สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 17 พฤษภาคม 2555
Bharti in talks for stake in Qualcomm India unit: Sources
Top Indian mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel is in advanced talks to buyout the Indian partners of Qualcomm Inc in a fourth-generation (4G) broadband venture in the country, two sources with direct knowledge said on Wednesday.
Qualcomm, which spent nearly $1 billion to buy 4G radio airwaves in a 2010 Indian state auction, had sold a total 26% stake to Indian companies Global Holding Corp and Tulip Telecom for about $58 million to comply with the sector’s foreign holding rules.
(Source: Economic Times, Reuters India, Times of India, Livemint)
Tourist inflow to Kerala crosses 10-million mark
Tourist inflow to the God’s own country, Kerala, has crossed the 10-million market in 2011, taking the total to 10, 11 million, as against 9.2 million in 2010, according to the latest data of the state’s tourism department.
The services sector of the state, to which tourism sector contributes the most, constituted 66.28 % of the state’s GDP in 2010. According to the department’s data, the tourism sector provides employment to 1.2 million.
But now, the tourism sector in the state, with the strong support of the government, is marketing the state as an-all-season tourism destination. The festival season of Kerala, which begins with Onam in August- September, and ends by May, also attracts hundreds of tourists.
(Source: Business Standard, Hindu Business Line, Rediff, India News)
GST: States to bargain hard with individual rates
As talks on the implementation of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) pick up steam, states are set to drive a hard bargain on compensation from the Centre for any loss of revenue to these in the new regime.
A revenue-neutral rate is being worked out by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) to estimate how much each state could lose by shifting to a uniform rate in the GST regime.
A revenue-neutral rate is one at which a state would not record any gain or loss after switching to the GST. The higher a state’s revenue-neutral rate, the more would be the compensation it would seek from the Centre.
For instance, if the revenue-neutral rate of a state is 15 % tax on the sale of goods, but the prescribed uniform rate to be levied by states under GST is 10 %, the state could ask the Centre to compensate it for the loss of five per cent revenue.
(Source: Economic Times, Hindu Business Line, Business Standard)
Manufacturing sector to create 3-4 million jobs: Government
The Government today said that the manufacturing sector will create around 3-4 million jobs during the 12th five year plan 2012-17.
Generation of employment is a function of economic growth. Approach paper to the 12th five year plan (2012-17) focuses on faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth for creating adequate livelihood opportunities. The approach paper estimates that the manufacturing sector will create around 3 to 4 million jobs over and above the pace of job creation in the recent past, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions V Narayanasamy told Lok Sabha in a written reply.
(Source: Economic Times, Tribune India, Business Standard, ZeeNews)
FDI scales 34 per cent to record $ 46.8 bn in 2011-12
FOREIGN direct investment (FDI) in the country shot up 34 % to a record $46.8 billion in 2011-12, on the back of a spate of big-ticket deals.
According to data from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the service sector attracted the maximum investment.
The drugs and pharmaceuticals sector witnessed the maximum jump in growth at over 15 %. In contrast, FDI into sectors such as automobiles and housing and real estate dipped, while investment in the petroleum sector rose significantly.
(Source: Hindu Business Line, Exim, World News)
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