Huge volume

some one bought Nifty 6.59 lac at 2710 levels
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More help from govt to real - infra sector

Government to provide additional help to housing, infra real estate sectors, says Finance Ministry - reports
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Monday Holiday

Holiday: Mahashivratri
23rd February 2009
Monday
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News Headlines - Morning Brief

Corporate News Headline
•Tata Power has hiked its stake in Tata Communications to 2.48% from 0.9% by purchasing shares worth Rs. 1.95 bn through open-market transaction. (BS)
•TRF has received an order worth Rs 997.4 mn from the Andhra Pradesh Government for setting up a coal-handing plant. (BS)
•KLG Systel bagged an order worth Rs. 300 mn from state-run power company based in Haryana to set up thirteen 33 KV substations and lay down 33 KV and 11 KV electrical lines on turnkey basis for Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. (BS)

Economic and Political Headline
•Inflation declined to 3.92% for the week ended February 7, from previous week's 4.39%. (BS)
•The Finance Minister announced that he would discuss the possibility of another set of fiscal and monetary measures to counter the economic slowdown with officials and the RBI. (BS)
•The UK had a USD 4.7 bn budget surplus in January, the smallest for the month for 14 years, as the financial crisis ravaged bank profits and the recession worsened. (Bloomberg)

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Fw: Indices@20-FEB 08:38

------ SMS Text ------
From: +919320770165
Sent: Feb 20, 2009 9:06 AM
Subject: Indices@20-FEB 08:38

Indices@20-FEB 08:38
Dow
7465.95(-89.68)
NSDQ
1442.82(-25.15)
Hangseng
12764.48(-258.88)
Nikkei
7455.4(-102.25)
SGX Nifty Fut-Feb
2740(-52.00)
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35% Pay-Cuts In Wipro From April

With the recession effects slowly increasing, more and more companies are getting slowly sucked into it and have been coming up with defensive measures to feel the minimum heat. Now, there is news about the major giant Wipro which has always been considered as the safest bet for employees.
It is now being said that the company has decided to go in for salary cuts and if new is to be believed then starting this April, the salaries will be going down by 35% from the existing pays. However, this is the highest meridian so the rest will have a cut anywhere between the range of 20%-35%.
This move is being seen across as a cost saving measure and inside reports say that the employees have no qualm in this new development since they feel that having a job is more than enough at this point of time. However, there are those who are feeling the pinch of it due to their financial commitments and other liabilities.
 
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Entertainment sector to witness boom in next few years

The media and entertainment industry is likely to grow at 12.5 percent
over the next five years to cross the Rs 1,00,000-crore mark,
according to a FICCI-KPMG report on the industry.
"Over the next five years, the industry is projected to grow at 12.5
percent to reach the size of Rs 1,05,200-crore (Rs 1,052-billion) by
2013," said the report released on Tuesday..

The Indian media and entertainment industry stood at Rs 58,400 crore
in 2008, up 12.4 percent over the previous year.

The report added that the economic slowdown has affected advertising
revenues of segments like television, print, radio and outdoor,
particularly in the last quarter of 2008.

The market environment has become increasingly challenging and could
affect the industry this current year too, it said.

The projected 12.5 percent growth for the media and entertainment
industry will be driven by factors like favorable demographics, long-
term fundamentals of the economy, expected rise in advertising to GDP
ratio and increasing media penetration, the report said.

Of the different segments of the industry, television forms the
biggest chunk with revenues worth Rs 24,100 crore in 2008, a growth of
14.2 percent over 2007. Revenues from television are projected to grow
to Rs 47,300 crore by the year 2013, the report said.

The film industry grew 13.4 percent in 2008 over the previous year and
posted revenues of Rs 10,900 crore. It is projected to reach the size
of Rs 16,800 crore by 2013.

At the same time on the sidelines of the Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Frames 2009, the , Minister of State
for Information and Broadcasting and External Affairs Anand Sharma
said The Central Government will take up with the Empowered Committee
on VAT (Value Added Tax) the media and entertainment industry's demand
for subsuming entertainment tax in the Goods and Services Tax (GST),
which is slated for introduction from April 2010.

Mr. Sharma said, "We will consider the entertainment industry's
demand, articulated by FICCI, for inclusion of entertainment tax in
GST itself, so that there is single tax on the industry.

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File belated tax return with a cool head!

Have you missed the train?? The tax train, that is!! If you have missed filing your tax return, do not despair...you can still file a 'belated

 
return'. The Indian tax authorities are always ready to give you a second chance!

In case of financial year beginning 1 April 2007 and ending on 31 March 2008, the due date for filing the income tax return for individuals whose total income exceeded the maximum amount which is not chargeable to tax (and who does not have to get the accounts audited) was 31 July 2008. For those of us who managed to meet the deadline, a job well done - for others, there is no real reason for you to worry. You can still file your return which will be considered as a valid tax return, but just that is would be treated as a 'belated return'.

Some major implications of filing a Belated Return

For the financial year ended 31 March 2008, the belated return can be filed up to two years from the end of financial year, which is up to 31 March 2010. However, there are riders attached to filing a belated tax return. Otherwise, there would be no point in the tax authorities spending so much on advertising the deadline of 31 July 2008.

If you file your return after one year from the end of financial year, that is after 31 March 2009 (for returns pertaining to financial year ended 31 March 2008), there is an exposure to penalty of Rs 5,000 depending on the discretion of the revenue authorities. This penalty will not apply if you file your tax return before 31 March 2009.

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CRISIL upgrades ING Liquid Plus Fund to ‘AA+f’

CRISIL has upgraded its rating on ING Mutual Fund's ING Liquid Plus
Fund
to 'AA+f' from 'A+f', to reflect the improvement in credit quality of
the scheme's holdings. The 'AA+f' rating indicates that the scheme's
portfolio will provide 'strong' protection against losses arising from
credit defaults.
Earlier on Nov 14, 2008, CRISIL had downgraded the scheme's rating to
'A+f' from 'AAAf', following deterioration in the credit quality of
the scheme's holdings.
CRISIL's rating is not an opinion on fund manager ING Investment
Management (India)'s willingness or ability to make timely payments to
investors, or on the stability of the fund's net asset values (NAVs),
as the NAVs could vary with market developments.

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FII & DII trading activity on NSE and BSE as on 19-FEB-2009

FII trading activity on NSE and BSE on Capital Market Segment

The following is combined FII trading data across NSE and BSE collated on the basis of trades executed by FIIs on 19-Feb-2009.



FII trading activity on NSE and BSE in Capital Market Segment(In Rs. Crores)
Category Date Buy Value Sell Value Net Value
FII 19-Feb-2009 809.57 1173.05 -363.48
 
 

Domestic Institutional Investors trading activity on NSE and BSE on Capital Market Segment


The following is combined Domestic Institutional Investors trading data across NSE and BSE collated on the basis of trades executed by Banks, DFIs, Insurance and MFs on 19-Feb-2009.


DII trading activity on NSE and BSE in Capital Market Segment(In Rs. Crores)
Category Date Buy Value Sell Value Net Value
DII 19-Feb-2009 578.54 470.1 108.44

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Suzlon Q3 Loss Rs 390 crores, massive losses on restorationof broken blades

Scrip code: 532667 Company Name: Suzlon Energy Ltd
Date Begin: 01 Oct 08 Date End: 31 Dec 08
 

3. Exceptional items referred to above include the following:

a. The Company has treated the Zero Coupon Convertible Bonds as monetary liability and accordingly restated the liability based on the exchange rate prevailing as at the end of the respective quarter. The amount of restatement for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2008 aggregated Rs.91.75 crores and Rs.434.50 crores respectively.

b. WTG / Blade restoration & retrofit costs are arising out of events like blade failures in Overseas Markets and disruption of WTGs in Dhule and, including their consequential generation / availability provisions. These amounts aggregate Rs.233.13 crores (Rs.18.74 crores) for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 and Rs.307.36 crores (Rs.84.20 crores) for the nine months ended December 31, 2008 and Rs.266.61 crores (Rs.Nil) for the year ended March 31, 2008. During the quarter ended December 31, 2008, the Company has made an additional provision of approximately Rs.171 crores (USD 35 Million) towards its blade retrofit program. This is in addition to Rs.122 crores (USD 30.34 Million) which the Company had provided during the year ended March 31, 2008.

c. Mark-to-market losses are in respect of foreign exchange forward / option contracts. The amounts for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2008 aggregated Rs.111.40 crores and Rs.202.03 crores respectively. These losses reflect the position as at the period end.

4. On June 11, 2007 and October 10, 2007, the Company made an issue of USD 300 Million (Rs.1,223.70 crores) and USD 200 Million (Rs.786.20 crores) Zero Coupon Convertible Bonds due 2012, respectively convertible into equity shares. The initial conversion price is fixed at Rs 359.68 per share and Rs.371.55 per share respectively (Face Value of Rs.2 per share) and the same is subject to adjustment in certain circumstances.

5. The Company has not provided for the proportionate premium on redemption of Zero Coupon Convertible Bonds, due 2012, since the Company believes that the same is contingent in nature. The proportionate premium for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2008 is approximately Rs.61.46 crores (Rs.Nil) and Rs.273.09 crores (Rs.63.08 crores) respectively. The auditors have without qualifying their opinion, given a matter of emphasis on non-provision of the proportionate premium in their limited review report for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2008. This item does not have any impact on the profit / (loss) for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2008.

6. On January 26, 2009, AE-Rotor Holding B.V. ("AERH"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company has sold 67,010,421 shares (10% equity) in Hansen Transmissions International NV ("Hansen") to funds managed by Ecofin Limited ("Ecofin"), a London based specialized investment firm. Following this disposal, the Suzlon Group has a voting and economic interest in Hansen of approximately 61.28%.

7. Pursuant to an agreement dated December 15, 2008 with the Martifer Group to acquire its 22.4% stake in Repower, in three tranches, by payment of Euro 65 Million in December 2008, Euro 30 Million in April, 2009 and the final tranche of Euro 175 Million in May 2009, the Company, through its subsidiary has paid first tranche of Euro 65 Million in December 2008, thereby increasing its holding in REpower to 73.71% as on December 31, 2008.

8. The Company has provided for Rs.83.45 crores (Rs.Nil) being liquidated damages, in terms of a contractual obligation with a customer of its subsidiary. This amount has been included under the caption "other costs" in the results for the quarter and nine-months ended December 31, 2008.

9. The Company has raised Rs.300 crores in December 2008 from The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) vide an issue of 12.5% Secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs). These NCDs are listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.

10. A fire occurred in the scrap yard of Pondicherry unit of the Company, on December 11, 2008, causing a temporary disruption of production. There has been no loss to assets and life. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

11. In terms of the approval of the shareholders, the Company has sub-divided the face value of the equity shares of Rs.10 each into face value of Rs.2 each with effect from January 28, 2008. Accordingly, the basic and diluted earning per share and number of shares disclosed above have been computed for all the periods based on the revised face value of Rs.2 each.

12. The Company has fully utilized QIP proceeds and the utilization was in line with the objects of the issue as stated in the placement document.

13. The Company is in the business of "Wind Turbine Generator (WTG)" and accordingly has only one reporting segment , in terms of Accounting Standard 17 - "Segment Reporting" as notified by the Companies (Accounting Standard) Rules 2006.

14. During the quarter ended December 31, 2008, the Company has issued and allotted 45,000 equity shares of Rs.2 each at an exercise price of Rs.51 per equity share on October 4, 2008 in terms of employee stock option plan - 2005.

15. The figures stated above, have been reclassified wherever necessary to confirm with the classification in the financial statements for the quarter / nine months ended December 31, 2008.

Tulsi R Tanti
Chairman & Managing Director

Safe Harbor Statement:

Some forward looking statements on projections, estimates, expectations & outlook are included to enable a better comprehension of the Company prospects. Actual results may, however, differ materially from those stated on account of factors such as changes in government regulations, tax regimes, economic developments within India and the countries within which the Company conducts its business, exchange rate and interest rate movements, impact of competing products and their pricing, product demand and supply constraints.
 
Nothing in this article is, or should be construed as, investment advice.

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HDFC announces introduction of HDFC FLEXINDEX Plan

HDFC Mutual Fund has introduced HDFC FLEXINDEX Plan under its debt /
liquid schemes.

The introduced plan will provide a facility to unit holders under the
debt / liquid schemes of the HDFC Mutual Fund (Source Schemes) to
automatically transfer a portion of their investment into equity
schemes of HDFC Mutual Fund (Target Schemes) on the trigger dates
occurring during the period of 1 year from the date of registration.

Unit holders of the Source Scheme(s) have to set triggers based on the
index reaching or crossing of a closing level, as specified by the
unit holder. The plan offers Flexible Investment option and Fixed
Investment option. Under Flexible installment option minimum of 10%
and in multiples of 1% thereafter is to be indicated against each
index level trigger and under Fixed Installment option, a fixed
installment of 25% against each Index level trigger is to be
indicated.

The move will be effective from February 25, 2009.

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Mutual fund assets up Rs39,833 crore in January

The mutual fund industry saw an overall increase in assets under
management of 9.4 per cent, or Rs39,833 crore, in January, with 22 of
the 35 fund houses reporting growth in average AUM.

The total AUM of the country's 35 mutual fund houses have risen to
Rs4,60,949 crore at the end of January, according to the data of the
Association of Mutual Funds in India.

The gains were led by significant growth in debt funds, according to
the fund evaluation and risk solutions provider Crisil FundServices.

Reliance Mutual Fund, the country's largest fund house, saw its AUM
rise Rs5,960 crore in January to Rs76,168 core. HDFC MF remained the
second big fund house with an addition of Rs4,663 crore in its AUM at
Rs51,421 crore as of end-January.


ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund toppled state-run UTI MF as the third
largest fund house of the country with an AUM of Rs47,515.51 crore,
after adding Rs5,638 crore in a month.

While Reliance MF and ICICI Pru MF recorded maximum growth in asset in
absolute terms, LIC MF and IDFC MF were at the top in terms of rate-of-
growth.

"In terms of rate of growth, reflected in month-on-month growth
percentage of average assets, LIC MF and IDFC MF were the leaders,
registering 30 per cent and 29 per cent growth in average AUM
respectively, between December 2008 and January 2009," Crisil said in
report.

January 2009 also witnessed a 110 per cent increase in cash levels
with MFs at Rs42,930 crore from Rs20,415 crore in December 2008.

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Govt set to revive subsidy scheme for shipbuilding cos

Govt set to revive subsidy scheme for shipbuilding cos

Nirbhay Kumar & Subhash Narayan
NEW DELHI

THE government is all set to revive the subsidy scheme for
shipbuilding companies such as ABG Shipyard, Bharati Shipyard,
Hindustan Shipyard and Pipavav Shipyard, where a part of the cost of
manufacturing the ship is reimbursed at the point of sale.
The finance ministry has also agreed to release the pending subsidy
amount to shipbuilding companies under the scheme, which lapsed on
August 15, 2007, amounting to nearly Rs 5,000 crore, a government
official said. Shipbuilding companies in the private sector got very
little subsidy under the scheme, added the source.
The finance ministry's in-principle approval has, however, come
with riders. It will now not be an open-ended scheme and the subsidy
component would be worked out on the basis of latest projections of
global orders that the home-grown shipbuilding companies are expected
to generate.
"The finance ministry has given its concurrence on the proposed
subsidy, albeit with some conditions. They have asked us not to keep
the scheme open-ended, which means that there will be no further
extension to the scheme. Following this, we are reviewing the earlier
proposal and are in the process of finalising a fresh scheme," a
government official, who did not wish to be named, told ET.
According to an industry estimate, the domestic shipyards currently
have an order book of Rs 22,000 crore compared with an order of just
Rs 816 crore in 2002. In a bid to promote the domestic shipbuilding
industry, the government has extended the subsidy scheme to private
shipbuilding companies. Earlier, only stateowned companies were
eligible for the subsidy. As per the scheme, the government provided a
30% subsidy on all ship sales to foreign companies and ocean-going
vessels of more than 80 m in length sold in the local market.
Following the expiry of the earlier scheme, the shipping ministry
proposed an extension of the scheme for another 10 years. The finance
ministry, however, turned down the proposal saying that the
shipbuilding industry had come of age and was in the position of stand
on its own. The finance ministry finally agreed to extend the scheme
with riders.

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Indian Software Industry Looks for Silver Lining in Cloud of Recession

International IT sector attention was last week focused on Indian
software industry apex body Nasscom's annual India Leadership Forum,
held on 11-13 February 2009 in Mumbai, to ascertain the extent to
which global economic turbulence has affected India's hitherto robust
software services exports sector.

The verdict? While attendance and sponsorship was visibly thinner than
at last year's show (unconfirmed estimates put both at about 20
percent lower), and the mood far from euphoric, it's pretty evident
that the Indian IT sector is resolute in its goal of ensuring that the
heartening 16 percent growth of software and services exports
estimated for FY 2008-09 will be maintained in the year ahead.
There is no doubt though that the current economic scenario is being
recognized as truly challenging by an industry habituated to growing
at 30 percent or better, prompting even the usually restrained co-
founder and chairman of Infosys Technologies, N R Narayana Murthy to
dub it "the mother of all recessions."
As the figures and the forecast by Nasscom revealed, the overall
Indian IT-BPO industry (including hardware) is estimated to aggregate
revenues of $71.1 billion for FY 2009 (ended March 31), accounting for
a sizeable 5.8 percent of gross domestic product of the country.
Analysts believe that India's fundamental advantages – low cost and
quality (which Egidio Zarrella, KPMG's global partner in charge of IT
Advisory, described as the "two big punches") – will help India keep
its competitive long-term advantage even in these recessionary times.
That said, the mood was grim yet determined, reflected in the titles
of some of the discussion topics: "Hard Times: Slow economy, sales
slump – Will it get worse? Will you survive?"; "Market Spiral:
Bottoming Out?"; "Making the most of a crisis"; and, "Balancing the
troughs to scale the peaks". Every industry captain that we spoke to
stressed on the need to enhance operational efficiency, improve
employee utilization rates and enter new markets. Engaged to explain
the changing dynamics of an increasingly volatile world, was an
impressive speaker roster comprising global thought leaders such as
management guru C K Prahalad (professor of strategy at University of
Michigan), Shashi Tharoor (former United Nations Under Secretary
General), Rosabeth Moss Kanter, (specialist in leadership and
innovation at Harvard Business School) and Pankaj Ghemawat (professor
for global strategy at IESE).
While there are still no clear answers or silver bullets, most
industry leaders expressed confidence and optimism that the industry
would emerge stronger coming out of this recession. The tone for the
Nasscom summit was set by John Chambers, chairman and CEO at Cisco
Systems, who said that this recession was an opportunity to reinvent,
and prepare for the inevitable upturn. "You will never create a great
company until you face a near-death experience," said Chambers, as he
spoke of his company's learning from past downturns, and how Cisco
used every such downturn as an opportunity to differentiate and
increase market share.
The need to reinvent and grow stronger was echoed by every Indian
industry leader, as they discussed ways to beat the slowdown. Vineet
Nayar, CEO at remote infrastructure management leader HCL
Technologies, spoke of "having to eat somebody else's lunch" in order
to gain market share, while Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani
advocated a strategy of helping clients to extract more out of their
existing IT investments as applicable regardless of market
conditions.

Lessons from the slowdown
Current conditions also offer a great opportunity to get closer to the
customer and build great relationships, as most clients of the IT
majors are in trouble themselves, and are looking for ideas that will
help them improve their market share. Denny McGuire, chairman emeritus
of US research firm TPI, articulated this premise as he spoke of the
need for transforming 'transactions' in the form of projects to
'relationships' that are focused on creating long-term value for the
client.
During the course of the three-day summit, there were several thought-
provoking observations that perhaps call for deeper introspection. Jim
Champy, chairman of Perot Systems, spoke of the need for simplifying
the huge complexity that is an integral part of every IT
implementation today. Champy cautioned that some industry players
could become extinct unless they revisit their business models, and
focus anew on systems and applications that are simple to understand
and implement. In this context, India Inc can learn from the immense
success of companies such as Google, which have built the brand from
ground up by understanding the needs and behavior of the consumer, and
are now leveraging this knowledge in the enterprise market. After all,
every enterprise has a consumer, who needs a system that is quick and
economical to understand, implement and maintain.
With the downturn overseas, the Indian IT services sector is beginning
to look more seriously at domestic clients. But this is no bed of
roses. Alok Kumar, senior vice president for IT at large Indian
conglomerate Reliance Industries, opined that the needs of Indian
enterprises were poorly understood by the Indian IT service providers,
thus slowing uptake. Kumar spoke of the need for IT services majors to
evolve different India-pricing models and demonstrate more
flexibility. "Due to the rigid policies of most IT service providers,
Reliance is now increasingly considering and using open source
technologies. If IT service providers keep at this path, their
business is bound to come down drastically in the Indian market,"
cautioned Kumar. Outgoing Nasscom chairman Ganesh Natarajan responded
that the Indian IT services sector is cognizant of this gap, and in
fact needs to evolve a separate strategy not only for India but also
for other emerging markets including Brazil, Russia and China.
Moving beyond Satyam
Nasscom and the Indian software industry are well aware of the damage
caused to "Brand India" by the recent financial fraud unearthed at
Satyam Computer Services. The issue was alluded to repeatedly at the
conference, and officials were keen to categorize it as a one-off
aberration rather than an indication of systemic problems with
corporate governance in India. In concrete terms, Nasscom announced
the formation of a corporate governance and ethics committee, to be
chaired by Murthy of Infosys. The committee aims to sharpen the
existing code of ethics, values and corporate code of conduct for
industry and emphasize existing regulations and practices on corporate
governance, an official statement said. It will also develop and
create awareness of best practices to be followed by the board, audit
committees and independent directors of organizations.
With consistently rapid growth rates over the last eight years, the
Indian software industry has rarely had time to sit back, introspect
and weed out inefficiencies. The current slowdown is thus also being
viewed as an opportunity to re-evaluate existing models, and gauge
whether the linear growth model is still the right way to measure
growth and profitability.
Clearly, apart from the usual diversification strategies and touting
the 'move up the value chain' mantra, the Indian software industry
seems eager to formulate new strategies that will help it emerge
stronger and more profitable when global spending on IT gets back on
track.

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India's fiscal deficit would shoot to about 7.8 per cent not 6 percent

 India's fiscal deficit would shoot to about 7.8 per cent if off-budget items like bonds issued to oil companies are included, said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on February 16 projected a fiscal deficit of 6 per cent, without including the off-budget items.
"The Budget shows that the number is going to be 6 per cent as a fiscal deficit and this does not include about 1.7 per cent, which is the bonds etc, which are not counted," Ahluwalia said in in interview to Karan Thapar on the CNBC TV 18 show - India Tonight.
"This year, that is 2008-09, we started off with fiscal deficit which we thought should be 2.5 per cent and then another half a per cent for pay commission to be 3 per cent," he said.
Commenting on the government not coming out with populist Budget, Ahluwalia said, "Announcing sops in the Interim Budget was not an established parliamentary practice."
The government has been reacting to that crisis through multiple channels and since September upto the second stimulus a lot of action has been taken and fed into the budget, he said
 
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10 Indian idustries do well in reccession

In the current global economic slowdown, every sector of business is
being affected and is witnessing a hard time. But IKON Marketing
Consultants reports that in India there are few sectors which will
grow in this adverse situation..

AS EVERY business sector is affected by present global crisis and
everybody is talking of slow down in business, still in India there
are few sectors which will grow in this adverse situation. Lets have a
look.
1. Food

No one can survive without basic food material like milk, vegetables
and drinking water. Food processing companies will not be affected
much and rather will earn profits by increasing the prices. These are
the basic needs which we as a common man can not produce by our self.

According to Ministry of Food Processing Industry (MFPI), the food
processing industry in India was seeing growth even as the world was
facing economic recession. According to the minister, the industry is
presently growing at 14 per cent against six to seven per cent growth
in 2003–04.The Indian food market is estimated at over US$ 182 billion
and accounts for about two thirds of the total Indian retail market.
Further, the retail food sector in India is likely to grow from around
US$ 70 billion in 2008 to US$ 150 billion by 2025

2. Railway

As the aviation sector has been affect much badly and resulting in
sharp rise in the air ticket rates the frequent travellers will prefer
railways to cut the cost of travelling and this will result in
increased traffic in railways and long queues at railway booking
counters. The freight traffic of Indian Railways has continued to grow
in the last few months, albeit at slow pace, indicating only marginal
impact of the global recession on the Indian economy.

The railways registered 13.87 per cent growth in revenue to Rs
57,863.90 crore in the first nine months ended December 31, 2008.
While total earnings from freight increased by 14.53 per cent at Rs
39,085.22 crore during the period, passenger revenue earnings were up
11.81 per cent at Rs 16,242.44 crore. The railways have enhanced
freight revenue by increasing its axle loading, improving customer
services and adopting an innovative pricing strategy.

3. PSU Banks

As seen in the private sector much of the job cuts due to global
slowdown, its the public sector undertaking (PSU) banks which gained
much confidence due to job safety and security. More and more people
are likely to turn towards government institutions, particularly banks
in the quest for safety and security.

A report "Opportunities in Indian Banking Sector", by market research
company, RNCOS, forecasts that the Indian banking sector will grow at
a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 23.3 per cent
till 2011.

4. Education

As education is considered as the basic necessity and in India it is
seen as a long term investment by parents and with respect to the
demand still there is a huge supply gap. The craze to study in foreign
university among the Indian youth still alive which will prompt
foreign education institute to target India provided vast young
population willing to join. We will see more and more foreign
educational institutions coming up in India in recent coming years.

Huge government as well as private investment is likely to flow into
the Indian educational system. D E Shaw, a US$ 36 billion, global
private equity firm is planning to invest around US$ 200 million in
the Indian education sector.

5. Telecom

People will not stop to communicate with each other due to global
crises rather it has been seen that it will increase much particularly
with mobile communication. With cheap cell phones available in the
Indian market and cheaper call rates, the sector has become the
necessity and primary need of everyday life.

Telecom sector, according to industry estimates, year 2008 started
with a subscriber base of 228 million and will likely to end with a
subscriber base of 332 million – a full century. The telecom industry
expects to add at least another 90 million subscribers in 2009 despite
of recession. The Indian telecommunications industry is one of the
fastest growing in the world and India is projected to become the
second largest telecom market globally by 2010.

6. IT

Recent news shown that Indian IT sector will grow 30 to 40 per cent
next year. And on the other side to survive in current slowdown,
industries have to decrease the cost and for that they will resort to
customised IT solutions which will further boost up the software
solution demand.

India is fast becoming a hot destination for outsourced e-publishing
work. As per a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report, the
industry is growing at an annual rate of 35 per cent and India's
outsourcing opportunities in the value-added and core services such as
copy editing, project management, indexing, media services and content
deployment will help make the publishing BPO industry worth US$ 1.46
billion by 2010.

7. Health care

India in case of health care facilities still lakes the adequate
supply. In health care sector also there is huge gap between demand
and supply at all the levels of society. Still there are so many urban
areas were you could hardly find any multi specialty hospital. And in
case of metros the market sentiments itself created a need of
psychological consultation.

Healthcare, which is a US$ 35 billion industry in India, is expected
to reach over US$ 75 billion by 2012 and US$ 150 billion by 2017. The
healthcare industry is interestingly poised as it strives to emerge as
a global hub due to the distinct advantages it enjoys in clinical
excellence and low costs.

8. Luxury products

The high and affluent class of society will not be affected much by
this global crises even if their worth is reduced significantly. They
will not change their lifestyle and will not stop spending on
luxurious goods. So luxurious product market will not be affected and
in fact to maintain the lifestyle those affluent will spend more for
it. Luxury car makers are pouring in to woo the nouveau riche (Audi,
BMW are the most recent entrants).

9. M&A & Marketing Consultants

As in the current business slow down survival will be the main focus,
the marketing and management consultants will be called for to reduce
the costs and to show the ways to survive and stay in market. Others
may join hands to fight with this situation together will call for the
Marketing & M&A consultants. In a booming market there are growth
strategies and M&A opportunities to advise on. When businesses are
cutting back, consultancies will be right there to help clients decide
where to wield the axe.

According to Ministry of Commerce and Industry's estimation, the
current size of consulting industry in India is about Rs 10000 crores
including exports and is expected to grow further at a CAGR of
aproximately 25 per cent in next few years.

10.
Media and Entertainment

In current bad times, where people are losing jobs and getting enough
time to watch TV, they will seek entertainment at home and hence
advertising revenues will increase for the commercial channels. Also
businesses like production of religious texts and religious materials,
religious channels will do well. The TRP of religious channels will
increase compare to the other entertaining/commercial channels.

According to a report published by the Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the Indian M&E industry is expected
to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 per cent to
reach US$ 23.81 billion by 2012. According to the PWC report, the
television industry was worth US$ 5. 48 billion in 2007, recording a
growth of 18 per cent over 2006. It is further likely to grow by 22
per cent over the next five years and be worth US$ 12. 34 billion by
2012.

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Tax benifts of insaurance schemes

The average life span of an individual has increased in India due to better health conditions, awareness about one's well being and improved

 
medical facilities. At the same time, the medical costs of treatment and surgery have increased a lot. Therefore, medical insurance makes complete sense, especially where majority of the family members are dependent on one or two earning members, as is generally the case in an average Indian household.

It is a well-known fact that one can save tax up to Rs 1 lakh u/s 80C of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Likewise, payment made for medical insurance u/s 80D of the Act can also help save tax.

As per section 80D of the Act, a deduction can be claimed by an individual in respect of the medical insurance premium paid up to Rs 15,000 for himself and his spouse and dependent children. Additionally, he can also claim deduction for the medical insurance premium up to Rs 15,000 for his parent(s). Further, the aforesaid deductions are increased up to Rs 20,000 in case the premium is paid for senior citizen (65 years or more).

Computation of benefit

Let us understand the above with the help of an example. Ashish has taken two insurance policies, one for himself, spouse and dependent children and the other one for his dependent parents who are senior citizens. He pays an annual premium of Rs 12,000 & Rs 25,000, respectively, for these two policies. Now, let's determine the amount of exemption available to Ashish u/s 80D for each insurance policy separately.

In the first case, he will be eligible to claim a deduction of only up to Rs 12,000 i.e. amount of premium actually paid subject to a maximum of Rs 15,000. In the second case, where he has taken a policy for his parents, he would be eligible to claim a deduction towards the premium paid for Rs 20,000, which is the maximum limit. In total, he would be able to claim deduction of up to Rs 32,000 (i.e. Rs 12,000 + Rs 20,000) in respect of both the policies.

It is important to note that the medical insurance premium should not be paid by cash, to avail the tax benefit.

Dependent with a disability

Further, in case an individual incurs expenses on medical treatment of a dependent with a disability, then he can claim a deduction up to Rs 50,000 / Rs 75,000, subject to the disability of the dependent u/s 80DD of the Act.

Few specified diseases

An individual can claim a deduction up to Rs 40,000 (Rs 60,000 in case of senior citizens) u/s 80 DDB for expenses incurred on treatment of certain prescribed diseases or ailments, subject to fulfillment of conditions prescribed under the Act.

An integral part of overall investment planning

Medical insurance these days is becoming a necessity and one should look at it as an essential investment for the well being of self and family.

These days, many insurance companies provide cashless medical claim facility wherein an individual can get the treatment done in specified hospitals without any payment. The payment for the treatment is made directly to the hospital by the insurance company, subject to the terms and conditions of the medical insurance policy.

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Investors of gold ETFs have pocketed over 9% gain in last seven days.

AHMEDABAD: At a time when equity and mutual fund investors are licking their wounds, investors of goldbacked exchange traded funds (ETFs) are
laughing all the way to the banks, thanks to rising gold prices.

As the gold is resuming its secular trends, investors of gold ETFs have pocketed over 9% gain in last seven days. Prices of five listed gold ETFs have gone up anywhere between 7.85 per cent to 9.84 per cent in the last seven days. The equity and mutual fund investors have witnessed an erosion of their wealth by 4.75 per cent as the benchmark equity index Sensex has tanked from 9465 points to 9015 points during the same period between February 12 and 18.

Gold prices have staged an upward journey since the last week of October 2008 as the worries over global economy deepened. If one takes into account the time frame of last four months, gold ETFs have given as high as 34 per cent return to investors.

"Wealth of gold ETFs investors has been increasing due to rising price of underlined gold in the global market . The current crisis in the global market has forced investors and large funds to shift their asset to gold for wealth preservation," said Sandesh Kirkire, chief executive officer of Kotak Mutual Fund.

Gold ETFs are passively managed mutual fund schemes under which investors can buy and sell gold on the exchange. As the gold is traded and the physical form of gold for each unit traded is backed by the custodian , investors need not worry about storage of their gold units.

The combined holding of gold by all these domestic ETFs are around five tonne and asset under management (AUM) of these funds has been rising with spurting gold prices. The combined gold holding of the world's top five ETFs has crossed 1,300 tonne.

SPDR Gold Share Fund, the world's largest ETF, has added its gold holding by 100 tonne in just a week's time. The total gold holding of SPDR now stands at 985 tonne.

As rupee is depreciating against dollar, the returns from the investments in the yellow metal have gone up in the last one year. This is attracting more and more investors to invest in the precious metal. ETF is a good option for investing in this precious metal.


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