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Current Economic Statistics and Review For the
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Age-Sex Structure of Indian
Population-1* #
1. Introduction Age-sex structure is one of the fundamental characteristic features of any population composition. Almost all population characteristics are considerably influenced by the age-sex structure. Moreover, age-sex structure provides an insight into the past, present and even perspectives on future demographic trends of the population. Demographic literature defines age as the number of completed years, i.e., the number of years elapsed since the birth of the individual. Hence, Census data on age should usually refer to age of individuals as on their last birthday. 2. Importance of knowing Age-Sex Structure of Population Age-sex structure is governed by the degree of variations of the immediate preceding and long-past events that occurred in the population structure and its growth. It therefore factors in the components of population changes, viz., fertility, mortality and migration. Although age-structure is a direct reflection of levels and trends of these three factors during previous decades, basic factor which determines age-structure of population over a long period in a closed population is the level of fertility. Most of the socio-demographic analysis is performed according to age and sex variables. Mortality rate fluctuates over a wide range at different ages. The event of marriage and child bearing capacity are associated with only a limited part of the life span of women. The usefulness of age-sex data is more perceptible, when it is cross-classified with other demographic and socio-economic characteristics such as fertility and mortality indicators, marital status, literacy, educational attainment, economic activity etc. All these characteristics gain more significance when they are observed and analyzed according to age and sex. Age-sex data become very relevant for formulating programmes to raise the standard of living of the population. Hence it is of prime importance to administrators. Dependency ratio came into prominence when many schemes particularly those relating to planning of community institutions and service for the children, adolescents, youth and elderly. Mean age of population is very much necessary to know the potential school going population, to measure the mean-age at marriage, the potential voting population, potential work force availability, etc. Also, projections of the number of households and population, school enrolment, labour force, requirement of school teachers, provisioning of health services, food and housing, problems of economic dependency, etc, are some of the key areas in which the age-sex data are proved to be very useful. Again, knowledge of age-sex of population is one of the key information for several manufacturing and commercial ventures relating to consumer goods, leisure and entertainment industry, medical and health sector which have immense utility of the age data for targeting their product and services. Hence age-sex data is considered as the most important and vital information among the vast array of population census data.
3. Tabulation and Presentation of Age Related Data in Indian Censuses Question on age has been regularly canvassed in successive censuses since 1872. However, tabulation and presentation of the same on a country-wide basis was done only in 1951, to meet the requirements of the first five year plan. Before that, the same was done mainly to meet the demands of the actuary for the construction of life tables. In 1951 Census, on a 10% sample basis, data by a single year of age ( i.e., the number of years elapsed at the time of canvassing) for every district was tabulated leading to a similar set of figures for the states, zones and the country. In 1961 Census, tables showing population by a single year of age by sex were prepared for the entire population separately for rural and urban areas on a 100% basis at state level. In 1971, 1981 and 1991 Censuses, the single year data were presented at state level while quinquennial age-group wise data were presented at the state/district level. The tabulation in larger states with a population of 10 million and above were based on a sample, while in other states and UTs, it was based on a full count. In 1971 Census, 10% sample of individuals in rural and 20% sample of individuals in urban area were used. In 1981Census, a 20% sample of enumeration blocks and in 1991 Census, 10% sample of individuals were used for tabulation. In 2001 census, separate single year and quinquennial age-group wise tables at the state level and state/district/city (having population of one million and above) levels respectively by sex and place of residence were tabulated on 100% basis for all regions of the country. In spite of the methodology followed in different censuses, the comparability of the data is ensured by the Office of the Registrar General when publishing the said data.
4. Problems encountered in Collection of Age related data during the Censuses The question of determining age is extremely deceptive and not simple or straight forward as it appears at first sight. Generally, two types of approaches are used to ascertain the chronological age of the person. One is based on the question of ‘age’ and the other is through enquiring the ‘date of birth’. The former is very simple to collect but less accurate as compared to the latter. In India, it is not easier to canvas the question of age by asking date of birth as most of the population is illiterate. United Nations (population division) recommends asking the date of birth for children reported as ‘1 year of age’ to restrict the tendency to deviate and report ‘1 year of age’ for children actually of ‘0 year of age’. Regarding the quality of reporting of age data, the report on ‘Age Tables’ of the 1961 census reports ‘ Biases in census age returns are present even in the case of statistically advanced countries; but they are of moderate degree and do not affect their usability so seriously, as they do in the case of countries like India’. They are generally due to i) ignorance of age , ii) deliberate mis-statement, iii) omission in enumeration, iv) failure to reckon precise age due to misunderstanding of the question and v) the manner of obtaining information from the informant. In India, the distortions are greater because precise reporting or determination of age is not considered important in the everyday affairs and laxity is permitted on various grounds of discretionary powers, expediency and convenience. Thus, recording the correct age of population suffers from many inaccuracies, such as frequent heaping of age ending at digits 0 and 5, preference of even numbers and certain ages such as 12 and 18. Moreover, elderly person either does not know the age at all or reports age in big bands such as 50-60, 60-70, 70-80, etc,. Hence, many times the Census enumerator is forced to estimate the age of a person based on physical appearance or hearsay in absence of any reliable documents or observance of socio-cultural norms which allow individual or member of household to know their ages precisely.
5. Reasons for the present state of affairs Many reasons have been cited to explain why recording of age for the Indian population is proved to be difficult. There is no definite social, cultural or institutional mechanism which would allow everyone to know their age as celebration of birthdays is not a common phenomenon or ritual observed in large sections of the population, particularly among the rural segment. Moreover, production of birth certificate, the only legally valid primary document of proof of age is bypassed even in important administrative matters such as admission to school, in a criminal case or getting into electoral roll when attaining the age of 18. In criminal cases, to determine the age of criminal, ossification tests are resorted to estimate the biological age, instead of insisting upon the production of birth certificate particularly for child offenders or women for chronological age. Affidavits or a certificate from local elected representatives or village official is often permitted as proof of age Further, there are certain typical shifts upwards and downwards in age reporting and also the tendency among elderly population to overstate their age. There are two other groups for whom recording of age is very difficult, women being one of them. Although, frequently women may be in a position to recall the time elapsed since they were married or a child born to them, it is difficult for them to state their own date/year of birth unless they are literate or conscious of this fact. In addition, assessing age by the enumerator may also be difficult for young women, as in certain section of the population; they may not be permitted to appear during the enquiry, unless the enumerator is a lady. The other group, which may suffer from these inaccuracies are infants and children particularly those not attending school. Hence, due to lack of conscious effort on the part of public administration recording of age at Censuses become particularly difficult. This is so because such searching enquiries are made only once in ten years, while in day-to-day affairs of the society it is an exception rather than the rule. Even so, it is felt that in the past few years, the situation throughout the country is changing for the better due to improvement in literacy and mobility of persons, which forces people to carry some identity documents indicating their age also. With renewed efforts during training of Census enumerators and publicity campaign for raising awareness level and active participation of people in the Census operation, it should be possible to make a visible impact for effecting substantial improvements henceforth, in recording the age of the Indian population during the future population Censuses in India.
6 Appraisal and reporting of Age Data As already discussed above, the reported age data suffer from various distortions. Age heaping, rounding effect, digit preferences are some of the distortions often seen in the age data. Hence it is of great interest to measure and evaluate the extent to which the data was unbiased or otherwise. A wide variety of techniques have been devised to evaluate this phenomenon. Generally, the complete examination of data involves: 1) Inspection of data. 2) Measurement of age-accuracy by means of an Index and 3) analysis of the age-sex ratios computed from the data. Two known indices viz., Whipple’s Index and Myers’ Index are used to measure the accuracy of age data world over. Reporting of Sex-Ratio in 2001 Census In the presentation of data on sex-ratio in 2001 census reports some inconsistency seems to have inadvertently crept int. At the outset, the age-wise sex ratio printed on page 20-21 , for the age group 40-44 onwards seems to be worked out by using rural population data for males and females for both All India and States. Table 1 depicts the data worked out by using the absolute figure for all-India as well rural India and published figure in the report.
Secondly, in Chapter 4 Appraisal of Age Data, in the source, it seems the inconsistency explained in section 7 seeped in the presentation of Whipple’s Index and Myers’ Index for Females for the Census 2001. The data used seems to be apparently that of rural area published in pages 87 & 88 of the report for females, while for males it is for the total (Rural + urban) area. Table 2 and Table 3 present Whipple’s Index and Myers’ Index for all-India and rural areas. These anomalies are being brought to the notice of Registrar General and Census Commissioner, by the EPWRF..
# This note was prepared by R.Krishnaswamy
Highlights of Current Economic Scene
Agriculture The central government has increased the minimum support price (MSP) of jute to Rs 1.375 per quintal for 2009-10. This increase in MSP is to encourage farmers to step up investment in jute in cultivation. Paddy plantation in Uttar Pradesh has been hit due to the delay in monsoon; so far only 10% paddy plantation has been completed. Though the Met department has stated that the monsoon would progress well above the average like in the previous year, the delay has created panic among the paddy growers. Besides that, the power cut has also added to the woes of the farmers who cannot use tube-wells for making the nursery of paddy and the state government is yet to complete the desilting of canals. The canals in UP have no water for irrigation right now and this is also expected to have an adverse effect on the paddy crop, as well as pulses. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed), the agency for onion exports in the country, has decided to increase the minimum export price (MEP) by an average of US $30 per tonne, which would prevail till 15 July after which federation would again review the price. MEP have been slashed over fears that scanty rains in key onion producing states of Maharashtra and Gujarat in the month of June could lower output during the kharif harvest season. Agency has revealed that there are enough stocks of onion, which would last till September, but poor performance of southwest monsoon could delay kharif onion sowing. Nafed plans to import 3.75 lakh tonnes of pulses in 2009-10, over 70% higher than last year. So far, 5,000 tonnes of urad have been contracted. Contract for tur and yellow peas are on the verge to conclusion, depending on their prices. Nafed is importing more pulses this year even it still needs to sell off one-lakh tonnes of yellow peas imported in 2008-09. Market experts noted that the supply of imported yellow peas in the domestic market is high, while demand for the same has reduced due to increased arrival of gram dal from Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Nafed and state-run trading firms MMTC, STC and PEC started buying pulses from the overseas market at zero duty on behalf of the government under a reimbursement scheme since last year. They had contracted 10, 25,140 tonnes of pulses from the overseas market in the last fiscal. The commerce ministry is in favour of allowing exports of wheat products up to the 6.5 lakh tonnes, as proposed by the food ministry, since there have been adequate reserves in the central pool. However, no decision has been taken yet as to whether only state-owned trading firms will be allowed to export or private players may also be roped in. The central government has allowed edible oils’ exports in branded consumer packs of up to 5 kg to continue till 30 September 2009, earlier the exporting were allowed only till 31 May 2009. The edible oil industry expects the government to levy some duty on imported oil in the forthcoming budget to send positive signals to farmers amid the kharif-sowing season, as the sowings of soyabean and groundnut, two major oilseeds grown in kharif season, are lower than the corresponding period last year. According to the latest data released by the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA), India’s total vegetable oil imports have doubled in the month of May. It is predicted that if imports could grow at the same pace in the next few months, the country could end up importing around 75 lakh tonnes of vegetable oil in the marketing year that ends in October 2009. Vegetable oil imports during May 2009 have more than doubled and are reported to be at 7.51 lakh tonnes as compared to 3.62 lakh tonnes during the same period a year ago. Overall imports of vegetable oils during November 2008 to May 2009 have jumped to 50.43 lakh tonnes from 29.73 lakh tonnes a year earlier. Import of refined oil during the review period was reported at 7.57 lakh tonnes (16%) compared to 1.12 lakh tonnes (4%) in the corresponding period last year and that of crude veg oils was reported at 40.33 lakh tonnes (84%) compared to 2,434,002 tonnes (96%) a year ago. Palm oil product group is dominating constituent of the import basket and its share is over 83% of the total imports. Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) reiterated that cotton production in the country would rise by 10% to about 32 million bales (one bales is equal to 170 kg) in the 2009-10 season (October-September) on high support price and more sowing of high-yielding BT seeds. Exports of Soya meal in the year ending September 2009 is expected to fall nearly by 30% to 3.2 million tonnes on lower crushing and sluggish overseas demand. During October– May 2008-09, India exported nearly 2.75 million tonnes of soyameal to the international market. As per the post-blossom estimates by coffee board, coffee output from the country is pegged at 3.1 lakh tonnes in 2009-2010, 4.4% higher compared to 2008-09. Arabica production is expected to be flat in 2009-2010 at 1.1 lakh tonnes as against 1 lakh tonnes in 2008-09, while Robusta is pegged at 2.1 lakh tonnes (1.9 lakh tonnes). The output from Karnataka, which accounts for over 70% of coffee produced in the country, is projected at 2.2 lakh tonnes against 2.1 lakh tonnes estimated during the post-blossom for 2008-09. Kerala is slated to have an output of 59,550 tonnes as against 57,200 tonnes estimated during the same period in 2008-09, while Tamil Nadu would produce 19,550 tonnes as against 16,255 tonnes. The Sultanate of Oman has lifted a ban on import of poultry products from India, which was put in place after outbreak of bird flu in the country last year. IndustryThe Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stands at 297.9, which is 1.4% higher as compared to the level in the month of April 2008. The annual growth of thee Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of April 2009 at3.8%, 0.7% and 7.1% as compared to April 2008. In terms of industries, as many as 11 out of the 17 industry groups (as per 2-digit NIC-1987) have shown positive growth during the month 2009 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. The industry group ‘Wool, silk and manmade fibre textiles and non-metallic mineral products registered a double digit growth. On the other hand, the industry group ‘Food Products’ (-34.4%) and leather and leather products (-12.4%) have shown a negative growth. As per Use-based classification, the Sect oral growth rates in April 2009 over 2008 are 4.6% in Basic goods, (-)1.6% in Capital goods and 7.1% in Intermediate goods. The Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables have recorded growth of 16.9% and (-) 10.4% respectively, with the overall growth in Consumer goods being negative at 4.7%. InfrastructureThe Index of Six core industries having a combined weight of 26.7 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 1993-94 stood at 243.0 in April 2009 and registered a growth of 4.3% compared to a growth of 2.3% in April 2008. While crude oil and petroleum products registered declines during the month, electricity, cement, coal and steel registered production increases. However production increase in steel is meager. InflationThe official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' (Base: 1993-94 = 100) for the week ended 6th June 2009 rose by 0.04% to 232.7 (Provisional) from 232.6 (Provisional) for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation, calculated on point to point basis, declined by -1.61% for the week ended 6 June 2009 as compared to a substantial increase of 11.66% during the corresponding week of the previous year. Primary articles witnesses a decline of 0.7 per cent mainly due to lower price of fruits and vegetables, fish marine, urad and gram. The increase in the prices of furnace oil and naphtha pushed up the price of the major group fuel, power, light and lubricants by 0.7% during the week. A marginal increase of 0.1% has been witnessed in the prices of manufactured products mainly due to high price of salt, sugar, rice bran oil. Final WPI for the week ended 11 April 2009 was revised upward to 230.4 from 228.8 as a result the corresponding inflation rate stood at 0.96% instead of 0.26%. Financial Market Developments Capital MarketsPrimary Market Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd, part of the Mahindra Group and one of the leading leisure hospitality providers in the country, is entering the capital market with an initial public offering (IPO) of 92,65,275 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price to be decided through the book-building route. The issue will open for subscription from 23 June to 26 June. The price band was fixed between Rs 275 and Rs 325. The concept of an anchor investor in public issues was approved by SEBI on 18 June. The move aimed to revive the primary market although it might be a bane for small and medium sized IPOs. SEBI announced that the anchor investor (who cannot be a promoter of the company) can subscribe for up to 30% of the 60% portion reserved for QIBs in an IPO. Such an investor will have a lock-in period of one month. Secondary Market Key benchmark indices retreated from multi-month highs as profit booking emerged at higher level. The barometer index BSE Sensex fell below the psychological 15,000 mark to end its 14-week winning streak. Anticipation of a strong push for economic reforms by the newly-elected United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, positive global cues and strong foreign fund inflow had triggered a solid recent rally. The market declined in 3 out of 5 trading days in the week ended Friday, 19 June 2009. India's index of industrial production (IIP) for April 2009 bounced back into the positive zone after declining three times in the preceding four months. The IIP rose 1.4% in April from a revised 0.75% decline in March 2009. Industrial output rose 2.4% in the 2008-09 fiscal year, down from a revised 8.5% in 2007-08. The BSE Sensex lost 716.05 points or 4.70% to 14,521.89 in the week ended Friday, 19 June 2009. The NSE Nifty declined 269.80 points or 5.88% to 4313.60 in the week. The BSE Mid-Cap index lost 276.30 points or 5.28% to 4,958.73 and the BSE Small-Cap index shed 396.70 points or 6.60% to 5,617.96 in the week ended Friday, 19 June 2009. World stocks fell after finance ministers from the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries on 13 June 2009 said that they have begun discussing how to unwind the fiscal and monetary policy measures undertaken in response to the financial and economic crisis that spread last year. Noting a recovery in stock markets, rising consumer and business confidence and improvement in financial markets, the group discussed the need to prepare appropriate strategies for unwinding the extraordinary policy measures taken to respond to the crisis once the recovery is assured. They concluded that the 'exit strategies', which may vary from country to country, are essential to promote a sustainable recovery over the long term. The mutual fund industry witnessed a sharp surge of 16%, or Rs 87, 875 crore, in their average assets under management (AAUM) in May. As a result, the asset base crossed Rs 6.3 lakh crore for the first time. According to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), net inflows were to the tune of Rs 30,148 crore, largely led by income, equity and gold exchange traded funds (ETFs). Income funds saw net inflows of Rs 28,114 crore. This was much less when compared with April’s inflows, which were a whopping of Rs 103,055 crore. Liquid funds collected Rs 856 crore. Equity funds saw net inflows of Rs 1,903 crore. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman C B Bhave expressed concern over the mutual fund industry’s overdependence on fund flows from corporate houses to increase their AUM. According to him the huge redemption pressure faced by the industry last October was mainly due to large withdrawals from corporate houses, and not retail investors. On 18 May the SEBI board announced a series of measures to boost investor confidence in the primary market and mutual funds and reduce transaction costs. SEBI allowed the introduction of anchor investors — a practice that is common abroad — under which a buyer can subscribe up to 30% of the institutional investors’ quota in an IPO. These investors will have to invest a minimum of Rs 10 crore and bring in 25% of the margin on application and another 75% within two days of the closure. The lock-in period for anchor investors will be 30 days. The allotment to such investors will take place through competitive bidding a day before the public issue opens. No person related to promoters, the promoter group and book-running lead managers can apply. Derivatives The markets took a breather of sorts but turned bearish going into settlement week. Volatility also jumped. The carryover trend was weaker than expected. The Nifty future closed at 4326, registering a fall of 5.6% over the previous week’s close of 4584.35 points. It however managed to end at a premium of 13 points over the Nifty spot, which closed the week at 4513.6. The rollover so far for the Nifty future, from June to July series, has been quite low at just 12.75%. Average rollover usually is around 25-30% during the penultimate week before expiry. In the futures and Option (F&O) segment the volume remained healthy and the Nifty future continued to be at a premium to the underlying throughout the week and on Friday it closed 13.20 points premium to the underlying. The average volume for the week in the F&O segment was Rs 76170 crore. The open interest (OI) in the Nifty future on 19 June 2009 fell by 22.41 lakh shares and the total OI in the near month Nifty stood at 2.97 crore shares. There was some short covering in the Nifty future after some significant correction during the initial part of the week. However the Nifty July future added fresh OI of 16.86 lakh shares. The current month Nifty future would further experience some short covering as expiry approaches so does the stock futures. The index future and index option shed 6 lakh shares and 3 lakh shares respectively in OI whereas stock future & option added OI. The index put call ratio (PCR) fell to 0.81 on 19th June 2009 as compared to 0.90 during the previous trading session, whereas the stock PCR fell to 0.26 as compared to 0.32 during the previous trading session. Thus the market wide PCR fell to 0.79 as compared to 0.88 on 18 June 2009. Volatility index ended the week higher at 48.95 against a close of 40.83 the previous week. However, it eased from intra-week peak of 80.42. The cumulative FII positions as a percentage of the total gross market position on the derivative segment as on June 18 was 36.41%. They were net sellers predominantly in recent times, particularly on stock and index futures. But on the weekend they turned net sellers on index options and buyers on futures. They now hold index futures worth Rs 14,707.95 crore and stock futures worth Rs 21,886.95 crore. On index options, FII holding declined to Rs 26,556.37 crore (Rs 26,912.24 crore). Government Securities Market Primary Market On 17 June 2009 the RBI auctioned 91-day and 364-day treasury bills (TBs) for the notified amount of Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 1,000 crore, respectively. The cut-off yield for the 91-day TB was set at 3.36% and for 364-day TB was set at 3.99%. New 15 year Government Stock, 2024 was auctioned on 19 June 2009 for notified amount of Rs 3,000 crore with 7.35% cut of yield. RBI purchased securities through open market oration (OMO) with the aggregate notified amount of Rs 6,000 crore on 18 June 2009. The cut off yield for the securities 7.38% 2015, 8.35% 2022 and 8.33% 2036 were at 6.67%, 7.45% and 7.85% , respectively. RBI re-issued 6.49% 2015, 6.35% 2020 and 7.50% 2034 on 19 June 2009 with notified amount of Rs 5,000 crore, Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 2,000 crore, respectively. The cut of yield on these G-securities were 6.65% for 6-year maturity, 6.87% for 11-year maturity and 7.80% for 25-year maturity. Secondary Market The inter-bank call rates moved in a range of 3.17-3.24% during the week. Profit taking of the traders were resulted into rebounding of bonds and softening of yield during the week as compared to previous week. The central bank announced another auction of Rs 15,000 crore for the coming Friday, the sixth time that such a higher amount has been announced. Liquidity remained comfortable despite of high oil prices, advance tax payments and external payment obligations. At the weekly liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) auction, through the reverse repurchase window amount of liquidity has started shrinking and was reduced by 1.09 lakh crore from the previous weeks reduction of Rs 1.32 lakh crore. Interest Rate Futures On 17 June RBI and SEBI set the ball rolling for exchange-traded interest-rate futures to provide a mechanism to institutions and households to hedge their interest-rate risks. As per a joint report on interest-rate futures, both the regulators said that the contracts would have 10-year government bonds with a 7% semi-annual, compounding, notional coupon rate as the underlying security. The size of a single contract would be Rs 2 lakh and the maximum maturity of the contract would be 12 months. The contracts would be traded in the currency derivatives segment of a recognised stock exchange. The contract would be settled by physical delivery of deliverable grade securities using the electronic book entry system of the existing Depositories (NSDL and CDSL) and the Public Debt Office (PDO) of RBI. The delivery of securities would take place from the first business day till the last business day of the delivery month. The clearing corporation would act as a central counter-party for all trades. The initial margin requirement would be based on the worst case loss of a portfolio of an individual client across various scenarios of price changes. The extreme loss margin of 0.3% of the value of the gross open positions of the futures contract would be deducted from the liquid assets of the clearing member on an online, real time basis. Bond Market During the week under review, four FIs/ banks, five NBFCs and one state undertaking tapped the bond market to mobilize 1,929 crore through issuance of bonds.
Foreign Exchange Market The rupee-dollar exchange rate has come down during the week to Rs 48.13 against Rs 47.41 of previous week The reason behind reduction of the exchange rate was selling of equities of the FIIs worth $238 million (Rs 1,150 crore) Commodities Futures derivatives International Multi Commodity Exchange (IMCX), the new commodity bourse expected to go live in August, has asked commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) to consider extended trading hours for products such as gold, silver, crude oil, etc, and allow delivery of copper. Local commexes close at 11:30 PM in summer and 11:55 PM in winter even though electronic trading in precious metal and energy continues round-the-clock in bourses such as Nymex and its division Comex, on which gold and silver are traded. The FMC has renewed its demand for powers on a par with the equity markets regulator, Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The FMC has expanded the list of demands this year by incorporating reduction in central value added tax (Cenvat) from 8% to 5%. The regulator has also recommended the government to remove provision of commodities transaction tax (CTT) from the Act, which was incorporated in the last year’s Budget. FMC has directed commodity exchanges to levy non-compliance charges on high value cash dealings. In its circular it stated that, cash transactions upto Rs 10 lakh will attract no charges, while traders will have to pay 0.1% of commodities’ transaction value if they wish to settle in cash. The move is aimed to discourage cash dealing in commodity space. According to trade sources, a majority of small and medium size players were settling transactions largely in cash to evade other levies including income tax. The finance ministry is likely to withdraw the CTT which was introduced more than year ago but was not imposed. Besides FMC, several industry chambers, including Ficci, have sought withdrawal of CTT, citing that its imposition was not desirable as it would encourage “dabba trading” (grey market operations). National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (NMCE), one of the leading commexes in country, has initiated a dialogue with Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (AMPCs) seeking their support to launch a commodity spot exchange. The proposed exchange would be known as National APMC. The proposal to start a spot exchange in collaboration with AMPCs has already received approval from Gujarat's agriculture secretary and the same is pending clearance from agriculture minister of the state. Apart from Gujarat, NMCE further plans to replicate the same model in other parts of the country. The exchange has in-principle approval launching similar spot exchange in Rajasthan, which will be the next state after Gujarat to start its spot exchange. Insurance Canara HSBC Life Insurance will infuse Rs 200 crore to fund business growth during second half of the current fiscal by which its total paid up capital will become Rs 725 crore. Life Insurance Corporation of India has reduced its stake in Union Bank of India (UBI) to 6.99% after selling shares around 1.10 crore shares (2.18% stake) worth Rs 227.39 crore through an open market transaction. As newly elected government has given positive signals for the higher participation of foreign partners in the joint venture insurance companies, domestic joint venture companies has become busy for preparing the ground work for raising stake of foreign partners up to 49% from 26%. BankingUnion Bank of India has raised additional capital to the extent of Rs 200 crore by issue of subordinated perpetual bonds. Saraswat Bank, country’s largest co-operative lender, has received around 70 merger applications from different co-operative banks across the country. Though many small co-operative banks have shown interest for merging, the bank is considering about two to three banks at a point. Last year it has acquired Kolhapur Maratha Co-operative Bank and South Indian Co-operative Bank as well as some other cooperative banks. With a view to clean up its books and release its trapped fund Central Bank of India would sell Rs 100 crore worth bad assets from its corporate loan portfolio to asset reconstruction companies. The bank is currently in talks with a group of ARCs for the sale and is expecting to complete the deal by end July. Morgan Stanley Mauritius has sold 7.48 lakh shares of ING Vysya Bank, worth Rs12.95 crore, through an open market transaction. Funding for the growth of the bank, Syndicate Bank has raised Rs 200 crore from bonds. Bank has issued unsecured nonconvertible sub-ordinate debt of tire II capital. Yes Bank is planning to start retail brokerage business to take benefit of surging stock markets in India. Such business will increase its fee-based income and mobilize low cost deposits. State Bank of India has announced beginning of acquisition of remaining six subsidiaries with State Bank of Indore. Before this, in 2008 SBI had acquired its smallest subsidiary, State Bank of Saurashtra. State Bank of Indore has business turnover of Rs 50,000 crore. State Bank of Indore has 470 branches with 350 ATMs by the end of March 2009. In the current fiscal year 2009-10, SBI has planned to open 1,000 new branches and 10,000 ATMs of which around 20% of new ATMs would be designed to interact with customers especially those who are visually impaired. Ashok Leyland is planning to start a non-banking finance company (NBFC) for providing finance to Leyland trucks. The initial capital of the new company will be Rs 100 crore. Hinduja-owned Ashok Leyland through this NBFC will be targeting customers from north-east states, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Its initial capital will be Rs 100 crore. Japanese financial services firm Nomura is acquiring 35% stake in LIC Mutual Fund (LICMF). Housing subsidiaries of state-owned insurance companies will be selling their stake in LICMF for Rs 227 crore. LIC Housing Finance is all set to sell its 18.3% stake to Nomura for about Rs 138 crore.
Corporate RIL has been asked by the Bombay High Court to supply 28 mmscmd of gar for 17 years at $2.34 per mmbtu by entering into a fresh agreement within 30 days with RNRL. This will have a negative impact of close to Rs 50,000 crore for 17 years. The court dispute between RIL and RNRL on KG gas pricing, tenure and quantity has been on going since 2006. The annual fuel revenues for 28 mmscmd at the gas price of $4.2 per mmbtu comes to Rs 6,500 crore, while at $2.34 it is Rs 3,600 crore. Thus a difference between the two is Rs 2,900 crore, annually. However, the Bombay High Court has yet to pass its order on the allocation of 12 mmscmd of the 40 mmscmd of gas at $2.34 per mmbtu to NTPC. Hence, the impact on RIL and NTPC is yet to be assessed. Aditya Birla Nuvo, a part of $28 billion conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, is raising Rs 1,000 crore via preferential allotment of warrants for reducing debt by repayment of short-term borrowings. According to experts, the company’s high debt to equity ratio remains an area of concern. Nuvo currently has cash reserves of about Rs 750 crore on its books and debts of Rs 4,200 crore. The company is raising Rs 1,000 crore over a period of 18 months by issuing 1.85 crore warrants of Rs 10 each in one or more tranches to the promoters on a preferential allotment basis. In the wake of higher domestic demand for steel, India’s largest steel manufacturer Tata Steel has raised the prices of flat steel by Rs 500 – 750 per tonne with effect from June 2009. The GMR Group led consortium has emerged as the lowest bidder in an international competitive bid for the Rs 1,100 crore Chennai outer ring road (ORR) project in Tamil Nadu (TN) on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (annuity) basis. It is anticipated that the ‘letter of award’ will be issued in the next few days by the Tamil Nadu government. The Chennai outer ring road project measuring 29.65 kms entails, design, construction, development, finance, operation and maintenance of the six lane and two service lanes from the Vandalur to Nemilicheri section in TN. This is the group’s first state highway project; GMR has successfully completed six national highway projects as per schedule and has recently won the 181-km long Hyderabad-Vijayawada stretch. Chennai-based Paramaount Airways has signed a $1.5 billion deal with Airbus to buy ten A321 aircraft with an option for ten more. The agreement was concluded at the 48th Le Bourget air-show outside Paris. The deal will be funded by the European Central Bank. The government is weighing divestment of 10% stake in public sector enterprise Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), but is waiting for the department of disinvestment to prepare the guidelines. Aiming at becoming a leading player in the estimated Rs 4,000 crore Indian branded gems and jewellary market, Reliance Jewels is planning to ramp up its presence with 20-25 new stores during this fiscal. DLF, India’s largest real estate developer, is planning to borrow $300 million in its first overseas loan. The company is planning to borrow from Standard Chartered for a period of seven years and this will help the real-estate company lower its average cost of borrowing to about 12.2%, as against 12.5%. The company has a net debt of Rs 13,958 crore, of which Rs 3,591 crore is due this fiscal. It already has a new long-term loan of Rs 2,500 crore sanctioned. DSL is monetising assets by selling its wind power business for Rs 900 crore. As well, exit from the Delhi convention centre would fetch Rs 850 crore. to the company. DLF will also be receiving refund of Rs 400 crore from the state government through the exit from two townships and the cash flow from residential projects. External SectorExports during April 2009 at US$ 10743 million which was one-third lower than that in April 2008 Imports during April were valued at US $ 15741 million, a decrease of 36.6 per cent over that of US$ 24823 million in April 2008.Thus the trade balance during the month worked out to be $ 5004 as compared to $8747. While oil imports was valued at $3634 million, that of non-oil imports was lower by 24.6% at $ 12113 million. Information TechnologyTCS has a strong presence in Latin America with presence in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico. The total headcount in Latin America is over 5,000. Recently, TCS has opened its third global delivery centre in Queretaro, Mexico and seventh in Latin America. The other two Mexican centres are in Mexico City and Guadalajara in Jalisco state. The opening of the new centre in Queretaro represents an important step in the expansion plan of TCS in Latin America. For the new centre TCS will be hiring around 500 employees. TelecomAricent, a telecom services and solutions company plans to hire 800-1,200 employees people during the current financial year. The company’s present headcount is at 8,000 employees out of which 6,000 are based out of India.
*These statistics and the accompanying review are a product arising from the work undertaken under the joint ICICI research centre.org-EPWRF Data Base Project. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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