States asked to pre-pay 30 per cent debts with small savings funds
New Delhi: The Centre has asked the states to utilise 30 per cent of their proceeds from net small savings schemes during the current year for debt restructuring. This will be complimented by additional market borrowing. According to sources, the decision follows the debt swap scheme announced in the Budget 2003-04. The Centre and states have mutually agreed to the debt swap scheme and 26 states have agreed to introduce the scheme. Out of a total debt of Rs 2,44,000 crore owed by the states to the Centre, a little over Rs 1,00,000 crore bear coupon rates in excess of 13 per cent. This interest rate is far in excess of the current market rates and constitutes a major item of expenditure for the states.
Back to News Review index page  

Exports of mustard seed creating oil shortage
New Delhi: One of the main reasons for drastic shortage in mustard oil output this year was that mustard seeds were being exported to Nepal and were thus not being made available to the domestic industry for processing, said a study conducted by Mustard Research & Promotion Consortium (MRPC). The study says that about 500,000 tonne of mustard seeds per day are being exported to Nepal. In Nepal about 15 big processing units with crushing capacity of 50 tonne per day have been set up and these units are importing mustard seeds from India. The exporters are getting income tax rebate and they pay no sales tax or mandi tax on seeds procured for exports. This has led to a scarcity in the country, said the MRPC director (technical) D Mathur, one of the co-authors of the study.
Back to News Review index page  

Third World for collective steps to meet WTO goals
New Delhi: A major coalition-building initiative is underway amongst the developing countries in order to ensure the achievement of development objectives in the on-going WTO negotiations. Most Third World nations agree that a high-level of cohesion will be required to fulfill the development goals of the Doha agenda. This was indicated at a meeting convened by India and serviced by UNCTAD under a DFID-funded project for India on "Globalisation and Trade Strategies in Geneva recently.
Back to News Review index page