1. A ‘Package’ of Measures to Bolster the Economy, Promises Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday hinted at a package of measures to boost the economy, while virtually ruling out any cut in duties on petroleum products to check the spike in fuel prices.
"We have taken note of all the economic indicators that are available. This has been a proactive government on the reforms agenda. Over the last two days, I have had a series of discussions with ministerial colleagues and various secretaries.”
"The government will take additional measures in the coming days after consulting the Prime Minister. Whenever the measures are taken, you will come to know of it," Jaitley told reporters following a meeting of the union cabinet.
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2. ThyssenKrupp, Tata in 50:50 JV to Form Europe's Second-Largest Steel Firm
German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel have agreed to form an equal joint venture that would create Europe’s second-largest steel firm after ArcelorMittal. Tata Steel has said it would shift 2.5 billion euros of its debt to the new entity. ThyssenKrupp would also be shifting its liabilities worth 3.6 billion euros that it had gathered from its pension schemes.
“Tata Steel India is in a strong position to grow faster and set to double its capacity through organic or inorganic route, post the deal with ThyssenKrupp,” Tata group Chairman N Chandrasekaran said in a press conference.
The new entity – ThyssenKrupp Tata Steel – would be headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The entity would have a 21.3-million-tonne capacity, sales of about 15 billion euros and a workforce of about 48,000 at 34 locations. The merger is, however, likely to lead to 4,000 people losing their jobs both on the production side and administration side.
(Source: Business Standard)
3. Tata Group to Change Face in Next 10 Years: Ratan Tata
A day before Tata Sons' crucial general meeting to seek shareholders' approval to become a private company, Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata said the face of Tata group would change in 10 years, and as long as it operates with ethical standards and value systems, he would feel very proud.
Speaking to CNBC TV18, Tata, 80, said the group is in the very able hands of Chandra (N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons).
“The face of Tata may change over the next 10 years, and so long as there is still the same drive to make this an enterprise or a conglomeration of enterprises that operate with ethical standards and value systems, I would be very proud,” Tata said. “Some group companies will die and the new ones will be born, but the group must always be ethical,” the patriarch of India’s largest group said.
(Source: Business Standard)
4. Fed Keeps US Rates Steady
The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but signaled it still expects one more increase by the end of the year despite a recent bout of low inflation.
New economic projections released after the Fed's two-day policy meeting showed 11 of 16 officials see the "appropriate" level for the federal funds rate, the central bank's benchmark interest rate, to be in a range between 1.25 percent and 1.50 percent by the end of 2017, or 0.25 percentage points above the current level.
(Source: Reuters)
5. Lower IUC Seen as Ending Incumbency Advantage of Airtel, Vodafone, Idea
A day after the telecom regulator decided to reduce and eventually remove call termination charges, stock brokerages highlighted concerns over the regulatory environment in the sector and the loss of incumbency advantage for established telecom firms. However, the impact will fade over the medium-to-long term, they said.
On Tuesday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) ordered a cut in interconnection usage charges (IUC) – paid by the telco that originates a call to the one which receives the call – from the current 14 paise to 6 paise, and phasing out these charges by 1 January 2020. The decision is a setback for incumbent telcos such as Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone India Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd and a potential boost for newcomer Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
(Source: Livemint)
6. After HDFC Bank, Yes Says No to 2.5k Jobs
Yes Bank has eliminated about 2,500 jobs — more than 10% of its workforce — citing increased redundancy, poor performance and the impact of digitisation.
The reduction in Yes Bank’s 21,000-strong workforce marks the second recent cut in India’s private-sector banking space. HDFC Bank, the country’s most valuable lender by market capitalisation, has trimmed its workforce by about 11,000 over three quarters to March 2017.
“As part of the bank’s regular human capital management practices, to ensure higher productivity and improved efficiencies, the bank undertakes some performance-linked actions on a periodic basis,” Yes Bank said in an emailed response. “We have a process of identifying bottom performers every year as part of our normal appraisal cycle. These actions are not any different from those being pursued by other leading private sector banks.”
(Source: The Economic Times)
7. RBI to Regulate Peer-to-Peer Lending Firms
All peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms will be regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to a government of India notification released on Wednesday.
The gazette notification stated that all the P2P loan platforms will be treated as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and will be brought under the ambit of the banking regulator.
“The Reserve Bank of India, on being satisfied that it is necessary to do so, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by... the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934, (2 of 1934) with prior approval from the government, hereby specifies, a non-banking institution that carries on the business of a peer-to-peer lending platform to be a non-banking financial company,” the notification sent by RBI to the government stated.
(Source: Livemint)
8. India Will Stick to Plan of Having 100% Electric Mobility by 2030: Nitin Gadkari
India will stick to its plan of having 100% electric mobility by 2030, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said.
Gadkari said he cleared the electric vehicle policy on Wednesday.
“Now NITI Aayog will send it to the cabinet in a couple of weeks (for its approval)," he added.
The official year for going all electric — which means all vehicles sold from then will be electric — remains 2030, the minister said. However, a top official said the government was aiming to advance the target.
(Source: The Economic Times)
9. SEBI Revokes Ban Order Passed on 421 Entities
In just over a fortnight, SEBI has reversed orders passed against 421 companies.
On Tuesday, the market regulator revoked the trading ban imposed on 114 entities that had come under the scanner for alleged manipulation and misuse of stock markets for tax evasion.
“Violation of provisions of the SEBI Act, Securities Contracts regulation, Prohibition of Fraudulent Trade (PFTUP) norms were not observed in respect of these 114 entities,” SEBI said.
Similarly, on September 6, SEBI lifted the ban on 307 entities that were probed for alleged tax evasion. The final order said no securities law violation was found.
(Source: The Hindu BusinessLine)
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