Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced a steep hike in the value-added tax on several items. The Government has increased VAT from four per cent to five per cent on 120 items. This includes certain foods which will help them to mop additional resources up to 500 crore (INR). While addressing the concerns of common man and different business groups, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that VAT will not affect common man but only the elite group of customers who can afford luxury goods.

She assured that VAT will be only on luxury goods such as cell phones worth probably 10 lakh and above and designer pen worth around Rs. 5 lakh or more which a common man cannot afford. She further said that this will not affect businesses as a person who can afford such luxury goods will not hesitate to pay a little extra on VAT. Since the entire list is not finalized it’s expected to be announced during the budgets in March 2010.

Drought and floods marred India’s agricultural show this year, which is deflating the jubilation over the commendable performance of Indian economy during 2009.

Last two years saw the agricultural sector scale new heights with record food grain production. However, natural calamities coming one after the other in a short span of three months ensured that this year the show will not even match last year’s, let alone create records. In fact, the drought of 2009 is said to be worse the country has seen since 1972.

The main culprit in the drought fiasco was the south-west monsoon, which skipped its scheduled visit in 316 districts covering 13 states. Government saved the day for the farmer with diesel subsidies and extra electricity to salvage standing crops.

When the sector was heaving a sigh of relief, there came the floods in four of the main food crop-producing states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

While the drought dried up the rice and cereals production to the tune of 10 million tonnes, the floods washed away the pulse crops en masse. Not only are the summer crops destroyed, there is going to be a shortfall in winter crops as well. Together, they created a dent in the shining economy, at least to a limited extent.

Though government is maintaining that the calamities will not impact the food security of the country, inflation is soaring at an alarming rate. Government assurance that the 17 million tonne food stock is sufficient to meet any shortage is proving ineffectual in containing inflation.

Experts reckon that with an improved public distribution system in place, the situation is still manageable.

The Indian corporate sector and the Indian financial sector have witnessed a change that can be best described as whirlwind. India is today home to some of the best world class facilities and one of the most competitive work environments in the world. This change has to be appreciated because only a decade ago, the picture was much different.

The economic reforms that were initiated in the 90s are largely responsible for the slow change that has today transformed India completely. Though there was a painfully uncomfortable period of both invention and adjustment, it was soon over and ushered in the new era in which India is prominently seen as a leader and a powerful decision maker in the global trade and economics.

Today India is prospering as one of the most most prominent market in the world, with one of the largest demands and consumption of domestic goods.

Driven by low tariff plans the telephone subscriber’s base rose from 525.65 million in October, registering a growth rate of 3.34 per cent, to 543.20 million in November. The wireless subscription grew by 3.61 percent to 506.04 million in November from 488.40 million in October. In November, the GSM operators added 11.64 million new users with Bharti Airtel adding 2.8 million subscribers. Tata Teleservices is leading with 3.3 million additional subscriptions and RCom added 2.2 million users in November.

Stiff competition does not deter new entrants into the market as the potential for growth is very high especially in the rural areas. Uninor, one of the latest entrants in the Indian telecom market, launched their services this month simultaneously in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Uninor, a joint venture between Unitech Wireless and the Norwegian telecom major Telenor ASA, hopes to break even in three years time. The company has set up 2, 25,000 sale points and appointed close to 1,000 exclusive distributors throughout the country.