Andhranews

Chennai, Aug. 10: India’s growth strategy for the next two decades will be in the manufacturing sector with a focus on export, which will generate ample employment opportunities, Mr Kamal Nath, Union commerce and industry minister, said here on Thursday. Addressing the Engineering Export Promotion Council’s award presentation function, Mr Nath said that currently India’s manufacturing output is in the range of 17-18 per cent to the GDP.

“We are aiming to raise the manufacturing contribution to the GDP at least 24 per cent by 2012 and 30 per cent by 2020, which is critical the to economic fundamentals of the country,” he said. According to Mr Nath, the government’s decision to allow the setting up of the SEZs by the private sector would help in creating jobs. “We are thinking in terms of having manufacturing investment regions, which will be specialised areas of over 100 sq. km, where world-class infrastructure will be provided,” he added. The ministry is exploring possibilities of having single-window clearance facilities and flexibility in labour laws within these investment regions.

Quoting from the Research and Information Systems for developing countries, Mr Nath said exports generated additional direct employment of 1.4 million in the country in 2004-05. Against an export of $80 million in 2004-05, India had generated 16 million employment opportunities. In 2009-10, it is estimated that the overall exports would be $165 billion, which will generate a total of 21 million jobs.

He said the incremental employment generation, as a result of the additional exports, is expected to be 21 million between 2004-05 and 2009-10. Pointing out that India’s global competitive ranking has improved by 10 steps from 39 to 29 in 2006 out of a sample of 61 countries, he said that the government was taking steps to improve competitiveness and productivity of manufacturing industries.

New Delhi, Aug. 10: Ficci and CII on Thursday separately came out strongly against the ban imposed on cola giants, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, by the Kerala government alleging that the state government has not followed the laid-down procedures and has acted in an “arbitrary manner”. On Wednesday, Kerala’s LDF government had barred Coca-Cola and Pepsi from manufacturing or selling their products in the state. Karala has also scrapped the licences of both the companies.

Addressing a press conference, Ficci’s general secretary Dr Amit Mitra said that the way the Kerala government has banned Coca-Cola and Pepsi will not send good signals to foreign investors. Dr Mitra further added, “We are not defending Coca-Cola and Pepsi but are against the way the state government has behaved.”
Coca-Cola and Pepsi had been under pressure since three years ago when the NGO, Centre for Science and Environment, had allegedly found traces of pesticides in Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Recently, the NGO had again repeated its claims of pesticides being found in the two major soft drinks. Soon a number of States, including Karnataka, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, had ban-ned aerated drinks in their colleges and schools. But Kerala was the first state that has banned the sale of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Speaking on the controversy, CII’s president Mr R. Seshasayee said that such actions, on reports based on “proposed” standards that have not even been notified under the law of the land, will “enormously impact the country’s image and credibility”.

Mumbai, Aug. 10: The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed that an arbitration tribunal should be set up to settle the disputes between telecom players, Essar and Hutchison, on the issue of the termination of the sale of the BPL Mumbai circle by Essar. The High Court said that both agencies, Essar and Associates and Hutchison Essar, can go in for arbitration in the matter. However, the court has also said that the two parties could settle the matter out of court if needed before the creation of the tribunal. Both parties refused to comment in court whether it was possible.

Earlier, Essar had called off the deal to sell its BPL Mumbai Circle to its telecom joint venture Hutchison-Essar saying that it had not yet received the necessary government approvals. The high court has directed that the tribunal should be set up within a period of 30 days to deal with the dispute and also restrained Essar from selling the BPL circle to a third party until the matter was resolved by the tribunal. The tribunal will decide whether the injunction order on Essar preventing it from selling BPL to a third party is valid or not. Essar had offered to return the Rs 1,617 crores taken as deposit in lieu of selling 97.5 per cent stake in BPL’s Mumbai circle to Hutchison-Essar.

New Delhi, Aug. 10: The government on Thursday said it is desirous of hiking Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in insurance sector from 26 to 49 per cent, as the companies need more money to sustain business. “To enhance the quality and reach of the services to the people, that we, the government, are desirous of taking the foreign equity from 26 per cent to 49 per cent,” minister of State in the ministry of finance P.K. Bansal told Rajya Sabha winding up the discussion on Actuaries Bill.

It takes seven years for a company to break even, he said, adding that a new company has to pump in money for seven years because the claims would start coming immediately. “There has to be enough money with those companies so that investment is attracted,” Mr Bansal said. Pointing to low (3.5 per cent) insurance penetration, he said the government had warned that insurance sector must be expanded and their coverage must be vast in the country. He sought support of the members for the bill, which will further open up the insurance sector. With the expansion of the sector, the number of services and products to suit different pockets, situations and eventualities would be available, he added.

To increase FDI cap to 49 per cent, the IRDA Act needs to be amended. Private and foreign insurance companies have been demanding increase in FDI in insurance for a long time. Industrialist and MP Rahul Bajaj, whose company Bajaj Auto owns 74% stake in Bajaj Allianz Life also supported hike in FDI to 49 per cent.

Hyderabad, Aug. 10: Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd, the company awarded the mandate to modernise and upgrade the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, on Thursday unveiled a new brand identity for the airport. “Providing CSIA an identity of its own is a significant step towards showcasing it to the world. The new brand identity represents CSIA’s Indian roots with a contemporary look and feel that matches the best of international standards,” said Mr G.V. Sanjay Reddy, managing director of MIAL. “Our vision is to make CSIA a global benchmark,” added Mr G.V. Krishna Reddy, chairman of MIAL.

According to statement from MIAL, the new identity is derived from the form of a peacock feather, into which the acronym CSIA has been woven. “The endeavour was to find a symbol that was universally identified with India and create an identity base on India’s rich heritage,” it said. The identity has been designed by Ray & Keshavan, a branding firm. It will be rolled out in a phased manner across various aspects of user interfaces at the CSIA. MIAL is a joint venture between a consortium led by the Hyderabad-based GVK Industries and a South African airport management company and the Airports Authority of India.

Mumbai, Aug. 10: The plastic processing industry has appealed to the government to ask the polymer manufacturers like Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), IPCL and GAIL to keep prices of polymers stable for at least a month, indicate availability of polymers statewise and review the distribution pattern immediately. Mr Ajay Desai, speaking to this newspaper, said that the prices of polymers like LDPE/LLDPE/HDPE etc have experienced prices rising three to four times a month and 10 to 11 times since April 2006. He said that polypropylene, for instance, has gone up from Rs 63,200 per tonnes on April 2, 2006 to Rs 78,600 per tonne on August 1, 2006, that is Rs 15,400 in less than four months. Similarly, HDPE has gone up by Rs 14,240, LLDPE by Rs 13,910 and LDPE by a massive Rs 19,360 per tonne.

Mr Desai said that the polymer manufacturers have also been throttling the processing industry from Kanpur to Chennai by stopping supplies. He said that prior to increasing prices, the polymer producers stop supplies and this causes huge problems for the plastic processing people who cannot fulfil their commitments. He said that the industry is fully aware of the price volatility of petrochemical raw materials as well as polymers. But they have been nurtured by the government through various concessions and heavy protection by customs duty in the past.

They should now consider the plight of the small and medium processing industry which consists of around 20,000 units. Mr Desai said that they also expect the government to take immediate remedial steps like:

* Restricting exports of polymers.
* Postpone review of the anti-dumping applications made by polymer producers for PVC resin and reduce excise from 16 per cent to 8 per cent.