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Editor’s
Desk
Infrastructure on course
Although, Finance Minister P Chidambaram donned the ‘Robin
Hood’ hat and missed being the ‘infrastructure
man of the year’, he has done nothing to halt the juggernaut.
Although he hasn’t gone all out, he has stepped on the
accelerator pedal. He has, rightly so, paved the way for larger
outlays on water and irrigation.
Inflation is being fuelled by cement and steel - and had the
FM focused on making exports unattractive or taken measures
to bring down excise duty by 2 per cent and removed customs
duty from steel scrap, it could have reduced steel prices
by nearly Rs 1,000 per tonne, according to Rajnikant S Ajmera,
Chairman, Cold Rolled Steel Manufacturers Association of India.
Citing major producers who have increased their prices for
the third consecutive month, Ajmera further laments that the
export of hot rolled steel is aggravating the shortage of
steel further, creating inflationary pressures on the economy.
Meanwhile, SC Mehta, Secretary General, Construction Federation
of India, feels Chidambaram should have granted the construction
industry the ‘infrastructure industry’ status,
which would have fuelled infrastructure growth in the country.
Facilitation of national development - which has been central
to the ASAPP MEDIA agenda over the years - took centrestage
when our publication INFRASTRUCTURE TODAY brought the movers
and shakers of India’s burgeoning infrastructure scene
together, in the form of The Infrastructure Today Interna-tional
Conference at Hyderabad on March 26th and 27, 2008.
Experts (drawn from sectors such as airports, ports, logistics,
SEZ, real estate and finance), bureaucrats and political minders
came together in large numbers (see photos) on one platform
to debate on critical issues and offer solutions to the country’s
$ 494 billion challenge. Indeed, the overwhelming response
to our most recent effort has encouraged us to pledge our
support and committment to the national development cause
with added vigour.
As long as the government focuses on enhancing its spending
on infrastructure to gain its targeted growth of 9 per cent
plus, the gains will accrue. However, while the industry is
raring to go, the US seems to have cast a pall of gloom on
the economic scenario, affecting plans for the capital raising
exercises of our domestic companies. The gradual surrender
by the US to economic forces would result in a climb-down
in commodity prices as the demand force ebbs. This may be
a blessing for all three regions struggling with mounting
inflation - the Middle East, China and India.
The buzz: CW was the only magazine to showcase its publications
from India and the Middle East recently at the Conexpo 2008
show in Las Vegas. Check out the photo feature in this issue.
The new financial year brings forth a message of consolidation
and caution as times ahead are expected to be volatile amid
rapid growth. While the finance minister has blown the bugle
on elections, infrastructure projects are likely to remain
on course till the end of the year when the dates for elections
will seem clearer; during this time we hope commodity prices
get reigned in. So step up the acceleration and keep a close
watch on the ‘cost meter’.
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