1. Growth to Recover in Q2, Says NITI Aayog’s Kumar
NITI Aayog’s new vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar expects the economy to bounce back to grow 7-7.5 percent in the September quarter after it decelerated to its lowest level in three years in the June quarter.
Data released by the statistics department showed the economy slowed to a growth pace of 5.7 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017-18 from 6.1 percent in the March quarter as companies drastically reduced production ahead of the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) starting 1 July.
Kumar, who took charge on Friday after economist Arvind Panagariya abruptly vacated the post to go back to teach at Columbia University, said at a press conference that active destocking of goods in anticipation of GST roll-out and the base effect of the high manufacturing growth rate in the April-June period of 2016-17 contributed to slower growth in the June quarter.
Source: Livemint
2. How Much Information to Share with Promoters? Sebi to Decide Soon
The Uday Kotak panel on corporate governance is debating, among other matters, rules pertaining to the sharing of information with promoters who are not board members, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) whole-time member S Raman said in an interview.
"Corporate governance is always a very evolving subject," said Raman, who handles the corporate finance portfolio. "A few of the subjects which were in sharp focus in recent controversies, like the independence of independent directors, are one of the subjects which we have given."
The Sebi committee was set up in June to review corporate governance rules since the last such exercise was conducted more than a decade ago. However, given the controversies referred to above, the panel's deliberations have gained a certain urgency.
Source: Economic Times
3. Over Rs 1,800 Crore Exposure On 12 Accounts In RBI’s Second List Of Defaulters: Axis Bank
Axis Bank Ltd said it has an exposure of over Rs 1,800 crore to 12 accounts identified by the Reserve Bank of India in a second list that may need to be referred for insolvency proceedings. Unlike the first list released in June, banks have until December to try and resolve these accounts, failing which insolvency proceedings will be initiated.
The total fund-based outstanding was Rs 1,843 crore, while the non-fund based exposure stands at Rs 649 crore, the country’s third largest private sector lender said in an exchange notification.
Around 75 percent of the outstanding loans from the 12 defaulters are secured, Axis Bank said, adding that it has made provisions of Rs 862 crore across these 12 bad loan accounts. The central bank has asked Axis Bank to resolve the 12 non performing assets by 13 December, failing which the firms must be taken up for bankruptcy.
Source: BloombergQuint
4. Auto Sales up in August, Led by Maruti Suzuki
Automobile manufacturers led by Maruti Suzuki posted robust passenger vehicles (PV) sales growth in August riding on strong consumer sentiment ahead of the festive season. Hyundai Motor India, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Honda saw their PV sales improve in August compared to the same month last year, although Ford and Toyota witnessed a decline.
Maruti Suzuki India’s (MSI) domestic sales stood at 1,52,000 units, up 26.7 percent from 1,19,931 units in August last year. This was mainly driven by sales of compact segment comprising Swift, Estilo, Dzire and Baleno which jumped by 62.4 percent to 74,012 units last month as against 45,579 units in the year-ago period. Sales of utility vehicles, including Gypsy, Ertiga, S- Cross and compact SUV Vitara Brezza increased by 27.6 percent to 21,442 units in August, from 16,806 units in the same month of 2016, it added.
Source: Livemint
5. Structural Reforms & Offbeat Decisions Are Needed to Keep Farmer and Consumer Happy
With the key festival season around the corner, keeping prices from spiralling is one of the top priorities of the government. While it recently imposed stock restrictions on sugar mills and advised states to take similar action on onion as part of steps to protect the consumer, it is also trying to support farmgate prices to help the farmer.
It increased the import duty on edible oils and put quantitative restrictions on the import of tur, moong and urad to prevent any glut in the market and stop prices from coming under too much pressure. Typical tools used to control prices include restricting exports, easing imports as well as imposing stock limits on traders so that they do not manipulate. When it’s time to support farmers, exports are opened up, imports restricted and the government enters the market to procure farm commodities at support prices.
Source: Economic Times
6. Coal India Reverses Output Drop as Power Plant Stockpiles Plunge
Coal India Ltd, the world’s biggest producer of the fuel, reported the first increase in monthly production on a year-on-year basis in five months after power plant inventories plunged and the miner’s own stockpiles declined.
Output in August rose 16 percent from a year ago to 37.63 million tons, according to Bloomberg calculations based on a stock exchange filing by the company on Friday. Shipments rose 19 percent to 43.75 million tons, advancing for 10 straight months.
Inventories at power plants, the biggest users of coal in the country, dropped to the lowest since December 2014 as of 28 August, with several plants running at less than seven days of stockpiles, a critical benchmark. Coal India, which had trimmed output over the past few months to reduce its own stockpiles, is now seeking to replenish the falling inventories at power plants. Its own stocks have fallen below a targeted 40 million tons, a company official told Bloomberg News earlier this week.
Source: BloombergQuint
7. E-Commerce Cos Face Tax Heat as I-T Dept Says Discounts Should Be Treated as Capital Spend
E-commerce giants such as Flipkart and Amazon have appealed against an income tax order of last year which if implemented would force them to pay tax at a time when they are engaged in a do-or-die battle for market share in India.
The companies approached the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), Bengaluru, last month after an assessment order of last year asked them to reclassify marketing expenditure as capital expenditure.
The issue involves money spent by ecommerce companies on marketing through deep discounts.
These companies, and others in the ecommerce industry, have been classifying it as marketing expense and deducting it from revenue, leading to huge losses.
Source: Economic Times
8. Aahaa Stores Raises $1 Million in Second Round of Funding
Online office supplies platform Aahaa Stores on Friday announced that it has raised $1 million in the second round of pre-series ‘A’ funding from investor group led by YourNest Angel Fund. Two of the existing investors including YourNest have participated in this round as well at a substantially higher valuation as compared to their earlier investments, Aahaa Stores said in a release.
This reaffirms the investors’ faith in Aahaa Stores, it said, adding, in addition to them, a new investor with a strong equity financing background has picked up 50 percent equity of the fresh capital.
The company had raised first round funding of equal amount around 18 months ago, and since then it has grown multifold in terms of product portfolio, customer base, geographical presence and sales turnover.
Source: Livemint
9. JioPhone Bookings Put On Hold, Delivery To Start During Navratri
Around 6 million units of JioPhone were booked within three days of its pre-booking that started on 24 August, said a channel partner of Reliance Retail on condition of anonymity.
The delivery of the “effectively free” JioPhone is being planned to start during Navratri festival beginning 21 September, the partner said. E-mails sent to Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail did not elicit any response.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, in his previous annual general meeting speech, had said the company plans to sell 5 million JioPhones every week.
The pre-booking of JioPhones started on 24 August against payment of a refundable deposit of Rs 500 and the remainder Rs 1,000 has to be paid by the customer when the company starts delivering them in September. Ambani had announced that the total amount will be refunded after 36 months when the customer returns the phone.
Source: BloombergQuint
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