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Business & Economy
Private firms set to anchor
maritime sector revamp
What is India News Service,
Tuesday, 22 February 2005, 1200 hrs IST
After road and rail, the Government plans to go full steam in developing the maritime sector with a slew of budgetary programmes and a Maritime Development Cess to fund them.
The Policy for the Maritime Sector is aimed at promoting private participation in the shipping and ports sector to ensure quality service at minimum cost.
On the anvil are National Dedicated Freight Rail Corridors, connecting ports in the South to the hinterland in the North, operated by a private consortium.
To start with, a rail corridor will be implemented between Delhi and Mumbai to evacuate containers headed for North and Northwest India.
\91\91The proposed corridor would be operated in the private sector and it would have its own rolling stock, locomotives, signalling system, stations etc but will follow the standards laid down by the Railways,\92\92 states the draft policy.
These corridors would be developed through special purpose vehicles that would be funded through a consortium of ports, port users and private investors.
Nationwide bandh against VAT brings trade to a halt: The government may have to face tough opposition while implementing the proposed value added tax (VAT) in the coming weeks. The nationwide bandh against VAT paralysed trade and commerce in several parts of the country on Monday, with traders threatening to go on an indefinite strike unless the new tax regime is made trade-friendly and essential commodities are taken out of its ambit.
A-I plans expansion of US operations:
With its US operations becoming the second largest source of revenue for Air-India (A-I), the national carrier has lined up a major expansion plan with more frequencies and links to other destinations beginning next month.
Gail stake in China Gas: India\92s largest gas transporter, Gail (India) Ltd, will pay up to
$ 30.2 million for a roughly 10 per cent stake in China Gas Holdings Ltd, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday.
Online bookings, a big hit:
The internet mode of ticketing has seen a dramatic success due to its popularity of being convenient, price, speed, 24x7 access and growing confidence among the users.
Metros may be merged with State circles for mobile services:
The Department of Telecommunications is looking at the possibility of merging metro circles, except Delhi, with the respective State circle for cellular service providers in the new unified licence regime.
Post-quota era: Textile firms yield higher margins:
Along with the opening of floodgates for a bigger market share of the world textile market, the post quota regime that kicked in last month has also started to strengthen the bottomline of the Indian textile firms by lowering their costs.
Textile exporters seek longer working hours:
With the textile order inflow growing by leaps and bounds, many of the country's large textile exporters are seeking an extension of the daily working hours to keep up with the burgeoning demand.
Hunt for new PFC chairman kicks off:
The government on Monday kicked off the process of search for a new CMD for Power Finance Corporation. The post fell vacant after the former CMD R. Krishnamoorthy superannuated.
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