SECTORS ALERT – 04.07.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 04.07.2014

* AGRICULTURE: The India Meteorological Department has forecast
improvement in rains after Sunday, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said.

* AUTOMOTIVE: The government has constituted a panel to develop fuel
economy norms for heavy-duty vehicles. Nissan plans to introduce a hatchback
priced below the Alto.

* AVIATION: Air India has invited bids from banks to arrange financing of up to
$44 mln for taking delivery of two GEnx spare engines. Indian air traffic grew by
4% in May, even as the overall global air traffic rose by 6.2%.

- AirAsia India will accelerate its fleet induction plans on high passenger
demand. Its founders will pump excess of $200 mln into the airline every year.

* FOREIGN TRADE: India has told the World Trade Organisation it will not ratify
trade facilitation agreement because there has been no progress on finding a
permanent solution to the sticky issue of food subsidy caps.

* GOVERNMENT: The Narendra Modi-led government is reviewing the outgoing
government's decision to have a uniform gas price, as the cost of production of
new fields is much higher than old ones and coal-bed methane.
- The government may take the middle path to resolve its long-pending
tax dispute with Vodafone by waiving off interest by amending the law. The
government is likely to introduce four education bills during the budget session.
To curb diversion of domestic liquefied petroleum gas, the government is
planning to transfer subsidy amounts directly to the consumer's bank account,
but without the use of Aadhar.
- The government is planning to allow consumers in the power, steel and
cement sectors to swap fuel linkages between associated companies and special
purpose vehicles.

* MEDIA: Private FM radio channels will soon be allowed to air news.

* MONSOON: The India Meteorological Department has said that India's rainfallon Jul 3 was 4.4 mm, 48% below normal.

* NATIONAL SECURITY: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jammu
and Kashmir, the Army foiled a second infiltration bid in less than 24 hours along
the Line of Control in Poonch district on Thursday.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: The government has decided to bring four new vaccines
under Universal Immunisation Programme.

* REGULATORY: The tax department has told the Supreme Court it seeks 70 bln
rupees from Sahara as tax deducted at source on 257 bln rupees collected by the
company through debentures between 2008-11. RBI has restored the limit of
overseas direct investment under the automatic route to 400% of a company's
net worth.
* REAL ESTATE: Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has said the
government would open an escrow account to fund affordable housing in the
country.

* ROADS: The Committee on Public Undertakings, Parliament's watchdog, has
asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to place the National
Highways Authority of India under its purview.

- The government will initiate measures to turn around the highways sector in
two years by garnering funds to the tune of 1 trln rupees in a year, Road
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

* TAXATION: The Centre and states moved closer to evolving a consensus on
rolling out the Goods and Services Tax in the country with both sides narrowing
their differences.

* TELECOMMUNICATIONS: A Department of Telecommunications panel has
given its report on segregation of revenues earned by telecom operators from
use of broadband wireless access spectrum meant for high-speed data services.

SECTORS ALERT – 03.07.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 03.07.2014

* AGRICULTURE: Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh said there is no need to
"panic" because of below-normal rains so far this monsoon season.

* AUTOMOBILES: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants Ford Motor Co to put
Sanand and India on the global manufacturing map by exporting cars in large
numbers from the facility. French carmaker Renault has hiked prices of its vehicles in India
by 1% from Jul 1.

* AVIATION: IndiGo is planning to launch an initial public offering to raise $250
mln-$300 mln.

* CEMENT: Real estate developers plan to move the Competition Commission of
India against alleged cartelisation by cement producers.

* DEFENCE: India is likely to opt for a calibrated opening up of defence
production to foreign direct investment.

* EDUCATION: Private equity fund New Silk Route has put its 25% stake in
south India's Sri Chaitanya Educational Group on the block.

* ENERGY: The government has decided to defer any possible hikes in prices of
cooking gas and kerosene in some states where the oil marketing companies
incur additional levies, which were being recovered from consumers.

* GOVERNMENT: The Maharashtra government will ask for an additional 22,000
tn of foodgrain from the Central government in order to provide 35 kg of
foodgrain per ration card. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has
approved continuation of a scheme to modernise and strengthen intellectual
property offices, the cost of which is likely to be 3.10 bln rupees. To curb
hoarding of vegetables, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has
approved the inclusion of onion and potato in the purview of stock holding limits
under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, for one year. Uttar Pradesh has lost
more than 5 bln rupees of potential revenue because of the state's soft policy
towards liquor retailers, the Comptrollerand Auditor General has said in a report. The Centre plans to review the law governing contract labour.

* INFRASTRUCTURE: Singapore has offered to partner India in developing smart
cities in the country. The National Highways Authority of India is planning to
make contract rules for road projects more flexible by tweaking the Model
Concession Agreement. The roads ministry has sought greater powers to be
given to National Highways Authority of India to revive the sector.

* MINING: International Coal Ventures, the joint venture between COAL INDIA,
STEEL AUTHORITY OF INDIA, NMDC, and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, is close to
placing a bid for acquiring 100% stake in a major coking coal property in
Mozambique.

* REGULATORY: The Department of Industrial Promotion has raised the initial
validity period of grant of industrial licence to 3 years.

* TEXTILES: The textiles ministry is likely to seek up to 10.50 bln rupees from
the finance ministry to develop 15 mega handloom clusters across India.

SECTORS ALERT – 01.07.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 01.07.2014
* AUTOMOTIVE: Japan's Yamaha is working on a project to develop a small bike
for India, which it aims to sell for around 30,000 rupees.
* AVIATION: Air India continues to maintain international offices, with a fifth of
these at destinations where it has no direct operations.
* CONGLOMERATE: Emami Group is set to acquire Shrachi group's 32% stake in
hospital chain AMRI Hospitals.
* DEFENCE: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius pushed for a $12-bln deal to
sell Rafale combat aircraft to India in his meetings with his Indian counterpart
Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday.
* GOLD: The Central Board of Excise and Customs has raised the base import
price of gold by $17 to $428 per 10 gm from $411 fixed on Jun 13.
* GOVERNMENT: Delhi government will add 415,422 persons under the purview
of the National Food Security Act in the capital. India and China have signed a
memorandum of understanding on the creation of industrial parks, with the
government agreeing to grant them the same status in line with the Special
Economic Zones and National Investment and Management Zones.
* OIL AND GAS: Niko Resources and partners in the KG-D6 block, RELIANCE
INDUSTRIES and British Petroleum, will collectively defer investment plans in
the asset on account of indecision on gas price revision.
* POWER: The coal ministry has rejected the power ministry's plea to allow
medium-and short-term electricity purchase agreements to secure fuel linkages.
* REGULATORY: RBI will not issue instructions relating to deduction of tax at
source when allowing remittances to non-residents. Indian financial institutions
and their branches have time until Dec 31 to register with US authorities and
obtain a Global Intermediary Identification Number. Merrill Lynch International
has settled a case related to takeover norm violation with the SEBI, by paying a
penalty of 4.03 mln rupees. Forward Markets Commission has directed
exchanges to expel members who have been expelled by any commodityexchange with immediate effect.
* ROADS: Bombay High Court has granted interim relief to 44 toll booth
contractors in Maharashtra by granting a stay on their demolition.
* TAXATION: The government's tax collections during Apr-May rose 8.7% on
year to 845.16 bln rupees.
* TELECOM: The Department of Telecommunications has reiterated that there
was no wrongdoing in allowing RELIANCE INDUSTRIES' Reliance Jio to convert
its internet service provider permit into a unified licence, or in the auction of
broadband wireless spectrum

SECTORS ALERT – 30.06.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 30.06.2014

* AUTOMOBILES: Hyundai Motor has announced benefits of up to 30,000 rupees
per car for government and public sector undertakings' employees. German
major Volkswagen is lining up a slew of budget cars to take on Indian market
leaders MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA and Hyundai Motors. India has made anti-lock
breaking system mandatory on all new models of commercial vehicles, with
effect from April.

* BANKING: State Bank of India Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya has come out
in favour of allowing banks to use gold deposits as cash reserve ratio or statutory
liquidity ratio. RBI has asked banks and financial institutions to submit data on
wilful defaulters of 2.5 mln rupees and above for Oct-Dec 2014 to credit
information companies and not to the central bank. RBI has advised credit
information companies to adopt Credit Information Bureau's method of
calibrating credit scores from 300 to 900 within six months.

* DEFENCE: The Centre may increase the defence allocation in the Budget by at
least 20% to an estimated 2.24 trln rupees in 2014-15 (Apr-Mar).

* ECONOMY: Financial Services Secretary G.S. Sandhu said that the Union
Budget will aim at bringing the Indian economy back to a high growth trajectory.

* FINANCIAL SERVICES: RBI has asked Indian financial institutions to register
with US authorities and obtain a Global Intermediary Identification Number by
Dec 31.

* GOVERNANCE: The project monitoring group under the Cabinet Secretariat has
decided to digitise all applications for clearances relating to forest, environment
and others by March. The new government may increase the plan expenditure
for the current financial year by around 110 bln rupees in the Budget, which
would be around 2% higher than what was provided in the previous Budget.

* INDUSTRY: The Maharashtra government has decided to give highest priority
to use of water for drinking purposes alone and avoid diversion to
industries. Rural Development Minister Nitin Gadkari has said the government
will not compromise the interest of farmers on the resettlement, rehabilitation
and compensation clause in the Land Acquisition Act.

* INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Essar Group's Shashi and Ravi Ruia plan to raise
36 bln rupees through the sale of Aegis Business Process Outsourcing's US and
Philippines operations to Paris-based Teleperformance.

* JEWELLERY: Gem and jewellery industry in India has asked the government to
extend the interest subvention of 3% to the sector.

* LAW: The Narendra Modi government is considering the option of formally
approaching the judiciary to find a way to deal with tricky litigation and disputes
that are holding up investments.

* MEDIA: The Government is set to classify set-top boxes as 'telecom network
equipment', thus exempting them from various taxes and duties.

* MINING: Iron ore mining in Goa is unlikely to resume in 2014 as the state
government is busy tweaking the policy to meet requirements of the Supreme
Court order.

* OIL: The government is mulling tax cuts on petrol and diesel to cushion
consumers from rising prices.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: The Centre intends to revive India's active
pharmaceutical ingredient or bulk drug market by formulating a separate policy,
which will promote the industry internationally, apart from catering to local
needs.

* POWER: The government is likely to give power and transmission projects due
to be commissioned this year a Section 80-IA tax holiday in the coming Budget.

* REGULATORY: The government is considering empowering commodity market
regulator Forward Markets Commission with search and seizure powers, similar
to that of the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

* RETAIL: The BJP government is likely to put the proposal to open up e- commerce to foreign direct investment on the back burner.

* TAXATION: The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in
Maharashtra has proposed to introduce a new tax to abolish the controversial
local body tax in 26 municipal corporations, excluding Mumbai's. India and the
US have agreed to implement a foreign tax compliance law and asked banks and
financial institutions to register by this year end to report accounts and assets
held by US citizens.

SECTORS ALERT – 26.06.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 26.06.2014

* AGRICULTURE: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved all the
recommendations of the Commission For Agriculture Costs and Prices on minimum
support prices for the 2014-15 kharif crops. Uttar Pradesh Sugar Mills Association has
written to the state government requesting rationalisation of the cane price policy.

* AUTO: Hyundai Motor India Senior Vice-President Sales & Marketing Rakesh
Srivastava expects positive sales growth in June. The automobile industry has welcomed
the extension in reduction of excise duty on vehicles till Dec 31, but with a hint of
scepticism.Government is looking at new norms for electric vehicles.

* AVIATION: The civil aviation ministry is developing an entirely new framework for
bilateral air service agreements that will focus more on the needs of domestic carriers.

* DISINVESTMENT: The government may raise asset sale target by 41% as finance
minister Arun Jaitley looks to trim the widest budget deficit among emerging markets.

* FMCG: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has written to the finance ministry
seeking a value added tax of 60% on cigarettes.

* HOSPITALITY: Tata Group's budget hotel chain Ginger is looking to add 30-35 small
family-run hotels to its network through franchise agreements or management contracts.

* OIL & GAS: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has deferred the decision on
gas pricing by three months.

* INFRASTRUCTURE: The Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation
had granted approval to JINDAL STEEL AND POWER, EMAMI PAPER MILLS, and
three others to mortgage leased land for raising loans.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: The Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association has asked the
government that 'control samples' and samples given to physicians be exempted from
duties and taxes in the Budget.
The government is likely to offer a financing scheme to the domestic pharmaceutical
industry to upgrade their manufacturing facilities and meet stringent standards of the
world's leading export markets.

* POWER: The power ministry was understood to have set up an advisory group headed
by Suresh Prabhu, power minister in the previous National Democratic Alliance-led
government, for integrated development of the sector.
There is enough scope for power utilities to ensure uninterrupted supply without tariff
shock, but consumers too need to do their bit by being willing to pay for 24x7 service and
helping stop electricity theft, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said. The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking has filed a fresh affidavit
in the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission opposing TATA POWER CO's
entry into electricity distribution in Mumbai.

* REAL ESTATE: Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India plans
to discontinue construction works indefinitely and stop procuring cement for its activities
in south India in protest against the steep hike in cement prices.

* RETAIL: Branded garments might become more expensive, with the finance ministry
thinking of bringing back excise duty on this category in the Budget. Japanese clothing
chain Uniqlo is looking to source garments from India.

* SHIPPING: The shipping ministry has requested the petroleum ministry to increase the
share of Indian flagged ships in the country's oil trade.

* STATES: The Maharashtra government has announced a 5% reservation in government
jobs and educational institutions for Muslims and another 16% for Maratha community

SECTORS ALERT – 25.06.2014

SECTORS ALERT – 25.06.2014

* AGRICULTURE: Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh said that the government is fully
prepared to face any probability of drought in the country due to weak rains.

* AVIATION: Air India is likely to see a 4-5% growth in revenue with its formal
induction into Star Alliance, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said. Civil
Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has said that there has been no decision taken on
privatising Air India.

* BANKING: PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK, ALLAHABAD BANK, and FEDERAL
BANK have shown interest in taking over the Rupee Co-operative Bank, Harshvardhan
Patil, Maharashtra state cooperation minister said. HSBC Holdings' arm HSBC Private
Bank Suisse SA will sell a portfolio of its private banking assets in Switzerland for $12.5
bln to LGT Bank.

* CORPORATE: Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank has invited bids for sale of assets
of two sugar mills--Pad Dr VV Patil SSK and Ninaidevi SSK. Kinetic Group and Ikaros
Solar Group have formed a JV company, Ikaros Kinetic Solar, to provide solutions for
low capacity solar photovoltaic installations. Corporate affairs ministry has invited views
from various stakeholders on easing norms for private companies under the Companies
Act 2013.

* ENERGY: The go vernment is mulling a price hike of liquefied petroleum gas and
kerosene in small dozes of 5 rupees per cylinder and 0.50-1.00 rupees a litre each month.

* EXCHANGES: Suspension or debarment of brokers by stock exchanges will not lead
to suspension of the broker in commodity exchanges, Forward Markets Commission said.
National Spot Exchange has completed 70.48 per cent financial closure for e-silver
investors, benefiting most in this category. National Spot Exchange has urged banks to
refrain from extending credit to its defaulters.

* GOVERNMENT: Broadcasting Minister Javadekar met set-top box manufacturers in
an effort to kick-start the process of produce them locally. Ban on milk and milk
products imports from China extended by one more years to Jun 23, 2015. The external
affairs ministry has said that 17 Indians have been rescued from the conflict zone in Iraq
with assistance from local authorities. The environment ministry is in process of framing
new guidelines on contentious issue of "inviolate area" that has restricted mining
activities and held up infrastructure projects worth billions.

* INFRASTRUCTURE: Road Minister Gadkari has expressed dissatisfaction over the
performance of Border Roads Organisation and said the roads organisation will not be
awarded any new projects till an audit has been conducted. Government has approved
road projects worth 200 bln rupees in Jammu & Kashmir, worth 150 bln rupees in the
north-east, and worth 50 bln rupees in flood-torn Uttarakhand.
The government, in partnership with Japanese investors, plans to set up a finance
corporation with a corpus of 1 trln rupees to fund projects in the road sector.

* METALS: The government is looking at working out a mechanism for single-window
clearance to steel projects in the country, Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.

* MINING: States that have put in place adequate environmental protection rules with
regard to small mining projects of less than 5 ha would now be exempt from taking the
Centre's clearance, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said.

* PHARMACEUTICALS: The government is likely to raise the number of drugs deemed
essential and subject to price caps.

* POWER: State-owned bulk power purchaser Gridco has drawn flak from the
Comptroller & Auditor General of India for irregular collection of power dues from the
distribution companies.

* RAILWAYS: The Railways has decided to partially roll back the hike in passenger
fares for suburban train systems, with no hike applicable to second class suburban
ordinary fare up to a distance of 80 km.The Railways is likely to carry out electrification
of around 2,200 km of its tracks this financial year.

* REGULATORY: Reserve Bank of India has appointed an administrator at Mumbai- based Kapol Co-operative Bank from Jun 20.

* TELECOM: The government will challenge the telecom tribunal's order clearing the
3G intra-circle roaming pacts between operators.

* WEATHER: India Jun 24 rainfall 2.7 mm, 61% below normal.