Onion prices to come down after Diwali: Dikshit

New Delhi, Nov 2 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit Saturday said the onion prices in the national capital would come down after Diwali as new stocks were all set to arrive by next week.

Dikshit, who had come to power defeating the then Bharatiya Janata Party government in 1998 riding on high onion prices, said her government has spoken to the onion suppliers from various states in the country and managed to get stock of onions to tackle the crisis.

"The wholesale price of onion will be Rs.10 whereas retail price will be around Rs.45-46," she added.

Dikshit also released a three-minute short film, sung by pop singer-turned-politician Daler Mehendi, showing developments of the Congress government during her tenure of 15 years.

She said the film would be shown in every theatre of the capital and in the Congress vans that visit constituencies.

View the original article here

Jet fuel prices cut by 4.51 percent

New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) India's largest fuel retailer Indian Oil Thursday announced a 4.51 percent cut in the price of jet fuel in New Delhi region, effective from midnight Thursday.

According to IOC, the air turbine fuel (ATF) will cost the airlines 4.51 percent less at New Delhi, which comes to Rs.73,607.26 per kilolitre from Rs.77,089.42 per kilolitre.

The fuel price difference in other major cites will be decided by factoring in the state tax regimes applicable there.

The reduction came after the three state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs), which revise jet fuel prices on the first day of every month, had hiked fuel prices by 6.9 percent for purchases from Sep 1.

This was the fourth hike since June due to the fall in rupee value. The increase in ATF prices last month had led to three airlines namely Air India, Jet Airways and budget passenger carrier SpiceJet to increase fares by 25 percent.

Fuel prices are a determining factor in the tough Indian aviation sector as the cost comprises about 50 percent of the total operating costs of an airline.

High prices have dented the sector as major airlines bleed under the high state sales tax regime which ranges from 4-34 percent.

Currently, ATF sold in the country is nearly 50-60 percent costlier than in overseas markets like Bangkok, Singapore or Dubai.

There has been a longstanding perception that ATF, which is a super-refined form of kerosene, should not be subsidised for air travel.

The government currently subsidises sensitive products like diesel, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders and kerosene.

Currently, the central government is trying to get the fuel as a notified category item. Once listed as a notified product or a declared good under the Central Sales Tax (CST) Act, airlines will only have to pay a uniform sales tax of four percent.

View the original article here

Pakistani onions bring down prices in Kashmir

Srinagar, Oct 26 (IANS) Onion prices started decreasing here Saturday because of its arrival from Pakistan.

Onions were selling at Rs.100 per kg here till Friday, but recorded a decline in prices Saturday with retail traders selling it at Rs.75 per kg.

The wholesale onion traders here are attributing the fall in prices to the arrivals from Pakistan.

"Onions have arrived here through LoC trade from Chakan Da Bagh and also from Punjab after their import from Pakistan.

"This has brought down the wholesale price of onions in Srinagar and other parts of the Valley. We sold Pakistani onions at Rs.55-60 per kg in the wholesale market today (Saturday) morning.

"Retailers are now selling the same at Rs.70-75 per kg in the markets," said Abdul Hamid, 50, a wholesale vegetable trader here.

Another wholesale trader Muzaffar Ahmad, 48, said the onions from Nasik, Maharashtra, are the most sought after here as these are of a better quality.

"Nasik onions are better than those reaching here from Pakistan," he said.

Muhammad Ashfaq, also a wholesale vegetable trader, said, "Onion prices will start coming down after Diwali as yield from other parts of the country would start reaching the markets."

"Now that the prices have started coming down, the tendency of bulk buying will also be checked," he added.

View the original article here

Unilever hit by sliding emerging market currencies; India onion prices weigh

By Martinne Geller

LONDON (Reuters) - Unilever Plc reported slower sales growth after demand for its consumer goods was hit by the devaluation of a handful of emerging market currencies and other factors such as rising onion prices in India.

"This is a soft quarter without a shadow of a doubt," Chief Financial Officer Jean Marc Huet told Reuters in an interview On Thursday.

The Anglo-Dutch maker of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Lipton tea and Dove soap posted a 3.2 percent sales increase in the third quarter, down from 5 percent in the second.

It had already warned in September that a slowdown in markets such as Indonesia, Brazil and India had accelerated and it expected quarterly underlying sales growth of only 3 percent to 3.5 percent.

Unilever generates more than half its annual sales from developing and emerging markets, where sales rose 5.9 percent in the quarter - down from 10.3 percent in the previous three months but still stronger than the slight decline seen in developed markets.

Turnover fell 6.5 percent to 12.5 billion euros, hurt by an 8.5 percent hit from foreign exchange rates.

"The reality is that the global economy is not in as good shape as some would like to make out," Chief Executive Paul Polman said on a conference call. "I believe we have to calibrate our expectations a little more as we navigate these choppy waters."

Polman added that in three decades operating in emerging markets, he had never seen such large declines in so many currencies at the same time.

"Whilst we normally can deal with one or another and compensate for that globally, this really came as a shock to the global economy in total," he said.

Uncertainty over when the U.S. Federal Reserve will scale back its bond-buying stimulus led to sharp falls in currencies such as the Indian rupee and the Brazilian real between May and September.

The drops were compounded, Polman said, by other factors including a government abolition of fuel subsidies in Indonesia and a more than trebling in the price of onions in India - a staple cooking ingredient - that further weighed on consumers' buying power.

CROSSING CATEGORIES

Unilever's performance looks relatively weak compared with peers such as Nestle , the world's biggest foods group, which said last week competitive pricing helped it lift sales growth in spite of tough conditions in emerging markets and Europe.

Reckitt Benckiser earlier this week reported higher-than-expected sales and raised its outlook.

Huet said Unilever's business crosses so many categories, including basics like shampoo and food used by people at all levels of the economy, while Reckitt's goods - like dishwasher detergent and headache tablets - appealed to higher-income consumers more immune to economic volatility.

Unilever's currency hedges typically give it a window of three to six months, during which time it can work to raise prices in local markets hurt by devaluations. Selective increases are expected to help in the coming quarters, it said.

For the full year, currency should hurt sales by about 6 percent and profit by about 7 percent, Huet said.

In North America, third-quarter sales volume fell due to a decision to stop selling some low-margin ice cream products and continued weakness of the company's margarine business.

Also, Unilever's market share in the high-margin personal care business was hurt by promotions by rival Procter & Gamble , whose Pantene and Herbal Essences shampoos compete with Unilever's Tresemme.

The company said it expects sales growth to improve in the fourth quarter, helped by new products such as Vaseline body sprays in Europe and Tony & Guy hair products in the United States. Still, Polman said developed markets like the United States were not recovering as fast as expected.

Following the divestiture of some less-profitable brands including Skippy peanut butter and Wishbone salad dressings, Polman said there were some small businesses left to sell but he declined to name them.

"It's better to announce the sale than to preannounce the intention," Polman said.

Unilever shares were up 0.7 percent in London at 1045 GMT.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller in London; Editing by David Goodman and Jane Merriman)

View the original article here