Indian crude basket increases to $60.27 a barrel
New Delhi: The price of Indian crude oil basket rose 21 cents on Friday, compared to the price a day before. The crude basket, which touched the highest level of this year on March 1 at $60.06 a barrel, went up to $60.27 per barrel on Friday. This will increase under-recoveries of the state-owned oil marketing companies, which sell petroleum products at below cost price or subsidised rates.

The Indian basket comprises Oman-Dubai sour grade crude and Brent dated sweet crude in 58:42 ratio. Last Friday, Brent was up 6 cents at $61.76 a barrel from the previous day. Dubai benchmark rose by 28 cents to $59.11 a barrel, while Oman crude stood at $59.43 per barrel up 35 cents.

However, continued losses in the Asian and European stock market fed fears of potential slow down in economic growth that would undermine oil demand and this saw Brent crude below $61 a barrel.

After factoring in the excise duty cut on petrol and diesel from February 28 and recent reduction in prices of these two products the oil marketing companies were suffering under recovery of Rs1.24 per litre on petrol and Rs1.52 per litre on diesel.
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Airport charges to be hiked during peak hours in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore
New Delhi: The Government is considering doubling the airport charges at Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for domestic airlines operating between 7-10 a.m. and 6-10 pm to ease the congestion at these airports.

The airport charges for airlines that fly at non-peak hours will be lower, while those flying in the peak hour may have to pay double. If the proposal is approved, then it could be implemented by the end of the month when the new summer schedule starts.

The doubling of the airport charges could put an additional burden of between Rs22,000 and Rs25,000 per landing, officials said. The move is being considered, as there is heavy congestion at these airports.

Airlines estimate that it costs Rs500-600 per minute in fuel charges alone when the aircraft is taxying, while it costs almost Rs2,000 per minute when an aircraft is holding over an airport.

In December last year, it was estimated that the average taxying time at Bangalore was 14-25 minutes, while in Mumbai it was 11-18 minutes, while ideally it should not take more than a minute, airline officials said.

Most domestic airlines are already charging a congestion surcharge of Rs150 to offset the increase in costs.

While airlines refused to comment on whether the implementation of the new proposal could see a fare hike, the Secretary felt that some element of the increase could be passed on to the customers.
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Govt considering bonus over wheat MSP
New Delhi: Apprehending that private trader will start buying wheat aggressively from farmers, the government is considering offering a bonus over and above the Minimum Support Price of Rs 750 per quintal fixed for the foodgrain to farmers.

The bonus could be between Rs25-50 per quintal.

Lower procurement last year had forced the government to import about 55 lakh tonnes of the commodity, the first time in six years that the country had to buy the grain from overseas.

FCI officials are targeting 150 lakh tonnes of wheat procurement this year.
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Effective tax rates low in India: Chidambaram
New Delhi: Ruling out any reduction in corporate tax rates unless exemptions were removed, finance minister P Chidambaram said effective tax rate in India was already very low.

He said the effective tax rate in India is 19.2 per cent and said there wasn't a single ASEAN country which had an effective tax rate of less than 19 per cent at a post-budget interaction with FICCI members.

He added that only if exemptions are removed effective tax rates on corporates will rise and there would be scope for moderation of tax rates.

He said removal of 10-per cent surcharge on corporate tax for small firms and companies was an indication that the government wants moderate taxes.
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11 SEZs approved in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram: A total of 11 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were sanctioned in Kerala, said the chief minister, V S Achuthanandan to the State Assembly.

Most of these zones are promoted by public sector facilitators such as Kinfra, Technopark and Cochin Port Trust, he said. They would enjoy concessions like exemption in civic taxes and electricity tax prescribed by the SEZs Act. Besides, the state would provide them with basic requirements like electricity and water, he said.

All labour laws under Industrial Disputes Act were also applicable in the SEZs, but their enforcement would be entrusted to a Development Commissioner in each SEZ.

The SEZs for which sanction had been given include: Cochin Port Trust, Vallarpadom (multiproducts), Kinfra, Kakkancherry (food processing), Kinfra, Kazhakkoottam (IT), Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram (IT), Smartcity, Kochi(IT), Sutherland Global Services, Kalamassery (IT), Kinfra, Kochi (electronics) and Unitech Realestate, Kunnathunadu (IT).
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US civilian nuclear team arrives in India
New Delhi: A US civilian nuclear delegation is in India to discuss possible collaborations with Indian firms and chalk out a roadmap for future engagements in the wake of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.

The nuclear mission, a sub-delegation of a 38-company US-India Business Council (USIBC) Executive Mission that is on a five-day visit to India starting 5 March, comprises of a host of nuclear power companies, high-technology contractors and equipment suppliers. The nuclear mission is slated to meet officials from the Department of Atomic Energy, NTPC and BHEL.

The delegation would leave for Mumbai to take part in the second leg of discussions with the top brass of Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) and representatives of private sector firms that are planning nuclear forays.

Besides, senior executives of USEC, which operates the only uranium enrichment facility in the US, and the Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) are part of the mission.

Currently, NPCIL and BHAVINI are the only ones engaged in nuclear generation.

New aspirants in nuclear power include NTPC, which plans to commission nuclear capacity of about 2,000 MW by 2017 while private players like Tata Power, Sterlite and Reliance Energy are awaiting amendments to the Atomic Energy Act to kick off their nuclear plans.
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