FREE DAILY SECTORS REPORT: 21.08.2012

[rupeedesk]

SECTORS ALERT (21.08.2012)

* AGRICULTURE: Paddy acreage tops 30 mln ha because transplantation has gained momentum in parts of central and north India as monsoon deficit has narrowed.

* AUTO: The government is examining suggestions to increase excise duty on diesel cars, Minister of State for Finance S.S. Palanimanickam said.

* AVIATION: Low-cost carrier IndiGo has overtaken full-service carriers JET AIRWAYS INDIA and Air India to emerge the largest domestic airline, with a market share of 27% as of July. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has alleged that the civil aviation ministry and the Airports Authority of India connived against the government's interest to blatantly favour the Delhi International Airport Ltd. GoAir plans to double its flights to 1,400 a week. The aviation ministry may ease flying norms for domestic carriers for foreign destinations.

* BANKING: The finance ministry has asked public sector lenders to form consortiums to restructure the accounts of state electricity boards. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram urged public sector banks to cut retail loan rates in a bid to push demand for consumer durables. Two-day bank strike is planned across the country from Wednesday to protest, among others, the move to amend the Banking Laws Bill. Moody's says RBI's proposed new guidelines restricting banks' exposure to their own group entities may affect STATE BANK OF INDIA, ICICI BANK, BANK OF BARODA, BANK OF INDIA, and KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK.

* COAL: The CAG has pegged the financial gain that private companies made due to the government's flawed coal allocation policy at a staggering 1.86 trln rupees.

* DISINVESTMENT: Government has fast-tracked sale of stake in HINDUSTAN ZINC and Bharat Aluminium Co.

* ECONOMY: The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council said the Indian economy is seen growing at 6.7% in 2012-13 (Apr-Mar). The council has suggested steps to boost economic growth, including taking integrated decisions on infrastructure projects, permitting foreign direct investment in certain sectors, and capping subsidies. The central government is looking to use the five-week window starting Sep 8 to push through some of the crucial economic reforms.

* FERTILISER: The government may monitor prices of non-urea fertilisers on a monthly basis to determine the reason for rising cost of diammonium phosphate and muriate of potash.

* INFLATION: Poor monsoon rains this year are likely to push up prices of pulses, which may affect food inflation, RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said.

* INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Oracle Corp has agreed to pay a $2 mln fine to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission charges that its India subsidiary secretly set aside money used to make unauthorised payments to phoney vendors in the country.

* INFRASTRUCTURE: The government plans to award 30-40 road projects covering 3,000-4,000 km on engineering, procurement and construction basis in the current financial year that started April.

* MINING: The Supreme Court has asked the Central Empowered Committee to submit a "comprehensive" report in two weeks on resumption of operations in 16 mines in Karnataka.

* MONSOON: India Meteorological Department said the country received 4.3 mm rain on Friday, 50% below normal. Late pick-up in monsoon likely to be bridge overall rain deficit.

* OIL AND GAS: US may release strategic petroleum reserves to bring down prices. Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C. Rangarajan said on Monday that a diesel price hike is expected in the next two months.

* PHARMACEUTICAL: Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said the government will soon bring clarity on issues related to foreign direct investment in the pharmaceutical sector. Sandoz, the generic arm of Swiss drug maker Novartis, has shut its facility developing active pharmaceutical ingredients near Mumbai.

* POWER: The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday said that it averted a failure of the Northern Grid.

* REAL ESTATE: Bombay High Court has set aside the Company Law Board's interim order on realty developer Rustomjee Group that termed its earlier sale of floor space index at its Virar project as invalid. Tata Realty and Infrastructure to invest 17 bln rupees over three years for various projects in India, including 5.5 bln rupees in Kochi for a premium waterfront residential property.

* REGULATORY: The RBI said urban co-operative banks should convert "no-frills accounts" into "basic saving bank deposit account" without any requirement of minimum balance to make the banking system more accessible. K.C. Chakrabarty has been reappointed deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India until Jun 30, 2014. RBI has appointed Jasbir Singh as executive director, and he will look after the deposit insurance and credit guarantee cooperation division. The RBI has informed the government there is no estimate on increase in circulation of fake currency notes in the country.

* SUGAR: SHREE RENUKA SUGARS has said that sugar production is likely to be lower at 23.5-24.5 mln tn in 2012-13 than industry estimate of 25 mln tn.

* TELECOM: Telenor has settled 98.09-bln-rupee loans of Uninor.

* TRADE: The Union Cabinet has approved reduction of 264 items, or 30%, from South Asian Free Trade Area's sensitive list for non-least developed countries, allowing peak tariff rates to fall to 5% within three years.

By RUPEE DESK

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