The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Affirmative action important for growth: PM’s Trade Council Sanjeev Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 1 A sub-committee of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry has recommended that as part of affirmative action and corporate social responsibility, no SC/ST trainee should be turned away by any skill development centre. In vendor development, preference should also be given to SC/ST entrepreneurs. The sub-committee on skill development, affirmative action and corporate social responsibility also recommended that industrial houses be encouraged to set up own training institutes or take up existing centres under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The sub-committees of the Council that had worked on five areas presented their reports. These include financial inclusion, tribal area development, public private partnerships in R&D, agricultural production and food security and skill development, affirmative action and corporate social responsibility. On behalf of the sub-committees presentations were made by Ratan Tata, Chanda Kochhar, Jamshed Godrej, AS Ganguly and Sunil Kant Munjal. The Prime Minister said that the government would carefully study the recommendations and ensure that public policies are suitably modified wherever feasible. Some recommendations would be prioritised for immediate focused attention. The sub-committee on agriculture, food production and food security recommended that a comprehensive package of initiatives and measures should be implemented for meeting the envisaged demand for food in 2020. This includes liberalising procurement of agricultural commodities, trading, storage and transportation, encouraging private investment in agriculture value chain, reforming minimum support price regime, developing the reach and effectiveness of rural credit, agriculture insurance etc. On PPPs especially in R&D, the sub-committee recommended establishment of a public fund for investments into PPP projects for R&D in five identified sectors for formulation and implementation. On tribal area development, the subcommittee has, recommended that the control of tribal people over Minor Forest Produce (MFP) should be made effective by definition and notification of MFP by the state governments, as per the Forest Rights Act; announcement of minimum support prices (MSP) for MFPs and an effective mechanism for ensuring fair prices to collectors of MFP. On financial inclusion, the sub-committee has recommended allowing of ‘for profit’ entities to be business correspondents, allowing low-value remittances by non-banking players and sharing of common infrastructure. In future, all government payments including subsidies can be paid through such no-frills accounts.
	February exports up 49.7% New Delhi, April 1 India’s exports grew by an impressive 50 per cent in February, crossing the $200 billion mark during the first eleven months of 2010-11 on the back of rising demand from the US and other markets. February exports stood at $23.5 billion, taking the April-February 2010-11 figure to $208.2 billion, 31.4 per cent rise over the year-ago period and past the yearly target of $200 billion. Imports also increased 21.2 per cent in the month under review to $31.7 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $8.1 billion, according to Commerce Ministry data released today. During April-February 2010-11, imports grew by 18 per cent to $305.3 billion over the same period last year. The trade gap for the period stood at $97 billion. The exporting sectors which performed well during the 11 months of fiscal include engineering (81 per cent), petroleum and oil lubricants (34 per cent), cotton yarn and made-ups (43 per cent), chemicals (22 per cent) and electronics (40 per cent). “The growth which we are seeing is basically from the markets of Asia, Latin America and Africa. In these new markets demand for our products are increasing,” Ramu Deora, the President of India's apex exporters body FIEO, said. However, Deora said that demand is still weak in several European markets. The US and Europe were the traditional markets for Indian exporters, but after the global economic crisis, exporters increased their engagement in new markets of Asia, Latin America and Africa.
	Auto sales stutter in March Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 1 Car sales in the country showed signs of slow down in March despite market leader Maruti Suzuki India posting its highest-ever monthly domestic sales as rival Hyundai posted only a marginal increase, while Tata Motors saw a decline over the same month last year. However, two-wheeler makers led by Hero Honda, which posted its best month ly sales, enjoyed good numbers in March. During the month, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) reported an increase of 38.85 per cent in sales in the domestic market to 1,10,424 units from 79,530 units in March, 2010. This is its highest-ever monthly sales beating the previous best of 1,07,555 units in October, 2010. The second largest carmaker in the country, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), said that its domestic sales grew just 1 per cent. MSIL said that in the last fiscal, sales rose 24.81 per cent to 12,71,005 units from 10,18,365 units in the previous fiscal. Exports fell 26.07 per cent to 11,528 units from 15,593 units in the year-ago period. HMIL’s total sales for March stood at 55,552, 1 per cent growth. Domestic sales accounted for 31,822 units. Exports grew 0.9 per cent from March 2010 to March 2011. Tata Motors’ total sales (including exports) of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles last month grew 11 per cent to 83,363 vehicles. Chennai-based TVS Motor Company reported 28.16 per cent jump in sales for March to 1,91,208 units.
	Mahindra Satyam to submit Rs 617 cr to I-T Mumbai, April 1 Mahindra Satyam today said it will submit to tax authorities about Rs 617 crore demanded by I-T Department under the foreign tax credit liability."The company shall submit a banker's cheque for Rs 350 crore and an unconditional bank guarantee for Rs 267 crore, upon which the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax shall withdraw the garnishee orders issued and defreeze the company bank accounts," Satyam Computer Services (now Mahindra Satyam) informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. Last month, tax authorities slapped a Rs 617 crore demand on Mahindra Satyam, against which the company had moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The High Court on Wednesday directed it to deposit Rs 350 crore with Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and also issue it bank guarantee of Rs 267 crore. — PTI
	Disappointed garment makers start production Chandigarh, April 1 With the last ditch attempt of the garment sector seeking rollback of Excise duty from Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proving futile, the disappointed Ludhiana-based garment makers today commenced production. It also asked its buyers, including global brands such as Adidas, Reebok to pay the duty component on placed orders early to meet their funding demands. Industry representatives also pointed out several garments makers may also go for breaking up their units in order to claim the central Excise exemption of Rs 1.50 crore, which could lead to price variation between products of small and big units. Representatives of garment sector from several places, including Ludhiana, had met Mukherjee on Thursday and strongly urged him to rollback the Excise duty. — PTI
	DoT gets ex-parte stay on Idea-Spice merger New Delhi, April 1 The Telecom Ministry has got an ex-parte stay from the Delhi High Court on the merger between Idea Cellular and Spice. Idea, the Aditya Birla group firm, said it would oppose the order as DoT was trying to cover its "inefficiencies". "The inexplicable delay by DoT in clearing the licence amendment has, of course, harmed Idea and consumer interest but crucially it has caused, and continues to cause, loss of crores of revenue to the exchequer every passing week. "Apparently to cover for its inefficiencies, the DoT is now indulging in duplicity and muscle-flexing. Idea will resist and not be bullied," the company said in a response to the ex-parte order obtained by DoT and served to Idea. Idea officials confirmed receipt of an ex-parte order obtained by the DoT against merger between Idea and Spice. The merger with Spice in six circles was announced in June 2008 and the copy of the same was provided to the DoT, Idea said. Recently, the DoT had issued a cancellation order to Idea for the overlapping of licences in the same circle after the merger between Idea and Spice. "Idea way back in July 2008 unconditionally offered to surrender overlapping licences if policy so required," the company said. The response added that what Idea had applied for in January 2010, as per the DoT’s own earlier advice, would have had led to the government keeping Rs 843 crore entry fee and Idea getting nothing in return. Idea is facing charges of violation of terms and conditions of licence by retaining overlapping licences even as the company claimed that it never wanted to retain the unused spectrum and had offered to surrender overlapped licences. Idea claimed that in a meeting in August 2008, the DoT advised the company that it should obtain necessary court approvals, and then approach the DoT for merger of licences. This according to DoT was admissible as per policy, and incidentally had exactly the same effect as surrender, since neither the overlapping licences nor spectrum were ever used.
	Wheat procurement dips 30 per cent New Delhi, April 1 Food Corporation of India (FCI) has procured 3.67 lakh tonnes of wheat so far this year, which is 30 per cent lower than the year-ago period as arrivals in Madhya Pradesh mandis are less. FCI, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of foodgrain, had bought 5.28 lakh tonnes in the year-ago period. Wheat procurement starts from middle of March and picks up from April 1. The procurement ends in June. This year, the procurement has started in MP and Gujarat and it is likely to begin in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh from today. The government had procured 22.5 million tonnes in the entire 2010-11 marketing year (April-March) and it expects the procurement to touch 26.2 million tonnes in 2011-12 as output is estimated to be a record 81.47 million tonnes in 2010-11 crop year (July-June). In Madhya Pradesh, procurement stood at 3.66 lakh tonnes till yesterday against 5.28 lakh tonne in the year-ago period. Arrivals in MP declined to 4.43 lakh tonnes compared to 6.75 lakh tonnes in the period under review. However, the government's purchase in Gujarat has risen to 1,039 tonnes so far from 119 tonnes in the year-ago period. In Gujarat, arrivals this year are higher at 76,307 tonnes as against 74,828 tonnes in the year-ago period. The minimum support price (MSP) of wheat is Rs 1,120 per quintal.
	Toyota hikes prices New Delhi, April 1 Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has decided to hike the prices of its key models, including the multi purpose vehicle Innova by up to Rs 20,000. The new prices became effective from today and the price increase of the Innova, Corolla Altis and Fortuner will range from 1-1.5 per cent. TKM said, for the MPV Innova, the range of price increase is between Rs 12,557 and Rs 18,424. It is currently available at a price range of Rs 8.27 lakh and Rs 12.18 lakh. The Corolla Altis Diesel will be dearer by Rs 14,100 to Rs 17,700, depending on the variant. The sedan is priced at a range of Rs 11.18 lakh to Rs 14.03 lakh. TKM further said the price hike on the petrol version of the Corolla Altis will be between Rs 10,400 and Rs 14,500. For Fortuner, the hike will be of around Rs 20,000. — TNS