Swan Telecom, which has received licences to operate mobile phone services in 13 out of the 22 telecom circles in India, is in talks with foreign companies for diluting 26 per cent of its equity for around $470 million.
Officials in the finance ministry are not happy with credit rating agency Fitch's revision of India's local currency outlook to negative from stable. Officials say Fitch's conclusion that the central government's fiscal deficit will rise to 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008-09, as against 2.8 per cent in the previous fiscal, is wrong.
Soon after the trust vote in Parliament on July 22, the finance ministry hopes to push through a series of non-legislative reforms, chief among them disinvestment of minority stakes in around 10 central public sector undertakings by listing them on the stock market.
In a yet another bailout that will go down well with the political class, the government has proposed one-time assistance to state government and private universities and colleges that do not get any financial assistance from the University Grants Commission, the country's higher education standards regulator, which also funds institutions.
Against the background of growing political uncertainty, the Centre is planning two Ordinances to fast-track the creation of eight new Indian Institutes of Technology and 16 central universities.
The United Progressive Alliance plans to take advantage of the exit of the Left from its governing partnership to move swiftly on next-generation reforms like 100 per cent foreign direct investment in telecom services.
For the first time, the government is considering the merits of a tariff policy to contain prices that could include allowing external agencies to import commodities and cultivating some essential crops overseas. An inter-departmental team from the ministries of finance, food and consumer affairs and commerce has been asked to work out a strategy to this effect.The finance ministry's department of economic affairs has submitted its views and a final paper is under preparation
The one with the curious name is the runaway leader, setting benchmarks in programming, standardisation and localisation. It doesn't hurt to be part of a formidable family.
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).
Clearly, the mobile handset market is buzzing with new branded retail chains such as Reliance and Aditya Birla Group entering the fray and the existing chains expanding their foorprint. Take Pantaloon Retail's JV with Axiom of Dubai, for instance. The company is re-branding its standalone retail chain Mport to Axiom stores, which is among the largest telecom products chain in West Asia.
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.
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.
STAR India, a wholly owned subsidiary of STAR Hong Kong, is exploring the possibilities of getting into the print media business in India. Last week, top STAR executives including STAR Hong Kong CEO Paul Aiello, STAR India CEO Uday Shankar and COO Jagdish Kumar were in Bangalore for meetings with possible joint venture partners for the print foray. The company is said to be in talks with Vijay Mallya's UB Group.
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 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India floated a consultation paper on playing an active role in monitoring the Indian television viewership. TAM Media Research is the sole player in the monitoring market for the last 10 years. TAM's CEO L V Krishnan says govt should start regulating all types of rating outputs like daily newspaper polls done via SMS or even TV polls during elections and not just TV TRPs. TAM is often criticised for its poor sample size, TRP system, etc.
The bad news for newspaper publishers -- and there are over 40,000 newspapers in India -- has just grown worse. The price of newsprint, imported or indigenous, is set to touch $1,000 per tonne, and this after a 23 per cent increase over the previous four months that took prices to $760 a tonne in March. Factor in the April jump and newsprint prices, which typically account for 50 to 60 per cent of production costs, have risen over 60 per cent over the last six months.
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.
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