Page 750 - Business Finance

Shares may decline on negative global cues

Market is seen opening lower tracking negative leads from other Asian markets and overnight slide on the Wall Street. Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 34 points at the opening bell.

All trains coming to Delhi to be on electric traction from December 2019: Piyush Goyal

All trains coming to Delhi will be on electric traction by December 2019 said Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday.The move will cost the government Rs 12,134 crore.Further, in the next 2.5 years, all mail express trains and Rajdhani trains will have bio-toilets with air vacuum cleaning system similar to that in airplanes.The Railway officials informed that the electrification is expected to lower fuel bills, improve safety and increase the speed of the trains.The Union Cabinet in September 2018 had approved a proposal for the complete electrification of the Indian Railways in the next four years, reducing dependence on imported fossil fuel and saving revenue for the national carrier.Officials informed that 118 pairs of trains that include 39 in Phase-I, 60 in Phase-II and 19 in Phase-III, have been identified for the switch-over to electric traction. While 20 pairs of train i.e. forty trains have already been taken over on electric traction in Delhi area.Around 650 trains start,

GoAir Patna-Delhi flight diverted to Lucknow after snag

GoAir's Patna-Delhi flight was diverted to Lucknow on Thursday due to a technical snag, the private airline said.

IGIA declared as 'Best Airport' in 2018 ASQ Awards

The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here has been adjudged as the best airport in the category of over 40 million passengers per annum (MPPA) in Asia Pacific by Airports Council International (ACI) in the Airport Service Quality Programme for 2018.

China right to aim to boost consumption: IMF

China is right to aim its stimulus policies at boosting domestic consumption since that will produce better quality economic growth, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday. Beijing this week announced it had lowered its 2019 growth target to 6.0-6.5 per cent for the world's second-largest economy. And in response to the slowing growth, amid the trade friction with the United States, policymakers said they would lower taxes, reduce fees and streamline red tape. "The IMF's view is this will allow policymakers in China to focus on improving the quality of growth rather than maintaining a high quantity of growth," fund spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters. "This more modulated growth rate in China is something that the IMF has actually been advocating and encouraging... for some time." The Washington-based lender has long called on Beijing to shift away from a focus on export-led growth, so "we think this is an appropriate step," Rice said. "We welcome the intention to support ...

AI Board to meet on issuance of Rs 7,000 cr bonds

National carrier Air India's Board will meet on Friday to decide on the issuance of bonds up to Rs 7,000 crore through private placement.

HCIL launches 10th generation Civic

Premium cars manufacturer Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) on Thursday launched the all-new 10th generation Honda Civic in the Indian market.

ACC, Federal Bank, Mindtree, Tata Metaliks, DCB Bank preferred stocks: Centrum

A Centrum report has listed ACC, DCB Bank, Federal Bank, Mindtree and Tata Metaliks (TML) stocks as those having potential of value creation in the current quarter.

India providing greater mkt access to US goods; trade gap narrows

India is providing greater market access to American goods which is reflected in the declining trade deficit between the two nations, official sources said. The US trade deficit with India has dipped to USD 21.3 billion 2018 from USD 22.9 billion in 2017 and USD 24.4 billion in 2016. The commerce and industry ministry is also conducting an internal assessment to explore options to deal with the situation arising from the US decision to withdraw import duty benefits to about 2,000 Indian goods under its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme. The declining trade deficit figures clearly reflects that the US exports to India are increasing. It increased to USD 33.12 billion in 2018 from USD 25.7 billion in 2017. "With this kind of rise in exports, the US claim that India is not giving reasonable market access is not correct," the sources said adding the US companies in all the sectors including goods and services are market leaders in India. The US has claimed that India's ...

80% office space occupiers plan expansion of real estate portfolio: Report

Around 80 per cent of office-space occupiers in the country are likely to expand their corporate real estate or office space portfolio in the next two years, a CBRE report said on Thursday.

Cabinet approves soft loan of Rs 12,900 cr for sugar mills

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved funds amounting to Rs 2,790 crore towards interest subvention for extending a soft loan of Rs 12,900 crore by the banks to the sugar mills to boost ethanol production capacity.

India, Russia sign USD 3 billion deal for nuclear-powered attack submarine for Indian Navy

India Thursday sealed a USD 3 billion deal with Russia for leasing of a nuclear-powered attack submarine for the Indian Navy for a period of 10 years, military sources said. The two countries signed an inter-governmental agreement capping months of negotiations on price and various other aspects of the deal. Under the pact, Russia will have to deliver the Akula class submarine, to be known as Chakra III, to the Indian Navy by 2025. It will be the third Russian submarine to be leased to the Indian Navy. A spokesperson in the Defence Ministry refused to comment when asked about the deal. India has been significantly bolstering its naval prowess in the backdrop of China's attempts to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean region. India Navy has taken two more submarines from Russia on lease. The first Russian nuclear-powered submarine -- christened INS Chakra -- was taken in 1988 under a three year lease. A second INS Chakra was taken on lease in 2012 for a period of 10 years. The ...

RBI notifies 2 pc interest subsidy scheme for short-term crop loans

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Thursday notified the norms for banks with regards to two per cent interest subvention or subsidy for short-term crop loans during 2018-19 and 2019-20. The Centre has already approved the scheme. To provide short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers at an interest rate of 7 per cent, the RBI said it has been decided to offer interest subvention of 2 per cent per annum to lending institutions. "This interest subvention of 2 per cent will be calculated on the crop loan amount from the date of its disbursement/drawal up to the date of actual repayment of the crop loan by the farmer or up to the due date of the loan fixed by the banks whichever is earlier, subject to a maximum period of one year," it said in a notification. Under the scheme, an additional 2 per cent interest subvention is provided to farmers repaying loans promptly. For such farmers, the effective rate of short-term crop loans works out to be 4 per cent per annum.

Cabinet clears plan for rebate of embedded taxes in textile sector

Aiming to boost the textile sector and make it globally competitive, the Cabinet on Thursday approved a scheme to rebate all state and Central embedded taxes on apparel and made-up textile segments making them zero-rated.

Indian women earn 19% less than men: Report

Gender parity still looks a far away dream in India with women of the country earning 19 per cent less than the men, according to a report prepared by monster.com.

Govt amends hank yarn packaging norms

The textiles ministry Thursday amended hank yarn packaging norms whereby yarn packed for civil consumption in each quarter commencing from January-March should be less than 30 per cent of total yarn packed in each quarterly period for civil consumption. The move is expected to benefit spinning industry. Previously, this proportion was 40 per cent of the total yarn packed. "This notification will come into effect from January 1, 2019," an official statement said. "However, not less than 80 per cent of the yarn required to be packed in hank form shall be of counts 80s and below," it added. In the textile industry, a hank is a coiled or wrapped unit of yarn or twine.

Allahabad HC lifts mining ban in Sonbhadra

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday vacated its interim ban on mining activity in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district. The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the All India Kaimoor People Front of Sonbhadra to restrain the state government from granting mining leases through any procedure other than e-tender system. A bench of Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice S S Shamshery said private respondents might go ahead with mining operation, saying the ban would cause loss of state revenue. The high court had in May 2017 restrained private lease holders from excavation of minerals. At the hearing, the state counsel argued that private parties had invested huge amount of money for excavation. The bench fixed April 10 for the next date of hearing.

FinMin asks industry to be cautious while filing annual GST returns form

The Finance Ministry Thursday asked trade and industry to exercise caution while filing the annual GST returns form as the facility to revise it is not available. In a statement, the ministry said the annual returns form is now available on the common portal for filing and asked Goods and Services Tax (GST) payers to file their returns at the earliest. The ministry had on December 31, 2018, notified the annual returns forms GSTR-9, GSTR-9A and GSTR-9C. The GST Council had in December extended the last date for filing these forms by three months to June 30, 2019. GSTR-9 is the annual return form for normal taxpayers, GSTR-9A is for composition taxpayers, while GSTR-9C is a reconciliation statement. "Taxpayers may please exercise caution while filing this return as facility to revise the Form GSTR-9 and Form GSTR-9A is not available," the ministry said.

India's goods export to hit USD 330 bn in 2018-19: Prabhu

The country's goods export will touch USD 330 billion in 2018-19, which will be the highest ever, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said Thursday. He said the country's merchandise exports have seen high growth in the past six years through sector-specific interventions, focused export promotion initiatives, and quick resolution of issues. With the structural reforms that have been put in place over the past five years by the ministry and action-oriented plans for major sectors, the minister said India is on the path to become the fifth-largest economy this year. "India's goods export will peak at USD 330 billion in 2018-19 which will be the highest ever," the ministry said in a statement quoting Prabhu. He also said the Department of Commerce has identified nine sectors - gems and jewellery, leather, textiles, engineering, electronics, chemicals, pharma, agriculture and marine products -- to achieve at least 16 per cent growth in exports in 2018-19. During April-January ...

RIL leased 4,000acre land from Navi Mumbai SEZ for economic hub

Reliance Industries Thursday said it has leased 4,000 acres of land from Navi Mumbai SEZ (NMSEZ) for an initial payment of Rs 2,180 crore to develop a global economic hub. NMSEZ, as part of a tender process was allotted this land in 2006 to develop a world class SEZ. NMSEZ, which is promoted by Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Jai Corp India, SKIL Infrastructure Ltd and City and Industrial Development Corp (CIDCO), was supposed to open to industrial units in 2019. "RIL through a wholly owned subsidiary has entered into an MoU with NMSEZ to sub-lease land of about 4000 acres alongwith the associated development rights by making an initial payment of Rs 2,180 crore subject to fulfilment of certain conditions," the company said in a regulatory filing. CIDCO holds 26 per cent stake in NMSEZ, while the rest is held by Ambani, Jai Corp promoted by Anand Jain and Nikhil Gandhi's SKIL Infrastructure. "The Government of Maharashtra, in terms of Maharashtra Industrial Policy 2013 ...