Parliament’s Budget Session From Today

IMF Warns Global Economy At Risk, Calls For Bold Action

The International Monetary Fund's member countries on Saturday (11 October) said bold action was needed to bolster the global economic recovery, and they urged governments to take care not to squelch growth by tightening budgets too drastically.With Japan's economy floundering, the euro zone at risk of recession and the US recovery too weak to generate a rise in incomes, the IMF's steering committee said focusing on growth was the priority."A number of countries face the prospect of low or slowing growth, with unemployment remaining unacceptably high," the International Monetary and Financial Committee said on behalf of the Fund's 188 member countries.The Fund this week cut its 2014 global growth forecast to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent, the third reduction this year as the prospects for a sustainable recovery from the 2007-2009 global financial crisis have ebbed, despite hefty injections of cash by the world's central banks.The IMF has flagged Europe's weakness as the top concern, a sentiment echoed by many policymakers, economists and investors gathered in Washington for the Fund's fall meetings, which wrap up on Sunday.European officials have sought to dispel the gloom, with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Saturday talking about a delay, not an end, to the region's recovery.But efforts to provide more room for France to meet its European Union deficit target looked set to founder on Germany's insistence that the agreement on fiscal rectitude was set in stone.The IMF panel urged countries to carry out politically tough reforms to labor markets and social security to free up government money to invest in infrastructure to create jobs and lift growth.It called on central banks to be careful when communicating changes in policy in order to avoid financial market shocks. While not naming any central banks, the warning appeared aimed at the U.S. Federal Reserve, which will end its quantitative easing policy this month and appears poised to begin raising interest rates around the middle of next year.The Fed has debated a change to its commitment to holding rates near zero for a "considerable time" at its recent policy meetings, but is stepping gingerly to avoid roiling financial markets. It wants to avoid a repeat of the "taper tantrum" it touched off last year when it signaled its easing of monetary policy was drawing to a close.(Reuters) 

Railway Budget To...

Madhya Pradesh To Set Up Petrochemicals Complex, Power Plants

Business groups such as Reliance, Adani and government-owned entities have promised investments of nearly Rs 6.89 lakh crore in Madhya Pradesh at the Global Investors Summit, which drew to a close in Indore on Friday.  "Expressions of Interest (EOIs) by investors have touched Rs 6.89 lakh crore. I will not let it go at any cost. Within a month our team will get in touch with all of them who have shown investment interest. We have decided to attach one officer each with all serious investors," the state's Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters.  Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizer Ananth Kumar announced that the Centre will set up a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) at a cost of Rs 1 lakh crore near the Bina petroleum refinery in Madhya Pradesh. The state government received more than 3,160 EOIs in this year's summit. The next Global Investors Summit will be held from October 19 to 21 in 2016, the chief minister said. The government claimed that investment worth over Rs 1.82 lakh crore were received after the last summit in 2012. Chouhan said he will meet investors every Monday with the aim of making his state business-friendly. The Madya Pradesh government in a statement said public sector undertakings (PSUs) have also shown interest in the state. Their proposals include NTPC's Rs 24,000 crore in power plant project. Steel major SAIL has committed Rs 13,500 crore; Rs 22,000 crore in petroleum sector by BORL (Bharat Oman Refinery Ltd), Rs 12,000 crore in fertiliser plant by NFL and Rs 28,000 crore in mining segment by NMDC and NALCO. The Chief Minister said the state government did not talk about 'Memorandum of Understanding' with interested investors, but rather presented Madhya Pradesh as a brand and good investment destination. The chemicals and fertilizer minister said he had two meetings with Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Chouhan about the petrochemicals complex. "The PCPIR project cost will be Rs 1 lakh crore," Kumar said. Union Minister for Steel, Mines and Employment Narendra Singh Tomar said NMDC and NALCO will set up a thermal power plant in Madhya Pradesh at a cost of Rs 22,000 crore once the issues following cancellation of coal mines by the Supreme Court are resolved and the two state owned firms get coal mines. Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said state run NTPC has signed a EOI for setting up a 750 MW solar based power plant in the state. He said if the state government would provide land, Coal India too would invest in setting up a 1,500 MW solar plant. "Together the two are ready to invest Rs 20-22,000 crore" in the power sector, Goyal added. He said tenders would be issued in 2-3 months for two more power projects of NTPC in the state. The plants are proposed at khargaon (1320 MW) and Bareli, (2640 MW) in the state. J.P. Gaur of diversified firm Jaiprakash Associates promised an investment of Rs 35,000 crore and also offered to develop Rewa as a smart city. Ambani brothers -- Mukesh and Anil -- pledged an investment of Rs 50,000 crore, Gautam Adani of Adani Group announced Rs 20,000 crore, followed by Suzlon's Tulsi Tanti Rs 15,000 crore. Industrialists who announced their investment plans include Welspun's Sindoor Mittal (Rs 5,000 crore), Essar group's Shashi Ruia (Rs 4,000 crore) and Future Group's Kishore Biyani (Rs 2,000 crore) and Symbiosis open education society (Rs 200 crore). Many industry bigwigs, including Tata Group's Cyrus Mistry, Aditya Birla Group's Kumar Mangalam Birla, ITC's Y.C. Deveshwar, Larsen & Toubro's A.M. Naik and Godrej Group's Adi Godrej attended the summit, which attracted 4,600 delegates. (Agencies)

Montek For Cut In Taxes On Petrol, Diesel

BJP Asks UPA To...

India's Forex Reserves Down $2.75 Bn

Continuing the downward trend for the fifth consecutive week, the foreign exchange reserves plunged $2.754 billion to $311.427 billion in the week to October 3, led by a major fall in non-US currency assets, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In the week to September 26, reserves went down by $1.415 billion to $314.181 billion. In the week to July 25, 2014, the reserves had touched $320.56 billion, just short of the life-time high of $320.79 billion on Setpember 2, 2011. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major constituent of overall reserves, decreased $1.803 billion to $285.588 billion, RBI said. Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation and depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in reserves. After remaining unchanged for a couple of weeks, the country's gold reserves dropped by $919.7 million to $20.013 billion. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down $22.8 million to $4.284 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF dipped by $8.2 million to $1.540 billion during the week, the RBI data showed. (PTI)

Raje To Present Budget Tomorrow

Political Parties To Take...

Reliance Seeks Sale Of Eagle Ford Stake For Up To $4.5 Bn

India's Reliance Industries Ltd is seeking a buyer for its stake in the Eagle Ford Basin oil and natural gas joint venture with Pioneer Natural Resources Co, a sale that could raise up to $4.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Pioneer, which has about 230,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Basin according to its website, sold a 45 percent interest in the property to Reliance for $1.2 billion in 2010. The Eagle Ford Basin asset is a three-way joint venture between Mumbai, India-based Reliance; Irving, Texas-based Pioneer, and a division of Mexico's Alpha SAB de CV. Reliance has appointed Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to help sell its 45 percent stake, the sources said, asking not to be named because the matter is not public. Representatives for Citi and Bank of America declined to comment, while Reliance could not be immediately reached for comment. The property for sale produces 115,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with 60 percent of the production in liquid form rather than gas, one of the people said. There are 472 wells on the Eagle Ford property, according to a Reliance presentation from July. Pioneer owns 46 percent of the joint venture, with Alpha SAB's Newpeck LLC owning 9 percent. As part of its planned exit from the Eagle Ford joint venture, Reliance is also selling its investment in EFS Midstream LLC, an oil and gas gathering treatment and transportation network, the people said. The mid-stream joint venture was initially funded by Pioneer and Reliance in June 2010. EFS Midstream operates 11 central gathering plants in south Texas, according to the company's website. The sale process for the oil production assets and the oil and gas gathering assets is at an early stage, the people said. Pioneer is the operator of the wells in the joint venture, which could complicate the sale process, one of the people said. The company is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company with operations in several U.S. regions. (Reuters)