Govt invests to bring dead PSU's to life again WILL IT HELP?

Looks like our government is very keen to revive the already dead PSU's like Hindustan Machine Tool, National Instruments Ltd, Cement Corporation of India ltd to name 3 out of the 15 PSU's shortlisted for revival by infusing a whopping 7128 crores of rupees put together. The first impression which cam to my mind after reading this news was that WILL IT REALLY HELP? and the answer i got from my brain was that probably ministers would earn a lot from the granted money and would purchase land and fill their bank accounts...

The PSU's which are already dead was because there was no good leaders to make it a profitable investment the employees of these PSU's were doing their job thinking that it's a government job so they need not work...(typical attitude of a government employee in india).. Companies doesn't work like this at all.. PSU's can only come in profit if it's employees think and work like it is their own company not by thinking that it's a government enterprise so it's a social company rather then a business enterprise.

PSU's like Air India is already begging for funds and what more the third biggest employer BSNL recently showed results and there was a whopping 97 % decline in profits from 2700 crores to meager 102 crore so in next six month BSNL (PSU) will also be running in loss (THAT IS REAL SHAME FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND THE EMPLOYEES OF BSNL) .

There is a similarity in working of the PSU's at time when there was no other such enterprise , i am just going back to pre economic liberalisation era of Economy of India all the PSU's were in profit , the reason for profit however was that people of India did not have any other choice take example of BSNL earlier there was no AIRTEL, Essar, Spice telecom, IDEA cellular etc and BSNL was enjoying it's monopoly in telecom sector employees didn't work at that time too... but customers had no other option so the number of subscribers went on increasing... things changed when Indian Economy was liberalized there were more choices for the people and alltogether competition between PSU's and Private companies increased , but PSU employees didn't change change their way of working and are still sleeping This was the time when Private companies ate up PSU's share and overtook almost all the PSU's in terms of revenue and profitability.

So according to me accompanied with the history of working of PSU's this funding to revive the PSU's will not be beneficial and the scenario and outlook for PSu's would not change at all. THEY ARE ON A STEADY DECLINE and would eventually vanish one day... that's the HARD TRUTH...which we all have to admit until the employees of these PSU's do not change their attitude towards working.

- Himanshu Sharma

Foreign Direct Investment (FD|) drops whopping 47 percent

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India dipped by about 47 per cent to $2.1 billion in May due to the global recession and the trend is likely to continue for some more months, so it means recession is still at it's best and it looks US stock markets are also behaving in the similar fashion ie still the beast is out there roaming freely across the globe. OR IS IT NOT?

In present situation Indian economy is looking promising as government plans some one crore job oppurtunities in ongoing fiscal THATS GREAT NEWS i'hve heard after a long time from our government but still i wonder how these oppurtunities would be created...

During the same month last year, FDI was $3.9 billion so that's a difference of a good US$ 1.8 billion. However it can be recalled that FDI in 2008-09 was $27.3 billion against $24.5 billion in 2007-08.

India's Forex reserves drop by about $560 million Wk o wk

India's foreign exchange reserves fell to $263.917 billion as on July 10, from $264.477 billion a week earlier. The main reason for decline was mainly because of Changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in its reserves such as the euro, pound sterling and yen

16 FDI proposels given green signal by Government

Government of India cleared total of 16 Foreign Direct Investment Proposals(FDI) totalling to INR 825 crores including on hydro power project in state of sikkim.

The Government, however, revoked all foreign collaboration approvals for ByCell Telecom on concerns over the Switzerland registered company's funding sources.

Among cleared proposals, Teesta Urja will bring in Rs 547.20 crore for developing 1,200-MW hydro power project in Sikkim.

The Government also allowed IL&FS Trust Company to hold two per cent stake in Multi Commodity Exchange of India, that will bring in Rs 108 crore of FDI.

Govt would require to borrow 120 billion rupees per week

The Government official said today that the borrowing in the closing weeks of September could be 110 billion rupees or less.

Earlier, a central bank deputy governor said the government would borrow an additional 1.1 trillion rupees ($22.6 billion), taking the total to 2.99 trillion between April and September, a central bank deputy said on Thursday.

The additional borrowing excludes 120 billion rupees of bond sale scheduled for Friday.

Wholesale price index Weekly Inflation at (-1.21 %) - July 4/09

Weekly whole price index rose from -1.55% to -1.21 % for week ended july 4 as government increased the price of fuel in corresponding week which led to increase in whole sale price index or inflation.

Following the government decision to raise fuel prices effective July 1, prices of naphtha rose 15 per cent, furnace oil 11 per cent, petrol 10 per cent, high-speed diesel 7 per cent and light diesel oil by 4 per cent.

However consumer price index is still alarming high

Finance Minister assures about Economic Reforms pace

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee replied to opposition questions "...there is no question of diluting the process of economic reforms. Reform is a continuing process, whichever government comes they continue to do so," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Rajya Sabha in reply to debate on the Budget 2009-10.

He said disinvestment is not the only indicator of economic reforms. It is part of the government programmes.

If he has not given the list of public sector companies to be disinvested, some believe heavens have fallen. "I do not subscribe to this view", the minister said.

Top 10 economies of world in trade - friendliness

Indian economy is growing by over 6 percent from last 3-4 years so has our economy become more trade friendly, well if I compare it with era before 1990`s then the answer to this question is `yes`, After the liberalisation of Indian economy in the 90`s thanks to the present Prime Minister for bringing the reforms. Still I think a lot of work needs to be done as our Indian economy is still not the most trade friendly economy of the world, as i saw the list of top 10 economies in their trade friendliness and Indian Economy doesn`t feature in the list.

Following is the list of top 10 economies (country) of the world :

Rank 1 - SINGAPORE

Rank 2 - HONG KONG

Rank 3 - SWITZERLAND

Rank 4 - DENMARK

Rank 5 - SWEDEN

Rank 6 - CANADA

Rank 7 - NORWAY

Rank 8 - FINLAND

Rank 9 - AUSTRIA

Rank 10 - NETHERLANDS

3837 crores lies unclaimed in EPFO and is unusable

Government of India's Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) which has
accumulated to the tune of Rs 3,837 crore, even as EPFO is making efforts to trace those who have not taken their dues.

"As the money, lying in the inoperative accounts belongs to the members or their heirs, and is payable at any time when claims are received. It cannot be utilised for any other purpose," Minister of State for Employment Harish Rawat said in the Lok Sabha. He said that as of March 31, 2008, money to the tune of Rs 3,837 was lying unclaimed in the inoperative accounts of Employees Provident Fund.

In a written reply in the House he said instructions have been issued to all field officers of EPFO to scrutinise the claims of the inoperative account holders and release the amounts only to the rightful claimants.

EPFO on its part is also making efforts to trace out the beneficiaries through advertisements in newspapers and inviting those who have not preferred their claims for more than three years after leaving their job.

Indian Government not to monetise debt

The Government on Tuesday categorically said that it has "no intention" to monetise its debt, which implies that it will not directly borrow from the Reserve Bank of India.

"Government has no intentions of monetising its debt," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told Lok Sabha in his reply to the debate on Union Budget (read budget highlights).

He said during the first half of 2009-10, the Government plans to borrow Rs 2.41 lakh crore from the market and RBI is supporting it through its Open Market Operations (OMO), through which the central bank releases or sucks money from the market against government securities.

"OMO should not be confused with monetisation of debt," Mukherjee said. Monetisation of the Government debt would be when RBI directly subscribes to the Government paper.
(read budget highlights).
As fiscal deficit is projected to be at 6.8 per cent of GDP this fiscal and the Government has pegged its market borrowings at around Rs 4 lakh crore for 2009-10.

Mukherjee also dispelled fears that higher government borrowings would leave little resources for the private sector and would increase cost of borrowings, as also apprehensions that the private sector will be elbowed out due to this.

Govt rules out possibility of banning of meat export

The government on Monday ruled out banning the export of meat and said doing so would not be in the interest of the livestock sector.(read budget highlights).

"Considering the overall development of livestock sector, the government is not in favour of ban on the export of meat," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

Scindia said representations were received from Maharaja Kumarapal Jeevadaya Trust, Munoth House and Dhahraj Baid Jain College for imposing ban on the export of meat.

"However, export of cow and veal meat from India is banned," he said.

According to official data, in April-January 2009, India exported about Rs 2.86 crore meat and meat products, against Rs 2.65 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The country, on June 5, banned import of live stock and its products for a period of six months in the wake of Swine flu.(read budget highlights).

courtesy - economictimes.com

INR slips to 8 week low

The rupee weakened in afternoon trade towards eight-week lows on Friday tracking the domestic share market which dropped more than 2 percent and on sharp overseas gains in the dollar versus majors.(read budget highlights).

The dollar index, a gauge of the U.S. unit's performance against majors, was up 0.7 percent.

FII'S have bought about $1 billion of stocks so far this month, taking net inflows in 2009 to nearly $6 billion, a key factor in its rise from a record low of 52.2 in March.

In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contract on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at 48.9350 and 48.93 respectively, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $1.26 billion.

Agriculture contribution in GDP declines at 16.6 perc

India's agriculture sector has accounted for only 16.6 per cent of its gross domestic product so far this plan period (2007-12) despite record production of farm commodities in the 2007-08 season, according to the latest government estimate.

The share of the farm sector in the GDP is down to 16.6 per cent from a whopping 46.3 per cent during the First Plan period (1951-56), according to the data presented by Minister of State for Agriculture K V Thomas in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

The sector contributed 17.8 per cent to the overall GDP in the last Plan period (2002-07), The declining share of the sector in the GDP can be a major cause of concern for policy makers this year as the forecast of a "below-normal monsoon" during the on-going Kharif has cast a gloom on production.

Moreover, the dependence on farming has not dipped that dramatically. About 65 per cent of the world's second-most populous nation still depends upon farming for livelihood.

Even though the country has witnessed record foodgrain production of 230.78 million tonnes in the 2007-08 season followed by another year of bumper output of the grains at 229.85 million tonnes, the share of the sector in the GDP has not shown any improvement.

courtesy - economictimes

Indian rupee at 2 week low thanks to FII for taking out USD from indian markets

Indian National Rupee or poupularly known as INR touched two week low today at 48.88 / US $ since foreign investor's took out much investment which they made in indian markets over past couple of months due to which SENSEX ans Nifty also closed down today(read full report).

The details about the weak rupee is as follows (ovser past 2 days) :

The partially convertible rupee ended at 48.88/89 per dollar, 0.9 per cent below Tuesday's close of 48.45/46 per dollar. It is down 2 per cent so far this week. It hit a low of 48.9450 in intraday deals.

One-month offshore non-deliverable forwards were quoting at 48.97/49.07 per dollar in late Indian trade.

The dollar was steady while the yen climbed on Wednesday as uncertainty about the global economic outlook reined in investor risk-taking.

According to barclay's indian rupee will trade between 48.5 to 49.5 against a single US dollar.

Govt of India awaits more then half of fiscal deficit from disputes

Believe it or not the government is yet to receive over Rs one trillion in taxes from corporate and other entities and add to it other arrears worth about Rs 47,000 crore, the total outstanding equals more than half of the total revenue deficit this year.

Also read
Budget 2009-10 highlights

At about Rs 150,000 crore, the unrealised tax and non-tax revenue is 53 per cent of the total revenue deficit of over Rs 282,000 crore projected by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his Budget for 2009-10.

The arrears outstanding at the end of reporting year 2007 -08 pertain to a period of up to ten years or more and also include interests from state governments and PSUs.

In totality, the arrears that the government is still awaiting are held up in litigation, or are due for some other reasons. If realised, they could have substantially reduced the Centre's borrowings, pegged at over Rs 4,00,000 crore for the current fiscal.

Bulk of the tax arrears is caught under disputes and amounts to over Rs 64,000 crore, while the amounts not under dispute total at about Rs 40,000 crore also include cases pending for adjudication.