New Delhi, May 14
Headline inflation which has been remained stubbornly high, today dropped to a three year low of 4.89 per cent, a level which is well within the comfort zone of government managers and the central bank.

While the fall in the Wholesale Price Index(WPI) was led by lower food prices, the sharp fall in the core inflation suggests that companies are losing pricing power which may have adverse implications for growth and investments.

The caveat with today’s surprisingly low number is that may be revised upwards like the WPI for February has been revised by more than 40 basis points to 7.3% from 6.84%.

According to Bhupali Gursale, economist at Angel Broking, the trajectory for core inflation has been on a downward trend for the eighth straight month reflecting benign commodity prices as well as weak pricing power in manufacturing.

“Worryingly however, the headline inflation for February 2013 has been revised upwards by more than 40bp to 7.3% owing to revision across categories — primary articles, fuel and manufactured articles. Nonetheless, we believe the softening trend in both WPI and CPI inflation is likely to give the RBI more scope for easing the monetary policy rate”, she said.

Whatever be the final number, it is now clear that inflation is on a downward trajectory and will provide more space for monetary easing by the RBI although it will have to balance this with concerns over a high trade deficit and retail inflation which is still over 9%.

The WPI has now declined for the third straight month bringing it to the comfort level of RBI and government of 5% for the first time since November 2009, when it was 4.78%. WPI-based inflation was 5.96% in March, while in April, 2012, it was 7.50%.

PM’s Economic Advisory Council chairman C. Rangarajan said: “We can watch and see for one more month on what is happening to inflation. If inflation persists in the direction in which it has been moving then it certainly gives more space to monetary policy". Most analysts are expecting a 25 basis points cut in interest rates in the June monetary policy review by the RBI.

Indranil Pan, chief economist at Kotak Mahindra Bank, said taking into account the downward trajectory in inflation, moderating demand-side pressure and lower global commodity prices helping to ease domestic macro imbalances, the debate could start centering on larger doses of monetary policy easing by the RBI.

Crisil Research has forecast average WPI inflation to dip to 6.3% in 2013-14, led by expectations of higher farm output (assuming a normal monsoon), lower international crude oil prices and further weakening of core inflation.

New Delhi, May 14
A US $345 million share sale in India's biggest real estate company by market value, DLF Ltd, was fully covered on Tuesday, provisional data from the BSE showed. The offer for sale of 8.1 crore equity shares to institutional investors has been oversubscribed by 1.3 times, which will help it raise Rs 1,888 crore at the upper band.

By 4:30 pm, the single-day sale to institutional investors had received bids for 87.14 million shares. DLF had set a price band of Rs 222 to Rs 233 each for the offer. The company will finalize the final pricing for allotment of shares later.

DLF, 78.58% owned by its founders, is selling shares to meet the market regulator's requirement of having at least 25% public shareholding, which is mandatory for Indian listed companies.

Shares in DLF, which is valued by the market at $7.2 billion, closed on Tuesday at Rs 230.25, down 0.8% from the previous close.

According to data available on the NSE till 5 pm, DLF's issue has been oversubscribed by 1.3 times with the company receiving 10,63,49,558 bids from qualified institutional buyers.

The issue of shares via IPP is being done to meet market regulator SEBI's guideline on minimum 25% public shareholding by June 30 for private sector listed companies.

According to sources, US-based foreign fund Oppenheimer, which already has over 5% stake in DLF, has also placed bids to further buy shares through the IPP. The bankers to the IPP issue are Standard Chartered Securities (India), Deutsche Equities India, DSP Merrill Lynch, J P Morgan India, CLSA India, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India), Kotak Mahindra Capital Co, UBS Securities India.

This is the third major fund raising exercise in the company. DLF had launched its IPO to raise over Rs 9,000 crore in 2007, while the promoters had sold 9.9% stake in 2009 to raise Rs 3,860 crore.

In the IPP document, DLF had said it would use the net proceeds of the issue for reducing debt and working capital requirement among other purposes. The net debt stood at Rs 21,350 crore at the end of the 2012 calendar year. — Reuters/PTI

New Delhi, May 14
Almost four months after the planes were grounded due to safety concerns, national carrier Air India will resume domestic operations of Dreamliner aircraft from Wednesday and global flights from May 22. The airline, which will cut costs to the tune of Rs. 2,000 crore in the current financial year, will get another eight Boeing 767s by December-end, taking the total to 14.

Air India has ordered a total of 27 Dreamliners.

“The first commercial flight of the Dreamliner will start on Wednesday from Delhi to Kolkata. Out of the six of the Boeing 787 planes, two have been already modified following the battery fire incidents,” Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said, adding the remaining four of the total six Dreamliners with AI will become operational by the monthend.

The national carrier is also planning to begin new international routes with the planes from Delhi to Birmingham and Sydney-Melbourne from August, Rome and Milan from October and Moscow. The B-787s have remained grounded since January 17 after a fire in the lithium-ion batteries of a parked plane in Boston and a case of forced landing of another B-787 for the same reason in Japan.

He, however, refused to divulge the amount of compensation the US aircraft manufacturer would give to Air India but said the airline has set up an internal committee to talk to Boeing on the issue.

The airline meanwhile will cut costs to the tune of Rs. 2,000 crore in the current fiscal. Singh said monetization of its assets in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Coimbatore alone would generate additional funds Rs 1,000 crore while oil companies are expected to provide concessions of Rs 500 cr to Air India. Most of the outstanding overdues of oil companies are planned to be liquidated by the end of May, 2013.

New Delhi, May 14
In the high profile Sahara case involving over Rs 24,000 crore raised through ‘various illegalities’, capital markets regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India has begun the process of refund to individual investors who have been verified by it.

The money is being refunded only in those cases where SEBI has not found any multiplicity during its verification process. Refund for others will have to wait till the next direction from the Supreme Court, which is likely to hear the case on July 17.

The refunds are being made from Rs 5,120 crore that has been deposited by Subrata Roy’s Sahara group, which claims to have already returned close to Rs 20,000 crore to the bondholders of two Sahara companies directly.

This claim of direct refunds, which Sahara says were made before the Supreme Court order of August 31, 2012, is yet to be verified independently, sources said.

Even among the lists of investors submitted by Sahara to SEBI, after being directed by the apex court to do so, the regulator has come across numerous multiplicities and other anomalies, sources said. — PTI

Orlando, Florida, May 14
BlackBerry on Tuesday unveiled a lower-cost BB10 smartphone that is designed to entice consumers in emerging markets as the company stepped up efforts to regain market share lost to the iPhone and Android devices.

CEO Thorsten Heins said Tuesday that the Q5 device will be available worldwide this summer. It is BlackBerry's third smartphone to run the new BlackBerry 10 system. The Q5 will have a physical keyboard, something that sets BlackBerry's devices apart from Apple's iPhone and most Android phones.

The Q5 features a physical Qwerty keyboard and a 3.1in (7.9cm) touchscreen.

Heins said the ``slim, sleek'' device will be available in red, black, white and pink. ``I know it's going to be a big hit,'' he said. “'I think you're really gonna like it.”

RIM unveiled new, versatile BlackBerrys this year after delays allowed Apple and others to dominate.

The Blackberry 10 device will be released in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America in July. It should be cheaper than the Z10 and Q10 which were unveiled in January. — AP/other agencies

New Delhi, May 14
The capital expenditure target for investments by 23 major public sector undertakings for 2013-14 has been set at about Rs 1.42 lakh crore. This investment target was finalized at a review meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday.

The capex plans include those of ONGC, Oil India, GAIL, Indian Oil, MRPL, SAIL, NMDC, Powergrid, NHPC, NTPC, Coal India, Neyveli Lignite, Concor, Nalco, BHEL, BEL, MOIL, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, Satluj Jal Vikas Nigam, Bharat Dynamics, HAL, Mazagaon Docks and Nuclear Power Corp. The seven new companies added are Manganese Ore India, RINL, SJVN, Bharat Dynamics, HAL, Mazagaon Docks and Nuclear Power.

All the secretaries of the departments concerned and heads of these companies have been asked to work towards fulfilling and exceeding these targets as this was extremely important for the economy.

According to a PMO statement, the progress in achieving these targets will be monitored on a quarterly basis by the PMO to ensure that there are no slippages. In case of any issue relating to clearances, CMDs were asked to bring these to the notice of the cabinet committee on investment.