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India-Bangladesh-Myanmar gas pipeline: Aiyar 'satisfied' with talks
Dhaka: According to reports in the Bangladesh press, petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, categorically stated the Indian position at meetings with his counterpart, saying that India will not accept any conditions from Bangladesh related to the India-Bangladesh-Myanmar gas project.

At a meeting with Mahmudur Rahman, the Adviser on the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Aiyar said issues relating to trade and tariff should not be discussed at the tri-lateral meeting, it should be discussed at bi-lateral talks, a meeting source said.

Aiyar termed the meeting "considerably successful" and told journalists that they discussed the matter in accordance with the guidelines of the draft MoU which was finalised at the first meeting of the Techno-Economic Working Committee on Myanmar-Bangladesh-India gas pipeline in Yangon on February 25, 2005
At the end of the day following the Indian minister's separate meetings with the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister both sides signaled that there was a breakthrough.

Following his meeting with the finance minister Aiyar said that India was ready to provide transit to Nepal, however, the finance minister said that free trade issue could wait as solving the transit and electricity issue were the priority.

"I am satisfied with the discussions and I hope to come here soon to sign the three-party agreement," the visiting Indian minister told newsmen following his meeting with the finance and planning minister M Saifur Rahman at the latter's office.

"After my discussion with the Prime Minister, the finance minister, the foreign minister and the energy adviser I am fully satisfied," the Indian minister said.

On the Bangladesh's demand to provide transit to Nepal, the minister said that the transit was very much there.

Meanwhile, Energy Adviser Mahmudur Rahman said Bangladesh would still stick to its previous position on the issue of trans-border gas-pipeline through which India plans to import natural gas from Myanmar.

Mani Shankar Aiyar arrived in Dhaka yesterday morning from London by a flight of British Airways with a fractured leg. From Zia International Airport he was taken to the car and later to the Apollo Hospital in a wheelchair. The Indian minister injured his leg in London shortly before boarding a British Airways for Dhaka. Aiyar left Dhaka about midnight yesterday.
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Chidambaram unveils four-pronged strategy for SMEs
Coimbatore: Finance minister P Chidambaram has unveiled a four-pronged strategy for the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which will include the passage of required legislation and the doubling of bank credit to Rs1,35,000 crore in five years.

Launching Smera, the country's first dedicated credit rating agency for SMEs, he said the SME development bill would be tabled in Parliament in the winter session.

The finance minister said the limit for the credit-linked capital subsidy scheme too would be enhanced from Rs40 lakh term loan to Rs1 crore, while the percentage would be raised from 12% to15%. A notification for this was expected shortly, Chidambaram said.

Chidambaram also added that Sidbi would soon be remodelled to serve the SME sector better. At the launch of Smera, the finance minister highlighted three major benefits for SMEs - adequate and timely credit, low collateral and lower rate of interest.

He was hopeful of the success of Smera, considering the involvement of major public and private sector banks.

Sidbi along with Dun & Bradstreet, Credit Information Bureau of India and a number of banks is promoting Smera. The move assumes importance as SMEs contribute 40% of the country's GDP, almost half of India's exports and generate 45% of industrial employment.
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Govt. may back off on ONGC board nomination issue
New Delhi: The petroleum ministry today indicated that it might take back the nomination of VK Sibal, director-general of hydrocarbons, to the board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in an attempt to make peace with ONGC Chairman Subir Raha.

Sibal, on his part, fired a broadside against Raha saying that ONGC was leaking information on new oil and gas discoveries to the media instead of first reporting these to his office with an eye on the company's stock price. He added that ONGC's action could invite a complaint to the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

He also indicated that he would not step down from the ONGC board, maintaining that he was appointed by a presidential order.

Raha had earlier written to Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar that he would resign if the existing government nominees on the ONGC board pushed a resolution effecting the nomination of the two new directors at the AGM. With the government having a controlling stake of 74 per cent, such a resolution can be passed.

ONGC executives, on their part, maintained that the norms laid down by Sebi did not permit more than two government directors on the company's board.
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Nasscom: IT and ITeS exports to grow by 35 per cent
New Delhi: The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) on Monday said that the export of IT and IT-enabled services was expected to grow between 30-35 per cent in 2005-06.

The apex body for software and IT services companies also said that the Fringe Benefit Tax in the present form would hurt the business.

Last year, IT and ITeS exports grew 34.5 per cent to US$17.2 billion. Nasscom had earlier forecast a growth of around 30-32 per cent in 2005-06.

Speaking at the Nasscom-Forrester seminar on `Infrastructure Outsourcing', Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom, pointed out that a US$200bn global market for infrastructure outsourcing provides a huge opportunity for India.

"The export of infrastructure management services from India has been growing at the rate of more than 100 per cent per annum and this growth is expected to continue as the size of the market is $200 billion and the Indian share is just $450 million," Sudin Apte, Forrester Country Manager (India), said.

Forrester has done a study on the infrastructure market.

Apte said Indian vendors would have to carve out a strategy for bagging large IMS deals, which are currently being taken by large multinational companies such as IBM. The most active verticals in outsourcing IT infrastructure are banks and financial services institutions, manufacturing, energy and utilities as most of these have been the early adopters in using the offshore IT services model.

On the impact of FBT, Karnik said, "The way FBT is being implemented in the present form is not good. It would bring a lot of legitimate business expenditure incurred by the companies under the tax net. Companies spent a lot on ensuring long-term benefits of employees, which would now attract tax under FBT. Many of these companies may stop investing in the long-term benefits of the workers."
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Rajasthan to roll out two more luxury trains
Kolkata: The Government of Rajasthan has drawn up plans to introduce two more luxury trains on the lines of the Palace on Wheels to further promote the growth of tourism in the State. To facilitate access to less-visited tourist destinations, several airstrips in the State are also being made operational.

Ms Usha Punia, Rajasthan's minister for tourism, told newspersons here that the two new trains would have packages that would be cheaper than that on offer from the Palace on Wheels, where rates hover round Rs17,000 per person per night.

Rates for the Royal Orient Express, which proposes to commence operations by next month, would be pegged at around Rs10,000 per person per night. It would offer five-night trips ex-Delhi and cover places of tourist interest such as Shekhawati, Bikaner, Ajmer and Chittor.

Ms Punia said talks have been initiated with the Ministry of Railways to acquire the Deccan Queen Express and run it on the tourist circuit.

In 2004-05, Rajasthan attracted 1.6-crore domestic tourists and 9.72-lakh foreign tourists. In the current fiscal, the State hopes to attract two-crore domestic tourists and 12-lakh foreign tourists.
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