Customs duty cut may impact government revenues by Rs 3,000 crore
New Delhi: The Centre's move to slash customs duty on cement, various raw materials and capital goods is expected to hit revenues amounting to Rs3,000 crore over the next two months. The move to cut duty across 11 product categories comes a month before the Union Budget for 2007-08 and is apparently aimed at checking inflation which is on the rise.
The headline inflation for the week ended January 6 had risen to 6.12 per cent, the highest in two years, causing concern to the Government and its supporting parties.

The finance minister P Chidambaram said the government was planning to do this anyway on February 28 and decided to advance it because it has the potential to check inflation, especially in the manufacturing sector.

The Finance Ministry on Monday announced removal of customs duty on cement, specified capital goods, project imports and carbon black feedstock. It also cut customs duty on calcined alumina, ferro alloys stainless steel and other alloy steel. Customs duty on primary and semi-finished forms of copper, aluminium, zinc, tin and other base metals have also been reduced. Cement companies feel that the move could have a restraining effect on domestic prices.
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Tech outsourcing exports seen above $31 billion
Mumbai: According to Nasscom's figures India's software and back office services exports are expected to cross $31 billion in 2006/07, a rise of 32.6 per cent from last year. The Association said the sector would employ 1.6 million people by March.
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Indian economy set to be bigger than UK's by 2015
New Delhi: According to a Goldman Sachs report, India can sustain an 8 pc growth rate till 2020 and would overtake UK to become the world's fifth-largest economy by the middle of the next decade at this pace.

The consultancy organisation said its baseline projections for India's potential output growth show that the economy can sustain growth rates of about 8 pc till 2020, which is significantly higher than the 5.7 pc projected in its original BRICs paper Goldman Sachs said in a new economic paper released today.

The report forecasts that India's gross domestic product (GDP) will surpass Italy, France and the UK by the middle of next decade (around 2015). It will then overtake Germany, Japan and finally the US before 2050, to emerge as the second-largest economy after China.
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Petroleum minister wants excise duty cut on diesel
New Delhi: The petroleum minister, Murli Deora has asked for a Re1 per litre cut in excise duty on diesel to contain runaway inflation.

The minister also sought declared good status for natural gas and LNG and infrastructure status for E&P business and LNG imports projects, official sources said.
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Ceiling likely on sugar exports
New Delhi: The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a notification that states that the prohibition on exports (imposed on July 4, 2006) shall not apply to export of sugar executed against valid release orders issued by the Directorate of Sugar in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Till this point, there is no confusion because even in the free export regime prior to July 4, mills had to obtain the Directorate's permission (`release order') to move sugar from their factory gate for exports. The release orders - issued against bill of lading and other confirmatory shipping documents - were necessary to clear the goods without attracting excise duty, otherwise payable on domestic sales.

The rider, however, arises in the latter part of the notification, as per which exports are to be allowed only "up to the limits approved by the government, after which fresh approvals will be taken for further releases".

This means that the centre may set a quantitative limit on sugar exports, against the decision taken in the January 11 meeting of the Cabinet.

The finance minister, P Chidambaram, had clearly said after the meeting that sugar exports would be put on the open general licence (OGL), while being regulated through the Food Ministry's release orders "as is the usual practice". However, the DGFT's latest notification says that the centre (more so, the finance ministry) is still in two minds on freeing exports. Sources say that there was initially a plan to specify a ceiling of 7.5 lakh tonne in the notification, but it was dropped fearing adverse reaction. The notification empowers the centre to fix a limit on exports, while leaving the exact quantum open-ended at present.

During 2005-06 (April-March), the country exported 3,16,850 tonne of sugar worth Rs557.09 crore. In the current fiscal, these figures surged to 10,04,317 tonne and Rs2,119.68 crore within the first quarter, before the ban came into effect.
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