QBiz: India in Recession, Says Rajan; Maruti’s Output Rises by 4%

Here are the top business stories of the day.

1. India in Growth Recession; Extreme Centralisation of Power in PMO Not Good: Raghuram Rajan

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan said India is in the midst of a "growth recession" with signs of deep malaise in the Indian economy that is being run through extreme centralisation of power in Prime Minister's Office and powerless ministers.

Penning down his recommendations to help the ailing Indian economy out of the ongoing slowdown in the India Today magazine, he called for reforms to liberalise capital, land and labour markets, and spur investment as well as growth.

(Source: The Times of India)

2. Maruti Raises Output After Nine Months of Production Cuts

After nine straight months of falling production, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd built more vehicles in November than a year earlier, following the mild sales recovery seen in the festive month of October.

Production in November rose 4.33% year-on-year to 141,834 vehicles, India’s largest carmaker said in a statement on BSE.

(Source: Livemint)

3. Bharti Telecom’s This Move Could Make Airtel a Foreign Firm

Bharti Telecom, a promoter of Bharti Airtel, has sought government nod for the infusion of Rs 4,900 crore investment from Singapore-based Singtel and other foreign entities, a move that would make the country’s oldest private telecom operator a foreign entity.

The fund infusion will enhance foreign stakeholding in Bharti Telecom to over 50 per cent that will make it a foreign-owned entity, an official source aware of the development told PTI. Sunil Bharti Mittal and his family own around 52 per cent stake in Bharti Telecom, at present.

(Source: The Financial Express)

4. Government Working on Rationalisation of Personal Income Tax Rates: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that the government is working on more steps, including rationalisation of personal income tax rates, to revive the sagging economy.

The GDP growth slowed down to more than six-year low of 4.5 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal from 5 per cent recorded in the first quarter.

(Source: NDTV Profit)

5. Paytm Raises $660 M From Alipay, Softbank, Others

One 97 Communications, the company that operates Paytm, has raised $660 million from Alipay, T Rowe Price, SoftBank and others in exchange for 2.6 million equity shares.

(Source: The Hindu Business Line)

6. Centre Likely to Announce Measures for Real Estate Sector This Week: Report

After a slew of reform measures announced in the past fortnight, the central government is likely to come up with major announcements to boost the real estate industry this week.

According to official sources, the package for real estate industry would include additional funds for housing finance companies (HFC) and norm relaxation for developers seeking bank loans.

(Source: NDTV Profit)

7. India INC Foreign Borrowings Jump Over Two-Fold to $3.41bn in Oct

India Inc's foreign borrowings grew over two-fold to $3.41 billion in October over the corresponding month a year ago, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India. Indian companies had raised $1.41 billion in borrowings from overseas markets in October 2018.

Of the total money borrowed by the domestic companies, $2.87 billion was through the automatic route of external commercial borrowing (ECB), $538 million came in through the approval route of ECB, showed the data.

(Source: Moneycontrol)

8. New Household Consumer Expenditure Survey to Begin in July

‘Results of previous survey soon, but they will be used only for academic purpose’

Amidst all the controversies on the previous Household Consumer Expenditure Survey, the Statistics Ministry intends to start new survey from July. Also, the Ministry has made it clear that the results of the previous survey will be made public after some time but only for academic purpose.

(Source: The Hindu Business Line)

9. Govt Plan to Allow EPF-NPS Portability May Be Junked

The National Pension System (NPS) will not be an alternative to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), as the government is set to junk its much-talked-about plan to put in place EPF account portability with NPS.

This decision has been taken as the government has realized that the move is risky and controversial, and the two are not “apple to apple comparable" schemes in terms of their application and benefits, two government officials said, requesting anonymity.

(Source: Livemint)