11th Plan infra investment target may fall short by 5%

The global downturn could lead to a shortfall of 5 per cent in investment targets for the infrastructure sector during the 11th Five-Year Plan, according to the Government. The Plan terminates on March 31, 2012.

The Government had initially targeted investments worth 9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in infrastructure during the 11Plan. In absolute terms, this translates into Rs 20,54,205 crore (at constant price of 2006-07).

According to the Planning Commission, storage, ports and Railways have done very badly in terms of meeting targets, while telecommunication, airports and gas pipeline managed to attract more than the target. A senior official said, “If you take out the gas pipeline from the 10 infrastructure areas then the actual picture will be very bad.” 

Storage was the worst performer in not achieving targets. One reason was the lack of clear policy for public private partnership (PPP) in this area, the official said. This, he said, had kept the private sector away from participating in capacity creation. Now, a policy is before the Empowered Group of Ministers, he added.

On the ports front, an assessment by the Planning Commission shows that very few PPP projects had been awarded by various Port Trusts in the first two years of the 11th Plan. The Ministry of Shipping has already revised the original target of capacity addition from 545 million tonnes to 393.27 million tonnes.

The challenge for the Railways was different, according to government sources. It didn't have adequate resources of its own to invest, nor was the private sector encouraged to invest. The private sector also faced problems related to land acquisition and rehabilitation.

Similarly, the road sector performance was also disappointing. The Planning Commission said the Centre's investment in the sector is expected to dip as fewer projects were awarded by the National Highway Authority of India during the first three years of the Plan than projected.

However, the lower-than-expected performance has not deterred the Planning Commission from proposing an ambitious investment target of $1,025 billion for infrastructure in the 12th Five-Year Plan. This again translates into 9 per cent of the GDP. The Commission has remarked that investment in infrastructure would have to be a key priority area in the 12th Plan in order to sustain and support the targeted growth in manufacturing, agriculture and services.

Power crisis may derail factory output further

The high-profile Ramakrishna Puram area of South Delhi that houses the office of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the apex planning body for the country's power sector, has been seeing an average of 3-4 hours of load shedding on a daily basis over the past few days.

“We too have not been spared. With the economy clocking at 8 per cent growth and coal production growing just 2 per cent annually, this was bound to happen sooner or later,” was the refrain from a senior official at CEA on the debilitating power crunch. While planning, he admitted, was partly at fault the real problem was in the implementation of the coal production strategy. Just a handful of unforeseen events — the Telangana stir that affect output from Singareni Collieries, flooding in eastern region coal fields and freak accidents at NTPC stations — managed to trigger a nationwide coal shortage that walloped consumers across the whole country in a jiffy.

Critical stocks

From the beginning of October, the number of key thermal power stations in the country facing dwindling coal stocks had been rising till about the middle of the month. Generally thermal stations are normally expected to hold coal stocks of between 15 and 30 days, depending on the location of the project.

The result was an alarming rise in power disruptions across the country, with key thermal stations left high and dry without adequate fuel to continue normal operations. While the Singareni strike has directly impacted southern States, there is no doubt that they have coped better in terms of maintaining grid discipline. Northern States, especially Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, have on the other hand resorted to massive overdrawing from the integrated NEW (north-east-west) grid, resulting in frequency plummeting way below the permissible lower limit of 49.5 hertz during most days in the end of September and early October.

In all, nearly 8,000 MW of thermal capacity is estimated to have been out due to the coal strike and the shortages at NTPC stations, while there has been a drop of another 100 million units in hydro generation due to the receding monsoon which aggravated the problems further .

Supplies

Under fire for faltering on supplies, coal companies have now been asked by the Coal Ministry to work overtime to ensure movement of fuel to key power stations. The Ministry has claimed that NTPC Ltd's key power stations — 705 MW Badarpur plant, 2,000 MW Rihand, 1,820 MW Dadri, 2,000 MW Singrauli and 1,050 MW Unchahaar stations — have been despatched more rakes of coal than they require for daily operations over the last three days, which could go into replenishing the critically low stocks at the stations.

Coal companies are managing to augment supplies mainly through the liquidation of stocks lying at pitheads at some of the eastern region coal fields. Generation at NTPC's 2,600 MW Ramagundam station, which has been a major casualty on account of the strike, has been rapidly improving now. NTPC is juggling around fuel from various sources to restore full-scale operations.

With Coal India Ltd planning to divert 4 million tonnes of coal from its e-auction quota to power utilities as a stop-gap measure to plug the shortfall, the situation could improve further in the coming days. The concerted efforts being made to bolster coal supplies to key thermal stations has already started showing results, with the latest CEA data for October 16 showing a reversal of the trend so far and a decline in the number of stations facing critical coal stocks. Shortages, though, are bound to stay as coal production has simply not been able to keep up with the demand from consumers.

Industry takes the hit

While consumers across the board were affected due to the crisis, the biggest hit has been on industrial consumers. Most States resorted to load-shedding of 8-14 hours for industrial consumers to tide over the supply shortages. Punjab asked the foundries to down shutters for at least three days a week while units from the sports goods hub of Jallandhar and cycle parts cluster of Ludhiana are facing increasing hours of outages. In Maharashtra, load-shedding was reported in the industrial belt of Thane and Nashik, while both in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal the industry faced an increase in outages as the utilities ran out of funds to buy power in the spot market. The industrial units is southern states were also hit in a big way.

Coming against the backdrop of slowing growth, the power crisis is very bad news and could derail factory output further. Analysts predict that the data for October could take a hit on account of the loss of production of units across the country. The April-August index of industrial production (IIP) data had come in at 5.6 per cent against 8.7 per cent a year ago.

Rwanda invites Indian investment in energy, infrastructure sectors

Rwanda has invited India to participate in the economic development of the East African nation through investment in the infrastructure, agriculture, energy, mining, IT and tourism sectors, among others.

“Rwanda invites India to participate in its economic development and to tap the huge potential available in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, tourism, etc,” the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Minister, Ms Agnes Kalibata, said at the 2nd Rwanda Investment Roadshow in India here today.

Ms Kalibata invited Indian investors to explore the opportunities in her country, which has a population of 10 million and boasts an increasing middle class.

“Rwanda, located at the crossroads of the commercial heartland of East and Central Africa, can provide India huge opportunities to invest in a market of nearly 200 million people (in East and Central Africa) and a combined GDP of over $100 billion,” she added.

The Rwanda Development Board Chief Operating Officer, Ms Claire Akamanzi, said the country is trying to attract foreign investment in infrastructure, especially roads, airports and real estate.

Rwanda’s farm sector, which accounts for 34 per cent of the country’s GDP and sustains 78 per cent of its population, is open to foreign participation in development of the tea, coffee, horticulture and irrigation sectors, Ms Akamanzi added.

Stressing on the largely untapped natural resources of the country, she said Rwanda plans to use them to extend power grid coverage to 67 per cent of the population by 2012 through a $311-million capital expenditure programme.

“We have around 50-55 billion cubic meters of methane gas deposits in the lake Kiev area, which can be harnessed to produce electricity and also have identified 333 potential sites for micro-hydro power projects,” Ms Akmanzi noted.

The tourism sector in Rwanda is booming, but still has significant opportunities for growth, she said, adding that there are also major investment opportunities available in the mining, information and communication and financial services space.

The Rwandan Agriculture Minister said Africa will experience rapid growth in the next two decades and it will be an honour to have India as a part of that experience.

Indian companies like mobile services major Airtel, tea producers Jayshree and Mcleod Russel have already invested in Rwanda.

Rwanda, also termed as the land of a thousand hills, has registered a GDP growth rate of 7.1 per cent since 2004 and has been dubbed the fastest reformer of business regulations globally by the World Bank.

P-E investments in clean tech projects on the rise

With Government policies and incentives in place for renewable energy, the number of private equity investments in the clean technologies sector is increasing.

According to data from Venture Intelligence, a research service focused on private equity and merger and acquisitions , there were five deals in the clean technologies space in January-March 2011quarter; ten in the April-June 2011 quarter and 14 deals in the July-September 2011 quarter.

The amount invested in the July-September quarter was $359 million compared with $176 million in the immediate previous quarter.

Recently, Suryachakra Power Corporation entered into a joint venture with American Bio Sources Inc (ABS) and Environmental Energy Finance Corporation Inc. USA (EEFC). The investment will go into developing renewable energy power projects of 500 MW in India. Suryachakra Power Corporation entered the wind energy sector earlier this year.

The above investment deal follows a series of investments into the clean technologies space. Goldman Sachs invested $204 million in start-up renewable energy firm, ReNew Wind Power in September, according to Venture Intelligence. This was one of the biggest private equity deals in the clean technologies space in India. Prior to this, FE Clean Energy invested $40 million in NSL Renewable Power in July. IDFC Project Equity invested $112 million in Caparo Energy India in June. Baring India invested $90 million in Cethar Vessels in December 2010.

“Investing in the clean technologies space requires a great degree of specialisation. These investments have a long gestation period and a different returns profile,” said Mr Rahul Khanna, Managing Director, Canaan India. The firm has not invested in this space so far.

Investment Trends

Although the clean technologies space is still nascent, investors say that the sector looks attractive and could see a lot of growth.

“A lot of firms are investing in wind energy projects. It is difficult to get investment for solar projects as subsidies are uncertain,” said Mr Avinash Gupta, Leader, Financial Advisory, Deloitte in India.

There are a lot of things that investors must keep in mind while investing in a renewable energy project. “To ensure that the investment is not very risky there are a couple of things that investors should keep in mind. They should invest in a company which is backed with the right business model and investments should be with the right entrepreneurs. Another important aspect is that a portfolio approach or diversified investment approach should be adopted,” said Mr Raja Parthasarathy, Partner, IDFC Private Equity.

Exits in the clean technology sector are difficult; investors usually exit after 4–6 years, say private equity investors.

Platform Investment Stories

There has been a trend towards investing in a ‘platform manner' in this sector. Called ‘platform stories' in investor jargon, these are private equity investments in a staggered manner.

In the platform model, private equity investors commit large capital to a company to set up a particular project. Money is released by the investor to the company on achievement of pre-decided milestones. A particular amount is given to the company when it sets up its first 90 Watt project

“We have noticed an increasing number of private equity players commit large capital to a company engaged in renewable energy business. It is a time bound activity where parts of the money are provided by the investor as and when the first part of the goal is accomplished,” said Mr Gupta of Deloitte.

IDFC Private Equity has invested nearly Rs 440 crore in Green Infra Ltd, a renewable energy company using platform investment. “The advantage of investing using this model is that investment is at par (if it is a blank sheet company, that is, if it has no track record) and the returns are high,” said Mr Parthasarathy.

Private sector falters on coal block development

While state-owned Coal India Ltd has fallen back on its production targets, the private sector too has not made much headway in the coal mining sector.

According to Power Ministry estimates, of the 98 blocks that had been handed over to private sector players, production has commenced only in 13 blocks. As a result, the expected production by March-end 2012 is likely to be just around 20 million tonnes against the projected 100 million tonnes.

One of the main reasons for the dismal trend is that non-serious players have cornered a majority of the captive blocks on offer and have no plans to adhere to the project development milestones.

To send a warning signal, the Coal Ministry had, in May and June this year, announced the de-allocation of around 16 blocks handed over to private sector players and state-owned firms such as NTPC Ltd. Late last year too, the Ministry had issued notices to firms owning 84 coal and four lignite blocks for not having developed the projects within stipulated the time.

The delay in development of domestic resources has left the country with no option but to import to tide over the supply shortages. In five years, it is estimated that India could be forced to import almost 30 per cent of the coal required to meet its electricity needs.

This would mean that consumers across the country could find electricity prices shooting up.

Or else, distribution utilities would be pushed closer to bankruptcy on account of the increased strain on their finances from costly coal imports.

Back of the envelope calculations show that against a projected requirement of 742 million tonnes of thermal coal for fuelling coal-fired stations by the end of the Twelfth Plan (2012-17), only 527 million tonnes of domestic coal is likely to be available even in the best case scenario. This translates into a shortfall of 215 million tonnes or 29 per cent of the country's total requirement projected by 2017.

G-20 leaders must address global economic crisis

The upcoming G-20 summit should find solutions to the “frustrations” of the people hit by the global economic crisis and not just focus on domestic financial concerns, the UN chief, Mr Ban Ki-moon, has said.

“That is what you are seeing all around the world, starting from Wall Street. People are showing their frustrations by trying to send a very clear and unambiguous message to the world,” he said.

He asked world leaders to use the upcoming G-20 summit in Cannes to find solutions for the entire global economy and not focus merely on domestic financial concerns.

In a message to the G-20 leaders, the UN chief said: “business-as-usual or just looking at their own domestic economic issues will not give any answers to the current very serious international economic crisis.”

The G-20 leaders have a very “broad and important, crucial, responsibility to perform...towards the global economy,” Mr Ban, currently on a visit to Switzerland, told reporters there yesterday.

He said leaders of the developed and emerging economies should restore confidence and trust of the people and come out with a broader perspective to tackle the economic crisis.

He said the G-20 nations constitute 80 per cent of the world’s GDP and 85 per cent of the world’s population.

“We have to really address this issue with a sense of flexibility and compromise, and come out with actionable plans,” he said.

Protesters inspired by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement camped out in many European cities to protests against corporate greed and state cutbacks.

From London and Frankfurt to Madrid and Amsterdam, hundreds of demonstrators pitched tents following a global day of action on Saturday and vowed to maintain their campaign.

The G-20 summit will be held on November 3-4 in Cannes, France.

India to host World Steel Conference next year

In an indication of India's emerging importance on the world steel map and massive growth it is poised for in this sector, India has been awarded the right to hold the World Steel Conference in October next year.

The governing body of the World Steel Association, representing 170 producers and accounting for 85 per cent of world steel production, has decided to give the rights to hold the World Steel Conference in India from October 8 to 12 next year, according to an official announcement made  on October 14.

State-run Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) Chairman C. S. Verma made this offer in Paris on October 14 on behalf of India's committee consisting of six leading steel producers of India. He extended a warm invitation to all CEOs of leading steel producing countries and companies to attend the conference to be held in New Delhi.

Mr. Verma said the views expressed by the global steel barons would go a long way in making the steel industry more sustainable, in the backdrop of the global economic uncertainties and volatilities in the recent past. “The conference in New Delhi will give a glimpse of the rich heritage and culture of India,'' he added.

He informed that the Indian steel industry had grown multi-fold from a production of about two million tonnes of crude steel in 1950-51 to nearly 70 million tonnes in 2010-11. Indian economy has recorded an impressive GDP growth in the last few years.

A report released by the World Steel Association, based on the just concluded conference, has forecast that apparent steel use will increase by 6.5 per cent to 1,398 mt in 2011, following growth of 15.1 per cent in 2010. In 2012, it is forecast that world steel demand will grow further by 5.4 pr cent. The WSA also projected that India's steel consumption is likely to grow by 4.3 per cent to reach 67.7 million tonnes due to economic growth. In 2012, the growth rate is forecast to accelerate to 7.9 per cent.

The member steel companies representing host country committee from India include JSW Steel, SAIL, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, Tata Steel, Essar Steel and JSW Ispat Steel.

Nobel Prize Winners in Economics

 

 

Introduced in 1967 but first prize was given in 1969. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded 43 times to 69 Laureates between 1969 and 2011.

Why are the individuals awarded a Prize in Economic Sciences called Laureates?
The word "Laureate" refers to being signified by the laurel wreath.

In Greek mythology, the god Apollo is represented wearing a laurel wreath on his head. A laurel wreath is a circular crown made of branches and leaves of the bay laurel (In latin: Laurus nobilis). In ancient Greek laurel wreaths were awarded to victors as a sign of honour - both in athletic competitions and in poetic meets.

Year	Winner	Field
1969	Ragnar Frish Joan Tinbergen	Dynamic Econometric Model of Growth
1970	Paul Samuelson	Contribution in Economic Analysis
1971	Simon Kuznets	Modern Economic Growth Analysis
1972	Kenneth Arrow John Hicko	General Equilibrium and Welfare Economics
1973	W.W. Leontief	Input-Outpur Model
1974	Gunnar Myrdal F. Von Hayek	Contribution in Growth Economics
1975	Tjalling Koopmans Leonid Kontarovich	Optimum Resource Allocation
1976	Milton Friedman	Monetary History and Consumption Analysis
1977	James Meade Bertel Ohlin	Internation Trade and Capital Flow
1978	Herbert Simon	Decision Process in Organisations
1979	T. Shultz Arthur Lewis	Economic Growth in Backward Nations
1980	Corienz Klein	Model Related to Eonomic Fluctuation
1981	James Tobin	Analysis of World Financial Market
1982	George Stigler	Public Regulation
1983	Gerald Debrew	Modification in General Equilibrium Analysis
1984	Richard Stone	National Income Accounting System
1985	Franco Modigliani	Financial Market and Saving Analysis
1986	James Boochanan	Economic and Political Decision Making
1987	Robert T. Solow	Economic Growth Model
1988	Moris Allies	Optimum Utilisation of Resources
1989	H. Trigway	Use of Probability Theory in Economics
1990	Harry Marco Vitz William Sharp M. Miller	Portfolio Choice Principle, Capital Asset Pricing Model and Principle of Corporate Finance
1991	Ronald Coase	Transaction Costs and Property Rights
1992	Gerry Backer	Micro Economic Analysis of Human Behaviour
1993	Robert Fogal Douglas North	Quantitative Methods in Economic History
1994	Joah Harsanyee John Nash, R. Selton	Theory of non-operative games
1995	Robert Lucas	Development of Rational Expectations Theory
1996	James Mirillis William Vickrey	Incentive Structures Analysis
1997	Robert C. Merton M. S. Scollas	Derivative and Stock Operations
1998	Amartya Sen	Welfare Economics
1999	Robert Mundell	Analysis of Monetary and Financial Policy in Exchange Rate System
2000	James Heckman Daniel Macfaddan	For developing solution to solve decision making problem
2001	George A. Akerlof A. Michael Spence Joseph E. Stiglitz	Developing theories about financial markets that can be applied to both developing and advanced countries
2002	Daniel Kahnemann Vernon L. Smith	Human Judgment and Decision Making under Uncertainity
2003	Robert Engle Clive Granger	Methods analysing economic time series with time-varying volatility and common trend
2004	Finn Kydland Edward Prescott	Banks and explaining business cycles
2005	Thomas C. Schelling Robert J. Aumann	Game Theory Analysis
2006	Admund Phelps	International Trade-off between inflation and unemployment
2007	Leonid,Hurwicz, Eric Maskin, Roger Myerson	Mechanism Design Theory
2008	Paul Krugman	New Trade Analysis Theory
2009	Elinor Ostrom Oliver E. Williamson	Analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm
2010	Peter A. Diamond Dale T. Mortensen Christopher A. Pissarides	Analysis of markets with search frictions
2011	Thomas J. Sargent Christopher A. Sims	Empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy

Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 Approved

The Union Cabinet of India on 13 October 2011 approved the introduction of the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 in the winter session of Parliament.

The Bill seeks to amend the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act and Recovery of Debts due to Banks & Financial Institutions (RDBF) Act so as to strengthen the regulatory and institutional framework related to recovery of debts due to banks and financial institutions through the Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011.

The proposed amendments would enable banks to improve their operational efficiency, deploy more funds for credit disbursement to retail investors, home loan borrowers, etc. without fearing for recovery, thus bringing about equity. Further, mandatory registration of subsisting security interest (equitable mortgages) would promote innovation in credit information.

The suggested amendments would strengthen the ability of banks to recover debts due from the borrowers, enhance the ability of the banks to extend credit to both corporate and retail borrowers, reduce the cost of funds for banks and their customers and reduce the level of non-performing assets.

The banks and financial institutions (FIs) were facing numerous problems in recovery of defaulted loans on account of delays in disposal of recovery proceedings. The Government, therefore, enacted the RDBF Act in 1993 and SARFAESI Act in 2002 for the purpose of expeditious recovery of non-performing assets (NPAs) of the banks and FIs. Although these two acts have helped in reducing the NPAs, banks have sent certain suggestions for further strengthening of the secured creditor rights.

Global Ratings firm Moody’s downgraded SBI’s Credit Rating

On 4 October 2011 the credit rating of the State Bank of India was downgraded by the Global ratings firm Moody’s. The ratings agency took SBI's grading to D+ from C-.

SBI had a shortage of capital to cushion bad loans or contingencies and thus started weakening asset quality. High interest rates in a slowing economy results in shorthand for loans that do not yield interest. This led Moody’s to adopt a negative view on SBI’s creditworthiness. As a result, the borrowing companies suffer. Rating downgrades usually are caution signals to bond investors. The Banking customers do not have encounter risk.

After the downgrade, SBI shares slipped 4% to Rs 1,787 on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the Sensex  dropped 1.77%  or 302 points to 15,685.

As of June 2011, the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of the SBI stood at 11.6 %. CAR is a measure of the back-up money a bank has to withstand loan uncertainties.

Tier-I capital stood at 7.6 % which was a little below the 8 % desired by the government. Tier-I capital broadly refers to shareholder equity.

Finance Ministry revised the Budget Estimate of Direct Tax Collection Upwards to Rs 5.85 lakh crore

The finance ministry in October 2011 revised the Budget estimate of direct tax collection upwards by Rs 53000 crore to Rs 5.85 lakh crore. The higher target marked an increase of 31% over last year’s collection of Rs 4.46 lakh crore. The Budget estimate of direct tax collection was revised upwards to bridge the shortfall that might occur due to reduction in customs duty on crude oil to offset price rise.

The growth in net direct tax collection in the April-September 2011 period was only 7% or Rs 1.94 lakh crore. But the overall gross collection rose by 23% to Rs 2.57 lakh crore. The collection was 36% of the budget estimates of Rs 5.32 lakh crore for 2011-12.

CBDT officials opined that the government will have to move fast on increasing the strength of the department. There are 1,200 posts of additional commissioners, considered the backbone of tax collection, of which there are at least 600 vacancies.

 CBDT created several new investigative departments, including a Directorate of Criminal Investigation with the mandate of inducting a marine and armed unit to tackle white-collar crimes and deal with tax evaders even on foreign shores.

CBDT’s request to enhance the manpower was personally vetted by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and the file was moved to DoPT for final approval.

Government’s Fiscal Deficit surged to Rs 2.73 lakh crore in April-August 2011 Period

According to Comptroller General of Accounts data released on 30 September, the government’s fiscal deficit surged nearly two-fold to Rs 2.73 lakh crore during the first five months (April-August) of the current fiscal 2011-12 due to low revenue realisation. Deficit was Rs 1.5 lakh crore in April-August period of 2010.

The higher deficit in the April-August, 2011 was attributed to slowdown in net revenue collection following higher refunds and moderation in economic growth rate. The government decided to increase 2011’s borrowing target by an additional Rs 53,000 crore anticipating slower tax collections and lower disinvestment proceeds.

The deficit in the April-August period was 66.3 per cent of the target originally estimated at the beginning of the 2011-12 fiscal for the whole year.

Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) chairman C Rangarajan  pointed out that the target to cut fiscal deficit to at 4. per cent of the GDP for the current financial year would be missed. The government's decision to borrow Rs 52872 crore more from the market, over and above Rs 4.17 lakh crore estimated earlier for the current year, put pressure on the deficit number.

The net tax revenue receipts for April-August period stood at Rs 1.44 lakh crore, which is 21.8 per cent of the budget estimates. On the other hand, total expenditure was at 37.5 per cent of the target at Rs 4.72 lakh crore.

During April-August 2011, the direct tax mop-up was at Rs 96738 crore, which is 3.3 per cent less than the corresponding period in 2010 on account of huge refunds of Rs 57622 crore. The advance tax paid by corporates witnessed a marginal growth of 13 per cent to Rs 68000 crore in the second quarter of 2011-12, compared with the corresponding period in 2010. However, the indirect tax collection in the first five months stood at Rs 1.40 lakh crore, an increase of 26 per cent, over the corresponding period in 2010.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had lowered the fiscal deficit target to Rs 412,817 crore or 4.6 per cent of the gross domestic product from 4.7 per cent achieved during 2010-11.

Post Offices to Provide Visa Related Services in Remote Areas

India Post has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with M/s VFS Global to provide visa related services for different countries through Post Offices. Memorandum of Understanding between India Post and M/s VFS Global was signed in Delhi on 30 August 2011 in the presence of Secretary, Department of Posts and senior officers from Department of Posts and VFS Global. The MOU sets out broad understandings and intentions of both the parties to provide visa related services at places where they are not currently available.

Post Office counters will be used for fee collections, providing visa applications forms, dissemination of visa information, biometric enrollment and other visa application process related services. India Post and VFS are also planning to cooperate in utilizing India Post’s courier service, Speed Post for movements of passports to VFS offices and concerned embassies, and their delivery back to the applicants. Both the parties will also explore to provide any other service that India Post may want to provide through VFS global network on mutually accepted terms.

M/s VFS Global is in the business of visa application services and is working with 35 governments across the world with over 450 offices in 50 countries. India Post and VFS realize that there are many areas of mutual interest and synergy between India Post and VFS would benefit the public at large.

Currently visa related services are largely available in metros only and the people from smaller cities and rural areas have to travel long distances in order to avail these services. Lack of information is also a major area of concern as this allows unscrupulous elements to cheat unsuspecting and vulnerable people. Engagement of India Post towards provision of visa related services is expected to address this situation to a large extent.

Finance Ministry relaxed Norms for Foreign Institutional Investments in Infrastructure Space

The finance ministry on 12 September 2011 relaxed the norms for foreign institutional investments (FII) in the infrastructure space by reducing the residual maturity and lock-in periods for investments in listed and unlisted bonds.

As per the new norms, FIIs were allowed to invest up to $5 billion in long-term infrastructure bonds having an initial maturity of five years and a residual maturity of one year compared to five years residual maturity before. FIIs were permitted to invest a maximum of $17 billion in long-term infrastructure bonds of an equivalent initial maturity but with a residual maturity period of three years compared to five years before. While the lock-in period for the $5 billion investment window was cut down from three years to one year, it will remain three years for the $17 billion investment.

The finance ministry had created a USD 3 billion window 9 August  2011 from the overall USD 25 billion limit. Qualified foreign investors (QFIs) were permitted to subscribe to debt schemes pertaining to infrastructure sector. $3 billion will continue to remain open to qualified foreign investors (QFIs) for investing in mutual fund debt schemes that invest in infrastructure sector.

The government had in May 2011 raised the FII investment limit to $25 billion for investments in listed and unlisted bonds from $5 billion before. The maturity period for these investments had been set at a minimum of five years and the lock-in period for three years. The scheme had been conceived to open new channels of funding for the infrastructure sector while deepening the corporate bond market. However the response to the scheme was founf to be tipid. The above changes were therefore introduced after consulting the Reserve Bank of India and the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The new norms are expected to kick-start FII flows into the long-term corporate bonds and facilitate funding of infrastructure projects. Despite the $25 billion ceiling, only $109 million entered the market through this route as on 31 August 2011.

Union Government reconstituted NMCC under Chairmanship of V. Krishnamurthy

The Union Government on 26 September 2011 announced the reconstitution of the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) under the chairmanship of V. Krishnamurthy. The NMCC was restructured vide a Government Gazette Notification dated 17 August 2011.

The council is to energise and sustain the growth of manufacturing industries and help in the implementation of strategies by the government.

Following the reconstitution, the council will comprise the Planning Commission Member (Industry), Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary, Finance Secretary, Heavy Industry Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Secretary and the Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research from the government side.

The President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President and Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) President will represent the apex industry organisations in the 28-member body.

Finance Ministry Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu and Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations Isher Judge Ahluwalia are the two economists in the reconstituted body.

The representatives of various industrial sectors included in the NMCC are Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, TVS Motor Company CMD Venu Srinivasan, S Kumars Group Chairman Mukul Kasliwal, Larsen & Toubro CMD A M Naik, ITC Ltd CMD Y C Deveshwar, Godrej & Boyce Ltd CMD Jamshyd Godrej, BHEL CMD B P Rao and HCL Infosystems Chairman and CEO Ajai Chowdhry.

NMCC was set up by the government as an inter-disciplinary body at the highest level to serve as a policy forum for credible and coherent policy initiatives in the manufacturing sector.

India Post Signed MOU with National Stock Exchange for Financial Awareness

India post signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Stock Exchange (NSE) on 26 September 2011 for deploying LCD TV screens in selected post offices across the country. The MOU was signed by Alka Jha, General Manager (BP), India Post and T. Vanket Rao, Vice President of National Stock Exchange. This MOU is aimed at creating financial awareness among the public. To begin with LCD TV screens will be deployed in 50 post offices across the country.  

These LCD TV screens shall be utilized for disseminating financial awareness and awareness on various postal products and services for the common public visiting post offices. This step will bring the financial market place closer to the people considering the importance and footfall at post offices.

Besides publicizing products available in post offices, India Post will use the facility to train the postal staff. Showcasing information about market will help people develop live skills about finances and people will be able to manage their finances better.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) received SEBI’s Approval to set up SME Exchange

Asia’s oldest bourse Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 28 September 2011 got an approval to set up an exchange for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The permission from SEBI is likely to boost  BSE's efforts in offering multiple asset classes to Indian investors. The permission to set up SME will enable BSE to contribute towards the governmental agenda of greater financial inclusion and allowing promising enterprises of the future to access retail capital.

The new exchange set up by BSE will allow small unlisted domestic companies, with less than Rs 10 crore capital base, to raise money from the primary market.

BSE was committed to deliver the best products, services, and asset classes to all our stakeholders and look forward to the success of the SME segment. While the government has taken several measures to ease access to credit, giving them easier access to equity is the next step in that process. The new exchange will be a facilitator in raising funds for SMEs.

BSE SME Exchange conducted several seminars for educating the SMEs on the benefits of listing and the preparations required for listing on the BSE SME Platform across the country. BSE SME tied up with channel partners, who include various institutions and associations engaged in the development of SMEs. More seminars are lined up in this year.

BSE SME planned for sectoral seminars for auto ancillaries, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, agro-based industries, suppliers to OEMS and the like.

National Stock Exchange (NSE), India’s largest exchange, is currently awaiting a formal Sebi approval to start a similar SME exchange. In May 2011 Sebi had given an in-principle approval to both BSE and NSE to set up SME exchanges.

Sebi had on 2 June 2011 allowed exchanges to introduce programmes to enhance liquidity of thinly-traded securities in their equity derivatives segments. NSE currently controls almost the entire equity derivatives market, with a turnover of about Rs 29.63 trillion in August. BSE’s comparable turnover was Rs 34.09 crore.

For the 12th time since March 2010 RBI hiked Repo Rate by 25 basis points to control Inflation

In a move to contain persisting inflationary pressure, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the short-term policy rate (repo rate) by 25 basis points from 8 per cent to 8.25 per cent on 16 September 2011. The reverse repo rate as a result got automatically adjusted to 7.25 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate to 9.25 per cent.

Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow from the central bank and reverse repo is the rate at which banks park their funds with the RBI. The central bank raised rates for the 12th time since March 2010.

Headline year-on-year wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rose from 9.2 per cent in July to 9.8 per cent in August 2011. Inflation in respect of primary articles and fuel groups moved up in August. Year-on-year non-food manufactured products inflation rose from 7.5 per cent in July to 7.7 per cent in August 2011 suggesting a continupus demand pressures.

Oil marketing companies raised the price of petrol by Rs.3.14 a litre with effect from 16 September 2011. The rise in petrol prices is to have a direct impact of 7 basis points to WPI inflation, in addition to indirect impact with a lag.

GDP growth decelerated to 7.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2011-12 from 7.8 per cent in the previous quarter (January to March) and 8.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2010-11. The index of industrial production (IIP) slowed from 8.8 per cent year-on-year in June 2011 to 3.3 per cent in July 2011. Excluding capital goods, the growth of IIP was higher at 6.7 per cent in July 2011 compared with 4.4 per cent in June 2011. Cumulatively, the IIP increased by 5.8 per cent during April-July 2011, compared with an increase of 9.7 per cent in the corresponding period of 2010.

SEBI issued Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers Regulations, 2011

Securities and Exchange Boar of India (SEBI) on 23 September 2011 notified the new takeover rule under which an entity buying 25% stake in a listed firm will have to mandatorily make an open offer to buy an additional 26% shares from the public. The notification follows the decision taken at SEBI's board meeting in July 2011.

The new norms mark an increase in the open offer size for public shareholders from 20 per cent currently. The trigger for making such an offer was raised from 15 per cent under the existing regulations.

According to SEBI no acquirer shall acquire shares in a target company which taken together with shares or voting rights held by him entitle them to exercise 25 per cent or more of the voting rights unless the acquirer makes a public announcement of an open offer.

The new regulations, titled as The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 will come into effect from October 2011.

As per the new rules there would be no separate provision for non-compete fees, which allows promoters to higher price than the public shareholders, and all shareholders should be given the exit option at the same price. SEBI, as part of the new code, allowed voluntary offers subject to certain conditions.

Regarding control and offer size, SEBI mentioned that the existing definition of control would be retained and the minimum offer size shall be increased to 26% of the target company.

Accepting the recommendations of a SEBI-appointed panel on the matter, the regulator also decided to abolish the non-compete fees that acquirers generally pay to the sellers in merger and acquisition deals. While the recommendation on trigger was accepted, the suggestion for offer size has been kept lower due to intense opposition from industry and other market participants.

The panel had opined against non-compete fees for promoters which often worked out as high as 25% of the deal value.

A SEBI panel on new takeover regulation had in 2010 recommended an open offer for buying up to 100% in the target company, while suggesting an increase in the trigger limit to 25%.

RBI directed Banks to implement Fraud Risk Management Practices

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 22 September 2011 directed banks to implement various safety measures related to credit card and debit card usage over a period of next two years in order to eliminate cases of fraud and ensure security of transactions.

The RBI emphasised on the need to migrate to Euro pay MasterCard Visa (EMV) chip and PIN based cards from the present magnetic strip cards as the magnetic strip card is vulnerable to skimming and cloning. The need for a complete migration to EMV chip and PIN based cards could be considered based on the progress of Aadhar (Unique Identification Card) in 18 months time frame.

The RBI directed banks to strengthen the existing payment infrastructure and future proofing system along with adoption of fraud risk management practices within a period of next 12-24 months. An imperative need was felt to secure card based transactions as well to protect the interests of the card holders.

In the circular issued in this repect the central bank directed banks to implement improved fraud risk management practices by 30 September 2012 and secure the technology set up by 30 September 2013.