PMO hauls up DoT on BSNL tender
The Prime Minister's Office has sought comments from DoT on certain issues brought to its notice regarding the grant of 18-million line contract to ITI-Alcatel joint venture under the public sector quota system.

The PMO has sought responses to a number of allegations, including that the specifications of the tender was repeatedly changed to protect the interests of some foreign firms and that the tender was not processed in a transparent manner.

Another allegation is that ITI has incurred a loss as a result of the joint venture with Alcatel, as its plants at Mankapur and Rae Bareli were being given only a small portion of the work force.
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Duty cut on three products
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has slashed customs duty on polycarbonates, a group of thermoplastics, from 12.5 per cent to 5 per cent. It has also cut the 5 per cent duty on Bisphenol-A, used for making polycarbonate plastic.

The ministry made these customs duty changes after the implementation of the Early Harvest Scheme (EHS) in the Indo-Thai agreement from September 1 this year.

The customs duty on epichlorohydrin (ECH), a petrochemical used as a key raw material in the manufacture of epoxy resins, pesticides and certain pharmaceutical formulations, has also been reduced from five per cent to 2 per cent.

In India, Tamil Nadu Petroproducts is the sole producer of ECH.

Under the EHS, India had eliminated customs duty on 82 items including epoxy resins and polycarbonates.
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Rich people growing rapidly in India
Mumbai: The number of rich people (also known as high net worth individuals or HNIs) is growing rapidly. According to the Asia-Pacific Wealth Report by DSP Merrill Lynch (DSPML) and consultant Capgemini India the number of Indian HNIs stood at 83,000 and is up 19.3 per cent over 2004.

These HNIs held $290 billion in assets at the end of 2005, representing 3.8 per cent of the total Asia-Pacific HNI wealth.

HNIs are people with net financial assets of at least $1 million, excluding primary residence and consumables.
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Industry not for 100-per cent FDI in retail: Assocham
New Delhi: Industry body Assocham has Monday opposed the proposed 100 per cent FDI in organised retail sector as the domestic industry is not prepared to face competition from international players.

It said organised retail sector players have demanded at least two to three years time to prepare themselves before they faced competition from international retail giants.

However, these players are in favour of a 49-per cent FDI in the sector, Assocham said in a release.

In a note submitted to the commerce and industry ministry, the chamber has urged the government to first consult the domestic industry before finalising and announcing entry of overseas mega malls in the country.
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Jharkhand, TN vie for mega power units
New Delhi: Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand have joined the long list of states that want to host a 4,000-MW ultra mega power project. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the body entrusted with planning for the power sector, is shortlisting possible sites for the plant.

As a pre-condition for getting an ultra mega power project, the ministry of power has set its preconditions like the restructuring the state electricity board (SEB) in Jharkhand. In Tamil Nadu the ministry of power has asked the state government to provide Rs 1.20 per unit of power supplied to agriculture. At present, Tamil Nadu pays a subsidy of Rs 0.20 per unit for the 12,000m units of power as free supply to agriculture.

As the reality of increasing power shortage, rising demand and consumers unwilling to put up with extended power cuts sinks in, states have realised that there is no way out but to add power generation capacity.

Given the fiscal health of states, ultra mega power projects become the financially viable route to capacity addition. For these 4,000MW projects, states don't have to make any fiscal investment. Instead, they are supposed to help procure requisite clearances such as land acquisition and water linkage.

The ultra mega power projects would be awarded through tariff-based competitive bidding, that is to the developer with the lowest tariff. Power purchase agreements, or a commitment to buy a certain amount of power, are undertaken by distribution utilities. For fiscally-strapped state governments, ultra mega power projects offer a practical option to meet the rising demand for power. This is why a large number of states — Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka — have put in demands for an ultra mega power project since the concept was first floated.
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Government approves anti-dumping duty on Chinese CDs
New Delhi: The government has imposed anti-dumping duty of up to Rs four per unit on recordable compact discs from China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The imports from China attract maximum anti-dumping duty of 9.4 cents per piece, while from Singapore the duty is 6.4 cents, Taiwan 7.5 cents and Hong Kong 4.9 cents.
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