NEWS – JANUARY 2008
- Coal regulator job should go to CERC, suggests CEA
The Economic Times, Tuesday, January 01, 2008 - Oil cos cut ATF 4%, but airlines refuse to cheer passengers
The Economic Times, Tuesday, January 01, 2008 - Pvt cargo operators may get entry into non-metro airports
The Economic Times, Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - Air passengers complain about hidden charges
The Hindu, Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - Greenfield cargo airports may get nod
The Business Line, Thursday, January 03, 2008 - Trai can regulate broadcast services: Supreme Court
The Financial Express, Thursday, January 03, 2008 - Bill to regulate courier companies soon
The Hindu, Thursday, January 03, 2008 - Drop prices or face takeover, TN tells cement units
The Business Line, Thursday, January 03, 2008 - TRAI proposes bidding for mobile TV licence
The Business Line, Friday, January 04, 2008 - SC upholds TRAI’s powers to regulate broadcasting sector
The Business Line, Friday, January 04, 2008 - ‘Challenge is to tackle issues related with govt’
The Economic Times, Sunday, January 06, 2008 - Space shrinking for new DTH players
The Business Line, Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - Appropriate policies to spur pvt investment in ports: Baalu
The Business Line, Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - TRAI on broadband, again
The Economic Times, Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - GSM players win spectrum battle; to get allotment first
The Financial Express, Friday, January 11, 2008 - Promise of free electricity supply surprises power sector
The Hindu, Saturday, January 12, 2008 - DIAL accused of unfair practices
The Hindu, Sunday, January 13, 2008 - Generating buzz
Business Standard, Sunday, January 13, 2008 - Wanted: a charter for air passengers
The Financial Express, Monday, January 14, 2008 - ‘West Bengal must do away with regulatory pricing in power sector’
The Financial Express, Monday, January 14, 2008 - Urban infra requires over Rs 6 lakh cr: RBI
The Financial Express, Tuesday, January 15, 2008 - Trai mulls fresh levies on unsolicited calls
Business Standard, Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - Minister urges level playing field for pvt airline mergers
The Business Line, Thursday, January 17, 2008 - DNC: Trai gets tough on rogues
The Financial Express,Thursday, January 17, 2008 - Cut taxes, create aviation infra: Patel to states
The Financial Express, Friday, January 18, 2008 - Infrastructure investment in India to rise 19%: Crisil
The Economic Times, Friday, January 18, 2008 - New co for providing advisory services likely
The Business Line, Friday, January 18, 2008 - Price fixing plans for natural gas get watchdog’s goat
The Economic Times, Saturday, January 19, 2008 - TRAI restarts work to bring in carrier access codes
The Business Line, Sunday, January 20, 2008 - Punjab farmers unlikely to get free power now
The Hindu, Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - Trai suggests auction of mobile TV spectrum
The Financial Express, Thursday, January 24, 2008 - ‘Liquor licensing to be made transparent’
The Hindu, Saturday, January 26, 2008 - Small airlines make big jump in market share
Business Standard, Monday, January 28, 2008 - Don’t charge more for calls to fixed lines, mobile operators told
The Business Line, Monday, January 28, 2008 - APM gas price set to go up, may hit power, fert sectors
The Financial Express, Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - Trai to make effective curb on tariff plans
The Financial Express, Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - DoT to allot start-up spectrum to new players
The Financial Express, Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - Trai seeks band neutrality for DTH operators
The financial Express, Wednesday, January 31, 2008
Coal regulator job should go to CERC, suggests CEA
The Economic Times, Tuesday, January 01, 2008
The government’s plan to put in place an independent coal regulator has met yet another road block. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has suggested that instead of putting in place a separate coal regulator, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) should be vested with additional powers to regulate the coal sector. CEA’s suggestion is likely to stir another debate over instituting a coal regulator. The proposal has moved at a snail’s pace ever since it was mooted about three years back.
Oil cos cut ATF 4%, but airlines refuse to cheer passengers
The Economic Times, Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Domestic airlines will kick off the New Year on a buoyant note with aviation fuel prices coming down 3% to 4% from January 1. Air passengers should expect no relief from the cut because airlines have decided not to cut the fuel surcharge being charged on tickets. “The surcharge will stay at Rs 1,650 per sector, because prices have are still ruling high and we expect them to harden in January,” Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schuaer said. Calling the move unfair, air passengers association said fuel surcharge should be cut when fuel prices go down.
Pvt cargo operators may get entry into non-metro airports
The Economic Times, Wednesday, January 02, 2008
The government is planning corporatisation of cargo operations at non-metro airports. The move will enable private sector players to run cargo terminals at these airports that are now managed by Airports Authority of India (AAI). To meet increasing demand expected from sectors such as retail and white goods, the private-public partnership (PPP) model is being considered to upgrade facilities at non-metro airports across the country.
Air passengers complain about hidden charges
The Hindu, Wednesday, January 02, 2008
If you see an airline advertisement offering a 10-rupee ticket between Chennai and Bangalore and you think you’re on to the deal of a life-time, think again. Air travelers are getting increasingly frustrated by airlines’ advertising tactics, claiming that airlines are misleading them about the costs of flying by imposing hidden charges on tickets.
Greenfield cargo airports may get nod
The Business Line, Thursday, January 03, 2008
With more private players keen to enter the airport arena, the Government may allow new cargo airports to come up within a 150 km radius of an existing airport through the automatic route. At the moment, the Government policy does not allow any airport to come up within a 150 km of an existing airport. However, the thinking in the Government seems to be that any greenfield cargo airport project presented to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after obtaining all clearances from the other authorities should be given the nod.
Trai can regulate broadcast services: Supreme Court
The Financial Express, Thursday, January 03, 2008
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed Star India’s petition challenging Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) authority to regulate the broadcasting sector as well. The apex court dismissed the appeal even without accepting it. Star India TV and Set Discovery had challenged the Delhi High Court’s decision, which upheld the powers of the telecom regulator to regulate the broadcasting sector.
Bill to regulate courier companies soon
The Hindu, Thursday, January 03, 2008
A Bill to regulate courier companies will be introduced in the coming Parliament session, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja said here on Wednesday. After declaring open the 10th Indian national philatelic exhibition, he told reporters that the proposed legislation was in response to complaints and suggestions regarding the functioning of the private courier services. However the postal department was not affected by private players.
Drop prices or face takeover, TN tells cement units
The Business Line, Thursday, January 03, 2008
With prices of cement in Tamil Nadu soaring, the State Government has said that it might take over private cement factories in the State. In a press release issued after a high-level meeting presided over by the Chief Minister, Mr M. Karunanidhi, the Government said that if the private sector cement units did not drop cement prices, the Government would have no option but to take over the units in the interests of the public.
TRAI proposes bidding for mobile TV licence
The Business Line, Friday, January 04, 2008
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has proposed to bring in new operators for offering mobile TV services and has suggested that the Government should hold a bidding process for issuing licences. While existing mobile operators will be allowed to offer mobile TV without having to take a new licence, they will not be given any additional spectrum for the purpose.
SC upholds TRAI’s powers to regulate broadcasting sector
The Business Line, Friday, January 04, 2008
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the powers of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to regulate the broadcasting sector and dismissed a petition filed by the broadcasting major Star India challenging the jurisdiction of the telecom regulator. The apex court held that there was no conflict in letting TRAI regulate both the telecom and broadcasting sectors.
‘Challenge is to tackle issues related with govt’
The Economic Times, Sunday, January 06, 2008
Infrastructure deficit in India is widely recognised as a constraint on growth. Congestion on highways, ports, airports and railways has increased, as have power shortages. To correct this deficit the key challenge would lie in addressing governance-related issues. These would include introduction of competition, elimination of the dominance of incumbent government entities, reform of regulatory institutions and standardisation of documents, procedures and processes.
Space shrinking for new DTH players
The Business Line, Tuesday, January 08, 2008
New aspirants of Direct-to-Home broadcasting may have to go slow on or rethink their plans. The country’s satellite infrastructure provider, ISRO, is advising prospective DTH players to this effect as the Ku-band frequency resources over the subcontinent are running out. There are already seven DTH players who have been granted the licences, four of whom are already in service. DTH currently hogs the precious Ku bandwidth: 57 of the 88 Ku-band transponders on Indian satellites and some leased capacity are dedicated to it.
Appropriate policies to spur pvt investment in ports: Baalu
The Business Line, Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The working group on the port sector for the 11th Plan has estimated that a cargo-handling capacity of 1.5 billion tonnes at the country’s ports — both major and non-major — would require an investment of Rs 1.05 lakh crore in next five years. The Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Mr T.R. Baalu, who was here to preside over the ninth meeting of the Maritime States’ Development Council, told newspersons on Monday that the non-major ports would come to play an increasing role in the future as they will be expected to handle 302 million tonnes (mt) of traffic by the end of 2011-12, which is 30 per cent of the total estimated traffic of 1,009 mt, up from the present 27 per cent.
TRAI on broadband, again
The Economic Times, Wednesday, January 09, 2008
TRAI, the telecom regulator, has come out with another set of recommendations — the first was in 2004 — to spur broadband growth in India. But the regulator would have done well to stay with its 2004 recommendations that BSNL and MTNL make their copper loops available to others for faster broadband rollout. At the end of June 2007, there were 2.42 million broadband subscribers, well short of end 2007 target of 9 million. Though a decline in tariff has helped achieve faster growth over the past couple of years, the low penetration of broadband is even now largely a cost issue.
GSM players win spectrum battle; to get allotment first
The Financial Express, Friday, January 11, 2008
Ending months of uncertainty over spectrum allocation and new telecom service licences, the department of telecommunications on Thursday resolved the issue by sticking to its first-come-first-served policy. It also issued letters of intent (LoIs) to nine applicants, while rejecting the applications of three firms. Two applications have been put on hold.
Promise of free electricity supply surprises power sector
The Hindu, Saturday, January 12, 2008
The promise of free power supply to irrigation pump-sets by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not been received well by the power sector, especially electricity supply companies (Escoms) which were already reeling under a huge financial deficit that now stands at Rs. 2,000 crore. Karnataka has nearly 16 lakh irrigation pump-sets, which account for about 27 percent of the power used in the State.
DIAL accused of unfair practices
The Hindu, Sunday, January 13, 2008
A consumer rights group alleged on Saturday that passengers wanting to take a cab from Indira Gandhi International Airport “suffer” at the hands of the pre-paid system because of Delhi International Airport (Private) Limited’s “policy of profit before customer comfort”. DIAL has been working towards modernisation and restructuring of Delhi airport. “Instead of allowing a choice of cab companies to operate from the airport, the DIAL management has entered into lucrative monopolistic pacts which bar all, except one, to operate from the airport”, it alleged.
Generating buzz
Business Standard, Sunday, January 13, 2008
With the Eleventh Plan aiming to add about 100,000 MW of new capacity by 2012, the power sector is now the focus of a lot of investments. In 1991, during the balance of payments crisis, it was an even-money bet that India would become a basket case. In hindsight, it was a great entry-point for investments because the economy made a spectacular recovery. But nobody could have been sure about the turnaround.
Wanted: a charter for air passengers
The Financial Express, Monday, January 14, 2008
The number of air passengers in India has been growing at unprecedented rates during the last three or four years. Annual growth rates of 46% have been noted even on major routes, and there is little indication of a slowdown. Annual growth rates of 20-25% for domestic traffic over the next five years are not unrealistic. These impressive figures are being achieved through dynamic, market-driven business initiatives and new regulations.
‘West Bengal must do away with regulatory pricing in power sector’
The Financial Express, Monday, January 14, 2008
West Bengal must do away with the regulatory pricing mechanism in the power sector and allow market forces to determine tariff, the US assistant secretary of commerce for market access and compliance, David Bohigian, said here on Monday. Bohigian met state commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen and discussed at length the changes required in the state’s policies to make it more attractive for foreign investors. He also met dignitaries from the US embassy in New Delhi and the consulate in Kolkata.
Urban infra requires over Rs 6 lakh cr: RBI
The Financial Express, Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A Reserve Bank of India study on municipal finances has projected an investment of about Rs 63,000 crore per annum for the ten-year period (2004-05 to 2013-14) for developing urban infrastructure in the country. The projected investment does not include needs for redistributive functions like urban poverty alleviation. However, assuming a status quo in the federal fiscal relationships in the country, municipal bodies in India can at best raise up to about Rs 27,285 crore annually, said the study titled ‘Municipal Finance in India – An Assessment’.
Trai mulls fresh levies on unsolicited calls
Business Standard, Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has mooted a proposal to revise penalties to be levied on service providers and telemarketing companies for making unsolicited sales pitches. Under the revised proposal, the regulator would levy a penalty of Rs 500 from a telecom service provider for the first instance of non-compliance and Rs 20,000 per call for repeated offences.
Minister urges level playing field for pvt airline mergers
The Business Line, Thursday, January 17, 2008
The Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, on Wednesday pitched for a level playing field for private airlines on the issue of allowing them to carry forward accumulated losses and unabsorbed depreciation in the event of their merger with another private airline. The current Income-Tax regime allows only public sector airlines the benefit of carrying forward accumulated losses and unabsorbed depreciation in respect of M&A deals done by them. With consolidation underway in the domestic aviation industry, private sector airline operators are keen that they too be given the tax benefit for their M&A deals.
DNC: Trai gets tough on rogues
The Financial Express,Thursday, January 17, 2008
In what could be a huge reprieve for fixed-line and mobile subscribers, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday suggested more stringent financial sanctions on non-compliant operators and telemarketers. Proposing an amendment to the Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communications Regulations, 2007, Trai said a telecom service provider not complying with the regulation should attract a penalty of Rs 5,000 for first offence and Rs 20,000 for subsequent offences. So far, the penalty was not levied on service providers but only on telemarketing companies.
Cut taxes, create aviation infra: Patel to states
The Financial Express, Friday, January 18, 2008
Minister of civil aviation Praful Patel has asked states to rationalise taxes on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and review land acquisition practices for improvement of airport infrastructure to encourage expansion of the aviation sector in the country. Criticising high taxes at the state-level, the minister said aviation sector would be the largest employment generator and investment attractor in a few years and states had much to reap from this. “There is cut-throat competition in this sector and airlines are losing money mainly because of competition and high taxes,” Patel said at a conference involving state governments in New Delhi.
Infrastructure investment in India to rise 19%: Crisil
The Economic Times, Friday, January 18, 2008
Investment into the infrastructure sector is expected to rise 19% per annum to touch Rs 3,03,400 crore in the next two years from the past two years’ Rs 2,15,100 crore, said a report by rating agency Crisil. Last two years have seen top-line infrastructure companies such as Larsen & Toubro, Patel Engineering, Punj Lloyd, Nagarjuna Construction, IVRCL and Hindustan Construction growing over 50 percent, the report said.
New co for providing advisory services likely
The Business Line, Friday, January 18, 2008
Plans are afoot to set up a company for providing advisory services to Central and State Governments for structuring public private partnership (PPP) projects, after the pattern of Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), to kickstart a slew of infrastructure projects under the PPP route. Official sources told Business Line here that the Empowered Sub-Committee of the Committee on Infrastructure (CoI) under the aegis of the Planning Commission, which quarters the Secretariat for CoI, recently discussed the issue.
Price fixing plans for natural gas get watchdog’s goat
The Economic Times, Saturday, January 19, 2008
Petroleum sector regulator L Mansingh has questioned the government on allocation of domestically produced natural gas on a priority basis. The regulator has said that any policy on sectoral allocation would “necessarily impede the free play of market forces.” The government has already appointed an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) to spell out a gas utilisation policy. The policy would set a sectoral priority for the utilisation of the scarce resource.
TRAI restarts work to bring in carrier access codes
The Business Line, Sunday, January 20, 2008
Telecom consumers may finally get the freedom to choose their long distance telephone operator. After a delay of more than four years, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is working on a paper that is aimed at introducing the Carrier Access Codes in the country. Introduction of CAC was first mooted in 2002 but had been put on the backburner by the Government due to opposition from the operators, especially Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the largest long distance operator.
Punjab farmers unlikely to get free power now
The Hindu, Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Farmers in Punjab, who get free power from Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), may soon have to pay their bills, with the State proposing to do away with the sop to mitigate its financial woes. Following tough stance from Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC), the State Government is considering giving power to the farm sector at a subsidised rate instead of free of cost in view of the poor fiscal condition, official sources said here on Monday.
Trai suggests auction of mobile TV spectrum
The Financial Express, Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Thursday recommended that mobile television spectrum should be auctioned and that the foreign direct investment (FDI) for mobile TV service providers should be capped at 74%. In its final recommendations to the information and broadcasting ministry, Trai said licence holders could use terrestrial as well as satellite-based routes for the transmission of the content.
‘Liquor licensing to be made transparent’
The Hindu, Saturday, January 26, 2008
Haryana Excise and Taxation Minister Birender Singh made it clear on Friday that the monopoly of the liquor vends would not be allowed and the present system of allotment of retail liquor outlets in the State through draw of lots will continue. Presiding over a meeting of Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioners (DETCs), he said there would be even more transparency and rationalisation and the licences would be made renewable.
Small airlines make big jump in market share
Business Standard, Monday, January 28, 2008
Independent small carriers IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir have collectively been able to gain a greater share of the airline passenger market despite the consolidation and merger of the bigger airlines. Figures released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for last year show that the consolidated share of the three independent carriers went up 10 percentage points to 22 per cent from 12 in 2006. The smaller airlines appear to have gained at the expense of the bigger airlines that spent most of the year in mega-mergers and acquisitions.
Don’t charge more for calls to fixed lines, mobile operators told
The Business Line, Monday, January 28, 2008
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said that mobile operators may be pushing consumers to give up fixed line telephone by charging a higher tariff for cell-to-fixed line calls. The regulator has asked the operators to stop the differential tariff as it was not justified.
APM gas price set to go up, may hit power, fert sectors
The Financial Express, Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The petroleum ministry has moved a Cabinet note to increase the price of administered price mechanism (APM) gas—the natural gas produced by ONGC and OIL from the fields awarded to them on nomination basis by the government. The price of APM gas was last revised in June 2005. The producer price for ONGC’s gas would be increased to Rs 3,710 per million standard cubic meter and that of OIL’s gas to Rs 4,150 per mscm from the existing Rs 3,200 per mscm.
Trai to make effective curb on tariff plans
The Financial Express, Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday issued a consultation paper to reconsider the regulatory framework on tariff plans being offered by telecom service providers to their customers. The regulator said there was a need to reduce the limit on number of tariffs plans on offer from the existing 25 in each service area.
DoT to allot start-up spectrum to new players
The Financial Express, Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The government will soon ink the telecom license agreement with nine firms that have been issued letters of intent (LoI) earlier this month, followed by allotment of start-up spectrum in some circles. License agreements are expected to be signed with all the nine LoI holders in the next two days and spectrum would be allotted subsequently, to begin with, in those circles where it is available readily, telecom ministry officials said.
Trai seeks band neutrality for DTH operators
The financial Express, Wednesday, January 31, 2008
Aiming to create a level- playing field for operators, broadcast regulator Trai on Wednesday said, the government should permit band neutrality for DTH service providers. The existing DTH licence condition allows operators to provide signals only in ‘KU’ band directly to consumers without any other intermediary. In its recommendations on issues related to DTH service, Trai had recommended that DTH should continue supplying signals to the consumers directly and not to any other intermediary.