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Industrial production contracts 0.6% in Dec
Pak to host India Show from tomorrow
Soon, withdraw cash from ATM without bank account
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Industry asks RBI to cut rates
PowerGrid Board okays Rs 1,900-crore investment
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Industrial production contracts 0.6% in Dec
While economic activity continues to be extremely weak, consumer inflation is showing signs of moderating which will give a relief to consumers. Commenting on the IIP data for December 2013, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General, CII, said the negative growth of 0.6%, for the third consecutive month, over the negative base of December 2012 continues to disappoint. CII is concerned about the performance of the manufacturing sector, which continues to be in the red even as the output of the mining shows muted growth rates during the month. Similarly, the negative growth of the capital goods and the consumer durables sector reinforces the view that the escalating interest costs are adversely impacting investment decisions in the respective sectors. Industry body Assocham expressed concern on the deceleration of industrial activity in December 2013 and further deceleration of manufacturing output. The significant fall in the production of consumer durables indicates that high level of interest rates has been affecting growth through demand contraction. It said cheap imports of various manufactured goods like electronics, chemicals and steel are resulting in domestic manufacturers lowering their capacity utilisation rates, leave alone adding new capacities. Bhupali Gursale, economist, Angel Broking, said the moderation in inflation (CPI) during January 2014 to 8.79% provides a huge respite. The deceleration is largely on account of food inflation easing to a 22-month low. “Nonetheless, core inflation has in fact picked up slightly for the third straight month to 8.11% from 8.09% in December 2013. We expect the RBI to hold monetary policy rates in its forthcoming policy on April 1,” she said. |
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Pak to host India Show from tomorrow
New Delhi, February 12 Around 100 Indian companies across sectors will showcase their products in the show that saw a good response last year. Although Commerce Minister Anand Sharma has put off his visit to Pakistan, the event is part of a series of steps taken to expand the trade network between the two countries. The India Show in Pakistan offers the potential to expand trade networks between India and Pakistan, bringing down costs, generating employment and expanding regional trade. It offers a gateway to a huge potential market in the region, an opportunity for businesses on both sides to explore investment and joint-ventures and a valuable platform for forging business linkages in the region. The event is being organised with the support of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. Jyotsna Suri, senior vice-president, FICCI and chairperson, Bharat Hotels, said, "The event meets the purpose of ensuring continuous and increasing engagement between our business communities and exploring possibilities of expanding business relations with Pakistan”. The second edition of the India Show comes amid increased efforts by the respective governments at confidence-building measures leading to the possible grant of the Non-Discriminatory Market Access (NDMA) status to India by Pakistan. The positive postures will translate into a significant leap in transactions and flow of goods across the border. Trade has already accelerated with the formal exchange of goods between India and Pakistan increasing from $250 million in 2003 to $2.6 billion in 2013, showing an annual growth rate of 25% in the past 10 years. Experts say the potential of trade between the two nations is as high as 10 times the current value. FICCI has put forward some key recommendations which are essential in changing the dynamics of the India-Pakistan relationship and putting the engagement on a higher trajectory. These include approval and implementation of NDMA by Pakistan to India, liberalisation of the visa regime, signing of multi-modal transport and transit agreement, containerisation of cargo, allowing items that can be traded by land route through Wagah, increasing the operating hours of customs from 12 to 24 hours throughout the week, increasing the number of land customs stations, dismantling of non- tariff barriers, harmonisation of customs and mutual recognition of standards. Objectives of the event
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Soon, withdraw cash from ATM without bank account
Mumbai, February 12 "We have recently approved the in-principle setting up of a payment system which will facilitate the funds transfer from bank account holders to those without accounts through ATMs," RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said at the Nasscom India Leadership Forum here. "Essentially, the sender can have the money withdrawn from his account through an ATM transaction. The intermediary processes the payment and sends a code to the recipient on his mobile that allows him to withdraw the money from any nearby bank's ATM. The system will take care of necessary safeguards of customer identification, transaction validation, velocity checks etc.," he said. According to the RBI governor, such innovative measures need to be implemented because India has a large number of people who receive funds from relatives but do not have access to banking services. "The key to cheap and universal payments and remittances will be if we can find a safe way to allow funds to be freely transferred between bank accounts and mobile wallets, as well as cashed out of mobile wallets through a much larger and ubiquitous network of business correspondents," Rajan said. According to Rajan, providing banking services to the un-banked segment of the population is a priority for the RBI because 40% of India's population does not have bank accounts. Speaking on the importance of technology to detect frauds, Rajan suggested that social media be used to catch frauds at an early stage. "Can we enlist social media in enabling the public to identify fraud and can we as regulators filter that information in careful and responsible way so that we can collect information about what is happening and react to it?" Rajan asked. About the system
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Industry asks RBI to cut rates
New Delhi, February 12 CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said, "We look forward for an accommodative monetary policy to spur demand and revive investment activity especially as inflation has started receding." The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75% of the index, declined by 1.6% in December 2013 as against a contraction of 0.8% a year ago. "The significant fall in the production of consumer durables indicates that high level of interest rates has been affecting growth through demand contraction. Therefore, we strongly recommend for a paradigm shift in the RBI's policy approach," Industry body Assocham’s secretary-general DS Rawat said.
— PTI |
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PowerGrid Board okays Rs 1,900-crore investment
New Delhi, February 12 The Board in its meeting earlier this month approved Rs 908.08 crore and Rs 539.82 crore for two transmission system strengthening schemes in the northern region, PowerGrid said. Sub-station work for an NTPC power plant worth Rs 167.40 crore and system strengthening programme for the southern region for Rs 243.53 crore also received the approval from the Board, the filing said.
— PTI |
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New Delhi, February 12
