paris, December 1
The French government backed away on Friday from a threat to nationalize a steelworks, saying it secured promises from the owner, ArcelorMittal, to invest and avoid any forced layoffs at the site where the company has idled two blast furnaces.

Workers at the plant said the announcement fell well short of what they had hoped from a government that won power in May on promises to combat industrial decline and mass job losses in Europe's second-largest economy.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said ArcelorMittal, under fire for mothballing the site 18 months ago, would invest 180 million euros and had promised there would be no forced layoffs among some 630 workers there.

Ayrault said the two furnaces in Florange, a small town of some 11,000 people near the border with Germany, would not be restarted for now, given weak European steel demand.

ArcelorMittal would keep them in working order, however, for future use in a test project for environmentally friendly steel production.

"The government decided against the idea of a temporary nationalization that was floated in recent days," Ayrault told reporters, three hours before a midnight deadline to strike a deal. "It ruled that option out given the commitments secured from ArcelorMittal."

Ayrault said the investment would reinforce cold-steel and packaging operations at Florange and secure jobs in those areas. ArcelorMittal had pledged its investment in Florange would not come at the expense of other sites in France.

The deal, the result of months of talks, came as the Italian cabinet was meeting to approve a rescue plan for ILVA, Europe's largest steel plant, which has 20,000 workers and is threatened with closure after accusations that emissions from the site had caused an environmental "disaster.

Labour leaders from the Florange site responded angrily and vowed to fight on to make sure that what concessions had been wrung out of ArcelorMittal were respected. "We've been betrayed," said Martin Edouard, a member of the CFDT union at the Florange furnaces, told reporters.

"This is unbelievable, if that's what politics is about, what a joke," said Walter Broccoli of the FO union.

The European steel industry is struggling with overcapacity at a time of recession in the euro area and cheap competition in emerging markets.

Florange, located in France's former industrial heartland, has become symbolic of the country's long industrial decline and a test case for whether Socialist President Francois Hollande can make good on a vow to reverse a relentless surge in unemployment.

ArcelorMittal said earlier this year the Florange site's two furnaces were not viable, but Hollande insisted they should be kept open and threatened a temporary state takeover of the site while the government sought a permanent buyer. The two blast furnaces together employ about 630 out of the 2,700 workers at the entire site.

Ayrault offered no details on what workers would do beyond not being laid off, or a time frame for any future project to revamp the furnaces using EU credits to produce environmentally friendly steel. — Agencies

My daughter-in-law, who had opened a Public Provident Fund account in October 2009 at an SBI branch, plans to go abroad. In case she does, as an NRI she may not be able to operate the account (vide government notification GSR 585(e) dated July 25, 2003). When we visited the bank with a request to close the account, it said premature closure not allowed as the PPF account was a 15-year scheme. What can we do?
— Jehangir

The bank is right. Once a PPF account is opened, it cannot be prematurely closed. Nonresident Indians may continue to operate and make further contributions to their PPF accounts if they were opened prior to going abroad. Therefore, in the case of your daughter-in-law, since the account was opened when she was residing in India, it can be continued even after she starts residing overseas. Once the term of the PPF account is completed, it cannot be extended by the NRI — it has to be necessarily closed.

My wife and I are joint owners of our house. Will the repayment of housing loan under principle and interest component be deducted only from the earnings or otherwise? Also, will a mediclaim policy for Rs 15,000 be inclusive of the Rs 1 lakh savings limit or will it be directly deducted from taxable salary?
— Milind Bhagalia

It seems from your query that it is you who own the house and your wife's name has just been added as a second holder as a matter of precaution. In this case, the deduction for loan repayment under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as well as that for interest will be deducted from your income. In any case, if your wife doesn't earn, there is no significance of the tax deduction.

New Delhi, December 1
Buyers brought good news for Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra, while others like Tata Motors and Hyundai lost ground.

India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, logged a healthy sales growth of 12.5 percent at 103,200 units in November as against 91,772 units sold in the corresponding period last year.

According to the company, its domestic sales rose 9.7% in November and stood at 90,882 units from 82,870 units sold in the like period of last year. Exports in the month grose 38.4% at 12,318 units, from 8,902 units sold in November 2011.

Leading sports utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra's total sales in November rose 18% year-on-year to 48,143 units. It had sold 40,722 units sold in the like period of last year.

The company said its domestic sales rose 23% at 46,755 units during the month under review from 38,159 units sold during Nov 2011. Exports, however, declined a hefty 46% at 1,388 units from 2,563 units in November last year. The company expressed concern over high interest rates and said it hoped the monetary policy would be eased in the last quarter of 2012-13.

Tata Motors' last month festive season sales turned sour with a 13.96% decline in domestic market. The offtake stood at 62,354 units from 72,477 units sold in the same month of 2011.

Segment-wise, passenger vehicles sales was down 34.98% at 18,031 units. Commercial vehicles sales fell marginally by 0.91% at 44,323 units. November exports dipped 4.66% at 4,146 units compared to 4,349 units in Nov 2011.

Chennai-based Hyundai Motor India logged a marginal decline of 2.3% for the month under review. Sales stood at 55,762 units from 57,071 units sold in the same period of 2011. While, domestic sales fell 0.7% at 34,751 units, exports plummetted 4.8% in the month under review at 21,011 units from 22,071 units shipped out in Nov 2011. "The adverse market conditions due to high interest rates and inflation continued to pose challenges for growth," Hyundai Motor India VP (sales) Rakesh Srivastava said. — IANS

BRIEFLY

Gold prices dip below Rs 32k
new delhi:Gold prices dipped below Rs 32,000 per 10 grams level in the national capital today on sustained selling by stockists on sluggish demand amid a weakening global trend. After losing Rs 875 in the last two trading sessions, the Gold fell further by Rs 270 to Rs 31,830 per 10 gms on sustained selling against restricted buying. A weakening global trend also influenced the market sentiment. However, silver gained Rs 250 to Rs 63,050 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

FII investment cap in bonds
mumbai:The government will raise the limit on foreign investments in government and corporate bonds by $5 billion each, said a finance ministry official who declined to be named, in a move intended to attract more funds into the country. India currently caps the total amount that foreign institutional investors can buy in domestic debt at $65 billion, which is distributed through categories of government, corporate and infrastructure bonds, some of which include tenor or lockin restrictions. The increase in limits will be effective in the next seven to ten days.