Indian Economy News & Discussion - Aug 26 2015

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 21 Apr 2016 23:14

>>But very bad choice of words. It is as if he is living in a cocoon.

I think what he has said is absolutely right. I don't agree with everything he says, and his penchant for perhaps talking a bit more than necessary, but in the above he is quite correct.

In that sense, if anyone is living in a cocoon, it is us.

sivab · Post by **sivab** » 22 Apr 2016 00:21

^^^
RR was just farting, he has no concrete idea/plan except stupid statements. Anyone who knows multiplication can figure we need to grow at high rate for many years to get to decent level of living for everyone.

On the other hand NITI Aayog CEO made presentation to PM on the action plan proposed by members of NITI Aayog and secretaries of GOI to get high growth while pointing out the benefits. They are working on this for sometime now.

Checkout the presentation with high level details.

http://niti.gov.in/mgov_file/presentati ... 0final.pdf

Both are saying same thing, one set makes a concrete proposal to PM to achieve that and RR just farts to reporters. No other central banker pisses on their own economy like RR. A mistake can be made one or two times, but his statements are beyond mistakes now.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 22 Apr 2016 03:22

GoI announces Transforming India economic plan

Transforming India, an ambitious action plan finalised after two months of brainstorming shepherded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has recommended a slew of reforms to be implemented by ministries and departments if India has to grow by 10 per cent per annum until 2032. This, according to the action plan, will totally eradicate poverty from India in the next 16 years and also create 175 million new jobs.

"Growing at 10 per cent will transform India - India will be a $10 trillion economy with no poverty in 2032," the plan states. In 2015-16, the size of the Indian economy was a little over $2 trillion and the gross domestic product growth was around 7.6 per cent. As part of first steps in this grand plan, the government has set out to implement WTO-compatible procurement norms by 2017-18, achieve 100 per cent rural electrification by May 2018, increase rural teledensity to 100 per by 2020, reach broadband connectivity through optical fibre to all gram panchayats by December 2018 and have 175 million broadband connections by 2017.

The 23-page action plan also envisages reforms in the agriculture and allied sectors, including deregulation of genetically engineered (Bt) insect-resistant pulses by 2017-18, creation of buffer stock for pulses by 2017-18 and target 15 million metric tonnes of fish production by 2020. It also plans to implement seeding of Aadhaar number in 90 per cent of ration cards by the end of FY17. PAN (Permanent Account Number) is to be made mandatory for all businesses and entities and serve as unique business identifier also by the end of FY17.

This is quite spectacular news - after a 4 years funk the rate of project completion has picked up significantly since 2013-14, hitting an all-time peak in 2015-16, finally exceeding the peak hit in 2011-12, when the stagflationary situation hit hard:
New projects by India Inc touch a new peak

New projects completed by Indian companies have reached Rs 4,58,000 crore in 2015-16, their highest ever.

According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the turnaround follows two consecutive years of declines in project completion. The CMIE expects completed projects will rise in the coming quarters as companies mobilise resources and the government issues orders for new highways and railway projects.

CEOs said steps taken by the Modi government to revive investment climate has helped. "After the Supreme Court cancelled coal mines, we acquired a mine in Jharkhand. At the same time, Coal India started marketing its coal aggressively. This helped us restart our power project in Mahan," said Sushil Maroo, executive vice-chairman, Essar Power.

Government takes several measures to curb pulses prices

As price of pulses has started climbing again after last October’s steep rise, the government has taken several counter-measures. These include releasing stocks from the buffer, empowering states to impose stock limits, conducting tax raids on traders in Maharashtra, and sharply increasing the margin on chickpeas futures.The Centre on Friday decided to release 10,000 tonnes of pulses, mainly tur and urad, from buffer stocks. States have been asked to release stocks available with them and they can approach the Centre for more.

The Security and Exchange Board of India has told the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange to levy a special margin of 25 per cent (in cash) on the long side and 5 per cent (in cash) on the short side on all running and yet to be launched chana contracts from Friday. This is second action by Sebi on chana. The regulator on April 13 had imposed five per cent special and five per cent additional margin. The total margin on chana comes to 50 per cent. In October last year, Sebi had imposed virtually 100 per cent margin on chana futures.

Sebi has taken this action to control the speculative interest in chana contract, so that the price discovery does not get distorted. Our surveillance system is closely monitoring the contract to ensure market integrity, said Rajeev Agarwal, whole time member, Sebi.

BNP Paribas projects 8% growth this fiscal if monsoon normal

French bank BNP Paribas sees India's economic growth to increase on good monsoon, concurring with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that the country could grow at 8-8.5 per cent from the projected 7-7.5 per cent if the monsoon turns out good as predicted by the weather office.

"We are very much in that camp," said Richard Iley, BNP Paribas' chief economist for emerging markets, in a media interaction on Thursday. According to Iley, a good monsoon can lift agriculture growth in the country, which then can translate into at least a rise of 50-60 basis points in gross domestic product (GDP). Rural demand and agriculture has remained subdued due to two consecutive bad monsoon spells.

But certain sectors like cement and electricity production have already started showing a pick-up and this will broadbase in the coming days, Illey said. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected to improve to $50 billion in calendar year 2017, from $40 billion now and the target of $100 billion before the end of the term of the present government is not a very tough to meet, BNP Paribas said.

vish_mulay · Post by **vish_mulay** » 22 Apr 2016 12:23

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... te-returns

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 22 Apr 2016 17:53

If India hits 9% growth in two years and maintains it for the next 10 years it is going to reach 10 trillion earlier than 2032. The key is not to hit it but maintain it. China went from 2.5 to 13 trillion in 10 years flat.

There are reports coming out of further NPAs in the banking sector which are newly generated. This is one area that is going to be of immense concern coupled with global slowdown.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 22 Apr 2016 20:29

Eight states issued Rs 98,960 cr of bonds under UDAY

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said eights states issued Rs 98,960 crore worth of bonds under the UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) scheme.

The bonds, though eligible for market repo, were privately placed so that the bond market doesn't get disrupted. Market repo indicates bonds that can be used as an eligible security to borrow from the RBI.

With a coupon that was higher by as much as 75 basis points above equivalent maturity 10-year bonds, and the ability to use them for repo made the bonds attractive buy.

Under the scheme, Rajasthan issued Rs 37,349 crore, Uttar Pradesh Rs 24,332 crore, Chhattisgarh Rs 870 crore, Punjab Rs 9,860 crore, Jammu & Kashmir Rs 2,140 crore, Bihar Rs 1,551 crore, Jharkhand Rs 5,553 crore and Haryana Rs 17,300 crore of bonds, RBI's said in a statement on its website.

Centre sets up panel to prepare roadmap to double farm income

The government has set up a panel to prepare a blueprint for doubling farmers' income by 2022, as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The committee will chalk out a plan to shift farm policies from being production-oriented to based on incomes," a senior Agriculture Ministry official said.

The eight-member panel will identify potential areas of agriculture where more investment should happen and suggest ways to reduce the risk of farming by diversifying to horticulture and allied activities like livestock and fisheries to boost income, the official added.

The government's decision to set up the committee follows the Budget announcement that set a target of doubling farm incomes by 2022.

Odisha targets one lakh acre land bank creation by June

Aiming to ease the prolonged process of land acquisition for industries, the Odisha government has set a target to complete acquisition of 100,000 acres of land for industrial projects by June end this year.

Idco has already filed requisition for government land measuring 76,721.94 acres under Land Bank scheme in different districts. Out of the total filed area 12,698.93 acres has been prioritized as category A land for sanction of lease in favour of Idco. The balance 64,023.01 acres of land has been placed under category B and is to be kept reserved at the district level for industrial purpose.

Lands under Category A land bank would be leased out to Idco by the district collector on requisition as per the existing procedures under Odisha Government Land Settlement Act at prevailing IPR (Industrial Policy Resolution) rates for already selected industries, identified industrial clusters, industrial estates and industrial parks.

Before filing requisition for any industry, Idco would assess the actual requirement of land for the industry through an expert committee and share the same with the concerned collector and the department of revenue & disaster management.

For Category B land bank, Idco would place requisition to the collector to reserve suitable government land for industrial purposes.

Blackstone, Embassy Group in $3 billion REIT agreement

US-based private equity (PE) firm Blackstone and the Embassy Group have reworked their real estate investment trust (REIT) issue to $3 billion from the initial $2 billion planned, sources close to the development told FE. The Bengaluru-based Embassy Group confirmed the issue will be bigger than earlier proposed though it did not confirm the exact size. The REIT will house close to 40 million square feet of property that Embassy and Blackstone have accumulated between them — this was earlier pegged at 27 million square feet. Embassy Office Parks, the joint venture between Blackstone and Embassy, now owns the largest commercial asset portfolio in the country, surpassing that of DLF. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are understood to have been appointed as managers to the issue.

Industry experts said that the majority of the assets will command a capitalisation rate between 8% and 9%, making these significantly valuable in the current market. Neeraj Sharma, partner at Walker Chandiok, said the REIT will enjoy high credibility given Blackstone owns quality assets and has a good reputation.

Embassy is understood to have a stake in approximately 75% of the assets while Blackstone owns the rest. The PE major announced some time ago that almost 53% of its total investments in India are in the real estate sector. The fund’s strategy has been to buy commercial real estate at distressed valuations, creating room for significant returns.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 24 Apr 2016 11:35

The 17 Countries Sitting On The Most Valuable Energy Reserves

http://www.businessinsider.in/The-17-Co ... 355962.cms

5.7 billion barrels of proven oil reserves (#22)

47 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves (#20)

60,600 million tons of proven coal reserves (#5)

$6.5 trillion value at current prices

India is the fourth largest energy consumer in the world, trailing the United States, China, and Russia. Currently, India is not able to consistently meet domestic energy demands, which makes securing energy sources one of India's top priorities. India's petroleum minister recently announced an action plan to make India energy independent by 2030, through increased hydrocarbon production, coalbed methane, and shale gas. Currently, India's largest energy source is coal.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 25 Apr 2016 07:28

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... -1-billion

Indian companies refinanced offshore loans at the fastest pace in a year last quarter, rushing to take advantage of improved confidence in Asia’s fastest-growing major economy as borrowing costs start to rise.Corporate borrowers took out $5.1 billion of loans for refinancing in the period at an average margin of 140 basis points over the London interbank offered rate, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s up from 98 basis points in the three months ended Dec. 31, the lowest since the second quarter of 2008.“Global lenders have a positive view on Indian credit as they are encouraged by the stronger growth dynamics and a robust outlook on the economy,” said Rajiv Datt, New Delhi-based managing director at Indian Railway Finance Corp., which refinanced loans late last year. “The pipeline should get stronger as liquidity globally ensures that funding will be at reasonable costs.”
International lenders are showing an appetite for fundraising by the nation’s companies after gross domestic product grew 7.3 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, the fastest among Asia’s 17 biggest economies. That’s helping reduce debt costs as a total of $63 billion of foreign-currency loans fall due by the end of 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Novelis Inc., the Atlanta-based unit of Indian aluminum maker Hindalco Industries Ltd., is in discussions with banks to refinance about $5.3 billion of loans, people familiar with the matter said April 7. As global commodity prices stabilize, ONGC Videsh Ltd., the overseas unit of the nation’s largest explorer, was among companies that refinanced debt in the last quarter. ONGC Videsh signed a $1.775 billion five-year loan with eight lenders last month, people familiar with the matter said on March 10. ONGC spokesman Pallab Bhattacharya wasn’t immediately available to comment when contacted by phone.Birla Carbon, also controlled by Novelis’ owner Aditya Birla Group, signed a $700 million term loan and a $225 million revolver loan as it refinanced last month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Pragnya Ram, a spokeswoman for Aditya Birla Group, declined to comment on the refinancing plans of either Novelis or Birla Carbon.
Rural Electrification Corp. signed a $120 million three-year loan with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. last month for refinancing, the company’s finance director Ajeet Agarwal said in a phone interview April 20.“There’s been a shift in the lender profile for Indian borrowers from European banks to East Asian and Middle East lenders that has helped the momentum,” according to Ananda Bhoumik, chief analytical officer at India Ratings and Research, a unit of Fitch Ratings Ltd. “The driver for refinancing will be the repayment schedule of companies and global interest rates this year.”Companies in India’s material industry, which includes Hindalco and other metal companies such as Tata Steel Ltd. and Vedanta Ltd., were the most indebted group after financials and industrials, according to data compiled by Bloomberg..

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 25 Apr 2016 16:23

http://swarajyamag.com/economy/the-inco ... e-of-india

The trouble is that it is not so easy to find median income data in the Indian context. A survey carried out by Gallup in December 2013, put India’s median income at $616. Data from the World Bank shows that India’s per capita income during the same year was $1455.Hence, the median income was around 58 percent lower than the average income or the per capita income. And that is not a good sign at all.

This shows the tremendous amount of inequality prevalent in the country. The difference in the income of the average Indian and the average income of India is thus huge.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 26 Apr 2016 00:23

Business transactions at GIFT crosses $250 million

Business transactions at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT), close to here, have crossed the $250 million (Rs 1,700 crore) mark within six months since the first international banking unit was set up. The mega project will now begin work on stock and commodity market operations, says Ajay Pandey, group chief executive, GIFT Company Ltd.

Operations have commenced by the IFSC Banking Units (IBUs) of YES Bank, Federal Bank and ICICI Bank. The total hit $100 mn (Rs 660 crore) in early February and $250 mn in another two months. “The next target is $500 mn and then $1 billion in the coming months. The tax incentives given in the Union Budget have now firmly put GIFT IFSC on the global financial map. After banks, we expect a few insurance companies to start operations soon,” said Pandey.

Centre scales down power demand forecast

The power ministry has scaled down its projection of demand from the earlier estimated 289 giga watts (Gw) to 239 Gw by 2022. According to ministry officials, the new projection has been arrived at after taking into account slow industrial growth and its corresponding impact on power demand; lag in transmission planning; and the weak financial state of state-owned power distribution companies (discoms).

"The new projection is based on estimated annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of eight per cent. The earlier demand estimate was made in 2013, when it was assumed that demand would touch 199 Gw; it is currently 155 Gw," said an official, who did not wish to be named.

In the 18th Electric Power Survey of 2013, the Central Electricity Authority had estimated the power demand by the end of the 13th Plan period (2017-2022) to be 289 Gw.

The current installed capacity in India is 298 Gw. During the 12th Plan, capacity addition of 88,537 Mw has been planned from conventional sources (thermal, hydro and nuclear). Till February 2016, the total capacity addition was 75,195 Mw.

Manufacturing sector to see more job creation, says Randstad India CEO

The manufacturing sector in India will see more job creation on the back of the Make in India push, said Moorthy K Uppaluri, MD & CEO of human resources firm Randstad India.

He said with more number of projects taking off, the engineering space would gain more momentum.

According to Uppaluri. the perception about the manufacturing sector is undergoing a change since it has taken up employee-friendly policies and has also been sensitive towards woman employees.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Apr 2016 05:52

Rather than huge projects like posco, gradually and under radar we are starting to see many small and medium sized engg oriented cos who are able to compete and provide parts and products at world level. They employ good engg incl oldies and youngies from top colleges incl "real ug" (vina sirs patent) from iits and many of their mgmt have iim diplomas too..ie they do not lack in quality of human resource. Pay is still slightly behind itvity product cos but on par with itvity services sector.

This kind of swarm able to provide millions of types of quality industrial parts across n sectors is the real strength of the oecd nations...the visible face like mitsubishi, hyundai, bmw, ge are the highest level aggregators but they stand on many strong shoulders

Karthik S · Post by **Karthik S** » 26 Apr 2016 06:15

^^ IIRC, I read somewhere, German small-medium scale industries make Germany such an advanced industrialized country along with few large manufacturing companies such as Volkswagen.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 26 Apr 2016 08:02

another characteristic of the big players (germany, japan, korea, increasingly china) is machine tools and factory automation tools. they are able to build machines to build any kind of machine or product. they are big suppliers worldwide for such machinery.

if you go to any local optician shop here, all the test instruments at front end and manufacturing at back end are imported. same goes for opthalmology gear...despite a gigantic 1.3 billion local market. any good STEM lab in india will have lot of imported gear, same for production lines.

such voids exist in every sector here waiting for local champions.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 26 Apr 2016 11:59

Recently went for Global Hospital in Bangalore. Even cots are imported from China.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 27 Apr 2016 03:43

India overtook US as #3 steelmaker in 2015, and was the only top 10 producer to generate a growth in production:

So far this year between Jan-Mar, India produced 22.9MT, compared to Japan's 25.7MT, and much ahead of 19.6MT from US. We should produce around 95MT this year. March 2016 was the first ever month when we produced more than 8MT of steel. The Japanese produce 8.5-9.5MT/month and can be overtaken soon.

PMO asks NITI Aayog to widen ambit of DBT

The government is considering expanding the ambit of Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT). The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the NITI Aayog to explore all government services and delivery schemes for this purpose.

The idea is to try and provide all subsidies through an Aadhaar (the citizen identification scheme)-enabled DBT by 2017-end. At present, about 30 per cent of DBT is through Aadhaar; about Rs 4,000 crore is paid monthly for 57 such schemes. The government has met success in using the mechanism for transfers in cooking gas (liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG) and foodgrain.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 28 Apr 2016 03:40

Monsoon forecast lifts India Inc hopes: Companies, analysts expect 8-10% top line growth, 12-15% growth in net profit

Industry and analysts foresee a broad-based demand recovery that will push top line growth of Indian companies to 8-10 per cent in 2016-17, which is twice the three-four per cent growth rate estimated for the previous year. Net profit growth is likely to clock 12-15 per cent as well.

Recent data from market research agency IMRB show household consumption of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in rural areas grew 5.4 per cent in 2015 while urban household FMCG consumption clocked 2.9 per cent growth.

Ajay Srinivasan, director, CRISIL Research, said, “Timely, adequate, and well-distributed rainfall will fuel a recovery in demand in consumer goods. Two-wheelers, tractors, FMCG, and consumer durables, which have a significant proportion of demand accruing from rural areas, will be the biggest beneficiaries.”

House joint committee clears bankruptcy code

The joint committee on Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015, has submitted its report, which will be tabled in Parliament on Friday. The report, according to its members, has been submitted without any dissenting notes, with the government accommodating all the amendments moved by members of opposition parties.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, addressing the second meeting of the consultative committee on non-performing assets (NPAs) on Wednesday, said the bankruptcy and insolvency code was likely to be discussed in the current session of Parliament now that the joint committee has submitted its report.

The bankruptcy law has been cleared by the joint Parliament standing committee, and the Sarfaesi (Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest) Act and Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) Act have been amended to make the recovery process more efficient and expedient, he said in his opening remark.

Jaitley said wherever it was observed that number of cases in which action taken by the banks against guarantors for recovery of defaulted loans is insufficient, the government has advised the banks to take action against guarantors in the event of default by borrowers under relevant Sections of Sarfaesi Act, Indian Contract Act and RDDB & FI Act.

sooraj · Post by **sooraj** » 28 Apr 2016 12:13

Mother of all apps? Narendra Modi government is coming up with new app UMANG - It houses 200 apps!

Adding yet another feather in the 'Digital India' cap, the Narendra Modi government is all set to launch a new application - UMANG.

UMANG stands for Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance.

What is UMANG?

UMANG app is a government project which is expected to bring all government's services onto one platform.

According to a reports, this mobile application will eventually bring some 200 central, state and local government services onto a single platform.

The UMANG project was conceptualised to tap into India’s smartphone boom.

How will it work and what will UMANG do?

The app will help you in a number of services including passport services, income tax filing, railway ticket bookings, keeping land records, among other key services.

The project is being developed by the union ministry of communications and information technology’s national e-governance division (NeGD),

How to access?

The Narendra Modi government aims to make the app available to anyone using a smartphone and internet.

KLP Dubey · Post by **KLP Dubey** » 28 Apr 2016 20:47

Suraj wrote:

Some madrassa math in that image, probably shoulda been 29.2% for agri in FY 12 (or 60.8% for non-agri). The former seems more likely.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 28 Apr 2016 20:52

Yes, and it is heartening to know that non-food consumption and expenditure is increasing which means rural India is coming out of subsistence level living.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 28 Apr 2016 21:03

KLPDubey: Yes, that graphic is wonky. The FY12 data is probably 39.2:60.8 . Here's a one year old article with hopefully better graphics:
Infographics: Indian rural economy moving away from agriculture

FY12 represents the first year when <50% of rural income went into food expenditure. However, I cannot find any newer data, so please post if one of you do.

Falijee · Post by **Falijee** » 29 Apr 2016 19:22

Here's Why India Is About to Become the World's Most Important Economy
FORTUNE MAGAZINE'S BULLISH VIEW ON INDIA !

Move over, China.
Don’t tell Donald Trump, but China’s days as the globe’s most exciting economy are numbered.
That’s because while China’s workforce has already begun to shrink, in part as a result of the country’s one-child policy, its neighbor to the West, India, is growing its workforce at a breakneck pace.

According to Ernst and Young, the Indian workforce will grow to 900 million strong by 2020. To put that in perspective, the American workforce, which is the third largest in the world, comes in at just under 160 million people.
Because economic growth results from the combination of capital goods, like factories and computer systems, with labor, a growing labor force can be a huge boon for an economy. At the same time, the Indian government must also train its workforce effectively and build the necessary infrastructure to help its economy flourish.

According to a recent post in CNNMoney:
Currently only 2% of India’s workers have received formal skills training, according to Ernst & Young. That compares with 68% in the U.K., 75% in Germany and 96% in South Korea.
It’s a problem spread across industries. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors estimates that in 2010, India needed nearly 4 million civil engineers, but only 509,000 professionals had the right skills for the jobs. By 2020, India will have only 778,000 civil engineers for 4.6 million slots.
If India can successfully transform its human resources into productive workers, you can expect it to quickly replace China as the economy that both inspires fear and respect among American economy watchers.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 30 Apr 2016 03:28

Temples have given 1,512 kg under gold scheme: Sinha

Banks have collected 1,512 kg of gold from temples trusts across the country under the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) since its launch last November, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Friday.

“GMS was launched on November 5 and it is too early to make an assessment of the impact of the scheme on the imports of gold," Sinha said. He added that there was considerable reduction in the quantum of gold imports during the past six months compared to the previous year.

Govt to invest Rs 25 lakh cr ($385 billion) in infra, says Gadkari

The government expects investments worth Rs 25 lakh crore in roads, railway and shipping infrastructure over three years, including setting up of 27 industrial clusters at ports at around Rs 8 lakh crore, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday.

Speaking at the same event, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman Raghav Chandra said it was planning to award projects worth Rs 11,000 crore over the next few years to enhance safety on national highways in a bid to curtail road accidents.

According to Gadkari, the government plans to spend an additional Rs 5 lakh crore on road, railway and ports connectivity projects, apart from the expenditure of Rs 8 lakh crore on 27 industrial clusters and building smart cities at ports.

The minister also announced the total award of highways projects will rise to Rs 2 lakh crore by May as compared to Rs 1.6 lakh crore at present. He added the figure would rise to Rs 5 lakh crore by May 2017. Gadkari said the pace of road construction had risen from two km (kilometre) per day in May 2014 to 20 km per day now and his ministry had ensured execution of 403 projects worth Rs 3.35 lakh crore, barring 33 projects, where work was stuck.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 30 Apr 2016 03:47

From SSC India:

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 30 Apr 2016 13:52

India now 6th largest manufacturing power.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/business/ ... ign=social

More data on changes in tax base.

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Gall ... &eid=31806

From SSC

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 30 Apr 2016 17:03

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 30 Apr 2016 17:19

India was #1 for FDI in the form of Greenfield project investment while the above is for total FDI which includes cross-border M&A.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 30 Apr 2016 17:45

Be #1 in every aspect, no use being in just in one.

Being in one is like having one arm like a wrestler and the other polio-ed.

Figure out what is holding the other sectors and work hard to correct it. India has a very, very long way to go and the window of opportunity is closing rather quickly.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 30 Apr 2016 20:19

That kind of investment is not comparable between a 2 trillion economy versus a 13 trillion one (China plus HK) and a 17 trillion economy (US). It will happen once the economies are comparable. Right now what is needed are greenfield FDIs.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 30 Apr 2016 21:16

NRao wrote:Be #1 in every aspect, no use being in just in one.

Arjun addressed a specific economic matter, while you're just talking rankings, while essentially ignoring the important argument made. India is generating the most FDI into greenfield projects. That's the very first step needed to gain positions in overall rankings.

The above data makes it very clear there's been a huge change in momentum as far as greenfield FDI into India is concerned, year over year into the current administration's first full year.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 01 May 2016 11:58

A great initiative. It will ease pressure on Tech cities like (NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune).

STPI @stpiindia

#IndiaBPOScheme for BPO jobs in smaller/muffassil towns, RFP is released today. @rsprasad #Digitalindia @GoI_DeitY

Gyan · Post by **Gyan** » 01 May 2016 16:06

Temples need to invest in:-

Education institutes like Schools, Colleges, Universities even Creches
Blue chip companies like Banks, High Tech industries like pharma, Biotech, food processing industries
Social infrastructure like Dharmshalas, orphanages, Hospitals, R&D in agriculture/healthcare

Having thousands of crores blocked in Gold while Indic thought and Religion is getting decimated at unprecedented pace is absurd.

Hari Seldon · Post by **Hari Seldon** » 01 May 2016 16:30

^^Saar, the gold forms an endowment from which yearly returns can be used to invest in capex - schools, hosps, firms etc that you mention.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 01 May 2016 23:12

Real Estate Act comes into force May 1

The Real Estate Act, designed to protect consumer interest and improve accountability of developers, will come into force on Sunday, setting in motion the process of making necessary operational rules and creation of institutional infrastructure.

It also said that the proposed authorities, which will ensure timely execution of projects, and the appellate tribunals to adjudicate cases will come up in one year.

The Act makes it difficult for promoters and builders to delay projects and gives relief to home-buyers and proposes imprisonment of up to three years besides monetary penalties for any violation of rules.

The law also makes it mandatory for all residential and commercial projects to register with the regulator and will apply to new and ongoing projects.

"As per the notification announcing the commencement of the Act on May 1, 2016, rules under the Act have to be formulated by the central and state governments within a maximum period of six months, ie by October 31, 2016, under Section 84 of the Act," the statement said.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) has notified 69 of the total 92 sections of the Act on Wednesday, the statement said.

I-T department had 5.17 crore assessees in FY'15: Govt

The number of effective income tax assessees has risen to nearly 5.17 crore in 2014-15, from 4.72 crore in 2012-13, a year in which only 1% of India's population filed I-T returns, according to official data.

In 2012-13, as much as Rs 2.10 lakh crore was garnered from TDS, as against total income tax collection of Rs 6.36 lakh crore.

The total number of effective assessees has risen from 4.72 crore in 2012-13 to 5.20 crore in 2013-14. In 2014-15, the provisional data stood at nearly 5.17 crore.

As regards filing income tax returns, a total of 2.87 crore individuals filed income tax returns for 2012-13, but 1.62 crore of them did not pay any tax.

This left the number of taxpayers who filed ITR at just about 1.25 crore which was close to one% of the country's total population of about 123 crore at that time.

The tax outgo was less than Rs 1.5 lakh for a vast majority of nearly 89% taxpayers (over 1.11 crore). Their average tax payable was just about Rs 21,000, while the collective amount stood at over Rs 23,000 crore. The three individuals in the top-bracket of Rs 100-500 crore paid a total tax of Rs 437 crore -- resulting in an average tax outgo of Rs 145.80 crore.

As many as 5,430 individuals paid income tax of over Rs 1 crore. Out of this, the tax range was Rs 1-5 crore for more than 5,000 individuals, resulting in a total outgo of Rs 8,907 crore.

50% of smaller firms not paying taxes: Jayant Sinha

Fifty per cent of the smaller firms are not paying taxes and the government is keeping a tab on such entities to ensure there is no tax evasion, the Lok Sabha was told on Friday.

Things have improved as far as prevention of tax evasion is concerned, he said while replying to questions. Referring to smaller firms, Sinha said 50 per cent of these do not pay taxes and the government is keeping a watch to ensure there is no evasion. To ensure compliance, stringent action is being taken, he said.

The minister said there are 250 million households in the country, out of which 180 million are in the rural areas.

Out of the 70 million households in the urban areas, nearly half cannot pay tax and the total eligible households who come under the tax net are between four to six crore. To a query on people trying to evade taxes by showing their income as "agriculture income", Sinha said the scope of such evasion is less.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 02 May 2016 18:01

There was talk of a business registry like Aadhar during NDA1, specifically for monitoring business who don't comply with taxation. Don't know if it was ever implemented. Would make it easier for govt to catch those firms not filing tax returns.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 02 May 2016 21:52

Core sector grows 6.4% in March

Growth in the eight core sectors jumped to a 16 month high of 6.4% in March due to sharp pick-up in fertiliser and cement production and a commensurate rise in electricity generation.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday, the eight core industries - coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity - comprising nearly 38% of India's total industrial production had a cumulative growth of 2.7% in the financial year 2015-16 ending March.

This was lower than 4.5% for the previous financial year. In March this year, fertilizer production jumped by 22.9% followed by cement at 11.9%. Electricity generation also saw a rise of 11.3%.

However natural gas continued to fall by the highest margin at 10.5% followed by crude oil at 5.1%. The same sectors had also dipped last month. Steel generation however recovered, growing by 3.4%.

Power sector may import 48MT coal in FY'17, down 4.3%: Piyush Goyal

"As per the information received from Central Electricity Authority, 48 mt (million tonnes) of coal is expected to be imported by power sector for import-based coal plants in 2016-17," Minister of State for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The minister further said that according to the Geological Survey of India, the assessed coal resources up to a depth of 1,200 metres as on April 1, 2015, are 306.595 billion tonnes (BT), of which the proved reserves are about 132 BT, or 43%.

At the current rate of coal production of about 0.64 BT per annum, the reserves are envisaged to last for over 100 years, he said.

India has both coking and non-coking coals. The grade of coking coal varies from steel grade-I to Washery Grade-IV and semi-coking coal grade-I to Grade-II.

In a separate reply, the minister said that during April-January period of 2015-16, import of coal declined by 4.3% over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The coal production in the last fiscal grew by 4.8% over 2014-15.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 02 May 2016 22:02

it is high time to bring big farming within tax bracket. one of the major sinkholes for black money in our economy.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 03 May 2016 03:58

Auto sales in top gear

Sales of passenger vehicles — cars, vans and utility vehicles — surged over 12 per cent in April, thanks to the popularity of newly-launched models and a low base effect. The industry is estimated to have sold 237,149 units in April this year (based on data available for the top 10 players).

Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor and M&M reported double-digit growth in domestic sales to dealers. Tata Motors reported a growth of eight per cent after months of decline, thanks to the newly-launched Tiago. On the other hand, Honda and Toyota continue to see double-digit decline in sales.

Last year was the fastest sales growth since 2010-11:
India 2015-16 car sales grow fastest since 2010-1

Sales of passenger cars in India grew at the fastest pace in five years in the 12 months to 31 March 2016, but the automobile industry lobby group on Friday slashed its forecast for the current fiscal year, saying measures to fight vehicular pollution would hurt demand.

Car sales rose 7.87% from the previous year to 2.025 million units in the year ended 31 March, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said. That’s the fastest pace of growth since 2010-11, at the height of an economic boom, when sales had expanded 29% year-on-year.

India's manufacturing PMI falls sharply in April 2016

Manufacturing activities in the country were close to stagnation in April against eight-month high growth in March as new orders remained flat, according to a widely-tracked Nikkei purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey. The survey showed that PMI fell sharply to 50.5 in April from 52.4 in March.

The seasonally-adjusted index is a composite single figure indicator of manufacturing performance. A reading above 50 represents expansion, while one below this level means contraction.

However, April still represented a fourth consecutive month of output growth mainly due to improvements in new export business remaining sustained, although growth was at a six-month low. Manufacturing had last contracted in December at 49.1 points.

With the Mines Act having passed:
MMDR amendment to give $6-bn M&A boost

With the Rajya Sabha passing the amendment to The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, about a dozen mergers and acquisitions (M&As) worth $5-6 billion are expected to fructify.

The 2015 amendment to the Act, which introduced the auction of mines, had barred the transfer of mining leases in case of asset sales if they had not been allotted through an auction. However, there was no restriction on transfer of mines in case a company was sold through the share sale route.

This put several deals in a spot, and some of the deals were called off. Jaiprakash Associates' plan to sell its 5.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) cement capacity in Madhya Pradesh to UltraTech Cement for Rs 5,400 crore and Lafarge India's plan to sell 5.15 mtpa cement capacity to Birla Corp for Rs 5,000 crore fell through.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 04 May 2016 02:55

IMF lowers Asia-Pac GDP forecast, retains India growth at 7.5%

India is expected to grow at 7.5 per cent in FY17, underpinned by strong domestic consumption, which has benefited from lower energy prices, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its Regional Economic Outlook: Asia and Pacific. The government's push to boost capital spending could help crowd in private sector investments, which will help broad-base the recovery, it added.

The IMF lowered its growth forecast for the Asia-Pacific region to 5.3 per cent in 2016-17, marginally lower than the previous estimate of 5.4 per cent. The downgrade reflects the sluggish nature of global recovery, which suggests that export growth is likely to be muted. As such growth in the region is likely to be driven largely by domestic consumption demand aided by lower commodity prices. The aggregate growth numbers might be adversely affected as the IMF predicts the Chinese and Japanese economies to slow sharply over the next two years.

Wilful defaulters owe Rs 66k cr ($10 billion) to govt banks

There were 7,686 wilful defaulters owing Rs 66,190 crore to state-owned banks as of December 2015, Jayant Sinha, minister of state for finance, told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Sinha also said that the total outstanding amount in top 100 non-performing accounts (NPAs) with public sector banks (PSBs) was Rs 1.73 lakh crore as of December 2015.

Sinha said the number of wilful defaulters of PSBs rose from 5,554 to 7,686 in three years to December 2015 while the amount involved more than doubled to Rs 66,190 crore from Rs 27,749 crore. "The total exposure of top 50 defaulters of PSBs as of December 2015 was Rs 1,21,832 crore," he said in a written reply in the Upper House.

In another reply, Sinha said there were 1,365 borrower accounts having outstanding of Rs 500 crore and more at the end of December 2015. He said government has taken specific measures to address issues in sectors such as infrastructure, steel and textiles, where instances of NPAs are high.

Putting the 'is the GDP data accurate' debate to rest:
Revisiting the GDP debate

The data released by the RBI can now finally put this controversy to rest as they clearly show smaller companies have fared better than their larger counterparts during the past few years.

Before proceeding, it is important to first describe the data sets released by the RBI. The central bank has released two data files. The first details value added by 239,398 non-government non-financial private limited companies. These companies form the so-called micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. The second data set pertains to 16,923 non-government non-financial public limited companies, which are predominantly the big companies.

According to these data sets, GVA by smaller companies grew at a staggering pace, estimated at 16.9 per cent in 2014-15. By comparison, GVA of larger companies grew at a modest 10.5 per cent. For the manufacturing sector, GVA by the MSME sector grew at a scorching pace of 16.2 per cent in 2014-15, though GVA by the public limited companies also grew at a robust 12 per cent.

Economist Surjit Bhalla, one of the few vocal supporters of the new GDP series, has taken these growth rates to buttress his claim that the controversy surrounding the new GDP series is completely unwarranted.

Center sets up dedicated funding agency for roads, ports

The government is setting up a dedicated funding agency in the state sector for highways and ports. The move, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari told FE, is in view of the Rs 25-lakh-crore investments envisaged in these two infrastructure sectors in the medium term. The new institution, on the lines of Power Finance Corporation, which is committed to electricity generation and transmission projects, would be set up with an initial equity capital of R500 crore, the minister said.

The new institution, he said, would ensure that road and port projects don’t get crowded out by companies from other sectors

While the initial capital base of Rs 500 crore would largely be contributed by the National Highways Authority of India, all 12 major state-owned ports and Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will also contribute, Gadkari said, adding that efforts would also be made to bring in foreign funds at cheaper rates.

“The funding agency would be just like PFC, which finances the power sector. Today’s scenario warrants a financial institution for our sectors as we are doing many projects. Sometimes contractors also need finance. The entity will also help sectoral players get funds at 2-2.5% cheaper than the bank rates,” Gadkari said.

Set up in 1986 as a financial institution dedicated to power sector financing, PFC became the largest NBFC operating in the country as of March 2015. As per a government survey, it was the sixth largest profit-making PSU among 290 state-owned firms in 2015.

Spending on infrastructure rose sharply in 2015-16

Spends by the government and public sector companies on infrastructure projects rose sharply in 2015-2016. While the value of tenders floated rose 58% to Rs 6.24 lakh crore, contracts worth Rs 3.4 lakh crore were awarded, an increase of 33%, Emkay Research estimates.

However, the increases came off a low base in 2014-15 when there was a fall in the value of contracts given out partly because the government was struggling to rein in the fiscal deficit and consequently curbed expenditure. The renewed focus on infrastructure last fiscal saw the government upping spends.

The investments are critical as most private sector firms remain over-leveraged and are are not in a position to add fresh capacity. Data released by CMIE showed stalled projects between January and March rose for the third straight quarter.

The increase in infra spends will boost the order books of capital goods manufacturers. Engineering heavyweights such as Larsen & Toubro and BHEL have been struggling to win orders as have smaller companies such as ABB and Thermax. However, the government has outlined big plans for the construction of roads and also intends to invest heavily in railways. Indian Railways achieved a capital expenditure of Rs 94,000 crore in FY16, up 44% year-on-year, with IR cutting the timeline for approving projects to six months from 24 months earlier. The government hopes to award 10,000 km of roads in FY17 and has increased the allocation by 25% over that in FY16.The rate of execution per day has picked up for the sector to 15 km per day in the nine months to December, 2015, from 11-12 km per day in FY15.

Central sector projects’ cost overrun down by 23 per cent

Thanks to the Narendra Modi government’s focus on infrastructure development and a fall in commodity prices, cost overrun in central sector projects under implementation has come down by 23% as on March 1, 2016, from the level five years ago.

Also, the number of projects under implementation has almost doubled.

The Centre as well as the PSUs’ accelerated spending on capital assets saw central sector projects rise from 554 in 2012 to 1,071 in 2016, according to government data.

Of the 1,071 projects, 238 projects had a cost overrun of Rs 1.35 lakh crore, averaging Rs 569 crore for a project. Comparatively, the cost overrun in 166 projects was Rs 1.23 lakh crore in 2012, averaging Rs 743 crore for each one.

However, average time overrun of infrastructure projects rose to 3.5 years for 341 projects as on March 1, 2016, up from 3 years for 260 ventures on April 1, 2012, reflecting a slowdown in the economy.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 May 2016 19:18

Mumbai port run rate for 2016....1.7 mil teu handled..not sure of capacity wiki claims 5 million
Cochin port run rate for 2016...500k teu

Capacity:
Dubai. 14 mil
Colombo 7.5 mil
Singapore 32 mil

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 04 May 2016 19:25

Latest container ships are so big the island is moved to middle for a better front view . i think these are too big to enter our ports so singa, dubai, colombo continue to loot and transship

Unlike navy ships these box haulers work all the time and seems like 10 yr is their usual lifespan.