The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Food inflation eases to 16.3 per cent New Delhi, March 18 Cheaper vegetables and pulses pulled down food inflation to a four-month low of 16.30 per cent in the first week of March, but there are expectations that RBI may tighten money supply to prevent inflation from spreading to manufactured goods. Food inflation came down by 1.51 percentage points from 17.81 per cent in the week before March 6, on account of decline in prices of vegetables, especially onions and potatoes, as per the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) of primary products. Prices of onions fell 11.08 per cent in the wholesale market over the previous week and that of potatoes by 3.5 per cent. Overall vegetables prices during the same period dropped by 10.51 per cent, while pulses became cheaper by 3.85 per cent. Food inflation had last touched a below-16 per cent level for the week ending November 15, 2009, when it had dropped to 15.58 per cent. "Food prices are coming down. Sugar prices have come down due to higher production estimates in major producing states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh," Agriculture and Food Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters. Although food inflation is falling, Crisil's principal economist DK Joshi said the RBI may still raise key policy rates to rein in the general inflation that was at 9.89 per cent in February and likley to cross 10 per cent mark in March. "I see overall inflation in March over 10 per cent. RBI in its April review is likely to raise key policy rates by 25 basis points," Joshi said. Earlier, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee too had said that he would not be surprised if overall inflation reaches double digits this month. RBI in its annual credit policy to be announced on April 20, will try to address the twin objectives of protecting growth and contain rising prices. Though food prices are falling on a weekly basis, they are still high for most commodities except onion when compared to the corresponding period last year. On annual basis, fuel prices rose by 12.68 per cent, mainly on account of the increase in duties in the Budget. Following the duty increase prices of petrol and diesel went up over Rs 2.50 a litre. Milk was costlier by 15.31 per cent when compared with prices prevailing during the corresponding week in 2009. — PTI
	Daimler to invest Rs 4,400 cr in India Chennai, March 18 The world's largest truck maker Daimler today said it will invest Rs 4,400 crore over the next five years to set up a manufacturing plant here. Following its aborted joint venture with the Hero Group, the company is also looking for partners for its Indian venture. The German auto major's Indian subsidiary Daimler Commercial Vehicles India (DCVI) today inaugurated a truck testing facility at Oragadam, near the city. "The company has planned a total investment of Rs 4,400 crore over the next five years. This is the company's first important step towards its strategy to develop, manufacture and launch trucks for the Indian volume market, beginning mid- 2012," DCVI managing director and CEO Marc Llistosella told reporters. The 400-acre plant, which will manufacture light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, will have an initial capacity of 36,000 units in the first phase and will be scaled up to 72,000 units finally, he added.— PTI
	S&P upgrades India’s outlook to stable New Delhi, March 18 Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has said it might not downgrade India's sovereign credit rating further, after the government announced plans to reduce the gap between income and expenditure. Currently, India's long-term credit rating is at the bottom of the investment grade - 'BBB-minus'. The agency, at the same time, revised the ratings outlook to "stable" from "negative," indicating potential positive changes to the country's credit fundamentals. Sovereign rating is a tool to measure the risk level of a country's investing environment and shows investors the ability of a country to repay its debts, foreign or domestic. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in the Budget for 2010-11, said the government would reduce its borrowing in the new fiscal and also pegged fiscal deficit to come down to 5.5 per cent of the GDP next fiscal. Fiscal deficit is estimated at 6.7 per cent this fiscal. "We revised the outlook on the Republic of India to stable from negative," S&P said in a statement from Singapore, while pegging India's economic growth rate at 8 per cent for next fiscal. This is in line with the government's own projection. In February last year, the rating agency had cut the outlook on India's credit rating from stable to negative, as the country's fiscal deficit widened after the government provided stimulus to perk up the economy in the wake of the global financial meltdown. In the Budget 2010-11 last month, the government partially rolled back the stimulus and restored customs duty on crude and raised excise duty on petrol and diesel. The country's short-term rating is placed at A-3, which is lower medium grade. — PTI
	Top telcos bid for 3G spectrum Tribune News Service & PTI New Delhi, March 18 A day before the deadline for submitting the bids for acquiring the third generation (3G) spectrum expires, top telecom players Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, RCom and Tatas today put in their applications for one of the three slots on the block. Also joining the race was Emirates Telecommunications (Etisalat). According to schedule, tomorrow is the last day for putting in applications to participate in the auction, which will be held on April 9 and would herald a new generation in telephony in the country. The 3G mobile services will allow high-speed content download and broadband services. The government has fixed Rs 3,500 crore as reserve price for pan-India spectrum, where it would be selling three slots across the nation with the exception of a few states where four slots will be on offer. According to the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for 3G spectrum auction, of the 22 circles only five states - Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir - will have four private players. The government expects to garner Rs 35,000 crore from the sale of spectrum for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA). But, with the number of players reduced to three in most of the circles from four planned earlier, the target may actually fall short. Both Bharti and RCom would be bidding for a pan-India spectrum licence. It was, however, not confirmed whether Etisalat had also applied for a pan-India licence. The successful bidders would be allowed to offer 3G services on commercial basis from September 1, 2010. The auction of spectrum has been postponed several times as among other things there was indecisiveness over the availability of spectrum and the number of operators to be allowed in each circle. As per the DoT's schedule, last date for submission of applications is March 19. The mock auction will take place on April 5 and 6, followed by the final auction on April 9, 2010.
	Tata Tele sells tower arm for Rs 1,318 cr New Delhi, March 18 Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd yesterday said it would sell its entire stake in tower arm, 21st Century Infra Tele Ltd, to telecom infrastructure firm Quippo-WTTIL for Rs 1,318 crore. Tata Teleservices has entered into a share purchase agreement with Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Ltd & Wireless TT Info Services Ltd for selling 100 per cent stake in tower arm, 21st Century Infra Tele Ltd, the company said. "As part of this deal, TFCITL's entire portfolio of 2,535 towers in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa will be acquired by Quippo-WTTIL at an enterprise value of Rs 1,318 crore," Tata Teleservices said. The company noted that the towers have been valued at Rs 52 lakh per tower. "The transaction would result in a net cash flow to the company (subject to adjustment at the time of payment) in excess of Rs 900 crore," the statement added. — PTI
	India, US ink pact to boost trade Washington, March 18 India and the US have entered into a pact that will pave way for increased participation of the private sector in areas like infrastructure, healthcare and energy, to enhance bilateral trade and investment. Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk yesterday signed Framework for Cooperation on Trade and Investment and launched an initiative - 'Integrating US and Indian Small Businesses into the Global Supply Chain'. Under the Framework, the two sides intend to meet the objectives of developing and enforcing trade policies and fostering a trade-enhancing environment. "By signing this Framework...we want to create the right environment to ensure that the relationship brings maximum benefit to the maximum number of people. We will do so by promoting inclusive growth," Sharma said. The two sides would take initiatives like enhancing opportunities for the private sector partnerships in infrastructure projects, cooperation in the healthcare, education, IT, energy and environmental services industries. The initiative on the SMEs could create new opportunities for small businesses as well as large firms through greater public awareness, enhanced public-private collaboration, and a sharper focus on the benefits of large company and SME collaboration, the USTR said. — PTI
	Tractors to cost more Manav Mander Tribune News Service Ludhiana, March 18 While on the one hand, industry is worried over the rising prices of steel, on the other hand, the prices of tractors, a backbone of any agricultural state, will also see a hike due to rise in the steel prices. After an increase of 2 per cent excise duty on iron and steel products in the Budget, the prices of steel are increasing arbitrarily. "There will be an increase of 3.1 per cent in the prices of tractors due to inflation and hike in prices of steel and raw material,” said Stefano Pampalone, managing director, New Holland Fiat India Operations yesterday. Pampalone was here to launch three new models of New Holland Tractors. The price hike will vary from model to model. "We will also be adding some new features in the tractors so that the hiked prices do not pinch the consumers," he added. At present, the company has a market share of 11.5 per cent and is aiming to achieve 50 per cent growth in sales during this year. "New Holland India has also facilitated easy and convenient buying of its products to farmers through retail financing tie-ups with all leading nationalised banks," he said. New range of tractors in the 35, 40 and 45 hp category were launched.
	Despite industry’s oppn, cotton exports continue KS Chawla Ludhiana, March 18 Despite opposition from the textile industry, export of cotton is continuing and as many as 46 lakh bales of cotton has been exported to various countries so far. The Textile Commissioner has registered a demand of 67 lakh bales so far for export. The textile industry has been opposing the export of cotton in view of the rise in prices and shortfall in the cotton production due to failure of the monsoons last year. The cotton prices in the international market have been witnessing rise this year. Export of cotton has been made to China, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Indonesia, Turkey, Korea, Thailand and Pakistan. Sources close to the textile industry maintain that with the present speed of cotton exports, the industry will have to import cotton this year. The industry did not want a ban on the export of cotton but wanted that it should be regulated according to the availability and the local consumption. The international prices of cotton have been rising and the New York futures was quoted at 81 cents per pound. There is a major gap between the supply and demand this year in the world as the production is likely to be around 22.3 million tonnes against the demand of 23.8 million tonnes, resulting in rise in prices in the international market. Similarly, the cotton prices within the country are also ruling high. Narma in the mandis of Punjab circle comprising Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan is priced between Rs 3,200 and Rs 3,350 per quintal. The mandis of three states have received as many as 37 lakh bales so far. Nearly 10,000 bales of cotton are still arriving daily in the mandis of this circle. Enquiries made by The Tribune show that the production of cotton at the national level will be 290 lakh bales despite the increase in area under this crop. Captains of the textile industry predict that the area under cotton will increase next year in view of the high prices of the same.
	ArcelorMittal to shift Rs 50,000-cr project to Bokaro New Delhi, March 18 Disappointed over delays in the launch of its Rs 50,000-crore steel project in Jharkhand, global steel giant ArcelorMittal is set to relocate its plant proposed in Khunti-Gumla to Bokaro district in the state mainly on account of land acquisition problems. The world's largest steelmaker had entered into a pact with the Jharkhand government for setting up a 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant in 2005 but has been facing delays in land acquisition amid regulatory hurdles. "ArcelorMittal has informed us that they want to shift to Petarwar (Bokaro) and need about 2,000 acres of land for the first phase of their project. They said the response from Petarwar was positive," Jharkhand Mines and Industries Secretary N N Sinha told PTI. The state government will provide all cooperation to the company, he said adding that they have requested the government for about 50 million cubic metres of water from the Tenughat dam to cater to the requirements of the proposed plant, which will see output of three MTPA capacity in the first phase. — PTI