New Delhi/Mumbai, May 12: A slow down in manufacturing, electricity, consumer goods, consumer non-durables and mining pulled down the industrial production figures to three per cent, the lowest since February 2002. This in turn led to the industrial growth output slip to 8.1 per cent for the last fiscal.

The figure for March represented a steep fall from the previous month’s 8.6 per cent. The figures for the growth in the mining and power sectors have dipped the most at 3.8 per cent and 3.7 per cent. The figures for the same period, last year, were eight per cent and 7.9 per cent. More disturbing is the fact that for the full year 2006-07, figures for mining and power were lower than 12.5 per cent and 7.2 per cent last year respectively.

Mr D.K. Joshi, principal economist, Crisil, said the industrial production trend has been down for a year that was marked by huge volatility in IIP growth. The growth figures for March were expected to be weak due to the large growth base in March 2007 of 14.6 per cent.  He said the downtrend is in line with the RBI’s policy to contain inflation through a high interest regime. Consumer durables are sensitive to interest rates so in a way, "this is an engineered slowdown".

Economist and chairman of Clearing Corporation of India, Dr R.H. Patil, said capacities are not being added in the steel, coal, power and ports sectors because of delays in clearance from the Centre. He said "economic growth cannot be achieved through consumer durables, it has to come from basic industries such as steel, coal and power."  Mr Abheek Barua, chief economist, HDFC Bank, said he has been suspicious about the IIP figures that have been put out in the last few months. "There seems to be an error in the figures for capital goods which don’t seem to tally with the information we have on the order books of companies," he said.

Mr Joshi too felt these are provisional figures subject to revision. The information collection system is weak and neither timely nor up-to-date.  Dr Pronab Sen, secretary, department of statistics, which has prepared the IIP figures, told this newspaper that there was no need to be concerned as the low growth is due to the base effect.

"March 2007 witnessed high growth of 15 per cent. On year-on-year basis March 2008 recorded a growth of around 8 per cent which has been the trend during the year," said Dr Sen.  He said that during FY09, IIP growth is expected to be around 8.5 per cent. He said that he does not belie-ve that low growth will prevent the RBI from taking further monetary control measures to control inflation.  CSO director-general, Dr S.K. Nath, said inflation has been one of the factors that has impacted the growth of manufacturing sector.

Chennai, May 12: Targeting the Indian four-wheeler market, Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL) on Monday joined hands with Renault-Nissan to launch a small car in India by 2011 that will compete with Tata Nano.  In a joint press statement on Monday, Mr Rajiv Bajaj, managing director, BAL, and Mr Carlos Ghosn, president and CEO, Renault and Nissan, said that they would form a JV company to develop, produce and market the car, code-named ULC, whose economy version would be priced at $2,500.

The statement further said that Bajaj would hold a 50 per cent stake, while Renault and Nissan would hold a 25 per cent stake each in the joint venture firm. The ULC will be manufactured at a new plant, which is likely to be constructed at Chakan in Maharashtra. The plant will have an initial annual production capacity of four lakh units.

"Sales will start in early 2011 in India, which will be the primary market for the car," the statement added. The company further said that the feasibility has already extended into joint product development and the project is "on line to meet targeted performance and cost". The car will hit the Indian market by early 2011 and later will be exported to the other emerging markets. French carmaker Renault also has a joint venture with Mahindra and Mahindra, which manufactures Logan in India, and Nissan has signed three JVs with Hinduja flagship company Ashok Leyland.

New Delhi, May 12: Steel companies on Monday expressed shock on the notification of 5 to 15 per cent export duty levy on steel products. Companies said the government has reneged on its promise by notifying the export duty.

"I hope the government will re-consider the decision (on export duty) on steel," Mr S.K. Roongta, chairman, Steel Authority of India Ltd., said. The Steel secretary, Mr R.S. Pandey, refused to comment on the issue. But some officials in the steel ministry said that Mr Pandey might take up the issue with the finance ministry as well as the Prime Minister’s office soon.

Last week, the government had goaded steel makers to announce a price cut of up to Rs 4,000 per tonne with immediate effect. It also persuaded them not to raise the prices for three months and imposed an export tax to encourage local supplies and fight inflation. At that time, the government had agreed to look into the steel companies’ demands, including a export duty of 15 to 25 per cent on iron ore, scrapping a proposal to levy export duty on steel products, and lower freight costs, companies said.

On Monday, these companies remained tight-lipped about their pricing plans hereafter. Some steel ministry officials too were taken by surprise at the finance ministry’s latest move to ensure better availability of steel in domestic market. "My feeling is after the fresh levy (of export duty), last week’s price reduction may not be valid," an official in the ministry said.

Bangalore, May 12: Even as the crime rate against women in the city rises every year, Bangalore star hotels are going all out to woo single lady guests. In addition they are also providing tight security measures like CCTV, additional security guards, room double locking, escort services and screening of calls.

Savannah Sarovar Premier, a star business hotel in Whitefield, which opened early this year has earmarked 17 rooms on the 2nd floor for single lady guests. An additional security guard is posted on the floor with all-women staff to service the rooms."We provide a special amenities basket in each room. We also offer a 20 to 25 per cent discount on the Lakme Beauty Salon next door and discounts on shopping in malls and retail outlets in the Whitefield area," averred Mr Ravi Singh, sales manager, Savannah Sarovar Premier.

That’s not all, lady guests who stay for more than 7 days receive a complimentary bottle of wine, an Indian sweet platter every Sunday, a 15 per cent discount on food and beverages, a 10 per cent discount on laundry and telephone, a weekend day trip to Mysore and return gifts on checkout, added Mr Singh.

The Taj West End blocks rooms preferably on the first floor in the Jasmine & Lotus blocks where a security guard is posted all times, said Ms Purnima Castelino, PR manager, Taj Hotels, Bangalore. Calls are screened and single lady amenities are placed in rooms. Ladies’ rooms are blocked into non-connecting rooms and a Lady butler offers services, with VIP lady arrivals receiving special turndowns in the evening .

The Oberoi offers the facility of screening calls to single lady guests at the time of check-in. Rooms with king-size beds are allotted which are closer to the elevators and a special amenity tray is kept in the bathroom. A baby hamper is also given to single ladies travelling with children, said Ms Pinky M. Padmaraj, manager communications.

The Leela Palace offers a Lady Butler for single lady guests who stay in the Royal Club Floor. The Park offers call screening facility after 10 pm and on special occasions, such as Valentine’s day, leaves a gift in their rooms. Solitaire Hotel on Kumara Krupa Road offers its single lady guests a privilege card which entitles them to discounts in the hotel’s F&B outlets and a special discounted package at the in-house Spa due to open next month.

New Delhi, May 12: Mid-sized IT services and BPO companies are vulnerable to the adverse impact of US slowdown due to exchange rate volatility, slower deal closures, inflation and low billing rates compared to their bigger counterparts, a study said on Monday. "The mid-size IT services companies are more likely to face the combined pressure of exchange rate risk, lower billing rates, domestic inflation and slower deal closures," the study by CyberMedia publications for the outsourcing industry said. Large vendors with multi-shore delivery capabilities such as TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Satyam and HCL Technologies would be better equipped to exploit new opportunities in the slowdown period, it added. However, the study said slowdown in US economy will have moderate impact on the global IT services and BPO industry.

The economic slowdown in the US would impact profitability in the short term, the study said. The industry is gearing up with a two-pronged approach of re-aligning existing service areas and increasing focus on non-US geographies to shield itself from impact of a slowdown. Nearly 75 per cent of the service providers who were surveyed said that by adopting this approach, their companies could marginalise the net impact on revenue growth, it added. Nearly half of the service providers, primarily representing BPO, infrastructure management and application maintenance areas, indicated that the slowdown has not impacted the deals pipeline in the current quarter.

On the contrary, many of these companies are seeing a stronger deal pipeline and accelerated sign-ups. However, companies representing the new application development and offshore engagements reported delays, down-sizing or re-negotiation of contracts. Nearly two-thirds of the buyers of outsourcing said that their companies would go ahead with the planned projects. On cutting down the IT spending, nearly 36 per cent responded in the negative. However, 36.4 per cent of the respondents admitted that their companies may prioritise the outsourcing of IT projects in the short term. Almost one-half of the respondents identified cuts in the contract IT staff, full-time internal hires and IT consulting as the likely areas to get impacted the most in the short-term.

The BPO-related services are least likely to be affected by slowdown. Within BPO, 47.2 per cent of the respondents said that spend on sectors like finance, procurement and customer care will go as per plan. In the claims, mortgage, travel related BPOs, 44.1 per cent felt that their clients would continue their BPO projects.

New Delhi, May 12: Bharti Airtel is planning to raise its offer to about $22.63 per share to acquire a controlling stake in South African mobile player MTN, says a media report. Quoting a person familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal on Monday said Bharti is considering raising the offer to about 175 South African rand or $22.63 per share for control of MTN.

"There is no official bid yet, and MTN management insists that it be a minimum 200 South African rand per share," WSJ reported quoting the person, in an article published in its online edition. When contacted, a Bharti spokesperson declined to comment.

Last week, both Bharti and MTN announced that they are in "exploratory talks" which may or may not lead to a deal. The person said the official bid could still be the original 160 rand to 165 rand, "depending on the terms of the agreement, how big of a stake MTN is willing to sell and other factors," WSJ reported. Media reports said Bharti whose market capitalisation as on May 9 stood at Rs 1,59,841.77 crore could make an official bid for MTN this week for a 51 per cent stake. Earlier, media reports said that Bharti is looking at acquiring 51 per cent stake in MTN for about $19 billion.

If the deal takes place, it will create world’s sixth largest mobile company with 130 million subscribers in more than 20 countries. In afternoon trade, Bharti was trading at Rs 825.90, down 1.99 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

New Delhi, May 12: With the rupee depreciating to above 42 level to a dollar, exporters who had taken forward contracts for the greenback sale between the 39 and 40 levels have suffered losses due to currency decline. In an environment, where the rupee had been rising for the over last one year, several exporters who had suffered margin erosions took forward contracts of dollar sale at a value less than Rs 40 expecting the rupee to further strengthen.

However, their calculations have proved wrong with the rupee suddenly losing ground in the last 10 days. Rupee on Monday closed at 42.06 to a dollar against 41.59 on Friday. "Exporters are terminating the contracts at a loss. At the same time, some of them are taking fresh contracts based on their calculation of further appreciation of dollar," said Punjab National Bank general manager, treasury operations, Mr Arun Kaul  Federation of Indian Export Organisations director-general Ajay Sahai said that exporters have to take a calculated risk "by hedging at a value at which they are comfortable".

However, for those who have not done any hedging, the rupee depreciation of about five per cent in the last 10 days has come as good news,  especially when currencies of competing countries such as China, the Philippines and Thailand have appreciated.

Chennai, May 12: It is not just the IT firms that bother about skill development and talent retention. Labour intensive industries have taken a leaf out of the IT book and are promoting additional skill development initiatives among their workers to retain the workforce and to increase productivity. Industries such as the automotive, heavy engineering, and textile have started encouraging their workers to take up these courses. These initiatives help the workers develop their skill sets, which are further utilised by the companies.

Among engineering industries, the foundry industry, has been training unskilled workers before they can be absorbed by the industry. Hinduja Foundries, takes up tenth standard students and provides them with an ITI certified training at two of its centers. These students are then employed in the company. Mr V Mahadevan, managing director, Hinduja Foundries said that the forging industry also provides on the job training to unskilled workers, before absorbing them in the industry.

Coimbatore-based Engineers Equipments Ltd, on Monday started a training program for its shop-floor operators.  This 2-crore project is aimed to build functional and behavioral competencies for the shop floor workers and to provide them with opportunities for growth. In the initial phase, 475 operators would be exposed to 400 hours of engineering fundamental training. The non-availability of skilled labour has been an impediment for the textile industry for quite some time now. To tackle this problem, Tirupur Exporters Association has started two centres Apptes and Apparel Training and Design Centre to train the rural unskilled workers, before being sent to the textile mills.

Mr A Shaktivel, president, Tirupur Exporters Association said that this initiative has helped provide close to 8,000 skilled workers to the industry. He pointed out that employees are also trained in working with computer-aided technology and latest cutting edge tools, helping the organisation increase its productivity.

The entire textile industry in Tamil Nadu has started promoting skill development among their employees. Mr Manikam Ramaswami, chairman, CII - Tamil Nadu, said that 128 mills across the state, more than 60 per cent of the 56,000 people employed are getting trained in different skills and 19 per cent are taking post graduation courses.