Success in my Habit
Monday, May 29, 2017
Maruti aims to sell 3 lakh automatic cars annually by 2020
India's First Fleet of 200 Electric Vehicles Launched in Nagpur
Speaking on the occasion Shri Gadkari said that it was his Government’s vision to make India a 100 percent e-vehicle nation. Shri Gadkari said his Ministry was prepared to facilitate manufacturers and other companies to take the Nagpur model to other parts of the country. He said e- vehicles need to be promoted in order to cut down the huge crude oil bill, reduce pollution and create cost effectiveness in transportation. To begin with, the emphasis would be on commercial vehicles and then on others.
Shri Gadkari informed that growing demand, coupled with R&D would gradually help to bring down the operational costs, and especially the battery cost. He added that once the cost of batteries comes down, e-vehicles will compete with diesel and petrol vehicles and finally phase them out.
India on right path to becoming global steel player: Steel Association
Our Country is the Largest Producer of Milk in the World: Shri Radha Mohan Singh
It Is the Responsibility of Veterinarians to Contribute in Keeping the Nation Healthy By Increasing Availability of Animal Protein
By 2022 the Government of India is committed to Double Farmers' Income
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh today said that the Government of India has undertaken several new initiatives in the field of animal husbandry in Gujarat. Under Rashtriya Gokul Mission, on the lines of Gokul Gram ‘Gir, Cow Sanctuary’ has been approved. This will be established in Dharampur, Porbandar under Livestock insurance coverage. Earlier only two milk animals were included , now 5 milk animals and 50 small animals are included. This scheme has been implemented in all the districts of the state, whereas earlier only 15 districts were included. During the year 2014-16, about 26,000 animals have been insured in the state. To fulfil the shortage of veterinarians, a veterinary college has been established in Junagadh. The Agriculture Minister was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of polytechnic at Kamdhenu University, Sabarkantha.
The Agriculture Minister said that it is a matter of immense pride that our country is number one in milk production in the world. In the year 2015-16, the growth rate of milk production has been 6.28 per cent due to which total production has reached 156 million tonnes. And now, per person milk availability is 337 gram on an average, while on the world level it is 229 gram. It is worth mentioning that in comparison to the years 2011-14, the growth in milk production during the years 2014-17 has been 16.9 per cent.
He said that the standard of living of urban and rural families is rising, therefore, the demand for the animal protein is increasing. So, it is necessary that we constantly make effort to increase the production of our livestock, poultry and fish so that the country's citizens are well-nourished and healthy. That is why it is the responsibility of veterinarians to contribute in keeping the nation healthy by increasing availability of animal protein.
He said that the Government is committed to double farmers' income by 2022 and veterinaries play a significant role in fulfilling the Government’s resolution to double the farmers’ income. A healthy animal will result in greater production which will automatically enhance the farmer’s income and the country will proceed on the path of economic prosperity.
Agriculture Minister said that India is world’s highest livestock owner at about 512.05 million out of which 199.1 million are bovines, 105.3 million buffaloes, 71.6 million sheep and 140.5 million goats. In the case of goats, India is at the second position in the world and it is approximately 25 % of the livestock. India is second largest poultry market in the world and it includes the production of 63 billion eggs and 649 million poultry meat. India's marine and fish industry are growing at around 7 percent compound annual growth rate. Overall, India’s livestock sector is growing fast and emerging as a major contributor in the global market.
The Agriculture Minister said that the Government of India is ensuring the quality of education in universities is of international standards. In this direction, ICAR’s Fifth Deans Committee Report has been approved. Schemes like ‘Student’ and ‘Arya’ have been started with scholarships. Students’ scholarship amount has been increased.
In the end, the Minister said that to see our nation prosper and agriculture sector and farmers flourish, we need to work together. When the agriculture will grow, the farmer will be happy and the country will move forward.
Government focused on Integrated Development & Inclusive Growth
Press Information Bureau: May 29, 2017
New Delhi: DD committed to provide truthful information & wholesome entertainment to people - Venkaiah Naidu
I&B Minister releases 14 short films produced by Doordarshan on success stories of various Flagship schemes of the Government
Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting has said that the focus of the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister has been on Integrated Development, Inclusive Growth and Good Governance. The Government in the last three years had taken various initiatives for the welfare of the people ensuring Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. The 14 Short Films produced by Doordarshan showcased the success stories under various Flagship Schemes of the Government which had positively impacted people’s lives and had brought a transformational change in the country. The films have successfully portrayed the underlying development narrative through testimonials from the beneficiaries at the field level all across the country. The Minister mentioned this while releasing the 14 short films produced by Doordarshan on various flagship schemes of the Government here today.
Speaking further, Shri Naidu said that these films would be showcased on all Doordarshan channels in Hindi and all other Indian languages with the purpose to motivate and inspire others also to use the benefits under various Flagship Schemes of the Government. These films would also be used by all other Media units of the Ministry of I&B to enhance outreach across media platforms. Shri Naidu also mentioned that Ministry of I&B would be facilitating the outreach programmes of the Government through MODI (Making of Developed India) fests all across the country along with its media units.
Speaking on the Freedish initiative of Doordarshan, Shri Naidu said that DD Free Dish was the largest free DTH Service available to the people in the country. As per the recent estimates it has reached more than 22 million homes. The Government has planned to further enhance the reach of DD Free Dish by distributing Free DD DTH boxes in the remote and interior areas of the country through State Governments, especially in the LWE impacted areas. He also mentioned that the Ministry would be giving 10,000 DTH boxes to the Government of Chattisgarh for distribution in the LWE areas.
The following themes have been covered in the short films produced by Doordarshan.
1. Mission Indradhanush
2. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna and Soil Health Card
3. Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas
4. Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana
5. Skill India
6. Beti Bachao Beto Padhao
7. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna
8. Kaushal Bharat Kushal Bharat
9. Pradahn Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna
10. National Solar Mission under Ujjwal Bharat
Shri Naidu also highlighted that Doordarshan would be organising a Sports Conclave tomorrow i.e. 28th May, 2017 at its studios at Asiad Village New Delhi. Leading sports personalities, sports federations, editors from various sports magazines and newspapers would be participating in live discussions. DD sports would connect live with Varanasi, Guwahati and other places to interact with local players and State Authorities. The conclave would discuss the future of Indian sports and policy interventions required for India to become a formidable force.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Indian Oil Q4 profit jumps 85% to Rs3,721 crore
Chairman B. Ashok told reporters on Thursday that the net profit rose mainly because of inventory gains, higher refining margins and operational efficiencies. The country’s largest state-run refiner had reported a Rs2,005.89 crore profit in the year-ago period.
State-run Indian Oil is in the midst of a massive expansion programme, especially in refining capacity and in liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and liquified natural gas (LNG) import and processing capacity to meet the government’s goal of raising gas consumption in the economy. It is also adding to its petrochemical production capacity to strengthen alternative revenue streams to the refining business.
Indian Oil’s board recommended a final dividend of Re1 per share, which is in addition to the Rs18 per share interim dividend paid during the year. Consolidated net profit for FY2016-17 jumped 64% from a year ago to Rs20,385 crore.
The company exceeded its capital spending target of Rs15,395 crore for the year 2016-17 by over 30%, the chairman said. Indian Oil plans to invest Rs20,737 crore in the current fiscal.
A part of the investment will go into logistics that will see the bulk of the company’s petroleum product transport go off roads and railway lines into long-distance pipelines. A plan is underway to add 7,550 km of long-distance pipeline for petroleum products, which along with another 8,000 km under-construction pipeline projects, will take the company’s total network to 27,550 km over the next few years for fuel transportation.
During the fourth quarter, Indian Oil’s refining margin rose to $8.95 a barrel, sharply higher than the $2.99 a barrel reported in the year-earlier period. Refinery margin for the full financial year 2016-17 was $7.77 a barrel, against $5.06 a barrel in the previous year.
Indian Oil reported an inventory gain of Rs2,634 crore in the three months ended 31 March as compared to an inventory loss of Rs3,417 crore in the same period a year ago. The country’s largest refiner has three weeks of inventory, including crude oil and finished products at various stages starting from vessels in the ocean to pipelines and warehouses.
Revenue from operations jumped 24% to Rs1.22 trillion in the March quarter. The company processed 17.1 million tonnes of crude oil into fuel in the fourth quarter compared to 15 million tonnes in the year-ago period.
Ashok said that standalone annual profit or Rs19,106 crore in 2016-17 was the company’s highest ever. That was facilitated by a record sale of 83.49 million tonnes of products including exports.
El Nino weakens, monsoon expected before schedule
Normal rain in June is 164 mm. In July and August, respectively 289 mm and 269 mm. “After its onset on May 29-30, the southwest monsoon is expected to make steady progress over the west coast, southern peninsular India and even the east and northeast,” says Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist at private weather forecasting agency Skymet.
He said Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha were expected to get a good amount of pre-monsoon showers during June, where the usual onset date is late June or early July.
D S Pai, director of long-range forecasts at the government’s India Meteorological Department (IMD) agrees. He says after the monsoon’s onset around May 30, the rains are expected to progress quickly over the west coast, due to formation of a low pressure area, aiding its push into the mainland. As of now, said Pai, distribution of rain across the country looks fairly well. IMD is to issue regional and month-wise predictions early next month.
As of now, it feels the monsoon could be even more than its initial forecast of 96 per cent of the Long Period Average. This is the average rain India got in the 50 years from 1951, around 890 mm.
One reason for its optimism is weakening of the adverse El Niño weather condition. The Australian Weather Bureau, considered among the authentic voices on El Niño, has said there is a 50 per cent chance of it this year but most of its models are suggesting this would be a weak one.
IMD’s first forecast had said a weak El Niño, coupled with a neutral to positive Indian Ocean Dipole, should greatly benefit the southwest monsoon.
And, that the rains in 2017 could be very evenly spread, a critical element for India. That and a timely southwest monsoon would ensure a good kharif harvest, following the record production in 2016-17.
Environment ministry planning to ease coastal regulation norms
Environmentalists say that the proposed norms would have serious implications for the marine environment and are weaker compared with the current Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification, 2011.
The draft of the new coastal norms, accessed by environmentalists using the right to information (RTI) law, reveals that it would open the coastline for activities such as tourism and real estate.
The draft Marine and Coastal Regulation Zone (MCRZ) notification 2017 was accessed by Meenakshi Kapoor, who works at the Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research, using the RTI Act 2005, on Tuesday. Kapoor criticized the environment ministry for not releasing the draft to the public for wider consultations.
“Since 2014, the entire process of reviewing and revising the CRZ notification, 2011 has been a closed-door exercise, she said.
“Instead of the environment ministry inviting suggestions and feedback from coastal communities, researchers, urban planners and legal experts on the implementation of the CRZ Notification and proposals for reform, there has been a reluctance to share the details of this review.”
The draft, reviewed by Mint, is currently under inter-ministerial consultation.
An environment ministry official, requesting anonymity, said the draft is expected to be finalized soon. The draft has already been discussed with the Union ministries of tourism, shipping and urban development.
“Once views of the ministries are included, it would be put online for views and suggestions from all stakeholders including public and experts,” the official said.
An analysis of the draft reveals that it proposes to shrink the no-development zone in rural coastal areas from 200m from the high tide line now to merely 50m, where temporary tourism facilities will be permitted.
The draft proposes to also allow temporary tourism facilities in ecologically sensitive areas.
The proposed notification also states that state and Union territory governments are to prepare tourism plans for their respective MCRZ areas.
According to the draft, housing and basic infrastructure for local inhabitants will also be allowed after 50m from the high tide line in rural areas, compared with the 2011 notification which permitted houses for coastal communities after 100m.
The draft also proposes to reduce the coastal protection zone for islands from the present 500m from the high tide line to just 20m.
The proposed draft also proposes to give powers to state authorities to decide the extent of developmental activities.
The draft, however, clarifies that activities related to Defence Research and Development Organization, Indian Space Research Organisation, exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas and extraction of minerals will continue to require clearances from the environment ministry.
India’s first CRZ notification was issued in 1991, under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, empowering the central government to restrict industrial activities and processes to protect the coastline. It was amended 25 times before being comprehensively revised in 2011.
In June 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government constituted a committee under Shailesh Nayak, then secretary in the ministry of earth sciences, to look into issues raised by states regarding the 2011 CRZ notification. In January 2015, the Nayak panel submitted the report. That report has also not
been made public by the ministry.
Start Up -Definition changes
In order to promote entrepreneurship in the country, the Government of India has amended the definition of a Startup. The following significant changes have been made to the definition of Startups –
a) Age of Startup increased: Taking into account the long gestation period by Startups to establish, an entity shall be considered as a Startup up to seven years from the date of its incorporation/ registration (from earlier 5 years). However, in the case of Startups in the Biotechnology sector, the period shall be up to ten years from the date of incorporation/ registration.
b) No Letter of Recommendation required: No letter of recommendation from an incubator/industry association shall be required for either recognition or tax benefits
c) Potential of Job and Wealth Creation: The scope of definition has been broadened to include scalability of business model with potential of employment generation or wealth creation.
As a constant endeavour to facilitate the Startup ecosystem, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has been holding extensive consultations with stakeholders. The above changes are an effort to ensure ease of starting up new businesses to promote the Startup ecosystem and build a nation of job creators instead of job seekers.
GDP to grow at 7.1% in Q4 FY17, says Icra
Gross domestic product (GDP) had grown marginally lower, at 7 per cent, in the third quarter of FY17, down from 7.4 per cent in the second quarter.
Principal Economist of Icra, Aditi Nayar, said: “Benefitting from gradual remonetisation, GVA (gross value added) growth is likely to improve to 6.9 per cent in Q4 FY17 from the initial estimate of 6.6 per cent for Q3 FY17, while remaining weaker than the robust 8.1 per cent in Q4 FY16. Our forecast of a 6.9 per cent GVA expansion in Q4 FY17 builds in a healthy 8.8 per cent year-on-year- growth in services, and moderate rise of 5.4 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, in industry and agriculture, forestry and fishing.”
The Central Statistics Office is expected to release its estimate of fourth quarter growth on May 31.
Higher growth of the services sector was likely on account of robust growth in air cargo traffic, bank deposits as well as central government non-interest, non-subsidy revenue expenditure, the report said. Construction activity, though, would continue to fare poorly as the effects of the note ban linger.
The Icra estimated agriculture to grow at 4 per cent in the fourth quarter, based on the third advance estimates of crop production which showed healthy growth of rabi output of pulses, oilseeds, wheat and coarse cereals. Agriculture had grown by
6 per cent in the previous quarter.
But the CSO might revise the GDP estimate in light of the release of the new Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and the Index Of Industrial Production (IIP) series.
The new IIP series shows higher industrial growth than was estimated under the earlier IIP series. And with the WPI series showing lower inflation, which would impact the deflators, it is likely that the revised estimates may well show higher growth.
“The new WPI and IIP data could lead to revisions in GDP and GVA levels and growth rates from FY13 onward, at constant prices. In particular, the FY17 growth rates may differ materially from the second advance estimates released by the CSO in February 2017. Some additional data on the impact of the note ban on the informal sectors may result in a sharper dip in growth in H2 FY17, relative to the revised levels for H1 FY17,” added Nayar.
Thursday, May 25, 2017
USFDA lifts import alert from Sun Pharma's Mohali plant
The Mohali facility was inherited by Sun Pharma as part of its acquisition of Ranbaxy in 2015. The US FDA had taken action against the facility in 2013 when it ordered it to be fully subject to Ranbaxy's Consent Decree of Permanent Injunction. Certain conditions of the consent decree will continue to be applicable to the Mohali facility, the company added.
India, China to propel global oil demand in 2017, OPEC says
World oil demand will grow 1.26 million barrels per day or 1.26% in 2017 from 1.38 mb/d in 2016, OPEC said in its monthly report.
In 2017, world oil demand is expected to stand at 96.31 mb/d, showing a growth of 1.26 mb/d, higher by about 70,000 b/d from previous month’s projections.
“Most of the oil demand growth is anticipated to originate from Other Asia, led by India, followed by China, then OECD America. The OECD Asia Pacific is the only region anticipated to reduce its oil requirements in 2017 y-o-y,” it said.
Indian economy is expected to gather momentum in 2017-18 and grow by as much as 7.5%, according to the government’s Economic Survey. India’s stats office estimated the GDP growth to slow to 7.1% in 2016-17, from 7.9% in 2015-16, as demonetisation crimped consumption and investment demand.
India’s oil demand is estimated to grow by 0.14 mb/d or 3.25% to 4.53 mb/d in 2017, after growing 8.2% in 2016.
In case of China, the oil demand is estimated to grow by 0.28 mb/d or 2.45% to 11.79 mb/d.
In January, India’s crude imports dropped by 132,000 b/d, or 3%, from the previous month to average 4.1 mb/d, showing an annual drop of 161,000 b/d, or 4%.
On the product side, India’s imports in January went down by 66,000 b/d, or 8%, m-o-m to average 777,000 b/d. The imports were down by 13,000 b/d, or 2% year-on-year. The drop seen in the monthly product imports came mainly as a result of lower imports of LPG.
India’s fuel product exports dropped in January by 34,000 b/d, or 3%, to average 3 mb/d. The exports were down by 113,000 b/d, or 8% from last year. “The drop in the monthly product exports came mainly as a result of lower diesel exports,” OPEC said.
TRAI to promote ease of doing business in telecom sector
M&A interest may grow as buyers get more confident about India: Barclays India MD
Mumbai: Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in India rose to a record $69.75 billion across 1,195 transactions in 2016, fuelled by a wave of consolidation across sectors. Consolidation as a driver for M&A activity is expected to continue in the near- to mid-term as available dry powder, both foreign and domestic, steadily accumulates. Barclays Capital was at the forefront of some of the largest deals in India last year.
In an interview, Pramod Kumar, Barclays India managing director and co-head of banking, talks about the various factors that are likely to drive M&A deals in the coming quarters. Edited excerpts:
Going ahead, what are the trends you are observing that will drive M&A activity in India?
I think what we will see, and what has been evident from the activity in the past year as well, is the continued consolidation and rationalization of businesses. This will lead to some of the existing players selling off parts of their businesses or monetizing them at attractive valuations. We will see that accentuated in a large way by strong private equity interest in these businesses and the willingness and ability (of private equity funds) to own these businesses with large stakes.
These are businesses which are fundamentally not bad, but which have been either under-invested in or haven’t got the attention they deserve and can show significant improvement. There are several instances of that if you look back at the past 12-24 months.
For example, Crompton Greaves’s consumer business falling out of leverage issues that the group was facing. We have seen several other industrial assets being divested, a lot of cement assets get sold, primarily a result of leverage issues that the owners have faced.
More corporates are taking a view around rationalization of their businesses. All that has led to M&A activity.
What is the level of interest you are seeing from strategics, especially foreign strategics?
Surprisingly, in all of this, we may not have seen a large amount of foreign strategic action yet, with the exception of a few such as American Towers, Yokohama and Fosun. This is something that will change going forward. I am hoping that you will see more interest from them, and that would be primarily on account of them becoming more and more comfortable about India. It has certainly improved from what you saw say two years ago or going back to the previous government’s last two years. But I think more can happen.
Any particular sectors where strategic interest is higher?
There is interest in financial services, there is interest in renewables, interest in some areas of industrials; even in health-care services, we are seeing some conversations.
In private equity, the general feeling is that the interest is more around buyouts. How do you think PE activity will pan out this year?
Private equity feels more comfortable, and increasingly so now, of being able to own the business and then control it, change management, bring about improvements, etc., which wasn’t the case a few years ago.
In a way, they have also felt that owning a minority stake in an environment where there is no huge earnings growth, their ability to really do much with the business is limited and I would say that in many situations a lack of trust factor is also playing. Some of the experiences of private equity with the existing promoters hasn’t really been great, so they would prefer to have a larger stake and then the ability to bring about improvement where they can.
What impact will some of the geopolitical situations such as Trump coming to power in US and all the noise around changes in policies for sectors like IT and pharma, have on deal making in these sectors?
For pharma, the US is still the largest market. Several Indian firms will continue to look to consolidate their positions in the US. So I don’t rule out activity on that front, though it may be a little more cautious around what policy changes the Trump government implements. There will be some bit of caution.
As far as M&A is concerned, tech companies were not doing very big acquisitions. Pharma in the US will be more cautious until they get clarity around the policies.
We saw several overseas bond issuances and refinancing activity last year. How is that market looking like in 2017?
The markets are quite liquid. Everyone’s counting on two rate hikes this year in the US. So, people are certainly taking advantage of the high amount of liquidity that is there in the market and that the credit spreads have compressed. People do see this as an opportunity where they can refinance their existing debt and term out the maturity.
Interestingly, we also have some other companies which are looking to access the bond market to replace their rupee funding—we have seen Renew Power do such a bond and earlier Greenko had done that.
The driver there is again strong liquidity in the market, ability to get good pricing, coupled with the fact there is a huge growth opportunity here in the renewables space, and that this frees up their bank lines, allowing them to go and borrow incrementally from the banks to grow their portfolio.
In an interview, Pramod Kumar, Barclays India managing director and co-head of banking, talks about the various factors that are likely to drive M&A deals in the coming quarters. Edited excerpts:
Going ahead, what are the trends you are observing that will drive M&A activity in India?
I think what we will see, and what has been evident from the activity in the past year as well, is the continued consolidation and rationalization of businesses. This will lead to some of the existing players selling off parts of their businesses or monetizing them at attractive valuations. We will see that accentuated in a large way by strong private equity interest in these businesses and the willingness and ability (of private equity funds) to own these businesses with large stakes.
These are businesses which are fundamentally not bad, but which have been either under-invested in or haven’t got the attention they deserve and can show significant improvement. There are several instances of that if you look back at the past 12-24 months.
For example, Crompton Greaves’s consumer business falling out of leverage issues that the group was facing. We have seen several other industrial assets being divested, a lot of cement assets get sold, primarily a result of leverage issues that the owners have faced.
More corporates are taking a view around rationalization of their businesses. All that has led to M&A activity.
What is the level of interest you are seeing from strategics, especially foreign strategics?
Surprisingly, in all of this, we may not have seen a large amount of foreign strategic action yet, with the exception of a few such as American Towers, Yokohama and Fosun. This is something that will change going forward. I am hoping that you will see more interest from them, and that would be primarily on account of them becoming more and more comfortable about India. It has certainly improved from what you saw say two years ago or going back to the previous government’s last two years. But I think more can happen.
Any particular sectors where strategic interest is higher?
There is interest in financial services, there is interest in renewables, interest in some areas of industrials; even in health-care services, we are seeing some conversations.
In private equity, the general feeling is that the interest is more around buyouts. How do you think PE activity will pan out this year?
Private equity feels more comfortable, and increasingly so now, of being able to own the business and then control it, change management, bring about improvements, etc., which wasn’t the case a few years ago.
In a way, they have also felt that owning a minority stake in an environment where there is no huge earnings growth, their ability to really do much with the business is limited and I would say that in many situations a lack of trust factor is also playing. Some of the experiences of private equity with the existing promoters hasn’t really been great, so they would prefer to have a larger stake and then the ability to bring about improvement where they can.
What impact will some of the geopolitical situations such as Trump coming to power in US and all the noise around changes in policies for sectors like IT and pharma, have on deal making in these sectors?
For pharma, the US is still the largest market. Several Indian firms will continue to look to consolidate their positions in the US. So I don’t rule out activity on that front, though it may be a little more cautious around what policy changes the Trump government implements. There will be some bit of caution.
As far as M&A is concerned, tech companies were not doing very big acquisitions. Pharma in the US will be more cautious until they get clarity around the policies.
We saw several overseas bond issuances and refinancing activity last year. How is that market looking like in 2017?
The markets are quite liquid. Everyone’s counting on two rate hikes this year in the US. So, people are certainly taking advantage of the high amount of liquidity that is there in the market and that the credit spreads have compressed. People do see this as an opportunity where they can refinance their existing debt and term out the maturity.
Interestingly, we also have some other companies which are looking to access the bond market to replace their rupee funding—we have seen Renew Power do such a bond and earlier Greenko had done that.
The driver there is again strong liquidity in the market, ability to get good pricing, coupled with the fact there is a huge growth opportunity here in the renewables space, and that this frees up their bank lines, allowing them to go and borrow incrementally from the banks to grow their portfolio.
Govt readies multi-modal transport play to reduce logistics costs
The strategy involves a reset of India’s logistics sector from a “point-to-point” model to a “hub-and-spoke” model and involves railways, highways, inland waterways and airports to put in place an effective transportation grid.
This includes setting up 35 multi-modal logistics parks at an investment of Rs50,000 crore, development of 50 economic corridors and an investment template which involves roping in the states and the private sector for setting up special vehicles for implementation.
To implement this, the government plans to host a multi-modal summit—India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit—in May, on the lines of the maritime summit to pitch project opportunities to the investors.
From Mumbai, it’s easier to send stuff to UK than Delhi: Nitin Gadkari
“It is for the first time that we have taken an integrated approach for the country’s transportation. This will increase India’s exports, provide employment opportunities, will be cost effective, and will make goods cheaper in the country,” said Nitin Gadkari, minister for road transport and highways, shipping and ports in an interview.
Sites for the proposed 35 logistics parks have been identified and they will be set up on railways, highways, inland waterways and airports transportation grid. Fifteen such logistics parks will be constructed in the next five years, and 20 more over the next 10 years. They will act as hubs for freight movement enabling freight aggregation and distribution with modern mechanized warehousing space.
The government’s intent was articulated by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech this year.
It will work like this: a joint venture will be set up between National Highways Authority of India (49% share) and the partner (51%) for the project which may be a state government or a private entity. Of the land acquired for the project, 40% will be developed and returned to the land owner. While 20% of the land will be sold to finance the project, the profit from the rest 40% of the land will go to National Highway Authority of India. The road transport and highways ministry has also sought an infrastructure status for these logistics parks.
“This model will ensure that there will be no need for us to make investments,” said Gadkari.
“We will build pre-cooling plants, cold storages, storage facilities for agricultural produce, food grains, hardware, cement, steel, fertilizer and will create a transport nagar (city) and logistic park. It will have fuel pumps and also truck maintenance shops. All of this will be at one place outside the city. Its first impact will be that it will reduce pollution, traffic jam, create new employment opportunities and contribute towards increasing exports,” the minister added.
According to the ministry of road transport and highways, several state governments want to partner with the ministry for the multi-modal logistics parks.
A pre-feasibility study will be conducted in Chennai and Vijayawada shortly.
“I have personally written to the chief ministers of states to make sure that these projects progress and have also invited them to the summit,” Gadkari added.
Delhi, Mumbai airports get top World Airport Awards
GMR-led consortium, which runs Delhi International Airport, said that its Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been adjudged as the "Best Airport in India and Central Asia" by Skytrax at the World Airport Awards.
GVK Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), the company that administers Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, said that it secured the top award for the 'Best Airport Staff Service' in India & Central Asia at the World Airport Awards organized by Skytrax.
The World Airport Awards are the most prestigious accolades for the airport industry, voted by customers in the largest, annual global airport customer satisfaction survey. The Skytrax World Airport Awards are a global benchmark of airport excellence and widely known as the Passengers Choice Awards, the release from the airport operator added.
Aviation to become part of multi-modal logistics hubs: Gadkari
Govt approves Rs2,147crore highway project in Uttar Pradesh
Development and Upliftment of Farmers is the first priority of the Government: Shri Radha Mohan Singh
Essential to maintain fertility of the land for sustainable agriculture development: Shri Singh
Country is self-sufficient in foodgrains and exporting foodgrains to the other countries: Union Agriculture Minister
Shri Radha Mohan Singh inaugurates three days Krishi Unati Mela-2017
New Delhi: The Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has said that development and upliftment of farmers is the first priority of the government and to achieve it, the government aim is to double the income of farmers by 2022. Shri Singh said this on the inauguration of 3 days Krishi Unati Mela being held in Indian Institute of Agriculture Research today. On this occasion, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and Director General, ICAR, Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW), Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DADF), Deputy Director General, Director, Indian Institute of Agriculture Research, Scientist and official were present. Information will be given of crops and new species of cattle, special schemes and programmes prepared keeping in view of the protection, empowerment and their progress in the mela.
Shri Singh said on this occasion that it is essential to maintain fertility of the land for sustainable agriculture development. Hon’ble Prime Minister launched soil health card in Feb., 2015 itself and till now 460 soil testing laboratory has been sanctioned. The government has made it mandatory the production of neemcoated urea in May 2015. Further the cost of DAP and MOP has been reduced. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana has been launched to safeguard the farmers from natural disaster like drought, flood etc. It includes cereals, oilseeds and commercial, horticulture crops. About 366.64 lakh farmers has been covered in kharif 2016.
Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister said that Ministry has made arrangements for conducting whole sale market through e-platform (e-NAM) in the whole country so that the farmers may sell their products at reasonable price. To overcome the problem of drought, Prime Minister Krishi Sichae Yojna has been launched under which water is being provided to every khet. To encourage agriculture and to strengthen the rural livelihood many scheme of agriculture and farmers welfare have been launched. The main schemes are Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichae Yojana, agriculture mechanization, national agriculture marketing, kisan suvidha mobile app, Rashtirya Krishi Vikas Yojna, Fisheries Developmnent Management, Integrated Agriculture System Model etc.
Shri Singh said that the country is self-sufficient in foodgrains and exporting foodgrains to the other countries. India is number one in milk production in the world. Milk production has increased from 137.61 million tonnes during 2013-14 to 146.31 million tonnes during 2014-15 and during 2015-16 milk production was 155.49 million tonnes. New Scheme “National Bovine Productivity Mission” has been started in November, 2016 with an amount of Rs. 825 crore. A production of 82, 930 million eggs was made during year 2015-16. Seeing the unlimited scope of development in fisheries, the Modi government has called for Blue Revolution in the fisheries sector. For Blue Revolution scheme, central budget of Rs. 3000 crore has been earmarked for the period of five years. The number of Krishi Vigyan Kendra has reached to 665 so that the farmers may adopt from training to agriculture technique. Cabinet has approved Rs 3960 crore for running the Krishi Vigyan Kendras. Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narnedra Modi has given special emphasis on lab to land, water, soil productivity, food processing. Prominent among them are Farmer First, Arya, Student Ready Mera Gaon, Mera Gaurav.
On this occasion the regional level Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Rashtriya Krishi Vigyan Protsahan Puraskar were distributed. Ramkrishna Ashram, Nimpith Dist.- South 24 Parganas, Sundarbans won the National Award at the event.
The winners at the regional level were Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) Dhanori - Roorkee; KVK Badgaon, Vidya Bhawan, Udaipur; KVK Saharanpu; Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra run by Ramakrishna Mission Aashram, Morabadi, Ranchi; KVK, Mayurbhanj, Shamkhunta, Odisha; KVK Teok run by Assam Agricultural University Jorhat, CU; College of Horticulture & Forestry, Imphal; KVK run by College of Horticulture & Forestry, Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh; KVK Baramati, Malegaon, Maharashtra; KVK Uttar Bastar, Kanker at KVK, IGKV, Raipur; KVK Virinjipuram, Vellore, (Tamil Nadu) run by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) Coimbatore and KVK Malappuram (Kerala) run by Kerala University.
Boost to Education: Cabinet approves setting up of 50 new Kendriya Vidyalayas in the country under Civil / Defence Sector
The total project cost based on KendriyaVidyalayaSangathan (KVS) norms for the proposed 50 new KVs is Rs.1160 crore.
New KVs will be opened from classes I to V for which 650 regular posts shall be created in all 50 KendriyaVidyalayas. The school grows every year with addition of one more higher class and, when the school grows upto class XII and becomes a full fledged school with two sections in each class, there shall be a requirement of about 4000 regular posts of various categories i.e., about 2900 teaching posts and about 1100 non-teaching posts. These new KVs when fully functional will provide quality education to approximately 50,000 students in addition to the approximately 12 lakh students already studying in present KVs.
The new KVs will address the educational needs of eligible students with high quality standards and will play a role of pace-setting educational institutions in the districts concerned.
Background: The main objective of KVS is to cater to the educational needs of children of transferable Central Government employees including Defence and Para-military personnel by providing a common programme of education. There are at present 1142 functional KendriyaVidyalayas under the KVS including three abroad at Moscow, Kathmandu and Tehran.
The KendriyaVidyalayas are considered as model schools in the country in terms of physical infrastructure, teaching resources, curriculum and academic performance. KendriyaVidyalayas as pace setting schools have consistently turned out excellent academic performance as is evident from the Board Results of Class X and XII exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
25% surge in FPI flows before DTAA
In those three months, for instance, the market value of Morgan Stanley Mauritius jumped more than two-fold to ~6,719 crore in the three months. Similarly, the portfolio value of Government of Singapore funds, HSBC Mauritius, Ishares India and Cinnamon Capital saw their holdings’ value rise a little more than a fifth. FPIs pumped a little more than $6 billion (~38,500 crore) into Indian equities during the three months.
In contrast, the total value of investments of these top 50 FPIs remained the same at around ~3.65 lakh crore.
As on April, the Singapore and Mauritius-based entities owned nearly 30 per cent of all FPI assets, showed data from depository NSDL.
Said Pranav Sayta, senior tax partner at consultancy EY: “A number of other factors would have also contributed, including the outcome of the recent state elections and high potential growth for the Indian economy as a whole. Yet, the fact that investments made up to end-March are grandfathered under the tax treaties with both, and also under the newly-applicable General AntiAvoidance Rule provisions (on taxes), encouraged investors to accelerate their investments, to be eligible for tax benefits upon a future exit.”
Investments between April 2017 and end-March 2019 would attract 7.5 per cent tax. From April 1, 2019, all investments through these countries would attract 15 per cent short-term capital gains. Long-term capital gains (on holdings of more than one year) will be exempt for both domestic and foreign investors.
Experts say all the major FPIs domiciled in Singapore and Mauritius are revaluating their strategies with the new tax regulations. While some of them are moving out of these jurisdictions to more tax-friendly countries like France and Netherlands, some others plan to reduce their short-term trades and concentrate on long positions.
“FPIs are coming to terms with the new reality, that there will be no tax havens. For a short span of time, they could think of shifting their base to other jurisdictions. But, from a long-term perspective, the government has already made its stance clear. If it is under the impression that any tax treaty is being misused, they would amend the treaty with that country,” said Tejesh Chitlangi, partner, IC Legal.
Exporters to get tax refund within 10 days
Business Standard: May 22, 2017
New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a press conference on the key initiatives and achievements of the ministry during the three years of the NDA government in New Delhi on Saturday
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council has accepted the commerce ministry’s suggestion of refunding 90 per cent of exporters’ claims on incentive schemes within 10 days of applying for them.
However, the Council, which had met on Thursday and Friday in Srinagar, is yet to take a decision on allowing a different mechanism of claiming incentives for exporters belonging to medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME), Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.
The ministry had argued for exempting the sector from paying duties, since it would be difficult for such firms to go without crucial working capital for long.
“On the refund issue, our request to the GST Council was that for MSMEs, if an alternative could be thought of, rather than asking them to pay first and then get a refund. We are yet to hear from them,” Sitharaman said, addressing a press conference on three years of the government. Exporters are now allowed duty-free import of inputs that are used to manufacture export products. However, under the GST regime, which is expected to be rolled out on July 1, they will have to pay the duty and then apply for refunds.
Subsequently, they had argued that significant working capital would be locked up in the new system.
While the government had earlier promised that the duty would be refunded within the first seven days of submitting an application, it had added a further step of acknowledging each claim within three days, Director General of Foreign Trade Ajay Bhalla said.
Provisions have been made for additional refunds of 6 per cent if payments are late. The last 10 per cent of refunds would be subject to verification by the revenue department.
The issue was referred to the GST Council by a special three-member committee including Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia; the head of the committee on duty drawbacks, GK Pillai; and a finance ministry official.
It had also raised the issue that under the GST, if exempt goods were inputs in making products used for exports, export credits would not be provided for them.
Sitharaman also said the government was considering creating spice development agencies at the state level to boost the working of the Spices Board. On this note, it is looking at spice development parks in Telangana and other states.
GST to help improve India's exports: Sitharaman
India Inc ready for July 1 GST roll-out: CEO poll
The GST would help the economy pick up pace, bring down the inflation rate, and boost the fortunes of corporate India, a nationwide poll of top chief executive officers (CEOs) revealed.
A survey of 34 CEOs conducted across India on Saturday, after the GST Council agreed on the rates for various goods and services in Srinagar last week, found that 88 per cent of corporate executives were prepared for a July 1 roll-out.
Ninety-four per cent of the CEOs surveyed said the GST would have a positive impact on the economy and 62 per cent said that the tax would have a positive impact on inflation. The GST rates have exempted several food products from the tax and kept a majority of essential items in the lower tax bracket of 5 per cent.
However, the anti-profiteering clause, which requires firms to pass on the benefit of input credit or tax reduction to the end consumer by a commensurate reduction in prices, is cause for worry in the corner office as 32 per cent of the CEOs said it could lead to harassment by tax officials, and another 21 per cent chose not to respond in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ terms.
CEOs are upbeat on the impact of the GST on their industries and companies. About 65 per cent of them said their industry would benefit from it, and only 26 per cent say it would adversely impact them.
“I have always been and continue to be very optimistic about India's future after the GST roll-out. While demonetisation has helped in checking black money, and ensuring medium- and long-term growth, the GST, which would be implemented from July, would help in achieving positive economic growth in the country,” said Adi Godrej, chairman emeritus, Godrej group, and a vocal supporter of the GST since it was first announced in 2005.
Most companies said they had set up cross-functional core groups with external consultants to get the software in place and train the staff. Industry is likely to undergo a phase of transition in the next two-three months, and then things will return to normal.
Industry says a unified GST is a prerequisite for a modern developed economy. “With India's primacy in the global commercial and economic space, we cannot lag behind. The pain of short-term inflation and adverse tax burden on companies will be eventually compensated by gains from transparency, better tax credit systems, and ease of administration. It is certainly a progressive tax reform and industry is for it,” said Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises.
However, CEOs said they wanted more clarity on rates. “On the one hand, healthcare is exempted, while, on the other hand, certain rates are given for pharmaceutical industry. I do not know yet what it means,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson and managing director, Biocon.
CEOs in the hotel industry are apprehensive about the impact of the 28 per cent rate on five-star hotels, which could dampen demand. “We need clarity on how the GST will work in the hotel industry, in which we see seasonal fluctuations in tariffs and a lot of discounts by outside agents,” said the CEO of a leading hotel chain.
When asked whether there was enough clarity on input tax credit, 56 per cent of CEOs said they were aware of the input credit, and 28 per cent of the CEOs said there was no clarity. The rest were non-committal.
All the CEOs said they would not look at any relocation of their manufacturing plants because of the GST.
Rank of India Improves in International Tourist Arrivals
The number of NRI arrivals during 2014 and 2015 were 5.43 million and 5.26 million, respectively. Accordingly, the numbers of ITAs in India during 2014 and 2015 were 13.11 million and 13.28 million, respectively. The data of ITAs, containing both the arrivals of NRIs and FTAs, is now as per International recommendations.
Due to this inclusion, India’s improved rank reflecting the true and comparable scenario has now been acknowledged by the UNWTO. As per the latest UNWTO Barometer for March 2017, Rank of India in International Tourist Arrivals in both 2014 and 2015 is 24 as against the previous rank of 41 and 40 in the year 2014 and 2015, respectively. With this inclusion the share of India in the ITAs has also increased from 0.68% (based on FTAs) to 1.12% in the year 2015.
Earlier India’s rank in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), 2017 had also shown a 12 places jump from 2015. Rank of India in TTCI Report of 2017 was 40th as compared to 52nd in 2015, 65th in 2013 and 68th in 2011.
While UNWTO gives ranking in terms of numbers of ITAs, TTCI is composed of 14 pillars organized into four sub-indices of ‘Enabling Environment’, ‘Travel & Trade Policy and Enabling Conditions’, ‘Infrastructure’ and ‘Natural and Cultural Resources.
Paytm Payments Bank to launch in Delhi NCR today
The first physical branch of Paytm Payments Bank will go live in Noida on Tuesday.
The bank plans to expand its physical presence to 31 branches and 3,000 customer service points in the first year.
The firm is targeting 500 million customers by 2020.
“We will first start the services in Delhi-NCR followed by the second phase of launch in other top metro cities,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of One97 Communication Ltd, which owns Paytm, over phone.
The second phase of the rollout is expected after three months.
The company is expecting a customer acquisition cost of Rs125-150 crore over the next 12 months.
Paytm Payments Bank will offer accounts with a zero balance requirement and every online transaction such as immediate payment service, national electronic funds transfer, real-time gross settlement will be offered free of charge. For savings accounts, the company will also offer an interest of 4% per annum, much lower than competitor Airtel Payment Bank’s interest offering of 7.2%.
Paytm Payments Bank will offer current accounts to its millions of merchants.
Paytm Payments Bank will also offer a cashback of Rs250 to its first million customers who reach a deposit of Rs25,000.
According to Sharma, the free of charge fund transfers and between Paytm wallets will make them “the most compelling bank account and wallet for consumers”.
“This is the best value proposition we have offered,” he said.
The company will issue debit cards with an annual fee of Rs100 in partnership with Rupay.
Paytm Payments Bank has already received investment of about Rs220 crore from One97 Communications Ltd and its founder Sharma in November. Sharma was one of the 11 recipients of RBI’s payments bank licence and has personally invested Rs112 crore of the total investment received.
“RBI has given us an opportunity to create a new kind of banking model in the world. We are proud that our customer deposits will be safely invested in government bonds, and be used for nation building. None of our deposits will be converted in to risky assets,” said Sharma, who is also chairman of Paytm Payments Bank.
The company said in a statement that it will roll out its beta banking app for its employees and associates and that Paytm customers can request an invite by going to PaytmPaymentsBank.com or on the Paytm iOS app.
“Our ambition is to become India’s most trusted and consumer-friendly bank. Leveraging power of technology, we aim to become the preferred bank for 500 million Indians by 2020,” said Renu Satti, chief executive at Paytm Payments Bank.
The firm said it will move all active wallet accounts on the Paytm app to the payments bank.
But it will allow users, who do not wish to transfer their accounts, to opt out by a written request; accounts dormant for six months and having zero balances, Paytm will transfer wallets only when the user notifies it to do so.
In November, Bharti Airtel became the first payment bank to start operations followed by India Post Payment Bank.
GST to have minimal impact on retail inflation: Morgan Stanley
Crisil says Narendra Modi's steps to benefit growth over medium term
PM launches various projects of Kandla Port Trust
He unveiled plaques to mark the laying of Foundation Stone for construction of the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Convention Centre; and the development of the 14th and 16th General Cargo Berth.
He handed over Letters of Award for Construction of Interchange-cum-ROB at Kutch Salt Junction; Deployment of two Mobile Harbour Cranes; and Mechanization for handling of fertilisers at Kandla Port.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari said that the Sagarmala project, and port-led development would have a positive impact on the State of Gujarat, and would lead to job creation as well.
Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Vijay Rupani spoke of the rich maritime traditions of the State, and added that the spirit continues even today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people for the warm welcome accorded to him on the way from the helipad to the venue of the function.
He said the people of Kutch are well aware of the importance of water. He spoke of the rich and glorious history and culture of the Kutch region.
The Prime Minister said that if India wants to make a place for itself in global trade, it should have the best of arrangements in the port sector.
The combination of infrastructure and efficiency is vital for the port sector to thrive, he said, adding that the Kandla Port has emerged as one of the finest in Asia.
The Prime Minister said that the Chabahar port, being developed with Indian participation in Iran, would further spur the growth of Kandla Port. The Prime Minister also mentioned the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Convention Center whose Foundation Stone was laid today.
The Prime Minister asked the people to resolve to make whatever contribution they can for the nation over the next five years, in the run-up to the seventy-fifth anniversary of Independence.
Stating that the nation is celebrating the centenary year of Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay, the Prime Minister suggested that Kandla Port Trust be renamed as "Deendayal Port Trust - Kandla."
The Union Minister of Finance Shri Arun Jaitley says India-Africa together can shape the future of the world
Shri Jaitley said “our commitment is reflected in high level engagement with Africa on a scale never seen before.” He further added that ''India-Africa partnership model is unique; the cornerstone is voluntary partnership without any imposition on partner and the partner is free to decide what is best for them.”
Talking about the 'High 5' Agenda of the AfDB, the Finance Minister said that the High 5 Agenda is not different from Indian policy. “If India is a bright spot, then Africa is not very far away”, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Shaktikanta Das, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance called Africa a continent of immense opportunities and said that there are opportunities for India and Africa to revive global growth.
Daniel Kablan Duncan, Vice President, Republic of Cote d’lvoire, Akinwumi Adesina, President, African development Bank, Rakesh Bharti Mittal, President designate, CII, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Royal Enfield to push expansion abroad
The Chennai-based entity has identified Thailand, Indonesia, Colombia and Brazil as having the potential to become very large markets for itself over time. It will be investing in all four.
Siddhartha Lal, managing director of Eicher Motors, the parent entity of RE, said there were around 25 exclusive stores abroad and the plans was to add another 20-25 this year. The pace would continue in the coming year, too.
On the four country markets mentioned earlier, RE has five or six exclusive stores in Colombia and only a single one in the other three.
RE is adding single stores in a couple of other markets, too, with the hope that they reach a stage in the next year or two for an expansion.
“We expect that over the next five years, the developing markets will be on a different order of magnitude. Therefore, our retention would be much higher there,” said Lal.
Adding: “Our North America market, our first owned subsidiary there, has taken us a little bit of time -- we have just been adding dealers and getting up to speed in the US market.” He said he expected a good year in America and Europe. There are five countries in the latter -- Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain – where RE has about 50 dealers each. Some are exclusive to it but most are multibrand. The company is selling well in some of these markets but the size in each is low. And, normally of slightly higher powered motorcycles than RE has in its current portfolio.
“That means we are still a niche player here than a mainstream player, which we plan to be in developing markets,” said Lal. The oldest of its brand is Royal Enfield itself, in continuous production with the focus on 350-500cc ones.
More on business-standard.com
RIGHT NOW, WE ARE LEARNING AND EXPANDING IN THESE FOUR CORE MARKETS. ANY OR ALL OF THESE COULD BECOME VERY LARGE MARKETS FOR US OVER THE NEXT DECADE. IT IS THESE FOUR CORE MARKETS THAT WE ARE EXPANDING ON
SIDDHARTHA LAL,
MD, Eicher Motors
Made in India iPhones to hit stores this month
Business Standard: May 18, 2017
Bengaluru: Buyers of Apple iPhone SE could soon find a “Made in India” tag on their devices. Taiwanese contact manufacturer Wistron would be making it at their plant in Bengaluru.
The company recently conducted a trial run at the factory. The few phones made during the trial run will be in stores in two weeks.
Full-scale production will take more time, according to a person familiar with Apple’s plans. The global tech major confirmed the production at the sole facility in India.
“We are beginning initial production of a small number of iPhone SEs in Bengaluru. We’ll begin shipping to domestic customers this month,” Apple said in an email.
Karnataka was quick to claim credit for this. Its Information Technology Minister Priyank Kharge said, “It shows the Bengaluru ecosystem is able to attract the world’s best companies. If the Make in India initiative has to work, we need to incentivise manufacturers to gradually increase local sourcing.”
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook visited India last May and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They reportedly discussed manufacturing of iPhones in India, for the local market and export. Since then, the government has turned down Apple’s demands for tax sops. But, the fast-growing domestic market seems too attractive for the company.
With a dip in iPhone sales in developed markets like the US and China, India is now a major focus for Apple. Since the country’s appetite for expensive flagship devices is still small, Apple continues to produce its four-year-old iPhone 5s to compete with Xiaomi, Motorola, Samsung and others in the mid-level market.
Is domestic production going to cut prices? There is no clarity on that yet. Experts said assembling devices locally will help it save 12 per cent in taxes.
One can buy an iPhone SE for Rs 27,200 but on Flipkart and Amazon, it is available for as low as Rs 20,999. Apple is known to maintain price parity across the world. In the US, the iPhone SE starts at $399 (about Rs 25,000).
“Prices might go below Rs 20,000 only in October,” said Neil Shah, research director, devices and ecosystems, Counterpoint Research. “At that price it has to compete with Chinese rivals Oppo and Vivo.”
Japan offers support for Northeast projects
The Ambassador of Japan to India, Mr Kenji Hiramatsu officially met the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh and conveyed his government’s inclination to invest in Northeast and also offer any other feasible support for new ventures. He said, the North-Eastern region of India has immense potential and with the kind of priority being given to the region by the Government of India and the Government of Japan looks forward to engage itself as a partner at different levels, both financially and otherwise.
According to Mr Kenji, the preferred States which the Government of Japan looks forward to invest in Northeast are Assam, followed by Manipur and Nagaland. He said, besides the trade and entrepreneurship interest, the Government of Japan also has a historic emotional link with the region because it was in the area around Manipur and Nagaland that during the Second World War, around 30,000 Japanese soldiers had got killed while fighting jointly with the British Army against the allied forces.
Dr Jitendra Singh appreciated the offer made by the Government of Japan and said, while the Ministry of DoNER will look forward to engagement of Japanese resources in the making of roads and bridges in the North-Eastern region, the Japanese partnership could also be utilized in the recent initiative of developing inland waterways transport along River Brahmaputra down to Bay of Bengal as well as supplementing the Venture Fund announced by DoNER Ministry for "Start-Ups" in Northeast.
Cabinet approves Pan-India implementation of Maternity Benefit Program
The Maternity Benefit Program will provide compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the women can take adequate rest before and after delivery and not be deprived of proper nutrition.
The total cost of the proposal for the period from 01.01.2017 to 31.03.2020 including Central and State Government share isRs.12,661crore. Government of India’s share during the period 01.01.2017 to 31.03.2020 comes to around Rs. 7932 crore.
Objective of the Scheme
i) To provide partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery of the first living child.
ii) The cash incentives provided would lead to improved health seeking behaviour amongst the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mother (PW&LM) to reduce the effects of under-nutrition namely stunting, wasting and other related problems.
Target Group
All eligible Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM), excluding the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers who are in regular employment with the Central Government or State Government or Public Sector Undertakings or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being. It has been decided to give the benefit of Rs.5000/- to PW&LM in three installment for the birth of the first live child by MWCD and the remaining cash incentive as per approved norms towards Maternity Benefit under existing programmes after institutional delivery so that on an average, a woman will get ₹ 6000/-.
Conditions and installments
Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers who are eligible will receive a cash benefit of Rs.5,000/- in three installment at the following stages as specified in the table given below:
Cash Transfer
Conditions
Amount
(in Rs)
First installment
Early Registration of Pregnancy.
1,000/-
Second installment
Received at least one antenatal Check-up (after 6 months of pregnancy)
2,000/-
Third installment
Child birth is registered.
Child has received first cycle of BCG, OPV, DPT and Hepatitis-B or its equivalent/substitute.
2,000/-
The eligible beneficiaries would continue to receive the remaining cash incentive as per approved norms towards Maternity Benefit under existing programmes after institutional delivery so that on an average, a woman will get ₹ 6000/-.
Mode of cash transfer to the Beneficiaries
The conditional cash transfer scheme would be in DBT mode.
Background:
The Government of India is committed to ensure that every woman gets adequate support and health care during pregnancy and at the time of delivery and every newborn is immunized on time which is the foundation for better health of the mother and the newborn. Normally, the first pregnancy of a woman exposes her to new kinds of challenges and stress factors. Hence, the scheme intends to provide support to the mother for safe delivery and immunization of her first living child. The improved health care seeking behaviour of the PW&LM would lead to better health status for the mother and the child.
Boost to transform domestic nuclear industry
India has current installed nuclear power capacity of 6780 MW from 22 operational plants. Another 6700 MWs of nuclear power is expected to come onstream by 2021-22 through projects presently under construction.
As the government marks three years of its nation and people centric governnace, in a first of its kind project for India’s nuclear power sector, the ten new units will come up in fleet mode as a fully homegrown initiative. It would be one of the flagship “Make in India” projects in this sector.
With likely manufacturing orders of close to 70,000 crores to the domestic industry, the project will help transform Indian nuclear industry by linking our goal of a strong nuclear power sector with our indigenous industrial capacities in high-end technologies.
This Project will bring about substantial economies of scale and maximise cost and time efficiencies by adopting fleet mode for execution. It is expected to generate more than 33,400 jobs in direct and indirect employment. With manufacturing orders to domestic industry, it will be a major step towards strengthening India’s credentials as a major nuclear manufacturing powerhouse.
The ten reactors will be part of India’s latest design of 700 MW PHWR fleet with state-of-art technology meeting the highest standards of safety.
The approval also marks a statement of strong belief in the capability of India’s scientific community to build our technological capacities. The design and development of this project is a testament to the rapid advances achieved by India’s nuclear scientific community and industry. It underscores the mastery our nuclear scientists have attained over all aspects of indigenous PHWR technology. India’s record of building and operating PHWR reactors over the last nearly forty years is globally acclaimed.
The Cabinet’s decision reflects the Government’s commitment to prioritise the use of clean power in India’s energy mix, as part of low-carbon growth strategy and to ensure long-term base load requirement for the nation’s industrialization.
It also supports India’s commitment to sustainable development, energy self-sufficiency and bolsters global efforts to combat climate change.
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