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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4997)	7/8/1999 12:12:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

Bank of India launches Gold Card with Visa (Thursday, July 8, 1999) Our Banking Bureau in Mumbai (Business Standard) Bank of India has launched its Gold Card in association with Visa International. It is a premium credit card targeted at high net-worth clientele. The card's features include a cash withdrawal of Rs 10,000, revolving credit facility, a spending limit of Rs 5 lakh, two add-on cards for family members and personal accident insurance cover of Rs 8 lakh for air travel. The bank offers a 'no liability' promise on a lost card from the time the customer informs the bank about the loss of the card. The card was launched by Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons at a function here in Mumbai. Present at the function were A T Pannir Selvam, Chairman Union Bank of India and Rahul Khosla, Country manager Visa International. While welcoming the launch of the card, Pannir Selvam cautioned that many banks were faced with overdues on card payments and urged the bank of India to ensure that it chose it's customers with care. S Rajagopal, chairman and managing director of Bank of India, speaking on the occasion, said that the Indian credit card market was rated as one of the world's fastest growing markets. He said that the Bank of India would be issuing global cards after obtaining the necessary RBI approvals and as soon as on-line authorisation facilities are in place. Photo cards with the photograph and signature of the cardholder would also be issued soon, he said. The Bank of India has four other card products -- the India Card, the Taj Premium card issued in 1990 in association with the Taj Group of hotels, the Navy Card issued to Indian Navy officers and the BoI automated teller machine card issued since 1997.

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4997)	7/8/1999 12:16:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 12475

Bangalore airport a big draw; Reliance, Hindujas, Hochtief and UK Airports Authority in fray Hinduja Group hindujagroup.com Reliance ril.com (Thursday, July 8, 1999) Anjuli Bhargava in New Delhi Reliance Industries, the Hindujas (through group company Ashok Leyland), German construction company Hochtief and airport authority of the UK are among the investors interested in the proposed Bangalore airport project. Confirming the interest shown by these groups, civil aviation ministry officials said the deadline for expression of interest had been extended to July 28 from end-June. In response to a faxed questionnaire, a Reliance spokesperson in Delhi said "the company would not like to comment". The officials said these groups had held discussions with the Karnataka government and the Karnataka State Industrial Development Corporation in Bangalore. Hochtief executives had also met the ministry officials in Delhi. The company recently built the Athens airport and is bidding for the airport projects in Dusseldorf and Berlin. Civil aviation minister Ananth Kumar told Business Standard that it was wrong to think that very few large groups will associate themselves with the project after the Tatas pulled out. In fact, he was of the view that the Tatas may even come back again. The officials said there was a problem over participation by the Hindujas through Ashok Leyland. According to the criteria, the private parties should have completed a certain number of years in one of the infrastructure sectors or completed an infrastructure project worth a specified amount. Ashok Leyland does not fulfil this condition. However, the officials said it was a small problem which could be overcome and the Hindujas, as a group, would not face a problem. The officials said the companies in any case would form various consortiums before putting in their final bids. For instance, it could be possible that the Hindujas may consider coming in with the UK airports authority. Earlier, the group had evinced interest in the Mumbai airport. A faxed questionnaire to Ashok Leyland officials in Chennai was not answered. The Airports Authority of India's (AAI) contribution in the form of equity and equipment in the proposed airport is expected to be around Rs 50 crore. The project cost has now being pegged at Rs 1,000 crore. The officials said a debt-to-equity ratio of 60:40 is being weighed. ILFS is finalising the tender documents. They said it was unlikely that the new partners would be appointed and actual work would begin before next year. It has been decided that landing and parking charges can be determined by the new company, subject to the Central government's approval. Commercial charges like lease rentals etc will be left to the new company and overflying and related charges will be left to AAI. A letter has been sent by the Centre to the state government specifying the parameters for various charges and levies for operating the airport. A letter has also been sent saying that the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd airport will be closed for civil operations except for small aircraft and VVIP flights and emergency movements.