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QBiz: Jio Hikes Tariff for 84-Day Plan; Dining Out to Get Cheaper

A quick wrap of top business stories for the day!

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1. Reliance Jio Hikes Tariff For Popular 84-Day Plan

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd customers will have to pay 15 percent more for its popular 84-day plan at Rs 459 from 19 October, under which subscribers will get 1 giga-byte 4G data per day, according to information published on the company's website.

The Mukesh Ambani-backed operator has also reduced recharge tariff for lower denomination and short-term plans besides offering data benefits under the schemes.

However, subscribers of Rs 149 plan will get 4 GB of data for each billing cycle of 28 days under the new “Diwali Dhamaka” scheme compared to 2 GB being offered at present.

(Source: PTI)

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2. GST Council May Cut Rates On Restaurant Bills To 12%

The Goods and Services Tax on restaurant bills may be reduced at the GST Council’s next meeting in November. The Council may lower the rate to 12 percent from 18 percent, with the caveat that such eateries cannot avail the benefit of input tax credit, a senior government official told BloombergQuint on the condition of anonymity.

Currently, air-conditioned restaurants charge an 18 percent GST, while non-air conditioned eateries levy 12 percent, and avail input tax credit. Restaurant owners with an annual turnover of Rs 1 crore can also avail the composition scheme and pay a flat GST rate of 5 percent on their turnover.

The Mint newspaper had reported this development first.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

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3. RBI Should Be Ready to Raise Rates: MPC's Michael Patra

One member of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) monetary policy committee (MPC) called for the rate-setting panel to be prepared to raise rates while voting to keep interest rates unchanged in the October policy review, according to the minutes of the meeting released on Wednesday.

“I... vote for status quo, but only as long as inflation readings stay within the target of 4 percent. It is time to be in readiness to raise the policy rate to quell the underlying drivers of inflation if they strengthen further,” said Michael Patra, who is executive director at RBI.

(Source: Livemint)

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4. Tata Tele Maharashtra Approves Raising Rs 20,000 Crore Additional Funds

Tata Teleservices Ltd Maharashtra unit will raise Rs 20,000 crore by issuing securities through various modes, days after India’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd. announced it will take over Tata’s consumer mobile business in a debt-free, cash-free merger.

The board approved raising funds through issuing securities in the form of either redeemable preference shares to promoters or non-convertible debentures in one or more tranches, according to a stock exchange filing. It may also issue inter corporate deposits, loans and commercial papers to the promoters, the filing added.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

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5. Bad Loan Divergence Likely at Most Banks After RBI Review

Fresh additions to bad loans are likely to increase across the banking sector this year as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) finishes its supervisory assessment of lender accounts, analysts say.

Axis Bank Ltd is an example. On Tuesday, the lender reported that its bad loan divergence—the difference between RBI’s assessment and that reported by the lender—was around Rs 5,630 crore at the end of March. Similarly, the divergence in provisions made to cover the bad loans was Rs 1,318 crore.

Most banks are expected to feel the impact of the central bank’s so-called annual risk-based supervision; the timing of the loan reclassification will depend on the completion of the exercise.

(Source: Livemint)

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6. Dow Climbs Most in Five Weeks as Treasuries Drop: Markets Wrap

The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its biggest gain in five weeks and the three major US equity benchmarks closed at records as corporate earnings beat estimates.

Stocks were bolstered by IBM’s forecast for its first sales growth in five years, which sent its shares to their biggest advance since 2009, and better-than-expected results at Abbott Laboratories and Northern Trust Corp. A gauge of commodities declined as copper and gold slipped. Treasury yields increased after traders added to bets on steeper US interest rates.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

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7. Govt Imposes Curbs on Gold Import by 4, 5 Star Export Houses

The commerce ministry has imposed restrictions on import of gold by four and five star export houses by stipulating that they would cease to be nominated agencies. Now, such export houses would be allowed to procure the precious metal only for their own use.

According to an official, the restrictions imposed by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) is aimed at curtailing gold imports, which has surged by more than two-fold to $ 16.95 billion during the first half of 2017-18.

“No nominated agency certificate shall be issued/ renewed for four star export house and five star export house status holders,” the directorate said in a notification.

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8. Government Taking Steps to Curb Coal Shortage

The issue of coal supply to power plants is being addressed in a co-coordinated manner by the Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal and Ministry of Railways. An official statement said a detailed plan has been agreed which would be implemented from 18 October and would ensure sufficient supply of coal to power plants.

The statement said that the government has noted that supply to States like Maharashtra, has improved and efforts will be made to improve the coal stock in all the power stations with low stocks. It was also agreed that issues with some DVC power plants which are affected due to closure of Dhanbad – Chandrapura railway line would be resolved expeditiously, the statement added.

Snapshot
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9. NHAI to Get Power to Speed Up Bharatmala programme

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to get the power to approve projects with a construction cost of more than Rs 1,000 crore to ensure faster implementation of the Bharatmala programme. Currently, all highway projects that entail a construction cost of more than Rs 1,000 crore, excluding land, need to be approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

Under the proposal, only public private partnership (PPP) projects under the build-operatetransfer (BOT) model, where viability gap funding (VGF) is to be provided by the government, will need CCEA clearance. “There’s a proposal to enhance the powers of NHAI for faster implementation of highway projects under the Bharatmala programme,” a top road transport and highways ministry official said. Bharatmala envisions 44 economic corridors across the country at a cost of at least Rs 5 lakh crore.

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