Mumbai, May 10
A forecasters survey carried out by the RBI pegged real GDP growth for the current fiscal at 8.1 per cent, weaker than 8.9 per cent projected three months ago and the inflation between 5.5 and 5.9 per cent.

The third round of the survey, released by the RBI indicated that the real GDP growth in first and second quarter was projected at 8.1 and 8.3 per cent, respectively. During the third quarter of current financial year, the GDP growth is placed at 8.1 per cent. The forecasters saw lower chance (25 per cent) that WPI inflation would fall in the range 5-5.4 per cent against their earlier forecast of 38 per cent. The probability assigned to the range of 5.5 to 5.9 per cent has been revised upwards from 15 per cent in the earlier survey to 19.3 per cent in the current survey.

Median forecasts for real GDP originating from agriculture, industry and services sectors in first quarter of 2008-09 are kept at 3, 8.4 and 10 per cent, respectively. These projections were down from 3, 9 and 10.3 per cent, respectively, in the last survey. For the second quarter also, the sectoral growth forecasts have been revised downwards. For the third quarter of current financial year, the forecasters have kept the growth rates at 2.9, 8.6 and 9.8, respectively.

The survey was the third 'Survey of Professional Forecasters' on major macro-economic indicators of short to medium-term economic developments carried out by RBI to gain from the professional expertise and experience of these forecasters. The Reserve Bank has also introduced such a survey from the second quarter ended September 2007 covering component-wise detailed forecasts of GDP growth, inflation, savings, capital formation, consumption expenditure, export, import, interest rates, Forex reserve, money supply, credit growth, stock market movements and corporate profit.

Long-term forecasts for real GDP during the next five years is projected at 8.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent for the next 10 years. Over the next five years, the forecasters expect WPI inflation to be 5 per cent, which is revised upwards from the last survey. CPI-IW inflation will average to 5.5 per cent, same as expected in last survey. Over the next ten years, the WPI and CPI-IW-based inflation are expected to be 4.5 and 5 per cent, respectively. — UNI

New York, May 10
Global banking giant Citigroup Inc, which has been battered by the subprime crisis, plans to sell assets worth $500 billion in the next two to three years.

Revealing Citigroup's future plans to investors and analysts today, its India-born CEO Vikram Pandit said many of these assets had attractive prices and the company was looking for risk reduction.

"We continue to believe in the right economic interest for the company," he said during a conference call with investors and analysts yesterday.

In the last two quarters, Citigroup has lost more than $14 billion primarily due to the US subprime crisis.

Earlier, Citigroup had posted 48 per cent drop in revenues at $13.22 billion during the first quarter of the current year, largely driven by significant write-downs in sub-prime related direct exposures in fixed income markets and highly leveraged finance commitments.

Citigroup is also aiming a revenue growth of about 9 per cent in the next two or three years.— PTI

New Delhi, May 10
With an eye on acquiring coal blocks and projects overseas, power major National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has sought a higher investment limit from the government. At present, the company can invest up to Rs 1,000 crore in any project or mines abroad, but ever since the commodity prices shot up, the corporation has felt that it needs to have a bigger war chest to go for acquisitions abroad, said a top company official.

The corporation has sought doubling of investment limit to Rs 2,000 crore, for which it has recently written to the power ministry. If approved by the Cabinet, the corporation, which is facing hurdles in acquiring coal blocks abroad, will be more armed to pick up stakes. “We are facing stiff competition from players from India when it comes to acquisitions abroad because private players outbid us and get the best blocks. If we need to have energy security, then we must be armed at least with funds,” said officials.

The company is looking at coal mines with a capacity to supply 20 million tonnes of coal annually and is eyeing mines in Mozambique and Indonesia. The company at present imports about two million tonnes of coal out of the total requirement of 110 million tonnes to fire its thermal power plants. The company needs about five million tonnes of coal for projects already planned and the balance would meet the fuel requirement of future projects.

The corporation is also a part of the newly created coal special purpose vehicle, Coal Ventures International Ltd. NTPC partners Steel Authority of India Ltd., Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd., Coal India Ltd. and National Mineral Development Corporation for coal hunt.

Call it 'technical snag' or a 'political hurdle', India is unlikely to receive an 'Air Force One' on a scheduled date in June this year.

Essentially, despite sensitivity of the aircraft, the deal is between Indian government and Boeing, but the US government has intercepted its 'political muscle'. The delivery date has been deferred. Maybe, more technical problems will surface and the deal is eventually cancelled. If it happens, it will be the most 'unprofessional' exercise.

The Indian government had signed the Rs 735-crore deal three years ago. The first of the three aircraft, fitted with Rs 202-crore Special Protection Suite (SPS) to ward off sensitive missile attacks, was scheduled to be delivered in June. But, the US government has suddenly placed uncalled for 'restrictions' on the export of the system.

Whatever the system's sensitivity, the restrictions, if any, should have been placed before or at the time of finalising the deal. To do so one month before the delivery of the aircraft shows something more than meets the eye.

If the deal is delayed, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will continue to make do with the existing system of utilising Boeing 737 aircraft which are operated by Air Force's communications unit.

The Embraer 135 Legacy Jets, bought four years ago, are fitted with sophisticated anti-missile gadgets, but they are relatively small aircraft. They are eight-seaters and often the VVIP movement comprises 20 or more officials and mediapersons.

The external affairs ministry and civil aviation ministry are said to be caught in a vex situation. The delay or cancellation will upset schedules of both civil and air force operations.

The Indian government is reportedly examining the MoU whether the deal signed can be amended at a later date.

Private airports

Is India ready for greenfield and private airports at this crucial juncture of time? The idea is good, according to aviation analysts. But, time is not yet ripe until all airports, international, national and others, have been rendered fully operational.

Two international airports at Delhi and Mumbai are being given facelift. The private developers are making lofty promises. But sadly they are mostly empty promises. The woes of passengers and users have multiplied. There is total chaos at Delhi airport. Nasty incidents and horrible accidents continue to occur.

The greenfield and private airports should be given green signal only after all renovation work is completed. It will be great if hospitals and industrialists have their own airports. But general aviation is in a murkier situation than civil aviation. Maintenance facilities in the country are negligible; there is acute shortage of pilots.

Keeping all factors in mind, it will be advisable if existing problems, including those of ATCs, are sorted out before initiation of greenfield and private airports is undertaken.

The expansion activities of private operators and developers are faster than government-backed operators. But some of the private agencies are taking more on their plates than they can chew.

New Delhi, May 10
Direct-to-home service provider Dish TV today said it would provide free set top boxes (STB) to its subscribers, a move to take on competitors, especially the new entrants like Reliance, Bharti and Videocon.

The company has announced a new scheme to drive business and expects to double the number of subscribers it adds every month. Based on the kind of package subscribers choose, the cost of a set top box which is currently priced at around Rs 2,500, will be either completely waived off or would be reduced to some extent.

"Every month the company adds around 90,000 subscribers to its current base of 31 lakh. With the new offer, we expect to double the number of that we add every month," Dish TV managing director Jawahar Goel told reporters.

He said the company would not bear any extra cost for running the scheme as, it would be covered up by adding extra number of subscribers per month.

The company, however, did not give details about the time frame, but the scheme was expected to be on for al teast 45 days.

A subscriber can get an STB free by paying Rs 4,000 for one year. There are also various other offers available.

A Zee Group company, Dish TV offers a bouquet of 185 channels and a host of value-added services like movies on demand, active sport, news and gaming.

The new scheme would be communicated to the masses through various media and would be propagated by the company's brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan. — PTI

Islamabad, May 10
Pakistan's cement exports to India have slowed down because of rising freight charges and non-availability of railway wagons despite increasing orders, say exporters.

Officials of the cement manufacturing companies in Pakistan told IANS that freight charges to India on cement had been increased by almost 200 per cent in the last two months.

They also said they were facing difficulty in getting wagons to export cement by train.

"The freight charge from Karachi port to an Indian port was just $3 per tonne about two months back, now it is $9," Saifuddin Khan, general manager marketing of Lucky Cement, told IANS.

He said there was no particular reason for the massive increase. "When the shipping lines realised that they can get business from Pakistan to India, they increased the price," he said.

Khan said his company had received more orders from India.

"Our cement is cheaper than Indian cement and the quality is much better," Khan said, adding that Lucky Cement was sending 40,000 tonnes cement to India every month.

Tasneem Ilyas, operation manager of SGS (Society General Surveillance), which inspects most of the cement consignments sent from Pakistan to India, admitted that cement export has slowed down but said he was not aware of the reason.

She said that most consignments were tested by her company for quality and the cement being exported to India "is of higher quality than the standards set and required by the Indians".

She said they were in touch with India's Minerals and Metals Trading Corp (MMTC).

With the export of cement, trade between the two countries has taken a significant step forward. At least five Pakistani companies approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) have started to export cement to India while five more manufacturers have applied for certification.

Cement goes to India by sea route or train. The traders want both the governments to allow road transport as well.— IANS

Dehra Dun, May 10
The Uttarakhand government will launch 'Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna' in August this year. The Government of India scheme aims at providing health insurance cover to below poverty line (BPL) workers.

This pilot project, in its first phase, will initially be launched in two districts, namely Dehra Dun and Uddham Singh Nagar. In the second phase, i.e. in 2009-10, three more districts will be included. This process will continue till all districts are covered.

The scheme will benefit workers of the unorganised sector, who fall under the BPL category.

Speaking to The Tribune, chief development officer, Dehra Dun district, BVRC Purushottam, informed, "The workers belonging to BPL category and their five family members will be the beneficiaries of the cover (a sum of Rs 30,000 per annum)."

He said the workers would be given a hi-tech smart card by the Development Office from June 1. The beneficiary will pay a sum of Rs 30 per year as registration fee.

The central government would contribute 75 per cent of the annual premium and the rest 25 per cent will be borne by the state government.

Purushottam further said, "There are approximately 55,000 families who are listed in Dehra Dun district".

Q. I put Rs 10,000 in my PF account every month which compounds at 8%. My friends tell me that Banks and Post Offices pay more than a PF account. I am attracted to PF because of the power of compounding, over the long term. In your opinion, am I doing the right thing?

— Shyamlal