Women leaders, succession planners and lawyers say doors in family businesses are opening but a stronger push is needed.
According to a report by global research firm Dun & Bradstreet, the composite Business Optimism Index for the second quarter of 2008 has decreased to 153.7 from 168.9 in the previous quarter. This is a 9% fall. BOI measures the pulse of the business community and serves as a reliable benchmark for investors and is arrived at on the basis of a quarterly survey of business expectations. The optimism index for profits represents a decrease of as much as 21 percentage points.
Industry chamber Confederation of Indian Industry said successive hikes in interest rates have had a dampening impact on industrial growth.
Weighed down by a sharp rise in input costs and limited ability to pass on the burden to customers, India Inc's operating margins took a hard knock in the first quarter of 2008-09 even though demand was buoyant as reflected in zooming sales.
The depreciating Indian rupee (the currency touched a record low for the second day in a row and closed at 53.22/23 to the dollar on Tuesday) has brought the foreign fund-raising cost for India Inc on a par with the domestic borrowing cost.
The market cap of the listed firms on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange on Monday declined by a whopping Rs 125,000 crore (Rs 1,250 billion) to Rs 43,75,020 crore (Rs 43,750 billion), thereby falling below the GDP of Rs 46,93,000 crore (Rs 46,930 billion) at current market price, as per the real economy data released by the Reserve Bank of India on April 28 this year.
The market cap of the listed firms on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange on Monday declined by a whopping Rs 125,000 crore (Rs 1250 billion) to Rs 43,75,020 crore (Rs 43750.20 billion), thereby falling below the GDP of Rs 46,93,000 crore (Rs 46930 billion) at current market price, as per the real economy data released by the Reserve Bank of India on April 28 this year.
Legal fees in such cases can go up to Rs 5 crore.
RBI is expecting the rupee to stay close to Rs 75 to a dollar, as COVID-19 forces foreign funds to withdraw from emerging markets.
Corporate India's payout surged 22 per cent in 2006-07, with more than 50 per cent of the companies raising their dividends
At present, when Indian corporates declare dividends, a dividend distribution tax is slapped at 15 per cent.
Initial projections, at least, suggest that things are not looking good enough for India Inc, as margins are expected to soften further.
RBI has cut the rates thrice so far in 2015 by 25 bps each.
The net sales growth declines 4.4% in September quarter, the second worst in eight years.
India Inc expects huge business opportunities to open up with the Nuclear Supplier's Group sanctioning an India specific waiver on Saturday.
Rising crude oil prices along with hardening interest rates in the domestic market have taken a toll on India Inc's growth outlook in the first quarter of the current fiscal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that the country's economic growth is picking up pace again and the domestic industry needs to enhance its risk-taking appetite. Noting the recent reforms taken by the government, the Prime Minister said that bringing reforms is a matter of conviction for his government, which is ready to take all risks in the national interest. "We have taken bold decisions. Reforms continued even during pandemic. "The government is doing reforms not out of compulsion but out of conviction," he said while addressing the CII's annual meeting.
Rising commodity prices are set to hurt margins of India Inc in the on-going fourth quarter of FY 11, even though revenues are seen higher than the previous year, ratings agency Crisil said on Monday.
'Bharat is a name that is 7000 years old.' 'We are not saying the name of the country should be changed from India to Bharat; we only recommended that the stress should be on Bharat.'
Reliance Industries Ltd on Monday announced an agreement to invest alongside Brookfield Infrastructure and Digital Realty in special purpose vehicles developing data centres in India. Reliance will hold a 33.33 per cent stake in each of the five Indian special purpose vehicles and become an equal partner, the company said in a statement. Digital Realty Trust, Inc is the largest provider of cloud and carrier-neutral data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions globally with 300+ data centres across 27 countries.
The handsome 25 per cent rise in corporate profits in the September quarter amid a sharp contraction in GDP was on the back of wage squeezes, leading to rise in inequalities in India, economist Nouriel Roubini said on Thursday. This rising inequality is "dangerous" politically and socially because only a few people in the economy are benefitting, the economics professor at New York's Stern School of Business said. Roubini said earnings of listed entities have risen 25 per cent in the September quarter, which means that wages and income are getting "squeezed, if not collapsed".
The idea that India is the world's largest democracy is a complete lie, Rahul Gandhi alleged.
IT jobs constituted nearly 24 per cent of over 1.47 lakh vacancies listed on job portals and in newspapers during the period, followed by financial services at 14.5 per cent and sales and business development at 13.5 per cent, it added.
India Inc gave a thumbs up to the UPA-II's last Union Budget before the general elections next year and said Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented a "bold" and "growth-oriented" Budget.
The new scheme, promoting manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) by global majors, will give a fillip to companies like Tesla and its upstart rival Vinfast, both of whom have lobbied for lower import duties from the Centre. While Vinfast has already announced an investment of Rs 4,000 crore to set up an electric vehicle (EV) plant in Tamil Nadu, Tesla's next move will be watched carefully. Four years ago, Musk announced that his company would come to India.
Order inflows during the quarter-ended September declined 31.5 per cent compared to the level a year ago. Companies are still not committing fresh capital expansion.
Mukesh Ambani, the patriarch of Reliance Industries (RIL), and Gautam Adani, the chairman of Adani Group of companies, have secured the top positions on the Fortune India Rich List, created in partnership with Waterfield Advisors, with respective wealth of $99.7 billion and $63.71 billion. With a wealth of $34.6 billion, the Mistry family of Shapoorji Pallonji Group holds the third position on the list, while the Poonawalla family, owners of vaccine maker Serum Institute, with a wealth of $32.9 billion, stands fourth. Stockbroker and founder of D-Mart-branded grocery stores, Radhakishan Damani, claims the fifth spot on the India Rich List with a wealth of $23.4 billion
India Inc on Wednesday welcomed Tata Steel's acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus while expressing concern that the deal might re-rate the entire steel industry, making steel companies over-valued.
While asking firms not to worry about sharp volatility in prices, Birla said companies must make sure they do not get caught in 'comorbidities'.
The Railway Budget was a mixed bag for India Inc with industry bodies cautioning that the hike in freight charges will fuel inflation, while other chambers said some proposals if implemented could set the growth multiplier in motion.
A survey of CEOs shows corporate India is unsure about the party's ideology, with some feeling its left-of-the-centre politics can be detrimental in the long run.
From being a net earner of foreign exchange ten years ago, India Inc turned into a net spender of forex.
Veteran Congress leader and former Defence Minister A K Antony said on Tuesday that his son, Anil K Antony, who is contesting as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate in the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, should not win the election.
'We emphasise the importance of not basing investment decisions solely on electoral outcomes.' 'Instead, focusing on investing in high-quality businesses capable of prospering regardless of the political landscape is paramount.'
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