New Delhi, July 31
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced that the government will launch a new programme of financial inclusion which will provide 7.5 crore households with facilities of savings, credit, remittances, insurance and pension among others.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the campaign on August 15 to ensure that 7.5 crore households that do not have access to banking have at least two bank accounts.

In a statement, the Prime Minister highlighted the Finance Ministry’s effort to seek creative inputs for a logo, name and tag line for the Government`s initiative on financial inclusion, through the MyGov website.

Comparing to the UPA government’s programme, Jaitley said this is a marked shift from earlier effort where only opening of account was the focus of the financial inclusion drive.

Jaitley was speaking after meeting the CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs) and financial institutions here today.

The Finance Minister said this time the government is targeting the individual households rather than the village. The government is targeting that every village should get a banking facility within a reasonable distance and that every household should have at least one bank account within the time frame of one year.

The Financial Inclusion Mission has two phases starting from August 15 this year. The first phase will get over by August 14, 2015 and the second phase by August 14, 2018. Most of the activities will be done in phase – I and insurance and pension would be covered in phase – II.

Jaitley said in some areas where branches are possible, the regular brick and mortar branches will be created. “Where it is not possible, there smaller branches manned by one or two people would be created”.

The layer below that will be kiosks, he said, adding that yet another layer below, will be ATMs and then the human contact through Business Correspondents.

Jaitley, during the meeting, also discussed the possibility of exploring and expanding mobile telephony banking. Currently, it can be made available on smartphones, and effort is to extend it to all phones.

The Finance Minister added that the previous efforts did not involve the state government and the district administration. He said this time the states have been requested to achieve this ambitious task.

The mission The Financial Inclusion Mission has two phases starting from August 15 this year The first phase will get over by August 14, 2015 and the second phase by August 14, 2018 Most of the activities will be done in phase – I and insurance and pension would be covered in phase – II

New Delhi, July 31
Maruti Suzuki India is gearing up for a launch programme for a slew of products, including mid-sized sedan Ciaz and an LCV along with compact SUV, in the next 12 months to strengthen its hold in the domestic market.

“We are poised for entering into a strong product launch cycle, including Ciaz and an LCV (light commercial vehicle) and refreshes of existing models in the next 12 months from now,” Maruti Suzuki India vice-president Rahul Bharti told analysts in a conference call.

The company will also make its foray into compact SUV segment, he said without sharing the timeline for the launch of the products.

The company had showcased two concept cars — SX4 S-Cross and Ciaz during the Auto Expo held in February this year.

Its compact SUV based on XA Alpha, displayed in 2012 Auto Expo is long awaited. The product is likely to be launched early next year.

New Delhi, July 31
Following a downward trend in crude oil prices, oil marketing companies have cut petrol prices by Rs 1.09 per litre with effect from midnight tonight. However, diesel prices have been hiked by 50 paise per litre.

Indian Oil Corporation said during the past fortnight, petrol prices have shown a downward trend while the rupee-dollar exchange rate has slightly depreciated. The combined impact of the two factors warrants a decrease in petrol price by Rs 1.09 a litre at Delhi (inclusive of VAT) with corresponding decrease in other states.

New Delhi, July 31
Core sector growth hit a 9-month high of 7.3% in June following good numbers by coal, crude oil, cement and electricity.

During April-June, growth in the eight core industries grew by 4.6% from 3.7% in the year-ago period.

Aditi Nayar, senior economist, ICRA, said the coal production improved sharply in June 2014 benefiting from conducive weather conditions, which in turn provided a thrust to higher thermal electricity generation. However, news reports of critical coal stocks at various thermal power plants in July 2014 suggest that the high growth of the previous month may not have continued.

She added that dryer-than-normal conditions in June 2014 extended the window for construction activity, which resulted in a sharp improvement in growth of cement production from the healthy level seen in April-May 2014.

Double-digit growth in merchandise exports and auto production in conjunction with the sharp improvement in core sector growth suggest that growth of industrial production in June 2014 could be as high as 5-6%, she added.

Assocham said the 7.3% growth achieved in June 2014 reflects the revival of the performance in the core industries.

However, the revival is selective and limited to electricity, cement, coal and steel. On the other hand, oil and gas sector continues to grow at negative or minimal rate, it said.

New Delhi, July 31
The Finance Ministry has asked the state governments to review suspicious transactions and exercise caution while registering new sale/purchase deeds as it has come to notice that foreign nationals are buying immovable property illegally in some parts of the country.

Many organisations and social groups have also made representations to the Central Government expressing their concerns in this regard.

It has also been observed that foreign nationals coming to India and staying beyond 182 days on a tourist or other visa meant for a certain period are illegally acquiring immovable property in India in violation of the extant rules and regulations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

New Delhi, July 31
Driven by robust sales, cost reduction and forex gains, the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India today reported 20.69% increase in net profit at Rs 762.28 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2014-15.

Net sales during Q1, 2014-15 stood at Rs 11,073.51 crore, up 10.78% as against Rs 9,995.12 crore in the April- June quarter of last fiscal.

MSI sold 2,99,894 vehicles during Q1, a growth of 12.6% over the year-ago period.

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