1. After Moody’s Upgrade, S&P Keeps India’s Rating Unchanged
International ratings agency S&P Global Ratings on Friday, 24 November, said that India’s rating remains unchanged at BBB-. The outlook on the country has also been maintained at stable, indicating no change in the rating agency’s view on India. The short-term sovereign credit rating stays A-3.
“Despite two quarters of weaker-than-expected growth, India's economy is forecast to grow robustly in 2018-2020 and foreign exchange reserves will continue to rise,” S&P said in a statement today. “Nevertheless, sizable fiscal deficits, a high net general government debt burden, and low per capita income detract from the sovereign's credit profile,” it added.
"All in all it is a very satisfying report. It shows that economy is strong and is improving further, as per their projection pace of development will accelerate further in 2018-20... They have suggested that despite hurdles coming in upper house Modi govt has been successful in making transformational changes possible in India. They have also praised India for having strong democratic institutions including the press," Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said.
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2. All Revised I-T Returns Post Demonetisation Under Lens
In the days after demonetisation, thousands handled their hidden cash by dumping the currency in banks, filing a revised income-tax return, and forking out a little over 30 percent tax for the extra cash that was deposited.
This, they believed, was a neat way to take care of the cash and keep tax officers at bay. But things may turn out differently. On Friday, 24 November, the government told all tax offices to accept only those revised tax returns where there is a “bona fide inadvertent error” or “a mistake” on part of the assessee. If inquiries indicate any dubious manipulation to legitimise undisclosed cash deposit, then an assessee should be taxed at a much higher rate under the anti-abuse provisions of the law.
The law, however, gives taxpayers a greater latitude than the government’s internal communique suggests. According to the Income-Tax Act, a revised return is permitted when a taxpayer “discovers any omission or any wrong statement”. Probably because the law does not specify conditions for filing revised returns, the communique mentions that the “guidelines are only suggestive”.
(Source: Economic Times)
3. India Can Achieve 200 GW Renewable Energy by 2022: RK Singh
India can easily achieve 200 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 as against the "conservative target" of 175 GW, Power Minister RK Singh said on Friday, 24 November, while unveiling the roadmap for clean energy.
Buoyed by the success of reverse auction of renewables, which resulted in tariffs dropping to all time low rates, Singh also unveiled the plan to auction up to 21 GW solar and wind capacity by March 2018.
On the RE capacity addition, he said: "175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 is a very conservative target. India can easily achieve 200 GW of renewable capacity by 2022." There was a long pending demand from the industry to declare the renewable energy roadmap, he said at a press conference to unveil solar and wind energy capacity addition plan of the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE).
(Source: PTI)
4. Arun Shourie Says Economic Policy Makers Should Not Take Ratings Seriously
Former union minister Arun Shourie on Friday, 24 November, likened reports by international rating agencies, such as Moody’s, to “schoolboy reports”. He said economic policy makers should not take either negative or positive ratings by international rating agencies seriously.
Shourie, a union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, bemoaned that policy makers in the Narendra Modi government lacked the “attention span” needed to reform the economy, which he said was a task akin to running a marathon.
Shourie said he has worked in the World Bank for nine years. He said the time when India needed loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund is long past, but now these institutions desired accolades from India. To a question on the improved ratings by Moody’s and the World Bank, Shourie said the government has been “gaming the system”.
(Source: Business Standard)
5. Jeff Bezos's Net Worth Just Broke $100 Billion
Jeff Bezos is the world’s newest $100 billion mogul.
The Amazon.com Inc founder’s fortune is up $2.4 billion to $100.3 billion, as the online retailer’s shares jumped more than 2 percent on optimism for Black Friday sales. Online purchases for the day are up 18.4 percent over last year, according to data from Adobe Analytics, and investors are betting the company will take an outsized share of online spending over the gifting season.
The $100 billion milestone makes Bezos, 53, the first billionaire to build a 12-figure net worth since 1999, when Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates hit the mark.
Bezos’s fortune rose $32.6 billion this year through Thursday, the largest increase of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 500 richest people. Amazon have climbed 5 percent this week alone.
(Source: Bloomberg)
6. Mahindra to Supply Electric Cars to Uber
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. will provide hundreds of electric vehicles to ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies in India as the nation’s third-largest carmaker continues its efforts to shift towards battery-powered vehicles.
“Mahindra’s electric vehicles on the Uber platform will include e2oPlus hatch and the eVerito sedan,” the companies said in a joint statement on Friday, 24 November. The partners will start with Delhi and Hyderabad. They didn’t give a timeline for the rollout.
The collaboration will allow driver partners on the Uber’s applications to avail of M&M's vehicles at lower prices with “attractive financing and insurance premiums”. They will also get maintenance packages from Mahindra and its associates.
Among India’s carmakers, Mahindra’s has been the most enthusiastic in the shift towards electric vehicles. It has already collaborated with self-car rental startup Zoomcar by providing a rollout 20 e2oPlus vehicles in Mysuru, Karnataka. In October, M&M also matched Tata Motors Ltd.’s bid in the first phase of a government contract to supply 10,000 electric sedans.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
7. Private Firms May Soon Be Allowed to Set up Electric Car Charging Stations
India plans to amend the Electricity Act for private investors to set up charging stations for electric vehicles as the government pushes to cut reliance on fossil fuels to check import bill and reduce emissions.
A power distribution company can only sell electricity in India, according to the 2013 law. That’s a technical hurdle to build charging infrastructure in the country for electric cars.
“We are going to provide deemed distribution licences for those who want to set up charging stations. The Electricity Act will be amended,” RK Singh, minister of state for power, new and renewable energy, told BloombergQuint on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi on Friday, 24 November. “Let the other amendments also come. We will discuss it with states and then will bring it to the Ministry of Law.”
The charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is part of the government’s push to make all cars electric by 2030. It has already floated a tender for 10,000 battery-powered sedans. Tata Motors Ltd. and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. will provide the first 500 of them.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
8. Steps Taken to Pass on Rate Cut Gains: FMCG Companies
Consumer goods companies including Nestle, Dabur, ITC and Amul have assured Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) chairperson Vanaja Sarna that they have passed on the recent reduction in goods and services tax (GST) rates to consumers by lowering prices. They have publicised this through advertisements and deployed technology to monitor billing and invoicing at trade and retail store levels, the companies said.
“Dabur has already taken all the necessary steps and measures to pass on the benefits of reduced rates to the end consumer,” chairman Anand Burman said in a letter addressed to the CBEC chairperson that ET has seen. “We have also started communicating the same and are in the process of releasing advertisements to further publicise the price reductions.” A Nestle India spokesperson said: “We have responded to the letter issued by the chairperson, CBEC.”
(Source: Economic Times)
9. Reliance Industries Closes Marcellus Shale Asset Sale for $126 Million
Reliance Marcellus II LLC, a subsidiary of Reliance Holding USA Inc. and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), has closed the sale of its interest in upstream Marcellus shale assets in north-eastern and central Pennsylvania for $126 million, the company said in a press statement on Friday, 24 November.
The assets are currently operated by Carrizo Oil and Gas Inc. and are being sold to BKV Chelsea LLC, an affiliate of Kalnin Ventures LLC.
The transaction closed on 21 November. Reliance had announced the impending sale on 6 October.
“Additionally, under the definitive documents, a contingent amount of up to $11.25 million may be paid to Reliance between years 2018 to 2020 based on certain gas price thresholds being achieved,” RIL said.
(Source: Livemint)
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