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NHB to tap rural housing finance sector
Volkswagen unveils Jetta |
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SBI Q1 profit up 15 pc
Assocham revises growth rate down to 7.6 pc
Ansals get nod for SEZ at Sonepat
Aviation Notes
Investor Guidance
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NHB to tap rural housing finance sector
Chandigarh, July 26 Talking to TNS here today, chairman and managing director of NHB, S. Sridhar, said the bank was investing 26 per cent equity in these two companies. "As the rural economy grows, we are looking at a major scope for growth in rural housing finance. The rural housing finance in the country is less than Rs 10,000 crore, though the demand for houses is growing phenomenally. Though the banks have created several products for rural housing loans, they are not very keen in launching these in rural areas because of the inherent risks involved," he said. Sridhar said the average loan to be provided in the rural areas would be Rs 50,000 Rs 1,00,000, though in some cases higher loan amount can be approved. The NHB chairman said there was a need to promote rural housing finance in the country. "While housing finance in the country is growing at a CAGR of over 30 per cent since the past six years, rural finance is not keeping pace with it. We want to act as a catalyst to promote housing finance for middle-income and poor people," he said. He said earlier they had picked up equity stake in some housing finance companies, and have now decided to do it again, specifically for rural housing finance. "The bank is also eyeing micro housing finance. We have already done pilot projects for housing micro finance in Tirupati, Mumbai and other places with some self-help groups. We are scaling up the model further to bring in the savings element," he said. Talking about reverse mortgage scheme, for which NHB is the nodal agency, Sridhar said the bank was planning to appoint certified independent mortgage councillors to protect interests of the customers. "We have already launched a loan counselling programme and trained counsellors will be appointed shortly. NHB has tied up with Indian Institute of Banking and Finance to come up with a one year course for mortgage counsellors," he added.
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Volkswagen unveils Jetta
Chandigarh, July 26 This was stated by the managing director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Makham Dhalivaal, after launching its model Jetta, in the city here today. He said the company had aggressive plans in India and the cars would be launched in a phased manner. "We are aiming to capture 10 per cent of the premium car market in India," he said. Dhalivaal said they had already launched Passat and Touareg, besides Jetta. "The company has already sold 300 units in India and will sell 1,200 units in 2008. We have already appointed seven dealers and will have 15 dealerships by the end of this year and 120 across the country by 2011," he said. He also said the company's facility at Pune was being set up with an investment of 700 million euros. He also added that as the company scales up its operations, they would be sourcing most of the auto-components from India.
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Mumbai, July 26 The lender attributed the robust growth to a nearly 67.79 per cent year-on-year growth in its operating profits, which grew to Rs 3,962.34 crore in the quarter from Rs 2,361.46-crore in the corresponding period in the last year, SBI said. Country's largest bank clocked a 30.01 per cent year-on-year growth in advances in the quarter which rose to Rs 4,48,327-crore from Rs 3,44,834-crore in Q1 FY 08. High rates hit ICICIs net
A sharp increase in interest rates, negative impact on treasury income and mounting bad loans have hit ICICI Bank's first quarter net profit which fell to Rs 728 crore, down by nearly 6 per cent, from Rs 775 crore in the year-ago quarter. High interest rates and adverse market conditions significantly affected the bank's trading portfolio and SLR Securities portfolio and its treasury income during the quarter, ICICI Bank's joint managing director Chanda Kochhar told reporters here. "High interest rates have had an impact on our quarter results. However, the corporate and international segments grew by nearly 65 per cent in the quarter and we expect it to grow by around 25 per cent moving ahead," Kochhar said. The bank made a total Mark-to-Market provisioning of Rs 594 crore during the quarter owing to the depreciation in its bond and equity portfolios, she said. Retail advances contributed nearly 56 per cent of the lender's total loan portfolio, while it has also contributed significantly to its bad debts during the quarter, she said. PTI |
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Assocham revises growth rate down to 7.6 pc
New Delhi, July 26 Saying that double-digit inflation and increased interest rates and input cost due to tight monetary policy by RBI is pinching the industrial units, ABB revised downwards its April projection of 7.9 per cent growth to 7.6 per cent. The CEOs fear RBI may take further monetary steps if inflation continues to remain in double digits, the chamber said. Over 65 per cent of CEOs felt that the economy was being hit by high inflationary pressures caused by rising energy and commodity prices and tightening of money supply, the survey said. PTI
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Ansals get nod for SEZ at Sonepat
Chandigarh, July
26 Sushil Ansal, chairman, API, said because of its strategic location, this SEZ would attract export-oriented units from Punjab. The proposed
SEZ, with prescribed processing and non-processing zones, will also help generating substantial job opportunities. |
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Aviation Notes
The bird striking aircraft or getting sucked into an engine is a phenomenon in existence worldwide. Many countries, promoting aviation, have taken several preventive measures to reduce incidents of bird hits.
Sadly, beyond loud-talking, not many measures have been taken at Delhi where two runways, particularly subsidiary runway, are surrounded by filthy areas promoting congregation of birds. According to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the majority of bird strikes occur during daylight hours and nearly 75 per cent occur below 200 feet above ground level. This was what happened at Indira Gandhi International Airport where on Thursday (2.10 pm) an Air Mauritius aircraft, with 252 passengers and crew, caught fire following a bird-hit. Some passengers sustained injuries before all of them were evacuated. Statistics show that there are at least 10 committees that are in existence to reduce incidents of bird-hits. One that is headed by the cabinet secretary is scheduled to monitor implementation of various measures. Then there is a high-level bird strikes committee, a task force airfield environmental management committee and some other sub-committees to undertake measures inside and outside the airport to combat bird strikes. There are also more than 100 bird chasers who are scheduled to work from dawn to dusk. Still incidents of bird strikes are on the rise. According to reports, civil aviation minister Praful Patel has said that Delhi had encountered 79 bird hits between 2004 and 2006. Aircraft are as much part of skies as birds are. Both consider sky their domain. Each tries to fly away from the other yet incidents occur. Birds, it is established, cause crashes as they get ingested into the engines. Their impact breaks the turbine blades. Bird strikes are of several kinds. Some of them are fatal. Any bird is a potential danger to aircraft since the force of impact is proportional to the product of mass and square of relative impact velocity. With the introduction of turbine-powered wide bodied aircraft, the problem has increased. The major factors contributing to bird strikes to aircraft are: 1. Explosive growth of our cities that surround the airport and local authorities have been unable to keep pace with massive urbanisation for ensuring proper gigantic conservancy measures. 2. Tremendous suction of jet engines, and 3. Vibration from jet engines brings worms to the surface, attracting birds. Several regular flyers and many other users, including Indian and foreign airlines, expressed their sigh of relief on the spruced up facilities at the international terminal building of the IGIA. But the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has once again missed the deadline for opening new runway. From March 2008 to June 30, the deadline has been further extended. The trial runs are now expected to start from August 15. According to officials, the actual target date is February 2009. One can't be certain where DIAL is concerned. |
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Investor Guidance
Q: What are the tax limits for normal and senior male and female citizens for year ending March 2008?. Also whether it is compulsory to mention a) the dividends received from mutual funds b) the long-term capital gains by way of selling the shares in the return.
Is the PAN required to file a tax return? Ashok Godse A: Many taxpayers seem to be under the impression that having a PAN makes it mandatory for them to file the tax return. The issue has especially come up ever since PAN was made compulsory for investing in shares and mutual funds. There are many who feel that now that they have been allotted a PAN, return filing would also be a must, no matter that they dont have any taxable income. This is a misconception. Though a taxpayer needs to have a PAN to file the tax return, the reverse is not true. Filing a tax return is obligatory, if and only if one earns an income above the basic exemption limits. For FY 07-08, these are Rs 1.10 lakh, Rs 1.45 lakh and Rs 1.95 lakh for men, ladies and senior citizens, respectively. So, if your income is lesser, irrespective of whether you have been allotted a PAN or not, you need not file a tax return. Long-term capital gains (LTCG) from sale of shares as well as dividends from shares and mutual funds are exempt incomes. Nonetheless, these have to be reported in the tax return form at the appropriate place meant for exempt incomes. HRA & home loan rebate Q: The Accounts Department of our company maintain that you can either claim HRA or home loan deduction, but not both. I am a salaried person. I own two houses in Mumbai and therefore I never claimed HRA. Could you specify the exact section in the Income Tax Act that allows both deductions? J. Mantri A: This is a common misperception. The following is an extract from Circular 8 of the IT Department dated 5-12-2007. It has to be noted that only the expenditure actually incurred on payment of rent in respect of residential accommodation occupied by the assessee subject to the limits laid down in Rule 2A, qualifies for exemption from income-tax. Thus, house rent allowance granted to an employee who is residing in a house/flat owned by him is not exempt from income-tax. The disbursing authorities should satisfy themselves in this regard by insisting on production of evidence of actual payment of rent before excluding the house rent allowance or any portion thereof from the total income of the employee. Nowhere does it say that the taxpayer cannot own residential premises. The only condition is that he or she should not be staying in such premises. The same can be ascertained by requiring the taxpayer to provide rent receipts or lease agreement of the leased/rented flat. II
Q: I am given to understand that I can avail benefits of both HRA deduction and interest on home loans. But when I declare the interest of my home loan, the section says that - "Where house property is self- occupied" (IT 048). However, this is paradoxical by definition. In other words, I own a house but I do not stay in it as I live in a rented flat. So the flat that I own cannot be "self-occupied". Can you please help in clearing this small doubt so that I can avail the benefit of HRA and also the home loan? S. N. Shah A: As per Section 23(2) of the Income Tax Act, the term "self-occupied property" includes property that cannot be occupied by the owner by reason of the fact that owing to his employment, business or profession carried on at any other place in a building not belonging to him. In other words, it is not necessary that you have to be occupying or staying in the property, rather, the property should be meant for your occupation. Retirement benefits
Q: I want to know how to incorporate the retirement benefits in the first income tax return after retirement. viz. DCRG, commutation of pension, encashment of leave, GPG.& group insurance. There is no column in the income tax return form no.2. Can I enclose photocopies which are in Punjabi language or should I just give a note in the return about the retirement benefits. Balwinder Singh A: The benefits received on retirement are exigible to tax under the head salaries. No annexure is required to be attached with the return. The Department will pick up the data related to you from the TDS returns filed by your ex-employer. It is reported that some of the offices of the Department insist on attachment of your original TDS certificates with your return since the data they have is not reliable! You may have to abide by their wish. NSC reinvestment
Q: Can I re-invest matured NSC without withdrawing the matured amount in order to save the tax on matured NSC? Also, If I buy NSC for minor (not for 80C purpose), does the maturity amount become taxable? Lokhande A: The proceeds of a matured NSC can be used to reinvest in fresh NSC for Sec. 80C benefit. The maturity amount of NSC is not taxable fully, it is only the interest for the last year that is taxable. That is assuming you have claimed Sec. 80C deduction for the first five years' interest. Else, all six years' interest will be taxable. The same principle will apply in the case of investment for minor. The authors may be contacted at wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com |
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