สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 31 กรกฎาคม 2556

More steps to reduce CAD soon
Raghuram Rajan, chief economic advisor in the finance ministry, said the government would shortly take specific steps for funding the current account deficit (CAD) on a sustainable basis.

"We have already taken some steps on liberalizing foreign direct investment (FDI). We are also exploring some other options for stably and sustainably funding CAD. We will announce specific measures in the next few weeks," he told reporters.

The government is also considering measures to curb some non-essential imports. In a meeting with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, industry had suggested a higher import duty on luxury goods. Finance Minister P Chidambaram is holding a press conference on Wednesday and is expected to announce some measures.

(Source: the Financial Express, Business Standard)

Gati infra set up hydro power project in Sikkim
Gati Infrastructure Private Limited (GIPL), a Hyderabad-based company focused on generating non-carbon power, has commissioned a 110-Mw hydro-electric power project in the northeastern state of Sikkim.

The project, built at a cost of Rs. 1,118 crore, will harness the water flow from Rangpo and Rongli rivers in Sikkim through run-of-river design with turbines and generators supplied by Alstom India Limited. While IDFC was the lead financier with a loan at the project level, Hyderabad-based Capital Fortunes was the adviser and sole arranger in respect of this transaction.

GE Energy Financial Services India has invested Rs. 257 crore in the project through a share subscription agreement, GIPL said in a press release on Tuesday. GIPL is an energy initiative of Mahendra Agarwal, founder and CEO of Hyderabad-based express distribution company Gati Limited.

"Sikkim is a growing economy in the northeast with an average rainfall higher than in several other Himalayan states. With glacial melt and the perennial rivers, Sikkim has a peak potential capacity of 8,000 Mw of hydro-electric power," Agarwal said.

(Source: Business Standard)

Rupee falls below 61 again
The Indian rupee approached a record low on Wednesday on doubts about whether the central bank can defend the currency with its existing cash-draining measures unless policy makers take additional steps.

The rupee fell to as low as 61.12 to the dollar, not far from its record low of 61.21 hit on July 8. It closed trade at 60.47/48 on Tuesday. The one-month non-deliverable forward hit a record low of 61.72, breaking the previous low of 61.70 hit on July 8.
Dealers are watching for any possible intervention from the central bank. The volatility in the currency led bond yields to jump, with the benchmark 10-year yield up 8 basis points at 8.33 percent.

Today, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao is due to take questions from analysts at 14:30 India time (09:00 GMT), while Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will address media at 15:00 India time (09:30 GMT).

(Source: the Financial Express, the Economic Times)

Tria seeks stakeholders's view on raising foreign investment threshold in media
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday sought comments from stakeholders on increasing the current FDI cap across carriage services from 74% to 100% and in content (news channels, FM radio) from 26% to 49%, in order to ease the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) across various sectors, including broadcasting,

Trai said the last date of sending in stakeholders' suggestions and comments is August 12. Carriage services include DTH, cable TV, teleport, HITS and mobile TV, while content services include news broadcast on television and FM radio network. Trai has also sought comments from stakeholders on increasing the FDI cap in FM radio from 26% to 49% via the government approval route.

Subsequent to the Mayaram committee's recommendations to increase the FDI caps across sectors last month, whereupon two FDI caps were proposed in most sectors — one to be kept at 49% and other at 100% — the Information and Broadcasting Ministry wrote to the sector regulator Trai, seeking its comments for broadcasting sector last month. Therefore, according to Trai, the current consultations paper of FDI in broadcasting sector is an outcome of that request. In its consultation paper, Trai said there are existing provisions in the uplinking guidelines to safeguard, in order to ease, the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) across various sectors.

(Source: the Financial Express)

"Bharat Mobile Scheme": Free mobile phone
The government has revived its plans to provide free mobile phones to rural households utilizing the universal service obligation (USO) fund. The idea behind the Bharat Mobile scheme is to use mobile handsets as a device to establish the identity of members of a household for transfer of benefits under various government schemes like LPG subsidy, scholarships and pension.

The idea is to provide one mobile handset to all rural households of which at least one member has completed 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee program (MNREGA) in 2012. The scheme is expected to be funded by the universal service obligation (USO) fund which currently has over Rs. 24,000 crore unutilized money in its coffers. Telecom service providers pay 5% of their adjusted gross revenue (AGR) to the fund which was established with a view to provide access to basic telegraph services in rural areas.

The government has asked states to provide a list of eligible citizens for each village, block and district. It plans to complete the scheme in the next three years. And access to health records, land records and payment transfers would be through use of mobile numbers as the first level of authentication. One mobile would be provided per household, preferably to a female member. However, final rules for the mobile scheme are still being deliberated, according to officials who are aware of the scheme.

(Source: the Economic Times, the Financial Express)

Economic Section
Royal Thai Embassy