Economy not overheated: survey
New Delhi: An Assocham survey has found that the Indian economy is not overheated and has the capacity to absorb 8 to 9 per cent growth for a long period.

According to the Assocham Business Barometer (ABB), 74 per cent of the 280 CEOs and CMDs surveyed from different segments of industry believed the economy was not stretched.

However, 69 per cent respondents said a continuous caution was required to maintain macro-economic stability so as to maintain pick-up in investment and growth on a sustained basis.

While inflation remained an area of concern for the government and the policy-makers, the root of the inflationary problem was in the hardening of primary commodity prices.

The contribution of the primary articles with a weight of 22.03 pc in the WPI basket was 28.8 pc in the 34 weeks until November 18. Major contribution to inflation was made by cereals; pulses; potatoes, milk, condiments and spices and minerals, the chamber said.

Over 88 per cent of the respondents said in the short-term, the supply of the primary products could be augmented by measures like reduction in customs duty and improving production of these essential commodities by giving a boost to agriculture.

However, 21 per cent of the respondents did express fear of the economy getting overheated. They argued that besides the mounting problem of inflation, the mismatch between investments and savings could lead to the problem of overheating.
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Rivals fanning Singur fire: Ratan Tata
Mumbai: Tata group chief Ratan Tata while admitting that Tata Motors' bid to acquire land for a new plant in Singur, West Bengal, had been caught in "a political quagmire," blamed unnamed competitors for fuelling the controversy.

Tata said the events happening in West Bengal were not just political and that some of the company's competitors were fuelling the fire and would be very happy if the project got delayed," speaking to news channel NDTV 24x7 in an interview to be telecast on Saturday.

Tata Motors' project is mired in controversy over acquisition of agricultural land and alleged forcible eviction of farmers. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee is sitting on a hunger strike that has entered its 24th day.

Tata however has resolved not to pull out of Singur.
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Governmentt plans new pharmaceutical policy based on 'realistic' pricing norms
Mumbai: Pharmaceutical companies, which were ordered to cut the prices of their key price-control-free brands, can breathe easier as the new pharmaceutical policy, being finalised by the government, is likely to make price monitoring norms for drugs outside price controls more realistic and in tune with market forces.

According to existing norms, any drug that becomes costlier by over 20 pc in any given 12-month period will attract price controls, irrespective of its price stability before and after the scrutiny period. The new norms are likely to reflect the recommendations of a government-industry panel set up recently.

The panel had recommended a system that does not view the period when prices go up, such that it reflects the period when market forces do not allow a company to increase prices.

The emphasis was that along with annual monitoring, the brand's price movement over a five-year period should also be considered while applying the Drug Price Control Order, which empowers the government to control the price of a non-scheduled drug in public interest.

The existing norm is aimed at spreading the price increase, so that the consumer does not have to experience a sudden increase. The selection of a list of price-controlled drugs and the mode of control under the new policy will be finalised shortly.
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FDI may cross $11 bn in 2006-07
New Delhi: Foreign direct investment into India will double and cross USD 11 billion this fiscal, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has said.

He said that the reinvested earnings of foreign companies already present in India are taken into account, the total FDI inflows in 2006-07 could be $14 billion compared to $7.7 billion last year.

He said the annual review of the FDI policy taking into account the changing requirements of investors has given new confidence to foreign firms, which are bullish on India.
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India, Russia business summit in Feb 2007
India and Russia plan to hold an unprecedented business summit in February next year to explore ways to boost bilateral trade to $10 billion in coming three years, said Indian ambassador to Russia Kanwal Sibal.

During the course of the summit, over 300 top business persons are expected to visit New Delhi in February 2007, shortly after President Vladimir Putin's state visit, to give a new fillip to bilateral economic interaction.

India and Russia have set the target of increasing trade to $10 billion by 2010 from the current level of $3 billion Sibal said and expressed confidence that the Indo-Russian economic forum in New Delhi would help in achieving this goal.
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Undersea cables; internet links in Asia damaged in quake
Singapore: Telecommunications around Asia were disrupted on Wednesday after earthquakes off Taiwan damaged undersea cables, slowing internet services and hindering financial transactions, particularly in the currency market.

South Korea's top fixed-line and broadband service provider, KT Corp, said six submarine cables were damaged by Tuesday night's earthquakes.

Some disruption was also reported in the important Tokyo currency market but the EBS system that handles much dollar/yen trading was working. In India, back offices and call centres experienced some difficulty, but industry officials said the full extent of the problem would not be known until later in the day when data and voice traffic peaked during European and US business hours.

The main quake, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale by Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau and at magnitude 7.1 by the US Geological Survey, struck off Taiwan's southern coast at 1226 GMT on Tuesday.
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