Weekly news update

Submitted by Ankush Gupta

Food Inflation declined

– Food Inflation declined for the fourth week in a row to a one year low but government remain concerned over the pace of the decline.

– The food inflation declined to 12.3% but it has increased when compared to previous year figures which was 12.59% a year ago

IOC plans to raise petrol prices

– India’s biggest fuel retailer IOC is considering raising petrol prices by 35 paise per litre this week as the crude oil prices have gone up.

– If government increases the prices this will be the third hike in petrol prices since government freed its pricing on June 26

– IOC decision is expected to be followed by other state run fuel retailers- Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp

US criticizes Indian FDI norms

– US commerce secretary Garry Locke has criticized India’s complicated FDI rules and non-tariff trade restrictions

– Mr. Locke is in favors that the Import Licences, Standards & Certifications and Local content requirements are some barriers that foreign businesses face in India

– However Anand Sharma is in favor that Indian government had worked much on increasing transparency, lowering cost with a single FDI Policy

Mining-hit to get compensation early

– Government plans to ask mining companies to start paying compensation to project affected people from the day a mining block is allocated

– As per plans once the project starts making profits. The displaced families will be provided an annuity income from the net income.

– The proposal will insure income support till the time the venture starts to make profits but mining companies will be allowed to claim these as expenditure

Orissa to move SC

– Orissa government is likely to challenge the Union ministry of environment & forest’s decision to deny permission to state owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) to mine bauxite in the Nyamgiri hills

– OMC had entered into a JV with Vedanta Aluminum for mining to deed VAL’s refinery at Nyamgiri. State government had committed to supply 150 million tons of bauxite to VAL.

New coal mining norms to end ‘No Go’ Zones

– Government is formulating a new strategy to allocate coal mines setting aside the controversial move by the environment ministry to categorize coal-bearing areas in the country as “Go” and “No-Go” areas for miners.

– This move will prevent confusion over mining rights given to Power, Steel and Cement sector companies over coal blocks allocated between 1994 and 2008

Thanks