New Delhi, December 27
Mobile operators may have to pay higher yearly fees to the government for airwaves with communication minister A Raja today asking the Telecom Commission to review the annual spectrum charges being paid by service providers as licence fee.

Raja's direction comes within a day of accepting TRAI's subscriber-linked criteria for allotment of additional spectrum to existing GSM players. The Commission has been asked to give its recommendations within 15 days.

"Since it has been decided to accept TRAI subscriber base for allocation of additional spectrum, a decision needs to be taken on spectrum charges," Raja said in a note to Telecom Commission chairman D S Mathur.

Sources said operators may be asked to pay higher charges for spectrum beyond a particular level. There has been demand that spectrum charges beyond 10 MHz should be increased to 10 per cent of a firm's revenues.

Telecom regulator TRAI had in August recommended that spectrum charges in terms of percentage of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) may be enhanced. However, a decision on this was to be taken after finalising the subscriber-linked criteria.

Mumbai, December 27
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India today proposed a fast track mechanism for clearance of mutual fund schemes.

"To begin with, it is proposed that we may adopt the fast track model for FMPs (fixed maturity plans), (and) close-ended schemes," the regulator said in its draft scheme on which it has invited public comments till January 15 next.

Under the proposed model, Asset Management Companies (AMCs) will have to file final offer document with SEBI as against the current practice of submitting draft offer document.

After receiving the confirmation of receipt of the document from SEBI, the AMC would be free to launch the scheme. The regulator, however, will retain the right to advise amendments, "if required in the interest of investors, to the offer document." The final offer document, which will be posted on SEBI website, will have to be accompanied by due diligence certificate from the trustees and additional due diligence certificate from the compliance committee comprising chief executive of the AMC, compliance head and fund manager.

The aim of adopting the new procedure, the regulator said, is to compress the existing process without compromising on the quality of disclosures to investors.

The proposal seeks to do away with the existing procedure pertaining to disclosing the draft document for comments for 21 working days, receiving the communications from SEBI and launching the scheme within six months.

Initially, the regulator proposes to launch the fast track clearance for FMPs and close ended schemes as these funds invest the money in debt and money market instruments and also because most of the fund houses operate such schemes.

Such schemes, SEBI said, also constitute bulk of the new offer documents being filed with the regulator. SEBI has drafted the new procedure on clearance of mutual funds after going through the practice being followed in countries like the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia and Korea, it said. — PTI 

New Delhi, December 27
GAIL (India) Limited and Oil India Limited (OIL) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint cooperation in various business areas, including joint bidding for NELP-VII.

As part of the agreement, the two companies will jointly participate in the potential blocks, mainly onshore and offshore blocks in the forthcoming NELP VII bidding round. The two companies will also examine the possibility of joint bidding for overseas exploration blocks and also securing farm-in options in already awarded exploration blocks in India and abroad. The agreement was signed by U D Choubey, CMD, GAIL and M R Pasrija, CMD, OIL.

Various areas of mutual interests identified in the MoU include exploration and production, natural gas marketing and transmission, city gas distribution, coal bed methane, petrochemicals and technology and knowledge sharing.

Both companies will explore opportunities for cooperation in greater details so that respective resources could be pooled on the basis of mutuality and reciprocity, a joint statement said here today.

Further, GAIL and OIL may consider examining joint participation in gas pipeline projects abroad, including transnational gas pipeline projects.

Both companies will also examine joint implementation of city gas distribution projects in major cities of Assam and in other states through joint venture route along with interested third parties. 

Kolkata, December 27
The Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) would spend around Rs 30,000 crore over the next five-six years to generate 5,600 MW of nuclear power in the country, a top official of the company said.

NPC chairman and managing director S K Jain told reporters on the sidelines of Chemical Congress 2007 (Chemcon) here today that the first stage of the nuclear programme would be completed once the eight reactors are commissioned with each having a generating capacity of 700 MW.

Upon completion of stage one, the country would embark upon the second stage of the nuclear programme which envisages production of fast breeder reactors, he said.

While uranium was the main raw material used for normal reactors, fast breeder reactors would use plutonium.

The average cost of nuclear power tariff worked out to be over Rs two per unit.

The government is yet to decide on the location of probable sites for nuclear power plant proposed to be set up in the country. Haripur in West Bengal is one of the sites which has been identified for the purpose.

In the 11th Five-Year Plan, the government had laid substantial stress on increased generation of N-power. — PTI 

Chandigarh, December 27
Strong participation by auto component manufacturers from the northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh would be visible in the forthcoming 9th Auto Expo, being held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, from January 10, 2008, to January 17.

Not only participation by auto component manufacturers, the organisers of the event — the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) — expect a huge rush of visitors from the northern states.

Addressing the regional press conference about the highlights of the eight-day Asia’s largest automobile carnival, the chairman of the CII, Chandigarh State Council, Pratap.K.Aggarwal, said it would be the biggest show in terms of space. An area of 1,20,000 sq mt was being provided this year, around 60 per cent more than the 2006 auto show.

Vikram Hans, convenor (hardware panel), CII, said this year alternative fuel-based vehicles, personal computer-aided cars and futuristic design of cars would be some of the highlights of the auto show. Apart from 30 new models, the much-hyped Rs 1 lakh car from Tata Motors, concept car A-Star and Splash of Maruti-Suzuki, sports utility vehicle Touareg of Volkswagen and compact car Jazz from Honda would be on display.

Notably, three auto giants, Maruti, Tata Motors and Volkswagen, have booked Hall No 14, 11 and 12, respectively. The other companies which have booked full hall are Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, Force Motors, TVS Motors, Hero Honda and Yamaha. 

New Delhi, December 27
Index of six core infrastructure sectors, which have direct bearing on economic growth, slumped to 4.5 per cent in October 2007 as compared to 9.9 per cent in the same month last year.

During April-October 2007-08, six core infrastructure industries, comprising crude petroleum, petroleum refinery products, coal, electricity, cement and finished steel, declined to 6.2 per cent as against 8.9 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous year.

Significantly, all six core sectors, which has a combined weight of 26.7 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), remained sluggish in October 2007 as compared to same period last fiscal.

The slowdown in core sector could have a direct bearing on economic growth, as well as indirect adverse affect on other sectors, which use inputs from these industries.

Crude petroleum production (weight of 4.17 per cent in the IIP) registered a negative growth of 0.1 per cent (provisional) in October 2007 compared to a growth rate of 9.3 per cent in October 2006. During April-October 2007-08, it registered 0.6 per cent as compared to 4.8 per cent during the same period last fiscal.

Petroleum refinery production (weight of 2 per cent) registered a growth of 2.8 per cent in October 2007 as against 18.1 per cent in October 2006. The growth of this sector slowed down to 8.8 per cent during April-October 2007-08 compared to 13.1 per cent during the same period of 2006-07.

Cement production (weight of 1.99 per cent) slowed down to 7.0 per cent in October 2007 compared to 9.4 per cent in October 2006. Cement production grew by 8.1 per cent during April-October 2007-08 compared to an increase of 10.4 per cent during the same period previous fiscal.

Finished (carbon) steel production (weight of 5.13 per cent) registered a growth of 4.8 per cent in October 2007 compared to 10.6 per cent in October 2006.

New York, December 27
After billionaires and household names like Ambanis and Mittals, it is the turn of little-known microfinance institutions (MFIs) from India to hit the pages of famed magazine Forbes, which has named seven such entities in the list of world's top 50 — highest for a country.

In its first ever list of World's Top 50 Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), the US business magazine has named Bangalore-based Bandhan at the second position.

Bandhan, as well as two other Indian MFIs — Microcredit Foundation of India (ranked 13th) and Saadhana Microfin Society (15th) — have been placed even above Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank, which along with its founder Mohammed Yunus was awarded Nobel Prize last year.

Grameen Bank has been ranked 17th in the list topped by another Bangladesh-based institution, ASA.

India, along with Bangladesh, are jointly home to the maximum number of MFIs to be featured in the list. Among others, there are five from Bosnia and Herzegovina, four each from Morocco and Peru, three from Colombia and two each from Equador, Ethiopia and Serbia.

One each from 15 other countries, including Russia, Pakistan, Mexico and Brazil have also been named in the list.

Besides Bandhan, Microcredit Foundation of India and Saadhana Microfin Society, other Indian entries include Grameen Koota (19th), Sharada's Women's Association for Weaker Section (23rd), SKS Microfinance Private Ltd (44th) and Asmitha Microfin Ltd (29th).

Interestingly, two of the Indian MFIs featured in the list — Grameen Koota and SKS Microfinance — are working on the same model adopted by Grameen Bank.

Forbes magazine said that "microfinance has become a buzzword of the decade, raising the provocative notion that even philanthropy aimed at alleviating poverty can be profitable to institutional and individual investors." "Billionaires, global leaders and Nobel Prize recipients are hailing these direct loans to uncollateralised would-be entrepreneurs as a way to lift them out of poverty while creating self-sustaining businesses," it noted.

The magazine said the list was made after going through data available with the Microfinance Information Exchange and the analysis from rating firms Micro-Credit Ratings International Limited and MicroRate. — PTI 

New Delhi, December 27
Industry chamber Assocham yesterday said the sale volume of the FMCG industry in rural segment was likely to be around $3.5 billion by December 31, 2007.

According to estimates made by Assocham, based on feedback received from leading constituents in FMCG sector, the FMCG size in value terms is expected to be over $18 billion of which its rural segment could be slightly more than 1/5th of total FMCG market.

In calendar 2006, the total FMCG market size was estimated at $15 billion, of which the rural segment was measured at around $2 billion. The total FMCG size by October 2007 was estimated at over $17 billion.

The factors responsible for increased market penetration in rural FMCG sector comprises of higher consumption patterns of rural population for products such as consumer durables, which include refrigerator, TV sets, electrical appliances as rural India is getting connected with power facilities, personal care products, toiletries & soaps and soft drinks, said Assocham president Venugopal N. Dhoot quoting the estimates.

Dhoot, who himself is a lead consumer durable player, adds that consumer durable manufacturers in 2007 introduced and designed special budgeted products as per rural requirement, as a result of which their sales increased by over 30 in rural areas in first 10 months of calendar 2007.

The trend remained almost similar for television sets and other consumer and electrical appliances. The production strategies for this also remained identical by MNCs and their counterparts in domestic company for increased and higher rural market penetration of FMCG products. This worked and amounted to higher sales, which in comparison to last year went up by over 25 per cent.

In India there are approximately 128 million households, the rural population is nearly three times the urban. As a result of growing affluence, fuelled by good monsoon and the increase in agriculture output to 200 million tonnes, rural India has a large consuming class with 41 per cent of India’s middle class and 58 per cent of total disposal income.

The importance of the rural market for some FMCG and durable marketers is underlined by the fact that the rural market accounts for close to 70 per cent of toilet-soap users and 38 per cent of all two-wheelers purchased.

The rural market accounts for half the total market for TV sets, fans, pressure cookers, bicycles, washing soaps, blades, tea, salt and toothpowder. The rural market of FMCG products is growing much faster than the urban counterpart, points out Assocham.