Exports grew by an annual 22.5 per cent to $ 16.64 billion in August on improved global demand for Indian merchandise, giving policy makers confidence about achieving the $ 200 billion target for the fiscal.
Imports jumped at a higher pace of 32.2 per cent to $ 29.7 billion in August, leaving a trade deficit of $ 13.06 billion, which is a cause for worry.
"Things are going so far according to our plan and we should be able to reach over exports target of $ 200 billion," Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar said.
Expressing optimism, exporters body FIEO said that with this growth rate, exports would even surpass the $ 200 billion target and reach $ 210 billion.
Meanwhile, industry reported a 13.8 per cent growth in July, beating by a wide margin the market estimates of a single digit growth.
However, the rate of "heady growth" witnessed in the first quarter of the year has clearly decelerated, Khullar said.
He said while there is a marked improvement in exports during 2010-11 over the previous year "you are well below the $ 17.8 billion which was achieved in August 2008-09".
With imports rising on the back of 8.8 per cent economic growth in the first quarter of the fiscal, ballooning gap between exports and imports (trade deficit) remains the main area of concern for the government.
For the April-August period, the trade deficit aggregated $ 56.62 billion with a monthly average of $
11.2 billion.
The year may end with a trade gap of $ 135 billion. "The gap will be very very large, even compared to $ 118 billion, that we had two years ago."
During April-August this fiscal, exports posted a growth of 28.6 per cent to $ 85.27 billion on a year-on-year basis. Imports during the period grew by 33.1 per cent to $141.89 billion.
The sectors, which registered a healthy rate of exports growth during the first four months of the current financial include cotton yarn and fabric (41 per cent), gems and jewellery (28 per cent), iron ore (84 per cent), chemicals (23 per cent), engineering (40 per cent) and petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) (50 per cent).
However, segments like readymade garments, handicrafts, handlooms and carpets are still in a bad shape, he said.
During April-August 2010-11, segments that witnessed a good growth rate include POL, which was up 31.7 per cent, fertilisers (79 per cent), vegetable oil (67 per cent), coal (43 per cent), iron and steel (64 per cent), gold (27.7 per cent) and machinery (20 per cent).
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Advance tax numbers indicate good show by finance, auto cos
MUMBAI: Advance tax collections for the second quarter, July-September, 2010-11 indicated on Wednesday that while sectors like banking, finance and auto have done well, cement and pharma were down as compared to last year's numbers.
As for individual corporate, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro paid Rs 1,306 crore and Rs 280 crore respectively, higher than Q2 FY10.
RIL had paid Rs 1,157 crore in the year-ago period, indicating that it is steaming ahead. L&T's had paid Rs 210 crore in Q2 FY 10.
Similarly, Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Hindalco's tax outgo doubled to Rs 140 crore.
However, it was a mixed bag from the Tata Group as Tata Power Rs 60 crore and Tata Motors Rs 95-crore paid less to the exchequer vis-a-vis last year.
Country's financial capital Mumbai, which contributes a major chunk of direct tax collection, clocked over 13 per cent growth, which a top Income Tax official said was below expectations.
"Our expectations were more...some companies in sectors like cement are not showing good numbers," Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Mumbai, P P Srivastava, told PTI here, after the advance tax collections for September quarter ended on Wednesday.
The Mumbai region of Income Tax Department has been assigned a direct tax collection target of Rs 1,50,480-crore for the current financial year, which is 35 per cent of the all India collection target of Rs 4,30,000-crore.
Asked if the target (Mumbai circle) would be met, Srivastava said that "we are hopeful. However, we will have to take extra measures to achieve it."
IT-major Tata Consultancy Services paid Rs 260 crore in advance tax as compared to the previous year's Rs 220 crore, while the payment by Tata Chemicals remained unchanged at Rs 60 crore.
Driven by high growth, advance tax payments in the auto sector were good.
Bajaj Auto paid Rs 243 crore in Q2 FY11, as against last year period's Rs 170 crore, while Mahindra & Mahindra paid Rs 158 crore, up from Rs 112 crore, the source said.
Barring some names, the banking and financial sector witnessed high tax payouts, led by State Bank of India (Rs 1,924 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 600 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 600 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 206 crore), Union Bank of India (Rs 308 crore) and Yes Bank (Rs 105 crore).
Home-loans lender HDFC shelled out Rs 400-crore this quarter, as against Rs 320 crore in the year ago period.
Life Insurance Corporation's payout increased by Rs 128 crore to Rs 1,067-crore, while in the case of General Insurance Corporation, it almost doubled to Rs 92-crore.
The sector which appears to have suffered the most in Q2 FY11 since last year is cement, as payouts by a majority of companies in this segment have fallen sharply.
From last fiscal's Q2 of Rs 150 crore, Ambuja Cement's advance tax payment fell to Rs 90 crore, while UltraTech's payout more than halved to Rs 60 crore.
Cement major Lafarge's advance tax payment declined from Rs 67 crore to Rs 40 crore. In the case of ACC, its advance tax payment plummeted to Rs 60 crore from last fiscal's Q2 of Rs 150 crore.
Consumer electronics major, Videocon, saw its advance tax outgo increase to Rs 35 crore, from last year's Rs 30 crore while state-owned fertiliser company RCF showed a decline to Rs 19 crore from Rs 33 crore in Q2 last fiscal.
Biscuit maker Parle saw its advance tax outgo increase by Rs 3 crore to Rs 12 crore this quarter and Johnson and Johnson paid Rs 22 crore, up from last year's Rs 18 crore.
Two pharma majors -- Lupin and Cipla -- have registered lower payouts at Rs 45 crore and Rs 65 crore respectively as compared to Rs 50 crore and Rs 75 crore, respectively, in the year-ago period.
In the media and entertainment space, Zee Entertainment's payout almost doubled to Rs 60 crore from Rs 32 crore in the year-ago period.
As for individual corporate, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro paid Rs 1,306 crore and Rs 280 crore respectively, higher than Q2 FY10.
RIL had paid Rs 1,157 crore in the year-ago period, indicating that it is steaming ahead. L&T's had paid Rs 210 crore in Q2 FY 10.
Similarly, Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Hindalco's tax outgo doubled to Rs 140 crore.
However, it was a mixed bag from the Tata Group as Tata Power Rs 60 crore and Tata Motors Rs 95-crore paid less to the exchequer vis-a-vis last year.
Country's financial capital Mumbai, which contributes a major chunk of direct tax collection, clocked over 13 per cent growth, which a top Income Tax official said was below expectations.
"Our expectations were more...some companies in sectors like cement are not showing good numbers," Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Mumbai, P P Srivastava, told PTI here, after the advance tax collections for September quarter ended on Wednesday.
The Mumbai region of Income Tax Department has been assigned a direct tax collection target of Rs 1,50,480-crore for the current financial year, which is 35 per cent of the all India collection target of Rs 4,30,000-crore.
Asked if the target (Mumbai circle) would be met, Srivastava said that "we are hopeful. However, we will have to take extra measures to achieve it."
IT-major Tata Consultancy Services paid Rs 260 crore in advance tax as compared to the previous year's Rs 220 crore, while the payment by Tata Chemicals remained unchanged at Rs 60 crore.
Driven by high growth, advance tax payments in the auto sector were good.
Bajaj Auto paid Rs 243 crore in Q2 FY11, as against last year period's Rs 170 crore, while Mahindra & Mahindra paid Rs 158 crore, up from Rs 112 crore, the source said.
Barring some names, the banking and financial sector witnessed high tax payouts, led by State Bank of India (Rs 1,924 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 600 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 600 crore), Central Bank of India (Rs 206 crore), Union Bank of India (Rs 308 crore) and Yes Bank (Rs 105 crore).
Home-loans lender HDFC shelled out Rs 400-crore this quarter, as against Rs 320 crore in the year ago period.
Life Insurance Corporation's payout increased by Rs 128 crore to Rs 1,067-crore, while in the case of General Insurance Corporation, it almost doubled to Rs 92-crore.
The sector which appears to have suffered the most in Q2 FY11 since last year is cement, as payouts by a majority of companies in this segment have fallen sharply.
From last fiscal's Q2 of Rs 150 crore, Ambuja Cement's advance tax payment fell to Rs 90 crore, while UltraTech's payout more than halved to Rs 60 crore.
Cement major Lafarge's advance tax payment declined from Rs 67 crore to Rs 40 crore. In the case of ACC, its advance tax payment plummeted to Rs 60 crore from last fiscal's Q2 of Rs 150 crore.
Consumer electronics major, Videocon, saw its advance tax outgo increase to Rs 35 crore, from last year's Rs 30 crore while state-owned fertiliser company RCF showed a decline to Rs 19 crore from Rs 33 crore in Q2 last fiscal.
Biscuit maker Parle saw its advance tax outgo increase by Rs 3 crore to Rs 12 crore this quarter and Johnson and Johnson paid Rs 22 crore, up from last year's Rs 18 crore.
Two pharma majors -- Lupin and Cipla -- have registered lower payouts at Rs 45 crore and Rs 65 crore respectively as compared to Rs 50 crore and Rs 75 crore, respectively, in the year-ago period.
In the media and entertainment space, Zee Entertainment's payout almost doubled to Rs 60 crore from Rs 32 crore in the year-ago period.
RIL regains Rs 1,000-mark; soars 2.25 pc on BSE
MUMBAI: Market leader Reliance Industries today rose over 2 per cent and regained the Rs 1,000-level mark after more than a month, helping the BSE benchmark Sensex extend its winning streak to the seventh day in a row.
Reliance Industries ended the session at Rs 1,010.45, a gain of 2.3 per cent, on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It touched the intra- -day high of Rs 1,016.
The last time it had closed above Rs 1,000-level was on August 6, when it ended at Rs 1,000.30.
With today's jump in its share value, the company's market valuation surged to Rs 3,30,524 crore.
Marketmen said RIL, which enjoys the maximum weight in the Sensex, attracting good buying support also helped the broader market to extend its gains for the seventh day in succession.
They said reports of RIL was seeking a hike in gas price helped the stock rise. They further said today's rise is significant as RIL had not participated in the recent market rally. Yesterday, the company had lost 0.45 per cent.
Reports of company paying higher advance tax for the second quarter, too, fulled the rally.
Other oil and gas counters, however, ended mixed after a volatile session.
Shares of ONGC gained 1.14 per cent to hit its lifetime high at Rs 1,451.90, while HPCL ended 0.58 per cent lower, after hitting a new high of Rs 555.45.
IOC too erased early gains to finish 0.19 per cent down after touching a lifetime high of Rs 448.55.
BPCL settled down by 0.46 per cent, while Essar Oil ended 0.54 per cent higher.
The BSE oil and gas index settled the day with a gain of 193.26 points at 10,655.13.
Carrying forward the gaining momentum, the BSE benchmark Sensex Sensex finished the day higher by 155.15 points at 19,502.11.
Reliance Industries ended the session at Rs 1,010.45, a gain of 2.3 per cent, on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It touched the intra- -day high of Rs 1,016.
The last time it had closed above Rs 1,000-level was on August 6, when it ended at Rs 1,000.30.
With today's jump in its share value, the company's market valuation surged to Rs 3,30,524 crore.
Marketmen said RIL, which enjoys the maximum weight in the Sensex, attracting good buying support also helped the broader market to extend its gains for the seventh day in succession.
They said reports of RIL was seeking a hike in gas price helped the stock rise. They further said today's rise is significant as RIL had not participated in the recent market rally. Yesterday, the company had lost 0.45 per cent.
Reports of company paying higher advance tax for the second quarter, too, fulled the rally.
Other oil and gas counters, however, ended mixed after a volatile session.
Shares of ONGC gained 1.14 per cent to hit its lifetime high at Rs 1,451.90, while HPCL ended 0.58 per cent lower, after hitting a new high of Rs 555.45.
IOC too erased early gains to finish 0.19 per cent down after touching a lifetime high of Rs 448.55.
BPCL settled down by 0.46 per cent, while Essar Oil ended 0.54 per cent higher.
The BSE oil and gas index settled the day with a gain of 193.26 points at 10,655.13.
Carrying forward the gaining momentum, the BSE benchmark Sensex Sensex finished the day higher by 155.15 points at 19,502.11.
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