Indian Economy News & Discussion - Aug 26 2015

[A_Gupta]

Who is correct?
[1]

Exports, which account for over 20 percent of India’s GDP, have seen a decline of 15-20 percent in August this year compared to the same period last year, Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said.

[2]

“In continuation with the positive growth exhibited by exports for the last twelve months, exports during August, 2017 have shown growth of 10.29 per cent in dollar terms valued at $23,818.83 million as compared to $21,597.09 million during August, 2016,” the ministry said in a statement.

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... h-slowdown
[2] http://www.hindustantimes.com/business- ... ZjvJI.html

[Suresh S]

PankahS analysis about the 2008 US financial crisis and possibility of India having something similar in the future is on the money

[ManishC]

The sky is not falling according to this https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourd ... febf1648bd

So far this year, India is the fourth fastest growing economy in the world, according to the World Bank’s latest edition of Global Economic Prospects. For 2017, its economy is expected to grow by 7.2%, exceeding China’s 6.9%. That’s slightly above the country’s long-term growth of 6.12%, according to Tradingeconomics.com.

India is expected to accelerate to 7.2 percent in fiscal 2017 (April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018) and 7.5 percent in next fiscal year.

From the WB http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication ... -prospects

[Arjun]

Who is correct?
[1]

Exports, which account for over 20 percent of India’s GDP, have seen a decline of 15-20 percent in August this year compared to the same period last year, Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said.

[2]

“In continuation with the positive growth exhibited by exports for the last twelve months, exports during August, 2017 have shown growth of 10.29 per cent in dollar terms valued at $23,818.83 million as compared to $21,597.09 million during August, 2016,” the ministry said in a statement.

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... h-slowdown
[2] http://www.hindustantimes.com/business- ... ZjvJI.html

Second one is definitely correct...In fact the first article also includes mention of the second fact. No idea why they contradict themselves in the same article

[A_Gupta]

^^^^ So is Ajay Sahai correctly representing the subset of exporters that his organization represents? Or is he being political?

PS: if the Indian economy is the new "Ram Mandir" - the issue around which controversy swirls, that is a great improvement. Apologies if this too political a post.

[Arjun]

^^^^ So is Ajay Sahai correctly representing the subset of exporters that his organization represents? Or is he being political?

PS: if the Indian economy is the new "Ram Mandir" - the issue around which controversy swirls, that is a great improvement. Apologies if this too political a post.

Can you find any other source that reproduces this quote of Ajay Sahai ? Bloomberg in general I have found to be a very third-worldish kind of news org with poor credibility...

[ShauryaT]

He aptly used the opportunity to question NDA government’s claim of having generated 5.5 crore jobs through the much-publicised MUDRA scheme, when, in fact, 1.5 million jobs had been lost in the first quarter of this year alone.
He said the government, on the contrary, had promised 2 crore jobs, annually. He even rubbished the figures presented in the economic surveys and said a large section of the media was playing to the galleries.

Arun Shourie questions NDA govt’s employment generation claims

[Deans]

^^^^ So is Ajay Sahai correctly representing the subset of exporters that his organization represents? Or is he being political?

PS: if the Indian economy is the new "Ram Mandir" - the issue around which controversy swirls, that is a great improvement. Apologies if this too political a post.

Ajay Sahai is doing his job, which is lobby for concessions for exporters. Facts are not allowed to come in the way of that.

Exports grew in August, despite a global slowdown, strong rupee and a no incentive to over-invoice exports to bring back black money and claim export rebates for doing so (see my earlier post).

[ShauryaT]

I think this government is living on a different planet. Does anyone have any validations of the supposed job creations from Mudra, except for the government trumpeting unvalidated figures. Just to be clear, an employment is of an entity, even a sole proprietor employing another person with a wage. The "loans" are like seed capital. Great if they result in meaningful employment, wasted if all that an individual has done is taken the monies and spent on refurbishing their house. Even if it is spent on an honest attempt to build a legit business, self employment through a government loan is not equal to employment, unless that entity is profitable and the loan paid back. Now, please someone do not say now, that refurbishing a house creates opportunities for others. It is a government dole at that point.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/piyush-goyal-says-job-losses-is-a-good-sign-for-economy-heres-a-reality-check/articleshow/60982001.cms

Piyush was responding to Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal who had mentioned India’s top 200 companies considerably cutting jobs over the past few years. “If these top 200 companies are not going to generate jobs, it’s going to get harder and harder for the whole business community to pull society along with it,” Mittal said.

Of course, Goyal was not taking pleasure in the pain of the unemployed youth. Why he saw job losses as a good sign was because he saw the youth getting self-employed.

"What Sunil just spoke about companies bringing down their employment is a very good sign, in fact. The fact is that today, the youth of tomorrow is not looking to be a job seeker alone. He wants to be a job creator. The country today is seeing more and more young people wanting to be entrepreneurs,” he said.

Perhaps, Goyal was referring to the MUDRA scheme, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 to provide loans to small entrepreneurs. So far, Rs 3.42 lakh crore loan has been disbursed to over 8 crore people under the scheme, mostly small entrepreneurs, a report by SKOCH said.

But is it right to assume that those who lose jobs get loans and start small businesses?

Last year, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) laid off about 14,000 employees. In the first quarter of this calendar year, HDFC Bank’s headcount went came down from 90,421 to 84,325. In the preceding quarter last year, the headcount was down by 4,581. 67 textile units shut down in the last few years, hitting 17,600 employees.

Can we assume that these employees turned entrepreneurs?

Goyal explained why self-employment is rising. “With the advent of 3D manufacturing, artificial intelligence, with innovation playing a central role, more and more people are getting engaged on their own, and are looking to become franchisees, people who come up with ideas and want to be independent,” he said.

It's hard to imagine that those laid off by L&T or InfosysBSE 1.81 % would become franchisees. Talking of 3D manufacturing and artificial intelligence in India, where certain areas even go without smartphones, is premature.

And if you consider the fact that startup sector saw a meltdown last year and this year the deal volume is down even though the funding has grown, you would realise Goyal's statement is futuristic and did not service to the hordes of unemployed and laid off youth.

[hanumadu]

Pre GST and post GST prices.

[disha]

^ No doubt lot of angst for people who took the spicy pepper masala dosa the wrong way!

====

Very few states levy octroi. Atleast 18 out of 25 states dont - why should the freedom of all those states taken away for alleged benfit of those in 5-6 states ?

Which states did *not* levy octroi and what was their percentage contribution to over all trade?

Below are the reasons why GST is and will be an unmitigated disaster for India :

a) Its wrong in principle. Everyone I talked to says GST "simplifies" everything and repeats it like a parrot. ... And there is nothing wrong.

How many businesses did you run? How many did you start and how many you inherited? And how many were in manufacturing sector? And how many you closed?

[disha]

I am not politicking with an agenda Saar. My ask is simple. If the traditional employment metrics do not cover areas where we say new jobs are being created, we ought to evolve a new metric that makes all new job creation visible.

You sound like Modi now! In fact Modi did ask for the data and that too quality data and has urged to evolve new outcome measuring based metrics to measure not just the employment growth but everything else including swaach bharat.

Of course., if new data comes in you will question the metric if the data does not suit your outlook. And for creating a new metric., it takes time. Of course you completely ignored the rise in the provident fund contributors. Here both the metric and data was ignored! It was an official labor report.

No need for big names, but need names and more detailed numbers nevertheless. For transparency"s sake.

And you expect some #mediapimp to provide you that information? For free?

Here check this out: http://fipb.gov.in and here http://dipp.gov.in/publications/annual-report. Under RTI - why do not you ask what was the quarterly FDI investment in rupees via the approval route? If it is too tough then well my recommendation is to go through their press releases and calculate it yourself or rely on reports like this: http://dipp.gov.in/sites/default/files/ ... 6-17_0.pdf

But then if the data does not conform to your expectations., please do not call the above data as "untransparent" or "unofficial" or "biased".

If economy is pure hard cold analytical calculations., you have the data to compare and do those calculations. Though I must let you know that it will not point to the future.

===

I think this government is living on a different planet. Does anyone have any validations of the supposed job creations from Mudra, except for the government trumpeting unvalidated figures. Just to be clear, an employment is of an entity, even a sole proprietor employing another person with a wage. The "loans" are like seed capital. Great if they result in meaningful employment, wasted if all that an individual has done is taken the monies and spent on refurbishing their house.

How is it wasted if the individual has spent the loan to refurbish the house (and pays back the loans)? How?

And a request., you might be right that the government is living on a different planet., Shourya'ji but can you refute this article?

https://swarajyamag.com/economy/on-the- ... nd-experts

And I do expect numbers and not rants*.

*Particularly I did the homework of going straight to the sources and providing the numbers. I do go through 200 page reports before putting some of my thoughts here. It is very hard work. Ranting is easy., but the forum to do that has been closed and now in this thread I would expect data and discussions and insights based on data.

[kiranA]

Deleted

[archan]

No personal attacks please.

[Deans]

I think this government is living on a different planet. Does anyone have any validations of the supposed job creations from Mudra, except for the government trumpeting unvalidated figures. Just to be clear, an employment is of an entity, even a sole proprietor employing another person with a wage. The "loans" are like seed capital. Great if they result in meaningful employment, wasted if all that an individual has done is taken the monies and spent on refurbishing their house. Even if it is spent on an honest attempt to build a legit business, self employment through a government loan is not equal to employment, unless that entity is profitable and the loan paid back. Now, please someone do not say now, that refurbishing a house creates opportunities for others. It is a government dole at that point.

Shaurya ji, I had the same apprehension about Mudra, particularly after seeing what happened in the case of Maharashtra farmer loan wavier
- a lot of professionals and traders posed as farmers, to get low interest loans, with a good chance they may never have to repay. The scam was uncovered when asking for Aadhar and land holding proof.

On studying Mudra in more detail however, I would tend to give the benefit of doubt to the Govt. Loans are being disbursed by banks on a commercial basis, after ID proof etc and it is for people who would otherwise have to go to moneylenders. Past history of micro financing suggests that default rates are very low (certainly lower than big industrialists). 95% of all businesses in India have between 1-5 employees and that is where most employment will continue to be generated (and not measured). The single biggest barrier to letting this size of business grow, is access to the banking system, which Mudra addresses. Of course, loans do not equate to jobs, but there is no other reliable metric to measure job creation due to Mudra loans.

In the formal sector, where technology is presenting a serious threat to jobs, the only reliable indicator of employment is PF enrollments. That
figure is showing robust growth. Quite often big companies that shed jobs, are outsourcing non critical processes to smaller companies.

[Supratik]

From where are these job losses numbers coming from? India has very limited employment data. Big companies can report job losses but 200 big companies are not going to employ a nation of 1.3 billion. It will come from lakhs of small and medium sized companies. So flawed argument based on little data.

[ssundar]

Of course., if new data comes in you will question the metric if the data does not suit your outlook. And for creating a new metric., it takes time. Of course you completely ignored the rise in the provident fund contributors. Here both the metric and data was ignored! It was an official labor report.

You are continuing to assume that I am some sort of Modi baiter. Not sure if you have ever seen my posts in the GDF.
You would be surprised to know how I use the numbers I learn here and elsewhere.

[ssundar]

From where are these job losses numbers coming from? India has very limited employment data. Big companies can report job losses but 200 big companies are not going to employ a nation of 1.3 billion. It will come from lakhs of small and medium sized companies. So flawed argument based on little data.

The talking heads on media debates are throwing out numbers in the crores, which strangely increase daily. Combine that with drawing room conversations on the ITvity sector. That is why a comprehensive employment index is helpful.

[Supratik]

That IIRC is being looked at by a committee but it is slow. Govt should do it fast for its own good. Otherwise rumor mongering will further pull down the economy as the purpose is to spread negative sentiments.

[A_Gupta]

^^^^ So is Ajay Sahai correctly representing the subset of exporters that his organization represents? Or is he being political?

PS: if the Indian economy is the new "Ram Mandir" - the issue around which controversy swirls, that is a great improvement. Apologies if this too political a post.

Can you find any other source that reproduces this quote of Ajay Sahai ? Bloomberg in general I have found to be a very third-worldish kind of news org with poor credibility...

Good point!
I looked. This is what was said:
(1) Attributing to FIEO (Ajay Sahai's org):
https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-e ... 2111620988

FIEO says that the order booking position from October shows a 15-20% decline and Christmas and New Years exports are affected

.

(2) More complete, but without attribution:
Find on this page:
http://www.srtepc.org/gallery/view/30891

Exporters flagged their concerns over the loss of competitiveness of India's exports on account of the refund process. They also told the committee on Tuesday that the order booking position from October shows a 15-20% decline and Christmas and New Year exports are affected. India's exports rose 10.3% year-on-year in August but the growth was due to pre-GST contracts, composite duty drawback facility available till September 30 and low base effect.

Not clear to me why foreign orders should reduce because of suppliers' cash flow situation, unless exporters are turning down orders.

[deejay]

^^^ Neither for against, my understanding is GST requires submission of GST and then collection of refund. That is a good 02-03 month cash tied in. Even if it is 01 month, the working capital is tied down across the supply chain. This is impacting cash flow and slow down.

[Supratik]

How is that different from running a household? Your salary is TDS deducted and after you file you are refunded. Are you eating one less burger becoz of that?

[VKumar]

GST is not more than 28% of a sale amount. In most cases, it would be 12% or 18%. This does not tie down the entire months working capital.

At the same time, in the last 3 months, RBI has let the Rupee slide by about 5%, which should more than cover the Exporters ADDITIONAL COST OF FUNDS TIED IN GST.

[hanumadu]

https://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes. ... ly-stable/

Brilliant article on why it is prudent to sacrifice growth in the short term for macro economic stability. Its too soon yet to start saying 'The sky is falling'.

In my earlier writings, I have systematically documented the wide-ranging reforms that the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee introduced between March 1998 and May 2004. During this government’s first two years, the real GDP at market prices grew at the average annual rate of 7.5%. But in the subsequent three years, the growth rate successively fell to 3.8%, 4.8% and 3.8%. In nine of the 12 quarters during these three years, growth fell below 5.5%, and in one quarter to just 1.1%.
Right-Fisted Fisc
Such slow growth would unnerve any government today. Yet, putting faith in its reforms, the Vajpayee government stayed course without succumbing to fiscal stimulus of any sort. On the contrary, it steadfastly advocated the virtues of fiscal discipline and introduced the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Bill in Parliament in 2000, which was passed into law in 2003.
Although fiscal deficit as a proportion of the GDP at market prices rose to 6% in 2001-02, by 2003-04, the Vajpayee government had managed to bring it down to 4.3%. During that year, growth in the real GDP at market prices also rose to 7.9%.
The high GDP growth India witnessed in 2003-04 was neither an accident nor a one-off affair. The cumulative effect of reforms by Prime Ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Vajpayee had finally taken root and placed the economy on a high-growth trajectory that India had not seen before. For nine full years spanning from 2003-04 to 2011-12, the real GDP at market prices grew 8.2% on average.

But in its second term, it came to take high growth for granted. The resulting complacency led it to introduce several measures that greatly undermined growth. Prominent among these measures were retrospective taxation, reckless lending by banks on projects of dubious value, the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, and the systematic denial of environmental clearances to major projects. General paralysis in decision-making in the central government, 13 successive interest rate hikes and poor management of the exchange rate by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reinforced these measures.
The UPA government abandoned the path of fiscal discipline in its second term. Between 2004-05 and 2007-08, fiscal deficit had been held down between 2.5% and 4% of the GDP at market prices. This range shifted to 4.5-6.5% between 2008-09 and 2012-13. While the rise in the deficit to 6% in 2008-09 had justification in the global financial crisis, the same cannot be said of subsequent years. By late 2009, growth estimates were already showing signs of a steady recovery from the decline in the second half of 2008.
Anti-growth measures noted above and the loss of fiscal discipline predictably led to unhappy outcomes. From 10.7% in the third quarter of 2010-11, the growth rate fell for six consecutive quarters, reaching 4% as per the old GDP series and 4.9% as per the new series in the first quarter of 2012-13. Even after this bottoming out, growth did not recover in a sustained manner. Of the seven quarters that followed, three saw growth rates below 5.5% as per the new GDP series (six quarters as per the old series).

By August 2013, macroeconomic indicators had deteriorated sufficiently enough for a story in The Economist to state, “It is widely agreed the country is in its worst economic bind since 1991.” The magazine alluded to decline in the growth rate, inflation at 10%, current account deficit at 4-5% and rupee depreciation during the preceding three months at 13% as evidence of the crisis.
Two features sharply distinguish the current economic situation from that experienced during the last three years of the UPA. First, in macroeconomic terms, the economy is remarkably stable. Inflation and current account deficit are low, the exchange rate is stable and fiscal consolidation is on track.
Second, so far, we have seen growth rates below 7% for only two quarters. This performance contrasts with the below-7% growth in six of the eight quarters during the last two years of UPA.

[Philip]

The sky isn't falling it has already fallen. I have regrettably downsized one firm by 80%.Come 2018 March it most likely will be closed.An auditor friend is so fed up of "tax terrorism" where IT officials are allegedly harassing
small fry instead of big biz and scamsters that he's is thinking of also closing down but does not know what to do next.Opean a shop and "import cheap elec. goods from China?" he mused!

Unless we impose massive duties on all Chin goods we are finished ,Demon,GST,whatever.In the long run everything will be made in China and we will end up like Britain losing its once- renowned manufacturing industry.
Hundreds of millions of Indian youth ,who I see on the Delhi Metro and Bombay locals will find it most difficult to find worthwhile jobs.

One can't even find buyers for good property.Builders are stuck with huge stocks,land sales almost non-existent.One auditor whose major clients are builders said that this was "a great way to kill an industry".A major builder western India told me that they've given up all housing projects. Opening tea shops and cafes seems to be the brightest biz on the horizon!

PS:Statistics do not tell the truth.You need you understand what's happening on the street and ck. small biz. This is where most of the country is employed in.Even at the retail level what do you find, a flood of Chinese goods,driving out Indian equiv. products. The % of wealth owned by the miniscule minority of billionaires and millionaires is growing steadily while the middle class is being mauled and getting poorer by the day.As for the poor,just open the papers.Suicides increasing by the day as debts cannot be paid not just farmers but increasingly in urban areas,small entrepreneurs.That's why all the spin on how well we're doing can't airbrush the reality.We are in a grave eco crisis the likes of which I've never ever seen before at home and we don't have the insurance of the parallel economy should any future Intel. eco crisis take place,v.likely in the near future.

[JohnTitor]

Not clear to me why foreign orders should reduce because of suppliers' cash flow situation, unless exporters are turning down orders.

Probably turning down orders because they don't have the cash to source it from their suppliers

[JohnTitor]

^^^ Neither for against, my understanding is GST requires submission of GST and then collection of refund. That is a good 02-03 month cash tied in. Even if it is 01 month, the working capital is tied down across the supply chain. This is impacting cash flow and slow down.

Sure it creates some challenges but let me tell you that every business on the planet faces this. From your local shop to apple and Google.

Cash flow management is one of the most basic things every business has to deal with. A lot of profitable businesses fail for this reason alone

[deejay]

^^^ Neither for against, my understanding is GST requires submission of GST and then collection of refund. That is a good 02-03 month cash tied in. Even if it is 01 month, the working capital is tied down across the supply chain. This is impacting cash flow and slow down.

Sure it creates some challenges but let me tell you that every business on the planet faces this. From your local shop to apple and Google.

Cash flow management is one of the most basic things every business has to deal with. A lot of profitable businesses fail for this reason alone

Sir, I am from the same planet. Have run my business too. What I am sharing is what exporters have told me. They maybe cribbing and they may be grossly misrepresenting.

[vina]

Yawn.. Common Use Items in Highest GST Category

Well, now the retards are trying to expend their limited CPU cycles now that the yellow /brown matter has hit the fan, say they will reduce the number of items in the 28% rate. Now they are putting a spin on "essential" items and "demerit" items, wtf does that mean ? Coolant, brake fluid,grease , bulbs and glass are "demerit", but engine oil is "meritorious" .. Retards.

Oh, they are now "discovering" that the GST is not "sure thing" in terms of tax collection and that there is avoidance of taxes now because the 28% rate seems too high and people are using cash transactions to buy stuff and dont want an invoice.

Hmm. So DeMo by MoDi and GST seems to be at cross purposes. Great !

[chetak]

Pre GST and post GST prices.

twitter

On the contrary, this is urgently needed! People are using GST switchover to implement up to 30% (equal to prev tax) price hike by simply /

charging GST on top of earlier sticker prices / menu rates etc. and not passing on benefits of ITC to end consumers.

[chetak]

and again, here is our GST obsessed country.

twitter

GST on penalties for not maintaining minimum bank balances! What's going on?

[chetak]

This is how global petroleum prices stack up ... Once again, India is not an outlier ... Data from @OpIndia_com

Reality check @OpIndia_com 4 those who say India's oil prices highest in region.Never mind taxes used 2 fund govt expenditre critical 2GDP

[Karthik S]

There's like $1T of BM outside India. SuSwamy mentioned 3 ways adopted by 3 different countries in bringing BM back to their respective countries. Our govt been hasn't been as serious in getting money stashed outside India, as it's with GST. We have got the names as back as 2010 IIRC. Still the "letter" is not yet opened. Imagine the amount of development projects that can take place once we get back even a third of that money.

[vina]

and again, here is our GST obsessed country.

twitter

GST on penalties for not maintaining minimum bank balances! What's going on?

Quite logical. The penalty is an income to the bank and is taxable as it is a service provided by the bank. The value is the fine, and the GST is applicable to that. It is like you defaulting on your credit card payment or the bank charging you a service fee.

That is okay.

What they should do is make it mandatory for every establishment to display the following.

1. Pre GST price (inclusive of all taxes)
2. Price After GST Implementation date
3. GST on the Current Price

Then you will know exactly what the establishment was charging before and after and how much it is profiteering. If the difference is too much, anyone can take a photo of the display with their phone camera and send it to the "Anti Profiteering" whatever Baboons.

[vina]

Chetak, there is very well known that India is one of the most expensive petroleum markets on the earth , adjusted for purchasing power. Translate that into local currencies for e.g. for France,Germany and UK etc, then you can see the difference.

This kind of phamplateering really does not service and doesnt make any sense. After all, if you dont adjust that to per capital GDP, then it is moot.

And dont forget "Delhi" petrol/diesel prices are just wampum. The prices in the other parts of the country are FAR higher than that because of taxes .

[Philip]

My auditor.Ck the huge fees being deducted for your bank transactions,ATM and card swipes.Even a small hike makes huge profits for banks.We are being fleeced he says without our knowing it.More committees,more babudom.Where is Mr.Modi's promise of "less govt.,more governance" gone?! This is only encouraging another return to the days of "raid raj". If ordinary people/bizmen are resorting to cash again,barter may soon be on the cards, with a kg. of onions as the chief "currency" of choice!

I was told by a pal reg. Delhi Durbar groupie,that some babus being pressed for quick results are cooking up stats/facts and taking the govt. for a ride.This is why the RSS is a far better bell-weather of facts and sentiment since the org. has strong grass-root footpath knowledge. For many years I've admired Mr.Gurumurthy's analysis on eco matters.We need to build it up from the grassroots level where the small man first prospers so that he can spend his hard-earned money (not dole money like MNREGA) on products manufactured within the country for his daily needs.

[chetak]

Chetak, there is very well known that India is one of the most expensive petroleum markets on the earth , adjusted for purchasing power. Translate that into local currencies for e.g. for France,Germany and UK etc, then you can see the difference.

This kind of phamplateering really does not service and doesnt make any sense. After all, if you dont adjust that to per capital GDP, then it is moot.

And dont forget "Delhi" petrol/diesel prices are just wampum. The prices in the other parts of the country are FAR higher than that because of taxes .

India is doing OK. people are going about their daily life quietly. Business is buzzing and the common man is not complaining about anything, contrary to what is being portrayed by the pissant press and some effing commie venting just because he has been given some shitty platform.

I prefer to get evidence from the streets and confirm it by validation in different cities and town rather than listen to people like you.

There was no violence during demo, despite best efforts by the congis/commies /SC. No violence because of GST and every "unpopular" step taken by Modi needs time to payoff in terms of benefits.

Banks, shops big and small, are crowded because folks are getting their work done, some aholes are always there who expect miracles and it is best for us that such b@s****s die disappointed, die painful deaths like poisoned cockroaches.

prices of veggies, commodities fluctuate and folks grumble as is their birthright, but pay and move on to more important things. Petrol prices are high and I have not seen anyone doing his nut in the petrol bunk except anchors in airconditioned studios trying to incite people.

Streets are full of people going about their lives.

All except for piles ridden anchors who seem "fundementally" (pun intended) troubled because their "influence" has evaporated overnight and they have all become mere hoarse and disgruntled, rootless whispers in some forgotten wilderness.

[chetak]

Not happy with Apple wish-list, PMO orders tech major to change demands to set up facility in India

What might have gone against Apple was the fact that while it was quick to hand over a list of preconditions—from tax concessions to permission to export refurbished phones—to set up a large manufacturing unit in India, it didn’t share with the Centre any details on the quantum of investment or specific job opportunities it will create here. Sources had earlier told FE that the iPhone maker would set up only a “pilot project” near Bengaluru (to produce around 3-5 lakh phones), and the likelihood of a larger manufacturing unit in India hinged on the kind of concessions the Centre would offer to the tech giant.

Last year, Apple had sought several other sops — including a 15-year customs duty holiday on imports of iPhone kits, new and used capital equipment, and consumables — to set up a manufacturing unit. It has sought duty cuts on components — completely knocked down (CKD) and semi knocked down (SKD) units of iPhones — for re-assembly at the finished goods manufacturing line. It has also sought a relaxation of the 30% local sourcing requirement under the foreign direct investment rules.

Apple’s plan of exporting refurbished iPhone, one of the pre-conditions for manufacturing in India, from India has also hit a wall. A section of the government fears allowing Apple to bring in such second-hand iPhones from all over the world to service or upgrade here for subsequent exports could pose environmental risks. With cost of production in China rising due to soaring wages, among others, Apple is perhaps looking at diversifying its manufacturing base out of China, analysts have said. The company doesn’t make its own products; rather it does it through contract manufacturers, including Foxconn and Pegatron. So, if Apple sets up a base here, the contract manufacturers may also establish units here to cater for the tech major’s demands, they said.

[nam]

Do we have inflation numbers for Q2?

If GST has increased prices, it should reflect in the inflation. Or am I talking nonsense?

[JohnTitor]

The problem with GST isn't a GST issue. It's just that people have jacked up prices using the previous MRP as the base. This means that they weren't paying tax earlier or they are making a quick buck. So it has nothing to do with GST, just greed.

Secondly, restaurants were previously including tax in the price shown in the menu. Now they have statted charging it afterwards. Together with the 9%+9% GST it gives people the impression that that prices have increased

In any event, what's the point of the anti profiteering thing? Isn't a case of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted? Also what are people supposed to do? Find our your local eatery has jacked up prices and complain to some baboo in delhi?? Seems like creating more employment through increased babu recruitment.