The Hindu Business Line : Sunday, January 04, 2009

INDUSTRY & ECONOMY

STEEL: Steel offtake rises 30-40% on higher demand
Sales driven by combination of new demand, import replacement. New Delhi, Jan. 3 Through the grey of Delhi’s foggy skies a little ray of hope appears to be shining on one of Asia’s largest steel markets – the Loha Mandi in ...

VENTURE CAPITAL: ‘Promoters still expect high valuations’
Sectors such as power and education offer the best opportunities for private equity investors in 2009, feels Luis Miranda President and CEO of IDFC Private Equity. Asserting that the credit crisis has not impacted the availability ...

HCV/LCV/TRACTORS: Truckers face demand slowdown; rentals drop 8%
Sharp production cuts adversely hit operations. Mumbai, Jan. 3 The marked slowdown in import-export activity and sharp drop in the manufacturing sector seem to have taken a toll on truck ...

INFRASTRUCTURE: Cenvat credit facility allowed for supplies to SEZ developers
New Delhi, Jan. 3 Domestic manufacturers of goods including steel and cement have cause for cheer, with the Finance Ministry now extending the facility of cenvat credit to such manufacturers for goods supplied from domestic tariff area (DTA) ...

ANTI-DUMPING: Dumping probe into carbon black imports
New Delhi, Jan. 3 The Designated Authority in the Commerce Ministry has set off an anti-dumping investigation into imported “carbon black used in rubber applications” from Australia, China, Iran, Malaysia, Russia and ...

ECONOMY: Hotels, hospitals given more freedom to use ECBs
New leeway under economic stimulus package. New Delhi, Jan. 3 Companies in the hotels, hospitals and software sectors can now raise external commercial borrowings (ECBs) under the automatic route and use the proceeds for both foreign currency ...

EMPLOYMENT: India, Malaysia ink pact on employment of workers
New Delhi, Jan. 3 Nearly 1.5 lakh Indian workers in Malaysia can look forward to an improved working environment with India and Malaysia on Saturday signing a bilateral agreement on recruitment and employment ...

PETROLEUM: ‘Oil & gas sector in need of qualified engineers’
Hyderabad, Jan. 3 The oil and natural gas industry is facing a serious shortage of trained engineers, according to Dr A.K. Balyan, Director (Human Resources), Oil and Natural Gas ...

TEXTILES: Stimulus package inadequate for textile sector, says SIMA
Coimbatore, Jan 3 The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA), the largest representative body of the textile mills in the South, has dubbed the stimulus package announced by the Centre as “inadequate and negligible” for the ...

ECONOMY: RBI may not be done with yet, say economists
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan. 3 Unforeseen liquidity pressure and an as-yet unyielding consumer price index (CPI) inflation would have a say on whether another round of monetary easing becomes warranted before the turn of the fiscal, say ...

Columnists: • B Venkatesh • C Gopinath • Bhanoji Rao • P.V. Indiresan