Record wheat, foodgrain output likely in 2016-17

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

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

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

Global aerospace firms use tie-ups to tap India market

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

INDIA'S FOREIGN TRADE: January, 2017

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

L&T, European co MBDA tie up for missiles

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

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

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

Manohar Parrikar pledges innovation fund to encourage defence start-ups

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

Isro creates record, launches 104 satellites

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

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

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

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

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