Aviation FDI cap hiked to 49 percent: Tokenism, says the market
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet has hiked the FDI cap in domestic airlines to 49 per cent from the existing 40 per cent. Foreign airlines though would not benefit from the decision since they will remain barred from picking up a stake, directly or indirectly.

The Cabinet had said earlier that non-resident Indians and overseas corporate bodies (OCBs) would be allowed to hold 100 per cent equity in domestic airlines through the automatic route. Earlier, this was allowed only through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) route.

Meanwhile, the response in the markets was that the move was unlikely to make any major difference to the sector. The markets queried that even earlier, with the FDI cap fixed at 40 per cent, there were'nt too many investors in the sector so a token rise of this nature was unlikely to raise sentiments.

Describing the Cabinet's decision as a "positive development", the promoter of the soon-to-be-launched low cost airline, Kingfisher Airways, Vijay Mallya, felt there was a need to find a "balance" between investments and some form of participation that would provide a level of comfort to the investor.
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Onions removed from essential commodities list
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has decided to take onions out from the Essential Commodities Act, according to the Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

The move will enable free movement of onions within the country and for export. The move will also help stabilize prices and ensure that onion farmers get a better price for their product.
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Cotton Corporation to check price fall
New Delhi: The Centre has directed the Cotton Corporation of India Ltd (CCI) to undertake unlimited procurement of cotton to prevent market prices from plunging below the official Minimum Support Prices (MSP) declared for 2004-05.

The decision follows a meeting between the Union Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, and the Textile Minister, Shankarsinh Vaghela, which was also attended by the Textile Commissioner and the CCI Chairman.

The CCI will now announce its price support operations within a week's time, and start purchases to prevent prices from going below the MSP, according to the minister, Sharad Pawar.

For 2004-05, the MSP of cotton (kappas) has been pegged at Rs1,760 per quintal for J-34/H-777/F-414 varieties (against Rs1,725 during 2003-04) and Rs1,960 per quintal for the H-4 variety (Rs1,925 in 2003-04).

CCI, which earned a profit after tax of Rs10.74 crore on a total income of Rs1,049.49 crore during 2003-04, is the Centre's designated agency to undertake price support operations, whenever the price of kapas (seed cotton) touches the MSP.
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Cabinet committee clears IA dues
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved`in principle' a one-time non-Plan budgetary assistance of about Rs138.33 crore to Indian Airlines to clear dues to several creditors, including Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

Besides, the Government has also decided to write off dues worth Rs19.07 crore, including Rs15.97 crore owed to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The move will enable the airline to discharge liabilities of the former feeder airline Vayudoot.
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