1. Budget 2017 Gets a Thumbs up From Moody's, Fitch
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s fourth budget has emphasised fiscal prudence while pushing for higher public investment – a “credit positive” for India’s sovereign ratings, Moody’s Investors Service said on Friday.
Rating company Fitch also reacted positively to the continued commitment to fiscal consolidation and a broad reform agenda displayed in the 2017-18 Budget presented on Wednesday.
“We view the (budget) speech as consistent with the government’s commitment to gradual fiscal consolidation and balanced growth, a credit positive for the sovereign ratings,” Moody’s Investors Service said in a report.
(Source: Livemint)
2. Notebandi Puts a Chill on India's Gold Fever
Gold jewellery demand plunged to a seven-year low of 514 tonnes (662 tonnes) in 2016 on the back of demonetisation and a series of government measures to curb gold sales, besides the jewellers downing shutters in protest against the excise duty levy.
The previous low of 676 tonnes in India was recorded in 2009 during the Lehman Brothers crisis in the US.
Overall demand, including that of investments, dipped 21 percent last year to 676 tonnes (857 tonnes) as the highly unorganised jewellery industry is gearing up to usher in the new GST regime. In value terms, jewellery demand was down 12 percent at Rs 1.39 lakh crore (Rs 1.58 lakh crore), while that of investments were down 6 percent at Rs 43,647 crore (Rs 46,597 crore), according to the World Gold Council report released on Friday.
(Source: Hindu Business Line)
3. NSE Selects Vikram Limaye as New CEO and MD
Vikram Limaye will be the new managing director and chief executive officer (MD and CEO) of National Stock Exchange of India Ltd, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Limaye was chosen by a selection panel and his appointment approved by the board of India’s largest stock exchange on Friday, they said.
The appointment of Limaye, 50, currently CEO and MD of IDFC Ltd, an infrastructure financing firm, will have to be cleared by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the people said on condition of anonymity.
Limaye will succeed Chitra Ramkrishna, who left NSE owing to personal reasons on 2 December, a little more than a year before her tenure was to end.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Amazon Likely to Ramp up Investments in India Despite Drag on Profits
Amazon.com Inc. has indicated it would keep pumping money into India although its investments in the country crimped profitability at the world’s largest online retailer for the second quarter in a row.
Amazon’s Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said in a conference call with analysts on Thursday that the e-commerce giant was encouraged by its progress in India and the response it has received from consumers. He acknowledged that the investment in India continues to be large.
(Source: Livemint)
5. Bengaluru iPhone Unit Launch Hinges on Centre's Sops to Silicon Valley Giant
A formal deal between Apple Inc., and Wistron Corporation, the Taiwanese original design manufacturer, about launching the production of iPhones in Bengaluru will come through only after the tech giant manages to successfully negotiate sops for its India investments from the Centre.
“Apple Inc, will not come on board immediately until it completes the ongoing negotiations with the government of India,” said a top government official.
Wistron has, through an Indian arm, an existing facility at Peenya, an industrial suburb near Bengaluru, and is briskly ramping up its manufacturing capacity in anticipation of an early deal from the Cupertino-based smartphone maker. The Taiwanese firm is making investments on the back of a green signal from Apple, sources say.
(Source: Economic Times)
6. Ola, Uber Drivers' Dream Ride Is Starting to Get Bumpy
Sanjay Harilal Yadav, 29, quit his job as a portfolio manager in a fund house to join Ola as a driver in late 2015. Nearly two years later he regrets his move.
“I had heard of drivers making ₹1 lakh per month. But now drivers don’t make that kind of money anymore. The incentives have reduced to almost half. Besides, the commission, which we have to pay the company is high,” says Yadav who has started freelancing as an investment advisor to make additional money.
Shadab, a driver with Uber, bought a two-bedroom apartment in Mumbai’s Chembur area in about a year of riding Uber. But now he is not making enough money to pay off the loan he took for the home.
Yadav and Shadab are just two examples of hundreds of drivers whose dreams of making it big with cab aggregator firms like Ola and Uber have gone sour.
(Source: Hindu Business Line)
7. Kalanithi Maran-Owned Sun TV's Shares Surge 23.92% on Aircel-Maxis Verdict
The stock price of the Kalanithi Maran-owned Sun Television Network (Sun TV) saw a rise of 23.92 per cent on Friday, a day after the Maran brothers received a favourable order from a CBI special court in the Aircel-Maxis deal case. This is the biggest single-day gain by Sun TV.
The stock price started reflecting the impact of the news on Friday morning, with the price going up to Rs 607 on the BSE at the opening, compared with Rs 551.85 on the previous close.
(Source: Business Standard)
8. Bad Bank Can't Be Supported by Govt Alone, Says Arun Jaitley
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said an institution to tackle non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks and over-leveraged companies could not be funded by the government alone through budgetary support. He, however, did not dismiss the idea of the body out of hand.
Interacting with representatives of industry chambers, two days after he tabled the Budget in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley said he would not like to get into a situation where eventually NPAs become a government issue and the whole thing has to be supported out of the Budget.
(Source: Business Standard)
9. Jindal Steel & Power in Talks to Sell Chhattisgarh Power Plant for Over $1.5 Billion
Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, seeking to cut debt after eight straight quarters of losses, is in talks with companies, including billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani Power Ltd about selling a 2,400-megawatt Indian electricity plant, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The New Delhi-based company has been in discussions about selling the plant to Adani Power as lenders led by State Bank of India pressure the company to make divestments, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
(Source: Livemint)
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