The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	India on path of high growth: US Sanjeev Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 8 US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today said emerging countries like India are on the path of high growth and this will lead to a shift in capital from developed countries like the US and countries in Europe which are growing at a slower rate to emerging countries like India, Brazil and China. Speaking at the “India-US: Agenda for Co-Creation” a seminar organised by the CII along with US India Business Council here today, Geithner pointed out that such inflows of capital, while causing inflationary pressures, are in the long run good for India’s development needs. He said this adjustment in the global economy is leading to tensions and pressures. On compensation packages, he said excesses have caused lowering of risk practices which led to the financial crisis but said the government should not regulate it. He said emerging countries like India are on the early stages of sustained high-growth phase in productivity, investment and consumption. At the same time in post crisis America, consumption will reduce while Americans will try to shore up their savings. According to Geithner, a big challenge for the leadership of G20 is finding a way to manage global trade imbalances and the possibility of currency wars between the major economies which may result due to the tensions because of changing alignments in the global economy. He proposed that a multilateral effort towards developing a regime that ensures transparency in exchange rates and develops a mechanism through which trade imbalances can be rectified through international dialogue and co-operation. Geithner felt that there is a consensus among the central banks of the G20 economies to develop an early morning signs framework that indicates a tendency towards trade imbalances in an economy and use that as a basis for further co-operation. Geithner also felt that the U.S. will emerge stronger from this economic crisis and there are now less chances of a recession. Kamal Nath, Minister of Road Transport and Highways said the key to sustaining India’s high economic growth would be to bridge the current infrastructure deficit. He informed that India has embarked on a huge infrastructure development programme across the country, which is aimed at constructing 70,000 kilometres of highways every year. He said the focus of current infrastructure development programme is Public Private Partnership (PPP), which is aimed at engaging with the private sector. More than 90 per cent of current infrastructure is being built on Build Operate Transfer Model, informed Nath. Addressing the conference, Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce and Industry stressed on the fact that India and US are global leaders in medicine and pharmaceutical sector and the two countries can significantly gain by co-operating with each other in this sector.
	$10 billion infra fund under study Sanjeev Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 8 Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that a government committee headed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, is considering the recommendations of the Indo-US CEO’s Forum. One of the recommendations of the Forum is the setting up of a $10 billion infrastructure fund. Addressing the Indo-US CEOs Forum meeting here today, the Finance Minister said that the global economy has gone through a turmoil and “in our anxiety to solve problem in one part of the world, we should not create greater problems in other parts of the world and more so in the Emerging Markets Developing Countries (EMDCs).” As far as Indo-US bilateral relations are concerned, he said the US remains a prime source of investment, technology and an important trading partner. He said as efforts are made to increase investment in infrastructure, and give a fresh impetus to the manufacturing sector, the importance of the partnership with the US will increase. The Finance Minister said that in infrastructure sector alone, for the Twelfth Five Year plan (2012-13 to 2016-17), the investment in infrastructure is envisaged at US dollar 1 trillion. He told that this magnitude of investment would require innovative modes of financing. Mr Mukherjee said the committee to consider the recommendations of the Indo-US CEO’s Forum has already met twice. Also speaking at the conference at a CII seminar here today on Indo-US business relationship, Mr. Mukherjee pointed out some of the critical areas in which US can partner with India in achieving financial inclusion. He said US companies can play a key role in delivering financial inclusion by first, innovating and designing physical products that meet specific requirements of rural areas and can run in energy efficient manner. Secondly by designing software that can enable seamless connectivity for rural consumers and can also prevent cyber crimes and misuse of customer information. Third, “the US companies can also design financial products and services that are relevant to the poor”. And finally US companies can help India in achieving financial inclusion by providing training and capacity building for financial sector professionals. The Minister pointed out that India’s regulatory and supervisory framework has been strengthened through various legislative and administrative measures, which are consistent with the best international practices. He further added that evolvement of stable and transparent regulatory regime provides a level playing field between public and private sector agencies. The procurement guidelines and bidding documents have been made transparent to enable foreign investors to participate in India’s growth story with relative ease, said Mr. Mukherjee.
	Audi sales treble; Nissan to bring in diesel Micra Tribune News Service New Delhi, November 8 Zooming sales in the auto sector over the past few months has also had its effect in the luxury segment, with German luxury car-maker Audi reporting 208 per cent jump in sales at 357 units in October, compared with 116 units over the same period last year. The company has achieved 75 per cent growth at 2,535 units during January-October this year, compared with 1,449 units in the same period last year. “This performance reflects the appeal that our brand enjoys with discerning Indian customers as well as our business partners, and confirms that we are on a sustainable and profitable growth path. We will look at strategic initiatives both on the capacity and network front, in order to keep up with this growth,” Audi India Head Michael Perschke said. “We further extended our dealership network in India with the opening of our new showroom in Jaipur. We will open at least two more dealerships before the end of this year. We will also introduce our flagship model, the top-of-the-line Audi A8L in India in early 2011,” he said. Meanwhile, following the success of the petrol version of compact car Micra, Nissan Motor India has started bookings for the diesel variant Micra, across its 20 dealerships. The car is expected to go on sale before Christmas this year. A comprehensive multimedia ad campaign has also been launched to support the booking intiative, a release issued here said. “The success of petrol variant of Micra in the domestic market has given us huge confidence to introduce the diesel variant within six-months from the launch of petrol version. We are confident that the diesel-powered Micra would fulfill discerning needs of Indian customers,” Nissan Motor India’s MD and CEO, Kiminobu Tokuyama, said. Nissan launched the petrol variant of its first made-in-India global compact car Micra (global compact hatchback) in July this year at its factory in Oragadam, Chennai. The company has sold around 4,500 Micras since July 15.
	SBI net dips 22.2% New Delhi, November 8 The country's largest lender State Bank of India today reported a 22.2 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,437.1 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, over the same period last year. The bank had a net profit of Rs 3,133.1 crore in the year-ago period, SBI said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. SBI's total income, however, increased by 14.6 per cent to Rs 37,925.4 crore in July-September quarter of 2010 from Rs 33,101.6 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. The lender posted a net profit after minority interest of Rs 2,363.9 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 3,050.9 crore in the same quarter a year ago. On a standalone basis, SBI net profit grew merely by 0.4 per cent to Rs 2,501.3 crore in the second quarter against Rs 2,490 crore in the year-ago period. The bank's income increased to Rs 23,813.3 crore in the quarter under review from Rs 21,301 crore in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 11.7 per cent. — PTI
	SC notice to R-power, Centre on coal issue New Delhi, November 8 The Supreme Court today issued notices to Anil Ambani group company Reliance Power and the Centre over Tata Power's plea opposing government's approval to the ADA group firm for diverting coal meant for its Sasan ultra mega power project to other project. The Bench also issued notices to other respondents including the coal ministry, power ministry and the PFC. The Bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi directed all the parties to file replies within 12 weeks and posted the matter for next hearing in January. The Apex Court's direction came after senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Tata Power, submitted that the notice has still not been issued by the court to the respondents including RPower, Centre and some other bidders, who had participated in the bidding process for ultra mega power projects. Advocate Soli Sorabjee, appearing for RPower, submitted the press statement issued by Tata Power after the last hearing and said that the company should refrain from issuing such statements.
	Mega Industrial Projects Policy Govt invites small rice millers’ ire Ruchika M. Khanna/TNS Chandigarh, November 8 The Punjab government has approved four new rice mills under its mega industrial projects policy. This has invited sharp criticism from the small and medium rice mills across Punjab, who had earlier been assured by the Chief Minister that the state would have a relook at the policy as the small rice mills expressed apprehension that it would promote monopolistic practices. It is learnt that the Empowered Committee of the government, which met on October 29, has cleared four rice mills under the mega projects policy. Among the projects that have been cleared are Gurdaspur Overseas Ltd at Gurdaspur with an investment of Rs 39 crore, Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar at Amritsar with an investment of Rs 50 crore, and two rice mills to be set up at Ferozepur and Mansa by Sukhbir Agro Energy with an investment of Rs 325 crore. These rice mill projects are among the seven agro-based projects that have been cleared by the Empowered Committee of the state government. The other projects that have been cleared include two distilleries at Pathankot and Bathinda, a spinning unit at Patiala and a frozen food unit at Fatehgarh Sahib. The move to clear these projects has shocked the rice millers in the state. After 200 odd basmati milling units had gone on a token strike last month, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had assured them that they would relook at its mega industrial projects policy. The small and medium basmati milling units in the state have been claiming that since the mega units get a lot of fiscal concessions from the state government, the smaller units are facing the risk of being wiped out of business. The mega rice projects get fiscal concessions of up to 11 per cent, which means that the cost of rice becomes cheaper for them and they can still sell it at the same or lower price than the smaller units, who have to pay an additional 11 per cent charge as various taxes. This makes the business environment uncompetitive for the smaller units. So far, two rice shelling units (at Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib) have been set up under the mega projects policy. These mega units being approved under the mega unit policy (with an investment of Rs 100 crore or Rs 25 crore in case the unit is located in the border area) get a complete waiver of market fee (2 per cent), rural development fund (2 per cent) and Punjab Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF- 3 per cent) and VAT (four per cent). Since these mega units get these waivers, they can drive the market by lowering their prices. The smaller units, which already work on small margins, are therefore being driven out of business.