Even as the need to evolve a mechanism for ensuring price stability emerged as the focal point of the International Energy Conference, disputes relating to taxation laws, current price levels, restrictive investment regimes and environmental concerns remained unresolved. Although the conference, which concluded today, did not dwell on the question of the right price level, all participants — the consuming and the producing countries — agreed that a mechanism to ensure stable prices was essential.

Millers allowed to buy more FCI wheat

Even as the Centre is contemplating placing wheat imports up to one million tonnes under the Open General Licence as a medium-term solution to arrest spiralling prices, in a knee-jerk reaction it has decided to hike the limit on wheat purchases by millers from FCI godowns. Directives have been issued to permit individual flour mills to lift up to 500 tonnes every month against the existing limit of 200 tonnes under the FCI’s open sales scheme. The Centre has also waived the 10 per cent earnest money requirement against wheat purchases by state-owned and co-operative marketing federations all over the country.

More Tata Tea buyouts in Assam likely

Tata Tea Ltd, whose toehold in Sri Lanka over the past two years marked its first major step to globalise its tea plantation activity, has now put in place an investment strategy that will carry forward the globalisation process through buyouts, ensuring that the company does not concentrate too much on one particular country. The Tata Tea top brass appears to have veered round to the view that tactically it would be advisable to have a respectable presence in at least three-four tea producing countries.

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