Govt seeks CVC nod for new norms for advisors

The Government has sought the opinion of the CVC to change the norms for appointing investment bankers for advising it on divesting its stakes in the companies it runs.

Last year, the Government had identified over 60 Central public sector undertakings for disinvestment over the next few years to bridge the gaping fiscal deficit and fund its social sector and infrastructure programmes.

Under the plan, the Centre would dilute up to ten per cent of its stakes in those CPSUs which are unlisted through IPOs and those already listed would have to dilute up to 15 per cent through follow-on public offers to meet Sebi guidelines.

The proposed regulations would help the Government modify the criteria of choosing investment bankers from cost- basis to quality-cum-cost basis, as the current norms put those advisors who do not have deep-pockets at a disadvantageous position.

The objective is to give more weight to the quality of these advisors and not just cost.

Currently, the investment bankers are selected on the cost-basis under which the technically qualified investment bankers are selected on the basis of the lowest bid.

India can join WTO pact

India is not a member of the WTO agreement on government procurement and has so far resisted the attempts by the developed countries like the US and European Union to subject Indian state purchases to the multilateral bidding rules.

While the observer status will not mean India immediately coming on the board, it could signal that the country would eventually play the ball, a source said.

The WTO agreement on government purchases is an accord among 30 select countries and is voluntary in nature.

The central government alone has an expenditure budget of Rs 10 lakh crore (approx $125 billion) of which at least more than one third is spent on state purchases. The multinational companies see it as a huge opportunity but find the procurement procedures falling short of global guidelines.

Import ban on steel lifted - sigh of relief for Auto sector

The government on Friday removed restriction on imports of hot-rolled steel, which is mainly used in the automobile and consumer durable industries, giving a big relief to these sectors from rising raw material prices.

A notification to this effect has been issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

The government had put the mother steel product in the restricted category in October 2008, which meant that the users required an import licence from the government.

Experts said the government is allowing free imports as the domestic demand is picking up and steel prices have gone up by 10-14 per cent in the last 45 days.

During April-December 2008-09, the imports of this product were worth USD 2.33 billion.

RBI all set to curb inflation

Concerned over the spiralling food prices, the Reserve Bank has indicated at tightening money supply to contain the rising inflation pressures.

The Reserve Bank is slated to come out with the third quarter review of its monetary policy on January 29 amid intense speculations that it may signal an interest hike to tighten money supply to contain the rising inflation.

The food inflation was nearly 19 per cent last week while the overall wholesale price inflation rose massively to 4.78 per cent in November compared to 1.34 per cent in October.

The deputy governor further said the near-term policy challenges are clearly conditioned by the evolving growth-inflation outcome that supports shifting the balance of policy focus on managing the recovery and on containment of inflation.

Foreign Direct Investment down 11 percent

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India fell 11 percent on year to $15.3 billion in the first six months of fiscal 2009/10, the trade minister said, as the global financial downturn clipped flows. India had received $17.2 billion in FDI in the corresponding period last year