QBiz: GDP Growth Estimated at 7.6 Percent, Startup India, and More

QBiz: Read the top business stories of the day.

India’s economic growth for the financial year 2016 has been estimated at 7.6 percent. (Photo: Reuters)

1. FY16 Growth Seen Higher at 7.6 Percent But Doubts Linger: FE

India’s economic growth is seen at 7.6 percent for the current fiscal, the highest since the current methodology was adopted to compute national income and compared with 7.2 percent a year earlier, according to the advance estimate released by the Central Statistics Office on Monday.

Gross domestic product (GDP) though expanded at a slower pace of 7.3 percent in the October-December period against a revised 7.7 percent in the previous quarter.

But analysts termed the advance estimate “ambitious”, saying the required growth in the fourth quarter to realise this projection is as high as 7.9 percent. It looks difficult, especially when other high-frequency indicators, including a 13th straight month of export contraction, subdued manufacturing activity in the index of industrial production, dismal corporate loan growth, auto sales and consumer goods output don’t suggest a high-growth trajectory.

Read more here.

2. Top E-Comm Firms to Gain From Start-Up Policy: BS

The government’s ‘Startup India’ policy would be benefiting a lot of established entities in the segment, too, say observers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the policy last month. Snapdeal, Flipkart and Paytm founders have also invested in several budding start-ups. Ratan Tata has put money in 27 of these so far.

For older start-ups, these investments (in other start-ups) is a way of gauging and tackling the next big threat. They also get to understand and learn from other start-ups and these investments might also help their primary start-ups in operations at a later stage.

Saurabh Srivastava, co-founder, Indian Angel Network

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3. Wall Street Falls on Economic Worries; Financials Down: ET

Wall Street stocks finished sharply lower Monday, joining a European equity rout, as fears of an economic slowdown weighed especially hard on financial and technology shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was down more than 400 points at one point, shed 177.92 points (1.10 percent) to 16,027.05.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 26.61 (1.42 per cent) to 1,853.44, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 79.39 (1.82 per cent) to 4,283.75

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4. PE Investment in Realty Up 80 Percent At Rs 19,500 Crore in 2015: ET

Private equity (PE) investments in real estate rose by 80 per cent to Rs 19,500 crore last year, with most of the deals in income-yielding office projects, according to property consultant JLL India.

The year gone by was interesting for capital market activities in real estate. 2015 proved to be a good year for key Indian metros as inflows into real estate by PE funds was at a record high. The total investment that the sector got was approximately Rs 19,500 crore.

Shobhit Agarwal, MD- Capital Markets, JLL India

The PE investment in real estate sector was Rs 10,800 crore in 2014.

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5. Govt to Take Buyback Route to Tap Rs 78k Cr of Public Sector Firms’ Cash: BS

The government has asked state-run companies to buy back shares, people with knowledge of the matter said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to narrow Asia’s widest Budget deficit without cutting stimulus spending.

The boards of Coal India, MOIL, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), National Aluminium Co (Nalco), India Renewable Energy Development Agency (Ireda) are among those that will have to decide on valuations, the people said, asking not to be identified, as the talks are private.

These companies had about Rs 78,450 crore in cash and marketable securities last year - according to data compiled by Bloomberg - more than double Modi’s social welfare budget.

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6. I-T Dept Issues Refunds Worth ₹1 Lakh Crore This Fiscal: The Hindu BusinessLine

The Income-Tax Department has issued refunds worth ₹1 lakh crore to 1.75 crore assessees in the 10 months of this fiscal up to January 31, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia tweeted on Monday.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes had in December asked field formations to expedite all refund claims of ₹50,000 or less that had not been selected for scrutiny. At the time, about 15 lakh claims amounting to ₹5,469 crore were pending with the department.

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7. Sensex Slumps 330 Points on Global Cues: FE

Weak European markets coupled with heavy selling in the front line blue chip stocks in the last hour of trade dragged the benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty down over one-and-a-half percentage point on Monday.

The BSE Sensex closed 329.55 points down at 24287.42. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the 50-share Nifty closed at 7,387.25 with a loss of 101.85 points or 1.36 percent.

In the 30-share index Sensex, shares of Tata Motors slid the most — 3.94 percent, followed by TCS (down 2.75 percent), ITC(down 2.72 percent), ONGC (down 2.43 percent) and Sun Pharma (2.42 percent). On the other hand, Axis Bank, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel gained 2.38 percent, 2.29 percent and 1.27 percent, respectively.

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8. Disinvestment Scorecard, Govt Likely to Miss Target 16th Time in 25 Years: Livemint

For the sixth consecutive year and 16th time in the disinvestment’s quarter-century history, India is likely to miss its budgetary target of raising money by selling stake in public sector undertakings (PSUs).

Even after missing its targets for the past five years, the Centre set a record target of raising Rs.69,500 crore through disinvestment for fiscal 2016, comprising Rs.41,000 crore by way of minority stake sale and an additional Rs.28,500 crore from strategic sale.

The Centre has been able to garner about Rs.13,340 crore after trimming its stake in Rural Electrification Corp. Ltd or REC (Rs.1,608 crore), Power Finance Corp. Ltd or PFC (Rs.1,671 crore), Dredging Corp. of India Ltd or DCIL (Rs.53.33 crore), Indian Oil Corp. Ltd or IOC (Rs.9,369 crore), and Engineers India Ltd (estimated Rs.640 crore), data from the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) website shows.

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9. Non-Farm Growth At 9.2 Percent; Where’s the Need For stimulus: Livemint

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), industry is growing by leaps and bounds. In the December quarter, industrial growth was a strong 11 percent from a year ago, with manufacturing growing at a stellar 12.6 percent.

It turns out that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which talked of slackening industrial growth in its monetary policy statement a week ago, was way off the mark. It’s a wonder why manufacturing companies have been complaining about sluggish conditions.

As a matter of fact, industrial growth in the third quarter of the current fiscal year was higher than services growth, which notched up a respectable 8.6 percent, pulled down by tepid growth in construction services.

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