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  01 MAIN
   
   
  02 NEWSMAKER
   
   
  03 INVESTMENT UPDATE
   
   
  04 TRADE AND ECONOMY
   
   
  05 INFOTECH
   
   
 

06 FEATURE
   
   
  07 TRAVEL
   
   
  08 CALENDAR
   

   
  HIGHLIGHTS
   
 

Australia keen to put more resources to India
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  Election 2009: An Update
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  Ladakh
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03. INVESTMENT UPDATE

“Australia keen to put more resources to India’s mining, banking and financial sectors”

Australian investments in India will significantly go up, particularly in mining, banking and financial sectors, if Indian economy is further liberalized, said H.E. Mr. John McCarthy, Australian High Commissioner, while addressing a well attended gathering on the occasion of the 19th Annual Day of the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce, held on 23rd March 2009 at Chennai. He added that despite the economic downturn, Australia has a deep commitment for improving bilateral ties by strengthening its resources in India.

The High Commissioner also spoke on the growing knowledge relationships between the two nations. The number of Indian students in Australia is now 93,000. The Indian expatriate community in Australia is now over quarter million. “India should take advantage of these human resources to realize the full potential of the bilateral ties”, stated the High Commissioner.

He commended the role of the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce in promoting the relations between the two countries and observed that the Chamber should also help in building up institution to institution linkages between the two countries.

Mr. K.M. Mammen, President of the Chamber, in his welcome address, stated that “India imports 6 billion dollars worth of gold from Australia and the country has enormous skills and crafts and cost arbitrage to convert a part of this to world class jewellery and add value to both the nations”. He also mentioned that Australia has a number of innovative technologies which India can use to its advantage.

Mr. C. Sarat Chandran, Director of the Chamber, giving a perspective on the current Indo-Australian business trends, remarked that Australia has a vibrant SME sector of 1.3 million small businesses which are now looking outward for opportunities. Over 1500 Australian companies are presently doing business with India. “This is India’s opportunity,” Mr. Sarat Chandran added.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Shane Freeman, (Managing Director, ANZ India), Chairman, Sub Committee of the Chamber for Australian Companies, said the focus should be on sustainable growth, which should have the broadest context at a time when economic downturn was making a deep impact.

Opportunities for Australian companies in
the Indian Mobile VAS

Mobile value-added services hold a tremendous revenue-generating potential in India, which could rake in around Rs. 18,000 crore by 2012, an official from state-run BSNL said.

These services include video telephony, broadband and mobile television, among others. “In India, VAS (Value Added Services) is picking up.

It has the potential to generate huge revenues”, said Mr. S.S. Sirohi, Deputy General Manager, VAS, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).“It will contribute about Rs. 6,000 crore to total revenue from telecom operations by end of this year (FY 09). This is likely to go up to Rs. 18,000 crore by 2012”, he said.

Mobile VAS includes features like mobile broadband, mobile television, online gaming, video streaming, fulltrack downloading and video telephony. “Mobile applications in India will really explode…it is affordable because of the huge volumes (huge potential subscriber base), Mr. Sirohi said.

Source:
Indo-Australian Business Talk

Ranbaxy facility gets Australian clearance

The Paonta Sahib manufacturing facility of Ranbaxy Laboratory Ltd got approved by the Australian drug regulator, Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). The TGA had issued “Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)” for the facility after an audit conducted late last year. According to the company, the drug Authority had inspected this facility in 2006, after which it was awarded GMP certificate valid for two years. Subsequent to the routine re-audit in November 2008 by the TGA, the GMP Certification has been extended for another two years.

Sterlite buys Asarco for $1.1 billion

Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd has signed a deal to buy the operating assets of Asarco LLC, a Arizona based mining, smelting and refining company, for $1.1 billion in cash and $600 million in promissory notes, payable over nine years. Asarco had filed for bankruptcy in 2005 and has claims amounting to $7.9 billion pending against them.

The company’s major creditors are Govt. agencies seeking payment for environmental clean up and individuals seeking compensation for damages caused by its asbestos based products. However Sterlite would be assuming only the operational liabilities and not the others due to damages and environment related issues

Inflation drops to 2.43%

Inflation rate based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) dropped to 2.43% during the week ended 28 February from 3.03% during the previous week. Inflation rate stood at 6.21% during the corresponding week of previous year.

Industrial growth falls in January

Industrial production fell by 0.5% in the month of January 2009. This fall was caused by reduced output from manufacturing (-0.8%) and mining (-0.4%) sectors. The negative industrial growth during two consecutive months (December 2008 and January 2009) indicated that the stimulus packages announced by the Govt have not achieved the necessary results at the ground level.

US removes levy on Indian shrimp 

Giving a major relief to the Indian shrimp exporters, the US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has recently withdrawn the customs bond requirement imposed in 2004. According to a CBP notice, the enhanced bond requirement (EBR) on shrimp items from India and Thailand stands fully withdrawn, effective April 1. The notification said that the existing bonds for seafood export would be terminated henceforth. The latest notification is in line with a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling issued in favour of India and Thailand in 2008. During the first week of March, the US Department of Commerce (DoC) had reduced the anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimp to 0.79 per cent from 1.69 per cent.

The US had imposed bond requirement to curb the menace of dumping of cheap shrimp and shrimp products from India and other countries. As per the US Customs order, exporters had to pay an amount equal to $50,000, or 10 per cent of the previous year’s duties paid by an exporter. This was exorbitantly high and hindered exports from these countries. India and Thailand had vehemently opposed this levy, terming it as a protectionist measure and very much against the global trade practices. The EBR was imposed in addition to the anti-dumping duty and the two factors together had made exports to America practically impossible.

On April 24, 2006, Thailand had lodged a complaint with WTO against EBR. A dispute settlement panel was appointed by WTO to look into the issue. India also went to the WTO in June 2006. Both the countries argued that the imposition of the exorbitantly high EBR had breached several provisions of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the WTO agreement. The WTO panel adopted the reports of an expert panel and an appellate body and categorically declared that EBR was against the provisions of WTO and GATT, and should be withdrawn.



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