NEWS – SEPTEMBER 2007

• ‘No severe sub-prime effect thanks to regulations’
  The Business Line, Saturday, September 29, 2007
• Allow new players to offer mobile TV: TRAI
  The Business Line, Wednesday, September 19, 2007
• Bill on airport services regulator tabled
  The Business Line, Thursday, September 06, 2007
• Centre turns to addl solicitor-general to fight gas pool pricing case
  The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 04, 2007
• Cess on large retail proposed
  The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 11, 2007
• City gas distribution: ‘Regulatory uncertainties need to be sorted out’
  The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 01, 2007
• DoT forms committee to study Trai suggestions in spectrum
  The Financial Express, Saturday, September 15, 2007
• DoT report on levy restructuring in Sept
  The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 04, 2007
• DoT seeks operators’ views on spectrum allocation, pricing
  The Business Line, Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007
• DoT to conduct checks on operators’ networks
  The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 15, 2007
• DTH operators get TRAI nod to pick and choose channels
  The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007
• FDI priorities
  The Business Line, Friday, Sep 28, 2007
• Financial Tech gets nod for setting up power exchange
  The Business Line, Friday, Sep 21, 2007
• Flexible infra lending norms may wipe out funding shortfall
  The Financial Express, Wednesday, September 26, 2007
• GAIL seeks nod for 230 new city gas projects
  The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007
• Gas pricing sets off debate on utilisation & bidding policies
  The Business Line, Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007
• Govt begins talks with law firms on opening up legal services
  The Business Line, Wednesday, Sep 26, 2007
• Govt may be compelled to raise petrol, diesel prices
  The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
• Govt may rope in private sector to set up more IITs, IIMs
  The Financial Express, Saturday, September 01, 2007
• Govt to ease mega power policy norms
  The Financial Express, Sunday, September 23, 2007
• Govt to set up real estate regulator in Delhi
  The Business Line, Friday, Sep 28, 2007
• GSM operators knock DoT door against Trai’s spectrum proposals
  The Financial Express, Thursday, September 06, 2007
• Guidelines soon on semiconductor policy
  The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007
• Just a matter of time, CCI all set to get more teeth
  The Financial Express, Thursday, September 06, 2007
• ‘More players need to enter power equipment biz’
  The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007
• New draft policy to prop up fertiliser sector
  The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 11, 2007
• New petrochem policy to tackle structural constraints
  The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 29, 2007
• New policy for SMEs in Orissa soon: CM
  The Financial Express, Saturday, September 01, 2007
• New scheme soon to compensate exporters for State-level levies
  The Business Line, Sunday, Sep 30, 2007
• Oil exploration cos seek changes in merger policy
  The Business Line, Sunday, Sep 02, 2007
• Oil Ministry moots panel to monitor nomination blocks
  The Business Line, Monday, Sep 24, 2007
• Oil ministry seeks tech wing view on fuel pricing policy
  The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 04, 2007
• ONGC wants govt to hurry up on producer price decision
  The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 18, 2007
• Plan panel opposes move to bring 354 drugs in price net
  The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 18, 2007
• ‘Policy change could send wrong signals to investors’
  The Business Line, Monday, Sep 10, 2007
• Power Grid Corporation — IPO: Invest at Cut-off
  The Business Line, Sunday, Sep 09, 2007
• Power trading platform gets regulatory nod
  The Business Line, Monday, Sep 03, 2007
• PowerGrid may spin off telecom business
  The Business Line, Thursday, Sep 06, 2007
• Regulatory body for medical devices
  The Business Line, Sunday, Sep 23, 2007
• Spectrum pricing recommendations legally untenable, says COAI
  The Business Line, Friday, Sep 07, 2007
• State-level PSEs to come under MoU system
  The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 08, 2007
• States told to form inter-ministerial body for special economic zones
  The Business Line, Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007
• TRAI for allowing telecom cos, cable operators to offer Net TV
  The Business Line, Friday, Sep 07, 2007
• Trai for tougher M&A norms for licensees
  The Financial Express, Saturday, September 15, 2007
• Trai frames regulations to protect DTH subscribers
  The Financial Express, Saturday, September 01, 2007
• Trai issues norms for cheaper bandwidth to IT companies
  The Financial Express, Saturday, September 15, 2007
• Trai moots content control for Net TV
  The Financial Express, Thursday, September 06, 2007
• TRAI urges Govt to boost broadband growth
  The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007
• Unitech plans foray into telecom services
  The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 22, 2007

‘No severe sub-prime effect thanks to regulations’
The Business Line, Saturday, September 29, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 28: India might preen on the fact that the recent sub-prime loan crisis that triggered financial market turbulence across the world in major markets has not had any devastating effect on domestic markets, thanks to the necessary regulations to ensure that capital flows — inward and outward — are orderly.

 
Read More…

Allow new players to offer mobile TV: TRAI
The Business Line, Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Presently only Doordarshan is providing Mobile TV services. Once this order is in operation all the existing integrated mobile service providers and new participant will be above to provide these services to consumers. This will reduce the market dominance power of Cable TV operators, DTH service providers and Internet Television Protocol players.

 
Read More…

Bill on airport services regulator tabled
The Business Line, Thursday, September 06, 2007

Like the other infrastructure services, the Govt. of India has introduced the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) Bill to establish a regulatory authority that would monitor the performance standards relating to quality, continuity and reliability of services offered. Presently, Airport Authority of India is working as regulator as well operator of services. For a long time, there was a demand to promote the competition in the sector.

 
Read More…

Centre turns to addl solicitor-general to fight gas pool pricing case
The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Companies like Essar and Gujarat State Petro-Chemicals Ltd (GSPCL), who were purchasing the low priced R-LNG under the earlier term contracts, filed petition in the high courts of Delhi and Gujarat against the government’s order which said the price of R-LNG procured under the term contracts should be non-discriminatory and that a uniform pooled price should be charged from all existing and new consumers. The Govt. wants to apply all efforts to win the case in the High Court.

 
Read More…

Cess on large retail proposed
The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The government may support the small and unorganized retailers through a levy of a cess on large, organised retailers like Reliance Retail, AV Birla Retail, Bharti Retail and the Future group. The funds thus collected would be used to provide cheaper credit to small, unorganised retailers. But this step may affect the scope for competition since it involves cross subsidization.

 
Read More…

City gas distribution: ‘Regulatory uncertainties need to be sorted out’
The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 01, 2007

Having an input from the global experience, the private sector is expected to make substantial investment in City Gas Distribution Networks. A study conducted by CRICIL has observed uncertainty about regulatory process responsible for slow progress in this area. There is urgent need to issue fair guidelines on certain issue-terms and conditions of licenses, qualification criteria etc. to encourage the private participants.

 
Read More…

DoT forms committee to study Trai suggestions in spectrum
The Financial Express, Saturday, September 15, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 14: The Department of Telecom has formed an internal panel to study Trai’s recommendations on reforms in the licensing regime, which include views on capping the number of players, spectrum allocation and acquisitions.

 
Read More…

DoT report on levy restructuring in Sept
The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 04, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 4: A committee set up by the department of telecom to rationalise the duty structure in the industry will submit its report this month, which will then be sent to the finance ministry for consideration. DoT sources said rationalisation of tax is necessary and the committee has taken certain steps towards it.

 
Read More…

DoT seeks operators’ views on spectrum allocation, pricing
The Business Line, Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 18: With the GSM-based operators issuing a legal notice to the Government expressing their concern over spectrum allocation, the Department of Telecom has thrown the ball back into the operator’s court by asking them to suggest a mechanism whereby, spectrum can be priced and allocated according to the demand.

 
Read More…

DoT to conduct checks on operators’ networks
The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 15, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 14: In a bid to ensure that cellular operators are using the given spectrum efficiently, the Department of Telecom has asked all the service providers to furnish details of the various techniques being deployed that enhances usage of radio frequency. DoT has also asked its wireless monitoring organisation to carry out sample checks in each circle to verify that the operators are using technologies that ensures optimum utilisation of spectrum

 
Read More…

DTH operators get TRAI nod to pick and choose channels
The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007

New Delhi, Sept.3: In a bid to boost the uptake of direct-to-home (DTH) services in the country, the TRAI has made it mandatory for broadcasters to offer interconnection to DTH operators within a stipulated period of time. The TRAI has also allowed DTH operators to pick and choose channels they want to offer from the bouquet offered by the broadcasters.

 
Read More…

FDI priorities
The Business Line, Friday, Sep 28, 2007

One of the biggest challenges for the country is to find adequate funds for investment. Investor confidence, quite obviously, is the key to attracting investment. In this context, the report ‘World Investment Prospects to 2011’, recently released by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the Columbia Programme on International Investment (CPII), should help our policy-makers take note of the global perceptions about India.

 
Read More…

Financial Tech gets nod for setting up power exchange
The Business Line, Friday, Sep 21, 2007

Mumbai, Sept. 20: Financial Technologies (India) Ltd has received approval from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to set up a national level power exchange. The exchange would be called Indian Energy Exchange Ltd (IEX) for trading in electricity.

 
Read More…

Flexible infra lending norms may wipe out funding shortfall
The Financial Express, Wednesday, September 26, 2007

New York, Sep 26: Relaxing loan exposure norms for commercial banks could be key to bridging the $40 billion shortfall the Planning Commission sees in the debt component of funds India needs for infrastructure development until 2012. The Planning Commission, has estimated that the country needs $492 billion in the 11th Plan period to fund infrastructure development, which in turn is key to achieving 9% economic growth.

 
Read More…

GAIL seeks nod for 230 new city gas projects
The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007

New Delhi, Sept 3: GAIL (India) Ltd has approached the Government with firm plans to seek approval for city gas distribution projects in 230 cities across the country. The company proposes to implement these projects in different phases and the cities short-listed include Tiruchi, Puducherry, Thanjavur, Cuddalore, Bangalore, Indore, Gwalior, Ujjain, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, and Kota. The gas transmission and marketing company also intends to use the first mover advantage to strategic benefit in gas retailing and evolve a partnership- based business model with gas producers.

 
Read More…

Gas pricing sets off debate on utilisation & bidding policies
The Business Line, Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 4: The issue of gas pricing under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), which is being considered by an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), seems to have kicked off a debate on a need to have gas utilisation, pricing and bidding policies in place to avoid disputes. The issue gathers significance as it would have direct impact on Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) gas pricing from its eastern offshore field.

 
Read More…

Govt begins talks with law firms on opening up legal services
The Business Line, Wednesday, Sep 26, 2007

New Delhi, Sept 25: The Government has begun consultations with the domestic law firms over the issue of opening up the legal services sector to foreign law firms. Mr H.R. Bhardwaj, Union Law Minister said that the Government has requested the London Court of Arbitration to set up office in India and allow lawyers here to be a part of it.

 
Read More…

Govt may be compelled to raise petrol, diesel prices
The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 08, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 7: with renewed surge in international crude prices, the Government may be compelled to review the prices of petroleum products after the end of the current session of Parliament next week. The reason for this is that ete average price of Indian basket of crude oil during 2007-08 (up to August) has increased to $68.34 per barrel compared to $62.46 during 2006-07.

 
Read More…

Govt may rope in private sector to set up more IITs, IIMs
The Financial Express, Saturday, September 01, 2007

New Delhi/Kolkata, Aug 31: The Centre’s decision to set up seven more IIMs in the country will cost the government between Rs 200 and Rs 210 crore, if the land is provided free-of-cost by the state government. The government is, however, planning to rope in the private sector for this purpose.

 
Read More…

Govt to ease mega power policy norms
The Financial Express, Sunday, September 23, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 23: In order to facilitate speedy execution of power projects in the country, the government has decided to further liberalise its existing mega power policy. The ministry of power moved has moved a cabinet note proposing crucial amendments in the existing mega power policy.

 
Read More…

Govt to set up real estate regulator in Delhi
The Business Line, Friday, Sep 28, 2007

Mumbai, Sept 27: the Union Government will set up a regulator to address builder-consumer complaints in Delhi in six months. The regulator would take up complaints such as “cheating”.

 
Read More…

GSM operators knock DoT door against Trai’s spectrum proposals
The Financial Express, Thursday, September 06, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 6: Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the body representing GSM operators, wrote to the department of telecommunications (DoT) secretary DS Mathur expressing concerns over the recent recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) wherein a steep one-time charge has been proposed on grant of additional spectrum along with enhancing the subscriber base criteria.

 
Read More…

Guidelines soon on semiconductor policy
The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 11, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 10: In a move that could open floodgates of investment and secure India’s position on the global semiconductor map, the Government is all set to issue guidelines for semiconductor manufacturing policy this week. The ‘Special Incentive Package Scheme’ to encourage investments for setting up semiconductor fabrication and other micro and nano technology manufacturing industries was announced by the Government in February this year.

 
Read More…

Just a matter of time, CCI all set to get more teeth
The Financial Express, Thursday, September 06, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 6: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has moved a significant step near to getting statutory powers with the Lok Sabha clearing the relevant Bill on Thursday. However, the competition watchdog may still take at least a year before it becomes operational.

 
Read More…

‘More players need to enter power equipment biz’
The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 04, 2007

Mumbai, Sept. 3: The country needs five more companies like Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) in the power equipment manufacturing business to meet the Eleventh Plan’s target capacity addition of 78,000 MW. The Ministry observed that across the country the capacity addition slippages were 100 MW to 500 MW every fortnight due to delay in procuring equipment. Therefore, there is need for more manufacturing capacity

 
Read More…

New draft policy to prop up fertiliser sector
The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 11, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 10: At a time when the economy is going great guns, the fertiliser sector’s fate hangs in balance. In fact, this crucial sector has not received any fresh investments for more than a decade. To prop up investors’ confidence, the government is now drafting a new investment policy, reportedly based on the notion that tax sops attract new players.

 
Read More…

New petrochem policy to tackle structural constraints
The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 29, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 28: The Government has unveiled a new National Policy on Petrochemicals that envisages an investment of around Rs 36,000 crore in the petrochemical sector during the next five years. This investment is expected to increase the ethylene capacity from the current level of 2.7 million tonnes to 6.9 million tonnes.

 
Read More…

New policy for SMEs in Orissa soon: CM
The Financial Express, Saturday, September 01, 2007

Bhubaneswar, Aug 31: Orissa government will soon announce a new policy for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The policy aims to encourage establishment of SMEs and development of infrastructure for those units in Orissa.

 
Read More…

New scheme soon to compensate exporters for State-level levies
The Business Line, Sunday, Sep 30, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 29: The new scheme replacing the Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme (DEPB) giving duty remission on imported inputs for exporters but providing reimbursement for State-level levies would be in place in a fortnight’s time after being cleared by the Union Cabinet.

 
Read More…

Oil exploration cos seek changes in merger policy
The Business Line, Sunday, Sep 02, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 1: Oil exploration companies including Reliance Industries Ltd have sought modifications in the proposed extension policy which seeks to merge exploration phases of offshore blocks under NELP three and four rounds thereby giving these companies additional two years to undertake activities. The exploration companies have cited technical hitches in implementing the proposed policy.

 
Read More…

Oil Ministry moots panel to monitor nomination blocks
The Business Line, Monday, Sep 24, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 23: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has proposed constitution of a committee to monitor activities in blocks given on nomination basis to National Oil Companies (NOCs) — ONGC and Oil India Ltd (OIL). Nomination blocks are those that have been awarded to the national oil companies before NELP and PSC regime

 
Read More…

Oil ministry seeks tech wing view on fuel pricing policy
The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Mumbai, Sep 4: The ongoing debate over gas pricing has taken a new turn with the petroleum ministry asking its technical wing, the petroleum planning of analysis cell (PPAC), to give comments on the recommendations made by the committee of secretaries (COS) on the vexed issue of creating a level-playing field for all players, including public and private oil marketing companies, in the sector.

 
Read More…

ONGC wants govt to hurry up on producer price decision
The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Mumbai, Sep 18: State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has urged the Centre to expedite and convey a final decision on producer price of gas, stressing on the point that the tariff commission (TC) has recognised that the value of gas is more than the current administered pricing mechanism (APM) prices.

 
Read More…

Plan panel opposes move to bring 354 drugs in price net
The Financial Express, Tuesday, September 18, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 18: The ministry of chemicals and fertiliser’s move to bring more drugs under the price control regime has met stiff resistance. However, the Planning Commission, in a note to the group of ministers (GoM) on the national pharma policy, has said any move to include more drugs in the price control net would discourage new investment and limit competition.

 
Read More…

‘Policy change could send wrong signals to investors’
The Business Line, Monday, Sep 10, 2007

Courier companies are worried that their party might be spoilt by the proposed postal reforms Bill. They have been riding the crest of the economic boom, growing at an average 20-25 per cent the past couple of years. If forecasts are anything to go by, express companies, as couriers are known in industry parlance, will continue to grow in India at the same level, if not higher, over the next five years

 
Read More…

Power Grid Corporation — IPO: Invest at Cut-off
The Business Line, Sunday, Sep 09, 2007

Investors can subscribe to Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.’s (PGCIL) IPO at the cut-off price. The company is a near monopoly in the inter-regional and inter-state power transmission business where earnings visibility is high and operational risks are low.

 
Read More…

Power trading platform gets regulatory nod
The Business Line, Monday, Sep 03, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 2: The decks have been cleared for the country’s first power exchange, with a proposal put forward by Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) and Financial Technology India Ltd (FTIL) to set up a nationwide power trading platform getting the regulatory nod.

 
Read More…

PowerGrid may spin off telecom business
The Business Line, Thursday, Sep 06, 2007

Kolkata, Sept. 5: Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) may spin off its telecom business into a subsidiary in the long run. The business is expected to break even with a turnover of approximately Rs 100-120 crore in 2007-08, two years ahead of schedule.

 
Read More…

Regulatory body for medical devices
The Business Line, Sunday, Sep 23, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 22: With a view to keep a check on the quality of medical devices, the Department of Science and Technology has sought to introduce a legislation to enforce uniform standards for such equipment. The Government has proposed to create a regulatory authority to establish and maintain a national system of certification relating to quality, safety, efficacy and availability of medical devices

 
Read More…

Spectrum pricing recommendations legally untenable, says COAI
The Business Line, Friday, Sep 07, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 6: The Cellular Operators Association of India on Thursday told the Government that the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India related to spectrum and capping of mobile operators were flawed, based on incorrect assumptions and in several instances, legally untenable.

 
Read More…

State-level PSEs to come under MoU system
The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 08, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 7: The State level public sector enterprises (PSEs) too will have to sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the respective State Governments, similar to the system under which the central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) have to sign MoUs with the Central Government.

 
Read More…

States told to form inter-ministerial body for special economic zones
The Business Line, Wednesday, Sep 12, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 11: The Commerce Ministry is keen on implementing a single window mechanism for (SEZ (special economic zone) developers and urged the State governments to set up an inter-ministerial body to ensure effective co-operation.

 
Read More…

TRAI for allowing telecom cos, cable operators to offer Net TV
The Business Line, Friday, Sep 07, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 6: Paving the way for large scale deployment of Internet Protocol Television services in the country, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that both telecom operators and cable TV service providers will be allowed to offer IPTV under their existing licences.

 
Read More…

Trai for tougher M&A norms for licensees
The Financial Express, Saturday, September 15, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 14: To discourage non-serious players from entering the telecom sector, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has proposed a lock-in period in the form of rollout obligations for companies granted fresh licences from mergers and acquisitions. These companies would also not be entitled to participate in any auction for spectrum unless they meet the rollout obligations enunciated in the licence conditions.

 
Read More…

Trai frames regulations to protect DTH subscribers
The Financial Express, Saturday, September 01, 2007

New Delhi, Aug 31: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday issued regulations pertaining to the quality of service issues so that interests of direct-to-home (DTH) subscribers could be protected and the new operators gear up their operations from the very beginning. Trai may also prescribe suitable schemes in this regard in future, if necessary. The regulation comes into effect from December 1, 2007.

 
Read More…

Trai issues norms for cheaper bandwidth to IT companies
The Financial Express, Saturday, September 15, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 14: In a bid to provide cheaper bandwidth to IT companies, BPOs and Internet service providers (ISPs), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday issued regulation on domestic leased circuits. Operators provide DLC to connect two or more customer sites or customers to their own or other service providers networks.

 
Read More…

Trai moots content control for Net TV
The Financial Express, Thursday, September 06, 2007

New Delhi, Sep 6: Putting a pause on the long-drawn debate over provisioning of IPTV services, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) proposed that both telecom service providers and cable operators can provide the service under the same laws.

 
Read More…

TRAI urges Govt to boost broadband growth
The Business Line, Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 17: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) urged the Government to take urgent policy measures to boost broadband growth in the country including asking BSNL and MTNL to adopt a franchisee model whereby local players can use their copper lines to offer high speed Internet services.

 
Read More…

Unitech plans foray into telecom services
The Business Line, Saturday, Sep 22, 2007

New Delhi, Sept. 21: The beeline for new cellular licence has just got longer. Real estate developer Unitech Ltd said it plans to apply for licences to provide telecom services across the country.

 
Read More…