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Punjab’s Industry
Exports surge 26.5% in Nov
Steel makers hike prices 3-5%
HTC unveils 7 Mozart in India
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Value-Added Tax
ONGC in gas marking pact with GAIL
AI coming out of red; posts `21.66 cr operating surplus
RBI to buy Rs 12,000 crore govt securities
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Punjab’s Industry
Tribune News Service Sources said that there were more than 2,000 foundries in 1980. Now, only 530 remain, of which just 100 are running successfully. There were 550 firms manufacturing agricultural implements and now just 128 are in business. Hand tool makers are no longer in business and makers of galvanised pipe, conduit pipe, aluminium doors and windows are finding it hard to run profitably. Now, just 705 lathe drill machines are in business. Partition started the decline. The withdrawal of freight equalization policy in 1992 aggravated the problem. Under FEP, a factory could be established anywhere in India and transportation of minerals would be subsidised by the government through the railways. The policy resulted in the growth of heavy and middle -level industry, outside the mineral-rich regions of the country. Rakesh Goel, President, Association of Batala Small Scale Industries Association (BSSIA), and a foundry owner, said: “Utter negligence on the part of both the state and central governments was enough to kill the industry. In the 1980s, there was this phase of militancy and then in the early 1990s, the abolition of the FEP. The withdrawal of the FEP by the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh has put industrialists of the region at a great loss financially as compared to their counterparts in others states, particularly those which are rich in minerals.” Bharat Bhushan, foundry owner and general secretary of the BSSIA, says: “Batala was once the largest manufacturer of cast iron and machine tools. Partition, militancy and the abolition of FEP led to the downfall. Bad roads and poor rail connectivity have contributed. Many units like Khalsa Foundry, Macro Foundry, Batala Engineering Company (BECO), Janaki Steel rolling mills, Sarabjot Machine Tools, Kumar Engineering and Neelam Iron Foundry have downed shutters and owners have invested elsewhere. Ashwani Sekhri, former Batala MLA and former president of the Batala Foundry Men Association, says: “It will be good if the state and the central governments offer a special package to Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ferozepur. There should also be a rationalisation of excise duty structure, which should be based on fixed turn-over instead of percentage basis. Excise duty on cast iron products like cast iron pipes, fittings and machines should be on optional basis like in the textile sector. Import of second-hand machinery has been a big blow to us.” It is just not foundries. Other industries are also struggling. — To be continued |
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New Delhi, January 3 During April-November 2010, outbound shipments increased by 26.7 per cent to $140.2 billion compared to $110.6 billion in the year-ago period.
Imports during the first eight months of this fiscal stood at $221.9 billion, an increase on 23.9 per cent, over $179 billion in the corresponding period last year. During the period, the trade deficit stood at $81.6 billion and is expected to be in the range of $120-125 billion. The country’s apex exporters body FIEO said that the exports may touch $220 billion, sharing the optimism of the commerce ministry. A senior official has projected the country's exports in the range of $210-215 billion. “Exports may reach the new milestone of $220 billion this fiscal,” Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ramu Deora said. Ficci’s Director General Rajiv Kumar said, “I suppose touching $215 billion would be possible as there are four months to go and we can export goods worth $75 billion. I think it should be achievable.” He said pick up in the US market would boost demand which is already high in Asia. The government had fixed an export target of $200 billion during 2010-11. In 2009-10, the exports had declined by 4.7 per cent to $176.5 billion under the impact of global slowdown. However, widening of trade gap has raised concerns. “The continuous increase in the trade deficit is a worrying issue. The government should devise a strategy to reduce the trade deficit," Deora said. According to Kumar, hardening of crude oil prices has led to the increase in trade deficit. “I think the country's trade deficit will be larger than before. Increasing trade deficit is a cause of concern...I think the hardening crude oil prices have increased the imports bill," he said. According to the commerce ministry data, oil imports during November 2010 increased by 2.31 per cent to $7.7 billion compared to $7.5 billion in the corresponding period last year. During April-November 2010-11, oil imports rose 21.4 per cent to $64.8 billion from $53.4 billion in the year ago period. Non-oil imports during the month grew by 15 per cent to $20.07 billion from $17.44 billion in November 2009. During the first eight months of this fiscal, non-oil imports too went up by 25 per cent to $157.11 billion from $125.64 billion in the same period last fiscal. Exports sectors, which performed well during April- November period, include engineering goods, petroleum and refinery items and cotton yarn. The government is preparing a strategy paper to double the country's exports by 2014 with the help of leading industrialists and bankers. — PTI
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New Delhi, January 3 While SAIL increased prices by about 3 per cent per tonne, Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel raised prices of flat products by 4-5 per cent. Flat products account for about 70 per cent of JSW’s total production. "We have increased prices across all our product categories by three per cent or by around Rs 1,000 per tonne. The increase in prices has come into effect from January 1," a SAIL official said. Commenting on the increase, a senior JSW official said that price correction was necessary as "the iron ore and coking coal prices have gone up by about 5-8 per cent for the January-March period, as compared to previous quarter". JSW Steel may also increase the prices of its long products, the official added. The Ruias-promoted Essar Steel has also increased the prices by about 5 per cent per tonne across product categories with immediate effect. "The skyrocketing raw material cost is the main reason behind the price increase," a company spokesperson said. For January-March quarter, largest domestic iron ore miner NMDC has recently raised prices by over 5 per cent, while coking coal prices have been on the rise in last few months and has registered an increase of about 8 per cent. Industry sources said Tata Steel would also revise its prices in next few days. However, officials comments from the company could not be obtained. — PTI
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HTC unveils 7 Mozart in India
New Delhi, January 3 The HTC 7 Mozart is powered by Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 platform. “The HTC 7 Mozart is a great piece of craftsmanship with some of the most-advanced features and perfectly underlines HTC’s focus on raising the bar in mobile phone innovation and design,” HTC India Country Head Ajay Sharma said. — PTI |
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Value-Added Tax
Jalandhar, January 3 Speaking at a seminar here on Sunday, Sukhbir stated VAT collection reached Rs 11,000 crore during SAD-BJP government from Rs 5,000 crore earlier. Talking to The Tribune, the president of the Federation of Jalandhar Industrial and Traders Association, Gursharan Singh, said at least Rs 700 crore of industrialists was pending with the Excise and Taxation Department due to undue delay in VAT refund since October 2009. Singh added that traders and industrialists got VAT refund without any difficulty from April 1, 2005 to October 2009, but the Badal government issued a notification with which it was made mandatory that no VAT money would be refunded without prior submission of form C. The Federation president said it took 2-3 years for the businessmen to get form C from the parties concerned. As a result, several crores of rupees of the businessmen were pending with the Excise and Taxation Department. Gursharan Singh stated they had met CM Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and Industries and Commerce Minister Manoranjan Kalia several times who assured them of restoring the earlier system of refunding VAT without Form C. Though a decision had been taken in a Cabinet Meet about four months ago that 75 per cent of VAT refund would be given immediately without submitting Form C and balance 25 per cent would be refunded after getting Form C, but this decision could not be implemented as no notification was issued in this regard, he added. He further said as a huge amount was pending with the Punjab government, the traders and industrialists had to get loan on exorbitant interest rates from different banks to run their businesses. Meanwhile, the president of Jalandhar Traders and Manufacturers Association, Raj Kumar Sharma has threatened that if the pending notification was not issued within 10 days, they would block Jalandhar-Amritsar Highway at PAP chowk here to pursue their demand of immediate refund of VAT without submitting Form C.
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ONGC in gas marking pact with GAIL
New Delhi, January 3 GAIL would also market some of the chemicals to be produced from the Dahej petrochemical complex being set up by ONGC Petro-additions Ltd, a subsidiary of ONGC, the two companies said in identical but separate press statements here. GAIL has 19 per cent stake in OPaL. — PTI |
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AI coming out of red; posts `21.66 cr operating surplus
New Delhi, January 3 An Air India spokesperson said the cash profit of Rs 21.66 crore was ‘largely possible due to significant improvement in efficiency parameters, coupled by better yield management strategies and a mushrooming number of passengers showing faith in the national carrier’. Another significant indicator was that 108 of the 194 flights on its route network in November 2010 had made cash profits. During April-November last year, the airline had recorded a network revenue of Rs 7,250 crore compared Rs 5,911 crore achieved during the corresponding period of the previous year, thus showing a robust growth of 22.6 per cent, the spokesperson said. "The peak season for air travel would continue and our employees' commitment to meet the challenge is evident," AI CMD Arvind Jadhav said. In the April-November period, out of the total network revenue of Rs 7,250 crore, Rs 4,401 crore was recorded on international flights compared to Rs 3,801 crore in the previous year, showing a gain of 15.8 per cent. The network revenue on domestic flights jumped 35 per cent from Rs 2,110 crore in April-November 2009 to Rs 2,849 crore in April-November last year. — PTI
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RBI to buy Rs 12,000 crore govt securities
Mumbai, January 3 RBI will conduct the auction on January 5 and payment to the successful bidders will be made on January 6. The central bank had announced in its mid-quarterly review of credit policy in December 2010 that it would conduct Open Market Operation (OMO) purchase auctions of Rs 12,000 crore every week for four weeks. In the process, RBI will purchase four kinds of government paper that are scheduled to mature in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. — PTI |
Infy Q3 results on Jan 13 New CIO of Allianz Investment Coffee exports up 56 pc Nano now
available in 874 outlets Dabur acquires Namaste Group Kotak Bank hikes term deposit rates L&T bags Rs 1,103-cr order RCap forays into commodity futures Bajaj Auto slips over 4 per cent
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The steel town’s industry which, in the pre-partition days, catered to Sialkot and Lahore, wants re-introduction of Freight Equalisation Policy (FEP), good roads, better rail connectivity and quality power supply for survival. Data shows that in the last two decades, more than 60 per cent of the units have closed shop.
Imports rose 11.2 per cent in November to $27.7 billion, leaving a trade gap of $8.9 billion, according to the data released by the commerce ministry today.
