Cannes, November 4
With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seen as an key forum in resolving the Eurozone crisis, G20 leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, were looking at more funding to the institution and calm the global markets.

Both at the meeting with the leaders of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa — together called the BRICS countries, along with India and at G20, Singh has said the IMF was the right forum both for surveillance and funding.

This view was also shared by the leaders when they gathered on Friday for the second day of the G20 summit at the working session on financial regulation.

"We strongly support the IMF playing its part in restoring stability in Europe," Singh said in his remarks, while also underscoring developing countries should not be starved of funds from the institution.

"The IMF must keep the situation under close watch as part of regional surveillance. It should also be willing to help in an appropriate manner if asked to do so," he added.

Speaking to reporters here, India’s Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who is the PM’s sherpa or the chief interlocutor, also said $250 billion now at the disposal of IMF may not be adequate if used for Eurozone crisis.

In fact, in a dramatic turn of events indicating the shift in the global power, the traditional developed economies in Europe were hoping that emerging economies like India and China would help with funds, though the US position was different. — IANS

New Delhi, November 4
The petroleum ministry went into damage control mode on Friday to explain the reasons for the latest hike in petrol prices by the oil marketing companies (OMCs), saying the latter were working in "adverse conditions" to provide petroleum products.

The ministry released facts on under-recoveries of the oil retailers to emphasize they were incurring huge losses and borrowings were at an unprecedented high.

Though admitting said the move would contribute to inflation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee asserted the government had no role to play in raising petrol prices as they have been deregulated.

Addressing a press conference, Indian Oil Corp chairman RS Butola said the oil marketing companies were not making profits on petrol and pegged this year's under-recovery at Rs 2,500 crore. "There are only two options - to increase prices or cut down on production since losses can't be sustained because the government doesn't provide subsidy on petrol", he stated.

Explaining the reasons for the price hike, the petroleum ministry said the average price of the Indian basket of crude oil, which was US $85 per barrel in 2010-11, had jumped 30 per cent and the average price in the current fiscal is around $110 per barrel.

What has worsened the situation is the Indian rupee, which has depreciated from Rs 45 to a dollar to over Rs 49 a dollar in recent months. The under-recoveries of oil marketing firms has risen by about Rs 8,000 crore annually on account of every Re 1 depreciation.

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd are incurring an under-recovery of Rs 8.58 per litre on diesel, Rs 25.66 per litre on kerosene and Rs 260 per cylinder on cooking gas. The total under-recovery of state-owned oil marketing firms on these products for the year is expected to be about Rs1.32 lakh crore compared to Rs 78,190 crore last year.

The under-recovery for the first half of FY2011-12 is Rs 64,900 crore. Despite a cash support of Rs.15,000 crore by the government and a contribution of Rs 21,633 crore by the upstream oil companies, the oil retailers have declared huge losses for the first half of this fiscal.

The combined losses of BPCL and HPCL for the first half are over Rs 12,000 crore and Indian Oil is also likely to be in the red if no further cash assistance is announced.

The crisis faced by the oil marketing companies is evident by unprecedented level of borrowings of Rs 1.29 lakh crore for working capital and dollar requirements for payment of funds for import of crude.

New Delhi, November 4
Higher oil and gas prices and a lower subsidy burden helped state-run explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) post a 60 percent jump in quarterly profit and beat market expectations.

Profits were also bolstered by one-off benefits on account of lower write-offs and foreign exchange gains on a sharply weaker rupee during the quarter.

ONGC, India's second-largest listed firm, on Friday reported net profit of Rs 86.42 billion for its fiscal second quarter ended September, compared with Rs 53.89 billion a year earlier.

A Reuters poll of 11 brokerages had on average expected net profit of Rs 65.1 billion for the quarter.

"The realisations are much better, mainly because crude prices were high, but also because the fuel price hike in June eased the subsidy burden," said Deven Choksey, managing director at Mumbai's KR Choksey Shares & Securities.

ONGC said net realisations from oil sales jumped to US $83.70 per barrel from $62.75 a barrel a year earlier. — Reuters

New Delhi, November 4
Wooing global investors by easing foreign direct investment rules in India, the Reserve Bank of India Friday said that transfer of shares between Indians and nonresidents will not require its permission in several key areas like financial services.

Amending the Foreign Exchange Management Regulations (FEMR), the RBI said that its prior permission would not be necessary where the company whose shares are being transferred is engaged in any financial service.

The liberalisation would help the entire financial services sector, including the non-banking finance companies. Besides, the RBI permission has also been done away with for transfer of shares between residents and non-residents in cases where the Foreign Investment Approval Board has already given its clearances and the SEBI guidelines have been adhered to.

These steps have been taken "as a measure to further liberalise and rationalise the procedures and policies governing foreign direct investment in India," the RBI said.

However, it was made clear that the transactions will have to comply with the SEBI regulations, FDI sectoral caps, and the pricing guidelines as specified by the Reserve Bank

Although FDI inflows during April-August have gone up by 95 per cent to US $17.37 billion, the government and the Reserve Bank are keen to maintain robust foreign exchange reserves in the wake of volatility in the stock market leading to outflows by institutional investors.

The country has foreign exchange reserves of $318 billion but the pressure on rupee is matter of concern for an economy which depends on large commodity imports. Overseas investments by Indian companies in September $3.46 billion. — PTI

Chandigarh, November 4
With the smartphone market in India ready to explode this year, all major handset manufacturers are leaving no stone unturned to improve their market share and make these devices their growth drivers. Be it Nokia, Samsung or HTC — all are out to woo customers by bringing in newer technologies, jazzy models and promise of aftersales service points in close vicinity.

The Indian smartphone market is set to grow to 13 million handsets this year. Last year 8 million smartphones were sold in India. With the smartphone segment growing by almost 80 per cent annually, manufacturers are hoping to realize maximum revenues through the sales of these “smart” devices. These firms are mainly targeting the young customers and are now actively advertising their new models in this segment on social networking sites.

Talking to The Tribune, Faisal Siddiqui, country head of HTC India, said the company was looking at major expansion in its sales, distribution and service network, in order to gain a major share of the booming smartphone market in India. “We’re looking at revving up sales across 100 cities in the next months, besides opening new service centres in major towns and cities. HTC will also be launching four new smartphone models by December, taking the number of smartphones offered by the company to 19,” he said.

Nokia India, too, is trying to regain its market share in the smartphone segment by introducing new variants in smartphones. The company had witnessed a dip in its market share as competition from Apple and Samsung got the better of them. As part of its new smartphone strategy, Nokia has announced it will bring in a new Windows-based phone Lumia to be launched shortly in India.

Samsung Mobile, with 13 smartphones in its bouquet, is now looking at introducing 40 new models during this year, to help it boost its market share from the present 27% to 40%, by the end of current fiscal. Talking to The Tribune, Ranjit Yadav, country head, mobile & IT business, Samsung India, said other than introducing new models across multiple price points, the company has started an initiative called Samsung Smartphone Cafés. 

New Delhi, November 4
At least 40 protesters at the first "Occupy Wall Street"-style demonstration in Mumbai were arrested on Friday, police said.

Roughly 100 protesters raised placards and shouted slogans outside the Bombay Stock Exchange in an event organised by a union of bank employees opposed to privatisation of state-owned banks and plans to grant new bank licenses.

Demonstrators also spoke out against corruption, inefficient government and inequality. The number of protesters was roughly matched by members of the media.

Police said the 40 arrests were for unlawful gathering.

"Such a protest is required to shake up the complacency of the government, which gauges economic progress with the stock market," said protester Tushar Gandhi. "It should be hunger and starvation which should be looked at," he said.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began in September in the United States and has spread around the globe. The protests against the current state of capitalism have not so far caught on in fast growing India.

"There is an urgent need for transparency in economic decision-making to avoid scams. We’re not saying 'Occupy Dalal Street'. Occupy every establishment which has marginalized the common man," said Sanjeev Khandekar, a 52-year-old painter, who heard about the protest on Facebook. — Reuters