The statement from the industry came minutes after Finance Minister P Chidambaram said around noon that the government was trying to persuade cement companies to lower prices. On Thursday evening, India's largest cement manufacturer ACC, which accounts for over one-tenth of the market, had announced its intent to freeze prices for two-three months.
French cement major Lafarge SA, the world's second-largest cement maker, has emerged the frontrunner in the race to acquire the ready-mix concrete business of engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro.
However, financial experts are of the view that though REMFs are good for those who want to participate in the property boom, investors should not look at them as equity funds.
With the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) hiking their fees, many general category students will have to approach banks for educational loans. Most will also have to furnish collateral to get that all-important loan.IIM-Ahmedabad, for instance, has almost trebled its fees to Rs 4 lakh to Rs 11.5 lakh. IIM-Kolkata has hiked it from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh. Others like IIM Bangalore and IIM Lucknow have hiked it from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh and Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
According to industry analysts, this will have a marginal effect because hardly 10 per cent of the cement sold in the country has the maximum retail price of Rs 250 a bag (50 kg). H M Bangur, president, Cement Manufacturers' Association and managing director of Shree Cement, said: "Such a measure will have impact on certain regions of the country where the prices are on the higher side. This will include the north-east, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Mumbai."
Bestway Cement, part of the UK-based Bestway Group, is probably the first company from Pakistan not to take fresh orders. In a letter (of which Business Standard has a copy) to the commerce secretary, Zameer Choudrey, group chief executive, Bestway, said, "Because of logistical problems, we are unable to deliver the cement to them (Indian importers) and hence we stopped taking new orders over a month ago."
Young borrowers have the opportunity to get bigger loans because age is on their side.
In the last few years, unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) have quietly become one of the largest players in the Indian stock market. With a total investment estimated at Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore, they are almost close to the investment made by equity mutual funds.
They are aggressive going through the financial details of the customers. All indications that life is going to get tougher for potential home loan borrowers.
The Union Budget 2008-09 will leave more money in every pocket.
In spite of FM's assurance, experts feel that US recession will have definite repercussions on the Indian economy. But it will continue to enjoy a positive run.
Says Gul Teckchandani, investment advisor, "It is that time when you should have a shopping list ready. Look for large-cap liquid stocks that have fallen more than the index and invest 10 to 15 per cent of your cash in them. Also, continue buying if the market falls further."
According to sources, the company will invest $350-400 million in the proposed plant. This will be the first foray by an Indian company for manufacturing cement in West Asia which was so far viewed as an export market.
Last year money-making hardly took any effort, this year you will need to pick and choose.
The cement industry is likely to add around 15 million tonnes of fresh capacity in 2007-08 - a little over half of the 27 million tonnes it had talked about at the beginning of the financial year.
Grasim Industries, a part of the Aditya Birla group, has decided to sell 53.3 per cent stake in Shree Digvijay Cement Company (SDCC) to Cimpor, a Portuguese cement maker, for Rs 322 crore (Rs 3.22 billion).
For prospective buyers, the advice is simple. Go ahead and buy because there is no indication of where the interest rate will be in the next six months.
You could invest if you have missed the earlier rally, you could churn your portfolio to move towards better quality stocks or funds and you could even clear your loans by some profit booking
With the markets at an unprecedented height, it may be a good time to restructure your bag of stocks.
While fund of funds promise best results, higher cost and tax treatment could bring down the returns.
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