DDA extends lease for Taj Palace Hotel to IHCL for 25 years

Tata group hospitality major Indian Hotels Company ( IHCL ) today said lease of its Taj Palace Hotel in the city has been renewed for 25 years from April 1 this year.

"The Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj Group) is pleased to confirm that it has received the consent from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) confirming renewal of the license for the Taj Palace Hotel, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi for a further period of 25 years effective from April 1, 2013," the company said in a statement.

Also read: Low demand hits room rates, profit: Hotel Leela's Nair

The Taj had originally entered into an agreement for the construction and license of the hotel with DDA for 30 years effective from April 1, 1983. The Taj will thus continue to operate the hotel till March 31, 2038, it added.

Commenting on development IHCL Managing Director Raymond Bickson said: "IHCL has enjoyed a very cordial and beneficial business association with Delhi Development Authority over the past three decades and this recent development will further strengthen our partnership with DDA in the years to come."

IHCL and its subsidiaries are collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.

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Did govt let telecom sector down? Chandrashekhar argues

The tenure of R Chandrashekhar, telecom secretary, has been most eventful. During his tenure, the business and investment sentiment in the sector dipped significantly and many legal dispute pertaining to auction, policy and pricing cropped up. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he refutes allegations of uncertainty and says that the sector on the other hand has crystallized and become more favourable for investments.

In an interview he highlighted that prior to the Supreme Court judgment of 2012, there was uncertainty with regards to overall policy framework, pricing of spectrum and licensing regime. There are many uncertainties, so fresh investments are getting impacted. However, the scenario changed and resulted in great deal of crystallization into the entire policy environment.

He also added that the cancellation of licenses has impacted investments and investor's confidence for sometime. But, I think uncertainty was the main contributor, so the main challenge was to address that uncertainty and remove all uncertainty with regard to policy, licensing regime and spectrum pricing.

On nation-free roaming issue he said, the policy provision is to remove the burden of paying roaming charges. The whole philosophy of telecom is death of distance. All actions are being worked out to make free roaming a reality.

Below is the edited transcript of his interview to CNBC-TV18.

Q: Many people feel that from the time you have taken charge policy uncertainty in the sector continues, the customer service has deteriorated and most telecom companies are embroiled in one or the other legal battle. Are you disappointed with where this sector has come today?

A: I am not disappointed with where the sector has come today. Number of challenges related to uncertainty on several aspects and uncertainty about the continuance of a large number of operators were required to be addressed.

Prior to the Supreme Court judgment of 2012, there was uncertainty with regards to overall policy framework, pricing of spectrum and licensing regime. There are many uncertainties, so fresh investments are getting impacted. However, the Supreme Court judgment came in 2012 and then the events subsequent to that in my assessment have resulted in a great deal of crystallisation of the entire policy environment. Around 70-80 percent of the uncertainty has been addressed. 

Q: Do you think that licenses shouldn't have been cancelled?

A: I would not like to comment on court's decision. However, it is important to note that decision of the government taken on policy is largely motivated by people good and decision in a court of law are taken on the basis of law and rights of various concerned parties. Therefore, entirely it is not correct to expect that both these perspective would result in an identical outcome.

Q: Do you think that it has been the biggest setback for investor confidence for the government's plans to encourage foreign direct investment. The Supreme Court decided to cancel 122 telecom licenses despite many believe that they had been allocated as per government policy, maybe the Supreme Court found that the implementation was faulty?    

A: I would not like to comment directly or indirectly on the Supreme Court order. The orders of the Supreme Court are binding under the law of the land. Yes, the cancellation of licenses has impacted investments and investor's confidence for sometime.

But, I think uncertainty was the main contributor, so the main challenge was to address that uncertainty and remove all uncertainty with regard to policy, licensing regime and spectrum pricing. That is something which has been pursued and has happened, in fact as far as investors are concerned, now all the conditions are in place for them to make a very cold and quantitative analysis of all investment options that are available. There are no unquantifiable risks or any regulatory uncertainties which they need to worry about.

Q: When you say that the government is working towards policy certainty as far as policy making is concerned, after the licenses were cancelled, many experts believe that the government did not fight hard enough for these companies for the telecom sector in the court and it allowed the Supreme Court to enter the policy making domain and say that spectrum henceforth should always be auctioned. How the older telecom companies are also now being asked to pay the market-determined price but at this stage do you feel that the government let the telecom sector down by not fighting hard enough for them?

A: I am not sure if everybody would agree with you that it is the government's job to fight court cases on behalf of companies or keeping the interest of companies in mind.

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b:kind for women: Stylish, trendy, affordable fashion

Looking good does not come cheap especially if branded apparel is your fix. Twenty-six-year-old Vidhi Shah, with master's degree in fashion marketing communication from IED Milan and backend support from family's apparel business, launched the brand 'b:kind' in 2010 targeting women in the age group of 18 to 35 in both metros and tier II cities.

The brand is available in over 200 stores across India including outlets at multi brand retailers like Reliance Retail. She plans to add product categories like skirts, dresses and denims to make b:kind a complete women's wear brand.    

Stylish, trendy and affordable fashion is the mantra behind entrepreneur Vidhi Shah's debt design range of women's wear b:kind. Since inception the brand has sold 1.5 lakh pieces. b:kind's western wear target the mid-market segment and products range from Rs 599 for a graphic print T-shirts to Rs 1,599 for more formal wear.

The clothing line which has been designed after keeping in mind the Indian women silhouette and includes a plus size series in every collection is the unique selling proposition (USP) for b:kind 

Vidhi hound a design sensibility working with Lakme Fashion Week, Pantaloons and Shoppers Stop, she believes growing up and watching her father build an apparel business from scratch has had the biggest impact.

Vidhi Shah, founder, b:kind Clothing, says that I had b:kind in my mind ever since I started pursuing design. I wanted some work experience so I joined M Square clothing, our family business, but it did not interest me much because it was a men wear entity and I was more interested into women's wear.

Since 2010, b:kind is producing only top-wear line but the September 2013 collection will have new product categories like skirts, dresses and denims as well. Today, b:kind retails out in 200 stores in India, exports 20 percent of its products to around 100 stores in the UAE and has stitched together a turnover of Rs 4.6 crore in the last fiscal. Vidhi plans to reach a target of Rs 6.7 crore this financial year.

"Our revenue model predominantly is an outright sale model, so we started with 60 managing by objectives (MBOs) in India in our first season all over India. We did try and have pan presence. Today, we have about 250 MBOs in India. We have a consignment based model as well, which works with large formats stores. So, currently we are present in Reliance Retail, Reliance Trends where we are in 12 stores of theirs," says Shah.

b:kind has its headquarter in Mumbai and the team of 12 member is aggressively targeting the tier II and tier III market.

"By the end of this year we will have our own four retail stores. We do want to make it fast fashion for now where we can fill up stocks. So, we definitely do want to have our own stores that become a major point of communication for us as well to sell the product," she added.

Focused on the expansion plans, Vidhi is in talks with private equity players to raise funds. Money will be used to expand manufacturing capacities as well as create a brand campaign for b:kind. But in the meantime she is confident of her present game and set to hit her target of manufacturing and selling over 75,000 pieces this year.

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Jaypee Infratech targets revenue of Rs 4,000 crore in FY14

Jaypee Infratech , which has been reeling under huge debts, is aiming to raise its revenue to Rs 4, 000 crore in 2013-14 on the back of two three projects that company plans to launch in the next fiscal, Executive Chairman Manoj Gaur told CNBC TV18 in an interview.

The company hopes to clock revenue of Rs 3,300 crore in the current fiscal. One of Jaypee Group's most ambitious projects has been the construction of the 165 kilometre long six lane Yamuna Expressway connecting Noida with Agra. Besides getting nearly 4,000 acres from the Uttar Pradesh Government for building this expressway the company also got around 6,000 acres divided in five land parcels all for real estate development. All of this was hived off and listed as Jaypee Infratech in 2010.

Also read: Positive outcome on cement biz sale seen soon: JP Asso

So, far Jaypee has launched one of these parcels, the one in Noida which goes by the name of Jaypee Wish Town. However there had been several delays in launching this project and the company had received lot of flak from consumers.

The company now plans to launch Wish Town project at Agra very soon. The company hopes to get an average realisation of Rs 3,800-4,000 per square feet for different products in this township project. The company is aiming a ticket size of about Rs 35 lakhs to Rs 55 lakhs.

The Jaypee group company is also developing a Sports City near Formula One race tracks near Noida. "We have been able to successfully launch Bougainvilleas, the farm houses which are in the range of about Rs 8-10 crore, then there are studio apartments about Rs 40 lakhs, then there are going to be very iconic apartments overseeing the F1 track, their ticket-size maybe about Rs1 crore," Gaur said. 

The company's current debt stand at Rs 6800 crore and its plans to bring it down to Rs 4800 crore by 2013-14 end. Through its several debt refinancing initiatives, Jaypee Infratech has now managed to get a longer moratorium and repayment cycle. The company's interest payment has come down to about 12.5 percent from a high of about 15.5 percent. "There is going to be net saving of three percent to Jaypee Infratech and entire debt has been refinanced to a 15 year instrument, partially 15-year and partially 18 years," Gaur said.

Catch the full interview transcript on next page.

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Videocon Mobile to provide pan-India services in 2-3 years

Videocon Mobile Services, which operates in seven of the 22 telecom circles, today said it intends to cover the entire country within 2-3 years. "The company is a national player in telecom sector and has ambition to start services across the country in two to three years," Arvind Bali, Director and CEO, Videocon Mobile Services told reporters.

Also read: Videocon Mobile to provide pan-India services in 2-3 years

In order to provide unmatched network experience in Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MP-CG) circle, the company plans to add 1,550 cell sites to its existing 2,800-plus sites within the next two months, he said. As part of its commitment to roll-out 4G services, the company has prepared a roadmap and commenced network planning to provide the next level of mobile communications, Bali said. The company plans commercial roll-out of 4G services by March 2014, he said.

The telecom major at present has footprints in MP-CG, Punjab, Haryana, UP-East, UP-West, Gujarat and Bihar circles. Videocon's current subscriber base stands at seven lakh in MP-CG circle and it is adding 1-1.5 lakh customers every month to its fold, Bali added.

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How impact investing could affect biz in India

The Rockefeller Foundation reports that impact investing is set to grow at an annual pace of 30 percent. India is the second-largest market for impact investing after the US, with USD 500 million worth of investments made in 2012 alone. But what does this mean?

When Pierre Omidyar saw his networth cross a billion dollars in 1998 as Ebay listed on the capital markets, he knew he had to do more with his wealth that had come to him in just three years. So, he set up the Omidyar Network, an organisation that invests in promising social enterprises.

Today, the Omidyar Network, sponsored by Pam and Pierre Omidyar has put in over USD 550 million in impact investments. The network operates with two cheque books, investing roughly half its corpus as grants to non-profit organisations, while the other half goes to early-stage social entrepreneurs whose businesses are perceived too risky by commercial investors. Omidyar set up shop in India in 2010 and has a portfolio of 27 organisations in which it has invested about USD 100 million. 70 percent of these are for-profit ventures.

Venture philanthropy, impact investing and flexible capitalism. These are some of the terms that have been used to describe the approach that Jayant Sinha, partner, Omidyar Network India Advisors and his team have taken to capital investments in the social sector. But Jayant likes to keep it simple. He believes social impact and financial returns are a means to an end. Jayant uses examples of two of his investee companies to explain how they operate - D Light, a solar lantern manufacturer and Tree House, India's largest self operated pre-school chain.

Sinha says, "The social impact cannot be an add-on it has got to be built into the value proposition. So, Tree House tracks the number of children that are in their preschools. That is an impact metric because we know if the child is in one of the Tree House preschools, he or she is going to get tremendous education and in doing so achieve social impact. 

Similarly for D Light. D Light makes solar lanterns. So, for every solar lantern they ship, they are actually substituting kerosene lanterns. They are reducing the cost of using kerosene, providing a much healthier alternative, and reducing the risk of fire. So, built into that solar lantern is already that social impact. You track solar lanterns, you are tracking social impact.

For someone who didn't know what LP (not sure) stood for in 2001 to managing four funds worth over  Rs 800 crore Vineet Rai, founder and CEO, Aavishkaar has come a long way on a very challenging road. One really must put this in context at a time when regular venture capitalists (VCs) were reluctant to make investments in purely commercial ventures in urban India, Vineet's mission is to create a fund to service enterprise in India's most rural areas.

Vineet survived the rough and tumble of impact investing because of his ability to take disproportionate risks and the capacity to be extremely patient, the virtue of which he learnt when he first began working for a Gujarat government-backed rural enterprise incubator in 1998.

Rai says, "My job was to go to the villages and help the innovators into converting their innovations into products and then into businesses. One of the key learnings I gained in that process is converting an innovation into a product, and a business requires an entrepreneur not an innovator as the lead. The entrepreneur is taking the risk and he requires risk capital in trying to build that business. The biggest challenge was not in finding the entrepreneur or helping the innovation to become a product, but providing that risk capital. That was my key learning out of the three, three and a half years I spent as incubator.

Aavishkaar is not very different. We are a venture capital fund. The only difference is that we are focused on rural India. We have made 38-39 investments till date. We are the first investor in almost 38 of them. So, 98 percent of the time we are the first investor. Almost 50 percent of the companies that we have invested in actually didn't exist, that means they started with our capital. More than 50 percent of our capital is deployed in the low-income stage. So, that could tell you that our capacity or appetite to go and take risks where returns are actually unexpected is very high.

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DDA extends lease for Taj Palace Hotel to IHCL for 25 years

Tata group hospitality major Indian Hotels Company ( IHCL ) today said lease of its Taj Palace Hotel in the city has been renewed for 25 years from April 1 this year.

"The Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj Group) is pleased to confirm that it has received the consent from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) confirming renewal of the license for the Taj Palace Hotel, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi for a further period of 25 years effective from April 1, 2013," the company said in a statement.

Also read: Low demand hits room rates, profit: Hotel Leela's Nair

The Taj had originally entered into an agreement for the construction and license of the hotel with DDA for 30 years effective from April 1, 1983. The Taj will thus continue to operate the hotel till March 31, 2038, it added.

Commenting on development IHCL Managing Director Raymond Bickson said: "IHCL has enjoyed a very cordial and beneficial business association with Delhi Development Authority over the past three decades and this recent development will further strengthen our partnership with DDA in the years to come."

IHCL and its subsidiaries are collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.

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Did govt let telecom sector down? Chandrashekhar argues

The tenure of R Chandrashekhar, telecom secretary, has been most eventful. During his tenure, the business and investment sentiment in the sector dipped significantly and many legal dispute pertaining to auction, policy and pricing cropped up. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, he refutes allegations of uncertainty and says that the sector on the other hand has crystallized and become more favourable for investments.

In an interview he highlighted that prior to the Supreme Court judgment of 2012, there was uncertainty with regards to overall policy framework, pricing of spectrum and licensing regime. There are many uncertainties, so fresh investments are getting impacted. However, the scenario changed and resulted in great deal of crystallization into the entire policy environment.

He also added that the cancellation of licenses has impacted investments and investor's confidence for sometime. But, I think uncertainty was the main contributor, so the main challenge was to address that uncertainty and remove all uncertainty with regard to policy, licensing regime and spectrum pricing.

On nation-free roaming issue he said, the policy provision is to remove the burden of paying roaming charges. The whole philosophy of telecom is death of distance. All actions are being worked out to make free roaming a reality.

Below is the edited transcript of his interview to CNBC-TV18.

Q: Many people feel that from the time you have taken charge policy uncertainty in the sector continues, the customer service has deteriorated and most telecom companies are embroiled in one or the other legal battle. Are you disappointed with where this sector has come today?

A: I am not disappointed with where the sector has come today. Number of challenges related to uncertainty on several aspects and uncertainty about the continuance of a large number of operators were required to be addressed.

Prior to the Supreme Court judgment of 2012, there was uncertainty with regards to overall policy framework, pricing of spectrum and licensing regime. There are many uncertainties, so fresh investments are getting impacted. However, the Supreme Court judgment came in 2012 and then the events subsequent to that in my assessment have resulted in a great deal of crystallisation of the entire policy environment. Around 70-80 percent of the uncertainty has been addressed. 

Q: Do you think that licenses shouldn't have been cancelled?

A: I would not like to comment on court's decision. However, it is important to note that decision of the government taken on policy is largely motivated by people good and decision in a court of law are taken on the basis of law and rights of various concerned parties. Therefore, entirely it is not correct to expect that both these perspective would result in an identical outcome.

Q: Do you think that it has been the biggest setback for investor confidence for the government's plans to encourage foreign direct investment. The Supreme Court decided to cancel 122 telecom licenses despite many believe that they had been allocated as per government policy, maybe the Supreme Court found that the implementation was faulty?    

A: I would not like to comment directly or indirectly on the Supreme Court order. The orders of the Supreme Court are binding under the law of the land. Yes, the cancellation of licenses has impacted investments and investor's confidence for sometime.

But, I think uncertainty was the main contributor, so the main challenge was to address that uncertainty and remove all uncertainty with regard to policy, licensing regime and spectrum pricing. That is something which has been pursued and has happened, in fact as far as investors are concerned, now all the conditions are in place for them to make a very cold and quantitative analysis of all investment options that are available. There are no unquantifiable risks or any regulatory uncertainties which they need to worry about.

Q: When you say that the government is working towards policy certainty as far as policy making is concerned, after the licenses were cancelled, many experts believe that the government did not fight hard enough for these companies for the telecom sector in the court and it allowed the Supreme Court to enter the policy making domain and say that spectrum henceforth should always be auctioned. How the older telecom companies are also now being asked to pay the market-determined price but at this stage do you feel that the government let the telecom sector down by not fighting hard enough for them?

A: I am not sure if everybody would agree with you that it is the government's job to fight court cases on behalf of companies or keeping the interest of companies in mind.

23.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

b:kind for women: Stylish, trendy, affordable fashion

Looking good does not come cheap especially if branded apparel is your fix. Twenty-six-year-old Vidhi Shah, with master's degree in fashion marketing communication from IED Milan and backend support from family's apparel business, launched the brand 'b:kind' in 2010 targeting women in the age group of 18 to 35 in both metros and tier II cities.

The brand is available in over 200 stores across India including outlets at multi brand retailers like Reliance Retail. She plans to add product categories like skirts, dresses and denims to make b:kind a complete women's wear brand.    

Stylish, trendy and affordable fashion is the mantra behind entrepreneur Vidhi Shah's debt design range of women's wear b:kind. Since inception the brand has sold 1.5 lakh pieces. b:kind's western wear target the mid-market segment and products range from Rs 599 for a graphic print T-shirts to Rs 1,599 for more formal wear.

The clothing line which has been designed after keeping in mind the Indian women silhouette and includes a plus size series in every collection is the unique selling proposition (USP) for b:kind 

Vidhi hound a design sensibility working with Lakme Fashion Week, Pantaloons and Shoppers Stop, she believes growing up and watching her father build an apparel business from scratch has had the biggest impact.

Vidhi Shah, founder, b:kind Clothing, says that I had b:kind in my mind ever since I started pursuing design. I wanted some work experience so I joined M Square clothing, our family business, but it did not interest me much because it was a men wear entity and I was more interested into women's wear.

Since 2010, b:kind is producing only top-wear line but the September 2013 collection will have new product categories like skirts, dresses and denims as well. Today, b:kind retails out in 200 stores in India, exports 20 percent of its products to around 100 stores in the UAE and has stitched together a turnover of Rs 4.6 crore in the last fiscal. Vidhi plans to reach a target of Rs 6.7 crore this financial year.

"Our revenue model predominantly is an outright sale model, so we started with 60 managing by objectives (MBOs) in India in our first season all over India. We did try and have pan presence. Today, we have about 250 MBOs in India. We have a consignment based model as well, which works with large formats stores. So, currently we are present in Reliance Retail, Reliance Trends where we are in 12 stores of theirs," says Shah.

b:kind has its headquarter in Mumbai and the team of 12 member is aggressively targeting the tier II and tier III market.

"By the end of this year we will have our own four retail stores. We do want to make it fast fashion for now where we can fill up stocks. So, we definitely do want to have our own stores that become a major point of communication for us as well to sell the product," she added.

Focused on the expansion plans, Vidhi is in talks with private equity players to raise funds. Money will be used to expand manufacturing capacities as well as create a brand campaign for b:kind. But in the meantime she is confident of her present game and set to hit her target of manufacturing and selling over 75,000 pieces this year.

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Jaypee Infratech targets revenue of Rs 4,000 crore in FY14

Jaypee Infratech , which has been reeling under huge debts, is aiming to raise its revenue to Rs 4, 000 crore in 2013-14 on the back of two three projects that company plans to launch in the next fiscal, Executive Chairman Manoj Gaur told CNBC TV18 in an interview.

The company hopes to clock revenue of Rs 3,300 crore in the current fiscal. One of Jaypee Group's most ambitious projects has been the construction of the 165 kilometre long six lane Yamuna Expressway connecting Noida with Agra. Besides getting nearly 4,000 acres from the Uttar Pradesh Government for building this expressway the company also got around 6,000 acres divided in five land parcels all for real estate development. All of this was hived off and listed as Jaypee Infratech in 2010.

Also read: Positive outcome on cement biz sale seen soon: JP Asso

So, far Jaypee has launched one of these parcels, the one in Noida which goes by the name of Jaypee Wish Town. However there had been several delays in launching this project and the company had received lot of flak from consumers.

The company now plans to launch Wish Town project at Agra very soon. The company hopes to get an average realisation of Rs 3,800-4,000 per square feet for different products in this township project. The company is aiming a ticket size of about Rs 35 lakhs to Rs 55 lakhs.

The Jaypee group company is also developing a Sports City near Formula One race tracks near Noida. "We have been able to successfully launch Bougainvilleas, the farm houses which are in the range of about Rs 8-10 crore, then there are studio apartments about Rs 40 lakhs, then there are going to be very iconic apartments overseeing the F1 track, their ticket-size maybe about Rs1 crore," Gaur said. 

The company's current debt stand at Rs 6800 crore and its plans to bring it down to Rs 4800 crore by 2013-14 end. Through its several debt refinancing initiatives, Jaypee Infratech has now managed to get a longer moratorium and repayment cycle. The company's interest payment has come down to about 12.5 percent from a high of about 15.5 percent. "There is going to be net saving of three percent to Jaypee Infratech and entire debt has been refinanced to a 15 year instrument, partially 15-year and partially 18 years," Gaur said.

Catch the full interview transcript on next page.

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Videocon Mobile to provide pan-India services in 2-3 years

Videocon Mobile Services, which operates in seven of the 22 telecom circles, today said it intends to cover the entire country within 2-3 years. "The company is a national player in telecom sector and has ambition to start services across the country in two to three years," Arvind Bali, Director and CEO, Videocon Mobile Services told reporters.

Also read: Videocon Mobile to provide pan-India services in 2-3 years

In order to provide unmatched network experience in Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MP-CG) circle, the company plans to add 1,550 cell sites to its existing 2,800-plus sites within the next two months, he said. As part of its commitment to roll-out 4G services, the company has prepared a roadmap and commenced network planning to provide the next level of mobile communications, Bali said. The company plans commercial roll-out of 4G services by March 2014, he said.

The telecom major at present has footprints in MP-CG, Punjab, Haryana, UP-East, UP-West, Gujarat and Bihar circles. Videocon's current subscriber base stands at seven lakh in MP-CG circle and it is adding 1-1.5 lakh customers every month to its fold, Bali added.

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How impact investing could affect biz in India

The Rockefeller Foundation reports that impact investing is set to grow at an annual pace of 30 percent. India is the second-largest market for impact investing after the US, with USD 500 million worth of investments made in 2012 alone. But what does this mean?

When Pierre Omidyar saw his networth cross a billion dollars in 1998 as Ebay listed on the capital markets, he knew he had to do more with his wealth that had come to him in just three years. So, he set up the Omidyar Network, an organisation that invests in promising social enterprises.

Today, the Omidyar Network, sponsored by Pam and Pierre Omidyar has put in over USD 550 million in impact investments. The network operates with two cheque books, investing roughly half its corpus as grants to non-profit organisations, while the other half goes to early-stage social entrepreneurs whose businesses are perceived too risky by commercial investors. Omidyar set up shop in India in 2010 and has a portfolio of 27 organisations in which it has invested about USD 100 million. 70 percent of these are for-profit ventures.

Venture philanthropy, impact investing and flexible capitalism. These are some of the terms that have been used to describe the approach that Jayant Sinha, partner, Omidyar Network India Advisors and his team have taken to capital investments in the social sector. But Jayant likes to keep it simple. He believes social impact and financial returns are a means to an end. Jayant uses examples of two of his investee companies to explain how they operate - D Light, a solar lantern manufacturer and Tree House, India's largest self operated pre-school chain.

Sinha says, "The social impact cannot be an add-on it has got to be built into the value proposition. So, Tree House tracks the number of children that are in their preschools. That is an impact metric because we know if the child is in one of the Tree House preschools, he or she is going to get tremendous education and in doing so achieve social impact. 

Similarly for D Light. D Light makes solar lanterns. So, for every solar lantern they ship, they are actually substituting kerosene lanterns. They are reducing the cost of using kerosene, providing a much healthier alternative, and reducing the risk of fire. So, built into that solar lantern is already that social impact. You track solar lanterns, you are tracking social impact.

For someone who didn't know what LP (not sure) stood for in 2001 to managing four funds worth over  Rs 800 crore Vineet Rai, founder and CEO, Aavishkaar has come a long way on a very challenging road. One really must put this in context at a time when regular venture capitalists (VCs) were reluctant to make investments in purely commercial ventures in urban India, Vineet's mission is to create a fund to service enterprise in India's most rural areas.

Vineet survived the rough and tumble of impact investing because of his ability to take disproportionate risks and the capacity to be extremely patient, the virtue of which he learnt when he first began working for a Gujarat government-backed rural enterprise incubator in 1998.

Rai says, "My job was to go to the villages and help the innovators into converting their innovations into products and then into businesses. One of the key learnings I gained in that process is converting an innovation into a product, and a business requires an entrepreneur not an innovator as the lead. The entrepreneur is taking the risk and he requires risk capital in trying to build that business. The biggest challenge was not in finding the entrepreneur or helping the innovation to become a product, but providing that risk capital. That was my key learning out of the three, three and a half years I spent as incubator.

Aavishkaar is not very different. We are a venture capital fund. The only difference is that we are focused on rural India. We have made 38-39 investments till date. We are the first investor in almost 38 of them. So, 98 percent of the time we are the first investor. Almost 50 percent of the companies that we have invested in actually didn't exist, that means they started with our capital. More than 50 percent of our capital is deployed in the low-income stage. So, that could tell you that our capacity or appetite to go and take risks where returns are actually unexpected is very high.

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DoT working on spectrum allocation policy at auction price

The government is examining whether telecom spectrum can be allocated administratively at the price that was discovered through auction, a process which was stopped following the Supreme Court verdict in the 2G spectrum case.

"A decision has to be taken whether that auction price can be applied administratively and in what circumstances. Those are issues on which a proper policy is in process of being formulated. Then it will also have to be taken to competent authority for approval," Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar told PTI today, his last day in office.

Also read: Telecom biz sunny post licence-cancellation cloud say Secy

He said the Supreme Court ruling of February 2, 2012 and its reply to Presidential Reference has brought clarity with respect to allocation of spectrum, and on that basis an internal committee of Department of Telecom is working out details for spectrum allocation.

The Supreme Court judgement had asked the government to allocate spectrum through auction but in its reply to the Presidential Reference, the apex court had clarified that the order was with respect to the spectrum allocation made in January 2008 only.

"It is clear that all types of spectrum cannot be auctioned because there are many kind of spectrum apart from access spectrum for use of VSAT or spectrum for point to point, closed user group, on... There has to be policy on those kind of allocation," Chandrashekhar said.

The Telecom Secretary said that there is an existing process that was being followed for allocation of spectrum which will need to be reviewed in the light of access spectrum (that is allocated for mobile telephony).

"Even with regard to this (access) spectrum which is being priced through a auction process. It has to be examined as to what circumstances it can be done. The price has to be set through auction," Chandrashekhar said.

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Panel studying AI's health submits report

A committee, which suggested measures to lower the high costs of Air India's operations and improve utilisation of its resources including manpower, submitted its report to civil aviation minister Ajit Singh on Thursday.

"The recommendations of this committee will have a far-reaching impact on the airline's financial health. It is a useful report, which could help implementation of Air India's Turnaround and Financial Restructuring Plans," Singh told reporters after accepting the report of the panel which has made 46 major recommendations. Asked how would these recommendations be implemented, he said, "We have to examine them in details... Most decisions will have to be taken by the Air India Board."

Also read: Boeing faces pressure for cash compensation over 787

The five-member committee, headed by IIM-Ahmedabad's Prof Ravindra H Dholakia, was set up in January after a review of  the airline's functioning. It recommended steps to cut costs and increase savings in line with the best global practices. The experiences of foreign airlines like Japan Airlines (JAL), Malaysian Airlines and Garuda of Indonesia are understood to have been considered by the Committee while making the recommendations, Singh said. The report went into the structure of the company's expenses and identified loopholes which led to wasteful expenditure and recommended measures to plug them.

It examined issues relating to manpower utilisation as several foreign airlines, including JAL, have slashed the number of employees, besides taking other steps, to come out of the financial rut. The panel analysed the utilisation of jet fuel which accounts for 40 per cent of its total costs, as well as the inventory of spare parts and suggest ways to optimise fuel usage and inventory management.

With improvements in Air India's performance, the airline is likely to end this financial year with a positive cash flow or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) positive, Singh said, adding "the whole culture of the airline is undergoing a change."

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DHFL Vysya cuts rates with eye on 50% growth in FY14

South-based DHFL Vysya Housing Finance, an associate company of Dewan Housing (DHFL), has decided to reduce the interest rate in 0.2-0.5 percent range on housing loans from April 1 while aiming for 50 percent growth during 2013-14.

"We are the first among the HFCs to reduce rate of housing loan by 20 basis points for both existing and new customers under variable interest scheme. But, for the priority sector housing scheme for loan upto Rs 10 lakh there is additional rebate of 30 basis points," DHFL Vysya Housing managing director R Nambirajan told PTI.

One basis point is equal to 0.01 percent. So, total benefit will be of 0.5 per cent for the new scheme for housing loans of upto Rs 10 lakh for a period of up to 11 years targeting the priority sector.

Nambirajan said the announcement in the Budget for additional rebate of Rs 1,00,000 allowed in the interest on housing loans, in addition to Rs 1,50,000 already allowed from April 1, 2013 will induce boost demand from more the middle-income groups in 2013-14.

"We hope to grow by over 50 per cent in 2013-14 against 30 percent in the current fiscal," he said. Our disbursements in this fiscal will stand Rs 345 crore while, the same will jump to Rs 520 crore in the next year, Nambirajan said.

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Non-bailable warrant issued against DCHL directors

A non-bailable warrant (NBW) has been issued against the directors of Deccan Chronicle Holdings by a Chandigarh-based Sessions Court in a case related to cheques bouncing to the tune of Rs 6 crore, reports CNBC-TV18's Appaji Reddem.

The case is filed by Religare Finvest and the chief executive officer of the Religare Group Sachindra Nath confirmed the same.

This apart, there are several winding up petitions filed against DCHL in Andhra Pradesh High Court and the total liabilities of the company towards several banks and financial institutions is estimated at about Rs 4,000 crore.

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Nokia's performance not related to my decision: Shivakumar

Nokia's operations head for India, West Asia and Africa D Shivakumar quit the Finnish handset major after an eight-year stint with the company.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, he said the decision to quit was not related to Nokia's performance. Shivakumar was based in Dubai for more than 1.5 years and is now keen on returning to India because he feels India is still a growth market and offers lot of opportunities.

Also read: Income tax officials fine Nokia, court issues stay

Shivakumar will continue to serve Nokia till June 30, 2013.

Below is the edited transcript of D Shivakumar's interview with CNBC-TV18

Q: Why exactly are you leaving Nokia?

A: Nokia has been very dear to my heart. I have been in Dubai for the last 18 months. I have done what has been needed of me here. I really looked at the future and I felt that the future was in the market like India, which is in my mind still a growth market.

It is full of opportunities for professionals and that's the reason I thought I should come back to India and that's the main reason. I want to come back because India is the place where there is future opportunity.

Q: Nokia is going through particularly difficult time. It is struggling in the smartphone segment; the market share has been under pressure. Moreover, the I-T department has slapped a Rs 2,000 crore demand notice on the company. The timing of your departure raises questions. How will Nokia cope?

A: The tax issue is a separate case. We have completely cooperated with the government and had given them all the help which is necessary because we always believe in being good citizens in every country we operate.

The challenges of the market will continue like we have seen challenges in smartphones and dual-SIM. We have seen challenges in touch phones in the past, but every time Nokia has come back and done a good job.

Business challenges will always continue. As far as the tax issue is concerned, we are working very closely with the government and it has absolutely no correlation with my decision.

Q: What are your plans posts Nokia? Have you made up your mind and you intend doing?

A: I have to do a proper handover for the next three months in Nokia. I have to ensure that my successor settles down well and after that I will decide, till then I have not really thought about it.

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DDA extends lease for Taj Palace Hotel to IHCL for 25 years

Tata group hospitality major Indian Hotels Company ( IHCL ) today said lease of its Taj Palace Hotel in the city has been renewed for 25 years from April 1 this year.

"The Indian Hotels Company Limited (Taj Group) is pleased to confirm that it has received the consent from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) confirming renewal of the license for the Taj Palace Hotel, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi for a further period of 25 years effective from April 1, 2013," the company said in a statement.

Also read: Low demand hits room rates, profit: Hotel Leela's Nair

The Taj had originally entered into an agreement for the construction and license of the hotel with DDA for 30 years effective from April 1, 1983. The Taj will thus continue to operate the hotel till March 31, 2038, it added.

Commenting on development IHCL Managing Director Raymond Bickson said: "IHCL has enjoyed a very cordial and beneficial business association with Delhi Development Authority over the past three decades and this recent development will further strengthen our partnership with DDA in the years to come."

IHCL and its subsidiaries are collectively known as Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.

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Keeping NBFCs under RBI purview makes no sense: FSLRC chief

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) chairman BN Srikrishna has recommended the setting up of a central bank monetary policy committee.

"There would be two regulators- one for banking and the other for financial segments," he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Further he suggested merging regulators into one unified agency and the execution of proposals to be done in consultation with GoI and RBI. "The RBI regulating NBFCs does not make sense to me," he added.

Below is an edited transcript of the interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: What is the roadmap that needs to be implemented? How many laws do you think will have to be written up afresh or amended?

A: We have indicated in a schedule to the report the number of old acts which will be impacted by a new legislation-some of them need to be scrapped and some need to remodeled. The report has also sketched out a roadmap according to which there would be two regulators one for banking and payments systems i.e the Reserve Bank and the other is the one unified regulator which will take care of all the other financial segments.

Q: The dissenting notes in the report point out removal of the capital account powers from purview of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could prove dangerous due to the capriciousness of NRI or FII funds loaned to Indian companies. Did you take that into consideration?

A: Yes, and it has been dealt with in the report where we have stated the reasons for not being in a position to accept that argument.. Why do you assume that capital outflows are going to be under tight control forever in this country?

Why can't we think of a situation where capital will be free to flow into the country? But the need for continued capital control is a decision for the government of India to take. If capital control for another 15 years is envisioned, it will be a matter of regret.

Q: Another dissenting note is against the removal of the NBFCs from the purview of the Reserve Bank of India…

A: That is another argument that doesn't make sense to me. NBFCs that take deposits have been recommended to be placed under the purview of the RBI with the mandate of acquiring a banking licence. But there are NBFCs that are doing business without taking deposits from the public. Now why did they come into existence at all?

They come into existence because the policy of the banks is not to give them credit. For example who gives transport credit? Nobody. So somebody comes up and says I will borrow from the bank and I will give you credit.

So control has to commence at the place where the money is being given. There are several industrialists whose exposure to banks' credit is much larger than these petty NBFCs. Will the government control all of them? It doesn't make any sense.

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Domestic air tickets to cost more

Domestic air travel is going to be costlier again with both state-run Air India and private carrier Jet Airways hiking fuel surcharge on flight tickets by up to Rs 150.

"Both Jet Airways and Air India have revised their fuel surcharge on domestic network by up to Rs 150," an industry source said.

Also read: Overweight on India; see good return in 1 year: JP Morgan

The increase has been effected from the second fortnight of this month, sources said, adding that the fuel surcharge has been revised upwards by Rs 150 for travel above 1,000 km and Rs 100 for travel up to 1,000 km.

No-frill carrier IndiGo may take a call shortly on the issue, airline sources said. So far the airline has desisted from revising fuel surcharge but it is expected to take a call on the issue in the next couple of days, they said.

The other no-frill carriers - GoAir and SpiceJet , did not respond to text messages asking whether they were also mulling to hike their fuel surcharge. The hike in surcharge came ahead of the peak summer season when air ticket prices soar in any case due to high demand.

Fuel surcharge, which came in to force since the global meltdown in 2008, help airlines offset part of their operations costs in which fuel bills contribute the most - almost 40 percent.

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HDFC Bank cuts lending rates by 0.1% effective Mar 30

HDFC Bank has decided to cut its benchmark lending rates by 0.1 percent with effect from March 30.

The base rate, or the minimum lending rate, of the country's second largest private sector bank will become 9.6 per cent from the existing 9.7 per cent, sources said. At the same time, the benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) of the bank is expected to be slashed by similar margin to 18.10 percent. The new rates would be effective from March 30, sources added.

Also read: Overweight on India; see good return in 1 year: JP Morgan

HDFC Bank has become the first bank to cut lending rate after the RBI cut the short-term lending rate by 0.25 percent on March 19.

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BHEL exits Udangudi Power Corp joint venture

State-run BHE L today said it has exited Udangudi Power Corp by selling entire stake to joint venture partner Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).

However, financial details were not disclosed. The 1,600 MW Udangudi power plant is expected to cost around Rs 9,083 crore, according to TANGEDCO website.

In a filing to the BSE, BHEL said the exit from the joint venture was after request from TANGEDCO to undertake the Udangudi project as a state government initiative.

Read More: BRICS plan development bank to fund infrastructure

The joint venture was to develop the Udangudi power project. It was set up as a joint venture between power equipment major BHEL and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board in November, 2008.

Following its restructuring in 2010, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board's stake in the joint venture was transferred to TANGEDCO.

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Jet to hire 100 more expat pilots despite DGCA deadline

Jet Airways is planning to hire around 100 foreign pilots for its wide body Boeing fleet and has already approached several hiring firms for this, even as the aviation regulator has set a December 2013 deadline for phasing out expat pilots.

Also read: Overweight on India; see good return in 1 year: JP Morgan

"Jet is planning to hire up to 100 foreign pilots. The airline requires these pilots for the wide-body Boeing 777s," sources familiar with the development told PTI here. The airline, however, did not respond to the text message on the issue.

Interestingly, Jet's demand for foreign pilots comes at a time when the regulator DGCA's deadline for phasing out all expat pilots is nine months away, they said.

Also, the airline during the post Q2 earnings, analysts concall last November, had said it was aiming to reduce the number of expat pilots by almost half by the the end of this fiscal.

"By March 2013, we will reduce (the number of expat pilots) to 59 from 107. As of March end 2012, we had 207 expat pilots," Jet senior vice-president for commercial finance investor relations, KG Vishwanath had told the analysts.

"The airline has approached foreign pilot firms to supply these pilots. However, as part of the contract obligations, it wants to pay only one-time agency commission and not per pilot per month as per the norms," they said, adding, some of these agencies have spurned the proposal on this very ground.

According to a CAPA report, over the next 12-18 months, Jet's wide-body fleet is expected to increase from 18 operational aircraft to at least 30, although this is largely dependent on the new network plan to be developed once the Etihad deal is completed.

Jet, which has leased five of its Boeing 777s to Thai Airways, has already said it will be using two of these planes into its own network. Of the five, three are coming back in June-July, while the remaining two will come back to Jet in October-November after completing the lease period with Thai Air.

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DoT working on spectrum allocation policy at auction price

The government is examining whether telecom spectrum can be allocated administratively at the price that was discovered through auction, a process which was stopped following the Supreme Court verdict in the 2G spectrum case.

"A decision has to be taken whether that auction price can be applied administratively and in what circumstances. Those are issues on which a proper policy is in process of being formulated. Then it will also have to be taken to competent authority for approval," Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar told PTI today, his last day in office.

Also read: Telecom biz sunny post licence-cancellation cloud say Secy

He said the Supreme Court ruling of February 2, 2012 and its reply to Presidential Reference has brought clarity with respect to allocation of spectrum, and on that basis an internal committee of Department of Telecom is working out details for spectrum allocation.

The Supreme Court judgement had asked the government to allocate spectrum through auction but in its reply to the Presidential Reference, the apex court had clarified that the order was with respect to the spectrum allocation made in January 2008 only.

"It is clear that all types of spectrum cannot be auctioned because there are many kind of spectrum apart from access spectrum for use of VSAT or spectrum for point to point, closed user group, on... There has to be policy on those kind of allocation," Chandrashekhar said.

The Telecom Secretary said that there is an existing process that was being followed for allocation of spectrum which will need to be reviewed in the light of access spectrum (that is allocated for mobile telephony).

"Even with regard to this (access) spectrum which is being priced through a auction process. It has to be examined as to what circumstances it can be done. The price has to be set through auction," Chandrashekhar said.

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Biz lull lets Tata Motors close plant for repairs: Official

Mar 26, 2013, 09.26 PM IST

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Biz lull lets Tata Motors close plant for repairs: Official

A senior Tata Motors official told CNBC-TV18 that the lull in business proved to be a good time to shut down the plant for maintenance

Like this story, share it with millions of investors on M3

Biz lull lets Tata Motors close plant for repairs: Official

A senior Tata Motors official told CNBC-TV18 that the lull in business proved to be a good time to shut down the plant for maintenance

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Hit by an acute slowdown in its commercial vehicle business, Tata Motors will shutdown its plant at Jamshedpur for 11 days.

Though the company states the shutdown will be for maintenance purposes, a senior Tata Motors official told CNBC-TV18 that the lull in business proved to be a good time to shut down the plant from March 27 to April 6.

From DJ EU Officials Spain Aid Cap Of 100 Bn Euros 'should Be Enough'

The latest earning numbers FIRST on CNBC-TV18

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'BRICS bank will help enhance credit access for Indian cos'

The fifth BRICS Summit began in Durban on Tuesday. For the first time the BRICS nations are meeting in South Africa. The key discussion at the BRICS meet until now is the progress on the BRICS Development Bank. Finance ministers of the BRICS countries have presented a report on the feasibility of the bank and a roadmap has been finalised.

Also Read: BRICS committed to revive global economy: Anand Sharma

Meanwhile addressing the press, FICCI president and HSBC India head Naina Lal Kidwai, member of the Indian deligation at the meet, said that the BRICS bank will help enhance credit access to Indian banks.

"All the heads of delegations, including ours, are obviously taking a lot of interest in the BRICS Development Bank which was announced at the BRICS meet in Delhi in 2012. We still have not had too much colour put on what the structure, capital and focus is going to be," she added.

Also Read: BRICS summit eyes joint forex reserves pool, infra bank

Kidwai beleives that India's need for funds for infrastructure is close to a trillion dollars which the banking sector is unable mobilse and is heavily burdened with projects.

"It is a development which we are all very interested in because it will help to mobilise resources for infrastructure, development projects and at least provide some of the credit enhancement that projects sometimes need to borrow."

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Boeing to conduct certification demonstration flight of 787

On Tuesday Boeing said in a statement that it conducted a functional check flight on its 787 Dreamliner and now will conduct a certification demonstration flight. This demonstration will be to show that the new battery system on the Dreamliner is working as intended.

In January this year, the Boeing had been forced to ground its entire fleet of Dreamliners on the back of a US Federal Aviation Administration or FAA directive after an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight made an emergency landing over battery related problems.

Also read: Boeing faces pressure for cash compensation over 787

Air India had to ground six of its Dreamliners and sources at Air India say they are going to seek compensation from Boeing for losses sustained.

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Motor insurance premium to be costly by up to 20% from Apr

Motor insurance premium is set to become more expensive, with IRDA allowing up to 20 percent increase in third party rates from April 1 in view of rising inflation and the history of claim settlement.

"The overall percentage increase in the motor third party portfolio works out to 18.9 percent. The above rates will bae effective from April 1, 2013," IRDA said in a notification.

Charges for the third party insurance cover as per the notification will go up for two-wheelers, passenger cars and commercial vehicles.

For passenger cars not exceeding engine capacity of 1,000 cc, the revised third party premium is proposed to be hiked by 20 percent to Rs 941 per annum. For two-wheelers exceeding 350 cc, the premium would go up by 18.30 percent to Rs 804.

For goods carrying vehicles, excluding three-wheelers, with carriage capacity exceeding 40,000 kg, the premium would be Rs 15,035 per annum.

There is no increase in case of three-wheelers used for carrying passengers for hire or reward with carrying capacity not exceeding 6 passengers.

In case of four-wheelers used for carrying passengers with carrying capacity exceeding 6 passengers for hire, the increase is to the extent of 20 percent from the existing level.

The earlier hike which was done in March 2012 was disputed by transporters' association which had fought a legal battle with IRDA and general insurers in the Calcutta High Court. However, after eight months of litigation, the court had passed verdict in favour of the hike.

Also read; Top 5 things to consider before switching Insurance

Earlier in 2012, while asking domestic general insurers to hike the provisioning - capital to be set aside to pay the future claims as it takes years to settle claims under this category - against the third party motor portfolio, IRDA had assured general insurers that it will allow them to hike the third party motor rates gradually.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) had dismantled the third party motor insurance pool from April 1, 2011 thereby linking premium rate with the prevailing market rate.

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Low taxes, infra key to aviation biz take-off not FDI: IATA

In an interview CNBC-TV18 director general & CEO, IATA Tony Tyler pointed out that lower taxes, tighter control on costs and creation of adequate infrastructure are key to a business environment that will lure increased investment into the aviation sector.

"I don't think I have ever been bearish about the Indian market. I have been only concerned about some of the policies that make it very difficult to exploit the market profitably for airlines," he added.

Below is an edited transcript of the interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: A few months ago you seemed very bearish on India. Since then, the government announced a slew of reforms including the liberalisation of the aviation sector by allowing foreign direct investment (FDI). Do you still continue to be as pessimistic and bearish?

A: I don't think I have ever been bearish about the Indian market. I have been only concerned about some of the policies that make it very difficult to exploit the market profitably for airlines such as in the high taxation, high costs and inadequate infrastructure. Those three big problems still exist though foreign airlines have abeen allowed to invest directly in Indian carriers and the doing away of the process of going through a committee to bring aircraft into the fleet.

Q: Despite Etihad's interest in Jet Airways , the deal hasn't been closed. Air Asia's has application to commence operations in India has been cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB ). Do you believe there are going to be more foreign companies planning to pick up stake in Indian airlines or entities like Air Asia who want to start a greenfield operation?

A: It is very positive to see both investing in the Indian aviation market. But allowing foreign direct investment into Indian carriers is not in itself a panacea. There is still a need for joint policy making to create the right business environment. If you want to lure investments, there has to be an attractive framework consisting of lower taxes, tighter cost control and creating adequate infrastructure.

Q: With the Indian economy affected by a considerable slowdown, how do you see the Indian aviation market shaping up?

A: Generally, aviation traffic growth usually runs at about twice the number of the figure of gross domestic product (GDP) growth. So, if GDP growth comes down, growth in aviation and air traffic often comes down as well. We will have to see what happens here in India because other factors of course come into play as well such as the stimulus from new carriers or entry of increase capacity. Though Kingfisher's exit dampened the market last year, I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some recovery this year.

Q: What is your assessment about the current fracas between Kingfisher 's lessors, the government and the airline in question and how it is likely to impact investment in India?

A: It's a story like any business that goes out of business. If you let your costs run away from your revenues then you are on a slippery slope. And I guess that's what happened to Kingfisher.

Certainly some leasing companies and banks would have got their fingers burnt. It is very important that the Indian government facilitates the cleaning up of any leases and allowing lessors to repossess their aircraft from Kingfisher if Kingfisher is unable to pay, without constraint because if they don't do that they are going to make the environment very difficult for other carriers in India who want to lease aircraft.

So, it is important that the lease contracts are followed and the lessors are able to get their hands on the aircraft again if they are in default.

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NLC invites bids to buy coal mines overseas

State-owned Nevyeli Lignite Corporation (NLC) has invited bids from global firms to acquire coal assets overseas for providing fuel security to its thermal power plants.

"NLC intends to secure its thermal coal-requirement by acquiring coal blocks abroad, by entering into-long term coal supply agreement, by forming joint venture with coal mining companies, by acquiring equity stakes in coal mining companies," says the tender document of the company.

The state-owned firm has proposals for growth in power generation capacity and is expanding its activities not only at Neyveli, but also in other parts of the country.

It has entered into a JV with Uttar Pradesh to set up a 1,980 MW power station at Ghatampur, and the project is moving fast into the execution phase. NLC also has a proposal to establish a power plant with a capacity of 4,000 MW at Sirkali in Tamil Nadu. It is also planning to bid for ultra mega power projects (UMPP) of 4,000 MW under tariff based competitive bidding and other power Projects.

The company's coal requirement is likely to shoot up to 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) once all the projects are commissioned. The 'Navratna' firm operates four mines with a tota capacity 30.6 MTPA, and four thermal power stations of total capacity of 2,740 MW.

It is executing lignite-based projects such as the New Neyveli Thermal Power Station. Besides, NLC is implementing a 1,000 MW coal-based Thermal Power Project, NLC Tamil Nadu Power Ltd at Tuticorin.

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Bharti Airtel arm raises USD 500 mn, shares soar 3%

Country's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel gained more than 3 percent on Tuesday after its subsidiary Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) BV raised USD 500 million notes (additional notes).

The company says it is in addition to the recently concluded transaction of USD 1,000 million 5.125 percent fixed rate senior unsecured guaranteed notes due 2023.

Additional notes issued at a premium and priced at 100.625 percent to yield 5.044 percent will be consolidated and formed in a single series along with the USD 1,000 million 5.125 percent guaranteed senior notes issued on March 11, 2013.

This is the largest ever telecom transaction out of Asia ex-Japan. "High participation by fund managers for an Indian Issuance and real money investor participation of 77% demonstrates the superior quality of the order book and the confidence the global investors have in the fundamentals and credit of the company," Harjeet Kohli, group treasurer of Bharti said.

At 15:15 hours IST, shares rose 3.02 percent to Rs 297.15 on Bombay Stock Exchange.

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European Commission gives nod to KTM-Husqvarna deal

All decks are cleared for the acquisition of off-road motorcycle brand Husqvarna by Pierer Industrie AG, the parent firm of KTM Auto as the European anti-trust Commission has given its nod for the buyout.

According to sources, the Commission gave its approval on March 6. The two sides have now undertaken the first phase of its joint alliance by identifying dealers.

KTM, a partner firm of Bajaj Auto will also look to use Bajaj's Chakan plant for manufacturing some of the Husqvarna models. They could also use the facility for exporting the bikes to other Husqvarna markets like the US.

Earlier Husqvarna was a motorcycle division of BMW, which the German automaker had sold off at the end January this year.

Also read: Honda to launch 3 new bikes to topple Hero's leadership

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SEBI asks Sahara's Subrata Roy to provide asset details

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) asked Subrata Roy, the head of the Sahara conglomerate, to appear before it on April 10 to provide details of his personal assets and the assets of two Sahara companies that sold bonds ruled to be illegal.

The order by the SEBI on Tuesday against Roy, the two Sahara companies and three of their directors follows an order last month to freeze the assets and bank accounts of the companies as well as Roy's.

The regulator accuses Sahara, best known as the lead sponsor of the Indian cricket team and more recently as a buyer of overseas luxury hotels, of raising billions of dollars from small investors through an outlawed financial scheme and failing to comply with a court order to refund the money.

Unlisted Sahara has said it repaid most of the investors and that its total liability is less than the 51.2 billion rupees it had deposited with the regulator as the first repayment instalment following the top court's ruling that the bonds it issued were illegal.

A Sahara spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, SEBI sought Supreme Court approval to arrest Roy and two Sahara directors. The court is expected to hold a hearing on that request in early April.

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Yashwant Sinha writes to FM, calls SUV tax discriminatory

The Standing Committee on Finance has called the government's move to impose additional tax on SUVs as discriminatory.

Chairman of the Committee Yashwant Sinha has written to Finance Minister (FM), P Chidambaram opposing the move to tax SUVs and he wants luxury cars to be taxed instead, reports CNBC-TV18's Ronojoy Banerjee

Last year's key highlight of the Budget was the retrospective amendment because of which the industry was up in arms. This time, it is the SUV tax. Barely a fortnight after Praful Patel had written, now Yashwant Sinha is calling it discriminatory.

Also read: Hike in excise duty could hurt UV sales, says M&M's Goenka

There are principally two aspects in the letter which Yashwant Sinha has tried to bring Finance Minister's attention on. One is the fact that while a Bolero which costs only Rs 7.5-8 lakh as compared to a luxury vehicle like a Mercedes-Benz S Class which costs over Rs 90 lakh, less than 1/10th (one tenth) of the value of a Mercedes-Benz S Class a Bolero now will be viable to pay a higher excise duty as compared to these luxury vehicles.

Yashwant Sinha wants more clarity on this front. The other thing that he has highlighted is the fact that there are only a handful of SUV manufacturers who are going to be impacted.

For instance Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) will have five models that will be hit, Tata Motors will have about two models and General Motors also will have about two models.

However,  Maruti Suzuki 's Ertiga which is the largest selling utility vehicle (UV) in the country today, will not be taxed. So also, Renault's Duster will not be taxed. That is why Sinha feels that this is clearly discriminatory and needs to be corrected. He is hopeful that there will be a re-examination, but whether the FM will re-look at this issue is still unclear.

The indications from the finance ministry are that they will come up with a tighter definition of SUV, which will lead to exempting some sedans which had also fallen into this category based on the parameters that the finance ministry had set out.

However, industry is still hoping that there will be an exemption based on price. Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had said that vehicles with an assessable value of Rs 12 lakh should be left out.

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Biz lull lets Tata Motors close plant for repairs: Official

Mar 26, 2013, 09.26 PM IST

Like this story, share it with millions of investors on M3

Biz lull lets Tata Motors close plant for repairs: Official

A senior Tata Motors official told CNBC-TV18 that the lull in business proved to be a good time to shut down the plant for maintenance

Like this story, share it with millions of investors on M3

Biz lull lets Tata Motors close plant for repairs: Official

A senior Tata Motors official told CNBC-TV18 that the lull in business proved to be a good time to shut down the plant for maintenance

Share  .  Email  .  Print  .  A+A-

Hit by an acute slowdown in its commercial vehicle business, Tata Motors will shutdown its plant at Jamshedpur for 11 days.

Though the company states the shutdown will be for maintenance purposes, a senior Tata Motors official told CNBC-TV18 that the lull in business proved to be a good time to shut down the plant from March 27 to April 6.

From DJ EU Officials Spain Aid Cap Of 100 Bn Euros 'should Be Enough'

The latest earning numbers FIRST on CNBC-TV18

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'BRICS bank will help enhance credit access for Indian cos'

The fifth BRICS Summit began in Durban on Tuesday. For the first time the BRICS nations are meeting in South Africa. The key discussion at the BRICS meet until now is the progress on the BRICS Development Bank. Finance ministers of the BRICS countries have presented a report on the feasibility of the bank and a roadmap has been finalised.

Also Read: BRICS committed to revive global economy: Anand Sharma

Meanwhile addressing the press, FICCI president and HSBC India head Naina Lal Kidwai, member of the Indian deligation at the meet, said that the BRICS bank will help enhance credit access to Indian banks.

"All the heads of delegations, including ours, are obviously taking a lot of interest in the BRICS Development Bank which was announced at the BRICS meet in Delhi in 2012. We still have not had too much colour put on what the structure, capital and focus is going to be," she added.

Also Read: BRICS summit eyes joint forex reserves pool, infra bank

Kidwai beleives that India's need for funds for infrastructure is close to a trillion dollars which the banking sector is unable mobilse and is heavily burdened with projects.

"It is a development which we are all very interested in because it will help to mobilise resources for infrastructure, development projects and at least provide some of the credit enhancement that projects sometimes need to borrow."

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No sops if CIL supplies low quality coal: NTPC

State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) should not be given incentives that it gets for exceeding the minimum assured quantity in case it supplies inferior quality fuel to power plants, a top NTPC official said on Monday.

As per the fuel supply agreement (FSA), if CIL supplies more than the minimum assured quantity of 80 percent of the total order to its clients, then the company is provided with some incentives.

Now, some power producers want that if the quality of the fuel supplied is not up to the mark then there should not be any incentives for the coal major.

"We have resolved 95 percent of all our issues. There are only one or two issues that remain to be sorted out, and one of them is the quality of coal," NTPC chairman and managing director Arup Roy Choudhury said on the sidelines of an event.

He added that if the coal major supplies cheap quality of coal to thermal power generating stations, it should not be given any incentives.

Also read: CIL okays change of Rs 2,539-cr BCCL liability into shares

"We cannot sign an FSA without knowing what is the quality of the coal, but if they (Coal India) give low quality coal to us they should not be incentivised, this is one big issue which remains to be sorted out," Choudhury said. He added that CIL has agreed to a third party measurement of coal to ascertain its quality.

"They have agreed to a third party measurement but that will come only in end September," he said, adding that the company's equipment is not designed to handle low calorific value coal and require blending.

Although Coal India has switched to the GCV (gross calorific value) formula of coal, the company is yet to equip its washing and crushing units on a par with international standards. Coal India has so far signed fuel supply pacts with 56 power plants.

The deadline set by the Prime Minister's Office for signing of FSAs between CIL and power producers expired in January. Meanwhile, Choudhury also said that the coal mining sector has not kept pace with power generation.

"We are not short of coal, we have "too much" but we do not mine enough...the production is less," he said. Pitching for a Coal Regulator, he also said that there is need for more players in the mining sector and greater transparency.

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TRAI warns of cracking whip against MSOs on digitisation

Upset with multi-system operators (MSOs) for not having put in place subscriber management systems (SMS) despite completion of the first phase of digitisation, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has warned of cracking the whip.

Also Read: Government firm on March 31 deadline for Phase II of digitisation

TRAI secretary Rajiv Agrawal on Monday said that for digitisation in metros, the authority had put in place a detailed regulatory framework which included regulations for interconnection, quality of service, redressal of consumer complaints and tariff order.

"Even though the settop boxes (STBs) have been seeded in these cities, the subscriber management system has not been effectively implemented. The SMS is to have complete details of the subscriber, including the choice of channels. Unless this is done, the full benefit of digitisation cannot be extended to the subscribers," Agrawal said.

He added that at a meeting held on March 22 2013,TRAI had reviewed the status of first phase of digitisation. "It was observed that majority of the MSOs and LCOs have failed to comply with the said direction and therefore have violated the directions of the authority," Agrawal said.

"The authority has taken a very dim view of the matter and has observed that such inaction on the part of MSOs/LCOs are unacceptable. This continued inaction leaves the authority with little alternative other than proceeding legally against the non-compliant MSOs, LCOs as per the TRAI Act," he said.

Agrawal said while the date of implementation of the first phase of digitisation was October 31 2012, the authority had been trying to persuade MSOs to fulfill the requirements.

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Uttam Galva sets floor price for QIP at Rs 76.48 per share

Uttam Galva Steels today said it has set a floor price of Rs 76.48 per share for raising funds up to Rs 175 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) route.

"The SEBI floor price in respect of the aforesaid QIP, based on the pricing formula ... is Rs 76.48 per equity share and, the 'Relevant Date' for this purpose ... March 25, 2013," the company said.

Also read: Stick to defensives; bet on Suzlon, MCX: Experts

The company at its extraordinary general meeting held on March 23 has decided to raise funds up to Rs 175 crore through issue of securities.

Uttam Galva Steels, which has 10 lakh tonne (LT) cold rolling capacity at its Khopoli plant in Maharashtra, plans to use the fund for financing several "identified" opportunities for growth.

It also has 7.5 LT galvanised steel making capacity. More than half of its revenue, Rs 5,171 crore last fiscal, comes from overseas.

The fund could also be used for meeting other general corporate business purposes allied to the business from time to time.

The company's shares settled at Rs 80.20, up 2.69 percent over the previous closing in the BSE.

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SAT to hear final Sebi Sahara attachment orders on Tuesday

The Securities Appellate Tribunal will hold its final hearing tomorrow on Sahara group chief Subrata Roy's plea against Sebi's attachment order of his bank accounts and other assets, along with those of two group firms and their top executives.

Also read: Only 1% of Sahara investors reply to SEBI's refund notices

Roy has approached the SAT against the attachment orders issued by Sebi last month. The Tribunal, in its last hearing in Mumbai on Saturday, had decided to continue to hear the matter here in the National Capital on March 26.

The matter relates to a Supreme Court direction ordering refund of more than Rs 24,000 crore of investors' money raised by two Sahara group firms-  Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd -- through issue of bonds, wherein Sebi has been asked to facilitate the refund.

After expiry of the court-set deadline for the refund, Sebi in February issued attachment orders against the two firms and their top executives, including Subrata Roy.

Roy's appeal against Sebi order was today listed by SAT for 'Final Hearing' tomorrow, while Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd would also be part of the proceedings "For Orders" in the case.

During the day-long hearing before SAT on Saturday, Sahara counsel questioned Sebi's action of attaching Roy's property, saying that neither he was issued a show-cause notice and nor did Sebi follow procedure of securing an enabling order from a judicial magistrate.

Ganesh also argued that the Sebi Act did not invest the market regulator with the powers of seizure and attachment, while claiming that Roy was not even a director of the two concerned companies.

Countering Sahara's claims, Sebi counsel sought dismissal of the plea by SAT and said that the Supreme Court order in the case was self-explanatory and executive in nature, while Saharas had been given many occasions to present their case.

After hearing the two sides, SAT in its last hearing observed that prima facie it looked like Sahara was seeking it to interpret the operative side of a Supreme Court order dated February 8 and the best place for them to do so is the apex
court itself.

In the meantime, Sebi has also approached the Supreme Court seeking orders for detention of Subrata Roy and this plea has been posted for hearing in the first week of April.

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Moody's downgrades OBC, Syndicate Bank ratings

Ratings agency Moody's today downgraded the ratings of Syndicate Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce ( OBC ), but said the outlook is stable. The global local currency deposit rating of both the PSU bank has been lowered to Baa3/P-3 from Baa2/P-2.

Also read: Current account deficit to be 5% in FY13: Rangarajan

Instruments rated 'Baa' are judged to be medium-grade and subject to moderate credit risk and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics

"The outlook on the bank deposit rating is stable," Moody's said for both lenders. It further downgraded both the banks standalone ratings to 'D/ba2', which reflects its weak position when compared with its domestic and global peers, particularly in relation to asset quality.

"Syndicate Bank's weak asset quality and lack of income diversity is a situation which if prolonged, may pressure the bank's ability to generate internal capital in order to meet required levels of capital," Moody's Investor Services said in a statement.

It further said, "OBC's weak capacity to generate internal capital makes it reliant on government infusions to meet its capital requirements".

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MTNL's board approves raising of Rs 3k cr through bonds

State-run telecom company MTNL today said its board has approved the proposal for raising Rs 3,000 crore through sovereign guarantee bonds.

"The Board of Directors of the company at its meeting held on March 25, 2013, has approved the proposal for raising non-convertible debentures (in the form of bonds) worth Rs 3,000 crore for a period of 10 years guaranteed by the Government of India," MTNL said in a BSE filing.

The MTNL board also approved the appointment of Karvy Computer Share Private Ltd as the registrar and share transfer agent (RTA) of the company, SBI CAP Trustee Ltd as trustee and Care and Crisil as credit rating agencies, the filing added.

Also read: TRAI amends Quality of Service regulations, adds financial disincentives

MTNL Chairman and Managing Director AK Garg has said the amount raised will be used for capital expenditure and in reducing interest burden.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 18 apiece, down 0.28 per cent from their previous close on the BSE.

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Gas pipeline to be laid between Kakinada and Vizag: Reddy

The Centre has agreed to lay a gas pipeline between Visakhapatnam and Kakinada to provide piped cooking gas to domestic as well as commercial consumers in Visakhapatnam, Rajya Sabha member T Subbarami Reddy said in the city on Saturday. Reddy, who is also the chairman of Parliamentary standing committee on science, technology, environment and forests.

Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Veerappa Moily and CMD of Gas Authority of India Ltd ( GAIL ) BC Tripathi had agreed to lay a pipeline between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam to provide piped gas to households and commercial establishments like hotels and hospitals, he said.

"Work on the laying of pipeline will commence in the next two months and cooking gas will be made available to consumers in 18 months, which will help eight to ten lakh consumers in Visakhapatnam. GAIL had also agreed to supply imported gas to bulk consumers in the industry," Reddy added.

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Shale gas exploration policy in next 10-15 days: Moily

India will unveil a shale gas exploration policy in next fortnight as it looks to exploit unconventional hydrocarbon resource to meet its growing energy needs.

"We will take a shale gas policy to the Cabinet (for approval) in couple of days," Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said at a function here organised to mark the beginning of natural gas sales from the predominantly oil-rich Rajasthan block.

The policy, based on which the government will launch its first auction of shale gas block by 2013-end, is likely to be approved by the Cabinet in 10 to 15 days, he said.

Shale gas blocks will be offered on terms that are likely to be remarkably different from those offered in bid rounds for oil and gas blocks.

Shale gas or natural gas trapped in sedimentary rocks (shale formations) below the earth's surface, is the new focus area in the US, Canada and China as an alternative to conventional oil and gas for meeting growing energy needs.

Working toward self-sufficiency in petroleum by 2030: Moily

As per the available data, six basins -- Cambay (in Gujarat), Assam-Arakan (in the North-East), Gondawana (in central India), KG onshore (in Andhra Pradesh), Cauvery onshore and Indo Gangatic basins, hold shale gas potential.

"In US, the advent of shale gas has transformed the energy landscape over the past six years. It has made US a gas surplus nation from a gas importing country," he said.

Canada too has changed after shale gas, he said.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the Oil Ministry's technical arm, has proposed to offer areas for exploration shale gas on royalty and production-linked payments to the government.

The government, he said, is working on a new policy for exploiting gas lying below coal seams, called Coal-Bed Methane.

Moily said he has formed an expert committee under Vijay Kelkar to suggest roadmap for cutting India's dependence on imports to meet its oil needs.

India currently imports as much as 79 per cent of its oil needs and the Ministry wants this to be cut to 50 per cent by 2020 through intensive exploration and exploitation of untapped reserves.

"I see import dependence coming down by 50 per cent by 2020 and by 75 per cent in 2025. By 2030, we should be self- reliant," he said.

Moily said the idea is to create an investor-friendly environment that will encourage companies to take exploration risk to raise production.

"Already we have taken a decision to fast track approvals for exploration projects by reducing the time taken from 36 months to 18 months," he said.

Different studies have put recoverable reserves of shale gas between 6 trillion cubic feet and 63 trillion cubic feet.

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Will Masala Library get lucky with a Michelin star?

Zorawar Kalra, thirty-five-year-old management graduate from Boston's Bentley Business University has an entrepreneurial bent of mind and a genetic love for food. It is no surprise that for the last six years since his return to India, Zorawar has turned restaurateur.

Zorawar and his father, celebrity food writer and chef, Jiggs Kalra have now partnered with one of India's leading hospitality players, Mirah Hospitality to launch Massive Restaurants, which will also bring to market this year three separate offerings; 'Masala Library' by Jiggs Kalra, a fine dining restaurant chain, 'Made in Punjab' which is a casual diner, as well as signature gourmet brand 'Mithai'. Zorawar has massive plans and he wants to create Rs 500 crore listed entity in five years.

When Zorawar Kalra decided to get into business he did not think twice about and sticking to the space he knew best, food. In 2007 Zorawar partnered with Amit Burman's Lite Bite Foods to launch Punjab Grill by Jiggs Kalra, a chain of fine dining restaurants.

Having tasted critical acclaimed with Punjab Grill and Street Foods of India, Zorawar in 2012 decided to start up once again. He exited the joint venture with Lite Bite Foods to Massive Restaurants with his father Jiggs Kalra. The father son duo has a majority stake in the venture while Gaurav Goenka's Mirah Hospitality has been brought in as a strategic partner.

In phase one Zorawar plans to use Rs 25 crore, to launch two fine dining restaurants, Masala Library by Jiggs Kalra in Mumbai and Delhi, by June this year and then focus on brining their casual diner, Made in Punjab and a premium Mithai store to the market as well.

Speaking about his passion, Zorawar Kalra, Founder & MD, Massive Restaurant says, "One of the things that I am good at is of understanding the pulse of the market. I am good at understanding what the Indian people want, their taste buds. So, whenever I make a restaurant, I know I am already developing a concept that caters to Indians. I am an Indian at heart, I will always be and I love my cuisine. I love Indian food more than anything else."

Currently, managing a team of 25, Zorawar expects to have 200 employees on board in the next six months as his restaurants open. Karla junior admits that his biggest competitive advantage is the five decades of experience that his father Jiggs Kalra brings to the table.

With his father guiding him on getting the food right, Zorawar is focusing on getting the nuts and bolts of the business right in the market that is very competitive and growing at 20-25 percent annually.

It is a serious matter of pride for us to have my father as our mentor says Zorawar. The Massive Restaurants' mentor is Jiggs Kalra and he is the driving force behind the culinary excellence that we are trying to pursue. It is a great asset to have a person like my father because it gives us a bit of added help in the beginning but it is also a lot of added pressure because its his name at the door and you have to work extra hard to make sure that everybody that walks into the door says something good, he adds.

So, while getting the food and beverage (F&B) concepts right is critical, Zorawar is looking to leverage Mirah Hospitality's experience in real estate management and operational matters to reach the target of 200-300 percent growth rate within the next three years.

Concentrating on the Mumbai and Delhi markets as of now, Zorawar plans to take Massive international within the next 18 months.

Zorawar questions, why cannot we do what the Chinese did with their cuisine? The Chinese cuisine he says has been accepted phenomenally well. It is one of the popular cuisines practically in any country of the world; whether in North America or Asia or Europe or Australia and the Chinese restaurants all over are doing very well. So, Zorawar says, "I want that to happen with Indian cuisine. I think Indian cuisine is one of the very few cuisines that have a culinary philosophy. It has so much delicacy, so much sophistication. It is one of those art forms that India should be most proud of."

Zorawar has his eyes firmly on one dream, to make Masala Library by Jiggs Kalra, India's first Michelin star restaurant. He teed off well and plans to open a 130 restaurants across the three categories by next three years and in five years, Zorawar plans to hit Rs 500 crore in revenues and list Massive Restaurants in the capital market as well.

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SAT to continue hearing on Subrata Roy's plea on Mar 26

The Securities Appellate Tribunal will continue its hearing on March 26 on Sahara group chief Subrata Roy's plea against Sebi's attachment order of his bank accounts and other assets, along with those of his two firms and their top executives.

The matter relates to a Supreme Court direction ordering refund of more than Rs 24,000 crore of investors' money raised by two Sahara group firms -- Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd -- through issue of bonds, wherein Sebi has been asked to facilitate the refund.

After expiry of the court-set deadline for the refund, Sebi last month issued attachment orders against the two firms and their top executives, including Subrata Roy.
    
Roy had approached the SAT against the attachment orders and the plea was posted by the SAT for "final hearing" today. After a day-long hearing here, the SAT decided to adjourn the matter till Tuesday in New Delhi.

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Imports of rough diamonds seen jumping 25 percent in FY14

India's imports of rough diamonds are likely to jump by a quarter in the next fiscal year from USD 14.5 billion now, as exports of the processed gems to top consumers increase and Indian exporters enter newer markets.

India, the world's largest processor of rough diamonds, gets most of its supply from firms such as top producer De Beers Gold eyes biggest weekly gain in months on Cyprus woes

"We will go to newer markets to beat the slowdown, for example, the countries of the former Soviet Union are buying in huge quantities from India," said Pankaj Kumar Parekh, vice chairman of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, which represents more than 5,500 of the country's exporters.

The trade body expects India's exports of cut and polished diamonds in the fiscal year to March 2014 to be 25 percent higher than current estimates of USD 16 billion, equivalent to 66 percent of total gems and jewellery exports.

It expects exports of gems and jewellery to rise 6.6 percent to USD 50 billion. Exports of gems and jewellery - which include diamonds - constitute 14 percent of India's total trade, and employ 3.4 million workers, with the Middle East taking most of India's gems and jewellery shipments.

Demand from the euro zone could be depressed because of the region's debt crisis, though he bet on a revival in demand from the United States.

"Things are in the doldrums in the European Union, and the buoyancy is visible in India and China," said Parekh.

India processes about 92 percent of the world's diamonds, followed by Belgium, Israel and China. Most of the diamonds are sourced from world miners through Dubai.

World diamond production has been steady at 120 million to 130 million carats or roughly about USD 15 billion in value terms, putting an upward pressure on prices, the Council said. Miners are unlikely to ramp up production without a massive improvement in the world economy, it added.

Robust Silver

Exports of silver jewellery are likely to grow at a robust pace next year, as growing numbers of buyers opt for the cheaper metal in the facing of rising gold prices.

"Middle class consumers are finding gold expensive, and the metal is being replaced by silver," said council official Sabyasachi Ray.

A 10-gram quantity of silver is valued at 547.8 rupees, against 29,766 rupees for a similar quantity of gold.

Exports of silver jewellery rose to USD 715 million in the 11 months to February, an annual increase of 10 percent, compared with flat exports of USD 18.12 billion of gold jewellery, data from the trade body showed.

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