The Hindu Business Line : Friday, January 09, 2004

CLIMATE & WEATHER
North-east monsoon signs off
The overall deficit for Kerala this year has toted up to minus 27 per cent, which compares poorly with the previous `rain year' (minus 16 per cent). More

BUDGET
Jaswant woos consumers — Slashes duties on a wide range of goods
IN a clear message that there will be no going back on its economic reforms agenda irrespective of the timing of elections, the Government on Thursday announced major import duty cuts and certain taxpayer-friendly measures in a virtual ... More

Rationalisation of customs and excise duties may cost Rs 9,000 cr
THE rationalisation of customs and excise duties announced by the Finance Ministry today may blow a large hole in the exchequer, with the Centre expected to forego revenues of roughly Rs 9,000 crore during a full financial year. A top official ... More

`Measures to spur growth'
THE Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, said that the duty cuts announced today would spur the economy to a higher growth orbit even as he said that the revenue loss from the measures would be "temporary". "Every taxation measure has certain ... More

Details of duty changes
The Government has decided to make certain changes, which take effect from January 9, 2004 in the rates of indirect taxes. Salient features of the changes are given below: I. Overall duty structure (Customs) 1. Peak rate of ... More

With customs duty cut, scrapping of SAD — `Mobile handset prices likely to drop 8-10 pc'
THE telecom sector, in particular, cellular services, is expected to benefit immensely from the overnight changes in customs duties and abolition of Special Additional Duty (SAD) announced by the Finance Ministry. According to industry sources, ... More

PC prices to drop as Govt cuts excise duty
PRICES of personal computers (PCs) will drop by 6-9 per cent with the Government today halving the excise duty on computers to eight per cent, a move that would spur sales of branded PCs. Companies such as HCL Infosystems, Hewlett-Packard and ... More

Tax sops to boost aviation industry
THE travel industry has welcomed the Finance Ministry's concessions for the aviation industry, estimating that the reduction in the excise duty on air turbine fuel (ATF) and abolition of the 15 per cent inland air travel tax (IATT), would lower ... More

`Mini Budget' keeps India Inc busy
FROM the time news of early elections began appearing, a sense of anticipation of today's announcements on the indirect tax front had built up at leading corporates. But industry's reaction was tempered by the known requirement for WTO compliance ... More

Hardware sector hails duty cut
THE IT hardware manufacturing sector can move to the next level of hardware production and expect to see more traction in sales. Due to the Government's decision to reduce excise duty from 15 per cent to 8 per cent, PC penetration is set to ... More

`Further fillip to buoyant markets'
FUND managers and stockbrokers expect the Government's surprise pre-election sops to give a further fillip to the already buoyant market. No one in the market expected an announcement today though there were reports of possible duty cuts on ... More

Life saving drugs to cost less
CONSUMERS could well heave a sigh a relief with the Finance Ministry's decision to cut customs duty of specified life saving bulk drugs as this could lead to prices coming down. The Government on Thursday announced that customs duty on ... More

Good news for e-signature firms
THE simplification of procedures under direct taxes should cheer up companies issuing digital certificates, including the Government-owned National Informatics Centre, SafeScrypt and TCS. The Centre has announced that electronic filing of ... More

Domestic airfares set to move southwards by 13-15 pc
THE Government move to abolish the 15 per cent Inland Air Travel Tax (IATT) is expected to see domestic airfares drop by between 13 per cent and 15 per cent. In effect, the announcement means that a passenger travelling in economy class by ... More

Market sizzles, Sensex soars
AFTER the stock market regulator announced steps to pump in more liquidity into the booming stock market, the Government today gave investors reason to make use of it. As news of the `mini-Budget measures' filtered into the stock market towards ... More

A loud signal for early polls
IT'S curtains for the Lok Sabha, and on to the polls, for all practical purposes. With the Union Finance Ministry unveiling a "historic mini-Budget" of sorts - coming as it did like a bolt from the blue on a bright Thursday afternoon - ... More

Keep boarding card to get tax refund
IF you have purchased your air ticket before the fares came down but are travelling after the lower fares come into effect on Friday, do not panic. Both Indian Airlines (IA) and Air Sahara on Thursday asked the passengers to keep their boarding ... More

`Sops will fuel hardware demand'
REACTING to the mini budget, Mr H.C. Tandon, Director, PCS Industries Ltd, said "we are very excited about this tax cut given to the hardware sector particularly as the industry was lobbying for the same since quite some time." "This would ... More

Chambers gung-ho

Hyderabad Corporation okays budget estimates

CEMENT
Cement industry sees marginal benefit on coal duty cut
THE cement industry has termed the Government's move to slash basic customs duty on non-coking coal from 25 per cent to 15 per cent as a "step in the right direction" even as it admitted that the reduction would make " very little difference" for ... More

ECONOMY
`India's perception in West is changing'
THERE is a perceptible change in the West regarding India. India was being perceived as a dynamic country, a change brought about by the "fluid policies of the Government as against monolithic policies of the past government", according to Mr ... More

Chhattisgarh, M.P., Delhi CMs woo India Inc
THE Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi on Thursday invited India Inc to invest in their States, offering tax sops and favourable investment climate and promising better infrastructural facilities. Speaking at the FICCI ... More

ELECTRONICS
CETMA welcomes customs duty cut, removal of SAD
THE Consumer Electronics & TV Manufacturers Association (CETMA) has welcomed the duty cuts announced by the Government on Thursday. "This is a positive move which will attract investments," the CETMA official said. The announcement to reduce ... More

Consumer durables: Less pricey, more competitive
THE incidence of Customs levies on the import of consumer durables is set to fall by about 20 per cent. This is in addition to the prospect of steady appreciation in the value of rupee. Clearly, the ability of ... More

ENGINEERING
Capital goods: On thin edge
THE revision in the Customs duties will perpetuate the inverted duty structure in the capital goods segment. Raw materials and finished products will continue to be taxed at the same rate. To this extent, there is ... More

HEALTH
Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences to be opened on Sunday
YET another corporate hospital is all set to go operational in Hyderabad, which is fast emerging as the medicare capital of India. The Rs 60-crore, Phase-I of the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in the heart of the city would be ... More

Study on causes of death

TB control programme

Biocon's Pulse Polio drive

HOTELS
Hotels and tourism — More room for optimism
THE hotel and tourism industry, which is witnessing a turnaround in fortunes, has now received an additional boost, with the measures announced by the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh. The inland air travel tax of 15 per cent has been ... More

PETROCHEMICALS
Petrochemicals: Party in the pipeline
PROTECTION for polymer producers is down sharply after the latest reduction in peak tariffs and the abolition of the special additional duty. The import duty on polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene and ... More

PETROLEUM
Cabinet clears oil storage at three coastal locations
THE Cabinet has approved a proposal to construct strategic oil storage facilities at three coastal locations in the country at a cost of around Rs 1,650 crore. The three locations, two near Mangalore in Karnataka and another near Visakhapatnam ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
Duty cut a great development: Piramal
PHARMACEUTICAL companies have welcomed the decision of the Government to pare down customs duty on specified life-saving drugs, formulations and medical equipments to 5 per cent. Dr Swati Piramal, Director (Strategic Alliance) of Nicholas ... More

POWER
Power: A positive push for power
THE reduction in import duty on power and power transmission equipment from 25 per cent to 10 per cent will reduce the levies on imported electrical equipment by almost one-third. However, given the vast scope for ... More

`No benefits for power sector in short term'
THE tax cuts accorded to the power sector are unlikely to significantly benefit the sector in the short run and the consumer tariffs across the country will hardly be impacted, according to industry officials. The Government today reduced the ... More

STEEL
Steel: Firm prices save the day
THE 5 per cent cut in peak Customs duty rate and the removal of the 4 per cent special additional duty is unlikely to lead to a surge in steel imports. While certain grades of longs, cold-rolled and galvanised steel ... More

TAXATION
GMCI calls for taxes rationalisation
KARNATAKA, which was first among the States to rationalise tax rates in preparation to the aborted value added tax (VAT) regime, suffers from not only multiple rates of tax affecting trade and industry but also steep rates on certain commodities ... More

TEXTILES
Yarn exporters' bid to cash in on firm enquiries
SPINNERS are keen to make use of the prevailing favourable export market for cotton yarn as enquiries for coarse/medium combed yarn from Hong Kong and Korea-based trade, catering to the Chinese textile industry, continued to remain firm for the ... More

TYRES
Tyres: A better tread
THE reduction in peak Customs rate from 25 per cent to 20 per cent and the removal of 4 per cent special additional Customs duty would offer some relief to the automotive tyre industry. The profitability of tyre ... More

WATER

Water supply projects in AP

COAL
`Cut in duty will not bring down coal prices'
THE reduction in customs duty on imported coal from 25 per cent to 15 per cent will not bring down the landed price of coal as international coal prices have gone up steeply in the last few months, according to industry sources. Even after the ... More

`Duty cut on non-coking coal will not raise imports'
THE reduction in customs duty on non-coking coal from 25 per cent to 15 per cent announced by the Government on Thursday is not likely to open the floodgates of imports into the country. "Customs duty is only a part of the cost of coal. ... More

BREWERIES
Flat rate additional duty for liquor imports sought
The additional duty for products priced between $20 and $40 is pegged at 50 per cent, and finally, for imports priced above $40, it is 25 per cent. More

PERSONAL PRODUCTS
FMCGs: Cuts both ways
IT APPEARS to be a mixed blessing for companies operating in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment. Companies manufacturing soaps, detergents, shampoos and personal products, such as Hindustan Lever, Colgate ... More

RADIO/TV
CAS successful in Delhi, say operators
EVEN as a section of the cable industry expressed its dissatisfaction over the implementation of the conditional access system (CAS), leading multi-system operators (MSOs) today said that CAS was a success in the Capital. And they also added ... More

METALS
Non-ferrous metals: Sheen to continue
IT MAY appear prima facie that the reduction in import tariffs from 50.8 per cent to 39.2 per cent (after considering peak duty reduction and abolition of special additional duty) is expected to affect the ... More

PAPER, BOARD & NEWSPRINT
Paper: No blots
PAPER manufacturers are unlikely to be affected in FY 04 and at least in the first six months of FY 2005. The international prices of most paper varieties and paper boards have been on a gradual uptrend over the ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Y.K. Modi is new FICCI President
AT the end of the 76th annual session of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mr Yogendra K. Modi, took over as President of the Chamber for the year 2004-05. Mr Modi succeeds Dr A.C. Muthiah. Mr Onkar S. Kanwar ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS

Biotech meet from Jan 15 in Mangalore

MINING & QUARRYING

Sand miners' protest in Kerala

DISINVESTMENT
Early polls won't hinder disinvestment process
THE process of disinvestment would not be derailed even in the case of the Lok Sabha elections being advanced, the Union Minister of Disinvestment, Mr Arun Shourie, said today. "Early elections to the Lok Sabha would not hamper the process of ... More

Allotment ratio of GAIL, ONGC shares after bids: Shourie
THE Government will decide the ratio of allocation of shares to retail investors and institutions after the bids come in for the sale of 10 per cent equity each in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and GAIL. ``Both GAIL and ONGC issues ... More

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
Commerce Ministry told to review FDI policy in retail
THE first step towards opening up the retail sector to foreign direct investment (FDI) has been initiated. The Ministry of Finance has asked the Ministry of Commerce & Industry to undertake a review of the present policy of not allowing FDI in . More

EVENTS
Meet on tackling high non-value addition expenses
INFORMATION technology, healthcare, tea, jute, and healthcare sector outfits are ones which have a high expenditure on non-value addition activities according to Dr Sadhan Ghosh, organising secretary of the third Indian Congress on quality, ... More

Malaysia keen on labour pact
MALAYSIA is keen to sign a `Labour Exchange Agreement' with India, which in a way would ensure that the recent `unwelcome' incidents such as the detainment of Indian IT professionals in Malaysia are avoided. Stating this, Mr Samy Vellu, ... More

Hyderabad engagements

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Kerala remains hostile to entrepreneurship: Study
KERALA requires an entrepreneurship movement to lift the State from its current state of industrial backwardness, says Dr P.M. Mathew, Director, Institute of Small Enterprises Development (ISED). This requires a critical minimum effort of HRD ... More