Mahindra Aerospace, a venture of the Mahindra Group, inaugurated its aero-structures facility at Narsapura, about 50 km from Bangaluru on 21st October. “The facility is aimed at positioning the Indian footprint in the global aero-structures supply chain,” said Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group. Mr. Mahindra also announced that Mahindra Aerospace had entered into a “strategic” technology partnership with the Spanish Tier-I aero-structures supplier, the Aernnova Group. Mr. Mahindra said the company had invested about Rs.150 crore in the facility, which could generate an initial turnover of Rs.200 crore per annum. The facility, spread over 25,000 sq. metres, will employ about 400 personnel. Mr. Mahindra said the Group’s acquisition in 2010 of two Australian companies — Gippsland Aeronautics, a manufacturer of small aircraft, and Aerostaff, an aircraft component manufacturer — had given it a toehold in the global aircraft component supply chain. He said smaller turboprop aircraft had a bright future, especially in connecting smaller towns and inaccessible locations in the country. He said the company had developed capabilities in three segments — aerospace engineering, aero-structural and in the development of utility aircraft.
The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), an autonomous institute functioning under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, on 24th October, signed 5 memoranda of understanding with country’s five leading research, academic and business institutions, namely: Indian School of Business (ISB); Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE); Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS); The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) and YES Bank Limited. Sachin Pilot, Minister of Corporate Affairs, was present on the occasion. IICA provides opportunities for research, education, and advocacy and also serves as a knowledge-centre for policy makers, regulators and other stakeholders related to the domain of corporate affairs. The Institute supports the growth of the corporate sector in India through an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach. IICA is also an academy for the Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) officers. The Minister had an intense interaction with the probationers of the ICLS, discussing their training needs and how IICA’s course modules could be enhanced to cater to everyday practical requirements. Mr. Pilot emphasized the importance of gauging and assessing the specific needs of industry and business and stressed on the fact that all the courses should add value to the participants’ potential and ability thereby creating a demand in the Corporate Sector for employees to undergo training/development at IICA.
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) on 24th October, signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake project management consultancy for construction of a permanent campus of IIM Tiruchirappalli. The MoU was signed here in the presence of CPWD DG V K Gupta and IIM Tiruchirappalli Director Dr Prafulla Agnihotri, a statement issued by the Urban Development Ministry said. The campus will come up in 68 hectares of land allotted by the Tamil Nadu government. It will accommodate 1500 students, besides 300 faculty and staff members and comprise of academic facilities, world-class hostels, accommodation for faculty and staff, recreational facilities and a well-equipped management development centre. The master planning and designing of the campus has been entrusted to a firm of leading architects. The construction of the Rs 450 crore-project (aprox.) will begin in March-April next year, and is expected to be completed by March 2016. IIM Tiruchirappalli aims to have a green campus, and will be self-sufficient in terms of its water requirements in five to seven years of its coming up. IIM Tiruchirappalli is country's 11th IIM, where the session began in 2011.
A significant oil discovery has been made in an ultra-deep water block off Brazil where Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. (BPCL) and Videocon Industries together hold 40 per cent interest. Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, which is the operator of the block, has confirmed the Farfan-1 oil discovery in the ultra-deep waters of the Segipe-Alagoas basin, off Brazil, Videocon said in a statement on 21st October. The state-owned firm has confirmed excellent productivity of good quality crude following a drilling test. Petr Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has completed a test in well 3-BRSA-1178D-SES (3-SES-176D), informally known as Farfan 1, to test the production capacity of the accumulation in the BM-SEAL-11 concession area of Block SEAL-M-426.Farfan-1 is located 104 km north of Aracaju, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Sergipe. It lies in a water depth of 2476 metres, about 5 km from the Farfan discovery well. Petrobras is the operator of the block with a 60 per cent interest while IBV Brasil (a 50:50 joint venture of BPCL and Videocon) holds the remaining 40 per cent stake. A 51-metre reservoir was discovered at Farfan-1 well. The discovery has been estimated to hold more than 1 billion barrels of oil.
China’s biggest power companies have, for the first time, agreed to set up a permanent presence in India by opening power equipment service centres to address concerns of their increasingly large customer base, according to an agreement signed by the two governments in Beijing on 23rd October. Under the XI Plan (2007-12), 18 GW of thermal power projects were commissioned, using Chinese-manufactured equipment. Besides, 40 GW of power projects are now being built using equipment from China — more than from any other country. The 23rd October’s pact, which was signed by Wu Xinxiong, Administrator of China’s National Energy Administration, and India’s Ministry of Power, was one of nine agreements signed between both countries, following talks in Beijing , between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.A move, earlier this year, to impose a 20 per cent import duty on power equipment from China — on account of concerns expressed by the domestic industry — has prompted Chinese companies to revise their plans for the Indian market. The import duty has also concerned Indian industry, particularly as there is a growing shortfall in capacity. Chinese power companies had, so far, limited their business to selling equipment, despite the growing import demand from India and needs for servicing. Other agreements signed on Wednesday included an MoU between the two Ministries of Transport to co-operate in the roads sector, and exchange ideas on transport policy and transport technology, as well as ‘sister cities’ agreements between New Delhi and Beijing, Kunming and Kolkata, and Chengdu and Bengaluru aimed at boosting tourism. The two countries also discussed ways to bridge the increasingly widening trade imbalance, which, this year, is on track to exceed even last year’s record US $28 billion. After nine months of this year, the deficit reached US $24.7 billion, with India’s exports down by 22.5 per cent. Bilateral trade last year reached US $66 billion. Both countries were, however, unable to reach an agreement on industrial parks, officials said, with the Chinese side yet to decide on a location with around five sites under consideration. A joint statement issued after talks said both countries would also explore the feasibility of taking forward a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor — an initiative that the Chinese side has been pushing since Mr. Li’s May visit to India.
The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC), set up by the Finance Ministry to suggest measures to prevent economic offences among other things, is expected to submit its report in six months, TARC Chairman and Advisor to Finance Minister Parthasarathi Shome said in New Delhi on 21st October. The Commission held its first meeting in New Delhi on 21st October. The term of the 7 member TARC is 18 months, and it will work as an advisory body to the Ministry of Finance. The terms of reference of the Commission include a review of the existing mechanism of dispute resolution and methods to widen tax base. The TARC will also recommend measures to strengthen inter-agency information sharing between Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Enforcement Directorate, and also with banking as well as financial sectors. It will review the existing mechanism and recommend measures to enhance predictive analysis to detect and prevent tax and economic offences, said an official statement. Besides, it will recommend a system to enforce better tax mechanism — by size, segment and nature of taxes and taxpayers that should cover methods to encourage voluntary tax compliance. The members of the Commission are: Y. G. Parande, Sunita Kaila, M. K. Zutshi, S. S. N. Moorthy, M. R. Diwakar and S. Mahalingam.
The Finance Ministry, on 23rd October, announced that it would infuse Rs.14,000 crore capital in various banks this fiscal, including Rs.2,000 crore in State Bank of India and Rs.1,800 crore each in IDBI Bank and Central Bank of India .Apart from the capital support from the government, public sector banks have the headroom to raise Rs.10,000 crore from the market though rights issue, qualified institutional placement (QIP) or follow-on public offer (FPO) without diluting the existing government stake. Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru said the money had been given to enhance equity capital. For the moment, this was good enough to see them through; he added. The capital infusion had been done with the twin objective of adequately meeting the credit requirement of the productive sectors as well as to maintain regulatory capital adequacy ratios in public sector banks (PSBs). The government, as the majority shareholder, was committed to keep all PSBs adequately capitalised, a statement said in New Delhi on 23rd October. Infusion of capital by government in PSBs is in addition to their internally generated capital to enable them maintain a comfortable level of Tier-I capital. Towards this end, the government had been infusing need-based capital in PSBs, the statement said. An amount of Rs.12, 517 crore was infused in 13 PSBs during 2012-13.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Ltd. (OVL), on 14th October, announced that it had bought an additional 12 per cent stake in a Brazilian oilfield for US $ 529 million. OVL, which had a 15 per cent stake in block BC-10 along with Royal Dutch Shell, exercised a pre-emption right to block China’s Sinochem group from buying a 35 per cent interest in the oilfield from Petrobras of Brazil. While the Indian firm will pick up a 12.08 per cent stake, Shell will acquire the remaining 23 per cent. “In August, Petrobras entered into a sales transaction with Sinochem for disposal of their 35 per cent interest in BC-10 for $1.543 billion. This agreement was subject to pre-emption rights of the partners, Shell and OVL,” OVL says in a statement. The acquisition of additional participating interest in the block is subject to approval of the Brazilian anti-trust and regulatory authorities. Shell and OVL served the pre-emption notice to jointly acquire 35 per cent on September 17. On closing, OVL’s stake in the block would increase to 27 per cent, the statement says. Block BC-10, also known as Parque das Conchas, is in the Campos Basin of Brazil, and includes four offshore deep-water fields - Ostra, Abalone, Argonauta and Nautilus, and a few identified exploration prospects. It is located about 120 km from Vitoria town.
After the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank on 16th October cut India's economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 4.7%, from 6.1% earlier."Although output growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal year fell to 4.4%, growth is expected to rebound strongly in the second half of 2013-14 with core inflation trending down, a bumper crop expected in agriculture (where a 5% increase in area sown is expected to raise agricultural growth to 3.4% from 1.9% a year ago), and exports likely to benefit substantially from the rupee's depreciation," the multilateral agency said in its latest India Development Update.
Last week, IMF lowered the growth outlook to 4.25%, drawing strong protests from the government, which believes that the economy will expand by 5-5.5% this year. Several private economists have also predicted sub-5% growth. In Washington, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on 16th October said economic activity will gain momentum towards the end of the year. "The effects of that (project) clearance will show up towards the end of the year. So, growth will start picking up because these large projects will start coming back on-stream," he said, adding that the monsoon will help create demand.
The Indian economy grew 5% last year, the slowest pace in a decade as industry put up a poor show and farm sector grew under 2%.The World Bank also warned that India may have to dip into its foreign exchange reserves to finance the current account deficit (CAD) in 2013-14. "International reserves could decline somewhat in 2013-14 but would still amount to a comfortable import cover of approximately five months." India's foreign exchange reserves are sufficient to cover the import bill for around seven months at present and the government is hoping to contain the current account deficit at $70 billion and avoid dipping into reserves.
As per the latest telecom subscription data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on 31st July 2013, total Broadband subscriber base in India increased from 15.19 million at the end of June 2013 to 15.24 million at the end of July 2013. This is a monthly growth of 0.33 percent. Yearly growth in broadband subscribers is 3.79 percent during the last one year (July 2012 to July 2013). At present, there are 161 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which are providing broadband services in the country. Out of these, 121 ISPs (having 98.48 percent market share) have provided broadband subscription data for the month of July 2013, for the rest of the ISPs data from previous month has been retained. Top five ISPs in terms of market share (based on subscriber base) are: BSNL (9.97 million), Bharti Airtel (1.43 million), MTNL (1.10 million), Hathway (0.37 million) and You Broadband (0.32 million).
Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry on 7th October in New Delhi, met the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Mr. Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo. This was Mr. Azevêdo’s first visit to India after he assumed charge as the sixth Director General of the WTO on 1 September 2013. Sharma commended Mr. Azevêdo on his efforts to inject a new momentum into the discussions which has led to some progress and an intensification of discussions in recent weeks. With less than 10 weeks remaining before the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in December 2013, Sharma and Mr. Azevêdo had a detailed discussion on the issues being negotiated for an outcome in the Bali Conference. Sharma stressed that the centrality of multilateral processes must be retained. All Members need to work together to strengthen the WTO as an institution. Though Bali is not the end of the road, it is to be seen as a stepping stone to conclusion of the Doha Round. The success of this round is critical for multilateralism. Sharma urged Mr. Azevêdo to persuade all parties to discuss the food security proposal constructively.
He observed that developing countries are finding themselves hamstrung by the existing rules in running their food stockholding and domestic food aid programmes. The developed world too had market price support programmes and was able to move away from market price support - though not fully even now - because of their deep pockets. This is not possible for developing countries. It is important for developing countries to be able to guarantee some minimum returns to their poor farmers so that they are able to produce enough for themselves and for domestic food security. Sharma and Mr. Azevêdo agreed that a lopsided outcome of the Doha Round is not in anyone’s interest. It is up to all of us to participate actively in the negotiations in order to arrive at that balance. Sharma assured the DG of India’s cooperation in striving to achieve a balanced outcome at Bali and an early resolution of remaining issues in the DDA post-Bali.
India Post (Department of Posts) has signed an agreement with Wall Street Exchange, a company of the Emirates Post Group of UAE for launch of an International Electronic Money Transfer service through ‘Instant Cash’ product of the Emirates Post Group. The service was launched in New Delhi on 11th October, by P. Gopinath, Secretary, Department of Posts, by receiving the first payment from United Arab Emirates at a function organized by her Department for signing the tie-up between the Department of Posts and the Emirates Post Group. The service will be rolled out nationally in a phased manner and will be made available at approximately 17,500 post offices across India by next month. The service will be provided through the International Financial System (IFS) of Universal Postal Union. This tie-up offers the Indian diaspora worldwide - especially in the gulf region - a safe, secure and reliable money transfer service for their families back home. This new service has its own significance going by the fact that globally, India is the largest recipient of remittances with over US $ 70 billion annually, half of which come from the Gulf. ‘Instant Cash’ is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Emirates Post Group, and its services are available in 59 countries through more than 60,000 locations. They provide instant money transfer service so that the money is available to the customers within minutes of completing the transaction. India Post is the largest postal network in the world and has completed 158 years of existence.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released the latest telecom subscription data on 31 July 2013. As per this data, the total number of subscribers has increased to 904.46 million with a net addition of 1.37 million subscribers during the month – showing a monthly growth of 0.15 percent. Out of the total subscriber base, 548.85 million are from the urban areas and the remaining 355.60 million are the rural subscribers. The total Teledensity at the end of July 2013 was 73.54 out of which the share of urban subscribers was 60.68 percent and that of rural subscribers was 39.32 percent. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) requests increased from 95.59 million subscribers at the end of June 2013 to 97.82 million at the end of July 2013. In the month of July 2013 alone, 2.23 million requests have been made for MNP.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 3rd October has approved the implementation of the National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) during the 12th Plan Period with financial allocation of Rs. 3507 crore. This would help in enhancing production of oilseeds by 6.58 million tones. This would also bring additional area of 1.25 lakh hectares under Oil Palm cultivation with increase in productivity of fresh fruit bunches from 4927 kg/ha to 15,000 kg/ha and increase in collection of tree borne oilseeds to 14 lakh tone. Implementation of the proposed Mission would enhance production of vegetable oil sources by 2.48 million tones from oilseeds (1.70 million tones), oil palm (0.60 million tones) and tree borne oilseeds (0.18 million tones) by the end of the 12th Plan Period. NMOOP is built upon the achievements of the existing schemes of Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds. Oil Palm and Maize (ISOPOM), Tree Borne Oilseeds Scheme and Oil Palm Area Expansion (OPAE) programme during the 11th Plan period. Implementation of these schemes have shown increase in production and productivity of oilseeds, area expansion with increased production of FFBs under oil palm and augmented availability of quality planting materials, pre-processing technologies and awareness about TBOs.
The Union Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch on 3rd October, launched a unique project to take India’s Heritage online in New Delhi. Under the project, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has agreed with Google to create 360-degree online imagery of 100 of India’s most important heritage sites, including the Taj Mahal, Khajuraho and the Ajanta and Ellora caves. Speaking on the occasion the Minister said these details images will be placed for public viewing over the Internet. The aim of this collaboration is to generate interest and consciousness among the Indian population in general and the youth in particular towards safeguarding the national cultural heritage of India. She said, this information, which will be readily available over the Internet for public viewing, will help in bringing our monuments closer to the public. The Minister expressed the hope that under this project the experience of visiting heritage sites across a vibrant nation would be more accessible and enjoyable and also to bring it to the notice of billions of people connected globally via the Internet. Once published, this new imagery of Indian heritage sites will be available on Google Maps and on the World Wonders site within the Google Cultural Institute so that people across India and around the world can virtually view and explore these areas, and in the process, learn more about thousand years of Indian history.
The Central Government has decided in principle to enhance the amount of capital to be infused into Public Sector Banks (PSBs), on 3rd October. It may be recalled that in the Budget for 2013-14, a sum of Rs. 14,000 crore was provided for capital infusion. This amount will be enhanced sufficiently. The additional amount of capital will be provided to banks to enable them to lend to borrowers in selected sectors such as two wheelers, consumer durables etc, at lower rates n order to stimulate demand. While this will bring relief to the consumers, especially the middle class, it is also expected to give a boost to capacity addition, employment and production. This decision is based on the discussions between Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram when Dr Rajan called on the Finance Minister on 3rd October. The issue of credit growth in different sectors was discussed. At the end of September 2013, growth of Gross Bank Credit stood at about 18 per cent, year-on-year. However, credit growth is sluggish in some sectors leading to the conclusion that demand in these sectors remains subdued. Based on the discussions, the Government has decided in principle to enhance the amount of capital to be infused into Public Sector Banks.
SEBI approved major reforms to attract overseas investors. It has announced new Foreign Portfolio Investor regulations for easier registration process and operating framework for investors from abroad. The new class of investors - FPIs - will encompass all Foreign Institutional Investors, their sub-accounts and Qualified Foreign Investors. They will be divided in three categories as per their risk profile. The Know Your Client - KYC requirements and other registration procedures will be much simpler for FPIs compared to current practices. The SEBI has also decided to grant them a permanent registration. SEBI also approved setting up 'Designated Depository Participants which will register FPIs on behalf of the market regulator subject to compliance with KYC norms.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 3rd October, gave its approval to the proposal of M/s. Etihad Airways PJSC, United Arab Emirates for subscribing 2,72,63,372 equity shares of Rs.10 each of M/s. Jet Airways (India) Limited amounting to 24 percent of the post issue paid up equity share capital for an amount not exceeding Rs.2057.66 crore. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has recommended the proposal. The approval would result in foreign investment amounting to Rs.2057.66 crore in the country.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 3rd October, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to authorize ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Oil India Limited (OIL) to acquire 20 percent Participating Interest (PI) in Rovuma Area 1 Offshore Block in Mozambique (Area 1). The transaction comprises acquisition of:- (a) 100 percent of shares in Videocon Mozambique Rovuma 1 Limited, the company holding a 10 percent PI in Area 1, from Videocon Mauritius Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Videocon Industries Limited, jointly by OVL and OIL for US$ 2,475 million. Closing is expected before 31st December 2013; and (b) another 10 percent PI in Area 1 from Anadarko Mozambique Area 1 Limitada, a subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation solely by OVL for US$ 2,640 million, with closing in February, 2014.
An agreement to set up the India’s largest Forged Wheel Plant at Lalganj, Raebareli, in Uttar Pradesh was signed in the presence of the Minister of Steel, Beni Prasad Verma and the Rail Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge on 3rd October. The Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said that the forged wheels are essentially required in the rolling stock for running longer trains at higher speed. He said imports substitution, indigenous development and inclusive growth is the driving force for setting up this project through mutual coordination between Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Steel.
The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), an autonomous institute functioning under the aegis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, on 24th October, signed 5 memoranda of understanding with country’s five leading research, academic and business institutions, namely: Indian School of Business (ISB); Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE); Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS); The Energy and Research Institute (TERI) and YES Bank Limited. Sachin Pilot, Minister of Corporate Affairs, was present on the occasion. IICA provides opportunities for research, education, and advocacy and also serves as a knowledge-centre for policy makers, regulators and other stakeholders related to the domain of corporate affairs. The Institute supports the growth of the corporate sector in India through an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach. IICA is also an academy for the Indian Corporate Law Service (ICLS) officers. The Minister had an intense interaction with the probationers of the ICLS, discussing their training needs and how IICA’s course modules could be enhanced to cater to everyday practical requirements. Mr. Pilot emphasized the importance of gauging and assessing the specific needs of industry and business and stressed on the fact that all the courses should add value to the participants’ potential and ability thereby creating a demand in the Corporate Sector for employees to undergo training/development at IICA.
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) on 24th October, signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake project management consultancy for construction of a permanent campus of IIM Tiruchirappalli. The MoU was signed here in the presence of CPWD DG V K Gupta and IIM Tiruchirappalli Director Dr Prafulla Agnihotri, a statement issued by the Urban Development Ministry said. The campus will come up in 68 hectares of land allotted by the Tamil Nadu government. It will accommodate 1500 students, besides 300 faculty and staff members and comprise of academic facilities, world-class hostels, accommodation for faculty and staff, recreational facilities and a well-equipped management development centre. The master planning and designing of the campus has been entrusted to a firm of leading architects. The construction of the Rs 450 crore-project (aprox.) will begin in March-April next year, and is expected to be completed by March 2016. IIM Tiruchirappalli aims to have a green campus, and will be self-sufficient in terms of its water requirements in five to seven years of its coming up. IIM Tiruchirappalli is country's 11th IIM, where the session began in 2011.
A significant oil discovery has been made in an ultra-deep water block off Brazil where Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. (BPCL) and Videocon Industries together hold 40 per cent interest. Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, which is the operator of the block, has confirmed the Farfan-1 oil discovery in the ultra-deep waters of the Segipe-Alagoas basin, off Brazil, Videocon said in a statement on 21st October. The state-owned firm has confirmed excellent productivity of good quality crude following a drilling test. Petr Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has completed a test in well 3-BRSA-1178D-SES (3-SES-176D), informally known as Farfan 1, to test the production capacity of the accumulation in the BM-SEAL-11 concession area of Block SEAL-M-426.Farfan-1 is located 104 km north of Aracaju, the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Sergipe. It lies in a water depth of 2476 metres, about 5 km from the Farfan discovery well. Petrobras is the operator of the block with a 60 per cent interest while IBV Brasil (a 50:50 joint venture of BPCL and Videocon) holds the remaining 40 per cent stake. A 51-metre reservoir was discovered at Farfan-1 well. The discovery has been estimated to hold more than 1 billion barrels of oil.
China’s biggest power companies have, for the first time, agreed to set up a permanent presence in India by opening power equipment service centres to address concerns of their increasingly large customer base, according to an agreement signed by the two governments in Beijing on 23rd October. Under the XI Plan (2007-12), 18 GW of thermal power projects were commissioned, using Chinese-manufactured equipment. Besides, 40 GW of power projects are now being built using equipment from China — more than from any other country. The 23rd October’s pact, which was signed by Wu Xinxiong, Administrator of China’s National Energy Administration, and India’s Ministry of Power, was one of nine agreements signed between both countries, following talks in Beijing , between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.A move, earlier this year, to impose a 20 per cent import duty on power equipment from China — on account of concerns expressed by the domestic industry — has prompted Chinese companies to revise their plans for the Indian market. The import duty has also concerned Indian industry, particularly as there is a growing shortfall in capacity. Chinese power companies had, so far, limited their business to selling equipment, despite the growing import demand from India and needs for servicing. Other agreements signed on Wednesday included an MoU between the two Ministries of Transport to co-operate in the roads sector, and exchange ideas on transport policy and transport technology, as well as ‘sister cities’ agreements between New Delhi and Beijing, Kunming and Kolkata, and Chengdu and Bengaluru aimed at boosting tourism. The two countries also discussed ways to bridge the increasingly widening trade imbalance, which, this year, is on track to exceed even last year’s record US $28 billion. After nine months of this year, the deficit reached US $24.7 billion, with India’s exports down by 22.5 per cent. Bilateral trade last year reached US $66 billion. Both countries were, however, unable to reach an agreement on industrial parks, officials said, with the Chinese side yet to decide on a location with around five sites under consideration. A joint statement issued after talks said both countries would also explore the feasibility of taking forward a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor — an initiative that the Chinese side has been pushing since Mr. Li’s May visit to India.
The Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC), set up by the Finance Ministry to suggest measures to prevent economic offences among other things, is expected to submit its report in six months, TARC Chairman and Advisor to Finance Minister Parthasarathi Shome said in New Delhi on 21st October. The Commission held its first meeting in New Delhi on 21st October. The term of the 7 member TARC is 18 months, and it will work as an advisory body to the Ministry of Finance. The terms of reference of the Commission include a review of the existing mechanism of dispute resolution and methods to widen tax base. The TARC will also recommend measures to strengthen inter-agency information sharing between Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Central Board of Excise and Custom (CBEC), the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Enforcement Directorate, and also with banking as well as financial sectors. It will review the existing mechanism and recommend measures to enhance predictive analysis to detect and prevent tax and economic offences, said an official statement. Besides, it will recommend a system to enforce better tax mechanism — by size, segment and nature of taxes and taxpayers that should cover methods to encourage voluntary tax compliance. The members of the Commission are: Y. G. Parande, Sunita Kaila, M. K. Zutshi, S. S. N. Moorthy, M. R. Diwakar and S. Mahalingam.
The Finance Ministry, on 23rd October, announced that it would infuse Rs.14,000 crore capital in various banks this fiscal, including Rs.2,000 crore in State Bank of India and Rs.1,800 crore each in IDBI Bank and Central Bank of India .Apart from the capital support from the government, public sector banks have the headroom to raise Rs.10,000 crore from the market though rights issue, qualified institutional placement (QIP) or follow-on public offer (FPO) without diluting the existing government stake. Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru said the money had been given to enhance equity capital. For the moment, this was good enough to see them through; he added. The capital infusion had been done with the twin objective of adequately meeting the credit requirement of the productive sectors as well as to maintain regulatory capital adequacy ratios in public sector banks (PSBs). The government, as the majority shareholder, was committed to keep all PSBs adequately capitalised, a statement said in New Delhi on 23rd October. Infusion of capital by government in PSBs is in addition to their internally generated capital to enable them maintain a comfortable level of Tier-I capital. Towards this end, the government had been infusing need-based capital in PSBs, the statement said. An amount of Rs.12, 517 crore was infused in 13 PSBs during 2012-13.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Videsh Ltd. (OVL), on 14th October, announced that it had bought an additional 12 per cent stake in a Brazilian oilfield for US $ 529 million. OVL, which had a 15 per cent stake in block BC-10 along with Royal Dutch Shell, exercised a pre-emption right to block China’s Sinochem group from buying a 35 per cent interest in the oilfield from Petrobras of Brazil. While the Indian firm will pick up a 12.08 per cent stake, Shell will acquire the remaining 23 per cent. “In August, Petrobras entered into a sales transaction with Sinochem for disposal of their 35 per cent interest in BC-10 for $1.543 billion. This agreement was subject to pre-emption rights of the partners, Shell and OVL,” OVL says in a statement. The acquisition of additional participating interest in the block is subject to approval of the Brazilian anti-trust and regulatory authorities. Shell and OVL served the pre-emption notice to jointly acquire 35 per cent on September 17. On closing, OVL’s stake in the block would increase to 27 per cent, the statement says. Block BC-10, also known as Parque das Conchas, is in the Campos Basin of Brazil, and includes four offshore deep-water fields - Ostra, Abalone, Argonauta and Nautilus, and a few identified exploration prospects. It is located about 120 km from Vitoria town.
After the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank on 16th October cut India's economic growth forecast for the current financial year to 4.7%, from 6.1% earlier."Although output growth in the first quarter of the current fiscal year fell to 4.4%, growth is expected to rebound strongly in the second half of 2013-14 with core inflation trending down, a bumper crop expected in agriculture (where a 5% increase in area sown is expected to raise agricultural growth to 3.4% from 1.9% a year ago), and exports likely to benefit substantially from the rupee's depreciation," the multilateral agency said in its latest India Development Update.
Last week, IMF lowered the growth outlook to 4.25%, drawing strong protests from the government, which believes that the economy will expand by 5-5.5% this year. Several private economists have also predicted sub-5% growth. In Washington, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on 16th October said economic activity will gain momentum towards the end of the year. "The effects of that (project) clearance will show up towards the end of the year. So, growth will start picking up because these large projects will start coming back on-stream," he said, adding that the monsoon will help create demand.
The Indian economy grew 5% last year, the slowest pace in a decade as industry put up a poor show and farm sector grew under 2%.The World Bank also warned that India may have to dip into its foreign exchange reserves to finance the current account deficit (CAD) in 2013-14. "International reserves could decline somewhat in 2013-14 but would still amount to a comfortable import cover of approximately five months." India's foreign exchange reserves are sufficient to cover the import bill for around seven months at present and the government is hoping to contain the current account deficit at $70 billion and avoid dipping into reserves.
As per the latest telecom subscription data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on 31st July 2013, total Broadband subscriber base in India increased from 15.19 million at the end of June 2013 to 15.24 million at the end of July 2013. This is a monthly growth of 0.33 percent. Yearly growth in broadband subscribers is 3.79 percent during the last one year (July 2012 to July 2013). At present, there are 161 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which are providing broadband services in the country. Out of these, 121 ISPs (having 98.48 percent market share) have provided broadband subscription data for the month of July 2013, for the rest of the ISPs data from previous month has been retained. Top five ISPs in terms of market share (based on subscriber base) are: BSNL (9.97 million), Bharti Airtel (1.43 million), MTNL (1.10 million), Hathway (0.37 million) and You Broadband (0.32 million).
Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry on 7th October in New Delhi, met the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Mr. Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo. This was Mr. Azevêdo’s first visit to India after he assumed charge as the sixth Director General of the WTO on 1 September 2013. Sharma commended Mr. Azevêdo on his efforts to inject a new momentum into the discussions which has led to some progress and an intensification of discussions in recent weeks. With less than 10 weeks remaining before the Ninth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in December 2013, Sharma and Mr. Azevêdo had a detailed discussion on the issues being negotiated for an outcome in the Bali Conference. Sharma stressed that the centrality of multilateral processes must be retained. All Members need to work together to strengthen the WTO as an institution. Though Bali is not the end of the road, it is to be seen as a stepping stone to conclusion of the Doha Round. The success of this round is critical for multilateralism. Sharma urged Mr. Azevêdo to persuade all parties to discuss the food security proposal constructively.
He observed that developing countries are finding themselves hamstrung by the existing rules in running their food stockholding and domestic food aid programmes. The developed world too had market price support programmes and was able to move away from market price support - though not fully even now - because of their deep pockets. This is not possible for developing countries. It is important for developing countries to be able to guarantee some minimum returns to their poor farmers so that they are able to produce enough for themselves and for domestic food security. Sharma and Mr. Azevêdo agreed that a lopsided outcome of the Doha Round is not in anyone’s interest. It is up to all of us to participate actively in the negotiations in order to arrive at that balance. Sharma assured the DG of India’s cooperation in striving to achieve a balanced outcome at Bali and an early resolution of remaining issues in the DDA post-Bali.
India Post (Department of Posts) has signed an agreement with Wall Street Exchange, a company of the Emirates Post Group of UAE for launch of an International Electronic Money Transfer service through ‘Instant Cash’ product of the Emirates Post Group. The service was launched in New Delhi on 11th October, by P. Gopinath, Secretary, Department of Posts, by receiving the first payment from United Arab Emirates at a function organized by her Department for signing the tie-up between the Department of Posts and the Emirates Post Group. The service will be rolled out nationally in a phased manner and will be made available at approximately 17,500 post offices across India by next month. The service will be provided through the International Financial System (IFS) of Universal Postal Union. This tie-up offers the Indian diaspora worldwide - especially in the gulf region - a safe, secure and reliable money transfer service for their families back home. This new service has its own significance going by the fact that globally, India is the largest recipient of remittances with over US $ 70 billion annually, half of which come from the Gulf. ‘Instant Cash’ is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Emirates Post Group, and its services are available in 59 countries through more than 60,000 locations. They provide instant money transfer service so that the money is available to the customers within minutes of completing the transaction. India Post is the largest postal network in the world and has completed 158 years of existence.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released the latest telecom subscription data on 31 July 2013. As per this data, the total number of subscribers has increased to 904.46 million with a net addition of 1.37 million subscribers during the month – showing a monthly growth of 0.15 percent. Out of the total subscriber base, 548.85 million are from the urban areas and the remaining 355.60 million are the rural subscribers. The total Teledensity at the end of July 2013 was 73.54 out of which the share of urban subscribers was 60.68 percent and that of rural subscribers was 39.32 percent. Mobile Number Portability (MNP) requests increased from 95.59 million subscribers at the end of June 2013 to 97.82 million at the end of July 2013. In the month of July 2013 alone, 2.23 million requests have been made for MNP.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 3rd October has approved the implementation of the National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) during the 12th Plan Period with financial allocation of Rs. 3507 crore. This would help in enhancing production of oilseeds by 6.58 million tones. This would also bring additional area of 1.25 lakh hectares under Oil Palm cultivation with increase in productivity of fresh fruit bunches from 4927 kg/ha to 15,000 kg/ha and increase in collection of tree borne oilseeds to 14 lakh tone. Implementation of the proposed Mission would enhance production of vegetable oil sources by 2.48 million tones from oilseeds (1.70 million tones), oil palm (0.60 million tones) and tree borne oilseeds (0.18 million tones) by the end of the 12th Plan Period. NMOOP is built upon the achievements of the existing schemes of Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds. Oil Palm and Maize (ISOPOM), Tree Borne Oilseeds Scheme and Oil Palm Area Expansion (OPAE) programme during the 11th Plan period. Implementation of these schemes have shown increase in production and productivity of oilseeds, area expansion with increased production of FFBs under oil palm and augmented availability of quality planting materials, pre-processing technologies and awareness about TBOs.
The Union Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch on 3rd October, launched a unique project to take India’s Heritage online in New Delhi. Under the project, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has agreed with Google to create 360-degree online imagery of 100 of India’s most important heritage sites, including the Taj Mahal, Khajuraho and the Ajanta and Ellora caves. Speaking on the occasion the Minister said these details images will be placed for public viewing over the Internet. The aim of this collaboration is to generate interest and consciousness among the Indian population in general and the youth in particular towards safeguarding the national cultural heritage of India. She said, this information, which will be readily available over the Internet for public viewing, will help in bringing our monuments closer to the public. The Minister expressed the hope that under this project the experience of visiting heritage sites across a vibrant nation would be more accessible and enjoyable and also to bring it to the notice of billions of people connected globally via the Internet. Once published, this new imagery of Indian heritage sites will be available on Google Maps and on the World Wonders site within the Google Cultural Institute so that people across India and around the world can virtually view and explore these areas, and in the process, learn more about thousand years of Indian history.
The Central Government has decided in principle to enhance the amount of capital to be infused into Public Sector Banks (PSBs), on 3rd October. It may be recalled that in the Budget for 2013-14, a sum of Rs. 14,000 crore was provided for capital infusion. This amount will be enhanced sufficiently. The additional amount of capital will be provided to banks to enable them to lend to borrowers in selected sectors such as two wheelers, consumer durables etc, at lower rates n order to stimulate demand. While this will bring relief to the consumers, especially the middle class, it is also expected to give a boost to capacity addition, employment and production. This decision is based on the discussions between Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram when Dr Rajan called on the Finance Minister on 3rd October. The issue of credit growth in different sectors was discussed. At the end of September 2013, growth of Gross Bank Credit stood at about 18 per cent, year-on-year. However, credit growth is sluggish in some sectors leading to the conclusion that demand in these sectors remains subdued. Based on the discussions, the Government has decided in principle to enhance the amount of capital to be infused into Public Sector Banks.
SEBI approved major reforms to attract overseas investors. It has announced new Foreign Portfolio Investor regulations for easier registration process and operating framework for investors from abroad. The new class of investors - FPIs - will encompass all Foreign Institutional Investors, their sub-accounts and Qualified Foreign Investors. They will be divided in three categories as per their risk profile. The Know Your Client - KYC requirements and other registration procedures will be much simpler for FPIs compared to current practices. The SEBI has also decided to grant them a permanent registration. SEBI also approved setting up 'Designated Depository Participants which will register FPIs on behalf of the market regulator subject to compliance with KYC norms.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 3rd October, gave its approval to the proposal of M/s. Etihad Airways PJSC, United Arab Emirates for subscribing 2,72,63,372 equity shares of Rs.10 each of M/s. Jet Airways (India) Limited amounting to 24 percent of the post issue paid up equity share capital for an amount not exceeding Rs.2057.66 crore. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has recommended the proposal. The approval would result in foreign investment amounting to Rs.2057.66 crore in the country.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 3rd October, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to authorize ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Oil India Limited (OIL) to acquire 20 percent Participating Interest (PI) in Rovuma Area 1 Offshore Block in Mozambique (Area 1). The transaction comprises acquisition of:- (a) 100 percent of shares in Videocon Mozambique Rovuma 1 Limited, the company holding a 10 percent PI in Area 1, from Videocon Mauritius Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Videocon Industries Limited, jointly by OVL and OIL for US$ 2,475 million. Closing is expected before 31st December 2013; and (b) another 10 percent PI in Area 1 from Anadarko Mozambique Area 1 Limitada, a subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation solely by OVL for US$ 2,640 million, with closing in February, 2014.
An agreement to set up the India’s largest Forged Wheel Plant at Lalganj, Raebareli, in Uttar Pradesh was signed in the presence of the Minister of Steel, Beni Prasad Verma and the Rail Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge on 3rd October. The Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said that the forged wheels are essentially required in the rolling stock for running longer trains at higher speed. He said imports substitution, indigenous development and inclusive growth is the driving force for setting up this project through mutual coordination between Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Steel.
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