“The company has been mining even after its consent to operate issued by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board under the Air and Water Act has expired in 2002,” claimed V. Nagasaila, Sethia’s lawyer, adding that Malco’s mines did not have permission from the Hill Area Conservation Authority, or environmental or forest clearance from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). In an email response to Mint, Malco said, “We have already applied for environmental clearance for mining operations at Kolli and the same was recommended by the expert committee of the MoEF and the formal communication of clearance is awaited.
In another development, Malco cut production of aluminium by 60% due to falling prices and high raw material costs. The reduction will be “temporary”, the firm told BSE.
—Khushboo Narayan & Bloomberg
*********
Economy may have grown 7.16% in Q2: CARE
New Delhi: Credit rating agency CARE Ratings expects the Indian economy to have grown at 7.16% during the second quarter (July-September) of the current fiscal year 2008-09, the agency said in a statement on Thursday.
During the second quarter, the agency expects manufacture and mining to have slowed down significantly. “As per our analysis, manufacturing as well as mining sector have shown a declining trend vis-a-vis last quarter posting a growth of 5% and 7%, respectively. Construction sector remains only marginally affected in the second quarter hovering around 10% growth, while the banking sector has posted a growth of 10.9%,” said Soumendra Dash, chief economist, CARE Ratings.
CARE Ratings also projected that the economy will grow at around 7% during the current fiscal. “In the third and fourth quarters, economic growth will come down to slightly above 6% which will bring down overall growth to around 7%.,” Dash added.
—Staff Writer
*********
Oil secretary says no case for fuel price cut
New Delhi: The country has no case to cut prices of fuels including diesel, petrol and cooking gas because state- run refiners continue to lose revenue from selling some products, R.S. Pandey, oil secretary, said in New Delhi on Thursday.
The government has said it won’t consider reducing retail prices until refiners stop losing revenue on the fuels they sell below cost.
—Bloomberg
*********
Future Group to expand FMCG operations
Mumbai: The Future Group on Thursday announced that it is expanding its fast moving consumer goods (FMCG ) operation to include other retail outlets across the country.
“FMCG is doing well in the country and this is the right time to get into the product category. This is a major thrust for the group into the consumption space,” said Future Group’s CEO Kishore Biyani at a press conference in Mumbai, adding that the group was targeting a turnover of Rs10,000 crore by 2012 from categories such as FMCG, household consumer durables, electronics and apparel, on a marketing investment of Rs200 crore.
The company already has its own brands in apparel, FMCG, and general merchandise. It now plans to launch its own toothpastes, soaps and health-and-beauty products in the next few months, Biyani said.
The strategy of building strong Indian consumer brands will also help the group further improve its margins, he said.
—Jharna Mazumdar
*********
IGate sees customer base doubling in ’08
New York: IGate Corp., the provider of outsourced technology services to General Electric Co., expects to add twice as many customers in 2008 as in the previous year and to begin looking for companies to acquire.