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GDP growth to slow down to 7.8 pc: NCAER
Cut steel prices if rates fall further: Govt
Tata Tea eyes buyouts
Brick rates set to rise further
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Technical textile emerges as new growth driver
Samsung to tap rural market
Samsung India’s country head for telecommunications business, Sunil Dutt, poses with latest range of mobile phones at Samsung’s Noida factory on Wednesday.
High iPhone price tag spurs interest in grey market
Punjab woollen traders lose Kashmir market
BEML to make stainless steel EMUs for Railways
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GDP growth to slow down to 7.8 pc: NCAER
New Delhi, August 22 The one per cent downward revision is attributed to recent hike in interest rates, rising inflation and crude oil prices and reduction in the private investment by about Rs 60,000 crore. Besides, increase in central government subsidies by Rs 20,000 crore and reduction in the world output by one per cent to four per cent in 2008 would have bearing on the growth, NCAER said in its latest monthly report. Though fiscal deficit is not projected to rise much above three per cent, the Current Account Deficit is projected to grow to 6.5 per cent of GDP, it said. Assigning the reasons for high CAD, the report said, a combination of higher crude oil prices and lower global demand has widened the projected current account imbalance. Notably, Indian economy witnessed a growth of 9.1 per cent during 2007-08. The decline in growth is lower in all the main sectors of the economy, it said, adding, industry is expected to grow at 8.4 per cent, against the previous forecast of 9.4 per cent while services would expand by 9.1 per cent, compared to 10.5 per cent. However, the growth in the agriculture sector has been kept unchanged at
2.5 per cent. On inflation, the NCAER report said the Wholesale Price-based inflation is likely to be at 7.9 per cent during the fiscal, against the earlier projection of
5.2 per cent. For the week ended August 9, inflation stood at 12.63 per cent, against 12.44 per cent in the previous week. According to analysts, the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission would further increase inflation as money supply would go up. It is therefore, widely expected that Reserve Bank would squeeze money supply by increasing Cash Reserve Ratio (the mandatory cash deposit that banks have to keep with the central bank) to tame inflation. Yesterday, financial services major Citigroup also revised GDP growth downward to 7.7 per cent from 9.1 per cent projected earlier. Citi attributed the decline in the GDP growth to a fallout of weak global trend, continuing credit crisis, fiscal profligacy and politics. However, it said, the factors that might be growth positive are lower oil prices, and faster structural reforms. — PTI |
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Cut steel prices if rates fall further: Govt
New Delhi, August 22 "Global steel prices have already softened and if the trend continues, it calls for a reduction in the domestic market too," steel secretary P.K. Rastogi told reporters here today. Globally, demand of steel has come down, especially from the infrastructure sector resulting in a dip in prices. "The gap between domestic and international steel prices has reduced. They have not come at par. If the gap narrows down further, we may look at revising our prices downward," state-run SAIL's chairman S.K. Roongta said, adding that as of now the PSU was maintaining the price line. The domestic steel producers have been holding the price line for over three months now to help the government check spiralling inflation. Rastogi said that steel prices are maintained by the producers and added that if there is a hike, the government would step in. "Government has options, we will examine the case if the prices are increased," he said.— PTI |
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Kolkata, August 22 At the company's 45th AGM here, Tata told shareholders, "We will be looking at strategic acquisitions to strengthen the product range." At present, Tata Tea owns 42 brands and was operating in 45 countries. Replying to shareholders' demand for issue of bonus shares, Tata said that it had to be a trade-off between higher dividend or bonus shares. During 2007-08, the company declared a total dividend of 350 per cent. "If we declare a bonus, then dividend payout will go down substantially," he said. He said the company was trying to develop medicinal products. "It is very close to our heart." Tata said since the complexion of the company had changed, should there be a need to change the name, the board would surely decide on it. — PTI
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Brick rates set to rise further
Ludhiana, August 22 Coal rates have been rising continuously for the last couple of months. The ongoing shortage is expected to fuel the hike further. Around two months ago, coal was available for Rs 6,000 per tonne and the price has increased to Rs 9,500. "We have now learnt that the rates would increase to Rs 11,000 per tonne. If we get coal at such a high price when we re-start operations in November, we will have to increase brick prices also to Rs 2,500 per thousand," said Jagjit Sood, secretary of the Punjab Brick Kiln Owners Association. Over 2,500 kilns in the state had stopped operations a month in advance this year and also delayed their schedule of re-opening by more than a month on account of coal shortage. The problem of shortage has only increased in the past few months with increasing demand coming from furnaces and users of hard coke as well. Decline in production at Coal India hit coal-consuming industry badly. Besides, supplies from China, too, have come to a halt due to the ongoing Olympics at Beijing. Worried over the grim scenario, owners of kilns fear situation would worsen when kilns in various states, including Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, restart operations. In Ludhiana, brick kilns have also decided to stop sale of bricks for three days from August 23. "We are worried we may not be able to function smoothly this time. In the past we have been unable to effect a proportionate increase in brick rates. But now, if supplies and prices do not show a favourable trend, we will have to make a decision on another hike in prices," said Sood. |
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Technical textile emerges as new growth driver
Chandigarh, August 22 Though still at a nascent stage, technical textile is expected to be a Rs 75,000-crore industry by 2011. A number of units that have started producing technical textiles are lining up a majority of production for exports to developed countries in the USA, Europe, and Japan. It is learnt that Indian market of technical textiles is around $8.3 billion and is growing at a pace of 13.3 per cent. With the growing demand for sporttech (sport textile) and clothtech (clothing textile), most of the textile houses are now diversifying into technical textile production. Seeing the growth potential in this sector, the Government of India has now ordered a baseline survey of this sector, to gather key information on quantum of imports and exports, present market size, growth potential and areas where government support is required. Talking to TNS here, on the sidelines of a seminar organised by CII, Venkat C. Shekhar, vice-president of JCT, said the company had entered into technical textile production last year and were now producing sporttech and protech (protective textiles), with 90 per cent of this being exported to the USA, Europe and Sri Lanka. “We have a capacity to produce 50,000 meters of technical textile per day, and wthin just one year, we have managed to have a turnover of Rs 120 crore,” he said. The company is now supplying sportttech to Nike, Reebok and Adidas, while the protech is being supplied to the defence sector and exported to developed countries. Rajasthan Spinning and Weaving, an LNJ Bhilwara group company, too, says that ever since they started commercial production of technical textiles, particularly a fire retardant fabric, their turnover has increased manifold. “We are now catering to the aviation sector in a big way and are in advanced stage of talks with Quantas, American Airlines and British Airways for supplying this fire-retardant fabric. Besides, we are also in talks with Russian Railways and American cruise liners for supplying this fabric. Though our present turnover is Rs 15 crore, we are hoping to reach a Rs 100 crore turnover by year 2010,” said K D Joshi, vice-president of the company. Seeing the steady growth in this sector, the government has now announced to set up two technical textile parks — in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Shashi Singh, joint textile commissioner, ministry of textiles, said they were expecting an investment of Rs 1,500 crore in the technical textile sector. “To promote this sector, we are now requesting state governments to give a capital subsidy of 10 per cent to new ventures, in addition to the capital subsidy of 10 per cent being given by Government of India,” she added. |
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Samsung to tap rural market
New Delhi, August 22 "Given the growing consumer preferences, especially among the younger age groups, for enriched and affordable multimedia phones, we have considerably strengthened our music phone offering this year. Our music phone portfolio has been developed for giving consumers a perfect synthesis of the ultimate sound experience, style and enhanced user interface. Our hugely successful Beat 450 and the new Beat 270 exemplify this concept perfectly," he said. He was talking to mediapersons at Samsung's Noida factory during a two-day factory visit of journalists from across the country. The mediapersons were also taken to Samsung's state-of-the-art R&D centre at Noida. Samsung spends nearly $6.01 billion on R&D globally. It employs 36,000 researchers worldwide. This was disclosed by Dr Vikram Vij, head, Samsung's R&D centre, at Noida. Dutt said he was confident of doubling Samsung's mobile market share by the year-end. At present, Samsung has 8 per cent market share. "With the introduction of our new music and multimedia phones, we expect the multimedia phone contribution to grow to around 40 per cent of our total product portfolio by the end of this year," he said. Samsung's music phone range comprises of E251, F250, Beat 270 and Beat 450, priced between Rs 5,499 and Rs 14,799. Samsung has also launched its full touch screen, ultra slim mobile phone, TouchWIZ, in the Indian market. "TouchWIZ offers full touch navigation experience; widgets with 'drag and drop' technology, making the phone highly interactive and easy," said Dutt. The company also plans to launch its flagship OMNIA — the all-in-one maxi phone, fully loaded with top of the line, multimedia-enhanced smart phone features — in the Indian market in September. The company also plans to enhance its mobile channel coverage this year. It is aggressively tapping the semi-urban/rural markets through tie-ups with likes of Iffco. Later, Ravinder Zutshi, deputy managing director, Samsung India, while sharing H2 key initiatives of the company at the company's corporate office here, said they have set a target of achieving turnover of $1.5 billion this year as compared to $1.3 billion last year. He said Samsung was a market leader in the LCD TV segment for the past three years and they had a target of achieving 45 per cent market share in the LCD segment and 25 per cent in the flat TV segment this year. He further disclosed that Samsung had a 90 per cent market share in the hospitality sector. Besides Noida, Samsung has another factory at Chennai. The Chennai plant was set up in 2007. Samsung started its Indian operations in 1995 and started production at Noida factory in June, 1997. So far, the company has made an investment of $150 million in India, excluding Chennai facility.
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High iPhone price tag spurs interest in grey market
Mumbai, August 22 The official price tag of the 8GB version of the 3G version of the iPhone is Rs 31,000, while the 16GB version has been priced at Rs 36,000. These devices, which were launched in the US only last month, are available in the US for around Rs 8,500 since they are subsidised by the mobile service providers who recover the cost from services. However, Indian service providers do not subsidise the price of iPhones since they cannot raise the price of services to recover costs. "The price of the iPhone in the grey market has fallen from around Rs 50-60,000 last month, but there are more inquiries after the official launch," says Asfaque Mohammad, who operates a mobile shop out of the Heera Panna shopping complex. The hacked iPhones sold here go for around Rs 25,000. "The phones are unlocked and can be used with any service provider," insists Mohammad and some of the other dealers in the business here. However, officials of Vodafone and Airtel say, users of hacked phones purchased from the grey market would not be able to avail of the premium services provided by them. But, say gizmo lovers, the launch of the iPhone is premature in India since 3G services are not yet available anyway. The buzz at Heera Panna, Crawford Market and other grey market hubs in Mumbai is unlocking of iPhones for a fee. "People are bringing in iPhones from the US for unlocking here. We charge around Rs 5,000 from our regular customers," says Mohammad. However, the customer would be required to leave the handset with the dealer and return after a couple of days. Globally, Apple `locks' iPhone with specific mobile phone networks for a share of the monthly subscription fee and keeps the price of the device low. However, a big chunk of these devices were purchased and 'unlocked' by hackers so that they could work in other phone networks and even across national boundaries as well. Meanwhile, Airtel and Vodafone are coming up with innovative methods to sell the iPhones. Vodafone has tied up with a number of banks so that buyers can avail of easy financing facility. Airtel, which began pre-booking of its iPhones some time ago, claims to have received ordres for more than 2 lakh devices.
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Punjab woollen traders lose Kashmir market
Shimla, August 22 "Hosiery items worth millions of rupees will be left unsold unless the government takes measures to transport woollens from Ludhiana to Jammu and Kashmir," Gaurav Jain of Ludhiana-based knitting company Sarthik International told IANS here. Jain has been camping in Shimla along with other traders to market stocks that he couldn't supply to the valley as agitators in Jammu have blocked roads in protest against the revocation of forest land allotment to the Amarnath Shrine Board. Though the Jammu agitators have denied the blockade and the central government says the road to the Kashmir valley is now open, the traders are still finding it difficult to transnport their goods. Added Sonu Kumar Bondhi, another trader from Ludhiana: "As winter ends, we start making woollen items like sweaters, jackets, shawls and caps for the next season. This time we procured a huge quantity of blankets from other states as the demand is quite good in the Kashmir valley. But the highway blockade has severely affected our business." Bondhi said every year, Punjab woollens traders send goods worth between Rs 2.5 million and Rs 3 million to various markets in Jammu and Kashmir by August-end. "This time, we have hardly got any order till date," he added. According to trader Sanjay Abrol, Punjab's woollen merchants are doubly hit this year. "On the one hand, the woollen industry is facing problem of marketing products in the valley, on the other, the price of dyed yarn has doubled, adding to the cost." Like other traders, he is also eyeing new markets in the northern states by lowering prices. "We pray that the issue is resolved amicably, the future of thousands of people who are involved in this trade is at stake," said Vinod Thapar, president of Ludhiana's Knitwear Trade Association. According to president of the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ram Sahai, trade and industry in the Jammu region has suffered losses of a whopping Rs 57.9 billion in the wake of the land row. — IANS
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BEML to make stainless steel EMUs for Railways
New Delhi, August 22 The Railway Board has accepted the proposal of BEML, which has designed stainless steel EMUs. These units will be built for first time in the country. The Board is placing order for six rakes. These EMUs will replace the existing corten steel EMUs in a phased manner, now running in Mumbai and Chennai suburbs. The total requirement is of 3,000 coaches with a business potential of Rs 5,000 crore in the coming years. The Railways is operating a substantial fleet of EMUs in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi sectors. These EMUs are made with corten steel and are prone to corrosion, resulting in high maintenance cost, more down time and reduced life. To overcome these problems, BEML had proposed introduction of stainless steel EMUs with improved aesthetics, pleasing interiors with increased life. The stainless steel technology, once adapted for the EMUs, can be extended to the mainline EMUs also. BEML is already manufacturing state-of-the-art stainless steel Metro coaches cars for Delhi Metro, a company spokesperson said. |
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New Delhi, August 22
