1. Sebi Allows FPIs to Directly Trade in Corporate Bonds
With an aim to deepen corporate bonds market by attracting more overseas funds, markets regulator Sebi on Friday decided to allow well-regulated Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to trade directly trade in these securities without any broker.
Currently, FPIs can trade in Indian markets only through brokers who are registered with the stock exchanges as their members.
Read more here.
2. Airtel Takes on Reliance Jio, to Offer 3 Months of Unlimited Data for Rs1,494
Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has announced a special 4G data plan that provides 30GB of data at 4G LTE speeds for a duration of 90 days from the day of recharge. Existing prepaid users can access this plan by paying up Rs 1,495, while first-time Airtel subscribers will have to pay Rs 1,494 for their first recharge before they may avail its benefits. If the subscribers use up the entire 30GB of 4G data within 90 days, they will be automatically shifted to the slower 2G networks, but the data usage will remain unlimited.
Airtel’s new move is lucrative, but faces stiff competition from Reliance Jio which is offering all 4G services for free as a preview offering to users until 31 December.
(Source: Livemint)
3. Gross Sales at Domestic E-Commerce Firms in October Could Hit $1.8 Billion
Gross sales at domestic e-commerce companies in October could touch $1.5-1.8 billion, driven by a spurt in sales during the upcoming festive season, according to a report by RedSeer Consulting, a research and consulting firm.
The country’s largest e-commerce companies – Flipkart Ltd, Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd) and Amazon Ltd (Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd) – are gearing up for festive sales in October.
(Source: Livemint)
4. GST Exemption Limit Set at Rs 20 Lakh; Tax Rate to Be Decided in October
In a big step towards the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), the centre and the states on Friday reached a consensus on most contentious issues under the new indirect tax regime, raising hope that they would be able to agree on the last remaining issue, the tax rates, by next month.
The GST council, at its first meeting, agreed on a revenue threshold of Rs 20 lakh below which the traders will be exempted from GST. This limit will be Rs 10 lakh for the north-eastern and hill states.
(Source: Livemint)
5. Marriott, Starwood Combined Entity to Open 80 Hotels in India in 3 Years
Marriott International Inc, which on Friday completed acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, said the combined entity in India would open around 80 hotels in the next three years, taking the total number of hotels it operates to around 160 in the country.
Both the hotel chains currently operate seven brands each with a total of around 79 hotels with around 18,000 rooms in India. The combined entity would now be called Marriott Hotels India Pvt Ltd, while Starwood would cease to exist from here on, said Rajeev Menon, chief operations officer, Asia-Pacific (excluding Greater China) told reporters at a press meet.
(Source: Livemint)
6. Seven Finalists for India’s Biggest Telecom Spectrum Auction
Of the seven finalists, four are allowed to bid on all bands across all circles. Airtel, Idea, Vodafone and Reliance Jio are allowed to bid on all 22 circles and across all seven bands which are up for auction, the statement said.
Reliance Communications and Aircel will bid separately in the forthcoming auctions. The former is allowed to bid for all bands across all circles except for North East and Assam.
Aircel can only bid for 900 and 1,800 MHz (megahertz) bands across all circles. Additionally, it can only bid for the 2,300 MHz in Andhra Pradesh and for the 2100 MHz in only West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh (East), Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Odisha, North-East, Kolkata, Kerala, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Assam & Andhra Pradesh.
Read the full BloomberQuint report here.
7. Ready to Manufacture Rafale in India: Dassault CEO
With the deal for 36 Rafale jets in the kitty, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier on Friday said the French company is game for the ‘Make in India’ initiative and open to manufacturing the fighter aircraft in India if the plane is shortlisted for a bigger order.
He said that with the Indian contract going through, the company feels that more international orders of the plane, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, will come in.
He also added that Dassault Aviation, manufacturer of the Rafale jets, is committed to the Make in India initiative. “Yes, of course. We will see how we can carry forward with the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Read the full BloombergQuint report here.
8. States Happy with Outcome of GST Council’s First Meeting
Left-ruled Kerala on Friday sought a decision on the formula for compensating states for any loss of revenue post GST before a rate is decided even as most others hailed the decisions taken at the first Centre-State council meeting on the new tax regime.
At the first meeting of the GST Council, states proposed certain formulae based on their revenues for calculating compensation while the Centre proposed compensating states if the revenue growth rate falls below 12 percent.
Read the full BloombergQuint report here.
9. Railways to Spend Entire Outlay of Rs 1.21 Lakh Crore This Year: Manoj Sinha
Indian Railways will spend the entire Rs 1.21 lakh crore earmarked for this fiscal, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said Friday.
This year Rs 1.21 lakh crore has been earmarked and I believe this year 100 percent of it will be spent. Last time Railway was not ready because there was sudden large scale investment. Railway officers were not prepared to work on large scale investment,” Sinha said at an Assocham event.
Read more here.
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