The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Govt likely to up IT spend by 10.5% this year: Gartner
Contracts worth Rs 36,800 cr up for grabs for IT cos

Bangalore, February 4
The government is expected to spend Rs 36,800 crore on information technology products and services in 2013, an increase of 10.5 per cent over 2012, global IT research and advisory firm Gartner said on Monday.

This is against revenue of Rs 33,300 crore in 2012, which included spending by government organizations on internal information technology (including personnel), hardware, software, external IT services and telecommunications, Gartner said in a statement.

Telecommunications, which includes telecom and networking equipment and services, is expected to remain the largest overall spending category, it said.

Telecom is expected to grow 6.8% in 2013 to reach Rs 11,800 crore in 2013, up from Rs 11,100 crore in 2012, largely driven by enterprise network equipment.

The software sector is expected to register the highest growth rate amongst IT spending categories, increasing 18 per cent in 2013, led by investments in desktop software and infrastructure software.

"To expand the benefits of IT, the Indian government aims to invest more than Rs 20,000 crore in expanding broadband penetration.The electronic chip making project, digitization of academic databases across all educational institutions, vehicle registrations, driving licence databases etc will be the major focus areas", said Anurag Gupta, research director at Gartner.

The information technology industry is expected to indirectly benefit from government projects like Unique Identification Authority of India, launch of the National Optical Fibre Network and computerization of commercial taxes in states. — PTI

Air India flew Dreamliners after grounding order: DGCA chief

New Delhi, February 4
Air India flew some of its Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner aircraft even after US regulators grounded the global fleet last month due to undiagnosed battery problems. Dreamliners operated by the national carrier were flown to Mumbai for maintenance reasons, DGCA head Arun Mishra said Monday. A spokesman for state-run Air India declined to comment.

"When the Dreamliners were grounded, they had come to Delhi from Frankfurt and Paris. Air India asked us for permission to take them to Mumbai because they have their maintenance facility there and also they were paying very high parking charges in Delhi," Mishra, director general of civil aviation, told Reuters. "We gave them permission with strict orders that no passenger will be allowed."

The 50 technologically advanced Dreamliners in global service have been grounded since mid-January as officials in the United States, Japan and France investigate a battery fire and a battery failure on two separate planes last month.

India grounded Air India's six Dreamliner jets on January 17 in line with the US Federal Aviation Administration's advisory to ground the aircraft. The national carrier said last month that Boeing would be liable for compensation. — Reuters

Boeing 787 PROBE making progress

US officials have said they are making progress in their investigation of a battery fire on a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner in Boston this month, as the grounding of Boeing's entire fleet of 787s stretched into a third week. All 50 Boeing 787s remain grounded as authorities in the United States, Japan and France investigate the Boston battery fire on January 7 and a separate battery failure that forced a second 787 to make an emergency landing in Japan a week later.

Fitch warns govt to stick to reforms, meet fiscal targets

Mumbai, February 4
India needs to commit to its recent reform measures and meet its fiscal deficit targets, Fitch Ratings said on Monday, putting further pressure on a government keen to retain investment grade ratings. Despite praising recent policy steps and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's assurances on deficits, Fitch said the country needed to do more, including unveiling "a credible" medium-term fiscal plan.

Fitch's warning comes after Standard & Poor's analyst Kim Eng Tan last week told Reuters the prospect that India would lose its investment-grade rating had receded somewhat as a result of economic reforms undertaken by the government. Both Fitch and S&P had jolted markets last year by cutting the outlook on India's "BBB-minus" rating to "negative," threatening to cut the country to below investment grade, or the dreaded junk rating.

"As we have previously said, India's patchy performance on policy implementation and the approach of a general election in 2014 could impede fiscal consolidation, suggesting political and implementation risk remain significant," Fitch said in a statement.

The government is gearing up to unveil this month its budget for the fiscal year starting in April, which analysts see as a key test of commitment to shoring up finances.

Some investor fears that India would unveil a spending-heavy budget ahead of the election have eased somewhat following government measures. These have included moves to allow diesel prices to rise and increases in rail fares, both politically unpopular moves.

India is also cutting spending, including on welfare, defence and road projects, government sources told Reuters last week, while discussing the raising of taxes.

Chidambaram has restated, during meetings with foreign investors last week, a pledge to meet a fiscal deficit target of 5.3% of gross domestic product for the current fiscal year and 4.8% for the next fiscal year. — Reuters

Gold hits 5-month low on stronger rupee
TNS & Agencies

Mumbai, February 4
Gold traders in India, the world's biggest buyer of the metal, tried clearing off old stocks even as the yellow metal extended losses to hit its lowest level in more than five months weighed by a stronger rupee.

The weddings and festivals season has started in India, but the federal government plans to restrict gold buying by announcing more measures in addition to a 50 percent hike in import duty to keep a lid on its bloating current account deficit.

Gold prices softened today even as the rupee showed signs of strengthening with foreign investors lining up to buy stakes in state-owned firms being divested by the government.

"Foreign inflows are expected to be strong going ahead when the government announces sale of shares in NTPC," said Amit Gangwal, a forex trader with a foreign bank. According to him the strengthening rupee would impact gold prices making the yellow metal cheaper.

The rupee was in the range of 53 to the US dollar on Monday. According to market intermediaries, the possibility of the rupee strengthening in the next few days has caused panic among gold traders many of who accumulated gold stocks last month.

While gold imports have fallen, gold traders are offloading stock in the markets expecting a further correction in prices. Gold prices fell to a five-month low of Rs 30,487 per ten grams for April delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) before rising slightly.

Equity funds fail to capitalise on Jan rally; outlook muted

New Delhi, February 4
Diversified equity mutual funds underperformed the broader market by a wide margin in January, as exposure to financials and to mid- and small-cap stocks hit returns, according to data compiled by fund tracker Lipper.

Funds overall returned 0.45% during a month in which the BSE Sensex rose 2.4%, up for a third consecutive month on the back of continued strong foreign net inflows and government reform measures such as allowing diesel prices to rise.

Muted gains in financials particularly weighed on funds. Fund managers had bet big on financials leading up to the Reserve Bank of India policy review on January 29, but a cautious stance on further monetary easing surprised investors even as the central bank cut interest rates.

Investment managers are more cautious this month, ahead of India's 2013/14 budget to be unveiled on February 28. The government is under pressure to rein in spending and subsidies to meet its fiscal deficit targets and avoid a ratings downgrade.

"It's a very difficult call for the fund managers," said R.K. Gupta, managing director at Taurus Mutual Fund. "If the subsidy burdens, budgetary deficit rise, FII selling cannot be ruled out," he added referring to foreign institutional investors.

The BSE banking index rose 1.6% in January, dampening the overall performance of funds as the exposure to financials had reached 26.5% of total assets held by diversified stock funds as of the end of December, according to separate data from Morningstar India.

Meanwhile, mid- and small-cap stocks lagged peers in January, hurting performance, given these stocks collectively accounted for nearly 38% of assets as of end December according to the Morningstar data. The BSE mid-cap index fell 2%, while the small-cap index fell 4.14% in the month.

Funds focused on the IT sector emerged as the best performers in January, gaining 10% on an average, as corporate earnings from Infosys and TCS boosted the sector. — Reuters

Sensex ends at 3-wk low; sentiment still weak

The Sensex fell to a three-week low on Monday after disappointing quarterly earnings hit Bank of Baroda and IDFC, while investors continued to book profits in recent outperformers such as ONGC. Broader losses were capped as Tata Motors and UltraTech Cement rebounded from Friday's steep falls when the two stocks were affected by a technology glitch at a domestic brokerage that resulted in "unintended transactions." The sentiment has been dented ever since the RBI disappointed investors on Jan 29 with a more cautious than expected stance on future rate cuts. The Sensex has fallen 1.44% since then as of Monday's close.

Shell India to challenge order by tax authorities

Mumbai, February 4
Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas major Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Monday said its Indian unit will challenge a transfer pricing order by Indian tax authorities relating to a transfer of shares to its parent and is evaluating all options for redressal.

The company said a 152.20 billion rupees adjustment has been proposed in the transfer pricing order by the tax authorities on account of issue of equity shares by Shell India to its sole parent Shell Gas BV in March 2009.

Shell said 87 million shares had been issued at Rs 10 each, but the order by the tax authorities had valued these at Rs 183 per share.

"Taxing the money received by Shell India is in effect a tax on foreign direct investment, which is contrary not only to law but also to the spirit of the recent global trip by the finance minister," Shell's India chairman Yasmine Hilton said in a statement. — Reuters

Guidelines on export inspection procedures eased

New Delhi, February 4
The commerce ministry has decided to grant green channel facility to companies having an annual turnover of Rs 1,000 crore by treating them as deemed registered and dispensing with the predispatch inspection for rate contracts by the Directorate General of Supplies & Disposals the government’s nodal agency for purchase policy and procedure.

Supplies from such firms shall be accepted under the manufacturers' warranty by allowing them to self-certify their products for the required quality. It is a dynamic process, open at all times on a continuous basis. — TNS

UAE’s Etihad closer to deal with Jet Air

Abu Dhabi, February 4
Etihad Airways is close to taking a stake in Jet Airways, the Abu Dhabi airline said on Monday after reporting a tripling in profits for last year. Such a deal would support the Indian carrier's efforts to woo foreign investors to help cope with fierce competition and high costs in the Indian market.

Etihad, launched in 2003, is on a buying spree to compete with regional rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways.

"We are doing our due diligence (on Jet Airways) in the next week. We will present it to our board and take it from there," chief executive James Hogan said at a press conference. — Reuters