Current Economic Statistics and Review For the
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Theme
of the week: All-India Debt and Investment Survey
(AIDIS)
Household
Indebtedness in India
Section
2C Debt-Asset Ratio* 1IntroductionIn
section 1, a brief review of the household characteristics, holdings of
assets and aggregate cash loans outstanding as on 30-06-2002 at an
aggregate level was presented. Sections 2a and 2b dealt mainly with the
phenomenon of indebtedness of households in rural and urban 2 Debt-Asset RatioIn
spite of the fact, whether or not an asset is mortgaged or hypothecated to
a person or agency, at any given point of time, the outstanding debt of a
household is potentially a charge upon the households assets. Hence, the
question naturally arises – how was the debt outstanding related to
assets on any given date or what is the burden of the household debt?
Debt-asset ratio is the best measure to know the burden of debt at any
given point of time. “Debt-asset
ratio (DAR) is defined as the average amount of debt outstanding on a
given date for a group of households expressed in percentage of the
average value of assets owned by them on the given date”.
Debt-Asset
Ratio – All-India
It
may be seen from Statement 1 that as on 30-6-2002, the debt-asset ratio at
the all-India level is found to be 2.83 per cent. It is slightly more in
rural areas at 2.84 per cent as compared to 2.82 per cent of urban areas.
Debt-Asset
Ratio – Rural Households
Burden
of debt for rural households at 2.84 is a tad more that of 2.83 per cent
for all-India households. Among rural households the burden of debt seems
to be more on ‘non-cultivators’ at 4.64 per cent as compared to
‘cultivators’ whose average assets value is more than that of
‘non-cultivators’ and hence less burden of debt as measured by
debt-asset ratio at 2.49 per cent (Statement 2). Debt-Asset
Ratio – Urban Households
The differences in the ratios of urban households between the two occupational categories i.e. ‘self-employed’ and ‘others’ are comparatively narrower. While the debt-asset ratio of ‘self-employed’ works out to be 2.19 per cent that of ‘others’ is 3.42 per cent thereby confirming the asset holding of self-employed are more than that of ‘others’ also they enjoys better debt facilities without undergoing its burden as their counter part ‘others’ (Statement 3). 3 Region-wise ReviewRural+Urban
Households Households
in northern region, which has got the maximum assets also owes more than
all-India debt, bears less burden of debt at 1.80 per cent, the lowest
-except that of the households of north-eastern region - among all the
regions and also lower than that of 2.83 per cent of all-India level
(Statement 4). Another two regions, which enjoys low debt-asset ratio,
were eastern and central regions (see Statement 4). This may be due to
owning low debt as compared to better asset owning in this region. The
households in western region and southern region, due to owing more cash
loans as on 30-6-2002 have to bear higher burden of debt. Their debt-asset
ratio works out to 3.69 per cent in western region and 4.65 per cent in
southern region.
Rural
Households
Statement 5
gives the debt asset ratio in the rural areas of different regions. It can
be seen that except southern region and western region all other regions
have got a debt asset ratio less than that for all-India. Southern Region
had to bear maximum burden of debt as the rural households in this region
borrow more. Among
the rural households, the cultivator households are more prosperous than
non-cultivator households and they hold a major part of the household
assets especially landed property, hence in all these regions, cultivators
bear less burden of debt as compared to non-cultivator (Table 3). Urban
Households
Statement
6 throws some lights on the burden debt on different urban households
depending upon their occupation. It can be seen that, the self-employed
households as compared to all others are better of in this regard in all
urban regions (see Table 2 and Statement 6).
4Debt-Asset Ratio by Assets Holding ClassesRural+Urban
Households
The
debt-asset ratio, as seen in Statement 7, decreased
almost monotonically
with the ascendancy of the assets. The ratio for the asset holding class
‘less than Rs. 15,000’ works out to be 22.84 per cent, which reduces
to 2.83 per cent for the asset holding class ‘Rs.8,00,000 and above’
(Statement 7). Statement
8 and 9 depicts debt-asset ratio of different asset holding classes in
rural and urban areas and it can be seen from there that there is not much
change in burden of debt when one traverse from lower asset holding class
to higher asset holding classes with lower class having more burden of
debt in both rural and urban areas alike.
5 Debt-Asset Ratio – Asset Holding Class – Region-wiseTables 4 to 6 gives throws some light on the phenomena of burden of debt on different asset classes among different asset holding class households in different region/states. Statement 10 depicts the debt asset ratio of lowest and highest asset classes.
It can be seen that the trend is one of
diminishing burden with the ascendancy of asset in both rural and urban
areas of all the regions. However it can be seen that especially in the
southern region the burden of debt is very high among the entire region in
the lowest asset classes. In this region Andhra Pradesh had a burden of
debt of 50.2 per cent in the lowest decennial class asset holding,
preceded by Kerala at 60.7 per cent. However, households in Karnataka had
to bear the brunt of debt at a lower level of 13.6 per cent only among
this class. Tamil Nadu also experienced the burden of debt of 25.2 per
cent, more than that of all-India. Rajasthan ( 46.0 per cent) in northern
region, Uttar Pradesh ( 23.3 per cent) in central region and 6 Summing up(i) Burden of debt as measured by asset-debt ratio for all-India households is 2.83 per cent with rural (2.84 per cent) and urban areas (2.82 per cent) (ii) In rural areas, cultivator households are better off as far as the burden of debt is concerned as compared to non-cultivator households. (iii) Similarly, in urban areas, self-employed households bear less burden of debt. (iv) Among regions, southern region suffers from the worst case of burden of debt. With Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu being the front-runners in this respect.
(v)
Obviously, the low asset holding classes
bears heavy brunt of the debt burden as measured by debt-asset ratio in
all region/states/among different occupational categories. *
This note is prepared by R.Krishnaswamy
Highlights of Current Economic Scene AGRICULTURE According
to III advance estimates (AE) released by ministry of agriculture, India
is likely to produce 73.7 million tonnes of wheat in the 2006-07 rabi
season against the previous estimate (II AE) of 72.5 million tonnes due to
favourable weather and higher acreage of the crop. The projected output of
73.7 million tonnes will be 6.2 per cent higher over final estimates of
69.35 million tonnes of 2005-06. The production of rice is likely to touch
91.05 million tonnes, marginally higher than previous estimate of 90.13
million tonnes. The total foodgrain output is expected to rise by 1.5 per
cent to 211.78 million tonnes as against 208.6 million tonnes of previous
year.
As
per the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA), the export of
oilmeals for the year 2006-07 has been recorded at 51.70 lakh tonnes,
valued at Rs 4,300 crore ($1 billion) posting an increase of 17 per cent
compared to 44.23 lakh tonne (Rs 3,562 crore) last year. This the highest
export ever made by the country both in terms of quantity and value. The
rapeseed meal export has improved sharply due to the provision of the
commodity from (Nafed) during off-season, which had not only boosted the
crushing and oil availability but also increased rapeseed extraction and
led to a boost in the exports of rapeseed meal. According
to the estimates of International Cotton Advisory Committee, world cotton
production is likely to touch 25.2 million tonnes in 2007-08, almost
unchanged from 2006-07. Cotton production in In
order to rescue the sugar industry, the government of The Rubber Board has fallen short of its X five-year (2003-07) plan target of replacing aged rubber trees with new ones by 23 per cent. The board could only cover 26,649 hectare against the target of 34,850 hectare due to the reluctance of growers to cut aged trees due to high price of rubber. In the situation of high prices, growers would prefer some income from aged trees than replacing and waiting for 6-7 years for new plant to reach yielding stage. According
to the crop prospects and food situation report published by the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the global wheat
production is expected to rise sharply by about 4.8 per cent in 2007 to
stand at 626 million tonne, with most countries, except According
to the provisional data available with the National Federation of
Cooperative Sugar Factories (NFCSF), sugar production in the October-March
2006-07 has jumped by about 25 per cent to a record 21.2 million tonnes
against the 19.2 million tonnes of the previous year. Private sugar mills
have contributed around 11 million tonnes. The
central government’s wheat procurement operations have commenced in IndustryPharma
exports to InfrastructureRailway Indian Railways has witnessed a 9.12 per cent growth in freight loading during April 2005-February 2006 to 655.35 million tonnes (mt) from 600.58 mt. It has also registered a 14.89 per cent increase in freight earnings touching Rs 37,589.03 crore from Rs 32,716.59 crore during the period. Passenger earnings have risen by 13.61 per cent to Rs 15,371.93 crore from Rs 13,530.19 crore. The integral coach factory and rail coach factory has produced 1,110 and 1,164 coaches, respectively, during the period, exceeding the target by 26 and 4 coaches each. The rail wheel factory has produced 1,22,339 wheels and 52,537 axles during the same period compared to the target of 1,18,126 wheels and 52,528 axles. Shipping The
union shipping ministry is considering an action plan for the next five
years to increase the draught in the major ports in the country up to 18 m
to handle larger vessels. In this context, the ministry has prepared an
action plan to increase the draught in major ports such as Kolkata from
the present 7 to 9 m, Haldia Dock Complex from 8.5 to 9 m, Visakhapatnam
from 17 to 18 m, Ennore from 13.5 to 16.5 m, Chennai from 17 to 17.5 m,
Tuticorin from 10.7 to 14.7 m, Kochi from 12.5 to 14.5 m, New Mangalore
from 14 to 17 m, Goa from 13.3 to 14.3 m, Mumbai from 9.1 to 14 m, JNPT
from 12.5 to 14 m and Kandla from 11.7 to 14.5 m. The ministry is also
planning to set up a deep-sea port off the coast of In
2006-07, the 12 major ports have handled a total of 463.84 million tonnes
(mt) of traffic, up by an estimated 9.51 per cent over 423.56 mt handled
in 2005-06, according to tentative figures released by the Indian Ports
Association. However, there has been a marginal shortfall of 0.4 per cent
from the target of 465.7 Cement The government has made cement imports duty-free and is also contemplating a removal of the dual excise duty structure on cement announced in the recent budget. The government has abolished, with immediate effect, the countervailing duty of 16 per cent and additional customs duty of 4 per cent on Portland cement, widely used in construction. This follows a full customs duty exemption on Portland cement in January 2007. The domestic cement companies have been asked by the government to suggest proposals to reduce prices. Cement prices have risen from an average of Rs 165 (per 50 kg bag) in January 2006 to Rs 209 in February 2007 and subsequently to Rs 220.The government has also clarified that the countervailing duty exemption on cement import would be Rs 350 per tonne in the case of cement of declared retail sale price not exceeding Rs 190 per 50 kg bag. For higher priced cement, the excise duty would be Rs 600 per tonne. Since the budget, differences have arisen between government and domestic manufacturers. InflationThe annual point-to-point inflation rate based on wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 6.39 percent for the week ended March 24,2007 or at a lower rate of 4.06 per cent during the corresponding week last year.
During the week under review, the WPI rose by 0.2 per cent to 209.8 from 209.4 for the previous level (Base: 1993-94=100). The index of ‘primary articles’ group, (weight 22.02 per cent), rose by 0.5 percent to 215.3 from its previous week’s level of 214.2 mainly due to rise in prices of urad, gram, masur and condiments and spices. The index of ‘fuel, power, light and lubricants’ group (weight 14.23 per cent) remained stagnant. The price index of ‘manufactured products’ group moved up by 0.1 per cent to 183.4 from 183.2 due to increase in the prices of food products by 0.3 per cent.
The latest final index of WPI for the week ended January 27,2007 has been revised upwards; as a result both, the absolute index and the implied inflation rate stood at 209.0 and 6.69 per cent as against their provisional levels of 208.8 and 6.58 per cent, respectively. BankingIn
an effort to check the misuse of export credit by small exporters who
benefit from the interest rate arbitrage between low-interest currencies
and the Indian rupee, the RBI has asked banks to ensure that the Foreign
Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations are not violated during such
transactions. An RBI directive has asked banks to be careful in giving
guarantees against export advances and has told them to verify the
exporter’s record to assess his ability to execute such orders. Many
exporters with low export turnover were receiving large amounts as export
advances in currencies with lower interest rates against domestic bank
guarantees. The exporters were depositing such advances with banks in
Indian rupee to take advantage of the interest rate arbitrage. Further,
the guarantees were being issued even before the advances were received,
with a condition that they would be operational only after getting the
funds. The guarantees are issued at par value, against the discounted
values of the export advances. After
many years of being in the red, term lending institution IFCI is on the
verge of announcing a major turn-around with a profit of around Rs 1,000
crore for financial year 2006-07. HDFC,
the second largest mortgage lender after ICICI Bank, have raised its
lending rates by 75 basis points, but effected a smaller hike for existing
borrowers by raising its prime lending rate (PLR) by only 50 basis points.
HDFC Bank and UTI Bank has also raised their PLRs by 100 basis points to
15 per cent. LIC
Housing Finance has announced an increase in its lending rates both for
floating rate loans and fixed rate loans with effect from April 5, 2007.
The floating rate loans will now be 11.25 per cent onwards, and the rates
for fixed loans will start at 11.75 per cent. Public FinanceThe central government has achieved about 99 per cent of its set target with the revenue deficit standing at Rs 82,411 crore till February this year. According to official statistics, the revenue deficit for 2006-07 is estimated at Rs 83,436 crore. The government, in the previous fiscal, achieved 107 per cent of the set target. Fiscal deficit during the April-February 2006-07 has stood at Rs 1.21 lakh crore, 80 per cent of the target for 2006-07. The fiscal deficit has been primarily financed by external borrowings and domestic markets. Market borrowings by the government have touched Rs 1,24,682 crore at the end of February 2007. The domestic borrowings for the entire current fiscal have been pegged at Rs 1.44 lakh crore. The government has raised Rs 1.15 lakh crore or 80 per cent of the estimates, till the end of February. The Public Provident Fund has raked in Rs 9,456 crore and 76% has been financed from external borrowings. The figure at the end of February for the previous fiscal was 64%. Financial MarketsCapital Markets Secondary
Market The
market staged a recovery from Monday’s steep fall that was caused by
RBI’s surprise hike in short term interest rate and cash reserve ratio
announced after the markets had closed on Friday 30 March 2007. Firm
global markets and cooling off oil prices aided the recovery from lower
level in the short trading week. But
the market ended the week in the red. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 216.02
points or 1.6 per cent to 12856.08 in the week ended Thursday 4 April
2007. The S&P CNX Nifty shed 69.55 points or 1.8 per cent to 3752 in
the week. BSE
Mid-Cap index lost 64.17 points or 1.1 per cent to 5319.95 whereas BSE
Small-Cap index lost 14.14 points or 0.2 per cent to 6456.37 in the week. The market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India proposed applying circuit filter on the day of relisting in a scrip. Sebi has proposed that 20 per cent price band would be levied on commencement/re-commencement of trading in a scrip which would include all the cases of commencement/ re-commencement of trading due to de-merger, amalgamation, capital reduction, scheme of arrangements, revocation of suspension, etc. as decided by the exchanges from time to time On
Wednesday, Sebi banned 28 stock broking firms and eight individuals from
trading in shares for five years for their role in the Ketan Parekh
securities scam. These entities have also been debarred from accessing
capital market and associating with any intermediary in capital market for
five years. Derivatives
The April Nifty future was settled at 3722.55 while the May Nifty future was settled at 3721. Open interest increased across both series. The marked discount between spot and April future suggests that there is still a lot of pessimism in the market. Of the other indices, the Bank Nifty is fairly liquid and the April future is running at 5121.65, which is at a small discount to the spot value of 5129. The CNX IT is less liquid and the April future was settled at 5080 while the spot closed at 5088
Government
Securities Market Primary
Market Under
the weekly T-Bill auctions, the RBI mopped up Rs.3200 crores (MSS worth
Rs.1500 crore) and Rs.1500 crore (MSS worth Rs.1000 crore) through 91-day
T-Bill and 182-day T-Bill. The cut-off yields for the 91-day and 182-day
T-Bill were 7.9353 per cent and 7.9869 per cent respectively. RBI
conducted the auction of 7.55 per cent 2010 for a notified amount of
Rs.6000 crore under MSS. The cut-off yield of the security was 8.2431 per
cent. The
Government of India has announced the sale (re-issue) of 7.38 per cent
2015 and 8.33 per cent 2036 for a notified amount of Rs.6000 crores and
Rs.4000 crores respectively through a price based auction using multiple
price method on April 12, 2007. Secondary
Market During
the week, the weighted average call rates during the period ranged between
7.12 per cent and 12.83 per cent, while weighted average repo rates ranged
between 6.93 per cent and 10.02 per cent and the weighted average CBLO
rates ranged between 6.72 per cent and 8.82 per cent. The average volumes
of Call, Repo and CBLO segments were Rs.20838.56 crores, Rs.7311.27 crores
and Rs.21645.85 crores respectively. The daily average outstanding amounts
in the LAF (reverse repo) and LAF (repo) operations conducted during the
period were Rs.1055.33 crores and Rs.11550.00 crore respectively. The
weighted average YTM of G.S 2017 8.07 per cent bond was 8.1604 per cent on
April 06, 2007 as compared to 7.9602 per cent on March 30, 2007. The 1-10
year YTM spreads increased by 7 bps to 26bps. RBI
has permitted trading in power bonds, maturing on Oct. 1, 2011 and April
1, 2012, which were issued by various states to central public sector
undertakings. In
his address on "Role of Monetary Policy in Attaining Growth with
Stability: The Indian Experience", Dr. Y. V. Reddy indicated the
central bank's policy preference for indirect instruments like a mix of
market based instruments and changes in reserve requirements to give
effect to its monetary policy. He also mentioned that the tolerance level
to inflation in Bond
Market Bank
of Maharashtra is tapping the market to mobilise Rs 150 crore through
issue of upper tier II bonds by offering 10.25 per cent for 15 years and a
step-up of 50 basis points if call is not exercised at the end of 10
years. In
accordance with the Union Budget Speech for the year 2007-08, regarding
the creation of mortgage guarantee companies, RBI has released the Draft
Guidelines on Operations of Mortgage Guarantee Companies. The guidelines
cover the definition of a mortgage guarantee company, the essential
features of a mortgage guarantee, the capital requirements, the prudential
and accounting norms, norms regarding creation and maintenance of
reserves, terms of counter-guarantee, and the due diligence to be
exercised by a mortgage guarantee company. Foreign
Exchange Market The
rupee-dollar exchange rate touched a high of Rs 42.90 on April 4 but
dipped to Rs 43.15 on April 5. The six-month forward premia closed at 5.41
per cent (annualized) on April 05, 2007 vis-à-vis 4.40 per cent on March
30, 2007. Commodities
Futures derivatives National
commodity exchanges have registered 99 per cent jump in their turnover at
Rs 40.72 lakh crore for the financial year ended March 31compared with Rs
21.34 lakh crore during the same period of the previous year. MCX has
maintained its leadership over other national commodity exchanges by
posting 138 per cent rise in turnover at Rs 22.93 lakh crore (Rs 9.61 lakh
crore). MCX
daily average turnover in FY07 was Rs 9,463 lakh crore. NCDEX reported 7
per cent growth at Rs 11.67 lakh crore (Rs 10.91 lakh crore), while that
of NMCE was Rs 1.17 lakh crore. Regional commodity exchanges have logged
in Rs 1.2 lakh crore in FY07. The three national exchanges alone have
contributed about 97 per cent to the total turnover. The
first coffee robusta contract launched in MCX expired on March 30 with a
delivery of 120 tonnes. Futures trading in coffee was launched on January
29, 2007. "The delivery intention period was for a month to overcome
logistic problems pertaining to bulk handling and storage. There is a
provision that once a seller's stock is validated by the exchange, actual
delivery can take place on any of the tender days as per the seller's
choice. All open positions at the end of contract expiry result in
compulsory delivery," said an MCX official. Maximum allowable
position limits for members and clients in the commodity is 2,250 tonnes
and 750 tonnes, respectively. However, in the delivery period, the maximum
allowable position limits are reduced to 450 tonnes and 150 tonnes for
members and clients, respectively. Robusta contracts are traded on MCX
platform up to 11.55 p.m. to coincide with international market timings as
coffee is a global commodity with global reference pricing. After a series
of discussions with domestic planters, traders, processors and exporters,
MCX had decided to launch the Euronext.liffe based Coffee Robusta contract
as Indian exporters were selling their coffee using the Euronext.liffe
based contract price as the benchmark. The final settlement price of MCX
is linked to the Euronext.liffe, giving the traders the advantage of
global benchmark price. MCX Robusta coffee has four delivery centres,
three in Karnataka — Kushalnagar, Chikmangalur and Hassan — and one in
Kerala — Kalpeta, where National Bulk Handling Corporation (NBHC)
maintain warehouse for coffee industry participants trading on MCX. The
contract has attracted good interest from the domestic coffee industry.
"All the three verticals — metals, energy and agriculture sector
— have registered a good growth in turnover. More importantly, our
business has managed to register growth despite volatility due to a
mismatch in supply-demand. End users have started using our platform to
hedge their risk," said Mr Joseph Massey, Deputy Managing Director,
MCX. Without putting any target for the coming fiscal year, Mr Massey
said, "We want to grow organically by introducing more new products
and align with the physical market. External SectorThe
current account deficit of the county has stood at $ 3 billion for the
third quarter ended December 31, 2006, according to statistics put out by
the Reserve Bank of The
foreign exchange reserves of The country's external debt stock has shot up by $6.19 billion in the quarter ended December 2006 to $142.66 billion on the back of a sharp increase in commercial borrowings by corporate sector and also due to rise in non-resident India (NRI) deposits. While long-term debt outstanding for the quarter ended December 2006 increased by $6.80 billion to $132.64 billion, short-term debt declined by $610 million to $10.02 billion at end-December 2006. Corporate Sector Fiat
and Tata Motors, in an industrial joint venture for cars and engines have
opened their Ranjangaon plant near Pune. The plant has capacity to produce
one lakh cars and two lakh engines every year for the Indian and foreign
markets. Fiat’s Grande Punto and sedan Linea which were expected to be
launched in Bharati
Enterprises and the world’s largest retailer Wal-Mart stores will sign a
legal agreement for their joint retail venture in April’2007. Bharati
Enterprises has announced an investment of $2.5 billion to be made before
2015 into the front end of its retail venture, covering floor space of 10
million sq ft. The joint
retail venture would initially focus on the northern part of the country
and the retail outlets are more likely to be known by Bharati name. Deutche
Bank has valued Reliance Industries’ KG D6 block at Rs 59,800 crore,
which is the second largest deep-water find in the world. This is the
first independent valuation of the block. KG Basin is expected to go into
production in 2008. Mahindra
Renault launched the 1.4-litre petrol Tata
group company Indian hotels will acquire US based Reliance Retail is planning to open 400 small format consumer durables stores under the ‘Reliance Digital’ brand in the rural and semi-urban markets. This will be the second major durable retailing initiative in the domestic market after competitor Tata Group’s Infiniti retail owned Croma. Infiniti Retail also hopes to enter the semi-urban and rural markets in the next two years. The
$1.5 billion, Dubai-based Landmark Group will invest $500 million over the
next three years to expand its retail operations and foray into budget
hotels in Textile
and apparel major Raymonds, has recently concluded talks with Mukesh
Ambani-promoted Reliance Retail for marketing Raymond fabrics through
Reliance Retail's first mall, which is being, launched in Ahmedabad in May
2007. The new retailing initiative by Raymond will coincide with its
aggressive retail expansion plans. After having set-up 350 exclusive
showrooms, the company is planning to have a network of 950 stores in Quintiles Transnational Corp, one of the largest clinical trials organisations in the world, is scouting for drug development partnerships with Indian companies through its 100 per cent subsidiary NovaQuest. Ranbaxy
Laboratories is looking at 14.9 percent stake in Andhra based Jupiter
Biosciences. If the deal goes through, Ranbaxy would use its distribution
network in Europe and the Reliance
Industries Ltd (RIL), is expected to decide on Krishna Godavari
(K-G) basin gas price for marketing in consultation with the
government by June-July’2007. The price of the 40 mmscd (million
standard cubic metres) of gas from the K-G basin, which will be produced
by mid-2008, is expected to be significantly cheaper than naphtha prices. Information TechnologyWipro
Technologies, the global IT services arm of Wipro is planning to invest
around Rs 375 – 400 crores over a period of 3 years – 5 years in Pune.
The announcement was made at the inauguration of phase II of the
company’s development centre at Hinjewadi in Pune. With the opening of
the new centre, the Wipro division will have an employment strength of
6,300. Satyam
Computer Services has launched a 4,500 sq ft development centre in In
a bid to develop an online professional platform for medical doctors
across the world, Apollo Hospital Group has joined IBM for a 50:50
partnership. The proposed online platform will be known as ‘ The
Rs 9,000-crore Indian entity of global electronics major Siemens AG, has
decided to make Kolkata one of its principal IT hubs. It is going to
increase the number of IT employees in the city by a few thousand in the
next three to four years. (fe,8/04/07) TelecomThe much-awaited 3G policy is expected to be announced in April’2007, with the defence ministry agreeing to vacate 40Mhz spectrum by July’2007. 3G technology would allow mobile service providers to offer their subscribers high speed data download and interactive services like video gaming and stock trading.
*These statistics and the accompanying review are a product arising from the work undertaken under the joint ICICI research centre.org-EPWRF Data Base Project. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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