After a string of bad news on the economic front starting with spiraling fuel prices to a double digit rate of inflation, finally there seems to be something for the Finance Minister P Chidambaram to cheer about.
The advance tax payments for the first quarter of 2008-09 are up 27 per cent to Rs 20,700 crore in spite of interest rate pressure.
The banking sector is doing well with ICICI Bank paying in Rs 340 crore and SBI's advance tax increasing 31.8 per cent to Rs 663 crore.
With crude prices reaching for the sky, the upstream oil companies are cashing in with ONGC paying the highest advance tax at Rs 1342 crore and GAIL paying Rs 335 crore.
But all is not well in India Inc just as ONGC is raking in the moolah those who depend on coal and oil are a worried lot.
"No doubt that high oil prices will hit the growth. It is hard to ascertain how much but some sectors will be hit harder," said Prasad Menon, MD, Tata Power.
The metal and mining companies have also put up a good show like Tata Steel which has benefited from a price hike at Corus paying Rs 356 crore in taxes and the National Mineral Development Corporation posting a figure of Rs 400 crore.
But with the Sensex losing over 10 per cent this quarter, the market watchers say the going will get tougher.
All eyes are now focused on the quarterly earnings season, which will send out a clearer signal on the health of corporate India.
No comments:
Post a Comment