Fitch Lifts India Growth Estimate to 8.7%; Coal Mines Stakes in Africa

Chandrasekhar Atreya
22 Dec, 2010
New York City

Mumbai stocks dropped in choppy trade. Gartner latest report noted that India continues to be the favorite destination for outsourcing. World Bank awards India a loan of $1.5 billion for development of rural roads and infrastructure.

[R]5:00 PM Mumbai, 8:30 AM New York – Mumbai stocks dropped in choppy trade. Gartner latest report noted that India continues to be the favorite destination for outsourcing. World Bank awards India a loan of $1.5 billion for development of rural roads and infrastructure.[/R]

Stocks in Mumbai declined after opening lower and accelerated the decline in the final two hours of trading. Financials led the decliners.

The Sensex fell 0.22% or 44.52 to close at 20,015.80 with nearly 15 of 30 components losing ground. The CNX Nifty lost 16.25 to close at 5,984.40.

The rupee also lost 26 paisa to close at Rs 45.98 in Mumbai today.

India’s Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said today that Coal India and Neyveli Lignite Corp will seek deals to buy mines in South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique during his visits to these countries in January.

“The top priority is to buy coal mines. We already have two mines in Mozambique and the government is seeking more there and in other countries in Africa,” Jaiswal said in an interview in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Infrastructure firm Lanco Infratech said on Tuesday it won through an international competitive bidding Rs 4,100 crore order from a subsidiary of Moser Baer Projects to execute a 1,200 megawatt power project.

India is still the favorite destination of the world for offshore outsourcing, according to new study by Gartner Inc.

The study identified the top 30 countries around the world for global outsourcing in 2010-11, rating them on the basis of 10 criteria. The report also noted that attractive cost structures in Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia and the rapid growth of business in China are posing tougher competition to India.

Among the top 20 states for investments, Karnataka emerged as the most preferred destination with a share of 9.1% in domestic investment plans in the April to September period of the year 2010, according to Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India Investment Meter.

The state clocked growth of 73.8% in the period when compared to the year ago period and attracted investments of Rs 388,578 crore.

The World Bank approved on Tuesday a $1.5 billion loan to India’s Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana aimed at improvement of rural roads in India for better accessibility.

The new project will cover the states of Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the bank said in a statement.

Fitch Ratings today revised and raised its forecast for India’s economy to expand by 8.7% from its earlier one of 8.5% in this fiscal year.

“We revise upwards our forecast for India’s GDP growth to 8.7% for the current financial year ending March 2011 from 8.5%, as economic activity has proved more buoyant than previously expected,” Fitch said in its latest quarterly review titled ‘Global Economic Outlook’ released in London today.