1. Reliance Jio Withdraws Summer Surprise Offer After TRAI’s Order
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd withdrew its Summer Surprise offer on Thursday after India’s telecom regulator advised the company against it.
Reliance Jio, which started charging for its services since 1 April, extended its deadline to opt for its Prime membership by 15 days to avoid service disruption for customers transitioning to its paid services. Under the Summer Surprise scheme, existing subscribers or new customers who became Prime members by paying Rs 99 could avail of the new offer by buying a Rs 303 recharge till 15 April.
Users could avail of complimentary services for three months starting 15 April, in addition to the benefits they already enjoyed under their purchased plan.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
2. Parliament Passes Four Bills to Pave Way For GST Rollout
India’s parliament on Thursday cleared the decks for the rollout of the historic Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 1 July as it approved four supporting legislations to usher in the one-nation-one-tax regime.
The Central GST Bill, 2017; The Integrated GST Bill, 2017; The GST (Compensation to States) Bill, 2017; and The Union Territory GST Bill, 2017 were returned by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote as all parties were on board.
Significantly, Congress member Jairam Ramesh did not press an amendment he had proposed, saying he had been advised by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against it for the sake of consensus.
The Lok Sabha had passed these bills on 29 March.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
3. RBI Surprises with Reverse Repo Hike
The six-member Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday kept the repo rate unchanged but raised the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points to narrow the corridor in which overnight money moves.
Economists said this was an indirect tightening of interest rates even as the policy stance remained neutral. The central bank also warned about rising inflation. Expected at 4.5 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year, inflation could climb to 5 percent in the second half, owing to risks and an unfavourable base effect.
Following the policy, the repo rate, at which banks borrow from the RBI, remained at 6.25 percent, and the reverse repo rate was revised to 6 percent from 5.75 percent.
(Source: Business Standard)
4. Indian Economy to Grow at 7.4% in FY18: ADB
India’s economy is set to grow at 7.4% in the current fiscal year 2017-18 against 7.1% in 2016-17, on the back of pick-up in consumption demand and higher public investment, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Thursday.
In its latest Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2017 report, ADB said while the recent gross domestic product (GDP) data for 2016-17 did not fully capture the effects of demonetisation, the slowdown did reflect a continued slump in investment.
“Dragging on growth were excess production capacity, problems that past overinvestment left on corporate balance sheets, and new bank lending inhibited by too many stressed assets. Moderately higher growth is projected as consumption picks up and government initiatives boost private investment,” it said.
(Source: Livemint)
5. Apax Partners to Set Aside $1bn to Bet on PM Narendra Modi’s Reforms
Apax Partners will be looking to invest at least a billion dollars in India over the next four years as the world's fastest-expanding major economy has emerged as among the top investment destinations for the European private equity major, powering its returns globally.
Buoyed by the ongoing reforms agenda of the Narendra Modi government, favourable demographics, and an uptick in domestic consumption, London-headquartered Apax will also remain committed to backing homegrown growth stories – either leveraging their strong competitive advantage globally or feeding into domestic demand – across the four specialised sectors of technology, healthcare, consumer, and business and financial services with equity capital.
(Source: The Economic Times)
6. Services Growth at 5-Month High: PMI
The services sector expanded for a second consecutive month in March, indicating that the predominant sector of the economy has recovered from the demonetisation setback, a private survey released on Thursday has shown.
The widely tracked Nikkei Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for services rose to a five-month high of 51.5 points in March, compared to 50.3 in the previous month. A reading above 50 signifies expansion, while one below that shows contraction.
“India’s private sector economy stayed on an upward trajectory during March, benefiting from an upswing in demand and output,” Pollyanna De Lima, economist at IHS Markit and the author of the report, said.
(Source: Business Standard)
7. State-Run Oil Companies Plan to Review Fuel Rates Daily
Prices at petrol pumps may change every day, similar to what happens in many advanced markets, as state oil companies plan to review rates daily to align them with international prices, replacing the current practice of fortnightly revision.
Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, which control nearly 95% of the country's fuel retail market, are considering ways to roll out the plan to review petrol and diesel prices daily, top executives at top executives at state oil firms told ET.
Executives of state oil firms met Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the ministry officials on Wednesday to discuss the idea of daily fuel pricing.
(Source: The Economic Times)
8. 7th Pay Commission Report Recommendations a Prominent Risk to Inflation: RBI
Although risks are evenly balanced around the inflation trajectory at the current juncture, there are upside risks to the baseline projection. The main one stems from the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the south west monsoon in view of the rising probability of an El Nino event around July-August, and its implications for food inflation, said RBI in its First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement.
According to it, a prominent risk could emanate from managing the implementation of the allowances recommended by the 7th CPC (Central Pay Commission). In case the increase in house rent allowance as recommended by the 7th CPC is awarded, it will push up the baseline trajectory by an estimated 100-150 basis points over a period of 12-18 months, with this initial statistical impact on the CPI followed up by second-order effects.
(Source: Financial Express)
9. After Advancing Budget, Government Adds Procedural Speed to Its Rs 21.47-Lakh-Crore Spending Plan
The government has shot out of the starting blocks, ensuring that its ambitious Rs 21.47 lakh crore spending plan kicked in at the start of financial year, following the biggest budget process reform in decades. By advancing the budget announcement date to the start of February from the end of the month, the government wanted to eliminate the typical several-month-long expenditure lag to give the economy a boost and ensure vastly improved outcomes.
This is being backed up with procedural speed in other areas. North Block has for the first time put in place an advance calendar for Public Investment Board and Expenditure Finance Committee meetings to ensure timely and smooth sanctions of proposals, finance secretary Ashok Lavasa told ET.
(Source: The Economic Times)
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