr Anil Swarup, has taken forward successfully many projects which were facing various hurdles including loan disbursements from banks.

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Bilateral trade target of USD 90 billion between India and Africa achievable by 2015: Anand Sharma

New Delhi: The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Anand Sharma and Mr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, South Africa today co-chaired the third meeting of India-Africa Trade Ministers in Johannesburg. The meeting was attended by Chairperson of African Union Commission Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and 11 trade ministers from Africa, representatives of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and regional economic communities like Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) and Southern African Development Community (SADC).

In his opening remarks Shri Sharma mentioned that the trade ministers meeting was a significant event in the annual calendar of exchanges between India and Africa. He said that the partnership between India and Africa was distinct and different and a strategic relationship. The robust economic growth of both India and Africa provided new opportunities of forging a development partnership which would not just be focussed on transactional trade but subsume capacity building, institution building, human resource development and productive investments. Shri Sharma mentioned that the governments of India and Africa were confronted by challenges of currency volatility, high inflation, commodity volatility, and similar issues of underdevelopment and poverty. He further added that the India Africa Forum Summit declarations have given a blueprint of the partnership between these two regions covering a wide range of sectors. A large number of regional and pan-African institutions have been established in Africa for capacity building and skill development, which enable development of rich human resource. He mentioned that 22,000 scholarships were being administered for African students. He said that the economic engagement has been a buoyant one as investments from India to Africa has crossed USD 50 billion in the last decade and trade has crossed USD 70 billion. He mentioned that the bilateral trade target of USD 90 billion by 2015 is a modest one and is certainly achievable.

Chairperson of African Union Commission Dr. Zuma in her remarks mentioned that GDP of BRICS economies is set to overtake that of G-7 countries soon. She mentioned that the rich resource base of Africa have driven the economic growth of the world. The plan of industrialization aims to increase value addition, enhance regional economic integration with an aim to achieve a pan-African free trade area. Dr. Zuma appreciated “Indian investments in infrastructure, mining, energy sector which enabled significant value addition in Africa and skill upgradation which would lead to sustainable development and help in poverty eradication.” She sought greater diversification of Indian investments with greater thrust on joint ventures and participation of women. She said that interest of developing countries and LDCs are safeguarded especially in the area of food security in the forthcoming Bali Ministerial Meeting on WTO. She further said that the current trade facilitation package had certain implementation challenges for African countries as it entailed huge resource commitments and therefore urged for a balanced outcome at Bali.

In his remarks Mr Davies spoke about the need of ushering in an age of industrialization in Africa with a greater thrust on value addition, moving away from commodity led export models. In this context, he appreciated the engagement with India which was in the nature of a true developmental partnership. He mentioned that “Indian investments into Africa had seen a phenomenal growth” and appreciated that “these had led to considerable value addition and employment generation in Africa.” He also stressed upon the need of greater regional economic integration in Africa through the architecture of regional free trade agreements, which would be building blocks for a continental free trade agreement in Africa. Intra -African trade is barely 12% contrasted with other dynamic regions of the world. He mentioned about the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) which aims to strengthen infrastructure development in Africa. Indian imports from Africa have risen by 14% but there was need to shift to value added exports. He recalled the BRICS Summit and said that the BRICS development bank idea should become a reality to ensure investments not only in each others’ economies but also in Africa.

Intervening in the ministerial meeting, Shri Sharma said that “the forthcoming Bali ministerial meeting was an opportunity to give momentum to the Doha development round, which has its heart a strong development agenda.” He mentioned that there is a need to address the genuine concerns of food security of the developing countries. The interests of subsistence farmers must be protected and a multi lateral trade regime must address livelihood concerns of small and marginal farmers of the developing countries. He was of the opinion that public stock holding for food security must be accepted as this is essential for assuring food security of millions of poor in the developing countries. He also said that the LDCs would also need resources to meet the commitments on trade facilitation including for infrastructure upgradation at ports. He said that India has supported the need for a package of LDCs in Bali. He informed the Trade Ministers about the Duty Free Quota Free Market Access Scheme for LDCs introduced by India which provides a huge opportunity for market access for African LDCs to the Indian market.

The second meeting of the India-Africa Business Council co-chaired by Shri Sunil Bharti Mittal from the Indian side and Dr. Bright Chunga was also convened and the industry leaders collectively identified priority sectors of private investment and presented a report to the Trade Ministers.

Yesterday, Shri Sharma had a bilateral meeting with his counterpart Minister Mr. Rob Davies where he urged for an early conclusion of the India- Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Preferential Trade Agreement negotiations. They also discussed the whole range of bilateral issues, expressing satisfaction on the healthy growth of trade which had touched USD 14 billion and investment flows from India had crossed USD 7 billion. They also reviewed the progress of negotiations in the Doha round and preparations for the Bali ministerial meeting.

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Infosys, IBM bag over Rs 2,500-cr UK bank deal

Bengaluru: IBM and Infosys have won a major deal from UK-based bank Williams & Glyn’s, which is a part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

The deal, which is valued at Rs 2,535 crore, is for building a new technology system for Williams & Glyn’s, a bank that has been defunct for 30 years but has seen fund infusions to the tune of £800 million from a group led by private equity firm Corsair Capital and a consortium of investors.

The new bank will have 314 branches with a customer based of 1.7 million customers, located mostly in north-west England and is scheduled to start operations in the London market in late 2015, according to reports.

Core banking
While the details of the nature of work are not public, Infosys will be developing some aspects of core banking systems for Williams & Glyn’s, which would include mobile banking applications, that will help bank customers do transactions on the mobile phone, said a source in Infosys, who was involved in this process and could not be named due to protocol reasons. When contacted, an Infosys spokesperson said: “We do not comment on client engagements.”

On its part, IBM will extend its work on electronic bank account management service, which it had piloted with RBS in 2011. This work involves setting up and creating account openings using an XML standard (an encoded digital format that can be read by both humans and machines) before sending them to RBS via the electronic bank account management portal.

Industry watchers feel that this marquee deal has come at a time when Infosys is undergoing a lot of changes since its iconic co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy has taken charge at the helm of the company.
‘More to come’
However, analysts feel that more such deals need to be won in order to get growth momentum back.

“The company has been clearly struggling to bag marquee deals which it has been losing out to competitors and more such deals need to be won to bring growth back,” said A.K. Prabhakar, IT analyst who formerly the Vice-President of Equity Research with Anand Rathi, a Mumbai-based brokerage firm

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Glenmark gets USFDA nod for skin infections cream

Mumbai: Glenmark Generics, USA, the subsidiary of Glenmark Generics, has received the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA)'s approval for a skin ointment, Hydrocortisone Butyrate Cream, in an abbreviated new drug approval (ANDA) format. The cream is a generic version of Locoid Lipocream.

Glenmark Generics is a subsidiary of the Mumbai-headquartered Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. In April 2011, Glenmark had entered into a royalty-bearing license agreement with Triax Pharmaceuticals, Astellas Pharma Europe BV and Astellas Pharma International BV to settle a patent infringement suit against the commercialisation of the generic version of Locoid Lipocream.

The Indian company had agreed to launch the cream near the end of 2013. Glenmark is entitled to 180 days of exclusivity with respect to its cream as it is the first generic company to file an ANDA for the product.

The cream is indicated for the relief of skin infections. According to IMS Health, sales data for the 12-month period ending June 2013, Hydrocortisone Butyrate Cream garnered annual sales of approximately $34 million.

Moreover, on September 27, 2013, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals received a small research fee payment from Forest Laboratories towards a collaboration for the development of a molecule to treat chronic inflammatory conditions. The milestone payment would support the next phase of work.

Glenmark is expecting an additional payment to support the advancement of the programme. Forest has an exclusive option to obtain license rights to the programme upon the completion of pre-clinical trials. Under the terms of the agreement signed in FY 2012-13, Forest had made a $6-million upfront payment to Glenmark and also made an additional $3 million to support the next phase of work for the development of the drug.

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India, Mozambique Bilateral Trade to Reach USD 3 Billion by 2016

New Delhi: The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri Anand Sharma visited Mozambique on a two-day visit from September 27-28, 2013. On September 27, Shri Sharma met the Prime Minister of Mozambique, Mr. Alberto Vaquina and discussed the bilateral historical relations between the two countries.

Later, Shri Sharma met Mr. Armando Inroga, Minister of Industry and Trade of Mozambique, where they discussed bilateral cooperation and agreed on the need for further diversifying trade and investments. Shri Sharma said that owing to the the impressive growth in trade between the two countries, the bilateral trade could reach USD 3 billion by 2016 from the current level of USD 1.28 billion.

India has been assisting Mozambique in its developmental efforts and has provided Lines of Credit of USD640 million for various projects, apart from providing other assistance, grants and technical training, university scholarships, etc. Large quantities of coal and natural gas have recently been discovered in Mozambique. There are various Indian companies which have acquired stakes in these coal and gas fields, particularly the recent acquisition by ONGC Videsh and Oil India Limited in the Rovuma Basin in the North of Mozambique at cost of approximately USD5 billion for the natural gas consortium led by Anadarko of the United States and planned investment of USD4 billion for setting up of integrated fertiliser plans in Mozambique.

Shri Sharma also invited Mr. Inroga to visit India for participating in the Partnership Summit scheduled to be held in Bengaluru in January, 2014. Shri Sharma also addressed a "Session on Enhancing Economic Partnership between India and Mozambique" along with Mr. Inroga which was attended by industry leaders from India and Mozambique.

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Oman keen on marketing its dates in India

Kochi: A three-member business delegation from Oman held in-depth discussions here with businessmen from Kochi on the potential of marketing dry dates from Oman to India.

The discussions were held at the B2B meeting organised by the Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Oman delegation was led by Gaith Ali Al Ghailani of the Oman Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Mohammed Badar Al Hajri, representative of the farmers in the eastern province of Oman, and Mohib Ahmed Khan, general manager of the Athayub Co for Food and Technology in Oman, were the other members of the delegation.

Chamber Vice-Chairman M.K. Ansari recalled the trade links that existed from time immemorial between India and Oman.

KCCI secretary A J Rajan extended warm support to the Oman team members in their effort to promote the sale of the dry dates in the country.

The delegation will visit Kozhikode, Chennai and Mumbai as part of its promotional business tour.

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Ten tips to make the most of work from home

Imagine waking up an hour late every morning and logging in to work in your pyjamas with a steaming mug of coffee. Imagine working without having to leave home. In fact, to avoid the dreaded commute, many employees prefer a 20% lower salary for a job next to home. Justifiably so, since nearly 10 hours of commute a week, equivalent to a full working day, is the norm in metros. Is it possible to harbour this Work from Home dream without harming your career? Here is how to make it work for you.

1) Talk to your boss

Check if your company has an official policy to work from home and the permissions that are required. Next, discuss the option with your manager. Most supervisers are hesitant to approve activities that might impact the output or deadline. Negotiate clear, achievable targets and timelines to address his concerns. If you keep delivering on outcomes from home, his confidence will increase. Make sure you keep him in the loop if you are unavailable for a couple of hours because you have stepped out for a parent teacher meeting at your child's school.

2) Designate work space

Keep aside a work area free of personal stuff. A desk, chair, computer, adequate lighting and clear, uncluttered space build the right environment for you to work efficiently. Organise your immediate visual area so that you are not staring out of an open window or worrying about the mess on the floor. Ideally, work in a room with a closed door so that the home environment does not creep in and diminish your productivity.

3) Hour blocks of time

Establish a clear routine for your work day. Most people find it useful to create 4-hour blocks of time to help achieve targets. It is easy to imagine juggling home tasks or kids while you work. But multitasking works well only with activities that require low mental bandwidth. For high bandwidth tasks like writing a report, multitasking will stall your creative flow and increase the time required to finish work.

4) Cut out interruptions

A benefit of working from home is that you eliminate office interruptions like a gossipy colleague. However, a home can be more distracting. Establish clear boundaries for family, kids, friends and maid in terms of time and space, so that you are not disturbed in the midst of important calls or challenging tasks. To remain focused, switch off Facebook, WhatsApp, cell phone and television. Use the office laptop/software to maximise productivity.

5) Master technology

Invest in adequate infrastructure before you start. Set up a working Wi-Fi Internet connection with a back-up Net dongle, a smart phone with e-mail and communication apps, computer with the required software, even a signal booster for your cell phone if call connectivity is poor at home. Master the use of software, which may include Excel, Word, Skype or proprietary project software from workplace. These investments will reduce your downtime and boost output.

6) Start with a checklist

An office environment provides reminders by way of team members or supervisers pushing on urgent tasks. Without these, it is easy to get waylaid and miss out on primary goals. Spend 15 minutes at the start of each day to make a checklist of tasks, goals and deadlines. As you progress, strike out each task. This will keep you on track and give you morale-boosting feedback on the progress you are making.

7) Put on work clothes

Unfortunately, the pyjama-clad dream does not work efficiently for most people. Wear regular work clothes when you sit down at your work area. When you feel professional, you act professionally. The results show immediately in work as well as in your voice when you speak to your team members. A lot more work gets done during the day with this simple change.

8) Avoid loneliness

Human interaction keeps us sane and contributes to our self-esteem. Long stints of work from home without social interaction is the quickest route to professional and personal deterioration. Put a plan in place to visit office and meet colleagues or clients at least once a week. If this is not possible, have an active social life in non-work hours so that you do not turn into a recluse. On a long-term basis, it can keep you away from positions of responsibility that involve dealing with large teams.

9) Combat guilt

Though work from home is mostly challenging from an efficiency perspective, in some cases it leads to guilt at not fulfilling one's responsibilities. This could push you to overwork. To avoid guilt, create a work schedule and shut down your computer at the end of the day. Take a break like stepping out of the house to mentally switch to home mode. In off hours, deal with office crises as you would on a regular day.

10) Review every month

This is the most important step. Ask yourself if your aim has been achieved. Have you reduced unproductive commute time or were you available for a sick family member? Is it impacting your career negatively like not being considered for promotion? Assess the results regularly and act accordingly.

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