Electric cars soon to get cheaper

Electric cars may become cheaper by up to Rs 1 lakh with manufacturers expected to pass on to the consumers the benefits of the Rs 95-crore incentive package extended by the Government to the industry.

The main beneficiary, however, is expected to be two-wheeler manufacturers, which have a larger consumer base. There are four-lakh electric two-wheelers on the road, with around 85,000 units being added annually. At present, the large electric two-wheeler makers include Hero Electric, Yo Bikes, Avon and BSA, though most are making losses.

In contrast, the electric car market has only one player at the moment — Mahindra Reva EV Ltd — with total sales of 3,700 units since launch in July 2001, of which 50 per cent was in the domestic market.

Others players such as car market leader Maruti Suzuki and General Motors have also been working on such technology and may now be eager to enter the segment.

Tata Docomo launches 3G services

Tata Docomo, the GSM arm of Tata Teleservices Ltd, today became the first private operator to launch its 3G services in the country.

Announcing the launch Tata Teleservices Ltd Managing Director Anil Sardana said the services would be available from midnight tomorrow in all the nine circles--Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, UP (West), Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra.

He said the 3G network, set up with the assistance of NTT DOCOMO, supports high speed internet access with speeds of up to 21.1 Mbps.

Mr Sardana said that the present customers with 2G at present can shift to 3G and avail free service till November 11 as Diwali gift.

India tops in consumer confidence index

For the third consecutive quarter, India has retained the top spot as the most confident nation in Nielsen's Consumer Confidence Index.

India's index points stood at 129 for June-September, the same as in the second quarter (April-June), but marginally higher than what was recorded in Jan-March. In the first quarter, India's index points stood at 121.

On a year-on-year basis, India's index points for the third quarter were higher by nine points, indicating that confidence levels this year are higher in comparison to the year-ago period, when the economy was just beginning to recover from a slowdown.

The domination of the Asia-Pacific and the Middle-Eastern regions in the market research agency's current edition of the Consumer Confidence Index could be seen, with Thailand coming at number two after India with 117 points, followed by Australia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia tied at 115 points, while the Philippines and Singapore stood at number fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

At an overall level, Asia-Pacific was the most confident region at 98 points, followed by the Middle East/Africa at 97 points, Nielsen said.

But Indians were the most optimistic, the market research agency, which has operations in 100 countries, said in a statement.

"More than nine out of ten Indians are optimistic about their job prospects in the next twelve months. This is a percentage point lower than the last leg of the survey, but still India tops the list of countries who think that their job prospects are excellent or good in the next twelve months," Nielsen said.