Industrial growth up at 8.8 per cent in Feb
New Delhi: Indian industry grew by 8.8 per cent in the month of February, powered by growth in the manufacturing and electricity sectors.

The index of industrial production (IIP) for the month of February showed that as many as 13 of the 17 industry groups had positive growth as compared to the same month a year ago.

During the cumulative period of April-Feb, 2005-06, IIP registered a growth of 8 per cent.
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India's gem and jewellery exports up 6.32% in FY06
New Delhi: The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) of India announced the performance figures for the Indian Gems & Jewellery Sector for FY 2005-06. According to the council, the Indian gem and jewellery industry has witnessed a growth of 6.32% with total gem and jewellery exports reaching US$16669.11mn (Rs733.04bn) as compared to US$15678.14mn ( Rs702.46bn) in the same period last year.

The growth in the sector was primarily driven by the cut and polished diamonds (CPD) segment, which witnessed a remarkable increase of 6.07%. The export sales of CPD grew to US$11860.49mn during FY 2005-06 from US$11181.56mn in the corresponding period in FY2004-05, while total volume of CPD were at 432.72 Lakh carats during FY 2005-06 as compared to 479.47 lakh carats in the corresponding period in FY 2004-05.

Gold jewellery exports registered a growth of 1.28% with exports recorded at US$3861.57mn in FY 2005-06 as compared to US$3812.88mn in FY 2004-05.

Colored gemstones grew by 21.05% to US$233.32mn in FY 2005-06 as compared to US$192.75mn in FY 2004-05.

The United States, Hong Kong and UAE were the top export markets for the Indian gem and jewellery products accounting for 28%, 21% and 15% of the total exports followed by Singapore and Belgium accounting for 9% and 8% respectively.

On the import front, total imports of gem and jewellery grew by 11.79% to with imports increasing from US$11640.21mn in FY 2004-05 to US$13013.11mn in FY2005-06.

Rough diamonds were imported to the tune of US$8708.98mn; gold bar for US$856.60mn and cut and polished diamonds for US$3009.02mn.
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Deloitte business plan likely choice for Chennai port
Chennai: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India is likely to prepare a business plan for the Chennai port. The company has been selected after processing the financial and technical bids. A total of fourteen bidders were in the fray for the project. While three foreign companies directly submitted their tenders, two tied up with Indian companies.

According to sources, there were nine India-based companies in the fray. Tata Consultancy Services joined hands with Rotterdam Maritime Group and Stratagem Inc (Mumbai) bid on behalf of BMT Asia Pacific, Singapore.

The multinationals in the fray were Portia Management Service Ltd, UK; Arthur D. Little, Malaysia; and Rogge Marine Consulting GmbH, Germany.

The India-based companies were: Ion Exchange, Transcare India, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India, Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick (India), KPMG Advisory Services, Consulting Engineering Services (I), Halcrow Group Ltd, Haskoning India and i-maritime Consultancy, the source said.
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