New Delhi, March 4
Finance minister P. Chidambaram today came out in defence of the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and said they were not behind the recent fall in stock markets and that there was no proposal to either ask them to withdraw from Indian market or ban them.

Replying to supplementaries during the question hour in the Rajya Sabha, the finance minister said: “I do not think that FIIs trading in stock market is the reason behind volatality (in stock markets) on certain days.

The ups and downs in the stock markets depend on the changing perceptions of investors — domestic and overseas, retail and institutional — about the economy, the sector and the company.

The recent fall in the stock markets is attributed among other factors, to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US, change in the monetary stance of developed countries, the expected recession in US and firming up of oil prices.”

He said FIIs’ share in the Indian market was small and there were sectoral and company-specific caps over their investment. There is, however, no proposal to ask FIIs to withdraw or ban FIIs.

He pointed out that authorities did not manage or control movement of stock indices and that it was the capital market regulator SEBI which maintained a constant vigil.

He added that in case of any abnormality, it takes appropriate action against the concerned entities.

Chidambaram said systems and practices have been put in place to promote a safe, transparent and efficient stock market and to protect market integrity.

The systems instituted include advanced risk management mechanisms comprising on-line monitoring and surveillance, various limits on positions, margin requirements and circuit filters.

He said the systems and practices are reviewed continuously and modified to meet emerging needs.

New Delhi, March 4
Nine major cement manufacturers controlling 60 per cent of the supply in the country have been reprimanded by the MRTPC for jacking up the prices of the vital commodity by forming a cartel and directed them to furnish an undertaking to refrain from doing so in future.

In a strongly-worded “cease and desist order” passed by a bench of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) comprising its chairman Justice O P Dwivedi and members M M K Sardana and D C Gupta gave eight weeks time to the cement companies to file affidavits on compliance of the undertaking.

The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA), an apex body of the companies essentially set up to regulate the supply of the commodity, also came under fire from the MRTPC for “patronising” the price hike in different stages in 1990 and in 2000 and was also ordered to file the identical affidavit.

The nine companies, which attracted commission’s wrath include ACC, Gujarat Ambuja, Larsen and Tourbo, Laffarge, Grasim, Satna Cement, Jay Pee, Diomond Cement and Maihar Cement.

They were found guilty of hiking the prices from Rs 90 per bag to the level of Rs 155 per bag in different phases between 1990 and 2000.

It was alleged by advocate O P Dua in a complaint filed on behalf of his two aggrieved clients that on July 5, 2000, these companies, in fact, held a meeting at Jabalpur to take a decision to form a cartel to “fix the cement prices artificially” and also to control the quantity of its flow to the market.

“The evidence on record in this case is strongly suggestive of existence of a cartel of nine companies as a result of which the prices were raised in July 1990, December 1990 and January 2001,” the MRTPC said, while finding them of violating Sections 33(1) and 2(0) of the MRTP Act for being “destructive” of the competition in the market.

Finding that the CMA had advocated further price hike though its job was to regulate the supply, the MRTPC said its action had “established the fact that the price revision is done through the instrumentality or under the patronage of CMA thus providing prior meeting of minds.”

Bhopal, March 4
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group chairman Anil Ambani today said that work on the Rs 20,000-crore ultra mega power project (UMPP) at Sasan, which his group company Reliance Power had won, would begin in the next three months and the plant would be fully operational in 50-60 months.

He also said power generation from Rossa power project in Uttar Pradesh was expected to start from 2009.

"The basic construction work for setting up the 4,000 MW UMPP, with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore, would begin in the next three months. We are hopeful of getting all the clearances by that time," Ambani told reporters here after reviewing the progress of various projects with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today.

The project had created a controversy in its pre-bid stage as Lanco Globelq was initially awarded the project.

However, later an empowered group of ministers disqualified Lanco Globeleq after finding some misrepresentation by the consortium.

Ambani, referring to 1,200 MW Rossa power project in Uttar Pradesh, said power generation from the project would begin from 2009.

To a question on difficulties faced by his group in Madhya Pradesh regarding his investment plans, Ambani said they were enthused by the kind of response given by the state government to projects of his group.

However, he said not just Madhya Pradesh but other states in the country had to do a lot in solving problems faced by the industrialists especially on the front of relocation and rehabilitation.

"Process of implementation of the projects should further expedite and accelerate in all the states," he remarked.

Earlier, Chauhan informed that the meeting has reviewed the progress of MoU signed with Ambani during the Global Business meet at Indore. — PTI

New Delhi, March 4
Tata Communications today announced an investment of $500 million for its wireless broadband venture on WiMax platform and has partnered with US-based Telsima Corporation for equipments.

The company will invest $500 million by 2010 in Wimax technology and is in talks with investors to sell minority stake in retail business, Tata Communications retail business unit president Shankar Prasad told reporters here.

Besides, it has selected Telsima to provide Wimax infrastructure and subscriber equipment solutions to deploy commercial Wimax network, with 3,000 base station sectors already getting deployed, which will enable customers to access video, education, music and business services, he added.

Tata Communications is the first to launch broadband services on the Wimax platform on a large scale for retail consumers in India.

In the initial phase, Tata Communications' Wimax network will offer broadband internet access and content services to enterprises and residential customers in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, and Kolkata. — PTI

Chandigarh, March 4
Plagued by huge outstanding loans, fall in farm-gate prices and suspension of exports because of bird flu scare, poultry farmers are irked at the government’s failure to take up their case for extending loan waiver and one time settlement scheme initiated for farmers.

The poultry farmers have incurred a loss of an estimated Rs 3,000 crore this year due to bird flu outbreak in West Bengal and the consequent ban on movement of eggs into West Bengal and North East, leading to surplus in other markets. The poultry-farming sector was looking forward to some relief in the Budget. With the government itself treating poultry as a part of agriculture, there is no reason why similar concessions should not have been granted to them.

After the first outbreak of bird flu in 2006, the industry suffered a loss of Rs.11, 000 crore due to fall in farm-gate prices and suspension of exports.

Before the industry could recover from this set back, maize prices increased from Rs.500-525 per quintal in 2006 to Rs.900 per quintal, because of forward trading, exports and speculation by traders.

“The cost of production has gone up by 35 per cent, but prices have continued to fall because of low demand. The only saving grace for poultry farmers was that the acute winter led to a surge in demand of poultry products,” says Surjit Singh, chairman (north zone), Broiler Breeders Association.

Poultry farmers in the region say because of the losses suffered by them, even the Reserve Bank of India has asked all the banks to convert the principal and interest due on working capital loans to term loans, to be recovered in easy installments over a period of three years.

“Even the insurance firms are re-scheduling the insurance cover grated to us, in order to help us better. But the government has failed to come to our rescue,” says Mahinder Arora, president, Punjab Poultry Farmers Association.

Poultry farmers would meet on March 6 to decide on the course of action to be initiated against the exclusion of poultry from the relief package. 

Chandigarh, March 4
To keep a tab on NRIs’ income in the northern region, the Income Tax Department has created a separate wing for international taxation here. A major concern behind this is to check whether the NRIs are paying tax to India or not as the investment by the NRIs here have increased significantly.

As of now, there is no such specialised wing for international taxation here. But from April 1, this wing will check the flow of money going out of India. Ritesh Parmar, a joint commissioner, will hold the charge of the wing.

Tax experts told TNS that many NRIs are showing interest in the Indian stock market, which is one of the progressive signs for the nation. But, in case of surplus earned on sale of shares, they will have to pay the tax. The draft circular issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) covers a wide range to treat gains arising from the sale of shares as capital gains vs business income.

Any income from a business, property, asset, fee for technical or professional service, direct services rendered in India, royalties, salaries paid by the Indian government to Indians for services provided outside India and dividends paid by an Indian company abroad are all taxable.

Some interest payments are also included. Any pension, no matter where paid, is taxable if the pensioner provided his services in India. Basically, an NRI's income consists of his salaries, income from his property, profits from his business (es), profession, capital gains and other listed 'sources'.

It is worth to be mentioned here that most of the NRIs are not aware that their tax liability does not depend on their nationality, but on their residential status. If someone spends less than 182 days in India during a financial year, he is a non-resident. This means that any income, he earns outside India is not taxed in India. The income tax return is for income received in India in the previous year. 

Shimla, March 4
The Himachal chapter of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the state government to reduce VAT on items of mass consumption, grant infrastructure status to tourism industry and privatise power distribution to contain energy losses.

In its pre-budget memorandum to the government, it has pointed out that power crunch was a major issue affecting the industry and to set things right there was an urgent need to implement feeder renovation programme along with privatisation of distribution. President of the chamber Dhian Chand pointed out that it would reduce energy losses.

The chamber demanded that VAT on items like cheese, ghee, butter and ice cream should be brought down from 12.5 to 4 per cent to encourage consumption. Some other products like biscuits also deserved a similar concession as 50 per cent of the produce was consumed in rural areas and 35 per cent by low-income groups earning less than Rs 750 per month. The central government had exempted biscuits with a maximum retail price of Rs 100 per kg from excise duty.

It also pleaded for withdrawal of cess levied by market committee on agricultural produce procured from outside the state as it led to double taxation making agro-processing industry even more competitive.

Grant of infrastructure status to tourism industry along with a policy ensuring lower debt-equity ratio, longer gestation period, lower interest rates, exemption from state taxes and incentives for early completion of projects were necessary to exploit the full economic potential of the sector.

The chamber advocated a multi-dimensional strategy for tourism development in public-private partnership (PPP) with an outlay of Rs 30,000 crore spread over 12 districts of the state. The PPP mode should be adopted for development of roads, tourist destinations, heritage sites, parking lots and other amenities. A well -equipped international airport should also be developed to boost tourism industry.

Chandigarh, March 4
Nepal Tourism Board is all set to cash on the cash-rich Punjabi tourists. Under its new promotion campaign, ‘Naturally Nepal — once is not enough’, the board is showcasing several exciting options for the prospective tourists.

In the city to hold a series of road shows across Punjab, Nepal Tourism Board director Hikmat Singh Ayer told The Tribune that a number of exciting travel ideas for the upcoming holiday season were being announced.

“For many, the real Nepal is yet to be unfolded. From weekend breaks to adventure holidays to social tourism. The potential of tourism is yet to be tapped”, said Ayer after conducting an interaction programme with travel agents here.

For the adventure enthusiasts, several options branded as light adventure, spectacular adventure, base camp adventure, eco adventure, extreme adventure and spiritual adventure are planned.

Nepal experienced a modest growth of 2 per cent in 2007 in Indian segment. Indian visitors, which account for one third of the total visitors, was a significant market for Nepal and owing to better connectivity and increasing confidence of visitors, at least 15 per cent growth from the market is expected during 2008.

“The road show will be a tremendous boost to the tourists, especially from northern India. The campaign will be supported by travel agents from the region, who will customise travel packages to suit one’s interest and schedule their travel plans and holidays in Nepal," concluded Ayer.

New Delhi, March 4
Reeling under the pressure of an industry slowdown, Bajaj Auto today reduced prices of its various motorcycle models by up to Rs 3,000 to revive sales fortunes.

Prices of BAL's entry-level 100cc model Platina have been reduced in the range of Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 and it would now be available for Rs 30,000 (ex-showroom). Prices of Discover (125cc and 135cc), Pulsar (150cc and 180cc) and automatic scooter Krystal have been reduced by Rs 1,000. — PTI