1. Narendra Modi Hard-Sells GST, Other Reforms to Woo Investors in Russia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hard-sold India as an investment destination, underlining the strengths of its young workforce as well as enormous capacity to absorb investments, skills and technologies. In a speech at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia – billed as the Davos of the East – Modi noted that rating agencies rated India as one of the top three investment destinations in the world.
On Thursday, PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a bilateral vision document aimed at boosting economic and trade ties between the two countries. Despite having a “special and privileged strategic partnership”, trade and economic ties have languished. Bilateral trade currently stands at $7.7 billion. But both sides have set a target of $30 billion by 2025.
(Source: Livemint)
2. Consensus at GST Council Under Test as Roll-Out Date Nears
With just 28 days left for enforcing India’s biggest tax reform since independence, consensus at the Goods and Services Tax Council (GST Council) is coming under stress as calls for delaying its implementation become louder. Some state finance ministers have pushed for lower taxes on products and services that are key to their economies and many industry lobby groups are demanding concessions. Low-cost biscuit makers, hoteliers, fly ash brick producers and telecom service providers are among those seeking lower taxes.
(Source: Livemint)
3. India to Show Sustained Growth of 8% in Few Years: Arvind Panagariya
India’s economy will likely expand by 7.5 percent this financial year and by more than 8 percent by 2018-19 as economic reforms being put in place by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government start delivering results, NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Friday.
The impact of the reforms and economic growth in job creation, especially in rural areas, which is not being adequately captured, will be reflected in the new national household survey of employment the National Sample Survey Office launched in April, Panagariya said at a media briefing in New Delhi.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Rupee Gains 14 Paise Against Dollar in Early Trade
Rising for the third straight day, the rupee strengthened by 14 paise to 64.34 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market on Friday on sustained selling of the American currency by banks and exporters. Forex dealers said besides continued selling of the greenback, weakness in dollar against other currencies overseas and a higher opening of the domestic equity market backed up the rupee.
The rupee had firmed up by 3 paise to close at 64.48 in yesterday’s trade, shrugging off weaker-than-expected GDP numbers. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex spurted by 194.97 points or 0.62 per cent, to hit an all-time high of 31,332.56 in opening trade.
(Source: Financial Express)
5. India Grid Trust to List on Bourses on Tuesday
India Grid Trust, which recently concluded its Rs 2,250 crore initial public offering (IPO), will make its stock market debut on Tuesday, 6 June. The IPO of India Grid Trust, second in the infrastructure investment trusts (InvIT) space, was subscribed 1.17 times. The price band for the offer, open during May 17-19, was set at Rs 98-100 per unit. India Grid Trust, an infrastructure investment trust established to own inter-state power transmission assets in India, had raised over Rs 1,012 crore from anchor investors.
(Source: Livemint)
6. Amazon to Dominate Indian E-Commerce Market in the Long Run: KPCB Report
Amazon India is likely to emerge as the dominant e-commerce company in the country in the long run, while the overall number of Internet users in the country continues to grow rapidly, according to the latest Internet Trends report by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers. According to the KPCB report, the number of internet users has grown 40 percent over the past year to about 355 million.
The report also indicated that Amazon India is most likely to dominate the country’s online retail market in the long run. The report pointed to Amazon’s rate of growth and investments in the country over the past three-and-a-half years. The company has pledged to invest at least $5 billion in India and grown rapidly to challenge local e-commerce poster boy Flipkart’s leadership position.
(Source: Livemint)
7. IDBI Bank Seeks to Sell
Rs 5,000 Crore of Non-Core Assets
IDBI Bank Ltd said on Friday that it would sell Rs 5,000 crore of non-core assets this fiscal year as it seeks to reinforce capital, less than a month after the central bank invoked its so-called prompt corrective action because of its rising bad loans and negative return on assets. The bank received a Rs 1,900 crore injection in March from the government. IDBI Bank’s board on 30 May approved a proposal to raise Rs 10,000 crore equally through a sale of equity and rupee bonds.
(Source: Livemint)
8. Venture Capital Firms Shy Away From Backing New Start-Ups in India
It is no secret that for the past several months, more than a few venture capital portfolios in India have been up for sale en masse and at steep discounts. The problem is that there aren’t many buyers out there for those portfolios. Most of the portfolios on sale represent the so-called copycat investing that has marked the greater part of the past decade of early-stage investing in India and aren’t worth much today in the midst of what is now clearly a prolonged downturn.
Since 2007, when venture capital as an asset class returned in earnest to the Indian market, venture capital firms have invested more than $10 billion in local start-ups, mostly in the technology and Internet sectors, according to data compiled by Chennai-based researcher Venture Intelligence. So far, such investors have struck exit deals worth $8.5 billion. After providing for fund manager fees, which is calculated at 2 percent on the fund principal on a recurring annual basis, and accounting for principal investments, the profits left for distribution wouldn’t be a very significant sum.
(Source: Livemint)
9. Narendra Modi Government to Review Its $900 Bn Export Target in Trade Policy Rejig
India is set to prune its ambitious export target of $900 billion as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government works on reviewing the foreign trade policy amid continued global weakness and uncertainty. The reassessment comes as India slogs it out in negotiations for a regional trade deal that would account for almost 30 percent of global GDP and over a quarter of world exports, involving with China, the 10 Asean nations, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan, known as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
The government unveiled its first foreign trade policy for 2015-2020 in April, setting a merchandise and services export target of $900 billion by 2020, almost double the $465.9 billion achieved in 2013-14. However, with the fragile global economic recovery and increasing protectionist economic policies, India is re-assessing the exports situation.
(Source: Financial Express)
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