The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Food inflation dips to 9.5% Down to single digit after three months New Delhi, March 10 Food inflation, after a gap of three months, fell to single digit at 9.52 per cent in end February on account of declining prices of potato and pulses, thereby bringing some relief to the government trying to combat rising prices. The easing of food inflation, however, may not prompt the RBI to halt monetary tightening as some essential commodities are still dearer and rising commodity and crude oil prices will have bearing on the rate of price rise. Food inflation fell by 0.87 percentage points from 10.39 per cent in the previous week. It has fallen to a single-digit figure for the first time since the week ended December 4, 2010, when it stood at 9.46 per cent. “Food inflation in single digit... It will come down to below 7 per cent by the end of March,” Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan said. Experts said inflationary pressure would now shift from food to other commodities, like crude oil, which has already topped the levels of 2008 on account of political unrest in the Middle East. “The RBI is expected to continue with its current policy and hike short-term lending and borrowing rates by 25 basis points each in the next quarterly review later this month,” Crisil chief economist D K Joshi said. The RBI will come out with mid-quarterly policy review on March 17. For the week under review, prices of wheat declined by 1.07 per cent on an annual basis, while pulses rates fell by 3.91 per cent. Prices of potatoes also fell by nearly 9 per cent year-on-year. “The fall was expected. We believe that henceforth food inflation will continue to be low and will be less of a driver in the overall inflation,” Joshi said. He, however, added that other factors like the current high prices of crude in the international market might affect the overall inflation. Ongoing clashes in Libya, a major oil exporter and OPEC member, have pushed oil prices to a 30-month high of around $120 per barrel. Joshi said the Reserve Bank might continue with its policy of tightening money supply to curb inflationary trends. The RBI had already hiked short-term rates seven times since March 2010 to contain inflationary pressure. Though prices of wheat, pulses and potatoes went down during the week under review, other food items continued to remain dearer. Prices of the vegetables group went up by 9.23 per cent on annual basis. In particular, onion prices were up by 3.90 per cent year-on-year. Rice became dearer by 1.16 per cent year-on-year. Egg, meat and fish became 15.38 per cent costlier. Meanwhile, fruits prices rose by 18.75 per cent and milk by 8.42 per cent on an annual basis. The non-food articles category saw a price rise of 29.85 per cent during the week on an annual basis. Fuel and power also became 9.48 per cent more expensive, while petrol became costlier by 23.14 per cent. High food prices have been one of the major factors behind high overall inflation. — PTI
	The brain behind SBI’s makeover The bank’s transformation from a typical sarkari organisation to the market leader gives me immense satisfaction, says its chairman OP Bhatt Ruchika M. Khanna/TNS Ludhiana, March 10 He is the man responsible for a complete turnaround of the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India. From being regarded as an elephant that rarely moved, OP Bhatt, chairman of the SBI, has managed to turn the bank into the most aggressive player in the Indian banking industry, especially in terms of retail banking. The introduction of teaser loans in the midst of economic slowdown gave a fillip to the retail loan sector, and also helped in the growth of related industry. Though all banks later emulated these teaser loan rates introduced by the SBI, it did not find much favour with the RBI. But Bhatt stood his ground on the economics of these loans, and these teaser loans were finally endorsed in the Economic Survey of the Government of India. Bhatt was in Ludhiana for the inauguration of the 1000th branch of State Bank of Patiala. On the eve of his retirement at the month end, Bhatt spoke to The Tribune on the future plans for the bank and how it would continue to grow at 20 per cent in the next fiscal. What will be the bank’s strategy to sustain the high growth in terms of loans? The State Bank of India will be coming up with its rights issue of Rs 20,000 crore in the first quarter of next fiscal (by June this year). Besides, we will also be raising funds through retail bonds, once in ever quarter. These will be anywhere between Rs 1000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore, depending on the need at that particular point of time. What sectors will continue to be the growth drivers for the SBI in the next fiscal? We will be quite aggressive in our lending to the agriculture and infrastructure sectors. Besides, retail loans will continue to contribute towards the bank’s growth. Since we offer the best rates in home loans, we will continue to be the market leaders in this segment. Are there any plans for amalgamation of subsidiary banks with the SBI in the near future? For future growth of the State Bank group, amalgamation of the subsidiary banks with the SBI has to be done. We have already merged State Bank of Saurashtra and State Bank of Indore with th SBI . Though we have not got the required sanction from the government, but sooner or later consolidation will have to take place. Public listing of these banks to raise capital is not an option, the only option is consolidation. What is the total business of the bank and the profit? In the past five years, the business of the bank has grown from Rs 8.5 lakh crore to Rs 18 lakh crore as of date. Even the profit of the bank has increased from Rs 4,300 crore to over Rs 9,000 crore this year. We have also been recruiting more staff and this year, too, we will recruit 5000 personnel What would you regard as the biggest achievement during your tenure as SBI Chairman? The fact that the perception of the bank changed from being a typical sarkari bank to an aggressive player and market leader in India gives me immense satisfaction. I am glad that I had this opportunity to lead the bank to being the top bank in the country.
	Decision on FDI in retail soon New Delhi, March 10 The government is expected to take a decision on liberalising foreign direct investment (FDI) in the politically sensitive multi-brand retail sector soon. “We are soon going to take a decision on FDI in multi-brand retail. We are in consultations with other five-six ministries,” Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia today said. At present, 51 per cent FDI is allowed in single-brand retail, while foreign investment is prohibited in multi-brand retail. However, 100 per cent FDI is permitted in the wholesale cash-and-carry segment. The industry ministry is in the process of evaluating the comments, which it has received on its discussion paper on liberalising FDI in multi-brand retail and defence sector. “We are also in a process to make a consensus paper,” Scindia said on the sidelines of the inauguration of the four-day international food and hospitality fair Aahar 2011. On declining FDI in the country, he said that may be by next month it will start reviving. FDI in India plunged to about 25 per cent in April- January 2010-11 to USD 17 billion over the same period last year. On imposition on Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) on special economic zones (SEZs), he said that the Commerce Ministry is in consultation with its Finance counterpart on the issue. “We are in dialogue with them and we certainly hope that the Ministry of Finance will give adequate importance to this. — PTI
	Airtel gets maximum subscriber complaints Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 10 Being the largest operator in the country also has its disadvantages and this was visible in the figures of complaints by subscribers against telecom operators given out by Minister of State for Communication and IT Sachin Pilot. It has emerged that India’s largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel also has the maximum number subscriber complaints against it. Most of the complaints are related to billing, metering and tariff-related issues and activation of value-added services without customer consent. Country’s telecom sector regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has been receiving complaints against telecom service providers with respect to various problems, including billing, metering and tariff-related issues, Pilot said. According to figures given out by Pilot, in the last three years, TRAI received as many as 3,571 complaints from Bharti Airtel subscribers, 2,151 from Reliance customers and 1,896 from Vodafone Essar’s clientele. In all three years -- 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 (up to December 2010) -- the maximum complaints were against Bharti Airtel. On the other hand, Tata Docomo and Idea Cellular customers seemed to be the least dissatisfied, with 1,239 and 925 complaints, respectively, lodged against them. TRAI has forwarded these complaints to the concerned service providers for necessary action. The regulator has notified the Telecom Consumers Protection and Redressal of Grievances Regulations, 2007, which make it mandatory for every service provider to establish a three-tier system consisting of a call centre, nodal officer and an appellate authority for redressal of the grievances of telecom consumers, the minister said. TRAI has issued a consultation paper seeking views from all concerned stakeholders in order to improve the effectiveness of the grievance redressal system and to protect the interest of consumers in the telecom sector. The minister also said that a telecom operator can offer at any given time a maximum of 25 tariff plans in a service area and this is applicable on all segments of services and also for both post-paid and pre-paid subscribers.
	Volvo launches its S60 sedan Mumbai, March 10 Volvo Auto India today launched its S60 luxury sedan with its starting price at Rs 27-lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai and Delhi). The sedan will be available in three variants from this month onwards and the most expensive one will cost Rs 34 lakh. The S60 sedan will be available in the both petrol and diesel variants in the market. The automaker’s S60 is likely to compete with Audi’s A4 sedan and the C-class sedans sold by Mercedes-Benz India. Special IPL edition of Vento German carmaker, Volkswagen, today launched a special Indian Premier League edition of the Vento, priced at Rs 7.24 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi). The IPL edition Vento is based on the 1.6-litre petrol engine and will stand out with the IPL logo on the boot and seats. The cars will go on sale at the company’s 70 dealerships pan-India from the first week of April. New Indica New Delhi: Tata Motors on Thursday said it has launched new diesel and petrol variants of its hatchback Indica, priced between Rs 2.95 lakh and Rs 4.77 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The company claimed that the diesel vehicle gives a mileage of 25 km per litre as per Automotive Research Association of India and is the most fuel efficient car in India. The new car, eV2, comes with a CR4 common rail diesel engine. The petrol option will run on a multi-point fuel injection engine. — PTI
	Exports up by 49.8% in Feb New Delhi, March 10 India’s exports went up by 49.8 per cent year-on-year to $23.6 billion in February on the back of increased demand from markets like North America, Asia and Africa. During April-February, 2011, the country’s merchandise shipments grew by 31.4 per cent to $208.2 billion, surpassing the export target of $200 billion for the entire 2010-11 fiscal. Imports also went up in February, rising by 21.2 per cent to $31.7 billion, leaving a trade gap of $8.1 billion. During April-February, 2011, imports grew by 18 per cent to $305.3 billion. — PTI
	DoT notice to Idea, Eitsalat DB New Delhi, March 10 The government today issued notices to Aditya Birla group company Idea Cellular for Punjab circle and new operator Etisalat DB for Delhi and Mumbai for cancelling their 2G licences for missing roll-out obligations. "Yes, a notice has been issued to Idea Cellular for Punjab circle," DoT Secretary R Chandrashekhar told PTI. Earlier in the day, a similar notice has been issued Etisalat DB too for cancellation of its licence in Delhi and Mumbai circles. In Idea's case, the notice has been issued for not meeting roll-out obligations and also for other violations of licence conditions. The DoT on January 10, 2008, issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) to Idea Cellular for providing Unified Access Services in nine service areas — Kolkata, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, Orissa, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai). Later in 2008, Idea Cellular picked up 41.8 per cent stake in Spice Communications. "We have issued notice to Idea for Punjab circle, the licence of Spice which idea had been acquired by Idea is at stake," Chandrashekhar said. Idea had completed the merger of Spice with itself in February 2010. However, the DoT is yet to approve the merger. Earlier, the Telecom Ministry had collected over Rs 300 crore financial penalty from most of the new operators, including Etisalat DB, for not starting services in stipulated time after getting the licences and spectrum. — PTI