The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Foreign investors waiting for polls to invest in India New Delhi, March 28 Asserting that foreign investors are convinced about growth potential here, global ratings major Fitch's Indian unit chief says that much of the investments would start pouring in after general elections. "There are some investors already setting up plants here and putting money in other businesses, although there are some who have pulled back and are waiting on wings," Fitch Group's Indian unit India Ratings' CEO & managing director Atul Joshi said. "These investors want to see how the reforms unfold in coming months. But most of the investors are saying that once the elections are over, we will come in. "The questions are only about the timing of investment, and not about the investment as such," Joshi told PTI in an interview here. General elections are scheduled to be held sometime in the first half of 2014. He further said that most of the foreign investors are convinced about the growth potential available in India and they have taken a decision to invest in India. "That is a done deal, what they are questioning is whether this is the right time to come in, or should they wait for 12 months or 18 months and then come in," the India Ratings chief said. "These are the questions right now before most of the overseas entities planning investments in manufacturing and services sectors," he said. It is being debated for many months now as to whether foreign companies are not opting for India due to lack of economic reforms and uncertainty over policy matters. Joshi, however, ruled out any large scale exit of foreign investors from the country. "If one was to simply go by the FII inflows in the last two months, the money is coming in big time. So, I don't think FIIs aren’t convinced about our growth prospects," he said. Joshi said various estimates put India's economic growth rate for the next fiscal in the range of 6-6.5%, while Fitch also sees it at about 6.1%. "People are still talking about economic growth, that too for an economy the size of $1.8 trillion, which is huge by any standards. If you look at any of the luxury brands from across the world, the destination is India. Who's who of the world, be it in businesses like automobile, consumer goods, luxury products, private jets, they all are coming to India as the demand is very strong here," Joshi said. — PTI FIIs invest $2.5 bn in debt market this year Overseas investors have pumped in $2.5 billion into Indian debt market so far this year, out of which over $1 billion has been invested in March alone. Market analysts attributed the inflows into the debt market to the easing of investment norms for foreign institutional investors buying government and corporate bonds. FIIs infused a net amount of $1.2 bn (Rs 6,532 crore) during March taking the total for 2013 so far to $2.49 billion (Rs 13,480 cr) for Indian bond market, as per data available with market regulator SEBI. Last week, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced that the government would remove all restrictions and sub-limits within the two broad categories — government securities and corporate bonds — from April 1. It will keep the ceiling of $25 bn for government securities and $51 bn for bonds issues by companies. — PTI
	Nokia plays down tax evasion order Delhi HC grants stay on unpaid Rs 20.8 billion demand TNS & Agencies New Delhi/Mumbai/Copenhagen, March 28 Mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj has played down a multi-billion rupee tax demand from India, saying it did not have to pay any part of the demand for now and would continue to fight the claim. Nokia India said Thursday the company has been granted an interim stay by the Delhi High Court on the tax demand notice sent to it by the income tax department. Tax officials had demanded Nokia pay Rs 20.8 billion in upaid taxes, stepping up claims against foreign companies. In this regard, the company said it has filed a writ before the high court last week, and on March 22, the court has issued a notice to the income tax department to file its counter affidavit and has granted an interim stay of the entire tax demand till further orders. The tax order, if enforced, would add to pressure on Nokia's finances which are already being strained by falling sales. The firm axed its annual dividend payment for the first time in its history to shore up its cash position. "Nokia reiterates its position is that it is in full compliance with local laws as well as the bilaterally negotiated tax treaty between the governments of India and Finland and will defend itself vigorously," the company said in a statement. Nokia has seen a rapid dwindling of its cash reserves and ended 2012 with net cash of 4.4 billion euros, down 22% from a year earlier. It was not clear how long the stay on the tax demand would remain in force. The order from tax officials covered five fiscal years starting from 2006-07, according to a March 22 notice on the court's website. The demand comes as Asia's third-largest economy is aggressively pursuing tax claims against foreign companies as it seeks to rein in its budget deficit to avoid a credit rating downgrade. Last month, a government official said tax authorities had accused Cadbury Plc, now part of U.S. snacks firm Mondelez International Inc, of misleading them about production from a new factory to avoid about $46 million in taxes. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Vodafone Group Plc and LG Electronics Inc are also among companies involved in tax disputes in India and have challenged the orders. Nokia said it filed a writ before the Delhi High Court petitioning against the order. The court has asked the tax department to file a "counter-affidavit" within one week. Countries like India are crucial for Nokia's attempt to hold on to global market share after giving up its spot as market leader to Samsung. It has been expanding its Asha line of low-end smartphones and India is widely seen as a key market for such cheaper models.
	Financial reforms: Panel for merger of SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA and FMC Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 28 Seeking to create a new architecture in the financial sector regulatory set up, the government-appointed Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) has proposed a Indian financial code bill to create a unified financial regulator and limit the role of Reserve Bank of India to monetary management. Under the proposed regulatory architecture, Securities & Exchange Board of India, Forward Markets Commission (FMC), Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) and Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) would be merged into a new unified agency. The Reserve Bank will, however, continue to exist with modified functions, said the two-volume report of the Justice B N Srikrishna headed Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC). In order to give effect to its recommendations, the Commission has come out with a draft Indian financial code bill, containing 450 clauses and six schedules. The report, however, is marked by four dissenting notes by members P.J. Nayak, K.J. Udeshi, Y.H. Malegam and Jayanth R Varma. They have differed with the recommendations of the panel on different issues. The commission, which had submitted its report to Finance Minister P. Chidambaram last week, had ten members besides its chairman Srikrishna. The finance ministry today placed the report in the public domain for debate and discussion. "The commission is mindful that over the coming 25 to 30 years, Indian GDP is likely to become eight times larger than the present level, and is likely to be bigger than the United States GDP as of today...The aspiration of the commission is to draft a body of law that will stand the test of time", the report said. PTI adds: The commission proposes setting up of seven agencies — the RBI, Unified Financial Agency (UFA), FSAT, Resolution Corporation, Financial Redressal Agency, Public Debt Management Agency and FSDC. With regard to the RBI, the commission said, it "will continue to exist, though with modified functions". It said the existing Securities Appellate Tribunal be subsumed into Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal (FSAT). It also suggested that Financial Sector Development Council (FSDC) be given statutory framework. With a view to strengthen the mechanism for maintaining financial stability, financial sector development and interregulatory coordination, the Government in consultation with the financial sector regulators had set up the FSDC in December 2010. The panel also suggested setting up of a new Debt Management Office and also subsuming the existing Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation.
	Bharat Electronics to make components for Boeing’s Super Hornet fighter jet Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 28 US aerospace giant Boeing Co has expanded it India-footprint and has announced a growth in its relationship with Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). BEL, a company under the defence ministry has been given the follow-on contract involving the manufacture of subassemblies for the Boeing produced fighter jet, the F/A-18E/F, the Super Hornet. This contract, for Super Hornet sub-assemblies, expands work Boeing awarded BEL in 2011, a statement. The Indian partner, BEL, delivers components for the Super Hornet and P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft; and is a partner with Boeing at the Analysis and Experimentation Center in Bangalore that opened in 2009. Under the new contract BEL will produce Super Hornet subassemblies including the ground power panel, helmet vehicle interface stowage and switch assembly and cockpit console panels. For the F/A-18, BEL also produces a stowage panel for the joint helmet mounted cueing system connector cable and an avionics cooling system fan test switch panel with a night vision imaging system-compatible floodlight assembly. For the P-8I it provides the Identification friend or foe interrogators and Data Link communications systems. H.N. Ramakrishna, Director of Marketing, BEL, said “we believe this cooperation with Boeing is a great opportunity and is ever willing to take it to greater heights”. Dennis Swanson, vice president of international Business Development for Boeing Defense, Space &Security in India, said: “Boeing’s relationship with BEL demonstrates our commitment to working with Indian industry to provide customers with the best products while fostering global growth and market access”.
	Unified telecom licensing framework within month Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 28 The framework for unified telecom licensing (UL) that will enable users to get a host of services such as mobile, landline, DTH and cable TV from a single company will be finalized by the government in a month’s time. Speaking to reporters, Telecom Secretary R. Chandrasekhar said Thursday the system would be put in place after considering all the legal options. It would allow subscribers to get all the services without the entity necessarily owning full infrastructure needed to provide these services. "UL documents need legal vetting. It should take around one month," he said when asked about the status of the UL. Once the UL framework comes into force, telecom companies holding the licence will be able to provide all services that existing licences permit as well as share spectrum and other active part of telecom infrastructure that were not permitted earlier. As part of the unified licence regime, telecom service providers wanting to provide additional services apart from current offerings will be able to do so after obtaining a such a single licence. In case of merger and acquisitions also, companies need to go for unified licence.
	CPI-IW up 2 points in Feb, YoY inflation rises to 12.06% New Delhi, March 28 The All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers for February 2013 rose by two points and is now pegged at 223. On a one-month percentage change, it increased 0.90% between January and February compared with 0.51% between the same two months a year ago, according to the labour & employment ministry’s labour bureau. Year-on-year inflation measured by the monthly CPI-IW stood at 12.06% for February as compared to 11.62% for the previous month and 7.57% during the same month of the previous year. Food inflation stood at 14.98% (14.08%). — TNS