Traditional decoration items hang for sale at a stall in Janpath Market in New Delhi on Friday. India is the second fastest-growing travel and tourism economy in the world with its annualised growth projected at 8.8 per cent between 2005 and 2014 as per the forecast released by the WTTC covering 174 countries. — AFP

US withdraws sops on Indian jewellery import
Washington, June 29
Days after the collapse of G-4 talks on WTO, the US has withdrawn concessions given to imports on gold jewellery and brass lamps from India as well as auto parts from Brazil as part of a revision of trade sops given to developing countries.

Nath: Indo-US trade to double by 2009
Washington, June 29
Highlighting India's ''healthy'' trade relations with the United States, commerce minister Kamal Nath expressed hope that the bilateral trade would double to over $60 billion by 2009.

GMR Energy top contender for HP project
Shimla, June 29
GMR Energy has emerged as a top contender for the 180-MW Bijoli-Holi hydro-electric project on the Ravi in Chamba district. The Malana Power Company was the front runner for the 200-MW Bara Bhangal project on the Ravi and 140-MW Chango-Yangthang project on Spiti river.

RBI exits State Bank of India
New Delhi, June 29
In its biggest-ever cash purchase, the government today acquired entire RBI’s shareholding in the State Bank of India, consisting of 31,43,39,200 equity shares with face value of Rs 10/- each @ Rs 1130.35 per share. The cash purchase is worth Rs 35,531 crore.

Rao is IBA chief 
Mumbai, June 29
The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has selected Canara Bank CMD M B N Rao as its chairman for 2007-08. A K Khandelwal of Bank of Baroda and TS Narayanasami of Bank of India will be deputy chairmen of IBA along with Citibank NA CEO (India) Sanjay Nayar. VJ Carneiro, general manager and CEO, Citizen Credit Co-operative Bank, has been elected as honorary secretary. — PTI

RPG to invest Rs 1,000 cr in retail
Mumbai, June 29
RPG group chairman Harsh Goenka today announced that the group would invest Rs 1,000 crore on the expansion of its retail subsidiary ‘Spencer’s Retail’ and will access the capital market to raise further funds in next 12 months.

New Delhi, June 29
Despite stiff US opposition, Iran, Pakistan, and India are close to signing the $7-billion gas pipeline pact, with Tehran today inviting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to sign the documents.

“President Ahmdinejad has invited your Prime Minister and President of Pakistan so that we could have the documents signed,” special envoy of the Iranian oil minister Hajjatollah Ghanimifard told reporters here today.

He said the meeting could take place in July or August. He, however, said gas supplies would commence in 2011.

“All major elements have been thrashed out,” petroleum secretary M S Srinivasan said as he emerged from the talks with his Pakistani counterpart Ahmad Waqar and Ghanimifard.

India and Pakistan have agreed in-principle to calculate a transportation fee for Iranian gas to be supplied via the pipeline, but, they are yet to reach an agreement on the transit fee.

“I am glad we have reached an agreement to a great extent on all sides,” petroleum minister Murli Deora said.

“We are very close to resolving the entire thing. Next month, the ministers should be able to meet in Islamabad and then in Iran,” Srinivasan said.

The Iranian demand for revising the gas price every three years is yet to be resolved, Srinivasan said. Another issue being discussed is the transit fee that Pakistan will receive for allowing transit of the gas to India, said Waqar Ahmed.

According to Iranian formula, the gas would be priced at $4.93 per mBtu.

India will pay Pakistan the transport tariff it requested of $0.70-0.75 per mBtu, but the two countries are yet to agree on transit fees.

Iran said it has completed about 18 per cent of the work in its territory on building a pipeline that would carry natural gas to India and Pakistan and the income from gas sales will be used for general economic development of the country.

New Delhi says Islamabad can seek transit fee only for about 240-km portion of the gas pipeline that will be specifically required up to the Indian border. It argued that since about 795-km pipeline from the Pakistan-Iran border will also be utilised by Pakistan, there should be no transit fee for this segment.

The 2,600-km pipeline from Iran’s South Pars gas field will initially carry around 60 million standard cubic metres per day of gas, which would be split between India and Pakistan equally.

New Delhi, June 29
The annual rate of inflation slowed to a 14-month low at 4.03 per cent for the week ended June 16 as prices of some food articles and cereals declined.

The inflation rate for the previous week was 4.28 per cent. The annual rate of inflation was 5.5 per cent during the corresponding period last year.

Analysts here point out that the decline in inflation to the short-term target level of 4 per cent set by the RBI would definitely ease pressure on the central bank to further strengthen monetary tightening policy.

However, they anticipate that the RBI would remain neutral and will not make any major change in the present monetary policy while announcing its quarterly policy in the end of July.

The RBI has raised benchmark rates nine times since October 2004 to damp consumer demand and would now wait for the fuller impact of the rise in interest rate on borrowings to check inflation.

After the inflation dipped to 4.28 per cent last week, finance minister P. Chidambaram had felt that “it was too early to come to a conclusion and we will have to monitor it (inflation) for five to six weeks.”

Earlier this week, in London, he maintained that the RBI tightening of the monetary policy and rupee appreciation had helped moderate inflation and more rate increase may not be needed if the trend continues.

The index for food articles declined by 0.3 per cent due to lower prices of fish-marine and maize (4 per cent each) and fruits and vegetables, urad and jowar (1 per cent each). However, the prices of bajra (3 per cent), masur (2 per cent) and poultry chicken, eggs and rice (1 per cent) moved up.

The index for food products declined by 0.4 per cent to 182.6 due to lower prices of imported edible oil (5 per cent), gur, sugar and Khandsari (2 per cent each) and rice bran oil and gingelly oil (1 per cent).

The index for non-food articles rose by 0.2 per cent to 206.0 due to higher prices of groundnut seed (3 per cent) and gingelly seed and rape and mustard seed (1 per cent each). 

New Delhi, June 29
Global fast-food chain, McDonalds, which entered India over a decade ago, plans to export dishes from its unique Indian menu to please the western palate, having tasted success in the Middle-East market.

The McAloo Tikki, a fried breaded potato and peas patty, is already very successful in the Middle-East market and “We are looking at other markets,” said Vikram Bakshi, head of Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd, the JV partner of McDonalds Corporation in north zone.

However, the taste of the dishes would be adapted to suit the western palate, he added.

Other Indian dishes in McDonalds menu here include Veg McCurry Pan, Pizza McPuff and Paneer Salsa Wrap.

The JV company would also look at ushering in the franchise model to speed up expansion. Part of this would be a Rs 400 crore investment already planned for spreading into the eastern market.

Bakshi said the JV would open 45 stores in the next one year, while admitting that they faced acute attrition problem which was about 83 per cent in the front-end of the restaurant and 5 to 6 per cent in the high-end. — PTI 

Bangalore, June 29
Defence PSU Bharat Electronics (BEL), which was accorded Navratna status last week giving it greater financial and operational autonomy, is planning to acquire technology companies overseas.

“We are looking at companies which can provide core technologies for our future growth,” chairman and managing director of the defence electronics firm V V R Sastry said.

BEL has identified 5 to 6 technology areas, including those related to phase array radars, for acquisition.

“We are looking at (acquiring) futuristic technologies where we feel that developing such technologies inside the company will take a longer time,” Sastry said.

He indicated that potential acquisition target is European firms, as “the USA is still not opened up and there are some restrictions.” — PTI 

Washington, June 29
Days after the collapse of G-4 talks on WTO, the US has withdrawn concessions given to imports on gold jewellery and brass lamps from India as well as auto parts from Brazil as part of a revision of trade sops given to developing countries.

The exporters of gold jewellery from India, the world's largest producer, would now have to pay an import duty of  4 per cent.

The duty-free access was withdrawn under its annual review of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) through a proclamation signed by US President George Bush yesterday.

The changes mean exporters of gold jewellery from India, the world's largest producer, would now have to pay an import duty of 4 per cent. The move will impact close to $1.8 billion of jewellery exports to the US, which accounts for one-third of the total shipment of $5.21 billion.

The decision would also affect exports of brass lamps, hitting the handicraft sector struggling under the impact of hike in rupee value.

The concessions were removed on imports that exceeded the new statutory threshold in 2006 established by US Congress, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in a statement. — PTI

Washington, June 29
Highlighting India's ''healthy'' trade relations with the United States, commerce minister Kamal Nath expressed hope that the bilateral trade would double to over $60 billion by 2009.

''The United States is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 16.8 per cent of the country's exports and 6.3 per cent of its imports in 2005, he told a press conference here yesterday, after a series of meetings with the US officials.

The two countries were adding a new content to their trade, along with the its growing volume, he said.

India was committed to the success of multilateral Doha Round of WTO Negotiations, the commerce minister said.

''We want a strong multilateral trading system and are keen to push forward this process through whatever means necessary,'' he added.

In reply to a query, he denied the allegation that India had adopted an intransigent stance in the global trade talks and had, in the process, isolated itself.

When his attention was drawn to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's speech here on Wednesday, questioning the relevance of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) of which India is a leading member, Nath said, ''I don't know how the connection with the NAM exists.''

In the context of the global trade talks, he accused the United States of trying to enrich its flourishing farm sector at the cost of millions of extremely poor farmers in India and other developing countries.

Nath called for the Bush administration to embrace poor countries' interests in the Doha Round.

The minister also met US Trade Representative Susan Schwab and commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez.— UNI

Mumbai, June 29
The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has selected Canara Bank CMD M B N Rao as its chairman for 2007-08. A K Khandelwal of Bank of Baroda and TS Narayanasami of Bank of India will be deputy chairmen of IBA along with Citibank NA CEO (India) Sanjay Nayar. VJ Carneiro, general manager and CEO, Citizen Credit Co-operative Bank, has been elected as honorary secretary. — PTI