NOFN snippets

The government’s Rs.20,000- crore project to provide high-speed broadband in 200,000 villages across India has finally taken off.
Bharat Broadband Nigam Ltd (BBNL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created for this purpose, has invited bids for procuring 400,000 kms of optical fibre cable (OFC). About 200,000 villages will get broadband connections by April 2014, said N Ravi Shankar, chairman, BBNL.
Sterlite, HFCL, Birla Ericsson, and Teracom have submitted bids, said sources.
“Procuring OFC is the first step of the project,” said MF Farooqui, secretary, DoT. “The project is being implemented on a priority basis.”
In a review meeting held last month, Ravi Shankar informed IT minister Kapil Sibal that BBNL aims to connect 100,000 Gram Panchayats by December end and total 200,000 villages by April 2014.
The government aims to provide e-education, e-health and various e-governance services to villages through this network.
In order to maintain highspeed and quality of services, the Gram Panchayats are to be connected through OFC. At present, OFC connectivity is available only up to block level. The project also plans to utilise existing OFC networks of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Railtel and Power Grid. Once the network is complete it will be called National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN).

S&P India rating : Snapshot

Mumbai local

Two years on....

NPPP 2012

The just-notified new drug price control policy will negatively impact sales and margins of pharmaceutical firms in India, according to industry players.
The department of pharmaceuticals had notified the Drugs (prices control) Order 2013 on Wednesday under which prices of 348 medicines in the National List of Essential Medicines have been brought under price control, thus replacing an earlier order of 1995 that regulated prices of only 74 bulk drugs.
According to IMS Health, a provider of information, services and technology for the healthcare industry around the world, the DPCO 2013 will lead to the value erosion of the Indian pharmaceuticals market.
With the notification, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPP) 2012 comes into effect and all drugs under NLEM, which account for 60 per cent of total domestic pharma market amounting to nearly Rs 29,000 crore, would come under price control.

Somewhere in Karnataka....

Largely keeping away “tainted” MLAs, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday expanded his ministry with the induction of 28 ministers.
Mining baron and Rajya Sabha member Anil Lad, elected from Bellary, former working presidents of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee D K Shivakumar and R Roshan Baig failed to make it as the high command wanted to start off with a“clean slate” by keeping the “tainted”at bay.
 Twenty were sworn in as cabinet ministers and the remaining eight as ministers of state by governor H R Bhardwaj, in the presence of Siddaramaiah and KPCC president G Parameshwara.
In the run-up to the May 5 Assembly elections, the Congress built its poll campaign on an anti-corruption platform, targeting the incumbent BJP government, which was hit by scams and dissidence. It won 121 seats in the 225-member house.

Walmart lobbying case closed

An investigation into whether Walmart may have bribed Indian officials to gain wider access to the country's vast market has been ‘closed’ due to lack of evidence.
The one-man committee of retired justice Mukul Mudgal probing the matter is likely to submit a report to the government next week saying there was no ‘adequate’ evidence to suggest Walmart was involved in any unlawful activity in India.
In a routine disclosure report to the US Senate last year, Walmart had said it spent $25 million over four years on issues related to "enhanced market access for investment in India".
The report created a ruckus in India within the Opposition which was staunchly against the chain's entry, saying it will hurt local "mom and pop" stores, demanding an inquiry into whether Walmart made any illegal payments as part of its lobbying.
Mudgal was named by the government in January to investigate if the chain broke any laws, and he questioned top store executives including its Asia chief executive Scott Price as part of his inquiry.