Ministry officials said the matter is being reviewed with the objective of bringing down the FDI cap from 100 per cent to 26 per cent in line with the limit for news media. This decision for the review was taken while discussing the proposal of US-based Dow Jones and Company for setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary to carry out publishing the facsimile edition of Wall Street Journal in India.
Asks lenders to make sure that end use of advances to commercial real estate.
Telecom infrastructure major GTL Infrastructure will use its Rs 2,200 crore cash reserves to buy back foreign currency convertible bonds.
Field formations may re-examine cases from 1997.
However, this rule will not be applicable to companies holding licences for a period of three years, even if they acquire licences in other circles to expand their operations, according to sources close to the development. The suggestion was made by the DoT to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which will decide on making it a regulation, along with other suggestions on the lock-in period put forward by the licensor.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may be brought under the category of other regulators, who might have to park their funds with the government. Banking sources said the move would deal a final blow to the financial autonomy of regulatory bodies.
The move gains importance after two new telecom players -- Swan and Unitech -- sold stakes to foreign companies at high premiums after the allocation of spectrum. The Left parties had also accused Telecom Minister A Raja of underselling spectrum that cost the national exchequer around Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion).
Nokia has already increased prices of its base models by around 3-4 per cent. Industry analysts expect other manufacturers to follow suit. "The 25 per cent increase in the value of dollar vis-a-vis rupee (the dollar rose to Rs 50 this month from Rs 40 in March) has resulted in our import costs going up. This has compelled us to increase the prices of our old models launched during the last 6-9 months," said HTC (India) Country Head Ajay Sharma.
With banks apprehending large-scale defaults in the aviation sector, RBI is examining data from all lenders regarding their exposure to it. One of the options under consideration of the regulator is to extend the number of days for the banks to classify an asset as default.
The cost cutting efforts by corporates, like restricting travel, would also be beneficial to the industry. HotSpot, the multi-brand technology retail chain of the Spice group, will increase its presence to around 3,000 outlets in the next two years.
Sebi likely to come out with a policy paper soon.
Promoters or issuers of foreign currency convertible bonds may be allowed to buy back the bonds if they go in for prepayment.
Mobile subscribers are in for a bonanza as telecom tariffs are set to come down by at least 25-30 per cent by the year-end. Factors such as a fall in the availability of international bandwidth, entry of new licencees and mobile virtual network operators, and the move to permit unrestricted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony will help bring down the tariffs.
At present, the cheapest business phone (with personal digital assistants) is priced at Rs 15,000, while high-end phones are available around Rs 13,000.
While ECBs are pure loans, FCCBs have an in-built option for the lender to convert them into equity of the companies on maturity. Both in ECB and FCCB, till maturity, the borrower is expected to make interest payments on the amount borrowed. Incidentally, the AAR ruling of October 10 had been sought by a non-banking finance company. Till October 31, NBFCs were not allowed to borrow funds from overseas in foreign currency.
ECBs may be allowed to put loans upto $ 500 million for rupee expenditure by Indian infrastructure companies under the automatic approval route. At present, such loans need RBI approval. The government may also raise the limit for dollar borrowings for rupee expenditure, which would need RBI approval. So, if a company is borrowing say $ 750 million, it can immediately access foreign funds up to $500 million without prior permission, but will need approval for the rest.
The screening of data is more intense in the case of foreign and some private banks which act as custodians for foreign institutional investors, according to sources close to the development. Indian banks, both public and private, send capital to their foreign offices for everyday requirements in the inter-bank market and for client commitments.
The government has sought data from the Reserve Bank of India to consider a proposal to enhance the investment limit for bank exposure to equity markets. This will be part of several measures to boost domestic institutional participation in the markets at a time when foreign institutional investors are exiting.
If you are a wireless (read Wi-Fi) internet user, you could easily be the next victim of a terrorist who accesses your computer to send emails, which can get you into trouble with authorities as was the case with some users in Mumbai.
Interconnect user charges are paid by one telecom service provider to another for enabling calls from one network to the other. The present interconnect charge of 30 paise per incoming minute was fixed in 2003. The price was considered high even then. Now, with equipment prices falling, a revision was called for, said industry analysts.
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