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Indiainfo e-shopping deal with Citibank

MUMBAI: Portal network Indiainfo.com on Tuesday announced it had tied up with Citibank to provide online shopping to Citibank account holders.

Citibank bank account holders and Citibank Suvidha account holders can shop online at Indiainfo.com using the Citibank account as their payment option, said a news release from Indiainfo.

This facility will soon be available to Citibank credit card holders.

``Payments will be done on the Citibank Internet Banking site under 128-bit encryption with H-PIN (Internet Banking Password),'' said the news release.

Indiainfo.com said it offered a range of shopping items ranging from books to music, and from stationery to computers.

SBI gold scheme collects 2.5 tonnes

MUMBAI: The Gold Deposit Scheme of the State Bank of India (SBI) which was launched on November 19, 1999, has collected 2.5 tonnes of gold so far, according to Mr. Yogesh Agarwal, Deputy General Manager, Gold Banking.

``The expectations of the scheme according to our Chairman was 100 tonnes a year,'' Mr. Agarwal said.

The scheme, which was started in Delhi, was to be offered by 50 branches across the country. As of now, the scheme has yet to be introduced in the South, Mr. Agarwal said.

IDBI-assisted cos post profits

MUMBAI: A sample of IDBI-assisted companies posted a 36.6 per cent growth in net profit in the first nine months of 1999-2000, according to a press release issued by the IDBI. The sample covering 416 companies, forms about 25 per cent of the total exposu re of IDBI to the corporate sector, a senior official of IDBI told Business Line here today.

The over-all nine-month performance has been aided by a sharp increase in profits, both at the gross and net level. The gross profit increased by 33.6 per cent in the third-quarter, while for the nine months as a whole it increased by 23.8 per cent. Simi larly, net profit shot up by 60 per cent in the third quarter. Interest expenses increased by 13.8 per cent. The share of interest in the total cost of production (including interest) at 6.8 per cent remained at the previous year's level.

Of the 31 industry groups, 23 registered a growth in net profit. The eight industry groups that registered a decline in profits are fertilisers, cement, food products, tyres and tubes, electrical machinery, electrical generation, cables and petroleum pro ducts. _ Our Bureau