ECONOMY

Public Finance Taxes And Duties

Tax reforms back on track, CST cut to 2% from June
Central Govt, states agree on rising VAT floor rate to 5%

Ending uncertainty over a major tax reform initiative, the central government on Friday notified reduction in central sales tax (CST) to 2% from June 1 as compared to the current 3%.

TRADE & COMMERCE

Foreign Trade / Trade Deficit

Cement exports may decline despite lifting of export ban

Despite the government lifting the ban on cement exports and allowing exports via Gujarat ports, experts believe the move will not have any significant impact on exports. In fact, exports this year are likely to see a marginal dip compared to last year.

CEMENT INDUSTRY

Growth/Marketing/Demand/Takeover

Sagar Cements' new units launch in July

Sagar Cements Ltd will be commissioning its Rs 296-crore brownfield clinker and cement plants in July. This would push up the cement production capacity of the Hyderabad-based company from 0.6 million tonnes a year to 2.5 million tonnes while the clinker capacity would shoot up to 2.1 million tonnes from 0.5 million tonnes.

MoF denies sop to cement firms

The finance ministry has turned down a proposal from department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) to give 35% abatement on excise duty to cement manufacturers. Had the ministry accepted the proposal and companies passed on the benefit to consumers, the prices of cement could have come down by Rs 10 per 50 kg bag.

Cement exports to get DEPB tax benefits

Cement sales increase by 7.9% in May

Cement sales have grown 7.9% as an increased focus on infrastructure projects has pushed up demand for the building material in the world's second-largest cement market after China. According to the Cement Manufacturers' Association, industry sales grew to 167.67 million tonne, from 155.26 mt in the previous year.

Cement firms cut output by 50% in Rajasthan

Cement production units in Rajasthan, the country's largest producer of the commodity, have been forced to cut their capacity utilisation by as high as 50 per cent, following the l2-day violent Guijar agitation. The Guijars are demanding inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list.

New Projects/Expansions/Diversification

Cash – rich ACC lines up shopping list for buys

Sitting on cash reserves of more than Rs 1,000 crore, the country's largest cement maker ACC Ltd is all set for inorganic growth, together with its brownfield expansion to hike capacity to 30.4 million tonne by the end of 2010.

Ambuja Cement to buy stake in ACC's ready-mix arm

Ambuja Cement is set to buy a stake in the country's largest cement maker ACC's ready-mix concrete (RMX) subsidiary – ACC Concrete. The move is part of Swiss major Holcim's push to align the two largest cement makers it controls in India. The two companies, however, are still working out the brand name under which the concrete will be sold in different markets. ACC Concrete, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ACC, has revenues of around Rs 300-400crore.

Cement makers shun Chinese machineries

The Indian cement industry is wary of importing equipment from China on doubts of efficiency and life of the machineries, officials of domestic cement companies said.

ENERGY/FUEL/POWER

Coal

New coal washing norm to set prices on fire

Coal prices will go up by Rs 300-400 per tonne, as the government has made it mandatory for all coal produced in the country to be washed by the producers.

TRANSPORT

Railways

Rlys examining further cuts in freight rates

The Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, today said that the Railways was examining the possibility of further reduction in freight rates to leverage its competitiveness over road transportation in the wake of the latest hike in diesel prices.

Truckers warn of indefinite strike from July 1

Already faced with the increased burden of hike in prices of petrol and diesel, truck Thursday warned of an indefinite strike from July1 if finance ministry insists on hiking the service tax rate on roadlines. 'We are planning to go on an indefinite strike from July 1 and have given notice to the government and informed our member associations," president of Delhi Goods Transport United Front Deepak Sachdeva told PTI.

Fuel hike forces Guj truck body to increase rates

Following the hike in the prices of diesel by the central government, truck transporters across Gujarat have increased their fares by 12%-15 % with the immediate effect. Speaking to FE, former president of the All Gujarat Truck Transport Association Punarvasu Vaghela, said that the truckers had unanimously decided to increase their areas on their own.

MISCELLANEOUS

Secondary steel makers hike prices by Rs 3,000 / tonne

while the Government has been able to restrain the major domestic steel producers from increasing prices to contain inflation, secondary steel makers have raised prices of their products following increase in international prices in the last 15 days.

Ad valorem mineral royalty on hold ad int

Inflation has taken a toll on yet another reforms initiative. The proposal to increase royalty rates for minerals by changing the calculation method – from the special rates to the ad valorem system based on mineral prices – has been put on hold for three months. The decision has been taken to prevent higher royalty rates affecting the mineral prices and fuelling inflation further. The mineral prices have witnessed a sharp increase of 45% over the last few months on the wholesale price index (WPI).

Mining industry to cross Rs 1.27 lakh cr in four years

The country's mining industry is projected to cross over $30 billion (about Rs 1,27,662 crore) accounting for about 2.5 percent of the GDP in the next four years, a latest report said.

Steel cos will not hold price beyond 3 mths

Steel makers will honour their commitment to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to hold prices for three months, but rates will go up thereafter, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Steel Sajjan Jindal said on Tuesday, after taking over as Assocham President.