Indian Economy - News & Updates - Archive

[Screaming Skull]

IT cos line up for $6 bn govt mission mode projects​

NEW DELHI: The country’s information technology industry is turning its gaze inwards, as a dearth of new contracts in its core western markets
exposes the soft underbelly of a sector long viewed as a habitual growth monster.

While there is a slump in demand from cash-strapped global customers for new technology services, the home market is increasingly looking good for these IT players, with contract sizes matching the ones available overseas.

And there seem to be quite a few big deals up for grabs, many of them from the government departments taking their baby-steps in embracing any form of technology.

The government departments have plans to spend $6 billion in 30 so-called “mission mode projects”, and there’s promise of more to come, as the federal and state governments embrace e-governance and look to digitise everything from land records to tax filing. There are scores of the government projects that relate to the filing of income-tax, central excise, transport services, computerising municipalities and the police force and developing e-district and e-courts.

Companies such as TCS, HCL and Wipro have won significant government business in recent months, and industry officials speak of the government contracts on offer ranging from as small as Rs 100 crore to multiples of Rs 1,000 crore.

Infosys has recently bid for a railway project related to creating a Locomotive Management System and ERP implementation, a project to create a billing system for BSNL and another contract from the defence forces.

Yet, a lot of the government business appears good only on paper, and is often hamstrung by a tardy pace of decision making. “In the government projects, there’s a start date but no end date,” said Tanmoy Chakrabarty, VP & head of government industry solutions unit of TCS, the largest software services company by revenues.

Nasscom’s vice-president Rajdeep Sahrawat illustrates the time taken by the government to approve projects by citing the example of the Passport Seva project to digitise passport records, which took the ministry of external affairs almost three years to conclude. TCS eventually won the Rs 1,000-crore project.

Further, in most the government contracts, separate teams look at the technical aspects and the pricing aspects of a contract, which delays
decision making.

“People on technical committee are not on price committee. And for larger contracts (say over Rs 1,000 crore) approvals can take much longer,” added Mr Binod of Infosys Technologies
. But the government officials defend the decision-making process, arguing that many of these state-awarded contracts had complexities not normally associated with other contracts.

“It involves complexities. Some projects require even legal changes. Then there is an extensive vendor selection process,” said R Chadrasekhar, special secretary at the department of information technology, adding that in a few cases, an extensive selection process for vendors was required to ensure the smooth implementation of projects.

But for now, the sector has little choice to but to take it on the chin, as it braces for slower growth of less than 15% during the next few quarters.

Industry body Nasscom has already pegged the growth at under 17%, down from about 21-24% just a few quarters ago, making the prospect of business from any new quarter particularly alluring.

“It takes longer to get the government business, but from a relative perspective India has been unaffected by the slowdown. PSUs (public sector undertakings) and the government spends are on track, deal sizes are on the upswing,” said Kiran Bhagwanani, senior VP, India & Middle East at HCL Technologies, which recently won a seven-year, Rs 393-crore project from the National Insurance Company to roll out a new IT application across the company’s operations.

”The domestic market is growing at 20%, thanks mainly to the large government contracts. But three years is the typical time frame for project approvals,” said Mr Sahrawat of Nasscom.

Others like HR Binod, services VP & head of the India Business Unit at Infosys Technologies, noted that it normally took at least 12-18 months for the government contracts to be awarded compared with about 1-2 months for private sector contracts.

Many others complain about the T1, L1 rule for the government projects, which stipulate contracts only go to companies that offer the best technology solutions at the lowest price. This means that the lowest bidder gets the work.

 

[Screaming Skull]

HSMP case: UK compensation for Indian migrant professionals​

LONDON: In a major legal victory, nearly 10,000 Indian and other non-European Union professionals will be able to claim compensation for hardship caused by the 2006 changes to immigration rules that were struck down by the High Court
here.

The court last evening ruled that the changes to the rules, extending the number of years required for indefinite stay in the UK from four to five years under which they originally entered Britain, were unfair.

It is the second time in a year that the retrospective changes to the programme for the "brightest and best" migrants, including Indians doctors and other professionals, have been declared unfair and unlawful by the court.

In a strongly-worded ruling, Justice Cox declared that the five-year rule imposed by the Home Office on people already in the country was unlawful.

"It would be unlawful for the (Home Secretary) to withhold indefinite leave to remain from all those members of the highly skilled migrant programme who were already on the scheme before April 3, 2006, by reference to a qualifying period of five years' continuous residence," she said.

The judgment directs British government to honour its original commitments made to participants of Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), which is no longer in operation.

The ruling paves the way for the Indian and other non-EU professionals who entered the UK under the programme to claim compensation for the inconvenience and extra costs endured by having to wait an extra year before settlement.

The migrants suffered financial difficulties because of the inability to secure a competitive mortgage without indefinite leave to remain.

There was also a continuing lack of good employment or promotional opportunities, including an inability to travel potentially resulting in career setbacks, and the migrant's children's education would also have been more expensive.

In October 2008, HSMP Forum, a campaigning body, representing about 50,000 highly skilled migrants, mostly Indians, filed a Judicial Review application challenging the Home Office on changes to the terms of settlement.

Amit Kapadia of the Forum said instead of addressing the issue of illegal and burdensome immigration, government has been penalising the legal and desirable section of Highly Skilled Migrants, who are making a valuable contribution to UK economy by offering requisite skills, paying all the taxes and at the same time not availing public funds.

Accepting the ruling, a Home Office spokesman said: "This case was about an old set of rules that have been swept away by our new points-based system. We believed we had fully implemented the previous judge's findings relating to the changes we made to the HSMP in 2006.

"The High Court took a different view and we accept its findings. We will now carefully consider the judgment before publishing our remedies."

 

[Screaming Skull]

PE cos bet on India's domestic demand​

MUMBAI: Though the overall economic situation has dampened investor enthusiasm, the economy’s strong fundamentals, coupled with a
consumption-driven economy, will provide comfort to long-term investing in India, according to a survey by Deloitte.

The survey on private equity investments in the past six months has showed that sectors driven by domestic consumption and infrastructure are likely to see maximum deal activity.

The number of participants who expect that valuations would fall in coming months has increased from 66% in the first half of 2008, to 75% in the second half, the survey found out.

“We have observed two key points, the competitive environment for investment opportunities for PE houses is expected to ease during 2009, as smaller PE firms and hedge funds exit the market. Second, the volume of PE deals in the market will be dependent on how quickly promoters are willing to accept lower valuations,” Sandeep Gill, managing director of Deloitte corporate finance, says.

The survey shows that despite global economic crisis, the average respondent’s confidence level for the long-term prospects for growth fell only marginally from 8.5 out of 10, in the first half, to 8 in the second half.

3I Asia head Anil Ahuja says, “The overall scenario for private equity hasn’t improved as there is still a disconnect between valuations expected in a private market compared to the existing valuations in a public market.” Till the disconnect narrows, PE activity won’t build up, he adds. Also, managing existing portfolios for most PE firms is becoming difficult as there are growing instances of differences between PE firms and managements.

The Deloitte survey, which covers 40 of India’s top PEs and venture capital investors, predicts that while PE investments will continue to be dominated by growth capital, buyout or control transition is expected to rise.

Growing differences with companies’ managements and tight finance availability could lead to a consolidation of PE firms and there will be lesser PE managers, says Mr Ahuja.

“If you look around now, there are some 300 PE managers... that number could come down to about 150 in another three years once the current corpus of fund-raising is complete because there are fewer avenues to raise money from,” Mr Ahuja adds.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Tata Motors sells over 51,000 Nano booking forms in three days​

MUMBAI: A nation can barely hold its excitement, as it waits to bring the baby home. Tata Motors dealers alone have sold over 51,000 forms for
NANO in just five days since they became available from April 1, given that the company is likely to manufacture just 50,000 cars in the first year. The booking amount too ranges from a heavy
Rs 95,000 to Rs 1,40,000.

Industry observers said this is no mean achievement, considering that it excludes forms sold through 30,000 other locations such as SBI, its subsidiaries and associates, other preferred financiers and outlets of Tata Finance, Westside, Croma, Titan and Tata Indicom.

“The response has been quite good, even though customers have not been given a chance to test-drive the car,” said an official at a Mumbai-based Tata Motors dealership, who asked not to be named. The forms are being sold for Rs 300, of which Tata Motors retains Rs 250 and the dealer, the remaining Rs 50.

The rush isn’t just coming in from eager customers, with dealers across the country making a beeline for forms. Some are understood to have picked up as many as 20,000 forms each, with smaller dealers buying as many as 5,000 forms to cater to the rush for the world’s cheapest car.

According to people close to the development, Tata Motors is expected to earn around Rs 30 crore from the sale of around 10 lakh forms at Rs 300 per form, through 218 dealers.

 

[Screaming Skull]

India to grow by 5 pc in 2009: Goldman Sachs economist​

CHICAGO: India's economy is likely to grow at a slower pace of 5.2 per cent in 2009 before picking up speed again next year to clock an over 7
per cent growth, a top economist with Goldman Sachs said here.

The Indian economy, which had been growing at 9 per cent till a couple of years ago, is expected to grow by 5.2 per cent in 2009. The rate would improve in 2010 when the country is likely to register a 7.8 per cent growth, Head of Global Economic Research at Goldman Sachs Jim O'Neill said.

Speaking at a session on 'Outlook for Emerging Markets' organised by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, O'Neill said Indian policy makers need to "drop the notion" of a double-digit growth and focus on increasing India's engagement with the world.

"There was a lot of talk of double-digit growth even before India got double-digit growth. Unless India's growth is supported by productivity performance, it will not be lasting growth," O'Neill said.

India needs to focus on opening its trade barriers with neighbours like Pakistan and China and raise the educational capability of half a million of its people, he said adding that about 500 million Indians virtually get no education.

"In the next 20 years, India could be the single most powerful economic story in the world. It all depends on Indian policy makers stop thinking about elections 18 months before they (elections) start and doing things to allow greater engagement between India and the rest of the world in not just outsourcing or retail, but many other industries," he said.

Even if India grew by 6 per cent for the next 40 years, "It is going to possibly become as big as the US", he said. Referring to India's "spectacular demographics", the economist said over the next 20 years India's working population could increase by the same size as the current working population in the US.

India's growth rate, following the global financial meltdown, is likely to dip from a high of 9 per cent in 2007 to 6.4 per cent in 2008, he said.

While the actual growth of the Indian economy between 2001-08 was 7.5 per cent, it is assumed that growth for India during 2001-15 would be 7 per cent and by the early part of the next decade, India could again grow by 8-9 per cent.

O'Neill, creator of the popular BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) acronym, said the four economies are likely to clock a growth of 4.8 per cent this year. The growth rate would improve next year when the quartet is expected to grow by 6.9 per cent. "BRICs are very much a future of the world economy and there is drastic need to reform the global architecture," he said.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Economy should register 7-8% growth this fiscal: Kamath​

KOLKATA: Striking a positive note at a time when the overall economy is going through a downturn, ICICI Bank MD & CEO KV Kamath said on
Saturday that the credit offtake has improved in India and the corporate India will be pushing forward with its investment programmes. The worst is over and quarter-on-quarter growth should start looking up, he said.

"The government has taken good steps, and a large amount has been injected into the system. In my opinion, the Indian economy should register a 7-8% growth in this fiscal. Yes, there is pain in sectors like textiles and oil and gas, among others, but rural India, the knowledge and FMCG sectors are in good shape. I don't think deflation is possible since there is no chance of a collapse in demand," said Mr Kamath. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta's (IIM-C) 44th convocation in the city.

IIM-C director Shekhar Chaudhuri said that the institute would have 924 students in its two-year full-time programme by 2012. He also spoke of consolidation in the area of executive education and planning for a major growth thrust after the new executive guesthouse comes onsteam in 2010.

"We plan to continue our intense efforts to augment the faculty strength. We plan to strengthen the infrastructure for alumni networking substantially over the next few years," he said.

IIM-C board of governors chairman Ajit Balakrishnan stressed on the importance of research. "We have increased the amount for faculty research to Rs 2 crore from the current Rs 10 lakh," he said.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Indian stock market may regain 21,000 levels: Report​

NEW DELHI: The Indian stock market has been termed as a potential "baby bull" as the Sensex may continue to advance over next 15 years and is likely to breach its all-time high level of 21,000 during the period, a report says.

At a time when developed markets across the world are in a bearish phase, a technical research report by US-based Elliot Wave International has termed India, Taiwan and New Zealand as potential "baby bulls", while stock markets in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Australia are going to be under the "bear" grip, the report stated.

The report has analysed that recent sharp reversal rally in Indian market, post the October 2008 lows, points at regaining earlier high levels.

It added that if the rally continues in the same proportion as between 2003 and 2008, "the Sensex may continue advancing for 15 years before reaching the end of wave".

"The potential baby bulls completed only three waves down from their respective highs, which makes them strong candidates to rally back to at least near their all-time highs -- if not beyond," the report stated.

Sensex had touched all-time high of 21,206.77 points on January 10, 2008, since then it plunged even below 8,000.

The report stated that Sensex would now embark on third wave which could see the index witnessing a multi-month rally, although share prices may come down for short periods.

"The decline since the 2008 high can be counted as three waves. A three-wave decline opens possibility of a rally back to near the 2008 highs. But there is reason to set our sights even higher," the research firm said in its Asia-Pacific Financial Forecast report.

The report said each high and low in the stock market is calculated on the basis of waves. The highs achieved by the Indian bourses between 2003 to January 2008 forms the first wave, while the bear market, till it saw the October lows, formed the second wave.

Since 2003, when the Sensex was quoting around 5,800 levels and had seen lows to the extent of 2,904.44 points, it had been on an upswing and reached the 21,000 level from where it started coming down to below 8,000 levels.

So far this year, Sensex had regained 9.20 per cent to 10,534.87 points.

Elaborating further the report said, "the Sensex declined in three waves to the October low, where it retraced approximately 50 per cent of its 2003-2008 rally on a percentage basis. The index has also just broken out of its downward trend channel.

"Even if the declines from their all-time highs later turn out to be only the first legs of a larger correction, the three wave corrections at present imply significant rally in the intermediate term. We should then be able to reassess the long term wave count from higher levels," the report said.

 

[Hasnain2009]

What is the trading volume of sensex these days??

 

[NSG_BlackCats]

Auto sales stay positive in FY'09, courtesy stimulus package​

The Indian auto industry, which was heading towards negative growth territory, managed to stay in the positive zone in the fiscal ended
March 31, thanks to the government's stimulus packages, recording a 0.71% increase in total vehicle sales.

With a late surge in the last quarter of the fiscal, total vehicle sales in the country stood at 97,23,391 units compared with 96,54,435 units in the last financial year, according to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) on Wednesday.
"Had it not been for the stimulus packages, passenger vehicle sales would have been down three per cent or no growth, while commercial vehicles would have had a decline of 30-40%," SIAM Director General Dilip Chenoy said.
The two-wheeler segment would also have registered a decline of three per cent or zero growth, he said, while forecasting a single digit growth for the three major segments in the ongoing fiscal.

In the financial year 2008-09, the domestic passenger car sales rose by 1.31% to 12,19,473 units from 12,03,733 units in the April-March period of the earlier fiscal.

 

[Screaming Skull]

What is the trading volume of sensex these days??

Unfortunately I don't have recent figures but here are some stats from 2008.

* In 2008, the average volume of business conducted on the BSE (sensex) was approximately $40 billion each month.

* The number of shares traded each month on the BSE is in the range of 40 - 50 million.

* The total market capitalization for the companies traded on the BSE is in the area of $1.8 trillion. All of the above dollar values are stated in USD.

Total volume as of 2006 was US$ 980 billion

Check out the following links for more info

Following are the other stock exchanges in India

* Bangalore Stock Exchange

* Bhubaneshwar Stock Exchange

* Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)

* Calcutta Stock Exchange

* Cochin Stock Exchange

* Coimbatore Stock Exchange

* Delhi Stock Exchange Association

* Guwahati Stock Exchange

* Hyderabad Stock Exchange (HSE)

* Inter-connected Stock Exchange of India

* Jaipur Stock Exchange

* Ludhiana Stock Exchange Association

* Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange

* Madras Stock Exchange (MSE)

* Mangalore Stock Exchange

* National Stock Exchange of India (NSE)

* Magadh Stock Exchange of India - In Patna, Bihar

* Over The Counter Stock Exchange of India (OTCEI)

* Pune Stock Exchange

* Uttar Pradesh Stock Association

* Vadodara Stock Exchange

* Meerut Stock Exchange

* United Stock Exchange (starting in June 09)

Out of these the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) is comparable to BSE with a market cap close to US$ 1.6 trillion.
Check out the following links for more info


BSE - Key statistics

Bombay Stock Exchange

General Information - National Stock Exchange (NSE) - India Finance & Investment Guide

Bombay Stock Exchange - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

National Stock Exchange of India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of stock exchanges - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Screaming Skull]

HAL hands over first rear fuselage for Gulfstream (G-150) aircraft to IAI​

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Tuesday strengthened its position as a leading aerospace export house when it handed over the first rear fuselage for the Gulfstream (G-150) aircraft to Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI).

HAL Chairman Mr Ashok Nayak handed over the documents of the HAL-built Aft (rear) fuselage for G-150 to Mr Shlomi Karako, General Manager, Business Jets Division, IAI, at a simple function at HAL’s Aircraft Division in Bangalore. Gulfstream (G-150) is a business executive aircraft built in Israel and transported to the United States for further furnishing. The G-150 is marketed the world over by the US-based Gulfstream Corporation.

Ready for more challenges, says Nayak: The Aircraft Division has made a mark on the international export map over the years by supplying several types of door assemblies to Boeing, Airbus and other global firms. “With the G-150 fuselage delivery HAL has now entered a fairly advanced manufacturing level of building major structural assemblies for global players in the civil sector. The G-150 project augurs well not only for HAL, but also for the national objective of producing a civil aircraft of international standards,” Mr Ashok Nayak said.

He also attributed the success of the project to the involvement of the private sector and expressed hope that the Company would bag more orders in the future. “The G-150 programme has given us huge confidence in taking up bigger challenges. We are now looking forward to the G-250 programme and we have made our strong presence felt in the bidding process. HAL-IAI has a time-tested partnership and we are here to capitalize on the vast potential in the business jet market,” Mr Nayak added.

Quality at its best, says Israel: HAL’s ability to deliver the G-150 fuselage on time came in for praise from the strong contingent of IAI officials. “To us, this is a champion product. We have seen closely HAL’s capabilities in handling new technologies and new IT processes. For us the Gulfstream fuselage is a perfect example of synergy and quality,” Mr Shlomi Karako of IAI said.

About the project: The IAI approached HAL with a request for quotation (RFQ) for building the fuselage in December 2006, since they required a partner to build the fuselage from digital data for the first time. (This process was against the legacy of paper drawings from which hundreds of aircraft were built in Israel.) The contract for producing 200 ship-sets of G-150 fuselages was signed in 2007, and a dedicated state-of-the-art hangar came up in Bangalore within nine months.

The programme also saw significant and close collaborative efforts between HAL and IAI in realizing the hardware through web-based design data transfer. It also brought together the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI). HAL has a seven-year schedule to deliver 200 fuselage ship-sets to Israel.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

 

[Screaming Skull]

India's excellent performance in Value Added Manufacturing​

NEW DELHI: The International Yearbook of Industrial Statistics 2009 of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has ranked India as among the leading producers of automobiles, petroleum products, textiles, electrical machinery and apparatus, basic metals, chemicals and chemical products, leather products coke and nuclear fuel.

In its latest report, it has pointed out that the annual growth rate of manufacturing value added (MVA) in India rose from 6.9 per cent in 2000-05 to 12.3 per cent in 2005-07 while MVA per capita grew by 10.6 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively in the period under review. The share of MVA in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 14.8 per cent in 2006 against 13.8 per cent in 2001.

It ranks India among the world’s leading 12 producers of textiles (ranked 4th after China, the U.S. and Italy); electrical machinery and apparatus (5th); basic metals (6th); chemicals and chemical products (7th); leather, leather products and footwear (10th); coke, refined petroleum products and nuclear fuel (10th); machinery and equipment (12th); and motor vehicles (12th), based on 2007 figures. Among the leading developing countries, India figures among the top five.

The report states that the share of developing countries in total world manufacturing value added is rising, even as industrialised nations play the dominant role in the manufacturing industry.

Recent estimates for 2008 indicate that developing countries now produce almost 30 per cent of world MVA compared to 16 per cent in 1990.

The increasing share of developing world vis-À-vis industrialised countries is also explained by the shift in location of manufacturing, especially assembling of final products, from industrialised countries to developing countries.

Japan remains the world’s most industrialised country in terms of MVA per capita, followed by Switzerland, Singapore, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, the U.S., Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Republic of Korea, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Belgium, the U.K., Norway, the Netherlands, Italy and France.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Narcotics is big biz, not menace: Govt panel​

April 08, 2009

A high-level inter-ministerial task force wants the business of narcotics to be simplified, something which, it said, would be an opportunity for the over $17-billion Indian pharmaceutical industry.

The narcotics formulations should be looked at "as an important opportunity and not just a menace", the task force said in its report on opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector submitted to the commerce ministry.

Narcotics are key ingredients in the intermediate formulations of $712 billion world pharmaceutical market.

The task force, comprising senior officials of the ministries of commerce, finance and external affairs, has said India is emerging as a significant supplier of finished 'active pharmaceutical ingredients' and formulations to the global market.

"It is, therefore, necessary to simplify the procedure and to capture the global narcotics business in certain classes of narcotics... the entire process of approvals from multiple agencies such as International Narcotics Control Board, Drug Controller General of India, Ministry of Finance and State Narcotics Boards, the quota systems and canalisations should be relooked at in promoting export production."

It said the genuine manufacture exporters may be permitted to directly import narcotic substances based on risk profiling and past records, doing away with Government Opium & Alkaloids Works and Ministry of Finance approvals.

"The quota system should be done away for export production as it is difficult to assess import requirements one year ahead, especially when the country desires to capture a bigger share," it said.

The task force, which also included officials from the Department of Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Planning Commission and CEOs of several pharmaceutical firms, said that currently the procedure for imports of narcotics is cumbersome creating avoidable hurdles to genuine manufacturers resulting in abandoning of this opportunity.

"Imports of narcotics material is permitted only through Government Opium and Alkaloids Works," it added.

 

[Screaming Skull]

IIMs extend support to set up six new B-Schools
​

NEW DELHI: Ending a year-long tussle with the government, the IIMs on Wednesday agreed to provide "all types of support'' for setting up six new B-schools in the country which are expected to start functioning from the coming academic session.

At a meeting with Higher Education Secretary, Mr R P Agrawal, the IIM Directors on Wednesday came on board to extend their expertise in establishing new B-Schools. Earlier, the IIMs had expressed their reservation to the idea of mentoring the new IIMs af ter which the government set up a committee to evolve a suitable module to start the new IIMs.

The three-member committee, comprising director of IIM Ahmedabad, Prof. Sameer Barua, IIM Kolkata director, Prof. Sekhar Chaudhury and IIT Kanpur Director, Prof. S G Dhande, also did not favour the idea of mentoring.

"But in today's meeting, the IIM Directors gave positive indications to provide all types of support for setting up of the new IIMs. We expect the new IIMs would start functioning from the coming academic session,'' a top source, who was present at the m eeting, told PTI.

The government has decided to set up six IIMs in the states of Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Haryana. - PTI

 

[Screaming Skull]

Tobacco export surges 62% till February​

NEW DELHI: Tobacco export from India, the third-largest exporter in the world, shot up by about 62 per cent to exceed Rs 2,900 crore till February of the 2008-09 fiscal, boosted by a surge in realisation and a weak rupee.

“India exported tobacco worth Rs 2,912.29 crore between April 2008 and February this year against Rs 1,797.65 crore in a year earlier,” a senior Tobacco Board official said.

In dollar terms, the export has shot up by 43 per cent to $640.77 million from a year earlier, he added.

However, tobacco export, comprising raw tobacco and its products, rose 10 per cent in volume terms to 2,02,174 tonnes between April 2008 and February 2009, compared with 1,82,238 tonnes in the same period the previous year, he said.

The export of tobacco in February rose in volume to 14,360 tonnes from 13,182 tonnes a year earlier. In value terms, the shipment more than doubled to Rs 243.30 crore, compared with Rs 121.60 crore in February 2008, he added.

“Record prices of the Indian tobacco coupled with the depreciation of the rupee contributed immensely to the surge in the value of exports,” the official said. The Indian tobacco prices hit records due to a shortfall in output in some of the major produ cing countries, including China, last fiscal. - PTI