The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	India launches firm to attract FDI investment Bhagyashree Pande Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 10 The West knows where to put the money to get better returns and where to recoup losses. Emerging Asian countries like India are the sure destination to park funds for foreign investors, say economists. The advise has been best heard and India has received $3.51 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) in July. Despite the current slowdown, there is an impressive 56 per cent increase in FDI inflows over last year, said Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. A good growth despite the fact that the World Banks Doing Business Index report ranked India at 133 position - a notch below last year. The bank cited that the business environment in the country had become tougher this year. To aid more investment, the government has approved formation of an investment promotion firm - ‘Invest India’ - that will help global investors resolve their bottlenecks. The company will act as the first reference point for any investor interested in India and will also facilitate setting up business within the country in coordination with the state governments, Sharma added. Hailing the formation of ‘Invest India’, A Sakthivel, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), said the company would provide multiple benefits such as technology transfer, market access and would also give insight into new organisational skills. “Besides such company will also help the government to raise funds for developing infrastructure that is critical in doubling our share of exports in global trade by 2020,” he said. Invest India would be a tripartite company involving the Central government, states and industry chamber FICCI. The government will hold 49 per cent equity and the remaining will be with the industry chamber. The Centre would disinvest part of its 49 per cent equity in favour of states, bringing it to 35 per cent. The firm would be a promotional and facilitator agency and there would be no overlap with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The company will have a board of directors with six members from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and six others from the FICCI. The DIPP secretary will be its non-executive chairman and a professional managing director would run its day-to-day affairs.
	Home loan EMIs to cost Rs 10,000 less New Delhi, September 10 Home loan seekers can save up to Rs 10,000 on their monthly repayments for one year as the government today approved one-per cent interest subsidy for houses that cost less than Rs 20 lakh. Aimed at promoting low-cost housing, the subsidy will be available for loans up to Rs 10 lakh, provided the cost of the dwelling unit does not exceed Rs 20 lakh, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Affairs Ambika Soni said after a meeting of the Cabinet that cleared the proposal of the Finance Ministry. “It is expected that cut in interest rates should reduce equated monthly instalments (EMIs) of borrowers and create additional demand for housing, particularly in the low cost category,” she said, adding the scheme would cost the exchequer Rs 1,000 crore and benefit about 10 lakh borrowers. Besides, she added, the move "in turn should stimulate demand in the construction industry as well as industries such as steel and cement having employment and income multiplier effect”. The Cabinet approved the scheme for providing interest rate subsidy on houses in pursuance to an announcement made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee while replying to the debate on the budget for 2009-10 in July. Though the scheme would help loan borrowers in small cities, it would not be of much benefit to those looking for houses in metropolises like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore as the cost mostly exceed the threshold of Rs 20 lakh. The subsidy scheme, Soni said, is aimed at arresting deceleration in flow of credit to the housing sector that can be attributed to an increase in the price of houses, slackening of income growth and rise in interest rates. Besides purchase and construction of new houses, she said, the interest subsidy would be also be provided for extension of an existing house provided the cost does not exceed Rs 20 lakh. Giving details of the scheme, Soni said the subsidy would be computed for 12 months on disbursed amount and adjusted upfront in the principal outstanding. The scheme will apply to loans irrespective of whether they are on fixed or floating rate basis, she added. The RBI and the National Housing Bank (NHB), which have been designated as nodal agencies for implementation the scheme, will have to put up demand before the government for release of the subsidy amount. Banks and housing finance companies will be required to submit a monthly consolidated return to the RBI and NHB, respectively, specifying the quantum of interest subvention towards housing loans. — PTI
	Inflation up at -0.12 per cent New Delhi, September 10 Driven by higher prices of essential food items like milk, cereals, pulses, fruit and vegetables, inflation rose to (-)0.12 per cent for the week ended August 29 and is expected to move to positive territory in the next couple of weeks. The wholesale price inflation remained in the negative zone for the 13th week in a row, due to high base as it stood at 12.38 per cent a year ago. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had earlier described negative inflation as only a "statistical advantage". During the week, prices of eggs moved by four per cent, fish-marine by two per cent, milk, fruits and vegetables by one per cent each. Vegetable, when compared with the period a year ago, however, turned expensive by 44 per cent. Sugar, khandsari and gur turned expensive by 35.2 per cent, pulses by 20 per cent and cereals by 12.6 per cent. "It is in line with the expectation. The inflation is likely to move in positive territory within two weeks," Crisil Principal Economist DK Joshi said. According to analysts, inflation would be higher than RBI projection of 5 per cent by the end of March 2010. Inflation is likely to be in the range of 6.5-7 per cent by March, 2010, said Yes Bank Chief Economist Shubhada Rao. Economists said the RBI was likely to retain monetary stance for the time being and may tighten money supply only in the last quarter of this fiscal. "I don't rule out possibility of cash reserve ratio (CRR) hike during the last quarter of 2009-10," Rao said. During the week, prices of soybean oil increased by 3 per cent, ghee, groundnut oil and imported edible oil rose by 1 per cent each. — PTI
	5 pc DA hike for Central govt staff Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 10 The government today decided to hike the dearness allowance of Central government employees and pensioners by 5 per cent, retrospectively, from July 1. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here. “The Cabinet has decided to release an additional instalment of dearness allowance to Central government employees and dearness relief to pensioners with effect from July 1,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said. This represents an increase of 5 per cent over the existing rate of 22 per cent of the basic pay or pension to compensate for the price rise. The impact on the exchequer would be Rs 4,355.35 crore in a full year and Rs 2,903.55 crore in the financial year 2009-2010. The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, based on the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. The minister refused to be drawn into discussion over why the government was raising the dearness allowance in a situation where inflation was in the negative zone.
	Fiscal, monetary policies to hit stability: RBI Mumbai, September 10 Cautioning the government that growing tension between fiscal and monetary policies can hit financial stability, the RBI today said it could not maintain price stability if the Centre continued to borrow large amounts from the market to fund its expenditure. “These tensions between fiscal and monetary policies could potentially militate against financial stability. If governments continue to incur large fiscal deficits, it will be that much more difficult for central bank to maintain price stability,” RBI Governor D Subbarao said in his valedictory seminar at the FICCI-IBA seminar here. Making a case for early return to the path of fiscal consolidation, he said: “In India too, we are confronting the dilemma of managing the tension between fiscal and monetary policies”. Noting that price stability is a necessary condition for financial stability, Subbarao said: “Higher inflation could also push the yield curve upwards. This could result in adverse implications for bank's profitability. This again could impair stability." The government in its budget for 2009-10 proposed to raise Rs 4.5 lakh crore from the market, up from Rs 3.1 lakh crore in the previous year and pegged the fiscal deficit at 6.8 per cent of the GDP as against 6.2 per cent in 2008-09. Subbarao said: “We need to be vigilant about protecting our financial stability as developments anywhere in the world can affect us" — PTI
	ESPN STAR Sports in new avatar Sanjay Khurana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 10 As the sports season heats up with a buffet of top world-class events, fans across the country will experience sports in a brand new way on ESPN STAR Sports as it has rebranded and launched its new on-air presentation across its networks. With an investment of Rs 15,000 crore in the Indian subcontinent to showcase the sports events, the ESPN STAR Sports has launched its new identity across the Asian network. Talking to The Tribune, Makarand Palekar, associate vice-president, ESPN Software India, said: “This is the start of a great phase for ESPN STAR Sports, with a world-class line up of content and an all-new look. The new branding for STAR Sports and the refreshed on-air presentations for each channel brand aim to enthuse and exhilarate sports fans across India and continue our strong and enduring association with them.” He stated: “We have emerged as the highest investor in the game of cricket globally. Riding on this, we are looking at a sizeable growth in our paid subscriber base across India. Almost 50 per cent of the cable operators across India have already renewed their contracts with ESPN STAR Sports.” The new branding and channel presentation leverages on exciting and distinct brand equities to further strengthen its connection with current audience and attract new demographics, as fans gear up to catch the exciting action from major sporting events such as the ICC Champions Trophy, Airtel Champions League Twenty20, Formula One Grand Prix and the Barclays Premier League this September. He disclosed that ESPN STAR Sports would soon launch 24X7 sports news channel. “We have applied for permission from the Indian government to downlink the proposed channel, likely to be called ESPNews. This will be the fourth channel from the ESS after ESPN, STAR Sports and Star Cricket,” he said.
	Firm to attract FDI investment launched Bhagyashree Pande Tribune News Service New Delhi, September 10 The West knows where to put the money to get better returns and where to recoup losses. Emerging Asian countries like India are the sure destination to park funds for foreign investors, say economists. The advice has been best heard and India has received $3.51 billion FDI in July. Despite the current slowdown, there is an impressive 56 per cent increase in FDI inflows over last year, said Commerce Minister Anand Sharma. To aid more investment, the government has approved formation of an investment promotion firm - ‘Invest India’ — that will help global investors resolve their bottlenecks. Invest India would be a tripartite company involving the Central government, states and industry chamber FICCI. The government will hold 49 per cent equity and the remaining will be with the industry chamber. The Centre would disinvest part of its 49 per cent equity in favour of states, bringing it to 35 per cent. The firm would be a promotional agency and there would be no overlap with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The company will have a board of directors with six members from the DIPP and six from the FICCI.
	Exports dip for 11th month in a row New Delhi, September 10 India's exports contracted for the 11th month in a row in August by 19.7 per cent on a yearly basis, but exporters are pinning hopes on Christmas orders from markets in the West. The merchandise exports were $14.3 billion in August, against $17.8 billion in the same month last year, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters. The provisional exports data for August would be formally released in October. For the April-August this fiscal, the exports contracted by 31.3 per cent to $63.9 billion from $93.1 billion in the same period last year. The contraction in July was 28.4 per cent. “There is a glimmer of hope," Khullar said, adding a lot would depend on the Christmas orders. Besides, the decline in shipments was the lowest since January 2009. In August, exports of rice, tobacco, fruits and vegetable, marine products, iron ore, man-made yarn and fabrics, some minerals, like coal, and garments have shown positive growth, Khullar said. For the first time in 2009-10, three sectors — rice, tobacco and fruits and vegetables — have shown positive growth. Gems and jewellery, drugs and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and leather, which account for the bulk of country's exports, however continue to remain in the negative. Exports of gems and jewellery were $2.2 billion in August against $2.9 per cent in the corresponding month last year. — PTI
	Technico to export seed potato to S Arabia Ruchika M. Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, September 10 Technico Agri Services, a subsidiary to hotel conglomerate ITC, has now started exporting its seed potato to Saudi Arabia. Though the company was already exporting its Technituber seeds, it is for the first time that it is exporting 700 tonne of seed potato to the West Asian country. Talking to TNS here today, on the sidelines of a function to announce the launch of an e-Card for its contract farmers in Punjab in association with HSBC Bank, Sachid Madan, director of the company said that the company has already exported 500 tonne of seed potato and another 200 tonne would be exported shortly. Most of this seed potato would be sourced from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. He said this year a produce of 50,000 tonne of seed potato was expected, with majority being sourced from this region. Of this, around 1500 tonne would be exported. “We are already exporting around 6 million Technituber seeds per annum to Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Presently, we are producing 12 million Technituber seeds per annum at our plant near Baddi in Himachal Pradesh,” he added. In a bid to restructure its agri-commodity business, ITC is making an exit from low-margin commodity businesses to focus on high-margin products. Presently, the company is focused on its sourcing needs. The business has also commenced procurement of chipstock potatoes, a critical raw material for the company’s Bingo! brand of potato chips. Madan said the company had also started contract farming for sunflower seeds with Advanta, and corn with Punjab Agro Industries Corporation last year.
	Biometric cards by OBC soon Ashok Sethi Amritsar, September 10 The Oriental Bank of Commerce would soon launch biometric cards to the large unbanked segment of customers in the country. Talking to the Tribune after participating in the agriculture Kisan Credit card camp at Ajnala here yesterday, chairman-cum-managing director TY Prabhu said over 50 crore people in the country were yet to avail banking services. There was tremendous potential for banks to reach out to these people through the biometric card system that has so far been launched in Amritsar only. He said the bank, along with the district administration, had taken up this pilot project and already shortlisted 85,000 beneficiaries in the Majitha and Ajnala segments and distributed 35,000 cards till date. In view of the ensuing festival season, the bank had decided to reduce interest on home and vehicle loans by 0.5-1 per cent.