Hyderabad :

In an otherwise disappointing Union budget  for the state, AP has a reason to cheer, as three districts of Nellore,Chitoor, and Ananthapuram are included in the Chennai-Bangalore Industry Corridor being developed with the financial aid provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency ( JICA).

The mega project proposed to come up along the Chennai-Bangalore highway  envisages building world class infrastructure to attract investment in the industry sector on the lines of  Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor . And the Centre is obliged include AP in the Corridor thanks to the frantic efforts of the state government. During the Southern Zonal Council meeting in Bangalore last month, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had requested the Centre to extend the project to  Andhra Pradesh , saying only Chennai-Andhra-Bangalore corridor could unleash economic potential of the region and ensure world class infrastructure,  economic development  and employment generation.

Responding to the budget announcement made by the finance minister P Chidambaram  on Thursday, minister for large industries Geetha Reddy said, “We are happy that AP is included in the industry corridor. And onus lies on us- the state government- now to leverage on the advantage and build industry clusters along the stretch. We would do it with the help of the Union government.”

As per the plan, Krishnapattanam Port in Nellore is included in the Phase-I of the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor and it would be developed as an alternative port for Chennai and Ennore ports which are burdened by traffic congestion. Geetha Reddy said apart from de-congesting the Chennai and Ennore ports, the up-graded Krishnapatatnam Port would catalyze industrial and economic growth in and around the district.

In the Phase-II, the districts of Chitoor and Anathapur are included along with Nellore where the industrial clusters are planned, and the officials in the department of industry said a detailed report would be prepared in an year’s time. While sectors like manufacturing including automobile and machine tools are in the main focus, some of the non-pollutant industries like IT are on the top priority.

Once the project takes shape, various border towns and cities in the districts will have an opportunity to benefit from the industrial corridor as part of which the Union and state governments are making big plans. Tirupati, Pilaru, Nayudupeta, Gudur and Hindupur are towns to have additional advantage because of the initiatives.

However the industrial captains are bit disappointed, as they were asking for more. Y. Harish Chandra Prasad, Past Chairman, CII AP, and Chairman-Malaxmi Infra Ventures, said the budget announcement was disappointing for AP because the industries were expecting the finance minister to announce Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) connecting Vishakapatatnam and Kakinada, which was not to be.

“There is not much to be cheer about because Krishnapattanam Port is already been developed as the alternative port to Ennore and Chennai in terms of cargo, there nothing new that the finance minister has given bonanza. We would have been happy, if he had PCPIR between Vizak and Kakinada,” Harischandra Prasad said.

Expressing similar sentiment, secretary general of Federation of AP Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FAPCCI), M V Rajeswar Rao said the benefit that AP was going to get from the Industrial Corridor was marginal, as he pegged it at 10 %. “It is not that a great thing has happened to AP. The state would get a marginal benefit provided the state government shows some commitment to provide basic infrastructure like power and water which at the given situation not hopeful,” Rajeswar Rao said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hyderabad / by B V  Shiva Shankar, TNN / February 28th, 2013

New Delhi :

Indian Railways will set up an employees’ training institute at Secunderabad  and strive to fill 1.52 lakh vacancies this year, to add to the “family” of 14 lakh railway employees, Pawan Kumar Bansal announced.

Other key points in his maiden Railway Budget were —

Arunachal Pradesh  has been brought into the railway network for the first time.

Indian Railways is aware of the problems of the IRCTC website, and will create a next generation e-ticketing system by end of this year, Bansal said.

Aadhar can be helpful for Railways in many respect, from booking tickets to tracking pension of rail employees.

Indian Railways will run a special luxury coach with the best of ameneties, named ‘Anubhuti’, with select trains.

Railways is concerned about the safety of women passengers, and has created 4 companies of women RPF personnel for their safety, Bansal said.

Ladies coaches in metros are being accompanied by women RPF personnel.

There has been a reduction in the number of train accidents, even though passenger and freight volumes have increased, Bansal said in his maiden Railway Budget speech.

Indian Railways face mounting scarcity of resources.

“Howsoever high a flight may be, we must remain connected to the ground,” he said.

Pawan Kumar bansal started his speech with the usual homage to Congress leaders. He is the first Congress Railyway Minister  in nearly 17 years and expectations are high from his Rail Budget speech.

Bansal had in January hiked railway fares across the board for the first time in a decade. The decision had met with widespread political criticism.

source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com / Home> News> News By Industry> Transportation / Agencies / February 26th, 2013

Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman U.K. Sinha today opened its local office in the city as part of its efforts to reach out to investors across the country.

As part of its decentralisation of work to regional offices, the Mumbai-headquartered SEBI is opening new local offices in different regions of the country.

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman T.S. Vijayan and SEBI whole-time member Rajeev Agarwal were also present on the occasion.

In August, SEBI had said that it would open five more local offices at Chandigarh, Jaipur, Indore, Patna or Bhubaneswar and Banglore or Kochi in the current fiscal.

The market regulator is looking to strengthen its regional offices since physical proximity of its office to investors and intermediaries would promote deepening and broadening of the securities market.

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> Markets / by PTI / Hyderabad, February 26th, 2013

Hyderabad, February 22:

Low-cost carrier Tiger Airways of Singapore is increasing its services from Hyderabad as part of its initiative to make the city its Indian gateway for travellers to Singapore.

“We will be increasing our flights from five times a week to daily from Hyderabad to Singapore in the coming months. Later, we intend to make it twice-a-day service,” Kaneswaran Avili, commercial director, said.

The carrier today inked the corporate fare distribution agreement with travel network company Via.com, which has 20,000 travel agent partners in India, Philippines and Indonesia. The corporate package includes free check-in baggage of up to 25 kg and change-fee waivers for any flight change.

“About 35 per cent of our customers in India are corporate travellers,” he told media persons.

Vikram Jaisinghani, CEO of GMR Hyderabad International Airport, said the airport would see further increases in international services in the coming months.

Currently, 15 international airlines have services through Hyderabad airport with 40 air traffic movements a day.

“We will see addition of services on existing as well as new international routes. We also expect domestic airlines to launch international service through Hyderabad in the coming months,” he said.

Although the airport has registered a fall in domestic passengers, the increase in international traffic may enable it to end the fiscal with last year traffic level of 8.5 million.

“We have seen a three per cent fall in domestic passengers this fiscal,” Jaisinghani added.

amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Home> Industry> Logistics / by The Hindu Bureau / Hyderabad, February 22nd, 2013