The rupee is at 61.59/60 versus its close of 61.55/56 on Monday (13 Janaury) as the the dollar gains versus most other Asian peers.The rupee is seen in a range of 61.50 to 62.00 till the WPI data due to be released around noon (0630 GMT).India's retail inflation in December eased to a three-month low as vegetable prices fell, giving some relief to policymakers struggling to contain price pressures as growth hovers at a decade low.The BSE Sensex is up 0.6 per cent and will be watched for cues on foreign fund flows.(Reuters)
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Shares in State-run Coal India Ltd rose 2.3 per cent in trade after the company on 14 January said it will pay an interim dividend of Rs 29 a share, or Rs 183.2 billion, in the current fiscal year.The government's 90 per cent shareholding in the company will fetch it about $2.7 billion.Reuters)
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Global private equity major KKR has ranked India second among the emerging markets on external risks, citing the high fiscal and current account deficits."Our emerging market framework takes the view of avoiding twin-deficits countries at this point," the global fund said in its 2014 macro/asset allocation outlook.The country ended FY13 with an all-time high current account deficit of 4.8 per cent of GDP, which is slated to have improved significantly to 3.05 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal and may even be lower for full fiscal.On the fiscal deficit front, India may struggle to achieve the targeted 4.8 per cent level as the government has already exhausted 94 per cent of target by November, analysts said.South Africa tops the list of emerging market countries on the basis of external risk rank, ahead of India, according to KKR.Indian policymakers have recently initiated aggressive steps to attract fund flows into the country.Even though India saw some improvement in the last quarter of 2013, the country spent a better part of the year worrying about the high CAD and its impact on the rupee, which hit a lifetime low of 68.85 against the dollar late August last.The US Fed's taper talk late May 2013 only compounded the worries as FIIs pulled out massively."We think countries with sizable or growing twin-deficits will continue to see their currencies and CDS (credit default swaps) under pressure in 2014 as Fed tapering gains momentum," KKR said.The Fed began to cut back on its $85 billion monthly bond purchase by $10 billion this month.KKR India is headed by Sanjay Nayar and has over $1 billion invested in the country which includes stakes in Bharti Infratel, Coffee Day Resorts, Dalmia Cements and Magma Fincorp.In the note, the private equity fund with a reputation for buyouts, also commented on the rising prevalence of asset quality stress within the banking sector."India must now deal more forcefully with deteriorating loan quality that has previously been listed as merely 'restructured'," KKR said.According to the Reserve Bank data, stressed assets, including those classified as NPAs and restructured ones, touched 10.2 per cent as on September 2013 up from 9.2 per cent in March 2013.A slew of reasons, including the slowing growth, delays in getting necessary clearances for the large value infra projects and high interest rates are blamed for the problem."Lack of infrastructure investments, particularly in Brazil and India, is now starting to reveal notable economic bottlenecks," the KKR report released today said.(PTI)
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Reliance Industries is considering taking an 11 per cent stake in one of Venezuela's biggest petroleum projects, the energy major said on Tuesday, strengthening ties between the Latin American nation and its top Indian customer.Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, operates the world's biggest refining complex in Gujarat and derives nearly 80 per cent of its revenue from refining. It is hunting for cheaper, heavier crude oil to feed its refineries.Venezuela has been Reliance's top crude oil supplier, and in 2012 the company signed a 15-year deal to buy up to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of heavy oil from its state-run oil company, PDVSA."We are looking to participate in the heavy oil upgrades project and a farm-in in the Carabobo-1 block, taking over the participating interest of Petronas," Swagat Bam, senior vice-president at Reliance said at the Petrotech conference.Reliance is also examining entry into the Ayacucho-8 block in a joint venture with PDVSA, Bam said.Malaysia's Petronas said in September it is exiting the Petrocarabobo project in Venezuela's Orinoco belt, after what sources said were disagreements with Venezuelan authorities and PDVSA.The project plans to invest around $20 billion over 25 years and involves building a 200,000 barrel per day upgrader to convert heavy crude into light crude oil.Venezuela's PDVSA holds 60 per cent of the project. Other partners are Spain's Repsol, India's ONGC, Oil India and Indian Oil Corp.After recent regulatory changes in Mexico, Reliance is looking at exploration opportunities there, but has so far not committed any investments in that country, Bam said. Reliance currently buys 60,000 bpd of oil from Mexico.In December, Mexico's Congress voted to open up its oil and gas sector to private investment in the biggest overhaul of the industry since it was nationalized, as the country seeks to revive flagging output."Our working relationship with petroleum regulators and NOCs (national oil companies) in LatAm countries has always been exemplary and this has given us great sense of confidence," Bam said.Reliance, India's largest private sector company by revenue, has seen a sharp fall in output at its KG D6 gas block off the east coast, since 2010, raising investor concerns over its exploration business.Its overseas exploration business mainly comprises stakes in three shale gas joint ventures in the United States that it acquired in 2010.(Reuters)
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Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the government is likely to approve this month a proposal that will entitle formal sector workers a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000, immediately benefiting 27 lakh pensioners.Those who get less than Rs 1,000 a month include 22 lakh member pensioners and 5 lakh widowsas on March 31, 2013.There are about 44 lakh pensioners."The Labour Ministry's revised proposal for minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month was submitted to the Finance Ministry last week, and is likely to be approved this month," said an official source.The ministry's proposal to assure minimum pension of Rs 1,000 under the Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95), run by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), is pending for a long time.Earlier, the ministry had proposed that the government should increase its subsidy on the scheme from 1.16 per cent of the basic wages to 1.79 per cent to assure the minimum pension amount of Rs 1,000 per month.However, it did not find favour with the Finance Ministry as this would have resulted in permanent increase in subsidy provided by government.The Labour Ministry in its revised proposal has asked the Finance Ministry to provide for around Rs 1,300 crore additional amount every year for the purpose, and indicated that this amount can reduce over a period of time with more members subscribing to the EPS-95.Besides, the government is in the process of raising the basic wages ceiling under the Employees Provident Fund Scheme to Rs 15,000 from existing Rs 6,500.All those employees getting basic wages - including basic pay and dearness allowance - of more than Rs 6,500 per month, are not covered under the social security schemes run by EPFO.(PTI)
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Intelligent Energy, a British hydrogen fuel cell developer and manufacturer, said it had signed an $82 million contract, its biggest so far, to provide its technology for mobile phone masts in India.Chief Executive Henri Winand said the technology, originally developed with Suzuki Motor Corp to power motor scooters, was cheaper and more reliable than diesel generators, which have provided back-up power for the towers.The agreement with India's Ascend Telecom Infrastructure covers 4,000 towers serving some 10 million mobile phone users, said Intelligent Energy, a privately owned company named by Deloitte as one of the fastest growing UK technology companies in 2013."We have been generating power quietly for two years (in India), but now we are taking contracts where we are competitive and more cost-effective than the distributed diesel generation baseline," he said in an telephone interview."It's the first contract we have taken of this nature and this size and scope."The hydrogen fuel cell systems provide back-up power when electricity from the grid fails, which can happen for up to 12 hours of each 24, Winand said.The contract lasts more than five years and has the potential to grow to about $200 million as Ascend's mast coverage grows, he said. (Reuters)
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While India Inc expressed strong displeasure over the Delhi government's decision to withdraw approval to FDI in multi-brand retail on Monday, 13 January), the benchmark Sensex on 14 January fell by nearly 24 points in early trade as funds and retail investors booked profits after two sessions of gains.Corporate India said the AAP move was unfortunate and was likely to hinder foreign investments flowing into the country."It is unfortunate that the Delhi government has chosen not to allow FDI in multi-brand retail in Delhi. This will discourage International retailers planning to enter India," Chairman of CII National Retail Committee J Suresh told PTI.In a significant decision, Aam Aadmi Party government had withdrawn the approval given by the previous Sheila Dikshit dispensation to foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail in Delhi.Delhi, till recently under Congress rule, is the first government to have withdrawn a nod to retail FDI after backing it initially. Rajasthan, now gone to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Congress, could follow AAP in asking the department of industrial policy and Promotion (DIPP) to remove it from the list of states which supported FDI in multi-brand. If the states exit from the list, only 10 states/Union Territories would back foreign investment in retail.But there's some hope in the case of Delhi. While AAP has delivered on its poll promise by taking the anti-retail FDI stand, a senior government official indicated that Delhi does not have statehood and its "autonomy is restricted", unlike states which have opposed FDI in multi-brand retail. Inter-ministerial consultations were possible to discuss whether the Centre would have a final view on the issue, said a source. "In that sense, Delhi is a test case."Industry Bodies LividTerming the Delhi government's decision as anti-investment and one that sends a wrong signal to foreign investors, industry body Assocham said: "If one party reverses the decision of its rival dispensation upon change of guards, the policy and political risks for global investors would definitely increase in India, scaring them away".Last year, the central government permitted 51 per cent FDI in the multi-brand retail trading and left its implementation on the states."This direct negation without demonstrating a search for a viable alternative would hamper investment sentiment.Consumers would have benefited from choices of products at competitive prices. It has been proven time and again that both large multi-brand retail stores and small kirana stores coexist peacefully," Ficci President Sidharth Birla said.As many as 12 states, mostly Congress-led, including Delhi had agreed to allow global retailers to open super market chains. The other states include Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh."The Delhi government's decision is bound to impact the overall FDI scenario not just in Delhi but also associated states like Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab because Delhi is the hub for northern states," PHD Chamber of Commerce President Sharad Jaipuria said."According to our assessment, overall retail sector in the Delhi-NCR region has potential to attract FDI worth $50 billion in the next 5-6 years if supported with conducive policies. But due to this decision, it won't materialise," he added.Delhi has become the first state to withdraw permission for FDI in retail sector.The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the party manifesto had expressed its opposition to the policy of FDI in multi-brand retail.Kejriwal said his government had to take a decision between better choices for the consumers and unemployment.The Chief Minister felt the entire retail sector has not been given a "conducive and honest environment" and his administration would do everything possible to help the traders."Today, if you want to start the business or if you want to do business, you have to face many bottlenecks because of huge corruption. In the next few days, I am going to have meetings with the traders and industrialists to ask them about steps required to help them," he said.Kejriwal said trade and business have been generating wealth and creating employment opportunities and his government's priorities would be to help the entrepreneurs and trading community."We are committed to creating an honest environment to do business. Ever since the launch of anti-corruption helpline, I have been getting the feedback that officials are on back foot and afraid of asking for bribe," said Kejriwal.(Agencies)
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The rupee was trading at 61.55/56 after hitting 61.52 at open, its highest since 12 December and below its close of 61.89/90 on 10 January.India's economic woes worsened on 10 January with a surprise contraction in industrial production and a wider trade deficit, adding to troubles of the ruling alliance as it heads into a tough national election seeking a third term.The US dollar nursed broad losses early on 13 January after surprisingly soft employment data raised doubts about how quickly the Federal Reserve can scale back stimulus.The consumer price inflation data due to be released at 5:30 p.m. will be crucial for further near-term direction.Gains in the domestic share market also aiding sentiment for the rupee.The Sensex is trading up 1.3 per cent as of 9.44 a.m.(Reuters)
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Shares of Indian oil and gas companies gained after the government officially notified a decision taken last year to change the pricing formula for domestic natural gas from April 1, removing the uncertainty on what effectively constitutes a price hike.Deutsche Bank says the hike will be positive for the sector, and says Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd and Oil India Ltd will be the biggest beneficiaries, followed by Reliance Industries Ltd.Shares of ONGC and Reliance Industries gained more than 2 per cent, while Oil India rose 3.3 per cent.(Reuters)
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Unearthing a major recruitment scam in the Indian Military Academy here, the CBI has booked three serving Lieutenant Colonels in connection with the case.Lieutenant Colonels Akhilesh Mishra, Jagdish Bishnoi and Ambarish Tiwari have been accused of issuing fake experience certificates to candidates in recruitments to group C and D cadres of?the prestigious institute in 2011-2012, CBI sources said here today.A regular case was filed by the apex investigating agency against the trio earlier this week, they said.The accused, charged with forgery, conspiracy and issuing fake certificates to candidates, are likely to be interrogated soon, they said, adding some arrests in connection with the case may also be made.The accused officers had allegedly issued forged documents to pave the way for recruitment of 34 candidates and helped in replacing the original answer sheets of 16 others to help them clear the written test, they said. (PTI)
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