The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, July 08, 2009

INDUSTRY & ECONOMY

BUDGET: Budget decision could drill hole in oil co finances
Definition of ‘undertaking’ with retrospective effect queers pitch. Kolkata, July 7 The Budget decision to retrospectively treat all blocks licensed under a single contract as one undertaking may dog the Indian oil and gas industry ...

BUDGET: ‘Natural gas’ tax holiday only for NELP-VIII blocks
New Delhi, July 7 The Budget 2009-10 move to extend tax holiday for profits arising from commercial production of natural gas will be applicable only in respect of hydrocarbon exploration blocks awarded under the New Exploration Licensing ...

BUDGET: IT industry sees valid case for tax holidays
High employee base contributes to Govt kitty via individual taxes. Chennai, July 7 The argument that the software industry should lose its pampered status is getting louder, even as voices from within the industry say that smaller companies, and ...

BUDGET: Domestic institutions, retail traders capitalised on big fall
FIIs pulled the markets down: Analysts. Mumbai, July 7 Retail and domestic institutional investors took some advantage of the six per cent dip in the benchmark indices on Monday, the day of the ...

BUDGET: Farmed out
The first Budget of the new UPA Government presented by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to be remembered not so much for what he did as for what he omitted to do for the farm sector. One of the challenges before the ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: TN to make guideline value of land statutory
Registration of power of attorney instruments to be made compulsory. Chennai, July 7 The Tamil Nadu Government plans to give statutory backing to the guideline value as fixed by the Registration ...

EXPORTS & IMPORTS: Oilmeal exports decline 33% in June on slowdown
China buys more Indian soyameal; unit value rises. Oilmeal exports dropped 33 per cent in June, mainly on a sharp fall in soyameal shipments, compared with the same period a year ago but they were up 10 per ...

PETROLEUM: Reliance tumbles to pre-election result level
Sun Pharma also falls on selling pressure. Kolkata, July 7 Many of the stocks that declined on Monday after the Budget proposals were announced managed to recover partially or fully on Tuesday. But some counters failed to recover, indicating ...

BUDGET: Budget lacks imagination: Analysts
Although the Union Budget presented by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, on Monday set the Indian economy on the right track in the current global scenario, it lacked imagination and some bold initiatives. This was the general ...

COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES: Service tax on law firms evokes mixed response
Mr Pranab Mukherjee has done what his predecessor Mr P Chidambaram would not. He has brought the legal eagles under the service tax net. The service tax rate is 10.3 ...

BUDGET: Rise in core sector spends likely to benefit realty indirectly
Mumbai, July 7 While most real estate developers were disappointed with the Budget, a few realtors and global property service provider Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj stated that increased infrastructure spends would indirectly benefit real ...

TOURISM: Kerala Tourism’s Net initiative launch today
Bid to woo tech-savvy travellers. Kerala Tourism will unveil a slew of Internet-based initiatives for both tourists and the travel trade on ...

ENVIRONMENT: ‘Green’ push to rural telecom
USO funds for renewable energy-powered cell towers. New Delhi, July 7 The Department of Telecom has decided to offer financial support from the Universal Services Obligation fund to telecom players using renewable source of energy to power ...

BUDGET: No cap on ultra mega power project allocation to single firm
New Delhi, July 7 The Centre has virtually ruled out the possibility of capping the number of the Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) that can be allotted to a ...

RURAL DEVELOPMENT: Guidelines on Rajiv Awas Yojana soon
The Government will work towards formulating guidelines for Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) over the next 30-45 days. The draft concept note for the RAY is already ready and the Ministry for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation will meet urban ...

ECONOMY: Higher State grants to offset fall in tax transfers
Bangalore, July 7 The slowdown has hit statutory transfer of tax revenues to States, but grants and loans to the States are slated to offset this fall. The increase in funds transfer under grants is primarily for non-Plan purposes. Unlike ...

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS: CII-Kerala hails Budget proposals
Kochi, July 7 CII-Kerala has said that the Union Budget is reform-oriented and would propel revival of the economy with more thrust on infrastructure and rural ...

EDUCATION: Govt allocates Rs 2,113 cr for IITs, NITs
New Delhi, July 7 The education sector has got a shot in the arm with the Government proposing a full interest subsidy scheme on education loans for poor students pursuing technical and professional courses in ...

BUDGET: Funds allocation for Defence sector up 34%
New Delhi, July 7 The Union Budget 2009-10 has proposed a more than 34 per cent increase in the allocation of funds for the Defence ...

TEXTILES: Budget plans will spur textile sector growth to 7-8%: Maran
New Delhi, July 7 The Union Textiles Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, today said the Budget proposals for the textile sector would help the industry log 7-8 per cent growth in the short- ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: Realty firms disappointed with Budget
New Delhi, July 7 Reactions to the Budget from the realty companies battling cash crunch and slowdown in property sales: “Utterly disappointed”, “ignored”, and “let ...

PETROLEUM: Reliance-RNRL case: SC issues notices
New Delhi, July 7 The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Anil Ambani-run Reliance Natural Resources Ltd on cross appeals filed by both the companies against an interim order of the Bombay ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: No new taxes is good news, say realty cos
Bangalore, July 7 The real estate sector leaders believe that no additional burden of taxes and duties in the Union Budget is good news for them as input costs will remain ...

BUDGET: Tax treatment weighs on new pension scheme
Mumbai, July 7 The new pension scheme (NPS) continues to be at a disadvantage vis-À-vis Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and the Public Provident Fund (PPF) as the Government has decided to continue with the Exempt-Exempt-Taxed ...

ENGINEERING: ‘Budget is positive for farm pumps sector’
Coimbatore, July 7 The allocation to rural electrification and the farm sector will give a boost to the demand for pumps and benefit the pump industry in Coimbatore, said Mr Jayakumar Ramdass, President, the Southern India ...

TEXTILES: ‘Little stimulus for textile sector’
Coimbatore, July 7 The Budget has failed to offer any stimulus to the textile industry that is reeling under the impact of recession, according to the Indian Chamber of Commerce and ...

BIO-TECH & GENETICS: Karnataka Cabinet okays new biotech policy
Bangalore, July 7 The Karnataka Cabinet on Monday approved the revised biotechnology policy that includes a Rs 100-crore fund for manufacturing companies and Rs 50-crore corpus ...

WATER: Desalination proposal gets nod
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Government has accorded administrative sanction for the Rs 914-crore desalination plant at Nemmeli to the south ...

BUDGET: More funds for Bharat Nirman, NREGA to boost rural growth
Mangalore, July 7 The increase in allocation to Bharat Nirman and NREGA in the Union Budget will help boost rural economic growth, according to the representatives of trade and industry ...

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS: Industry welcomes Budget proposals
New Delhi, July 7 Industry on Tuesday congratulated the Finance Minister for paying heed to their suggestions in the ...

BUDGET: Patients to benefit on some segments
Mumbai, July 7 Could it be the swine flu effect or just regular seasonal flu? An influenza vaccine has come in for singular attention in the Budget, along with nine other critical drugs used in the treatment of cancer, rheumatology and ...

TAXATION: Commodity prices may go up
Bangalore, July 7 Prices of commodities moved by railways and waterways are expected to cost more, with the two being brought under the service tax net. But the increase in the rail freight rate would still be cheaper than the road ...

BUDGET: Budget Talk
‘Budget Talk-2009’, an event featuring experts to analyse the Union Budget organised by BL Club, will be held on Wednesday at the Villa Marie P.G. College ...

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION: Exemption to prefab concrete products welcomed
The housing and construction industry has welcomed the Budget proposals that envisage a fillip to urban and rural housing, and tax exemption for prefabricated concrete products manufactured ...

INFRASTRUCTURE: Core sector funding: Banks await details
Mumbai, July 7 Welcoming the announcements in the Union Budget, with regard to infrastructure sector lending — takeout financing and refinance through the India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) — banks officials said ...

EVENTS: Manmohan to take up economic crisis issue at G8-G5 meet
New Delhi, July 7 The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday left for Italy to attend the G8-G5 Summit in L’Aquila, ...

URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Budget outlay for Mumbai’s drainage plan not sufficient
Mumbai, July 7 The Budget announcement of an additional Rs 300 crore to speed up work on the Brihanmumbai Storm Water Drainage Project could just end up being a drop in the ocean as a lot more money would be needed for this exercise. All in ...

BUDGET: ‘Well-crafted test match, rather than a 20-20 knock ’
“The Finance Minister has played a well-crafted test match innings, rather than a 20-20 knock…The removal of the fringe benefit tax is good news for the corporate sector. Several policy initiatives, including major tax reforms, ...

BUDGET: Budget belies the Survey promise
New Delhi, July 7 After the welter of reformist proposals in the Economic Survey, the Budget came as a damp squib that pleased none but highlighted the Government’s urge to splurge on the so-called aam ...

ECONOMY: Inflation measures: Incomplete, irrelevant?
The RBI Governor, Dr D. Subba Rao, is a worried man. Recently, when asked, he thought there was no room to further loosen monetary policy and interest rates, despite the inflation benchmark, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), collapsing below ...

BUDGET: Service tax on coastal transport raises many a query
Kolkata, July 7 Several issues have to be addressed before the Union Government is in a position to implement its proposal for service tax on the coastal and inland water transport (IWT) ...

EVENTS: Seminar on e-governance
Public sector undertakings in the State should finalise their IT strategies and implementation plans at the earliest, said the State Industry Minister, Mr Elamaram Kareem. Speaking at a seminar on ‘Electronic governance approaches ...