1. Singapore’s GIC Invests Rs 2,000 Cr in 2 DLF Projects: TOI
Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and DLF Home Developers, a subsidiary of India’s largest real estate developer DLF, entered into a joint venture to invest in two upcoming projects in Delhi’s Moti Nagar.
The Rs 2,000-crore investment by GIC is part of a larger plan by DLF to raise around Rs 7,500 crore. Talks are underway to get investors for some other projects too. The joint venture with GIC will develop over five million square feet, including one million square feet in the fifth phase of Capital Greens and four million square feet on SIEL land.
2. Builders in Trouble as Unsold Flats Pile Up: FE
The value of unsold apartments across the top seven cities of the country by the end of June has been estimated at a whopping Rs 4 lakh crore, with few signs the inventory will be cleared anytime in the next four years. At 7.5 lakh, the number of flats in the mid-price range is virtually the same as it was at the end of March, this year, which means sales have come to a standstill. In addition, there are 50,000 luxury apartments, priced at an estimated Rs 1 lakh crore, lying unsold in Mumbai alone.
“Developers are now reducing the sizes of the apartments to make them more affordable,” Sandeep Runwal, Director, Runwal Group, told Financial Express. Indeed, industry experts opine it could take as long as five years before builders are able to offload such a large number of units.
3. Ranbaxians Leaving Sun Pharma in Droves: ET
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries’ $3.2-billion acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories, which has made it the nation’s largest drug maker, has opened the exit door for many employees and created a hiring ground for rivals.
According to company sources, former employees at Ranbaxy and recruiters, at least 2,800 people have left Ranbaxy globally since April 2014, when the deal was announced. These exits have been both voluntary and involuntary. Companies such as Lupin, Mylan, Cipla, Aurobindo Pharma and Novartis have hired a number of them, mostly in junior and middle-level functions, they said.
However, Sun Pharma disputed the number of exits, calling it speculative and untrue.
4. CLSA Cuts Dec 2015 Sensex Target to 30,000 on Earnings Woes: ET
CLSA has trimmed its Sensex target for December 2015 to 30,000 from 31,800 citing a cut in earning estimates over the next couple of years.
The brokerage said companies in sectors such as metals, oil, cement, public sector banks, property and capital goods could see the highest earnings cuts, while pharma and technology stocks could see upgrades.
The recent drop in global commodity prices helps India’s macro as it lowers India’s twin deficits and inflation pressures. While India will likely emerge as a relative beneficiary, a worsening global growth outlook would negatively impact corporate earnings,” said CLSA’s analysts, headed by Mahesh Nandurkar.
5. Top 75 Companies Spent Rs 4,000 cr on CSR in FY15: ET
The country’s top 75 companies spent more than Rs 4,000 crore towards corporate social responsibility in the last fiscal, the first year after the government mandated bigger companies to give away a part of their profits for social work, early estimates by the government show.
Big Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spenders include Reliance Industries with Rs 760 crore, ONGC with Rs 495 crore, Infosys with Rs 239 crore, NTPC with Rs 205 crore and TCS with Rs 220 crore, according to company filings. The government expects total spending in the first year to top Rs 9,000 crore and rise substantially in the coming years, a senior government official said. The initial estimates of the government had pegged CSR spend at Rs 15,000 crore in a year
6. Revenue Sharing Approved for Oil & Gas Fields: BS
The Union government will auction marginal oil & gas fields where discoveries could not be monetised by state-owned explorers ONGC and Oil India because of difficult geology and small size of blocks. With this, the government has introduced a revenue-sharing mechanism in oil & gas production.
Under the new policy, 69 fields, with 89 million tonnes of reserves, worth Rs 70,000 crore at current prices, will be bid out in three months. “It is a step towards increasing our hydrocarbon production, to reduce our import dependence by 10% by 2022,” Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said while briefing the media after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
7. Gold Imports Jump 40% in First Eight Months of 2015: BS
Gold imports in the first eight months of the calendar year are estimated to be 40% higher at 587 tonnes year-on-year. Imports in August remained elevated, even as prices rebounded from multi-year lows. By December 2015, total imports will touch 1,000 tonnes. Import bill for the first eight months is estimated at $23 billion, up 42% year-on-year.
Imports in August are estimated at 85-100 tonnes compared to 67 tonnes in August 2014, a rise of around 50%. In this July, 97 tonnes of gold were imported. If the final figure for August comes near to 100 tonnes as estimated, it will be perhaps highest August import. In August 2011, gold imports had touched 91.8 tonnes.
8. Possible Deflation May Become a Challenge: Chief Economic Advisor
Despite the lower-than-expected growth data for the first quarter, the finance ministry on Wednesday expressed hope that growth will be close to 8% in FY16, while flagging deflation as a major challenge for the economy.
“Overall, economic growth is moving in the right direction, although its pace is still below what the economy needs. But it is at a pace that is expected to pick up in response to the ongoing reforms. One real challenge that looms ahead appears not to be the price inflation but possible price deflation,” said Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian.
Pointing to subdued prices, low GDP and gross value added deflators, Subramanian said, “the data seems to suggest we are closer to deflation territory and far far away from inflation territory.”
9. JetLite to be Merged With Jet Airways: TOI
Over a year after Naresh Goyal decided that Jet will become a full service carrier operating under a single brand, the airline has now cleared the merger of Jet Airways and JetLite. Jet had bought Air Sahara in 2007 and branded it as JetLite, a low cost carrier.
Consequent to the merger, JetLite will become part of Jet Airways and operate as a separate division. This will result in more focused operational efforts, realising synergies in terms of compliance, governance, administration and costs.
– Excerpt from the statement
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