The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Hike in petrol prices Punjab petroleum dealers a worried lot Ruchika M. Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 16 The 10 per cent hike in petrol prices in the past one month will see a vast shift in sale volumes of the fuel from Punjab, to the neighbouring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh. Since value added tax (VAT) on petrol is the highest in Punjab, dealers in the state, especially those having their operations near the state’s border, are worried that they will loose out on huge volumes in sale to these states. Because of the high taxes in Punjab, vis-à-vis Haryana, Himachal and Chandigarh, petroleum dealers in the districts of Ferozepur, Bathinda, Barnala, Sangrur, Patiala, Ropar, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Mohali, have been witnessing a steady shift in business to these states. Petrol in Punjab has been the most expensive in this region, while it is the cheapest in Haryana. After yesterday’s hike, petrol in Haryana is cheaper by around Rs 6.40 per litre, and in Chandigarh by Rs 5.95 per litre. Petrol in Himachal is cheaper by about Rs 3.90 per litre. As a result, residents of these districts prefer to get their fuel from the neighbouring states, where petrol is cheaper. “Petroleum dealers are losing out on huge volumes in business, because of high taxes in Punjab. While Haryana does not impose any cess, octroi or surcharge on petrol, which ensures that rate of petrol is cheaper there. Chandigarh imposes 10 per cent surcharge on VAT, but in Punjab, consumers have to pay VAT, cess, surcharge and octroi, leading to a 33 per cent in state taxes. In this time of high inflation, more and more consumers in the border districts are now buying petrol from neighbouring states,” said JP Khanna, president, Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association. Claiming that this hike of almost Rs 5.75 per litre in the past one month would deal a big blow to the petroleum dealers in the border districts, the petroleum dealers in the state are now demanding that the state government reduce some of the taxes, and bring them at par with Chandigarh. “This will not only benefit the consumers, but also benefit the state government because higher volumes of sale in Punjab would yield higher revenues for the state government too,” he said. Petroleum dealers also complained that though the prices of petrol had been revised, the oil marketing companies were unwilling to increase their commission. “Now that a petroleum dealer would have to spend an additional Rs 60,000 on every 12 kilolitres (one oil tanker) of fuel that they buy, the oil marketing companies should link our commission to the petrol price rather than the volume of fuel we buy,” he added.
	Permanent cargo centre for Amritsar Neeraj Bagga/TNS Amritsar, January 16 Even as the perishable cargo export from Sri Guru Ramdas (SGR) International Airport has come to naught, the authorities concerned are gearing up to set up a permanent cargo centre at a cost of Rs 19 crore. In its nearly four years of existence, it is for the first time that the Perishable Cargo Centre did not export even a kg of merchandise in December 2010 and the account remains unopened till today. After the withdrawal of Air India’s Amritsar-London-Toronto flight on October 30, Delhi-based company Sira Enterprises sent a consignment of 680 kg of coriander to London from Qatar Airways in November 2010. The exporter, citing multiple handling and delay in transit causing deterioration in the quality of produce did not send the consignment thereafter. On the other hand, 95,661 kg of fresh vegetables were exported during November and December 2009. Earlier, the AI’s Amritsar-London-Toronto flight used to export baby corns, snow peas, sugar snap, okra and other vegetables from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to Europe. Following its withdrawal, the exporters shifted their operations to Delhi airport. Punjab Agro Industries Corporation Limited (PAICL) is expected to zero in on a suitable company to hand over the setting up a permanent plant, raising building and equip it with sophisticated machinery next week. Pardeep Sharma, General Manager, PAICL, said coming down of export from the cargo centre was a temporary phase and probably it would not last for a long. The Permanent Perishable Cargo Centre would be equipped to handle 200 tonnes of cargo per day.
	No SEBI ban on me, says Anil Mumbai, January 16 Anil Ambani today claimed that his two group firms - Reliance Infra and RNRL - settled the SEBI probe voluntarily and the regulator has not imposed any ban on the companies or their directors from participation in the capital market. Contesting media reports that SEBI barred two group firms and its directors from dealing in the capital market, Ambani told reporters, "SEBI has not banned R-Infra, RNRL, Anil Ambani, other directors from capital markets or from stock markets." "SEBI has placed no restrictions on raising of equity and debt resources by any Reliance ADA Group company or individual... the matter has been settled through voluntary consent proceedings as stated in the SEBI order," he said. Ambani's clarification comes in the wake of SEBI passing a consent order on Friday to settle a probe into the alleged violation of regulations for foreign investment and unfair trade practices by Reliance Infra and RNRL. The terms include payment of Rs 50 crore as settlement charges, which have been paid by the directors without any financial burden on the companies involved. Furthermore, the two companies, their chairman Anil Ambani and four other directors offered to abstain from any investment in listed stocks subject to certain conditions, according to the SEBI order. While R-Infra and RNRL cannot invest in the secondary market till 2012, Chairman Anil Ambani and the other directors will not do so till December, 2011. However, the debarment of companies and officials does not apply to investments in mutual funds, primary market issues, buybacks and open offers. The other officials named in the order include Reliance Infra vice- chairman Satish Seth and three directors - SC Gupta, Lalit Jalan and JP Chalsani. — PTI
	Carlson to hire 30,000 in India Mumbai, January 16 Global hospitality major Carlson, which runs the luxury chain Radisson, plans to open 19 more hotels in India by the year-end and 100 by 2015 with a total expected headcount of 30,000 by then, a company official said. The US-based hotel chain currently employs around 10,000 people across its 34 hotels (3,234 rooms) in India. "We plan to open 19 more hotels this calender year. These hotels will help generate 6,000 employment opportunities. We already employ around 10,000 people across all our hotels under operation," Carlson Hotels President and CEO Hubert Joly told PTI here. The company has already signed management contracts for about 54 hotels, of which 19, with a total of 2,670 rooms, will open this year. The total project cost of these 19 hotels is estimated at around Rs 2,250 crore. — PTI
	Market Update Rate hike fears spook markets by Lalit Batra Last week market tumbled amid very high volatility as rate hike looked imminent which sent the banking, auto and realty stocks into a tumble. Disappointing guidance from IT bellwether Infosys Technologies further added to investor gloom. The BSE Sensex fell below the psychological 19,000 mark to close at 18,860 and the S&P CNX Nifty fell below 5,700 level to close at 5,654. Both the benchmark indices lost over four per cent in the last week. Persistent selling by Flls added fuel to the fire. The FIls have off loaded shares worth Rs 1,869 crore in this month so far (till 13 January 2011). The BSE sensex now trade at four month low after having lost close to 1,700 points in a matter of just two weeks. Analysts forecast the corporate profit margins to be under pressure in the coming months due to higher commodity prices, rising cost of debt. surging wages and increased competitive intensity across sectors. Markets in coming week will remain under pressure due to selling by Flls as they would prefer to invest in the US (which is in recovery mode) rather than investing in emerging markets like India. Add to this, the fear of rate hike by the RBI at a policy review on January 25 would keep the rate sensitive stocks in check. Banking sector Banking sector which was a favourite sector for investors and traders alike for over a year has now suddenly lost its sheen and bank nifty (basket of banking stocks) has underper formed the benchmark indices in the last two months by a huge margin. The reason for underperformance are tight liquidity, slow deposit mobilisation (7 per cent deposit growth against 12 per cent credit growth for the year) and likely higher provisioning for their exposure to microfinance industry in the coming quarters. Besides this, the public sector banks face additional uncertainty regarding the quantum of obligation that banks will add to their outstanding retirement liability along with the extent of provisioning for the same due to Second Pension Option (SPO) and increased gratuity limits. All the above would put pressure on banks’ margin which markets are factoring in the banking stocks, hence the pressure on sector stocks. However, given the fact that growth in banking leads the GDP growth (credit growth is two to 2.5 times the GDP growth), the sector will continue to grow despite the above speed-breakers. Investors looking to take exposure into banking may start biting into stocks which have strong liability franchises — HDFC Bank. ICICI Bank, SBI, and Punjab National Bank. However, investor for time being may avoid midcap public sector banking space.
	Tax Advice No deduction on loan for brother’s education by SC Vasudeva Q. I took an education loan from a bank in 2009 for my brother’s education. I am paying monthly instalments inclusive of interest to the bank. Am I entitled to claim deduction of such monthly instalments in respect of the said loan? — Anand A. According to the provisions of Section 80E of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (The Act), an assessee can claim a deduction in respect of the interest paid on amount borrowed for the education of his spouse and children. Such a loan has to be from financial institution or approved charitable organisation. Since you had borrowed money for the education of your brother you would not be entitled to claim deduction in respect of interests paid on such loan. Income from stocks Q. I am a housewife and have saved some money out of gifts received on various occasions from my parents and relatives. I intend to deal in shares with these savings so as to make some extra money. I am fairly converting with the market positions and therefore I am confident that I can earn some additional income. Will such income be added to my husband’s income or would be treated as my income? — P.K. Mahindra A. The facts given in the query indicate that the amount which you intend to utilise in stock market operations is your ‘stridhan’. The income earned from stock market transaction would thus be your income and taxable in your hands. In case the same does not exceed Rs 1,90,000 for a financial year being the maximum amount on which tax is not payable by a resident woman, you would not be liable to pay any tax thereon. This limit is applicable for the assessment year 2011-12 i.e. financial year 2010-11. Joint accounts Q. I am a retired government officer. I have few accounts in post office Monthly Income Scheme. These are in joint names of myself, my son and daughter-in-law. Some account is my own savings and retirement benefits and some account is from my son, from his earning. As per M.I.S. Deposit Scheme, the depositor’s share in a joint account is taken as one half (when there are two joint holders) and as one third - when there are three joint holders. Now, my query is that the amount of interest to be taken into account should also be half or one third as the deposits stand. — A.K. Agarwal A. The income tax is payable by an assessee on his income. The income chargeable to tax is always ascertained with reference to the source of the capital. In your case the amounts deposited in Post Office under various schemes are out of your savings and retirement benefits. In my opinion, therefore, the interest earned on such an account should be taxable in your hands. The joint holders may be entitled to receive the money at the expiry of the term of deposit in accordance with the scheme of things but the amount deposited in Post Office has not originated from their sources and therefore the interest income cannot be bifurcated/trifurcated simply because the account has been opened in the joint name of two/three persons. ITR-2 Q. I am a Punjab Govt. pensioner. I have income from pension and bank interest and is in the range of income tax. In addition to this, I have some income from dividends of mutual funds which is exempt from income tax. Kindly advise me whether Form ITR-1 is applicable in my case to submit the return or some other Form? It is also mentioned that I have already submitted return through Form ITR-1. In case some other Form was required what is the procedure of replacing the previous Form with the other before the due date and afterwards? — Suresh Khanna A. In your case the applicable Form is ITR-2 and therefore you should file your return in Form ITR-2 so as to disclose the dividends from mutual funds. You can file a revised return in ITR-2 disclosing dividends from mutual funds. The earlier return will automatically get cancelled.