Page 2658 - Business Finance
Tax compliance improved after demonetisation: EAC-PM member
Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Shamika Ravi has said the tax compliance has increased after demonetisation, though in hindsight it appears that the whole process could have been handled in a better manner. Ravi, also a senior fellow at Brookings India, further said that there is a need for more tax rationalisation to reduce the compliance burden. "Have you seen the tax compliance (after demonetisation)? Why do you think that has happened? "...Implementation of demonetisation was definitely questionable. Just the fact that we brought Rs 2,000 notes, that defies the logic of delegitimising of high-value currency notes," she told PTI in an interview. On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation of high-value currency notes. According to recent RBI data, of the Rs 15.41 lakh crore worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 2016, when the note ban was announced, currency worth Rs 15.31 lakh crore has .
Govt plans exam for individuals looking to become independent directors
The government plans to have examinations for individuals who want to become independent directors as part of bolstering the corporate governance framework, according to Union Minister P P Chaudhary. While there are stringent provisions under the Companies Act, 2013 to ensure good governance standards, the roles of independent directors has come under the scanner in certain instances of corporate misdoings. Also, at a time when the government is making efforts to make its role minimal in the affairs of corporates, the role of independent directors is more vital. Asserting that the government is committed to improve the fabric of corporate governance in the country, Chaudhary said strengthening the role of independent directors in the affairs of companies is one of the steps in that direction. The Minister of State for Corporate Affairs said that a person should have certain qualifications to become an independent director on the boards of companies. "The requirement with respect to ...
Mauritius tops India's FDI charts again in FY18
Mauritius remained the top source of foreign direct investment into India in 2017-18 followed by Singapore, whereas total FDI stood at USD 37.36 billion in the financial year, a marginal rise over the USD 36.31 billion recorded in the previous fiscal, according to RBI data. While FDI from Mauritius totalled USD 13.41 billion as against USD 13.38 billion in the previous year, inflows from Singapore rose to USD 9.27 billion from USD 6.52 billion. Even as FDI from Netherlands declined marginally to USD 2.67 billion as against USD 3.23 billion in the year-ago period. The provisional data for the financial year ended March revealed that foreign direct investment (FDI) into the manufacturing sector witnessed a substantial decline to USD 7.06 billion, as against USD 11.97 billion in the year-ago period. However, FDI into communication services rose to USD 8.8 billion in 2017-18 as compared to USD 5.8 billion. The inflows into retail and wholesale trade also shot up to USD 4.47 billion as ...
Subhash Chandra now wants to try his hands in cruise shipping;
The Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group is diversifying into the cruise shipping segment and has drawn up plans to invest up to USD 2 billion in the business. Essel Group's upcoming cruise business will be handled by a company called Zen Cruises Pvt Ltd. Late last month, Essel Group appointed Jurgen Bailom as the President and CEO of Zen Cruises. The group, which became a household name courtesy its flagship media business, is investing USD 123 million to purchase and refurbish its first vessel that will become operational early 2019, Bailom told PTI here over the weekend. All the investments are being made by Chandra in his personal capacity and the group plans to list the company in future, he said, adding it has drawn up aggressive investment plans hoping for a favourable response from the market. As against the 2 lakh Indian cruise tourists last year, the company is targeting to host 2.5 lakh tourists on the single ship in 2019, he said. Once the demand for cruise ...
Govt may give extension to BoB chief P S Jayakumar
The government may give extension to Bank of Baroda Managing Director and CEO P S Jayakumar based on the assessment of his three-year performance, sources said. Jayakumar was one of the two selected from the private sector and joined the state-owned bank in October 2015. He was appointed for a three-year term that will come to an end on October 12, 2018. According to sources, the government will take a final call on his extension after the objective assessment of his performance. Soon after he assumed charge, BoB made a loss of Rs 3,342 crore in the third quarter (October-December) of 2015-16. In the subsequent quarter too, the lender posted a loss of Rs 3,230.1 crore. However, the situation got better from the first quarter of 2016-17 when the bank earned a profit of Rs 423.6 crore going further up in the second quarter to Rs 552.1 crore but it declined to Rs 252.6 crore in the third quarter and in the last quarter, it was Rs 154.7 crore. The bank again posted a hefty loss of Rs ...
Price control, ad-hoc regulatory changes may hamper pharma
Pharma major Pfizer fears that the pharma industry is expected to face challenges from price controls, ad-hoc regulatory changes and new policies that may impact sustainable growth. "Even though economic outlook is expected to remain positive, there are several headwinds in the healthcare and pharmaceutical regulatory space," the company had said in its annual note to shareholders. "While implementation of large scale healthcare initiatives expected to provide a boost to the pharma industry, there will be continued challenges in the areas of price controls, ad-hoc regulatory changes and new policies that may impact predictability and sustainable growth," it further said. The Indian pharma market (IPM) stood at Rs 121,833 crore at the end of financial year 2018, growing at 6.3 per cent over the last 12 months period. This represents a significant slowdown from the historic 13-14 per cent CAGR trends (2010-2016). This slowdown was largely due to regulatory, policy and ...
Wipro wins $1.5 bn multi-year deal from US firm
Global software major Wipro on Sunday said it had won a $1.5 billion (10,500 crore) 10-year deal from the US-based technology firm, Alight Solutions LLC.
Spykar eyes up to 30% higher sales at Rs 700 cr in FY19
Homegrown denim brand Spykar is eyeing a growth of 25-30 per cent this fiscal to clock a revenue of Rs 700 crore, a top company official has said. The brand clocked retail sales of over 550 crore in 2017-18. "We see a remarkable change in consumer sentiments which encourages us to stick our neck out to go for such aggressive growth. This fiscal year we are aiming to close at Rs 700 crore, a growth of around 25-30 per cent," Spykar Lifestyle chief executive officer Sanjay Vakharia told PTI. The revenues of Spykar have doubled and the profits grew by 4x in the last 3 years, he indicated. The company is also expecting a better growth in the festive season this year at 15-18 per cent and plans to expand its retail presence to 350 stores soon. It currently operates 220 stores in 140 cities, which are franchisee outlets. "We plan to spread in 200 towns soon. And increase store count to 350 stores," he said, adding that lack of real estate space is a serious issue as the supply .
Global cues, macro data, rupee movement to chart market direction this week
Global trends, fresh macroeconomic data, movement of rupee against the US dollar and crude oil prices are likely to chart the stock market's course this week, say experts. "The coming week will start off with manufacturing and services PMI data," said Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research. Auto stocks will also remain in focus with the release of monthly sales data. Continuous fall in the rupee and surging global oil prices remain key dampening factors, raising renewed inflation concerns. The rupee on Friday slumped 26 paise to breach the historic low of 71 level for the first time against the US currency due to firming crude oil prices. "The market is expected to remain in the profit-booking zone. IT stocks are undoubtedly riding on the bandwagon of rupee depreciation, but in the short to medium term they have reached their overbought levels and are likely to correct soon," said Jimeet Modi, Founder & CEO, SAMCO Securities. However, other export-oriented industries like textiles, ...
Auto cos eyeing to tap growing AMT demand in India
Major automobile firms Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors are betting big on sales of models with automated transmission as more and more consumers prefer to bid goodbye to the hassle of frequent gear shifts. Buoyed by robust response to its Auto Gear Shift (AGS), market leader Maruti Suzuki India is targeting to sell a total of over 2 lakh cars with AGS this fiscal, after crossing three-lakh retail sales-mark within five years of introducing the technology. On the other hand, Tata Motors believes that five years down the line, every second car sold in India could be an AMT (automated manual transmission). Hyundai Motor India, the second biggest passenger vehicle maker in the country, has also seen a rapid increase in the share of its vehicles with automatic transmission (AT) to 9.8 per cent of total sales as on June-end this year from just 4 per cent in 2015. Explaining the reasons for increasing popularity of vehicles with automated transmission in India, Maruti Suzuki (MIS) ...
India Post Payments Bank will bring unbanked people to banking mainstream: Shah
BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday said India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will bring the unbanked people in remote areas of the country to the banking mainstream and empower them economically. He described the development as one of the most innovative financial inclusion initiative in independent India. "The postman, who we all have fond memories of, will now deliver last mile banking to the unbanked in far flung remote rural areas and bring them in the mainstream. Economic independence is the first step towards empowering people and Modi sarkar is leaving no stone unturned," he tweeted. Congratulating Modi for launching the payments bank of Indian postal department, he said it has revived and given a completely new dimension to the Indian Post, which has been serving India for a long time. The prime minister on Saturday launched the payments bank of the Department of Posts that will take banking to the doorstep of every citizen through an ...
Sonowal announces CID inquiry into syndicate, extortion at IOC terminal
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday announced a CID inquiry into alleged syndicate and illegal money collection from oil tankers at IOC's terminal in Digboi. According to an official release, Sonowal has directed the state CID to investigate allegations of illegal collection by alleged syndicates from the drivers and owners of oil tankers at the Digboi marketing oil terminal in Tinsukia district. "He has also directed CID to inquire if similar kind of extortion (was being carried out) and situation existed when the marketing terminal was in Tinsukia," the release said. The CID has been directed to take necessary action and submit its report to the government urgently. Indian Oil Corporation had shifted its Tinsukia terminal to Digboi at an investment of Rs 273 crore. The commercial operations began in June 2018 and it has a capacity to store 35,000 kilo litres of petrol, diesel, kerosene and furnace oil that are supplied to neighbouring states as well apart from Assam.
Scoreboard at the end of the third day's play in the fourth Test between India and ...
Scoreboard at the end of the third day's play in the fourth Test between India and England. Scoreboard England first innings 246 India 1st Innings 273 England 2nd Innings A Cook c Rahul b Bumrah 12 K Jennings lbw Shami 36 M Ali c Rahul b Ishant 9 J Root run out (Shami) 48 J Bairstow b Shami 0 B Stokes c Rahane b Ashwin 30 J Buttler lbw Ishant 69 S Curran batting 37 A Rashid c Pant b Shami 11 Extras (b-7, lb-1) 8 Total (For 8 wkts, 91.5 Ov) 260 Fall of Wickets: 1-24, 2-33, 3-92, 4-92, 5-122, 6-178, 7-233, 8-260 Bowlers: R Ashwin 35-7-78-1, J Bumrah 19-3-51-1, Ishant 15-4-36-2, Shami 13.5-0-53-3, Hardik 9-0-34-0.
SBI, ICICI banks hike benchmark lending rate by up to 0.2%
Home, auto and other loans would become costlier as the country's largest leading lenders SBI and ICICI banks on Saturday increased their benchmark lending rates or MCLR by up to 0.2 per cent. The new rates will be effective from Saturday. The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has increased the lending rate by 20 basis points across all tenors up to three years. Now SBI's overnight and one-month tenors' Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate (MCLR) stands at 8.1 per cent as against 7.9 per cent, as per the SBI's website. The MCLR for a one-year tenor increased to 8.45 per cent from 8.25 per cent earlier. Most of the retail loans are benchmarked against one-year MCLR. In case of ICICI Bank, the one-year MCLR was increased by 0.15 per cent to 8.55 per cent, the bank statement said. The MCLR for a three-year tenor of SBI increased to 8.65 per cent from 8.45 per cent. Both the banks had last revised their MCLR in June, just before the second bi-monthly monetary policy .
High fuel, interest costs subdue August auto sales (Roundup)
Unfavourable base effect, along with high fuel and interest costs, subdued the monthly sales of select Indian automobile companies in August.
India Post Payments Bank new chapter in progress: Fadnavis
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Saturday said the opening of India Post Payments Bank has started a new chapter in the history of country's economic progress. He expressed confidence that the commencement of the IPPB would ensure the financial inclusion of people who were away from development. He was speaking after inaugurating the Giragaum branch of the IPPB at the General Post Office here. He said that there were about one lakh bank branches in the country and another three lakh IPPB branches would get added to this network. "A major chunk of the population was deprived of financial development in the last 70 years. Now they have been connected through this financial inclusion," he added. Fadnavis said an economic survey has revealed that the country has saved Rs 75,000 crore due to the digital payment system and direct transfer of benefit to beneficiaries. He further said the emergence of e-mails, short messaging service and social media had put a ...
R Madhavan takes charge as new CMD of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
Prior to this, R Madhavan was heading the Accessories Division of HAL at Lucknow as an Executive Director
 "R Madhavan takes charge as new CMD of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited")
IPPB will be a milestone for banking in Odisha: Pradhan
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will bring in a paradigm shift in extending banking services to the people of Odisha, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan said, while launching the IPPB banking services at the Chief Post Master General (CPMG) office in Bhubaneswar on Saturday.Addressing the gathering during the launch, Pradhan said, "Changing communications landscape with the advent of emails and digital media is a challenge for postal services. India Post Payments Bank will reinvent the postal services by leveraging the unparalleled network of India Post and unleash the power of digital revolution."Highlighting the facilities being offered by IPPB, he said, "This facility will offer a range of services such as savings and current accounts, remittances, money transfer, direct benefit transfers, utility payments, enterprise and merchant payments. IPPB will provide affordable and trusted banking services at the ...
Chidambaram attributes high GDP growth to low-base effect
Former Union finance minister P Chidambaram said Saturday that the GDP growth, reported at 8.2 per cent in April-June quarter, can decline going forward as the rise was possibly because of the low-base effect. Speaking to media here, he also said tumbling of the rupee against the US currency was because of reasons such as fiscal deficit and foreign investors pulling out their money. Asked about impressive GDP growth in the first quarter of this fiscal, Chidambaram said, "Going further 8.2 per cent GDP growth will decline. 8.2 per cent is because of lowest base in last eight quarters and several economists have already said it today it is because of low base of 5.6 per cent." "I am not unhappy with 8.2 per cent, but (it) is on the lower (base) of 5.6 per cent," he said. Earlier in the day, he tweeted, "Q1 GDP at 8.2 per cent is a statistic. Rupee at 70 to a dollar is a reality. In Delhi, Diesel at Rs 70.21 and Petrol at Rs 78.52, is a cruel blow." Fiscal deficit, pressure on the ...
IPPB launched in Jammu
Launching India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) in the city, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said the facility is an unprecedented step of the union government to empower the rural masses in the far-flung areas of the country. The state launch at Zorawar Singh Stadium here was a part of the nationwide launch of IPPBs across the country that was aimed at reaching the unbanked population of the country through utilization of the postal network for banking services. Singh said that the revolutionary step would ensure that the benefits of development reach the people of the entire nation at the grass root level. Addressing the audience, he said that the same technology that had made Post offices obsolete would mark the revival of these post offices through the Postal Payment Banks. While highlighting the critical role of the Postman in the functioning of IPPBs, Singh said the 'Dakiya' would become the 'new bank'. The Postmen would become the new digital teachers for unprivileged and ..