สรุปข่าวเศรษฐกิจอินเดียประจำวันที่ 25 พฤษภาคม 2555
Bharti Airtel acquires 49% in Qualcomm India for $165 million
Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest mobile operator, on Thursday announced the acquisition of 49 per cent stake in US telecom major Qualcomm Inc’s broadband wireless access (BWA) company in India for an initial investment of $165 million.
With this move, Bharti Airtel will become a key player in the 4G LTE market, with a presence in eight of the 22 circles in the country. The acquisition of Qualcomm’s licence is crucial, as it will give Bharti an entry into four key circles: the lucrative Delhi and Mumbai markets as well as Haryana and Kerala. Bharti, on its own, has 4G spectrum in four circles, including Kolkata, where it has already launched services, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra.
(Source: Business Standard, Indiatimes, Indianews24, Moneycontrol)
'Aviation, retail FDI decisions soon'
Amidst continuous depreciation of rupee and weak sentiments in the stocks market, the government is expected to soon push some of the key pending reforms like allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail. Industry experts, too, said this is the right time for taking big reform measures.
Echoing sentiments, industry body FICCI said they are expecting some decision soon on FDI in multi-brand retail and allowing foreign airlines to take stake in domestic carriers.
Last year, the government had attempted to allow 51 % FDI in the segment but had to suspend the move following widespread opposition, including from its own allies.
In the recent times, heads of retail majors like IKEA and Carrefour have met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and pushed for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail.
(Source: Business Standard, Financial Express, IBNLive, Indian Express)
Carmakers like Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki fast-track diesel vehicle plans after petrol hike
Carmakers are fast-tracking their diesel vehicle plans and planning offers to push petrol cars as the latest petrol price increase is set to accelerate India's race to become a diesel market.
The widening petrol-diesel price differential over the last couple of years has been making more and more consumers opt for diesel vehicles despite higher pricing. Diesel vehicle sales in India jumped 35 % last fiscal at the cost of petrol cars that fell 15 % in the same period.
The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is installing a diesel engine plant that will have an initial capacity of 150,000 engines per year by the middle of 2013. The capacity will be doubled in the following year.
Other carmakers such as Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen too have gauged the consumer sentiment and started expanding their diesel portfolio in the country.
(Source: Times of India, Economic Times, Worldnews)
Auction of 10 MHz spectrum approved
The Telecom Commission (TC), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s highest decision-making body, on Thursday approved the auction of 10 MHz of spectrum across all circles in the 1,800 MHz band, which is used for 2G services.
The decision could provide relief to GSM operators, as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had initially recommended auctioning only 5 MHz of spectrum across the country. However, later, it had changed its stance, saying up to 10 MHz could be auctioned only in circles where surplus was available after accounting for spectrum needed for reframing. On that basis, 15 of the 22 circles would have surplus spectrum.
The allocated spectrum would be auctioned in eight blocks of 1.25 MHz, in which existing operators would be allowed to take two blocks of 1.25 MHz each and new operators can take up to four blocks of 1.25 MHz.
(Source: Business Standard, the Hindu, Livemint, Zeenews)
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