Welcome to Business plan

"I am very consistent in my disinvestment policy. I have done it very quietly and the money raised will be use in capital assets.".....Pranab Mukherjee, FM

Business in Beijing, China - Cost of living

Monthly rental (2 bedroom) - RNB 7,500-15,000, depending on location and type of housing.

Hotel per night - RMB 400 (3 Star) - 1500 (5 Star)

Mineral water - RMB 2

Dinner at a restaurant - RMB 150-440

Fast Food meal, McDonalds set- RMB 17

Coffee at a Cafe/bar, Starbucks - RMB 25-40

Taxi fare - Starting price RMB 10

Public transport fare - RMB 2-3

Cell phone monthly charge - Local calls only - RMB 100 per month

Courtesy: Economic times

Prime Minister's economic advisor C Rangarajan has said the economy is likely to go by around 9% in the fourth quarter and will make up for slow expansion in the October-December to clock a growth of 7.2% this fiscal. "For a 7.2% growth rate, the economy has to grow by about 9% in the fourth quarter. We should be able to grow adequately in the last quarter to reach the growth rate of 7.2%," PM's economic advisory council chairman Rangarajan said. GDP growth slipped to 6% in the December quarter mainly due to a major contraction in farm output and certain services.

Major Central Public Enterprises have year marked a whopping capital expenditure of Rs 2.78 lakh-cr in the next fiscal with petroleum and power companies lining up Rs 1.20 lakh-cr investment. The PSUs in telecom and road transport sector would also be among the major spenders in the next financial year. The other areas where the PSUs will be aggressively investing include steel, shipping and urban development. ONGC has chocked out plans to spend the maximum with an allocation of Rs 26,523 cr, followed by Rs 12,823 cr by Indian Oil Corp and Rs 8,662 cr by ONGC Videsh. NTPC has lined up Rs 22,350 cr spend, up over 50% from the revised estimates of the current fiscal.

India's exports rose 18.2% to $13.2 billion for the first time after 13 straight month of decline.

India's industrial output expanded 11.7% in November year-on-year, the fastest growth in two years, rekindling the debut in whether the centre must begin withdrawing the stimulus. While it exceeds South Korea's 1.4%, It is way behind China's 19.2% growth. The robust growth could see the RBI hiking the cash reserve ratio.

Renowned International Lighting Designers in seminar ' Lights In Goa' by IIID Goa Chapter from 10th to 12th Feb, 2010. Details at www.lightsingoa.com. Enjoy the Goa carnival in Panjim on 13th.

As part of its efforts to liberalise the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, the government has mooted a proposal under which foreign investment of over Rs 1,200 crore would need the clearance of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). Currently FDI proposals of over Rs 600 crore require CCEA clearance.

Two Indians, energy mogul Mukesh Ambani and steel czar Laxmi Mittal, have made it to the Forbes list of 'World's Most Powerful Billionaires' combining massive fortunes with political clout.

'Through his industrial might, India's richest person, Mukesh Ambani, ranks eighth,' in the US business magazine's annual list topped by Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City. Mittal ranks 13th on the list. Bloomberg also 'lords over the media, finance and fashion capital in the US - and arguably the world'.

'Ambani controls oil and gas conglomerate Reliance Industries. With a market value of more than $73 billion, the firm is India's biggest independent company. Compatriot Laxmi Mittal - India's second wealthiest with a net worth of $30 billion - heads ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker, and ranks 13th on the list. The steel giant operates in 60 countries and has market value of $65 billion.

Mukesh Ambani, Forbes noted, inherited father Dhirubhai's massive industrial empire with brother Anil in 2002. 'Brothers battled over power, divided assets. Mukesh controls energy entities; Anil leads banking and telecom companies.'

Mittal started in family steel business in the 1970s, broke out on his own in 1994 and is now planning joint iron venture in Liberia and Guinea with miner BHP Billiton, it noted. 'Bought 12-bedroom mansion in Kensington for more than $100 million in 2004; was London's most expensive home at the time.'

Billionaire Sebastian Pinera who won Chile's presidential election, defeating incumbent Eduardo Frei in a runoff vote is ranked 15th on the list which has two other billionaires, currently running their countries. 'Media and banking titan Silvio Berlusconi is prime minister of Italy and ranks second on Forbes list. Billionaire Industrial heir, Saad Hariri, who was appointed prime minister of Lebanon last June, ranks fifth. Rounding out the top five: Mexican telecom titan Carlos Slim and Russian oil magnate Vagit Alekperov.

Apple's Steve Jobs ranks as the 18th most powerful billionaire in the world. Billionaires falling from the ranks this year include Oprah Winfrey, Roman Abramovich and Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud. (IANS)

Two months after it made an offer to acquire a controlling stake in the bankrupt Lyondell Basek, Indian energy major Reliance Industries (RIL) is now set to be eyeing privately-held Canadian firm, Value Creations. According to media reports, RIL has submitted an expression of interest of $2-bn for Value Creation, which deals in oil sands resources.

Ramalinga Raju former chairmen of Satyam Computers, who last year confessed to inflating his company's assets by over $1 billion (5000 crore), has been declared a 'Pauper' by a American in New York, exempting him from paying court cost. The IT company has been taken over Tech Mahindra.

Led by the spurt in the domestic air traffic and massive cost cutting, Jet Airways reported a Rs 105.80 crore net profit in the December quarter against a Rs 214.18 crore loss in the year-ago period. The airline however, register a 4-5% fall in total income at Rs 2885.59 crore compared to Rs 3022.83 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. Occupancy jumped to 80%, up from 66.2% in the year ago period. International operations brought in 56% of the revenue.

Indian Oil Corporation reported a third quarter net profit of Rs 696 crore marking a drop of over 76% from Rs 2,958 crore in the previous corresponding period. "Diminishing refining margins, swelling under-recoveries and losses on bonds have left their imprint on the financials in the third quarter," said chairman Sarthak Behuria.

Indus Tower the world’s largest telecom infrastructure firm has raised Rs 10000 cr from a consortium of banks led by Citibanks, IDFC, IDBI and SBI caps. Part of the funds will be used to repay shareholder loan worth Rs 3,827 crore provided by Bharati Infratel, Vodafone Essar, Idea and Aditya Birla Telecom in 2007.

"The economy would grow between 7 and 7.5% in 2009-2010. It would grow by 8% in 2010-11 and the year after, growth would be 9%"

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) could change its pricing strategy in the second half of this calendar year, if Unilever chairmen Paul Polman's forecast is anything to go by. He expects commodity cost to be higher by 2-3% in 2010 compared to 2009. HUL usually picks up cues on pricing from its parent company.

After buying the 43.28% stake owned by the promoter family of Fame Inox Leisure purchased an additional 7.21% stake in the company in a block deal for Rs 12.77 crore. That latest buy has taken Inox's stake in Fame to 50.49%.

In a bid to boost tourism the government is in the process of providing single-window clearance for establishing hotels and greenfield airports to the private sector in small destinations.

Wipro has just handed out salary increments to all its employees. With effect from February 1, employees will get a pay hike in the range of 8% to 12% with some even getting a 15% hike. This hike comes after a long period 12-18 months, when employees went through difficult period of lay off, uncertainty, additional work, loads and salary cuts.

The centre postponed the auction of 3G spectrum to next fiscal. The auction was expected to bring in Rs 35,000 crore to the exchequer.

Tata Communication has acquired British Telecommunication group's Mosaic business for an undisclosed sum. The value of the unaudited gross assets of Mosaic was £0.5 million as on Sept 30, 2009. The acquisition would help the Tata group company to strengthen its global media and entertainment portfolio.

State-run gas utility Gail India said its net profit more than tripled to Rs 860 crore in the third quarter ended Dec 31 as it earned more money from transmitting the Reliance Industries KG-D6 gas.

Norwegian telecom group Telenor plans to expand its operations in India to offer nationwide services this year which will mean its investments in Asia will be higher than last year

The supreme court extended the deadline by one month for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to fix the tariff for direct-to-direct platform by June 30.

Telecom giant Bharati Airtel has agreed to acquire 70% stake in Bangladeshi's Warid Telecom for a undisclosed sum.

ONGC has lost an oilfield in Algeria to a consortium led by a Chinese oil firm. ONGC teamed up with Turkish Petroleum Oil Corporation (TPAO) and UAE's Dana Gas to bid for the hotly contested Hassi Bir & Rekaiz acreage in Algeria's latest licensing round.

Airtel cuts roaming rates by 60%. Pay Rs 19, change service provider from Dec 31.

Siddharth Tiwari, who has more than 20 yrs of experience with the International Monetary Fund, will play a role that involves active work with the IMF’s executive board and it’s daily interactions with the management and staff.

BSNL has got the approval from both the IB and MOD to award a telecom equipment contract to Chinese major Huawei. The approval is subject to the condition that Huawei can be awarded telecom contracts only in the south.

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"Goodwill is the only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy".........Marshall Field