QBiz: Salil Parekh is New Infosys CEO, Budget 2018 Likely on 1 Feb
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1. Infosys Appoints Salil Parekh as CEO
Information technology bellwether Infosys Ltd. has appointed Salil S Parekh as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and managing director, nearly four months after former chief Vishal Sikka stepped down.
Parekh has been appointed for five years and will take over on 2 January 2018, the company said in a media statement. UB Pravin Rao, who had been appointed as interim CEO, will be the company’s chief operating officer and whole time director, the statement added.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
2. Monetary Policy Review: RBI Likely to Keep Interest Rate Unchanged Again
The Reserve Bank is likely to keep the interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, 6 December, and stay focused on inflation control as the rebound in September quarter GDP growth – after a five quarter decline – seemed to have eased pressure on it to lower rates, experts said.
India Inc, however, is demanding interest rate cut to further build on positive sentiment generated by the rebound and upgrade of the country’s sovereign rating by Moody’s.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, will meet on 5 and 6 December for the Fifth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2017-18. The resolution of the MPC will be made public on 6 December.
In its October review, it had kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged on fears of rising inflation while lowering growth forecast to 6.7% for the current fiscal.
(Source: PTI)
3. First Post-GST Budget Likely on 1 February
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to present India’s first Budget after joining the GST regime and the current government’s last full Budget on 1 February next year.
The Budget session of Parliament may begin on 30 January, with President Ram Nath Kovind addressing the Joint Session of both the Houses of Parliament, a senior government official said.
The Economic Survey, detailing the state of the economy, is likely to be tabled on 31 January and the Union Budget may be presented the following day, he said.
Scrapping the colonial-era tradition of presenting the Budget at the end of February, Jaitley had for the first time presented the annual accounts on 1 February this year. The Budget presentation was advanced by a month to ensure that proposals take effect from 1 April, the beginning of the new financial year.
(Source: PTI)
4. Economy May Grow by Over 6.5% in FY-18, Says Arvind Panagariya
Noted economist and former vice chairman of Niti Aayog, Arvind Panagariya expects the economy to grow by over 6.5 percent in the current financial year.
He said that macro-economic indicators have remained stable for the past three years, with current account deficit hovering around one percent and inflation moderating.
“Expectations of implementation of the GST beginning 1 July 2017 led to some disruptions in supply during the April-June quarter with the quarterly growth rate declining to 5.7 percent. But we should see recovery coming our way with the growth rate during 2017-18 reaching 6.5 percent or higher,” he told PTI in an interview.
Panagariya pointed out that a recently released Goldman Sachs report makes a plausible case that the economy will accelerate to eight percent growth in 2018-19.
(Source: Times of India)
5. Lenders Approved to Recast $1.3 Billion India Sugar Mill Debt
An Indian overseeing committee has approved a proposal submitted by a group of lenders, led by State Bank of India, to restructure a Rs 82.85 billion ($1.3 billion) debt of Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar Ltd.
As per the plan, the company’s debt of Rs 47.89 billion will be considered as “sustainable”, while the rest will be treated as “unsustainable”, India’s top sugar maker said in a statement to stock exchanges on Friday. A loan is considered as sustainable when a company is able to service it from its cash flow.
The debt restructuring was done under the Reserve Bank of India’s Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets, or S4A. It allows banks to cut the debt burden of borrowers by as much as 50 percent, provided lenders are convinced that the remaining loan can be serviced from company cash flows. The plan also allows a dilution in shareholdings.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
6. Lava to Raise Rs 193 Crore From Chinese Firm
Lava is raising $30 million (about Rs 193 crore) from an affiliate of state-backed Chinese technology group Tsinghua Holdings, a first move by an Indian handset maker to raise capital in a tough market amid increasing competition from Chinese rivals.
The Noida-based company has issued five lakh compulsory convertible preference shares to Hong Kong-based UNIC Memory Technology, an affiliate of Tsinghua Holdings, for the fund-raising, according to company documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (ROC), which were seen by ET.
“Consent of the members of the company is hereby accorded to the board of directors to issue and offer 5,00,000 of compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) collectively for the INR equivalent of $30 million, each with the face value of Rs 100, and remaining amounts per CCPS being apportioned towards premium, on a preferential basis to UNIC Memory Technology,” the company said in the filing.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. DLF to Raise Rs 11,250 Crore From Promoters
DLF Ltd, India’s largest real estate developer, will raise around Rs 8,250 crore and Rs 3,000 crore, respectively, through an issuance of compulsorily convertible unsecured debentures (CCDs) and warrants to promoters, the company said after a board meeting on Friday.
“Once the issuances and conversion into equity shares is completed, the total additional amount of promoter group equity contribution to DLF will be around Rs11,250 crore,” the realty firm informed BSE.
Once this is done, DLF will raise a further Rs3,500 crore, in one or more tranches, by way of a public issue, a private placement or a qualified institutional placement (QIP).
(Source: Livemint)
8. Mercedes-Benz Sees Tier2/3 Cities Driving Growth
Luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz is upbeat about its business prospects, particularly the Tier 2 and 3 towns and cities. “The year looked challenging at start, but we have in the first nine months of 2017 registered a growth of 19.5 percent compared to the corresponding months of the previous year. There is wealth in smaller cities.
“While customers are enthused to own a Benz car, they had to take the vehicle either to Chennai, Bengaluru or Coimbatore to have it serviced. Our ‘Go to Customer’ strategy has helped make in-roads in such towns. We foresee huge potential for growth in smaller cities,” Santosh Iyer, Vice-President, After-Sales, Retail Training, Mercedes-Benz India, said.
Company sources said 300-plus Benz cars had hit the road in and around Salem.
(Source: Hindu BusinessLine)
9. Air India Express, AI-SATS to Be Part of Air India Sale
The government is said to have decided that the sale of Air India will involve its core aviation assets packaged with low-cost subsidiary Air India Express and AI-SATS, a groundhandling joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS).
All non-core assets, like the Air India building in Mumbai and other offices, will not be part of the sale and become part of the special purpose vehicle (SPV), said a government official, who didn’t want to be identified.
Core aviation assets include aircraft, slots at airports and flying rights to various countries. Both Air India Express, a nofrills overseas carrier, and AI-SATS are profit-making subsidiaries of the airline. While Air India Express is a fully owned subsidiary, Air India and SATS own 50 percent each of the ground-handling joint venture.
(Source: Economic Times)
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