Maruti plans to impel into one lakh villages by March

 

As the leaving gets tougher in the Indian auto manufacturing, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is motivating into the pastoral markets to  make better sales.
The company, which devised a plan to tap pastoral markets five years ago, plans to have presence in a total of one lakh villages crosswise the country by March next year.

"The industry has seen a decline in sales by about 4-5 per cent this year. On the other hand, rural sales-which accounts for about 30 per cent of our total sales-have developed by 18 per cent in the April-November epoch this economic," said MSI Chairman R. C. Bhargava.

He said had it not been for the pastoral market, the company would have had an even tougher time and "we would have been in similar muddle like the rest of the industry" as demand in built-up areas has slowed ldown by 5-6 per cent.

"We have been giving emphasis on pastoral markets. Last year, we had covered 44,000 villages and till November this year, we have being there in 60,000 villages and by March next year, we will have being there in one lakh out of a total of 6.51 lakh villages in India," said Bhargava.

At present, MSI has a total of 700 rural outlets, which are accompanied by workshops that are authorised to bear out repairs under guarantee to an extent.

In addition, it has 650 mobile vans that has helped in servicing even at the customers' home, he added.

Commenting on the overall market situation, Bhargava said the market continues to be down due to the overall condition of economy and the political situation.

"In terms of retail sales, for the fiscal till November we are one per cent up from that of last year. We are hopeful that we will be able to match last fiscal's numbers," he said.

Commenting on exports, Bhargava said the company will fall short marginally due to changing policies in some of the key markets like Sri Lanka and Algeria.

"We were aiming 1.2 lakh units of export this year, which we think we will fall short. All overseas markets have uncertainties associated with policies and economy," he said.

Asked about future expansion, specially the company's Gujarat plant, he said the project is currently "in cold storage" at the moment.

"There is no point in creating additional capacity when there is no demand. We have the land, boundary wall has been erected but we are not undertaking any capacity creation. We have not decided when we will start work at the Gujarat plant," Bhargava said.

He said the company will wait and watch for the outcome of the upcoming general elections next year and what steps the new government takes in order to improve economic growth and manufacturing.

"We don't expect anything to happen between now and the elections. We hope the elections will bring something positive for the industry," he said.

MSI is, however, expecting December to rupture monthly record in terms of retail sales with about 1.2 lakh units, company, MSI COO (Marketing and Sales) Mayank Pareek said.

"Apart from discounts, which are about Rs 17,000 on an average, exchange offers and customers advancing purchases ahead of January is boosting our December sales," Pareek said.

On the demand for diesel passenger vehicles, he said for the industry overall share has come down to 54 per cent this fiscal as compared to 58 per cent.

Bhargava said that the company's R&D centre at Rohtak is on track to be completed by 2016. It would be Suzuki's fourth such facility, the rest three being in Japan.

Commenting on the LCV project, Bhargava said the company is sticking to its 2016 launch plan. He said the vehicle could come in various options,together with CNG and petrol.

Inflation may ease to 6.5% in December: Rangarajan

 
Mumbai: A fall in vegetable prices is likely to ease headline inflation and retail inflation to 6.5 percent and 9.20 percent respectively in December, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan said on Saturday.

"Some of the things that have really pushed up inflation are vegetables like onion prices, which have crashed in December. Therefore when December number comes in mid January, we will see retail inflation coming down by 2-2.5 percentage from the current level of 11 percent or so. There could be a decline in wholesale price index ... Could be the order of 1 percentage," Rangarajan told reporters on the sidelines of the silver jubilee celebration of Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.

Wholesale price-based inflation (WPI) accelerated to 14- month high of 7.52 percent in November, while retail inflation quickened to eight-month high of 11.24 percent during the month.

Going forward, Rangarajan said, the declining trend in inflation will continue and WPI may ease to 6.5 percent by March-end.

"The RBI has estimated WPI to be around 6.5 percent by March end. That is the number we are looking at. We will see a decline in December and perhaps it will continue," he said.

Quoting an econometric study, the former RBI governor said the threshold inflation level is around six percent, but there is a need to look at the slightly lower as the level is much higher than what many other countries in the world... advanced countries treat as the acceptable level of inflation.

Gold recovers on low-level buying, global cues

Gold prices recovered by Rs 240 to Rs 30,400 per ten grams in the national capital on Saturday on emergence of buying at existing lower levels amid a firm global trend.

Silver also snapped three-day losing streak by gaining Rs 450 to Rs 43,950 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said emergence of buying at existing lower levels amid a firm global trend, spurred by the Federal Reserve's decision to taper stimulus, mainly led to a recovery in precious metals.

Gold in New York, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, rose by 0.8 per cent to $1,203.70 an ounce and silver by 1.4 per cent to $19.45 an ounce.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity recovered by Rs 240 to Rs 30,400 and Rs 30,200 per ten grams, respectively. It had lost Rs 270 in last two sessions.

Sovereign, however, held steady at Rs 25,150 per piece of eight gram.

In line with a general firm trend, silver ready rebounded by Rs 450 to Rs 43,950 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 200 to Rs 44,000 per kg. The white metal had lost Rs 1,580 in the previous three sessions.

Silver coins also jumped up by Rs 1,000 to Rs 85,000 for buying and Rs 86,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

PepsiCo India to invest over 1,200 cr on new plant in Andhra

 
Beverages and snacks major PepsiCo India on Saturday said it will invest over Rs 1,200 crore to build a new beverage manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh.

The company plans to build a new greenfield beverage manufacturing plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, which upon completion will be PepsiCo's largest beverage plant in India, PepsiCo India said in a statement.

"PepsiCo intends to invest more than Rs 1,200 crore in the project, which is part of the recently announced plans by PepsiCo and its partners to invest Rs 33,000 crore in India by 2020," it added.

The company also announced plans to substantially increase sourcing of mango pulp from Andhra Pradesh in the next six years.

Commenting on the development, PepsiCo India Chairman and CEO D Shivakumar said the new beverage facility is a key part of the company's growth plans for the Indian market and "we are delighted to locate it in Andhra Pradesh".

"Sri City is ideally located and offers the perfect opportunity to harness the benefits of superior connectivity, great infrastructure and an ample talent pool, which are the prerequisites for every industry," he added.

Realty welcomes home loan rate cuts by SBI, HDFC

 
Welcoming the 0.25 per cent rate cut by two of the biggest home loan financiers SBI and HDFC, realty sector participants on Friday said the move will help revive interest in the gloomy market.

"This is a positive move to boost property sales and spur industry growth. Home buyers who were earlier waiting for rates to come down will now certainly look at buying their dream homes," industry body Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) Chairman Lalit Kumar Jain said.

"The home loan rate cuts from certain banks have occurred after nearly a year, and will augur well for investment sentiments in the market," property consultant CBRE South Asia's Chairman and Managing Director Anshuman Magazine said.

It may be noted that the residential sector had suffered a major set back due to increasing home loan rates, which had forced buyers to postpone their home buying decision.

Magazine also welcomed Reserve Bank's move to hold on to its key rates despite the high inflation, which resulted in the rate cut announcement by SBI and HDFC last evening. He said the move is a positive signal for the investment climate.