The primary and immediate impact of a depreciating rupee is on the importers who will have to shell out more for the same quantity and price. However, it is a boon for the exporters as they receive more rupees in exchange for dollars. The rupee depreciation has wiped away some of the gains that would have accrued to India from international oil and fuel prices dropping to pre-Ukraine war levels.
A cut in rates would have encouraged the banks to lend aggressively on the retail front.
Bindisha Sarang takes a look at Vodafone's RedX and Airtel's new plan.
'Google and Facebook need to be tamed, their garb of 'Investing in India's future' need to be pulled off,' observes Vibhu Arya.
March and April payrolls were revised to show 32,000 more jobs.
Post workers are collecting data that determines the level of India's consumer price index, which is likely to become RBI's most important tool for setting monetary policy.
'The government has said it has kept its powder dry to fight the true battle against the debilitating influence of the pandemic.' 'The release of the shocking economic data this week should act as the fuse for using that powder now.' 'Further delays will make the battle that much harder,' notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Technology, which was responsible for creating the new-age digital consumer issue for enterprises, also acts as a solution to the problem, says Karthick Viswanathan.
India's factory output climbed 22.4 per cent in March, benefiting from the base effect of the lockdown-marred month a year back as well as a turnaround in the manufacturing sector, while retail inflation slipped to a three-month low of 4.29 per cent in April. The high positive annual growth in the index of industrial production (IIP) in March 2021 came on back of a contraction of (-)0.9 per cent and (-)3.4 per cent in January and February 2021 respectively, according to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Wednesday. This turnaround was led by recovery in the mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors.
Citing faster-than-expected recovery, rising consumer confidence and the resultant spending spike, Swiss brokerage UBS Securities has revised upwards its growth forecast for the current fiscal to 9.5 per cent from 8.9 per cent in September. The brokerage also sees the economy clipping at 7.7 per cent in FY23 but moderating to 6 per cent in FY24, as it expects the benefit of the low-interest rate regime to end by the end of FY23, and it sees the central bank hiking policy rates by 50 bps in the second half of the next fiscal. The Reserve Bank also forecasts 9.5 per cent GDP growth this fiscal while the average projection ranges from 8.5 to 10 per cent.
Recent recovery in the white metal was reflected in a falling gold to silver price ratio.
Bharti Airtel is rolling out last-mile connectivity with a target of reaching over 20 mn addressable households in 90-100 cities in the next 3 years
About 18 months after its entry in India, a Spotify listener spent an average of 97 minutes on the app, almost ten times more than any other streaming music brand.
Surajeet Das Gupta explains why Mukesh Ambani's target is by no means impossible.
India's economy recovered faster than expected in the September quarter as a pick-up in manufacturing helped GDP clock a lower contraction of 7.5 per cent and held out hopes for further improvement on better consumer demand. The gross domestic product (GDP) had contracted by a record 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal (April 2020 to March 2021) as the coronavirus lockdown pummelled economic activity.
The smartphone category as a whole was expected to spend around Rs 1,000 crore on marketing and promotional activities over the next six months, even as India unlocks gradually, said media industry experts. This spending is expected to come down, as firms temper their launches.
Benchmark indices finished higher on hopes of economic reforms
There were 52 launches during January-June 2015, compared with 29 in the year-ago period and 32 in 2013.
'Considering that an Internet company's market value is largely determined by its direct access to consumers for digital services, and largely served outside a sovereign country's control, it would appear reasonable in trade terms to discuss fees for a seat at the proverbial 'table' of opportunities in the largest open consumer market,' argues Venki Nishtala.
Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian on Friday said there is an "upside potential" in the estimates about the economy during the current financial year amid a faster-than-expected recovery. He said the final print could be better than GDP estimates given by various institutions, including the Reserve Bank of India, which projected contraction of 9.5 per cent during 2020-21. During the second quarter, India's economy recovered faster than expected as a pick-up in manufacturing helped GDP clock a lower contraction of 7.5 per cent and held out hopes for further improvement on consumer demand bouncing back.
VIL has countered Trai's contention that the RedX plan, which commits higher speeds, should have been informed separately so different aspects could have been examined before such service was launched.
Private insurance firms say, over the past few years, they have been investing on digital technologies to reach semi urban and rural areas.
Beware of spot offers and discounts aimed to lure you into binge buying.
As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
'Good economics isn't necessarily bad politics, or vice versa,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Star earned ad revenues of around Rs 30 billion during last year's IPL. Whether it hits last year's figure will depend on how the economy picks up during the festival season.
Firms come out with detailed communiqu for consumers that counter Jio's claims of cheap data
New businesses have been secured from the public and private sectors, as well as domestic and international markets.
Probably 35 bps. There could be even an encore in February 2023 to take the policy rate to 6.5% before the financial year ends, predicts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The duo bought additional shares in pharmaceutical companies Lupin and Jubilant Life Sciences, along with Agro Tech Foods and NCC during Q2FY21
Having exposure to international funds and gold is a must for those who have foreign currency-denominated goals.
The Reserve Bank of India's latest data indicate that spending per card is rising steadily - something that consumers should worry about
Game streaming is becoming a serious professional choice for youth, as it allows them to make good money.
Ordering groceries, vegetables and daily essentials is just a WhatsApp away as billionaire Mukesh Ambani's e-commerce platform JioMart taps into the popular messaging app to scale up online business in its fight for dominance in the giant Indian retail market with Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart. Ambani's twin children, Akash and Isha gave a preview of the ordering at Meta's second edition of the Fuel for India event on Wednesday. A new 'tap and chat' option allows users to order groceries through WhatsApp.
While Reliance has the clout to negotiate prices with suppliers for its e-commerce, not to forget the cost advantage of integrated warehouse and supply chains, Amazon and Walmart are no pushovers, they too have deep pockets.
It is a classic case of extremes: The worst contraction in GDP along with the highest-ever levels of cash in the economy; and a severe dent in consumption together with strong growth in bank deposits and digital payments.
'When you need to revive the economy, when you need to revive aggregate demand, you cut taxes.' 'But what's this government doing?' 'It's increasing taxes for the middle class and the vast majority of the poor on fuel, which has a ratchet effect on most other products.'
Amazon's fresh investment in its India entities come at a time when the Seattle-based firm has faced losses in several of its business entities in India, such as seller services, wholesale, transportation services and digital payments, for the 2018-19 financial year.
Having grown swiftly since the acquisition of Flipkart by Walmart in 2018, it was looking at a valuation of $10 billion. However, factors such as lack of diversification, new e-commerce and data policies, as well as the overall investment environment, have slowed the process.
Make no mistake, Reliance's entry into Indian e-commerce cannot be taken lightly. It is akin to a combine of AT&T and Wal-Mart challenging Amazon on its home turf, says Shailesh Dobhal.
