I-T dept on blackmoney crackdown: Evaded income of Rs 3-4 lakh crore deposited in banks post demonetisation
As the central government geared up to crackdown the flow of black money in the country, following the initiation of the demonetisation policy implemented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, last year, the Income Tax department has today declared that nearly Rs 80,000 crore of loans in cash had been repayed post the implementation of the anti-graft policy. The I-T department has further confirmed that at least Rs 25,000 crore had been deposited in cash in dormant bank accounts post demonetisation. The I-T department and the Enforcement Directorate has also stated that they are looking into over Rs 16,000 crore deposited in different accounts of cooperative banks. Officials confirmed that, following the ban on old currency notes of higher denominations, over Rs 10,700 crore had been deposited in different bank accounts in the Northeastern states of the country.
World Bank pares India’s growth forecast for FY17 to 7% from 7.6%
The World Bank has pared India’s growth forecast for FY17 to 7% from 7.6% estimated earlier, attributing it partly to demonetisation of high-value currency notes. India is still forecast to retain its position as the world’s fastest growing major economy ahead of China, which is forecast to grow 6.7% in 2016. “India’s slight growth slowdown from the preceding fiscal year reflects the short term impact of the unexpected exchange of most of the bank notes in circulation.
Government may stick to 3.5% fiscal deficit target for FY17: Report
The central government is expected to stick to its fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent of GDP for 2016-17, despite lower-than-expected proceeds from disinvestment and spectrum auctions, according to an Standard Chartered report. Moreover, the Centre is likely to adhere to its fiscal consolidation plan by restricting deficit around 3 per cent of GDP in FY2017-18, the global financial services major said.
RBI data deals a deadly blow to Modi’s cashless dream
While for the major part of November, digital payments was the talk of town but according to data from the Reserve Bank of India for the month of November the total amount of money transacted through digital channels did not see a huge jump, even registered drop in many cases.“The volume of transaction on mobile wallet for the month of November increased to 13.8
Gautam Adani promises to invest Rs49,000 crore in Gujarat over 5 years
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on Tuesday announced investment of Rs49,000 crore in Gujarat for expansion of port capacity as well as foraying into water and cement businesses over the next five years. Adani Group will set up a 10 million tonnes cement clinker plant at an investment of Rs5,500 crore and another Rs2,000 crore in a desalination plant in Gujarat, he said at the 8th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Gandhinagar.
Trai allowing Reliance Jio to break rules: Airtel to telecom tribunal
Bharti Airtel has stepped up its legal battle against the telecom regulator, filing an additional affidavit in the telecom tribunal in which it has slammed the sectoral watchdog for “tacitly” allowing Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm to break rules around “anti-competitive” promotional offers. In the document filed with the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Tuesday, India’s No. 1telco has further alleged that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is “perpetuating illegality” by allowing the Mukesh Ambani-controlled new telco to “game” the interconnect regime by allowing Jio to offer free voice and data services.
Budget 2017: Big infra push likely to counter demonetisation impact
Budget 2017-18 is likely to give a massive push to infrastructure in terms of outlay and extra budgetary resources as the Narendra Modi government looks to boost economic growth following a global slowdown abroad and demonetisation at home. Senior government officials said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley might announce a third straight year of record capital spending and the capital outlay for the coming financial year could be 12-14 per cent higher than the 2016-17 Budget Estimates of Rs 2.47 lakh crore.
NYT Flays Demonetisation, Says It Was ‘Atrociously Planned, Executed’
In a stinging criticism, leading US daily, The New York times, has said the “atrociously planned and executed” demonetisation in India has made people’s life increasingly difficult with “little evidence” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move succeeded in combating corruption and black money. The New York Times editorial board’s critical piece stated that due to the currency swap, the Indian economy is “suffering”. “There is little evidence that the currency swap has succeeded in combating corruption or that it will forestall future bad behaviour once more cash becomes available,” the daily said in the editorial titled ‘The cost of India’s man-made currency crisis’.
Supreme Court raps Sebi for dragging its feet in Satyam auditor case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday severely criticised the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for dragging its feet in the prosecution of the auditors of erstwhile Satyam Computer Services for seven years and directed the whole-time member to conclude the proceedings in six months. The court noted that a “trivial” issue was allowed to be dragged on since 2010 just because there is provision for appeals. The bench presided over by Chief Justice J S Khehar was hearing the appeal of Sebi against the order of Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) which had asked it to provide documents and statements of witnesses to the accused persons for inspection.
PSBs need equity worth Rs 1.7 lakh cr by March 2019: Study
The public sector banks (PSBs) will by March 2019 need equity worth Rs 1.7 lakh crore, which can turn out to be higher on an increased credit growth, a recent Assocham-Crisil joint study has revealed. “The public sector banks need equity of Rs 1.7 lakh crore by March 2019, which is a tall order considering that banks have so far contributed to nearly half of the debt funding needed in the infrastructure space,” noted the study.
‘India needs to incentivise early commissioning of projects’
Sterlite Power CEO Pratik Agarwal feels that the government needs to cut red tapism and incentivise early commissioning of projects to boost the power transmission sector in the country. Sharing lineage with Vedanta Group, Sterlite Power is currently executing 10 transmission projects in 15 States spanning nearly 7,000 circuit km with a capital commitment of approximately $2 billion. In an interview with BusinessLine, Agarwal said that demonetisation has not impacted his business.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Govt to raise Rs 6,000 cr via CPSE ETF follow-on offer
After nearly three years of launching CPSE ETF, the government will onJanuary 17 initiate the second tranche of fund-raising to garner up to Rs 6,000 crore. The issue size of follow-on fund offer, which will open onJanuary 17 and close on January 20, is Rs 4,500 crore with a greenshoe option of Rs 1,500 crore. As much as 5 per cent discount will be given to anchor investors, for whom the issue will open on January 17, a top official said.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Oil India to turn ex-date for 1:3 bonus
Wednesday is the cut-off date for shareholders of Oil India to receive bonus shares. The public sector oil major had declared one bonus share for every three shares held by its shareholders. As of September 30, the central government held 67.64 per cent stake in Oil India, while Life Insurance Corp of India held 9.20 per cent. IOC, BPCL and HPCL also hold significant number of shares, while a little over 1.17 lakh small investors own 3.16 per cent.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Bain Capital joins KKR, TPG in race for Fortis Healthcare stake
Global private equity (PE) fund Bain Capital has started talks to buy a significant minority stake in Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL), three people aware of the development said, making it a four-horse race for equity in the hospital chain owned by brothers Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh. Apart from Bain, three more global PE giants—KKR, TPG and another contender whose identity is not known—are in the fray, the people mentioned above said on condition of anonymity.
Demonetisation impact: Housing sales down 44% in Oct-Dec 2016
Housing market came to a “complete standstill” during October-December 2016 on adverse impact of demonetisation as sales fell by 44 percent in the eight top cities, lowest level since 2010, resulting in Rs 22,600 crore revenue loss to the builders, according to Knight Frank. The property consultant has pegged the state government’s notional loss on stamp duty at Rs 1,200 crore. Housing sales in residential segment fell to 40,936 units in eight major cities during October-December 2016 from 72,933 units in the year-ago period and 68,734 units in the previous quarter, according to a report released by Knight Frank India.
Supreme Court to hear plea filed by banks against Vijay Mallya today
The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear the plea filed by the SBI-led consortium of banks against liquor baron Vijay Mallya for recovery of more than Rs 9,000 crore from him. The consortium of banks had approached the apex court seeking its intervention in bringing back Mallya to India and also repayment of money which the beleaguered businessman, who has absconded to England, had taken.
Note ban gains ‘highly uncertain’, says Fitch
Benefits of demonetisation are “highly uncertain” and the potential positives are unlikely to be strong or last long enough to make a significant difference to government finances or medium-term growth prospects, global ratings agency Fitch said today. Taking into account the short-term disruptions, it also revised down the GDP growth estimate for the current fiscal to 6.9 per cent from the earlier 7.4 per cent. “The note ban move has some potential benefits, but the positive effects are unlikely to be strong or last long enough to make a significant difference to government finances or medium-term growth prospects…benefits of demonetisation are highly uncertain,” the ratings agency said in a note.
NPA pains to spill over into next FY
Weak asset quality will continue to plague credit profile of banks, with their profitability remaining – under pressure till the next financial year, says a report. “Asset quality will remain a negative driver of the credit profiles of most rated banks in the country and the stock of impaired loans. Non-performing loans (NPLs) and standard restructured loans will still rise during the horizon of our outlook that lasts till the next financial year,” Alka Anbarasu, a vice-president and senior analyst at Moody’s, said in a report on Monday.
Blue chip PSUs eye EPFO funds
Blue chip PSUs are eyeing funds from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) which is sitting on a huge cash pile, said Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya. The Minister admitted that EPFO too is looking for better returns following dwindling bank interest rates post- demonetisation. Following drop in rate of interests by banks, the EPFO will have to change its strategy with regard to investment pattern to give better interest rate to its subscribers, said the Minister.
Govt to fast track green nod for infra projects
The Centre plans to further fast track environment, forest and wildlife clearances processes for large projects as it looks to restart investment cycle in the infrastructure sector that has the potential to prop up the economy post-demonetisation. Top sources in the government said the Centre is mulling a single-point public hearing process involving gram sabhas for granting all statutory green clearances to projects. Also one platform would be provided for giving all three clearances.
About the Author
