New Delhi, April 5
Three months after it had carried out a similar exercise, the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today said it has increased the prices of its vehicles across all models by up to Rs 9,000 to offset rising input costs, “We have undertaken a price hike across the models ranging between 0.2 per cent to 2.4 per cent,” a company official said.

It will translate into a minimum increase of Rs 1,100 and a maximum of Rs 9,000 depending on model, the official added.

The details of price hike across different models could not be ascertained.

The company sells 15 models in India - from the entry level small car M800 with a starting price of Rs 1.97 lakh to the latest sports sedan Kizashi, which is priced up to Rs 17.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The official said the price rise is effective from April 4 across the country.

In January, the company had hiked prices by up to Rs 8,000 across models, except its newly launched compact car Alto K10. The auto industry has been under pressure due to rising input costs and already Tata Motors has hiked prices of its passenger vehicles by up to Rs 36,000 from April 1.

Another big car maker Hyundai Motor India said it is also mulling taking a similar step.

“We are also considering price hikes but the quantum and the date has not been finalised yet. We need to take the step to offset rising input costs,” an HMIL spokesperson said. — PTI

New Delhi, April 5
Telecom giant Vodafone today said it had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking protection against penal action by the Income Tax (I-T) authorities in the $2-billion tax case relating to acquisition of Hutchison's stake in Indian joint venture Hutchison-Essar.

“Vodafone International Holdings BV has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to protect itself against a notice recently received from the Indian tax authorities initiating penalty proceedings against it,” the company said in a statement.

The petition follows an I-T notice to the company few weeks back saying the penal action would be initiated against Vodafone in the tax case. The I-T department had raised a demand of about $ 2 billion on Vodafone as it failed to deduct (withhold) tax at the time of purchase of majority stake of Hutchison in Hutchison-Essar in 2007 for over $11 billion.

The case has been pending in the Supreme Court and will come up for hearing on July 19.

With regard to a petition filed by Vodafone to preempt penal action by the I-T department, the company said, “It is difficult to understand the rationale behind the tax authorities seeking to impose penalties on a matter which the tax authorities have, themselves, described as a test case.”

All the advice received by Vodafone during and since the acquisition, the company said, "is that there is no tax or therefore penalty that arises and Vodafone will take all appropriate steps to defend itself and its investors against this latest unwarranted action from the tax authority". — PTI

Chandigarh, April 5
Small pharmamceutical companies are critical of a recent government decision to make barcoding essential on all drugs meant for export (branded as well as generic). Claiming that the move will adversely impact profits and fail to prevent export of fake drugs, owners of small firms add the move could negatively impact export of drug formulations.

The SME Pharma Industries Confederation (SPIC) has demanded that the Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT) order that makes barcode essential for exports from July 2011, be withdrawn. In a letter to the Prime Minister, SPIC has said that small companies could be wiped out by this order.

Jagdeep Singh, secretary general, SPIC, said that barcode providers agree that barcodes cannot prevent fakes. “Barcoding is used by MNCs to control their inventories in different countries, because their MRP varies in each country. It serves no purpose of pharma SMEs, export increase overheads, which get loaded on the export price and adversely affects competitiveness vis-à-vis the MNCs,” he said.

Claiming that separate barcode now being mandated for every strip of tablets will add the cost for manufacturer, Jagdeep Singh said that the SMEs would not be able to bear this high cost. “The cost of registration alone to each pharma SME shall be around Rs 20,000- per month apartfrom the monthly cost of Rs 1,00,000 for bar coding to an average SME exporter. This will prevent export of affordable generics from India. This amounts to handing over the market on a platter to China or to the MNCs at the cost of Indian SMEs,” he said.

“Non-branded drugs are never counterfeited. Labels of many medicines are too small (such as Zentel and Tetanus Toxoid - 25mm x 25mm) that even legally mandatory information on ingredients, schedule with warning, batch number, price, name and address of manufacturer can not be accommodated. How does a manufacturer then put in a barcode,” he said.

Ambala, April 5
Drug manufacturers have demanded discontinuation of the Excise holiday on contract manufacturing in Excise Free Zones (EFZ). The facility has been used and is benefiting only those shop keepers who have no investment in plant and machinery, drug makers say.

These traders source medicines from the EFZ at the maximum retail price of their choice and then use the margins to bribe doctors to prescribe their brand.

The issue came up for discussion at a meeting of the drug manufacturers with Development Commissioner, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) officials.

Vinod Gupta, president, Haryana Chapter of SPIC, an association of pharmaceutical manufacturers and entrepreneurs of Haryana and general secretary Jagdeep Singh held detailed discussions with the Commissioner. There was consensus that tax holiday was a curse for pharma enterprises.

New Delhi, March 31
The Agriculture Ministry is organizing a national level conference for designing strategies to maximize crop production in the coming Kharif season. The Ministry will make recommendations for enhancing production and productivity of food grains. States would also be asked to popularise hybrid rice technology through promotion of availability of quality seed and technology demonstration. This is expected to bridge the gap between potential yield and actual yield of the farmer.

“Hybrid Rice is an important potential tool to bridge the gap between potential yield and actual yield realised at farmer’s field. States need to popularise hybrid rice technology through promotion of availability of quality seed and technology demonstration,” say the agenda note prepared by the ministry for the conference slated between April 6 and April 7.

Other recommendations include promotion of early maturing rice varieties in rain-fed uplands and midland situation in North-Eastern and Eastern States to facilitate early harvesting of crop and enabling sowing of winter season short-duration oilseeds and pulses.

Other matters on which the Centre would seek states’ special attention are area expansion and raising productivity of rice, especially in the eastern parts of the country. The eastern plains have high ground water table and thus assured irrigation. Experts say high yielding varieties are known to respond well to fertilisers in irrigated lands.

The government’s main advisory body on pricing policy for farm produce, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), is also in favour of subsidy mechanism to encourage use of hybrid rice varieties. While hybrid rice seeds cost much more than normal varieties, the cost is compensated with yield.

New Delhi, April 5
The government is likely to approve the takeover of Cairn India by UK-based Vedanta Group for $9.8 billion, following the green signal given to the deal by market regulator Sebi.

“The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon...in all likelihood, it will give an in-principal approval to the Cairn-Vedanta deal,” an official privy to the development said.

The official said the CCEA, headed by the Prime Minister, is likely to overrule the opinion of the Solicitor General of India that Vedanta must agree to equitably share royalty on oil produced from Cairn India's mainstay Rajasthan oilfields before the government nod. "The pre-condition will be overruled by arguing that the government's take from Rajasthan oilfields will be impacted if Rs 18,000 crore royalty ONGC will pay, in excess of its share in the oilfields, is cost recovered from revenues," the official said, adding, "The government revenues will be dented by $1 billion." As per provisions of Production Sharing Contract (PSC), all cost - capital and operating expenditure, and central and state levies are first deducted from revenues earned from selling oil and gas. Profits between stakeholders, including the government, are divided thereafter.

If 20 per cent royalty is also cost recovered - deducted from revenues like other project cost, profits left for all stakeholders to share will be lower. So if government, over the life of the field was earning certain amount as its profit share, the cost recovery of the royalty will lower it by $1 billion. The official said CCEA may, however, ask Cairn to seek ONGC's no-objection. — PTI

Bangalore, April 5
Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) today announced the signing of a distribution agreement, the first of its kind between Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University, and a B-School in India.

Harvard Business Publishing will distribute a collection of teaching cases developed by IIM Bangalore faculty for an initial period of three years. IIM-B joins a select group of business schools such as the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and the Darden School of Business that also distribute their cases through HBP.

On the occasion of the signing of the distribution agreement, Professor Pankaj Chandra, director, IIM-B said, “The partnership with Harvard Business Publishing is a significant milestone in the Institute’s journey to achieve its long-term vision of establishing itself as a global centre of management research and education. The occasion marks the recognition of the relevant and in-depth research being carried out by faculty at IIM-B. We have consciously invested in research-based publication, and this agreement will add impetus to our efforts in this area.”

Vinay Hebbar, MD, Harvard Business Publishing in India said, “We are pleased to offer cases from a leading Indian B-school, like IIM-Bangalore, to our community of educators globally. This is consistent with Harvard Business Publishing’s endeavour to source research from India and bring it to our audiences in India and worldwide.”

New Delhi, April 5
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is preparing the National Broadband Policy, which would be sent for the approval of the Union Cabinet soon. Last week, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal met the representatives of the telecom operators in the country to discuss the National Broadband Plan which aims at providing high-speed Internet access and e-governance services.

Suggestions by the representatives of telecom operators would be considered before finalisation of the National Broadband policy. The minister also discussed various issues related to setting up of the National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN).

To be set up in two phases, this network will be an open access optical fibre network connecting all habitations with population of 500 and above and will be completed by 2013. TRAI had suggested that the project be financed by the USO fund under the DoT, and loans be provided by the government.

To roll out the nation-wide network, TRAI has also recommended formation of a government-owned holding company — National Optical Fibre Agency (NOFA). Besides, the centralised holding company, TRAI recommended formation of State Optical Fibre Agency (SOFA) in every State with 51 per cent equity held by NOFA and the balance by the respective State governments. Both the government and holding companies are expected to ring in an annual revenue of Rs 26,000 crore. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said operators seek judicious use of the USOF for the roll out.