Google pushes HTTPS for web security

Seoul: A HTTPS-based website is a safer way to protect users from possible security attacks, the security director at Google has said, emphasising that major South Korean search engines do not support this system.
"Top websites in (South) Korea that don't support HTTPS are Naver and Daum. It's not just a problem for (South) Korea but a challenge for the world and the developers," said Parisa Tabriz.
Tabriz heads the team who protects Google Chrome and its billions of users from criminal hackers, Yonhap news agency reported.
Google began adding security warnings for websites that do not use strong encryptions beginning in 2017, putting a clear "Not secure" warning next to online websites that use unencrypted HTTP connections rather than encrypted HTTPS connections.
Tabriz said HTTP websites, which account for nearly half of the world's websites, are vulnerable to attacks that Google calls in security terms, "man in the middle."
"Encryption will give the security we need. HTTPS does not solve all security problems, but it provides a foundation for this," she said.
As to some complaints that Google's HTTPS policy may be expensive and time-consuming, the security expert said switching to HTTPS is not easy but necessary.
"It is just a misconception that there is cost. It was true 10 years ago, but cost is no longer true for today," the Iranian-American hacker who protects Google said.
"Without the HTTPS, there is no privacy. We also published a transparency report," she said, adding that HTTPS websites have steadily increased during the past one year with Google's effort.
As for general security, she advised Internet uses not to reuse or use the same password for different websites since hackers know this, and they will attack the weakest website to obtain personal data.
"Don't login on shared computers and verify your account security setting," she added.

Insurance penetration in India likely to cross 4% this year: ASSOCHAM

New Delhi: Government's policy of insuring the uninsured has gradually pushed insurance penetration in the country and proliferation of insurance schemes are expected to catapult this key ratio beyond 4% mark by the end of this year, reveals the ASSOCHAM latest paper.
Despite the gentle rise in insurance penetration which is percentage of insurance premium with reference to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it is still far below the global average, according to paper titled 'Insurance penetration in India,' by the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
The insurance penetration has started its northward journey is evident from the fact that it has increased from 3.3% in 2014 to 3.44% in 2015 on the back of various insurance schemes launched by the government, adds the paper.
As part of social security initiative, the government has launched low premium insurance schemes both life and non-life in 2015. Last year, it introduced crop insurance.
With objective to provide insurance cover to all, the Government launched Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJBY) in 2015, noted the study.
PMSBY offers a renewable one-year accidental death or disability cover of Rs 2 lakh for partial/permanent disability to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-70 years for a premium of Rs 12 per annum per subscriber. The scheme is managed by general insurance firms, adds the chamber.
PMJJBY, on the other hand, offers a renewable one year life cover of Rs 2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years, covering death due to any reason, for a premium of Rs 330 per annum per subscriber.
Besides, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) launched last year to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss or damage arising out of unforeseen events will also add to insurance penetration.
PMFBY has been approved for implementation in all States and Union Territories from Kharif 2016 season in place of National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS).
"PMFBY is a significant improvement over the earlier schemes on several counts and comprehensive risk coverage from pre-sowing to post-harvest losses are some of the salient points. A budget provision of Rs 5501.15 crore has been made for the scheme for the current crop season," ASSOCHAM President Sandeep Jajodia said.
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is a government-run health insurance scheme that provides for cashless insurance for hospitalisation in public as well as private hospitals. The scheme is force since April 1, 2008 and has been implemented in 25 states.
The number of lives covered under Health Insurance policies during 2015-16 was 36 crore which is approximately 30 per cent of India's total population. The number has seen an increase every subsequent year as 28.80 crore people had the policy in the previous fiscal.
The measure of insurance penetration and insurance density calculated as the ratio of premium to population or per capita premium reflects the level of development of insurance sector in a country, said Sandeep said.

Record wheat, foodgrain output likely in 2016-17

New Delhi: Wheat production in the ongoing crop season is expected to be at an all-time high of 96.6 million tonnes (mt) on the back of good southwest monsoon, favourable weather and record acreage, the second advanced estimate for foodgrain production showed.
The estimate released on Wednesday also showed that overall foodgrain production, including kharif harvest, in 2016-17 was expected to be a record 271.98 mt, showing that demonetisation didn’t have a big impact on rabi crops.
If the production numbers turn out to be correct, agriculture and allied sector growth in 2016-17 could reach more than 5 per cent. The Central Statistics Office (CSO)’s had pegged growth at 4.1 per cent in the first advanced estimate of 2016-17. Agri growth in previous financial year was at 1.2 per cent.
"Although the record high growth in output of foodgrains and oilseeds bodes well for the trajectory of food prices, the seasonal rise in prices of vegetables and stickiness in prices of sugar, would result in retail food and beverages inflation rising over the next few months, from the series-low 1.3 per cent in January 2017. In addition to the estimate of crop production for the ongoing fiscal, the Central Bank would weigh the cues regarding the upcoming monsoon season while assessing the outlook for food inflation," Aditi Nayar, Principal Economist, ICRA Limited said.
The data also showed that production of mustard, the biggest oilseeds grown during the rabi season, was expected to be 7.91 mt, 1.11 mt more than last year.
Chana or gram production in 2016-17 was expected to be around 9.12 mt, 29 per cent more than last year. Overall, pulses production in 2016-17 was expected to be 22.14 mt, the highest India has produced.
This should help in reducing imports as consumption was estimated to be 23-24 mt. But this could signal bad news for farmers as prices have already dropped much below the minimum support price (MSP).
“Demonetisation was announced in November 8. By that time wheat sowing was already on. Thereafter climate was very favourable, which helped in raising the per-hectare yield, leading to a record wheat production this year,” P K Joshi, South-Asia Director of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), told Business Standard.
Demonetisation didn’t have any impact on rabi sowing as more than 80 per cent of rural economy ran on credit. “To me, in the final analysis, India’s agriculture and allied sector growth in 2016-17 is expected to be around 5-6 per cent, much more than the advanced estimated by CSO,” Joshi added.
The data also showed that among other crops, rice production in 2016-17 was expected to be a record 108.86 mt, almost 4.26 per cent more than last year. Oilseeds production in 2016-17 was pegged at a record 33.60 mt, soyabean output at 14.13 mt, groundnut at 8.47 mt and castorseed at 1.74 mt.
Last year, oilseed output was 25.25 mt and the previous record was 32.75 mt in 2013-15.
Coarse cereal output was estimated to be a record 44.34 mt this year, against 38.52 mt last year. The previous record was 43.40 mt in 2013-14.
The foodgrain basket comprises wheat, rice, pulses and coarse cereals.
Among cash crops, cotton output was estimated at 32.51 million bales (of 170 kg each) this year, against 30 million bales last year.
However, sugarcane output was likely to be lower at 309.98 mt this year, against 348.44 mt last year. Jute and mesta output was estimated to be lower at 10.06 million bales (of 180 kg each) against 10.52 million bales last year.
The government releases total four estimates on foodgrain production before the final one at various stages of production and harvesting period. It also lowered its last year’s wheat production to 92.29 mt, against the previous estimate of 93.5 mt.

Warburg negotiates to buy up to 40 per cent stake for Rs 2,300 crore of Tata Tech

Mumbai: Private equity firm Warburg Pincus is in advanced negotiations to acquire asignificant minority stake of up to 40 per cent in Tata Technologies for around Rs 2,300 crore, ending months of talks, said several people with knowledge of the matter.
The engineering design services company has been looking to offload 26-40 per cent of equity at a valuation of Rs 5,400 crore ($800 million) for almost a year and a half, said the people cited above.
It had also considered selling a majority stake to investors and an initial public offering, they said. “Warburg is the only investor with whom the Tatas are currently engaged,” said one of the persons.
“It will be interesting to see if Tatas give a revenue commitment for the future. The worry is the industry still looks at the company as a quasi-captive unit.”
A formal announcement is said to be imminent. The Singapore-headquartered company was founded in 1989 as a subsidiary of Tata Motors before becoming a standalone entity. Tata Motors still owns around 70 per cent of the company.
Second-Largest Shareholder
Tata Group entities such as Tata Capital and senior executives own 17 per cent while the rest is held by outside financial investors.
If a deal takes place, the new investor will likely become the second-largest shareholder after Tata Motors while existing ones like Tata Capital are likely to cash out, either in part or fully, said the people cited above.
The company says it’s a leader in “engineering services outsourcing and product development IT services to the global manufacturing industry” and looks to “apply cutting-edge technology to provide a competitive advantage to customers in the manufacturing sector”, according to its website.
More than half its turnover and a bigger share of profit come from Tata units, particularly Tata Motors and its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) division. A third of its revenue comes from North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific.
Nearly 65 per cent of its business comes from the automotive sector, 12 per cent from aerospace and the rest from industrial machinery and other businesses.
The company has been trying to increase its aerospace portfolio, especially in defence, as a de-risking strategy. Growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 16 per cent, the company is targeting $800 million (around Rs 5,300 crore) in revenue by 2020, $200 million of that through acquisitions.
In 2015-16, its consolidated revenue was Rs 2,714 crore and profit after tax was Rs 382 crore. A Warburg spokesperson declined to comment. “As stated before, from time to time, we review the performance of our non-core assets and companies and see how we can monetise them,” a Tata Motors spokesperson said.
“We do not have any additional comment to offer at this point of time.” Tata Motors has already announced annual capital expenditure plans of Rs 3,500-4,000 crore for the next three years, mainly to spruce up and strengthen its passenger car range.
JLR is to spend 3.5-4 billion pounds on capex. There was no response to emails sent to Tata Technologies CEO Warren Harris or the company’s spokesperson.
Other contenders
Carlyle, Apax Partners, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) were all said to have previously evaluated the company but eventually opted out.
The initial valuation expectation of $1 billion was also a spoiler for most. The Tata Group had mandated Citi to find a strategic partner for the company.
“There is growing interest for businesses that provide solutions to the aerospace and defence sectors both from strategic investors as well as financial sponsors,” said Sanjeev Krishan, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“As automation increases, the need for technology solutions will increase leading to the attractiveness of such businesses from an investor’s standpoint.”
Warburg, among the earliest PE investors in India, successfully exited its investment in QuEST Global Services Pte, another engineering solutions provider, last February.
Bain Capital, GIC and Advent International cumulatively invested $350 million to pick up minority stakes. Warburg, which has deployed $3.8 billion in 51 companies in India since 1997, is looking to deepen its involvement, co-chief executives Charles R Kaye and Joseph P Landy told ET in a recent interview.
It plans to invest $8 billion in India over the next 10 years — twice what it did in two decades — as the New York-headquartered firm extends its long-term bet on one of its “most important markets in the world”. Last month it invested Rs 840 crore in PVR for a 14 per cent stake. Tata Motors’ third-quarter profit plunged 96 per cent to Rs 112 crore from the year earlier because of losses in the domestic business and operational weakness in JLR.

Global aerospace firms use tie-ups to tap India market

Bengaluru: The Indian aerospace and defence (A&D) sector has become a focus market as several global aerospace and defence companies have partnered with local Indian companies to expand, manufacture locally and encourage the Government's Make in India initiative. Mr Joseph Weiss, President, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Ltd, has stated that his company is developing the medium-range surface-to-air missile with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and it has been expanding business in the country. IAI also has joint venture agreements with other local aerospace companies like Kalyani Strategic Systems, Tata Advanced Material, Bengaluru-based Alpha Design, and Dynamatics Technologies to manufacture products for India. Mr Tom Bell, Senior Vice-President, Boeing Defense, has stated that the US and Indian defence industries are poised to work collaboratively, to position India as a major defence partner of the United States. French aircraft manufacturer Airbus plans to establish a Centre of Excellence for aerospace skill development in Hyderabad. Defence and security company Saab too has offered a fighter sensor package for the homegrown Tejas LCA Mk1A fighter aircraft.

INDIA'S FOREIGN TRADE: January, 2017

New Delhi: I. MERCHANDISE TRADE
EXPORTS (including re-exports)
In consonance with the revival exhibited by exports in the last four months, during January,2017 exports continue to show a positive growth of 4.32 per cent in dollar terms (valued at US$ 22115.03 million) and 5.61 per cent in Rupee terms (valued at Rs. 150559.98 crore) as compared to US$ 21199.02 million (Rs. 142568.31 crore) during January,2016.
Cumulative value of exports for the period April-January 2016-17 was US$ 220922.78 million (Rs. 1484473.55 crore) as against US$ 218532.64 million (Rs. 1420572.68 crore) registering a positive growth of 1.09 per cent in Dollar terms and positive growth of 4.50 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year.
Non-petroleum exports in January 2017 were valued at US$ 19422.86 million against US$ 19111.38 million in January 2016, an increase of 1.6 %. Non-petroleum exports during April - January 2016-17 were valued at US$ 196254.10 million as compared to US$ 192071.50 million for the corresponding period in 2016, an increase of 2.2%.
The growth in exports is positive for USA (2.63%),EU(5.47%) and Japan(13.43%) but China has exhibited negative growth of (-1.51%) for November 2016 over the corresponding period of previous year as per latest WTO statistics.
IMPORTS
Imports during January 2017 were valued at US$ 31955.94 million (Rs. 217557.32 crore) which was 10.70 per cent higher in Dollar terms and 12.07 per cent higher in Rupee terms over the level of imports valued at US$ 28866.53 million (Rs. 194134.02 crore) in January, 2016. Cumulative value of imports for the period April-January 2016-17 was US$ 307311.86 million (Rs. 2065656.42 crore) as against US$ 326277.38 million (Rs. 2120158.57 crore) registering a negative growth of 5.81 per cent in Dollar terms and 2.57 per cent in Rupee terms over the same period last year.
CRUDE OIL AND NON-OIL IMPORTS:
Oil imports during January, 2017 were valued at US$ 8140.83 million which was 61.07 percent higher than oil imports valued at US$ 5054.29 million in January 2016. Oil imports during April-January, 2016-17 were valued at US$ 69062.66 million which was 5.81 per cent lower than the oil imports of US$ 73321.66 million in the corresponding period last year.
Non-oil imports during January, 2017 were estimated at US$ 23815.11 million which was 0.01 per cent higher than non-oil imports of US$ 23812.24 million in January, 2016. Non-oil imports during April-January 2016-17 were valued at US$ 238249.20 million which was 5.81 per cent lower than the level of such imports valued at US$ 252955.72 million in April-January, 2015-16.
II. TRADE IN SERVICES (for December, 2016, as per the RBI Press Release dated 15th February 2017)
EXPORTS (Receipts)
Exports during December 2016 were valued at US$ 13804 Million (Rs. 93729.71 Crore) registering a positive growth of 3.49 per cent in dollar terms as compared to positive growth of 1.72 per cent during November 2016 (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).
IMPORTS (Payments)
Imports during December 2016 were valued at US$ 8294 Million (Rs. 56316.59 Crore) registering a negative growth of 0.35 per cent in dollar terms as compared to positive growth of 8.37 per cent during November 2016 (as per RBI’s Press Release for the respective months).
III.TRADE BALANCE
MERCHANDISE: The trade deficit for April-January, 2016-17 was estimated at US$ 86389.08 million which was 19.82% lower than the deficit of US$ 107744.74 million during April-January, 2015-16.
SERVICES: As per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th February 2017, the trade balance in Services (i.e. net export of Services) for December, 2016 was estimated at US$ 5510 million. The net export of services for April- December, 2016-17 was estimated at US$ 48316 million which is lower than net export of services of US$ 53557 million during April- December, 2015-16. (The data for April-December 2015-16 and 2016-17 has been derived by adding April-December month wise QE data of RBI Press Release).
OVERALL TRADE BALANCE: Overall the trade balance has improved. Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April- January 2016-17 is estimated at US$ 38073.08 million which is 29.7 percent lower in Dollar terms than the level of US$ 54187.74 million during April-January 2015-16. (Services data pertains to April-December 2016-17 as December 2016 is the latest data available as per RBI’s Press Release dated 15th February 2017)
MERCHANDISE TRADE
EXPORTS & IMPORTS : (US $ Million)(Provisional)
EXPORTS (including re-exports) JANUARY APRIL-JANUARY
2015-16 21199.02 218532.64
2016-17 22115.03 220922.78
% Growth 2016-17/ 2015-16 4.32 1.09
IMPORTS
2015-16 28866.53 326277.38
2016-17 31955.94 307311.86
% Growth 2016-17/ 2015-16 10.70 -5.81
TRADE BALANCE
2015-16 -7667.51 -107744.74
2016-17 -9840.91 -86389.08
EXPORTS & IMPORTS : (Rs. Crore) (Provisional)
EXPORTS (including re-exports) JANUARY APRIL-JANUARY
2015-16 142568.31 1420572.68
2016-17 150559.98 1484473.55
% Growth 2016-17/ 2015-16 5.61 4.50
IMPORTS
2015-16 194134.02 2120158.57
2016-17 217557.32 2065656.42
% Growth 2016-17/ 2015-16 12.07 -2.57
TRADE BALANCE
2015-16 -51565.71 -699585.89
2016-17 -66997.34 -581182.87
SERVICES TRADE
EXPORTS & IMPORTS (SERVICES) : (US $ Million)
(Provisional) December 2016-17
EXPORTS (Receipts) 13804.00
IMPORTS (Payments) 8294.00
TRADE BALANCE 5510.00
EXPORTS & IMPORTS (SERVICES): (Rs. Crore)
(Provisional) December 2016-17
EXPORTS (Receipts) 93729.71
IMPORTS (Payments) 56316.59
TRADE BALANCE 37413.12

L&T, European co MBDA tie up for missiles

NEW DELHI: Engineering conglomerate L&T entered into a joint venture on Monday with European defence major MBDA to develop and produce new-generation tactical missiles for the Indian armed forces.
L&T will own 51% in the JV , named 'L&T MBDA Missile Systems' to be registered in India, with the European company holding 49%, in keeping with FDI norms in defence. The JV will initially work to develop and supply fifth-generation, anti-tank guided missiles, missiles for coastal defence batteries and high-speed target drones to the Indian forces.
L&T group executive chairman A M Naik said his company also hopes to ink the Army's Rs 4,600-crore contract for 100 tracked, self-propelled guns within a month or so. The K9 Vajra-T Howitzer has been developed by L&T in collaboration with Korean company Samsung Techwin, as was earlier reported by TOI.
As for the JV, Naik said L&T and MBDA, which is the world's largest exporter of missiles, have been already working together for over five years now. "We feel the time has now come to strengthen the partnership for the government's `Make in India' initiative," he said.
MBDA CEO Antoine Bouvier, said, "Our business strategy in India has always been focused on forming partnerships at the deepest level, not just with the armed forces but also with the Indian industry . The setting up of the JV is a natural progression...It's a strategic partnership between India and Europe."
The JV will bid for different military projects under the new IDDM (indigenous design, development and manufacturing) category of the Defence Procurement Procedure of 2016, which has been accorded top-most priority by the government to boost the country's fledgling defence-industrial base.

Modern retail to touch Rs1,71,800 crore by 2019: Report

New Delhi: Modern retail in India is expected to double in size in three years to Rs 1,71,800 crore from the current Rs 87,100 crore across the top six retail markets of the country, largely driven by omni-channel retailing, said a report jointly published by property consultant Knight Frank India and lobby group Retailers Association of India (RAI).
These six markets include NCR (national capital region), Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.
According to the report titled ‘Think India. Think Connected Retail’ based on a survey of 45,000-50,000 shops (including malls and shopping streets) across top six cities, retail stores across the country (online and offline) are reinventing themselves to embrace the idea of omni-channel retailing. Consequently, penetration of modern retail is expected to “see a substantial rise from the current 19% to 24% in three years.” Omni-channel retailing extends to brick-and-mortar stores, smartphones, computers, tablets, direct mails and television.
The emergence of technology and increased use of plastic money and mobile wallets have been the key drivers behind the growth of omni-channel retailing, the report said.
Moreover, with initiatives like foreign direct investment (FDI) retail policy and state-level retail policies where “government is taking up the role of a facilitator to create an environment conducive to the retail business” has further helped the cause.
“The concept of shopping has undergone a tremendous change in terms of retail format and consumer buying behaviour thereby bringing in a new era of modern retail across the country. With the boundaries between offline and online stores blurring, omni-channel retailing is an idea whose time has come,” said Aditya Sachdeva, director, retail at Knight Frank India in a statement.
According to the report, brands which maintain an offline presence across the country have adopted or aspiring to adopt omni-channel strategy in the near future. Department store operator Shoppers Stop Ltd recently launched a Shoppers Stop mobile application and had re-launched its online shopping portal. The company is also looking to increase the contribution of online sales from current 1% to 10% in the next three years.
“Today’s time-poor customers are demanding a seamless navigation across channels. We are working proactively towards delivering an omni-channel experience to the customers,” said Govind Shrikhande, managing director at Shoppers Stop Ltd, in the report.
While brands like GAP, Woodland and Bestseller India-owned Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Only & Selected Homme are following the same strategy, there are others like Swedish fast-fashion brand Hennes and Mauritz AB (H&M) who have decided to focus on just offline stores right now.
“With H&M offering online shopping in 35 markets out of the 64 markets that we are present in, online platform is a natural expansion of our business. We see a great potential for future growth in India in the online space but prefer to focus on retail stores for the moment,” observed Janne Einola country manager, H&M India Retail Pvt Ltd, in the report.

Manohar Parrikar pledges innovation fund to encourage defence start-ups

Bengaluru: The government will create a new technology innovation fund for defence aerospace aimed to prop up start-ups, defence minister Manohar Parrikar said while inaugurating the 11th Aero India show here on Tuesday.
“We are initiating a defence innovation fund with an initial contribution from HAL and BEL,” Parrikar said referring to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), “ The fund will support innovation and technology development in identifying areas and will be open to both Indian and foreign firms,” Parrikar said. He hoped that the fund will propel start-ups.
“The focus will be on start-ups to enable a culture of innovation,” Parrikar said without specifying the quantum.
The government, he said, is committed to revitalizing public sector defence firms.
“The government is committed to an environment for defence. The PSUs are being revitalized,” he said adding the role of private sector is also being expanded.
He said additional steps are underway to support the role of private sector in defence manufacturing as is apparent from several licences given out to the private sector, which is a “clear indication of the trend”.
He said he also expects foreign defence manufacturers to invest in this space and while a lot of liberalization has taken place already “more steps in coming few months” will be taken.
Around 270 Indian and 279 foreign firms are participating in the Aero India show, Asia’s largest.
Parrikar opened the air show with a traditional lamp ceremony followed by fly past and air display by fighter jets including Sukhoi Rafale Tejas and F16s besides other military helicopters.

Isro creates record, launches 104 satellites

New Delhi: India’s space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) successfully launched 104 satellites in a single mission on Wednesday, setting what it says is a world record of launching the most satellites at one go. Of the 104, 101 are foreign satellites to serve international customers as the South Asian nation seeks a bigger share of the $300 billion global space industry.
“This is a great moment for each and everyone of us. Today we have created history,” said project director B. Jayakumar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his congratulations on the launch conducted by the state-run Isro that went off smoothly and was carried live on national TV news channels. “This remarkable feat by ISRO is yet another proud moment for our space scientific community and the nation,” he said. “India salutes our scientists.”
Modi is bullish on India’s space programme and has repeatedly praised the efforts of scientists who three years ago pulled off a low-cost mission to send a probe to orbit Mars that succeeded at the first attempt.
Isro’s low prices attracted international customers to launch 75 satellites last year from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
The launch of PSLV-C37 in a single payload, including the Cartosat-2 series and 103 co-passenger satellites, together weighed over 650kg. Out of 101 nano satellites, 96 were from the United States and one each from Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

Economy to grow at 7.4% next fiscal: Ind-Ra

New Delhi: Indian Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) expects the Indian economy to grow at 7.4 per cent year-on-year in fiscal year 2017-18. The growth will be backed by consumption demand and government spending, leading to a growth of 3 per cent in agriculture sector, 6.1 per cent growth in industries and 9.1 per cent growth in the service sector. The final consumption expenditure is expected to grow at 8.9 per cent for the private sector and 9 per cent for the government. The Current Account Deficit (CAD) is expected to be 1 per cent of the GDP in 2017-18, as compared to 0.9 per cent in 2016-17.

Cairn India to invest US$ 1 billion in five projects to ramp up production

Mumbai: Cairn India Ltd (CIL), part of the Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group, will invest $1 billion in five projects that the company plans to develop shortly, acting chief executive officer, Sudhir Mathur, told analysts after the company's results were announced on 9 February.
"There are about five projects that we are very, very keen to initiate—the Raageshwari Deep Gas (RDG) project; the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) programme at Aishwariya fields, the EOR programme at Bhagyam and Barmer Hill and Aishwariya Barmer Hill, which is a tight oil. The cumulative capital spend could definitely be in excess of a $1 billion," said Mathur.
These projects constitute about 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent to 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent at peak production.
The investment, however, hinges on the extension of the production-sharing contract (PSC) of the Barmer oil and gas block in Rajasthan.
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is a partner in the block with 30% stake. Cairn India holds the rest (70%) in the block.
“Much as we believe that we should get it very soon now, but the projects cannot be viable till 2020, any one of these projects. So that's the only marker that stands in between,” Mathur added.
The Delhi high court had in November had directed the government to take a decision regarding extension of the (PSC) with Cairn India, to produce oil from a Rajasthan block till 2020.
“The government is supposed to come back on February 28, but the hearing subsequent to that is planned for March 31, if required,” Mathur told analysts.
Cairn is also scouting for oilfield service providers who could bring in technology as well as and provide an end-to-end solution or service in order to develop these fields.
“This will help Cairn optimize costs further by attracting a larger number of global oil field service companies with their niche expertise and technologies; provide a better coordination between vendor partners allowing efficient and time bound project execution and targeting a large number of projects simultaneously. The business opportunity is immense,” said Mathur.
The gestation of these projects would range between 16 and 24 months. "So to kick start, we could—possibly all of them at the same time, you could see peak production levels of 70,000 barrels from day one within about 18 months to 19 months," he added.
An analyst with a Mumbai-based domestic brokerage said financing these projects would not be an issue for Cairn India as the company is sitting on an impressive cash pile. Cairn’s free cash flow for the third quarter stood at Rs 15 billion.
Cairn’s revenue for the quarter increased 5% sequentially to Rs 21 billion on account of pickup in the Brent crude prices and improved discount to Brent for Rajasthan crude.
Average Brent price was up 8% over the quarter to $49.3 per barrel, resulting into 10% increase in our overall realization to $46 per barrel.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) stood at Rs 11 billion, highest in past six quarters with a 50% margin. Ebitda is an indication of a company’s profitability.
Net profit after tax stood at Rs 6 billion, a drop of 22% quarter-on-quarter. “The decline was largely due to foreign exchange and higher effective tax rate, which is only partially offset by the higher ebitda and lower depreciation,” the company said on the analyst call.

Govt allocates Rs 13,000 crore to DoT for BharatNet and NFS

New Delhi: As per the Output-Outcome Framework for Schemes 2017, 150,000 gram panchayats (GPs) will receive high speed broadband connectivity in 2017-18 on account of Rs 10,000 crore (US$ 1.94 billion) allocation by the government to the Department of Telecommunication (DoT). In addition, Rs 3,000 crore (US$ 448 million) has been set aside for laying optical fibre cable (OFC) and procuring equipment for the Network For Spectrum (NFS) project in 2017-18.

Early-stage start-ups will look to raise US$ 800 million in 2017: report

Bengaluru: Early-stage start-ups will seek to raise at least $800 million in 2017 as they stop blindly chasing growth and start looking for profitability, a report by venture debt firm InnoVen Capital said.
Venture capital funding in Indian start-ups last year plummeted by almost one-third from the heydays of 2015 and 2014, when venture capital firms queued up to invest at high valuations. According to a separate report by KPMG and CB Insights, a start-up intelligence firm, Indian start-ups raised $3.3 billion in 2016 across 859 deals, as against $8.2 billion across 890 deals in the previous year.
According to the survey by InnoVen Capital, the slowdown in funding was palpable with about 63% of the 175 respondents—founders of bootstrapped, angel-funded or series A and B start-ups—described the fund-raising experience last year as “unfavourable”. About 7% of the start-ups raised a bridge round, 9% ended up raising a sub-optimal round from new investors while 15% of the start-ups failed to raise any money.
“The environment is clearly pointing out that investors are becoming cautious about where to invest. This year won’t be too much different. Investors will invest in companies which have a path towards profitability or at least understand how to move towards profitability. Money is there and will continue to be there for companies which have scaled,” said Ajay Hattangdi, group chief operating officer and chief executive officer (India) of InnoVen.
About 94% of the respondents said they will try to raise money in 2017.
“There is also money available for great ideas. Where there will be relatively less money is companies which have missed milestones or me-too models which will have difficulty to differentiate,” he added.
Apart from demanding that start-ups slow expansion, slash costs and cut discounts, many venture capital firms are setting performance milestones; some investors are only releasing funds in instalments, Mint reported in January last year.
The slowdown in funding has also prompted many start-ups to shut shop or sell out to larger rivals. According to Tracxn, a start-up tracker, as many as 212 start-ups closed down in 2016, including grocery delivery start-up Peppertap and food delivery start-up Tinyowl, against 140 the previous year.
According to the InnoVen Capital report, about 53% of the start-ups with annual revenue of more than $1 million will focus on profitability this year, while the corresponding number for start-ups with more than $10 million in annual revenue stands at 75%. About 80% of the start-ups expect to turn profitable in the next two years.
The report also states that about one-third of the respondents expect to give an exit to investors through mergers and acquisitions, an indication that consolidation is likely to be the flavour of the season in 2017. To be sure, there were about 162 M&As in 2016, including Flipkart’s acquisition of fashion portal Jabong and MakeMyTrip’s acquisition of Ibibo Group’s India travel business, and 150 the previous year, according to Tracxn,
“Consolidation will happen. India until now hasn’t been an acquisitive market. At this point, there is a certain level of maturity among the companies. When they see a competitor being available for a particular price, it is a matter of time that people will see an opportunity in buying them out,” said Hattangdi.

Aero India starts in Bengaluru today, to focus on Make on India

New Delhi: The 11th edition of the Aero India air show which starts in Bengaluru on Tuesday is expected to be one of the largest in recent years, with a focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative.
Around 270 Indian and 279 foreign firms are slated to participate in the event where some major companies, including Airbus and Boeing Co, are expected to sign deals under the Make in India banner.
“It is expected that two lakh business visitors will attend the show. The gross area (of the show) has also increased from 2,50,000 sq. m to 2,60,000 sq. m,” the ministry of defence said in a statement.
While Modi had inaugurated the previous Bengaluru air show in 2015, defence minister Manohar Parrikar is likely to open it this year as the event coincides with election activity in several states.
The highlight of the show at the city’s Yelahanka Air Force Station will be fighter jets that make up a large part of the 72 aircraft being showcased. Among these will be Rafale fighter jets made by French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation SA. India bought 36 of these aircraft for an estimated $8.9 billion last year in a deal that has been negotiated several times over the years.
Dassault Aviation said three fighter jets will participate—one single-seat Rafale C and two of the two-seat Rafale B.
Rafale planes have been used by the French armed forces in combat operations for more than a decade. They entered service with the French Navy in 2004 and the Air Force in 2006. Some of the 152 planes delivered so far have been used in combat in Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, Iraq and Syria.
India had started hunting for multi-role fighter jets in 2007 but later decided to scrap that tender, instead announcing that it would buy Rafale jets from France under a government-to-government deal agreed during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Paris in 2015.
The combat aircraft—delivery of which is expected to begin in September 2019 and be completed by April, 2022—come equipped with state-of-the-art missiles such as Meteor and Scalp, according to the defence ministry.
With the air-to-air Meteor missiles, the Indian Air Force will be able to hit targets as distant as 150km, compared with the 80km it was so far capable of targeting. Scalp, an air-to-ground cruise missile with a range in excess of 300km, will also give IAF an edge over adversaries.
“Demonstrating Rafale’s capabilities in Aero India reaffirms our total commitment to India’s sovereignty. We have had a long standing relationship with Indian Air Force and industry and, thanks to the unmatched capabilities of the Rafale and to our full involvement in the innovative approach of the “Make in India” initiative, we are entirely dedicated to partner India in meeting its strategic defence and economic needs,” Eric Trappier, chairman and chief executive of Dassault Aviation said in a statement.
The Russian Sukhoi 30MKI, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT) Hawks are also likely to be present at the show.
But all eyes will be on American F-16s and Swedish Saab fighter jet Gripen E and its naval variant Gripen Maritime. Both companies are vying to bag the next multi-billion order from India under the so-called strategic partnership model according to which the manufacturer will be asked to set up an assembly line in India.
Airbus said it will showcase its H130 chopper ambulance on static display.
“The future of Indian aerospace and defence industry rests on the realization of the ‘Make in India’ vision. I look forward to having conversations around the topic at Aero India,” said Pierre de Bausset, president and managing director at Airbus India.
“We have partnered with Tata and Mahindra and are working with a host of other companies to script ‘Make in India’ success stories,” he added.
The firm said it procures about $500 million (about Rs3,400 crore) worth of products from India annually from around 45 suppliers, generating local employment for more than 6,000 people.
The Tata Group said all its key firms will participate in the event, including Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Advanced Materials Ltd, Tata Motors Ltd, Titan Co. Ltd, Tata Steel (Specialty Steel business in Europe), TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd and Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division.
The five-day show will have exhibitors from the US, France, UK, Russia, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Ukraine, Singapore, Sweden, Spain, South Africa, Italy, the UAE, South Korea, Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, Canada, Australia, Poland and Greece.
Indian Air Force’s Sarang Team,the Surya Kiran Team, the Scandinavian Air Show Team from Sweden and the Evolvkos Aerobatic Team from the UK will perform aerobatics at the show.
Aero India, which began in 1996, has become one of the largest air shows in Asia. This show is followed by one in Abu Dhabi and most international players move on to showcase their military ware there over the weekend.

Government IT spending in 2017 to grow 9.5% to US$ 7.8 billion: Gartner

New Delhi: The government in India is forecast to spend $7.8 billion on information technology (IT) in 2017, an increase of 9.5% over 2016, according to IT researcher Gartner Inc. This forecast includes spending on internal services, software, IT services, data centre systems, devices and telecom services. Government comprises state and local governments and the central government.
The software segment includes enterprise resource planning , supply chain management, customer resource management, desktop, infrastructure, vertical specific software and other application tools. The software segment is expected to grow 15.7% in 2017 to reach $1 billion. Desktop will be the fastest growing segment with 16% growth in this category.
IT services (which includes consulting, software support, business process outsourcing, IT outsourcing, implementation, and hardware support) is expected to grow 14.6% in 2017 to reach $2 billion, making it the largest segment within the IT spending category.
“Government spending on IT services will total $2,093 million in 2017, a 15% increase from 2016,” said Moutusi Sau, principal research analyst at Gartner. “The IT services market is led by growth in business process outsourcing.”

For Suzuki, India revenues beat Japan's

New Delhi: The strong double-digit ride is set to make India a bigger market for Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) in value than Japan, its home market. SMC’s Indian subsidiary, Maruti Suzuki, already sells more vehicles than SMC in Japan, and enjoys a greater market capitalisation over its parent. SMC is faced with a declining market in Japan, whereas its Indian subsidiary is seeing a capacity constraint, leading to a waiting period of several months for some of its best-selling models.
On overtaking SMC’s Japan revenue in the near future, Maruti Suzuki chairman R C Bhargava said, “This is not something that will come as a surprise to us. The home market of Suzuki (Japan) is stagnant. Our numbers will continue to grow faster.”
The sales revenue gap between Suzuki’s Japan and India operations narrowed down to $600 million in FY16, from $2.55 billion in FY15. In these two years, SMC’s Japan revenue grew 2 per cent to $9.29 billion, while Suzuki’s India net sales went up 33 per cent from $6.55 billion to $8.69 billion, data from SMC showed. This reduced the gap in revenue between Japan and India. Both SMC and Maruti Suzuki follow the April-March financial year.
SMC’s Japan revenue and India revenue also include its two-wheeler business, though Maruti Suzuki only operates the passenger vehicle business and the two-wheeler business is a separate subsidiary. The two-wheeler business is much smaller in India and accounts for annual revenue of about Rs 1,900 crore or about $280 million.
In the first quarter of the current financial year, SMC’s Japan revenue grew by a mere 1.1 per cent to 250 billion yen. This translates to Rs 15,625 crore. Maruti Suzuki’s net sales in the same quarter rose 12 per cent to Rs 14,654 crore. If we include the quarterly two-wheeler revenue of Rs 500 crore (approximately), the India revenue exceeds Rs 15,000 crore in Q1.
The Indian subsidiary’s net sales in the first half (H1) increased 21 per cent to Rs 32,280 crore as it sold 10.4 per cent more vehicles than the previous year. Other than the volume increase, a better product mix and lower discounts improved Maruti’s average realisation per vehicle in H1, FY17 to Rs 4,21,000, up 9.64 per cent from FY16, and contributed to higher sales revenue.
While SMC is yet to announce its Q2 results, Maruti Suzuki’s Q2 net sales have surged over 29 per cent to Rs 17,594 crore. SMC’s production in Japan declined 10.6 per cent during H1, due to declining sales in both domestic and export markets. With this decline, the H1 revenue from Japan is estimated to be at par or even lower to the India.
The H2 of the year will be more interesting and Maruti Suzuki’s capacity constraint will get eased with the commencement of production at its Gujarat unit in January next year. The new plant, in the first phase, will add an annual capacity of 250,000 units to the existing capacity of 1.5 million units between the company’s two plants at Gurgaon and Manesar in Haryana. The third plant will further expand Maruti’s volume and sales revenue.

Sundaram Clayton to invest in US plant; expand in India too

Chennai: Automotive castings company, Sundaram Clayton, part of the TVS group, on Thursday said it was investing $50 million to set up a greenfield factory in the US, in sync with Trump administration's call to set up factories in America. In addition, the company has announced a Rs 400 crore expansion plan for its Indian operations.
"This is our first overseas venture," said Lakshmi Venu, joint MD of Sundaram Clayton. The plant will come up in Dorchester county in South Carolina across 50 acres. It will make high pressure die cast and gravity cast parts. Construction at the site is expected to begin by April and first production would be ready for roll out by end of 2018.
She denied it was after US president Trump's protectionist policies. "We have been planning for the past two years, We are following our clients who want changes to our existing supply chain," she said. Changing automotive dynamics are forcing companies to shorten supply chains. There will also be benefits on carbon footprint for the company.
Sundaram Clayton will also expand its capacities across its four plants in India. "We will invest nearly Rs 400 crore in the next three years for our Indian operations,' Venu said.
She said all the funding required for both projects would be through a mix of equity and debt. Upon completion of expansion, the Indian operations can make 70,000 tonnes of aluminum castings, up from 60,000 tonnes. "We are very bullish on India story. Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, we have completed an investment of Rs 408 crore in adding capacities across the three Chennai plants and one Hosur plant," she added.
The company, which ended March 2016 with revenues of Rs 1,523 crore said its export basket contributed to 40% of total revenues of which 60% of the exports were to the US.
Sundaram-Clayton is a manufacturer of aluminum die cast products catering to the automotive industry.
It is part of $7 billion TVS group, one of the largest automotive and automotive component manufacturing and distribution groups in India, besides being the holding company for two wheeler maker TVS Motor.

January sees 3-fold growth in M&A deals: report

New Delhi: Merger and Acquisitions (M&A) activity in January 2017 witnessed deals of around US$ 2.3 billion, which is nearly three times the deals signed in January 2016. The rise was seen in both deal value and volumes with 45 M&A deals worth US$ 2,364 million in January 2017, compared to 42 transactions amounting to US$ 827 million in January 2016 heavily backed by big ticket consolidation in the domestic deal activity with 23 transactions worth US$ 1.6 billion announced in January 2017. Over 55 per cent of the total deal value was led by energy and natural resources sector, while 22 per cent of the total deal volumes was led by start-ups.

Draft rules for digital payment to be released soon for public consultation: Ravi Shankar Prasad

New Delhi: With the increasing rise in the digital payments especially new age methods such as wallets, the ministry of electronics and IT is working on draft rules for digital payments which will deal with "consumer interests" and "security concerns." Ravi Shankar Prasad, union minister for electronics and IT said on Friday that the paper will be put up for public consultation soon.
Currently, digital payment companies are governed by Reserve Bank of India and these rules will be formed in consultation with the Central Bank. "The idea is that the consumer interest is protected and we should grow this business in an orderly manner," Aruna Sundararajan, secretary, ministry of electronics and IT said. She added that three rounds of workshop has already happened by the wallet companies and other stakeholders and some "gaps" have been identified. "If wallets have to grow as an instrument, issues such as what is the liability of the service provider, how the data is being protected, what the grievance redressal means have to be addressed," she added.
The government's demonitisation exercise announced on November 8 has given a huge push to digital payments in the country. Prasad also said that electronic payments saw an increase of 195% in terms of volume and 54% by value between October-January. Aadhaar-enabled payments, which would require just a person's biometric would be started later this month.
"Two years ago, the Narendra Modi government promised that this government will be known for building digital highways, we are clearly moving in that direction," said Prasad. India is becoming a hub of mobile manufacturing with a total of 72 manufacturers making their presence in the country. Till date, 42 mobile phones and 30 components makers have commenced manufacturing operations in the country. “India is changing from consumer of electronics to a manufacturer of electronics,” Prasad said.
On recent concerns raised by Donald Trump-led US government about the use of H-1B visa by Indian IT companies, Prasad said that the ministry was closely coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs, which has communicated its stand to their counterparts in the US administration.
We are coordinating with the companies together with Nasscom and we need to take a coordinated approach on the visa issue, he added. “IT companies and entrepreneurs have done a tremendous job. Indian companies in the US pay $20 billion in tax to the US government,” Prasad said. Companies have created more than 4,00,000 employment opportunities in America while providing high quality services Fortune 500 companies. “Hence, it can be expected the problems will be resolved soon,” Prasad said.

Govt to double income of farmers by 2021-22

New Delhi: The government might ask the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) to assess farmers’ income once every five years, instead of the current practice of every 10 years.
This is part of the stated objective of doubling farmers’ income by 2021-22. A senior official said the Centre is aiming at the real income of farmers, adjusted for inflation. The base year would be the 2016-17 financial year, ending next month.
The earlier such NSSO study was in 2012-13. This showed the nominal (not adjusted for inflation) income of farmers usually doubles every six years. It pegged the income at Rs 6,426 a month in 2012-13 as against Rs 2,115 a month in 2002-03, annual increase of 11.7 per cent.
For real incomes of farmers’ to double by 2021-22, agriculture and allied activities need to grow at a much faster rate than the current average.
The official clarified that when the government talked of doubling agriculture income, it does not mean only from the crop sector but the gamut of economic activities in which farmers are engaged, including masonry, during their off-season. “We (mean) joining a whole lot of economic activities and processes like providing a proper market for agricultural commodities, proper utilisation of fallow land, horticulture and so on,” the official explained.
He said Gross Domestic Product data on agriculture and allied activity also gives a fair idea of farmer income and could be used to track the rise or change. The sector’s size was Rs 16.7 lakh crore in 2016-17, according to advance estimates from the Central Statistics Office.
To achieve all this, the Centre has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of an additional secretary in the ministry of agriculture. It will determine the growth rate needed to double farmers’ or agricultural labourers’ income in five years. “We are working on various aspects and will come out with a full-fledged strategy to accomplish the objective,” the official added. He said sub-groups were working on issues like ways to improve the cold chain network, crop productivity, how to expand horticulture, other crops, animal husbandry, etc.
“The report, which can be expected in the next few months, will have implementable strategies on all aspects of agriculture, which together will double farmers’ income,” he added.

Passenger vehicle sales recover from demonetisation jitters

New Delhi: Sales of passenger vehicles grew the fastest in four months in January with consumers appearing to have shrugged off the impact of demonetisation. Sales of two- and three-wheelers, however, continued to decline.
Sales of passenger vehicles, including vans, cars and utility vehicles, in January grew 14.4% from a year ago to 265,000 units, according to data compiled by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). The segment grew 19.9% in September.
Sales declined across all other segments for the second month in a row. Two- and three-wheeler sales, which happen mostly through cash transactions, continued to reel from the impact of the invalidation of older high value currency notes in early November.
Two-wheeler sales declined 7.39% to 1.26 million while those of three-wheelers declined 28.2% to 31,345 units. Sales of commercial vehicles fell 0.72% to 61,239 units.
Siam expressed hope that the impact of demonetisation would be over in a couple of months.
“Demonetisation impact is over in the passenger vehicle segment at least. It has the potential to reach double digit growth this fiscal,” said Vishnu Mathur, director general, Siam, adding that same may not be true for the overall industry. In the 10 months to 31 January, sales of passenger vehicles have grown 9.17% to 2.5 million units over the same period in 2015-16.
“For the overall industry to grow at 10%, two-wheeler industry will have to pick up,” Mathur said.
To be sure, the numbers are wholesale figures—company dispatches to dealerships—and not sales to end-users.
Abdul Majeed, partner and national auto practice leader, PwC attributed the increase in passenger vehicle sales in January to increase in dispatches to dealers of new models that have a waiting period. “The two wheeler and commercial vehicles segment has reduced growth due to the impact of demonetisation, especially in the rural markets,” he added.
Majeed said customers are still cautious about buying new vehicles given uncertainties over economic growth.
“This quarter will be challenging for the overall growth of the automotive industry, but growth is expected to pick up in the third quarter of 2017,” he added.

India-UK Deal to Allow More Flights to Boost Tourism and Trade for Global India & Britain

New Delhi: India and the UK signed a MoU to ease restrictions on the number of scheduled flights between the two countries, following successful talks in India this week. Limits on flights from key Indian cities including Chennai and Kolkata have been scrapped, allowing for a greater range of flights for passengers while providing a boost to trade and tourism for the UK and India. Building new links with important trading partners is a key part of the government’s plans for a Global Britain, opening up new export markets and creating jobs and economic growth. The agreement also opened all destinations in the UK for Indian carriers for code share flights, and reciprocally the UK carriers can also operate code share flights to any International Airport in India, through domestic code share arrangements.
The agreement was formally signed by Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, on behalf of India and Lord Ahmad of U.K. during a visit to India where he led a delegation of British companies for the 2017 CAPA India Aviation Summit.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, said “The increase in number of flights between the UK and India is encouraging news for our businesses and tourists. We already enjoy strong ties with the UK and we welcome such continued association which in the long run will not only encourage business activity, but also people-to-people contact. I am sure that this agreement will bring direct and indirect benefits to many sectors of the economies of our two countries”.
Tourism from India makes an important contribution to the UK economy. In 2015, there were 422,000 visits from India to the UK, bringing more than £433 million to the economy.
Aviation Minister of U.K., Lord Ahmad said: “India is one of our closest allies and key trading partners and this new agreement will only serve to strengthen this crucial relationship. We are unlocking new trade and tourism opportunities which will boost our economies, create new jobs and open up new business links. This is great news for both the UK and India and is yet another sign that we are open for business and ready to build and strengthen our trade links.”
India is a rapidly expanding and important market for aviation and the agreement signed today will allow airlines to develop new services and air routes. The final decision on additional flights between the UK and India is a commercial one for airlines.

EU, India keen to deepen strategic partnership

Brussels: The European Union and India underlined their desire on Thursday to strengthen strategic partnership and to boost cooperation in many sectors, including political, security, trade, economy, human rights and environment.
"India is one of our four strategic partners in Asia. We want to build our relationship further to reflect the strategic nature of this partnership. We have had some difficult years behind us," said Gunnar Wiegand, Managing Director, Asia and Pacific, in the EU foreign service, known as the European External Action Service.
He was speaking at a debate on EU-India relations, hosted by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels.
"The strategic partnership is currently being shaped in a very tangible and complex global and European environment," he said referring to the Brexit referendum and to the new US administration.
"...We have agreed on an ambitious EU-India Action Plan 2020 on a broad range of common issues," said Wiegand.
He called for more EU-India cooperation on key global issues in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and to strengthen trade and investment partnership, adding that the EU remains committed to a broad and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement.
The top EU diplomat also called for more high-level visits from India to Brussels.
Addressing the debate, India's ambassador to the EU, Manjeev Singh Puri, said: "The EU and India are the largest bastions of democracy. We need to come together and work to make things better for ourselves and the world. I believe we have a vested interests with each other.
"The European Union and India have a joint and shared interest in multipolarity and have a shared and joint interest in discharging global responsibility," he stated.
Puri noted that the EU and India agreed on a strategic partnership in 2004 and underlined that the two sides are cooperating in several areas, including security and counter-terrorism.
The last EU-India summit was held in Brussels in March 2016, just a week after the horrendous terror attacks in the Belgian capital.
Puri said that the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Brussels last March was a very important sign to stress India's solidarity in the fight against terrorism.
He said the EU and India have been negotiating a broad-based trade and investment agreement for several years and recently high-level talks were held to re-launch these negotiations.
An EU-India summit is planned to be held in New Delhi later this year.
On his part, Geoffrey Van Orden, the chair of the European Parliament's delegation for ties with India, argued that "India, in spite of the fine words and cliches that we hear, is a much neglected country in terms of our EU relationship.
"Although there are strong bilateral relations, it is also neglected in terms of bilateral relations. There is so much more to be done."
He said talks are continuing to establish an EU-India friendship group in the Lok Sabha and said that members of the delegation will be visiting India shortly. Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament are also expected to visit India later this month.
Two British Members of the European Parliament of Pakistani origin, Afzal Khan and Amjad Bashir, raised the issue of Kashmir during the debate. In reply, the Indian ambassador stressed that "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India".
"My suggestion to you would be to tell the country of your birth to stop fomenting terror, stop being an epicentre of global terrorism and stop trying to export it across," added Puri.

Horticulture output to exceed foodgrain yield

New Delhi: India’s horticulture production, at around 287.32 million tonnes, will continue to outstrip that of foodgrain by a good margin in 2016-17 also, even as vegetables might see just a marginal decline.
Foodgrain production is projected to be more than 270 million tonnes.
Under horticulture, fruit production in 2016-17 is expected to be 91.72 million tonnes, against 90.18 million tonnes last year.
Vegetables production in 2016-17, according to the first advanced estimates, is expected to touch 168.59 million tonnes, against 169.06 million tonnes in 2015-16, a fall of less one per cent.
The other items include plantation crops, spices and flowers.
Horticulture production has been more than foodgrain output for the past few years even when the country faced back-to-back droughts in 2014 and 2015.
Kharif grain production, according to the first advanced estimates, was around 135.03 million tonnes, the highest ever, while rabi output could also be good on the back of a record rise in the wheat and pulses area.
Though India’s horticulture output has been growing steadily for the last few years, it is much less than that of China.
That apart, the processing of horticulture produce is low in India as compared to China.
A study by YES Bank a few years ago showed that India has only two per cent of the products in temperature-controlled conditions, while in China the corresponding figure is 15 per cent. In Europe and North America it is 85 per cent.
Cold storage facilities are available for just around 10 per cent of horticulture production in the country and 30-40 per cent of the annual production is wasted before consumption.
In 2009, China processed around 30 per cent of the food (fruit and vegetables), while in India it is far less.

Luxury brand Faberge enters India

New Delhi: It defined elegance at Russia’s last imperial court, added sheen to museums in continental Europe with its Easter eggs, and has long been at Her Majesty’s service. That bespoke service is now available in India, the latest market for London’s ultra-luxury jeweler for the super-rich, Faberge.
Owned by the world’s top emeralds and rubies-miner Gemfields Plc., Faberge is the latest in a swelling list of global luxury brands such as Burberry and Rolex to enter India, where economic expansion is spawning more billionaires than in Japan, the traditional bastion of ultra-rich in Asia. Delhi and Mumbai, India’s economic hotspots, will be Faberge’s beachhead in the country, where the jeweler will sell its products by select trunk shows for the uber-rich.
“India and other Asian markets have tremendous potential going by the reactions we got in the last few days. The relationship with Gemfields gives us a leg-up in our ability to deliver wonderful pieces. Asia has largely been an unexplored area for us and expect the next phase of growth to come from the region,” said Sean Gilbertson, CEO of Faberge.
The jeweler, which retails through 39 multi-brand outlets including Mayfair and Harrods will hold more such trunk shows in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Products sold in India include a selection of coloured gemstones, emeralds rubies, and sapphires, and timepieces including the award-winning Lady Compliquee peacock watch. Prices range from $5000 to $3 million.
Founded in 1842, Fabergé has been one of the most reknowned brands in the world of jewelry since Peter Carl Fabergé became the official goldsmith to the Russian Imperial Court.
In its quarterly report for the period ending December, Gemfields stated Faberge’s sales transactions for the period ending 31st December 2016 increased by 48% compared to the same period in 2015, while the average selling price per piece increased by 12% over the same period.
Faberge will open two new outlets this year. Gilbertson said the brand has not been as affected by the overall slowdown in the luxury market as it deals with a smaller clientele, and its average selling price is extraordinarily high compared with most other brands.

852 Solar PV based Projects Operational Under of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana

New Delhi: A total of 852 projects (based on Solar PV) have been operational under Decentralized Distributed Generation (DDG) of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) implemented by Ministry of Power as on 31.01.2017. This was stated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, Mines New & Renewable Energy and Mines in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Budget 2017 seeks to revive public investments in agriculture: Nabard chief

New Delhi: The budget has tasked the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), India’s apex bank for rural finance, with supporting irrigation and dairy schemes totalling Rs35,000 crore. According to Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, chairman of Nabard, these measures will revive public investments in agriculture, and rejuvenate the dairy sector where processing infrastructure is outdated. Edited excerpts from an interview:
How do you perceive this year’s budget announcements for the rural and agriculture sector?
For the rural and agriculture sector, the budget is futuristic. For several years, public investment in agriculture was going down. It used to be very high during the Green Revolution years (in the 1960s), but recent estimates suggest nearly 80% of it is private investment (by farmers or rural entrepreneurs). This year, lots of public investment in irrigation and dairy is a positive sign. While the long-term irrigation fund (Rs 40,000 crore corpus announced in the past two budgets) will make available large volumes of water, the micro-irrigation fund (Rs 5,000 crore) will help in efficient use of that water.
From a farmers’ income point of view, dairy will play a critical role. Our dairy processing infrastructure is outdated and requires rejuvenation. India is the largest producer of milk but only 20% of it goes for organized processing. We require larger processing capacities and whatever exists now is Operation Flood investments from 1970s and 1980s. So, the dairy processing fund announced in the budget (Rs 5,000 crore under Nabard) is a timely move.
For small and marginal farmers, a model law on contract farming (proposed in the budget) will allow for collectivization of cultivation so that scale of operations (farming) can go up and investments are made.
The budget tasked Nabard with schemes totalling Rs 35,000 crore for irrigation, dairy and cooperative banks. How will these take off ? Last year’s budget gave Nabard charge of a Rs 20,000 crore long-term irrigation fund. How much did you borrow and allocate to states?
Most of the funds will be raised from the market and advanced as loans to states and central government agencies. The idea is to make large funds available upfront, than say, allocate Rs 4,000 crore every year, for the next few years. This will help finish pending irrigation projects on time. The centre will service the interest on these market borrowings and repay the principal amount (for its share) to Nabard. States will allocate the funds they borrow from us directly to complete the projects. They will have to repay the borrowed funds within 15 years.
We have raised and disbursed Rs 5,600 crore to state governments for the long-term irrigation fund, and expect it to reach Rs 12,000 crore by year end (March 2017) depending on how projects are progressing.
Will Nabard also monitor progress of these projects?
Nabard does milestone-based funding. This means instalments are made available on satisfactory progress based on previous allocations. We have a monitoring arrangement and that’s why completion rates of projects that we are funding are higher.
That’s a lot of responsibility. Do you think the budget has entrusted Nabard with more tasks, than say, the agriculture ministry?
Nabard cannot do anything on its own. We work with state and central government departments. They need us for fund-raising upfront as there is a limitation on raising resources within one year. We are as much a part of the government as the department of agriculture is.

We should see early revival of pvt investment: Uday Kotak, Kotak Mahindra Bank

New Delhi: India presents probably the best opportunities among global markets, but the risks to those materialising are high because of the changes in the West that are undermining liberal economic and political values, Uday Kotak, executive vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, tells ET. Kotak was speaking at Kotak Institutional Equities, annual global investor conference — Chasing Growth 2017. Edited excerpts.
How are you reading the change in policy stance by the central bank?
I think the most important point, as I see in the monetary policy, is that we are moving to a neutral position. I think that is even more important and reflective than the fact that there has been no decrease in repo rates. A neutral position in my mind has important characteristics, one is the rate itself which can, from here on, go up or down and the second is liquidity. If the total liquidity in the system is about Rs 6.5 lakh crore, some of that will go out by increase in currency in circulation. Now, we have roughly Rs 10 lakh crore; if currency in circulation goes up to Rs 12-13 lakh crore, that reduces surplus liquidity. But what does neutral stance mean for liquidity? Does it mean surplus liquidity of not more than Rs 1,00,000 crore, or Rs 50,000 crore, and what is the implication of that? I think there has been a lot of focus on neutral position from the point of view of ability to move interest rates in either direction, but the thing that we would really watch out for is also what neutral position means from the point of view of system-level liquidity. Because it has equal, if not more, implications on where interest rates in the money markets stabilise. And some of that is having an impact on the yields as well.
What is the impact on growth?
You have to look at growth in a slightly different context. The key issue on growth in my mind is about private investment and that is where our challenge is. As long as interest rates are in reasonable control, private investment in my view will start picking up once you see better capacity utilisation. And, my personal view is that by the end of the calendar year, we should see early revival of private investment, provided interest rates are under reasonable control.
From an equity investor point of view, how should they view India?
India is relatively, from an equity investor point of view, in a sweet spot. Our macro is in good shape, we are less dependent on the world other than IT and pharma. We are much more a domestic economy and investors like that. I believe formal domestic savings plus global savings should be in India’s favour.
With Trump taking charge, do you believe that the established world economic order is changing?
If you see post-World War II, the first mega trend you saw for a period of 35-40 years was the Socialist-Communist model and that model peaked in the 60s. In the early 70s, the world started seeing early trouble with this mega trend. And by the end of 70s, countries began to move away from that model. The second mega trend started in 1985, where marketbased economy, economic liberalism and globalisation became the mega trend — from mid-80s to 2015. People, who saw the second mega trend, know that the Communist-Socialist order doesn’t work in the real world, because as you focus disproportionately on distribution of cake, you’re destroying the growth of the cake. The question now is if 2016 is a turning point for the next mega trend?
What is the next mega trend?
The mega trend is back to protectionism and anti-globalisation. Therefore, whether it’s Brexit, whether it’s Trump or what you see in Europe is that the beginning of a mega trend, which is the mega trend 3. The biggest discussion at Davos (World Economic Forum) was about this mega trend 3. At this stage, the world view is that this is noise and not the mega trend 3. People are saying this is 3-4 years of noise, but ultimately, people will realise that the mega trend 1actually did not lead to prosperity. Now, this is hope. You know when a trend starts gaining momentum, it’s not controllable.
How do you think India should handle US President Donald Trump?
I am sure that India has got a strategy for it … But I have heard that companies like (Chinese ecommerce giant) Alibaba went and met Trump with some of its advisers who had deep relations in the US and who they had hired well before. I believe (Alibaba’s chairman) Jack Ma met Trump on January 9th … India is doing governmentto-government dialogue. India really needs to get the right set of private sector — may be non-resident Indians who may already have linkages and have supported him. That could be a good route.
You spoke about investments returning by the end of the year, but the RBI and even the Economic Survey talked about the twin balance sheet problem (stress on both banks and companies). So, how does it change by the end of the year?
One of the biggest challenges in India continues to be how you manage the issue of stress on bank balance sheet which has been there for a long time. We have talked about it year after year and it has not improved. My view is that as regards to stress, whatever has got into the ditch is remaining in the ditch. It is further complicated by some of the situations which is slowing down decision-making at PSU banks. If decisions don’t get taken and there is always a lot of fear … and if something is in the ditch, how do you get it out?
There have been reports about a possible merger with Axis Bank. Is it on the cards?
First, let me say that as a policy we do not comment on rumours and speculation. The core of any company is to focus on value creation and the ability to say ‘yes’ when there is a value-creating opportunity and ‘no’ when there is not a value-creating opportunity. Our approach to looking at anything is does it make sense for our shareholders, does it add value, is it sustainable and can we deliver superior returns to our stakeholders. That is how we think about any opportunity and obviously it goes without saying that if there is something which makes sense for us we will always keep an open mind and if there is something we need to disclose to the market we will be out there disclosing it at the right time. We are evaluating a variety of options as a bank. At this stage, there is nothing which we have come to a point where we think we should be coming out and telling you, ‘listen here is something really great’. We are looking at various options across financial services and we are looking at various options for creation of value for our stakeholders in whatever shape or form it comes.
How are you viewing the financial services sector in India?
I am very optimistic about financial services in India. I believe there is significant growth. The financial services industry in India is a huge beneficiary of the formal financial sector growth at the cost of real estate and gold. I am optimistic about financial services across the board — banking, asset management, life insurance, securities and investment banking. This is driven for two reasons. First, movement of household savings now into financial savings and second, deepening of Indian markets. For a mutual fund industry, which is growing at 30%, it is a phenomenal growth.

Tesla may enter India this summer: Elon Musk

New Delhi: Electric car maker Tesla Inc. is likely to introduce its products in India sometime in the summer of 2017, its chief executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday.
“Hoping for summer this year,” Musk said about his company’s expected launch in India, responding to a query on Twitter.
Tesla’s much anticipated Model 3, which is positioned as a mass-market, affordable car, will be retailed at $35,000 in the US. Some Indians have also booked it by paying an advance of $1,000. The Economic Times newspaper reported in April that Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of mobile wallet company Paytm; venture capitalist Mahesh Murthy; Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO of wearable and fitness technology company GOQii; and Sujayath Ali, CEO of online fashion platform Voonik, were among those who tweeted about booking the Model 3.
Sales of electric vehicles in India rose 37.5% to 22,000 units in the year ended 31 March 2016, according to industry lobby group Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles. Just 2,000 units were electric cars. To put that in perspective, non-electric car sales rose 7.87% from the previous year to 2.025 million units in the year ended 31 March 2016, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
At these levels, India has far to go from the six-million by 2020 target set under National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 and FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles).
An electric vehicle consortium formed by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Tata Motors Ltd and Ford India Pvt. Ltd has collapsed with Maruti and Ford pulling out of it.
The coming of Tesla will not prop up sales of electric vehicles in India, but it will create an aura that will augur well for the electric vehicles industry, said Abdul Majeed, partner and national auto practice leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.