Tata Motors will increase prices of its commercial vehicles by up to 2% on account of the new emission norms that will be implemented from April

Tata Motors Ltd on Tuesday said that it will increase prices of its commercial vehicles by up to 2% on account of the new emission norms that will be implemented from April, reports PTI.

"Prices can go up by 1%-2% of the total vehicle cost. New emission norms require new technologies, therefore the prices will have to go up," Tata Motors president for commercial vehicles Ravi Pisharody told reporters in New Delhi.

Passenger cars and commercial vehicles will switch to Bharat Stage IV emission norms in 13 cities, while the rest of the country will become Bharat Stage III compliant.

However, the company's managing director for India operations PM Telang declined to comment on the quantum of increase on passenger vehicles and said, "There will be an increase in prices of passenger vehicles but I cannot comment further right now."

Another commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland Ltd too has announced a price hike of up to 15% for its vehicles before the new emission norms come into effect.
 

SAT has adjourned the hearing on the Pyramid Saimira petition to 30th March

A two-member bench  of the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on the Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd (PSTL) petition, challenging an order of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that debarred it from trading in the markets for seven years, to 30th March.

The Chennai-based entertainment chain operator was banned from accessing the capital markets by SEBI last November following irregularities in its initial public offering (IPO) during 2006.

The market regulator had restrained PSTL from dealing in securities in any manner whatsoever or accessing the securities market directly or indirectly.

SEBI had found that during the IPO, PSTL allotted 98.5% of shares reserved under the employee category to seven persons who were not its employees and sold the same and made collective profits of Rs2.31 crore.
 

Notwithstanding recent challenges, the long-term prospects for the Indian IT services industry are healthy, given India’s competitive strengths in outsourcing, the benefits of the global delivery model, and customers’ focus on cost reduction, the ratings agency has said

Ratings agency CRISIL said that it believes that Indian IT service providers have strong long-term prospects and that they are well positioned to benefit from the gradual improvement in demand, as key markets like the US and Europe show signs of economic revival.

Pawan Agrawal, director, CRISIL Ratings said, “CRISIL-rated Indian IT service providers have responded to a challenging business environment by enhancing operational efficiency, diversifying their business profiles, enhancing risk-management practices, and maintaining strong liquidity.”

Notwithstanding recent challenges, the long-term prospects for the Indian IT services industry are healthy, given India’s competitive strengths in outsourcing, the benefits of the global delivery model, and customers’ focus on cost reduction.

However, the revival of demand may be gradual, as the economies in key markets remain fragile and discretionary IT spending by customers may remain subdued over the medium term, the ratings agency said.

CRISIL said that Indian IT service providers have focused on increasing the proportion of fixed-price contracts, changing effort mix in favour of offshore operations over onsite, and improving manpower utilisation. Players have also begun to increasingly focus on high-end services such as infrastructure management and enterprise applications, which have higher margins than traditional low-end application development and maintenance services. Furthermore, most players have maintained low gearing and robust liquidity in the form of substantial cash and bank balances and liquid investments, it added.

“Given the measures implemented by IT service providers, their healthy long-term growth prospects, and strong financial risk profiles, there have been no downward revisions in the ratings of CRISIL-rated IT service providers despite the weak business environment, though a few rating outlooks have been revised downwards," said Sudip Sural, head, CRISIL Ratings, in a release.