The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Rs 625 cr sops for exporters New Delhi, March 31 The government today announced incentives worth Rs 625 crore for exporters of garments, engineering, electronics and agro products as the demand for these items in the western economies is yet to pick up. The garment sector, which is still reporting contraction in overseas shipments, will receive sops for about 300 items - equivalent to 2 per cent of the export value, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here. The dole-out would be given to the garment exporters under the Market Linked Focus Product (MLFP) scheme for shipments to the US and Europe - two of their biggest markets, Sharma said. The incentives for the sector will be for six months starting April 1. Apparel exports declined by about 14 per cent to $ 862 million in January, 2010, indicating lacklustre demand for Indian garments in major markets. Besides, 200 other products in engineering, electronics, agro chemicals and pesticides segments have been added to the MLFP scheme. They will get support of Rs 225 crore from the government. The cost of the incentive will be borne by the Commerce Ministry from its internal budget. — PTI Exports surge 34.8 pc in Feb Expanding for the fourth straight month, exports surged by 34.8 per cent in February to $16.09 billion against $11.94 billion in the year-ago period on the back of revival in the Western economies. Due to dismal performance up to November, the cumulative shipments during the April-February period, however, declined by 11 per cent to $153 billion from $172 billion in the same period last fiscal, director general of Foreign Trade RS Gujral said today. Indicative of a revival in the economy, imports rose 66.1 per cent to $25.06 billion in February against $15.08 billion in the corresponding month last fiscal. "It shows that the economy is picking up," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said. As in the case of exports, for the cumulative April- February period, imports showed a decline of 13.5 per cent to $248 billion compared to $287 billion in the first 11 months of last fiscal. Sectors like engineering goods, textiles, jute, carpets, handicrafts and leather continued to display poor performance. — PTI
	Investors get best return in FY10 New Delhi, March 31 Investors have reaped a five-year best return of over 80 per cent from the stock markets in fiscal 2009-10, when judged by the performance of the Sensex. Analysts, however, said the momentum could be slowed in the coming fiscal as investors were expecting a lot from the market now, which may not come in until there was a correction. The bulls were back with a bang in the fiscal FY'10, offsetting the losses incurred by investors in the previous financial year. The returns from investments in this fiscal have soared to 80.5 per cent. The Sensex settled at 17,527.77 points on March 31, 2010, from 9,708.5 points at the end of March 31, 2009. The Sensex had jumped to its two-year-high level of 17,793 points on March 29 driven by strengthening of the rupee against the US dollar. During FY'09, the 30-share index had plunged to 9,708.50 points from 15,644.44 points, losing nearly 38 per cent. "The market has gained quite a lot and will continue to remain volatile in the coming days. Monsoon will be a deciding factor for the overall growth of the economy and that will in turn affect the capital market," Taurus Mutual Fund Managing Director RK Gupta said. During fiscal 2007-08, the market provided a return of 20 per cent, while the same for 2006-07 and 2005-06 was 16 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively. The fiscal has been a good one for the broader market with a host of new companies coming out with public offerings and three companies - NTPC, REC and NMDC - coming out with follow-on-offers. Among the biggest gainers in the Sensex companies, Tata Motors surged over 300 per cent, followed by Hindalco 240 per cent, Tata Steel 210 per cent, TCS 200 per cent and Wipro 190 per cent in financial year ending March 31, 2010. Other major gainers include ICICI Bank 180 per cent, M&M 175 per cent and the index heavy-weight Reliance Industries 44 per cent. "Returns have been widespread for the market but the coming financial year will not be too rosy. We are cautiously bullish on the market as a lot of expectations have been built up," SMC Global vice-president Rajesh Jain said. The analysts said at this juncture a correction was imminent in the market and the Sensex could trail the 20,000 level by the end of next fiscal (2010-11). "FIIs may withdraw money if the rupee strengthens at this pace. It will pour in money again after the rupee comes back to the 47-a-dollar mark," Gupta said. The rupee is currently hovering around the 44.97-a-dollar mark, at nearly 19-month high level. — PTI
	End of road for Maruti 800 Ford Ikon and Fiat Palio will also be phased out in 13 cities as new emission norms come into effect from today New Delhi, March 31 Twentysix years after revolutionising personal transportation in India, Maruti Suzuki will tomorrow bid adieu to its once bread-and-butter model M800 from 13 cities as new emission norm comes into effect. With the company deciding to let business rule over sentiments, M800, which was first was rolled out from Maruti's Gurgaon plant in December 14, 1983, in the presence of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, will no longer sell it in major cities, including the National Capital and Mumbai. "Lots of nostalgic value is attached with the car (M800)..., but we can't allow sentiments to dictate business. We have not upgraded it to BS-IV norms as we do not consider it a good business proposition," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) chairman R C Bhargava told PTI. From tomorrow onwards, 13 cities, including the NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, will switch over to BS-IV emission norms, while rest of the country will adopt BS-III norms from October. "This car has really done an amazing job in building the company and driving its success. In fact, the whole Maruti brand is based on M800. We greatly value this car," he said. In 26 years, M800 has so far sold about 28 lakh units, of which over 25 lakh units were in the domestic market and rest exported. In its first year of commercial operations (December- March 1983), Maruti had produced 840 cars. Of late, M800 had lost ground to more modern peers and on an average was clocking about 2,500-3,000 units a month. While launching M800, the late Gandhi had said: "And it is my desire, that this motorcar will serve the ordinary people of India and they will have no complaints about this car. I hope it will contribute in every aspect of the nation-building and will serve the Indian people". Along with M800, a few other vehicles such as Ford Ikon and Fiat Palio, will also be driving into sunset in the 13 cities. Fiat India president and CEO Rajeev Kapoor said the company would phase out its hatchback Palio from the cities as it had not made the car BS-IV compliant. A Ford India spokeswoman said the company would stop selling Ikon. Meanwhile, General Motors vice-president P Balendran said the company would temporarily withdraw Tavera as currently it was not BS-IV compliant and would be upgraded later. — PTI
	VW rolls out Passat, Jetta Mumbai, March 31 Volkswagen today launched luxury sedans Passat 1.8 litre and Jetta 2.0 litre priced between Rs 15.92 lakh and Rs 19.20 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi). The Passat will now come with TSI petrol engine. The engine from Volkswagen is known for maximum power with minimum fuel consumption, a company release said. TSI engines are compact, high-powered and use less fuel thereby, offering an enjoyable and involving drive, while cutting fuel consumption and Co2 emissions, the release said. "The Passat TSI and Jetta common rail diesel engines are so well-refined that not only will they provide superior driving experience but also decrease fuel consumption and lower emissions," member of board and director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India, Neeraj Garg, said. Harley booking from April New Delhi: Iconic US cult bike maker Harley- Davidson today said it had appointed the first batch of five dealers in India as it looked to start bookings of bikes in the country by April. The company will offer 12 models from its 2010 line-up. Bookings of the bikes will open on April 20 and deliveries will begin by June. The motorcycles will be priced between Rs 6.95 lakh and Rs 34.95 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi). The cities covered under the dealerships are Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Hyderabad, Harley Davidson said in a statement. The company said the appointed dealers would act as sole retailers for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, parts and accessories and apparels and operate authorised service centres across the five cities in India. — PTI
	Taxpayers rush to banks Transactions worth Rs 3,222 cr take place in last two days Ruchika M. Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 31 Transactions worth Rs 3,222.78 crore were effected in the last two days in the region as financial year 2009-10 drew to a close today. This amount is Rs 500 crore over the amount that was transacted in the last two days the last fiscal. According to information gathered by TNS, these transactions were carried out through 3.53 lakh instruments (cheques) across Punjab, Chandigarh, part of Haryana and Jammu. Last year, transactions worth Rs 2,700 crore were effected in this region on March 30 and 31. It is learnt that while cheques worth Rs 1,686.66 crore were cleared yesterday, instruments worth almost Rs 1536.12 crore were cleared today. The maximum transactions were effected in Chandigarh (Rs 1,426 crore). Ludhiana, which is the industrial hub of the region, saw transactions worth Rs 999 crore. Transactions worth Rs 310.65 crore were effected in Jalandhar and worth Rs 292.13 crore in Amritsar, during these two days. In Jammu, transactions worth Rs 195 crore were effected in these two days. All cheques cleared today were the taxes deposited by residents. Information collected by TNS from various clearing houses in the region revealed that government taxes worth almost Rs 70 crore were collected in Chandigarh alone. During the day, a huge rush of people could be seen at the tax collection counters set by banks across the region, who were depositing their advance income tax and central excise tax. Daily transactions worth Rs 1150 crore take place in various banks in the region through almost 1.46 lakh cheques each day.