[Back To HeadLines]

My motto is phone calls at 10-20 paise a minute: Raja

New Delhi, May 29 The Communications and IT Minister, Mr Andimuthu Raja, expects telephone tariffs to come down to as low as 10 paise a minute for local calls and to 25 paise a minute for domestic long distance calls as a result of the decisions taken by him in the previous tenure. Mr Raja, who has been appointed as the telecom minister for the second consecutive time, said that auction for third generation spectrum is on top of the agenda and should be completed in two months. The Minister said that the decisions taken by him during the previous tenure to bring in more mobile operators should lead to lower tariffs. “Local calls at 10 paise a minute and inter-State calls at 20 paise a minute is my motto. I would work towards enabling world class telecom services to the masses at competitive and affordable rates,” Mr Raja said. On the issue of auctioning 3G and broadband spectrum, Mr Raja said that he will soon take the policy to the Cabinet. He added that he expected higher revenue generation from 3G auction as a result of a revival in the markets. For the IT sector, the Minister said that he will speak to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister to extend tax incentives under Software Technology Park of India until 2012. Introduction of IT at the lowest level of governance will also be on the Minister’s agenda. “I want to make the functioning of the government offices paperless through the introduction of technology,” Mr Raja said. He said that his Ministry will promote manufacturing of electronic hardware in the country and encourage investments under the new semiconductor policy. On the revival of postal services, the Minister said he will take measures to bring India Post at par with the global standards. Mr Raja will be assisted by two Ministers of State, Mr Sachin Pilot and Mr Gurdas Kamat. Industry reacts positively The industry reacted positively to Mr Raja’s appointment. Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director-General, Cellular Operator’s Association of India, said, “There will be continuity in the positive measures which were being planned by the Communications Ministry. We are sure that Mr Raja will take effective measures to take Indian telecom sector to the next level of growth.” Mr S.C. Khanna, Association of Unified Telecom Services Providers of India said, “We have always been supportive of Mr Raja’s policies. We hope that he will continue to enable new players to emerge in the market. He should allocate up to 6.2 Mhz of spectrum to the new players instead of 4.4 Mhz as is being suggested.” The Internet Service Providers said that the Minister should re-look at opening up net telephony because it is in line with the stated objective of bringing affordable communication to the masses. “It is good that Mr Raja has got another innings as the telecom minister. He understands the sector well and knows what needs to be done from day one. Any new person would have had taken time to study the various reform measures required for this sector,” said Mr Rajesh Chharia, President, Internet Service Providers Association of India. Mr Raja is expected to take charge of the Ministry next week as he along with other Cabinet Ministers from the DMK party have gone to Chennai. Source: The Hindu (30 May,2009)

Per capita income hits Rs 3,000/month for first time

NEW DELHI: The per capita monthly income of an average Indian has, for the first time, crossed the Rs 3,000 mark on current price levels. Besides this upbeat piece of news, the revised estimates of annual national income released on Friday also showed that the economy had grown by 5.8% in the March quarter from a year earlier, higher than the previous estimate. However, the per capita figures may look a bit less impressive when adjusted for inflation. The CSO estimates showed that when adjusted for inflation, the per capital income reached only Rs 25,494 against Rs 25,661 per annum estimated in February. Clearly, the slowdown in economy has taken money out of everyone's pockets. Analysts also said the election spend in the March quarter could have helped tweak the figures up a bit. The real cause for worry for the government would come from the manufacturing sector, which continued to be hammered, registering a contraction of 1.4% after having clocked 0.9% growth in previous three quarters. For UPA, keen to play the aam aadmi beat in celebration of its resounding victory at polls, the task seems to be cut out. With the WPI-based inflation data stabilising prices, global recessions seems to be corroding the financial ability of the poorest section. The upward movement in agriculture noted in the CSO surely seemed to have helped UPA in the elections. Farm production rose at an annualised rate of 2.7% in the first three months of 2009 after having shrunk by 0.8% in the previous quarter. But the government's eyes would be set at the southern skies for the movement of monsoon. Source: Times Of India(30 May,2009)

Q4 GDP growth brings cheer

New Delhi, May 29 The Indian economy logged a better-than-expected 6.7 per cent growth in 2008-09 despite the global financial meltdown adversely impacting its output in the second-half of the fiscal year under review. This growth performance is, however, the weakest in six years and lower than the growth rate of 9 per cent or above witnessed in the previous three years. It is within the 6.5-7 per cent growth range projected by the Reserve Bank of India for 2008-09. The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) had in February this year pegged the advance GDP growth estimate for 2008-09 at 7.1 per cent. The country’s GDP grew a robust 5.8 per cent in fourth quarter of 2008-09, lower than 8.6 per cent in the same quarter in the previous year, according to the data released by CSO today. The third quarter GDP growth performance has now been revised upwards to 5.8 per cent from 5.3 per cent. The stock markets seemed pleased with the CSO’s revised GDP growth estimates for 2008-09, with the benchmark Sensex going up by 330 points for the day. According to the CSO, the downward revision in GDP for 2008-09, at the revised estimate level, was mainly on account of the lower performance in almost all sectors excluding ‘construction’ and ‘community, social and personal services’ than anticipated. The sectors that saw growth rates of 5 per cent or more are ‘construction’ (7.2 per cent), ‘trade, hotels, transport and communication’ (9 per cent), ‘financing, insurance, real estate and business services’ (7.8 per cent) and ‘community, social and personal services’ (13.1 per cent). GDP at factor cost at constant (1999-2000) prices in 2008-09 is now estimated at Rs 33,39,375 crore (as against Rs 33,51,653 crore estimated earlier on February 9 this year), showing a growth rate of 6.7 per cent. For the fourth quarter of 2008-09, GDP at factor cost at constant (1999-2000) prices is estimated at Rs 9,02,924 crore, as against Rs 8,53,785 crore in same quarter in previous year, showing a growth of 5.8 per cent. The sectors that registered significant growth rates are construction at 6.8 per cent, ‘trade, hotels, transport and communications’ 6.3 per cent, ‘financing, insurance, real estate and business services’ 9.5 per cent, and ‘community, social and personal services’ 12.5 per cent. Meanwhile, Moody’s Economy.com said in a note today that the surprise upward revision of December quarter GDP along with the solid result in the March quarter should inject some confidence back into the Indian economy. The note highlighted that the rise in expenditure on the election campaign may have boosted India’s March quarter performance. However, the downside effects from the external turmoil have been far too strong to be fully offset by the jump in political spending, it said. On the monetary policy front, as the Indian economy has held up better than expected, the need for further interest rate cuts has eased. That said, the RBI is expected to maintain a loosening bias as the global storm has yet to come to an end, based on Moody’s Economy.com’s forecast that the US economy will not bottom out until October. Source: The Hindu(30 May,2009)

India Inc bets on 9% growth

NEW DELHI: An upbeat industry, riding on impressive growth achieved in the January-March 2009 period, feels the economy can grow at much faster pace and possibly as high as 9% depending on the success of the Manmohan Singh government's 100-day action plan. A cross section of industry TOI spoke to was of the opinion that the 100-day agenda set by the government, if pursued in right earnest, could sustain a high GDP growth rate of 9%-10%. Venu Dhoot, chairman of Videocon Industries, said 5.8% growth in the last quarter is very encouraging, given the negative growth achieved by the US and many of the western economies. "If the global slowdown is contained by the end of this year and the government implements the much required reforms, the GDP growth towards the end of this fiscal could be in the range of 9% and thereafter 10% in the next few years," said an optimistic Dhoot. HP Singhania, MD of J&K Paper, said a lot of things depended on the implementation of the 100-day agenda of the government. "If it implements the reforms as promised I don't see why 9% growth cannot be achieved," he added. Singhania said the restoration of economic growth to 9% would entail serious action on the part of the government in critical sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, disinvestment, financial sector, education, and housing and real estate. Venu Srinivasan, chairman and MD of TVS motors, says the growth has been unexpected and this gives optimism to hope for a better performance. "If the government implements a lot of things that it has promised, the high growth rate of the previous years is not far away. We will be slowly but surely reaching 9% growth path in the near future," Srinivasan added. Industry chamber Ficci has presented its own 100-day action agenda for government in which it has sought for 150% investment by private sector in raising agri-infrastructure chain; making credit available to industry at 8%-10% interest rate to help the manufacturing sector grow at 14% besides seeking to prioritise work in the stalled infrastructure projects. Source: Times Of India(30 May,2009)