Rupee down on local shares The rupee weakened a littlemore in afternoon trade on Tuesday as local equities slipped further

and dollar buying for Iran oil payment persisted. This is due to following reasons: * Euro's slide along side weakness in Asian currencies also weighed on the rupee, traders said. * At 1:22 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was 44.2600/2625 per dollar, weaker from its 44.07/08 previous close. * The euro was $1.4190 from $1.4431 when local forex trade closed on Monday, while the index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.34 percent to 74.519 points from 73.618 points. * But, a sharp weakness in rupee is unlikely given the robust outlook on inflows, traders said. * In July, foreign funds invested $1.7 billion in Indian equities and over $500 million in local debt securities, * The local share index fell more than 1 percent on Tuesday as fresh worries about the health of the global economy added to domestic concerns over rising rates and slowing growth.

8.2% GDP growth projection not disappointing: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee The Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) yesterday lowered the country's GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 8.2 per cent from 9 per cent earlier, citing the uncertain global outlook, high domestic inflation and subdued industrial performance. The finance minister of India says , The 8.2 per cent growth projection for the Indian economy in FY'12 is not "disappointing", in light of the uncertainty in major economies the world-over .In the overall global scenario, when European recovery is fragile and US recovery is uncertain, I don't think that 8.2 per cent (projected growth) is disappointing,"

The Finance Minister, however, noted, "There are certain aspects which are also positive," like impressive export growth and a reduction in India's current account deficit. During the April-June quarter, exports grew by 45.7 per cent to USD 79 billion.

'India auto sector to hit speedbreaker' Hyderabad: The growth in automobile industry is likely to come down to a single digit this fiscal due to higher inflationary pressures and fuel price hike, a top General Motors India official said here today. Balendran, Vice President GM India, said: "Last year, industry had grown at 13 per cent. In the first quarter, we expected around 18 per cent. But going by the trends, it will not be more than single digit growth this year. Going forward, interest rates will be definitely higher". "The industry is going to have tough time going forward, including General Motors," he told reporters here. Car sales fall by 15 per cent in July: Crisil Mumbai: Car sales in India fell by around 15 per cent in July compared to a growth of 38 per cent in the same month last year, according to a report released by Crisil Research here today. "Increase in fuel prices and interest rates affected consumer sentiment. The seven per cent increase in diesel prices announced in June 2011 further impacted cars sales, given that diesel models now account for over a third of car sales," the report said. A 31 per cent fall in domestic car sales of Maruti, which accounts for 49 per cent of domestic car sales, led the decline. Maruti's car sales fell mainly because it discontinued production of its old 'Swift' series and volumes of Swift Dzire declined, with a shift in the model's production facility.