1. India Means Business: Modi Tells Global CEOs at Davos
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, 22 January, told top CEOs at Davos that India means business and presents exciting opportunity for the global businesses.
Under the tagline of "India means business," the roundtable was attended by 40 CEOs of global companies and 20 from India. After the meeting, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted about Modi narrating India's growth story and presenting exciting opportunities for global business in India at Davos.
He was accompanied by top government officials, including Vijay Gokhale, Jai Shankar and Ramesh Abhishek.
(Source: PTI)
2. IMF, World Bank Peg India's GDP Growth Higher Than Advance Estimates
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have projected India’s growth to be higher than 6.5 percent for the current financial year (2017-18), calculated by the Advance Estimates. Both the multilateral agencies pegged growth at 6.7 percent.
GDP growth for 2016-17 stood at 7.1 per cent.
Some economists also say that actual GDP growth will turn out to be higher than what was projected by the Advance Estimates. Aditi Nayar, principal economist with Icra, said, “We expect GDP growth to print at 6.7 percent for FY18.”
(Source: Business Standard)
3. Amazon to Expand Prime Programme
More than two months after doubling the price of its Prime subscription service, online retailer Amazon India is expanding the Prime programme as it looks to retain a large chunk of its existing customers by making the service more attractive.
Amazon India (Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd) will now offer more than 25 million products in the Prime service, up from 11 million earlier, at a delivery speed of one or two days, said Jamil Ghani, vice-president, Prime International, Amazon.
Amazon is also investing hundreds of crores of rupees to expand its video offering in India, including spending on producing original content.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Budget 2018: Disinvestment Dept Asked to Bring Rs 1 Trillion Before March
The Disinvestment Department has been told to bring a sum of Rs 1 trillion to the Budget table for FY18.
Fresh from the success of crossing the annual disinvestment target for the first time, the Finance Ministry feels the department should be able to reach the sum by March 2018.
“We have been told to make use of the buoyant market conditions to reach the magic figure,” a source in the know of the developments told Business Standard. The Disinvestment Department, also part of the Finance Ministry, has to line up some quick sales in these months to raise an additional Rs 88 billion in the revised Budget estimate to touch the Rs 1-trillion mark.
(Source: Business Standard)
5. Govt May Lower Tariffs for New Hydro-Electric Power Projects
The Union Power Ministry is considering lowering tariffs for new hydro-electric power projects to help them compete against cheaper forms of electricity, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The ministry has proposed excluding the costs of building infrastructure such as roads and bridges from tariffs to make new hydropower projects viable, the people said, asking not to be named as the discussions are not public yet. Those costs might be borne by the Central government and the states where the projects are located, the people said, adding that the details haven’t been finalised.
(Source: Livemint)
6. Business Booms for Forensic Auditors as Firms Head to Bankruptcy Court
Forensic departments of large audit firms and independent investigation agencies have been inundated with requests for forensic work following the push to clean up the bad debt mess under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). According to some estimates, the forensic business linked to the IBC has more than doubled in the past few months, and experts believe it will only increase.
The work primarily includes conducting background checks on promoters, asset searches, verification of creditors, and forensic monitoring of cash flows.
(Source: Business Standard)
7. Netflix Crosses $100 Billion Market Cap as Subscribers Surge
Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) snagged 2 million more subscribers than Wall Street expected in the final three months of last year, tripling profits at the online video service that is burning money on new programming to dominate internet television around the world.
The results drove Netflix to a market capitalisation of more than $100 billion for the first time. Shares jumped 9 percent to a new high over $248 in after-hours trading on Monday, 22 January, after rallying throughout the month and rising 53 percent last year.
After signing up more than half of all US broadband households, Netflix is building its customer base in 190 countries by spending billions on programming.
(Source: Reuters)
8. India Fifth Most Attractive Market for Investments: PwC Survey
India has emerged as the fifth most attractive market for investments and the optimism over global economic growth is at a record level, a survey of CEOs by global consultancy PwC said on Monday, 22 January.
The findings come on a day when the rich and powerful are meeting here for the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual summit starting Monday.
"The US remains the top spot for global investment, while India moves into the top 5," PwC's 21st CEO Survey said.
"India (9 percent) bumps Japan (8 percent) as the fifth most attractive market in 2018," it noted. PwC India chairman Shyamal Mukherjee said backed by definitive structural reforms, the India story has been looking better in the past one year.
(Source: PTI)
9. DP World, India’s NIIF to Set up $3 Billion Investment Platform
The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), India’s first sovereign wealth fund, and Dubai-based ports operator DP World Pvt Ltd, on Monday, 22 January, announced the creation of an investment platform to invest up to $3 billion in ports, terminals, transportation and logistics businesses in India.
This is the first investment platform from NIIF and will see investment up to $3 billion of equity to acquire assets and develop projects in these sectors, the companies said in a joint statement.
(Source: Livemint)
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