1. Coffee Day Group Puts Sical Logistics on Sale
Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL), the company founded by late coffee tycoon V.G. Siddhartha, has put its Sical Logistics unit on the block as it seeks to pare debt, three people directly aware of the matter said.
CDEL has hired ICICI Securities as adviser for the potential transaction, which could see the group holding company raise Rs 1,000-1,500 crore, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
“CDEL is planning to sell the entire promoter stake and assets of Sical Logistics," said one of the three people cited above. ICICI Securities was appointed last week to find a buyer for Sical Logistics, the person added.
(Source: Livemint)
2. GST Cut for Auto Industry to Cost Rs 30,000 Crore to Govt
Amid heightened expectations that the Good and Services Tax (GST) Council will cut the tax rates for a host of categories of automobiles as it meets in Goa on 20 September, what concerns revenue authorities at the central and state level is the potential revenue loss.
If the industry demand is for an across-the-board rate cut from the highest GST slab of 28 percent to 18 percent is to be met, the government’s GST revenue could take a hit of at least Rs 30,000 crore, according to the internal estimates of the tax department. This takes into account gains from the push to sales volumes once taxes are cut.
(Source: Financial Express)
3. Patanjali to Infuse ₹3,438 cr in Ruchi Soya to Settle Dues
Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved, which got the NCLT approval last week to acquire Ruchi Soya in an insolvency process, will infuse over Rs 3,438 crore as equity and debt to settle dues of creditors of the debt-laden firm.
Ruchi Soya informed the exchanges that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai in its order dated September 6 approved Patanjali's Rs 4,350 crore resolution plan with certain modifications that were accepted by the bidder.
(Source: PTI)
4. Govt Gets Tax Bonanza From Online Ads on Google, Facebook
Tax receipts arising from a levy on payments made to digital advertising platforms such as Google and Facebook from Indian entities jumped 59 percent in the year ended March, said a tax official privy to the development.
The tax department collected Rs 939 crore in the year to 31 March, up from Rs 590 crore a year earlier, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The surge in tax collections suggests that Indian entities paid digital platforms such as Facebook and Google at least Rs 15,650 crore to place advertisements. That compares with the Rs 9,800 crore they spent in the previous year.
(Source: Livemint)
5. Farmers May Get Rs 6,000 per Acre to Shun Sugarcane Farming
Given the ever-rising fiscal burden and depletion of water tables owing to farmers in areas with low irrigation coverage choosing to cultivate water-guzzling crops, a government panel is considering recommending special incentives to dissuade farmers from growing sugarcane in water-scarce areas.
According to an official source, the task force headed by NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand – which has been tasked with finding long-term solutions such as crop diversification to reduce adverse impact of inefficient sugarcane cultivation on ground water and aligning India’s sugar industry with global markets — may propose an incentive of Rs 6,000/acre for farmers in a year to not grow cane in states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
(Source: Financial Express)
6. Indian Consumers Remain Confident Despite Economic Slowdown: Nielsen
Notwithstanding the slowdown, Indian consumers seem confident about the future, the data from market research agency Nielsen shows.
India topped the global consumer confidence index in April-June at 138, the highest in six quarters, coming at a time when domestic economic growth has fallen sharply.
The Nielsen findings are in contrast to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) consumer confidence index and gross domestic product growth numbers released by the government last week, which showed that India’s economy had slowed to 5 percent.
(Source: Business Standard)
7. Does the Rupee's Decline Open the Door for Imported Inflation?
The Indian rupee breached the 72-a-dollar mark last week, hit by the double whammy of weak local and global economic indicators, though it has since recovered a bit. The weakening of the domestic currency in the past two months has renewed concerns of a return of imported inflation.
When the general price level rises in a country due to the rise in prices of imported commodities, inflation is termed imported. Inflation may also rise due to depreciation of the domestic currency, which pushes up the landed rupee cost of imported items.
(Source: Livemint)
8. 5G Auction: Telecom Panel to Meet on 19 September to Finalise Spectrum Price
The Digital Communications Commission (DCC) is scheduled to meet on 19 September to finalise the pricing and other modalities for the upcoming spectrum auction. As per sources, an internal committee of the DoT has already approved the revised recommendations regarding the auction submitted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
The regulator has largely stuck to its recommendation on the reserve price of spectrum, including for the 5G band. In June, amid an industry disquiet over pricing of spectrum, the DCC had decided to ask Trai to reconsider its spectrum recommendations to ensure competition and greater participation of larger set of players in auctions slated for 2019.
(Source: Financial Express)
9. Auto Industry May Have to Wait Longer for GST Cut on Cars From 28% to 18%
The auto industry may be desperate for a cut in the goods and services tax (GST) on cars from 28 to 18 percent, but the bleak revenue position has prompted the GST fitment committee to hold back from approving such a reduction.
“With the revenue situation quite grim, one cannot recommend a rate cut on autos at this stage, which is one of the highest revenue contributors.
In fact, the panel has not made any recommendation but only placed on record the revenue loss it will entail,” said a state government official and committee member.
(Source: Business Standard)
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