The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	At 11.7%, industry’s Nov growth fastest in 2 yrs New Delhi, January 12 Belying market expectations, factory production in November expanded by 11.7 per cent, the fastest in 25 months, rekindling a debate on whether stimulus provided to spur the economy should continue. Part of the growth, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), is no doubt due to a low base of last year as factory production expanded by just 2.5 per cent a year ago, but it is mostly attributable to stimulus-driven demand.This is evident from the fact that manufacturing, main gainer from stimulus, grew by 12.7 per cent, driven by 37.3 per cent expansion in consumer durable goods like auto, refrigerators and televisions. HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua: “As regards stimulus, there could be some withdrawal on the indirect taxes side. This could be required to make up for the fiscal deficit.” “Industrial growth this year is going to be much better than last year....whether it will be 11.3 per cent for the next six months that is difficult to say,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said. In November, mining output grew by 10 per cent. However, electricity generation rose by just 3.3 per cent, which could in fact apply brakes to industrial growth in future. In quite contrast to consumer durables, consumer non-durables production rose by just 3.1 per cent in November against 12.4 per cent a year ago.Intermediate goods expanded by 19.4 per cent against negative 3.9 per cent, capital goods by 12.2 per cent against 0.5 per cent, basic goods by 6 per cent against 2.2 per cent.For the first eight months of this fiscal, industrial growth stood at 7.6 per cent against 4.1 per cent a year ago. However, belying better-than-expected industrial growth in November, the Sensex closed lower by 104.20 points 17,422.51 points. “I would certainly hope (the trend of IIP growth to continue). I don't see any reason why it should not continue,” the Cabinet Secretary said. Growth numbers in November were more than expected as analysts were expecting industrial growth in the range of 9-10 per cent. With the third quarter likely to witness contraction in farm production, industrial recovery can make up for this decline and if services also remained robust, overall economic growth may certainly look to be quite high. “We will have to revise our GDP estimates for the year. It is currently 7 per cent, but we will revise 7.3 to 7.4 per cent,” Barua said.With surging food inflation likely to impact the overall rate of price rise, the RBI may now comfortably tighten liquidity. — PTI
	Infy Q3 net up, revises revenue forecast Shubhadeep Choudhury & PTI Tribune News Service Bangalore, January 12 Software major Infosys today reported a 2.7-per cent sequential growth in net profit at Rs 1,582 crore in the third quarter. The company, which raised its revenue guidance for the full year, however, saw its year-on-year net profit for the three months ended December 31, 2009, slide 3.6 per cent from Rs 1,641 crore, and revenue by 0.8 per cent from Rs 5,786 crore in the year-ago period. Infosys said it added 32 new clients in the quarter under review. Revenue for the October-December quarter saw a Q-o-Q growth of 2.8 per cent to Rs 5,741 crore. Encouraged by signs of global economy recovery, Infosys has revised upwards its revenue forecast for fiscal 2009-10. The software major today projected consolidated income of Rs 22,500 crore for this fiscal (FY 2010), indicating an average growth of 3.7 per cent over last year. “Global economic recovery seems to be led by the US and the financial services,” Infosys chief executive S Gopalakrishnan said in a press conference held at the Infosys facility in Mysore. When the third quarter (October-December) started, the company said its annual revenue would grow to Rs 22,000 crore or by 1.5 per cent YoY, as per the Indian Accounting Standard. Projections under the International Financial Regulatory System (IFRS) showed consolidated revenues for FY 2010 at $4.75 billion, a marginal growth of 2 per cent YoY, as against the earlier projection of $4.6 billion or 1 per cent YoY. While consolidate income for quarter under review (Q3) marginally declined by 0.8 per cent to Rs 5,741 crore from Rs 5,786 crore on YoY basis, it grew by 2.8 per cent sequentially. Contribution to the revenues from the top 10 clients of the company grew by 12.2 per cent during the quarter. The company beat its guidance of Rs 5,452 crore it gave for third quarter, projecting a decline of 5.8 per cent. The company and its subsidiaries added 32 clients for the quarter as against 35 in second quarter and 30 in the corresponding quarter last year. IT stocks zoom 3 pc MUMBAI: Shares of IT companies today gained over 3 per cent in the morning trade buoyed by good quarterly results of Infosys, despite a weak broader market. Shares of Infosys Technologies jumped 3.4 per cent to Rs 2,573 after the outsourcer reported a quarterly profit of Rs 1,582 crore, a dip of 3.6 per cent over that in the same quarter in 2008. TCS jumped 4.3 per cent to a high of Rs 745 on the BSE. Wipro rose by 3.82 per cent to Rs 687.5 and HCL Technologies was up 3.21 per cent at Rs 366.5.However, marketmen said the rising rupee could act as a dampener for the IT stocks going forward.
	I-T info covered under RTI Act Girja Shankar Kaura Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 12 In a ruling which is bound to have large ramifications on tax-payers, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled that information on income tax is not invasion of privacy and was valid under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The ruling was made by Information Commissioner Sailesh Gandhi on an application filed by a resident of Delhi, Rakesh Kumar Gupta, seeking all records available with the I-T Department, including assessment records of all levels with regard to Escorts Limited. The applicant had also sought information related to then Escorts chief Naresh Trehan. Gandhi ruled: “The concept of privacy is a cultural notion related to social norms, and different societies would look at these differently. Therefore, referring to laws of other countries to define privacy cannot be considered a valid exercise to constrain the citizen’s fundamental Right to Information in India”. However, he ruled that as per Section 8 (1) (b) of the Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen, information that has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court. In a move that would also possibly curb tax evasion, he said disclosure of information would not lead to unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual. Gandhi observed, “Parliament has not codified the right to privacy so far, hence, in balancing, the Right to Information of Citizens and the individual’s Right to Privacy, the Citizen’s Right to Information would be given greater weightage”. He agreed that the state had no right to invade the privacy of an individual, but pointed out that that there were some extraordinary situations where the state may be allowed to invade the privacy of a citizen. On arguments that revealing the information related to Naresh Trehan was personal, the CIC said: “Various public authorities in performing their functions routinely ask for personal information from citizens and this is clearly a public activity. When a person applies for a job, or gives information about himself as an employee, or asks for a permission, licence or authorisation, all these are public activities. Also, when a citizen provides information in discharge of a statutory obligation, this too is a public activity.
	Sops to exporters New Delhi, January 12 The government today announced incentives worth Rs 450-500 crore to promote exports of over 2,000 items and aggressively tap the big markets of Japan and China. The burden for providing these sops will be borne by the internal budget of the Commerce and Industry Ministry. As part of the package, fiscal incentives like duty free entitlements would be provided to more products, including auto component, electronics, plastics, machinery and chemicals, and also for exporting goods to Japan and China. "We hope these (incentives) will give a further boost to exports...will also help in recovery of the sectors which continue to show decline in exports," Sharma said, adding the incentives would come in force retrospectively from January 1. After remaining in the negative for past 13 months, exports turned positive in November and December following demand recovery in some of the major economies. The incentives to exporters come at a time when the Finance Ministry has opined against the possibility of providing fresh stimulus and is likely to focus on curbing fiscal deficit during the forthcoming Budget. — PTI
	Bharti Airtel acquires Warid Telecom New Delhi, January 12 Expanding its international footprint, India's largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel today agreed to acquire a majority 70 per cent stake in Bangladesh's Warid Telecom for $300 million (about Rs 1,360 crore). This is the second country in the SAARC (eight-country economic and political grouping) region that the company has entered. Last January, Airtel launched services in Sri Lanka. Warid Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dhabi Group, offers services across all 64 districts of Bangladesh and has over 2.9 million users, Bharti Airtel statement said. In India, Bharti Airtel boasts of over 110 million users. As per the agreement, Bharti Airtel will make a fresh investment of $300 million to rapidly expand Warid's operations and will have management and board control. This is the largest investment in Bangladesh by an Indian company. Dhabi Group will continue as a strategic partner retaining 30 per cent shareholding and have their nominees on the board of the company. “This landmark deal underlines our intent to further expand our operations to international markets where we can implant our unique business model and offer quality and affordable telecom services... we would like to thank the Government of India and Bangladesh for their support and encouragement,” Mittal said. This is Bharti's first international buyout since its failed multi-billion dollar bid for South Africa's MTN last year. Commenting on the deal, Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, chairman, Dhabi Group said: “We are pleased to partner Bharti Airtel and believe this partnership will bring benefits to all stakeholders, most importantly the customers of Warid Telecom.” The acquisition by Bharti Airtel would be partly by purchase of existing shares held in Warid Telecom by Dhabi Group for a nominal consideration and balance by way of issue of fresh shares at par, the statement said. — PTI
	EGoM fails to resolve 3G spectrum issues New Delhi, January 12 Differences over number of private players to be allowed to offer 3G mobile services continue within the government as an empowered ministers' panel today failed to reach at any consensus. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, met here to finalise the notice inviting applications (NIA) from the potential operators to participate in the forthcoming auctioning for 3G spectrum. The EGoM had decided in its last meeting that four blocks of 3G spectrum would be auctioned whereas the draft NIA document projected only three blocks. The Defence, according to sources, has already vacated 10 MHz of spectrum and five more MHz would be released by August, so this make airwaves sufficient only for three private operators besides BSNL/MTNL. “Some of the issues were discussed at the EGoM. Still some of the issues between the Defence and the DoT are yet to be resolved. The chairman (Mukherjee) took all the views. He will decide. If necessary, another consultation will take place,” Telecom Minister A Raja told reporters after the meeting. Asked whether the time line for auction of 3G spectrum would be pushed further, the minister said: “As of now it has not been pushed ... there are a number of areas of differences... it will be resolved.” The government had earlier said spectrum auction would take place for four slots on January 14. But differences with the Finance Ministry over payment schedule and the Defence Ministry over spectrum release led to the delay.The Finance Ministry is expecting Rs 35,000 crore from the 3G spectrum auction and had budgeted for the current fiscal to bridge the fiscal deficit. — PTI
	MTNL boss Sinha quits Tribune News Service & PTI New Delhi, January 12 MTNL chairman and managing director RSP Sinha has resigned from his post, but the surprise move came in the midst of a controversy over his alleged involvement in a decade-old case of favouritism in an equipment order to Motorola. According to sources, Sinha, who was on a three-month extension, failed to secure a fresh term from the Prime Minister's Office. "Yes, I have put in my papers," Sinha said but did not speak about the reasons for stepping down. At the time of the signing of the equipment contract, Sinha was director (Finance) with MTNL. Telecom Minister A Raja said: “His tenure came to an end and he (Sinha) did not get further extension.” Asked about the ongoing CBI enquiry against him, the minister declined to comment. According to sources, Sinha who went to attend MTNL's board meeting yesterday received a call from Telecom Secretary PJ Thomas asking him to step down, and then he left the venue even before the meeting started. Sinha was on an ad-hoc extension after completing his five-year tenure in September last year. His name was forwarded before the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) for a fresh term till September 2011. Meanwhile, a CBI special court refused to accept the closure report filed on his alleged involvement in the Rs 150-crore deal with Motorola. The ACC had put its decision on hold till the the final outcome of the case.
	Hike in petrol prices likely New Delhi, January 12 Petrol prices may go up by Rs 3 a litre if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a meeting tomorrow accepts the Petroleum Ministry's proposal to free pricing of petrol while gradually increasing the diesel rates. The Prime Minister is scheduled to review the financial health of oil PSUs at a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Petroleum Minister Murli Deora tomorrow. “The Petroleum Ministry is likely to propose deregulation of petrol prices and gradual phasing out of subsidies on diesel to ease burden on public sector oil marketing companies," a source said. The government has not allowed IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum to raise rates of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene despite the cost of raw material (crude oil) jumping to $82 per barrel. The firms are projected to lose Rs 44,300 crore in revenues on fuel sale.The three firms sell petrol at a loss of Rs 3.06 a litre, diesel at Rs 1.56 per litre, kerosene at a loss of Rs 17.23 per litre and LPG at a discount of Rs 299.01 a cylinder. — PTI OilMin seeks bonds Fearing fuel retailers may report losses in third quarter, the Petroleum Minister is seeking Rs 30,000 crore bonds to make up for the losses they incurred on selling LPG and kerosene this fiscal.