For Growth’s Sake, Cut Rate by 1%, Says Kamath

Holding the rate doesn't seem to contain inflation, but could harm growth story, says ICICI chairman

The Reserve bank of India must go bold and big with a 100 basis-point reduction in its main policy rate to spur consumption, KV Kamath said on Wednesday. A sharp cut in the repo rate, he said, is urgently needed if the country's growth prospects are to remain unimpaired. 
"I would think that we need to head towards a 100-basis point cut soon," the chairman of the country's largest private lender ICICI Bank told ET in an interview. 
His call for aggressive rate-cutting by the Reserve Bank of India comes on the eve of the release of economic growth data for the April-June quarter which is expected to show gross domestic product expanding at its slowest pace in many years. 
"My only point is that we are not sure that holding the interest rate where it is now is doing anything to contain inflation. And the question is now whether it is doing harm to the growth story of the country," he said in his most forceful argument yet in favour of aggressive ratecutting by the RBI. 
The central bank has been citing concerns about inflation and the fiscal deficit, signalling that it is not in a mood to reduce the repo rate below the 8% at which it stands now. 
In April, governor Subbarao unexpectedly reduced the rate by 50 basis points. But equally unexpectedly in June, he left it unchanged. 
Kamath observed that while the fear of inflation is well placed, holding the rate at which RBI lends to banks at the current level has the potential to impact the consumption side of economic momentum. 
"I would think that we could experiment with lowering interest rates and seeing what happens to inflation, and what happens to the economy. And indeed as we see growth figures, the signal is very clear that even with errors and omissions growth is slowing down." The prime minister and the RBI expect the economy to expand by around 6.5% during the year to March 2013 but forecasts by private agencies are more pessimistic. A forecast by Citi even pegged growth at below 5%. In the March quarter GDP expanded by 5.3%, it slowest pace in nine years. Around the world central banks are lowering rates and in China there has been a dramatic slowdown in growth, Kamath said. "To me an even bigger worry is that we should not be seen as a complete outlier in what is being done on the interest rate front in the global context … We don't want to be caught in this overall global impact."

India Inc may soon get to invest in Pakistan

BORDER BIZ New Delhi: India is set to allow companies to invest in Pakistan and push for a dialogue for better air connectivity as part of a fresh set of measures to boost economic relations between the neighbours.      While the finance ministry will issue a clarification saying that Indian companies are permitted to invest across the border, the proposals would be vetted by a screening committee in the Reserve Bank of India, commerce secretary S R Rao said on Wednesday. The government recently lifted a ban on investment from Pakistan, opening another route for better ties.      In addition, over the next few days, the finance ministry will notify a 30% reduction in the sensitive list, which will set in motion the process of reduction of peak customs duty on 264 items to 5% over the next three years, including 155 agricultural products, 106 textiles goods and three petroleum products.      Rao, who is expected to meet his Pakistani counterpart around the middle of next month, will broach the issue of connecting the two capitals in view of the increased interest in trade and investment from both sides. "We will try it to the next level," he told reporters.      The government said there was also progress on energy trade — electricity and oil & gas — two items that are on the agenda finalized in May.

TAXING TIMES Mhada, Cidco, MMRDA may get a VAT blow

Thane: State agencies like Mhada, Cidco and MMRDA may have to shell out crores of rupees towards value-added tax (VAT) for sale of flats over the last six years. 

    The biggest blow will be dealt to Mhada, which has sold over 10,000 tenements across the state since 2006. The law states that builders will have to pay a 5% VAT on sale of properties undertaken between 2006 and 2010. The VAT payable post 2010 will be 1% of the cost of the property. 
    Having constructed tenements and sold them through a lottery draw, thereby recovering administrative, actual land and construction costs from buyers, Mhada qualifies as a builder. "Prima facie it looks like we will have to pay the VAT. We are calculating the amount that we will have to pay. It is going to be huge figure given our volumes of sales," said Satish Gavai,Mhada vice-president. 
    Buyers had been informed at the time of sale that in case of a tax liability in the near future, the authority reserves the right to recover the entire amount from the buyer, said Gavai, adding that the agreement betweenMhada and the buyers has a clause, which puts the onus of tax arrears on the purchaser. However, an official said, "Recovering the arrears will be a big worry. There is every likelihood that buyers must have sold off the flats. In such an event, the original owner will be reluctant to pay up and so will the one occupying the place at present." 
    Tenements built under the slum redevelopment scheme will also come under the VAT purview and builders who have constructed them will have to pay the arrears, it is learnt. 
    Cidco, which has constructed homes and shops in Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad and other cities, too will have to pay tax on all flat sales effected post 2006. 
    "MMRDA too will invite the tax if its proposal, pending before the CM, to sell a portion of the flats constructed under the rental housing scheme gets a nod," an official said.

Two-day strike by banks from tomorrow

 Commercial activities across the country are likely to be hampered on Wednesday and Thursday as employees of the entire banking industry are slated to go on a two-day strike from August 22. "Over a million employees and officers of 27 public sector banks, 12 old-generation private banks and eight foreign banks will take part in the strike," said secretary of All India Bank Employees' Association Vishwas Utagi. 

    Their protest is against the government's move to amend the banking laws bill, presently pending before Parliament and scheduled for discussion on August 23 and 24. 
    Utagi said the proposed amendments in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, andBanking Companies' Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings Act are aimed at handing over the Indian private sector banking to multinational banks. "It also aims at increasing the presence of Indian corporate and foreign direct investment in public sector banks," he said. 
    The outcome of these proposed measures will be closure of rural bank branches, resorting to a large number of ultra-small branches, thereby privatising rural banking operations through contractual businesses, he claimed. 
    The strike will also oppose outsourcing of work to outside agencies, and other antilabour policies, jeopardising jobs in the banking sector and aimed at undermining the collective bargaining strength. During the strike, bank employees plan to take out a procession to Azad Maidan in support of their demands.

The protest is against the government's move to amend the banking laws bill

TATAS, JINDALS, ADANIS & ADAG NAMED BENEFICIARIES India Inc Hauled Over Coals Govt Prepares Counter-Attack

    The national auditor has rattled India Inc and the government with scathing reports naming top business houses such as the Tatas and Jindals and the Anil Ambani Group among alleged recipients of state generosity, including free coal mines, that resulted in benefits that could add up to a mind-boggling . 3.8 lakh crore. 

The government, nervous about the fact that some blocks were given away when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held the coal portfolio, responded aggressively and sought to rubbish the calculations of the Comptrollerand Auditor General (CAG). BJP demanded Singh's resignation saying he was morally responsible for the alleged scams, the magnitude of which was almost double the supposed loss to the exchequeras aresult of the telecom scam. 
CAG said the government's move to allocate coal blocks free to the Tatas, Jindals, Essar, and many other companies resulted in gains of an estimated . 1.86 lakh crore, based on the price of the entire quantity of coal that can be mined from these blocks over their lifetime. It said the blocks could have been auctioned six years ago, and the delay has caused a loss to the exchequer. 
In a separate report, the auditor said Reliance Power would gain an estimated . 29,000 crore over two decades by diverting surplus coal from its Sasan ultra mega power project to another plant that would sell electricity at higher rates. CAG said to be eligible to bid for UMPPs, a company should have implemented projects worth . 3,000 crore in the last 10 years, including one project of more than . 500 crore. However, it estimated that out of investments of . 4,416 crore claimed by Reliance Power while bidding for the Sasan project, only. 1,292 crore was "admissible experience" while the rest "may not conform to the stipulated qualifying requirements". 
Reliance Power vehemently denied any wrongdoingat the Sasan project it won after a competitive bid, but the company's shares lost 5.6%. Shares of companies that were named as recipients of coal blocks also fell. Tata Power lost 3.7%, Adani Power fell 3.3% while JSPL shed 4% of its market value. A third report, which analysed the privatisation of the Delhi airport, said the process was "more skewed in the favour of the concessionaire". 
CAG came to this conclusion on the ground that land was made available for commercial development without charging market rates. "With an equity contribution of . 2,450 crore, of which the private consortium's share was . 1,813 crore, DIAL has got a brownfield airport for 60 years, and in addition, commercial rights of land valued at . 24,000 crore with a potential earning capacity, according to its own estimates, of . 1,63,557 crore." Rebutting the auditor's findings, DIAL in a late evening communiqué said: "The entire commercial land available with DIAL neither has any immediate commercial value nor can be put to use and, therefore, cannot be monetised immediately." 
Opposition wants Manmohan to Go 
Led by BJP, the Opposition on Friday demanded the resignation of PM Manmohan Singh in view of CAG's charges. CAG vs GOVT, INDIA INC 
CAG Gets it Wrong, Again 
Ministry, GMR Lock Horns with CAG over DIAL 
CAG Questions Eligibility of Reliance Power to Bid for Any of its Three UMPPs Conservative Figure, says CAG 
Thus, just using value of one acre and extrapolating the same for the entire land parcel is at best an arithmetic exercise and not practical," DIAL added. Questioning CAG's methodology, the statement argued: "In fact, using the same method of calculation, AAI will receive Rs. 3-4 lakh crore from DIAL as revenue share over the 54 years." The GMR statement also pointed out that the concession of 60 years was part of the bidding documents. "It created a level playing field with no preference to any single bidder and was factored in by all the bidders," a GMR spokesperson said. 
Responding to CAG's observation of gains to companies allotted captive coal blocks, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said the national auditor had erroneously calculated the number on the basis on an average price, ignoring sharp variations in various blocks. "How can they arrive at a figure when each mine is different. It is wrong to arrive at a figure on the basis of some average," he told reporters. 
He said blocks had to be given to private firms because Coal India's output was lagging demand, and that state governments, including those ruled by BJP and the Left, had initially opposed competitive bidding and favoured allocation. However, the government would punish the guilty if there was any wrongdoing. "Irregularities will be investigated and the guilty will be punished, whosoever it may be." 
But the national auditor stuck to its guns, saying its Rs 1.86-lakh-crore loss estimate in allocation of coal blocks is a "conservative" figure, which accounts for only 57 'open cast' coal blocks allocated to private firms. CAG has excluded underground mines because they are not financially lucrative, it said. The report also excluded the financial benefits to government companies, deputy CAG AK Patnaik told reporters. 
"After the exit conference with the government we excluded financial benefits to government companies because it would anyway come back in the form of dividend," added CAG Director-General Revathy Iyer. 
Analysts agreed with the coal minister. "CAG's calculation of gain from coal blocks is flawed. Their calculation is based on the geological reserve and current price of coal. Valuation of an operational mine cannot be compared to that of an unexplored mine, where the risks are high due to uncertainty of reserve and number of hurdles in mine development," Debasish Mishra, senior director at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India. 
Reliance Power CEO JP Chalasani said CAG had not fully considered the company's views that there was no undue benefit. "We have neither received the basis for the numbers used to calculate undue benefit, nor have our representations been fully considered. He also said it was wrong to compare tariffs of the Sasan project with the tariffs of the Chitrangi project, which would use surplus coal from Sasan. 
Comparison between Sasan and Chitrangi tariff to quantify benefits is extremely misleading. No two projects can ever have the same tariff even if the coal sources are the same, and even if the project is coming in the same location as an expansion. For instance, tariffs from NTPC plants in close proximity and sourcing coal from the same mines are vastly different." 
Naveen Jindal, Congress MP and CMD of Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), flayed CAG, saying its viewpoint is not in the interest of the country. JSPL is among the companies listed as beneficiaries of coal block allocation. 
Power producers said private sector participation in coal mining was essential.

India Inc wants GAAR postponed Fears New Rules Will Deter Investors, Worsen Slowdown’s Impact

New Delhi: Industry chambers have asked the expert committee under Parthasarathi Shome to postpone the rollout of the controversial general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) beyond April 2013 in the wake of the adverse economic environment. 

    "Introduction of GAAR at this critical juncture would further dent investments globally and, therefore, the government should withdraw the move and conduct a study to analyze the cost-benefit advantages," industry chamber Assocham told the panel on Thursday. 
    Earlier, CII too had raised a similar demand. "Given the current macro-economic situation and India's early stage of economic development, we recommend that at this stage GAAR should be dropped from the Income Tax Act as its implementation would seriously affect investor confidence, which in turn would impact the capital market, business and the economy… This is not the right time to introduce GAAR in the Income Tax Act; only after the government can assure a transparent, non-corrupt and fair tax administration, should GAAR be introduced," CII had said. 
    While Ficci has not demanded a full-fledged postponement, it has sought two special carve-outs. One, it 
should apply only to transactions that come into effect after April 1, 2013, the proposed date on which the arrangement will be put in place. Two, it wants the government to ensure that arrangements covered by tax treaties signed up to March 2013 should not be impacted. 
    "The Indian GAAR provisions may override any tax treaty entered or revised after April 1, 2013 (the effective date of GAAR). In other words, the GAAR provisions should not apply to tax treaties which are entered or revised prior to 1 April, 2013," Ficci said in its wish list to the panel. 
    Amid pressure from Indian companies and overseas investors, the government has already deferred the rollout of the much-criticized plan by a year to April 2013 and had also set up the committee under Shome. The panel, which is expected to submit its first draft for comments later this month, will put together the rules and also provide a roadmap, including the timeframe for GAAR rollout. 
Sensex snaps 2-day rally; down 71 pts 
Mumbai:The sensex on Thursday fell by 71 points to 17,657, snapping a two-day upward march, as investors booked profits in the fag end of the trading session in FMCG, bank and metal sectors amid a weak trend in Europe. The index was dragged by ITC that dropped 3.6% on reports that Australia's tough new anti-tobacco marketing laws, which among others ban logos on cigarette packs, may find resonance in India too. AGENCIES

India may give asylum to ‘persecuted’ Pak Hindus Scores Coming In From Sindh, Balochistan

New Delhi: India is open to giving asylum to Hindus from Pakistan if they ask for it. Some 250-odd Hindus have arrived in the country over the last few days and most are keen on seeking permanent residence in India as they fear persecution in Pakistan in view of the recent instances of abductions of Hindu girls, who were forced by fundamentalist groups to embrace Islam and married off. 

    Hindus from Pakistan, who arrived here ostensibly on an annual pilgrimage, have already indicated that they don't want to go back to their country. 
    Although they have not formally sought asylum, official sources said the government was likely to accept such requests when they come. "India does not generally turn away asylumseekers," an official said. 
    India is "surprised" at the sudden influx of Hindus from Pakistan. At least three batches have arrived, the latest group of 14 via Attari on Monday joining 250 who came over last week. INDIA'S WELCOMING STAND 
India's policy on granting asylum is based on two fundamental rights in the Constitution—Article 21 and Article 14. These rights give any resident in India the right to life, equality and justice 
    Refugees and asylum seekers in India can avail of govt education, medical care in govt hospitals, practise their religion, even work in the informal sectorRefugees vow to break pledge to return 
The trials and tribulations of Pakistani Hindus came into the limelight when a 14-year-old girl, Manisha Kumari, was kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and married off. Last month, a 20-year-old, Sunil, "converted" to Islam on TV during Ramzan, to the delight of a cheering audience. 
    Hindus make up 2.5% of Pakistan's 174 million population, of which over 90% live in Sindh. 
    The refugees seeking Indian asylum bring harrowing tales of harassment, violence and death at the hands of Islamists. The Hindus who crossed the border on Monday said they will flout their promise to return and will stay on in India. 
    They alleged severe persecution, harassment, forced conversion, extortion and abduction and forced marriages of young girls by Islamist groups in Pakistan. The groups are mainly from Sindh and Balochistan. 
    Although they were made to sign documents promising to return before being allowed to cross into India, many of them have cited the rising persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan to say they would ask for asylum here. 
The emerging stories of oppression of religious minorities in Pakistan, where blasphemy laws have been used by hardliners to target Christians, has attracted international attention since Punjab governor Salman Taseer was assassinated for sympathizing with a Christian woman who was given death sentence for allegedly insulting Islam. The assassination of minister for minority affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, and the killings of Shias and Ahmediyas—a Muslim sect considered to be heretic by hardliners—cast the spotlight on the plight of minorities. 
    The harassment of Hindus generated headlines when Rinkie Kumari, a minor, was kidnapped, converted and married to a Muslim under the aegis of a known hardliner. Parents of Rinkie Kumari and two other Hindu girls-—Lata and Asha—who were forced to embrace Islam and married off to Muslims, failed to get respite from the Pakistan Supreme Court. 
    The global censure for its failure to protect minorities appears to be pinching the Pakistani regime. The 250 Hindus who recently arrived in India were briefly detained at the border by Pakistani authorities. They wereallowed to enter India after signing a commitment to return, and told not to criticize Pakistan while in India. 
    These migrations are embarrassing to Pakistan. In his Independence Day speech, Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani made a pointed reference to the security of minorities. He recalled that in the original mandate, Pakistan was to be an Islamic welfare state. Without a specific reference to the Hindus, Kayani said minorities in Pakistan should be free to live and work and practice their faith without fear. 
    The plight of Hindus in Pakistan figured in Parliament with BJP leader Rajnath Singh forcefully raising the religious and human rights violations the community faces in the neighbouring country. He found the support of other parties with BJD's Bhartruhari Mahtab saying India should offer shelter to Hindus migrating from Pakistan. Mahtab said Pakistan has been unable to protect its minorities. 
    The Punjab Congress has also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking for government intervention to provide refuge to Hindus from Pakistan.

Hindu pilgrims from Pakistan wait at the Wagah border

BJP leader Sanjay Lalwani welcomes Hindu migrants from Pakistan at Indore railway station on Tuesday. As many as 230 people reached India on religious visa and another 200 have applied for the same. Lalwani said these visas, valid for 45 days, will be extended after which they can stay in India for 7 years

Maha extends deadline for UID card by a year

Mumbai: Nearly one-and-ahalf years after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the ambitious scheme to provide unique identity (UID) cards at Nandurbar in Maharashtra, the state government has extended its deadline to complete the programme by a year. 

    The government now aims to cover at least 80% of Maharashtra's population before March 31, 2013, as opposed to the earlier target of 100% enrollment by March 31, 2012. 
    At the end of the programme's first phase, the government registered around four crore users, delivering cards to nearly three crore. "In the second phase, we will ensure factors which led to slow progress are attended to, and the project is completed before March 31, 2013," UID officials said, adding that several factors have led to slow progress, including time taken by agencies to feed data and shortage of biometric machines. 
    At a meeting chaired by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and attended by Nandan Nilekani, head of the UID programme, it was decided to connect state departments to the UID to ensure faster delivery of services to users, including direct transfer of money into the account of a card-holder. The revenue, urban development, health, education, women & child departments will be connected to the state resident data hub. This will be done simultaneously with the launch of the programme's second phase, officials said. 
    A 'self-seeding' programme will be launched for those who have received a card to be able to update their LPG, ration card and other basic details on the hub, via SMS or email. Once these details are uploaded, standing in long queues to avail services will not be required. "There will be speedy delivery of services such a gas connection, ration card, government certificates and loans for farmers, among 
many other benefits the government will be able to deliver," an official said. 
    The government has undertaken pilot studies in pockets of Mumbai, where 60 lakh cards have been issued mostly in slum areas. The pilot, to open 1,500 bank accounts with the help of UID, was carried out in a South Mumbai slum. Officials said that Nilekani appreciated it and told the government to connect more bank accounts with the UID so that direct cash transfers become a reality.

CARD TRICK? At a meeting attended by Nandan Nilekani, it was decided to connect state departments to UID to ensure faster delivery of services to users

‘Urbanisation in India is Rapid and Chaotic’

CB BHAVE FORMER CHAIRMAN, SEBI

Former Sebi chairman CB Bhave, who is now nurturing the startup Indian Institute of Human Settlements, says India needs more cross-disciplinary courses in the field of urban studies

    In 1996, Chandrasekhar Bhaskar Bhave resigned from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to help create the National Securities Depository — a landmark in the evolution of the Indian financial services industry. Sixteen years on, and after three years as chairman of securities market regulator Sebi, he is nurturing another startup which has the potential to attain world standards — the Indian Institute of Human Settlements promoted by some of India's most prominent business leaders and technocrats. In an interview with Archana Rai, he discusses the reasons why he believes 'urban practice' is an idea whose time has come. Edited excerpts: 

Why did you take up this job? 
I don't know if there is an easy answer to this. I thought I had gone into retirement, but the people who have promoted this (institute) — and (chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India) Nandan Nilekani who is also involved in this — said I should take it up, and I am also planning to shift to Bangalore. The institution (Indian Institute of Human Settlements) requires people with some experience, which I have. I thought a bit on whether, at this stage of my life, I should be taking up these executive assignments, but I thought it was worth it because the area is very interesting. 
What did you find interesting about this discipline? 
We all know India is urbanising rapidly and in a very chaotic manner. There are various reasons for that. But are we creating people with enough cross-disciplinary training to deal with this? When a person is taught architecture, that is all he or she learns, as in civil engineering or environmental engineering. But when you set up six towers of 20 floors each in an area, it raises a lot many questions — the question of transportation and logistics, whether the architecture is right et al. Individual experts don't see the other side of things. Therefore, we need an undergraduate course that is cross-disciplinary. And to offer that we need a university. We also need a lot of research and case studies in urban areas in terms of an Indian context. We need to develop a body of knowledge and some amount of consultancy, along with policy advocacy. The need of the informal sector, and what they require, is not being fed to the government. People need to be sensitised to this as it will lead to better governance. While one cannot cure all the ills you can make your own little contribution. That's the basic idea behind this institution, which I found very appealing. But it is a very tough task. 
What are your immediate priorities? 
It is relatively easy to conceptualise than realise. One of the first priorities is to see that we get sufficient funding for this project. Our idea is to try and have this project done almost exclusively through private donations. We have five different schools. The naming rights for each of these schools will be given to a donor who funds it with . 50 crore. Nandan was the first person to come forward. Then there are the chairs for our professors, those are for . 10 crore each, then there is . 20 crore for the library and . 30 crore for the auditorium. Till we get recognition as a university, we cannot offer long-term courses. Our hope is that the Bill will go through in Parliament, and we would like to work with the government to ensure that our institution qualifies for university status.
How receptive have people been so far? 
People like the idea. But in India, the tradition of giving is not very strong. In a sense, the new entrepreneurial class is setting up new traditions. We need to establish trust with them. The second factor is that it is not a small project. You have to run an endowment. You cannot make money in education. It is not an easy job. You have to be constantly innovating in terms of what are the different sources of money. 
Why do you plan to raise money purely from private sources? 
The issue with raising money from the government is that they naturally look at it from the perspective of public finance. Therefore, there will be 10 different conditions attached to it. Those conditions tend to go beyond general principles. But it is equally challenging to get it privately funded. 
Will it take you longer to find the right private sources and how much will you need? 
Our estimate for the total project is . 400 crore. That will include the construction of various schools, the administrative building and whatever is required to set up the whole campus, plus some amount of money till the institution is able to meet at least its running costs. No educational institution can recover capital costs. This is a high-level estimate, and as we go into details, and as we actually start working, there will be some variations. 
What are you hearing from potential donors? 
We are telling them the same thing I have told you: this is the idea, there is a need in the market, this is what we need to do, therefore we need generous amounts of funding. There is no return on that money. You cannot expect students to pay fees for their entire expense. It's not possible. We want to have an inclusive agenda and don't just want people who can afford to pay . 10-20 lakh to study here. We hear a lot of interest from people. They are very attracted by the idea. We need to convince them that this idea really needs this level of support. 
Is there a chance for Indian cities to be regenerated? 
You have to go to the root cause of why these spaces are in this condition — what is it that we did not understand last time around on account of which we allowed growth to take place in an unregulated manner. It's not hopeless, but at the same time it is a difficult thing to tackle. Never assume that you can provide all the solutions. Two, never underestimate whatever little effort you have made. The effect will be felt, maybe after 10 years. Different people will have different solutions. That's the beauty of democracy. Analysing the causes of success is as important as analysing the causes of failure.

An SMS in Time Saves Farmers the Monsoon Blues

Mobile-based advisory services Iffco Kisan Sanchar, Nokia Life Tools and Reuters Market Light help farmers take the right decisions and avoid crop losses

  Atul Bharve, a farmer from Maharashtra's Marathwada district, says a mobile phone message saved him from crop losses this year. When monsoon was delayed, he sent an SMS to Nokia Life Tools — a text message-based information service — seeking advice on what to cultivate and was promptly advised to focus on fodder. "When the rains didn't arrive in early June, I panicked. But that crucial SMS from Nokia was a lifeline of sorts for my family," says Bharve. 

Kapil Mehta, a traditional paddy farmer from Sabakantha district in northern Gujarat, took up sorghum cultivation, which requires less water, this season in line with a voice message advisory from Iffco Kisan Sanchar, a joint venture between mobile carrier Bharti Airtel and fertiliser firm Iffco. 
If India avoids a farming disaster of huge crop losses due to deficient monsoon rains this year, part of its credit goes to specialised mobile-based advisory services such as Iffco Kisan Sanchar, Nokia Life Tools and Reuters Market Light, which are helping millions of farmers across the country take the right decisions. 
"Our database confirms that nearly 12 lakh farmers are listening to our voice messages everyday...many are monsoonrelated," says S Srinivasan, CEO of Iffco Kisan Sanchar. 
Finnish mobile handset maker Nokia says nearly 30 million customers subscribe to its Nokia Life Tools service and many of them are farmers. Reuters Market Light, an initiative of news and information firm Thomson Reuters to provide personalised agricultural information through text messages in local languages to farmers for . 999 a year, boasts of one million unique subscribers. 
These service providers are now working overtime to respond to a deluge in demand due to delayed monsoon. And their volumes are unlikely to flag any time soon as the Met office has predicted a 15-20% shortfall in rains in early August. "Many farmers in Maharashtra have opted for these services and have benefited," says Umakant Nangat, Maharashtra's commissioner of agriculture. Experts believe mobile-based farmer advisory providers will play an increasingly larger role in coming years. 
Swapan Kumar Dutta, deputy director general (crop science) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, says these service providers can create alerts about crops that require less water if they get a wind of the monsoon pattern in advance. "It's easier for them to play a larger role as they are in direct touch with rural subscribers. Service providers also need to collaborate more with agri-scientists," he says. 
Companies say they are already at it. 
Iffco Kisan Sanchar, which has 13 Kisan Call Centres in different parts of the country, has thrashed out contingency plans in consultation with the state Agriculture Department & Research Organisation to assist farmers impacted by the delayed monsoon. "We've urged our subscribers to adopt moisture conservation practices and explore ways to improve water utilisation," CEO Srinivasan says. BV Natesh, director (emerging markets services) at Nokia Life Tools, says, "Since the Indian farmer now faces significant monsoon-related challenges, we've been providing our subscribers with the best practices and tips on water and soil moisture conservation, alternative crop selection in low rainfall scenarios and five-day weather forecasts." 
Nokia Life provides personalised text messages on 270 commodities in 12 languages across 22 states in 12 languages and can be accessed by farmers on a daily basis. Reuters Market Light Managing Director Amit Mehra says, "Our experts have developed contingency plans at state and district levels by sourcing inputs from leading agri-research institutions." Experts say that these service providers can coach farmers on drought-resistant seed variants besides issuing customised advisories on shifting crop patterns in rainfall deficit zones. But they also need superior infrastructure to source and disseminate accurate farming tips down to the taluka level. Mohini Mohan Misra, national secretary of leading farmers organisation Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, says, "The services offered by Nokia Life Tools and IKSL can be helpful amid the ongoing rainfall deficit. But they must beef up infrastructure to source more accurate information on 127 agro-climatic zones." 
A recent World Bank report notes that mobile-based access to price information has improved an average farmer's income by up to 24%. It adds that the most common usage of text messaging in the context of agriculture includes access to price information, crop disease and meteorological information. 
sutanuka.ghosal@timesgroup.com 

PERSONAL TOUCH: Providing agri information through SMSes in local languages

India:Q1 SALES RISE 14%, BUT NET PROFIT GOES UP A MEAGRE 0.5%

Revenues Grow Slowest in 9 Quarters as Inertia Makes India Inc Arthritic RANJIT SHINDE & SHAILESH KADAM ET INTELLIGENCE GROUP  Revenues of India's top companies grew at the slowest pace in nearly three years and net profits by a meagre 0.5% in the quarter to June as rising interest rates and input costs and a slowdown in investments — mainly because of policy inertia — squeezed profitability.  An analysis by the ET Intelligence Group of the quarterly results of over 1,400 companies, excluding firms in banking, finance and petroleum, shows that revenues expanded by 14.3%, which was the lowest in nine quarters. Net profits rose just 0.5% in the first quarter of 2012-13 from a year ago as higher financing costs started to bite.  Though this appears to be better than the slide of 10-15% in net profit during the two quarters to December 2011, it is way too low compared to the growth of 6.4% a year ago or during the June 2011 quarter.  What is worrying is that at a time of weak top line or revenue expansion, interest and input costs continue to spiral, reflecting the inability of companies to pass on the cost burden to end-users. The proportion of raw material costs to net sales jumped to a ninequarter high of 36.6% from 35.5% a year ago while the share of interest expense in sales topped 3.6% for the first time since June 2009, when it stood at 2.7%.  Interest costs shot up by 42.6% year-onyear in the June quarter, marking the fourth successive quarter in which interest outgo rose by more than 40%. Interest costs had increased the most, by 60%, for the sample of companies in the quarter to September 2011 — a period when the RBI was raising interest rates to combat inflation. In April this year, the central bank reduced interest rates by 50 basis points, or 0.5%, but Indian companies — hurt by 13 successive interest rate hikes since 2009 — have been complaining that high rates are weighing down performance. Weak Ability to Service Debt  The sustained increase in interest outgo has weakened the ability of Indian corporates to service outstanding debt as reflected in the interest coverage ratio — a measure of a firm's ability to pay interest on borrowings. This ratio, which is arrived at after dividing profit before interest & tax (PBIT) by the amount of interest cost in a period, fell by 250 basis points from the June 2009 quarter to a three-year low of 4%. The trend of higher costs pulled down operating margins by 40 basis points to 16.3% in the June quarter from a year ago. The operating profitability of the sample has declined substantially from 18.6% nine quarters ago, reflecting spiralling costs. "Companies are relatively more leveraged now since raising equity has become difficult. This has resulted in higher interest costs," says Samiran Chakraborty, regional head of research (South Asia), Standard Chartered.  The share of borrowings in total capital market funds soared to 95% in the June 2012 quarter from over 80% a year ago, according to the latest report by ratings agency CARE. The higher emphasis on debt at a time the top line is under pressure due to slowing demand means interest outgo is likely to impact India Inc in the near term.  The cost of raw material relative to sales continued to increase even though commodity prices cooled off globally in the past six months. Chakraborty attributes this to the lag effect in the impact of change in input prices. "Companies tend to book imported raw materials 45-90 days in advance. This means that any change in prices during this period will only be reflected in the coming quarters." This also suggests that companies may report a marginal softening of imported input costs in the next few quarters. Leading indicators such as trend in capital expenditure and credit offtake by the industry suggest that the performance of Indian companies will remain muted in the next few quarters. In their latest report, CARE Economists Madan Sabnavis and Anuja Jaripatke Shah draw attention to the slowing trend in industrial credit. Credit offtake by the industry, or loans, grew by 2.1% in the June 2012 quarter, slower than the near-3% growth a year ago. Besides, a major proportion of the credit was attributed to industrial sectors, which reported a fall in production during the quarter. This hints at the possibility that companies may have taken recourse to borrowings to fund working capital requirements in the backdrop of falling revenue.  Falling capital expenditure is equally worrisome. According to latest data from the Reserve Bank of India, capex for new and existing projects fell by 11% in FY12 even though overall investments in the economy grew by nearly 5%. "Capex on new projects has been falling for the past three years. What should be alarming this time around is the sharp decline in the expenditure on existing projects," points out Chakraborty of Standard Chartered. Expenditure on existing projects dropped by 46% in FY12. A falling capex cycle signals an extended period of stagnation in the economy.

Texts, provocative clips triggered violence?

EVENING OF ANARCHY Police Feel Saturday's Rioting Planned Private Firearms May Have Been Used Most Of Those Hurt Discharged  Shocked Cops Try To Connect Dots Behind Possible Conspiracy, Ask Cyber Cell To Check Websites; Leaders Say Focus On Assam Rehab, Not Protests     Saturday's violence that rocked south Mumbai and left police flummoxed by the size of gathering may have been ignited by mass distribution of inflammatory text messages, video clips and photographs of killings in Myanmar. The violence that killed two persons and left 63 injured, shocked the Mumbai police's special branch, which is termed as the intelligence wing of the city police.      The police officials first claimed they were unaware of any such video being circulated among the youth and later on Sunday said the cyber crime investigation cell will examine these videos to find out the truth and whether they could be blocked.      "The video clippings of killings of Muslims in Burma are today available with most of the young boys on their mobile phone. These are so provocative that youth would have definitely come to protest. Had the city police realized it, proper precautions and deployment of the  force could have been done," said a senior politician.      The community leaders have also suggested that the police should start checking cell phones of young men and warn them for keeping such provocative video clippings. The mob that began with targeting the media crew insisted that the national press had completely ignored the Myanmar killing issue. "If a few NRIs are killed in America, the government expresses its concern, why does it keep quiet on the Burma genocide of Muslims?" asked a community leader. In one of the videos, a Burmese man is shown running for his life. The victim in the video is bleeding and dozens of people are beating him with rods while a policeman, carrying a firearm, is a mute spectator. These videos are being circulated through MMS and Bluetooth.      The call for a protest was given by several NGOs on Saturday at Azad Maidan. While by 2.30pm there was uncontrollable crowd, additional forces were not deployed, said sources. The police estimated a gathering of 10,000-12,000 people. But the protesters gathered near Azad Maidan were more than 50,000.      This is not the first time the police intelligence system collapsed. A few years ago, while Muslims were protesting against a Danish cartoonist for sketching a cartoon of the Prophet, cops expected a crowd of 20,000 people, but more than 1.5 lakh people turned up.      THE MESSAGES  "Burma Assam, Gujarat, Kashmir ke bad na jane kaha? Burma me Musalmano ke qatl-e-aam or zulm ke khilaf Azad Maidan me Sunday ko rally hai. America me 5 sikho ka katal hua to Media or sarkar me hadkam hai or lakhon Musalmano ki zindagi ki koi keemat nahi, sab ki aankhen band hai. Is SMS ko sunday se pehle hindustan k har musalman or mantriyo or media tak pohchao."  "Assam has witnessed very bad anti-Muslim riots during the last few days. Thousands of our brothers and sisters are waiting for aid in relief camps. They don't have food cloths and shelter. Moreover monsoon related diseases are rapidly spreading in relief camps. We r helping them through relief funds set up by different muslim organisations. Many of my colleagues and friends have already contributed. Waiting for your valuable contribution."  Raza Academy draws flak from intelligentsia      The Sunni Muslim group Raza Academy, one of the organizers of Saturday's rally at Azad Maidan, is facing flak from Muslim intelligentsia and community leaders for its continued misguided approach in addressing issues. Community leaders feel that if Raza Academy didn't know how to manage big crowds, it should not have given a call for a rally at the Maidan, that too in the holy month of Ramzan.      Founded in 1978, Sunni advocacy group Raza Academy works from a tiny office in a crowded street near Mohammed Ali Road. Late Ahmed Raza Khan of Bareli is its spiritual guide and the Academy claims to protect the Sunna (traditions of the Prophet). The Academy is known for organizing protest rallies and dharnas against "injustices" to Muslims and "insults" to the Prophet. —Mohammed Wajihuddin Oppn wants central rule in Maharashtra  Mumbai:The opposition Shiv Sena-BJP combine attacked the Congress-led government and demanded President's rule in the state. "President Pranab Mukherjee should dismiss the government. Saturday's incident and recent serial blasts in Pune indicate a breakdown of law & order in Maharashtra," Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Sunday.      MNS chief Raj Thackeray said the inept home department was responsible for rising crime. A BJP delegation led by Vinod Tawde and state unit chief Sudhir Mungantiwar met the chief minister and demanded Patil's removal. Cops stand guard on Sunday DAY AFTER: A policeman taking stock of vehicles that were damaged in Saturday's violence. (Above) Vehicles which were targeted by the rioters being towed away. (Below) A worker dismantling the stage at Azad Maidan on Sunday. The violence left two persons dead and 63 injured

Yamuna Expressway: inaugurated on 9th Aug

 

Yamuna Expressway, also known as the Taj Expressway, is a 6-lane, 165-km-long, controlled-access driveway, connecting Greater Noida in National Capital Region with Agra in Uttar Pradesh. It is the country's longest six-lane expressway built at a cost of over Rs 14000 crore. The Yamuna Expressway was inaugurated on August 9, 2012, by UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. It has been built by the Jaypee Group. It costs Rs 320 for a car on a one-way trip to Agra to use the stretch.

The Taj Expresssway project was first announced in 2001 by Mayawati, the then UP chief minister, to relieve NH-2 which was already congested. The idea was to reduce travel time between Delhi and Agra. But Mayawati was voted out in the 2003 elections and the project was put on the backburner. It was reactivated in 2007 when Mayawati regained power and was renamed Yamuna Expressway. The Jaypee Group was given the task for constructing the expressway and in May, 2012, it informed state government officials that the project was complete.

The expressway has five main toll plazas, 35 underpasses, one railway overbridge, one major bridge, 68 cart track crossings, 183 culverts and 70 vehicular underpasses.

The expressway has SOS booths all along the route besides a toll free helpline which is displayed at regular intervals. CCTV cameras are installed every 5 km along the expressway for safety and accident assistance. Mobile radars will be operational to monitor compliance with minimum and maximum speed limits and one highway patrol has been scheduled for every 25 km. Beginning with 15000 vehicles per day, the expressway is expected to be used by over 100,000 vehicles every day. It is also expected to reduce travel time between Greater Noida and Agra from 4 hours to 2 hours.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS MAGICBRICKS.COM EXPERTS RESPOND TO QUERIES IN MUMBAI

I booked a flat in December 2011. The builder did not disclose the actual area at the time of purchase and now is forcing me to take the possession. Can I sell this flat to a prospective buyer and take legal action against the builder? 

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• Yes, you can legally transfer the allotment to your buyer. Please refer to the allotment letter on the procedure. If there are construction irregularities, do write to the builder to rectify it. If he does not take action, send a legal notice through a lawyer and disclose every aspect to the buyer. 
I want to buy a flat which is owned by Mr 'X', who has bought it from Mr 'Y'. Mr 'X' has a registered Agreement which is between both of them i.e. (Mr 'X' and Mr 'Y') but does not have the original Agreement which is between Mr 'Y' and the builder. Mr 'Y' has only the photocopy as an investor. Can I purchase the above mentioned property and what has to be done for missing documents? 

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• Inspection of the Title Deed is very important. Loss of original Title Deeds may lead to many complications, affect or impede free dealings with the property. It reduces the strength of ownership title of the owner. Suppose you purchase the property for a valuable sale consideration, ignoring that fact that the vendor does not have the original title deed and suppose at some earlier stage the property has been mortgaged by deposit of title document by its owner, then irrespective of the fact that you have purchased the property for valuable consideration, you will not get rightful ownership over the property. 
Having said that, loss of documents such as Encumbrance Certificate, Khata Certificate, and Tax paid receipt does not have serious implications since it is possible to make up the loss of these documents by applying and getting certificates afresh from the concerned authority. A sincere effort also should be made to trace out the lost document and or to rebuild the records. The common practice followed is to notify the loss of the original deed in two leading and widely circulated newspapers, one in English and the other in vernacular language, requesting the finder of such documents to deliver back the said document. 
Lodging a police complaint and obtaining acknowledgment from the police also is considered as evidence for the loss of a document. Do engage a lawyer to do a thorough check before you buy this property. 
At the time of booking it was shown by the builder that the flat faces the big rectangular park and hence the builder included Preferred Location Charges (PLC) in the cost of the flat i.e. Rs 68250. Now, it s been revealed from the builder's websites that the total area of the park has been reduced to half i.e. in a triangular shape and such type of park layout is not mentioned in the Agreement. Can I reduce the PLC charges against the booked flat? 

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• The builder should reduce the charges and if he denies reduction then you may take the builder for changing the project specifications during construction after taking deposits. If you have a grievance against the builder, send him a notice in writing and if he refuses to accept your notice then you need not worry; proof of sending it is valid in the consumer court and the notice would be deemed to have been duly served.

9-TIER HANDI breaks into Guinness Records

The popular spectacle of dahi handi reached a crescendo around 10pm on Friday with a mandal from Jogeshwari making an entry into the Guinness World Records for its feat. Living up to their reputation, the boys from Jai Jawan Govinda Pathak created history by forming a human pyramid that was 43.79 ft tall, rivalling the height of a five-storey building.      Pratap Sarnaik's Sanskruti event had invited representatives from the Guinness World Records as well as the Limca Book of Records to take formal cognizance of the nine-tier challenge. "We have broken a record held by Spain since the past 31 years. It is wonderful that Jai Jawan did this at our venue," exulted his son Vihang. "Earlier in the day, the Shivsai mandal from Borivli also managed nine tiers and the Limca Book will certify it next month."      Jai Jawan kept up its record of nine tiers at Jitendra Awhad's Sangharsh dahi handi although this feat was not recorded by Guinness. "In fact they had formed the tenth layer as well but fell down before completing the final salute. We awarded them Rs 15 lakh cash on the spot," Awhad said. Had they achieved that breakthrough, a ready bonus of Rs 25 lakh would have been theirs.      Celebrity appearances energized crowds across the main venues. Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan and Esha Deol performed at Sachin Ahir's Sankalp handi in Worli. "Their interactive stunts and dances saw the govindas having the time of their lives," said Ahir's wife Sangeeta. Meanwhile, Jeetendra, Nana Patekar and Rakhi Sawant made an appearance at Ram Kadam's Ghatkopar event that offered a reward of Rs 40 lakh. Marathi actors and singers such as Mangesh Desai, Bhargavi Chirmule and Bela Shende arrived in Thane.      This year, the Shiv Sena, whose  leaders control several prominent handis, utilized the festival to mobilize its cadre. The illness of party supremo Balasaheb Thackeray as well as next in command Uddhav Thackeray has come a double blow to the party-workers' morale, and leaders made sure to send out a feelgood message to assure karyakartas that all was well.      Social messages were factored in into the celebrations as well. Ram Kadam concentrated on female foeticide while in Dadar, the Sena and MNS focused on the environment and the Marathi language.      Thane municipal commissioner R A Rajeev's diktat seeking proper passage for road traffic seemed to be difficult to implement as a sea of humanity converged in the city, especially at Panchpakhadi. The huge inflow from Mumbai saw traffic congestions on the eight-lane Eastern Express Highway on Friday. The entire road from Godrej Gates at Vikhroli to Mulund was littered with plastic glasses, bags and thermocol plates.  THE WINNERS      Pratap Sarnaik's Sanskruti handi in Thane | The Jai Jawan Govinda Pathak from Jogeshwari enters the Guinness World Records for making a human pyramid 43.79 ft tall. Shivsai Mandal of Borivli manages nine tiers; is given official recognition by Limca Book of Records      Jitendra Awhad's Sangharsh, Thane | A prize amount of Rs 15 lakh is awarded to Jai Jawan, which has retained its record of nine tiers. The boys missed the 10th tier by a whisker, falling before the final salute      Sachin and Sangeeta Ahir's Sankalp, Worli | The Bal Utsahi Mandal from Jogeshwari is allowed to break the handi at six tiers, owing to the 10pm deadline      Rajan Vichare's handi, Thane | Jari Mari Mandal from Mangalwadi, Girgaum, Akhil Malpa Dongri Mitra Mandal and Thane Gaurishankar Siddhivinayak Mandal bag top honours. Sankalp team from Tilak Nagar, Thane, wins women's handi RISE, FALL & RISE: 1 Govindas break the coveted handi at Dadar 2 Readying to build the human pyramid at the Dadar venue 3 Curious onlookers watch a pyramid formation at Haji Kasam Chawal, Parel 4 A nine-tier pyramid in Thane

India’s the most Complicated Market MARTEN PIETERS CEO, VODAFONE INDIA

Vodafone, the largest private mobile phone company in the world, concedes that India is by far the toughest country to do business in. The CEO of its Indian operations, Marten Pieters, tells ET in an exclusive interaction that consolidation is bound to happen as only 3-4 operators can be successful in any market. Pieters says that it is the regulatory and policy uncertainties that have led to the company postponing its proposed initial public offering, and not its multi-billion dollar tax dispute with the government here. The telco is also of the view that most Indian customers are price-sensitive and would, therefore, opt for slower data speeds on a 2G network as it is cheaper to 3G and 4G. Edited excerpts: 

Is India the most complicated market you have operated in? 
Absolutely, I wouldn't be aware of any market that is more complicated. China, for instance, has two operators who have been given free spectrum. Sure, they have been told to do rural rollouts, but China has not regulated tariffs. China Mobile is by far the most profitable company in the world. True, the Chinese government didn't get the money, but what they got was real good networks. India's new NTP says by 2020, we need 600 million broadband users. But how will you do that? It needs huge investments. 
Do you expect consolidation to kick in? 
It's already happening, as we speak. Uninor has shut four circles, Etisalat has stopped doing business. 
Is consolidation also triggered by falling returns? 
In a market, maximum 3 to 4 mobile operators can be really successful. The UK and Holland saw the 4th and 5th operators disappear. After all, to make money you need that kind of investment. Why would a customer opt for a network with less quality? Most customers see coverage as the number 1 quality criterion. If you invest only half, network coverage will also be half. It doesn't matter if you have 30% or 5% market share; the expense on network coverage has to be the same. It is also a very FMCG-oriented business, so whether you have 5% market share or more, you have to spend the same amount on branding too. 
Aren't those expenses a handful for the operators? 
Indeed. Those expenses are fairly huge. My experience says if you don't have 50% market share, it is very hard to make money. We have a very interesting situation in India where the top three players have 65% revenue market share. So what are the others making? 
Will Vodafone bid for Uninor's assets? 
There are at least 3-to-4 players who would love to be part of the consolidation game. But you don't know what you're buying; you don't know what you're selling. It's impossible to tell what you're getting. Even there, we need more clarity. For instance, we hold airwaves in the 900 MHz band in 10 circles. I would love to have that in circles where we don't have it because it's good spectrum. It would be great if I could buy a guy who has that spectrum in an area (where) I don't have. But I also don't know if in two years it will be taken away from me. So why would I buy if I don't know what I have in two years. 
Is Vodafone trying to settle the tax issue with the government? 
Vodafone has been very consistently saying that it is committed to India. The issue has been there since year one; and we have still invested . 50,000 crore during that period. From what I've read, the government is also thinking what to do with this hot potato. 
Are powerful rivals making it more difficult? 
I hope not. I hope we are moving towards a more level playing field. Let's see over time who plans to invest in the country. Vodafone will be among the top one or two. Why would a country want to mistreat a company like that? 
What does this do to the IPO? 
The tax issue is not related since IPO is a shareholder issue. But spectrum is very relevant and basic, especially since our licence renewal comes up in 2014-15. So, maybe in theory, it is an idea to do an IPO, but it wouldn't be wise right now. 
Will Vodafone stall the 2G auction, given that TDSAT rejected its plea against a clause in the draft guidelines, which mandated operators to pay a market-determined price for converting airwaves they hold intoliberalised spectrum for 20 years. 
TDSAT has said this is still a proposal, not a final thing, so you can't challenge that till it is final. 
What's your take on emerging trends in India's mobile turf? 
We don't see a big drop in voice traffic in the foreseeable future. Even in world markets where voice revenue has shrunk significantly, usage hasn't fallen. People treat VoIP services like Skype as a threat, but those have not taken off radically. In India, we have a unique situation where voice calls are so cheap that there isn't much arbitrage in offering it on a different technology. So we expect much of our revenues to come from voice. 
Will Vodafone oppose VoIP in India? 
We will never do that. These developments happen all over the world. You better just accept the reality and cope with it. We are not nervous as long as it happens to everyone. 
But don't you expect data traffic to shoot up? 
Data will grow. But since voice is still growing, the equation only shifts slowly. Since data usage needs an ecosystem, it all hinges on applications. And given that India still has issues like literacy, it will take time. The average Indian farmer isn't going to immediately start googling away. He will need a different app to make him switch to a more expensive terminal. But the good news, as was the case with voice, is that the spread of the device — that is mainly a function of price — has been fairly quick. Vodafone is also dropping to price-points where we now think the data market will explode. 
Will data usage follow that? 
It should, and we have applications to facilitate that. We're aware of the popularity of entertainment services related to sport or music. But a mass switch to mobile video, which could be Bollywood clips, could galvanise data usage and drive up consumption levels. But we are still some time away from finding the right app to trigger that. 
Does Vodafone India harbour 4G ambitions? 
Not immediately. It's a new technology and will have a future. 3G arrived very late in India, but 4G has come very early. It's still early days as only a few places in US and Europe have gone 4G. So it's kind of jumping ahead of the curve. We first need to develop the whole ecosystem around data usage, around 3G. 4G is giving you the same experience, only faster. Our experience suggests most Indian customers are pricesensitive and opt for slower data speeds on a 2G network as it is cheaper. 
It is said users in India skipped technologies and jumped directly to social media. Then how do you justify not investing in 4G? 
It has nothing to do with 3G and 4G. You can do whatever you want — internet to social media — on a 2.5 G connection. You only need 3G for watching live TV or video streaming. So 4G will give you a faster time to download a movie. People also say Vodafone is moving into mobile banking. The truth is you can do that on the text messaging platform without even a data connection. But since mobile banking is a new application, people think it is part of the new world. The only real trigger for data usage will be live TV or video. We already have that in Germany, where we deliver 50 channels. But that means a monthly expense of $60-70. Who needs that in India? Worldwide we see a shift from use of voice to a mix of voice and data. Nobody knows why people want to pay for voice but not for data. Which is why voice has very high margin unlike data. So the shift from a very highmargin product to a mix of a high-margin product and a low-margin service takes time. And that is exactly what is happening in Europe.