Karnataka clears 37 projects worth Rs 34,702 crore

Bangalore: The State high-level clearance committee (SHLCC) chaired by Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has cleared 37 projects with an investment of over Rs 3,4702.09 crore.

The SHLCC cleared projects are expected to create 1.58 lakh jobs spread across 18 districts. The clearance committee meet was attended by Industries Minister Murgesh Nirani, Principal Secretary (Industries and Commerce) M.N. Vidyashankar and officials from other allied departments.

Following are the sector-wise projects approved: agri-based three projects - investment Rs 704.79 crore - employment offered for 5,325 people; Cement two projects - investment Rs 1,848.14 crore - employment offered for 377 people; Chemicals two projects - investment Rs 2,798 crore - employment offered for 1,345 people; Power three projects - investment Rs 5,052.25 crore - employment offered for 2,875 people; Engineering five projects - investment Rs 6,912 crore - employment offered for 7,696 people; Infrastructure five projects - investment Rs 4,096.6 crore - employment offered for 1.03 lakh people; Iron and steel five projects - investment Rs 8,658.02 crore - employment offered for 4,917 people; IT Park four projects - investment Rs 3,008.83 crore - employment offered for 24,000 people; Others three project - investment Rs 321.72 crore - employment offered for 1,000 people; SEZ one projects - investment Rs 472 crore - employment offered for 1,000 people; Sugar three projects - investment Rs 580 crore - employment offered for 974 people; Textiles one projects - investment Rs 249.74 crore - employment offered for 835 people.

Bagalkot – one project - investments Rs 495.24 crore - employment for 145 people; Bangalore (rural) – four projects - investments Rs 1,593.22 crore - employment for 5,936 people; Bangalore (city) – four projects - investments Rs 4,063.83 crore - employment for 20,195 people; Belgaum – two projects - investments Rs 4,182 crore - employment 2,331 people; Bellary - two project - investment Rs 7,273 crore - employment for 3,291 people; Bijapur – five projects - investments Rs 3,695.78 crore - employment for 2,790 people; Chikkaballapur - two projects - investments Rs 2,654.5 crore - employment for one lakh people; Chitradurga – one project - investments Rs 247.6 crore - employment for 800 people; Dharwad – two projects - investments Rs 712 crore - employment for 2,580 people; Gulbarga – two projects - investments Rs 1,562.9 crore - employment for 569 people; Kolar – one project - investments Rs 63 crore, employment for 70 people; Koppal – two projects - investments Rs 892 crore, employment for 1,276 people; Mandya – one project - investments Rs 493.02 crore - employment for 350 people; Mysore – one project - investments Rs 2,650 crore employment for 1,000 people; Ramnagar – two projects - investments Rs 1,382 crore employment for 5,875 people; Tumkur – three projects - investments Rs 642 crore employment for 9,345 people; Yadgir - one project - investments Rs 210 crore - employment for 337 people.

Bahrain announces big ticket investment plans for Kerala

Kochi: Bahrain is planning to invest in various sectors in Kerala in a big way.

Bahraini Minister for Transportation Kamal bin Ahmed Mohamed said here on Monday that his country had identified various sectors, including real estate, healthcare and infrastructure, in the State for investment.

Discussions on
“We had a series of discussions and B2B meetings with government and other private firms in this regard. Some of the projects are expected to be finalised in the next round of discussions,” the Minister told reporters here.

However, he refused to divulge the volume of investments. It is too early to give any figures, he said. The Minister was part of a business delegation to Kerala from Bahrain led by Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the first Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Bahrain Economic Development Board.

The visit aims to strengthen bilateral, political and trade relations between the two countries.

The delegation visited Kochi and conducted a series of meetings with senior officials and members of the private sector in order to demonstrate Bahrain’s position as a gateway to the Gulf.

Bahrain also evinced interest in the Financial City project announced by the Kerala Government in the recent budget.

An MoU was also signed between the Kozhikode-based Baby Memorial Hospital and VKL Group, a member of Al Namal Group in Bahrain. Baby Memorial Hospital will manage two hospitals and one medical centre being promoted by VKL group in Bahrain.

The visit also provided an opportunity to boost links between the two countries who have always maintained a friendly and stable relationship, he said.

He pointed out that total trade between India and Bahrain in 2011 was $ 1.7 billion and is looking at a growth rate of 3-4 per cent in 2013.

Crisis impact
On the global economic crisis, especially its impact on the Gulf countries, he said Bahrain was one of the countries in the Gulf region not affected by the crisis. There was only a slowdown in the economy at the time of the crisis in 2008 with a growth rate of 3.9 per cent.

However, the country maintained a growth rate of 5 per cent in 2012 and would go up further in 2013, he said.

“We are not looking at an artificial growth rate but a sustainable one”, he said. The financial sector contributed more to the country’s economy followed by logistics and tourism.

Eco Rent a Car, Estee Lauder join hands for Limousine launch in India

Kolkata: India's premium car rental company Eco Rent a Car has launched two co branded stretched limousines in Delhi and Mumbai respectively with leading American personal care and glamour brand Estee Lauder.

Eco Rent a Car director Rajesh Loomba feels that the premium car user segment is recession proof and is confident that the top end of the Indian retail market will spend on such experiential travel products as travelling in a Limousine.

With the wedding season just around the corner, Eco's alliance with Estee Lauder is significant. Chrysler Limousine and Estee Lauder is trying to find common consumers in the wedding segment. It has become an essential ingredient to add glamour and class to the wedding, making it a perfect choice for the bride & groom.

"Limousine is also a perfect gift to make someone feel special, it can be customised to offer a personalised service and clients can also order fine wine, flowers, cake or balloons, to be included with the Limo. The Limo is slated to replace the conventional doli," Mr Loomba added.

The wedding packages start at Rs 51,000 for four hours for a decorated Limousine.

Imported from USA and manufactured by Chrysler Corporation, USA, these limousines shall be parked in prominent locations in Delhi and Mumbai respectively and shall be available on hire for as less as Rs 30,000 for a four hours nightlife or corporate package and Rs 6000 for each extra hour and 10 kms.

Elaborating further, Mr Loomba said, "We are witnessing unprecedented response to our limousines in Delhi and NCR. The fact that it is an original American made Chrysler Stretch Limousine and not a country made copy-cat limo, has wedding organisers contacting us for bookings months in advance. Delhi's elite socialites and urban youth along with corporate, and hotels are those who have already made bookings with us and we expect this demand to multiply as we approach the festive season."

Eco Rent A Car has close to 1100 vehicles in its fleet and is one of the largest luxury car rental companies in India with office in all major metro cities providing services in 45 cities in India. The company plans to import several such super luxury vehicles for the automobile lovers and offer them through their outlets in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh and Chennai.

AP unveils country's 1st 'action plan' for farm sector

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Government has come out with the country’s first Budget proposals for the agriculture sector. It has proposed an action plan of Rs 25,962 crore for agriculture and allied subjects for the 2012-13 financial year.

The programme earmarks Rs 17,694 crore for the Plan component, with the rest being allotted for non-expenditure.

Action plan
Presenting the exclusive ‘Action Plan’ for the primary sector at the Legislative Assembly here on Monday, Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana pegged the total investments for the sector at Rs 98,940 crore against Rs 79,924 crore, an increase of 24 per cent over the last year. Investments included Rs 72,450-crore planned under the agriculture credit plan.

The Agriculture Minister announced a Rs 100-crore fund for market intervention to ensure minimum support price for crops such as paddy, jowar, maize, ragi and pulses.

A Rs 590-crore Natural Calamities Fund to provide farmers immediate relief in times of distress has also been proposed.

The other major allocation is for agriculture power. The Government would provide Rs 3,622 crore to power distribution companies (discoms) towards power subsidy.

It also talked about high-voltage distribution systems to about 2.50 lakh connections in 16 districts at a cost of Rs 1,115 crore.

With a view to add value to fams products, the plan allotted Rs 120 crore to set up oil palm processing units, rice bran oil mills, oleoresins and spice oil (chillies and turmeric) units.

Faux pas
Though the Government went to town about the first ever Budget for agriculture and allied subjects in the last few weeks, it finally came out with an Action Plan and not with a Budget.

The printed material suggested that it is Budget Speech but officials, at the last moment, struck off the word ‘Budget’ with a pen and mentioned ‘Action Plan’.

Another version doing rounds was, the Government had decided to avoid using the word ‘Budget’ as it could pose technical problems.

The Major Irrigation Ministry, too, objected to play a subservient role, claiming agriculture is a much smaller subject financially speaking.

IT market will touch Rs 1.75 lakh cr in 3 years

Bengaluru: Despite a sharp slowdown in economic growth, India’s domestic IT market will touch Rs 1.75 lakh crore by 2016, according to a Boston Consulting Group and CII study.

This is expected to go up as companies based in the country look at increasingly embracing IT. The report pegs IT services sector to grow at 14 per cent and touch Rs 96,600 crore by 2016.

The domestic IT sector was worth Rs 99,700 crore in 2011 with IT services contributing Rs 49,400 crore followed by contribution from hardware such as PCs, estimated at Rs 32,500 crore. Software services contributed Rs 17,800 crore of the overall pie, according to the report.

According to Infosys Co-founder and CII President, Kris Gopalakrishnan, the IT sector should focus on doing projects with Indian companies.

Rise in IT adoption
The report said that IT services and software products will lead this growth due to an increase in IT adoption by companies, shift towards outsourcing and emergence of new technologies such as social media and cloud computing. Sectors such as education, healthcare, media and retail are relatively low IT spenders currently, but are expected to significantly increase their expenditure on this front in the future, the report added.

According to Microsoft Corporation India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik - who is the Chairman of CII National Committee on IT, ITeS and e-commerce, there is an opportunity for the IT sector to work with the Government sector, going forward. Companies such as TCS and HCL work with Indian companies but have the found the going tough in the last couple of years as companies have held back IT spending on the back of economic uncertainty coupled with slowdown in growth.

Last year, Infosys bagged projects from Ministry of Corporate Affairs to maintain their IT systems.

IMF estimates that India will grow at 5.4 per cent and the IT sector has contributed 7.5 per cent to India’s GDP, according to the report.

Signing of MoUs between Ministry of Corporate Affairs and financial intelligence unit & NIELIT

New Delhi: Giving a fillip to the early establishment of a state-of-art Forensic Lab within the premises of Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in the national capital; and the development of a Comprehensive Early Warning System (EWS) for detection of corporate fraud and malfeasance at the earliest, three important MoUs were signed here today in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in the presence of Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of Corporate Affairs.

The MoUs signed were:

1. Between Director, SFIO ( which functions under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs) and Director, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), a scientific organization under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology;

2. Between Joint Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Director, Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND), an agency under the Ministry of Finance; and 3. Director, SFIO and Director, FIU-IND.

Shri. Naved Masood, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs was also present on the occasion.

As per the Memorandum, NIELIT will set up a state-of-art Forensic Lab within the premises of SFIO - with a total outlay of Rs. 3.80 Crore on a turnkey basis, to be completed in two phases.

The MoUs signed with FIU-IND will lead to better and faster exchange of information between the 3 Govt. of India entities. FIU has been playing a pivotal role in the collection and dissemination of information on suspicious banking transactions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. FIU-IND has been helping both the Ministry and SFIO from time to time by supplying information on suspicious banking transactions. Having access to banking information as well as expertise of FIU, the MoU will help SFIO in conducting its investigation in a more effective manner. These initiatives will facilitate development of a comprehensive EWS for detection of fraud and malfeasance at the earliest.

India ups trade target with Africa to $100 b by 2015

New Delhi: India has raised the trade target with Africa to $100 billion to be achieved over the next two years encouraged by the growth in bilateral exports and imports in the current fiscal.

This is despite a dip in the country’s overall trade numbers.

“Despite the gloomy global environment, where there has been a contraction of trade, and with India’s own trade contracting with major trading blocks, we are upwardly revising the target with Africa to at least $100 billion by 2015 because I feel that it is achievable,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said addressing trade ministers from Africa in a ministers’ round table meeting organised by the CII.

India-Africa bilateral trade was $67 billion in 2011-12, registering a growth of 28 per cent over the preceding year. But what is interesting is the fact that in the first 10 months of this fiscal where India’s over-all trade declined 1.28 per cent, the country’s trade with Africa posted a 8.32 per cent growth.

The increase in trade with Africa is partly due to shrinking demand in the Western countries due to continuing global economic crisis and partly due to incentives given by the Government to diversify exports particularly to countries in Africa and Latin America.

India is conducting a feasibility study for a Free Trade Agreement with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) members, the largest economic group in Africa and negotiations on a Preferential Trade Agreement (an FTA involving a limited number of goods) with the South Africa Customs Union, Sharma said.

Small-scale units promised help to step up exports

New Delhi: Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth has assured the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) that the Government would soon take steps to increase exports from the sector.

In a review meeting of the export scenario that focussed on the MSME sector, Seth said that small enterprises were the backbone of the country and needed to be encouraged.

The Cabinet Secretary said that he would form two-three groups to look at ways suggested by the industry to increase exports from the MSME sector and would hold another review meeting with other Secretaries in three weeks to see what could be done quickly.

Secretaries from the ministries of finance, commerce, industry, steel and food processing attended the meeting on Friday, an official release said. Industry representatives focused on areas such as cost of credit, technology upgradation, skill training, packaging and export incentives.

Isuzu to invest Rs 1,500 crore over 5-7 years for a plant in AP

Hyderabad: Isuzu Motors, the Japanese car, commercial vehicle and heavy truck manufacturer, has agreed to set up its Greenfield manufacturing facility for pickup trucks or light commercial vehicles and sports utility vehicles in Andhra Pradesh, India's southern state, to roll out vehicles by sometime late 2015.

The Isuzu Deputy Managing Director Shigeru Wakabayashi, said the project, involving an investment of Rs 1,500 crore over 5-7 years, would have an installed capacity of 1.2 lakh units, a fourth of which would be exported.

"We plan to sell some 80,000 units in the domestic market, which is growing at a healthy pace on the back of steady economic growth, and export some 40,000 units," he told reporters after signing agreements with the AP government and Sri City, a special economic zone in South of AP's Chittoor district, where the facility would be set up.

The Tokyo headquartered company currently with manufacturing facilities in Thailand and China has been exporting its vehicles to over 100 countries across the globe.

AP, which could not succeed for long in roping in major automobile manufacturers into the state in the absence of supplier or component manufactures' network, now hopes the Isuzu facility to help it build a suppliers' cluster, said the industries secretary Pradeep Chandra.

"While Toyota facility helped Karnataka attract some 150 auto component manufacturers, it was Nissan and Hyundai that facilitated Tamil Nadu build a network of over 250 auto part suppliers. We hope a similar success in establishing auto component manufacturers' cluster in AP," he said.

Isuzu officials said they had zeroed in on Sri City, which is some 50km from Chennai that houses many automobile related industries, apart from the proximity to seaports for imports and exports.

"We plan to produce pickup truck D-MAX and pick up derivative MU-7 from the AP facility and we are currently studying details pertaining stamping, welding, painting, assembling, engine manufacturing and transmission assembling," said Wakabayashi.

Terming Isuzu's entry into the Indian market as right timed, he said, "The Indian automobile industry is estimated to expand to some 10-15 million units from the current 3.6 million over the next 10 years."

In the interim period till late 2015, Isuzu Motors plans to import completely knocked down (CKD) units from its Thailand facility and get them assembled at the facility of one of the automobile players in the domestic market. "We have been talking to some players in the market and Hindustan Motors is one among them," he said.

The Isuzu top executive said the company is currently importing completely built units (CBUs) from Thailand and launched them in couple of Indian markets of Hyderabad and Coimbatore to understand the customer preferences and experience.

Further, Wakabayashi said Isuzu was also looking at supporting its Thailand manufacturing facility by exporting cost competitive quality automobile components procured from the Indian market.

Domestic pharma sales grow 7.7% in February

New Delhi: After a recovery in January, drug sales to retailer rose by a modest 7.7 per cent in February, according to a data compiled by market research firm AIOCD AWACS.

This was probably due to a high base given the strong performance last year and higher substitution of branded drugs with their unbranded equivalents.

While 59 out of the top 150 companies managed to grow faster than the industry average, 51 companies reported year-on-year decline in sales during the month.

Among the listed companies, Zydus Cadila topped the list recording 25.3 per cent growth in February. Other companies that managed to grow faster than the industry include Sun Pharma (14.8 per cent), JB Chemicals (13.7 per cent), IPCA Labs (13 per cent), Lupin (11.6 per cent), Glenmark (10.3 per cent) and Cipla (9 per cent).

Even as AstraZeneca (26.8 per cent decline) continued to witness decline for over a year now, Claris topped the losers’ list reporting a 55.9 per cent year-on-year decline in sales. Other listed companies such as Orchid Pharma (26.2 per cent decline), Ind Swift (14.4 per cent), Panacea (8.1 per cent) and Indoco Remedies (2.4 per cent) also figure in the losers’ list.

Anti-infective drugs which account for almost 18 per cent of the market grew at a tardy 5.1 per cent during the month.

Drugs used to treat chronic diseases such as cardio-vascular disorders and diabetes grew by a slow 8.2 per cent and 9.5 per cent, respectively.

This is lower than the healthy double digit growth witnessed in the last few months. But, drugs catering to therapies such as gynaecology (10.8 per cent) and Ophthalmology (10.7 per cent) grew faster than the market.