The Hindu Business Line : Thursday, March 03, 2005

Industrial safety awards
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Labour Minister, Mr Babu Divakaran, has announced the industrial safety awards for the year. The following won the first and second prizes in their respective categories: FACT and Kochi Refineries (chemicals, ... More

BUDGET

The unfair bracketing of the old
T. G. Suresh on how some senior citizens may be worse off in the new tax regime More

Fringe benefit tax will make compliance more complicated
Ved Jain, chairman, fiscal laws committee of the ICAI, on the Budget proposals More

TN budget presented — Switch to VAT after consensus
THE Tamil Nadu Government will seek a broad consensus on switching over to a Value Added Tax system before it introduces a Bill for that purpose, according to the Finance Minister, Mr C. Ponnaiyan. Presenting the budget for 2005-06, he said ... More

TN plans urban project-III with World Bank aid
THE Tamil Nadu Government plans to take up the third phase of an urban development project with World Bank assistance. It also will get a detailed project report prepared for a Rs 5,086.85-crore metro rail project for Chennai. Presenting the ... More

`BCTT, FBT ugly scars on a beautiful Budget'
DESCRIBING the proposed Banking Cash Transaction Tax (BCTT) and the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) as two of the most disturbing aspects of a well balanced Budget, top tax practitioners today urged all the apex chambers and industry organisations to ... More

`Commitment to reforms is reflected in Budget'
THE Vice-Chairman, CII-AP, Mr M.K. Patodia, has said that, in overall terms, the Budget shows the Government's commitment to push forward the reform agenda, while taking cognisance of equity considerations and the need to make growth broad-based ... More

TN: Deficit halved due to buoyant tax mop-up
AIDED by a buoyancy in tax revenues, Tamil Nadu's revenue deficit for 2004-05 has almost halved to Rs 1,687.39 crore for 2004-05 against the originally estimated Rs 3,336.43 crore. The increased collections have also resulted in the overall ... More

TN: Stamp duty cut on transfer of NPAs
THE Tamil Nadu Government has reduced the stamp duty and registration fee on the transfer of non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks to asset reconstruction companies under a legislation enacted by the Centre. Presenting the 2005-06 budget on ... More

Investments made cost-competitive with duty cuts
"A STABLE and buoyant capital market, a benign inflation level and affordable interest rate, together make for a good investment climate. The FM has further sweetened it with customs duty cuts in a range of capital goods, making investments cost ... More

Interest payments, debt servicing cost at Rs 1.26 lakh cr
THE expenditure on interest payments and debt servicing in the Revised Estimates for 2004-05 has been put at about Rs 1,26,000 crore, about Rs 3,600 crore lower than what had been budgeted for. With the promised hike in interest payments on ... More

`Budget spells good news for NRIs'
MUMBAI: It is a positive and helpful Budget delivering on last year's promise of thrust in infrastructure, rural development, employment generation and improvement in healthcare, education and poverty alleviation, according to Mr Srichand ... More

ICCI welcomes Budget
KOCHI: The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has welcomed the Union Budget saying that the various measures including strengthening of National Horticultural Mission as well as a massive tea plantation will give a boost to ... More

ECONOMY

Brand India re-visited
What are the images that make up Brand India now? More

`Indian business services sector needs further reforms'
VIEWING that India was perhaps the only country in the world that took the growth path purely on the wave of its services exports, Prof Geza Feketekuty, President of the Washington DC-based Institute for Trade and Commercial Diplomacy, said there ... More

HEALTH

Médecins Sans Frontières writes to Kalam on patents — `Ensure access to cheap drugs'
MÉDECINS Sans Frontières (MSF), an international humanitarian organisation, has written to the President, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, asking for his support to ensure that patients in developing countries continue to have access to affordable ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE

100% Govt guarantee for SPV borrowings
THE Finance Ministry would provide 100 per cent Government guarantee on the funds that would be borrowed by the special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be established for financing infrastructure projects in certain specified sectors, according to Dr ... More

Pulichintala land acquisition

PETROLEUM

Big block deal in ONGC shares valued at Rs 745 cr
A BLOCK deal of around 86 lakh shares of ONGC valued at around Rs 745 crore was struck on the BSE today. According to sources, a group company of Reliance Communications India Ltd, Smart Solutions, was the seller, and the buyers were several ... More

POWER

Coal stock position `super critical' at 8 thermal stations
GENERATION from eight out of the 75 thermal power stations in the country may suffer a major setback any time now due to non-availability of coal. Although the reasons of "super critical" coal stock position at their ends are different, the ... More

TNEB, Neyveli to execute Jayamkondam lignite power project
THE Tamil Nadu Electricity Board and Neyveli Lignite Corporation will jointly execute the Jayamkondam lignite power project, announced the Tamil Nadu Finance Minister, Mr C. Ponnaiyan, while presenting the 2005-06 Budget in the Assembly on ... More

TAXATION

What's so BAD about the cash withdrawal tax?
CAUGHT between a mandate "to introduce special schemes to unearth black money and assets" and the fear of "giving undeserved relief or an amnesty", Chidambaram has brought in a tax on cash withdrawal. News reports suggest that the Minister is ... More

Cost of collecting taxes to double
ACCORDING to the Revised Estimate for 2004-05, current expenditure on the Department of Revenue was about Rs 400 crore above the actual figure for 2003-04. As against this, a hike of more than Rs 5,200 crore has been proposed in the 2005-06 ... More

VAT talks on Monday
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Finance Minister, Mr Vakkom Purushothaman, will on Monday next hold discussions with traders on the implementation of Value-Added Tax (VAT) in the State. This was announced in the State Assembly by the Minister ... More

TEXTILES

European textile majors gung-ho on India
EVEN as the US remains the top destination for Indian textile exports, European investors — led by the Italians and the Germans — are emerging as big investors in India's booming textiles sector. While Italian fashion garment ... More

TN plans cluster-based loom upgradation
THE Tamil Nadu Government proposes to implement a cluster-based loom upgradation scheme. Under this scheme, weavers, master weavers and groups of weavers can opt for modernisation of looms by establishing a cluster of automatic or shuttle-less ... More

PERSONAL PRODUCTS

The value proposition
FMCG firms are in a race with other marketers for the consumer's rupee. So they are returning to brand-building and going easy on price-offs and freebies in a bid to create sustainable growth. More

EDUCATION

First finishing school for nurses to be inaugurated on Saturday
THE Union Minister for Non-Resident Affairs, Mr Jagdish Tytler, will on Saturday inaugurate a finishing school for overseas-bound nurses and other jobseekers being promoted by the Department of Non-resident Affairs (Norka). The finishing ... More

Scholars' League plans more centres
WITH the growth in demand for MBA graduates, the Bangalore-based Scholars' League, a company specialising in the Common Admission Test for B-Schools plans to expand to 20 centres in the South by June. Mr Neelesh Asati, CEO, Scholars' League, ... More

CARS

Gleaming marvels
A scene at a car stockyard in Kochi on the National Highway to Alappuzha. Kerala figures in the list of prime destinations for new players in the automobile industry. Swanky showrooms dot the urban landscape, with the small towns catching up ... More

GEMS & JEWELLERY

Jewellers face branding blues
THEY are perplexed. They've not thought of themselves as "branded" but Government provisions seem to say so. The imposition of two per cent excise duty on branded jewellery in the recent Budget has traditional jewellers wondering about the course ... More

Mute reaction
Jewellery shops in the State observed a one-day strike to protest the Budget proposal that branded jewellery will attract two per cent excise duty. A scene from Thrissur, a hub of gold and jewellery trade in the State. ... More

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION

`Alternative housing tech will soon be the norm'
WHAT is considered the `alternative' building industry today will be the norm in the next five to six years, says Mr Hariharan, Director, Biodiversity Conservation India Ltd (BCIL). Already, there is a great deal of interest in `alternative' ... More

Alliance Housing offers warranty
REAL estate developer Alliance Housing has said it will offer warranties for its housing project near Bangalore. The Alliance Housing Managing Director, Mr Manoj Namburu, told newspersons on Wednesday that the company has offered a year's ... More

KNITWEAR & HOSIERY

Dereservation to corporatise knitting sector
DERESERVING the hosiery sector from small-scale industries allowed in the 2005-06 Budget proposal, though already in the air for quite some time, has finally brought the official `sanction' to a sector which is thirsting to be corporatised by the ... More

OILSEEDS & EDIBLE OIL

Adani's oil of Fortune
Adani Wilmar is the leader in edible oil. But it now wants to carve out a bigger slice of the pie by focusing on sunflower oil, which accounts for a big chunk of the edible oil market, through its Fortune brand. More

COKE & METALURGICAL COKE

Duty cut on high ash content coking coal may benefit manufacturers
THOUGH the reduction of custom duty on high ash (12 per cent and above) coking coal from 15 per cent to 5 per cent, as proposed by the Union Budget, is expected to give some relief to coke manufacturers particularly in the coastal region, such ... More

INCOME TAX

Anomalies in fringe benefit tax will be removed: Govt
THE Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, today assured that the Government had no intention to levy the proposed Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) for any legitimate business expenses such as business communication, knowledge enhancement, and sales ... More

`Rules on fringe benefit to leave little room for discretion'
THE Finance Ministry on Wednesday said that the guidelines for the implementation of the proposed fringe benefit tax would be "practicable" so as to leave little room for discretion at the hands of the income-tax assessing officers. The ... More

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

Cashew exports may top Rs 2,500 crore
IF the current upward trend in the export of cashew kernels is any indication, total exports during the current fiscal are likely to cross Rs 2500 crore. There has been a substantial increase both in volume, due to increase in demand, and value ... More

NATURAL CALAMITIES

Govt blamed for neglecting tsunami victims
THE State Government and the Union Government are indifferent to the plight of fishermen in the coastal villages of South India, hit hard by the recent tsunami, and even after two months, fishermen are unable to lead a normal life, as catches ... More

TOURISM

Spain Tourism Board targets MICE
SPAIN Tourism Board is on a road-show to promote MICE (meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition) tourism from India to Spain. Ms Paloma Notario, Director - New Markets, Spain Tourism Board, said that Chennai was the second stop after ... More

Tourist arrivals likely to grow this year: Amadeus
TOURIST arrivals are likely to grow during the current year with an emphasis on travel for medical, pilgrimage and alternative healing purposes, said Mr Ankur Bhatia, Managing Director, Amadeus India. The Indian travel business witnessed an ... More

Budget proposals may hit tourism, says IATO
THE implementation of the Budget proposals 2005-06 could see the tourism sector being affected by as much as 7-10 per cent, the President of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, (IATO), Mr Subhash Goyal, said here on Wednesday. "Our first ... More