Unilever has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against the Reserve Bank of India's directive asking it to file a revised application for preferential allotment of shares in Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL). A notice to this effect was served on RBI on Friday. Bank officials confirmed this today. The application follows the move by Unilever to retain 51 per cent shareholding in HLL after the Tomco merger. The company proposed to make a preferential allotment of 29,84,347 shares to its foreign parent at a price of Rs. 105 (Rs. 10 plus Rs. 95 as premium.) The RBl had withheld the clearance to the scheme since the offer was at a huge discount to the market price prevailing then. HLL has argued that it was going by a revised formula for enabling the parent company to “raise its shareholding through a preferential allotment”.

Basu panel favours octroi

The Jyoti Basu Committee on octroi has suggested that unless alternative sources of revenue are made available, the abolition of octroi will lead to losses to State Governments. The committee, which was set up following strikes by truckers last year disrupting supply of essential commodities, felt octroi was essential for local administration to meet the increasing demands for basic facilities. Conceding that truckers were put to difficulties in the course of levying octroi, it said it was necessary to streamline the collection system. The committee said truckers were put to harassment by those at the collection centres and, therefore, felt the system followed by the Calcutta Corporation could be pursued under which payment would be made by those sending the goods and not by the transporter.

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