Business In Mumbai To Be Affected By Bandh

Business in Mumbai will come to a halt on Thursday on account of Bharat bandh called by the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the two radical factions of the Sangh Parivar.

A number of companies have re-scheduled their programmes. Top executives who have been out-of-station have decided to come back to Mumbai on Wednesday after changing their itinerary. The bandh call comes in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Swaminarain Temple in Gujarat in which 29 people were killed.

In view of the uncertainty regarding a smooth functioning of the securities markets on Thursday, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchanges (NSE) have decided to postpone the expiry or final settlement of derivative contracts by one day.

 

The derivative contracts (index futures and options, stock futures and options) were due to expire on September 27, the Securities and Exchange Board of India said in a release. Further, fresh month derivative contracts (those expiring in December 2002) will now be introduced on September 30.

Companies holding their annual general meetings (AGMs) on Thursday will be the most affected because they will not get enough time to communicate the change in the date to the shareholders if they want to postpone the meetings.

Corporates which had scheduled their AGMs tomorrow have however decided to go ahead. This includes Kotak Mahindra Finance and Mafatlal Finance. According to N R Divate, president and chief executive officer of Mafatlal Finance, it will hold the AGM tomorrow.

Some of the companies which have announced AGMs on Thursday are Piramal Spinning, Mysore Cements, German Remedies, Dunlop, Mafatlal Dyes and Nirlon.

A senior company executive said should an AGM be cancelled, it would have to be held in the next couple of days. "We are not sure what will happen in the next few days and hence do not wish to take any chances," an executive said.

Several press conferences and seminars scheduled for Thursday have also been postponed. Several corporates will have to work with a skeletal staff as the Shiva Sena has also called a Mumbai bandh. However, a majority of corporates seem to have decided to work as usual, at least officially.

Godrej Agrovet has cancelled its press conference to announce the launch of Real Good chicken Mini's pack and the brand mascot. Another leading company which has cancelled its press conference is Castrol India which is planning to unveil Castrol Power 1, India's first semi-synthetic engine oil for 4-stroke motorcycles.

The Indian Merchants Chamber-organised seminar on the future of India's reforms has also been postponed. The chamber is yet to announce a new date. Faber SpA of Italy has also joined the bandwagon of companies that have changed programmes. It has cancelled its press meeting.

Plethico Consumer Products, a division of Plethico Pharmaceuticals, has decided to postpone its press conference to September 27 from September 26, according to its official spokesperson.

However, CNBC India (in association with Sun Microsystems and SAP India) has not yet postponed its panel discussion on the pharma industry on Thursday. "We have not yet decided to postpone the event. However, depending on the market conditions, we will take a final decision on Thursday morning," a spokesperson close to CNBC said.