NEWS – DECEMBER 2007

• Air travel to cost more on fuel price rise
  The Hindu Business Line, December 01, 2007
• No tariff hike by AP power distribution companies
  The Hindu Business Line, December 01, 2007
• Cable TV industry yet to unbundle channel bouquets
  The Hindu Business Line, December 01, 2007
• Health ministry may hive off medical education into new deptt
  The Economic Times, December 02, 2007
• Franchisee model rekindles Pvt. interest in power distribution
  The Hindu Business Line, December 03, 2007
• DoT’s new proposals fail to break spectrum deadlock
  The Hindu Business Line, December 04, 2007
• Why not cap telecom tariffs, Govt asks regulator
  The Hindu Business Line, December 04, 2007
• TRAI setting up panel on number portability
  The Hindu Business Line, December 05, 2007
• Power exchange: CERC yet to clarify on key issues
  The Hindu Business Line, December 05, 2007
• Govt asks airlines to come clean on tax component
  The Economic Times, December 06, 2007
• Panel endorses transport sector reforms
  The Hindu Business Line, December 06, 2007
• Offset policy for all contracts likely
  Financial Express, December 06, 2007
• Uniform price for single super phosphate on cards
  The Hindu Business Line, December 10, 2007
• Truce eludes telecom
  The Hindu Business Line, December 10, 2007
• RCom slams Bharti, Vodafone claims on spectrum
  The Hindu Business Line, December 10, 2007
• Pvt carriers seek leeway for merger
  Financial Express, December 11, 2007
• GSM biggies’ infra venture under CCI scanner
  Financial Express, December 11, 2007
• Supplyco takes steps to counter threat from private retailers
  The Hindu Business Line, December 12, 2007
• Government to begin spectrum allocation to new players
  The Hindu Business Line, December 13, 2007
• Entry fee for dual tech licence as per TRAI proposals: DoT
  The Hindu Business Line, December 17, 2007
• Redefining core sector PPP
  Financial Express, December 17, 2007
• CEA moots common regulator for coal and power industry
  Financial Express, December 18, 2007
• Plan panel for new authority to deal with misleading ads
  zibb.com, December 18, 2007
• Centre will ask states to rationalise tariffs
  Financial Express, December 19, 2007
• Airlines want to come clean on fuel surcharge controversy
  Financial Express, December 19, 2007
• Govt may ease 150-km norm for airports
  The Hindu Business Line, December 20, 2007
• Spectrum panel not in favour of subscriber-based allocation
  The Hindu Business Line, December 20, 2007
• Broadcasting Bill delayed due to opposition from companies, says govt
  Business Standard, December 20, 2007
• Kingfisher Airlines, Deccan decide to merge
  The Hindu Business Line, December 20, 2007
• Irda draws lakshman rekha
  Times of India, December 20, 2007
• ‘Make local value addition the aim of mineral policy’
  The Hindu Business Line, December 20, 2007
• 41 cement firms guilty of ‘cartelisation’: MRTPC
  The Tribune, December 20, 2007
• Centre will look into cement cartelization
  Financial Express, December 20, 2007
• Ministry mulls regulators for State road transportation
  The Hindu Business Line, December 21, 2007
• Idea, Spice resent DoT delay, say ‘we applied first’
  The Hindu Business Line, December 22, 2007
• L&T getting into power generation
  The Hindu Business Line, December 22, 2007
• Competition panel to seek cement cos
  The Hindu Business Line, December 22, 2007
• GSM operators blocking competition, says Tata Tele MD
  The Hindu Business Line, December 24, 2007
• Pre-notification of M&As will be counter-productive: CII
  The Hindu Business Line, December 24, 2007
• A Chinese wall between the regulator and the regulated?
  Economic Times, December 24, 2007
• Boards of 6 SBI associates to consider merger move on Jan 25
  The Hindu Business Line, December 25, 2007
• Praful Patel favours Greater Noida airport
  Economic Times, 25 December, 2007
• No relief for GSM players
  The Hindu Business Line, December 25, 2007
• Cartelist behaviour is difficult to detect
  The Hindu Business Line, December 26, 2007
• Cement prices set for a hike in the New Year
  The Hindu Business Line, December 26, 2007
• Hydro policy may not fire up small cos with sops power
  Economic Times, December 26, 2007
• Water council on the anvil to woo private players in Karnataka
  The Hindu, December 26, 2007.
• Spectrum Wars — why an auction is not the solution?
  The Hindu Business Line, December 26, 2007
• A triumph of reforms
  Economic Times, December 27, 2007
• ‘BSNL’s monopoly over infrastructure a hindrance to growth’
  Financial Express, December 27, 2007
• Govt accepts TRAI formula on spectrum
  The Hindu Business Line, December 27, 2007
• Energy sector needs $150 bn in 5 years
  Indian Express, December 27, 2007
• Raja wants spectrum charges reworked; operators to pay more?
  The Hindu Business Line, December 28, 2007
• RCom sends notice to Govt against TRAI’s spectrum allocation norms
  The Hindu Business Line, December 28, 2007
• Regulator keeping close watch on ULIP growth
  The Hindu Business Line, December 28, 2007
• Cement prices to remain firm
  The Hindu Business Line, December 29, 2007
• A year of airlines consolidation
  The Hindu Business Line, December 29, 2007
• FM radio auction off air again
  Business Standard, December 29, 2007
• Open to Joint Ventures in transmission: PowerGrid
  The Hindu Business Line, December 30, 2007
• DoT crackdown on global calling card providers
  The Hindu Business Line, December 30, 2007
• E. Timor: IOC, Oil India may partner Reliance Ind
  The Hindu Business Line, December 31, 2007
• Commercial exploitation of water will be regulated in Kerala: Draft policy
  The Hindu Business Line, December 31, 2007

Air travel to cost more on fuel price rise
Saturday, December 01, 2007

Domestic air travel will become costlier from December’07. With the cost of aviation turbine fuel increasing by 13-14 percent during the current month as compared to November, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airline on Friday announced that they were each raising the fuel surcharge by Rs 300.

 
Read More…

No tariff hike by AP power distribution companies
Saturday, December 01, 2007

The four major power distribution companies of Andhra Pradesh have not proposed any tariff hike for any consumer categories for the fiscal 2008-09. This is in tune with the trend in the last four years. The distribution companies have filed their Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) and Filing of Proposed Tariff (FPT) for the fiscal 2008-09 before the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) on Friday.

 
Read More…

Cable TV industry yet to unbundle channel bouquets
Saturday, December 01, 2007

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s tariff order to the cable television industry to unbundle its bouquets and offer channels under ceiling prices fixed by the former, may not be implemented from its December 1, deadline.

 
Read More…

Health ministry may hive off medical education into new deptt
Sunday, December 02, 2007

In a move that could trigger a major debate among the medical fraternity, the government is reportedly toying with the idea of creating a separate department of medical education in the ministry of health and family welfare under a secretary level officer. Coming just after the Presidential assent to the AIIMS (Amendment) Bill 2007, said sources familiar to the development, the proposed department is set to strangle the autonomy of Medical Council of India (MCI) and ignite fresh sparks in the ongoing ministry-medical fraternity tussle.

 
Read More…

Franchisee model rekindles Pvt. interest in power distribution
Monday, December 03, 2007

The franchisee model mooted by States to rope in private players into the power distribution business, as an alternative to out-and-out privatisation of distribution utilities tried out earlier, is fast catching up as a concept.

 
Read More…

DoT’s new proposals fail to break spectrum deadlock
Tuesday, December 04, 2007

The spectrum allocation issue continues to be in a deadlock with both GSM and CDMA based mobile operators rejecting the new set of proposals put forward by the Department of Telecom (DoT) on Monday. This was the second meeting convened by the DoT Secretary to find a solution to the spectrum battle but the operators are so sharply divided that none of them was prepared to soften their known positions.

 
Read More…

Why not cap telecom tariffs, Govt asks regulator
Tuesday, December 04, 2007

With mobile operators recently increasing tariffs, the Government has asked the telecom regulator to review the policy of forbearance on telecom tariffs. The Ministry of Communication has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to consider whether there is a need for fixing a ceiling tariff for mobile, broadband and fixed line telephone services.

 
Read More…

TRAI setting up panel on number portability
Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided to set up a steering committee to work out the modalities for implementing mobile number portability. The move comes after the Communications Ministry’s decision to introduce the facility in the four metros cities by the fourth quarter of 2008.

 
Read More…

Power exchange: CERC yet to clarify on key issues
Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Even as the power exchange initiative mooted by Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) and National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) is to become a reality, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) is yet to clarify on many key issues. Allocation of transmission capacity to multiple power exchanges for trading is yet to be decided by CERC.

 
Read More…

Govt asks airlines to come clean on tax component
Thursday, December 06, 2007

Adopting a pro-consumer stand, the government has asked airlines to come clean on the ‘tax’ component in their tariffs. The amount described as tax should be deposited with the government or returned to passengers in case of cancellation, airlines like Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Air Deccan, SpiceJet, JetLite and IndiGo have been told.

 
Read More…

Panel endorses transport sector reforms
Thursday, December 06, 2007

Wide-ranging reforms may be seen in the road transport sector with regards to safety, quality of service and state transport bodies in the near future with the Prime Minister’s Committee on Infrastructure endorsing the Road Safety Bill and relevant amendments in Motor Vehicle Act and various Acts that rule the State Transport Undertakings. The Committee of Infrastructure (CoI) met on Wednesday.

 
Read More…

Offset policy for all contracts likely
Thursday, December 06, 2007

The government is planning to make it mandatory for foreign companies bagging deals from state-owned companies to invest a part of their deal income in India. The move, which is expected to significantly benefit the domestic industry, would be possible as the government plans to expand its existing offset policy from just defence and state-owned airlines sectors to all civilian contracts across sectors.

 
Read More…

Uniform price for single super phosphate on cards
Monday, December 10, 2007

Single super phosphate (SSP), which is commonly known as the poor man’s diammonium phosphate (DAP), might soon be available at a uniform price across the country. SSP is a useful fertiliser for pulses and oil seeds, especially in dry land areas. The Government is keen on promoting SSP as it is not only a phosphatic fertiliser but also contains other plant nutrients such as sulphur and calcium which enrich the soil.

 
Read More…

Truce eludes telecom
Monday, December 10, 2007

The Communication Minister, Andimuthu Raja, knows exactly what to do when he has a sore throat – eat spicy, home-cooked crab. But he has a bigger pain these days – an aggravated and prolonged battle for spectrum between GSM and CDMA mobile operators – for which he and his officials in the Department of Telecom are finding it tough to cook up a solution.

 
Read More…

RCom slams Bharti, Vodafone claims on spectrum
Monday, December 10, 2007

Reliance Communications has slammed the claims made by GSM operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar before the spectrum panel set up by the Government. In a point-by-point rebuttal, RCom told the chairman of the panel that the two operators were cherry picking information to suit their arguments on spectrum.

 
Read More…

Pvt carriers seek leeway for merger
Tuesday, December 11, 2007

In the wake of increasing consolidation in the aviation sector, the airline industry has urged the government to extend tax benefits of carry-forward and set-off of accumulated losses to private carriers. The proposal is crucial for Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines that have combined accumulated losses of nearly Rs 800 crore and Rs 1200 crore, respectively, and are expected to merge.

 
Read More…

GSM biggies’ infra venture under CCI scanner
Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Two days after Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Essar announced creating an independent company for tower business, Competition Commission of India (CCI), the nodal body for looking into anti-competitive practices, has said such telecom infrastructure ventures must treat all operators that seek services at par with the telcos having stake in the venture.

 
Read More…

Supplyco takes steps to counter threat from private retailers
Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The State-owned Civil Supplies Corporation, popularly known as Supplyco, has geared up to meet challenges posed by the entry of big corporate houses into the retail market by introducing various novel measures to enhance customer confidence.

 
Read More…

Government to begin spectrum allocation to new players
Thursday, December 13, 2007

Department of Telecom on Wednesday told the telecom tribunal that it would start allocating spectrum to new operators since the GSM operators had withdrawn from the Government appointed panel reviewing the subscriber-linked allocation criteria.

 
Read More…

Entry fee for dual tech licence as per TRAI proposals: DoT
Monday, December 17, 2007

Department of Telecom has told the Finance Ministry that it had fixed the entry fee for dual technology licence based on the recommendations of the telecom regulator and in view of the powers vested with the DoT by the Union Cabinet in 2003.

 
Read More…

Redefining core sector PPP
Monday, December 17, 2007

In India’s infrastructure sphere, it is very clear now that public-private partnership (PPP) will be a major theme in the coming years. The limited but positive experience that we have had in the last few years and general acceptance of PPP (save for some minor resistance) has given policymakers enough confidence to make it mainstream. The debate is no longer about whether PPP but how PPP.

 
Read More…

CEA moots common regulator for coal and power industry
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The coal and power industry may just come under the ambit of one regulator. For, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has made a detailed presentation before the power ministry for setting up a common regulator for the two industries. It was suggested that Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC), which takes up proposals for tariff and other issues related to the power sector, could take up a regulatory role for the coal industry as well.

 
Read More…

Plan panel for new authority to deal with misleading ads
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Concerned over the need to contain deceptive practices by corporate, the Planning Commission has made a case for setting up a National Consumer Protection Authority (NCPA) to deal with misleading advertisements. The Commission in its draft document for the Eleventh Plan has argued that it was necessary to create a new body to bridge the legal gap to deal with restrictive trade practices following the proposed winding up of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC).

 
Read More…

Centre will ask states to rationalise tariffs
Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Tax reform could be now trickle down to the state level. The Centre will ask states to rationalise tariffs like octroi and electricity duty to give the country’s rupee-hit exporters some relief and attract more investment. The issue was discussed at a meeting of the Trade & Industry Council (TIC), chaired by Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, here on Tuesday and would be brought before the National Development Council meeting on Wednesday.

 
Read More…

Airlines want to come clean on fuel surcharge controversy
Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Airlines in the country, which had been pulled up by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on pricing of tickets, wants to now come clean. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on December 4, had sent circulars to airlines, seeking an explanation as to why they clubbed fuel surcharge and congestion cess with other taxes in tickets.

 
Read More…

Govt may ease 150-km norm for airports
Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The government is likely to ease norms governing construction of airports by allowing new airports to come up within 150 km of existing ones, if the traffic justifies it. The policy, at present, does not allow multiple airports within a 150 km radius of each other.

 
Read More…

Spectrum panel not in favour of subscriber-based allocation
Thursday, December 20, 2007

The battle for spectrum could be prolonged further with the panel, set up by the Communications Ministry to review the allocation process, suggesting that another technical committee should be formed to arrive at the right method of distributing additional radio waves to existing operators.

 
Read More…

Broadcasting Bill delayed due to opposition from companies, says govt
Thursday, December 20, 2007

The battle for spectrum could be prolonged further with the panel, set up by the Communications Ministry to review the allocation process, suggesting that another technical committee should be formed to arrive at the right method of distributing additional radio waves to existing operators.

 
Read More…

Kingfisher Airlines, Deccan decide to merge
Thursday, December 20, 2007

The boards of Kingfisher Airlines and Deccan Aviation late Wednesday decided to merge both the airlines. The name of the merged entity will most probably be Kingfisher Airlines. In this manner, there will be no delisting of Deccan Aviation from the stock exchanges. Dr Vijay Mallya told newspersons today that any listed entity can change its name just as any listed entity can acquire or merge with the boards’ approval. After the stock ratio is finalised, UB Holdings will have in excess of 51 per cent in the merged entity.

 
Read More…

Irda draws lakshman rekha
Thursday, December 20, 2007

Insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) seems to have finally decided to shed its perceived image of being soft. The gloves are now off as Irda has signaled that it will step in and restore sanity in a market which has been freed if it comes to the regulator’s notice that market players indulge in unfair practices. Perhaps, the show of fangs has to do with the insurance watchdog’s experience in the health insurance segment where after pricing freedom was granted insurers jacked up rates.

 
Read More…

‘Make local value addition the aim of mineral policy’
Thursday, December 20, 2007

The Chief Ministers of the five mineral rich states have urged the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to make the local value addition of the minerals the main objective of the National Mineral Policy (NMP). They also said, the States should be adequately compensated for use of the minerals through an automatic ad-valorem based royalty structure and should not be left to the discretion of the Union Government. Moreover, the export levy should be entirely passed on to the States.

 
Read More…

41 cement firms guilty of ‘cartelisation’: MRTPC
Saturday, December 20, 2007

The MRTP Commission today found almost all major cement companies of the country indulging in ‘cartelisation’ to jack up the prices artificially forcing consumers to pay more than the actual rates and issued a stern warning to them not to resort to such unfair trade practice in future.

 
Read More…

Centre will look into cement cartelization
Thursday, December 20, 2007

The Centre has said it will probe cartelisation charges against the cement industry in the wake of anti-monopoly watchdog MRTPC pronouncing 44 manufacturers, including ACC, L&T Cement, Grasim and Birla Cement guilty of unfair trade practices. “Cartelisation affects consumers, we will look into it,” Kamal Nath told reporters here on Thursday.

 
Read More…

Ministry mulls regulators for State road transportation
Friday, December 21, 2007

As a part of the measures to reform the public road transportation sector, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is considering an option to have regulators in States to monitor the public transport services. There is a need to have regulators who would fix tariffs for the public transportation services, study the viability of various routes by inviting competitive bids from multiple bus operators, official sources said.

 
Read More…

Idea, Spice resent DoT delay, say ‘we applied first’
Saturday, December 22, 2007

Intensifying the telecom battle further, Idea Cellular and Spice Telecom have cautioned the Government against issuing letters of intent or spectrum to any of the companies which had applied for new licences after them. “We caution the DoT that no GSM initial spectrum allocation pertaining to applications subsequent to ours of June 2006 for the said 9 service areas can be entertained until our applications , along with associated initial spectrum , are first disposed,” said a letter from Idea Cellular to DoT.

 
Read More…

L&T getting into power generation
Saturday, December 22, 2007

Larsen and Toubro, which is making a major foray into the power sector, said it would generate 5,000 MW power over the next five years. The engineering and construction company has floated a new arm — L&T Power Development — to take up major power generation projects, Mr A.M. Naik, L&T Chairman and Managing Director, said here on Friday.

 
Read More…

Competition panel to seek cement cos
Saturday, December 22, 2007

Cement industry majors indulging in cartelisation may find the going tough. Even as MRTPC has held the cement companies guilty of cartelisation, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has decided to initiate a dialogue with apex industry association to ensure their compliance with the competition law.

 
Read More…

GSM operators blocking competition, says Tata Tele MD
Monday, December 24, 2007

Tata Teleservices has alleged that the appeal filed by existing GSM operators in the High Court seeking a stay on issuing new licences is aimed at blocking competition. Mr Anil Sardana, Managing Director, Tata Teleservices, told Business Line that the GSM players were acting as a cartel to deny entry to new players.

 
Read More…

Pre-notification of M&As will be counter-productive: CII
Monday, December 24, 2007

The Confederation of Indian Industry CII has protested against some of the provisions of recently amended Competition Act including a provision that mandates prior approval from the Competition Commission for mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The CII has stated that procedural hurdles such as pre-notification of all mergers could prove counter-productive and thwart India’s economic growth.

 
Read More…

A Chinese wall between the regulator and the regulated?
Wednesday, December 24, 2007

A ‘celebrated’ regulator in the country recently, flagged the risk of “regulatory capture” as the regulated have become ‘too-big-to-fail’. What should be the relationship between the regulator and the regulated? How do vested interests seep into regulations, blurring the line between both groups? When does regulation begin to get dictated by interests of those who are being regulated, when does a regulator exactly forfeit its autonomy?

 
Read More…

Boards of 6 SBI associates to consider merger move on Jan 25
Tuesday, December 25, 2007

The consolidation process in the Indian banking industry is set to get a new momentum in January next year, with the boards of six associate banks of the State Bank of India slated to meet on January 25, 2008 to consider in-principle nod for their merger with State Bank of India, India’s largest commercial bank.

 
Read More…

Praful Patel favours Greater Noida airport
Tuesday, 25 December, 2007

Setting aside the objections raised by the finance and law ministries for the proposed Greater Noida airport, the ministry of civil aviation has come out in favour of setting up a second airport around Delhi. The airport is likely to get the Cabinet nod early next year.

 
Read More…

No relief for GSM players
Tuesday, December 25, 2007

The Delhi High Court today refused to pass any order on the appeal filed by the GSM operators against the telecom tribunal’s decision to allow spectrum allocation to new players. The Cellular Operator’s Association of India had filed an appeal seeking a stay on the recently announced policy on dual technology and spectrum allocation.

 
Read More…

Cartelist behaviour is difficult to detect
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

A few days ago, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) found 44 cement companies guilty of cartelisation under the aegis of Cement Manufacturer’s Association (CMA) during the period February to April 1990. “Even though it took 17 years for the MRTPC to come to a decision on an old case of the pernicious cement cartel in India of 1990s, it is a case of better late than never,” says Mr Pradeep S. Mehta, who recently published Competition & Regulation in India, 2007.

 
Read More…

Cement prices set for a hike in the New Year
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Construction activity will be dearer in the New Year, as the cement prices are likely to go for an upward revision soon. The price hike would be driven by an increase in the input prices and the unabated growth of demand for cement, according to experts.

 
Read More…

Hydro policy may not fire up small cos with sops power
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Small hydro electric plants may not be entitled to the fiscal and other policy benefits under the new hydro policy to be announced soon. The finance ministry has said that the policy incentives should be applicable only for projects of 500 MW and above and not for all the projects as proposed by the power ministry. The proposed incentives include exemption from tariff-based bidding and zero Customs duty on equipment imports and permission to undertake merchant sale of power.

 
Read More…

Water council on the anvil to woo private players in Karnataka
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

To ensure better water supply in urban areas and to make the sector attractive for private players, the Karnataka government is thinking of setting up a regulatory body on the lines of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission. The State Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Council, which is to be the regulator, has been conceptualised as an “independent body” that will take over all the functions of the Government with regard to the water and sanitation sector except the power to formulate policies.

 
Read More…

Spectrum Wars — why an auction is not the solution?
Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The permit-licence-quota (PLQ) regime was all but swept away by the winds of liberalisation, imaginatively allowed in from the early 1990s by the then Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao. But while such a regime has vanished in almost all areas of industrial activity, it is still strong in telecommunications and civil aviation. The spectrum wars are mainly due to the vestiges of the PLQ mindset still ruling the minds of many in the DoT.

 
Read More…

A triumph of reforms
Thursday, December 27, 2007

The story of telecommunications reforms in India offers a fascinating example of how determined leadership can overcome even the fiercest opposition to reforms, says Arvind Panagariya. The total number of phones in India as of October 31, 2007 is placed at 256 million. India has been adding phones at the rate of 6.65 million per month. Tele-density — the number of phones per 100 individuals — now stands at 22.52. As recently as March 31, 1999, this figure was a tiny 2.8.

 
Read More…

‘BSNL’s monopoly over infrastructure a hindrance to growth’
Thursday, December 27, 2007

In the midst of a virtual war for telecommunication spectrum, LIRNEasia, a regional ICT policy and regulation building organisation, recently released recommendations for unlicensing spectrum in the country. Rohan Samarajiva, executive director of LIRNEasia, said, “Despite privatisation of the telecom industry, government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s (BSNL’s) virtual monopoly and its stranglehold on infrastructure are major dampeners to growth.”

 
Read More…

Govt accepts TRAI formula on spectrum
Thursday, December 27, 2007

In a bid to end the ongoing controversy over spectrum allocation to GSM-based mobile operators, the Government today accepted the spectrum review committee’s recommendation of allocating additional frequency to existing GSM operators based on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) subscriber-linked formula and in multiples of 1 MHz.

 
Read More…

Energy sector needs $150 bn in 5 years
Thursday, December 27, 2007

A conducive policy and regulatory framework is necessary to attract private participation in the country’s power and upstream energy sectors which will require an investment of up to $150 billion over the next five years, according to a report by KPMG and CII.

 
Read More…

Raja wants spectrum charges reworked; operators to pay more?
Friday, December 28, 2007

In a move that could spell further problems for mobile operators, the Communications Minister, Mr A. Raja, has asked the Department of Telecom to review the spectrum charges being paid by service providers.

 
Read More…

RCom sends notice to Govt against TRAI’s spectrum allocation norms
Friday, December 28, 2007

The battle for spectrum is back to square one with both CDMA and GSM operators rejecting the Government’s decision to accept the subscriber-linked spectrum allocation criteria suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

 
Read More…

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is closely monitoring the growth of unit-linked insurance products (ULIP) market on a continuous basis and sees the need for creating greater awareness about the products among the customers, according to Mr C.S. Rao, Chairman, IRDA.

 
Read More…

Cement prices to remain firm
Saturday, December 29, 2007

Cement prices will continue to remain on the higher side due to rising production cost. Refusing to take a call on future price trend, Mr Sumit Banerjee, Managing Director, ACC Ltd, said “the input cost has gone up drastically, thus pushing up the cost of production. We will pass on the rise in cost of production to the consumer.

 
Read More…

A year of airlines consolidation
Saturday, December 29, 2007

The year 2007 will probably be best remembered as the year when consolidation through mergers and acquisitions was witnessed in the domestic aviation industry. The year began with the merger of Air India and Indian getting under way. Soon thereafter, the buyout of Air Sahara by Jet Airways, which had been caught in litigation for more than a year, was also completed. A few months later, Kingfisher Airlines acquired a 26 per cent stake in the low-cost airline Air Deccan and later, through an open offer, increased its stake to 46 per cent.

 
Read More…

FM radio auction off air again
Saturday, December 29, 2007

Looking to include more radio operators in the upcoming FM radio auctions for the 97 vacant stations in 48 cities, the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) has postponed the auctions for the third time in a row, leaving the 27 eligible private FM radios in the lurch.

 
Read More…

Open to Joint Ventures in transmission: PowerGrid
Sunday, December 30, 2007

For efficient management of power distribution system, the Chairman and Managing Director of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, Dr R.P. Singh, advocated bifurcation of technical and commercial operations. Such a move, he felt, would improve the country’s distribution network and thereby facilitate collections. In this case, States would have to take lead in streamlining distribution networks.

 
Read More…

DoT crackdown on global calling card providers
Sunday, December 30, 2007

In a bid to curb grey international long distance calls, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has made it mandatory for all companies selling global calling cards in the country to get a no objection certificate from the Government.

 
Read More…

E. Timor: IOC, Oil India may partner Reliance Ind
Monday, December 31, 2007

Decks have been cleared for two of India’s large oil sector companies, Indian Oil Corporation and Reliance Industries Ltd, to jointly undertake oil and gas exploration abroad. IOC, along with Oil India Ltd, is now expected to join hands with RIL for exploration in the latter’s oil block in East Timor.

 
Read More…

Commercial exploitation of water will be regulated in Kerala: Draft policy
Monday, December 31, 2007

Kerala’s Draft Water Policy declares that the State will set up a well-defined and transparent system for water entitlements based on the principle that water, as a community resource, shall primarily be used for public benefit. Individual interest shall not be allowed to take precedence over public interest, the document, which was released on Saturday, adds.

 
Read More…