Even if our findings are not to the liking of our sponsor groups, we always stand by them, Icrier Director and Chief Executive Rajiv Kumar tells Business Standard. The study took a long time to come and the perception is that the data have been 'fixed' to arrive at tailor-made conclusions that suit the government (the sponsor of the study).
A high-level committee on External Commercial Borrowings chaired by Finance Secretary D Subbarao is expected to take a final view on the matter this week. The committee comprises officials of the ministry of finance and the Reserve Bank of India. A high-level committee on External Commercial Borrowings chaired by Finance Secretary D Subbarao is expected to take a final view on the matter this week.
Setting a new benchmark for apartments in the super-luxury segment in the national capital region, a local developer is offering 7,672 square feet of super area at a basic price ranging between Rs 13,500 and Rs 14,750 per square foot (sq ft), the highest in the region. The property is attracting keen interest in the market and analysts said it indicates the market for luxury properties remains strong as ever.
This lack of regular and detailed disclosure by companies or respondents lies at the core of the problem, one that has gained ground in recent weeks.
A nation-wide housing price index may be a reality soon. The National Housing Bank, in collaboration with the National Council of Applied Economic Research, is close to finalising the methodology to be adopted for the index, named NHB Residex.
The proposal is aimed at arresting the decline in wireline services growth and spur availability of broadband internet access across the country. The move has been high on the agenda of Communications Minister A Raja for some time now.
The steel ministry has asked its finance counterpart to expedite the implementation of the measures that have been decided but not implemented yet to contain steel prices.
The Competition Commission of India, the body that is supposed to take action against any abuse of market dominance, says it is helpless. FM had accused the domestic cement and steel industry of forming cartels to exploit consumers. He also warned the industry that if they did not mend their ways, the government would not hesitate to take tough measures and break the logjam. CCI was supposed to prohibit anti-competitive agreements, abuse by dominant players and regulate M&As.
The International Monetary Fund has reduced India's contribution to world gross domestic product in purchasing power parity terms to 4.6 per cent in 2007 from the earlier estimate of 6.4 per cent.
Jairam Ramesh has taken over as the minister of state for power. According to him, the Tenth Five-Year Plan was a disaster in terms of capacity addition & so was the Ninth Plan. Of the target of around 41,000 Mw, only 23,000 Mw was added. In effect, the first 2 years will see an addition of almost the same capacity as the entire Tenth Plan. But achieving the Eleventh Plan target of 80,000 Mw is going to be a big challenge. He hopes to see at least 3-4 more projects in a year.
Even as the government grapples with a surge in prices, a three-year old initiative to recast the index that measures wholesale prices is not getting anywhere fast. The revised index is likely to take at least another year to implement and may spill over into the tenure of the next government.
The duty cuts and export restrictions imposed by the government to control inflation may only have a marginal impact, economists have said. The long-term solution, they say, is to boost agricultural production to enable the sector to ride out of the current slump.
"If the tax holiday is withdrawn, STPIs will lose the level-playing field vis-a-vis special economic zones. We have recommended that the government either withdraw the tax holiday to SEZs or continue the incentive to IT companies," an official with knowledge of the deliberations told Business Standard. STPIs enjoy direct tax exemption under sections 10A and 10B of the Income-Tax Act, 1961. The benefits are scheduled to expire on March 31, 2009.
No less than 4.5 million government employees will soon have more money in their pockets. And they can thank Justice Bellur Narayanaswamy Srikrishna for it. Still, public records do not have much information on the man.
The Defence sector is unhappy with the Sixth Pay Commission. The points of discontent include the fact that the Military Service Pay will only begin from the date of acceptance of the award possibly 3 months from now even as their civilian counterparts will get salary arrears from January 2006 onwards. Defence officers want to be compensated for the interim period vis--vis their civilian colleagues. They are also unhappy with the quantification of arduous service conditions.
The project is aimed at meeting the manpower requirements of India's rapidly growing economy, which currently faces a huge skill deficit at all levels of the job chain. The mission, which is expected to start functioning in four to five months from now, will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who will head an "apex committee" with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia as the vice-chairman.
Sam Pitroda-backed Vavasi Telegence's request for unused radio frequency to be allotted to launch mobile services across the country is unlikely to be met by the department of telecommunication because it said international technology specifications for this wireless technology do not exist. Instead, DoT is considering the option of allotting the company spectrum in the 400 to 430 MHz band, radio frequencies that are currently not used for mobile services in India.
While the economy has been averaging an annual growth rate of around 8.7 per cent for the last five years, the unorganised manufacturing sector is slowing down.
Tasked with gathering over Rs 6,87,715 crore (or nearly $168 billion) as revenue receipts in 2008-09, the two agencies the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) will be headed by a succession of bureaucrats with unusually short tenures.
Mauritius has rejected compensation of Rs 500 crore to plug loopholes in double taxation avoidance treaty. Mauritius accounts for nearly half of all foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to India. With the tightening of tax laws, India attempted to amend the treaty. Due to the treaty, India was suffering over Rs 4,000 crore loss annually for some years in terms of revenue foregone on account of the capital gains exemption for investors routing their funds through Mauritius.
