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The Indian Express  February 11, 2020 Sixteen months after the new board took charge of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) Group and having spent nearly Rs 100 crore in fees, the new board under the chairmanship of Uday Kotak has not been able to get the resolution plan approved. This has led to delay in the overall resolution of IL&FS debt. Since the new board took over in September 2018, IL&FS has only been able to complete the sale of its wind energy assets, thereby leading to a debt resolution of Rs 4,300 crore out of the total debt outstanding of around Rs 94,000 crore. Two board members and an official with an advisory firm told The Indian Express that since the resolution process is not moving forward there is a level of discontent creeping among those involved in the process. “Already roughly Rs 100 crore has been paid in legal fee and payments to the resolution professional and enough time has been spent. However, things...

Business Line  February 10, 2020 India, the world’s largest consumer and importer of pulses, is on track to become self-sufficient in production of the protein-rich commodity and will further boost the output to meet global demand, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Monday. He said the government has taken many measures, including hike in the minimum support price and procurement of pulses, to support farmers. Pulses output The country had produced 23.40 million tonnes of pulses during 2018-19 crop year (July-June), still short of annual domestic demand of 26-27 million tonnes. The gap is met through imports. However, for the current year, the government is targeting pulses output of 26.30 million tonnes. Speaking at an event on the occasion of World Pulses Day, Tomar said, “Pulses are becoming necessary not only in India but also in other countries. We faced huge shortage of pulses earlier, but now the situation has improved.” Research an...

The Wire  February 09, 2020 The government is planning to sell a 5% stake in Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) through an offer for sale, which could fetch about Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer, an official said. Officials from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and steel ministry are planning roadshows in Singapore and Hong Kong for SAIL stake sale. However, the Hong Kong roadshow might be called off due to the coronavirus outbreak. The government holds a 75% stake in SAIL. It had last sold a 5% stake in the steel CPSE in December 2014. “We are looking at a 5% stake sale via offer for sale (OFS), but we will assess investor demand in the roadshows,” an official said. At the current market price, the government may raise about Rs 1,000 crore by selling a 5% stake in the company. Shares of SAIL closed at Rs 48.65 apiece on Friday, down 0.51% over the previous close on the BSE. The government may look at completing the trans...

Financial Express  February 10, 2020 Facing criticism for not removing the long term capital gains (LTCG) tax, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the ministry would wait for one more year to take a call on it. The ongoing share market volatility has not allowed the ministry to make a reasonable estimate on the same, news agency PTI reported Nirmala Sitharaman as saying. “The reason why we didn’t go that far on LTCG is because let us have an assessment at least one-year of a normal response to a tax. Let us hope this year, after which we would take up a considered view,” Nirmala Sitharaman also said at an event last Thursday. The LTCG tax was introduced in budget 2018 by the government. Sharing his views at the same event, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that the government’s view is that every type of income needs to be taxed, and not imposing a tax on a particular stream such as LTCG may lead to arbitrage opportunities. The share market plunged 10...

Live Mint Feb 11, 2020 India has received foreign direct investment (FDI) of USD 463.44 million in the food processing sector in the first half of the current fiscal, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday. The country had received USD 628.24 million FDI in the food processing sector during the full fiscal year 2018-19 and USD 904.90 million during 2017-18, it added. The government has permitted 100 per cent FDI through automatic route in manufacturing of food products subject to sectoral rules and regulations. Also, 100 per cent FDI is allowed through government route in retail trade in respect of food products produced/manufactured in India. Placing the data before the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Rameswar Teli said the country has received USD 463.44 million FDI in the food processing sector during April-September period of 2019-20. "...in April-June 2019 quarter, the FDI equity inflow was USD 329.04 million which is...

Hindustan Times February 09, 2020 E -commerce in India has seen phenomenal growth over the years — from $39 billion in 2017, it is projected to rise to $200 billion by 2026. This comes in the wake of deepening penetration of the Internet and mobile phones. There has been a steady expansion of online offerings — electronics, apparel, travel, movies, medicine, hotel reservations, books, matrimonial services, cosmetics, footwear, fashion accessories and groceries. The liberal Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy, where 100% business-to-business transactions are allowed, is also fuelling the growth of this market. This growth, however, comes with challenges. Counterfeiting and pirated goods continue to distort the virtual marketplace. E-commerce sites are regularly being used as common platforms for the sale of counterfeit goods. Whether it is online or offline, the dangers are legitimate market loss and the occupation of economic space by unauthorised and grey market operato...

Financial Express Feb 10, 2020 On 8th July 2019, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) issued guidelines for both unit-linked and non-linked insurance products with the proposition to make them more customer-centric. The issued notification broadly talks about the rules for pension products, traditional plans and Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIP) by easing the surrender and annuity process. The reason for the issuance was to improve the current product regulations in order to be in line with dynamic needs of the present and to ensure that insurers follow prudent practices to protect the interests of policyholders. In order to implement it right on time, IRDAI has made it mandatory for all insurance companies to get these guidelines with effect from February 2020 superseding the earlier circulars on the subject. The move is a strong effort to increase transparency and curbing mis-selling of life insurance policies while also ensuring that polic...

Press Trust of India Feb 10,2020 Public procurement worth Rs 40,000 crore has taken place through the government's online marketplace GeM, Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan said on Monday. Stressing that the focus of public procurement system is on economy, rigour, fairness and transparency, he said the efficiency of procurement makes a big difference to the fiscal discipline of government. Towards this, the government has recently revised the general financial rules (GFR) and procurement manuals, and made advances in the use of technology in procurement. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM), an online platform for public procurement, was launched by the Commerce Ministry in August 2016 with the objective of creating an open and transparent procurement platform for government departments. Currently, 3.24 lakh vendors are registered on this platform.  Govt clocks Rs 40,000 cr in public procurement transactions through online marketplace GeM; eyes to increase...

Reuters February 10, 2020 Indian retail inflation likely rose to a near six-year peak in January as food prices stayed high, according to a small majority of economists in a Reuters poll, which may persuade the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to keep interest rates on hold in the coming months. The 5-7 February poll consensus of more than 40 economists showed India’s annual consumer price inflation is expected to have risen to 7.40 percent in January, a touch above December’s 7.35 percent and the highest since May 2014. While nearly half of the economists polled predicted price pressures eased in January, none expected it to have fallen within the RBI’s medium-term target range of 2 percent - 6 percent, suggesting a significant decline in inflation over the coming months was unlikely.  Retail inflation likely hit near six-year high at 7.40% in January, says poll; official data to be out on 12 FebruaryRepresentational image. Reuters. The RBI kept its repo rat...

Financial Express February 10, 2020 During 2016-17, the fair trade regulator levied a total fine of Rs 208.39 crore on 18 companies in 4 cases, while a fine totalling Rs 295.35 crore was imposed on 31 companies in 9 cases in 2017-18, the Minister of of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. The Competition Commission imposed a total penalty of over Rs 840 crore on 126 companies in the last three financial years for indulging in anti-competitive practices, Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said on Monday. During 2016-17, the fair trade regulator levied a total fine of Rs 208.39 crore on 18 companies in 4 cases, while a fine totalling Rs 295.35 crore was imposed on 31 companies in 9 cases in 2017-18, the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in 2018-19 imposed a total penalty of Rs 337.1 crore on 77 companies in 17 cases, he add...