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Mid-year review
sees 7 pc growth India can have 10
pc growth, says Kalam Govt agency to
supply gunny bags to Haryana Maruti, Hyundai,
Tata Motors sales rise SEBI: interest
rate options on cards |
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SC to hear COAI plea on Nov
17
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Mid-year review sees 7 pc growth
New Delhi, November 14 The Mid-Year Economic Review, the second since its introduction last year, unveiled here today, projected a strong recovery growth path for the economy with the farm sector expected to pull along through an 8 per cent growth with the industry chugging behind with a 6 per cent growth rate. “Assuming more than 8 per cent and 6 per cent growth in agriculture and industry, and a reasonably good performance by the services sector, the overall growth in the real GDP can be expected to exceed 7 per cent in 2003-04”, Finance Secretary D C Gupta said, while releasing the review. In fact, the review projections are more optimistic than those made by the RBI which pegged the GDP growth between 6.5 and 7 per cent in its Monetary and Fiscal Policy announced recently. Mr Gupta said the outlook for a sharp increase in the GDP growth compared with the previous year appears to be bright. “As a consequence of an abundant monsoon, the first advanced estimate suggests a growth of 20 per cent in kharif foodgrain production, which is likely to surpass its previous high of 220 million tonnes achieved in 2001-02”, he said. The strong supply base of foodgrains has not only ensured self-sufficiency but resulted in buffer stocks that allowed exports of foodgrains in 2002-03 in spite of the drought. Mr Gupta, however, said there was a need to realign domestic commodity prices with international trends and underlined the importance of structural reforms, including removal of inter-state barriers to trade. On the issue of fundamental structure reforms, the review said a reform of the regulatory regime is essential not only for accelerating growth of investment and output, but also for promoting adequate employment, enhancing efficiency, and maintaining macro-economic stability. Regarding the infrastructure sector, it said in the area of electricity many important changes are expected to unfold, as a consequence of the Electricity Act.
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India can have 10 pc growth, says Kalam New Delhi, November 14 The
President said this, while inaugurating the 23rd India International Trade Fair, which has drawn around 7,000 exhibitors from India and 27 other countries, including Pakistan. "With the 5 per cent growth that we are currently having could be doubled with the right type of management system," Kalam said. This year, India is projecting a growth of 6.5-7 per cent growth buoyed by a good monsoon and high agriculture output. In a clear sign of thaw in ties between New Delhi and Islamabad despite the occasional exchange of diplomatic rhetoric, Pakistan has set up a major pavilion in the fair with around 40 exhibitors taking part. There is large national and company level participation also from countries like Brazil, China, Oman, Iran, Russia, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. The fortnight-long fair has tourism and export promotion of the small and medium enterprises as its focus theme this year. In his address, the technology-oriented President called on Indian manufacturers to be competitive to help the country achieve the goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020.
— IANS |
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Govt agency to supply gunny bags to Haryana Chandigarh, November 14 The state government had recently issued a notice inviting tenders for the supply of gunny bags worth about Rs 200 crore, to which virtually no private party responded. Only one firm, PEC Limited, New Delhi, a Government of India undertaking, submitted its tender. However, since it was a conditional tender, it had to be rejected. It was also not accompanied with the earnest money of Rs 10 lakh. Haryana had first experimented with the purchase of gunny bags from the open market last year. It succeeded in getting the bags at 1 per cent less than that fixed by the Jute Commissioner of India
(JCI) for supply to the DGSD. Though the JCI had reservations about the Haryana move, the state successfully negotiated with private parties for the supply of gunny bags worth about Rs 250 crore. Haryana again floated a tender for the supply of 50,000 bales of gunny bags for the kharif season this year. Only two consortiums of firms agreed to supply the bales against six consortiums which had offered their services last year. Official sources attribute the lack of interest shown by the private parties in supplying gunny bags to Haryana to an increase in the prices of bags in the open market. They say the private suppliers are not interested in supplying the bags to Haryana at a price less than that fixed by the
JCI. Since they were legally bound to supply the bags to the DGSD at the JCI prices, Haryana will have to purchase bags through the Central agency. |
Biotech Board
in Punjab soon Chandigarh, November 14 Executive Director of the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology N.S. Tiwana said the board, to be set up by the end of this month, will be autonomous and empowered entity. It will be responsible for single window clearance and one-stop mechanism of the Punjab Government for various matters such as investments in the biotechnology industry, research and development of human resources, etc. To be set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, the board will have 8-9 members, including Mr Y.S. Rajan, Scientific Adviser to Chief Minister; Dr S.S. Johl, Deputy Chairman, Punjab Planning Board; Dr M.S. Swaminathan, Chairman, M.S. Swaminathan Foundation, besides few technocrats and bureaucrats. Meanwhile, a process is underway to acquire 100 acres at Malikpur and Lehali, near Lalru, for setting up a biotech park. A sum of Rs 20 crore has also been sought to set up an incubator in the park to carry out the research work. While 50 per cent will be contributed by the state, the remaining 50 per cent will be given by the Centre. |
| Maruti, Hyundai, Tata Motors sales rise
New Delhi, November 14 Car sales grew, for the seventh consecutive month, to 56,232 units in the month under review over 45,325 units sold in October, 2002, data released today by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. Cumulative (April-October 2003) car sales jumped by 23.7 per cent to 3.75 lakh units against 3.03 lakh units during the same period last year. Car sales have been steadily growing following an 8 per cent excise duty cut in the Budget, ever-dipping interest rates on readily available loans and increasing disposable incomes. During the first seven months this fiscal, commercial vehicles sales rose by 32 per cent to 1.31 lakh units over 99,833 units. Sales in the domestic two-wheeler market grew by an impressive 25 per cent to 5.55 lakh units on the back of bullish motorcycle and scooter sales. Even mopeds showed an improved performance. During the first seven months this fiscal, two-wheeler sales jumped by 10 per cent to 31.1 lakh units. Sales of motorcycles and step-thrus went up by 30.3 per cent to 4.38 lakh units while moped sales clocked a marginal 1.83 per cent to 29,074 units. Scooters and scooterettes segment, which is trying to reverse its fortune, posted a 10.8 per cent rise to 87,741 units in October. In the utility-vehicle segment sales soared by 30.2 per cent to 12,928 units. Cumulative utility-vehicle sales also grew by 28.5 per cent to 77,553 units. Multi-purpose vehicle sales also rose by 43.4 per cent to 5,270 units, largely due to the growing demand for Maruti Udyog’s "Versa" and ''Omni'' models. Three-wheeler sales jumped by 10.3 per cent to 23,563 units while cumulative sales stood at 1.46 lakh units, up 9.87 per cent. Maruti posted a 22 per cent rise to 28,060 units in October while its nearest rival Hyundai Motor India registered a 22.3 per cent growth to 11,320 units. Tata Motors clocked a 31.8 per cent rise in sales at 9,485 units. Ford posted a 38.5 per cent rise in sales at 1,717 units while that of the local arm of General Motors saw a jump of 110.5 per cent to 1,253 units. Sales of Hindustan Motors dived by 20.7 per cent to 1,036 units while that of Fiat went down by 33.9 per cent to 915 units. Toyota Kirloskar, the latest entrant in the car market with ‘Camry’ and ‘Corolla’, saw a whopping 607.2 per cent rise to 785 units. Skoda sold 500 units of ‘Octavia’ sedan while DaimlerChrysler saw a 41 per cent growth to 117 units. In the MUV segment, sales of Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) went up by 38.7 per cent to 7,004 units, mainly because of ‘Scorpio’ model. Tata Motors clocked a 61.4 per cent rise in the segment to 2,776 units, while Toyota Kirloskar suffered a marginal jolt of 0.41 per cent to 2,418 units. In the motorcycle and step-thru category, Hero Honda witnessed a 56.2 per cent growth to 2.05 lakh units while sales of Bajaj Auto rose by 24.7 per cent to 1.03 lakh units. TVS suffered a loss of 9.61 per cent to 59,817 units while Yamaha Motor India registered a rise of 22.8 per cent to 40,296 units. Sales of Royal Enfield jumped by 14.5 per cent to 2,656 units.
— PTI |
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SEBI: interest rate options on cards
New Delhi, November 14 The launch of another interest rate derivative assumes importance in the wake of falling interest regime. The new product would be applicable for both government and corporate debt papers. SEBI was coordinating with the RBI for launching the new derivative product, which would enable banks, financial institutions and others to hedge interest rate risks. Referring to the stringent norms on private placement of corporate debt papers, he said “when we found large amounts of money being raised through this route, we asked for more disclosures.”
— PTI |
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SC to hear COAI plea on Nov 17
New Delhi, November 14 Tatas pay 545 cr to govt NEW DELHI: Tatas on Friday paid about Rs
545 crore to the government to migrate to the new single licence regime
in its four existing circles, including Gujarat and Karnataka. The
company was required to pay an additional entry fee of Rs 60.01 crore
for migrating to the unified licence in the Gujarat circle, Rs 171.83
crore for the Karnataka circle, Rs 183 crore for Tamil Nadu (including
the Chennai circle) and Rs 120.7 crore for Delhi. — PTI
IBM updates
thinkpad
NEW DELHI: IBM India on Friday announced the launch of a
completely updated line of thinkpad notebook computers, featuring the
world’s first automatic hard-drive protection technology, called the
IBM active protection system. Thinkpad R50 and T41 are designed to
prevent hard-drive crash and data loss following insurance and analyst
reports that more than 10.5 per cent of notebooks are damaged annually
and accidental damage accounts for a majority of PC loss claims. Prices
for the thinkpad R50 start at Rs 1.25 lakh (exclusive of tax) and prices
for T4 start at Rs 1.70 lakh. — UNI
Dell profit rises
to $ 677
m
ROUND ROCK (TEXAS): Personal computer giant Dell posted a
third-quarter net profit of $ 677 million, up 21 per cent over the $ 561
million it earned in the year-ago period. The PC leader met earnings
forecasts and topped revenue estimates of Wall Street analysts. —
AFP
IFC to pump in $1 b
MUMBAI: The International Finance
Corporation is planning to increase its investments in India to $ 1
billion in the next two years even as it has pumped in additional funds
in a US-based company with operations in Chennai. The international
investment arm of World Bank sees a potential in business process
outsourcing business, especially in medical transcription, which is
emerging as a profitable business, IFC investment officer Daniel
Crisafulli told reporters here on Friday. — PTI
Nandan Agro ties up
with SPN
CHANDIGARH: Nandan Agro Farms Pvt Ltd today announced its
entry into the northern market in partnership with SPN Impex Pvt Ltd.
Under the agreement, SPN Impex will offer end-to-end consultancy to
farmers for the cultivation of ‘sefed musli’ plant — India’s
herbal alternative to Viagra — in the northern states. The company
will give an option to sell dry ‘musli’ roots at the rate of Rs
1,000 per kg. — TNS |
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Inflation rises BoP e-banking M&M, SBP pact Can Fin offer LIC Fin rates HDFC branch J&K Bank loan Mobile
Tambola Yamaha-BoB |
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