Railways open up container operations
New Delhi: The Indian Railways has opened up container operations to private and public sector players, thereby breaking the monopoly enjoyed by Container Corporation of India till now. According to the ministry, those interested can take route-specific or all-India permission by making a one-time payment of Rs10-50 crore.

The Railways will grant operating permission for 20 years, which can be further extended by another 10 years to transport export-import (EXIM) and domestic traffic.

While the registration fee has been kept relatively low, the earnings for the Railways would be through haulage charges that the parties would have to pay on a per-container basis. For instance for each container on the Delhi-Mumbai route, operators would have to pay Rs12,000 as per current haulage charges, which can be reviewed by the Railways from time to time.

To apply, applicants need to have a net worth or annual turnover of Rs100 crore. They will have to make their own arrangements for a rail-linked inland container depot (ICD) by leasing it from ICD owners or by owning it. They also have to procure flat wagons for transporting containers, whereas Railways would provide locomotives.

There is no cap on the number of players who would be allowed to operate in each route.

The Railways would invite applications for one month every year. Applicants will have to pay the registration fee while applying. The registration fee of those applicants who are not eligible will be refunded. The permission would be for a 20-year period and can be extended by another 10 years subject to satisfactory functioning by the operator.

Players can exit operations by transferring the permission to another eligible operator, with Railways approval. Players are free to decide the level of tariff for charging their customers for rail haulage, terminal handling and ground rent.
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New computer magazine launched
Chennai: Mumbai-based Next Gen Publishing (NGPL) has launched 'Computeractive,' UK's best selling computer magazine, in India.

The magazine, priced at Rs60 per copy, is the flagship magazine of VNU Business Publications, GPP, London, and is published in 19 countries including the UK, Holland, Spain, Italy, Indonesia, Greece and South Africa.

Hoshang S Billimoria, CEO of NGPL said, "Initially, we are bringing out 50,000 copies all over the country."

NGPL is a joint venture between Forbes Group and HDFC Ltd Enterprise.
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Personal computers see higher sales in first half
New Delhi: Personal computer sales touched 23.4 lakh units during the first half of the current fiscal, a growth of 36 per cent over H1 of last fiscal. According to the Manufacturers Association of Information Technology (MAIT), which tracks the PC industry, PC sales are expected to touch 47 lakh units in the current fiscal.

The association has revised the projection upwards from the earlier 42.5 lakh units for the entire fiscal on the back of strong anticipated sales across sectors.
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GDP likely to grow by 7.7 pc in FY07
New Delhi: India's GDP, with a boost from a booming manufacturing and services sector, may grow to 7.7 per cent in 2006-07. However, inflationary pressures may lead to hike in interest rates, said the Bank of America chief economist, Mickey Levy in the report 'Global Outlook for 2006'.

However, the report warned that cutting fiscal deficit as per FRBM Act is likely to remain a challenge in the absence of further budgetary reforms.

Growth is likely to be more evenly distributed among varying sectors, with the manufacturing and services sectors maintaining forward momentum and agriculture benefiting from a normal rainfall. Rising income levels will see inflationary pressure mounting in addition to the effect of the gradual pass-through of higher fuel prices in 2005.

Wholesale price inflation (WPI) is projected to average higher at 5.1 per cent in 2006-07 compared to 4.6 per cent in 2005-06 in part due to a low base this year, Levy said.
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Karnataka considers reviving Kudremukh mines
Bangalore: The Karnataka Government said it would come out with alternative plans within a fortnight to revive operations of the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company (KIOCL) which was shut down under a Supreme Court order on December 31.

The government says it does not want the company to be dissolved. It said it would take the decision in another 10 or 15 days. The KIOCL was closed after three-decade-long operations following apex court order after environmentalists filed a case stating that the mining operations would affect the environment in the Western Ghat region.
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Internet user base rises to 31.7 lakh
New Delhi: Internet subscribers increased to 31.7 lakh in September 2005 from 29.2 lakh in March last year hardware association MAIT said. The penetration of Internet among businesses was 48 per cent while that in households was 15 per cent.

The business segment now contributes 42 per cent of the total active internet entities and households account for the remaining 58 per cent.

Dial-up remains the most commonly used means of accessing the internet among businesses although the proportion of businesses using dial-up has dropped from 57 per cent in September 2004 to 47 per cent in 2005. The proportion of users accessing Internet through DSL/cable link increased from 28 per cent to 36 per cent in the same period.
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Karnataka in talks with WB for health loan
Bangalore: The World Bank may extend the state of Karnataka Rs642 crore in loan assistance for a five-year project under which health care faciltities in district and taluk level hosptials in the state would be upgraded.

Under the project, about 500 doctors would either be recruited through the state Public Service Commission or by direct recruitment by May end. Plans were afoot to recruit 2807 paramedical staff, he said. The government has already upgraded 25 taluk hospitals with 30 to 50-bed capacity to 100-bed capacity this year.
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Indian apparel exports growth disappoints
New Delhi: Growth of India's apparel and clothing exports in the first year of the dismantling of quotas in the world textile trade is disappointing. Against the expected 25-30 per cent growth the industry has witnessed an increase of just 15 per cent, said the president of Clothing Manufacturers Association of India Premal Udani.

India exported US$6.5 billion worth of apparel in 2004-05. The main reason for the sluggish growth in exports was attributed to the low drawback rates. He said during the year the drawback rates were changed and stand at 6-6.5 per cent at present. If the drawback rates are increased to 15 per cent apparel exports from India would double in three years, he said.

Udani said drawback only takes care of excise and custom duty while the exporters have to pay plethora of other state and central taxes.

After decades of control, the global textile trade was freed from quota restrictions on January 1, 2005.
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UP to revive power sector
New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has chalked out a tentative business plan envisaging a total investment of about Rs51,000 crore to provide electricity to all, and turn around the ailing sector by 2012.

The state government has estimated a total requirement of Rs50,888 crore, including transitional funding of Rs16,500 crore and investment support of over Rs34,000 crore till 2011-12,by when it plans to reduce aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses to 23 per cent from 42 per cent now.

According to central government estimates, the total commercial losses of power utilities in the state have risen from Rs2,500 crore in 2001-02 to Rs2,850 crore in 2003-04. The state had the second highest commercial losses during 2003-04 in power sector after Gujarat, which posted losses of more than Rs3,000 crore.
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