New Delhi, July 4
There was some relief for the inflation-hit middle class with the government extending the one per cent interest subsidy scheme on housing loans of up to Rs 15 lakh, where the cost of the house does not exceed Rs 25 lakh, for another year.

A cabinet meeting on Tuesday, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had approved extension of the scheme for fiscal 2012-13.

Briefing newsmen here on Wednesday, Home Minister P Chidambaram said: "When interest rates have risen, even one per cent relief is a relief for the middle class and lower middle class".

In another decision, the government also decided to clear the 25.612 km metro rail project to improve the public transport system in Kochi.

Chidambaram said the limit of subsidy on housing loans for an individual borrower would be Rs 14,912 for a loan of Rs 15 lakh and Rs 9,925 for a loan of Rs 10 lakh. The extended scheme will benefit all housing loans taken in the current fiscal.

He added a large number of people had benefited from the 1% interest subvention and "whoever borrows now will get the benefit of one per cent".

A budgetary provision of Rs 400 crore has been made for the financial year 2012-13 for implementing the scheme. National Housing Bank (NHB) is the nodal agency for implementing the scheme both for banks and housing finance companies.

In his FY13 budget speech, then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had proposed to extend the scheme, announced in 2011-12, by one year in view of the shortage of housing for low income groups in major cities and towns.

Earlier, the interest benefit was given on loans of up to Rs 10 lakh provided the cost of house did not exceed Rs 20 lakh. In 2011-12, the government liberalized the scheme and increased the loan limit to Rs 15 lakh and the cost of house to Rs 25 lakh.

London, July 4
Former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond acknowledged there had been "mistakes" and "reprehensible" behaviour at the bank as he appeared before a British parliamentary probe Wednesday.

"Clearly there were mistakes, clearly there was behaviour that was reprehensible," Diamond said, while insisting that Barclays had acted quickly to tackle problems as soon as a rate-fixing scandal came to light.

"The attitude of Barclays three years ago when this was recognised was let's get to the bottom of it," he said.

Diamond quit as chief executive of the British bank on Tuesday, on the same day as the firm's chief operating officer Jerry del Missier. They stepped down after chairman Marcus Agius resigned Monday.

The bank was last week fined £290 million ($455 million, 360 million euros) by British and US regulators for attempted rigging of the Libor and Euribor interest rates.

Libor is a flagship London instrument used throughout the world, while Euribor is the eurozone equivalent. The rates play a key role in global markets, affecting what banks, businesses and individuals pay to borrow money.

Manipulating the rate could have given the impression that the bank was in a stronger position financially than it actually was.

Bob Diamond faced tough questions from British lawmakers on Wednesday, the day after he quit as Barclays chief executive and a bank rate-rigging scandal claimed a third top-level scalp. — AFP

New Delhi, July 4
India’s services sector in June expanded for the eighth straight month although at a slower clip, but new orders picked up and firms hired workers at the fastest pace in a year, a business survey showed on Wednesday.

HSBC's services purchasing managers' index, which gauges the activity of around 400 firms in India, dropped to 54.3 in June from 54.7 in May. However, it has kept above the 50 mark that signifies growth since November. The survey showed order books filled at their strongest pace in four months, riding high on domestic consumption. But sagging demand from India's major trading partners abroad — the United States, the eurozone and Britain — dented hopes for the future among Indian companies in June.

"While service sector activity grew at a slightly slower pace, new orders grew faster and this should hold up activity in coming months," said Leif Eskesen, economist at HSBC. The services sector contributes nearly 60% to the overall Indian economy.

The survey also showed firms added jobs at a faster pace in June to deal with the surge in new business and cut backlogs. Its jobs index rose to 51.1 in June from 50.5 in May.

India once held the baton for the growth story of emerging nations, but it faces a tough battle to keep up with emerging peers China and Brazil.

Abroad, the eurozone continues to reel from its sovereign debt crisis, despite a summit of European leaders last week. That, combined with stuttering growth in the US, has crimped on global economic sentiment and has hit confidence about the future in corporate boardrooms across the world.

The Indian services PMI business expectations index fell 4 points since May. — Reuters

New Delhi, July 4
Looking to change the game in the sports utility vehicle segment, French automaker Renault launched its mid-sized Duster at an introductory price ranging between Rs 7.19 lakh and Rs 11.29 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The all-terrain vehicle will be available in both petrol and diesel options.

As it looks to increase volume in the Indian market and project itself as a serious player away from its earlier partner Mahindra & Mahindra, Renault has brought in the most sold SUV around the world at the cost of a sedan.

The petrol version will be powered by a 1.6 litre engine and is priced between Rs 7.19 lakh and Rs 8.19 lakh.

The diesel option will be powered by a 1.5 litre engine at price ranging between Rs 7.99 lakh and Rs 11.29 lakh.

"This year, we’re looking to sell a total number of vehicles which is twenty times more what we sold last year. The Duster is one of the five products that we have announced to launch in India," Renault India managing director Marc Nassif told reporters here.

The multinational auto major, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, had sold 1,500 vehicles last year. Nassif, however, declined to comment on the sales volume of the Duster but said about 3,500 to 4,000 bookings had already been made in India.

With the Duster the company has attained 60 per cent of localization and plans to increase it to 80 per cent in the next twelve months, he said.

The Duster will compete with the likes of Mahindra & Mahindra's Scorpio and Tata Motors’ Safari.

Asked about the export plans Nassif said the Duster would be exported to Britain from the company’s Chennai plant by the end of the year.

"Our Chennai plant will be the only Renault facility in the world which will supply the Duster to all the right hand drive markets in the world," he said.

Asked if the company has cut down the production due to market slowdown, he replied in negative and said, "Production is going as planned”, he added.

Mumbai, July 4
Swiss global financial services major UBS upgraded Indian stocks to "overweight" citing attractive valuations compared with growth markets in Southeast Asia and an improving trade balance that could help improve domestic liquidity conditions.

Although the investment bank warned the country still faces a number of challenges, including politics and potential problems in the balance of payments, it recommended investors continue to bet on India.

"We think the risk is worth it — that either improved risk appetite globally helps lower domestic rates, or that in the coming months an improving trade balance does the same," UBS said. "As such, we think liquidity will improve and by interacting with sensible earnings estimates (that have as much risk as elsewhere in the region in our view) and attractive valuations, should help India perform better in relative terms," it added.

According to a media poll, the Sensex is expected to gain 10% between now and the end of the year, though only reaching levels seen in July 2011, provided economic growth recovers from a recent lull.

The 30-share BSE index will rise to 18,750 points by the end of 2012, according to the median forecast from a survey of 22 investment houses conducted over the past week, and then rise further to 20,400 by the middle of next year.

Indian shares, once considered a beacon of the Asian growth story, have lost their shine recently on concerns New Delhi lacks the ability to pass tough economic reforms that would spur growth and reignite investor confidence in the country.

The median estimate shows reduced expectations for the year-end compared with 19,500 in each of the two previous quarterly polls, and means the index will only recoup part of its losses of 2011, when it shed a quarter of its value.

Morgan Stanley also upgraded Indian equities to “equalweight”, in its recent report titled Asia/GEMs strategy, after being 'underweight' since the first quarter of 2011. — Reuters

New Delhi, July 4
NHPC Ltd announced on Wednesday it had commissioned all the three units of its Rs 1,405.63 crore 231 MW Chamera-III hydroelectric power project in Himachal Pradesh.

The power generated from the project, which was sanctioned by the central government, will benefit the northern states of Himachal, Punjab, Rajasthan, U.P., Uttarakhand, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh. A share of 12% of the generated energy will be given to the Himachal government as free power.

All the three units of the project have been put on commercial operation. NHPC finance director A.B.L. Srivastava said: “With the commissioning of the project, NHPC’s installed capacity has risen to 5,526 MW, which includes 1,520 MW through our joint venture subsidiary NHDC”.

He added NHPC is slated to add 981 MW to its power capacity in the current fiscal.

With the commissioning of this project, NHPC has now successfully commissioned power projects with a total installed capacity of 1,251 MW in Himachal Pradesh.