New Delhi, September 25
Cash crunch due to a high fiscal deficit has held back infusion of equity of over Rs 3,574 crore in Air India, which may now be forced to raise money from the market, sources said today.

Equity infusion "could be delayed but not denied", the sources said, adding in the meantime, Air India could contemplate taking loans from the market to meet its immediate requirements.

Air India was also considering sale of land, including the one near Connaught Place in the heart of Delhi which was estimated to be worth Rs 700 crore, the sources said.

The Finance Ministry has decided to put on hold the equity infusion on the grounds of lack of funds due to the high fiscal deficit and the falling rupee, they said.

The amount is actually due from the previous fiscal as the government had then infused only Rs 5,000 crore instead of Rs 8,574 crore as planned earlier.

The government had earlier been rapped by a parliamentary panel for not infusing equity in a timely manner in the last financial year.

"Any delay or shortfall in the infusion of equity would adversely affect the implementation of the Turnaround Plan and Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP)," apart from denting the airline's profitability, the Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture had said in its report in May.

It had then said the shortfall would compel Air India to "to borrow short-term loans from banks in order to bridge the equity gap ..., which may adversely affect the profitability of the company.

"In fact, one of the conditions under which the regulator (RBI) and the consortium of banks supported the FRP entails timely equity support to Air India by the government." The panel, headed by senior CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, had strongly recommended that the government "should provide the promised equity infusion which has been accumulated, without any interruption during the course of the financial year." — PTI

New Delhi, September 25
Despite the continuing slowdown in the automobile sector, Fiat Group Automobiles India Private Limited (FGAIPL) today forayed into the entry-level sedan segment by launching classic version of its Linea sedan, priced at Rs 5.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

There was a boost for the Mahindra Reva as it tied up with Carzonrent, leader in cab rental industry, to announce a strategic partnership to launch first-of-its kind electric vehicle in the self-drive category in India.

Linea Classic will be available with two engine options of 1.4 litre (Fire) petrol and 1.3 litre multijet diesel engine. The diesel version of Linea Classic will have a price starting at Rs 6.95 lakh and Linea Classic+ at Rs 7.50 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

"Fiat India has exciting plans for the festive season. To celebrate and share the festivities with our customers, we have launched the Linea Classic which will give them the luxuries of a sedan at the price range of a hatchback," said Fiat Chrysler president and MD Nagesh Basavanhalli.

The Linea Classic is loaded with features such as hydraulic power steering, programmable speed limit buzzer, dual parabola headlamps and fire prevention systems etc.

"India is a strategic market for us. We are optimistic about our prospects for growth in the Indian car market, which is rapidly becoming one of the major markets in the world," he said.

Basavanhalli said despite slowdown in the auto industry, the entry-level sedan segment witnessed a 12% growth in 2012. The segment grew by 15% this year till August.

"That's why we are targeting this segment," he said.

Meanwhile, in a first-of-its -kind endeavour, Mahindra Reva and Carzonrent have joined hands to transform the on-ground mobility segment in India.

Carzonrent will offer Mahindra e2o for self-drive in Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai at most economical price ever. Each city will have a fleet size of five e2o’s to begin with and the service will be expanded in all metropolitan cities.

New Delhi, September 25
Telecom operator Aircel and homegrown smartphone maker Micromax have entered into a strategic partnership where they will share their retail networks, sales resources and run an integrated device sales activation programme to drive data usage.

As per the agreement reached by the two, Micromax handsets would come with bundled offer of low call rates, free Internet usage and contents like video, songs and games for the first three months from Aircel.

Aircel will charge local calls at the rate of 1 paisa for every 2 seconds and STD calls at the rate of 1 paisa per second from new customers of Micromax devices.

The only catch is the Micromax handsets should be smartphones. Micromax 3G smartphones buyers will get 2GB of Internet usage free every month for first three months while for Micromax 2G phones buyers the free web usage would be 1 GB on 2G and 3G network.

Micromax customers would not have to buy any recharge to activate services as Aircel's system will automatically identify new devices once SIM in placed in it and the offers will be transferred on to the customer's connection.

Buyers of Micromax 3G dongle will also get 500 MB of Internet usage free for three months.

Guwahati, September 25
Maruti Suzuki India today said it will increase the prices of its entire range of models by up to Rs 10,000 from October first week, mainly due to depreciation of rupee.

"We have been wanting to raise the prices for some time as our input costs went up severely, mainly on account of weakening of rupee. However, the market was not conducive. Now it has become inevitable," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) chief operating officer (marketing and sales) Mayank Pareek said.

The quantum of price increase will vary according to different models and fuel specifications, and will be effective from the first week of October, he added.

"The amount of price hike will vary between Rs 3,000 and Rs 10,000. It will be applicable to all our models," Pareek said.

The prices of MSI's vehicles that are manufactured in India start from Rs 2.35 lakh and goes up to Rs 10.21 lakh.

These prices are as per the company's official website and are for ex-showroom, Guwahati.

MSI had last hiked the prices in January for all its vehicles by up to Rs 20,000 to offset the pressure of adverse currency fluctuation. — PTI

Chandigarh, September 25
Mobile handset manufacturer, HTC has come up with a three-pronged strategy to treble its market share in the highly competitive Indian smartphone market. The company is strengthening its distribution and retail network, coming up with new models and investing in creating a huge after-sales network.

From the current 3-6 per cent market share, the company is targeting 15 per cent share in the next three quarters. It is also planning to enter the sub-Rs 10,000 mobile phone segment.

Faisal Siddiqui, country head of HTC Corporation, said the size of the smartphone market in India was 25 million units per annum, of which more than 50 per cent were priced at less than Rs 10,000.

"We want to focus on each and every segment of the market. Since this is a rapidly growing market, we will launch our smartphone in this category shortly. We will also launch 3-5 new models by December, and a smaller version of HTC One Mini next week," he said.

Siddiqui said the company was expanding its network by appointing four national distributors and increasing retail network from 4,000 to 7,000 multi-brand retail outlets. "We have also expanded our walk-in service centres to 13 to ensure that our customers get good after-sales service. Even our after-sales service centres are being ramped up and we will increase these to 400 in six months, from 250 at present," the company’s country head added.

Mumbai, September 25
Struggling handset-maker BlackBerry today said it will offer its Z10 handset for Rs 29,990, slashing the price by about Rs 13,500 or 31 per cent, as a limited period offer ahead of upcoming festive season.

The handset was launched in January and was available for Rs 43,490. It was retailing for about Rs 30,000 on e-commerce stores. However, it failed to elicit much response from users.

"This lucrative scheme is in line with our commitment towards this market and will help the brand to reach out to more," BlackBerry said. — PTI

New Delhi, September 25
Telecom regulator, TRAI today recommended full mobile number portability (MNP) within six months.

This, when fully implemented across the country, would allow subscribers to retain their numbers even when they shift from one service area to another, which means while moving from one state to another.

Over the past two years, MNP has been in place across the country but only within the subscribers' service area. This would mean that subscribers moving out of Punjab, Chandigarh or Haryana would be able to retain their numbers even while living in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka.

According to a statement issued here by the Telecom Ministry, earlier this year, TRAI sought comments from stakeholders on the method that should be adopted to implement full MNP and the amendments required in existing regulations, among various other matters.

"After examining various issues, TRAI today released the recommendations on full MNP," said a statement from the Authority.

Telecom service providers will be given six months for the implementation of full MNP, it said.

BRIEFLY

Kingfisher Airlines shares up 10%
Mumbai: Rising for the second straight session, Kingfisher Airlines shares gained nearly 10 per cent on Wednesday to touch its highest trading permissible limit for the day, after its chairman Vijay Mallya said the company is in talks with a foreign investor for potential stake sale. Shares of Kingfisher climbed 9.92 per cent to Rs 5.65 — its upper circuit limit at the BSE. — PTI

Indirect tax mop-up increases 4.1%
New Delhi: Indirect tax collections grew at 4.1 per cent in the April-August period of this fiscal, a finance ministry official said. Total collection of indirect taxes - excise, customs and service tax - stood at around Rs 1,67,000 crore during the first five months of the 2012-13 fiscal. — PTI

IndiGo eyes over Rs 10,000-cr revenue
Mumbai: After reporting a stellar performance for 2012-13, budget carrier IndiGo now aims to garner revenue of over Rs 10,000 crore. The Gurgaon-based no-frills carrier on Tuesday reported a whopping 500 per cent increase in profit after tax to Rs 787 crore in FY'13 over a year-ago. — PTI

USL public deposit scheme
New Delhi: UB Group firm United Spirits Ltd (USL) on Wednesday launched a fixed deposit scheme offering interest of up to 11.5 per cent. While the company did not specify the exact amount it plans to raise, the current regulations and its financial position allow it to garner a cumulative amount of Rs 2,233 crore through public deposits, USL said. — PTI