Indian Economy - News & Discussion Oct 12 2013

amit · Post by **amit** » 18 Aug 2015 08:01

Gupta ji, please don't take anything written on Seeking Alpha, save for breaking news, seriously.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 18 Aug 2015 10:09

KJo wrote:INR value falling. Just Rs 65 to $1.

It's been falling ever since Modi took power.

Not much

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 18 Aug 2015 10:15

KJo wrote:INR value falling. Just Rs 65 to $1.

It's been falling ever since Modi took power.

Most emerging market currencies have taken a hit over the last year. INR is likely the least affected.

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 18 Aug 2015 12:32

not an economist but currency falling without inflation is good as it improves export competitiveness

KLP Dubey · Post by **KLP Dubey** » 18 Aug 2015 14:19

Austin wrote:Latest figure from WB on Gross domestic product 2014, PPP

http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP_PPP.pdf

The IMF has 2015 GDP figures as of April:

http://knoema.com/nwnfkne/world-gdp-ran ... and-charts

India's PPP ranking (#3) will remain for about 15 years since the US and China are much ahead and the rest are much behind...but the GDP ranking in US dollars shows significant upward movement FWIW. India is now #7, will jump to #5 in a couple of years and overtake Germany to be #4 probably by 2021.

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 18 Aug 2015 15:09

Indias PPP GDP was 4.5 trillian around 2010-2011...So in PPP terms we ll overtake US by 2022-2025...

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 18 Aug 2015 16:36

amit wrote:Gupta ji, please don't take anything written on Seeking Alpha, save for breaking news, seriously.

Thanks, I was not aware it is not a serious source.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 18 Aug 2015 17:01

very astute reader comment to the Seeking Alpha article. it's worth reading and contemplating...........

India has always been running like this. Difference from Thailand is that it has nearly 350 billion in reserves. May not be much but when you compare a country like UK from a debt to gdp ratio which is 90%, India is somewhere along the line of only 60-75% with a much higher interest rate. India is very dependent on price of oil. Most of the times when the Indian economy suffered was when the price of oil is high(1990 gulf war). With oil prices this low dont think it will have such a knock on effect. If debts are toxic government will always step in and print more money which will again devalue the rupee. That is all that's going to happen. You cannot look at Asian economies with the same lens you look at capitalist economies

and here is what international news is reporting concerning India's economy......

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... cmpid=yhoo

India’s rupee fell to its weakest level in two years as a slump in exports drove the nation’s trade deficit to an eight-month high.
The shortfall reached $12.8 billion in July as overseas shipments dropped 10.3 percent from a year earlier, official figures showed after the close of trading on Friday. Exports slipped for an eighth month, the longest run of declines since 2009. China’s surprise yuan devaluation last week reignited concern of a regional currency war as Vietnam widened the dong’s trading band.
The rupee weakened 0.5 percent to 65.3125 a dollar at close in Mumbai on Monday, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. The currency slid to 65.3750 in intraday trading, its lowest level since September 2013. Sovereign bonds were steady on Monday while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index of shares lost 0.7 percent.
“The wider trade deficit is a matter of concern,” said Naveen Raghuvanshi, a Mumbai-based currency trader at DCB Bank Ltd. “Broad gains in the dollar and losses in local equities are also weighing on the rupee.”
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced for a third day. A report on U.S. manufacturing Monday may offer clues on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate increase since 2006.
Weak exports continue to offset relief from a lower commodity imports bill for India, DBS Bank Ltd. economists, including Singapore-based Radhika Rao, wrote in a report.
The yield on government notes due May 2025 was little changed from Friday at 7.74 percent, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s trading system.
by TaboolaSponsored LinksFrom The Web

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 18 Aug 2015 21:22

=> Theo sir. xiaomi has a plant in vizag and already rolled its first product out.

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/08 ... s-110.html
http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/08 ... india.html

Speaking of which, two additional smartphone manufacturing companies have just started manufacturing devices in India as well, Lenovo and Motorola. The two companies have announced that they’ve started manufacturing devices at Sriperumbudur near Chennai. These two companies have separate lines with a combined annual capacity of 6 million units. Motorola has actually already started rolling out two variants of Moto E handset from said plant, and Lenovo K3 Note is next in line.

“Lenovo is not new to manufacturing in India. We recognised the potential of India and we invested in PC manufacturing several years ago. Lenovo’s investment in the new manufacturing plant represents the potential we see in the Indian market and our long-term commitment to our customers,” said Chen Xudong, President of MBG Group, Lenovo and Chairman of Motorola Mobility’s operating board. Lenovo India’s Amar Babu, added the following: “The Indian Government’s thrust on ‘Make in India’ has opened up a plethora of opportunities for organizations looking to conduct business in India. Currently for smartphones, India is the third largest smartphone market in the world, according to IDC and we believe this an opportune time.”

There you have it, Lenovo and Motorola have officially started manufacturing devices in India. Vivo, Oppo, HTC, Sony, Asus… and a number more OEMs will join Xiaomi, Lenovo and Motorola soon enough.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 19 Aug 2015 02:52

I thought this doctoral paper "RISING MILK PRICE – A CAUSE FOR CONCERN ON FOOD SECURITY" might interest some people here: http://www.iimb.ernet.in/research/sites ... 0472_1.pdf

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 19 Aug 2015 05:57

What does the "base effect" mean?
http://indianexpress.com/article/busine ... al-demand/

Regarding India's declining exports:

“It is matter of concern as the decline is continuing. But going for the figures of 10 days in August, we are expecting a little turnaround in August. From September, there will be the impact of base effect,” S C Ralhan, president, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Fieo) said. Exports were last positive in November, when it grew 7.27 per cent.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 19 Aug 2015 06:03

Also this:
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/economy/pace ... s-july-405

...the rise in gold imports during July looks worrying.

Gold imports during the month were up 62.2 per cent on year to $2.96 billion dollars. This increase is largely due to fall in international prices of the yellow metal that brought back demand in India.

A similar trend was witnessed in 2013 and during that time too a surge in gold imports was witnessed as prices fell internationally. That exacerbated the trade deficit and current account deficit. The government had to resort to duty hikes and other restrictions to bring the problem under control.

“Half of the sequential rise in the merchandise trade deficit in July 2015 relative to the previous month can be attributed to the uptick in gold imports following the decline in price. A persistence of this trend may emerge as a cause for concern going forward,” Nayar said.

disha · Post by **disha** » 19 Aug 2015 07:13

SwamyG wrote:I thought this doctoral paper "RISING MILK PRICE – A CAUSE FOR CONCERN ON FOOD SECURITY" might interest some people here: http://www.iimb.ernet.in/research/sites ... 0472_1.pdf

A research paper by 2 IIMs and one University of America. Nice graph and excellent presentation. Just proves my point., that they could have talked to any farmer who sells milk through a mandi or cooperative or any cooperative middle manager (and lower) and they would have come to the same conclusions and same solutions. Except they do not know how to present their data (of course, since they do not really know how to present the data or make use of it).

One of the issues that was discussed some 30 yrs back was to supply milk from overproducing areas (Guj/Mah/Haryana/Punjab) to under producing areas via trains and package it locally. But then one needs refrigerated trains. And refrigerated tanks were not available in India then.

Second was to actually change the way milk is produced and introduce variations. Buffalos are one resource that is sent for beef production but not for milk production now (thanks to pink revolution)! Further, there is not much incentive to have a water buffalo when loans to buy a hybrid or a holstein is more easily available!!

Third, goat milk. Yes, Indian subcontinent is the largest producer (and consumer) of goat milk - and mostly used by subsistence or marginal farmers. But guess what - find a goat hybridization program anywhere in India which *has* yielded *higher milk producing* OR *longer lactating* goats and I will buy you 7.2 such hybrid goats. It is funny, Gandhi said - send goats everywhere and what do we have - an obsession with holsteins!

Fourth, lack of infrastructure - if the urban centers take to goat milk *and* you connect marginal farmers to that consumers via a complete supply chain, you will end up bringing the price down and increasing the income of the subsistence and marginal farmers.

And while we are on goats, why not camel milk and Yak milk? Why is Ladakh not a center for Yak Milk? By my own calculations, the areas of HP/UttaraKhand/N-E/Ladakh can generate enough of yak and goat milk to sustain entire Northern areas. Bengal/Bihar/UP are not even counted as producers!

Again nice study, but inherently useless.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 19 Aug 2015 09:39

buffalo milk is used in parts of UP I think. not sure what % vs cows milk. this poor native hardy animal instead of being put to good use is being sent in droves to the butchers. imported animals need lavish care and feeding, the buffalo will just forage for a living be resistant to most local hardships.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 19 Aug 2015 09:48

Arent most of Amul products from Amul Butter to Masti made from Buffalo milk. In fact in India unless a milk is specifically mentioned as COW Milk or Cow ghee, it is generally made from a blend of cow or Buffalo milk. This is accross India.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 19 Aug 2015 11:52

cows tend to get stomach upset if they wade into ponds and marshes and eat water hyacinth in assam. buffaloes will wallow in the mud and eat up the pond hyacinth with no issues. its at home in heavy rainfall areas where cows generally suffer. cow origins might be more dryland species. buffalo skin is probably more amenable to being mud coated and hence more immune to ticks and flies.

if you look at NE/WB, the cows there tend to be far smaller in size vs western or south india despite having so much lush grass and leaves to munch on. same for goats. even the people tend to be smaller, with the smallest avg height in the world being BD.

there is something there that makes everything sdre

K Mehta · Post by **K Mehta** » 19 Aug 2015 17:31

Suraj and other econ gurus please give inputs on the "liquidity crisis" issue on PEST watch thread

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 19 Aug 2015 18:55

singha ji, in the land of plenty one didn't need to be big and bulky to survive. there was enough for all. in less forgiving places you can bet the smaller, physically weaker genepool was wiped out.

also, colder climes produce larger bodied creatures.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 19 Aug 2015 19:06

Rahul M wrote:also, colder climes produce larger bodied creatures.

Then what explains Africa. All manner of massive beasts populate the land. And African tribes are sometimes amongst the tallest in the world. And in any case human genetics evolved there. No I don't think that works.

Cows have always suffered in the Indian heat and humidity. Even the Zebu which is native to India.

vina · Post by **vina** » 19 Aug 2015 19:37

if you look at NE/WB, the cows there tend to be far smaller in size vs western or south india despite having so much lush grass and leaves to munch on.

The part of S. India with very wet and lush vegetation like in Assam/NE is Kerala and coastal Karnataka. Kerala, anyways historically had very scrawny very little milk yielding cows and milk was always a scarce commodity there. The highest milk yields in India historically were Gujarat, Punjab kind of areas.

The trouble with Horses in India is that the cold weather horses (think Europe) and also the hot weather horses were unsuited for Indian climate and vegetation and historically even the imported ones degenerated within two generations. The Indian climate is generally too humid for the desert horses and too hot for the cold weather ones and also very importantly, Indian soils and the grass/feed/forage is not calcium rich. The calcium rich belt soil belt is roughly central asia , iran and arabia and into the temperate climates further north. Without the calcium in their diet , higher potassium and oxalates in their feed in tropical areas,the horse quickly atrophies Horse Diet.

So,much of India is historically not horse country, leaving out the arid areas of Guj and Rajasthan where the desert horse descendants manage to do well.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 19 Aug 2015 20:17

import of uber horses from central asia (khyber and bolan pass) and arabia (by sea) was the old equivalent of bankrupting the treasury via rafale type deals.

nobody seems to have paid attention to finding a way to mass breed the marwar and kathiawar horses which probably shivaji used later.

Uttam · Post by **Uttam** » 19 Aug 2015 20:19

Lungi dance ; Lungi dance ; Lungi dance ; Lungi dance ; Lungi dance ; Lungi dance ; Lungi dance ;

Plastic age: India's RuPay breaks Visa and MasterCard's grip

Hiding behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-decibel financial inclusion push is a rather unnoticed growth story: RuPay, India’s own payment gateway.

About 190 million, or one in three of the total 580 million debit cards currently in use in India are RuPay cards.

Clearly, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have given a head-start to a one-year-old card system that now stands almost shoulder-to-shoulder with global peers such as Visa and MasterCard in India, at least in user volume. And it has its own advantages (see graphic).

Modi launched the Jan Dhan scheme in August last year, with the promise to end “financial untouchability”.

So far, more than 175 million accounts, which come with a RuPay debit card and an overdraft facility of Rs 5,000, have been opened under the scheme.

Already 154 million RuPay cards have been issued to these new non-frills account holders. Banks have also issued another 40 million RuPay debit cards to “non-Jan Dhan” customers.

“We are now focussing outside the PMJDY and promoting these RuPay cards even to other savings account holders,” AP Hota, MD and CEO, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs RuPay, told HT. “Until one year ago MasterCard and Visa Card were predominant in the market while now RuPay has made a mark and we are hoping to increase its presence further.”
MasterCard said Indians are fast adopting digital payment technologies. “There is plenty of room to grow in this segment,” said Vikas Varma, executive director, South Asia, MasterCard.

johneeG · Post by **johneeG** » 19 Aug 2015 20:25

Singha wrote:import of uber horses from central asia (khyber and bolan pass) and arabia (by sea) was the old equivalent of bankrupting the treasury via rafale type deals.

Exactly what I was thinking in the morning and wanted to post later. You already posted it.

BTW, historically, the horses don't seem to be available in Europe. Only spain seems to have horses. So, historically, europe seems to be depended on infantry and navy. Cavalry was only in small tactical role.

The horses were mainly the strength of central asia. So, they used horse based armies.

Bhaarath should have depended on local horse breeds instead of imports. And the same applies even today.

vina · Post by **vina** » 19 Aug 2015 20:32

Singha wrote:import of uber horses from central asia (khyber and bolan pass) and arabia (by sea) was the old equivalent of bankrupting the treasury via rafale type deals.

Exactly. There is even a story woven around this in Madurai during the temple festival season.
It is like this . The Pandya king gives a lot of gold to one of the Nayanars (Shiva devotee saint) called Manikavasagam and asked him to buy a huge number of Arabian horses for his army. But being a Shiva devotee, Manikkavasagam spends all that gold on charity and religious works . The king is furious and orders Manikkavasagam to be arrested and produced before him. To save his devotee, Shiva turns a lot of foxes (Nari in Tamil, pronounced as Nurry rhyming with Hurry ) into horses (Pari in Tamil, pronounced Purry) and saves his devotee. I remember during the festival, a caged fox is displayed, and a short while later a white steed comes running. So yeah , this Rafale deal like Horse import business by paying with gold and emptying the treasury has been going on in history, and we simply have not learnt from the "Nari to Pari" story as shown in the Madurai festivals.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 19 Aug 2015 21:07

OT

Theo_Fidel wrote:
Rahul M wrote:also, colder climes produce larger bodied creatures.
Then what explains Africa. All manner of massive beasts populate the land. And African tribes are sometimes amongst the tallest in the world. And in any case human genetics evolved there. No I don't think that works.

Cows have always suffered in the Indian heat and humidity. Even the Zebu which is native to India.

in the harsh environment of the savannah and similar areas. even then the original africans (not the amriki variety) are tall and very lean, not big and bulky. the height is clearly an adaptation to see prey & predators farther away in seas of grass.

as you enter the lush areas size starts going down in general ending with the pygmies in the lushest areas.

so yes, it works pretty well as a correlation. of course, it wont explain 100% cases because real life has many other factors unrelated to evolution.

the colder climes = larger body thing is a well known biological theory which works on the basis that larger masses have lesser surface area as a ratio of volume.

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 19 Aug 2015 21:36

amit wrote:Gupta ji, please don't take anything written on Seeking Alpha, save for breaking news, seriously.

Actually seeking alpha is a pretty interesting source on investing insights. Just that they have got it wrong this time. The big difference between India and most of the other "crisis" sovereigns, present and past, is very simple. The govt of India doesn't borrow in foreign ccy. All of our sovereign debt is in INR, in other words the GOi can never default, it can simply print money.

There could be a risk of capital controls, but those are rather manageable for economies like india.

Austin wrote:
KJo wrote:INR value falling. Just Rs 65 to $1.

It's been falling ever since Modi took power.
Not much

Many politicians, Modi included have conflated a strong currency with economic virility. A simple case of economic illiteracy , and these guys will pay for it (in terms of face and credibility).

johneeG · Post by **johneeG** » 19 Aug 2015 21:46

There was some discussion about Agriculture in this thread. My views:
I think the problem with agriculture is that it has become a loss making venture. It has become a loss making venture because of high input costs.

There are two ways to make Agriculture profitable:
a) increase the selling cost, so that the farmers can get profits.
b) decrease the input costs, so that the farmers can get profits.

a) increase the selling cost, so that the farmers can get profits.
If the selling cost of agricultural products is increased, then agriculture will become profitable. But, it will lead to inflation of all agricultural items which will drive more and more inflation. This is simply unsustainable socially and politically.

b) decrease the input costs, so that the farmers can get profits.
So, this is the only viable option. How do you decrease the input costs? The first question is: why are the input costs of agriculture so high? Mostly because of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. And water motors. But, mostly chemical fertilizers and pesticides. So, the only viable way to make agriculture profitable is to reduce the dependency on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Then, what is the alternative?

Some kind of homemade alternatives using cow dung, neem, ...etc to act as natural fertilizers and pesticides. They are cheaper and hence reduce the input costs. So, agriculture become profitable and inflation of food items is under control.

Right now the policy is neither here nor there, so the results are neither here nor there. The agriculture is not profitable and the inflation is not in control because the govt policy is trying to travel both these boats at the same time without addressing the root cause.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 19 Aug 2015 22:17

johneeG wrote:Some kind of homemade alternatives using cow dung, neem, ...etc to act as natural fertilizers and pesticides. They are cheaper and hence reduce the input costs. So, agriculture become profitable and inflation of food items is under control.

Right now the policy is neither here nor there, so the results are neither here nor there. The agriculture is not profitable and the inflation is not in control because the govt policy is trying to travel both these boats at the same time without addressing the root cause.

Your mention of neem reminded me to post this: Modi in his independence day speech said that in the past year, the govt has modified all urea plants to produce urea coated(?) with neem. The advantage of this change was that such urea cannot be used for anything other than agriculture, so diversion of subsidised urea to feed other industrial plants, which was rampant earlier, has been eliminated.

I am quite sure he said neem in this context, but I am not sure I understand what he meant. Perhaps gurus here might be able to explain? In any case, it seemed a significant change but not reported anywhere.

Vamsee · Post by **Vamsee** » 20 Aug 2015 03:13

arshyam wrote:
johneeG wrote:Some kind of homemade alternatives using cow dung, neem, ...etc to act as natural fertilizers and pesticides. They are cheaper and hence reduce the input costs. So, agriculture become profitable and inflation of food items is under control.

Right now the policy is neither here nor there, so the results are neither here nor there. The agriculture is not profitable and the inflation is not in control because the govt policy is trying to travel both these boats at the same time without addressing the root cause.
Your mention of neem reminded me to post this: Modi in his independence day speech said that in the past year, the govt has modified all urea plants to produce urea coated(?) with neem. The advantage of this change was that such urea cannot be used for anything other than agriculture, so diversion of subsidised urea to feed other industrial plants, which was rampant earlier, has been eliminated.

I am quite sure he said neem in this context, but I am not sure I understand what he meant. Perhaps gurus here might be able to explain? In any case, it seemed a significant change but not reported anywhere.

Neem-coated urea mandatory for 75% of domestic production

Approval to comprehensive New Urea Policy 2015

Government had also already decided in January to allow urea producers to produce neem coated urea upto 100 percent of production and making it mandatory to produce a minimum of 75 percent of domestic urea as neem coated, so that farmers are benefitted. Neem coated urea is required less in quantity with same plot size and gives higher crop yields. Underground water contamination due to leaching of urea also gets reduced with neem coating since nitrogen in the neem coated urea gets released to plants very slowly. Neem coated urea is not fit for industrial use, so chances of its illegal diversion to industries will also be lesser.

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 20 Aug 2015 05:01

Fat cats get to taste bank slice, at last - Payment bank licences for 11 aspirants

Mumbai, Aug. 19: The Fat Cats of India Inc - Mukesh Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sunil Mittal, Dilip Shanghvi and Anand Mahindra - have stormed into the banking arena.

The RBI today decided to hand out 11 payment bank licences to a clutch of promoters who will be permitted to set up niche banks offering a range of basic banking and remittance services but won't be allowed to lend money.

The new bank licensees include the Department of Posts, which has a sprawling network of over 1.5 lakh post offices across the country.

The RBI seems to have picked corporate giants that have deep pockets and will be able to easily stump up the minimum equity capital requirement of Rs 100 crore - or partner with a commercial bank.

In July last year, finance minister Arun Jaitley had said in his budget speech: "Differentiated banks... are contemplated to meet credit and remittance needs of small business, unorganised sector, low-income households, farmers and migrant workforce."

Later this year, the RBI is due to hand out another set of licences for the establishment of small banks that will provide basic banking products within a very limited area of operation.

The need for these niche banks arose after the RBI found that just 40 per cent of adults had formal bank accounts.

The trigger for the niche bank licences stemmed from the desire to bring a large population outside the pale of banking within the embrace of financial inclusion.

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 20 Aug 2015 05:09

PMO moves to take control of RBI is now clear. Giving Modi hating corporate houses like Reliance a bank to issue money is setting us up to follow the Fed model. They may be a bit limited in what they can do for now in terms of issuance of credit cards etc. Over time they'll expand their reach even further in the finance sector. I simply don't trust these guys.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 20 Aug 2015 05:18

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Econom ... 558250.ece

Taiwanese giant Foxconn is emerging at the heart of a new manufacturing ecosystem in India, raising hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fledgling ‘Make in India’ campaign may acquire some hi-tech wings.

On Tuesday, Foxconn’s subsidiary FIH Mobile, announced a $200 million investment in Jasper Infotech — the owner and operator of India’s rising online retail platform, Snapdeal.

Japan’s SoftBank and China’s Alibaba group are also a part of the e-commerce venture, signalling that Foxconn is teaming up with the mainland’s hi-tech heavyweights to jump start India’s manufacturing and marketing of world-class consumer electronics.
...

Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou has been quoted as saying that he has been impressed by Mr. Modi’s ‘Make in India,’ ‘Digital India, and ‘Skill India’ campaigns. The Taiwanese company, which has been known as a contract manufacturer for Apple’s i-Phone and other leading smartphone brands, has ambitious plans in India. Mr. Gou hopes to establish 10-12 manufacturing hubs in India, which can yield a million jobs by 2020.

Foxconn has already tied up with Xiaomi — a leading Chinese smartphone maker — which has rolled out its first made-in-India Redmi-2 Prime devise on August 10. The company’s plant is located in Andhra Pradesh, whose Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, has been focused in seeking investments from China.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 20 Aug 2015 05:30

Singha wrote:=> Theo sir. xiaomi has a plant in vizag and already rolled its first product out.

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/08 ... s-110.html
http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/08 ... india.html

Missed this. Bummer that it is in vizag. Dr JJ are are you watching. Hopefully they will take it to the next step of exporting the phones. That is the only way we can afford to pay for all this stuff.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Aug 2015 06:53

japanese, korean and now chinese investors seem to operate on a more 'pragmatic' basis than the get rich quick american vc funds. they are always looking for a profitable exit than building and running a profitable co.

i suspect many of the early stage VCs from amrika will cut and run at the first sign of trouble here and hand over their stake to the east asian biraders.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Aug 2015 07:00

the large entirely horse borne army of the mongols (akin to the fully mech american expeditionary armies in the gulf) could conquer everything in eastern europe until the edge of the grassland belt, which ended in hungary. and in india it ended in the punjab. iirc they made it to vienna once but never could sustain a long term rule over a hostile population far different from their own culture. the Il-Khanate of kharijzm also had same issue - a small mongol elite attempting to rule over persian-turkic people. it ended badly.

beyond hungary they could not move such a large mass of horses in mountain country, lack of enough fodder and well defended forts.

member_28397 · Post by **member_28397** » 20 Aug 2015 07:45

RBI needs GOI control now, governor seems to lack any innovative zeal too predictable, this will put economy in standstill.
Rupee should be contained near 65, interest rates need to be lowered ASAP.

somnath · Post by **somnath** » 20 Aug 2015 08:05

RoyG wrote:PMO moves to take control of RBI is now clear. Giving Modi hating corporate houses like Reliance a bank to issue money is setting us up to follow the Fed model. They may be a bit limited in what they can do for now in terms of issuance of credit cards etc. Over time they'll expand their reach even further in the finance sector. I simply don't trust these guys.

First, banks dont "issue money". I dont know if you know what issuing money is. The only "issuer of money", in the sense you seem to mean it, in any country is the central bank (RBI here).
Second, these licenses are being given for "payment banks". Do read up on what payment banks are all about. They represent a very narrow and small segment of what constitutes banking activities in normal commercial banks, ie, small money transfers and remittances.
Third, Reliance is in a JV with SBI for this venture. If anything, this will be a sort of "joint sector" company, or PPP!

MaharathiArjun wrote:RBI needs GOI control now, governor seems to lack any innovative zeal too predictable, this will put economy in standstill.
Rupee should be contained near 65, interest rates need to be lowered ASAP.

Why? Says who? INR is the best performing EM ccy YTD. In other words, all our competitors have gotten effective duty protection on imports from India without being dragged to WTO. Exchange rate isnt a symbol of virility.

Rates need to come off, and they will, as Indian real interest rates are the widest in the world today. The reason why the guv has been cautious is because of the US Fed action next month.

Last, RBI is a govt institution. The guv technically reports to the FM. However, like any other civilised country, monetary policy independence from the executive is sought to be maintained, as it should.

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 20 Aug 2015 17:51

When searching for India gdp gives data of Pakistan

There's something wrong with google.
Also if one goes into details of the search it seems the data is on gdp per capita, but why Pakistan is shown alongside India? Even Bhutan has better gdp per capita in the region and instead of clubbing us with them why Pakistan?

Arjun · Post by **Arjun** » 20 Aug 2015 18:18

Google pulls up closest comparables in the region while searching for GDP of any country...population likely figures as part of that algorithm.

nash · Post by **nash** » 20 Aug 2015 19:09

http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/ ... 34168.html

Such banks will ensure more money comes into the banking system and will help reach out to people in rural areas. Moreover, the payments bank licence will enable the network of 1,54,000 post offices (including 1,30,000 rural post offices) to offer banking services to the masses in the country.