Falling margins, high inflation pitting workers against management.
State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar, in conversation with Abhijit Lele, also says that the overhang of corporate debt stress will begin to recede in the next two-three quarters.
'We are sure FY25 is going to be better...But to call out that all problems are behind us is a bit early.' 'The underlying business sentiment has not changed significantly.'
'Revision of the base year for both CPI and GDP are long overdue.' 'The basic data that went into the 2011-2012 series were mainly from surveys done in 2011 or earlier.' 'We have since seen the emergence of new sectors like platform-based work and online marketing.' 'The employment surveys and the consumption surveys need to reflect these adequately.'
India's leading capital goods and engineering firms are in the midst of one of their busiest seasons, with the combined orderbook surging past Rs 8 trillion in value. As on September 30, 2023, 13 of India's top 15 listed capital goods and engineering firms, for which data for the September 2023 quarter was available, had a total orderbook worth Rs 8.45 trillion - a number unseen at least since 2018-19. "This intuitively looks like an all-time high factoring in inflation," said Anupama Arora, a senior independent analyst who tracks the capital goods sector.
The company also said production at its main plant at Gurgaon has been resumed after a two-day closure last week due to component supply constraints from Suzuki Powertrain India Ptd.
Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said the production at its plant in Gurgaon has been impacted due to strike at Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (SPIL), which supplies engines to MSI.
More than half (56 per cent) of chief economists expect the global economy to weaken in 2024, with most saying the pace of geo-economic fragmentation will accelerate, according to the latest "Chief Economists Outlook" released on Monday at the World Economic Forum (WEF). The report indicates that the global economic prospects remain subdued and uncertain. Challenges include tight financial conditions, geopolitical rifts, and the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
The coveted QS rankings indicate that India is slowly but steadily overtaking other nations in the field of education.
Amendments to the Child Labour Act say children can work in 'family enterprises' but the definition isn't clear, points out Shyamal Majumdar.
Governments find themselves expanding the entitlements of the least productive - farmers and bureaucrats - and abridging those of the more productive parts of the workforce.
The minister said Industrial Disputes Act provides for constituting different authorities to ensure harmonious industrial relations and prevent strikes and lockouts.
A healthy growth in India's services segments has helped the country's total exports and imports of goods and services to cross the $800 billion mark during the first half of 2023, despite a slowdown in global demand, think tank GTRI said in a report on Monday. According to the analysis of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), exports of goods and services rose by 1.5 per cent to $385.4 billion during January-June this year, as against $379.5 billion in January-June 2022. Imports, however, dipped by 5.9 per cent to $415.5 billion during the six months of this year, as against $441.7 billion in January-June 2022.
Within six months, outlets carrying Vicks jumped from 60,000 pharmacies to 750,000 general stores. The trade boycott collapsed. Consumers were happy, finding Vicks now at every street corner. A fascinating excerpt from Gurcharan Das's Another Sort of Freedom.
A remarkable story which helped in transforming a bureaucratic organization, to a customer centric organization. This experience may inspire several government / private organizations to modify or adopt digitisation to transform their business, notes Professor N Ravichandran (retd).
The Nowera Nuddy tea estate of Amalgamated Plantations Pvt Ltd (APPL), a close to 50 per cent subsidiary of Tata Tea, accounts for a little more than 1 per cent of the company's tea production in North India, but is threatening its image as an 'ethical' group. The IUF, a global trade union, is running an international campaign against the lockout of the estate.
'The Budget will be positive, continuing on the path of growth taken so far.'
Several candidates, including Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the BJP's Amritsar candidate, are promising resumption of India-Pakistan trade via the Attari-Wagah land route.
Getting to the magic growth, however, will require massive increase in investment in infrastructure, in labour force skills and manufacturing capacity.
Workers, union leaders in hiding amid spate of arrests; Japanese nationals among 100 injured; killed person identified as HR general manager
Along with the US and China, India could be a big enough force in global manufacturing
MSI had said the safety and well-being of its employees were paramount.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the government will consider the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Chemicals and Petrochemicals sector to make India a manufacturing hub for such products. In view of stringent pollution control regulations and rising labour cost, she said, global manufacturers in the chemical industry are looking at diversifying their products and production capability and India stands out as an alternative destination for manufacturing. Besides, India offers a large domestic market, she said while addressing the third edition of the summit on 'Global Chemicals and Petrochemicals Manufacturing Hubs in India'.
'The belief that FDI will shift from China appears to be a strategy of politicians to keep the media busy, chasing irrelevant news to ward off pressure and questions about the government's plans to deal with COVID,' observes Debashis Basu.
The share of women workers in registered factories submitting annual returns - working more than the statutorily-mandated maximum limit of 48 hours in a week - increased to a 11-year high of 33.6 per cent in 2019, shows the latest annual data released by the labour bureau. In comparison, only 27.9 per cent male workers worked more than the statutorily-mandated hours. Earlier in 2008, 39.2 per cent women workers had worked more than the prescribed work time.
In the last three years, 20 gardens have changed hands, and 90 per cent of the buyers are from non-tea background.
Manesar plant was rolling about 1,200 cars every day before the first strike hit in June.
Confirming that the company could shift its production to other facilities, Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj told Business Standard: "If we take a view that this (labour issue) is going to extend over the next two months, we certainly can do that, and will do that."
The state's economic health is in focus as it has consistently breached the fiscal deficit in eight of the last 10 years since Telangana's formation.
India's manufacturing sector continued with its robust performance in November, mainly on the back of substantial easing in price pressures and strengthening demand from clients, a monthly survey said on Friday. The strong performance of the manufacturing sector is expected to continue in 2024 as well. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 56 last month from the eight-month low level of 55.5 recorded in October.
Two German broadcasters have reportedly alleged that they were detained and imprisoned by Qatari Police while they tried to investigate the plight of migrant labourers working in the preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Profits of India's top listed companies have been growing at a faster pace than those of their American peers, but when it comes to revenue growth, the order has reversed recently. The combined net profit of the S&P 500 companies was up 14.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) during the trailing 12 months (TTM) ended December 2023, as against 17.4 per cent profit growth logged by the BSE 500 companies in the same period. This is the second consecutive year of faster profit growth for the BSE 500 companies.
'This Lok Sabha election is more of a trial for GenAI content.'
Manufacturing sector activities in India moderated in June from a 31-month high in May, but output remained in the growth territory, as new work orders expanded sharply amid favourable demand conditions, a monthly survey said on Monday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell from 58.7 in May to 57.8 in June. Despite the fall, the headline figure pointed to a considerable improvement in operating conditions, the survey said, adding that the demand strength positively impacted several other measures such as sales, production, stock building and employment.
Government announcements for the building of new roads, railways, and other capital expenditure (capex) projects may have hit an all-time low, according to numbers for the December quarter.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
India will drive growth in the Asia-Pacific (Apac) region as the growth engine is likely to shift from China to South and Southeast Asia in the coming years, S&P Global Ratings said in a report on Tuesday. The rating agency's report projected China's growth to slow down to 4.6 per cent by 2026 from an estimated 5.4 per cent in 2023. India is likely to clock 7 per cent economic growth from 6.4 per cent estimated for 2023.
'Investment creates capacity and reduces inflation. Income, employment, and savings rise.'
The IMD defines a normal monsoon as one which delivers between 96 and 104 per cent of the 50-year average rainfall for the season.
