India Inc on Thursday pitched for continuation of reforms while ensuring tax and policy stability in the forthcoming Budget to prop up the economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the virtual pre-Budget consultation held with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, industry chambers said that government measures will help firmly entrench the nascent signs of recovery being currently seen in private investment. Capital expenditure by the government through enhanced infrastructure spending should in the meantime continue to support growth, CII president TV Narendran said.
Despite all the noise around India's chance to leverage the China-plus one strategy, India's share of global foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows fell from 3.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2022 to 2.19 per cent in the same period in 2023, according to OECD data. The sharp drop of 54 per cent is much steeper than the overall global FDI inflow decline of 26 per cent in the first nine months. FDI inflows to China have fallen dramatically from a share of 12.5 per cent in the first nine months of 2022 to only 1.7 per cent in the same period in 2023.
India Inc's profit share in the country's GDP at 15-year low in 2018. Since 2013, net profit for top 500 companies has remained in the range between Rs 4 trillion and Rs 4.8 trillion despite steady growth in nominal GDP.
Charan Das Mahant, who is one of the star campaigners of the party, sparked controversy at a public rally in Rajnandgaon on Tuesday when he stated that they needed someone who could hold a stick and confront Modi.
An Indian-origin man whose 11-year-old son was branded with a hot iron rod as part of a religious ceremony in 2023 has sued a Hindu temple in the US state of Texas and its parent company seeking more than USD 1 million in damages.
Corporate India is indicating cautious hiring in the March quarter of 2023 as concerns rise over possible recession and steady inflation, a survey said on Thursday. According to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, based on interviews with nearly 3,030 public and private employers, hiring intentions will decrease in the quarter both on year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis. During the quarter, 48 per cent employers expect to increase their staffing levels, 16 per cent anticipate a decrease in hiring intent and 34 per cent do not anticipate any change in hiring, resulting in a net employment outlook of 32 per cent.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani might have made news for purchasing the most expensive beach-side villa in Dubai recently, but he is not the only Indian eyeing the city for investment. Since Dubai allowed foreign investors full ownership in specific sectors in June 2021, a horde of Indian companies have moved or expanded into the desert city. The list even includes a kindergarten, an elementary and middle school, and a hotel that has sought 100 per cent ownership.
Broader sentiment of lack of transparency bothers most in India Inc.
The idea that India is the world's largest democracy is a complete lie, Rahul Gandhi alleged.
Industry leaders, including Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka and Biocon Ltd chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Monday came out in support of the Agnipath scheme, saying it has large potential for employment of youth in the corporate sector. Mahindra also expressed dismay over the violence against the scheme while asserting that the farm equipment to aerospace conglomerate welcomes the opportunity to recruit trained, capable and young people under the programme. The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
Indian corporate are fast tapping the international bonds market to raise funds for their operational expenses even as they reduce their presence in the rupee bond market. As bonds are costlier for companies and investors are more sceptical than the banks, chief financial officers say they are looking at other avenues for raising funds in the coming months as dollar bond rates are lower in the range of 100 to 250 basis points. "For corporate with reasonable credit quality, the Indian bond market has become less of an option from a cost point of view. "In addition, conditions imposed in the Indian bond market by investors post Franklin episode have also become very onerous," said Prabal Banerjee, president-finance of Bajaj group. "Hence very few corporate are looking at the local bond market for resource mobilisation, since both, bank loans and the overseas bond markets are much more attractive," he said.
In order for life insurance customers to attain maximum benefits, it is crucial for the persistency ratio to be far higher than its current level, top executives of the industry said at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit on Thursday. The persistency ratio is a metric that measures the number of policyholders who continue paying renewal premium and is gauged at varying stages in the life of a policy. A higher persistency ratio is seen as an indicator of an insurance product that caters satisfactorily to the needs of a customer.
India Inc on Friday said it is looking forward to a repo rate cut in future as cost of funds has to come down in coming times, and expects continuation of accommodative policy stance by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The RBI decided to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance, as the economy faces the brunt of the second COVID-19 wave. Sanjay Aggarwal, president of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the RBI has maintained an accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and to mitigate impact of COVID-19, apart from an aim to keep inflation within the target.
'He has emerged as a formidable leader who cannot be ignored anymore, who cannot be mocked.'
The operating margin of India Inc is likely to drop in the December quarter with a 100-120 bps year-on-year decline, as 27/40 sectors are set to see crimped margins despite higher revenue, according to a report. Surging commodity prices and price hikes may help companies report a healthy 16-17 per cent revenue growth to Rs 9.1 lakh crore during the quarter ending December, the Crisil report said on Tuesday. Software major TCS will open the earnings season Wednesday.
Reacting to the results, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that in the by-elections held on 13 seats in seven states, the people of the country have given their support to the INDIA bloc.
Reliance Industries, construction major L&T and IRB Infrastructure are some of the top companies that have used an infrastructure investment trust structure to reduce part of their debt and generate returns for their investors. Earlier this month, IRB Infrastructure InvIT was listed on the National Stock Exchange, giving its investors an option to exit by selling their units. The listing came within months of the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) guidelines for conversion of private unlisted InvITs into listed ones were issued.
Corporate India continues to be generous in rewarding its shareholders with big dividend payouts. This is especially true for shareholders of companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hindustan Zinc (HZL), and Coal India (CIL) which are seen as cash cows of large business groups and the government. Boosted by a big payout by these three companies, the combined equity dividend payout by listed companies was up 38 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to a record high of Rs 2.27 trillion in 2022-23 (FY23), compared with Rs 1.65 trillion in 2021-22 (FY22).
Severe skilled, unskilled shortage threatens to pull emergency brakes on India's industrial engine.
About 80 per cent of Sicilian businesses cough up a pizzo, of as much as 350 pounds a month. However, the burgeoning power of Cosa Nostra in Sicily, the Camorra in Naples, the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria and the Sacra Corona Unita in Puglia, has led to the infiltration of bigger businesses as well.
The Nassau County ground's pitch in New York has become a concern in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
If Tesla comes in, India's position as a manufacturing hub will rise many notches, as it will become only the second country, after China, to have both Apple as well as Tesla.
'Kerala isn't as dependent on agriculture like Bihar or Odisha or even other southern states.' 'Economic losses would not be too intense, unlike other states.' 'The floods could, at best, impact India Inc's earnings for a quarter or two.'
The top 25 global technology (tech) firms, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Tencent, Samsung, Oracle, and Accenture, collectively lost over $600 billion in market capitalisation (m-cap) during the July-September quarter (third quarter, or Q3) of calendar year 2023 (CY23), reveals a recent report by GlobalData, a London-based analytics and consulting company.
'The hiring in India will be primarily around skills in data engineering, AI, and product engineering.'
RIL, Capgemini, IndiGo among companies which have offered to pay their employees' vaccination cost.
Zeeshan Siddiqui lashed out at the Congress over its treatment of minorities and accused it of being 'communal'.
India Inc has started lobbying with the government to compensate them by giving tax incentives on the funds spent on CSR.
Corporate magnate Ratan Tata on Friday said that Congress general secretary, Rahul Gandhi had opened a door for investments in Jammu and Kashmir.
Reliance Industries, which sold stake worth $21.7 billion in Jio Platforms, kept the league tables moving in spite of the pandemic.
In FY22-23, Samsung exported $4.09 billion smartphones from India -- an increase of 42 per cent over 2021, when it was $2.8 billion -- accounting for 35 per cent of all smartphone exports.
'Dynastic politics has become a tool of convenience for political parties. The BJP does not hesitate to accept it when it comes to its own alliance or party candidates. The same goes for the others.'
Google is also working with the Election Commission of India to enable people to easily discover critical voting information on its search platform -- like, how to register and how to vote -- in both English and Hindi.
Corporate results confirm worst fears about growth trajectory.
Here's a look at how the new corporate governance norms will affect India Inc boardrooms.
'Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable.'
The Congress now knows that it is the only force -- however weakened it might be -- that stands between the BJP and India's evolution into a single-party Republic. Because, once it is out of the way, the BJP could sort out the other regional powers: Co-opting some, demolishing others, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
India's captains of industry said they were disappointed at the exit of Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan.
Fortunes of five richest men have more than doubled since 2020 and the world could have its first-ever trillionaire in just a decade while it would take more than two centuries to end poverty, rights group Oxfam said on Monday.
Making strong inroads in the global acquisition arena, Indian companies have won many big ticket deals and acquisitions.
