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Steel cos jack up prices
Maruti cars dearer
JSW Steel to pump in $6 bn
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Overseas investment norms for telcos eased
Inflation to decline from July: Expert
Sugar coops unwilling to pay higher income tax
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Steel cos jack up prices
New Delhi, April 2 "We have increased steel prices in the range of Rs 2,000-2,500 a tonne mainly due to rise in raw material prices," Steel Authority of India chairman S K Roongta told reporters on the sidelines of the SAIL Open Golf Tournament here. Private Steel makers JSW Steel and Essar Steel, too, confirmed hiking their prices. World's sixth largest steel producer Tata Steel, however, said it has not yet taken a decision on raising prices. JSW Steel director sales and marketing Jayant Acharya said the company has increased the prices of its products by 5-7 per cent and will review the rates again in mid-April to fix the prices for the next month. "It is a preliminary review. We are partly offsetting the rise in raw material cost pressure," he said. An Essar Steel spokesperson said, "The price increase is in the same range as of other steel producers. It is mainly due to steep rise in raw material prices." The increase in prices by the companies is effective from April 1. On the rising steel prices in the domestic market, SAIL chairman said India would follow the rising global trend where the rates have gone up due to increase in prices of iron ore and coking coal - two key raw materials for steel. Asked about the government's view on rising steel prices, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh said, "There has been a spurt in steel prices recently but it is a temporary phenomenon and at present there is no inflationary concern due to that." However, the minister cautioned that measures would be taken to control the prices if it rise abnormally. Global mining firms like Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Vale are in process of entering into new iron ore and coking coal supply contracts with global steel makers. According to industry experts, mining firms are entering into iron ore supply contracts with steel makers for the April-June quarter at about $110-120 a tonne, which is 80-100 per cent more than the levels in 2009-10. Asked if SAIL has followed the global trend and signed coking coal contracts for the current quarter at $200 a tonne with mining firms, Roongta said, "...the global benchmark prices and practices are followed by SAIL." —
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Maruti cars dearer
New Delhi, April 2 "Due to sharp increase in the input costs and also introduction of BS IV norms in some models, Maruti Suzuki India has decided to pass on part of this cost impact to customers," the company said. The company's latest models Ritz and A-Star will be costlier by Rs 1,000, Estillo by Rs 2,500 and Swift by Rs 3,750. Entry-level sedan Dzire will be dearer by Rs 7,000 while the mid-sized sedan SX4 will cost Rs 9,000 more. The introductory prices for the multi-utility van, Eeco, is withdrawn, too. The new prices for the Eeco will be up by approximately Rs 10,000, the company said. Prices have also been revised on the BS-III compliant cars like Maruti 800 and Omni (LPG) by Rs 3,000 and Gypsy by Rs 10,000, it said. —
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JSW Steel to pump in $6 bn
Mumbai, April 2 "We have decided to expand steel manufacturing capacity at our Bellary plant from 10 million tonnes to 16 million tonnes at an investment of $5-6 billion (around Rs 20,000- 25,000 crore) in the next three-years," JSW Steel's vice-chairman and managing director, Sajjan Jindal, told reporters here. "We are also looking at investing in infrastructure to develop roads, railways and power plants at our Bellary unit," Jindal said. "We have already invested close to Rs 40,000 crore in the Bellary plant and will continue to invest in Karnataka due to the proactive policy of the Karnataka government," he said. —
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Overseas investment norms for telcos eased
Mumbai, April 2 "As a measure of further liberalisation, it has now been decided... to allow Indian companies to participate in a consortium with other international operators to construct and maintain submarine cable systems on co-ownership basis under the automatic route," RBI said in a notification yesterday. "Accordingly, banks may allow remittances by Indian companies for overseas direct investment," the notification added. —
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Inflation to decline from July: Expert
New Delhi, April 2 Food inflation, after hitting a four-month low of 16.22 per cent in the previous week, is inching up once again and is currently at 16.35 per cent. Chief Economic Adviser Kaushik Basu is, however, optimistic that after April, when slight increase is expected in Wholesale Price Index (WPI), downward trend will be seen in numbers. Driven by firm food prices, the WPI rose to 9.89 per cent in February. For the week ended March 20, higher prices of milk and pulses drove food inflation up to 16.35 per cent, which in turn contributed to overall inflation almost touching the psychological mark of a double-digit figure. Basu says the good news is that since last couple of weeks India was carrying on an expected path. “After May there should be a downward trend in inflation with some fluctuations. July onwards it will be a fairly steady run,” he said. Basu’s optimism is based on three factors - early indications of an “average” monsoon this year, future price of oil that is $2 above the spot price and the base effect on inflation figures. The CEA says this year the country may see an average monsoon. Some anticipation is also based on oil futures, which are $2 above the spot. In other words, expectations are that international oil prices in the near future may not go up. Base effect is another reason for optimism. Meanwhile, there are risks of food inflation spilling over to manufacturing activities. In view of rising prices of essential goods and fears of food inflation spreading to manufacturing sector, experts feel the RBI can take more measures in its forthcoming monetary policy on April 20. “I expect overall inflation to reach the double-digit mark for March, when we will also know what is its spread to the non-food sector. If inflation is largely food-specific, the RBI may not act as tightening money supply also has a dampening effect,” he said.
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Sugar coops unwilling to pay higher income tax
Mumbai, April 2 According to sources, the Income Tax Department had sent notices to most of the 172 sugar factories registered with the Maharashtra Sugar Cooperatives Federation, raising demand for higher taxes to the tune of almost Rs 250 crore. Sugar prices had almost doubled at Rs 3,165 a quintal for the S-30 variety and Rs 3,275 a quintal for the M-30 variety late last year before falling sharply in recent weeks. The sugar industry had attributed the price hike to unseasonal rains late last year which reportedly affected output. Agreeing to the demands of the sugar cooperatives, the Maharashtra government raised the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugar to Rs 1,575 a tonne from Rs 1,077 a tonne from the year before. Sources attached to the Maharashtra Sugar Cooperatives Federation say the Income Tax Department is accessing them based on the higher prices paid for sugar by the Maharashtra government. The cooperatives are up in arms at this and have described the methods adopted by the Income Tax Department as coercive.
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