The latest NCAER annual household survey, to use other data, points out that around 33 per cent of the bottom 40 per cent of households had a television set and another 12 per cent a two-wheeler in 2005 -- how they can all be poor is anyone's guess, says Sunil Jain.
In the last two years, there have been at least three instances of the government actively stepping in on Mukesh Ambani's side.
while Mumbaikars spend a smaller proportion of their incomes on food, beverages and tobacco (33.2 per cent) than Surat-ites (37.5 per cent), the total market for food, beverages and tobacco products in Mumbai in 2007-08 was Rs 28,590 crore (Rs 285.90 billion) as compared to a much smaller Rs 6,600 crore (Rs 66 billion) in Surat.
Delhi and Mumbai alone account for a fifth of the country's total surplus income. The country's top 20 cities, including both Delhi and Mumbai, account for just 10 per cent of the country's population but 20 per cent of its savings, 30 per cent of its income and as much as 60 per cent of its surplus income
A possible reason for the 'low' impact of organised retail is that organised retail in the country itself hasn't quite got its act together -- how many organised retailers do you hear of that can help cut, on a sustained basis, household budgets by 15-20 per cent more than kiranas can?
A fresh study by the IMF's India office, however, suggests the battle against inflation may already have been won as far back as last month. Official inflation is measured by the change in the price index (Wholesale or Consumer) over that a month ago (year-on-year). What the IMF has done is to measure the monthly change in this index, and then removed the impact of the change that takes place due to seasonal factors such as the crop coming in.
Move to ensure deals do not hit govt licence fees, revenue share.
Aviation Minister Praful Patel's outburst against Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is perhaps not difficult to understand since most people think it was actually Patel who should have been keeping an eye on the delays at the Delhi airport.
We've witnessed the first phase of the mess in the country's public sector-driven aviation sector. In the absence of properly-thought-out rules, the next, a privately-driven one, awaits us.
Arun Shourie had legitimised Reliance Communications' CDMA-mobile phone offerings on its fixed line licence in 2002 and Telecom Minister A Raja decided to treat its CDMA-licence as a GSM-mobile one to award it GSM spectrum. With such things falling in place for RCom, the firm asked the ministry to allow it to use the 880-890 MHz band. Such incidents indicate that favourable spectrum allotment for RCom & its smooth sailing in the current spectrum issue is not mere coincidence.
The amount of loans to small and marginal farmers that commercial banks, cooperatives and regional rural banks have been asked to waive is likely to be slightly over Rs 23,000 crore (Rs 230 billion), less than half that estimated by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his Budget speech. The share of this due to commercial banks is probably around Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) the total overdue from all farmers to commercial banks is around Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion).
PricewaterhouseCoopers Executive Director Shyamal Mukherjee tells Business Standard that the real changes in the Budget, from the taxation point of view, will be evident in the new tax code the finance minister is developing.
Given the existing airport is in the centre of town and there's no UDF, it's easy to see why passengers are up in arms. Indeed, if you think the goings on in the Delhi airport are a scandal, what's happening in Hyderabad is a lot worse.
The Delhi International Airport Limited's (DIAL) ongoing tussle with the Airports Authority of India/Ministry of Civil Aviation (AAI/MoCA) isn't likely to get resolved in a hurry, though things appeared settled when, a few weeks ago, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said at a press conference that the government would go by the Attorney General's (AG) opinion on the dispute.
TDSAT lifted the stay on distributing spectrum within about 30 minutes, instead of hearing detailed arguments on merits. Perhaps things would have been different if the hearing had come up after the Chief Justice made it clear the courts could interfere in government policy.
What's happening in the telecom sector are classic bullying tactics - do the wrong thing, threaten to do worse, get the threatened party to sue for peace, and walk away smelling of roses after a "compromise".
The Reliance decision was challenged by various GSM-mobile phone firms and there is an attempt to create a split in their ranks -- Maxis Aircel has already withdrawn from the court case, and it is likely another one or two firms will follow as they've been made to believe this improves their chances of getting spectrum.
A note prepared for Communications Minister A Raja by the DoT officials cites the October 18 meeting and offers various options available before the ministry given that it does not have enough spectrum to meet the needs of the 46 companies who have made 575 applications for spectrum in 22 telecom circles across the country.
From a policy point of view, India's telecom industry is getting exciting once again. After a lull of a few years, we're back to the same half-truths from regulators/policy makers, and the all too familiar attempts to help favoured firms.
The way the story went, customers would get dramatically lower prices for everyday groceries (something that takes up 45 per cent of the household budget) and farmers would earn at least a third or more as big retailers began procuring from them directly. But none of this has really happened, and may not either.
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