New Delhi, September 1
After a gap of over five months, food inflation entered the double-digit zone at 10.05 per cent for the week ended August 20, with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee describing the trend as ‘disturbing’ and experts saying RBI may go in for another rate hike.

The weekly food inflation, measured by Wholesale Price Index (WPI), went up from 9.80 per cent on account of expensive onion, vegetables, fruits and protein-based items. The last time food inflation crossed 10 per cent was in the week ended March 12. "Food inflation has gone up... This is really disturbing. We shall have to ensure and remove the supply constraints on food items,” Mukherjee said.

According to the official data released today, prices of onion soared 57.01 per cent year-on-year and potato rose by 13.31 per cent during the week under review.

Attributing the jump in food inflation to seasonal factors, experts opined it could again force the Reserve Bank to hike interest rate during its mid-quarter monetary policy review scheduled on September 16.

“With headline inflation remaining well above 9 per cent, we expect RBI to raise key policy rates by 25 basis points at its next mid-quarterly review,” Crisil chief economist D K Joshi said. Food items constitutes about 14 per cent to the WPI.

Joshi said seasonal factors like supply problems due to heavy rainfall in parts of the country is pushing up the food inflation. He, however, said as monsoon has been good so far, prices of vegetables may come down in the coming days. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia too said seasonal factors are pushing up inflation.

"Inflation is a worry... If you see the data, last year at this time food prices went down and then rose again. So I would not be surprised if prices rise a little bit," Ahluwalia said. — PTI

New Delhi, September 1
German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz today launched an advanced version of its flagship sedan C-Class in India, priced between Rs 29.75 lakh and Rs 32.30 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The company is also planning to introduce 3-4 new products, comprising upgrades and new variants of the existing models, within next two months in India.

"The C-Class is our flagship and we are the market leader in this segment. The new C-Class will further strengthen our position in the market," Mercedes-Benz India Director (Sales & Marketing) Debashis Mitra told reporters here.

The company is looking to sell 250-300 units of the new C-Class as against about 200 units of the outgoing version, he added.

The C-Class is the cheapest model from the company's stable and the old model was priced at Rs 29.75 lakh-Rs 32.80 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The car is sold in both petrol and diesel options, and it contributes 40-45 per cent of the firm's total sales in India.

During January-July period of this year, Mercedes Benz India has sold 3,991 units.

"We are mainly targeting the youths in the age group of 25-30 years for the new car and to attract them, we have added many advanced technical features in the car," Mitra said.— PTI

New Delhi, September 1
Domestic car sales in August decelerated , with the big three makers — Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India and Tata Motors — posting a decline in their monthly numbers.

Amid tough market conditions due to high interest rates and fuel prices, sales got further hurt for Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) due to the ongoing labour issue at its Manesar plant that affected production.

“The market continues to be tough and there is no sign of recovery in the immediate future. Rising fuel prices and interest rates have been instrumental in the trend,” HMIL Director (Marketing and Sales) Arvind Saxena said.

Tata Motors’ Nano’s sales dipped 85 per cent, the company said.

Toyota Kirloskar Motors sais its August sales zoomed 83.82 per cent driven by robust demand for ‘Innova’ and its latest products ‘Etios’ and ‘Liva’. Mahindra & Mahindra’s domestic sales rose 31.09 per cent.

General Motors India posted a growth of 14 per cent at 9,050 units in August, led by good response to Chevrolet Beat Diesel.

Ford India’s sales grew 9 per cent. Volkswagen sold 6,091 units, growing 72 per cent . Honda Siel Cars India grew 25 per cent.— Agencies

New Delhi, September 1
Exports surged by 81.79 per cent to $29.3 billion year-on-year in July, notwithstanding problems in the US and Europe, the two major markets for Indian merchandise. In July 2010, the shipments were at $16.14 billion.

Imports too jumped by 51.5 per cent to $40.4 billion during the month against 26.6 billion a year-ago.

Decribing the growth as ‘unheard in the recent history’ of Indian exports, President of Federation of Indian Export Organisations Ramu S Deora said,"we are adding around $10 billion every month in the last four months (on sequential basis)". — PTI

New Delhi, September 1
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), may invest over $1.5 billion in exploring for oil in a block that was awarded to it by the erstwhile Saddam Hussein regime. "We are nearing finality on the contract for Block-8. It is likely to be signed in next six months," an official said.

Block-8, located in the western desert in southern Iraq bordering Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, was awarded to OVL in Nov 2000 by the then Saddam Hussein government. However, the government formed after the US invasion of the oil-rich country, sought re-negotiation of the contract. The post-Saddam Hussain regime had initially agreed to signing of a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with OVL.— PTI

New Delhi/Mumbai,September 1
Nippon Life Insurance Company today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Reliance Capital, with a view to further strengthening the business relationship between the two companies.

The MoU was signed by Anil D Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Capital and Yoshinobu Tsutsui, President, Nippon Life, in Tokyo. Nippon Life will be evaluating collaboration opportunities – including strategic partnership – across all Reliance Capital -promoted businesses.

The company has already agreed to be a strategic partner in Reliance Life Insurance with 26 per cent stake.

Both parties have agreed to discuss and exchange views on collaborating with each other in possible business operations.— Agencies