Mumbai, June 24
India's exports grew by 22.9 per cent in FY'08, marginally higher than a 22.6 per cent growth registered in the previous fiscal, the Reserve Bank said.

Exports stood at $155.4 billion in 2007-08, against $126.4 billion in the previous fiscal, mainly driven by a huge jump in engineering goods, gems and jewellery and petroleum products, RBI said in its June bulletin.

RBI said the growth in exports, during FY'08, was close to the average export growth of 23.5 per cent recorded during the previous five years, indicating a strong upward momentum, the apex bank said.

Of the total exports, agriculture and allied products, engineering goods, gems and jewellery and petroleum products alone contributed 68 per cent of the export growth during April-January FY'08, RBI said.

However, the growth in exports of petroleum products sharply decelerated to 36.7 per cent as compared to 66.7 per cent in the year-ago period.

Meanwhile, manufactured goods exhibited moderation in export growth in April-January period owing to deceleration in the exports of chemicals, engineering goods and textiles.

Country's imports, during the period, registered a higher growth at 26.9 per cent as against 24.5 per cent a year ago, on the back of higher growth in both oil and non-oil imports, RBI said in the bulletin.

Total imports in FY'08 stood at $235.7 billion, up 26.9 per cent from the last year's mark of $185.7 billion RBI said.

Non-oil imports, during the period, recorded a 23.5 per cent growth in FY'08, contributing about 60 per cent to the overall import growth led by capital goods, gold and silver, the apex bank said.

During the period, among the other major non-oil products, oil, fertilizers, iron and steel, pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, chemicals, textiles, coal, coke and briquettes showed accelerated growth in imports.

Meanwhile, the average price of Indian basket of crude oil rose by 27.4 per cent to $79.5 per barrel from $62.4 per barrel in FY'07, the data said. — PTI

New Delhi, June 24
Iran today welcomed India’s decision to participate in the trilateral talks next month on the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, ignoring the US pressure to go slow on it. “We expect India will show its commitment to the project and take practical steps to implement the pipeline deal,” Iranian ambassador to India Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh told The Tribune.

The Iranian envoy’s statement came a day after petroleum minister Murli Deora indicated that the trilateral talks to finalise all details about the project would resume in the next few weeks.

Deora met Iranian oil minister Gholam Hosein Nozari on the sidelines of the OPEC meeting in Jeddah on Sunday and assured him that India was very much willing to go ahead with the pipeline project.

Official sources said the project would come up for detailed discussions when external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee visits Tehran on July 29-30, primarily to attend the 15th inter-summit ministerial conference of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). A Pakistani delegation is also scheduled to attend the NAM meeting. A meeting of the India-Iran joint commission is also slated to be held during Mukherjee’s visit.

The 2775-km project, also known as ‘Peace pipeline’, is expected to greatly benefit both India and Pakistan, which do not have sufficient natural gas to meet their rapidly increasing domestic demand for energy.

India has been discussing the project with Iran for more than a decade but differences remain. India wants Iran to hand over custody of gas at the India-Pakistan border, and not at the Iran-Pakistan border, to cut transit risks. New Delhi has also disapproved of a price revision clause that Tehran has sought to insert in the proposed agreement on the deal.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had paid a five-hour visit to New Delhi in April during which he discussed the pipeline project with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He had also proposed a trilateral meeting of the heads of Iran, Pakistan and India to formally conclude the IPI agreement.

The US has been opposed to the pipeline project, contending that it would bolster Iran. Washington has been indirectly applying pressure on both New Delhi and Islamabad to go slow on the deal. The UPA government has consistently come under attack from the Left parties for surrendering to the US dictates on the project.

New Delhi, June 24
Cairn India today said it has begun laying the nation's first heated and insulated pipeline that will transport crude oil from its Rajasthan fields to coastal Gujarat.

Cairn India chairman Bill Gammell performed a traditional puja ceremony at Bevta in Banaskantha district, 200 km from Ahmedabad, to begin work on the 585-km long pipeline from Barmer in Rajasthan to Salaya oil export terminal near Jamnagar in Gujarat, a company press release said here.

The integrated engineering, procurement and construction contract for the pipeline is being done by Larsen and Toubro while the line pipe have come from Jindal Saw Mill at Mundra.

"At peak, the Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields (in Rajasthan) will aim to produce 175,000 barrels of oil per day and boost India's domestic crude production by about 25 per cent," Cairn said.

The oil field development work in Rajasthan was proceeding on schedule. "The integrated upstream and pipeline development is on course to produce first oil from Mangala in the second half of 2009," it said.

The 24-inch diameter insulated pipeline, that is to export the waxy crude oil after heating, will run from Barmer to a coastal location in Gujarat via Viramgam. It will have an 8-inch diameter gas line running most of its length to transmit gas found in Raageshwari field in the Rajasthan block.

The government has already approved inclusion of the pipeline investment in field development plan and recovering the cost through sale of crude oil.

Cairn said the government had on April 30 approved shifting of the crude oil delivery point from the Rajasthan field flange to Salaya in Gujarat and including the cost of laying the 585-km pipeline from Barmer to the new sale point in the field development cost that would be recovered by Cairn from sale of oil.

The pipeline was necessitated after Mangalore Refinery — the official buyer of Rajasthan crude — said it can take only 1-1.2 million tons of oil from Rajasthan.

So the crude now needs to be sold to multiple refiners.

MRPL would be denominated as the government nominee for buying crude from the Rajasthan fields and Cairn would be given freedom to market the oil in India. — PTI 

New Delhi, June 24
India Inc has raised a record over Rs 1 trillion through issue of corporate bonds on private placement basis in fiscal 2007-08, driven by huge mobilisations by financial institutions and banks, a latest report says.

According to data complied by capital market data provider Prime, the funds raised have increased substantially to Rs 1,15,266 crore last fiscal from Rs 93,855 crore in FY 2006-07, a jump of over 23 per cent.

Financial Institutions and banks' fund raising through private placement of corporate debt went up by 27 per cent to Rs 90,164 crore last year from Rs 71,193 crore a year-ago, a Prime statement said.

The other sectors which witnessed a significant growth was the private sector, whose mobilisation went up by 49 per cent to Rs 21,689 crore from Rs 14,540 crore in 2006-07.

The mobilisation by state level undertakings also grew by 79 per cent to Rs 1,348 crore in the reviewed year from Rs 752 crore in the previous year and state financial institutions by 10 per cent to Rs 1,309 crore as against Rs 1,192 crore in the previous year. On the other hand, a major fall in mobilisation came from PSUs, down by 88 per cent to only Rs 756 crore, compared to Rs 6,178 crore in the previous year.

Government organisations and financial institutions, put together, witnessed a decline, mobilising 81% of the total amount, down from 85% in the previous year. 
— PTI

New Delhi, June 24
The complex 2G spectrum allotment and pricing issue is likely to see some solution with the Department of Telecom (DoT) committee on it expected to meet in the coming few days.

Reports suggested that the committee is expected to meet in the first week of July and take on the matters related to the current 2G spectrum demand-supply situation, allocation and pricing of additional spectrum.

The committee is expected to hold a series of meetings before submitting its recommendations to DoT for an amicable solution to the crucial issues of mobile spectrum.

The committee is headed by Subhod Kumar, additional secretary, DoT, and has other senior officials from the department besides professors from IITs, IIMs, sources said.

The finance ministry has been pushing for auctioning of 2G spectrum on the grounds that the price formula suggested by DoT was based on spectrum charges decided in 2003.  Even the DoT is of the opinion of doing away with the present system of allotting 2G spectrum to existing telecom operators on a first-come-first-served basis. It is considering auctioning of spectrum even for 2G services and has also sought the intervention of the Prime Minister’s Office on the issue, seeking a meeting between the departments involved, including the finance ministry and the TRAI.

The committee formed is expected to recommend steps to bridge the gap between availability and demand of spectrum by re-farming and other technological and innovative methods.

The 2G-spectrum allocation process has seen considerable controversy with some operators saying; beyond the start-up (4.4 Mhz in case of GSM) operators should pay for additional spectrum.

On the other hand, the GSM players said they have already paid substantial amount for the given spectrum.

The telecom ministry had recently allocated 120 universal access service licences (UASL) for Rs 8,986 crore whereas the finance ministry placed the real value closer to Rs 31,452 crore. This also brought in the CVC, who has sought the reason for the spectrum to be the auctioned at the lower price from  the DoT.

Incidentally, the telecom regulator TRAI, which has recommended auction of 3G and wireless broadband spectrum, has cited legal problems in taking the auction route for 2G spectrum.  The committee would after taking all issues into consideration recommend the methodology for allocation and pricing of 2G spectrum for mobile voice services. 

New Delhi, June 24
US software giant Microsoft has topped the list of most reputed companies in India ahead of homegrown major Infosys and public sector banking giant State Bank of India. According to a survey by global market and insight group TNS, Intel, Maruti and TCS take the next three spots on the reputation front. "Looking at performance within specific sectors, Microsoft leads in the technology sector, State Bank of India in the financial services sector and Maruti tops the automobile sector," a study on corporate reputation in India in 2008 by TNS India said.

The report said State Bank of India's rise to number three is on the back of strong reputation amongst the financial community and prospective employees, representing stability in the face of the several crises that hit the financial services industry in the last year. Nestle was ranked ahead of Hindustan Unilever in FMCG sector, it added.

"... while market leadership, performance and quality still drive reputation, softer aspects like corporate governance and social responsibility are beginning to emerge as the hidden opportunities for companies to leverage," the report said.

According to the report, Reliance Communications and Hindustan Petroleum were the leaders in their respective segments — telecom and petroleum. Domestic pharma major Ranbaxy, which was recently acquired by Japanese drug firm Daiichi, has occupied the top slot amongst pharmaceutical companies in India. Korean manufacturer LG Electronics has led the way amongst durables firms, the report said. "As reputation is a complex combination of rational and emotional factors, it also emphasises the need for companies to address a range of both performance and perception issues," TNS India vice-president (Research Practice) Kalpana Sitaraman said. The survey was carried out among 63 companies in 11 centres across the country. — PTI 

Ludhiana, June 24
Hand tools industry here is expecting its exports to increase by a whopping Rs 3,000 crore in the coming five years. The expectation comes with the sanctioning of Rs 9.35 crore under the ASIDE (Assistance to State for Infrastructural Development for Exports) Funds scheme of the Centre to the Institute of Auto and Hand Tools here.

The funds would be used by the institute towards procuring latest machinery, identifying manufacturing processes, conducting research and development for this industry and making latest technology available to industrial units.

Industry would also contribute Rs 1 crore to avail the benefits.

"It is for the first time that institute in Ludhiana would be getting the funds. For hand tools industry it comes as a major boost as we can focus on quality related aspects. We are hoping that the utilisation of funds would result in a rise in exports to the tune of at least Rs 3,000 crore within five years," said S.C. Ralhan, regional chairman of the Engineering Export Promotion Council.

The amount under the scheme is sanctioned by the Centre to the state for development of facilities to boost exports. Run by the state government, the Institute of Auto and Hand Tools, has industrialsits on its governing board.

Exports of hand tools industry from Ludhiana are around Rs 550 crore while the total export from this industry in the state is Rs 825 crore.

As industry too would partner towards utilisation, it is hopeful that the befit would accrue soon.

BRIEFLY

HDFC Bank completes share swap process
Mumbai: HDFC Bank on Tuesday said it has alloted nearly seven crore equity shares to the shareholders of Centurion Bank of Punjab, pursuant to the banks' decision to swap shares. The bank alloted one share of HDFC for every 29 shares of Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP). The allotment comes pursuant to the share swap decision approved by the board of HDFC Bank in February wherein the swap ratio was decided. The record date for the share swap has been fixed as June 16, it said.— PTI

Spanco pact
Mumbai: Spanco BPO Ventures has tied up with revenue debt collections agency, MRS Associates, to provide back office and contact centre services to the latter. The partnership is expected to achieve a revenue of about $100 million (Rs 400 crore) in the next two years, Spanco said in a statement here on Tuesday. — PTI

Gold tumbles by Rs 220
New Delhi: Gold snapped a four-day long rising streak on the bullion market on Tuesday as it suffered a major fall in last 15 days on aggressive selling following a weakening overseas trend. The gold, which had been on upward march since last four trading sessions, sharply fell Rs 220 to Rs 12,510 per 10 gram. The metal last suffered such a loss on June 10. Selling pressure gathered momentum after reports of the gold falling in New York last night to almost a two-week low as the dollar strengthened against euro, reducing the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. — PTI

Religare Finvest raises 100 cr
New Delhi: Religare Finvest on Tuesday said it has raised Rs 100 crore through the issue of securities to Mauritius-based Standard Chartered Bank. The company has issued Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) for over Rs 100 crore to Standard Chartered Bank, Religare Finvest said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.— PTI

Web portal for IT professionals
Kochi: A web portal exclusively for IT professionals to socialise and share ideas was launched on Tuesday. The portal, technopax.com, will be a common online platform for IT industry related professionals networking and system administrators, graphics and animation designers, BPO Cll Center, ITES employees, Ram Mohan, executive director of the portal, told reporters here.— PTI