The Hindu Business Line : Friday, February 28, 2003

MSP freeze the only option
IT is clear now that the Centre has no immediate plans to dispense with the existing minimum support price (MSP)-based open-ended system of foodgrain procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and State Government agencies. Instead, what ... More

No more freebies in health sector
NO more free lunches in the health sector for people above the poverty line, according to the Economic Survey. Envisaging increased investments in the health sector, the Government's annual economic statement proposes the imposition of user ... More

Hints at dereserving small-scale sector
THE Economic Survey has hinted at doing away with the existing policy of reservation in the small-scale industry (SSI) sector so as to make the industry more competitive in the global market. The Survey has pointed out that with the removal of ... More

6-point agenda for industrial growth outlined
IN what could be pointers towards a series of initiatives to foster industrial growth that are likely to be announced in the Union Budget for 2003-04, the pre-Budget Economic Survey has outlined a six-point strategy including movement towards a ... More

India lags behind in telecom
DESPITE the rapid strides made in the telecom sector in recent years, the Economic Survey has warned that India continues to lag behind many other developing countries including China in teledensity, hinting at more policy incentives to boost its ... More

Survey gives clues to Jaswant's Budget
WITH the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, all set to lay bare his first Budget on Friday, the pre-Budget Economic Survey (2002-03) has given an inkling as to what would be the Budget's components to sustain the feel-good factor and industrial ... More

Reforms on export front need of the hour
Given India's rising dependence on imported crude oil, the economy needs to be insulated from continuing volatility in international crude oil prices. More

The gender question
AS a departure from the general male-centric approach, the Economic Survey today revealed that the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy had been commissioned to initiate a gender analysis of the Union Budget for the year 2001-2002. ... More

SEBs may report lower subsidies
STATE Electricity Boards (SEBs) are expected to report lower subsidies and commercial losses during fiscal 2003 over the previous year's figures. The trend on the revised estimates of the SEBs' financial performance is due to "realistic ... More

Call to further deepen derivative segment
Institutional investors have not yet been able to utilise the opportunities for better management of risk and return using the equity derivatives market More

Outflow of portfolio investments
FOREIGN direct investment inflows during April-October 2002 have been around 53 per cent of the inflows during the corresponding period of the previous year. FDI approvals during January-December 2002 declined to Rs 11,140 crore from Rs 26,875 ... More

Put the stock trades in the PAN
YOU may soon as an investor need to dish out your permanent account number (PAN) every time a secondary market trade is executed in your name. Stung by the Joint Parliamentary Committee's observations of weak surveillance of the capital ... More

There is enough in Survey to frighten many
IT happened they say, when an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India went to temple and the priest who performed the archana chanted, among other things, `survey bhavantu sukhinaha', and so on, making our man wonder whether ... More

India emerging export hub for auto sector
THE country is well poised to emerge as a significant exporter of automobiles in the next two years as global companies are increasingly using the country as a platform for export-oriented production, the Economic Survey has said. Hailing the ... More

India Inc guarded in response
THE Government's year-end report on the economy's performance, the Economic Survey 2002-03, has received a guarded response from India Inc. While welcoming the fact that the Survey has rightly identified technology, competition and benchmarking ... More

FIIs' net equity investment dips
FOREIGN Institutional Investors' (FII) net equity investments into the country during April-November 2002-03 stood at mere $ 49 million, a significant decline to the net equity investments inflow of $ 1,075 million in the same period during the ... More

Hudco to meet 55% of target
THE Economic Survey 2002-03 has indicated that the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) would meet more than 55 per cent of the urban housing target this year, which would constitute four lakh dwelling units. HUDCO, as per the ... More

Focus on market-oriented mechanism for road sector
THE Economic Survey for 2002-03 has called for an enabling framework, which will fuel competition between multiple operators in a given port and to foster competition between different ports. "This is the key question that requires focus'', the ... More

Decline in industrial unrest
DESPITE `labour reforms' still being a controversial issue, industrial unrest has been low in India. According to the Economic Survey 2002-03, 2002 saw a significant change in the industrial sector with a perceptible decline in the instances of ... More

Free software use can help in growth
ACKNOWLEDGING the virtues of free and open source software, the Economic Survey presented on Thursday says the Indian Government is actively exploring how such software can be fully utilised in the country. "The use of free software reduces ... More

BUDGET

Budget: `Private' meat vs `public' poison
`ONE man's meat is another man's poison.' That might well be true of the country's public and private sectors of the economy as they await the Finance Minister tax proposals in the Budget that he would present the nation on Friday. The private ... More

Gujarat to mop up Rs 55 cr thru taxes
THE Gujarat Finance Minister, Mr Vajubhai Vala, has presented the State Budget for 2003-04 with an overall deficit of Rs 377.97 crore. While the budgetary estimates put the deficit at Rs 432.97 crore, the State Government has proposed to raise ... More

Delhiites remain cautious of Budget
The effect of the provisions of the Budget proposals presented last year by Mr Sinha is not rubbing off easily. More

`Retain housing sops to spur cement sector growth'
Mr A.K. Jain said the industry would like the tax concessions to be `retained or improved, not reduced'. He said the housing sector was the single largest user segment of the cement industry. More

Medium-term fiscal framework seeks to bring down deficit
THE medium-term fiscal framework (MTFF) drawn up by the Andhra Pradesh Government seeks to bring down the budget deficit from 5.3 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2000-2001 to 2.5 per cent of GSDP in 2005-06 and to about two per ... More

ECONOMY

`Core' investment is key: Survey
`Prune untargeted subsidies, economise wages and salaries'
THE pre-Budget Economic Survey has argued for restructuring expenditure in favour of public investment in infrastructure, both physical and social, even while emphasising the need to step up progress in the field of fiscal consolidation. It, ... More

Kerala sheds anti-investment posturing
THE notion that Kerala does not encourage private investments is fast disappearing and if the current trend persists, it could turn the tide and raise the credit deposit ratio here. It will be some time before the stigma is removed fully, Dr ... More

FOREIGN TRADE

DGFT lays stress on infrastructure
INVESTMENTS in infrastructure are crucial if exports from India are to flourish, said Mr L. Mansingh, Director General of Foreign Trade, while delivering the annual `Kinfra Lecture' in the city on February 26. With small and medium enterprises ... More

PSU

PSU per capita wage bill zooms
EVEN as the employment base of the public sector has been declining since liberalisation in the early nineties, this has not stopped the wage bill from ballooning. As per the latest estimates of public sector emoluments presented in the ... More

POWER

Workshop on fast breeder reactors
COIMBATORE: Kumaraguru College of Technology has proposed to organise a national workshop on the scope of fast breeder reactors in India's future energy scenario on March 6. The workshop is to be inaugurated by the Principal Scientific ... More

TAXATION

VAT Bill passed without discussion in Kerala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Assembly passed the Value Added Tax Bill without discussion amidst uproarious scenes over last week's police firing on tribals in Wayanad district. The Speaker, Mr Vakkom Purushothaman, rushed through ... More

EDUCATION

TN yet to finalise norms for professional courses entry
The Tamil Nadu Government would have to tread cautiously and try to reach a consensus with the self-financing colleges for fear of the issue being taken to the Supreme Court again. More

`Higher education to get push from pvt varsities'
WITH various State Governments planning to give nod for setting up private Universities, higher education is expected to get a big boost. According to Mr N.J. Yasaswy, member of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) ... More

DISINVESTMENT

Hindustan, Cochin shipyards may go to Defence Ministry — Divestment move put on hold
THE proposal for disinvestment of the country's two state-owned non-Defence shipyards, Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) and Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), has been put on hold for the time being, with the Government examining an option to transfer them ... More

TRADE & LABOUR UNIONS

Industry against acquisition tax under VAT regime in Delhi — Partial response to traders' bandh
A SECTION of the industry has opposed the levy of acquisition tax (entry tax) that is now part of the draft Delhi Goods Tax Bill 2003, claiming that such a tax would go against the principles and objectives of value-added tax (VAT) regime. In a ... More

EVENTS

`Management development key to organisation growth'
THE importance of management development and how it can play a pivotal role in acting as a source of competitive advantage for an organisation was underscored in an interactive session held here today that was chaired by Dr Geoff Mallory and Mr ... More

Thiruvananthapuram engagement

TOURISM

KTDC introduces houseboat classification
THE Kerala State Tourism Department, in a bid to ensure the quality of services offered by the operators of houseboats in the State and to protect the backwater environment, has introduced a classification system for the vessels. At present, ... More

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