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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Nov 06, 2018

Amazon Likely to Buy Stake in Future Retail

Amazon.com Inc is likely to buy 9.5 percent stake in India`s Future Retail Ltd through foreign portfolio investor (FPI) route.

The potential deal, which is in its final stages, could be Rs. 2,500 crore and is likely to be signed later this month.

The potential deal will be next in a series of acquisitions by Amazon.com Inc in one of the fastest-growing markets in the face of competition from Walmart Inc`s Flipkart.

BoM Takes Possession of Pune Stadium

A consortium of lenders led by Bank of Maharashtra has taken 'symbolic possession' of the cricket stadium in Pune after the Maharashtra Cricket Association failed to clear dues.

The bank, along with Karnataka Bank, Bank of Baroda and Andhra Bank, had served a 60-day notice to MCA in August. The notice also asked the general public to not indulge in transactions with the MCA and that all payments made to MCA will be redirected to the banks for the settlement of loan accounts.

India Services Sector Activity in October

According to a monthly survey, the country's services sector in October expanded at the quickest pace since July.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index rose to 52.2 in October, from 50.9 in September.

The services PMI was in the expansion territory for the fifth straight month.

Tata Steel to Unify all Brands

Tata Steel Ltd. (TSL), which is eyeing an annual installed capacity of about 30 million tonnes by 2025 through capacity expansion as well as acquisitions, will eventually put all these under a unified brand.

According to Anand Sen, president-TQM and steel business, Tata Steel (India), all brands will be gradually brought under the Tata fold, to make sense and avoid confusion in the minds of the consumer.

Patanjali Enters Apparel Business

Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved forayed into branded apparel segment through its brand 'Paridhan'.

The Haridwar-based firm plans to open around 100 outlets of Paridhan by the end of this fiscal and have a network of around 500 stores by March 2020, mostly on franchise model.

It has introduced three brands, Livfit, Aastha and Sanskar, targeting customers across all age groups.

SBI Posts First Profit in Four Quarters

State Bank of India has reported a profit for the first time in four quarters for the July-September 2018 period. It had reported losses for three consecutive quarters leading up to this one.

The standalone net profit of Rs. 945 crore was however 40.26% lower compared to the same period last year.

Nov 05, 2018

First of its Kind Block Chain Trade Finance Transaction

HSBC India and ING Bank Brussels have successfully executed a block chain-enabled Letter of Credit (LC) transaction between Reliance Industries (RIL) and Tricon Energy. This is an industry-first, as the blockchain platform integrates with Bolero's electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) platform to issue and manage an eBL. This allowed a digital transfer of the title of goods from the seller to the buyer in the underlying trade and enabled the underlying trade to be fully digitised.

Zyfra to Tap India

Finland-based Zyfra, which provides IoT and AI-based solution for industrial sector, is betting on India as a market with the "most potential" given the country's target to increase the contribution of manufacturing sector to GDP to 25% by 2025.

In India, the company is already doing pilot projects with a couple of enterprises, including Railway Coach factory in Lucknow.

Process to Set Up PCR Started

The Reserve Bank has initiated steps to set up a wide-based digital Public Credit Registry (PCR) to capture details of all borrowers, including wilful defaulters and also the pending legal suits in order to check financial delinquencies. The PCR will also include data from entities like market regulator SEBI, the Corporate Affairs Ministry and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to enable banks and financial institutions to get a 360-degree profile of existing and prospective borrowers on a real-time basis.

The RBI has invited expression of interest (EOI) for developing the registry from companies with a turnover of over Rs. 100 crore in the last three years.

Nov 04, 2018

PNB Posts Staggering Loss

Punjab National Bank posted a staggering loss of Rs. 4,532.35 crore for the second quarter ended September 2018. The state-owned bank had a net profit of Rs. 561 crore in the July-September quarter of last fiscal 2017-18. The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a proportion of gross advances rose sharply to 17.16 per cent (Rs. 81,250.83 crore) at the end of September 2018.

IKEA to Create Jobs in Maharashtra

Swedish furniture giant IKEA is planning to hire 10,000, both direct and indirect, in Maharashtra over the next 2-3 years.

The company opened its first store in Hyderabad in August this year and the Navi Mumbai store will be the second in the country.

Nov 03, 2018

India to Continue Buying Oil from Iran

India is set to continue oil imports from Iran with the US agreeing on waivers for eight countries regarding sanctions set to kick in on November 5 and there are no plans to cut crude purchases from Tehran to zero.

The US has agreed to let eight countries, including its strategic allies India, Japan and South Korea, to keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposes sanctions next week. China too is among the countries.

Partial Guarantee to NBFC Bonds Allowed

The Reserve Bank of India has permitted banks to provide partial credit enhancement (PCE), or a partial guarantee, to bonds issued by systematically important NBFCs and Housing Finance Companies, a move that will enhance their liquidity position.

Chola MS Renews Ties with IndusInd Bank

Chola MS General Insurance, a joint venture between Murugappa group and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company of Japan, has renewed its bancassurance partnership with IndusInd Bank for a further period of five years.

MD and CEO of UCO Bank

Atul Kumar Goel assumed charge as Managing Director and CEO of UCO Bank. Prior to this assignment, he was executive director of Union Bank of India. Goel takes over from R. K. Takkar.

Nov 02, 2018

G. N. Bajpai Resigns from IL&FS Board

G. N. Bajpai resigned from the debt-ridden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) newly-appointed board.

Bajpai, an ex-Sebi chairman, was one of the seven directors appointed on the company's board by the government following NCLT order to supersede previous board.

Anti-dumping Duty on a Chinese Chemical

India may impose anti-dumping duty of up to $ 207.72 per tonne for a period of five years on a Chinese chemical used in the detergent industry to guard domestic manufacturers from cheap imports from the neighbouring country.

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) has recommended the duty on imports of 'Zeolite 4A (Detergent Grade)' imported from China.

The final call to impose the duty would be taken by the Finance Ministry.

Duty-free Concession Withdrawn

The US withdrew duty-free concessions on import of around 50 Indian products, mostly from the agriculture and handloom sectors, in line with the protectionist approach to trade put in place by President Donald Trump.

India has been the largest beneficiary of the GSP and last year its duty-free exports to the US under their trade preference programme amounted to over $5.5 billion.

Products from other countries like Argentina, Brazil, Thailand, Pakistan, Turkey, the Philippines and Indonesia have also been removed from the GSP list.

NRIs Deposits Surge

Non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits jumped to $5.7 billion in the first five months of this fiscal compared to $0.5 billion in the same period last year.

The rise is attributed to the sliding rupee, which makes deposits in the currency attractive for NRIs, and to higher oil prices which have prompted inflows from NRIs in the Middle-east to increase.

GST Revenue Crosses Rs. 1 lakh crore

As per reports, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections crossed the psychological barrier of Rs. 1 lakh crore in October, coming in at Rs. 1,00,710 crore.

The collections in October 2018 were 20.8% higher than in October 2017.

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