Government plans petrol, diesel prices review on January 31
Panipat: The Government plans to review petrol and diesel prices on January 31 and may reduce prices if international crude prices fall further.

International crude prices have fallen to 19-month-low this month. The Indian basket of crude oil is currently averaging around $51 a barrel and a reduction in petrol and diesel prices was possible only if crude prices slip below $50 a barrel on a sustained basis.

Earlier, Srinivasan had said that the government may reduce petrol and diesel prices if the current fall in international oil prices continues and crude declines below 50 dollars a barrel level.

In November, petrol and diesel prices were cut by Rs2 and Re1 a litre respectively when the basket of crude that Indian refiners buy was at 56.8 dollars per barrel. The Indian basket has since fallen to just under $53 per barrel, the lowest this fiscal.

The current excise duty on petrol is 8.16 per cent of ex-factory price plus Rs13.26 a litre, while for diesel it is 8.16 per cent plus Rs3.32 a litre.

The ministry has suggested a specific duty of Rs15.92 for petrol and Rs6.08 per litre for diesel in the forthcoming Budget.
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Indo-Europe trade to touch $100 billion by 2010: IndusView
New Delhi: Trade between India and Europe is expected to reach $100 billion by 2010 according to IndusView, a consultancy firm on mergers and acquisitions.

The consultancy firm said 2007 would see a record number of Indian companies acquiring businesses in Europe, while Western companies would make increased efforts to take a stake in India.

Indian companies spent around $10 billion on overseas acquisitions in Europe in 2006, accounting for 42 per cent of the total companies acquired. European companies invested almost $20 billion in India in 2006, half of which was private equity.

The consultants feel that in 2007, this growth is expected to take India into the top five economies in the world. Indian companies invested $2 billion in UK alone in 2006.
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Indian biz owners emerge as most confident in world: Study
New Delhi: Indian business owners have emerged as the most confident lot worldwide about the prospects of their economy for fourth year in running, a new study revealed.

Apart from having a higher level of confidence in the overall economy, Indian business owners are most optimistic globally about growth of their business turnover as well, according to an International Business Report (IBR) survey published by Grant Thornton International.

Asian business owners are also the most confident in the world with India, Philippines, China and Singapore, taking the top four positions in the IBR survey.
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Andhra Pradesh lures textile mills from TN
Coimbatore: Textile mill owners from Tamil Nadu seem to be interested in setting up units in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh following promises of lucrative incentives and skilled manpower.

The reason for this is that Andhra Government has promised them power and land at low cost. In addition to this the state offers plenty of skilled manpower.

The AP Government has promised to provide power at Rs 2.50 per unit to textile units setting up mills in the State, said Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) chairman, S V Arumugam and added that 10 large mills have expressed their willingness to set up units in the State.

On the other hand the power supply position is deteriorating in Tamil Nadu and disruption of power during peak hours is affecting the textile mills' production, particularly in the western region, where there is major concentration of textile firms.

Moreover, non-availability of labourers and skilled workers was also creating problem to the mills that started picking up after a four-year crisis.
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Industrial output rises 14.4 per cent
New Delhi: India's industrial production increased 14.4 per cent in November from a year before, far higher than market expectations due to a strong surge in manufacturing output, Government data showed on Friday.

Output growth for October was revised down to an annual 4.4 per cent, from a previously reported 6.2 per cent.

Manufacturing production, which represents more than 75 per cent of industrial output, rose 15.7 per cent in November from a year earlier, compared with a provisional 6.0 per cent annual growth in October.
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Subsidies for poor to continue: FM
Panipat: Finance minister, P Chidambaram said subsidies would not be withdrawn from the poor and said a high level of growth for 10 years was required to wipe out poverty.

He said subsidies like that on kerosene and LPG would go on. He said for every litre of kerosene sold at Rs9 per litre, the Government provides subsidy of Rs14. Similarly on domestic LPG, the subsidy is Rs155 per cylinder.

He said Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia maintained high growth rate for 10 years in the 1980s, while China has shown appetite for high growth rate on a sustained basis since the end of 1980s.
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Inflation rises to 5.58 per cent
New Delhi: Inflation rose to 5.58 per cent for the week ended December 30 mainly due to higher prices of food articles, some fuel items and a few manufactured products.

Inflation stood at 5.48 per cent in the previous week and 4.56 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Inflation at 5.58 per cent is this fiscal's highest, according to provisional estimates. However, as per the revised estimates inflation had already touched 5.61 per cent during the week ended October 21.

Prices of poultry chicken, fish marine, arhar, fruits, cottonseeds, gingelli seed, furnace oil, naphtha, epoxy resins became dearer. However, prices of eggs, gram, vegetables, tea and coffee declined.
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Infrastructure status may be given to gas pipelines: FM
Panipat: Finance minister P Chidambaram has said infrastructure status may be granted to natural gas pipelines in the forthcoming budget, saying they were of equal important as roads and railway tracks.

The government has granted roads and railways infrastructure status, entitling a ten-year tax holiday to the companies operating in these sectors.
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