In a move to reduce the burden of litigation, the finance ministry has considerably raised the monetary threshold for legally contesting indirect tax disputes. The apex indirect taxes body - Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), under the finance ministry, has instructed its officials not to file appeals in the tax tribunals if the fine and penalty on an alleged offender is less than Rs 5 lakh. The existing entry for approaching an appellate tribunal is Rs 1 lakh.

The order will come in effect from September 1, covering all the indirect taxes levied by the central government, i.e., customs duty, excise duty and service tax. The move is aimed to cut down on the unnecessary proceedings. On the other hand, the ministry has also raised the monetary limit for filing appeals in high courts to 10 lakh from 2 lakh now, and in the Supreme Court to Rs 25 lakh as against Rs 5 lakh at present.

The ministry has, however, clarified that adverse judgments, irrespective of the amount involved, would be contested in cases where the constitutional validity of the provisions of an Act or rule are under challenge, and where notification, instruction, order or circular has been held illegal or ultra vires. The ministry also added that, monetary limit will also apply in all cases where audit objections have been accepted by the department. In such cases, officials would have to carry on raising defensive demands, but monetary limit would have to be considered before filing appeals.

The finance ministry has been compelled to amend the rules because of the high volume of tax-related cases awaiting in courts. The threshold for litigation was introduced only last year. It is reported that around 87,862 appeals are pending at various levels as on March, locking up over Rs 62,000 crore in indirect taxes. The new rules are in line with country's national litigation policy that seeks to make the government a well-organized and responsible litigant. The CBEC has already revised the monetary threshold to cut litigation in direct tax disputes.

India has entered into an agreement for Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital (DTAA) with Government of Georgia. The DTAA that was signed by M. C. Joshi, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on behalf of the Government of India and Zurab Katchkatchishvili, Ambassador of Georgia to India on behalf of the Government of Georgia, will help both the nations by preventing tax evasion and facilitating better exchange banking information.

According to the statement released by the finance ministry, the agreement provides that business profits will be taxable in the source state if the activities of an enterprise constitute a Permanent Establishment (PE) in the source state. The DTAA also provides for fixed place PE, building site, construction and installation PE, service PE, insurance PE and agency PE.

The agreement incorporates Para 2 in Article concerning Associated Enterprises which would enhance recourse to Mutual Agreement Procedure to relieve double taxation in cases involving transfer pricing adjustments. However, dividends, interest and royalties and fees for technical services income will be taxed both in the country of residence and in the country of source. The low level of withholding rates of taxation for dividend (10%), interest (10%) and royalties and fess for technical services (10%) will promote greater investments, flow of technology and technical services between the two countries.

The DTAA incorporates provisions for effective exchange of information between tax authorities of the two countries in line with best international standards, including exchange of banking information and supplying of information without recourse to domestic interest. The agreement also provides for sharing of information to other agencies with the consent of supplying state.

The agreement has an article on assistance in collection of taxes, including provision for taking measures of conservancy. The agreement incorporates anti-abuse (limitation of benefits) provisions to ensure that the benefits of the agreement are availed of by the genuine residents of the two countries. The agreement will provide tax stability to the residents of India and Georgia and will facilitate mutual economic cooperation between the two countries. It will also stimulate the flow of investment, technology and services between India and Georgia.

India's export of gems and jewellery grew at a slower pace of 5.4% in July compared to previous month, in June; the exports surged by 17%. As per the data released by the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) data, during July 2011, the exports of gems and jewellery increased by 5.4% to $3.3 billion from $3.1 billion in July 2010.

The debt crisis in the US and Europe, which are important market destination, had adversely affected the demand for gems and jewellery. The fall in exports is mainly due to the decline in demand from these markets. The US and Europe account for around 25% and 20% of the India's total Gems and Jewellery exports.

GJEPC Chairman Rajiv Jain said, 'there are less number of orders from markets like the US and European markets,' however, by adding further he said that demand from new markets like Russia, Latin America and Africa is increasing.

The traders are concerned over the debt crisis in the western economies, which could affect demand and lead to payment problems. According to GJEPC data, in July, exports of silver jewellery surged by 63.4% year-on-year followed by the gold medallions and coins which increased by 33.8% and gold jewellery by 25.33%. However, exports of coloured gemstones declined by 82% in July.

During the April-July 2011, the exports of gems and jewellery increased by 14.4% to $14.1 billion from the April-July 2010. As per the commerce ministry data, in last financial year, exports of gems and jewellery increased by 15.34% to $33.54 billion from previous fiscal year.

With customers in rural India moving beyond frugality and beginning to demand safety and performance oriented bikes, Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) is gearing up to cash in on the new trend with products suited to meet requirements of the hinterlands. The firm, which is aiming to sell three-million units in the domestic market this fiscal, is seeing robust demand for 125 cc and 150 cc variants of its Discover model in rural areas.

"Our market studies have found that there is a change in the demand from rural customers. They are asking for bikes that provide them safety and performance," said S Sridhar, president (motorcycles), BAL.

Rural customers are seeking bikes with wider tyres that gives more road grip, which require higher engine power, he said.

On the back of higher refining margins, Essar Oil on Monday reported a net profit of Rs 469 crore for the first quarter ended June 30. The company had registered a net loss of Rs 70 crore in the same period a year ago. Essar Oil earned $7.38 on processing every barrel of crude oil in the April-June period of current fiscal, 27% more than $5.79 per barrel gross refining margin (GRM) it earned in the same period in the previous year, the company's CEO, Naresh K Nayyar, told reporters in a conference call.

"For the past several quarters, we have been consistently reporting profits that have been driven by record refinery throughput and a healthy uplift in GRM," he said.

The company's sales rose 37% to Rs 16,478 crore from Rs 12,048 crore in Q1 of FY 2010-11 and its refinery at Vadinar processed 3.62 million tonnes of crude oil - 135% capacity utilisation.

Nayyar said the phase I expansion, under implementation now, will raise the refining capacity from 14 million tonnes per annum to 18 MT a year.

The company is investing $1.8 billion in the phase I expansion of Vadinar, and is acquiring Stanlow refinery for $350 mn.

Essar Oil, Nayyar said, has a total of 1,639 petrol pumps. Petrol and diesel at its outlets is priced higher than its dominant public sector competition, which get government subsidy for selling fuel below cost.

"We are looking at tapping the opportunity of retailing auto LPG and CNG in Essar Oil outlets through tie-ups with Aegis Logistics, Sabarmati Gas, GAIL India and Adani Gas.

Eight Indian companies have made the cut in the list of world's 500 largest companies compiled by Fortune magazine, with Indian Oil finding a place in the top 100 and Reliance Industries in 134th spot. Of the eight, five are state-run entities. Indian Oil, with $68,837 million revenues, is at the 98th spot, up from 125th last year. Mukesh Ambani-led RIL was at 175 last year.

Other Indian companies in the list include BPCL, SBI, HPCL, Tata Motors, ONGC and Tata Steel. Except for SBI, which slipped by nine positions over last year, all other Indian companies improved on their rankings.

ArcelorMittal, run by LN Mittal, is at number 74.

There is no change in the top four positions: Wal-Mart, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and BP continue to hold sway. Sinopec Group and Chinese National Petroleum are at five and six.

Peabody Energy has teamed up with ArcelorMittal to offer $5 billion for Australia's Macarthur Coal, the world's biggest producer of pulverised coal, as demand for steel-making raw materials intensifies. The cash offer of A$15.5 a share represents a 40% premium to Monday's close and comes just a day after Australia unveiled a plan to tax carbon emissions from the nation's worst polluters, or about 500 companies, including coal miners.

The deal values Macarthur's 1.64 billion tonnes in reserves at nearly A$3.0 per tonne.

Macarthur made no recommendation on the proposal and said it would seek talks with Peabody and Arcelor on price and terms.

ArcelorMittal and Peabody said they would make their takeover proposal through a bid company, with ownership split 40% and 60%, respectively.

New Delhi, July 12, 2011(PTI) Footwear and apparel brand Woodland today said it will invest over Rs 100 crore in this fiscal to set up a new manufacturing unit at Greater Noida and open 60 more exclusive stores in the country.

"We are commissioning a new unit for denim and woven garments at Greater Noida with an investment of about Rs 60-70 crore. The production is likely to start in the next 3-4 months,"Woodland Managing Director Harkirat Singh told PTI at an event organised by exhange4media.

He said the company will also set up 60 new exclusive Woodland stores across India, with focus on Tier II and Tier III cities, entailing an investment of upto Rs 40 crore.

Currently, the company operates over 300 exclusive outlets and also sells its products at over 400 multi-brand stores.

"Almost 50 per cent of the new stores planned would be large format spread across 10,000-12,000 square feet,"Singh said.

Currently, the company owns or operates 10 manufacturing units in North India for outdoor shoes. It outsources production of fashion footwear range to Vietnam and China.

For the current financial year, the company expects 30 per cent growth to touch a turnover of Rs 800 crore.

Singh said besides expanding the physical retail footprint, Woodland is betting big on online retail.

"In the next two years, we expect our online sales to contribute 10 per cent to our total turnover,"he said.

Personal computer (PC) makers in India are smiling. According to industry research firm IDC, PC sales are expected to grow by 13.5% in 2011 to 11.2 million units, thanks to demand from the education sector and the coming festive season. Around 9.9 million computers were sold in India last year.

Even though the expected growth rate is slower than the last year’s 17.7%, the demand surge is likely to boost profits. Global PC sales growth is expected at 4.2% this year against 14% in 2010, the research firm said.

Top global PC makers are cashing on the demand. Companies such as Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP have launched new products in the first half of the calender year. Dell has launched its new Inspiron with Switchers while Lenovo launched souped-up versions of ThinkPad and IdeaCentre. HP also introduced its high-end all-in-one desktops (PCs that combine the CPU and monitor in one single unit) in India.

Masaru Tamagawa, managing director, Sony India, announced on Tuesday that the company expects to double its marketshare by selling five lakh units this year.

“Though, there were visible signs of consumer softness witnessed in the first quarter of 2011, we anticipate robust growth,” said Kiran Kumar, senior analyst, IDC. “Educational buying and a subsequent festival season boom is expected to support a strong growth in the second half of the year.”

Mumbai, Jul 12, 2011(PTI) Rice exporter Kohinoor Foods Ltd (KFL) today said the shareholders of the company have approved its joint venture (JV) with US-based spice maker McCormick.

Earlier on June 2, KFL has said it will enter into a JV? Kohinoor Speciality Foods India Ltd ? with McCormick, which will invest USD 115 million (about Rs 516 crore) for 85 per cent stake in the JV for transfer of certain trademarks and non-compete undertakings from KFL and its promoters.

The balance of 15 per cent stake would be with KFL.

KFL in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) said that,"The members of the company, by way of postal ballot, have passed with requisite majority to convey, transfer, assign, deliver or otherwise dispose of the business together with all the assets and liabilities."

The agreement also includes all employees, contracts, licenses, agreements etc, as a going concern on a slump sale basis, the filing added.

Chennai, Jul 12, 2011(PTI) Autocomponent manufacturer Ucal Fuel Systems reported a 56 per cent increase on its net profit at Rs 5.51 crore for the second quarter ending June 30, 2011 as against Rs 3.53 crore in the year ago period.

For year ending March 31, 2011 the net profit stood at Rs 22.20 crore, a company statement here said.

The total income for the second quarter grew to Rs 129.13 crore from Rs 109.60 crore registered in the same period of previous year.

New Delhi, Jul 12, 2011(PTI) JSW Energy today said one of its promoters JSW Investments has pledged 8.78 per cent stake in the company.

In a notification to the Bombay Stock Exchange, JSW Energy said JSW Investments have pledged 24.47 lakh share in it on July 7 taking its total number of pledged shares to 14.4 crore

JSW Investments'stake in JSW Energy stood at 32.36 per cent as on June-end.

Mumbai, July 13, 2011(PTI) Shares of steel fabrication firm Readymade Steel India got listed at Rs 115 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange today, reflecting a jump of over 6 per cent vis-a-vis their issue price.

The stock surged by 6.48 per cent against its issue price of Rs 108 a share on the BSE in opening trade.

However, within minutes, the stock came under heavy selling pressure and was trading at Rs 83.50, down 2268 per cent from the issue price.

Readymade Steel India, which is primarily in the business of providing ready-to-use steel for construction activities to the infrastructure industry, raised Rs 34.75 crore through the issue.

The company plans to utilise the issue proceeds for partly financing the expansion of its existing facility at Khopoli, in Raigad district of Maharashtra, and setting up of new facilities near New Delhi and Raipur, besides pre-operative expenses, including issue expenses and working capital requirements.

Thiruvananthapuram, July 13, 2011(PTI) Vizhinjam International Deep-sea Container Terminal coming up near here is expected to become operational by 2015, Kerala Minister for Ports and Excise K Babu informed the Assembly today.

Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd, set up by the government to implement the project, would bring in a professional team to execute the works, he said.

The state government has prepared a time-bound action plan to complete the project and tender process to select the Engineering Procurement Contract (EPC) bidder would begin next month, Babu said replying to a calling attention.

The government had already short listed 12 companies for the EPC out of 16 companies which bid for it, he said.

The project was planned to be implemented under Public-private partnership (PPP) model and its master-plan would be ready by October this year, Babu said.

Work on the terminal, break-water and reclamation was expected to start after completing the Environment Impact Study in March next year, he said. A'reputed'firm, Aecom Ltd had been appointed as EPC consultant, the minister said.

The tender process would be completed in August and the contract would be awarded in November, he said.

The plan was to complete the project in three phases. First phase focusses on developing infrastructure facilities by the state itself with an estimated cost of Rs.4040 crore, he said to the calling attention by Palod Ravi (Congress).

Funds for the project would be mobilised through loans and issue of bonds, he said adding a Consortium of Banks, including State Bank of Travancore, had been formed to mobilise resources.

Madurai, July 13, 2011(PTI) The Centre plans to set up 30 food parks in various states with the aim of helping small and medium industries in the sector to grow, a senior official of the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) said.

The parks proposed to be set up by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries will help 20,000 small and medium industries engaged in the manufacture and processing of food products every year, IIP Director N C Saha said here.

Addressing a one-day workshop on packaging and processing of ethnic food here last evening, he said the proposed parks will help the country overcome the problems of inadequate storage facilities and damage suffered during transport due to improper packaging.

Saha said the size of the food processing industry was likely to grow from USD 200 billion at present to USD 310 billion by 2015. Though India was the leader in production of several food products, it accounted for only 1.5 per cent of global trade.

He said the IIP, a national enterprise set up by the Indian packaging and allied industry and the Ministry of Commerce to improve the standards of packaging, proposed to establish two more centres at Ahemedabad and Guwahati in order to promote packaging technology.

Saha said the only way to control prices of food products was to process and preserve them without any wastage.

Scientist S K Vel, the principal of the Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, said packaging prevented physical damage of food products and increased their shelf life.

New Delhi, July 13, 2011(PTI) Leading auto component-maker Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd (MSSL) today said it will acquire an 80 per cent stake in Germany's Peguform Group from Cross Industries AG for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition will be carried out jointly with group firm Samvardhana Motherson Finance Ltd, the company said.

"At the meeting held on July 13, 2011, the board of directors of MSSL has in-principle approved the proposal to (jointly with Samvardhana Motherson Finance Limited) acquire 80 per cent of the shareholding of Peguform Group, Germany, from Cross Industries AG,"it said.

Cross industries would continue to hold a 20 per cent shareholding, the statement added.

The acquisition would be carried out through a special purpose vehicle in which MSSL will hold 51 per cent and Samvardhana Motherson Finance Ltd will hold a 49 per cent share, it said.

This SPV would acquire 80 per cent of the shares of Peguform Group, while 20 per cent of the shares would remain with the existing shareholder, Cross Industries AG.

"This (the acquisition) would also include 50 per cent holding in Wethje Carbon Composite, which is a part of Cross Industries,"it said.

These acquisitions are subject to regulatory and other approvals, as may be necessary in this regard.

Commenting on the acquisition, Samvardhana Motherson Group (SMG) Chairman and MSSL Vice-Chairman V C Sehgal said:"Apart from the synergies that SMG would bring to the acquired entity, the product range of Peguform complements our polymer product range in India. There are obvious synergies in terms of customers served which will further strengthen the position of the group as a global module supplier to automotive OEMs."

He said the deal would be closed by September-October.

"We will announce the value then only,"he told reporters here, adding that the acquisition would be funded through debt, for which it has tied up with a consortium of Indian banks.

Peguform is a leading full service supplier of differentiated high quality interior and exterior products for the automotive and related industries. It is into the development, manufacture and distribution of bumper systems, plastic components for vehicle exteriors, vehicle cockpits, dashboards and vehicle interior trims.

Peguform has a strong presence in Europe, supplying to major premium German brands. Cross Industries AG is an Austrian industrial holding company with a strategic and operative focus on the automotive sector.

Sehgal said Peguform is expected to close this calendar year with revenue of 1.6 billion euros

MSSL scrips were trading at Rs 235 apiece at noon on the BSE, down 1.82 per cent from their previous close.

Mumbai, July 13, 2011(PTI) Public sector lender UCO Bank today said it is eyeing a two-fold growth in total business to Rs 6 lakh crore by FY'16 through customer acquisition and network expansion.

The bank's total business stood at Rs 2.45 lakh crore as of March, 2011, and the Kolkata-based bank wants to take this to Rs 3.5 lakh crore by March, 2013, and Rs 6 lakh crore by March, 2016, field General Manager R K Agrawal said here.

It is also looking to raise the number of its branches to 4,000 by March, 2016, from 2,239 now and its automated teller machine (ATM) network to 5,000 from the current 681, he added.

Over the next five years, the bank is targeting an increase in the number of account holders to 4.8 crore from 140 crore at present

A thrust will also be on overseas branches, Agrawal said, but refused to give more details. At present, the bank has two branches each in Hong Kong and Singapore and has a representative office in both Malaysia and mainland China, Agarwal said.

As part of its drive to raise low-cost current and savings account (CASA) deposits, the bank has joined its peer IDBI Bank to waive charges on a slew of transactions like making demand drafts, payment orders, fund transfers, etc.

UCO Bank expects its CASA ratio to move up to 35 per cent from 24 per cent through the special drive, christened,'Total Freedom', Agrawal said.

The waiver will be operational for 174 days from July 11 to December 31 this year and the bank aims to open 25 lakh accounts as part of the drive, he added.

State-run IDBI Bank, which was also plagued by a low CASA ratio, had launched a similar scheme last September, following which its CASA ratio moved up.

The CASA ratio of banks like UCO Bank is dwarfed by other public sector banks like State Bank of India, whose CASA deposits are around 50 per cent, which helps in profitability.

Kochi, July 14, 2011(PTI) Leading consumer electronics company LG Electronics India Private Ltd (LGEIL) is targeting an all-India sales turnover of Rs 20,000 crore this calendar year, a top official said today.

Apollo Hospitals today said it has initiated a share sale to qualified institutional buyers to raise up to Rs 330 crore, which the firm plans to use for expansion purposes.

The company, which has fixed the floor price of the issue at Rs 491.29 per equity share, started the placement of shares with qualified institutional buyers from July 14.

"We are expecting a robust sale of shares in the QIP issue,"Apollo Hospitals Chief Financial Officer Akhileswaran Krishnan told media.

He said the process would be closed by Monday and would result in equity dilution of about 5 per cent.

Nomura Financial Advisory&Securities (India), Enam Securities and Citibank are the managers to the share sale, he added.

Krishnan said the Rs 330 crore to be raised through the QIP issue would be used to part-fund a Rs 1,100 crore investment to add another 2,400 beds by March, 2014.

"The rest of the capital would be raised through debt and internal accruals,"he added.

Under the expansion plan, the company has already invested nearly Rs 270 crore, he added.

Asked by when the company would tie up the rest of the funds, he said:"We would wait for market conditions to improve and interest rates to soften to raise the rest of the funds through debt."

Apollo Hospitals operates over 8,500 beds across 54 hospitals in the country.

Shares of Apollo Hospitals were being quoted at Rs 499 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange in late afternoon trade today, up 0.82 per cent from their previous close.

Reliance Industries has said its eastern offshore KG-D6 gas field development cost is much less than what Gujarat government company GSPC and state-owned ONGC are spending on projects in the vicinity of its KG basin find.

Reliance had in 2004 proposed a USD 2.4 billion investment for producing 40 million cubic metres per day of gas from 5.32 trillion cubic feet of reserves in the D1/D3 fields of the KG-D6 block. Later, in 2006, it revised the capital expenditure requirement to USD 5.2 billion in Phase-I for producing a higher 80 mmscmd of gas from 11.3 tcf of reserves.

Replying to a draft audit report of the CAG, which said that the increase in field cost would mean a lower profit take for the government, Reliance said,"It has set a benchmark for the lowest project costs across the world."

Its cost estimates for producing gas from the deepsea KG-D6 block are the lowest even in comparison to shallow water projects.

"Oil and Natural Gas Corp's block KG-D5 in vicinity, with a discovery made in 2001, has 1.9 tcf of gas reserves with an estimated development cost of USD 7.7 billion, for which a development plan is under preparation.

"Gujarat State Petroleum Corp's (GSPC) shallow water block in the same basin, which had a discovery in 2003, is estimated to cost USD 2 billion to develop 1.4 tcf,"it said.

ONGC's KG-D5 block sits next to Reliance's KG-D6 area, where the first discovery was made in 2002. While Reliance took six years to bring KG-D6 gas on to production, even after 10 years of the first discovery, ONGC has not yet been able to put together a development plan.

Reliance said the allegations that government revenue interests have been affected by the'gold-plating'are completely false. The New Exploration Licencing Policy, under which Reliance had won the KG-D6 block in 2000, brought an end to the'cost plus regime', where firms got a fixed return on all the capital they invested.

Under NELP, a contractor like Reliance"never benefits by an increase in costs,"it said, adding it was imperative to view the revenue interest of the government from the point of view of the contribution of the project to the nation.

"Needless to say, inspite of all the noise, the draft CAG report has found nothing to suggest that Reliance indulged in'gold-plating'viz that Reliance placed orders on its own affiliates at inflated costs or that payments made to vendors came back to Reliance,"the voluminous 250-page response said.

After an extensive and detailed audit process, in which eight CAG officials spent six months on Reliance premises,"CAG does not state that any evidence exists to support any case that the contract cost has been dishonestly inflated.

New Delhi (17 Jul ,2011),(pti). In the thick of controversy surrounding the 2G spectrum allocation, Uninor, a JV between Unitech Wireless and Norway's Telenor, has approached Telecom Ministry seeking additional 1.8 Mhz radio waves in eight circles, based on subscriber-linked criteria.

"We have submitted application to DoT seeking additional 1.8 Mhz spectrum on the basis of enhanced subscriber-linked criteria for our GSM-based services in eight circles,"Uninor South Asian Head Sigve Brekke said.

Uninor, the brand of the joint venture between the Norwegian Telenor Group and Indian real estate player Unitech, operates in 13 circles and claims to have reached a subscriber base to get 6.2 Mhz of 2G spectrum.

The company has start-up spectrum of 4.4 Mhz allotted at the time of licence in 2008.

Last year, DoT had accepted the recommendation made by telecom regulator Trai to allot additional spectrum on subscriber-base linked criteria.

Uninor has 27 million subscribers and is adding around 16 lakh customers every month. By the year end, it expects to take its base to 30 million plus users and up to 50 million next year, Brekke added.

Uninor is confident of telecom ministry processing its additional spectrum request, saying that it qualifies for the same."Our eight circles now stand qualified for additional spectrum. We have just pipped one more competitor in West Bengal,"Brekke said.

Though Uninor does not see any consolidation in the Indian market, it has plans to grow organically - that is enhancing the company's scale of operations."We want to grow organically and are catching up with our competitors,"he said.

Brekke, however, did not rule out acquisition."We are open for acquisitions, but that's not mandatory to make our business profitable. We will look at it if it makes financial sense. For now, our focus is on organic growth or scaling up our operations."

On profitability, he said, Uninor is eyeing to break even by the first half of 2013.

Uninor holds a pan-India UAS license to offer mobile telephony services in each of India's 22 circles. It is yet to receive spectrum in some circles including Delhi, J&K, Rajasthan, Assam and North East.

Uninor services are available in the 13 circles of UP (West), UP (East), Bihar, Orissa, Kolkata, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

New Delhi, July 17, 2011(PTI) Mobile commerce company Beam plans to invest Rs 500 crore for expansion of its business across India by March, 2012.

"By March, 2012, we will invest Rs 500 crore for pan-India expansion of our business,"Beam Chairman and Managing Director Anand Shrivastav told PTI.

The funds will come from oversees investors in the company, Shrivastav added.

Beam provides mobile payment services for electronically transferring money from mobile to mobile.

"There is no need to download any software for transferring money. The user just can transfer money or pay utility bills, grocery shop or mobile phone bills by sending an SMS, IVRS or through our website,"Shrivastav said.

Under this mobile payment service, user need to register once with Beam and for the service, he should have money in his Beam account which can be loaded using a credit or debit card or a Beam recharge voucher.

User can transfer money from mobile to mobile or pay bills by send an SMS in the format set by the company or using an interactive voice response service and through the Beam website.

"Except Airtel, all mobile phones can be recharged using Beam service. We have an automatic system that recognises the telecom operator from the mobile number and recharges the phone in a couple of minutes from the time our system receives the command,"Shrivastav explained.

Shrivastav said the company has a network of 50,000 retailers and 20,000 registered merchants till date.

"We make payment to registered merchants at every fix cycle. In case of travel tickets and big transactions, it is done the same day. For very small transactions, we do it within three days, excluding the day of the transaction,"Shrivastav said.

Started in 2009, the company says it has over 50 lakh customers across 305 districts in the country where it is present. Shrivastav expects Beam to double its user base by March, 2012.

New Delhi, July 17, 2011(PTI) Bharti airtel, which operates through a joint venture with government-owned TCIL in the Rajasthan circle, is facing severe criticism for denying a dividend to the telecom PSU despite earning profits for many years.

Bharti Hexacom Limited, in which a 70 per cent stake is owned by Bharti and 30 per cent by government-owned Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL), had earned a net profit of over Rs 700 crore in 2009-10 and its profit is likely to have been around Rs 650 crore last fiscal.

TCIL has invested over Rs 106 crore in Bharti Hexacom till date since 1995, but has not received any returns so far. According to official documents, the joint venture has been recording clean profits after tax since 2006-07.

A dividend has been denied on the ground that Bharti Hexacom Limited was using all internal generations for expansion of networks to keep pace with the intense competition in the market.

Asked how much dividend would have accrued to the government so far, TCIL officials declined to comment, but sources said it could be in the range of Rs 600-800 crore.

TCIL had also sought listing of the joint venture, but this proposal was rejected as TCIL did not have enough voting power on the board of the joint venture.

Sources pointed out that the genesis of this problem lies in the redrafted agreement and Articles of Association of the company in 2004. In fact, TCIL was earlier enjoying veto powers over decisions of the board, which were later diluted.

Bharti had resisted the proposal for listing the joint venture, saying its flagship company is already listed on the bourses and as per company rules, no subsidiary would be listed on a standalone basis.

In fact, Bharti had given TCIL the option to list its 30 per cent equity portion to arrive at a market price which can be used for selling its stake. To this, TCIL has put the ball back in Bharti's court, saying it was for them (the majority 70 per cent stakeholder) to get the right valuation from the market.

The TCIL board is meeting tomorrow and this issue, along with others, may come up for discussion.

TCIL is represented by two members on the board of Bharti Hexacom Limited and they have been raising the issue of a dividend at every board meeting, but have failed to get a favourable response.

The company had recently invited bids to sell its stake, but the process was halted in between as financial bids were not opened in the absence of any reserve price fixed by the government.

New Delhi, July 17, 2011(PTI) Mobile value-added services (VAS) firm Comviva today said it has partnered with music label companies -- GTech and Sangeeta -- in Bangladesh.

"Music is one application that has proved to be a major success with subscribers globally, with subscribers embracing various music-based services such as Ring Back Tones (RBT).

"Comviva has deep relationships with the content partner ecosystem within Bangladesh and has been managing it successfully for past several months to meet customer needs,"Comviva Vice President (South Asia) Milind Pathak said.

He added that the company plans to replicate its content management solution in Bangladesh.

"Bangladesh is quickly growing into a mobile powerhouse, with an increasing number of mobile subscribers, there is a massive demand for mobile content.

Although full-track downloads and music streaming are set to experience the sharpest growth, Ring Tones and Ring Back Tones are expected to remain the largest revenue generator,"GTech Proprietor Nazmul Haque Bhuiyan said.

Sangeeta library of Ringtones includes the popular Rock Bands of Bangladesh, albums of prominent and popular artists, latest bands, solo artists and Movie Music, Sangeeta Proprietor Md Salim Khan said.