23 september 2000

oil price hike a damper for the auto sector
new delhi:the fuel price hike, waiting to happen, has knocked the winds out of the automobile industry as any immediate recovery in its sales charts seems to have been kicked further into the future. the industry had pinned its hopes on october for a revival in its fortunes after sales failed to pick up --- thanks to sales tax rationalisation and the ongoing shraadh--- in august and september, traditionally volume robust months.

says jagdish khattar, managing director, maruti udyog ltd.,"fuel price hike will impact both, demand as well as vendor input costs, substantially."

agrees hyundai’s bvr subbu: "demand, in fact, may not be hurt in the long-term but initially operating and manufacturing cost would be impacted."
"the industry has been waiting for the signals from the petroleum ministry. the biggest damper will be on sentiment," said rajiv dube, general manager (commercial), passenger car division, telco.

22 september 2000

india gets housing loan assistance from adb
manila: the asian development bank on thursday approved a $300 million loan to india for a housing finance project which will benefit low income indians.
the funds will be used to provide loans to low-income households through intermediaries including non government organisations, public and private enterprises and state agencies.

slum improvement projects would also be included under the loan programme.

more than 1.3 million low income indians may be eligible for the financing, the adb said, adding that "the thrust of the project is to promote market-based lending without subsidies to low-income families who would otherwise have to go to unregulated money-lenders. india has a housing shortage that has left over 200 million people living in unacceptable conditions or on the streets. " adb said.