NEW DELHI, Dec 7: India inc is looking forward to a budget with investor friendly policies to boost growth, a lower rate.........more

Inflation rate rises
to 5.24 per cent

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Increase in prices of fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, groundnut oil and imported edible oil pushed up the....more

Free Trade Agreement
should be a long term
vision: Prodi

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: President of the European Commission Romano Prodi says the long term vision of India and the....more

Bullion scaled new
heights, edible oil prices
rose, sugar dipped

MUMBAI, Dec 7: Prices of gold, silver along with groundnut raw and palmolien oils prices ....more

Mahaan Group organises distributors meet

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 7: Mahaan Group— a Delhi based leading manufacturers of dairy products in the country organised distributors meet here today......more

Naresh Chandra
Panel on aviation
roadmap to submit report

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: The high-powered Naresh Chandra committee, set up to ......more

India invites Japan to
outsource business

TOKYO, Dec 7: India today invited Japan to outsource business to tackle the.....more

Global bankers
meet to check money
laundering, NPAs

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: The first international conference on banking and trade finance is ......more

India inc looks forward to investor friendly budget

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: India inc is looking forward to a budget with investor friendly policies to boost growth, a lower rate of corporate tax, hike in exemption limits for personal income tax and that brings all services under the ambit of value added tax.

A key feature which will help better corporate planning is a stable tax system and a more integrated approach to fiscal, monetary, industrial and trade policies, according to business chambers.

Significantly, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has said that the return of BJP to power in three states in the recent assembly elections will enable the Government to take forward the reform process.

Movement in the direction of an efficient and effective tax administration could be achieved by setting up of a panel to streamline the provisions of direct tax laws, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) says in its pre-budget memorandum submitted to Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.

As tax recovery is pegged on a narrow industrial base, FICCI has argued for widening of the tax net.

The chamber has suggested other measures to shore up Government revnues. Except for law and order, all services provided by the Government should be charged a user fee to cover their cost. Subsidised user charges for the poor should be limited to health and primary education, it said.

FICCI made out a case for bringing down the corporate tax in the budget 2003-04 from 35 per cent to 30 per cent enabling expansion, diversification and growth of the corporate sector.

Even moderately high tax rates affect the flow of capital across countries. To make more money available in the hands of corporate sector for expansion, diversification and growth rate of corporate tax on companies needs to be brought down from 35 per cent to 30 per cent immediately and then to 25 per cent in the next two to three years, FICCI said.

"Small companies should be taxed at a still lower rate of say 20 per cent. In some countries including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, Luxemburg and the United Kingdom , the small and medium companies are taxed at rates lower than on larger companies," it argued.

The chamber said low rates encourage voluntary compliance and thus widen the tax base and added that that if Indian industry is to compete effectively on a gloabl basis, it was imperative that laws and regulations which are globally competitive should be govern it.

Indian tax rates need to be in tune with other countries of the world, FICCI said.

The pre-budget memorandum asked the Government to announce a firm policy regarding surcharge and said the existing corporate surcharge needs to be withdrawn. It said the reduction of surcharge last year from five to 2.5 per cent was not based on rationality and was prime-facie an ad-hoc decision.

Surcharge should be introduced for meeting long term financial needs of unexpected situations like drought, earthquakes, external or internal emergency and not for financial requirements of a general nature. It has to be a temporary measure . Continuation of surcharge is the reversal of the policy of low rates leading to higher tax collection by better tax compliance FICCI said. (UNI)

Inflation rate rises to 5.24 per cent

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: Increase in prices of fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, groundnut oil and imported edible oil pushed up the rate of inflation by 0.12 per cent to 5.24 per cent for the week ended November 22.

This was substantially higher than 3.58 per cent during the same period last year. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based rate was 5.12 per cent during the previous week.

The rate is more than the Reserve Bank of India’s forecast. RBI Governor Y V Reddy had projected an inflation rate of 4-4.5 per cent with a possible downward bias while releasing the mid-term monetary and credit policy.

The WPI for all commodities was up 0.1 per cent to 176.7 from 176.5 during the previous week because of increase in indices of primary articles (0.1 per cent) and manufactured products by 0.2 per cent.

However, the index for the major group of fuel, power, light and lubricants remained unchanged at the previous week’s level of 253.6.

The Government has, meanwhile, revised upwards the point-to-point inflation rate for the week ended September 27 to 5.39 per cent from 5.03 per cent. The WPI has also been revised up to 176.1 as against 175.5 for this period.

The index for primary articles was up due to higher prices of fruits and vegetables, wheat, barley, bajra and ragi (1 per cent), eggs (3 per cent) and condiments and spices (2 per cent) in the food articles group.

However, the price of moong dropped by 4 per cent, maize and tea by 3 per cent each, rice and gram by 2 per cent while arhar declined by one per cent.

The index for non food articles also registered 0.1 per cent increase to 183.2 from 183 due to hike in prices of sunflower by 4 per cent, soyabean 3 per cent, groundnut seed (2 per cent) and copra and safflower by one per cent each.

The prices of niger, however, dropped by 6 per cent while raw cotton was down by 2 per cent and raw jute declined by one per cent.

Among the manufactured products, the index for food products group declined by 0.2 per cent to 164.8 from 165.1 due to lower prices of gur (2 per cent) and groundnut oil and sugar by one per cent each. However, the prices of solvent extracted groundnut oil moved up by 4 per cent and imported edible oil was up 2 per cent.

The index for textiles group rose by 1.5 per cent to 135.7 from 133.7 due to higher prices of cotton yarn-cones (14 per cent) and texturised yarn by 2 per cent. However, the prices of cotton yarn-hanks declined by 4 per cent and nylon filament yarn was down by 3 per cent.

Chemicals and chemical products’ index increased by 0.1 per cent to 176.7 from 176.6 due to one per cent hike in prices of oxygen.

The index for non-metallic mineral products’ group declined by 0.5 per cent to 147.2 from 147.9 due to one per cent fall in prices of cement.

For basic metals alloys and metal products’ group rose by 0.2 per cent to 171.5 from 171.2 for the previous week due to higher prices of lead ingots (8 per cent), steel, wire and zinc ingots by 5 per cent and pipes, tubes and chains by 2 per cent each.

The index for machinery and machine tools’ group rose by 0.1 per cent to 133.1 from 133 due to marginal increase in the prices of complete tractors. (UNI)

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: President of the European Commission Romano Prodi says the long term vision of India and the European Union (EU) should be a Free Trade Agreement(FTA) and since this was not possible immediately step by step progress towards this goal was necessary.

We are for progressive free trade.But we must go step by step. Currently, we must work towards a multilateral framework, Mr Prodi, who was recently here to attend the EU-India summit, told UNI.

Mr Pprodi said if multilateralism or the World Trade Organisation regime fails it will spell disaster not only for the European Union and India but for everyone else.

The EC president commended efforts of the federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry to chart out a roadmap for FTA with the EU.

The suggestion of conducting a study in this regard was made by FICCI president A C Muttiah at the special plenary of the business summit, which preceeded the political summit.

Mr Prodi found sympathy in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s argument that outsourcing was advantageous for American and European companies which helped them remain competitive. He said trade in services was part of globalisation and we must live with it . He compared trade in services to trade in goods and said the EU has to deal with it.

Talking about the WTO, Mr Prodi said, since we need each other economically we cannot avoid cooperating in a broader multilateral arena. The failure to reach agreement in Cancun was a major set back. The world has benefitted enormously from the multilateral trading system, especially countries like India. If we fail to conclude the Doha round, the worst affected will be he smaller and least developed wto members, Mr Prodi said.

Mr Prodi said the missed opportunity at Cancun was a dissapointment for the EU, which since seattle, has taken a lead in te negotiations and made some significant concessions on many agenda items.

The EC chief conceded that the formation of the group of 21 coalition at the Cancun Ministerial Conference forced the EU to rework its strategy for multilateral trade negotiations.

India and other developing countries taught us a lesson. This was that there is a common voice which has to be heard, he said.

The common voice reflected a changed global political reality. The world has changed and the European Union has to take account of the new reality. When 21 countries with differing interests could join hands they have to be heard, especially as they account for half the world’s population.

The result, Mr Prodi said, was that the EU decided not to push the Singapore issues.

The EU head did not set any deadline for cutting back on farm subsidies though he said Europe was moving in that direction.

Mr Prodi said there were two approaches to subsidies. The first was the British approach where subsidies were given to farmers and were thus not trade distorting. The second was the French approach where subsidies were given on produce and damaged trade.

Asking New Delhi to engage in promoting multilateralism, Mr Prodi said negotiators from different sides admit that the EU at Cancun showed flexibility and willingness to deliver.

We have to break the impasse and give a new momentum to the WTO negotiations by acting together. This means that we have to set aside blame and recriminations.Trade negotiations are a win-win exercise. Those are the rules of the game ,he said.

Mr Prodi regretted the decline in interest by European scholars on studies relating to India. He agreed that the number of scholars who wrote on issues concerning Indian society, economy and polity was much less today than several years before. We don’t know each other. We must know each other better , he remarked.

In this regard he mentioned that India and EU would soon sign an agreement substantially increasing the number of scholarships for Indians to study in Europe. This will help the reverse process, he said.

In working on our future strategy we must not overlook the cultural dimension to our relations. India and EU have so much in common in the cultural arena that we should use it as a platform to build stronger relations, Mr Prodi said. (UNI)

Bullion scaled new heights, edible oil
prices rose, sugar dipped

MUMBAI, Dec 7: Prices of gold, silver along with groundnut raw and palmolien oils prices witnessed distinctly firm trends on sustained good seasonal demand from local dealers and firm advice from global and upcountry markets during the last week, ending December 6, traders of the local wholesale markets said here.

Gold and silver touched a new peak this year on firm global advice.

Both gold and silver prices were gradually moving up during the week and finally both prices touched a new high mainly on strong advice from London, New York, Kolkata and Delhi centres, Hareshbhai Kevalramani, senior director of Bombay bullion association told UNI here this week-ended.

Prices of spot gold 99.9 purity grade continued to climb northwards. It week-end touched a all-time high of Rs 6,090 per ten Gm while silver price also closed on a new high at Rs 8,840 per Kg. Strong advice from the overseas market and some seasonal demand were said to be the main reasons for the steep climb, traders at the Bombay bullion markets here said.

In the yellow metals (per ten Gm) category, gold 99.9 purity grade and standard mint gold 99.5 purity grade shot up by around Rs 50 each during the week from their previous week-ends finish.

Traders attribute the bullish trend mainly to the firm advice from international markets, particularly London. Demand had also increased due to the onset of the festive season and marriage season being in full swing locally. Sellers were reserving their stocks in view of some speculative demand from local operators.

The traders said that the domestic market saw an upward trend due to positive movements in the London market, the yellow metal was quoted higher at around USd 403.15/403.75 per troy ounce from its earlier week ended rates of 397/398 per troy ounce.

Spot silver .999 fineness grade, also jumped up sharply by around Rs 100 to close at a new high for this year at Rs 8,840 per Kg in line with gold prices. Firm advice from global and upcountry markets also were a boost on the domestic prices.

At the London market, white metal was quoted higher at around USd 5.44/5.45 per troy ounce from its previous week-end’s finish, Mr Kevalramani added.

Prices of edible oils and key seeds flare-up on lesser stocks.

In oils segments (per 10 kgs), groundnut raw, sunflower refined and sunflower solvent refined grades prices gradually moved up by around Rs 5-10 during the week and were quoted high at Rs 467, Rs 450 and Rs 500 respectively on sustained good demand from retailers along with firm advice from producing areas, particularly Gujarat.

Similarly, sesame expeller, rice bran and castor commercial grades also hiked by around Rs 15-20 and touched at Rs 495, Rs 400 and Rs 361 respectively in line with edible oil prices.

But copra white and karanji oils prices declined by Rs 20 and Rs ten to Rs 655 and Rs 320 respectively on improved stocks from producing centres. Local demand was thin from bulk consumers.

In seeds group (per quintal), sesame whitish and sesame 95/5 grades shot up by Rs 125 each during the week and quoted at Rs 3,575 and Rs 3,425 respectively on heavy demand from millers and lesser stocks.

Similarly, kardi and castorseed prices hiked sharply by Rs 105 and Rs 60 to Rs 2,030 and Rs 1,655 respectively in line with sesame prices.

While groundnut kernel and bold prices also hardened by Rs ten and Rs 15 during the week to Rs 2,335 and Rs 2,600 respectively on fresh demand from millers and lesser stocks arrivals from producing particularly gujarat.

But groundnut javas and nigerseed prices declined by Rs 25 and Rs ten during the week and touched low at Rs 2,750 and Rs 1,940 respectively owing to improved stocks supply from producing areas and poor demand from millers.

Sugar prices quoted below Rs 1,300 during mid-week on increased stocks supply from mills:

Prices of small and medium grades drifted lower by Rs 15 and Rs 20 respectively during the week and were quoted low below Rs 1,300 during the mid-week, traders said.

Prices of small and medium grade were quoted at Rs 1,271/1,1392 and Rs 1.328/1,391 per quintal respectively on sustained heavy offerings by stockists induced by larger release of stocks around 25,000 bags (per 100 Kgs) by Maharashtra state co-operative mills, traders said.

The main reason was thin demand from bulk consumer and retailers on the face of higher stocks arrivals from the milles.

During the week the co-operative sugar facatories in Maharashtra accepted tenders from wholesale dealers at rates from Rs 1,210/1,247 for small grade and for medium grade at Rs 1,255/1,298 per quintal, traders added. (UNI)

Mahaan Group organises distributors meet

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 7: Mahaan Group— a Delhi based leading manufacturers of dairy products in the country organised distributors meet here today.

Mr Anil Kapoor vice-president( Mkt) was the chief guest while Mr S P Singh, Dy Sales Manager, convened the meeting.

While speaking on the occasion, Mr Kapoor disclosed that company is expanding its business in the Jammu and Kashmir and it has its manufacturing plants at Pounta Sahib in Himachal and Koso Kalan and Mathura in Utter Pardesh. In Valley, the company has field officer, N N Sharma who has covered all the districts. In Association with M/S Alpha Trading Co. Srinagar, the company is expanding its network.

The company, one of the major groups involved in the manufacturing of dairy products in the country has to its credit widely accepted pure desi ghee , variety of dairy whiteners, casein, proteins, lactose, ketchup, sauce and 17 varieties of pickles.

With a turn over of Rs 850 cr during the year 2002-03, the group has a good network of over 860 distributors. In its expansion plans the company in the past captured south Indian market including states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pardesh and Kerala. Mr Kapoor lauded the efforts of M/S J B Gupta & Co and Mr Jag Bhushan for growth of company in the region. The products have been widely accepted by the customers in Jammu region, he added.

Naresh Chandra Panel on aviation roadmap
to submit report

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: The high-powered Naresh Chandra committee, set up to evolve a roadmap for the civil aviation sector, will present its report tomorrow and is likely to recommend allowing foreign airlines to pick up stake in the domestic aviation sector up to 49 per cent.

The recommendations of the five-member committee, headed by the former Cabinet Secretary, is likely to form part of a new national civil aviation policy if approved by the Government.

The panel is also likely to recommend divesting the equity in Air India and Indian Airlines, a process which got stalled earlier.

Official sources said the report, to be submitted to Civil Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, has dealt with a gamut of issues to facilitate the Government in formulating the policy, which is likely to be finalised by January next year.

The policy, once finalised, would be vetted by the Ministries of Finance, Defence and Petroleum before being sent to the Union Cabinet for approval, the sources said. But the Naresh Chandra report would be examined by the Civil Aviation Ministry itself.

Besides Chandra, other members of the committee were HDFC chairman Deepak Pareekh, Advisor in Planning Commission Pronab Sen, Civil Aviation Secretary K Roy Paul and Finance Advisor to the Ministry V Subramaniam.

Among various issues, the committee has deliberated upon competition in the area of international and domestic airlines and the future role of Air India and Indian Airlines.

The panel also dealt with the restructuring of airports to develop their infrastructure into world-class standards and create one or more international hubs, a process which has already begun for the two airports in Delhi and Mumbai.

Besides working on a regulatory mechanism for technical and financial issues, it also studied the issues of affordability and connectivity in the domestic aviation sector besides the development of regional air connectivity, the sources said.

The panel was asked to work out a mechanism for providing air services to interior areas of the country and operations on "economically unviable but socially essential routes".

The committee has also dealt with upgradation of systems for air traffic control and meteorological information, besides the aspects of aviation security, safety and training.

About four years ago, a Civil Aviation Policy was formulated and a draft published to elicit the views of aviation industry professionals and other experts. But there was no movement on it for long.

Among the major changes suggested in the earlier policy were to raise the cap of foreign direct investment in the aviation sector, allowing of private domestic carriers to fly abroad, allowing foreign airlines to invest in domestic sector and setting up of a regulatory body for airport privatisation. (PTI)

India invites Japan to outsource business

TOKYO, Dec 7: India today invited Japan to outsource business to tackle the problem arising out of high percentage of aging population.

"This was a win-win situation for both countries... Business outsourcing was the only way to overcome the demographic handicap and yet sustain profitability and growth," Planning Commission member N K Singh said today.

Singh also highlighted India’s economic advantage and the new opportunities deregulation and reforms have created for Japanese investment particularly in infrastructure.

Participating at a symposium organised by Japanese Government, Singh also listed ports, airports privatisation, roads, power and agro-processing as sectors which could attract Japanese investment.

Several economists and experts in international relations including Stephen Cohen of brookings institute, gong Shao-Peng of foreign affairs collects, Yoshimi Ishikawar of Akita College participated in the symposium which highlighted the strategic importance of India and prospects for Indo-Japanese cooperation.

Singh said the shifting consumption pattern of India’s rich urban middle class for white and brown goods offered great scope for Japanese companies, which have excelled in mass consumption goods like television, entertainment and cooling systems.

Giving the rationale how business outsourcing from India would benefit Japan, Singh said this can postpone large scale migration and can help buy time for enabling countries to redesign production patterns, alter nature of economic activities along with other measures to diminish the impact of demographic challenges.

A credible alternative would be to enhance the profitability of capital dramatically, secure increased participation of women into the workforce, postpone retirement even beyond the present limits and alter the nature of current activities, he said.

The other alternative was to accept an aggressive migration policy on a scale so far unprecedented and japan alone would require 600,000 migrants every year to sustain the workforce at the current levels, he said.

But these alternatives had limitations as they involved several policy issues including creation of a transparent, non-discriminatory multilateral framework on migration, harmonising the issue of brain-drain and a fiscal policy which enable the gains of wealth and value creation to be equitably shared. (PTI)

Global bankers meet to check money laundering, NPAs

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: The first international conference on banking and trade finance is being held here for three days from Tuesday to discuss measures to check money laundering, bring down Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) and mitigate risks.

More than 200 bankers and corporates from 27 countries will attend the conference being organised by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), India, ICC India president Onkar S Kanwar said today.

Besides the CMDs of state-owned SBI, PNB, iob, corporation bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and other leading banks from India, the conference will have representation from Switzerland, China, Russia, France, Germany and several other countries.

Among the critical issues that will come up for discussion are emerging trends in international banking, experiences of developed countries in managing NPAs in the globalised economy, revision of Uniform Customs Practice (UCP), revised rules of documentary credit dispute resolution expertise (docdex) and prime bank instrument frauds.

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor K J Udeshi will inaugurate the conference which will also go into the Indian contract act and the international standard banking practices. (UNI)

WTC urges TN, Centre to secure release of ten Indians

CHENNAI, Dec 7: A day-long fast urging the union and the Tamil Nadu Governments to take steps to secure the release of ten Tamilians — eight in Malaysia and two in Maldives — who were facing the hangman’s noose, was organised by the World Tamil Confederation (WTC) here today.

More than 300 people, including women, participated in the fast in front of the Valluvar Kottam.

The fast, headed by WTC secretary-general Dr S N Deivanayagam, was inaugurated by noted film director Bharathiraja.

Delhi Tamil Sangam president and Supreme Court Bar Council president Krishnamani and traders association president T Vellaiyan, among others, participated in the fast.

Speakers at the fast wanted the Centre to immediately intervene and take legal steps to secure the release of the Indians, who were awarded capital punishments for no fault of theirs. They also alleged that the Indian High Commission in the respective countries had failed to initiate proper action.

While eight Tamilians in Malaysia were awarded death sentence in a drug-trafficking case, the remaining were given similar punishment in a rape case in Maldives. (UNI)

Xansa to take its headcount to 10,000 in India

NEW DELHI, Dec 7: UK-based technology and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services provider Xansa plans to increase its employee strength in india seven fold to 10,000 in next four to six years.

"Based on current growth, Xansa could meet its target of 10,000 workers in India in next four to six years," reports quoting senior company officials said.

Xansa, which employs 1426 employees in India, plans to take its staff strength to 2000 by end of this fiscal.

The company’s headcount in India had dropped to 949 in 2002-03 from 1,083 in 2001-02. In the first six months it has added more than 500 people.

Xansa currently has the capacity for 1525 staff at its newly-opened facilities in Noida and Chennai, and space for a further 400 workers is due to be added in Pune early next year.

"Once fully built, our total capacity in India will provide 10,000 seats on a single-shift basis," the officials said.

Apart from India and UK, Xansa has establishments in North America, continental Europe and Asia Pacific region.

The company has already announced that it plans to pull out of its continental European operations after posting fall in operating profits.

Xansa said it did not believe that the market on the European mainland is ready for large scale it outsourcing.

It said it intended to exit the operations while keeping the option of re-entering the market when it is more developed. The company employs 49 people in continental Europe, mainly in France.

According to dataquest estimates, Xansa’s revenues from India in 2002-03 were Rs 173 crore, down three pre cent from Rs 178 crore in 2001-02. Net profits in 02-03 were Rs 44.38 crore compared to Rs 43.06 crore in 01-02. (UNI)

India on sound financial footing: RBI Advisor

KOLHAPUR, Dec 7: Dr Narendra Jadhav, Principal Advisor, Department of Economic Analysis and Police, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Mumbai while expressing confidence over the state of the nation’s financial condition, cautioned on the need to maintain stability and a strong foreign currency reserve.

Dr Jadhav was delivering his lecture on ‘central banking - past, present and future’ at the late R N Godbole memorial lecture organised jointly by the Shivaji university and the United Western Bank at the university’s humanities auditorium here yesterday.

At the function which was presided over by Dr V M Chavan pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr Jadhav said that India had achieved satisfactory financial development and had earned world renown as a nation capable of providing funds to other nations. But he cautioned that it was important to think seriously over maintaining a stable financial situation.

"India’s present financial condition is good and competent and during the last six-months India, a borrower till some time back had achieved success as a money lending nation in the world", Dr Jadhav said and added that at the same time it was necessary to think seriously about increasing the nation’s foreign currency reserve. (AGENCIES)

Centre-State to decide the fate of NPPC: Asungba

KOHIMA, Dec 7: Lok Sabha member from Nagaland Asungba Sangtam has said the Nagaland Pulp and Paper Company (NPPC) could be revived once the Centre and the State place it before the Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (AAIFR).

He said both the Houses of Parliament have already approved the revival plan of this defunct paper mill.

In a statement, the MP informed that the Parliamentary standing committee on heavy industries had apprised him of the action taken report on recommendations pertaining to demands for grants for the department of heavy industries for 2003-04.

He said the recommendations include that the department of heavy industries and the Nagaland Government should place the issue of funding position before the AAIFR and arrangement of funds in a phased manner excise exemption to NPPC for twenty five years coupled with transport subsidy assured supply of bamboo to the unit for a period of fifteen years and clearance of union cabinet to be obtained at the earliest.

Earlier, an inter-ministerial meeting held on September two under the chairmanship of secretary heavy industries to discuss formulation of stand of the centre on NPPC revival decided to obtain approval of the competent authority so that matters could be taken to the cabinet putting forth all options and a final decision, which would include the source and methodology of funding.

Both Mr Sangtam and Rajya Sabha MP from the state C Apok Jamir had earlier taken up the issue of NPPC’s revival with the Centre. (UNI)

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