The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

$500 bn pvt investment must for 8% growth, says Montek

New Delhi, April 29
India will not be able to achieve the targeted 8 per cent annual average economic growth in 12th Plan (2012-17) if private sector does not invest half of the envisaged $1 trillion in infrastructure during the period, Plan panel Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here today. "This (8 per cent annual average economic growth rate in 12th Plan) will not happen if roughly 50 per cent (of investment target of $1 trillion) cannot come from private sector", he said addressing a FICCI conference here.

The Planning Commission has envisaged an investment of around $1 trillion in the 12th Five-Year Plan with half of it coming from the private sector and set an average annual growth rate target of 8 per cent in the five-year period.

"We should be clear about it that there is no prospect or zero prospect of being able to significantly increase government contribution (to invest in infrastructure) simply because resources won't be there as the demand for resources for health and education is huge", Ahluwalia explained.

According to Ahluwalia, the economy has to grow at 9 per cent in the past few years of the Plan period to achieve the 8 per cent average growth target.

"If the intention is to put the economy on to a path which is outlined in the 12th Plan (2012-17) that you would have average of 8 per cent (growth rate) in the five-year period, then you have to put the economy on 9 per cent growth rate in the last couple of years", he added.

According to CSO’s advance estimates, economy would grow at 5 per cent in 2012-13, the first year of the 12th Plan. The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has pegged the economic growth at 6.4 per cent in the current fiscal. — PTI

India’s GDP likely to improve to 5.7% this year, says IMF

Washington, April 29
Indicating that India's declining growth has bottomed out, International Monetary Fund (IMF) today said the country's GDP is likely to improve to 5.7 per cent in 2013 and further to 6.2 per cent a year after.

For Asia as a whole the economic growth is likely to be 5.7 per cent this calender and 6 per cent in 2013, IMF said in its 'Regional Economic Outlook: Asia and Pacific' report.

As per IMF's projections, India's real economic growth was 11.2 per cent in 2010, 7.7 per cent in 2011 and 4 per cent in the last calender.

It further said in South Asia, "notwithstanding a modest growth recovery in India on a more favourable external demand environment, deep-rooted structural challenges are expected to exert a substantial drag on potential growth while keeping inflation at elevated levels by regional standards".

The Washington headquartered multilateral agency said medium-term growth prospects for China, India, and other emerging Asia economies have recently become focus of economic debates in the region. "Indeed, growth in both China and India has declined since the global financial crisis," it said.

On inflation, IMF said across much of Asia, headline inflation slowed markedly through 2012, and in many cases by some 2 percentage points.

"...the notable exceptions were India, Indonesia, and, to a lesser extent, Thailand," it added.

The report said, for countries where inflationary pressures have been elevated, vigilance on inflation will pay dividends for long-term growth.

"For example, in India, monetary policy can best support growth by putting inflation on a clear downward trend," it said.

As per the report, a drop in private investment over rising policy uncertainty exacerbated supply bottlenecks in India, which contributed to headline inflation that was high compared to most other Asian economies in 2012. — PTI

Hindustan Unilever Q4 net up 15% at Rs 787 cr

New Delhi, April 29
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd today posted 14.65 increase in its net profit at Rs 787.20 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013, on the back of robust sales across various business verticals.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 686.61 crore for the same period of previous fiscal.

Net sales of the company rose by 12.48 per cent to Rs 6,367.14 crore for the January-March, 2013 quarter, as against Rs 5,660.48 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) said in a statement.

On a consolidated basis, the net sales of the company for 2012-13 rose to Rs 26,317.15 crore from Rs 22,987.73 crore in the previous fiscal.

The company's Board recommended a final dividend of Rs 6 for the financial year ended March 31, 2013 on equity shares of Re 1 each.

Scrip jumps over 7%

Hindustan Unilever scrip today surged over 7 per cent after the FMCG major posted 14.65 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended March 31.

After climbing 7.44 per cent in the intra-day trade, shares of the company finally ended at Rs 497.60, up 6.98 per cent on the BSE. At the NSE, it soared by 7.11 per cent to Rs 498.10.— PTI

MNCs parking profits in tax havens challenge for I-T Dept: Prez
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 29
The practice of multi-national companies (MNCs) parking their profits in tax havens to evade or avoid taxes is a challenge for the Income Tax Department and it should positively tackle these issues, President Pranab Mukherjee said today.

"More than three-fourth of business transactions of the MNCs is being done through their various units," he said.

Mukherjee said the basic objective of such units is to locate places where rate of taxation is low to evade or avoid tax.

"Transfer pricing is one of the most complicated task which you (I-T officers) shall have to discharge," Mukherjee said while speaking at the valedictory ceremony of the 65th batch of Indian Revenue Services today at Nagpur.

Mukherjee's statement assumes relevance as India, along with a host of emerging economies of the world, is working towards a streamlined tax regime where the due revenue of a country is collected at the appropriate jurisdiction and the relevance of tax haven jurisdictions is negated to the least.

The President said India has inked a number of Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) and Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) which has made it easier to obtain banking information from a foreign country in cases of cross-border tax evasion. "Some of the recalcitrant countries are now compelled to divulge information about tax avoidance and evasion, he said.

He said while tax collections have increased phenomenally, the revenue collection is still below the expected target and the tax officials should put in sincere and honest efforts to achieve them.

SEBI plans to launch new platform for SMEs

Mumbai, April 29
Market regulator SEBI is planning to launch a new platform that will enable investors to put in money in SMEs, a senior offficial said today.

"We are working on a new platform for small companies...a platform for people or investors who are willing to invest in SMEs will be launched soon," SEBI Executive Director S Ramann said here while addressing a seminar on the 'Potency of capital markets for SMEs' organised by the BSE here.

He, however, declined to give any time frame for the launch of this separate platform.

In this year's Budget, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said SMEs, including start-ups, will be permitted to list on SME exchanges without being required to make an initial public offer (IPO), but the issue will be restricted to informed investors.

He had also said this would be in addition to the existing SME platforms which BSE and NSE had launched in which listing can be done through an IPO and with wider investor participation. Under the existing platforms, small companies can go public without filing with the SEBI.

Ramann also said the proposed platform can be part of SME exchanges in which informed investors can put their money into these entities.

He also pointed out that as there were chances of SME companies facing winding up, interests of retail investors have to be protected.

Referring to financing of SMEs, Ramann said bank funding remained the predominant source of financing for the sector, adding that they have to look for innovative sources of financing to attract capital. — PTI

Western Railway awarded

Chandigarh: Western Railway has bagged prestigious shield for outstanding performance in traffic transportation field.

The shield was received by Mahesh Kumar, GM, Western Railway, and RK Tandon, Chief Operations Manager from Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal at a function held in Mumbai recently. — TNS

BP seeks additional $1.5 incentive for deep-sea gas

New Delhi, April 29
BP plc has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a $1.5 per mmBtu additional "incentive" for deep-sea fields over and above the near doubling of domestic gas price suggested by the Rangarajan Committee.

BP chief executive Bob Dudley sought clear roadmap to market determined pricing of natural gas saying it will help the country cut its import of LNG.

He said the Rangarajan panel suggested pricing model, which would lead to domestic rates going up from $4.2 per mBtu to about $8, would be roughly half way to international prices. — PTI

MCX-SX to launch trading in F&O on SX40 from May 15

Mumbai, April 29
MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) today said it will introduce trading in derivative contracts on its flagship index - SX40 - from next month.

"MCX-SX will introduce trading in futures and options (F&O) on its index SX40 from May 15, 2013," the exchange said in a statement.

SX40, launched in February, is a free float-based index of 40 large cap and liquid stocks, representing diverse sectors.

Trading in F&O contracts on SX40 would be available between 0915 hours and 530 hours from Monday to Friday.

The exchange said futures & options on SX40 would be offered in a contract trading cycle of minimum of three contracts having maturity of one-month, two-month and three-month.

MCX-SX MD and CEO Joseph Massey said: "SX40 is the true barometer of the Indian economy as it accurately represents its growth potential and dynamism, enabling domestic and global investors to partake in India's growth story." "This index is well suited to retail investors, institutional investors, fund houses and global investors," he added. — PTI

BRIEFLY

corporate Briefs

Huawei R&D centre in B’lore
Shanghai: Telecom gear maker Huawei will set up a new research and development (R&D) centre in Bangalore with an investment of $150 million (about Rs 813 crore) in the second half of this year. This new facility will have capacity to house 5,000 people but the company is yet to firm up its hiring plan for India. — PTI

Infosys, IPsoft ink pact
Mumbai: Autonomic IT services provider IPsoft on Monday said it has partnered with country's second largest software services firm Infosys. IPsoft's autonomics platform 'IPcenter', together with managed services from Infosys, will help reduce costs of IT operations and generate greater value for clients, a company statement said. — PTI

New Polo launched
Mumbai: Volkswagen on Monday launched a petrol variant of its popular hatchback Polo. The 1.2-litre new Polo is priced at Rs 7.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), said Arvind Saxena, MD for passenger cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India after the launch here. — PTI

Re bounces back
Mumbai: The rupee on Monday gained 12 paise to close at 54.25 against the US currency on fresh selling of dollars by banks and exporters amid firm equity markets. Persistent foreign capital inflows into equity markets amid weakness of dollar overseas also supported the domestic currency, dealers said. — PTI