NEWS – January 2007

• New policy laying down norms for sector regulators in works
  The Economic Times, January 29, 2007
• Centre may use PPP model for core facilities in mining
  The Economic Times, January 29, 2007
• DGCA revamp to take FAA flight path
  The Economic Times, January 28, 2007
• Collusive pricing in roaming
  The Economic Times, January 27, 2007
• TRAI faced with shortage of officers
  The Business Line, January 27, 2007
• Airports regulatory authority may get power to determine tariffs
  The Business Line, January 26, 2007
• Government to invite bids from pvt cos for non-metro airports
  The Economic Times, January 25, 2007
• Roaming tariffs cut by up to 56%
  The Business Line, January 25, 2007
• Move to scrap cement import duty may not impact retail price
  The Business Line, January 23, 2007
• Telecom regulator may get more powers
  The Business Line, January 21, 2007
• Govt tightens norms for airline operations
  The Business Line, January 20, 2007
• Power tariff in state may go up from March
  The Economic Times, January 19, 2007
• Private airports may soon take wings in your city
  The Economic Times, January 19, 2007
• India Post gets tech savvy to take on competition
  The Economic Times, January 18, 2007
• Govt to roll out better mining, pharma policy
  The Economic Times, January 18, 2007
• Price control in gas sector may be back
  The Economic Times, January 18, 2007
• Move to drop competitive pricing of port services criticised
  The Business Line, January 18, 2007
• Bill to raise FDI in insurance
  The Economic Times, January 18, 2007
• Subsidies on LPG, kerosene to be restricted to poor
  The Economic Times, January 18, 2007
• Government favours dual pricing for cooking gas
  The Economic Times, January 17, 2007
• Maharashtra to privatise small airports
  The Business Line, January 17, 2007
• New scheme for merchant power plants
  The Business Line, January 16, 2007
• Subsidies on cooking gas, kerosene will stay: Deora
  The Economic Times, January 15, 2006
• Pharma industry opposes price control mechanism
  The Business Line, January 10, 2007
• Cellular cos against mandatory sharing
  The Business Line, January 07, 2007
• New price control to affect only 12% of drugs market
  The Business Line, January 07, 2007
• Govt mulls petroleum policy
  The Economic Times, January 06, 2007
• Drug retailers plan to network to stay competitive
  The Business Line, January 04, 2007
• ING group in talks with India Post
  The Business Line, January 04, 2007
• TRAI takes up consumer grievances
  The Business Line, January 03, 2007
• AAI plans arms for various ops
  The Economic Times, January 03, 2007
• Govt ask steel cos to ensure transparency in pricing
  TThe Economic Times, January 03, 2007
• TRAI told to look into pricing for TV channels under DTH
  The Business Line, January 02, 2007
• TN power regulatory panel seeks public views on new tariff plan
  The Business Line, January 01, 2007

New policy laying down norms for sector regulators in works
The Economic Times, January 29, 2007

NEW DELHI: Regulation of regulators is the next big item on the UPA government’s reforms agenda. The government is working on a policy that will govern all regulatory organisations, such as Sebi, Trai and IRDA. The ‘mother of all regulatory policies’ would lay down the government’s regulatory philosophy, apart from functions, structure and powers of various regulators. The policy will pave the way for the establishment of multi-sector regulators.

 
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Centre may use PPP model for core facilities in mining
The Economic Times, January 29, 2007

After its success in road and port projects, the government plans to introduce the public-private partnership (PPP) model for the development of infrastructure facilities required by small and medium enterprises (SME) in the mining sector. As per the proposal, Mineral Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporations (MIDFC) would be set up to forge partnerships with mining companies for implementing infrastructure projects.

 
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DGCA revamp to take FAA flight path
The Economic Times, January 28, 2007

To manage exponential growth in the aviation sector, the government is planning to strengthen the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). With the number of airlines and fliers increasing rapidly over the past few years, the civil aviation ministry is keen to spruce up the regulator and also provide it with more teeth. Civil aviation ministry sources said DGCA would be restructured along the lines of the US regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

 
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Collusive pricing in roaming
The Economic Times, January 27, 2007

The telecom regulator Trai has slashed the unusually high national roaming charges levied by the cellular mobile companies. If the industry wants this to remain a one-time regulatory intervention, it should heed Trai’s suggestion on competition and transparency. Roaming tariffs have been an area of concern in many jurisdictions the world over after it has become obvious that charges are often not justified by the underlying cost of provision of the service.

 
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TRAI faced with shortage of officers
The Business Line, January 27, 2007

NEW DELHI: From complex telecom-related issues, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is now embroiled in dealing with another crisis, lack of adequate manpower. While TRAI has provision for 194 employees, more than 50 positions are lying vacant. According to TRAI officials, the remuneration package being offered was not attractive enough, with the result officers are leaving for better opportunities in the corporate sector.

 
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Airports regulatory authority may get power to determine tariffs
The Business Line, January 26, 2007

NEW DELHI: The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), which is being set up by the Government to ensure a level-playing field major airports and bring about competition between them, is likely to have the power to determine tariffs once in five years. The draft AERA Bill that is likely to be considered by the Union Cabinet shortly has proposed that the authority may amend the tariff from time to time during the five years if considered appropriate.

 
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Government to invite bids from pvt cos for non-metro airports
The Economic Times, January 25, 2007

The government is gearing up to invite bids from private companies to modernise clusters of non-metro airports. Interested parties have to bid for ‘bunches’ of airports rather than indulging in ‘cherry-picking’ to bag the most viable projects. Bunches will be created by clubbing some airports in a region as a bouquet which comprises potentially profitable as well as loss-making airports, highly-placed government sources said.

 
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Roaming tariffs cut by up to 56%
The Business Line, January 25, 2007

NEW DELHI: Despite strong opposition from telecom operators, mobile users will have to pay lower roaming tariffs starting February 15 with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ordering up to 56 per cent reduction in domestic mobile roaming charges. TRAI has also scrapped all forms of rental, surcharge and other additional charges being taken by the mobile operators at present for offering roaming services. The telecom regulator has also asked operators not to charge for incoming SMS while roaming.

 
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Move to scrap cement import duty may not impact retail price
The Business Line, January 23, 2007

MUMBAI: The Government move to scrap import duty on cement may not have any impact on the retail prices of domestic cement, said industry sources. “Allowing duty free cement will not have any impact on retail prices. The high logistics cost makes it unviable for users to import cement. Bulk users may consider importing cement from Thailand and Indonesia, but again the cost might not be competitive,” said Mr Manish Balwani, Research Analyst with Emkay Private Client Group.

 
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Telecom regulator may get more powers
The Business Line, January 21, 2007

NEW DELHI: In a bid to make the consumer complaint redressal mechanism more effective, the Communications and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, will be meeting senior officials from Department of Telecom and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to discuss giving more powers to the telecom regulator.

 
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Govt tightens norms for airline operations
The Business Line, January 20, 2007

NEW DELHI: The Government has revised the norms for airline operations in the country by increasing the subscribed equity capital required for setting up a scheduled airline with five large aircraft from the existing Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 crore. While this new norm would be applicable with retrospective effect for those having aircraft weighing 40,000 kilograms each, existing airlines would, however, get a year to comply.

 
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Power tariff in state may go up from March
The Economic Times, January 19, 2007

MUMBAI: Power tariff in Maharashtra is set to go up from March this year with the state power utility seeking the regulator’s nod for its tri-ennial tariff revision. MSEDCL, the state power utility’s distribution arm, wants to raise the tariff by 35.29% across the board. However, it’s unlikely to get a go-ahead from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). The current tariff regime ends in March ’07.

 
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Private airports may soon take wings in your city
The Economic Times, January 19, 2007

NEW DELHI: A thousand airports are about to take off as the Centre gears up to allow private parties to develop air strips with no equity participation from the government. Currently, with the sole exception of the Kochi International Airport, all other operational airports are owned by the government. Even the greenfield airports coming up at Bangalore and Hyderabad have a significant 26% government stake.

 
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India Post gets tech savvy to take on competition
The Economic Times, January 18, 2007

MUMBAI: John Samuel, general manager, business development & marketing directorate, Department of Post (DoP), believes that the time has come for India Post to take the DHLs, Blue Darts and DTDCs of the express mail industry head on. And he banks on technology investments to turn the tables in India Post’s favour in this battle. The postal department is investing Rs 1,400 crore in technologies such as RFID, web-based customer response systems, and even mobile phones for the postman.

 
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Govt to roll out better mining, pharma policy
The Economic Times, January 18, 2007

The government in its new mining and pharmaceutical policy will remove all necessary irritants and distortions as regards exports of iron ore and pricing of pharma to safeguard the interests of domestic businesses for their growth and larger market size, according to minister of state in the PMO, Prithviraj Chavan.

 
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Price control in gas sector may be back
The Economic Times, January 18, 2007

It’s the return of the controlled pricing regime in the gas sector. Reliance, British Gas, ONGC and other natural gas producers may not be allowed to sell gas at market prices after all. The government is considering a proposal to control the rate of return a gas producer should earn by selling his gas. Put simply, this would mean the re-introduction of the cost-plus approach, which had been done away with, under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

 
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Move to drop competitive pricing of port services criticised
The Business Line, January 18, 2007

The Water Transport Workers Federation of India has criticised the decision of the Union Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission to drop its initiative to bring about competitive bidding for tariff structure in major ports. The federation, in a statement issued here, said that the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission had earlier requested the Shipping Ministry to change the norms in the port sector as the existing cost plus tariff mechanism does not have incentives for private players to cut costs, thereby, leading to shifting of business to ports in Singapore, Colombo and Dubai.

 
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Bill to raise FDI in insurance
The Economic Times, January 18, 2007

NEW DELHI: The government has said it will bring a legislation next month to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent at present. “Finance Minister P Chidambaram indicated that a Bill will be introduced in Parliament next month to increase FDI limit in insurance to 49 per cent from 26 per cent,” UK Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown said.

 
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Subsidies on LPG, kerosene to be restricted to poor
The Economic Times, January 18, 2007

The government plans to restrict subsidised domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene to poor people only, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said. “Yes, we are in agreement with the suggestion that there should be dual pricing (subsidised price for poor and market price for the people who can afford) for cooking fuels,” he told reporters here.

 
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Government favours dual pricing for cooking gas
The Economic Times, January 17, 2007

NEW DELHI: The Government on Wednesday said it favoured a dual pricing system for domestic cooking gas. “There can be a system wherein Rs 150 subsidy per cylinder can be fixed and the overall price be floated in respect to international prices,” Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for the Prime Minister’s Office told reporters on the sidelines of ‘Petrotech 2007’ summit.

 
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Maharashtra to privatise small airports
The Business Line, January 17, 2007

The State Government has decided to handover 14 small airports and airstrips in the State to private parties for development and maintenance. Mr Ashok Chavan, Minister for Industries and Chairman of MIDC, told Business Line that tenders for privatising these airports would be invited soon. Currently, these airports are under the control of Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).

 
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New scheme for merchant power plants
The Business Line, January 16, 2007

The Centre plans to offer 15 coal blocks to developers who will build power stations under a new scheme for merchant power plants, the Power Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, said on Tuesday. “About 10,000-12,000 MW capacity can be developed by merchant power plants,” Mr Shinde told newspersons at a conference here on development of merchant power plants.

 
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Subsidies on cooking gas, kerosene will stay: Deora
The Economic Times, January 15, 2006

NEW DELHI: Indian government subsidies on kerosene and cooking gas will be extended after a March deadline, Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Monday. “Sonia Gandhi (Congress Party chief) has given us a clear-cut order that the prices of fuels used by the poor should not be increased,” Deora said, ruling out increases in the retail prices of LPG and kerosene.

 
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Pharma industry opposes price control mechanism
The Business Line, January 10, 2007

The pharmaceutical industry has raised strong objections to the draft pharmaceutical policy that is likely to come up before the Union Cabinet on Thursday. Describing the move to bring essential medicines under the price control mechanism as “retrograde, anti-liberalisation and short-sighted,” the industry warned that if implemented it would turn the industry into a loss-making one.

 
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Cellular cos against mandatory sharing
The Business Line, January 07, 2007

Cellular service providers have opposed a proposal from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to make infrastructure-sharing mandatory as part of the licence agreement. Mobile operators have also said that India was not ready for the introduction of mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) who buys airtime from operators and then resells it to users.

 
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New price control to affect only 12% of drugs market
The Business Line, January 07, 2007

The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has emphasised that the list of 354 drugs that are proposed to be brought under price control will result in bringing just another 12 per cent of total drugs market (in value terms) under the control regime. This is as opposed to the 20 per cent market coverage accounted for by the 74 drugs under the existing Drug Price Control Order.

 
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Govt mulls petroleum policy
The Economic Times, January 06, 2007

The government will take several strategic measures to ensure energy security and a more environment-friendly petroleum policy. These include the operationalization of the petroleum regulatory board,providing a conducive investment climate for growth, execution of a strategic crude reserve plan in the next 36 months,enhancing capacity of Indian refineries,focusing on unconventional sources and training manpower, ministry of petroleum & natural gas secretary MS Srinivasan said.

 
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Drug retailers plan to network to stay competitive
The Business Line, January 04, 2007

In response to the emerging competition from large retail chains, the 6-lakh-odd drug retailers in the country are planning to network themselves in order to arm themselves with better bargaining power. The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists is implementing the networking plan, under which a special purpose vehicle (SPV) would be set up in each State and all the drug retailers in the State will become its shareholders. Alongside, all the druggists would also be linked-up with software.

 
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ING group in talks with India Post
The Business Line, January 04, 2007

The ING group has begun discussions with the Department of Posts for retailing life insurance products through the India Post network in the country. ING sources confirmed that such discussions had been held, though they refused to comment on the status and progress. The negotiations were conducted directly by ING group executives.

 
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TRAI takes up consumer grievances
The Business Line, January 03, 2007

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued a consultation paper on the `Redressal of Consumer Grievances and Consumer Protection in Telecommunication’. In a statement, TRAI said that there was an increase in consumer grievances following tremendous growth and competition in the telecom sector and the frequent introduction of new tariff plans and value-added services.

 
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AAI plans arms for various ops
The Economic Times, January 03, 2007

Airports Authority of India (AAI) may soon take a new avatar to face the private sector competition. It plans to have independent subsidiaries for various operations such as ground handling, maintenance, repair & overhaul (MRO), cargo operations and designing & development of airport.

 
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Govt ask steel cos to ensure transparency in pricing
The Economic Times, January 03, 2007

The government on Wednesday asked steel companies to ensure transparency in their pricing decisions by their proper reporting to consumers. The suggestion was made during the maiden meeting of the newly set up Price Monitoring Committee in the ministry of steel.

 
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TRAI told to look into pricing for TV channels under DTH
The Business Line, January 02, 2007

The Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Tuesday asked the telecom and broadcasting regulator to look into the possibility of fixing prices of TV channels under the DTH (Direct-to-Home) service similar to the recent order for Conditional Access System (CAS).

 
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TN power regulatory panel seeks public views on new tariff plan
The Business Line, January 01, 2007

The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) has decided to conduct a public hearing on the issue of introducing intra-state Availability Based Tariff (ABT) as part of efforts to maintain grid discipline and for optimal utilisation of system resources.

 
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