The Hindu Business Line : Wednesday, March 12, 2003

R&D high on pharma priority list
DESPERATION triggers innovation. That seems to be the message from the sharp step-up in expenditure made by major pharma companies on research & development (R&D) in 2002 vis-à-vis 2001. Large pharma companies (Rs 500 crore and above) have, on ... More

PENSION PLANS

New provident fund project to make it easy
THE Union Labour Minister, Mr Sahib Singh Verma, has assured members in the Lok Sabha that the project `Reinvent the Employees Provident Fund (EPF)', currently under way, would remove several problems being faced by employees in accessing their ... More

BUDGET

Fertiliser price hike rolled back
BOWING to intense pressure from outside as well as from within the ruling alliance, the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, today `rolled back' the hike in fertiliser prices proposed in his Budget. The proposal would have effected subsidy savings ... More

ECONOMY

TN should strive for 8 pc growth rate: CII
THE Confederation of Indian Industry has, in its pre-Budget memorandum, asked the Tamil Nadu Government to target an eight per cent growth rate for the State Domestic Product and an industrial growth rate of 10 per cent. It has identified six ... More

Sompal flays economic policies
THE Planning Commission Member, Mr Sompal, appealed to students, academics and intelligentsia to generate a public debate on the present pattern of economic growth that was ``highly unsuitable for India''. ``We are embarking on a hi-tech ... More

ENVIRONMENT

Environmental study gets under way in Karnataka
A COMPREHENSIVE stock-taking of the state of the environment is under way in Karnataka with some technical grant from the World Bank. For the first time, pollution and waste generation caused by industrial activities, mining, energy and urban ... More

INFRASTRUCTURE

Infrastructure project process set in motion
WORK on the Rs 60,000-crore public-private initiative for infrastructure improvement efforts announced in the Budget has started in right earnest with the Government set to invite bids for eight new road projects and refurbishing of two ports - ... More

POWER

KPTCL overdrawing from hydel projects
FACED with rising summer demand, the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd (KPTCL) has begun overdrawing from hydel reservoirs. Sources said that the hydel stations which include the Sharavathy Valley and the Supa dam power house were ... More

TAXATION

Grants inadequate to meet loss from VAT
STATES' revenue shortfalls after switching over to the value-added tax regime from April this year is expected to exceed the amount provided for in the Union Budget. The Union Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, had assured in his Budget speech ... More

TEXTILES

Cenvat will make textile sector competitive: CBEC
THE Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Mr M. K. Zutshi, has said that the `cenvat' chain completion attempted for the textile sector, through mandatory excise duty at fabric stage and removal of the deemed modvat credit, is ... More

Textile Ministry seeks changes in Exim Policy
IN the run-up to the modified Export-Import (Exim) Policy for 2003-04 to be unveiled on March 31, the Textile Ministry has pitched for policy-related and procedure-related changes. The Ministry also sought suitable amendment in the duty ... More

`Textiles need credit on easier terms'
IT is time for the textile industry to buck up and prepare for a quota-less regime in 2005. This was the general consensus among Indian and foreign textile industrialists and other experts at the two-day Afro-Asian Textile and Apparel Congress ... More

Karnataka to announce new textile policy

WATER

Plan afoot to develop waterways in Kerala
THE State Government is in the process of drawing up a comprehensive plan to renovate major waterways in the State. According to the Minister for Water Resources, Mr T.M. Jacob, the objective is to make the State's waterways more navigable. A ... More

AP Govt outlines projects for safe drinking water
THE Andhra Pradesh Government has lined up a series of projects estimated to cost Rs 472 crore aimed at providing safe drinking water in about 940 fluoride-affected habitations spread across the State. These schemes are expected to be completed ... More

INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS

Intense lobbying to review excise duty on edible oils
INTENSE lobbying is on by edible oil manufacturers to convince the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, to review the eight per cent excise duty imposed on branded packaged edible oils. "Quite a few manufacturers, whose brands are popular in ... More

Urban populace unhappy with infrastructure: Study
The survey indicated that 90 per cent of urban population was not happy with the road facilities, 91 per cent felt that the pollution levels were high, 58 per cent were dissatisfied with transport facilities and 79 per cent not happy with the water s upply. More

RESORTS & AMUSEMENT PARKS

A struggling estate turns serene hill resort
THE Miraflores Estate in the Western Ghats off Thrissur district in Kerala has had a makeover. While the international commodity prices plunged and input costs soared, the beleaguered coffee/cardamom estate converted itself into a tourist ... More

DISINVESTMENT

25 pc foreign cap may be relaxed for SCI
The CCD had fixed a foreign equity holding ceiling of 25 per cent while flagging-off the privatisation of SCI in January 2001 through a strategic sale of 51 per cent Government equity. More

Smooth sell-off likely for Delhi Centaur
IT'S a classic case of being once-bitten-twice-shy. After burning its finger over the sale of the 100 per cent subsidiary of Air India, Centaur Hotel Mumbai Airport (CHMA), the Government is looking at the possibility of changing some ground ... More

SECURITY

`US Customs surveillance not a trade barrier'
The new Rule was part of a national security measure post-September 11 incidents, and should not be viewed as a non-tariff trade barrier to developing country exports to US, the official said. More

EVENTS

HRD seminar stresses on new strategies
PARTICIPANTS at the two-day national workshop on HRD strategies for organisational effectiveness of the National Agricultural Research Service (NARS) have stressed the need for human resources development in the light of rapid technological ... More

Workshop on VAT

EXPORTS & IMPORTS

CII suggests concept of virtual SEZs
THE Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has suggested that the policy benefits of special economic zones (SEZ) need to be spread across the country by introducing the concept of virtual SEZs. This was one of the suggestions put forward by ... More

No solution in sight for exports under new VAT system
IT'S a dilemma that is agitating the minds of the members of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on value-added tax (VAT). The question before them is whether they should continue with the current forms system being used by ... More

Comments & Letters to the Editor to: bleditor@thehindu.co.in
Subscribe to: Business Line