North Block is concerned that when India is trying to attract more investment, putting up restrictions on audit firms could create an avoidable bad advertisement.
Business leaders, among others, ask govt to let go of fiscal target, seek stimulus, and direct cash transfer.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said with the country's foreign exchange reserves at $677 billion, it is comfortably placed to deal with any spillover effects and for financing of the current account deficit. Over the last three years, the country's foreign exchange reserves have surged by $270 billion. He said as per the latest data, the foreign exchange reserves are $622 billion.
Getting to the magic growth, however, will require massive increase in investment in infrastructure, in labour force skills and manufacturing capacity.
The government is open to 'some tinkering' in the varied rates and holding period for computation of capital gains tax on shares, debt and immovable property, in a bid to make it simple, revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Wednesday. Under the Income Tax Act, gains from sale of capital assets, both movable and immovable, are subject to 'capital gains tax'. The Act, however, excludes movable personal assets such as cars, apparels, furniture from this tax.
'The pipeline of new industrial projects is the best I've seen in the last 10 years, and it looks solid enough to sustain for at least a few quarters,' points out Naushad Forbes, adding, 'It is only when we get back to the same labour force participation we saw before Covid that the economy will have truly recovered.'
The industry body said a strong inter-ministerial coordination group is required to resolve sticky issues like the 'mining conundrum' and 'raw material securitisation' for sectors like steel.
The war in Ukraine has made its presence felt at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos. As political and business leaders' debate, they remain fearful of Europe's economic future. There is a sense of gloom among many business leaders as energy shortage and economic recession rear their heads. Global investors are keenly assessing the presence of Indian delegation at Davos.
The Council of Islamic Ideology raised serious concerns over not including verses about jihad in the proposed syllabi for public educational institutions.
The Confederation of Indian Industry rated the performance of the NDA government on the economic front "excellent" even though the reforms agenda was unfinished.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will soon start public consultation for a national retail trade policy, which is likely to include an insurance scheme aimed at providing financial protection against losses caused by theft, accidents or natural calamities. The policy will also spell out ways to give traders access to low-cost finance, promote digital inclusion, and create necessary infrastructure to support them, a senior government official told Business Standard. This is expected to offer relief especially to traditional traders, who are facing stiff competition from large e-commerce players.
To address the supply crunch, CII has suggested leveraging the existing excess capacity in the Indian industry; rolling back import duty hike to look for alternative sources of imports; expanding credit to manufacturing units with quick loan sanctions, and one-time emergency waiver of non-performing asset regulations for three months.
On the eve of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China, Confederation of Indian Industry has released a survey on Sino-Indian business relations, which reflect growing interest of Indian companies in the Chinese market.
The delegation will participate at the American Film Market.
The Indian real estate market is on an upward cycle and residential housing continues to be the star of the sector, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said on Thursday. He added that unlike many other Western countries, the demand for housing in India is from genuine homebuyers and is not speculative in nature. "The India real estate market is on an upward cycle which bodes well for all of us. "The big star of the real estate sector continues to remain residential housing in India. "I hardly need to reiterate that demand for housing in India continues to remain robust," Parekh said while addressing the CII Real Estate event.
As per the survey for January-March 2013, majority of India Inc (54.1 per cent), however, expects no change in their employment levels.
Within a week of the CBI arresting senior bankers in the housing finance racket, the competition watchdog CCI on Monday said 11 real estate companies are already under its scanner.
Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala on Thursday said real estate developers are afflicted with very low return on capital as compared to bluechip stocks. Jhunjhunwala, who runs RARE Enterprises and is set to be a major shareholder in an upcoming airliner, said only the affordable housing developers can look at listing because of the volumes which they can deliver. It can be noted that very few developers like Macrotech Developers formerly Lodha, and DLF are listed on the bourses. Jhunjhunwala cited the case of DLF, saying the stock price plummeted to Rs 80 from Rs 1,300 per piece to illustrate the risks associated.
'I advise people to stay away from secondary IPOs. There is a big conflict of interest between the exiting and incoming investors'
On November 12, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to ring in uniformity in asset classification and income recognition across all lending institutions. Shadow banks, or non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), like commercial banks, are to test non-performing assets (NPAs) on a daily basis and upgrade them to "standard assets" only when interest and principal arrears are settled by borrowers. This is going to create all manner of headaches for shadow banks and their clientele. Says Y S Chakravarti, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), Shriram City Union Finance: "NPA levels will go up, especially of small borrowers.
In a significant ruling, a constitutional Islamic body in Pakistan has said that covering of face, hands and feet was not mandatory for women under Islamic laws.
The Confederation of Indian Industry has set up a Mission for Manufacturing Innovation to create "100 new billion-dollar companies over three years".
Over 70 per cent of these companies have increased staff since 2005, and expect to create another 3,400 jobs this year.
The companies will have to secure a minimum of 400 points out of 1,000 to be able to participate in the rating system.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement that the central government will provide free coronavirus vaccine to states will help ensuring quick rollout of vaccine, uniformity of procurement prices and resuming normal economic activities at the earliest, India Inc said on Monday. Industry chamber PHDCCI said that the increased role of the central government in the vaccination procurement process would help make vaccination drives further effective and maximise the supply in the country in relatively less time. "This would be a crucial step in making the country COVID free sooner than later," it said.
According to the study, Indian companies are mainly focused on existing products which leads to complacency and lack of innovation.
Rahul Bajaj was transparent, outspoken, and not ready to bend the rules, says R C Bhargava.
The study found out that in terms of tourism budget, Jharkhand ranks the highest with Rs 160 crore, compared to West Bengal's Rs 31 crore (Rs 310 million), Orissa Rs 44 crore (Rs 440 million), Bihar Rs 25 crore and Chattisgarh Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million).
Led by Ajay Shriram, chairman and senior managing director, DCM Shriram, the CEO's delegation seeks to convey to their American counterparts the sense of optimism amongst Indian industry.
India's top vaccinologist Gagandeep Kang stressed the need to develop better vaccines that can deal with new variants, and strengthening of the regulatory mechanisms.
Confederation of Indian Industry on Thursday cautioned that agricultural growth could be negative two per cent, which in turn will pull down gross domestic product growth in 2004-05 if the monsoon continues to play truant for the next two weeks.
