Mumbai, October 8
More than two years after the rupee rose to Rs 38 against the dollar, hurting export-oriented industries like IT, textiles and others, a strong domestic currency is once again returning to haunt the country’s biggest employers.

Analysts say exporters will be really worried if the rupee breaches Rs 44. Earlier this week, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industries warned that realisations of exporters will begin to fall sharply if the rupee appreciates against the greenback.

Spice exporters from Kerala petitioned the state government to press for urgent intervention by the Central government and the Reserve Bank of India to arrest rupee’s rise.

The Apparel Export Promotion Council has demanded that rising rupee would badly hurt the industry which employs 12 million people. “Not only are exports becoming uncompetitive, India is being flooded by cheaper imports,” Premal Udani, Chairman, AEPC told reporters.

At a meeting with textiles officials ministry, members of the AEPCwarned that Indian exporters faced threats from other countries. An exporter said Bangladesh was selling textiles at 40 per cent lower rates and there was no danger of currency appreciation there.

IT sector biggies like Infosys and TCS have warned that a soaring rupee could badly dent their margins in the next few quarters.

Analysts say the near-term outlook for the rupee is North-bound as foreign inflows chase the fast-growing Indian economy.

Foreign Institutional Investors have pumped in more than $ 20 bn in the current financial year and more funds are expected in the wake of big-ticket IPOs by Coal India and other companies, analysts said. Brokerages estimates suggest Coal India alone may attract more than $2 bn in applications by foreign investors.

The RBI has already expressed its concern at inflow of foreign funds impacting currency management. RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn had said that the country’s economy was threatened by capital inflows and the central bank was working towards dealing with it.

London, October 8
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp has said it would issue its response to Cairn Energy's plans to controlling stake in its Indian unit to Vedanta Resources ‘very soon’.

The company is also in talks with the Indian government about the royalties it must pay on the fields it co-owns with Cairn India , and hopes that it will find an outcome which limits its liability — potentially at the expense of Cairn or Vedanta.

"We have been raising that issue... we are in discussions with the petroleum mnistry and the fnance mnistry," said Chairman RS Sharma.

"I'm very positive that we will be able to get a solution to our satisfaction."

Following an exemption offered some years ago to encourage companies to explore in India, Cairn is not liable for royalties, while ONGC must pay royalties on the oil blocks.

Indian media have reported that ONGC would either like the royalties it pays to be reduced or for Vedanta to share the burden.

Any move to force Vedanta to pay royalties could prompt it to cancel or renegotiate the sale, which was approved by over 99 percent of Cairn shareholders who voted at an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday.

Sharma said ONGC had been talking to its lawyers about the matter. — Reuters

New Delhi, October 8
Domestic passenger car sales rose 30.38 per cent to 1,69,082 units in September from 1,29,684 units in the same month last year. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has said that the auto industry was poised for moderate growth in the December quarter.

SIAM said motorcycle sales in the country grew 15.50 per cent to 7,78,352 units from 6,73,893 units in the same month last year.

Total two-wheeler sales in September rose 19.93 per cent to 10,05,162 units from 8,38,152 units in September 2009.

Commercial vehicles sale jumped 29.56 per cent to 59,455 units from 45,889 units in the year-ago period, SIAM said.

Total sales of vehicles across categories registered 21.63 per cent growth to 13,29,086.

President Pawan Goenka said that the industry should expand 18-20 per cent this fiscal. 

Hyderabad, Oct 8
Environmentalists and farmer organisations are up in arms against a thermal power project being taken up by the Hinduja Group in coastal Andhra Pradesh.

As Hindujas lobby hard for additional land for the 1,040-Mw coal-based project in Visakhapatnam district, being taken up as merchant plant, environmentalists are opposing it on the grounds that the plant falls within the Coastal Regulation Zone. They added its ash pond was also in close vicinity of fisher folk habitation.

“Of 1,122 acres alienated for the project, 733 acres come under the ambit of CRZ,” noted environmental activist and former Union Power Secretary EAS Sarma said.

Opposition TDP, BJP, CPI and CPI (M) also raised objections over the way the Congress government was doling out favours to Hinduja Group at the cost of the livelihood of local farmers.

“Nearly 2,000 families dependent on farming will be displaced. The pollution from the plant will play havoc with the lives of local people,” Visakhapatnam district secretary of CPI (M) Ch

Narsing Rao said. He added 29 villages would be affected.

Hinduja Group would now be allowed to sell 75 per cent of the power produced to others and give 25 per cent to the state.

“The Hindujas do not have the credentials or the requisite technical expertise to take up such a project. It is unfortunate that 15-16

years later, the state government is now trying to revive it as a merchant power plant. It is also preparing to grant additional land,”

said Sarma, a retired IAS officer who was involved in the decision-making process at the state and Central levels when the project was first proposed.

The Centre recently accorded environmental clearance for the project and coal linkage was also restored from Mahanadi coal fields.

The railways also cleared rakes for coal transportation. The project is estimated to cost Rs 4,800 crore.

New Delhi, October 8
The country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda today launched Passion Pro Commonwealth Games limited edition motorcycle priced at Rs 46,300 (ex-showroom Delhi).

Senior VP (marketing and sales) Anil Dua said: “We are confident that the bike will be a craze amongst the sports-loving youth due to its design, looks and features”.

The bike is designed as a collector’s item to celebrate the company’s association with the Games.

“The new bike has an all-white body with sporty looks, striking new dual-tone blue and green graphics inspired by the colours of the Games,” Dua said in a statement. The bike comes with the special XIX CWG 2010 insignia on its side cover.

The Passion bike brand was introduced in 2001 and till date it is one of the largest selling bikes in the country. 

Washington, October 8
India's Export-Import (EXIM) Bank has secured a $150-million international loan to help expand Indian exporters' access to finance, including for small and medium enterprises, and support their exports to Africa.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, have each provided a medium-term trade-finance loan of up to $75 million to Exim bank, the IFC announced Friday.

IFC said it supports the transaction as part of its strategy of promoting trade and investment among countries in emerging markets.

”A large number of Indian corporations, including small and medium enterprises, have started looking at Africa as an export destination," said TCA Ranganathan, Exim Bank CMD.

"The financing agreement with IFC and BTMU marks a key step in our relationship with them and in our strategy to provide finance to India's exporters with a focus on Africa."

Rashad Kaldany, IFC VP, Asia, Eastern Europe, West Asia and North Africa, said: "With this agreement, IFC will contribute to the development of long-term partnerships between strong emerging-market players in India and Africa, helping them invest and accelerate development in other emerging economies."

Katsunori Nagayasu, BTMU's president, said: "We are pleased to be associated with IFC and Exim Bank in a medium-term trade finance transaction that will have such a clear benefit to both Indian and African markets."

The tie-up continues the long-standing relationship that IFC shares with Exim Bank and BTMU to provide support to emerging economies. — IANS

New Delhi, Oct 8
India's robust economic growth is likely to drive the country's fortune to a whopping $6.4 trillion in five years, reflecting a nearly two-fold jump from the country's current wealth, says the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report. The report says India’s trebled in a decade to $3.5 trillion. By 2015, the country's wealth could nearly double to $6.4 trillion.

Besides, the global wealth, which stood at $195 trillion will rise by an impressive 61 per cent to $315 trillion by 2015, driven by robust economic expansion in emerging markets.

Asia Pacific boasts of more billionaires than Europe. There are over 1,000 billionaires globally, of which 500 are in North America, followed by 245 in Asia Pacific and 230 in Europe. The report added here were 24 million high- net-worth individuals (HNIs), whose average wealth per adult stood in the range of $1 million to $50 million. China has over 800,000 HNIs, India has around 170,000 while rest of the Asia Pacific as over four million HNIs.

In terms of the countries generating maximum wealth, the US has emerged as the topper with the total of USD 54.6 trillion of household wealth followed by Japan at $21 trillion and China at $16.5 trillion.

Notably, most parts of Asia Pacific – ranging from commodities-driven economies such as New Zealand and Australia to fast-growing emerging economies such as China, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – have recorded an exorbitant growth of 100 per cent to almost 400 per cent in average wealth per adult.

This growth is much higher than the average global wealth per adult growth rate of 42 per cent.

"The Report confirms that Asia Pacific countries, which now make up the bulk of the world's middle class of emerging consumers, are driving the growth of the world's wealth," Credit Suisse CEO (Asia Pacific) Osama Abbasi said.

Also, the middle segment of the wealth, which is composed of one billion individuals whose average wealth per adult falls in the range of $10,000 to $1 million, is located in the fastest-growing economies of the world that hold one- sixth or USD 32 trillion of global wealth.

In total, almost 60 per cent or 587 million individuals in the middle segment of the wealth pyramid are located in the Asia Pacific region. — PTI

Washington, October 8
The US economy unexpectedly shed jobs in September for a fourth straight month as government payrolls fell and private hiring was less than expected, hardening expectations of further Federal Reserve action to spur recovery.

Non-farm payrolls dropped 95,000, the Labor Department said on Friday. Private employment, a better gauge of labor market health, increased 64,000 after rising 93,000 in August. A total of 77,000 temporary jobs for the decennial census were terminated last month.

The government revised data for July and August to show 15,000 more jobs lost that previously reported. It also said its preliminary benchmark revision estimate indicated employment in the 12 months to March had been overstated by 366,000.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6 per cent in August.

In the wake of dovish speeches by senior Fed officials, including Chairman Ben Bernanke, analysts believe it now almost certain the US central bank will launch a second round of asset purchases - with many expecting a move in November.

"They may delay it till December, but the odds favor we get something," said Michael Strauss chief economist at Commonfund in Wilton, Connecticut.

Expectations the Fed, which has already pumped $1.7 trillion into the economy by buying mortgage-related and government bonds, would announce a second phase of quantitative easing at its Nov. 2-3 meeting have buoyed U.S. stocks and prices for shorter-dated government debt and have undercut the dollar.

Opinion polls suggest Republicans will take control of the US House of Representatives, which may give them a platform to pursue their agenda of restricting government spending to reduce a record budget deficit. The recovery from the longest and deepest downturn since the 1930s has been slow to generate jobs. — Reuters 

BRIEFLY

Oberoi Realty IPO over-subscribed 12 times
New Delhi: Oberoi Realty’s IPo got a robust demand from investors and was subscribed 12.07 times on the final day on Friday. Accoridng to latest data with the NSE, the issue received a total demand for over 39.1 crore shares against 3.24 crore equities on offer. Analysts said demand for subscription breaks a 3-yr record for a realty company. — PTI

HC rejects RIL plea
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today rejected the plea of Reliance Industries challenging the sending of cases, registered against its officials under the Official Secrets Act relating to seizure of certain classified documents from its office in 2008, to the sessions court. Justice S N Dhingra rejected the technical plea raised by the company that statements of witnesses were to be recorded before sending it to the sessions court for the trial. — PTI

34 areas for exploration under NELP-IX
NEW DELHI: The government will offer 34 areas, including eight in deep-sea, for exploration of oil and gas in the 9th round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Friday. NELP-IX will be announced on October 15 and the first roadshow will be held in Mumbai on October 18. The last date for bidding is March 18. Britain has been especially invited. — PTI

Convergence on GST likely: Dasgupta
Kolkata: There is likely to be a convergence on the proposed Goods and Services Tax among the states at their next meeting, the chairman of a panel of state finance ministers, Asim Dasgupta, said on Friday. "The difference in views has narrowed down considerably. — PTI

Future Brands’ new private brands
Mumbai: Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group's private label arm Future Brands is looking at launching 4-5 more private brands across 7-8 categories over the next few months, a top company official said. The firm, which currently owns 21 private brands such as John Miller, Care Mate, Mohena, Koryo, was set up by the promoters of retail chains Big Bazaar and Pantaloon to recreate its private labels as conventional brands, besides providing brand consultancy services. — PTI

Kingfisher flights’s emergency landing
Mumbai: A Kingfisher Airlines Mumbai-New Delhi flight with 120 passengers made an emergency landing after a suspected bird-hit on Friday. The flight IT-331 had been airborne for nearly 15 minutes when the incident occurred. The aircraft returned as ‘a precautionary measure’ the official said. No casualties were reported. —IANS

Ansal API raises Rs 231.4 cr in QIP
Mumbai: Realty firm Ansal Properties and Infrastructure on Friday said it has raised Rs 231.4 crore through private placement of shares with institutional investors. The money will be used to reduce debt and execute projects. The company would issue 2.57 crore equity shares (having a face value of Rs 5 each) at Rs 89.95 per share aggregating to Rs 231.4 crore. — PTI

BoB raises deposit rates 25 bps
New Delhi: Bank of Baroda on Friday increased fixed deposit rates on select maturities by 25 basis points. The interest rate for fixed deposit between 271 days but less than one year has been increased 25 bps to 6.25 per cent, Bank of Baroda informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. One-Two year term deposit would attract a rate of 7.25 per cent against existing 7 per cent, it said. — PTI

Forex reserves swell $2.57 bn
Mumbai: The country's foreign exchange reserves went up for the third straight week, rising by $2.57-billion to $294.16-billion on the back of a healthy jump in the foreign currency assets. — PTI

Dhanlaxmi hikes base, BPLR 50 bps
MUMBAI: Dhanlaxmi Bank said on Friday it has increased base rate and Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) 50 bps, effective tomorrow. The base rate will be revised to 7.5 per cent per annum from 7 per cent and BPLR to 16.5 per cent from 16 per cent, it said. — Reuters