Industrial growth at 10 percent for October
New Delhi: The official Index of Industrial Production (IIP) has registered a year-on-year increase of 10.1 per cent in October.

The index for `manufacturing' has gone up by 11.3 per cent year-on-year during October 2004 (against 7.1 per cent in October 2003), with the corresponding growth rates being 4.7 per cent (2.4 per cent) for `mining' and 3.8 per cent (2.6 per cent) in the case of `electricity'.

For the April-October 2004 period as a whole, the overall growth rate for industry has been 8.4 per cent (6.2 per cent during April-October 2003), making the current fiscal the best since 1995-96, when industry grew by a heady 13 per cent.

While manufacturing growth during the first seven months of 2004-05 stood at 8.8 per cent (against 6.8 per cent in April-October 2003), the corresponding cumulative numbers for mining and electricity were 5 per cent (3.9 per cent) and 7.1 per cent (2.9 per cent), respectively.

As per the `use-based' classification of the IIP, the bulk of the growth is being driven by capital and consumer goods. The index for capital goods has soared by 19.2 per cent in October and 15.1 per cent during April-October 2004, as against the corresponding year-on-year growth rates of 4.9 per cent and 9.2 per cent for October 2003 and April-October 2003, respectively.

During October, the annual growth rate for consumer durables was estimated at 15.5 per cent (against 13 per cent in October 2003), while corresponding being 13.4 per cent (7.2 per cent) for consumer non-durables, 6.8 per cent (4.3 per cent) for basic goods and 6.7 per cent (6.3 per cent) for intermediate goods.

For April-October 2004, the cumulative year-on-year growth amounted to 15.9 per cent (7.7 per cent during April-October 2003) for consumer durables, 8.1 per cent (8.6 per cent) for consumer non-durables, 5.4 per cent (4.3 per cent) for basic goods and 7.6 per cent (5.2 per cent) for intermediate goods.
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Inflation down to 7.3 percent
New Delhi: A sharp 12 per cent fall in the prices of vegetables could pull down inflation only marginally to 7.3 per cent for the week ended November 27.

Manufactured products have become costlier due to higher prices of diesel that forms the bulk of transportation costs.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation fell marginally by 0.04 per cent from the previous week's level of 7.34 per cent, prompting Finance Minister P Chidambaram to say "worst is over" on price line, which was 5.49 per cent a year ago.

However, the latest reported inflation figures have not factored in the increased freight tariffs effected by Indian Railways from November 27 mainly due to rising fuel costs and in accordance with the decision, many steel giants deciding to hike output prices.

The WPI was down by 0.3 per cent to 189.6 points even as fuel prices remained unchanged notwithstanding nervousness in the global crude prices. Government again revised downwards the point-to-point WPI inflation to 7.15 per cent during the week ended October two as compared to the provisional level of 7.20 per cent.

The final WPI stood corrected at 188.9 points during the first week of October as against the provisional 189 points.
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Indo-UK bilateral trade to touch $12 billion for 2004-05
Kolkata: Indo-UK bilateral trade is expected to register a growth of 20 per cent in 2004-05 over 2003-04. From a level of around $ 10 billion in 2003-04, the Indo-UK bilateral trade is expected to touch $ 12 billion in 2004-05, according to Stephen Lillie, Counsellor (Economic) & Director of Trade and Investment, British High Commission, New Delhi.

Lillie said the number of Indian businesses investing in the UK had gone up by 47 per cent in 2003-04 over 2002-03. In 2003-04, 28 new investments from India were established in the UK creating 646 new jobs. That took the total number of Indian companies in the UK to 480. Of this, over 350 companies belonged to the IT and software sector.

According to him, in the current fiscal too an increasing number of Indian companies were either expanding or setting up operations in the UK. The UK had emerged as the top European investment destination for Indian companies targeting the European market and beyond. About 60 per cent of India's foreign direct investment into Europe goes to the UK. In fact, India is the second-largest source of FDI into the UK from Asia in terms of projects and jobs generated and ranks among the UK's top-ten foreign direct investment markets.
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Nepal seeks joint ventures with Indian firms
Kolkata: Citing a highly liberalised FDI policy with macro-economic stability to boost, Nepal has sought joint ventures in textiles with Indian companies for taking advantage of the duty-free EU access now available for Nepalese items, as an LDC (Least Developed Country).

Nepalese govt. officials have said in the post-quota regime, effective January 1, 2005, such joint ventures with Nepalese outfits would strongly benefit the Indian textile sector, which has inherent strengths in primary fabrics. Joint venture exports from Nepal, with value-addition, would be beneficial to both nations.

As part of the reforms initiatives being pursued for accelerated industrialisation and export promotion, a new industrial and FDI policy has been created. Nepal is also planning to set up export processing zones and SEZs (special economic zones) through enactment of an SEZ Act, for such exports, with built-in infrastructure and services, concessionary tax measures and flexible labour laws.

The operationalisation of the new Birganj Inland Container Depot is a major milestone for furthering Indo-Nepal trade through the transit corridor. The issue of Nepal serving as a transit route for Indian cargo on India-registered and Nepal-registered vehicles is being discussed and likely to be finalised soon. The 1999 Transit Treaty and the importance of the Kolkata-Haldia transit route are major achievements.
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PAN and TAN to be mandatory from '05
New Delhi: Quoting of Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Tax Account Number (TAN) on challans will be mandatory from January one next. Accordingly, no payment of tax will be received in banks unless the challan carries PAN of the taxpayer or TAN of the deductor, as the case may be.

A statement from the govt. has said so far 3.6 crore people have been allotted PAN. All taxpayers who do not have PAN must get one immediately availing the 'Tatkal' allotment facility under which the applications could be submitted through the internet and payment made by credit card.

Usually PAN is allotted between 15 working days after UTI Investors and NSDL were appointed to issue PAN. The statement also denied media reports saying that due to non-quoting of PAN on challans or its incorrect capture by banks, tax payment transactions are going into suspense account.
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Pranab: India and Pak can forge common market
New Delhi: Asserting that India and Pakistan can unite through a common market, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee invited Islamabad to work jointly for developing a trade and economic block.

"We have no other option but to undertake serious efforts to break the ice by developing a common approach towards trade and commerce," he said at the 99th Annual General Session of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Both the nations should work towards the success of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) "for making it a platform of pride and a matter of envy for other blocks like EU, NAFTA and ASEAN", he added.

Expressing confidence that both nations can unite through a common market, he said: "If the European nations can come under a common platform of European Union by forgetting over 300 years of conflict, why not India and Pakistan with a history of only 50 years".

Collective approach has become the only way to solve conflicts, he said adding Congress party entering coalition politics reflects this basic principle in the context of the Indian polity.
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