Organic product export expected to surge

New Delhi: Export of organically made products, both food and nonfood, is likely to grow threefold in the four years to 2020, following the government's relaxation on quota limits.
According to the Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), Indian farmers produced around 1.35 million tonnes (mt) of certified organic products in 2015-16 which include all varieties of food products namely sugarcane. Of this, export was 263,687 tonnes, worth $298 million (~1,900 crore).
Through a notification dated April 19, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade liberalised the quantitative restrictions on export of such products.
“Perhaps the government had imposed such restrictions for ensuring food security at home. But, these were only discouraging farmers from intensifying work on organic products. We, therefore, had urged the government to liberalise the restrictions,” said Manoj Menon, executive director of Indian Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture, a Bengalurubased network.
It believes the overall market of ~4,000 crore under the organic value chain would hit ~10,000 to 12,000 crore by 2020, with similar increase in export.
While export of organic wheat, non-basmati rice, edible oils and sugar have been exempted from all annual quantitative ceilings with immediate effect, those on pulses and lentils has been increased from 10,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes.
Farmer export is largely to Europe, Canada and West Asia. Oilseeds were half of India’s overall organic export, followed by processed food products at 25 per cent.
“Farmers tend to see low productivity and thereby low income for at least three years if they switch, from conventional or hybrid farming. Since organic farming does not use chemicals and fertiliser, the only way farmers can be compensated is through premiums for their produce. In fact, Indian organic products like tea, vegetables and pulses fetch much higher premium from markets abroad than conventional and hybrid products there,” said a senior industry official. The difference is up to 100 per cent.
With around 50 per cent of market share, America is the biggest market for global organic produce, worth $80 billion. The area under organic certification in India was 5.71 million hectares in 201516. Of this, about a fourth (1.49 million hectares) was cultivated area and the rest (4.22 million hectares) came under forest and wild areas, used for collection of minor forest produce.

Indian companies in UK reach annual growth rate of 31%

London: Nearly 800 Indian companies based in the UK have a combined revenue of £47.5 billion, are the second-largest employers, and 55 of the fastest growing companies achieved an average annual growth rate of 31%, a new analysis released Wednesday said.
The analysis, titled ‘India Meets Britain Tracker 2017: The Latest Trends on Indian Investment in the UK’ by London-based consultants Grant Thornton and CII revealed the scale of contribution of Indian companies to the British economy.
Anuj Chande, head of South Asia at Grant Thornton, said at the release: “The UK remains a highly attractive destination for Indian investors. The Modi government’s pro-business agenda is creating the right environment for Indian businesses to pursue and realise growth at home and overseas.”
The report monitors Indian businesses here with an annual revenue growth of 10% or more. Of the 55 that made the list of fastest growing companies, 23 are new entrants while 32 featured in last year’s list.
According to the report, just under half of the companies included in this year’s tracker recorded a 25% growth rate or above.
Datamatics Infotech Ltd topped this year’s list with a growth rate of 103%.
Companies from the technology and telecoms, and pharmaceuticals and chemicals sectors make up 31% and 24% of the list respectively. These are sectors where businesses are continuing to find growth opportunities by diversifying into new spheres of activity.
The business services sector entered the top three for the first time with an 11% growth rate, up from 6% in 2016 and just 3% in 2015. London continues to strengthen its dominance as the leading destination for Indian investment in the UK. Of the fastest-growing Indian companies, 44% are now based in the capital, up from 39% last year and 25% in 2015, the report said.
The UK has long been the preferred European destination for FDI from India. Out of the 845 FDI projects made by Indian companies in 16 European countries since 2003, over 45% have been in the UK.
Shuchita Sonalika, head of CII UK, said: “The report identifies £4.25 billion of new investment last year by Indian companies, and further jobs being created as part of their continued investment programmes.

Bank credit demand up 5.5% in FY18's first fortnight: RBI data

Mumbai: Bank credit demand in India rose 5.52 per cent to Rs 76.31 trillion (US$ 1,192.34 billion) in the fortnight ending April 14, 2017, up from a six decade low of 5.08 per cent amounting to Rs 72.31 trillion (US$ 1,130 billion) as on April 15, 2016, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Bank's outstanding credit during the fiscal year 2016-17 stood at Rs 78.81 trillion (US$ 1,231.41 billion), as compared to Rs 75.01 trillion (US$ 1,172 billion) as on April 1, 2016. The deposits in banks in the first fortnight of fiscal year 2017-18 rose 11.59 per cent to Rs 105.92 trillion (US$ 1,655 billion) as against Rs 94.92 trillion (US$ 1,483.13 billion) a year ago.

India to become major wind energy hub: Tanti

New Delhi: Falling tariff is not the only trend that renewable energy is witnessing. Suzlon, the domestic market leader in wind equipment manufacturing, expects global vendors to come to India to tap 60 gigawatts (Gw) of additional wind capacity that the government is aiming to achieve by 2020.
In an interview to Business Standard, Tulsi Tanti, chairman and managing director, Suzlon, said, “India will be a large hub for wind manufacturing in five years on the strength of its domestic demand. It will be like China that has a 20 Gw domestic solar market and, therefore, promoted manufacturing in their country. Now, the global market is dominated by four Chinese companies.”
Solar equipment manufacturing, however, is unlikely to pick up in India as Chinese imports are more cost-effective, Tanti said. “Unless a solar manufacturer comes in the entire value chain of production, right from polysilicon, is not likely to work out,” he added.
Tanti does not see any need for incentives for wind equipment manufacturers, except for exports. “The government should give five per cent of an exporter’s logistics cost as incentive. The propelling factors include coming up of faster bidding by nine wind potential states. They are estimated to bid out 600-800 megawatt (Mw) each. Another 6-Gw capacity in the current year is likely to be bid out by the central government for non-wind potential states to enable them to meet their renewable purchase obligation. Besides, 10 Gw will come up in the captive market, while 50 Gw will be through investment by financial institutions,” he said.
He said that instead of incentivising manufacturers or developers, state distribution companies that meet their renewable purchase obligation norms should be given performance-based incentive. It could be 50 paise per unit (kilowatt hour). “This could be funded from the clean energy cess,” he said.
Asked for his views on the Union government’s plan to compensate states for revenue shortfall on account of the goods and services tax through the clean energy cess, he said the corpus was large enough to meet the need for performance-based incentive, compensation to states and also the special requirements of coal-bearing states. The corpus roughly has Rs 54,000 crore currently. Tanti said he did not see the tariffs for solar or wind going down further unless the interest rates come down. On his company’s debt situation, he said they had been able to bring down their debt level by $1 billion through the conversion of foreign currency convertible bonds.
Suzlon also announced its wind turbine of hub height of 120 metre and 2.1 Mw capacity achieved 42 per cent plant load factor in its first 12 months of operation at the Jamanwada site in Gujarat’s Kutch district.
The prototype was commissioned in March 2016.
The PLF is 20 per cent higher than what was achieved by another turbine in its first 12 months at the same location.

Narendra Modi underlines consolidated approach to complete infra projects

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the secretaries of infrastructure ministries to adopt a “consolidated approach” to existing projects and work on them by adhering to strict deadlines.
The PM’s remarks were aimed at ensuring that “no de-duplication of work is done” and that ministries work in collaboration as there were some reports of ministries not following an “integrated approach,” said a senior government official requesting anonymity.
Modi, who was undertaking a review of infrastructure projects including roads, railways, airports, ports, digital and coal sectors on Tuesday evening, told the officials that it was the time to deliver results. The meeting attended by top officials of the prime minister’s office, NITI Aayog and all infrastructure ministries continued for around four-and-a-half hours. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant gave a presentation on the status of infrastructure development of various projects.
Modi later tweeted, “Progress in road construction, particularly in rural areas is gladdening. Progress in highways sector is also showing great improvement.”
“In railways, we are exceeding targets in laying of new rail lines. Over 1,500 unmanned level crossing have also been eliminated in 2016-17,” he said, adding: “Aviation sector is buzzing with enthusiasm. We discussed how Regional Connectivity Scheme is going to positively impact travelers.”
During the review, Modi directed the think tank NITI Aayog to examine global standards in the application of technology in infrastructure creation and their feasibility in India so that the country can start adopting global standards and have a world-class infrastructure. He also said the government should use new technologies for road and highway construction to expedite projects.
Apart from updates on regular targets, Modi was briefed on the progress of some important projects such as the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, Char Dham, Quazigund-Banihal Tunnel, Chenab railway bridge, the Jiribam-Imphal project, and the Regional Connectivity Scheme which will connect 43 destinations by air, including 31 destinations that are currently not served by air transportation.
In his presentation, Kant said that under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), the ministry of rural development has achieved its highest ever average daily road construction rate of 130km. The rate of construction has led to the addition of 47,400km of road under the scheme in 2016-17, connecting around 11,641 additional habitations. He added that the pace of four- and six-lane national highways construction is also improving, with 26,000km of highways built in 2016-17.
The PM was told green technology such as waste-plastic, cold-mix, geo-textiles, fly-ash, iron and copper slag had been used in around 4,000km of rural roads and that this was being given a further push.
Modi directed efficient and stringent monitoring of rural roads so that construction and quality were not compromised.
For the railway sector, Modi asked the railways ministry to focus more on non-fare revenue and speed up work on redevelopment of railway stations so that deliverables are visible. He was told that 953km of new lines were laid in 2016-17 as against a target of 400km. Similarly, track electrification of over 2,000km and gauge conversion of 1,000km were achieved in the same period.
For ports, Modi stressed better outcomes for the turnaround time of ships and clearance for EXIM cargo as the sector saw the highest-ever capacity addition of 100.4 million tonnes per annum in major ports during 2016-17.

Amazon Prime a key differentiator for the US e-commerce firm in India

Bengaluru: Amazon’s flagship membership programme Prime, which has helped the e-commerce giant lock in millions of online users in the US, is proving to be a key differentiator for the retailer in India as well, a report said.
Data from the report by market researcher RedSeer Consulting, shows the number of Prime subscribers in India rose rapidly during the October-December quarter, reaching 5-6 million at the end of December.
Prime now accounts for nearly a third of Amazon’s active customer base with 25-30% of Indian customers opting for it, the report said. These estimates include paying and non-paying subscribers.
Prime subscribers spend at least 15% more than non-Prime customers and place more orders on an average every month, the data shows. They seem to be more satisfied as well: according to RedSeer, average Net Promoter Score (NPS)—an indicator of customer satisfaction—for Prime customers in India was 40% against 24% for non-Prime customers.
In less than nine months since Prime launched in India, it accounts for one out of every three orders that Amazon delivers to customers—highlighting how consumers are increasingly paying for quicker and more reliable deliveries and hence are increasing their online spending budgets on platforms that offer such membership programmes.
Prime has become a key lever for Amazon in its battle against arch-rival Flipkart. A significant part of Prime’s growth is also being driven by its online video streaming service, which competes with Netflix and Hotstar.
The Indian numbers mirror a phenomenon that Amazon first witnessed in its home market, the US, when it first launched Prime in 2005. Over the last decade, Prime became one of the biggest levers of Amazon’s growth in the US, as the online retailer sold more to existing customers, who typically ended up shopping more from Amazon after signing up for Prime.
“We’ve seen a big rise in frequency as well as a big lift in actual order values from Prime customers,” Akshay Sahi, head of Amazon Prime in India, said in an interview with Mint earlier in April. “What happens is, apart from mobile phones, any of the other categories are not one-time purchase categories. Because you just keep buying more and more of those things. Your fashion budget will move more towards Amazon, your electronics budget will move more towards Amazon, your consumables budget moves more towards Amazon because of the loyalty you have and the experience you enjoy and the programme that you’re a part of.”
Last July, Amazon India launched its annual Prime membership programme in more than 100 cities, offering one-day and two-day delivery on hundreds of thousands of products and exclusive discounts for an initial price of Rs499 per year.
Prime was the single biggest-selling product among the 15 million units sold on Amazon India during a five-day sale in October. Amazon expanded the service by adding video content in December through Amazon Prime Video, pitting it against Netflix and Hotstar.
Prime’s success in India may force arch-rival Flipkart to re-think its strategy towards paid subscription services. So far, Flipkart has not actively promoted its own loyalty programme for consumers, as the e-commerce firm privately believes that Indian shoppers typically don’t care or pay for delivery and convenience or content.
“Flipkart is missing out big-time by not promoting its own membership service as aggressively as Amazon. They still have an opportunity to educate customers and offer them that option of quicker and cheaper deliveries, but they have to get into this game quickly,” said Harminder Sahni, founder and managing director, Wazir Advisors, a consulting firm.

Natural rubber production surges 23% in 2016-17

Chennai: Natural rubber (NR) production in India rose 23 per cent to 690,000 tonnes during 2016-17, as against the anticipated 654,000 tonnes. In 2015-16, the production stood at 562,000 tonnes, down 12.5 per cent as compared to 2014-15.
NR production also showed an increase of 66.7 per cent to 55,000 tonnes in March 2017, as against 33,000 tonnes in March last year. Rubber Board officials attributed the increase to the improved market price and initiatives taken by the Board at the field level, including mass contact programmes, to improve production and productivity.
Rubber Board is bringing more untapped areas into production by grouping farmers under ‘Tappers Bank’, which works more like a self-help group. The Board has launched this on a pilot basis, and 60 rubber-producing societies were identified for it.
The Board is seeking to achieve the current rubber demand of around 10 lakh tonnes by producing domestically.
NR exports from the country during the last financial year were 20,010 tonnes, whereas these were only 865 tonnes in the preceding year.
The branding of NR, initiated by the Rubber Board, has helped Indian exporters to claim their market share as the quality assurance helped boost buyers’ confidence, according to the Rubber Board. About 65 per cent of the NR exported was under the brand ‘Indian Natural Rubber’.

RIL reclaims top slot by market value after 4 years, replaces TCS

New Delhi: Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has reclaimed its position as the country's most valued firm in terms of market capitalisation. The firm has replaced the former market leader, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), after a span of four years. The company's market capitalisation (m-cap) rose to Rs 4,60,519 crore (US$ 71.2 billion) , which was Rs 1,586.43 crore (US$ 245.62 million) higher than TCS’ m-cap of Rs 4,58,932 crore (US$ 71.08 billion). A sharp rally in the shares of Reliance has helped the company in closing the gap between TCS and itself. RIL stock has surged over 31 per cent in 2017, while that of TCS had slipped more than 1 per cent.

India aims to cut fuel imports as it boosts alternative fuel use, Gadkari says

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he Government of India plans to bring down its import of oil products and move towards using alternative fuels like methanol in the Indian transport sector, with an aim to reduce dependency on imports and be self-sufficient, said Mr Nitin Gadkari, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. The country plans to start fifteen factories that produce second generation ethanol from biomass, bamboo and cotton straw and aims to develop its mandate to blend ethanol into 5 per cent of its gasoline. India imported 33 million tonnes of oil products over April 2016 to February 2017, which was 24 per cent higher than the imports during the same period a year ago. India is the third largest consumer of oil and the domestic energy consumption is expected to increase as the country targets a higher economic growth.

RBI governor Urjit Patel says demonetisation effects 'transitory'

Mumbai/New York: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel said demonetisation imposed in 2016 probably had no more than a temporary effect on Asia’s third-largest economy, as lending continued to flow.
The “accumulating evidence points to” the effects of demonetisation as “transitory,” governor Urjit Patel, who took over from Raghuram Rajan in September, told an audience Monday at Columbia University in New York. “Credit is more important than currency, and credit was not affected at all.”
Authorities have been seeking to rein in liquidity after the government’s November recall of high-denomination currency notes flooded the banking system with cash. The excess funds not only threaten to stoke inflation, but have also constrained the RBI’s ability to intervene at a time when the rupee is rallying.
Households’ inflation expectations “continue to be adaptive and therefore difficult to bring down in a durable manner,” said Patel, who rarely appears in public.
In a bid to burnish the Reserve Bank of India’s credentials as an inflation-fighting central bank, Patel has called for “close vigilance” on inflation. Consumer prices rose 3.81% in March from a year earlier, having risen 3.65% in February. India’s central bank targets keeping inflation around 4 percent in the medium term.
Earlier this month, India unexpectedly raised the reverse repo rate while keeping the benchmark unchanged, effectively tightening policy to step up the fight against inflation.
Speaking about the world economy, Patel said Monday that the data point to a broad-based upswing in global growth, though risks remain, such as protectionism and geopolitics.
There is international push-back against trade talk emanating from the US, Patel said, defending the benefits of an open trading system. Companies’ share prices reflect benefits from global supply chains, and “if policies come in the way of that, then the main wealth creators in a country that advocates protectionism” are going to be affected, he said. Bloomberg

Medical tourism on the rise in India

Hyderabad: The country is witnessing 22-25 per cent growth in medical tourism and healthcare providers expect the industry will double to $6 billion by 2018 from $3 billion now.
The ministries of health, external affairs, tourism and culture are working to increase the number of medical tourists. The government provides online visas, multiple entries, extensions of stay, and accreditation to more hospitals. Several other measures are under way, according to the Indian Medical Association (IMA). “The government has improved the visa policy to make it patient friendly. There is no waiting time for foreign patients at hospitals,” said Radhey Mohan, vice president, international business development, at Apollo Hospitals. The chain received 170,000 foreign patients from 87 countries during 2016-17.
Medical tourists to India typically seek joint replacement surgeries, heart, liver and bone marrow transplants, spine and brain surgeries, cancer and kidney treatments, and in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Patients from Africa and the Middle East access private healthcare in India due to lack of facilities and doctors back home. Medical tourists from Europe and the US come here for cosmetic surgeries that are not covered by insurance. “We do bariatric surgery at $6,000-8,000, while it costs around $15,000 in the US. Almost 15-20 per cent of our surgical patients are from other countries,” said Dr Sukhvinder Singh Saggu, practising laproscopic surgeon at Apollo Spectra New Delhi.
Non-resident Indians, persons of Indian origin (PIOs) and overseas citizens of India (OCIs) prefer to come here for IVF and gynaecology treatments. “They spend only 30 per cent of what it costs in the US or UK. Moreover, they have family support here,” said Dr Kamini Rao, medical director at Milann — The Fertility Centre.
AV Guruva Reddy, managing director of the Hyderabad-based Sunshine Hospitals, said the general standard of hygiene and technology in Indian medical facilities had improved. The number of foreign tourists coming to the country for medical purposes increased 50 per cent to 200,000 in 2016 from 130,000 in 2015. This number is expected to double in 2017 with several new initiatives like easier visas for medical tourists.

Northern India can be a hub of renewable energy, says study

New Delhi: Northern India, with the potential of about 363 GW of power, can emerge as the hub for renewable energy in the country, said a study released on Friday.
The report titled ‘State Renewable Energy Policies: A Comparative Study’ was released by industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
It highlighted that southern and western regions of the country are fast moving up the renewable energy installed capacity graph. The study also stressed that the ecosystem of renewable energy in India is still fraught with constraints, particularly with respect to state policies.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has set an ambitious target of 175 GW of renewable power target by 2022.
The CII report said that all northern states have come up with sector-specific policies to promote renewable energy. States that are counted in the northern region are Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chandigarh.
“These States have dedicated Solar (power) policies. However, very few States have specific policies for small hydro, except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, and for wind only Rajasthan has a specific policy,” the report said.
“Even though most of the northern States have come up with their renewable energy policies, it is important to understand and imbibe the best incentives and practices depending on the need of the state/region,” it added.
As per the report, the northern region accounts for about 20.49%, which is about 10,247 MW, of the 50,018 MW overall installed capacity of renewable power in India (till 31 December 2016). In comparison, the southern region alone accounts for 43.42% (21,721.42 MW) of India’s total installed renewable power and the western region for 33.7% (16,861 MW).
“All 29 states of India are working relentlessly to make this a success and some major milestones have already been achieved. The northern states, in specific, already have and in the future will play a pivotal role in achieving the renewable energy target set out by the government,” the study said.
“The potential of northern region in the renewable space is huge with about 363 GW available to be exploited. Amongst the northern States, Rajasthan has the biggest renewable potential at 145,518 MW and the highest potential in both solar and wind capacities at 142, 310 MW and 5,050 MW respectively,” it added.
In terms of renewable potential, Rajasthan is followed by Jammu and Kashmir (118,208 MW), Himachal Pradesh (36,446 MW), Uttar Pradesh (27,593 MW), Uttarakhand (19,071 MW), Punjab (6,768 MW), Haryana (6,470 MW), Delhi (2,181 MW) and Chandigarh (6 MW).
It further emphasised that northern India also has a good potential for small hydro projects with Himachal Pradesh having the second highest small hydro potential in the country after Karnataka.

Niti Aayog meet: States to get greater say in new national planning regime

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers on Sunday considered a new approach in policy planning that aims to give states a greater say in determining national priorities—including in internal security and defence—set out in a 15-year vision and a draft three-year short-term action plan ending 2019-20.
The vision document and the draft 300-point action plan prepared with suggestions from states and gram sabhas rest upon the spirit of cooperative federalism that succeeds the Nehruvian era’s centralized five-year planning that drew to a close on 31 March with the end of the 12th five year plan. They were discussed as part of the Niti Aayog’s third governing body meeting. The vision document projects the economy to grow more than three-fold to Rs469 lakh crore by 2031-32, from Rs137 lakh crore in 2015-16, assuming an 8% annual growth.
“Niti Aayog is a collaborative federal body whose strength is in its ideas, rather than in administrative or financial control,” an official statement quoted Modi as saying in his opening remarks to the think tank. He promised states that regional growth imbalance will be addressed both nationally and within states. The Prime Minister also suggested that states should take the lead in changing the financial year to January-December and “carry forward the debate and discussion on simultaneous elections.” The idea is better economic and political management of the country. Modi also urged states to put in place State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) laws without delay and to speed up capital expenditure and infrastructure creation.
Niti Aayog tweeted that the long-term national development agenda up to 2031-32 extend the traditional plan mandate to include internal security and defence. By 2031-32, the country should be “highly educated, healthy, secure, corruption-free, energy abundant, environmentally friendly and globally influential,” it said.
Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya told reporters after the meeting that the action plan assesses the revenue available to the union and state governments over the next three years to suggest enhanced spending on priority areas like health, infrastructure, agriculture and rural economy. The action plan will be finalized after states give their feedback.
The governing body also reviewed the progress in drafting a Regulatory Reforms Bill, a model Agriculture Land Leasing Act, changes to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act, a national energy policy and strategic disinvestment of state-owned enterprises.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made a presentation on doubling of farmers’ income, by focusing on irrigation, technology generation and dissemination, market reforms and livestock productivity.
The short-term action plan coincides with the remaining three years of the 14th Finance Commission’s award period ending in 2019-20 as it gives certainty on the cash flow of central and state governments for the period.
Shaping the country’s development plan with state governments consolidates the resetting of centre-state relations under the co-operative federalism achieved through higher untied fund allocation to states from the centre’s divisible pool of taxes (without specifying end-use) and the setting up of the goods and services tax (GST) Council, in which neither the Union nor the state governments can take decisions without the support of the other.
GST reflects the spirit of “one nation, one aspiration, one determination,” Modi said. He said that the share of central funds to states that are tied to specific central projects have come down from 40% of total allocation in 2014-15 to 25% in 2016-17 with a corresponding increase in funds which are not linked to specific schemes, giving states greater freedom in their utilization.
The meeting also reviewed Niti Aayog’s move to encourage states to excel in various governance parameters by comparing performance.
Experts welcomed the move to foster competition among states.
“Competitive federalism is a very good strategy. Comparing states on ‘ease of doing business’ is a good first step. Now states must be compared on the pace at which they are creating jobs and livelihoods, improving health and education for citizens, and developing local governance capabilities,” said Arun Maira, former member of the Planning Commission.
Modi said it was the collective responsibility of the gathering to envision the India of 2022—the 75th anniversary of independence—and see how the country could swiftly move forward the goals set in the vision document.
The prime minister told states that advancing of the Union budget date to 1 February in 2017 from the customary last day of the month was meant to make funds available for various schemes so that they could be utilized in time, especially for farming before the monsoon arrived. Dropping the distinction between plan and non-plan spending has enabled the authorities to focus on welfare spending, Modi said.

Make in India gets metro boost; local procurement made mandatory

New Delhi: With rapid expansion of metro rail projects in the country, Ministry of Urban Development has taken several far reaching decisions to promote Make in India campaign. These include stipulating certain mandatory conditions to be incorporated in Tender Documents of metro companies for procurement of metro cars and related critical equipment and sub-systems, procurement of only Made in India signaling equipment besides standardizing technical parameters for rolling stock (metro coaches) and signaling equipment.
The new mandatory Tender Conditions and standardized norms for a wide range of equipment, approved by the Minister of Urban Development Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu have been circulated to all the metro companies on Friday this week making them effective immediately.
These initiatives will incentivize setting up manufacturing facilities in the country by increasing the volumes of procurement of rolling stock and all kinds of equipment by removing variations in the present technical norms for rolling stock and signaling equipment. This will in turn result in reduction of cost through economies of scale.
The Ministry has stipulated the following mandatory conditions to be incorporated in Tender Documents:
1. Minimum 75% of the tendered quantity of metro cars shall be manufactured indigenously with progressive indigenization of content, for which the contractor may either establish independent manufacturing facility in India or partner with Indian manufacturers, if the procurement is more than 100 cars;
2. To facilitate ease in maintenance through easy availability of spares beyond the warranty period, an identified list of critical equipment and sub-systems shall be included in the Tender Document for ensuring indigenous manufacturing of a minimum of 25% of such equipment, either by Original Equipment Manufacturers themselves by establishing a wholly owned subsidiary in India or through Indian manufacturers;
3. Requirement of metro cars at State level shall be clubbed to enable applicability of local procurement norms; and
4. To develop in-house expertise on long term basis, metro companies with large size fleet to undertake in-house maintenance.
A total number of 1,912 metro coaches are currently operational in the country with another 1,420 under procurement. Over the next three years more than 1,600 metro cars would be required. Each metro coach is estimated to cost about Rs.10 cr.
The Ministry has concluded the long pending standaridisation of norms for rolling stock and signaling equipment applicable to over 90% of the present imports. Further, to promote indigenous manufacturing, the Ministry has stipulated procurement of 9 types of signaling equipment from within the country. Metro companies have also been directed to develop maximum possible local competence so that knowhow and technical support is available within the country. Indian companies have to be associated with production of a wide range of signaling and train control project equipment.
Indigenization of several metro functions has also been prescribed. These relate to communication systems, managing operational disturbances, time table preparation, fault reporting, control traction power, maintenance, infrastructure supervision, rolling stock management etc.
The new standardized norms prescribe that the rolling stock and related equipment and systems shall enable Unattended Train Operations, Driverless Train Operations, Standard rail gauge of 1,435 mm, Metro cars with body width of 2.90 meters for passenger capacity of up to 45,000 Peak Hour Peak Distance capacity, body width of 3.20 meters for capacity above 45,000 PHPD, only 3 car, 6 car or 9 car rail combination, operational speed of 80 kmph, minimum 67% motorization for all rolling stock etc. Norms have also been prescribed for Acceleration Rates, Energy Consumption, Noise and Vibration levels, Collision Standards etc.
Further to these initiatives, Ministry of Urban Development will soon evolve common eligible criteria for suppliers of rolling stock and other equipment doing away with the present variations across different metro companies.
Shri Rajiv Gauba, Secretary(UD) discussed with Managing Directors of metro companies on Friday the variations in the present eligibility criteria. Noting that such variations adversely impact competition, he directed that a broadly uniform criteria in respect of Net Worth, Financial and technical capacities and experience of supply of rolling stock and other equipment etc should be evolved in two weeks.
Presently, metros are operating in 7 cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Jaipur, Gurgaon, Bengaluru and Chennai with a total route length of 326 kms. Metro projects with a total route length of 546 kms are under construction in 11 cities and projects with a total route length of 903 kms in 13 cities are under consideration.

Isro plans to mine energy from Moon by 2030 to help meet India needs

New Delhi: From launching 104 satellites at one go, enabling commercial roll out of lithium-ion batteries, to taking the lead in providing energy security, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) is firing on all cylinders.
Apart from planning for manned missions to Moon, Mars and even aircraft development, Isro is now working on a plan to help India meet its energy needs from the Moon by 2030.
The premier space agency, credited with launching 225 satellites till date, plans to mine Helium-3 rich lunar dust, generate energy and transport it back to Earth.
This comes in the backdrop of successful testing of lithium-ion batteries developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre by the Automotive Research Association of India (Arai). This is expected to provide a fillip to India’s electric vehicles (EV) push. The government is now planning to transfer the technology to companies for commercial production of these batteries, reported Mint.
Isro’s lunar dust mine plans were revealed by Dr Sivathanu Pillai, professor at the space agency, in February.
Speaking at a conference in New Delhi, Pillai, former chief of BrahMos Aerospace, said that mining lunar dust was a priority programme for his organisation.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha on 29 March, minister of state in charge of atomic energy and space Jitendra Singh said, “Technology is ready for transfer to Indian industries for undertaking the production of Li-ion batteries. BHEL has expressed interest in the transfer of technology.”
This lunar dust mining plan comes in the backdrop of India’s plan to cut down import dependence in hydrocarbons by 10 percentage points by 2022. India’s energy demand growth is expected to outpace that of the other Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries, according to the latest BP Energy Outlook.
Isro’s success on this front will also help reduce pollutants and India’s fuel imports. This assumes significance given India’s energy import bill of around $150 billion, which is expected to reach $300 billion by 2030. India imports around 80% of its oil and 18% of its natural gas requirements. India imported 202 million tonnes of oil in 2015-16.

Rural Electrification eyes Rs10,000 crore renewables lending push

New Delhi: Rural Electrification Corp (REC), a government-owned company backing India's power sector, is planning to triple its lending in the clean-energy sector by setting aside about Rs 10,000 crore (US$ 1.5 billion) for financing renewable energy projects, evacuation infrastructure and equipment manufacturers in FY 2017-18.
Mr P V Ramesh, Chairman, REC stated that the company plans to mobilize resources via green bonds in Europe and social impact bonds in Scandinavia. The company is also interested in investing in Tesla Inc, electric vehicles manufacturer, if it enters the Indian market. REC's lending shift to clean energy is influenced by Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi's vision of 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable capacity addition by 2022.

Shipping firms to benefit from rising iron ore exports to China

Mumbai: scenario in terms of volumes and freight rates, having improved on the India-China route, shipping firms are increasingly deploying large sized-vessels there.
“Until September-October last year, there was not a single vessel getting loaded for China. But in the last few weeks, about eight to 10 vessels have been loaded at Goa to get shipped to China," said Captain Kiran Kamat, managing director at Link Shipping and Management Systems.
“In coming months, a maddening rush is expected on this route as all iron ore exports will have to be done by June, before the monsoon halts activities for over three-four months," he added.
Unlisted Essar Shipping carried dry bulk cargo of almost 11.5 million tonnes (mt) in 2016-17, up 18 per cent from the previous financial year, the company said in a release last week. More than 80 per cent of the Essar Shipping fleet carries dry bulk cargo, which includes iron ore, coal, bauxite and limestone.
“Our deployment of Supramax- and Panamax-sized vessels on this route depends on the availability of vessels. I agree there is some improvement in freight rates and volumes have picked up, but it’s too early to say if these rates are sustainable," a senior official with Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) told Business Standard.
The SCI is the largest shipping company in the country, with a fleet size of 69 vessels, of which 16 vessels belong to the dry bulk division. Essar Shipping, on the other hand, has a fleet of 14 vessels.
In the first nine months ended December 31, 2016, the SCI witnessed a loss of 171 crore in its dry bulk earnings, compared to 108 crore in the same period the previous year.
Apart from the SCI and Essar Shipping, Great Eastern Shipping is another big shipping company in the domestic market. However, industry officials are of the view that Great Eastern Shipping may not be too active on the India-China route as most of its vessels are deployed on foreign waters on medium- to long-term contracts.
Between February 2016 and March 2017, the Baltic Dry Index, a key indicator for freight rates, shot up four times from a low of 290 to 1,300.
“Iron ore exports are about 10 mt already between January and March, and we expect this figure to touch 40 mt this year. This will also push up freight rates, and hence Baltic is seen moving in the upward direction here on," said Rahul Sharan, lead research analyst with Drewry, a maritime research and consulting firm. He refrained from giving a level for the Index.
India exported 21.41 mt iron ore in 2016 from a meagre 4 mt in 2015. India was the world’s third largest iron ore exporter after Australia and Brazil before the government banned the exports in 2011. The ban was lifted in 2014. Prior to the ban, India had shipped more than 100 mt of the commodity, mainly to China in the form of fines.

Govt eases norms for states to fund infrastructure projects

New Delhi: In a move that will potentially improve India’s infrastructure funding options, the cabinet on Wednesday allowed state government entities to directly tap bilateral agencies for resources.
Not only will this give greater flexibility to state entities to fund infrastructure projects, it will also enable state governments to move some debt off their books.
The new fundraising route will allow for direct borrowing by state public sector undertakings (SPSUs) from Official Development Assistance (ODA) partners in countries like Japan, the US and Germany.
While such a dispensation is available to central public sector units, it wasn’t available for SPSUs, thereby exhausting state governments’ borrowing limits.
Also, these infrastructure projects are long-gestation projects requiring loans with a long tenure.
As part of this new mechanism, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority will be allowed to borrow directly from the Japan International Cooperation Agency a Rs15,109 crore loan to implement the Rs17,854 crore Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project.
Currently, if an SPSU has to avail of such loans, it has to be facilitated by the respective state government, with such borrowing reflecting on its books. Also, it has to be limited to 3% of gross state domestic product (GDP).
“It reduces the state government’s resources for development spending,” finance minister Arun Jaitley said at a press conference.
As per Wednesday’s cabinet decision, eligible state entities can borrow directly with a government guarantee, which frees up the state’s borrowing space, Jaitley explained.
According to the N.K. Singh panel which reviewed India’s fiscal rules, “The states’ combined primary deficit of around 1.3% of GDP is much higher than the centre’s primary deficit of 0.3% of GDP in 2016-17 (BE). This implies that the combined debt of the states is projected to rise even if they adhere to their FRBM (fiscal responsibility and budget management) targets.”
The panel has recommended a debt-to-GDP ratio of 38.7% for the central government, 20% for state governments together and a fiscal deficit of 2.5% of GDP by financial year 2022-23.
India plans to invest as much as Rs3.96 trillion in the current financial year to bankroll its new integrated infrastructure planning paradigm comprising roads, railways, waterways and civil aviation.
While the concerned state government will furnish a guarantee for the loan, the Union government will provide the counter-guarantee.
“This dispensation will allow the financially sound state entities to directly borrow and repay the loan required for major infrastructure projects without burdening the state exchequer,” a government statement said.
Experts welcomed the move.
“With this move, more vibrant federalism is being brought in where state decides for its own finances...This move gives more responsibility and freedom to the state government. Responsibility and freedom go hand-in-hand with the rider that if they become frivolous in managing their finances, then it will hit India’s balance of payment,”said Jaijit Bhattacharya, partner, infrastructure and government services, at consulting firm KPMG.
It’s a positive step in simplifying the process of financing by bilateral agencies, said Sanjay Garg, partner and leader, capital projects, at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“This will put more onus on the states to assess viability of projects. There has to be some checks in place to prevent this from becoming a channel for off-budget borrowings, thus circumventing the fiscal prudence requirements,” he added.
Gireesh Chandra Prasad contributed to this story.

Cabinet approves signing of the Protocol amending the Convention between India and Portugal for avoidance of Double Taxation

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Protocol amending the Convention between India and Portugal for avoidance of double taxation. The Protocol will also ensure prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
Once the Protocol enters into force, both India and Portugal would be able to exchange tax related information, which will help tax authorities of both countries to curb tax evasion.

GO BACK Rolls-Royce opens defence service delivery centre in India

New Delhi: Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc on Thursday opened a new defence service delivery centre (SDC) in Bengaluru, the first outside the US and UK, to provide localized engineering support and solutions and reduce turnaround time for the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).
Rolls-Royce is looking to improve capability and provide faster front-line support for over 750 engines in a range of aircraft used by the defence as well as commercial aircraft such as the C-130J, Hawk advanced jet, Embraer and Jaguar, among others.
Shaun Agle, vice-president (customer services), India defence, said the new service delivery centre will be able to deliver real-time solutions through MRO (maintenance repair and overhaul), provide first and second line of support, have field service representatives, manage the health of the fleet, manage supply chains and collaborate with the armed forces.
India is the last remaining user of the Jaguar type of aircraft and is one of the largest users of the Hawk, the company said, while trying to highlight the need for a local presence.
The SDC will have at least 10 specialized engineers and service personnel to find localised solutions specific to India. The SDC is based on the model operated by the company at Marham in the UK and Kingsville in the US.
The company did not quantify the reduction in time or cost that would result from setting up the local SDC, which will do the work that would otherwise have been referred to Bristol, UK.
Last year, Indian customers raised 138 issues, according to the company, which were referred to Bristol.
Rolls Royce has over 1,600 engineers based in India who help provide solutions for the UK-based company’s global customers, Kishore Jayaraman, president, India and South Asia, said.

Disinvestment for 2017-18 kicks off with Rs 1,200 cr Nalco share sale

New Delhi: Overwhelming response from retail investors in the share sale of National Aluminium Company helped the government kick off the new financial year’s disinvestment programme.
Small investors bid 3.2 times over while high-networth individuals and institutional buyers bid 1.8 times more for the Nalco shares, stock exchange data showed.
The government mopped up Rs 1,204 crore--Rs 250 crore from retail and Rs 954 crore from institutions--by selling 9.2% in Nalco.
Commenting on the Nalco share sale, the secretary at the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), Neeraj Gupta, said the government was confident of retail investor demand and hence had exercised the green-shoe option keeping in mind the last four disinvestments. “Today’s response validates our market assessment.”
The government has drawn up plans to sell stakes in more than 20 companies, including Indian Oil Corp, National Thermal Power Corp, Rural Electrification Corp, Power Finance Corp, Neyvelli Lignite Corp and NHPC, to raise Rs 72,500 crore during 2017-18.
Apart from the blue-chip stocks, the government also has plans for listing 16 state-owned companies.
The process has started for appointing legal advisers and merchant bankers for Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, IRCON International Ltd, Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd, RITES Ltd, Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDSL), North Eastern Electric Power Corp, MSTC Ltd and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd.
The government has plans to list five state-owned insures—New India Assurance Company Ltd, United India Insurance Company Ltd, Oriental Insurance Company Ltd, National Insurance Company Ltd, and General Insurance Corporation of India.
The government has set a target of Rs 46,500 crore through small stake sales and Rs 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment during 2017-18.
The finance ministry is planning to step up disinvestment as it has to spend more on infrastructure and social schemes while cutting the fiscal deficit to 3.2% of GDP in 2017-18, from 3.5% last year.

Legal Aid and Empowerment initiatives launched

New Delhi: Minister of Law & Justice and Electronics & IT, Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad today appealed to all those involved in the delivery of justice to join hands in improving the system to ensure that assistance is available to every citizen irrespective of his socio-economic position. He said this after the launch of three key legal aid and empowerment initiatives of the Department of Justice – including ‘Pro bono legal services’, ‘Tele law service’ and ‘Nyaya Mitra scheme’. The Minister also mentioned that the country’s legal system would be digitally transformed, as digital inclusion holds the key to the country’s march towards Digital India.
The Minister emphasized the need for increased opportunities of legal aid and awareness for people, especially the marginalised sections of the society. He said that the three initiatives launched today were aimed at fulfilling the department’s core mandate of enhancing ‘access to justice’ for the poor and vulnerable communities, including making accessible quality and effective legal aid for them. He acknowledged and appreciated the initiatives undertaken, over the last two decades, to safeguard and deliver this right to citizens, first, by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and subsequently by the Department of Justice – both of whom have the shared mandate of delivering adequate and efficient legal aid to the marginalised and vulnerable sections. The Minister also underscored that the initiatives launched by the department here are to supplement the efforts of NALSA and not to overlap the activities undertaken by the legal services authorities.
Pro bono legal Services
The ‘Pro bono legal services’ initiative is a web based platform, through which interested lawyers can register themselves to volunteer pro bono services for the underprivileged litigants, who are unable to afford it. The Department of Justice has launched the online application for this initiative on its website doj.gov.in. Through this online portal, litigants from marginalised communities (including members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, women, children, senior citizens, persons with low income and persons with disabilities) can also apply for legal aid and advice from the pro bono lawyers.
The Minister described this effort as an ‘earnest step’ towards fulfilling the mandate of quality legal aid for all. He noted that many from the legal fraternity were already volunteering legal support for the underprivileged clients, in an individual capacity. However, he stressed that the time has come to promote the concept of pro bono legal aid in an institutionalized manner and ensure that those who volunteer their valuable time and service towards this public service are duly recognized.
The Minister called upon all lawyers from across the country to wholeheartedly support this initiative and help in fulfilling the constitutional mandate of legal aid for all.
Tele Law: Mainstreaming Legal Aid through Common Service Centre
Through the second initiative, launched by the Minister, the Department of Justice and NALSA are partnering with CSC- E- Governance Service Limited for mainstreaming legal aid to the marginalized communities through the Common Service Centers (CSCs). This initiative, called ‘Tele Law’, is aimed at facilitating delivery of legal advice through an expert panel of lawyers – stationed at the State Legal Services Authorities (SLSA). The project would connect lawyers with clients through video conferencing facilities at CSCs, operated by para legal volunteers. For this purpose, this initiative would also play a pivotal role in empowering 1000 women para legal volunteers.
The Minister said that using CSCs for mainstreaming legal aid services for the marginalized at the panchayat levels would ensure that legal aid reaches populations which remained untouched due to geographical challenges and/or lack of infrastructure. He also described the use of CSCs as change agents, enablers of community participation and capacity building in rural settings as commendable.
The project would be launched across 1800 panchayats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, North Eastern States and Jammu & Kashmir.
District Facilitation Centre to reduce pendency: Engagement of Nyaya Mitra
The Minister also discussed the issue of heavy pendency of cases in courts across the country. He noted that at present, more than 2.4 crore cases are pending in the district and lower judiciary, of which nearly 10% are more than 10 years old. He called for collective action and efforts in remedying this situation. In this context, the Minister also inaugurated the Nyaya Mitra scheme, which is aimed at reducing pendency of cases across selected districts, with special focus on those pending for more than 10 years.
Functionalized through a retired judicial or executive officer (with legal experience) designated as the ‘Nyaya Mitra’, the project would be operated out of District Facilitation Centres, housed in CSCs. Nyaya Mitra’s responsibilities would include among others assistance to litigants who are suffering due to delay in investigations or trial, by actively identifying such cases through the National Judicial Data Grid, providing legal advice and connecting litigants to DLSA, CSC Tele Law, other government agencies and civil society organisations. He/she shall also refer the marginalized applicants to Lok Adalats for dispute resolution and render assistance towards prison reforms within the district, in coordination with the district judiciary and other stakeholders.
This initiative would be launched in 227 districts including 27 districts from North East and Jammu & Kashmir and 200 districts from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Gujarat, West Bengal etc. and would be operated out of CSCs.
The Minister stated that the department was committed to fulfilling its mandate of securing access to justice through these initiatives and called for support and action for all stakeholders in making them a success.

C-DOT develops CCSP (C-DOT Common Service Platform) to make smart cities more efficient, economical and future proof

New Delhi: Government of India’s announcement of Smart Cities project in mission mode has generated a lot of interest. The concept of smart cities is incomplete without intervention of communication and Information Technology.
A network of wireless sensors, a reliable public communication infrastructure and innovative applications working on big data and analytics will help us realise smart cities. Innovative local solutions will have to be found for local problems. Though this offers great opportunities to industry, including, MSMEs and start-ups. But adoption of standards will ensure that solution developers do not reinvent the wheel but devote their energies to the actual building of product and on innovations. Further, the interoperability will be another dividend of a standards based approach.
Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI), the Indian telecom Standards Development Organisation (SDO) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), an established and highly respected, 29 years old telecom SDO have joined hands to unroll a collaboration project on ICT Standardisation in an endeavour of creating awareness about telecom standards and promoting their wider adoption that
Recognising C-DOT’s R&D strengths, an India - European Union project called ‘India-EU Cooperation on ICT-Related Standardisation, Policy and Legislation’ is organising a workshop on “Future proof smart cities with a common service layer: a standards driven approach” at C-DOT campus at Mehrauli, New Delhi on 21st April 2017. Some of the global smart cities will be sharing the standards driven approach they have adopted for building smart cities in their countries.
The workshop aims to provide a platform where foreign and Indian experts from IoT and M2M forums, academia, R&D, industry and senior officials from Ministries of Communications, Urban Development and Electronics and Information Technology and cities named in Indian Smart Cities project can interact to share knowledge and experiences. It is also planned to enrich the interaction by inviting City Councillors from Europe and Korea who have actually implemented smart city projects in their respective cities.
C-DOT’s offering:
C-DOT has developed CCSP(C-DOT Common Service Platform), the oneM2M standards compliant common service platform which can be deployed on any off-the-shelf generic server platforms or cloud infrastructure. The business application providers can deploy their oneM2M compliant applications in either co-located infrastructure or on any public or private cloud.
Using the CCSP platform from C-DOT, the smart cities can reap all the benefits of using a standards compliant horizontal service layer and thus be more efficient, economical and future proof.
Along with the CCSP C-DOT has also developed various oneM2M indigenously designed hardware nodes like AND (Application Dedicated Node), ASN (Application Service Node) and MN(Middle node).
To effectively showcase the strength of the platform, C-DOT has also developed various applications like Smart Living, Smart Street Light, Carbon Footprint Monitoring Application and Power Monitoring which are fully oneM2M compliant.
C-DOT has also participated in two international interoperability events where the CCSP and the ADN were tested for interoperability with many other oneM2M compliant nodes from various international organisations like Interdigital, Herit, Huawei, HPE, NTT, KETI, LAAS-CNRS etc. C-DOT also participated in the conformance testing with ETSI.
Brief on P.D.O. (Public Data Office)
C-DOT PDO is ready to bring yet another revolution by taking internet connectivity to every nook and corner of the country like it did in the 1980s when PCOs changed the Indian telecom scene in by taking telephones to rural India. C-DOT hopes that PDOs would bring next telecom revolution by taking internet connectivity to the masses. Like PCOs, the PDOs would enable small shop owners increase their income by selling data vouchers. This will also encourage village-level entrepreneurship and provide strong employment opportunities, especially in rural and semi urban areas.

GST reform an act of courage, says IMF chief Christine Lagarde

Washington: The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform is an act of courage by the Government of India, said Ms Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund Chief. The decision is expected to yield positive outcomes for the country in the future. The Indian economy has shown significant development and has a clear determination to continue and sustain growth going forward. The IMF has forecasted a 7.2 per cent growth for the country in 2017. GST will replace central excise, service tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) and other local levies to create an uniform market. It will boost India’s GDP growth by approximately 2 per cent, and will help in reducing tax evasion.

Amazon gets RBI nod for e-wallet in India

Bengaluru: Amazon India has received the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval to launch its own digital wallet in India, paving the way for the American online retail giant to gain a slice of India’s fast-growing digital payments business.
Amazon India, which had applied for what is called a Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) licence nearly a year ago, will now look to take on established rivals such as Paytm and Freecharge as it prepares to launch a prepaid wallet service that will be broader in scope than its Pay Balance service and will not be restricted to Amazon-based transactions.
In December, Amazon had launched its Pay Balance service in order to boost cashless transactions. While Pay Balance works in a similar manner to other mobile wallet services, it was restricted to transactions on Amazon.
Amazon confirmed the development, but did not comment on the broader scope of what its wallet service could look like and whether it would cover areas such as bill payments.
“We are pleased to receive our PPI licence from the RBI. Our focus is providing customers a convenient and trusted cashless payments experience. RBI is in the process of finalizing the guidelines for PPIs. We look forward to seeing a continuation of the low-limit wallet dispensation with simplified KYC (know-your-customer norms) and authentication. This will allow us to help customers adopt digital payments at scale and thereby contribute towards making India a less-cash economy,” said Sriram Jagannathan, vice-president of payments at Amazon India.
Amazon’s new wallet service will look to address a vital problem in the world of payments — like other wallet services such as Paytm, it will help customers bypass the two-step authentication process for online payments using credit or debit cards and makes the process smoother for online shoppers, thus plugging a key gap in the payments process that reduces the risk of loss of business from online shoppers.
In September, mobile payments start-up PhonePe Internet Pvt. Ltd, which is owned FLIPKART (Amazon’s biggest rival in India), launched an app based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform, which was a key bet for Flipkart, given how payments are still largely an unsolved problem in both online and offline commerce.
Amazon received the PPI licence in late-March. The development comes weeks after the RBI issued guidelines on issuance and operation of PPI licences, indicating potentially stricter norms for mobile wallet players as the central bank looks to ramp up focus on security and customer protection.
RBI raised the minimum capital requirement for digital wallet operators by nearly five times and introduced a directive for full compliance with Know-Your-Customer (KYC) norms, among other new guidelines, causing an outcry among top digital payments firms.
Following the guidelines, top leaders from the payments industry met RBI officials to discuss some of the clauses, including the KYC mandate, which they argued would act as a deterrent towards expanding the digital payments business.
“We hope the government and RBI would continue to encourage multiple ways to shift consumers from cash behaviour by recognising the value of digital wallets, used especially for making small value payments to large merchants like e-commerce, government, IRCTC, utility or insurance companies,” said Amazon’s Jagannathan.

Petrol, diesel prices to change daily from 1 May

Mumbai/New Delhi: Petrol and diesel prices in some cities will now see daily change in sync with international rates, according to two officials from oil marketing companies.
This will be effective 1 May in five cities including Puducherry and Visakhapatnam, Udaipur, Jamshedpur and Chandigarh as part of a pilot project. This will be extended to other parts of the country after an assessment of consumer response.
Diesel and petrol prices move in tandem with the price of crude oil in most countries. In January, Mint reported that the fuel retailers plan to introduce dynamic pricing in India this year.
“We have been piloting dynamic pricing at a few of our retail outlets for some months now, and the response has been encouraging. This has allowed us to go ahead and introduce it formally,” an executive director from an oil marketing company said on condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to talk to reporters.
Currently, state-run fuel retailers—Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL)—revise petrol and diesel prices on the 1st and 15th of every month based on average international price of the fuel in the preceding fortnight and the currency exchange rate.
“Due to the fortnightly revision of fuel prices, petroleum dealers were applying breaks (not lifting fuel daily) on uplifting of fuel. If the prices go up on the 1st or 15th of every month, there would be a rush to uplift products, else, the upliftment would be impacted. This would result in losses for OMCs and we wanted that this price predictability should go away. So dynamic pricing will be a good bet,” said a senior official from an oil marketing company on the condition of anonymity.
Shares of Indian Oil fell 0.07% to Rs408.90 on BSE, Bharat Petroleum rose 1% to Rs717.60, Hindustan Petroleum rose 1% to Rs542.45 while India’s benchmark Sensex fell 0.49% to 29,643.48 points.
Although state-run fuel retailers have the capability to revise petrol and diesel prices on a daily basis, what needs to be monitored is how consumers react to price volatility, industry experts say.
“If there is heightened volatility in global markets due to geopolitical developments, it could get reflected in domestic retail prices too. Therefore, companies are doing the right thing in testing the model in pilot projects to see how its impact and consumer response. In the medium- to long-term, daily price revision may be a good idea as is practised elsewhere,” said R.S. Butola, a former chairman of Indian Oil.
Indian Oil chairman B. Ashok and Hindustan Petroleum chairman and managing director M.K Surana didn’t immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.
Besides, global fuel prices and currency exchange rate, central and state taxes account for a major part of the fuel prices. It accounts for half of retail petrol price and 46% of retail diesel price. The central government collected Rs64,509 crore from petrol as excise duty in 2016-17 up to end-February, 20% more than what was collected in the whole of FY16. Excise receipts from diesel jumped 36% in the same period to Rs1.37 trillion.

FRBM panel sets 2.5% fiscal deficit target by FY23

New Delhi: A Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) panel has recommended a fiscal deficit target of 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), revenue deficit of 0.8 per cent and a combined Centre-state debt ceiling of 60 per cent for fiscal year 2022-23, the end point of its six-year medium-term fiscal road map.
These and other recommendations form part of the draft debt management and fiscal responsibility Bill, which, if accepted by the Narendra Modi government, will replace the existing FRBM Act.
With an aim to provide flexibility to policymakers within the fiscal framework, the panel, headed by former Member of Parliament and Revenue and Expenditure Secretary N K Singh, has suggested a steady target of three per cent from FY18 to FY10 and has also recommended certain strict ‘escape clauses’ which will allow the government deviate from the fiscal road map by 0.5 per cent for any given year.
The panel, whose rather comprehensive report was made public on Friday, also suggested the setting up of a ‘fiscal council’, an independent body which will be tasked with monitoring the government’s fiscal announcements for any given year, providing its own forecasts and analysis for the same as well as advise the finance ministry on triggering the escape clauses.
“The maxim ‘you cannot spend your way to prosperity’ is now widely accepted. Fiscal policies must, therefore, be embedded in caution rather than exuberance; in restraint than profligacy,” the committee stated in the opening lines of its report.
“The committee recommends a path of medium-term consolidation, where the fiscal deficit is envisaged to be on a glide path, to be reduced to 2.5 per cent of the GDP, consistent with reducing the Centre’s debt to 40 per cent by FY23,” the panel said. For the states, it envisages a combined debt at 20 per cent of the GDP.
The panel’s report also contains a lengthy note of dissent from panel member and Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, which states that the focus of policymakers should be on reducing primary deficit rather than fiscal deficit. In what could be a first, the other members of the panel have authored a rejoinder to Subramanian’s note.
The other members of the panel are former finance secretary Sumit Bose, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel, and Rathin Roy, director of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. The panel had submitted its report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley before the 2017-18 Union Budget.
“The FRBM Committee has had detailed discussions with experts and shareholders. We have put the report out for feedback and consultation from public,” Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa told reporters. “We will examine the recommendations and take a decision,” Lavasa said and added that repealing the existing FRBM Act and replacing it with the new proposed law is an option the Centre would consider.
“Next-generation frameworks are characterised by institutional development and some degree of fiscal flexibility to respond to shocks. The latter is incorporated under an escape clause wherein temporary and moderate deviations from the baseline fiscal path are permitted under exceptional circumstances and in reaction to external shocks,” the panel said, justifying its recommendation of escape clauses.
To ensure these escape clauses are not misused by the government of the day, the panel said they have been defined very narrowly and specifically, unlike the existing FRBM Act wherein the definition of “exceptional circumstance” is defined very opaquely and is liable to misuse.
The escape clauses are proposed for overriding consideration of national security like acts of war, calamities of national proportion and collapse of agriculture severely affecting farm output and incomes. They are also proposed for “far-reaching structural reforms in the economy with unanticipated fiscal implications” and if a sharp decline occurs in real output growth of at least three percentage points below the average for four preceding quarters.
“The deviation from the stipulated fiscal deficit target shall not exceed 0.5 percentage points in a year,” the panel said and added that RBI chief Patel is in favour of 0.3 percentage points.
According to the panel’s recommendations, the escape clauses can be invoked by the Centre after formal consultations and advice of the fiscal council and provided it is accompanied by a clear commitment to return to the original fiscal target in the ensuing fiscal year.
One of the original terms of reference given to the panel was to examine the feasibility of a fiscal deficit range. That has been rejected by the panel as most major economies do not have such a provision and that flexibility has been provided in terms of escape clauses and holding of the deficit target at three per cent for three consecutive years.

Cabinet panel clears decks for listing of 11 PSUs, including IRCTC

New Delhi: To abide by the mandated 25% public shareholding in companies and unlock their value, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved listing of 11 central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) in the equity market.
The list includes railway subsidiaries Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, IRCON International Ltd, Indian Railway Finance Corp. Ltd, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) and RITES Ltd.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced in his budget speech on 1 February the government’s intention to list railway PSEs.
The other PSEs cleared for listing on stock exchanges include three defence ministry enterprises—Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd—MSTC Ltd and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd under the administrative control of the steel ministry, and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd under the power ministry.
CCEA also approved a discount of up to 5% of the issue price for retail investors and eligible employees of the 11 CPSEs with a view to ensuring wider participation by small investors in the disinvestment programme.
The government said in a statement that the stake sale may include offers of fresh shares for raising resources from the market. “However, actual disinvestment in respect of each CPSE along with the mode of raising resources has been delegated for decisions on a case-by-case basis to the Alternative Mechanism, headed by the finance minister,” it added.
The so-called Alternative Mechanism is a group of ministers headed by Jaitley which decides on the modalities of stake sale in public sector units.
The government set a target of mobilizing Rs46,500 crore from the sale of minority stakes and Rs15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment in the 2017-18 budget.
Under the new disinvestment policy, unveiled in the 2016-17 union budget, CPSEs having a positive net-worth, no accumulated losses and having earned profits in three preceding consecutive years are required to achieve mandatory listing norms of 25% public holding. It also spelt out the mechanism and procedure for time-bound listing of CPSEs.
After the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam), along with the administrative ministry, identifies eligible CPSEs and takes CCEA approval, an inter-ministerial group (IMG) is to be constituted for the appointment of advisors/intermediaries within eight weeks from the date of constitution of the IMG.
Also, the listing of the CPSE on the stock market needs to be completed within 165 days of the administrative department giving its nod.

India and Bangladesh to sign US$ 9-billion investment pacts

New Delhi: Agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth $9 billion of investments into Bangladesh will be signed between the Indian public and private sectors and the Bangladeshi side on Monday. The 12 agreements will include an MoU of $2 billion in investments in the Bangladeshi power sector by Adani Power, a subsidiary of the Adani Group.
Agreements on the anvil
12 MoUs worth $9 billion in investments in Bangladesh to be signed on Monday
These include one MOU of $2 billion for investments in the Bangladesh power sector by Adani Power
Agreements by Reliance Power and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam
Agreement between Container Corporation of India and Container Corporation of Bangladesh
India committed a $4.5-billion line of credit for implementation of infrastructure projects in Bangladesh
Agreements will be signed for investments in Bangladesh by Reliance Power and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam. An agreement will also be inked between the Container Corporation of India and the Container Corporation of Bangladesh.
The agreements will be signed in the presence of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, currently on a four-day visit to India, at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event here on Monday.
On Saturday, India committed to a $4.5-billion line of credit for implementation of infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, and another $500 million for Dhaka’s defence procurements. In all, the two sides signed 22 agreements across an array of sectors. By the end of the Bangladeshi PM’s visit, as many as 34 agreements would have been signed.
This is the third line of credit to Bangladesh in the past six years, and the largest. For this line of credit, Delhi and Dhaka have identified 17 infrastructure projects. These comprise upgradation of three ports, one airport, new power transmission lines and railway lines.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said on Saturday the message was that “India has a very positive and effective infrastructure development assistance programme”. He said there was a lot of emphasis from the ministry of external affairs for faster delivery on projects.
In October 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited Dhaka and promised Chinese investments worth $20 billion. Nearly all of India’s neighbours complain of Delhi being laggardly, as compared to the Chinese, in executing its infrastructure projects.
Some of the bigger investments by Indian companies will be in the power and energy sectors. India supplies 600 Mw of power to Bangladesh through two existing interconnections at Bheramara-Baharampur and Tripura-South Comilla. Another 500 Mw will be provided by India through the Bheramara-Baharampur interconnection.
The two sides have agreed to set up additional interconnection between Bornagar in Assam and Parbatipur in Bangladesh, and also Katihar in Bihar, for power evacuation facilities from which Bangladesh can draw 1,000 Mw of power. The two sides are also discussing supply of 340 Mw from various NTPC stations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday he hoped more Indian private sector investments in Bangladesh’s power sector would follow, including possibilities of joint ventures.
On Sunday, Hasina visited Ajmer Sharif to pay her respects at the shrine of Khwaja Moinudding Chishti, a 12th century Sufi saint. She concludes her visit on Monday evening. Her party, the Awami League, said on Sunday they planned a felicitation for her successful visit to India.
Also, however, in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s opposition leader Khaleda Zia accused Hasina of “selling out” the country to India, to translate into reality a “dream of staying in power for life”. Zia, 71, and Hasina, 69, are known as the ‘Battling Begums’ for a bitter rivalry for over three decades.

The Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri Venkaiah Naidu today launched 352 housing projects in 53 cities

This is the First largest private investment initiative in affordable housing
The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) members to invest over Rs.38,000 cr to build over two (2) lakh affordable houses
Over one lakh units to be built in Maharashtra, 41,921 houses in National Capital Region, 28,465 in Gujarat, 7,037 in Karnataka, 6,055 in UP
Cost of construction of these houses to be in the range of Rs.15 lakh to Rs.30 lakh per house
New Delhi: The Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu today launched 352 housing projects in 53 cities in 17 States across the country with an investment of over Rs.38,000 cr to build over two lakh (2) houses..
These housing projects to be taken up by the members of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) across the country is the first major private investments initiative into affordable housing. These projects were launched at a function in Gandhinagar, Gujarat today. As per the details furnished by CREDAI today, the cost of construction of these affordable houses will be in the range of Rs.15 lakh to Rs.30 lakh with average cost of construction coming to Rs.18 lakh per house.
The event was held in the backdrop of several initiatives by the Government of India to promote affordable housing for Economically Weaker Sections, Low and Middle Income Groups including sanction of ‘infrastructure status’ for the housing sector. The new President of the CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India) took charge of the confederation at the glittering function attended by the Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Vijay Rupani, Gujarat Deputy CM Shri Nitinbhai Patel, Gujarat Minister of Urban Development Sh Shankar Chaudhary, outgoing President of CREDAI Sh Gitambar Anand and more than 3000 delegates from across the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Venkaiah Naidu complimented CREDAI and its members for coming forward to invest in affordable housing projects and assured them that his Ministry and Central Nodal Agencies like the National Housing Bank and HUDCO will extend full cooperation in reaching the benefits prescribed under PMAY (Urban) to the beneficiaries who join the projects launched today.
Details of affordable housing projects launched today for implementation are:
State/cities
No of affordable houses to be built
Investment (Cr)
Maharashtra
(Mumbai,Nagpur, Ahmednagar,Jalna, Banm,Nashik, Malegaon,Pune, Satara, Solapur)
1,03,719
15,576
Gujarat
(Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar,Rajkot, Mehsana,
Bharuch, Bhavnagar,Navsari, Modasa,Palanpur,
Swarnakantha,Vadodara, Vapi,Surat)
28,465
9,525
National Capital Region of Delhi
41,921
6,211
Karnataka (Bengaluru, Gulbarga, Hubli)
7,037
1,679
Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Allahabad,Bareily, Jhansi,
Kanpur and Varanasi)
6,055
1,108
Rajasthan(Ajmer, Jaipur,Jodhpur)
4,406
389
West Bengal (Kolkata)
2,955
663
Goa
1,932
464
Telangana (Hyderabad)
1,784
663
Madhya Pradesh (Indore, Ujjain)
1,517
284
Kerala (Trivendrum, Calicut, Kochi, Ernakulam)
1,372
186
Assam (Guwahati)
860
145
Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimattore, Tiruchirapalli)
834
145
Odisha (Bhubaneswar)
520
53
Chattisgarh (Raipur)
244
26
Andhra Pradesh (Tirupati)
50
10
Shri Naidu said while Mahatma ensured political freedom for our country, Sardar Patel ensured its unification, Shri Modi is now working on giving content and real meaning to these accomplishments through building a New India.
The Minister said such a New India has no meaning if we don’t ensure houses for all and that too in a specific time frame. He said that the Prime Minister Shri Modi has set the year 2022 as the deadline for roofing all Indians.
Shri Naidu said that within a short span of just 21 months since the launch of PMAY(Urban) in June, 2015, his Ministry has earlier approved construction of 17.73 lakh affordable houses for urban poor with an investment of Rs.95,660 cr in 30 States and Union Territories.. For building these houses, central assistance of Rs.27,879 cr has also been approved, he said.
These approved projects are to be executed with assistance from central and state governments and beneficiary contribution under the four components of PMAY (Urban). Under this urban housing mission, central assistance in the range of Rs.1.00 lakh to Rs.2.35 lakh will be provided to each beneficiary. PMAY (Urban) was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on June 25, 2015.
The Government of India on December 31, 2017 extended the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme component of PMAY (Urban) to Middle Income Groups with annual incomes in the range of Rs.12 lakh to Rs.18 lakh under which interest subsidy of 4% and 3% on housing loans will be provided. With this, beneficiaries belonging to EWS, LIG and MIG with annual incomes up to Rs.18 lakh have been brought under the ambit of PMAY (Urban) opening up substantial investment opportunities for developers both at the bottom and middle of the pyramid.