Indian Economy: News and Discussion (June 8 2008)

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 28 Aug 2009 09:48

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php? ... ssueid=120

Global brands exit India amid slump
Harini Subramani
Mumbai, August 28, 2009
Unable to bear the brunt of global economic downturn, a series of famous international retail brands have shut shop in India. The brands that did the vanishing act from the Indian market include Skechers, GAS, CAT, Umbro, Rifle, Lee Cooper, Police, Kappa, Lee Youth, Marco Ricci, Morgan, Saville Row and Chamosa, according to highly placed sources in the Indian retail industry.

Arvind Singhal, chairman of management consultancy firm Technopak Advisors, said, " A couple of reasons exist behind the exit of some of the international brands." One, the brand might be valued as an expensive label by the consumers, he said.

" Another reason could be that the local partners are not strong enough to promote the brand. It could also be that the parent company might not be doing as well as it had anticipated," he added.

However, a few brands have taken the denial route. An official at Pantaloon Retail ( India) said that brands like Lee Cooper and Chamosa categorically denied the statement.

" Initially, we used to operate as a joint venture with Lee Cooper but we have converted that into a licensing agreement. But the brands are very much operational," he said.

However, he said the company was not looking to expand Chamosa - a tea and snacks joint. " We consider it more of a complimentary service than as a source of revenue," he said.

However, the official said it had shut some brands recently.

" Etam, a popular French lingerie brand, was not making any progress in India and neither was Alpha, our airportretailing venture," he stated.

Sources also added that GAS, an Italian apparel brand marketed by Raymond did not do well in India. " The company had invested a lot of money in the brand but it has not worked," sources said. When contacted, an official spokesperson at Raymond said, " The company is currently undergoing some kind of restructuring." He added there is a change in the marketing and product mix but the brand will continue to exist.

However, according to retailers, such entry and exit of brands is not uncommon.

Govind Shrikhande, president and chief executive officer ( CEO), Shoppers Stop Ltd, said, " We used to market Reid & Taylor but we do not anymore as it didn't do very well." Shrikhande explained his store measures brand performance every season.

" Similarly, we find that Allen Solly has also not been matching up as they are not able to position themselves," he added. The company is looking to launch two new global brands later this year. " In October, we will be launching fashion and casual wear brands originating from the US and Europe," said Shrikhande.

There is a misconception that Indians purchase anything that is foreign. One example is Rifle, a popular brand in Italy but not so popular in Europe.

Said Singhal, " It was the initial rush of excitement among international brands that made them set up shop without enough expertise about the Indian market. What Indians look for is the right value proposition."

wig · Post by **wig** » 28 Aug 2009 19:30

with reference to the swiss stand on releasing info on indian money stashed there my take on the issue is that the swiss will not hand over the information very easily to the indians.
a) we do not have the clout the americans, or europeans have.
b) more importantly the database that the Department of revenue Intel and or the Enforcement Directorate might not be providing data that fits the format the swiss will require - this will require tremendous political will- and considerable tweaking of the data mining to ensure that data suiting requirements is provided.
c) for all we know the information asked for might be more of a "roving enquiry". something the swiss are hardly likely to comply with

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 29 Aug 2009 00:52

Eaqrly release of IIP number's by Minster
India's industrial output rose by 7 per cent in July from a year earlier, compared to a 7.8 per cent rise in June

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 29 Aug 2009 01:28

Govt expects Direct Taxes Code to fetch Rs 5,60,000 crore ($120 billion) in first year

The Union government expects to collect Rs 5,60,000 crore as direct tax revenue in 2011-12, the first year when the new direct taxes code would be fully implemented, said Arbind Modi, joint secretary in the revenue department.

During the current financial year, direct tax collections are budgeted at Rs 3,70,000 crore, while the Centre’s total tax revenues are projected at Rs 6,41,079 crore.

While the government has proposed to do away with a host of exemptions, the draft code, put out for public comments, has proposed to lower the rates for corporation and personal income tax. In the latter, the slabs are also proposed to be reworked.

Normal rain in 12 of 36 monsoon divisions

The revival of rainfall across the country over the past two weeks has helped a third of the country achieve the normal average level for the June-August period.

Of the 36 ‘monsoon divisions’ into which the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has divided the country, 12 have achieved the normal average for this three-month period this year, thanks to the revival of the past fortnight.

However, three parts in the country — Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and western Uttar Pradesh — have an average rainfall deficiency of more than 50 per cent as of now.

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, along with central Maharashtra, Rayalaseema (Andhra), Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have crossed the normal average level. There are still 22 monsoon divisions, primarily in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, which have reported deficient rainfall. The deficiency levels however have come down distinctly.

Haryana remains the only division with scanty rainfall (less 64 per cent) and Saurashtra-Kachchh in Gujarat the only region reporting excess rainfall (more by 29 per cent) till August 26, the IMD reports show. The entire country has got 514.3 mm of rainfall this season, almost 25 per cent less than the average normal of 682 mm till August 26.

This massive backlog in orders with companies like L&T aren't really a good thing. We don't have sufficient ability to quickly execute heavy engineering projects as it is:
L&T expects orders worth Rs 10,000 cr

Engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is expecting orders worth Rs 10,000 crore from power, infrastructure and hydrocarbon sectors within a month. L&T, which bagged orders worth over Rs 11,000 crore in August, anticipates that the total order backlog will touch Rs 90,000 crore ($18.75 billion) by the end of September.

The company’s Chairman and Managing Director A M Naik said: “With a stable government now in place and priority being accorded to infrastructure, it is expected that capital expenditure in this sector will increase and new business prospects will fructify in the later part of this year.” He added that order inflows grew 23 per cent over 2008-09. Of this, international orders constituted 15 per cent of total inflows.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 29 Aug 2009 05:15

wig wrote:with reference to the swiss stand on releasing info on indian money stashed there my take on the issue is that the swiss will not hand over the information very easily to the indians.
a) know the information asked for might be more of a "roving enquiry". something the swiss are hardly likely to comply with

Declare amnesty with reasonable tax rate within time frame . We need capital now beofre 2020 and with proper private utilization , this FE in Swiss Bank can do wonder to the economy within a decade.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 30 Aug 2009 07:36

Suraj check this out.....

For WPI read old price index, outdated goods

NEW DELHI: If you’ve been wondering why prices burn a bigger hole in your pocket each time you go grocery shopping even as the inflation rate stays
firmly negative, here’s part of the reason: The official wholesale price index (WPI) tracks stuff you don’t buy, not unless you are caught in a time warp.

Time was when middle-class families across India cooked with Dalda or Rath brands of vanaspati oil. When toasts were raised with Double Horse whisky or Old Port Dix Rum. When scooters outsold motorcycles

and teenaged girls ritualistically used Keo Karpin hair oil before stepping out. Consumer preferences have changed but the WPI remains stuck in the early 1990s.

The base year for the current WPI series is 1993-94. It has 435 commodities in its basket, which includes 98 primary articles, 318 manufactured products and 19 fuel and energy sources as well as lubricants.
But the basket is completely out of sync with current consumption trends. For instance, the list of Indian Made Foreign Liquor has just five archaic brands. The same holds true for many other commodities, including manufactured goods and food items.

The WPI is illogical and outdated on other counts too, listing no other detergents but Sansar powder, manufactured in Bangalore and Surf made in Mumbai. This, even though HLL, which manufactures Surf, has factories in many parts of the country and does not base its price on products manufactured in Mumbai.

Similarly, the confectionery market has expanded but the WPI lists just 10 varieties of toffees manufactured by two brands — Parrys and Nutrine. Saridon is still the WPI’s brand of choice, as is Kolkata-based Deys Medical for personal grooming products such as hair oil.

The WPI basket no longer reflects market categories either. In 1993-94, pagers sold more than mobile phones as did scooters compared to motorcycles and cars. That’s not true in 2009.

The government says it’s hard to draw up a more representative list of products because of problems sourcing data from as many as 5,000 units. Therefore, it’s contemplating making it binding for companies to report monthly data.

‘‘Getting the data from private companies is a problem,’’ said Pranab Sen, secretary, ministry of statistics and programme implementation. He says the new, updated WPI series will soon be ready. Once the new system kicks in, inflation data will be released on a monthly basis rather than weekly, as happens now, sources said.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 30 Aug 2009 23:00

100 days of UPA-II: FIIs infuse Rs 23k cr in stock mkt

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 31 Aug 2009 00:45

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/0 ... 251285631/

Above news refers to US vs. China. But, this tire problem is very prevalent in India. I am increasingly seeing more and more truckers buying chini tires which are usually more than 30% cheaper than desi ones. Another problem is that lot of our desi truckers have opinion that chini tires are better than desi ones.
Hopefully, UPA govt would do something about this tire dumping as tire industry is considered strategic asset during wartime.

vishwakarmaa · Post by **vishwakarmaa** » 31 Aug 2009 02:37

darshan wrote:http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/0 ... 251285631/

Above news refers to US vs. China. But, this tire problem is very prevalent in India. I am increasingly seeing more and more truckers buying chini tires which are usually more than 30% cheaper than desi ones. Another problem is that lot of our desi truckers have opinion that chini tires are better than desi ones.
Hopefully, UPA govt would do something about this tire dumping as tire industry is considered strategic asset during wartime.

GoI should invest in R&D and promote scientific culture in Indian private industry which runs on family monopolies.

Banning or restricting Chinese companies doesn't solve the basic problem.

In Telecom, they banned Chinese companies. The reason wasn't security. It was pressure from gora lobby. Indian private players were in fact happy tobe more efficient with low cost Chinese gears. Security considerations are only a cover-up to bribe game.

Nihat · Post by **Nihat** » 31 Aug 2009 11:25

India's April-June GDP up 6.1 pc from year earlier

New Delhi: India's economy grew a slightly faster than expected 6.1 percent in the June quarter from a year earlier, as government stimulus measures helped spur demand, although a poor monsoon threatens to crimp growth later in the year even as it drives inflation.

The annual growth for India's fiscal first quarter was just above a median forecast of 6 percent in a Reuters poll, but lower than the year-ago quarter's 7.8 percent expansion.

The manufacturing sector expanded 3.4 percent in April-June from a year earlier, while farm output grew an annual 2.4 percent, government data showed on Monday.

For the full year, India's economy grew 6.7 percent in 2008/09, much slower than its expansion of 9 percent or more in the previous three years.

Economists have said poor monsoon rains could erode economic growth by 1 or 2 percentage points in the current fiscal year, although the central bank said last week that dry conditions are more likely to drive inflation than erode growth.

The 1st quarter seems alright but it's the next one that worries me , may well be below 5.5% is monsoon does not improve.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 31 Aug 2009 12:17

CSO Press Release: 2009-10 Q1 GDP Data
Statement 1 lists the coarse breakdown of GDP and growth rate by sector. There was a significicant reduction in growth rate in the manufacturing sector (5.5% to 3.4%) and community/social services (8.1% to 6.8%) and trade/transport/hotels services (13% to 8.1%). All three are significant components of GDP. On the other hand, agricultural growth only fell from 3.0% to 2.4%, while financial/business services growth increased from 6.9% to 8.1% , and electricity/gas/water supply growth increased by a very significant amount, from 2.7% to 8.2% . Overall, this is a mixed bag.

I will venture to say that agriculture growth is not likely to hamper Q2 data much, but I can't speak for Q3. The reasons for this are:
* June, July and now August manufacturing performance has been robust. The pickup began in June but is not fully reflected in the Q1 data, as much as it will be in Q2 data. We can expect manufacturing growth to be in the 6.5-7% range in Q2.
* Electricity output has been growth well, according to the last two monthly IIP and core sector figures. Further, the gas/petroleum output will rise significantly now that both Reliance KG-D6 and Cairns Rajasthan are onstream.
* Construction activity has picked up once again over the last few months. The road sector in particular will register growth, with July road construction rate being over 10kms/day as opposed to just 6kms/day in June.
* Trade/hotels/transporation growth rate is unlikely to improve significantly yet, but growth rate is not likely to fall any further than the Q1 figure.

On another note, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) or investment/GDP is down to 31.6% in Q1, compared to 32.2% in the same quarter last year. Private consumption expenditure is down from 58% to 55.6%, while government consumption expenditure is up from 9.6% to 9.9% . It is better that private consumption has shown a greater decrease than the fall in investment/GDP, indicating that the investment in capacity has not been crimped significantly.

Bloomberg report:
India’s Growth Accelerates for First Time Since 2007

India’s economic growth accelerated for the first time since 2007, indicating the global recession’s impact on Asia’s third-largest economy is waning.

Gross domestic product expanded 6.1 percent last quarter from a year earlier after a 5.8 percent rise in the previous quarter, the Central Statistical Organisation said in New Delhi today. Economists expected a 6.2 percent gain.

India joins China, Japan and other Asian economies in rebounding as the region benefits from more than $950 billion of stimulus spending and lower borrowing costs. India’s recovery may stall as a deficient monsoon threatens to reduce harvests and spur food inflation, making it harder for the central bank to judge when to raise interest rates.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 31 Aug 2009 19:12

Good time to become a Banana Republic and have G9 for breakfast:

Banana Republic

* India is the world’s largest banana producer, accounting for over 26 per cent global production.
* From just 0.01 per cent share,, India hopes to capture 2 per cent of global banana trade in five years.
* Exports have risen nearly five times from Rs 11.7 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 55 crore in 2008-09
* Productivity per plant has risen from the low levels of 15-20 kg to around 70 kg in many farms.
* In two years flat, banana acreage has gone up 30 per cent to 7,80,000 hectares.

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261519

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 31 Aug 2009 20:28

empirically...new car sales are up. people are once more going into their upgrade/addition cycles.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 01 Sep 2009 00:08

Yes! Auto sector has posted growth accross the board...two wheelers, cars to HCV.

Barring a U turn in western economies we have greener times ahead of us.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 01 Sep 2009 00:11

Thanks Singha and Katare. The auto sales data in the last two months slipped my mind while listing out the basis for the Q2 prognosis in my earlier post. Both two-wheeler and car makers have reported strong growth in the double digits in recent months. CV sales have been slower, and if they also improve, it would constitute very positive news for overall economic growth this fiscal, since they are a prominent leading barometer.

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 01 Sep 2009 10:44

x-posting from Indian Agriculture and Agro-based Industry
---------------------------------------------------------

pankajs wrote:India’s average farm productivity lowest in the world: U.R. Rao
Pointing out that the country’s food production had remained stagnant for a long time, he said there was a dire need to increase the productivity as the country’s food requirement was increasing sharply in tune with the population growth. The country’s average farm productivity which stood around two tonnes per hectare was the lowest in the world as the global average was about 2.6 tonnes.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 01 Sep 2009 17:02

Economy gurus: Can India continue to grow as rest of the World struggles to recover? How mutually exclusive are these two? As per a DataQuest report, the domestic IT had not gained sufficient traction.

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 02 Sep 2009 00:49

India has officially beaten the Recession

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 02 Sep 2009 06:55

If all these projects materialize in next 5 years we might see load shading disappear from India like telephone waiting lists disappeared in late 1990
Boom time for power equipment companies

vina · Post by **vina** » 02 Sep 2009 08:41

Katare wrote:If all these projects materialize in next 5 years we might see load shading disappear from India like telephone waiting lists disappeared in late 1990
Boom time for power equipment companies

Nope it wont. Less than 50% (maybe just 30% or so) of all power produced in India is metered at all . The remaining simply "disappears" either via T&D (Theft and Dacoity losses) or simply given away free. The local distribution companies are in perennial life support and the entire system runs on Govt IOUs . Now with more power, the subsidies will increase (not decrease) and now since a lot of private companies have entered the generation side, to see how it will pan out, you have to go back to the first "mega project" after liberalization.

The future is many more gigantic Dabhols

Fix the economics of the business and start metering and charging economic costs of power (atleast for the overwhelming bulk of the "unmetered" part) and load shedding will disappear before you can say the words "Power Sector Reform"

John Snow · Post by **John Snow** » 02 Sep 2009 09:21

boss the transmission losses are also very very high due to very poor maintenance practices by SEB, have you ever seen a Porcelain fuse holder, the twist a bunch of Al conductors and strap it to the poles(male part of the fuse holder in the female part

) If the fuse / aka al wires melt because of over load they add one more strand till the transformer goes kaput which is running dry to no oil in the ocre to cool it), Kirloskar gets an order then , Kirloskar says it wont supply till all the bills are paid etc etc.

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 02 Sep 2009 22:57

Vina,

Things are not that bad most power producers are reasonably profitable. First batch of reforms were done with RBI as escrow holder to separate central PSUs/IPPs and coal suppliers from SEBs debts/underpayments. Those arrangements have been very successful so far. Second batch of reform for trifrucating SEBs are almost all done. The rot remains with distribution in rural and semirural areas which can be delt with once supplies improve. State govt that are providing free electricity are all paying cash as bulk purchaser. A lot of investment is also going into TD sector for improving technical losses and minimizing theft. You can't eliminate theft in a poor country like ours but you can certainly contain and deal with it.

Things will improve, they always do!

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 03 Sep 2009 01:54

Rising domestic demand and international prices lead to steel price hike:
SAIL, Tata Steel hike steel prices

Leading steel makers Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Tata Steel today hiked prices of some of their products by up to Rs 1,500 a tonne on improvement in demand, while their peers are considering similar options.

SAIL and Tata Steel have raised prices of their flat steel products primarily consumed by automobile and the white goods industry. Prices of long steel products used in construction and infrastructure sector, however, remain unchanged.

Prices of flat steel products vary in the range of about Rs 29,000-40,000 per tonne in the domestic market.

Steel makers like JSW Steel, Essar Steel, Ispat Industries are mulling similar options to cash in on the rising demand.

GoI to sell 15% of Coal India

The government is planning to increase its disinvestment target in Coal India (CIL) from 10 per cent proposed earlier to 15 per cent as it wants to put a sizeable number of shares in the market and also offer them to employees and farmers displaced by its mines.

The official said the CIL's initial public offering (IPO) of about 15 per cent would be done in one go and not in bits and pieces.

The company, which has a paid-up equity capital of about Rs 6,316 crore, clocked a pre-tax profit of Rs 8,738.46 crore in the last fiscal. It plans to offer stock options to over 4 lakh employees. Besides, it would also offer shares to the displaced farmers as part of the compensation. CIL has mines spread in Chattishargh, Orissa and Jharkhand on land acquired from farmers.

CIL has an estimated coal reserves of up to 100 billion tonnes and over 80 per cent market share in the country.

The company produced about 403 million tonnes of coal last fiscal and became the world's largest coal producer in terms of output in the period.

The company has a capital expenditure plan of Rs 3,200 crore for this fiscal and aims to increase production by 7.5 per cent to 435 million tonnes by the end of the current financial year.

Another pointer to rising growth prospects. The railway loading growth is particularly driven by core sector goods like coal, cement, petro products and steel. This implies August core sector and IIP figures ought to be robust too:
Indian Railways reports 12% growth in August freight loading

The total loading in August was 72.9 million tonnes as against 65.27 million tonnes the corresponding period last year, according to a tentative loading data available with railways.

"The growth in August this year in comparison to last year was about 11.67 per cent. The final data will be compiled by next week," said a senior Railway Ministry official. In July, railways had registered 5.83 per cent increase in goods loadings.

Freight loading is witnessing an upward trend due to the surge in demand for coal, cement, steel, foodgrains and petroleum products, he said.

The growth in loading has been recorded in coal (16.5 per cent), cement and steel (15 per cent), foodgrains (11 per cent) and petroleum products (14 per cent).However, there is a negative growth of five per cent in fertiliser loading.

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 04 Sep 2009 08:52

India’s Growth Accelerates for First Time Since 2007

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 05 Sep 2009 05:13

India to invest $10 billion in IMF: Pranab

http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090904/83 ... mf-pr.html

London, Sep 4 (IANS) India is to invest up to $10 billion in the International Monetary Fund as part of a major thrust to wrest a greater say in the running of international financial institutions, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced Friday.

'India has decided to invest up to $10 bn of its reserves in notes issued by the IMF,' Mukherjee said after a meeting of the finance ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) in London.

....

The Indian pledge is part of a total of $80 billion that the four BRIC countries will invest into the IMF in order to replenish its fund aimed at helping out countries that are struggling in the current financial crisis.

China will account for $50 billion of this amount, and the rest will be borne by India, Russia and Brazil.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 05 Sep 2009 05:43

some interesting points on delhi power sector reforms

http://praja.in/en/blog/murali772/2009/ ... vatisation

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 05 Sep 2009 17:18

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/world ... ht.html?hp

Two sides of the economic coin...

PIPRI VILLAGE, India — Two very different recent scenes from India: At a power breakfast in New Delhi for many of the country’s corporate leaders and top economic officials, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared that India had “weathered the storm” of the global economic crisis and was witnessing “green shoots” in industry and services that signaled a return to more rapid growth by next year.

Hundreds of miles away in this farming village in Andhra Pradesh, in the south, weeds were the only green shoots sprouting in the black soil that belongs to the widow Chandli Bai. Her field went 12 weeks without rain during India’s annual monsoon season before showers finally arrived on Aug. 23, splattering down too late onto the dry dirt. Her summer crop of lentils was stillborn in the ground.

“We eat once a day,” said Mrs. Bai, 65, explaining how she and her family had survived the lack of rain.

For the past year, as the economic crisis convulsed much of the world, India wobbled but never tumbled over. And now that the world is starting to pull itself out of the mire, India seems poised to resume its rapid economic expansion. Government officials are projecting that growth will reach or surpass 6 percent this year and approach 8 percent next year, almost the pace that established India as an emerging global economic power second only to China.

manju · Post by **manju** » 05 Sep 2009 22:52

Deleted. Please post unrelated trivia questions in the nukkad thread.
Thanks

Nirantar · Post by **Nirantar** » 06 Sep 2009 18:42

Can Economy-Gurus share their gyaan please?

Is there any inter-relationship in the market trends for the below actors and whats their impact on economy in general:-
1. Crude Oil;
2. USD;
3. Gold;
4. SENSEX

I agree that there may not be the hard and fast one but there must be some sort of noticeable trend observed over the years.

vishwakarmaa · Post by **vishwakarmaa** » 07 Sep 2009 09:23

Dharavi not Asia's largest slum, it is Karachi: UNDP

http://www.zeenews.com/news561307.html

Dmurphy · Post by **Dmurphy** » 07 Sep 2009 09:39

Not sure where to put this. Where's that thread on Indian Governance?

Anyway, New pact to help India trace black money: Swiss govt

Is this the same thing that Advani was braving to do if he won the elections? If so, then the UPA seems to be keeping quite a few of his promises like a new law to combat terror, Unique ID, Black Money

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 07 Sep 2009 10:08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bbbs8my-yE

Professor Roubini China cannot drive the world out of recession Sept 1st 2009

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 07 Sep 2009 23:04

Disinvestment program finally pickingup pace. But unfortunately GoI missed the best time when market was sizzling for disinvesting its stocks thanks to left parties. NDA also got piss poor prices when it disinvested in dipressed market.

OIL IPO subscribed 91% in an hour

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 08 Sep 2009 02:48

Chaos: A tale of 4 inflation rates.

Tanaji · Post by **Tanaji** » 08 Sep 2009 17:18

Should we have a separate thread on the new proposed Direct Taxes Code Bill 2009 which will radically transform the way we pay our taxes?

Have a question on the way it will work: It proposes a Exempt - Exempt - Tax model for most cases ... currently National Savings Certificates are exempt, but wont be in the new scheme. They will be taxable on maturity as well. Doesn't that mean we will pay twice in taxes? This is just an example, and I am mistaken probably, here is hoping someone can clear this up.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 08 Sep 2009 18:36

Cell phones, digicams to be among 300 new items in WPI series.

Over 300 new items such as moblie phones and digital cameras would figure in the new wholesale price index that would give a better
picture of the price situation.

And close to 30 items would be knocked off from the new inflation series expected to be out by December.

"Existing series has many obsolete items. They will not figure in the new series...there will be 25-30 articles which you will not see in the new index we are compiling," an official said.

With the addition of new items, data reporting would be more representative and give a better picture of the price situation, the official claimed.

The base year for the new index will be 2004-05 while the WPI is presently calculated on 1993-94 base.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which brings out the inflation data, has started a trial run of the new index and data is being collected.

More than 300 new items such as cell phones and laptop computers would be in the new series that is expected to be released by the end of 2009, the official said.

Most of the addition would be in the manufacturing products category and the primary items, which consist of food grains and milk, would remain unchanged, the official added.

There could be minor changes in the fuel, power light and lubricant group.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 08 Sep 2009 20:31

as hard as some states are trying to advance, there are others which are just pissing away money

----------
2600 crores spent on building statues

NEW DELHI: Rapping the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh for spending a whooping Rs 2,600 crore on memorials for Kanshiram and other Dalit leaders in Lucknow city, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would examine the constitutional validity of such memorials for political leaders, including ex-Prime Ministers, at taxpayers' money.

A bench of Justices B N Aggrawal and Aftab Alam minced no words in chiding the Mayawati government for defending its move to construct the memorials when the country's largest state's GDP stood around a mere two per cent.

"As per the reports you are spending Rs 2,600 crore. Your state GDP is only around 2 per cent. We may ask the government as to how such a colossal expenditure can be incurred.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news ... 987114.cms

AnimeshP · Post by **AnimeshP** » 08 Sep 2009 20:49

Neshant wrote:as hard as some states are trying to advance, there are others which are just pissing away money

----------
2600 crores spent on building statues

NEW DELHI: Rapping the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh for spending a whooping Rs 2,600 crore on memorials for Kanshiram and other Dalit leaders in Lucknow city, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would examine the constitutional validity of such memorials for political leaders, including ex-Prime Ministers, at taxpayers' money.

A bench of Justices B N Aggrawal and Aftab Alam minced no words in chiding the Mayawati government for defending its move to construct the memorials when the country's largest state's GDP stood around a mere two per cent.

"As per the reports you are spending Rs 2,600 crore. Your state GDP is only around 2 per cent. We may ask the government as to how such a colossal expenditure can be incurred.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news ... 987114.cms

The likes of Mulayam and Maya have been a curse on UP. Hopefully, from what I am hearing, the common man in UP is quite fed-up with Ms. Mayawati and might vote her out in the next assembly elections. But then I am afraid of the alternative ...

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 09 Sep 2009 00:16

As mentioned previously, I was waiting for the commercial vehicle sale data for August, since CV sales are an important leading indicator of rising industrial and transportation activity. Growth is again in positive territory now:
Heavy commercial vehicle sales see first upturn in 14 months

Green shoots of revival emerged after August sales figures for medium and heavy commercial goods carriers (M&HCV) showed their first positive growth since June 2008. The growth, however, is still a small 0.9 per cent (just 6,210 vehicles) over last August and is mainly driven by higher government spending.

“This is the first month for the year in which sales of large commercial vehicles have been in positive territory. The primary reason being government spending on infrastructure, which has a direct correlation with sales of large trucks,” said Sugato Sen, senior director of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers which released the auto sales figures today.

Overall auto sales continued its uptrend, growing 24.33 per cent over August last year — the highest for the current financial year. According to the data, 1,008,702 units were sold last month. In July, vehicle sales grew 20.76 per cent.

The positive growth in the M&HCV last month was made possible by truck manufacturers like Tata Motors and Eicher Motors seeing a pick-up in demand for large trucks since June this year. Ashok Leyland posted its first positive sales growth in August, albeit by less than a per cent.

“The sales growth in the M&HCV segment does not surprise us. Sustained GDP growth over the last few months, timely payment of vehicle EMIs by large truckers making them eligible for new vehicle financing, elements of the government’s stimulus package like the 50 per cent depreciation rates on new truck purchases this year and the low base effect of last year have all contributed to positive sales in this segment last month,” said S Ramnath, vice- president (research) of IDFC SSKI Securities.

Ramnath expects sales of large trucks to continue to grow in October through December, since sales of M&HCVs dipped over 50 per cent in the same period last year.

“There will also be additional sales rush by truck operators at the beginning of next year to complete their purchases of new trucks before the new Euro-4 emission norms come into effect in April 2010. This will also contribute to additional sales,” says R Seshasayee, managing director of Ashok Leyland.

However, sales of buses dipped by 7 per cent, following a trend of the past few months.

Industry executives said the government’s procurement of around 15,000 buses under an urban renewal scheme has not been sufficient to revive this segment.

“Out of the order for 10,000 buses placed by the different state transport corporations, only around 250 buses have been delivered so far. There is confusion in the order execution, since most of these buses have specifications like low floor facility which cannot be executed readily in our assembly lines. Besides payments have not been received for the buses delivered so far,” says an industry executive.

The overall commercial vehicle market grew 18.48 per cent over August last year, driven mainly by a 30 per cent growth in light commercial vehicles.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 09 Sep 2009 04:11

Regarding the commercial vehicle industry:
1) As per some estiamtes, the production and operation of a truck - including servicing, maintenance and insurance - creates job opportunities for 8-9 persons.
2) 1% of growth in overall economy the totatl freight traffic is likely to increase by 1%. So one could read this elasticity the other way around as a leading barometer.
3) CV sales had gone down because of liquidity crisis - so if the sales have gone up it means liquidity is back into this industry. Or that diesel prices have gone down.