Page 2582 - Business Finance
SpiceJet chief hints at fare hikes in next few months
With the airline industry grappling with spiralling costs, budget airline SpiceJet's chief Ajay Singh Monday indicated that fares could be hiked in the next few months. Preparing to launch its dedicated air cargo services from September 18, Singh also emphasised that increasing ancillary revenues is all the more important under "this situation where there is so much cost pressure". Rising fuel prices, falling rupee and intense competition are taking a toll on the profitability of airlines. Aviation turbine fuel (ATF) accounts for a significant chunk of an airline's operational expenses. Against this backdrop, Singh said there is a need to rationalise costs. "There is no question about it. At SpiceJet, I think the biggest initiative we are taking is to induct the (Boeing 737) MAX aircraft, which burns 15 per cent less fuel, which is far lower in terms of engineering costs of that aircraft," the Chairman and Managing Director of SpiceJet said here. Last year, the budget carrier placed ..
MP: Number of traders registered under GST crosses 4 lakh
The number of traders who have joined the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in Madhya Pradesh has reached over four lakh, a senior state commercial tax official said Monday. Joint Commissioner of MP Commercial Tax department, Sudip Gupta, told PTI that by the end of the current financial year, the number of registered businessmen under GST could further increase to 4.60 lakh. "Nearly three lakh businessmen in MP got associated with the GST regime when it was implemented nationwide on July 1, 2017. At present, the number of such businessmen has gone above four lakh," Gupta said. Gupta said that it is mandatory for businessmen with annual gross turnover of more than Rs 20 lakh to register under GST. Under VAT, registration was mandatory for those having annual gross turnover of more than Rs 10 lakh. He said that most of the businessmen associated with the old system of Value Added Tax (VAT) had been registered under GST.
ArcelorMittal moves SC against NCLAT order on Essar Steel auction
ArcelorMittal on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging the NCLAT order which held that Numetal's Rs 37,000 crore in second-round bid for Essar Steel was valid. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) had also asked the rival bidder ArcelorMittal to clear Rs 7,000 crore dues of its previously associated firms to qualify for the acquisition. "The petition challenging the NCLAT order has been filed," the counsel for ArcelorMittal said. The counsel said that the petition will be mentioned in a day or two for an urgent hearing. The appellate tribunal, on September 7, had asked lenders, who are auctioning Essar Steel to recover over Rs 49,000 crore of unpaid loans, to consider the second round bids of Numetal and mining baron Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta. ArcelorMittal's bid will be considered if it pays dues by September 11, it had said. For ArcelorMittal India (AMI), which was the only other bidder besides Numetal in round-1, the NCLAT held that it needs to remove the ...
ArcelorMittal revises bid for Essar Steel to Rs 42,000 cr
World's largest steel producer ArcelorMittal Monday offered Rs 42,000 crore to acquire Essar Steel Ltd, upstaging a Rs 37,000 crore bid by Russia's VTB Group-backed Numetal, sources with direct knowledge of the development said. Days after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) held the second round of bids for debt-laden Essar Steel valid, ArcelorMittal India put in a revised offer to the lenders of the company, they said. This would be in addition to Rs 7,000 crore it will pay to clear dues of Uttam Galva and KSS Petron -- delinquent borrowers it was previously associated with -- to become eligible to acquire Essar Steel. The dues have to be cleared by tomorrow as per the NCLAT order. Sources said the second round of bids by three bidders - a consortium of ArcelorMittal and Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Numetal in association with JSW Steel and Vedanta Ltd, were opened and placed in a sealed envelope for examination by Grant Thorton, advisor to .
Oil up as U.S. drilling growth stalls, Iranian sanctions bite
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday as growth of U.S. drilling braked and investors anticipated lower supply once new U.S. sanctions against Iran's crude exports kick in from November.
Herald case: HC rejects Rahul, Sonia Gandhi's pleas challenging tax reassessments
Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi on Monday failed to get any relief from the Delhi High Court which dismissed their challenge on reopening of their tax assessments for 2011-12. The rejection of the pleas of the top Congress leaders, including Oscar Fernandes, will pave the way for the Income Tax Department to scrutinise their records for the assessment year 2011-12. The "writ petitions have to fail," a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and A K Chawla said while clarifying that the observations in the order with regard to the contentions of the Congress leaders are not conclusive and are recorded for the purpose of disposing of these petitions. "...The assessees' rights to urge them are reserved in the income tax proceedings," it said, while "dismissing" the three separate petitions which were decided through a common order. The income tax probe against the Congress leaders has arisen from the investigation into the private criminal complaint filed by BJP ...
OBC approaches NCLT to initiate insolvency proceedings against Simbhaoli Sugars
Oriental Bank of Commerce has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to initiate insolvency proceedings against debt-ridden Simbhaoli Sugars. The sugar company informed the OBC has filed an application with the NCLT, Allahabad seeking initiation of the corporate insolvency resolution process under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, it said in a regulatory filing. SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Exim Bank are among 12 other bankers of the company. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 180.39 crore during the 2017-18 fiscal. During the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, the net loss was Rs 1.44 crore. Simbhaoli Sugars Limited, one of the largest sugar mills in the country, has sugar units in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. The company's shares closed at Rs 9.44 apiece, up 2.28 per cent on the BSE today.
Tata Steel felicitates Asian Games silver medalist archer
Tata Steel's West Bokaro Division in Ramgarh district Monday felicitated archer Madhumita Kumari for winning a silver medal in the recently concluded Asian Games in Jakarta. Madhumita, daughter of a miner of the company's coal mines, had been selected for primary archery training by Tata Steel in 2007 along with nine others. A resident of Ramgarh district, she won the silver medal in compound archery. Sahabji Kuchharoo, the Chief Operations in West Bokaro Division of Tata steel in Ramgarh, congratulated Madhumita on behalf of the company. In reply, Madhumita thanked the company, her coach Prakash Ram and patron of Birsa Munda Archery Academy in Silli and former state deputy chief minister Sudesh Kumar Mahto for training, support and encouragement. Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced Rs 10 lakh cash reward to her for winning the medal in compound woman archery.
ICICI Banks files insolvency plea against Jaiprakash Associates
Leading private sector lender ICICI Bank has filed insolvency petition against Jaiprakash Associates before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The Allahabad bench of NCLT has asked ICICI bank to serve notice to its corporate debtor Jaiprakash Associates within three days and directed Jaypee group firm to file reply by September 17. If NCLT allows the plea of the ICICI bank, then this will be the second company of the crisis hit Jaypee group facing insolvency. "Financial creditor is directed to serve notice on the corporate debtor and file affidavit of service within three days. Reply, if any, may be filed within seven days," said NCLT in its order Monday. The tribunal has directed to list the matter on September 17 for next hearing. While, confirming the development, Jaiprakash Associates informed the exchanges, "The Company has been given time to file its reply within seven days and the matter is listed for September 17, 2018". The Supreme Court, on August 9, while ordering ...
SC, Maha AAR rulings to up solar project cost by 25%: Experts
The rulings of the Supreme Court and the Maharashtra Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) on levying 25 per cent safeguard duty and 18 per cent GST on contract value, respectively, will result in a 25 per cent increase in the cost of solar projects, according to experts. The apex court, through its interim order Monday, has nullified the Orissa High Court's stay order on levy of safeguard duty on imported solar cells and modules. The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) had recommended levy of 25 per cent safeguard duty on solar cell imports from China and Malaysia for the first year, followed by a phased down approach for a second year. In the first six months of the second year, a safeguard duty of 20 per cent will be payable by exporters to India and in the latter half of the second year, exporters will pay a safeguard duty of 15 per cent. The Maharashtra AAR had early this month upheld that EPC contracts are works contract services and hence tax on such works ..
Need different thinking to reduce sugar stocks, says Sharad Pawar
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar Monday called for a "different thinking" to reduce sugar stocks amid expected surplus production in the next season even as he praised the BJP-led government for steps to save cane farmers. Stating that sugar output in the 2018-19 marketing year is also expected to be surplus, the former agriculture minister said that there is a need to reduce the stock of sugar and for which a "different thinking" is required. Sugar mills are unable to make cane payments to farmers as domestic sugar prices have come down due to surplus output this year and even exports have become unviable because of a sluggish global market, Pawar said in his inaugural address at the 59th annual general meeting of National Federation of Sugar Factories Ltd here. India produced a record 32 million tonnes of sugar in the current 2017-18 marketing year (October-September). This is estimated to rise to 35-35.5 million tonnes in the next marketing year as against the domestic demand of around 26 .
Experts blame depreciating Rupee, fuel price hike for Sensex, Nifty plunge
Market analysts on Monday stated that the decline in the value of the Indian Rupee against the US Dollar and the sky-rocketing prices of crude oil were amongst the primary reasons for the plunging Sensex and Nifty indices.The BSE Sensex closed trade on Monday having lost 467.65 points at 37, 922.17 points while the Nifty index dropped 157 points to be at 11, 438.10 points.Speaking to ANI, Sunil Shah, a market analyst based in Mumbai, said, "The immediate reasons are the fall in rupee, it's unabated. Today also we saw a historic low in Rupee prices. Second, crude oil prices are not softening. Going forward it looks like if there is an embargo or sanction in Iran in November, that will further aggravate the scenario. That will be a bad development for the Indian economy."The Indian Rupee fell to a new lifetime low of 72.67 against the US Dollar today.Shah stated that other factors for the fall in the market were the worsening current account deficit numbers and the issues surrounding ...
Volvo Cars drops IPO due to trade tensions and auto stocks downturn
BEIJING/PARIS (Reuters) - Volvo Cars and its Chinese owner Geely have postponed plans to float shares in the Swedish carmaker, blaming trade tensions and a downturn in automotive stocks.
Equity indices register highest single-day fall in 6 months (Intro Roundup, correcting Intro)
Indian equity indices on Monday recorded their steepest fall in the last six months as expectations of a rise in inflationary pressure dented the risk-taking appetite of investors.
Bandh evokes mix response in Himachal
The Bharat Bandh called by the Congress Monday against rising fuel prices evoked a mixed response in Himachal Pradesh even as the ruling BJP called it a "flop show". Many shops were shut till noon in Lower Bazar, Middle Bazar, Ram Bazar and Lakkar Bazar in Shimla. Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu claimed the bandh was successful as shopkeepers closed their shops to protest against the spiralling prices of petroleum products and other essential commodities. However, Health Minister Vipin Singh Parmar and Industries Minister Bikram Singh Thakur claimed the bandh remained a flop show in the state as the public did not respond to it. They said the public knew that crude oil prices were very high in the international market and therefore no country in the world was unaffected. As per reports, some shops and business establishments remained closed in Solan, Chamba, Sirmaur, Dharamshala, Kangra, Palampur, Mandi, Rampur, Kullu, Una and Hamirpur.
Zimbabwe seeks return to dollar as new govt sworn in
Zimbabwe's newly sworn-in finance minister on Monday said he planned to reintroduce the Zimbabwe dollar and accelerate plans to repay the country's debt, in a bid to revive the battered economy. The southern African nation abandoned its currency after it spiralled out of control between 2008 and 2009 during the rule of Robert Mugabe. The country adopted the US greenback and other foreign currencies including the South African rand. But a few years later, with the economy in tatters, US bank notes started to run short. In 2016, Mugabe's government tried to tackle the chronic shortage of US banknotes by introducing a parallel token currency called "bond notes", theoretically worth the same as a US dollar. But the bond notes are in reality worth far less than the US dollar. "Ultimately, I want to be very clear, I want to see the Zimbabwe dollar come back, the sovereign currency," the new finance minister, Mthuli Ncube, told reporters shortly after he was sworn-in. Ncube, 55, a former ...
Wall Street higher as tax cut hopes keep trade war fears at bay
(Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were higher on Monday, boosted by the consumer discretionary sector and as hopes for a new round of tax cuts overshadowed fears of an escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade war.
Sebi imposes Rs 1.5-cr fine on 34 entities for fraud trade
Capital markets regulator Sebi Monday imposed a total penalty of Rs 1.5 crore on 34 entities for indulging in fraudulent trading that led to artificial volume in the shares of Shakti Pumps (India) Ltd. The regulator conducted a probe into trading in the scrip of Shakti Pumps during the period February-July 2010 to ascertain any possible violation of PFTUP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) norms by certain connected entities. Pursuant to investigation, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) found that 34 connected entities had "executed a large number of synchronised trades wherein the price, quantity and time of orders are matched amongst themselves and further executed reversal of trades wherein at the end of the day, the shares were transferred back to the originating party". Further, the regulator said that these entities had contributed to price rise in the scrip fraudulently by repeatedly placing buy orders with group entities at a price higher ...
Forging industry sees 20% cost rise on high power tariff: AIFI
The forging industry, which majorly supplies its products to auto parts makers, has seen a 20 per cent jump in costs owing to rising fuel and steel prices along with high power tariffs in Maharashtra, an industry association said. However, despite this, the sector is expected to clock a 10 per cent growth in this fiscal year, according to Yash Munot, chairman western region, Association of Indian Forging Industry (AIFI). As compared to usual trend of low production during April-May period, this year has witnessed a continued higher demand during the first quarter, he said. "One of the main concerns in this region is the electricity tariffs which have gone up in Maharashtra since August and which are probably the highest in the country. "Moreover the fuel and steel prices have also shot up significantly. All these factors combined have increased our costs by 20 per cent," said Munot. Industries such as forging and steel need a lot of power, he said, adding, "The increase
Delhi HC rejects Rahul, Sonia's plea challenging reassessment of FY 2011-12
The Delhi High Court on Monday rejected Congress president Rahul Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi's plea challenging the Income Tax (IT) notice seeking tax reassessment for the financial year 2011-2012.The court noted that the IT department has the power to reopen tax proceedings and that the petitioners can approach the department with their grievances.The Congress president had challenged the IT department's authority to reopen his tax assessment related to the National Herald and Young India transactions.The IT department told the High Court that the All India Congress Committee had transferred funds to the tune of Rs 99 crore to Associate Journal Ltd, adding that Rahul had willfully chosen to not disclose the fact that he held the director's post at Young India.However, Rahul's legal counsel asserted that the Congress president did not receive any income from the source, and hence is not liable for any tax.The National Herald scam is an ongoing