New Delhi, November 6
The Trade and Economic Relations Committee (TERC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given a clear mandate to proceed with negotiations on Free Trade Agreements (FTA).

As per the statement of the Commerce Ministry, the TERC has given a clear mandate for FTAs in its meeting held on November 4. The nod for FTAs comes even as some reservations were expressed in the meeting on the adverse impact of FTAs on the domestic manufacturing sector and trade balance.

According to the statement, a number of issues were discussed, including impact of FTAs that have been entered into by India with its trading partners, especially on India’s manufacturing sectors.

“Some concerns were expressed on the adverse impact of FTAs on the manufacturing sector as well as the trade balance and that imports from such countries had increased much faster compared to exports subsequent to signing such FTAs which had further worsened India’s trade balance”, the Commerce Ministry said.

Defending the free trade pacts, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said India "clearly and unambiguously" needs to ink more such agreements.

India has signed free trade pact with about 20 countries, including Japan, Korea, ASEAN nations, Sri Lanka and Nepal, while it is negotiating market opening pacts with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the European Union.

"We should go for FTAs quite clearly and unambiguously," he said when asked whether India should refrain from signing more FTAs as it hurts revenue. An FTA permits free trade in goods and services between the countries with minimal tariff barriers.

The TERC meeting was attended by the Prime Minister, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council Chairman V Krishnamurthy and Ahluwalia.

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma clarified at the TERC meeting that most of the regional and bilateral FTAs signed by India either related to SAARC countries or to South East Asia and North East Asia. As far as SAFTA was concerned, India has huge trade surplus of about $12 billion. With ASEAN, exports have more than doubled after signing of the Indo-ASEAN trade in goods agreement in 2009, though imports have also grown as is natural in any trade agreement.

It was further mentioned that a significant part of India’s imports from this region related to essential imports like edible oils from Malaysia and Indonesia and petroleum products and coke from Indonesia. In case these essential imports of more than $16 billion are discounted, India enjoys a trade surplus with ASEAN.

Economics of FTA An FTA permits free trade in goods and services between the countries with minimal tariff barriers The nod for FTAs comes even as some reservations were expressed in the meeting on the adverse impact of FTAs on the domestic manufacturing sector and trade balance India has signed FTA with about 20 countries, including Japan, Korea, ASEAN nations, Sri Lanka and Nepal Negotiations on market opening pacts with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the European Union are going on

New Delhi, November 6
Not agreeing with the pricing formula recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), for the auction of spectrum in the forthcoming auction, the Telecom Commission today decided to recommend a higher base price than that suggested by the telecom sector regulator.

At its meeting here, the Telecom Commission recommended a 15 per cent pan-India increase in the base price of 1,800 MHz spectrum and a 25 per cent increase in prices of 900 MHz in three circles.

The final decision on the base price for the spectrum to be put up for auction would be taken by the Union Cabinet. The suggestions of the Telecom Commission would now be referred to the Empowered Group of Ministers on Telecom for a final reference to the Union Cabinet.

The increase in price for 1,800 MHz is applicable in metros and A category circles which means Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Price of the 1,800 mhz airwaves remains same in the remaining circles.

For 900 MHz band, it has decided that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s valuation would be the reserve price for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. This would be about 25% higher of what TRAI had recommended as the reserve price.

Both these spectrum bands are used for 2G services currently.

The government plans to conduct its next mobile phone airwave auction in January and has estimated revenue of Rs 11,000 crore from the sale of airwaves. It is in the process of finalising guidelines for mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector.

The Telecom Commission also recommended allowing mergers and acquisitions with a combined market share of up to 50 per cent. For spectrum usage charges, the panel has decided that the issue needs refinement in consultation with the Finance Ministry.

Besides raising prices for 1,800 MHz and 900 MHz, the Telecom Commisision has also asked TRAI to suggest a fresh base price for auction of 800 MHz band which is used for CDMA services.

The auctions are scheduled to be held in January for all three bands — 1,800 MHz, 900 MHz and 800 MHz.

The RECOMMENDATIONS It has recommended a 15% pan-India increase in the base price of 1,800 MHz spectrum and a 25% hike in prices of 900 MHz in three circles The final decision on the base price for spectrum auction will be taken by the Union Cabinet The increase in price for 1,800 MHz is applicable in metros and A category circles Price of the 1,800 mhz airwaves remains same in the remaining circles

New Delhi, November 6
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a loan of $2 billion annually for five years till 2017 to India to create jobs, enhance investment reforms, and improve infrastructure.

"The ADB and Government of India have agreed to a new country partnership strategy for 2013-2017 which supports the country's 12th Five-Year Plan. The strategy comes with a financial envelope of around $10 billion", the ADB said.

The resource envelope for sovereign operations is about $2 billion per year for the next five years and India will remain the ADB's largest single country borrower, it added.

It further said ADB's allocated resources to India could double in amount if third-party financing and lending to private and state-owned companies is taken into account.

The country partnership strategy, it added, supports the Five-Year Plan to create jobs for youth, enhances ongoing investment reforms, and improves infrastructure in critical areas such as energy, transport, urban services and water.

The agency will also partner with India to anchor transactions that can tap national, regional and international capital markets which can help to shift savings into infrastructure development.

"India is taking credible steps to stabilise the economy and its currency, modernise its infrastructure, and promote social programmes. This strategy is a reflection of the government's desire to bring high, inclusive and sustainable growth, create jobs, and cut red tape," said Juan Miranda, DG for ADB's South Asia Department.

New Delhi, November 6
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) today reported a net profit of Rs 455.95 crore for the three months ended September 30, as against Rs 1,274.45 crore registered in the year-ago period.

The figures are however not comparable since the July-September quarter of 2013-14 fiscal includes financial results of Heavy Plates and Vessels Plant (HPVP) — erstwhile Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels Ltd (BHPV) — which has been merged with the company.

New Delhi, November 6
The Petroleum Ministry has asked the Power Ministry to notify fuel economy norms for passenger cars within this year.

Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily will shortly convene a meeting of all stakeholders to discuss the modalities of developing and bringing these norms into effect given the fact that countries like the USA and China have already announced ambitious targets in this regard.

As part of the fuel conservation drive, Moily has asked the Finance Ministry to cut duties on branded petrol and diesel that offer better mileage and help cut fuel consumption.

While a litre of normal or unbranded petrol costs Rs 72.45 in Delhi, branded petrol is priced at Rs 81.88. Similarly, normal diesel in Delhi costs Rs 52.54 a litre while branded diesel is priced at Rs 67.93.

"To enhance the fuel efficiency of new generation vehicles, specialised products (branded petrol and diesel) were launched by oil marketing companies in line with global trends and in keeping with the technological advancement in the automobile industry," the Oil Ministry said in a statement issued on the completion of one-month of fuel conservation drive.

The Finance Ministry had in 2009 Budget introduced new duties on branded fuels, which raised the differential between regular and branded fuel. "Due to this, sales of branded fuels have started sliding," it said.

Moily has "requested the Ministry of Finance to review the duties levied on branded fuels to bring down the price differential so that consumers opt for branded fuel and this will help improve the fuel efficiency (by about 2%) resulting in reduction in overall demand for petroleum products," the statement said.

The OilMin has already approached the Ministry of Urban Development with the offer of funding “free cycle scheme” in select cities through the oil companies in order to cut down on fuel consumption.

Fuel conservation drive While a litre of normal or unbranded petrol costs Rs 72.45 in Delhi, branded petrol is priced at Rs 81.88 The Finance Ministry had in 2009 Budget introduced new duties on branded fuels, which raised the differential between regular and branded fuel According to Oil Minister Veerappa Moily, branded fuels will improve the efficiency (by about 2%) resulting in reduction in demand for petroleum products

New Delhi, November 6
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of ONGC, and Cairn India Ltd are likely to bid jointly for oil and gas blocks in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is offering 13 offshore exploration blocks in the Cauvery and Mannar basins, located to the North and West of the island nation.

OVL-Cairn combine are likely to bid for three of them together, sources with direct knowledge of the development said.

Bids for the Sri Lankan Licensing Round, only the second in its history, close on November 29. — PTI

New Delhi, November 6
As per the latest data reported by the service providers, by the end of September about 102.49 million subscribers have submitted their requests to different telecom service providers for porting their mobile number, reflecting the dissatisfaction the subscribers have with their service providers.

The growing disenchantment of mobile phone users with their service providers had put the MNP requests at 100 million at the end of August.

According to the figures, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) requests increased from 100.20 million at the end of August to 102.49 million at the end of September, a jump of 2.29 million subscribers, a trend which the market watchers said was not healthy with regard to the prevailing service conditions.

The number stood at 97.82 million subscribers at the end of July 2013.

In the month of August alone, 2.37 million requests were made for MNP. MNP was introduced in India at end of 2011 and a full MNP, which will allow the mobile phone subscribers to port their number with any service provider across the country is expected to be 
in place soon.

BRIEFLY

Rupee plummets by 77 paise/$
Mumbai: The rupee on Wednesday plunged by 77 paise to end at over one-month low of 62.39 against the dollar on renewed fears that the US Federal Reserve would look at scaling back its stimulus soon. Dollar buying by banks and importers picked up after data showed on Tuesday that the Institute for Supply Management's US non-manufacturing index rose to 55.4 in October. — PTI

SBI ups lending rates by 0.2%
New Delhi: Home, auto and consumer loans are expected to become costlier with the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) raising its lending rates by 0.20% with effect from Thursday. The bank has revised the base rate or the minimum lending rate to 10% from 9.80%, SBI said. At the same time, the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) was also raised by 0.20%from 14.55% to 14.75%. — PTI

M&M rolls out entry-level XUV
New Delhi: Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday launched an entry level version of its popular SUV, XUV500 priced at Rs 10.95 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The new variant, W4, is powered by a a 2.2 litre diesel engine delivering power of 140 bhp, with a 6-speed transmission, the company said. — PTI

Parsvnath to surrender SEZ
New Delhi: Parsvnath Infra has approached the government for surrendering its IT/ITeS special economic zone in Uttrakhand in the backdrop of the state government not coming out with its SEZ policy. The request of the developer would be considered by Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary SR Rao in a meeting on November 8. — PTI