Indian Economy-News & Updates

[MandarK]

Country has got 90 per cent rainfall so far: Ashwani Kumar - The Economic Times

CHANDIGARH: With monsoon turning active in many parts this month, Union Minister Ashwani Kumar today said rainfall received by the country during the current season so far stands at 90 per cent, which is six per cent short of the normal figure.

The union minister of state for planning, science and technology and earth sciences said there had been rains in various parts of the country during the past few days and the situation has improved, but "we are still overall deficient."

"The latest figures that we have got tell us that there have been 90 per cent rains while 96 per cent is normal. 90 per cent is less than normal and there is deficiency, but by August end, the range of deficiency will be considerably narrowed," the Minister said here.

"Though it will still be deficient, but not to the extent what it looked 15 days back," the Minister said at a function at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.

Punjab and Haryana governments have raised a demand for Central packages of Rs 5,112 crore and Rs 4,050 crore respectively in the wake of deficient rain this kharif season, he said, adding, "We are thinking of intervention in various areas to mitigate the hardship."

He denied the charge by ruling SAD-BJP that Congress MPs from the state were not raising genuine issues concerning the state and also countered the step-motherly charge often used against UPA by Shiromani Akali Dal in context of Punjab.

"The UPA-I and II governments have given the largest possible assistance to the state government. It is there for everyone to see, whether it is education, increasing the crop MSP, Metro rail to Ludhiana, border development...You name it and they have got it. If they want to politicise development, then what can I say," he said.

Asked about the move to provide free mobile phones to people below poverty line, Kumar said "some suggestions have been given here and there, but there is no decision yet on this".

 

[cloud_9]

Taro Pharma agrees to $571 million buyout offer from Sun Pharma

MUMBAI: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has upped the buy-out price for its Israeli unit Taro Pharma by 60 per cent, winning over Taro's board and ending a long battle to gain full control of the US listed drugmaker.

Under the latest offer, which comes a month after Taro rejected an earlier bid, Sun Pharmaceutical will pay $571 million to buy about a third of Taro's 44.5 million shares at $39.50 a share, up from an offer of $24.50 a share.

Mumbai-based Sun Pharma, India's top drugmaker by market value, said in a statement it planned to delist Taro from the New York Stock Exchange once the buy-out process was completed.

Taro said in a statement its board of directors had approved the sweetened offer.

"It's a positive move because this will help Sun Pharma bring Taro to its own levels and also run the US business more efficiently," said Deepak Malik, analyst at brokerage Emkay.

ONGC makes huge oil discovery off West coast

NEW DELHI: ONGC today said it has made a huge oil discovery off the West coast that will help the state-owned firm raise its sagging oil output.

The new discovery was made in the currently producing D1 oilfield. The find "will catapult D1 to become the third largest field in western offshore after prolific Mumbai High and Heera", Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) said in a statement.

D1, which is currently producing 12,500 barrels per day (bpd), had an approved peak output of 36,000 bpd. With the new discovery, the peak output would jump to 60,000 bpd or three million tonnes a year.

"Earlier, the D1 was known to have initial oil in-place (or inplace reserves) to the order of 600 million barrels (82.20 million tonnes of oil equivalent). After the discovery of the new pool, its total in-place reserves are expected to be in excess of one billion barrels," it said.

D1, primarily an oil producing field, is situated about 200 km west of Mumbai city in Deep Continental Shelf at a water depth of 85 to 90 metres.

Insurance plan lets India resume shipping Iran oil

MUMBAI: The first Indian ship to carry Iranian crude since European sanctions on ship insurance decimated Iran's oil trade is scheduled to load up on Wednesday.

India's Mercator shipping says the tanker is contracted to carry 85,000 metric tons of crude for a government refiner.

New Delhi has been pushing government insurers to offer coverage for Indian tankers to maintain vital Iranian imports since European sanctions blocked third-party insurance in July. But the government-backed insurance only covers up to $100 million. Most Indian shipping companies say those terms aren't adequate.

Japan has been offering its shipping companies up to $7.6 billion in coverage per tanker. South Korean refiners are in talks to allow Iran to send oil on its own ships.

 

[Hello_10]

India suffer heavy Trade Deficit with EU but its still not helping EU's economies

Free Economy Photos, Images, Market Infographics, Stocks Picture Gallery - Financial Express

India's exports to European countries increased by about 16 per cent to USD 57.7 billion in 2011-12, while imports rose by about 29 per cent year-on-year to USD 91.5 billion.

Exports to Europe up 16%; imports 29%

 

[IndoCarib]

6 global retailers in India queue

The government has received six proposals from global single-brand retailers keen on setting up operations through 51% joint ventures with domestic partners, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said on Monday.

Apparel maker Tommy Hillfiger, clothing retailer Brooks Brother Group, Italian jewellery brand Damiani International, French fashion brand Promod SAS, Fapa Company Ltd and NA Pali Europe SARL, an arm of sportswear retailer Quiksilver Inc, are the six global retailers queuing up to establish operations in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The government has also received two other proposals — by British footwear major Pavers England and Sweden-based furniture company IKEA Group —to set shop in India through wholly-owned subsidiaries (100% FDI), Sharma said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. “No decision has been taken on these proposals.”

The government is learnt[B] to be readying plans to ease FDI norms for single-brand retail including the condition that global firms will have to source 30% of their merchandise requirements from local small firms and artisans. [/B]

6 global retailers in India queue - Hindustan Times

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NEW DELHI: India's trade with Latin American countries is expected to touch USD 50 billion by 2014 on account of healthy economic growth in both the regions, PHD chamber said today.

In a function at PHD chamber, ambassadors of countries including Chile, Colombia and Mexico sought investment from India and deliberated on trade and business opportunities in their countries for Indian businessmen.

India's trade with Latin America may touch $50 billion by 2014 - The Economic Times

 

[shuttler]

As drought looms in India, fear for its cattle

reuters

Armed with the latest monsoon rainfall data, weather experts finally conceded this month that India is facing a drought, confirming what millions of livestock farmers around the country had known for weeks.

For over three months, even state agencies have been providing free fodder to those most vulnerable to a shortfall in India's annual monsoon -- farmers who eke a living out of small landholdings and the milk provided by cattle.

At the end of April, Bhimrao Chavan and his wife abandoned their land in western India and headed for a camp that doubles as a centre for the provision of free fodder. Their scrawny cattle and a couple of goats amble around a hut made of straw, leaves and plastic sheeting that Chavan and his family share.

At first, there was just a handful of families at the makeshift settlement on the outskirts of a small town some 320 km (200 miles) southeast of Mumbai in Maharashtra. But as the monsoon rains failed to show week after week through June and July, turning fields across the region from luscious green to parched white, the numbers there swelled.

Today, the Mhaswad settlement has the air of a refugee camp, teeming with some 6,500 people and nearly twice as many animals: cows, bullocks and goats that would have gone for slaughter or faced starvation had they not made the journey.

"The most important thing for me is keeping my cattle alive as that is my only source of income. Without them we can't survive," said 40-year-old Chavan as he cut sugarcane into small pieces for his cattle in the early morning sunlight.

India is heavily dependent on the capricious annual monsoon, which brings about 75 p ercent of the rainfall that the country receives, to irrigate crops and fill its reservoirs.

Although agriculture accounts for just 14 percent of the economy's output, a successful monsoon can be life-changing for some 600 million people - half of the population - who depend on farming for a livelihood. Monsoon failures have led to millions of deaths over the past century and buffeted the economy.

DEVASTATING BLOW

Just over halfway through this season, the rains are 17 percent below normal, and the weather office has forecast that the El Nino weather pattern will bring more disappointment in the few weeks that remain.

The drought, India's first since 2009, will not bring a shortage of staples as the nation's grain stores are overflowing with rice and wheat, and sugar output is set to exceed demand for a third straight year.

But it will deal a devastating blow to grain crops used for animal feed. That would badly hit the vast majority of the country's farmers who - with cattle and small landholdings their only assets - struggle to survive at the best of times.

Monsoon failures are so threatening that the government keeps a "Drought Manual". In this weighty document, "cattle wealth" is described as the mainstay of the rural economy, but it is precarious because when seriously depleted its recovery is very slow, with stocks growing at just 1-2 percent a year.

Chavan's family of 12 is typical: their annual income is usually around 90,000 rupees, a tiny enough sum, but this year it will be even lower because there has not been enough rain to plant crops on their 3 acres (1.2 hectares) of land at the village of Pulkoti not far from the fodder camp. Neighbours who did sow have seen their crops wither and die.

"Until next year we will only get money by selling milk," said Chavan's wife, Lilabai, as she stood barefoot in the dusty camp as farmers around her milked their cows and collected dung for fuel and manure.

"We were thinking of selling our livestock because we didn't have money to buy fodder. Fortunately, the camp was started, otherwise by now our animals would have been slaughtered."

RIPPLE EFFECT ACROSS COMMUNITIES

The government has promised to provide all vulnerable farmers with animal feed. But Maharashtra is not the only state hit hard by the drought - the others are Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in the north, Gujarat in the west and Karnataka in the south - and, saddled with sharply slowing economic growth and a yawning fiscal gap, the government will be hard-pressed to deliver.

Indeed, there are very few camps like the one at Mhaswad in Maharashtra, and fodder prices have surged on short-supply.

Just 50 km (30 miles) away, for example, Rajesh Hanmantrao Deshmukh has taken a 60,000 rupee loan to buy fodder for his 10 buffaloes. In a good year he would expect to earn 100,000 rupees, but this year he expects to lose that much.

"Keeping buffaloes is now a loss-making business," Deshmukh said as he bought cane from a state-subsidised depot. "I used to get fodder from my farm but this year the farms are empty."

Others cannot get loans, which has led to distress selling of livestock for slaughter - and, with it, a drop in prices.

This year's disaster will have a ripple effect across rural communities of Maharashtra, forcing many to migrate from the hardscrabble hinterland to the financial capital, Mumbai.

"Nothing has changed in rural areas despite all the progress. When drought strikes, young people have to migrate," said Ashok Galande, a resident of Pulkoti village who sold his pair of bullocks during a drought in 1972 and moved to Mumbai.

"Drought cripples everything at the village. In big cities you can find work for a livelihood," said Galande, who has found life tough since returning to his rural roots last year.

To generate employment, the state government is trying to expand the scope of a national job guarantee scheme, but many local businesses that rely on farmers are suffering already.

"Sales are only five percent of normal," grumbled seed and fertiliser seller Janardan Narle in Mhaswad. "Why would farmers buy seeds, fertilisers or pesticides when there is no rainfall?"

Cloth merchant Amar Rokade's takings have dropped by about 60 percent this monsoon season and he has sacked two of his three workers, while motor-cycle dealer Sanjay Bhagwat says his sales have fallen by 50 percent.

They are both worried that worse is to come in the months ahead when, normally, they would be enjoying brisk sales during the Hindu festivals of Dusshera and Diwali.

"If the rains fail in the next two months in our areas, then it will hammer our festival-season sales," said Bhagwat.

 

[TopCat]

I am fearing a near famine situation in India. My gosh... I am so afraid now... :-(

 

[IndoCarib]

I am fearing a near famine situation in India. My gosh... I am so afraid now... :-(

hehe. whatever sir,

Rains lash North India | Business Standard

Widespread rains give relief to scarcity-hit Gujarat

Heavy rain inundates fields in Udupi - The Times of India

Monsoon is a little late. But it will cover all of India soon. No worries

 

[TopCat]

hehe. whatever sir,

Rains lash North India | Business Standard

Widespread rains give relief to scarcity-hit Gujarat

Heavy rain inundates fields in Udupi - The Times of India

Damage already done. Season does not wait for rain and late crop means no crops.

 

[IndoCarib]

Damage already done. Season does not wait for rain and late crop means no crops.

Not really. This fear of no rains and no crops has been there always. And every year, we harvest bumper crops

India's Aug 1 grains stocks well above targets | Reuters

 

[kkacer]

Despite rain, Delhi is 57% deficient

New Delhi, August 13, 2012


It rained and it poured on Monday, but hardly enough to make up for the lack of rainfall in Delhi this year.

So far, the Capital has witnessed a 57% deficiency in rainfall, with only 169.5mm of rain received since June 1. Last year, between the same period, Delhi received 400mm of rain, 10mm more than the average of 390mm.

While there may be some respite for a few days, with intermittent rain through the week, the following weeks seems dry.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) says a weak monsoon, which has affected most of northwest India, is behind the rain woes.

Despite rain, Delhi is 57% deficient - Hindustan Times

 

[cirr]

Forget about the monsoon。India's exports have collapsed：

India's exports dip 14.8% in July

India's exports dip 14.8% in July - Rediff.com Business

Funny the word “dip” was chosen in place of “collapse”。

 

[TopCat]

Forget about the monsoon。India's exports have collapsed：

India's exports dip 14.8% in July

India's exports dip 14.8% in July - Rediff.com Business

Funny the word “dip” was chosen in place of “collapse”。

very sad... :-(

 

[Vinod2070]

The Indian growth story is intact. India is on the way to be a top 3 economy in the next 3-4 decades.

Minor blips are just that. Minor.

Though they may cause some no hopers to get excited for a bit. That is fine.

They are Homo Sapiens too.

 

[IndoCarib]

GM China's Slym quits to join India's Tata Motors as MD

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Karl Slym, the executive vice president of one of General Motors' joint ventures in China, left the company after less than a year in the job on Tuesday to join India's Tata Motors as managing director.

Slym joins Tata Motors at a time when the Indian company has warned about sales at home and amid renewed doubts about the sales outlook for its key Jaguar Land Rover subsidiary.

UPDATE 1-GM China's Slym quits to join India's Tata Motors as MD | Reuters

 

[Archie]

very sad... :-(

You can gloat when your exports cross 300 Billion USD a yr eh troll

Forget about the monsoon。India's exports have collapsed：

India's exports dip 14.8% in July

India's exports dip 14.8% in July - Rediff.com Business

Funny the word “dip” was chosen in place of “collapse”。

You worry about your swelling national debt
Heard its already 136% OF GDP and on its way to beat japan by end of decade