The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	CRR hike won’t hit interest rates: RBI Mumbai, January 29 The Reserve Bank today said its decision to hike Cash Reserve Ratio would not harden the interest rates immediately or impact the credit flow to the private sector. In its quarterly monetary policy review today, the RBI hiked the CRR — the amount banks have to park with the central bank — by 0.75 percentage points to 5.75 per cent. "(Despite the CRR hike), there will be sufficient liquidity in the system to meet the potential demand from the private sector," RBI Governor Subbarao told reporters here today. The RBI has left the short-term lending and borrowing rates unchanged at 3.25 per cent and 4.75 per cent. Subbarao, who met bank chiefs earlier in the day to discuss the policy measures, said banks had informed him that the hike in CRR would not put an immediate pressure on them to up the lending rates. The banks also said loan growth prospects in the system remained favourable but expressed concern that bad loans could increase going forward, particularly from the restructured assets. Subbarao said the lenders also expressed concern over their growing exposure to the infrastructure sector and wanted government intervention to address the asset-liability mismatch. — PTI
	Disastrous, feels India Inc New Delhi: Unhappy over the RBI's more-than-expected 75-basis point hike in CRR to squeeze money supply, India Inc today cautioned that economic growth would be hit if accommodative monetary stance was reversed hastily. "...the tipping point has not yet arrived for tightening of the monetary policy and if one proceeds in that direction hastily, economic growth is bound to take a hit. This, in turn, will affect employment generation that is critical at this juncture," Ficci president Harsh Pati Singhania said. He said the RBI's move signals a further tightening of the monetary policy regime. A Ficci statement said SMEs were still borrowing at around 13 per cent, exports had contracted by nearly 20 per cent during October, 2008, and October, 2009, and imports were down by 21 per cent during the same period. "Therefore...it is still premature to signal a tightening of the monetary policy and has cautioned that if this is complemented with fiscal tightening, the results will be disastrous," it said. The PHD Chamber also said the hike in CRR may adversely impact the availability of funds with the banks for extending credit to the industry from the banking system. — PTI
	Advises FM to roll back sops partially MUMBAI: With budgetary preparations on in full swing, the RBI today advised the Finance Minister to at least partially roll back the stimulus that was provided to help the industry cope with the financial crisis. "For short-term economic management and medium-term fiscal sustainability..., it is imperative that the government returns to a path of fiscal consolidation. The consolidation can begin with a phased roll back of the transitory components," RBI Governor D Subbarao said, while unveiling the third quarterly review of the monetary policy. The RBI's advice has come at a time when Pranab Mukherjee is busy preparing the Budget for 2010-11 to be unveiled on February 26 in the Lok Sabha. The government had announced three stimulus packages, envisaging a revenue sacrifice of Rs 1.86 lakh crore, to help the economy fight the global financial crisis that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, 2008. The stimulus measures, which mainly included excise duty cuts and increase in public spending, were aimed at generating demand for industrial goods. These initiatives, in addition to the steps taken by the RBI to unlock liquidity to help cash-starved industry, helped the economy to clock 7.9 per cent growth during the second quarter (July-September 2009-10). However, the tax cuts and higher expenditure are slated to push up the fiscal deficit from 6.2 per cent of GDP to 6.8 per cent during 2009-10. — PTI
	Take it easy: Banks Mumbai/Davos: The SBI and ICICI Bank today ruled out an imminent hike in lending rates, much to the relief of thousands of borrowers who feared an immediate rise in the rates if the RBI tightened money supply. "We have got so much liquidity that it does not impact us at all in terms of there being any upward pressure on the interest rates for our borrowers. In the next six-months or so, we do not expect our rates to change," SBI's chairman O P Bhatt told reporters here. There might not be either an upward or downward movement in the deposit rates in the immediate horizon, he added. ICICI Bank's MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar also said there would not any immediate increase in the lending rates, after the Reserve Bank announced measures to squeeze money. "I do not see any immediate impact on interest rates. There is so much liquidity (in the system)...government borrowing is almost over and whatever is there, is there for investment," Kochhar told PTI in Davos, where she is attending the World Economic Forum. — PTI
	Per capita income at Rs 40,141 New Delhi: An Indian would have got Rs 40,141 during 2008-09, if the country's wealth was equally distributed among its citizens, according to the revised estimates of the national income. The revised estimates of the national income that took into account 2004-05 prices was announced by the government today. The old method of income calculation had pegged per capita at 37,490 for 2008-09. "The per capita income at current prices is estimated at Rs 40,141 in 2008-09," an official statement said today. On an annual basis the new per capita income rose 13.3 per cent compared to the previous year (2007-08). The new series of calculating the national income changed the base year to 2004-05 from 1999-2000 earlier. As per the new series (on 2004-05 prices), the per capita income stood at Rs 31,821 during 2008-09, up 5 per cent over Rs 30,316 a year ago. — PTI
	Zero farm growth predicted Mumbai: The Reserve Bank today said the agriculture growth would be muted this fiscal on account of the impact of poor monsoon on kharif crops. "As rabi prospects appear to be better, on the whole, agricultural GDP growth in 2009-10 is expected to be near zero," the RBI Governor said. He added that the poor kharif output, on account of deficient monsoon, might also drag the real GDP growth for the third quarter of the current fiscal to below 7.9 per cent recorded in the previous quarter. "It is expected that Q3 growth, which will reflect the full impact of deficient south-west monsoon rainfall on kharif crops, would be lower than that of Q2," the RBI said. The agricultural growth in the second quarter of the current fiscal was 0.91 per cent. In the entire 2008-09, the growth was at 2.6 per cent. Agriculture sector contributes 17 per cent to the national income, though more than half the population depends on farm sector. — PTI
	NTPC, Tata Motors profit up New Delhi/Mumbai, January 29 NTPC today reported a marginal growth of 5 per cent in the net profit at Rs 2,364.9 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009, over the same period last year. However, the total income declined to Rs 11,962.8 crore for the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 12,128 crore in the same period previous fiscal, NTPC said. Further the company said one of its coal-based units located in Uttar Pradesh, which is planned to provide power to Commonwealth Games, has reached full load to produce 490 MW of power. Tata Motors p Tata Motors reported a net profit of Rs 400.14 crore for the quarter ended December on strong domestic demand against a net loss of Rs 263.26 crore in the same period last fiscal. The total income from operations soared by 88.71 per cent to Rs 8,979.90 crore during the October-December period from Rs 4,758.62 crore in the year-ago quarter, the country's largest auto company said. Rel Infra p Reliance Infrastructure reported a growth of 10.35 per cent in its net profit at Rs 277 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009, over the same period last year. However, the total operating income declined to Rs 2,287.49 crore for the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 2,717.63 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal, Reliance Infrastructure said. RNRL p RNRL reported a growth of 3.30 per cent in the net profit at Rs 25 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2009, over the same period last year. However, the total income declined to Rs 131.6 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 169.4 crore in the same period last year, RNRL said. IOC q IOC reported a steep decline of 76.45 per cent in the net profit at Rs 696.59 crore for the third quarter ended December. The oil major had a net profit of Rs 2,958.59 crore during the October-December quarter last financial year. However, net sales of the company rose to Rs 65,225.72 crore during the December quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 61301.67 crore of the corresponding quarter a year earlier, IOC said. — PTI
	Auction of 3G spectrum put off to next fiscal Girja Shankar Kaura Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 29 The dispute between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Telecom Ministry over the release of spectrum being used by defence forces for commercial use has finally taken its toll. Reports emerging of the Department of Telecom (DoT) suggest that the government has postponed to the next fiscal auction of spectrum for the third generation 3G telephony With it, the government’s expectations to garner at least Rs 25,000 crore from the auction in this fiscal have also been dealt a body blow. The auction process was to start earlier this month but was postponed for the next month, to be finished before the end of this fiscal. According to senior officials in DoT, Law Minister Veerappa Moily, who is a member of the EGoM, has opined that the auction should he held when the spectrum is available. The officials said the auction could now take place in August-September this year, when all spectrum needed for the auction would have been made available by the MoD. The MoD had agreed to vacate the spectrum only during the middle of this year and had accordingly asked DoT to ensure that the telecom operator successful in the auction should start their services only after August. The postponement of the 3G spectrum auction to 2010-11 is likely to have some adverse impact on the government's finances and the fiscal deficit which is pegged at 6.8 per cent of the GDP. Incidentally, government has been very keen on the 3G auction and taking a number of decisions to not only attract new players but also ensure the participation of foreign telecom companies. While it recently decided to allow foreign telecom companies to pay in Indian currency, if they were successful in the bid, it had also taken a decision to waive one-year spectrum fee for standalone 3G service providers. Standalone telecom operators are those that do not currently operate mobile services. This has been approved by the Telecom Commission and will be incorporated on the notice inviting application (NIA) for the 3G spectrum auction.
	Toyota under lens Honda to recall 6,46,000 cars too Washington/Tokyo, January 29 Toyota Motor Corp faced US Congress scrutiny over its biggest-ever safety recall as rival Honda Motor Co, tipped to gain from Toyota's woes, also said it would recall thousands of cars worldwide. Honda said it would recall a total of 6,46,000 units of its Fit/Jazz and City models, including 140,000 in the US, because of a faulty window switch, after a child died when a fire broke out in a car last year. The announcement came as investors, suppliers and consumers weighed the impact of an unprecedented halt in US production by Toyota, the world's No.1 automaker. Honda's move as well as Toyota's recall due to problems with unintended and dangerous acceleration, come at a bad time for the industry as it struggles to lure buyers back to showrooms after a sales slump that helped drag US rivals General Motors and Chrysler into bankruptcy. In an unusual move, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman said he would hold a hearing next month to consider how quickly and effectively Toyota responded to complaints about sticking pedals and slipping floormats. "Like many consumers, I am concerned by the seriousness and scope of Toyota's recent recall announcements," Waxman said in a statement. — Reuters
	Markfed to go hi-tech Chitleen Sethi Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 29 Markfed Punjab will computerise its entire set of operations for better monitoring of the system and curtail losses.The federation will sign an MoU with a Delhi company for the daily mapping of the complete working of the federation. The aim of computerisation is to keep a watch on its operations to improve functioning. “Also it will be possible for officials sitting in the headquarters here to monitor, on an hourly basis, all transactions that are taking place in any centre of Markfed in the state,” said MD Markfed Sarvjit Singh. This will be the first time that the entire financial transactions conducted by the federation and its 17 district offices and 110 branch offices across the state will be brought under direct and immediate scrutiny of the head office. Other than these, the new system will also have the 14 plants of Markfed within its network. Markfed had started the work of computerisation in 2001 when it procured an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. However, for various reasons the system could not be made fully functional. Other than finance, which is one of the major components of the new facility, the system will also help monitoring of distribution management system of the federation. Markfed has over 2,300 employees across the state and the daily business transactions of the federation touch about Rs 30 crore. “The new set up will not be just a management information system but a decision-support programme. Reports about stocks, sales, manufacturing, etc, which are now available on monthly basis, will be online. Decision making will be much easier,” added Raman Kaplish, deputy chief manager, ERP and monitoring, Markfed.
	AC market hots up in Punjab Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, January 29 Punjab's market in air conditioners is growing at over 35 per cent. The growing figures show the trends in changing lifestyle of the Punjabis. Air conditioners are today considered as necessity rather than a luxury, said G. Sundar, CEO, Onida. He was in the city to launch 5-speed instant AC. He said Onida AC had gained 16 per cent market share in Punjab. "Split AC market share of Onida in Punjab is over 20 per cent," he said. He said Onida was planning to start 500 "Cool Points" in the country out of which 100 cool points would be in Punjab. Telling about the newly launched AC, he said the AC was designed with revolutionary 5-speed cooling to provide instant cooling in the peak summer. This revolutionary "I Cool" feature ensured auto climate control in which the air conditioner automatically changes the cooling speed and cooling temperature.