According to a decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices will consider the above elements while recommending the MSP. The CACP, an advisory body under the agriculture ministry, recommends MSPs of over 20 crops, including wheat and rice.
TCL wants to raise around Rs 10 billion through a rights issue, sources familiar with the developments said. This means the government will have to invest Rs 2.6 billion to retain its stake in the company, in case it approves the issue. The company needs to raise fresh equity for any fresh borrowing, as it has already reached the maximum limit of debt vis-a-vis its net worth, as stipulated under the shareholder agreement.
The move is expected to give high retail exposure to its products in innumerable kirana stores in the country, without having to spend much on advertising and marketing expenses apart from generating business volumes. When contacted, Reliance Retail spokesperson said: "As a policy, we do not comment on speculation." In a recent reshuffle at the company, Reliance Fresh head Gunender Kapur was made head of private labels business in the company.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy said on Sunday public projects being implemented by Maytas Infra in the state, individually or as part of consortia, were being closely reviewed. Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy said on Sunday. The total value of the projects awarded to Maytas and its joint venture partners amounts to Rs 3,800 crore (Rs 38 billion).
Ram Myanampati, the interim chief executive officer of beleaguered Satyam Computer Services, on Thursday admitted that he himself is on a shaky ground.
While portals such as makemytrip, cleartrip and ezeego have seen a rise of 30 per cent in advance booking in the first week of January, others such as yatra and travelocity, with a 10-15 per cent surge, are also expecting more bookings in the coming weeks. The cleverly-introduced advanced booking fares have induced passengers to book tickets until as late as November.
According to industry leaders, the ongoing strike is also going to dampen production and also hit the timely delivery of goods to the customers. The transporters are mainly demanding that diesel prices be reduced by at least Rs 10 per litre, a uniform VAT of 4 per cent on the fuel, withdrawal of service tax on truck operators and rationalisation of tyre prices.
The government has given clear instructions to the state governments to take necessary steps to ensure smooth transportation of essential commodities. "If the situation demands, the law of the land will prevail. The law of the land says the permit of truck operators could be revoked if the situation demands. The government is committed to provide full support to the state governments," said Brahm Dutt, secretary, ministry of road transport and highways.
With the stock markets yet to recover and banks lowering fixed deposit rates, companies accessing public deposits are seeing investors parking funds.
A majority of Indian CEOs do not expect economic prospects to improve in 2009 and feel growth is constrained by the liquidity crunch, negative sentiment and demand recession in the economy.
Private equity investments in public firms have tanked as much as $2.24 billion so far this year, thanks to the massive erosion in equity markets as well as the present economic downturn, a latest study says.
The government is expected to announce the second stimulus package in the next three days.
Permitting realty firms to tap ECBs, relaxing borrowing norms for non-banking finance companies, increasing the ECB limit 50 per cent to $750 million under the automatic route (that is, without central bank permission) and raising the price ceiling at which overseas loans can be raised are among proposals the committee is considering. For realty, the committee may relax norms only for integrated township projects, said a top finance ministry official.
The decisions come within 24 hours of the home loan package offered by public sector banks. Chennai-based Indian Bank reduced interest rates of domestic term deposits of Rs 1-5 crore (Rs 10-50 million) by 150-25 basis points across various maturities.
The government on Sunday announced a package of Rs 1,400 crore (Rs 14 billion) under the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme and 2 per cent interest subsidy up to March 31 next year. But the textile industry had demanded 4 per cent interest subsidy along with reintroduction of the duty drawback scheme.
The infrastructure sector, however, felt the package was insufficient and wanted additional measures. "The government's package is inadequate. We expected at least $20 billion relief package, giving emphasis to the infrastructure sector.
Investors, at a recent property exhibition concluded by magicbricks.com, were seen selling flats at 30 per cent discount to the market rate compared with the builders' offer of 15-20 per cent, according to reports. Investors normally comprise about 30 per cent of the property markets.
The Mumbai terror attacks have once again put Indian IT and business process outsourcing firms on high alert. Over the next four to five weeks, many of these firms plan to meet or video-conference with their clients to update them of the country's security scenario.
The government is likely to announce early next week a series of measures to boost economic activity in the country.
The country's new home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, today said he prefers a Congressman as his successor in the finance ministry, setting off speculation about the implication of his statement.