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Business Standard January 21, 2020 As reliance on imported edible oil is growing, India needs to relook at ways to address it to improve domestic availability. Two thirds of the domestic demand is met by imported oil and this is considered very high. Experts have suggested creating an oilseed development fund while looking at the possibility of permitting GM oilseeds to raise domestic availability. So far, government policies have focused on restricting imports and some tariff measures. “The government is seriously concerned about stagnant oilseeds production and the rising import of edible oils to the tune of 15 million tonnes per annum, costing the exchequer over Rs 75,000 crore. To increase production of oilseeds from the current 30 million tonnes to over 47 million tonnes by 2024-25, the government plans to launch the national mission on edible oil programme in the next three months,” said Atul Chaturvedi, president of the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of Ind

Telegraph India January 23, 2020 GAIL (India) Ltd, the country’s largest gas utility, plans to invest over Rs 45,000 crore over the next five years to expand the national gas pipeline grid and city gas distribution network, chairman Ashutosh Karnatak said. The gas pipelines will take the fuel to the eastern and northeastern regions as well as to consumers in the south as part of the government’s efforts to raise the share of natural gas in India’s energy basket to 15 per cent by 2030 from 6.2 per cent, he said. GAIL’s push for the creation of infrastructure is in line with the Centre’s plan to create a gas-based economy that is less reliant on polluting fuels to meeting its energy needs. “Before we move to zero-emission technologies (for both automobiles and factories), say by 2040/2050, natural gas is best suited to lower emissions from the current levels,” he said. “Natural gas is a ‘happy fuel’ as it has a fraction of emissions compared with alternative liqui

Indian Express January 23, 2020 After taxpayers complained of technical glitches in filing the monthly summary GST returns (GSTR3B), the government on Wednesday said that it would allow staggered filing on the basis of turnover and location to ease the load on the system which is witnessed closer to the filing deadline on 20th of every month. For about 8 lakh taxpayers with turnover over Rs 5 crore, the last date of filing would remain the same. For those below the turnover threshold, they have been further divided into two groups of 46 and 49 lakh taxpayers belonging to two sets of states and union territories whose deadline will now be 22nd and 24th of every month respectively. However, experts said that while excess load is a problem on the last day of filing, when the system shows that its busy preventing return-filing, this is only a part of the problem. There are other structural problems as pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report t

Indian Express January 23, 2020 Domestic stock markets will remain open for trading on February 1, a Saturday, when the Union Budget will be presented. Markets are generally closed on Saturdays and Sundays, except for special circumstances. In separate circulars issued on Wednesday, BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) said the markets would be open for trading on February 1 on account of Union Budget presentation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is to present the Budget for 2020-21. The decision has been taken following requests made in this regard by market participants as Budget contains several market-moving announcements, according to sources quoted by PTI as saying. Trading would be conducted during normal hours from 9 am to 3.30 pm, as per the circulars. In 2015, stock exchanges were open for trading on February 28, Saturday, when then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had presented the Budget. Stock markets have always been open on normal timing

Indian Express Ashish Aryan January 23, 2020 State-run Oil India has said that Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) demand seeking Rs 40,108 crore as adjusted gross revenue (AGR) and other telecom dues “would lead to permanent shutting down” of the company. Apart from Oil India, state-run Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also moved the Supreme Court with a similar but separate plea, and said that the DoT demand of Rs 5,481 crore would lead to “evaporation of the financial structure” of the company, which would in turn “lead to the DMRC operation coming to stand still to the great detriment of the commuting public”. In its petition seeking modification of the SC’s October 24, 2019 judgment on AGR, Oil India has said that the DoT’s “huge arbitrary demand was based on wrongful interpretation and erroneous calculation”. ”The demand of DoT significantly erodes the net worth and market valuation of the applicant (Oil India) and would have an adverse impact on the

Indian Express Shubhajit Roy January 23, 2020 An action plan to boost strategic partnership, a pact on combating international terrorism and transnational organised crimes, a bilateral investment cooperation and facilitation agreement, and a mutual legal assistance in criminal matters are among the 15-odd pacts on the table as Brazil’s President Jair Messias Bolsonaro arrives on Friday for a three-day state visit. Sources said the two countries are working overtime to sign pacts on social security, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, health and medicine, cyber security, geology and mineral cooperation, bio-energy, oil and natural gas, cultural exchanges from 2020-24, science and technology cooperation 2020-23, among other topics. Bolsonaro will travel first to Agra and then meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on January 25. He will attend the Republic Day celebrations on January 26 as the chief guest and then attend the President’s ‘At Home’

Indian Express January 23, 2020 India slipped 10 places to 51st position in the latest Democracy Index global rankings published by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Its score, down from from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in 2019, is its lowest ever since the Democracy Index was begun in 2006, the report shows. The report ranks 165 independent states and two territories, covering almost the entire population of the world. “The primary cause of the democratic regression was an erosion of civil liberties in the country,” the report said. It mentioned the stripping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status with the repeal of Articles 370 and 35A, the various security measures that followed the bifurcation of the state including restriction of Internet access, and the exclusion of 1.9 million people from the final NRC (National Register of Citizens) in Assam. “Civil liberties” is one of five categories on which the Democracy Index is based. The other four are electoral process and plural

Indian Express Ajay S Sriram January 23, 2020 The budget season is upon us, with a flurry of submissions being made to the finance minister from all quarters. The budget itself could result in a fine-tuning of tax rates and allocation adjustments against various expenditure heads/ministries. There are implications from these for all sectors. And no less for one sector — agriculture — that supports the livelihoods of 495.13 million citizens and 100.70 million households directly dependent on farming, as per the NABARD’s All-India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey of 2016-17. Agriculture in India is extraordinarily heterogeneous on account of climatic conditions, landholding sizes, soil types, access to water, nature and variety of crops grown, etc. On top of these, we have the farmer, who faces the twin challenges of climate change and crop price fluctuations. Against this context, here are some suggestions perhaps worth considering in the upcoming budget and beyond:

Indian Express Maitreesh Ghatak January 23, 2020 That India is in the midst of a serious economic slowdown is no longer in question. The debates are now mostly about what to do about it: Whether to opt for a fiscal expansion to boost demand or to carry out deep reforms to raise productivity and the growth potential of the economy. As per the recent release by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the growth rate of the GDP in real terms is now 5 per cent, the lowest in more than a decade, and that ofthe nominal GDP is 7.5 per cent — the lowest in four decades. Technically, this is being called a slowdown and not a recession, since in absolute terms GDP has not fallen. Yet, the leaked National Sample Survey (NSS) consumer expenditure data — a report that was withheld and now has been officially withdrawn — shows that real monthly per capita expenditure has in fact fallen in absolute terms between 2011-12 and 2017-18. In rural areas, consumption expenditure decreased by 8.

Economic Times Kirtika Suneja January 23, 2020 India will come out with a National Statistical Business Register that will have data on all business enterprises in the country collated based on the results of the ongoing seventh economic census, officials familiar with the development said. The register will have a district-wise list of all business enterprises and establishments engaged in production or distribution of goods or services, and it will be updated regularly using data from Goods and Services Tax Network. ROBUST SERVICES DATA The government also expects the data to help it with the proposed Annual Survey of Services for a more elaborate coverage of the services sector. As per India’s first chief statistician Pronab Sen, the proposed services survey will draw from two sources—data from GSTN and a business register. All businesses with an annual turnover of over Rs 40 lakh have to register under GSTN. For North East and Jammu and Kashmir, the threshol

Business Line T V Jayan Janauary 20, 2020 West Bengal has overtaken Uttar Pradesh and emerged as the top State in vegetable production in 2018-19, the data presented at a recent horticultural meeting showed. According to the State-wise horticulture production data released at a conference organised by the Agriculture Ministry last week, West Bengal produced 29.55 million tonnes (mt) of vegetables last year against 27.70 mt in the year before. Vegetable production in UP, which held the numero uno position earlier, came down to 27.71 mt in 2018-19 from 28.32 mt the previous year. Fruits production Andhra Pradesh continued to hold on to the pole position in fruits with 17.61 mt, followed by Maharashtra (10.82 mt) and UP (10.65 mt). While Andhra Pradesh marginally improved its position, Maharashtra overtook Assam, which occupied the second position in 2017-18. UP, too, moved several notches up from 2017-18 levels to reach the third rank. West Bengal accounted for 15.9

Business Line Shobha Roy January 21, 2020 Potato production in West Bengal is expected to be up by around 10 per cent at close to 105 lakh tonne in 2020, compared with 90-92 lakh tonne in 2019. According to Tarun Kanti Ghosh, President of West Bengal Cold Storage Association (WBCSA), in spite of delayed sowing of seeds and untimely rain, coupled with 2-3 per cent drop in area under cultivation, production is expected to be good becuse of favourable climatic conditions. He was addressing the 55th annual general meeting of WBCSA here on Tuesday. However, a clearer picture on the exact quantum of production will only be available by early February when a majority of the harvesting is done. It is to be noted that in 2019, the State had witnessed a 3-4 per cent rise in sowing acreage and the productivity was also up by nearly 15-20 per cent due to favourable climatic conditions (at the time of sowing). This was expected to translate into a 15 per cent rise in productio

Business Line Madan Sabnavis Janauary 22, 2020 The government has over the last few months introduced various measures to address the slowdown in the economy by addressing specific issues in the auto, real estate, banking and SME sectors. However, these are supply side measures which will work over a period of time and not immediately as there is, at present, a demand side problem in the economy. Most industries are operating with surplus capacity which can average around 30 per cent. The IIP growth in consumer and capital goods has been negative which means that there is less consumption taking place which has impacted investment. The expected festival demand did not materialise despite a good monsoon. Therefore, one would be looking at a direct stimulus from the Budget this time. Lower corporate tax The government has already lowered the corporate tax rate in September, and several companies have made use of this new regime. However, the gains in profit have b

Business Line Himani Sheth January 22, 2020 FPIs, FIIs can now hold 74% of telco’s paid-up capital The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has approved a 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) limit for Bharti Airtel, the company announced after market hours on Tuesday. Earlier, the limit was 49 per cent. “Bharti Airtel has received approval from the Department of Telecommunications vide its letter dated January 20, 2020, for increasing the limit of foreign investment up to 100 per cent of the paid-up capital,” the telecom company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. “Subject to applicable laws, the aforesaid approval, read together with the RBI approval dated July 3, 2014 granted to the company, allows FPls (Foreign Portfolio Investors)/Flls (Foreign Institutional Investors) to invest in up to 74 per cent of the paid-up capital,” Bharti Airtel said in the statement, as quoted by an Economic Times report. Promoter holding The decision comes in th

Business Line  January 22, 2020 Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) is set to buy an under-construction greenfield commercial port in Kakinada and the adjoining SEZ located at Kona village in Thondangi mandal of East Godavari district, promoted by the Hyderabad-based GMR Group. APSEZ, according to multiple sources, will take over the port and the SEZ fully from the GMR Group. BusinessLine could not independently ascertain the value of the deal, though the port development alone, including break water construction, channel and berths, is estimated to cost upwards of ₹2,500 crore. This could be APSEZ’s second big acquisition in the ports sector in Andhra Pradesh on the country’s eastern coast after the January 3 announcement of a deal to buy a 75 per cent stake in Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd, the entity that runs a private deep-water port at Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, for an enterprise value of ₹13,500 crore. The equity portio

The Financial Express January 22, 2020 The Indian stock market is set to see billions of dollars of inflows after a policy tweak comes into effect on April 1, analysts predict. The nation will increase the foreign portfolio investment limit in a company from the current 24% to a higher threshold set for its sector. The move could eventually trigger net inflows of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion to Indian equities from passive funds, according to estimates from Target Investing and Morgan Stanley. The change will likely increase India’s weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by about 70 basis points, according to the two brokers, compared with 8.6% as of last month. The inflows will add to the demand that has driven Indian stocks to record highs just as the pace of economic growth has slumped to its lowest in a decade. Global index compilers such as MSCI Inc. take into account the percentage of shares available to investors when determining a stock’s representa

The financial Express January 22, 2020 India faces enormous problems in delivering promises of improving the material well-being of its people. Comparisons with China’s economic performance over the last few decades make clear the opportunities that India has missed. With the economy currently struggling, there has been increased attention to economic strategy, at least among academics and those in government think-tanks like NITI Aayog. These analysts are mostly accurate in identifying what needs to be done, and sometimes, are also able to drill down to key barriers that need to be overcome. But, those who shape and implement policies, namely politicians and bureaucrats, have not been able to move things forward at an acceptable pace. It may be that self-interest prevents these key decision-makers from doing things that will enhance the welfare of India’s masses. In that case, the root cause is the institutions of governance, and reforms have to first focus there for progres

The Hindu January 22, 2020 Lebanon formed a new government on January 21 under Prime Minister Hassan Diab after the Shi'ite group Hezbollah and its allies agreed on a cabinet that must urgently address an economic crisis. The heavily indebted state has been without effective government since Saad al-Hariri quit as premier in October, prompted by protests against politicians who have collectively led Lebanon into the worst crisis since the 1975-90 war. New Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Lebanon needed foreign aid to save it from an unprecedented situation that had forced people to “beg for dollars” at the banks and fear for their deposits. He also described forthcoming foreign currency sovereign debt maturities as “a fireball”. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah and allies including President Michel Aoun nominated Diab as premier last month after efforts failed to strike a deal with Hariri, Lebanon's main Sunni leader and a traditional ally of the West and Gulf