Come June 2009 and the country may have its granaries overflowing with wheat and rice.
Port administrations are planning to install IT gadgets like Radio Frequency Identification tags in trucks, scanners and also use speedboats for patrolling. The boats alone are likely to cost around Rs 40-50 crore (Rs 400-500 million). Union Minister of Shipping T R Baalu has also asked the directorate general of shipping to undertake a special audit on security in all the major ports to ensure compliance with all security measures.
The Union government's recent approval to the insurance Bill, which proposes, among other things, to raise the cap on foreign direct investment to 49 per cent from 26 per cent for private sector insurance companies, is expected to bring around Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) into the industry, according to industry representatives. However, the Bill is yet to be introduced in Parliament.
A committee headed by Irda's member actuary R Kannan has suggested a grace period of 15 days for policyholders who pay premium on a monthly basis, while a 30 days grace period will be available to those who pay their premium annually, half-yearly or quarterly.
According to industry representatives, Chinese products, which used to be cheaper by around 10 per cent compared to Indian products, are no longer cheaper due to the increase in labour costs in China. The costs of labour have risen by around 40 per cent since January 2008 in China. Implementation of the European Union anti-dumping duty and Chinese currency Yuan appreciating against the US dollar are the other stated reasons.
Companies attribute declining sales to the lack of demand from the automobile, real estate and consumer durables sectors, which are facing rising inventory levels that have choked cash flows.
Private equity (PE) investors are now diverting their attention to sectors such as energy, telecom, infrastructure, education, media and entertainment. Reason: these sectors are largely dependent on the domestic market and not foreign countries, especially the US market.
The company has invested about Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) for resuming production at the Modinagar plant near Meerut. The earlier tie-up with Continental, which is the world's fourth-largest tyre producing company, had lapsed after the closure of the plant in 2001. Labour unrest and litigations had led to the closure of the unit then.
Tamil Nadu ranks lowest in terms of crop insurance penetration, which is just 3.12 per cent, as compared with 25-40 per cent in other states in the country.
Michael Boneham, president, Ford India, said the small car would be engineered for Indian conditions and that the company was keeping options open for both petrol and diesel variants. Ford's mall car will mark its entry into the mainstream segment, popularly known as the B segment cars in India, which accounts for a little over 70 per cent of the 1.3 million India car market.
Even mid-size and smaller IT companies are going slow on recruitments due to the uncertainty in business from the US, which is the single-largest market for these companies, says L Venkataesan, a placement consultant based in Tiruchy. JJ College of Engineering in Tiruchy, till before last year, saw almost 95 per cent of its students being placed.
Realisation due to a strengthening dollar exceeds the losses inflicted by export duty hike.
The domestic logistics industry, which is estimated to generate business worth $110 billion in the next two years, will need over 400,000 additional pair of hands in the next four to five years.
The government has given up plans to build grain reserves abroad finding it difficult to do so in view of the high food prices internationally. It had assigned four public sector undertaking companies to explore the possibility of building a 2-3 million tonne (mt) grain reserve to facilitate economical import during a domestic shortage and avoid extravagant imports.
The entry of private players has boosted the fortunes of FM radio in a big way in the country. This has been consistently reflecting in the revenue earned by the industry, which grew to Rs 550 crore (Rs 5.5 billion) last year from Rs 350 crore (Rs 3.5 billion) a year ago. The industry is expected to close with over Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) in revenue this year.
With the general insurance penetration at a dismal 0.60 per cent (measured as a percentage of GDP), many companies feel that selling the policies through photo studios, grocery stores and even telephone booths would help improve the figure. "If telecom companies are able to use grocery stores, petty shops and other small outlets, why not insurance companies?" said an Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority official.
Wheat, rice and edible oil prices have begun moving down from their past highs, as farmers continue to expand area under these crops in response to high prices. Speculators worldwide are now betting on falling prices.
The wholesale price index based inflation rose to 12.44 per cent for the week ended August 2. Wheat has a weight of 1.38 per cent in the index. The department of economic affairs and the department of food and public distribution are in favour of selling 4 million tonnes wheat.
Speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of the ground breaking ceremony of the Chennai-based Sri City's SEZ in Tada, in Andhra Pradesh, last week, Singhal said SEZs in the country have so far generated over 300,000 jobs, adding once all the 462 zones start functioning, they are expected to create 4 million jobs.
Top steel producers like SAIL, Tata Steel, JSW and Essar have decided to maintain status quo on steel prices even as the three-month price freeze ends today. Industry sources said they have decided to keep prices on hold as of now since inflation is ruling at a 13-year high of 11.98 per cent and any increase would aggravate the situation.
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