Friends Like These
A Budget post-mortem to see who’s gained the most finds that Jaswant Singh’s done a fine balancing act. For old friend Nusli Wadia, he’s cut import duty on paraxylene, which helps Bombay Dyeing, and excise on biscuits, which should cheer Britannia. But Wadia’s bitter rival Reliance has also received its share: an excise slash on polyethylene. The FM also rejected Kelkar’s suggestion of reducing the difference of import duty between crude and finished products. Implemented, it may have hit Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery hard.
Khan In A Fizz
Aamir Khan, Prasoon Joshi and Coke are the fizziest folk in town, catapulting Coke sales skywards and sweeping ad awards. So is everyone happy? Not quite. Khan’s Bihari babu ad, perhaps the most popular in the series of four, has some retailers grumbling about being portrayed as cheats. Khan’s Hyderabadi retailer hasn’t made up for this?
