Centre’s dividend receipts from CPSEs for FY22 exceed revised estimate

While a delay in the launch of the mega LIC IPO will lead to a huge shortfall in disinvestment receipts in FY22, the government has already exceeded its revised estimate (RE) of Rs46,000 crore for dividend receipts in the year. As of March 9, dividends receipts from central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) stood at about Rs 50,000 crore, according to official sources.

With the government prodding the CPSEs to pay more dividends, the dividend receipts could rise further by March-end. This could help the Centre offset the fall in non-tax revenues from the RE level, to an extent.

In the RE for FY22, the Centre had slashed such dividend receipts from the Budget estimate (BE) of Rs50,000 crore to Rs46,000 crore. A sharp rise in commodity prices will help the government garner more dividends from companies in the metals, mining and petroleum sectors, among others.

On Wednesday, the government received Rs 2,857-crore dividend from Power Grid, NALCO, BPCL and MSTC. On March 4, it had received about 2,253 crore from NTPC and SJVN. The government also gets a tidy sum from the Reserve Bank of India and public sector banks as surplus transfer/dividends. The revised estimate on this account for FY22 is 1.01 lakh crore, as against a BE of Rs 53,500 crore, thanks to higher-than-expected transfers from the RBI.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has been prodding the CPSEs to pay dividends quarterly to sustain investor interest in their stocks.

Earlier, DIPAM had advised the CPSEs to strive to pay higher dividends, taking into account relevant factors like profitability, capex requirements, cash/reserves and net worth, after observing that many CPSEs usually consider only paying a minimum dividend as per guidelines. According to DIPAM guidelines, CPSEs would pay a minimum annual dividend of 30% of profit after tax or 5% of net worth, whichever is higher.

The market volatility after the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war has forced the government to review the proposed LIC IPO, which may not hit the market as planned during this month, on concerns that foreign investors may stay away from the issue. Without the LIC IPO, the government’s disinvestment receipts could be just Rs15,000-20,000 crore in FY22. However, buoyancy in tax revenues will help the Centre contain its fiscal deficit within the targeted 6.9% of GDP in FY22.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2QdF9SH
via IFTTT

Supreme Court pulls up Maharashtra discom for defying relief order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the top brass of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDC), including its CMD Vijay Singhal and its director finance Ravindra Sawant, asking them to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them for willfully disobeying its order that gave relief to captive producers/consumers of electricity like JSW Group of companies.

JSW Steel Coated Products, a part of JSW Group, being a captive consumer/user, had moved the contempt petition against MSEDC alleging that despite the SC holding that additional surcharge was not payable by it, the superintending engineer (O&M) had issued a disconnection notice and also raised a demand for arrears of additional surcharge to the tune of over Rs 4.35 crore.

While seeking to restrain the contemnors from taking any coercive action for non-payment of additional surcharge for past periods, JSW company said that instead of adjusting the additional surcharge in the future bills, the contemnors had in willful default not only demanded additional surcharge but also imposed delayed payment charges for non-payment for November.

A bench led by Justice MR Shah sought response from the officials of the state discom and also asked “the responsible officer, who has raised the demand towards the additional surcharge for November 2021” to remain present before it on March 15, the next date of hearing.

The act of contemnors continously insisting on payment of additional surcharge is deliberate and in willful breach of the SC judgment, JSW senior counsel Gopal Jain and counsel Mahesh Agarwal argued.

If a consuming entity or entities consume at least 51% of the power generated and owns at least 26% of the equity, it is called captive user.

The Supreme Court on December 10 had held that captive consumers/captive users are not liable to pay additional surcharge of Rs 1.25 per unit under Section 42(4) of the Electricity Act, as directed by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), a distribution licensee.

While upholding the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity’s March 2019 decision, it had also asked MERC to refund the additional surcharge collected from the captive consumers like JSW. However, the top court stated that since “there shall be huge liability on the Commission if it has to now refund the amount of additional surcharge recovered at a stretch, we direct that the additional surcharge already recovered from the captive consumers/captive users shall be adjusted in the future wheeling charges bills”.

The commission in September 2018 had held that the additional surcharge leviable under Section 42(4) is not applicable to captive users to the extent of their self-consumption from such plants, but is applicable to all consumers who have availed open access to receive supply from sources other than the distribution licensee to which they are connected.

JSW Steel, JSW Energy, JSW Cement and other group companies had challenged MERC’s decision in the Aptel, saying that the commission had totally ignored the concept of non-discriminatory open access in terms of the Act as well as National Electricity Policy, which eliminates competition and provides supply of power directly to the consumers through open access.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/9VkAy6q
via IFTTT

IndusInd Bank to probe staff role in ‘tech glitch’ at micro credit arm

Disbursement of micro loans without obtaining the client consent at IndusInd Bank arm Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFIL) had happened due to a technical glitch, the bank said on Wednesday, citing the findings of an review by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. The bank’s board has now constituted a committee to assess staff accountability, if any, arising out of the findings of the report.

BFIL’s MD and CEO Shalabh Saxena and executive director and CFO Ashish Damani had tendered their resignations on November 25, 2021. The board decided to defer the decision to relieve the executives until the completion review which was going on at that point of time.

IndusInd said in November 2021 BFIL had disbursed nearly 84,000 loans in May 2021 without the customer consent getting recorded at the time of disbursement. The problem was highlighted by the field staff within two days and the technical glitch was rectified, according to the bank’s communication to the stock exchanges.

The potential implications of the review findings in terms of income recognition and provisioning requirement is Rs 13.5 crore. The portfolio, net of provisions, where consent recording was an issue amounted to Rs 8.87 crore as of December 31, 2021, or 0.03% of the microfinance portfolio, the bank said on Wednesday.

gThe technical glitch leading to disbursement of loans without recording of client consent was as a result of IT change management and process gap,” the bank said. As regards the product design, the probe report made no adverse findings in respect of compliance with the extant regulatory guidelines, IndusInd said.

The review by Deloitte focused on transactions for microfinance loans managed by BFIL between March 1, 2020 and October 31, 2021.

The bank’s microfinance products require full collection of arrears or repayment of overdue loan outstanding prior to fresh disbursement. The board took note of certain operational issues that were highlighted by the report with respect to product rollout. In one of the products, introduced to provide liquidity support to customers during the pandemic, sequencing of collections and disbursements could not be established as both happened on the same day. “This product was discontinued in September 2021 and the bank has on a prudent basis fully provided for the exposure from this product as of December 31, 2021,” IndusInd said.

The Deloitte report pointed out some areas for improvement in process and oversight of the banking correspondent activities of BFIL.

IndusInd Bank carried contingent provisions of Rs 3,328 crore outside of its provision coverage ratio, including Rs 368 crore towards its standard microfinance portfolio, as of December 31, 2021. It will make an additional provision of Rs 13.5 crore in Q4FY22 based on the findings of the review.

While the financial hit from the process failure is marginal, analysts will be closely watching IndusInd’s response to the governance aspect. Jefferies wrote in a note dated March 9, “While the financial impact is manageable, tightening of controls and smoother succession in MFI business (erstwhile CEO, CFO and some other team members had resigned to join competitor) will be key.”

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/QXVanot
via IFTTT

Tata Power’s Indonesian mining permit renewed for 10 years

Tata Power’s mining permit for the Indonesian coal mine PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) in which it holds a 30% stake has been renewed for 10 years by the Indonesian government. The renewal of the permit will help Tata Power secure and hedge coal for its thermal power plants in India.

These are strategic assets to Tata Power which also help in hedging imported coal price exposure for its generating assets. The renewal will also help to ensure a regular supply of coal for its thermal power plants, Tata Power said in a statement.

PT KPC is based out of Indonesia and is held 30% by Tata Power through its wholly-owned subsidiary Bhira Investments Pte.

Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power said, “This will ensure a robust coal supply chain for our imported coal-based thermal plants resulting in the generation of reliable power to meet India’s energy demands.”

This IUPK is granted for an initial period of 10 years up until December 31, 2031, and can be extended by the provisions of the applicable regulations. This extension confers certainty of the mining operations and supply of coal, the company said.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/GQeAIS4
via IFTTT

Polls 2022: State of the states

Assembly-poll results for five states—UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa—will be in today. The incoming governments in UP and Punjab will face some challenges on the economic front.

While, between FY17 and FY21, UP registered a GSDP CAGR below that of the national GDP (1.5% versus 2%), the rate of Punjab’s per-capita-income growth was lower than the country’s.

The five states’ debt-GDP ratios were higher than the NK Singh committee’s recommendation of 20%, with Punjab’s a worrying 53.5%.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/Jcf6Dmr
via IFTTT

iPhone SE 2022 launched with Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, iPad Air 5 gets the “pro” M1: Check prices, full specifications

Apple launched the third-generation iPhone SE with the A15 Bionic chip and 5G support at its “Peek Performance” event today, March 8. This is naturally a follow-up to the second-generation model launched in 2020. Alongside the iPhone SE 2022, Apple has also launched the fifth-generation iPad Air with iPad Pro-like M1 chip inside as well as support for 5G. The iPhone SE 3 price in India starts at Rs 43,900. The iPad Air 5, on the other hand, has a starting price of Rs 54,900.

Additionally, Apple has also announced an all-new green colourway for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro models.

iPhone SE, iPad Air 2022 refresh India prices, availability

iPhone SE 2022 will be available in three configurations—64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. Price starts at Rs 43,900. It will be available in India starting March 18 with pre-orders beginning March 11.

Here are the complete iPhone SE 2022 India prices:

— 64GB: Rs 43,900

— 128GB: Rs 48,900

— 256GB: Rs 58,900

Also Read | Apple March 2022 launch event LIVE updates: iPhone SE 2022, iPad Air 5, Mac Studio with M1 Ultra announced

iPad Air 2022, on the other hand, will come in two configurations—64GB and 256GB—with and without 5G. While the 64GB model with Wi-Fi will cost Rs 54,900, the same storage model with 5G will set you back by Rs 68,900. It will also be available in India starting March 18 with pre-orders beginning March 11.

Here are the complete iPad Air 2022 India prices:

— 64GB: Rs 54,900 (Wi-Fi), Rs 68,900 (5G)

— 256GB: Rs 68,900 (Wi-Fi), Rs 82,900 (5G)

iPhone SE, iPad Air 2022 refresh specs, features

The fifth-generation iPad Air looks exactly like the fourth-generation model from 2020 which is to say it also comes with flat edges and Touch ID fingerprint reader integrated into the top button. The screen size is same, too, at 10.9-inch. So is the resolution at 2360x1640p.

There’s a new 12MP ultrawide camera on the front, in this generation of the iPad Air, with support for Apple’s Centre Stage feature which—as the name suggests—keeps you in focus during FaceTime and other third-party video calls. The biggest upgrade is coming by way of core hardware. The iPad Air 5 has the M1 inside, the same chip that powers the iPad Pro and other recent Mac computers like MacBook Air.

Rest of the hardware is being carried forward from the last model—up to 256GB storage, 12MP rear camera, USB C, and support for second-generation Apple Pencil and smart keyboards. It will be available in space gray, starlight, pink, purple, and blue finishes.

The iPhone SE 2022, similarly, retains the design and super cute and compact—iPhone 8 like— form factor of the 2020 iPhone SE with a 4.7-inch 720p LCD display and Touch ID.

Under the hood, you get the A15 Bionic and 5G support. The camera hardware is getting an update, too, thanks to that updated chip. The iPhone SE 2022 to that effect supports Smart HDR 4, Photographic Styles, Deep Fusion, and Portrait mode.

The iPhone SE 3 will be available in midnight, starlight, and (PRODUCT)RED finishes.

Also Read | Apple iPhone SE (2020) long-term review: Small phone, huge impact

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/gMU7FDY
via IFTTT

Oil marketing companies set to hike auto fuel prices next week: Under-recoveries around Rs 10-12/litre in last 15 days

State-run oil marketing companies Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum are planning to hike retail prices of auto fuels — petrol, diesel — in phases starting late this week or early next week as crude price nudged $140 per barrel in international trade and is hovering around $130 per barrel. The under- recoveries on petrol and diesel have increased to Rs 10-12 per litre in the last 15 days and have become unsustainable, sources from these companies said.

However, it is unlikely OMCs will recover the entire amount soon. It is going to be difficult for the government to ‘give its nod’ to OMCs for the pass-through of additional costs from higher crude prices at one go, given the public sentiments and the high inflation. 

The auto fuel prices, officially deregulated, have not seen any change since November 4, 2021. The prices have been put on hold in the context of the assembly elections to five states that concluded on Monday.

According to the sources, OMCs are likely to increase petrol and diesel prices by Rs 7-8 per litre in the first tranche after the election results.

OMCs may have to continue to bear some of the burden from cost spiral, as their marketing margins have been high. Marketing margins before the price freeze in November was Rs 4-5/ litre. Since the prices have not changed the marketing margins at present are in the negative.

R Ramachandran, former director-refineries at BPCL, said, “It’s a tight rope between the government and the OMCs to balance between revenue generation and profitabilities of the OMCs.”

In fact, the under-recoveries since November 4, 2021, are expected to be as high as Rs 42 per litre. The Indian basket of crude have now risen to $121 per barrel. On November 4, the day the price freeze came into effect the Indian basket was around $83 per barrel.

“The oil marketing companies are in discussions with the government to allow an increase in petrol and diesel prices as current under-recoveries are unsustainable. If there cannot be immediate price hike, an excise duty cut should be considered now that crude has crossed $120/barrel,” a company official said.

At present, the Centre’s taxes on petrol and diesel are Rs 27.9/litre and Rs 21.8/litre, respectively. 

“On previous two occasions, the prices were raised immediately after the elections as the under-recoveries were not very high in comparison to today’s situation. The situation has worsened due to Russian attack on Ukraine this time,” another official said.

Experts believe India can take a leaf from other Asian counterparts — Japan and South Korea — which have provided subsidy and duty relief to counter the increase in global crude oil price.

Lim Jit Yang, advisor for oil markets at S&P Global Platts Analytics, said, the increase in crude price has prompted Asian importers to rethink their fiscal road map. “Japan, for example, has decided to provide subsidies to refiners and oil product importers in the current quarter with the aim of curbing the price rise. South Korea has lowered taxes on auto fuels by up to 20% for six months from November.”

Although India imports around 85% of its crude requirement, its dependence on Russia is only for 2-3% and that too is replaceable and can be substituted by crude from other countries. Experts believe, Indian refiners will see some impact on gross refining margins and increase in inventory carrying costs due to extended period of price rise.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/TdUsFgh
via IFTTT

PM Modi to address global investors on disinvestment, asset monetisation today

With a massive plan to monetise public sector assets and privatise state-run firms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address investors, including officials of sovereign funds, private equity, global pension funds, investment banks and asset monetisation companies on Wednesday.

The post-Budget webinar will focus on privatisation and disinvestment as well as asset monetisation of core and non-core assets.

Besides representatives from real estate, infrastructure and legal experts, Modi will address stakeholders from North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Far East, & Australia, the government said in a statement.

Other than the proposed mega LIC IPO, the government has a large pipeline of strategic disinvestment such as fuel retailer-cum-refiner BPCL, IDBI Bank, Container Corporation of India, among others.

While the government will likely achieve the brownfield asset monetisation target of Rs 88,000 crore for FY22, the target for next year is almost double of that at Rs 1.62 lakh crore. The assets on offer includes highways stretches, ports, airports, railway stations, trains, among others

The department of investment and public asset management will incorporate inputs from the participants to formulate robust implementation strategy for privatisation, asset monetisation and disinvestment programme.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/7EQNSru
via IFTTT

EPFO draws up plan to exit downgraded securities

The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is likely to firm up a plan to exit from downgraded securities at its meeting in Guwahati during March 11-12. A standard operating procedure (SOP) will be put in place under the plan.

EPFO had, as on September 2021, investments of Rs 11,000-crore in securities which were downgraded by different rating agencies between September 2018 and February 2020. These investments were made between 2010 and 2017.

Ahead of the last CBT meeting held in November 2021, the EPFO informed the members that IL&FS and Reliance Capital also defaulted on paying principal and interest obligations totalling Rs 868 crore, as on September this year.

The EPFO held securities worth Rs 574.73 crore in IL&FS, but the company under resolution, defaulted on paying Rs 384.12 crore as principal and interest till September this year. Its Rs 2,500-crore exposure in Reliance Capital was a bigger worry for the EPFO. As on September 2021, Reliance Capital defaulted on paying interest and principal, amounting Rs 484 crore.

EPFO acquired bonds worth Rs 4,300 issued by Yes Bank between December 2015 and October 2017. The retirement fund body bought securities worth Rs 1,873.84 crore issued by IDFC First Bank between July 2010 and May 2015. In Indiabulls Housing, EPFO had a total exposure of Rs 1,600 crore as on September last year.

However, there had been no default till then on the part of Yes Bank, IDFC First Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance.

There was, however, another instance of default in the case of DHFL. EPFO had holding worth Rs 1,162 crore in it, as on August 31, 2021. The NBFC defaulted on Rs 600 crore on principal payment and Rs 160 crore as interest payment till August last year.

Meanwhile, DHFL went through a corporate insolvency resolution process and as per the resolution plan, EPFO received, as on September 29, 2021, Rs 249.25 crore in cash and securities with a face value of Rs 299.45 crore.

“Total amount invested (in DHFL) but not received, as on September 30, 2021, is Rs 613.07 crore and the amount of interest due but not received is Rs 160.39 crore,” EPFO had said.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/0PAaDyp
via IFTTT

Domestic air traffic increases in February; high ATF prices to weigh on carriers, says Icra

Domestic air passenger traffic for February moved up nearly 19% to 76 lakh passengers, against 64 lakh recorded in January. However, on a year-on-year basis, the passenger traffic recorded a marginal decline of 2% as 78 lakh passengers had travelled by air in February 2021.

Given the lingering impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, airlines’ capacity deployment for February was around 12% lower than February 2021. There were 56,634 departures in February 2022 against 64,327 departures during the same month in the previous year.

On a sequential basis, the number of departures in February 2022 were about 10% lower, as apart from the Omicron impact, there were fewer operating days in February. Adjusting for the tenure of days, the number of departures stood almost flat compared to January.

According to a report by ratings agency Icra, despite the improving operating scenario, high prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) will continue to weigh on the financial performance of airline companies in FY22.

“ATF prices have seen a sharp increase of around 57% on a y-o-y basis till March 2022. It is mainly attributed to increase in crude oil prices. This, coupled with relatively low capacity utilisation of aircraft fleet, will continue to weigh on the financial performance of Indian carriers in FY22,” the report said.

Suprio Banerjee, vice president and sector head, Icra, said while there is sequential recovery in the air passenger volumes with the waning Omicron wave, on an annual basis, the numbers will remain subdued. “Due to the impact of multiple Covid waves in the current fiscal, the passenger traffic for 11 months of FY22 remained nearly 44% lower than the levels witnessed during the same period in pre-Covid times of FY20. The same is further threatened by the sharp rise in ATF prices, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” he said.

With effect from October 18, 2021, The ministry of civil aviation has allowed the restoration of permitted capacity to 100% for domestic operations, after reducing it to 50% in June due to the second wave of the pandemic.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/qcwpR7k
via IFTTT

Engage with assessees on Saturday: FM to taxmen

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked tax officials under the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to “keep (their) Saturday free” to engage with assessees to address their grievances.

“I am curious to know if the CBIC and the CBDT are engaging with own assesses?… If there is something you think that you cannot do because it’s something to do with the (relevant) Acts themselves or with the Rules which have been passed, then get the Boards to do it or tell the revenue secretary accordingly,” said Sitharaman said at a post-Budget conference in Bengaluru.

Many issues that were raised in the Budget outreach programmes were not strictly not budget-related, but more about the rules, etc. “I am sorry, the boards will have to do better. Keep yourself available on Saturdays and also over phone and emails.”

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/PUrXa8L
via IFTTT

Commodity price inflation hits real estate; developers may hike new launch prices

The sharp rise in prices of key raw material like steel and cement has worried real estate developers, who are finding it hard to pass on cost escalations to customers as they are bound by RERA guidelines. They are also not passing on increases in costs for fear of losing customers.

However, homebuyers should brace for a 5-8% price increase in 2022 due to inflationary trends in construction raw material and overall operational costs for developers. Industry players told FE that despite the steep input price increases, developers are cognisant of the fact that high property prices will impact the demand buoyancy.

A recent CII-ANAROCK survey found that an increase of under 10% in prices would have a moderate-to-low impact, while an increase of more than 10% would have profound repercussions on the buyer sentiment. However, if the commodity price inflation continues unabated, developers may look at increasing the price of new launches in the range of 10-15%.

Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director, Hiranandani Group, told FE, “In the wake of geopolitical tensions, market uncertainties, disruption in supply chain and record high crude oil cost, prices of new launches across the markets are estimated to be escalated by 10-15% varying on geographies, size and scale of the projects.”

He said the sharp rise in raw material prices is impacting profit margins with disruption in logistics, timely deliverables, and absorption of hiked cost.

Moreover, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, says if developers have sold 50% of their housing stock at a certain price, they cannot charge an escalation. This is making it hard for developers to pass on the cost increases. They cannot slow down construction either, because missing delivery timelines is penalised under RERA.

Getambar Anand, chairman and managing director, ATS Group, said the problem is not with new sales, but the rising inflation in commodities. “Today, steel is at Rs 80,000 a tonne and it is not going to come down in a hurry. Cement is at Rs 400 a bag, and if you have sold 50% of your stock at price X, you cannot charge an escalation as per RERA. That is where the challenge comes in, because what you have sold you have to deliver. So, if your input cost is increasing by 30%, and if your stock is sold then there is a problem because the mathematics completely changes,” he said.

The recent rise in crude oil prices is adding to costs of key material like steel, cement, aluminium, PVC and tiles, which have become 30-60% costlier in the last two years due to global supply chain constraints.

Harsh Vardhan Patodia, president CREDAI, said no amount of planning can factor in such an unparalleled increase. “Developers are no longer able to absorb the spiralling prices and will be staring at financially unviable projects if the situation is not controlled immediately,” he said.

Developers are asking to allow an escalation clause in the buyer and seller agreement under RERA and rationalisation of GST rates for some construction materials like steel and cement.

While property prices have remained stagnant over the last five years, analysts believe prices may see a single-digit rise over the next two-three years annually as inventory levels have stabilised and the Indian residential real estate market has undergone clear signs of consolidation.

“While we are believers in an upcycle for the residential sector in India, we are of the view that a sustained single-digit sales price CAGR is beneficial for all stakeholders rather than a super cycle similar to FY03-07 where residential prices went up by 3-4x in a short period,” said a recent ICICI Securities report.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/RD1gJjM
via IFTTT

L&T launches B2B marketplace for industrial goods

Larsen & Toubro has put its engineering, procurement and technological expertise behind a new platform — a marketplace for businesses looking to procure industrial and construction goods. The company on Monday launched L&T-SuFin, its integrated e-commerce platform for B2B industrial products and services.

The electronic marketplace will enable companies to source industrial goods and services from MSMEs in a cost-effective manner. The manufacturing ecosystem has been facing significant inefficiencies in the industrial supply chains, relying heavily on resources such as B2B directories — digital or otherwise — to fulfil sourcing needs.

Four to 5% of a company’s material bill is towards maintenance, repairs and operational items. L&T-SuFin will not focus on raw material as of now, but will expand its footprint over time. The demand for MRO items through SME is of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. These items are consumed by contractors and construction companies. The platform currently has 40-plus categories.

SN Subrahmanyan, CEO & MD, L&T, said, “We are confident about L&T-SuFin transforming the B2B marketplace for industrial products. Making it easily accessible, convenient, and transparent, even for the customers in and beyond tier-1 and tier-2 cities, thereby enabling a level playing field and inclusive growth for all businesses.”

L&T-SuFin will function as a market intermediary by bringing together MSMEs and corporations that buy from them. Currently, 20,000 entities are registered on the marketplace. Like all platforms, L&T-SuFin will carry out a thorough KYC check of vendors by visiting their sites and by digitally evaluating their financials. Businesses dealing with the MSMEs on the platform can have the confidence that they are not fly-by-night operators, the company said. The platform will enable MSMEs to scale by allowing them to explore new markets.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/DRzJkqb
via IFTTT

India’s alcohol beverage market to grow at 6.8%: ICRIER

Covid-19 pandemic and in-home consumption have hastened premiumisation in the alcoholic beverage (alcobev) sector and companies are moving in to cash in on the ready-to-drink (RTD) segment with a spate of launches.

India is one of the fastest-growing alcoholic beverages markets globally, with an estimated market size of $52.5 billion in 2020 and the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% between 2020 and 2023, according to the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

Vinod Giri, director general of Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (India), the representative body of Indian alcohol beverage companies, said that premium launches in the RTD segment are a healthy sign of market progression.

“We are witnessing a spate of innovations in the Indian alcoholic beverage market. We saw the emergence of Indian craft gin earlier and now the RTD segment is witnessing brand launches with diversified offerings. Consumers are experimenting with experiences beyond the pure functional benefit of alcohol which, besides adding new consumers to the alcohol category, accelerates social acceptance of alcoholic beverages as a normal consumer product,” he added.

American whiskey major, Jack Daniel’s recently launched its RTD brand Jack & Cola in India. According to the company, Jack & Cola is often cited as the world’s most popular branded bar calls and with convenience being the main driver, the RTD format has been growing at an exceptional rate globally and was the fastest-growing brand for Brown-Forman during the last financial year.

Siddharth Wadia, general manager – India, Middle East, and North Africa, Brown-Forman Worldwide LLC, said that the Jack & Cola RTD was introduced after considerable consumer research by the company, in which they saw encouraging consumer trends concerning the accelerated growth in the cocktail culture, enhanced consumer repertoire to try new formats and whiskey-based drinks.

“With alcohol-based RTD format growing rapidly, we believe it is the right time to bring this to consumers here. Jack Daniel’s RTDs enable affordability and makes the trademark more accessible by making it relevant to newer occasions where the full-strength whiskey may not be most relevant,” Wadia added.

Amar Sinha, chief operating officer, Radico Khaitan added that RTD beverages products offer consumers a hassle-free and on-the-go drinking experience. Liquor maker Radico is set to tap into this category this summer with a vodka-based RTD in several flavours.

“RTD beverages have been in the market for a few years now and continue to gain popularity in India. The proliferation of cocktail culture birthed the concept of RTDs. The ease of drinking straight out of the pack and the innovative flavours makes them popular among day-drinkers and youth. A majority of the younger generation usually have their first sip of alcohol in the form of RTDs or cocktails. Moreover, since the alcohol content in RTDs is comparatively lower than the other spirits, it makes a perfect daytime drink,” he said.

The recent lockdowns have allowed the consumers to explore their interest in their drinks in greater detail, and a much-awaited push to this category, he added.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3pmQBxC
via IFTTT

Markets stay on crash course; crude oil prices surge to highest level since 2008

By Ruchit Purohit & Yoosef KP

Market indices nosedived on Monday amid concerns over the economic cost of the ongoing war in Ukraine, which saw crude oil prices hitting their highest level since 2008. The Sensex slipped below 53,000 levels, while the Nifty broke its important support level of 16,000 during the day. Finance stocks and Reliance Industries (RIL) led the fall.

From their peak in October, markets have corrected more than 14% amid negative global cues and relentless selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). In the last four trading sessions, FPIs have sold shares worth Rs 26,096.69 crore, provisional data on bourses showed. So far in 2022, the Sensex has declined 12.4% in dollar terms against 3.3% gains clocked by Jakarta Composite. While Shanghai Composite has come off 6.8%, Taiwan TAIEX has fallen 7.7% during the same period. South Korea, which has an oil imports bill similar to that of India, has also plunged 13.7% between January and now.

After plunging as much as 1,966 points in intra-day trade on Monday, the Sensex recouped some of its losses to close at 52,842.75, down 1,491.06 points or 2.7%. The Nifty-50 ended lower by 382.20 points or 2.4% at 15,863.15. “The short-term trend of Nifty continues to be weak. The last hour upside recovery of Monday could bring some hopes of a pullback rally in the short term. A sustainable upside bounce is expected from there or from the lows of 15700-15500 levels in the next few sessions,” Nagaraj Shetti, technical research analyst at HDFC Securities, said.

The broader markets also fell in line with the benchmark indices as both BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices fell 2.3% each.

Sectorally, the Nifty Bank and Auto fell 4% each, and the realty index fell 5.5% on Monday.

Pankaj Pandey, head of research, ICICIdirect, said, “Global as well as Indian equities continue to witness correction amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and concerns over economic costs of war and subsequent sanctions on global economies with the key concern right now being a sharp rise in the crude prices.”

Bullion prices continued to strengthen with gold crossing $2,000 per ounce for the first time since August 2020. Silver prices in the domestic markets also surpassed Rs 71,200 on Monday.

Among the Sensex stocks, IndusInd Bank was the top loser, falling 7.6%, followed by Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Bajaj twins, each falling anywhere between 6.3% and 6.7%. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Tata Steel and Infosys ended in the green.

from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/V4tQElk
via IFTTT

Managers first need to manage self, and then others: Rajesh Panda, Founder & CEO, Corporate Gurukul

According to Rajesh Panda, the founder & CEO of Corporate Gurukul, the ancient Indian gurukula system can be applied to modern-day corporate training as well. “The gurukula pedagogy was focused on applied learning, and that is what needs to be done in case of modern-day corporate training,” he says. In an interview with FE’s Vikram Chaudhary, he adds that most managers believe they are self-aware, but the reality is far from this. Excerpts:

In which all ways is the gurukula system related to modern globalised management training?
The modern globalised management training can be correlated with the gurukula system especially in aspects of self-awareness and self-management. The entire gurukula system is built on the foundation of self-awareness and the ability to manage self. Most managers only believe that they are self-aware, but the reality is far from this. A truly rare quality to possess, managers who are self-aware not only introspect and understand themselves clearly, but also make it a point to understand how others see them. That’s the genesis of transformation journey. And when we as managers are self-aware, we are more likely to be confident and creative and better with self and people management. We manage people and work effectively, make better decisions, build stronger relationships and communicate clearly.

How many students trained by you have found jobs at MNCs?
More than 95% of our alumni either end up working at MNCs or attend top-ranked universities across the globe. Some of these MNCs include Microsoft, Apple, Google, Adobe, etc. More than 30 of our alumni are currently working with Apple.As our motto goes ‘Good to Great’, we train the best and make them better, enabling them for life. Our assessment processes and programmes are designed to handpick the best from the crowd, put them through a curated learning journey that transforms them from Good to Great. Jobs with top MNCs or entrepreneurship are just an outcome of this transformation.

Who are your training providers and trainers? Who provides certifications?
We have partnered with two world-renowned universities: National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The content, training and certifications are provided by the respective universities and all of it is focused on research interventions and academic internships.Our goal is to give students industry exposure as well. Hence, we have partnered with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Amazon for hands-on industry experience, and Hewlett Packard and Amazon provide certifications for their respective programmes.

Have training providers like Corporate Gurukul benefited from the New Education Policy 2020?
Yes, we have. For the past seven years our focus has been research and internships with artificial intelligence and design thinking. Not only these are 21st century skills, but also align with the NEP 2020 which focuses on research, internships, AI and design thinking—crucial areas for applied learning and skill-building.

How do learners get in touch with Corporate Gurukul?
Learners mostly contact schools and universities where we have strong B2B relationships over the years. We discuss about these opportunities with the school/university management one on one. Once MOUs are signed with the schools/universities, the Corporate Gurukul team takes it up formally for training students based on their areas of interest. From here on begins the learning intervention. Students also contact us directly through social media platforms/emails and sign up from across 21 countries in Asia.We do not offer jobs but we prepare and train these students to pursue excellence.

from The Financial Express https://bit.ly/3Mwa8gC
via IFTTT

CommerceIQ: Creating a competitive edge

By Srinath Srinivasan

Helping brands with market intelligence is CommerceIQ’s USP. The Bengaluru-based startup operates at the junction of retail and technology, by offering software products that help brands selling on online marketplaces understand their customers better, get competitive intelligence, manage their inventory and make informed decisions using predictive analysis.

“We integrate with marketplaces on one side and the brands on the other. Usually marketplaces give information to brands but that is limited. The marketplaces are also restricted by policies that do not favour one brand over the other using this kind of intelligence and so they do not sell these services as separate products or add-ons,” says Prasun Kumar, vice-president, engineering and head of India operations, CommerceIQ. With over 120 technical staff in engineering and R&D, the startup aims to double down on its AI capability, adding more context and meaning to what their client brands expect from the technology.

“What we are trying to do is to make AI explain what it is doing. Today, it is more like a black box, you feed data into it and it processes it. Even the technically strong ones find it challenging to interpret what’s going on inside,” says Kumar. “So we can’t expect our customers to understand it themselves. We are working on automating this process, making AI say why it is doing what it is doing, by itself.”

From the market perspective, the company is trying to solve for various geographies, categories and different e-commerce marketplaces and retailers. “Solving for these things will make us truly a platform and scale up really fast,” says Kumar.

With over $80 million raised in funding, the company has set up sales offices overseas as well. “There is a huge demand for our product related to top marketplaces in the world. And a lot of these are in the US. We want to capture them in addition to the Indian/Asian market as well,” says Kumar. According to him, the company has kept doubling its revenue every year and over 90% of customers renew the product subscription. “We all witnessed the surge in e-commerce during the lockdowns and that directly impacted us and continues to do so with great momentum. The kind of growth that one would expect in a decade happened in just 10 months of the pandemic,” says Kumar.

The current talent crunch is a big challenge for CommerceIQ. “It is undeniably one of the most challenging times to find the best talent. We are tweaking our offers to attract the best but the turbulence will continue for a while,” says Kumar.

from The Financial Express https://bit.ly/35UJZH7
via IFTTT

Aye Finance: MSME financing made easy

Aye Finance is a new-age finance company that provides secured and unsecured small business loans to small and micro enterprises across India. It aims to solve the challenges in funding micro, small and medium enterprises and bring them into the mainstream of the economy.

“With over 60 million micro-enterprises operating in India, this segment represents a vital engine for job creation and economic growth. Ironically, these micro-entrepreneurs are excluded by strict hard collateral and formal documentation requirements, typically the primary decision factors in the traditional credit risk assessment process,” says Sanjay Sharma, managing director, Aye Finance.

Sharma says the startup differentiates itself by creating a technically enabled process that builds credit insights through a variety of available business and behavioural data. This effective credit appraisal coupled with the use of modern workflow automation, and a small but engaged workforce is helping bridge the gap between the MSMEs and organised lending. The cloud-computing architecture enables flexible delivery of customer service at an affordable cost. “It is part of our vision to leverage modern technology for multiplying the productivity of field force, early detection of frauds and lowering operational risks,” he says.

In April 2014, Aye Finance, headquartered in Gurugram, gave its first business loan to a micro enterprise located in the footwear manufacturing cluster in West Delhi. “Today we serve the credit needs of over 100 clusters in manufacturing, service and trading industries in 311 cities and have made affordable credit a reality for over 3,50,000 micro enterprises,” says Sharma.

He claims his venture is the only scaled, pan-India player providing unsecured small-ticket business loans to a large credit-starved micro-enterprise segment. “Aye has cracked this difficult- to-lend segment with its unique cluster-based credit appraisal approach and optimally digitised phygital model,”says Sharma.

Aye Finance is equity-funded by three venture capital funds—Accion International, SAIF Partners and LGT Impact ventures. It also has over a dozen providers who extend their debt funds for its MSME finance business. “Since our inception in 2014, we have raised six rounds of equity from global leaders CapitalG (Alphabet’s independent growth fund), Elevation Capital (erstwhile SAIF Partners), Falcon Edge Capital, A91 Partners, Lightrock and MAJ Invest. Majority of our equity partners have participated in multiple equity rounds showing their commitment to our mission as well as confidence in our business model,” he says, adding, “We have continued to have a well-diversified portfolio on debt arrangements with leading impact investors, banks and financial institutions. And we have continued on our track record of generating profits for consecutive four years, including the pandemic impacted year 2020-21.”

Aye Finance has been a leading player in developing AI and ML models to further ease the access of credit to the MSME sector and has deployed advanced AI/ML solutions in most of its critical business processes. Says Sharma, “Our models predict critical customer behaviour at a very granular level which has helped us improve our lending decisions, brought improved efficiencies in our customer acquisition and collection processes, along with allowing us to offer customised solutions as well as up-sell offers to our target customer segment.”

Prior to the Covid years, Aye Finance was growing at over 50% CAGR, says Sharma. “I believe that we will see a clear runway in FY 22-23 without the restraints or hangover of the effects of the disruption,” he summarises.

from The Financial Express https://bit.ly/3pGk9Oe
via IFTTT

Your Money: Has someone taken a loan in your name? Take these steps immediately

Can someone take a loan in your name? Sounds improbable. But recently, many people on social media were surprised to find loans issued against their PANs by a lending institution. Worse, some of the loans had been defaulted on. For no fault of theirs, these people’s credit scores were damaged by the defaults.

What are the situations in which a loan can be issued against your name? Well, it can happen both legally and fraudulently. Loans are linked to your PAN. Any loan linked to you is linked to your PAN. In the loan frauds above, people’s PAN had been quoted in loan applications, which were then approved without verification. Since there’s potential for misuse, you must safeguard your PAN and be careful about who you’re giving copies of it to. Your PAN can also be legitimately linked to someone else’s loan. If you are a co-borrower or a guarantor on a loan, it would reflect against your PAN. If the person whose loan you’ve guaranteed defaults, it would impact your credit score. While that loan isn’t yours, as a guarantor, it may become your responsibility to repay it. If you fail to do so, it will hurt your credit score.

Check your credit score regularly
The quickest way to check what’s happening on your PAN is by getting a copy of your credit report. Your credit report lists details of all borrowing associated with your PAN. How much was borrowed, in what form, when, whether payments have happened on time, and what the status of the loan is, are all mentioned in the report. If a loan has been obtained fraudulently against your PAN, it will also reflect on the report. Regularly checking your credit report can help you keep a track of such mishaps and drive you to take corrective action. It is advisable to check your credit report monthly—especially if you use any form of credit.

How to report fraud
If you have spotted suspicious items in your credit report, waste no time in getting to the bottom of the matter. The more you delay, the greater the financial damage. In recent instances, the frauds were reported to the lender. One victim reported that the lender moved quickly to delink his PAN from the fraudulently taken loan. This removed the loan from the person’s credit history. Immediately, his credit score jumped from 776 to 830. It is also important to document these interactions with the lender and put the matter on record. Written assurance must be obtained to ensure the case is being investigated.

How to escalate the matter
If they’re not satisfied with the lender’s response in such cases, citizens have the right to escalate the matter through various channels. First, you may approach the banking ombudsman with your grievance. If that doesn’t suffice, you may escalate through consumer court, or the local cyber crimes unit. You need to also bring the matter to the attention of the credit bureaus. They have their own escalation matrix through which errors in your credit history can be rectified. You must be mentally prepared for a long-drawn rectification process if any party involved contests your version of events. But if your story is clear, the matter may be resolved quickly.

Loan frauds can be costly. But there are tools to help you detect it fast. Make credit checks a monthly exercise to stay on top of your credit health.

The writer is CEO, BankBazaar.com

from The Financial Express https://bit.ly/3pI4Nst
via IFTTT

Mutual funds: Know the pros and cons of index funds

Individual investors are increasingly investing in index funds because of the low cost structure and higher returns than fixed income instruments. They are investing in new fund offers (NFOs) of index funds—fund houses have launched over 30 schemes in the last one year and many more are in the pipeline.

In January this year, index funds reported net inflows of Rs 4,914 crore, the highest ever, according to data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India. The total assets under management was Rs 49,905 crore, a three-fold increase over the same period last year. In January, the share of index fund folio rose to 18% vis-a-vis 8% during the same month last year.

Last week, Motilal Oswal Asset Management Company launched Low Volatility factor-based ETF and Index Fund—Motilal Oswal S&P BSE Low Volatility ETF and Motilal Oswal S&P BSE Low Volatility Index Fund. These are open ended schemes replicating the S&P BSE Low Volatility Total Return Index. The low volatility strategy involves buying stocks which have higher stability in price movements based on past returns. Subscription to the NFOs will close on March 16.

Betting on index funds
So, why are individuals flocking to index funds now? Experts say the volatile equity markets and low interest rates have propelled many investors to look for index funds. Sushil Jain, CEO, PersonalCFO.in, says due to the India growth story a lot of new investors want to participate in the equity market and in a comparatively safer way with limited knowledge. “Due to falling interest rates investors have to find other ways of investment where they can get long-term appreciation. We recommend that investors consider index funds for their core portfolio as for long-term investments they do not require much actively managed funds. One should be fairly balanced between active funds and passive funds to get stable returns,” he says.

Investors find index funds well-diversified, simple and transparent. As these funds are low in costs, they are suitable for the core portfolio and are helpful in asset allocation. However, one of the major limitations of an index fund is that it will not outperform the market as it invests only in the index and is not actively managed and has limited exposure to the selected index.

What to consider before investing
Those who do not want to take any risk on their near-term investments due to the volatility in the markets should ideally go for index funds. Also, if you are unable to select quality equity mutual funds schemes, then index funds are a better option. However, if willing to take some risks, go for large-cap equity funds.

The returns from index funds will be in sync with the indices and the difference in returns will be tracking error. For instance, a Nifty 50 index fund will generate similar returns to the Nifty 50 index, which is the benchmark. Lower the tracking error, the closer will be the returns to the benchmark. Experts say investors should select index funds that track a broad market index rather than funds that track a sector, a theme or a narrow market cap.

from The Financial Express https://bit.ly/3MuFrby
via IFTTT