Category: South Asia

NEW DELHI, Dec 7 (AsiaPulse) – The Indian government is likely to award oil and gas blocks offered for bidding in ninth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) by March next year, eight months behind schedule. “Some blocks (offered in NELP-IX) were held up due to security issues. By March next year, most of […]

NEW DELHI, Dec 7 (AsiaPulse) – Hospitality firm Fairmont Hotels and Resorts plans to operate about 40 hotels in India in the next five years across its three brands — Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel. “In the next 5-6 years, our strategy is to operate up to six hotels under Raffles brand, about 8 to 12 […]

NEW DELHI, Dec 2 (AsiaPulse) – Confirming a slowdown, India’s economic growth rate slipped to 6.9 per cent in the second quarter this fiscal year, the lowest in nine quarters, prompting the government to lower its full-year growth projection to 7.3 per cent. Economic growth during the July-September period of 2011-12 fell mainly due to […]

ISLAMABAD, (AsiaPulse) – China Green, considered that country’s biggest private agriculture company, is looking to buy 10,000 acres of farmland in Pakistan on lease to grow fruits and vegetables. Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri, held a meeting with a trade delegation of China Green. Zehri said that Pakistan […]

NEW DELHI, Nov 28 (AsiaPulse) – Moves by the Indian government to further reduce the export price of onion from US$350 a tonne stems from a steep 24 per cent decline in overseas shipments of the staple. India’s onion export has declined by about 213,000 tonnes during April to November 20 this year, agri-cooperative Nafed, […]

MUMBAI, Nov 28 (AsiaPulse) – Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday hiked interest rates on Non-Resident (External) Rupee term deposits and Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Banks) deposits, a move expected to increase the flow of foreign exchange amid the weakening domestic currency. “Interest rates on fresh Non-Resident (External) Rupee (NRE) Term Deposits for 1-3 years […]

NEW DELHI, Nov 25 (AsiaPulse) – Foreign Direct Investment in India surged by 41 per cent to US$22.5 billion during the January-September period this year, despite the uncertain global economic environment. During January-September 201O, the country had attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth US$15.97 billion. Experts maintained that the government should further streamline policies and […]

NEW DELHI, Nov 24 (AsiaPulse) – Indian FMCG firms are turning to efficient cost management and local procurement of raw materials to offset increasing pressure on margins due to the weakening of the rupee that has spiked input costs. Having already taken a series of price hikes this year, the firms have little room to […]

NEW DELHI, Nov 23 (AsiaPulse) – India’s Power Ministry has banned international consulting firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) from taking up any further assignments in the sector after anomalies in the evaluation of bids for the Sasan project were highlighted in a report by power sector expert P.S Bami. “We issued a show-cause notice to […]

NEW DELHI, Nov 21 (AsiaPulse) – India’s Disinvestment Ministry says it has received in-principle clearance from the Petroleum Ministry to proceed with the sale of government equity in Oil India Ltd. “Correspondence was going on for last six months… We got Petroleum Ministry in-principle approval yesterday for disinvestment in OIL. We have to work out […]

NEW DELHI, (AsiaPulse) – The Indian government is likely to discuss the proposal to form South Asian Postal Union, a move that will enhance regional cooperation and can lead to reduction of postal tariffs among SAARC member states. “The proposal to set up South Asian Postal Union (SAPU) is scheduled for discussion in the Cabinet […]

MUMBAI, (Asia Pulse) – Khazanah Nasional, the sovereign wealth fund of the Malaysian government, plans to invest in sectors like financial services, infrastructure and energy in India in the near future. “We are looking at sectors like financial services, infrastructure and energy for investment in the near future,” Khazanah Nasional executive director Michael Jude Fernandes […]