Nath against job cuts

New Delhi, Nov. 9: Commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath has asked India Inc not to boost profits by firing staff. Within a week of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaking his mind to the industry captains, Nath said, “Employees on the roll must be retained.” In a television interview, Nath said he did not agree that IT firms such as Wipro, Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computer Services could come under pressure. However, he agreed that fresh creation of jobs might be impacted.

SAIL output

Rourkela, Nov. 9: Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is likely to cut production from its Rourkela steel plant as demand for the metal in the global markets has considerably reduced. The unit’s sales started declining from October 2008, thus piling up its stock position.

BSNL cash

Calcutta, Nov. 9: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) expects capital expenditure for the 93 million new GSM line contracts to be lower than the projected cost of Rs 40,000 crore because of the global financial crisis. “Under present conditions of falling commodity prices, we expect some benefit in cost,” company CMD Kuldeep Goyal said.

Asean pact

New Delhi, Nov. 9: Political problems in Thailand are unlikely to come in the way of India signing a trade pact with the 10-nation Southeast Asian economic bloc during the India-Asean summit on December 17. “If a country is unable to complete its domestic procedure, it will sign it later. The rest will sign on the scheduled date,” an official said.

Brand tax

New Delhi, Nov. 9: According to a recent ruling by the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, an Indian arm of a foreign firm is liable to pay tax on income earned from providing technical solutions under the overseas company’s brand.

BoB venture

New Delhi, Nov. 9: The Bank of Baroda (BoB)has said its life insurance venture with the UK-based Legal and General Group was expected to start in the first quarter of the next fiscal.

Export target

New Delhi, Nov. 9: Exports are likely to miss the target of $200 billion by 20 per cent this fiscal as current economic conditions have severely affected shipments, industry body Assocham said in a study.