PM: India poised for 7-8 per cent growth rate
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that India is poised to deliver 7-8 per cent economic growth in the next fiscal.

"The growth rate has almost been seven per cent this year on the back of eight per cent previous year. All indications at the moment are that we may be able to deliver a seven to eight per cent growth even next year," he said. It is undeniable that India is "at a cusp" in its development trajectory, he added.

The government is committed to putting in place a set of policies, which will provide the necessary environment for making this growth possible. The PM said that said the extra one to two per cent points in the growth rate, over the earlier five to six per cent growth rates, which seem miniscule at a glance could ultimately translate into a substantial difference over a period of time.
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J&K: India and Pak to exchange bus passenger list
New Delhi: Indian and Pakistani officials will today exchange applications of people who want to travel in the first Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus on April 7 and also discuss the arrangements for the service. The Pakistan foreign office has also ruled out the possibility of media being allowed to travel on the first bus.

The Deputy Commissioner of Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), will meet an Indian counterpart near the Line of Control. They will hand over to each other the application forms for special permits to travel by the bus on April 7.

India has designated the Regional Passport Officer in Srinagar as the authority to circulate and process the application forms of those wishing to travel from India.
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Patents Bill: Discussion deferred by a day
New Delhi: The Government was forced to defer by a day the controversial Patents (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha in the face of strong opposition from the NDA, the RJD and even from the left allies. The opposition NDA, incidentally, had drafted the original bill when it was in power.

Both of the political entities want the bill to be sent to a Parliamentary committee, which would entail another set of delays for the govt. which is desperate to pass the bill since the Patents Ordinance expires on April 10. Although Left MPs joined the shouting brigade on Friday, when Kamal Nath introduced the bill, the minister claims that the Left's concerns have already been addressed.

The concerns include giving companies the right to make patented medicines as long as the pay a royalty to the patent holder, and allowing companies to challenge a patent claim even before it is granted. The left MPs claim that though the government accepted their suggestions, but the official note being circulated finds no mention of the same, making it difficult for them to vote for the Bill.
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PM: Road construction on BOT basis
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced that all future road construction projects, barring a few, will be through the build-operate-transfer (BOT) route, and highlighted the fact that this will provide additional investment opportunities for private capital.

He also mentioned that Finance Minister P Chidambaram would soon provide further details of the special purpose vehicle (SPV) being set up for providing investment capital for infrastructure projects. The PM was speaking on the occasion of the centenary celebration of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said that the Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in his Budget speech had mentioned the introduction of special container trains, and pointed out that "this should be a major step forward" towards infrastructure development.

Singh said the committee on infrastructure headed by him has been systematically addressing policy issues to enhance investment and create a policy framework for attracting private capital in this area.
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Maran: Japan must reciprocate on withholding tax
Chennai: The Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, has urged Japan to reduce withholding tax, which is similar to tax deducted at source.

Stressing that India had already reduced withholding tax to 10 per cent from the earlier twenty per cent, he mentioned that he now looked forward to a similar response from the Japanese Government. The minister was addressing the inaugural ceremony of Indiasoft 2005, a two-day event on information, communication and technology organised by the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC).

With an estimated market size of $80 billion, Japan is the world's second largest IT market after the US. Looking at the immense potential that the Japanese IT market offered the Communication and Information Technology Ministry has taken decisions to enable Indian IT professionals to learn the Japanese language.

According to an ESC release, Japan is the third largest destination for India's computer software exports. During 2003-04, exports to Japan were worth Rs2,070 crore, which worked out to be 3.57 of India's total software exports.
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Ethanol blending to resume
New Delhi: The Government has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to the gasohol-blending programme, with the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, instructing oil companies to finalise tenders within two to three weeks and resume ethanol blending.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) has been identified as the nodal institution for formulating the action plan for promoting ethanol as a mixed fuel.

The Minister, while admitting the delay in implementation of the ethanol programme and its limitation within a few regions, had stated that this was due to the sharp decline in sugar and sugarcane production in the last two years. He, however, reassured that this commitment to blending of ethanol was in keeping with the policy prevailing in most progressive economies of the world.

Ethanol production has been estimated at 1,700 million litres (mnl) in the coming year. The needs of the potable and chemical sectors has hovered around 1,200 mnl leaving a balance of 500 mnl, sufficient for five per cent doping with petrol. Currently, nine States and four Union Territories undertake ethanol doping and the requirement has been limited to only 345 mnl.

This decision would also help sugar factories with ethanol capacities in generating additional revenue, in paying higher cane prices to the cane growers in the coming years, the ISMA President said. The industry has invested Rs600 crore in ethanol capacity building and this has been lying idle during the past year.
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