1st November -7th November 2010

WEEKLY NEWS

• International lifestyle brand Esprit India is eyeing a 30% growth in revenue during this fiscal primarily driven through geographical expansion, a top company executive said. "We will focus on geographical expansion, both in big and new cities.

• We are expecting a 30% growth in revenue over last year, "Esprit India COO Manjula Tiwari said here.

• Esprit India's revenue for 2009-10 stood at 80 crore. Present in 12 cities, Esprit will expand to small cities by opening a mix of exclusive showrooms and shop-in-shops.

• Presently, there are 20 Esprit stand-alone and 25 shop-in shops housed in high quality retail chains. Esprit is present in 45 countries and is the seventh largest apparel brand in the world with a global turnover of $5 billion.

ESPRIT INDIA TARGETS 30% REVENUE GROWTH

1st November 2010

• India's exports grew by 23.2% in September recording a two-year high of $18.02 billion, while faster import growth raised concerns over the country's widening trade gap.

• The country's merchandise exports in September 2009 was $14.6 billion.• During the April-September 2010-11 period, the exports increased by 28% to

$103.64 billion compared to the same period previous fiscal, according to an official data released on Monday. The imports grew by 26.1% to $27.14 billion in September.

• Import in the first half of the current fiscal stood at 166.4 billion, an increase of 29.9% year-on-year, translating into a massive trade gap of $62.83 billion during April-September 2010-11 period.

• The trade deficit in September was $9.11 billion. However, this was lower than the $13 billion deficit in August. "We still need to be concerned about the balance of trade deficit, "commerce secretary Rahul Khullar had said. Oil imports rose by 14.4% to $7.49 billion in September and non-oil imports increased by 31.2% to $19.6 billion.

• During April-September period of the current fiscal, oil imports increased by 30% year-on-year to $48.71 billion and non-oil imports grew by 29.9% to $117.76 billion.

SEPT EXPORTS UP 23% TO $18 B IMPORTS UP 26%

2nd November 2010

• Indonesia on Tuesday invited India to invest in the country, especially in thermal power and mining sectors by utilizing its untapped resources.

• They wish to invite capital investment from Indian companies and businessmen in Indonesia in potential areas of thermal power and mining sector, Indonesia's ambassador to India Lt Gen (retd.) Andi M Ghalib said in an interaction with businessmen.

• Indonesia is keen to double its power generation capacity in each of its 33 provinces, he said, adding that at least 1,000-1,200 mw is needed for each province as against the present generation of 600 mw.

• Auto parts and IT sector are among the other areas, where Indonesia welcomes investment from Indian businessmen.

• Indonesia will be benefited by cheap small horse power tractors from India compared to costly machines from Japan and Taiwan

INDONESIA SEEKS INVESTMENT IN THERMAL PLANTS FROM INDIA

3rd November 2010

• India's services sector expanded at a faster rate in October than in September, adding to the improvement in the index for manufacturing, a survey showed on Wednesday.

• The seasonally adjusted HSBC Markit Business Activity Index, rose to 56.2 in October from 55.6 in September.

• A reading of over 50 mark on the survey of 400 firms shows expansion.

• The slight upswing in the index was mainly attributed to new business that has remained robust over the last 18 months, but is likely to moderate as the pace of growth slows for the second straight month. "India's services sector picked up steam in October, with firms continuing to add jobs.

• Employment in the services sector rose for the 19th successive month in October. Companies said they were aiming to increase capacity with a sustained rise in workloads.

• A separate study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry found attrition levels faced by the services sector in India had edged up to 35% in the first half of this year.

• Output prices fell for the first time in eleven months indicating Indian companies were forced to discount tariffs due to strong competition for new business, HSBC said.

• The index declined by 2.5 points to 49.4 -- the largest drop among all sub-indices.

• Data released earlier this week showed the manufacturing sector in Asia's third largest economy expanded robustly in October, aided by strong output and a sharp rise in new business.

SERVICES GROW FASTER IN OCTOBER: HSBC SURVEY

4th November 2010

• The Bombay Stock Exchange has excluded RNRL from BSE 100 Index and has instead included LIC Housing Finance.

• The change shall be with effect from November 10,an exchange statement issued here stated.

• Trading in RNRL shares will be suspended with effect from November 10 on account of the company's merger with Reliance Power, the statement said.

• RNRL has also been excluded from the BSE 200 and BSE 500 indices and replaced with Central Bank of India and Prestige Estates, respectively.

• The Anil Ambani group company has also been excluded from the BSE Oil & Gas Index with effect from November 10,the statement said.

LIC HOUSING REPLACES RNRL IN BSE 100 INDEX

5th November 2010

• Barack Obama today said India should lift restrictions on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, saying old concerns that small shopkeepers would be impacted ignore todays reality.

• India, many see the arrival of American companies and products as threats to small shopkeepers and to India's ancient and proud culture.

• At present, India allows 51% foreign direct investment in single-brand retail and 100% in cash-and carry stores that can only sell to other retailers and businesses, but not to individual buyers who buy for home consumption.

• The relaxation in FDI will accelerate the growth of modern retail and the investments in backend and supply chain will help entire industry

• The commerce ministry had recently brought out a discussion paper that suggested that India could look at public-private partnerships in modernizing its food markets and to facilitate more cash and-carry outlets.

• Large foreign retailers are keen to come to India and government is also actively looking at the options to open it further. Fundamentally Indian retail sector lacks resources and infrastructure and foreign investment can help sector to grow faster, said Raghu Pillai, chief executive officer of Future Value Retail.

OBAMA PITCHES FOR OPENING UP INDIA'S RETAIL

SECTOR

7th November 2010