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GDP growth forecast revised down to 6.9%
Assocham calls for amnesty plan, 40% tax to recover black money
Govt rejects RIL’s demand for gas price revision
ArcelorMittal’s Q4 loss widens to $1 bn
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Mahindra XUV gets 25,000 bookings
SBI plans expansion overseas
Downturn in Europe worries hand tool industry
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GDP growth forecast revised down to 6.9%
New Delhi, February 7
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the main reason for decline in GDP growth was slowdown in industrial growth, in particular investment growth. He said the figures looked disappointing. However, he exuded some hope and said there had been some encouraging signs in the recent weeks in business sentiment, Rupee exchange rate, moderation in headline inflation, possibility of a bumper Rabi crop, and continued strong performance of the services sector which should help in recovering the growth momentum. “The real disappointment is the growth rate in agriculture sector at 2.5 per cent, a significant climbdown from 7 per cent in FY2011” said Rajiv Kumar, secretary-general, Ficci. Ficci is not very optimistic of a turnaround unless the Government takes urgent steps for improving investor confidence, reduce interests and stabilise the fiscal balance. Both consumption and investment demand slowed down in 2011-12, said CII in a statement resulting in the slowest GDP growth in the past three years. Among sectors, the slowdown in industry is quite stark with the manufacturing sector growing at an even lower rate than in 2008-09 when the global financial crisis first set in. Assocham flagged the governance issues impeding growth and said India Inc needs investment drivers in various sectors of the economy coupled with good governance at all levels. Dilip Modi, president, Assocham, said states with good governance have managed to attract investments while others have not. He said there is need for investment-led growth rather than consumption-led growth being witnessed now.
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Assocham calls for amnesty plan, 40% tax to recover black money
New Delhi, February 7 The report, which was submitted to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, recommends that the amnesty scheme be made applicable to the black money stashed abroad or within the country. “A high rate of 40 per cent tax with further investment of 10 per cent in infrastructure bonds as compared to the present maximum tax rate of 30 per cent will help ensure that there is no misuse of the scheme,” said the report. The report pointed out that the chamber is conscious of the fact that tax evaders should not get away and be shown leniency. “However, ground realities cannot be ignored. The fact remains that as on date it may not be possible to get hold of these persons who have stashed money abroad. That is why such scheme could be an invitation for these people to come forward and pay taxes.” The window should be kept open for at least six months. “There will be a large number of people who would like to come forward voluntarily and make such disclosures,” said the report adding that over a trillion dollars parked in overseas tax havens may help the country in meeting revenue deficits and the balance of payments. The amnesty scheme should not be applicable in cases where authorities have detected unaccounted money and proceedings have been initiated, it said. To improve offshore compliance, various countries have taken initiatives with significant results. Italy generated additional revenue yield of 5.6 billion euros, the United States $2 billion, Germany 1.8 billion euros. The report said generation of black money is mainly due to understated real estate transactions, huge expenditure incurred on elections, misuse of discretion by public authorities, huge gold consumption and foreign exchange restrictions. One of the main factors contributing to the parallel economy in the form of black money is huge expenditure incurred during elections for Parliament, state assemblies, municipal corporations and panchayats. |
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Govt rejects RIL’s demand for gas price revision
New Delhi, February 7 The Ministry on January 30 wrote to RIL quoting from the May 7, 2010, Supreme Court judgement in the gas row between the company and Anil Ambani's RNRL to assert that "any price revision proposal will be examined by the government after expiry of five years from commencement of supply." The ministry, however, rebutted RIL charge saying the company had vide letter dated October 24, 2007, confirmed acceptance to gas pricing formula and its tenure as had been approved by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM). The EGoM, headed by the then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, had on September 12, 2007, approved a price of $4.205 per million British thermal unit for gas produced from KG-DWN-98/3 or KG-D6 block for a period of five years. RIL started gas production from the block in April 2009 and thus price revision was due only in 2014. — PTI |
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ArcelorMittal’s Q4 loss widens to $1 bn
Luxembourg/Delhi, Feb 7 Net sales of the company, however, were up at $22.4 billion during the reporting quarter against $20.6 billion in the last quarter of 2010. — PTI |
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Mahindra XUV gets 25,000 bookings
New Delhi, February 7 Bookings for the XUV500 had re-opened on January 25 last across 19 cities. In 10 days till February 3, for which time the booking was kept open, M&M received an overwhelming response with over 25,000 applications for the indigenously designed and manufactured SUV. During the first phase of launch in October 2011, the XUV500 had received over 8,000 bookings in just 10 days across five cities, which was much more than its manufacturing capacity, forcing M&M to immediately close the bookings. This time round as a customer-centric measure and to ensure fair and transparent allotment, Mahindra will undertake an XUV500 draw since the booking applications have exceeded 7,200 in the second phase. The draw process will be validated by the professional services firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd as per mutually agreed scope and terms.
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SBI plans expansion overseas
Bhubaneswar, February 7 "With very good net interest income, the bank during the current fiscal should be able to outperform its earlier profit level which ranged from Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 9,000 crore," SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters here. Unveiling plans for expansion of overseas operations, Chaudhuri said SBI was set to have a subsidiary in Australia within a year and has proposals for expansion in the US and Britain. Similarly, concrete steps had been taken for opening two branches in Bangladesh, he said. — PTI |
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Downturn in Europe worries hand tool industry
Chandigarh, February 7 Sources in the hand tool industry here informed The Tribune that as compared to a robust growth of over 34 per cent, witnessed in the first two quarters of this fiscal, they are expecting the growth to fall down to just 10 per cent during this quarter (January- March). This is mainly because the hand tool exporters here are not getting many orders from business houses in the USA and Europe. It is learnt that the total hand tool exports from Punjab is around Rs 750 crore. In fact, Punjab accounts for over 90 per cent of total hand tools exported from the country. Of the total exports, 40 per cent of the hand tools are sent to countries in Europe, and the remaining is exported to other countries. Around 10 per cent of the hand tools are exported to the USA. “But with the US economy failing to recover and the downturn in Europe, exports from Punjab have slowed down. Its not just the downturn in Europe that is affecting exports, but the severe cold in most parts of Europe and thick snow cover have affected the manufacturing sector there, thus adversely affecting our exports,” said SC Ralhan, president, Ludhiana Hand Tools Association. The only noteworthy exports being made now are to countries in Latin America, he said. Exporters believe that conditions might again look up after March. “We will be participating in the industrial fair in Germany in March and hope to get good orders from there,” said Ashwani Kohli, one of the prominent hand tool exporters from Phagwara. Interestingly, exporters said though they are facing a phase of de-growth now, the appreciation of dollar against the rupee all through 2011 has actually helped them make profits.
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Corporate Results
New Delhi, February 7 Net sales during the third quarter this fiscal stood at Rs 8,327.2 crore as against Rs 6,074.46 crore in the same period last fiscal. Cadila net dips 7.9%
Cadila Healthcare today posted 7.9 per cent decline in net profit at Rs 149.21 crore for the third quarter ended December, 2011 due to foreign exchange losses.
However, net sales of the company rose to Rs 1,352.46 crore during the quarter, as against Rs 1,134.55 crore in the same period previous fiscal, Cadila Healthcare said in a filing to the BSE. Genpact net up 33%
BPO major Genpact today reported 32.8 per cent jump in net profit to $61.1 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2011. Revenues rose to $442.7 million during October-December quarter 2011, up 29.6 per cent from $341.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. Revenues during the period under review were $1.60 billion, up 27.1 per cent from $1.26 billion in the same period last year. — PTI |
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The sub-7 per cent figure comes as compared to 8.4 per cent last year and in terms of sectoral break-up, the GDP growth is estimated at 2.5 per cent in agriculture, 3.9 per cent in manufacturing and 9.4 per cent in services sector.