The Hindu Business Line : Saturday, April 17, 2004

AUTOMOBILES
Passenger vehicles sales in top gear — Crossed 1-million mark last fiscal
REDUCTION in excise duties on cars, attractive finance schemes and a rapid growth in automotive exports have ensured that passenger vehicles sales sped across the one-million-mark in the last fiscal. Total passenger vehicles (which includes ... More

CHEMICALS
Rise in phosphoric acid prices may lead to higher subsidy outgo
A MASSIVE 25 per cent increase in the price of phosphoric acid in the international market as compared to last year may lead to a higher subsidy outgo to the extent of Rs 750 crore this fiscal, according to officials in the Ministry of Chemicals ... More

ECONOMY
Power, mining draw large investments
According to a survey conducted by Projects Today, a division of the Mumbai-based Economic Research India Ltd, as of March 2004, 10,730 live projects with a total investment of Rs 20,21,608 crore are outstanding. This is a growth of 12.2 per ... More

ESCAP sees GDP growth at 6-7 pc
THE UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) has said that India should be able to sustain real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates in the range of 6 to 7 per cent in 2004-06, assuming no major internal or external ... More

`East's success stories must be showcased' — CII meet for developing Kolkata into a regional IT hub
IT would be imperative to strongly showcase success stories of the eastern region, especially West Bengal, if the region were to attract investments from elsewhere in India and abroad. This was the consensus that emerged among speakers at the ... More

HEALTH
Indian stent begins Europe trials
SPECIAL stents developed in Bangalore may be headed for the European markets soon. Cardiovascular devices manufacturer Vascular Concepts, Bangalore, has announced that it has begun European clinical trials for its drug eluting stent. Its ... More

PETROLEUM
ONGC, GAIL to take additional subsidy hit of Rs 650 cr
OIL and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and GAIL (India) Ltd are set to suffer an additional subsidy burden of Rs 650 crore on account of sale of `underpriced' kerosene and LPG by the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) to retail ... More

Oil PSUs scale down purchases from Reliance
OIL PSUs have decided to buy only 7.5 million tonnes of petroleum products from Reliance Industries Ltd in 2004-05 compared to the 11.7 million tonnes lifted during 2003-04. According to a source familiar with the negotiations, PSU companies ... More

PHARMACEUTICALS
`No pollution problem from pharma city'
THE apprehensions expressed by some green groups over setting up of a pharma city at Parawada in Visakhapatnam district are unfounded and all possible steps are being taken to treat the effluents and eliminate any risk to marine life, Mr Venkat ... More

POWER
Kerala power body favours status quo in power tariffs
THE Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission has favoured continuance of the existing power tariffs in the State, provided the Government agrees to extend Rs 96 crore as subsidy to bridge the State Electricity Board's expected revenue gap ... More

SSI
Sara Elgi to mentor tiny industries
MARKETING and money problems have contributed to the downfall of small and tiny industries. Address these and chances are that you can have a thriving small-scale sector, according to many an industry expert. Marketing can be handled by the ... More

WATER
And quiet flows Krishna
The much-awaited drinking water from Krishna River reached the Twin cities on Friday. The Rs 875-cr project of the Hyderabad Metro Waterworks was initiated in 1994 and finally geared up in November 2002. The 45 million gallons river water will be ... More

COSMETICS
Grey imports make cosmetics sector see red
TROUBLED by rising `grey' imports or smuggled goods, particularly in the highly sensitive cosmetics industry, India Inc has urged the Government to take measures to tackle the issue and ensure a level playing field for the domestic player. In a ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
CII to work with TN Govt for policy on manufacturing sector
THE Confederation of Indian Industry - Tamil Nadu feels that the resurgence in the manufacturing sector is all the more reason to formulate a policy for the sector. It will work with the Tamil Nadu Government to ensure that a policy is ... More

KNITWEAR & HOSIERY
Tirupur textile units switch back to firewood to save energy costs
MOST dyeing and bleaching units in Tirupur which shifted to using furnace oil as fuel for steam generation a couple of years ago have now reverted to firewood and other softer fuel like coconut shells/husks to meet their energy needs. The ... More

BIO-TECH & GENETICS
Industry gives call for national biotech policy
THE biotech industry has said that there is a need for national biotech policy and as well as a single window approval system to speed up regulatory procedures. In order to tackle some of the issues, the Government has recently decided to ... More

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Puzzling
A kid tries to answer a quiz on a touch screen monitor at the Vigyan Rail Science Exhibition on Wheels in Chennai on Friday. Exhibits depicting the country's achievements in various fields of science and technology are displayed in the Vigyan ... More

GRANITE & MARBLE
Demand in US for natural stone products — Capexil may ask E&Y to conduct study
The consultants are expected to prepare a competition analysis to identify the current strengths and weaknesses of Indian stone products, their current positioning in the world markets and future growth option channels. More

MINERALS
Mineral output up 9.6 pc in Feb
THE mineral production during February recorded a growth of 9.6 per cent as compared with the corresponding month of the previous year. A cumulative production during April 2003-February 2004 showed 5.1 per cent growth compared with the same ... More

EVENTS
Biotech meet in Bangalore on April 19, 20
BIOTECHNOLOGY experts from India and Europe are meeting at a conference here on April 19 and 20 to discuss public-private transfer of knowledge in the biotechnology industry. The Institute of Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), which . More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS
Light on a sunset clause
R. Anand discusses an apex court decision on tax benefit for export turnover More

Australia mulling import of Indian mangoes — Quarantine laws seen as main hurdle
AUSTRALIA is considering allowing import of Indian mangoes and the Government is vigorously pursuing the issue. "Australia has been examining the proposal to allow import of our mangoes. But there has been no visible progress," official ... More

Ministry working on new scheme to replace DEPB
THE Government, in a bid to evolve a proper WTO compatible duty neutralisation scheme for exporters, is planning to merge the Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) Scheme with the Duty Drawback Scheme. DEPB in its present form will be abolished from ... More

PEOPLE
Macmillan, Shaw Wallace pen stories of unsung heroes
MACMILLAN India Ltd and Shaw Wallace Breweries Ltd have joined hands to bring out an interesting collection of stories of successful men and women under the title "Knock Out Challenges". The first, in a series of books planned by Macmillan ... More

K.B.S Chopra is new CGA
MR K.B.S. Chopra, a 1968 batch Indian Civil Accounts Service Officer, has been appointed as Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in the Ministry of Finance. Prior to his appointment as CGA, Mr Chopra was posted as Additional Controller General ... More