Top 10 business headlines: Tax mop-up contracts, BPCL stake sale and more

From cars to cost more in new year, Sebi giving time to six brokers to wind up clients to NTPC planning to expand in its renewables capacity, Business Standard bring you the top headlines of the day

1. Amid slowing economy, corporation tax mop-up contracts 1% in Apr-Nov

Corporation tax collection contracted by 1 per cent in April-November 2019 compared with the same period last year, amid a slowing economy, even as the impact of the corporation tax rate cuts, announced in September, is yet to reflect in the numbers. Negative growth in the corporation tax mop-up pulled down direct tax collection growth to 1.5 per cent in the first eight months of the current financial year. Direct tax collection, after adjusting for refunds, touched Rs 5.5 trillion at the end of November and will require a growth rate of 31 per cent in the remaining period to meet the Budget target of Rs 13.35 trillion. Read More

2. S&P reaffirms India's sovereign rating at BBB- with a stable outlook

The Union finance ministry on Tuesday said global ratings agency S&P had reaffirmed its sovereign credit rating of India at BBB- and maintained its outlook at “stable”. This comes less than a month after Moody’s downgraded India’s outlook to “negative” from “stable”. However, at the time of writing, a representative of CRISIL, S&P’s Indian subsidiary, confirmed that while a research note on India’s sovereign ratings was expected, it had not been released as yet. Read More

3. BPCL stake sale: Deloitte quotes Re 1 as its disinvestment advisory fee

In the country’s largest strategic disinvestment, the transaction advisor is taking a mere Rs 1 for its services. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India has quoted Rs 1 to manage the sale of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), which is likely to fetch the government Rs 70,000-80,000 crore. According to three persons in the know, SBI Caps was the second-lowest bidder with a quote in the range of Rs 15-17 crore. Both Deloitte and SBI Caps did not respond to emailed queries. “For Deloitte, this may be a prestigious deal and will add to its portfolio a national energy company,” said one of the persons. Read More

4. Cars to get pricier in new year: Maruti announces price hike amid slowdown

Even as automobile sales have hit a record low, the country’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki, on Tuesday announced a price hike across models from January. Others are likely to follow suit as they gear up to liquidate the stock ahead of rolling out new models in 2020. Rising input cost, along with the transition of auto firms from BSIV to the more expensive BSVI models, has prompted the industry to hike prices, analysts pointed out. Read More

5. Drug controller cracks whip on e-pharmacies selling drugs without licences

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has sent a directive to the state drug regulators to take “necessary action” in accordance with the Delhi High Court’s order of December 2018 that barred online sales of medicines without a licence. At present, no licence is issued for online pharmacies as such as there are no comprehensive rules to regulate the sector. Read More

6. How Noida's construction activity slowdown has flattened local economy

On a mild November afternoon Ravindar Singh sits idle outside the boundary walls of RG Luxury Homes’ construction site in Sector 16B of Greater Noida, chatting with two friends near the site office, his rifle resting against a tree. Singh, 51, an armed security guard, is talking to them about his future. None of the three men had been paid their salaries for three months. Once a bustling construction site, work at RG Luxury Homes practically stopped six months ago. Read More

7. Karvy crisis: Sebi gives time to six brokers to wind up client accounts

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in the wake of the Karvy crisis, has given time to at least six brokers to wind up their client securities accounts and submit the progress reports on pledged securities used to raise money from banks and finance firms. Source said Sebi had identified some brokers, mostly mid-sized ones who had not just failed to separate client shares but raised loans and utilised them in their other ventures. Read More

8. Essar Steel: ArcelorMittal seeks immunity from govt probe into Ruias

Steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s ArcelorMittal has approached the government seeking immunity from likely future investigations pertaining to Essar Steel and its erstwhile promoters, the Ruia family, four people familiar with the matter told ET. Mittal wants to avoid a recurrence of any controversy akin to the one involving Bhushan Power and Steel, when the Enforcement Directorate attached the firm’s assets after it was acquired by JSW Steel from the National Company Law Tribunal, reported The Economic Times. 

9. Govt may hike tariff on imports that escaped higher duties last year

From relatively big ticket items such as air conditioners and colour television sets, to set top boxes, cashews, vehicle tyres and organic chemicals, the government is looking to pile on tariffs on all imports that escaped higher duties last year. India’s overall import bill was $514 billion in 2018-19, up 11 per cent from the previous year. As fears of runaway imports plagued policymakers last year, duties on inbound goods were raised as many as six times. Read More

10. Loss making PSUs unable to find buyers to be closed down

The government will recommend loss-making PSUs identified for strategic stake sale for closure and will not wait endlessly and won’t make repeated attempts to get a bidder. The Centre has taken a political call to accelerate strategic sale of loss-making PSUs as some of them have been waiting for years to get a buyer, reported The Times of India.