Shareholders should question CEOs' salary: Ahluwalia
New Delhi: Shareholders of family-owned companies should question the quantum of emoluments being drawn by the chief executive officers (CEOs) of their companies, said the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission speaking to Karan Thapar in the programme 'Devil's Advocate' telecast on news channel CNN-IBN.

Ahluwalia further added, "If you look at the ten best performing companies in India... Find out the salaries of top CEOs and then consider how many companies that are performing nowhere near as well are paying there CEOs three-four times that salary.

Ahluwalia said regulation of CEOs salary is a shareholder issue and should be decided by the remuneration committee of independent directors.

Defending the Prime Minister's recent remarks on CEO's salaries he said the PM did not mean that skilled and highly- skilled persons getting a good salary in a competitive market is "something to be objected to," Ahluwalia said. He further added that, "if you have a family controlled business and they owe themselves large salaries it is not necessarily the best thing to do."
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Land prices may correct in Mumbai
Mumbai: Some parts of Mumbai may see a correction in the price of land of up to 25 per cent, if the new initiatives planned by the Maharashtra government to improve land supply in the city come through.

The initiatives being taken to increase the supply of land include; repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA); redevelopment of Dharavi; salt pan redevelopment and a new housing policy with incentives for rental housing and carpet area norms.

According to a study by international property consultant Knight Frank, the per-capita land availability for housing in Mumbai is 103 sq feet, which is one-tenth of international standards.

The study pointed out that out of the 475.07 sq km land mass in Mumbai, only 120.55 sq km is available for housing, which is 25.26 per cent of the total.

The announcement of the redevelopment of Dharavi has already led to softening of land prices.

The project, expected to cost Rs9,300 crore will help the government develop 14 million sq feet of commercial space and 30 million sq feet of residential space in the next seven years.

The industry experts believe that once developed, the area could have a cooling effect on the surrounding areas including the Bandra Kurla Complex, Sion Bandra, Khar and Santacruz.

Knight Frank chairman Pranay Vakil said the mere announcement of Dharavi redevelopment itself would have a salutary effect on the sobering of prices and the impact on prices would be felt in 7-8 days. Vakil said that with the Dharavi redevelopment, in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), where prices are as high as Rs30,000 per sq ft the prices could slump to Rs7,000 per sq ft.

The next major factor which could contribute to land supply is repeal of Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA) in the monsoon session of the legislature. Mumbai alongwith its suburbs could see around 25,000 acres of land being freed up for development.

Industry analysts expect a 25 per cent-30 per cent price correction when this kind of land supply hits the market.

Salt pans land development is also expected to free up 5,500 acres of land in the island city and could see a correction of up to 15 per cent-20 per cent in surrounding areas.
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Govt formulates scheme to help exporters hedge
Chennai: The Commerce Ministry is said to be considering Indian exporters some help in hedging against the appreciation of the rupee. Government officials the details the scheme will be announced a few weeks. The Indian rupee has appreciated 14 per cent since last July, to about Rs40.60 a dollar.

At present the Government says it is doing a "micro analysis" of `which sectors are affected and by how much' because of the appreciation of the rupee — mainly against the US dollar, but also against all major currencies. The study is expected to be completed before the end of this month after which the Government would formulate a scheme to help the more affected exporters.
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Govt to borrow $5 bn from forex reserves to build infrastructure
Mumbai: The government will borrow $5 billion from the country's foreign exchange reserves to fund infrastructure projects. The amount constitutes less than 3 per cent of the country's $204-billion forex reserves held by the Reserve Bank and would be loaned to a new overseas subsidiary of the India Infrastructure Finance Company, a proxy for the government. This company will use the funds to finance capital imports of Indian companies, especially in the infrastructure sector.

Part of these funds could also be used to co-finance foreign borrowings for such projects, primarily capital expenditure, in line with a proposal made by finance minister P Chidambaram in this year's Budget.
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