New Delhi, July 2
Vowing to get manufacturing and economy out of the downturn, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said key infrastructure projects facing delays have been identified and will be cleared in the next few weeks.

However, he admitted there was no quick-fixes to economic problems and the government is working to stabilise the economy which may take time.

"Manufacturing is not picking up because demand is sluggish. Demand for cars, two-wheelers, white goods is sluggish. For consumer non-durables, the growth is over 12 per cent. It is the consumer durable which is sluggish and in negative growth," he said here.

He said manufacturing capacity is there but sentiments must change for buying durable goods.

"That is one part of manufacturing. The other part of manufacturing is the core sectors - steel, iron ore, coal, power, minerals. Manufacturing must grow there also. Output must increase. We must produce more coal, more iron ore, more steel, more aluminium. That will happen as the upturn takes place," he said.

For example, the minister said, coal production has improved while iron ore which is caught in a number of litigations will hopefully clear with Supreme Court hearing the case.

"But in many other core industries, the projects are stalled which is why we have now identified the projects which are stalled and we are trying to remove these bottlenecks and things will begin to move.

"I think work is at pace. A special cell has been constituted. The Cabinet Secretariat is looking at the projects that can be cleared in next few weeks. If they require a decision by the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI), we will bring it. Once the core sector production goes up, you will find the industrial sector moves up and manufacturing also moves up," he said.

Chidambaram said the Indian economy was taking time to return to high growth trajectory because of the problems in the western economies.

"The upturn (in global economy) that is expected has not taken place. At the same time there is no spiralling down either. I think our economy is getting stabilised. There are some weaknesses ... There are signs that we are moving towards a more stable period. It will take time," he said.

The Minister said the upturn will not happen quickly. "It is a slow climb. The correct approach is to keep the focus on long term. There are no quick fixes. Take measures for long term and while these measures get implemented, the medium and short term will be addressed," he said.

The government in recent weeks has taken a number of decisions like hiking gas prices, setting up of coal regulator and allowing power producers to import coal to meet shortage.

He said the Union Cabinet will decide on raising FDI caps in different sectors in the second or third week of this month. — PTI

New Delhi, July 2
Industrialist Ratan Tata and AirAsia Group chief Tony Fernandes today met Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh regarding their application for the launch of a new low-cost airline. “We came to apprise the minister about the developments that have taken place (since FIPB cleared the proposal) and our visit to Chennai (headquarters of the proposed airline),” Fernandes said.

Singh said the group has applied to the Civil Aviation Ministry for a no-objection certificate (NOC) and given the names of all top new appointees for security clearance to the Union Home Ministry, as per the laid down regulations. “They are working on that. When they get security clearance, they will apply to the DGCA (for flying permit). I don’t expect that it will take too long,” the minister said.

Over four months ago, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had cleared a proposal for the setting up of a new airline, AirAsia India, by Malaysian carrier AirAsia which has joined hands with the Tata Group and Arun Bhatia of Telestra TradePlace in a 49:30:21 joint venture partnership.

Tata said: “This is a different type of enterprise which Fernandes is bringing. Hopefully, it will spread air travel across India and give a new dimension (to the aviation sector). The Tata Group is pleased to be associated with it.”

On questions on high air fares in India, Fernandes said, “We think we will be able to reduce fares by increasing volumes, creating an economic stimulus and creating more jobs.” The meeting with Singh came after the Civil Aviation Ministry sent the names of AirAsia India’s Board members and other key officials to the Home Ministry for security clearance.

Once security clearance is granted, the Aviation Ministry would give the NOC for the airline to apply to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to get the Scheduled Operator’s Permit (SOP) or the licence to fly.

Exuding confidence that Civil Aviation Ministry's NOC "isn't far away", the AirAsia chief said, "Once we get that, the Scheduled Operator's Permit (flying licence) application moves fairly forward and we have to just submit it. I keep repeating that in October I hope that would be the time we would like to start." 

New Delhi, July 2
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has indicated that a concerted push for hi-tech exports is on the anvil as part of the government’s efforts to boost exports.

Sharma said this during a meeting with the members of Export Promotion Councils to discuss the measures to boost exports and seek suggestions to remove the bottlenecks for the exporters.

The meeting assumes significance in the light of worrying Current Account Deficit (CAD) scenario. Addressing the exporters, Sharma said the rising trade deficit has a cascading impact on the CAD. Last year, exports reached $300 billion, while imports touched $ 491.9 billion, leaving a deficit of $191 billion, up from $183 billion the previous year. He cited weakening global demands along with developments like mining restrictions in Goa and Karnataka and unprecedented rise in gold import as the major contributors.

The exporters put forward their demands for expansion of incentive schemes and a smoother regime for various clearances. Sector-specific councils submitted their inputs. Sharma assured a concerted effort to help the exporters and inform them about his meeting with the Finance Minister and forthcoming meeting with the Prime Minister in which he will take up the suggestions received during this consultation.

Acknowledging the importance of high-tech products, he said, “We had announced that export of high-tech products will be encouraged. The list is under preparation. Emphasis on value-added products will be given.” Export bodies have been asked to focus on SMEs who account for sizeable chunk of exports.

M Rafeeque Ahmed, president, FIEO, said at the meeting that unless manufacturing picks up in India it will be difficult to push exports. “Our focus should be to make manufacturing competitive and facilitate flow of investment in manufacturing which has basically dried up in recent times”, he said.

He added that Africa and Middle-East countries can be the thrust regions for exports looking at increasing purchasing power fuelled by agriculture and oil, respectively. 

New Delhi, July 2
Inter-ministerial body Telecom Commission today approved hiking foreign direct investment limit in the sector from 74 per cent to 100 per cent.

The Commission has approved raising FDI limit to 100 per cent, 49 per cent investment can be made through automatic route but FIPB approval is required to increase the level, a senior government official said here, adding the decision will come in force after the Cabinet approval for the same.

The official said Department of Telecom will send a detailed note to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion which forward this proposal for Cabinet approval.

At present, FDI limit in the sector is 74 per cent where 49 per cent is done through automatic route and rest requires nod from Foreign Investment Permission Board.

The idea behind increasing FDI limit in telecom sector is to help industry get fresh funds to lower financial burden.

According to a presentation by GSM industry body COAI to DoT, the debt of telecom sector stood at Rs 1,85,720 crore at end of 2011-12. This included debt of Rs 93,594 crore from domestic sources and Rs 92,126 crore from external sources.

The Commission also discussed creation of Telecom Finance Corporation (TFC) to address the sector's funding challenges and "sought a detailed project report on it".

The TFC is proposed to be set up on the lines of sectoral finance bodies such as Power Finance Corporation and Tourism Finance Corporation of India.

The proposed TFC is targeting financing Rs 38,000 crore in five-year period. — PTI 

New Delhi, July 2
The government is considering to tweak FDI policy in retail sector so as to allow global chains like Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco to open multi-brand stores in non-hilly cities with population less than one million.

Besides, the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is also looking at other demands of retailers to relax mandatory investment norm in the back-end infrastructure, sourcing conditions and definition of MSMEs.

"They (foreign retailers) want to open stores in cities with population less than a million. They are saying this is important to spread network and to make their business viable. We may have to approach Cabinet on few things," a senior official in the Commerce and Industry ministry said.

As per the current FDI policy, foreign retailers are allowed to open stores only in cities with a million-or-over population. The condition have been relaxed for hilly states such as Jammu and Kashmir and Assam.

In a recent meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, retailers have asked to relax FDI norms in multi-brand segment and have said sourcing rules must be made similar to that of single brand and foreign firms be allowed to put only 50 per cent of first tranche of investment in back-end infrastructure.

"The DIPP is looking at all the demands of the retailers. The department may come out with some more clarifications," the official said.

Foreign retailers are also asking to relax mandatory sourcing clause for multi-brand retail and make it similar to single brand segment.

As per the current policy, 30 per cent of products sold by single brand retailers, where 100 per FDI is allowed, are to be "preferably" sourced from small and medium enterprises (SMEs). On the other hand, in multi-brand segment, it is "mandatory" for the company to procure 30 per cent from SMEs. — PTI

current fdi policy

* Foreign retailers are allowed to open stores only in cities with a million-or-over population

* The condition has been relaxed for hilly states such as Jammu and Kashmir and Assam

* Retailers have asked to relax FDI norms in multi-brand segment and have said sourcing rules must be made similar to that of single brand

* As per the current policy, 30% of products sold by single brand retailers are to be ‘preferably’ sourced from SMEs

* In multi-brand segment, it is ‘mandatory’ for the company to procure 30% products from SMEs

Gurgaon, July 2
Maruti Suzuki India has introduced a limited edition “Swift RS”, the sporty version of the popular Swift car. The Swift RS comes with new styling and graphics that give it a distinct sporty character and looks.

Swift RS will be available only in limited numbers and for a short period. It comes with a signature RS 3-piece body kit that includes front and rear bumper enrichment and a roof spoiler.

To enhance the sporty quotient, the Swift RS has specifically designed black and blue motor-sport inspired graphics. For the first time, black wheel covers are being introduced in the Swift RS.

The outside rear view mirrors come in the signature theme colour of blue. The Swift RS is equipped with an illuminated Swift emblem at the sill on all four doors.

The upholstery is crafted in art leather black and blue colour combinations which complement the RS signature graphic style on the exteriors. The floor mats carry forward the rally RS theme. This special edition of Swift has a high-end music system with CD player, AUX-in and USB facility.

On the introduction of Swift RS, Manohar Bhat, vice-president (marketing), Maruti Suzuki India, said: “The Swift RS is in continuation of Maruti Suzuki’s celebrations planned around Swift model as it moves towards the “1 million” cumulative sales mark. Swift not only pioneered premium compact segment in the country, it continues to remain the number 1 selling car in the segment. Swift has cumulatively sold over 9.6 lakh units since its launch in May 2005. We are confident that limited edition Swift RS will be ideal for customers who look to further enhance the sporty character and style of the Swift.” 

BRIEFLY

Oil India to raise up to $900 m
Mumbai: Oil India Limited said on Tuesday it will raise up to $900 million debt from overseas markets by October to pay for its acquisition of 4 per cent interest in a gas field in Mozambique. "The total cost of our acquisition is around $1 billion and we will fund up to 80-90 per cent of it through overseas markets," OIL Director (Finance) TK Ananth Kumar said while announcing the company's annual numbers. — PTI

Weinberger is CEO of E&Y
New Delhi: Advisory firm Ernst & Young on Tuesday said Mark Weinberger has been appointed new global chairman and chief executive officer of the company. Besides, the company has also changed its global brand name to EY, unveiled a new logo and adopted a new tagline. — PTI

Yellow metal, silver prices rise
New Delhi: Gold and silver prices gained for the third consecutive day in the national capital on Tuesday on sustained buying by stockists, amid a firming global trend. While gold advanced by Rs 225 to Rs 26,700 per 10 gram, silver gained Rs 100 to Rs 41,300 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers. —PTI

Audi rolls out RS 5 Coupe
Mumbai: German luxury carmaker Audi, which launched RS 5 Coupe on Tuesday, said it will soon increase prices of its models by up to 3 per cent to protect its margins in view of steep fall in the rupee. The Audi RS 5 Coupe is priced at Rs 95.28 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). — PTI

AD Nagpal
Chandigarh: AD Nagpal, secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, has been appointed workers’ representative on the Central Board of Trustees of the EPFO for a fourth consecutive term. The term of Board is for a period of five years. — TNS