Create Rs.7,500-crore fund for meat and fish industry: Assocham

October 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has urged the central government to allow the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to invest at least 5 percent of its funds in equities. "The EPFO can also be a beneficiary of such emerging capital markets, provided it is permitted to invest a part of its corpus in index-based equity market - which is safer, reliable and remunerative," Assocham said in a report.

August 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Though the overall economy has started showing signals of an early recovery, the country's textile sector, the second largest employment provider, is still struggling with the slowdown, an industry report said Monday. The report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said decline in textile exports and massive layoffs in the industry were still continuing.

July 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Buoyed by the recent surge in capital markets, India Inc is planning to raise Rs.16,000 crore ($3.3 billion) through initial public offerings (IPOs) this fiscal, an industry lobby report said Thursday. "The companies are weighing higher expectations from renewed investor's sentiments to raise funds from the primary market," Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said.

June 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government can raise about Rs.80,000 crore ($16.6 billion) by divesting stake in public sector units, says an industry lobby report. "Dilution of stake in leading public sector units alone could fetch at least Rs.80,000 crore," the report by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said, adding that this amount could be used to bring down the fiscal deficit burden.

June 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Medical tourism can fetch India up to Rs.8,000 crore in foreign exchange by 2012, nearly double than current figures, according to an industry lobby. "Currently, the earnings accrued through medical tourism annually are estimated to be around Rs.4,500 crore," said Sajjan Jindal, president of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) in a statement Thursday.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Coaching institutes must be brought under the tax net as they seldom disclose their earnings, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has said. In a note submitted to the revenue department of the finance ministry Wednesday, Assocham said coaching institutes were charging "astronomically higher fee without submitting proper accounts of their income to tax authorities".

June 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Western India remained the most favoured investment destination for corporates in 2008-09, according to an industry lobby report. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) said in its report, "Investment Prospects in Indian Economy in 2008-09", that the western region comprising Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and Daman and Diu attracted planned investments worth Rs.305,057 crore last year.

May 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Rajasthan attracted investments worth Rs.69,052 crore, the highest among northern states, during 2008-09, a business chamber report released here Wednesday said. The report, 'Investment Prospects in Indian Economy 2008-09' by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), said Haryana, which attracted investments worth Rs.52,852 crore, came second, followed by Uttarakhand with Rs.36,059 crore.

May 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Punjab has incurred property losses of up to Rs.7,000 crore on account of the violence by followers of the Dera Sachh Khand sect, according to conservative estimates arrived at by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham). "Social tension in Punjab has caused a loss of Rs.6,000-Rs.7,000 crore of public property and pushed behind its investment prospects to a significant extent," Assocham said in a statement Tuesday.

April 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) has urged the government to set up a 'separate infrastructure financing fund' worth $90 billion to finance infrastructure projects in the next three years. In a note submitted to the Planning Commission and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Assocham secretary general D.S.

April 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the infrastructure sector in various states will provide a Rs.200,000-crore stimulus for the Indian economy, a study by an industrial lobby released Wednesday said. According to the study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), the PPP projects - especially roads, real estate, power, ports and transport - have tremendous potential to unleash higher growth rate if the investment outlays are utilised effectively.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Metros in South India are more attractive for infrastructure projects than their counterparts in the other parts of the country, an industry lobby report said Sunday. According to the report, 'Indian Metros: Pulling Infrastructure Investment', released by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham), Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai received 70 percent of the total private infrastructure investment came to the six major metros in the country.

February 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - General insurance premium earning is likely to grow at 20 percent annually over the next six years and top the Rs.1-trillion (Rs.100,000-crore) mark by 2015, says an industry report released Sunday. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), in a joint study with the United India Insurance Co, also said the massive increase in premium earning from Rs.280 billion (Rs.28,000 crore) currently would be on account of increased awareness.

January 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A leading industry lobby has advocated a five-year tax holiday for hotels including five-star establishments in and around the capital to expedite hotel room construction before the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. The Union budget of 2007-08 provides a five-year tax holiday for two-star, three-star and four-star hotels and convention centres in Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida) and Ghaziabad.

December 25th, 2008 NEW DELHI - The cabinet Friday sanctioned Rs.146.4 million (Rs.14.64 crore) for setting up an autonomous society over a period of three years to upgrade the meat and poultry processing industry. Headquartered in Delhi, the proposed Meat and Poultry Processing Board will initially be supported by the government, and subsequently managed by the industry.