Excise duty relief brought in by the Budget may wither away on input cost pressure for cars in India. In light of these details, Indian car makers are contemplating hiking car prices, although none of them has confirmed the exact hike. Top executives from the auto industry have said the hike could be around 3-5 per cent. Most of the car manufacturers had already slashed prices (on small cars) in the beginning of March following the Budget announcement of a cut in excise duty.
Tata Motors has set up a separate team at its plant in Pune to examine ways to cut manufacturing costs on the Nano, the small car scheduled for an October launch, to bring the ex-showroom price down to the psychological Rs 1 lakh mark, managing director Ravi Kant said.
Maruti Suzuki is planning a further investment of Rs 9000 crore in India for world class R&D centres, design facility, regional distribution centres and logistics support. The fresh investment will be made over a longer period, about eight years, as compared with three years for some earlier investments. Regional warehouses will cut short the delivery time of vehicles. The centralised and timely despatch of vehicles from its facilities in the north will mean faster shipment.
In December 2009, the Consulate will change its address from the landmark Lincoln House in south Mumbai to the Bandra-Kurla Complex, where it will have 40 visa windows as compared with the 17 visa windows at present.
The move was initiated by National Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda as an incentive to encourage innovation, collaboration, licensing and commercialisation in Indian institutes. The matter is before the Cabinet and will shortly be moved to Parliament for approval, according to a source close to the development. The law will be on the lines of the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act of America.
The Tata-Fiat joint venture is looking at catering to the global demand for engines through its Ranjangaon plant.
At IIM-Ahmedabad, 11 students opted out of placements to start their own venture. While at IIM-Bangalore, 4 students chose not to join the corporate world, IIM-Kozhikode had 5 students who decided to kick-start their own venture. At S P Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai, out of 89 students, one student decided to opt out of placements to join his own family business where he would be heading a new division.
The premier southern institute is said to have got about 100 international and 600 domestic offers for its batch of 425 students. ISB rules mandate that each student will get at least two offers.
The much-awaited excise duty cut on small cars to 12 per cent (from 16 per cent) made by the finance minister may have brought smiles on the faces of car manufacturers but this, dealers say, will increase the waiting period on some popular models by another additional month.
Auto component sourcing has touched $3 billion in India and is expected to double by next financial year-end. Such sourcing has provided Indian players with the opportunity to charge a premium that varies between 5 and 10 per cent.
Information technology firms appear to have lost their appeal at the Indian Institutes of Technology. Campus recruitment figures by major Indian and foreign IT firms have dipped this year, raising further concerns of an industry slowdown.
With the government planning to start 20 per cent blending of bio-diesel with diesel, Indian oil companies are fast firming up their bio-diesel ventures.
Rs 1,199 spread comfortably across 84 months or 7 years. The rate of interest is 11-11.5 per cent, which is cheaper than a two wheeler loan.
Indian tyre makers are expanding their capacities in the wake of international players flooding the Indian markets.
Yamaha is all set to launch two premium bikes, priced close to Rs 1 lakh. This is an attempt to revive the company's dipping sales and image.
MV Agusta, the Italian exotic superbike maker, is actively looking to launch its bikes in India
Say lower duties could enhance demand.
Italian auto major Fiat Auto has asked Rajeev Kapoor, the newly appointed president and CEO of Fiat Auto India Automobiles, to take charge of the Indian operations after managing director De Filippis Giovanni's recall from the position about a week back.
The Italian car company Fiat's much-awaited launch of the year, Grande Punto hatchback, which is expected to take on Maruti Suzuki's Swift and Hyundai's Getz, will not be priced close to the two models.
Higher crude oil prices have almost doubled the under-recoveries of government-owned oil marketing companies -- Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -- in the past three years.
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