Month: August 2009

The government is looking to rollout a mega housing plan to fulfil its dream of a slum-free India. The programme aims at building 50 lakh houses to host some 6 crore slum dwellers across the length and breadth of country. While the programme will help eradicate an ages old social problem, it will also free up thousands of acres of government land and generate business worth billions for the battered real estate industry.

The ministry of housing and urban development has asked for an allocation of Rs 225,000 crore for the scheme, which will be implemented over next five years. The proposal has been sent to the Planning Commission for comments after which it would be considered by the Union Cabinet.

Read moreGovernment draws mega housing plan – Quality + Corruption Unanswered

The withdrawal of scrappage incentive scheme in several European countries is expected to bring in a cause of concern for the Indian automobile industry. Indian players Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors, two of country’s biggest car exporters, are expected to bear the burnt in overseas sales.

The scrappage scheme provides car owners a subsidy to replace their older, polluting vehicles with low-emission and fuel-efficient ones.

Eleven countries including Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Spain and Portugal have withdrawn the scheme from the last week of July or the first week of August, barring the UK which has decided to continue with the scrappage scheme.

Read moreRemoval of incentive in EU to hurt Indian automobile industry

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 1,050.81 crore (provisional) in the cash segment on Friday, as per information posted on the BSE website. While FIIs made gross purchases of Rs 1,925.66 crore, their gross sales amounted to Rs 2,976.47 crore.

On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Rs 414.43 crore (provisional) on the same day. While DIIs made gross purchases of Rs 1,726 crore, their gross sales aggregated Rs 1,311.57 crore.

Read moreFIIs net sellers of Rs 1,051 cr (prov) in the cash segment on Friday

Declining demand from its main trading partners has resulted in a sharp dip in India’s oilmeal exports in the April-July period of the current fiscal. According to the data collected by the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), oilmeal exports have seen a 60% year-on-year drop in wake of the global economic recession. Non-availability of adequate meal has also hit the exports.

The decline was even sharper in the month of July at 173,329 tonne, down 63% from the same month last year. Total oilmeal exports during the four months ended July 30, 2009 were placed at 0.76 million tonne compared with 1.9 million tonne during the same period a year-ago.

Read moreIndia’s oilmeal exports plunge 63% in July