The central government is likely to extend the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme beyond 2009 only to Indian information technology-enabled services/business process outsourcing (ITeS/BPO) firms. A proposal to this effect has been included in the 11th Five-Year Plan document, which will be put up for the approval of the National Development Council, headed by the prime minister, on December 19.
After passing of the Competition Act, 2007, in September, Minister of Corporate Affairs Prem Chand Gupta had announced that the CCI would be fully functional by the middle of next year.
Prices of cotton have already gone up by 10-20 per cent per candy (356 kg) this year to Rs 16,000-Rs 23,000 depending on the variety. There has been a softening in the past few weeks but the prices are expected to firm up again as demand grows.
With a little bit of jugglery, the government will be able to meet its Eleventh Plan target of adding 78,000 Mw capacity -- more than the total capacity addition achieved in the last three Plans -- despite slippages in some of the projects.
The industry is seriously concerned that the new Competition Act, passed by Parliament in September but not yet fully notified, could impact local and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and curtail business activities by placing substantial discretionary powers in the hands of the thinly-staffed Competition Commission of India (CCI).
This will be a measure to provide start-up entrepreneurs and professionals the much-needed flexibility in setting up a business in India.
Green energy may have become a buzzword in the cities today but people in the hinterland of the country prefer conventional power grids for electricity.
An exceptional spurt in demand for power and less-than-expected capacity addition has pushed up the peak deficit for the April-October period to a 10-year high of 14.6 per cent. According to the latest data, the capacity addition of 3,765 Mw in the first seven months of the financial year is just 32 per cent of the target.
With the export market losing its sheen, a growing number of apparel exporters are drawing up strategies to sell their wares in the domestic market. Analysts said that the higher local demand for branded apparel was because of rising purchasing power of consumers who were now spending 6-7 per cent of their disposable income on ready-made garments. The surge in consumer spending has resulted in a 20 per cent growth in demand for international apparel.
The government's only programme to attack transmission and distribution losses - called the Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) - lapsed last year and the proposed "new APDRP" has been bounced back and forth between the ministry of power, Planning Commission and the finance ministry for the last few months.
The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns the Amul brand, is all set to introduce sugar-free chocolates across the country, targeted at diabetics. This comes soon after the company had launched sugar-free ice-cream. India has become the diabetes capital of the world with almost 35 million people suffering from the disorder. And their population will continue to grow at a fast pace, say experts, because of Indian dietary habits and a sedentary lifestyle.
Companies based at Gurgaon are sending workers on 45 days' leave without pay before the festival, while those in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, have not renewed the contracts of over 8,000 workers. All expansion plans have been put on hold and orders for new machinery are being revoked.
The government is planning to codify class action as law. A clause to this effect has been included in the new Company Law Bill, which is expected to be tabled in the coming winter session of Parliament.
Currently, only Rs 3,500 crore (Rs 35 billion) of the Rs 24,280 crore (Rs 242.8 billion) goes to the organised sector. Companies are targeting kids from the age of one to 14. According to Technopak, this sector is growing at 20 per cent per annum.
In a bid to transform Mumbai into a world-class financial hub, the Centre has asked the Maharashtra government to upgrade its ports, railway and other infrastructure at the earliest.
Paras Jain, who exports textiles to US retail chains like Linens-N-Things and Laura Ashley, is one of the many exporters planning to grow organic cotton as the growing 'green conscience' in the west leads to a rise in the demand for the product.
Tata Power bagged the Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) project in Mundra last year by offering to supply electricity at the lowest rate of Rs 2.26 per unit by burning imported coal.
Over the past one year, since the helpline became functional (on September 8, 2006), a total of 3,110 grievances have been registered.
It is not the urban centres alone that are powering India's phenomenal growth in mobile telephony. Data on rural telephony, compiled by the telecom regulator, shows people in villages are subscribing to mobile services in large numbers
Sasan among 5 companies with mega-plans for region.
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