B U S I N E S S

Industry concerned over EC move to defer gas price hike
New Delhi, March 25
Expressing concern over the Election Commission's decision to defer the hike in gas prices from April 1, industry body CII today said the move is against the stated government policy and will hit investment decisions of the oil and gas industry.

Shares of RIL plunge 2.87%
Mumbai, March 25
Shares of gas producers fell on the bourses today led by Reliance Industries, which closed lower by 2.87% after the Election Commission asked the government to defer the gas price hike until after the General Election.

New govt should focus on policy implementation: CII
Chandigarh, March 25
Industry body CII today said after the Lok Sabha elections, the new government at the Centre, irrespective of having allegiance to any political party, should focus on "implementing policies" rather than coming out with new ones to revive investment climate.

Rupee closes at 7-month high of 60.48/dollar
Mumbai, March 25
The rupee today gained 29 paise to close at seven-month high of 60.48 against the dollar on sustained selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

Toyota denies hiring contract workers to start operations
New Delhi, March 25
Toyota India today denied reports that it had hired about 1,000 people on contract to resume production as a standoff with its trade union continued over its employees not signing an undertaking for good conduct before resuming duty.

Renault rolls out updated Fluence, GM new Cruze
New Delhi, March 25
Carmakers Renault India and General Motors India today launched updated versions of their premium sedans Fluence and Chevrolet Cruze.

Industry concerned over EC move to defer gas price hike
Directive against stated govt policy, will hit investments, says CII
Sanjeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 25
Expressing concern over the Election Commission's decision to defer the hike in gas prices from April 1, industry body CII today said the move is against the stated government policy and will hit investment decisions of the oil and gas industry.

"We would like to reiterate that it is only a computation decision where the formula is pre-fixed on the basis of a Cabinet decision. The decision to hold back price revisions could have a long-term impact on the investment climate in this crucial sector," CII president Kris Gopalakrishnan said.

The Election Commission yesterday asked the UPA government to defer notifying doubling of price of the fuel produced by companies, including Reliance Industries and ONGC, till the elections are completed.

CII said deferring of gas price hike may raise a question on the code of conduct. "To keep gas prices suppressed at the existing level, which is almost at half of the estimated revised prices, would come as a bonanza for poll-bound consumers, which by itself may be treading on the model code of conduct", it said.

As the industry voiced concerns, the government said it would examine the EC's order. Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily today said the Solicitor-General or Attorney-General of India would examine the EC's order.

"We are examining it (EC order), and because the matter is also in the Supreme Court, we would like our Solicitor-General or Attorney-General to examine it. I don't want to comment further on the issue," he said.

Moily said the government has already notified the price and the deferment of the price hike will have a large implication on the investment climate, particularly in the oil sector. He said it would also result in subsidy going up if production is hit.

CII pointed out that the final modalities of calculating the price was notified on January 10 this year, around 2 months before the model code of conduct came into effect on March 5.

The decision to revise prices of natural gas, CII said, was taken by the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs on June 27 last year, almost nine months ago. Energy scarcity and the need for ensuring its security has been a constant policy pillar in government policies, it added.

Shares of RIL plunge 2.87%

New govt should focus on policy implementation: CII
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 25
Industry body CII today said after the Lok Sabha elections, the new government at the Centre, irrespective of having allegiance to any political party, should focus on "implementing policies" rather than coming out with new ones to revive investment climate.

The agenda of the next government should be targeted towards reviving the business confidence, timely implementation of policies and removal of procedural and other bottlenecks associated with key industrial and freight corridors to give impetus to growth in North.

This was emphasised by Zubin Irani, newly elected chairman of CII, Northern Region, while interacting with media here today.

"We already have a lot of policies in place and these need to be implemented...I would say less about bringing new reforms. We do not need more reforms or new policies. Its about ensuring implementation,” he said.

“CII has also interacted with all political parties and shared its inputs for inclusion in their manifestos. The mission is to ‘empower all Indians to build an inclusive, developed and secure nation with focus on healthcare, education, skill development, sustainability, innovation, creativity, R&D and innovation”, he added.

Rupee closes at 7-month high of 60.48/dollar

Mumbai, March 25
The rupee today gained 29 paise to close at seven-month high of 60.48 against the dollar on sustained selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced strong at 60.60 a dollar from previous close of 60.77.

Hefty capital inflows helped the rupee to bounce back to a high of 60.44 before settling at almost seven-month high of 60.48, a rise of 29 paise from its previous close.

The last time the rupee closed at this level was on August 1, 2013 when it ended at at 60.43.

In three straight sessions of gains, the local currency has spurted by 86 paise.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex today closed flat at 22,079.96 points.

Foreign institutional investors infused Rs 1,465.62 crore yesterday, as per provisional data available with bourses.

The dollar index was trading up by 0.12% against a basket of six major global rivals.

"Persistent dollar inflows into equity and debt markets are supporting the rupee. Monthly dollar demand is likely to put pressure on the rupee but the positive sentiment on account of relentless capital flows is seen restricting the losses," said Abhishek Goenka, founder & CEO of India Forex Advisors.

Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services, said: "Rupee continued to trade positively for the third consecutive day backed by the foreign investors who continued to buy into a record-setting rally in domestic shares this month." — PTI

Toyota denies hiring contract workers to start operations
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 25
Toyota India today denied reports that it had hired about 1,000 people on contract to resume production as a standoff with its trade union continued over its employees not signing an undertaking for good conduct before resuming duty.

In a statement, the company said it had not hired 1,000 workers and 2,000 apprentices to start production at its Bangalore plant, which has been hit by workers’ strike over wage increase agreement.

“It’s absolutely untrue that Toyota is running its plants using 1,000 contract workers and 2,000 apprentices. We have started limited plant operations with the help of non-unionised team members, of whom majority are supervisors and engineers,” Toyota India said.

A news agency report in the morning had quoted a company official saying that since employees were not joining back duty even after the eight-day lockout was lifted early Monday, the car manufacturer had taken about 1,000 people on contract to resume production.

The report further said the beleaguered company has also deployed about 2,000 apprentices and officers to roll out as many cars though it has an installed production capacity of 750 cars per day in the twin plants at Bidadi industrial township, near Bangalore.

"We will keep our shifts running and the plants will be open for team members (workers) to join duty on condition that they sign the good conduct undertaking," the official said.

Renault rolls out updated Fluence, GM new Cruze
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 25
Carmakers Renault India and General Motors India today launched updated versions of their premium sedans Fluence and Chevrolet Cruze.

While new Fluence is priced at Rs 13.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), new Cruze will cost between Rs 13.7 lakh and 16.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Both the models have been launched with some new and improved features.