Innholdsfortegnelse for February 28, 2016 i Business Today

THE INDUSTRY IS PITCHING FOR INCREASING THE EXPORT DUTY ON BAUXITE TO DISCOURAGE CHINA AND OTHERS FROM BUYING IT CHEAP FROM INDIA AND THEN SELLING BACK VALUE-ADDED MATERIAL WHAT’S PUTTING PRESSURE ON THE ALUMINIUM INDUSTRY Steep rise in cheap exports from China Higher taxes on coal which accounts for big input costs Inverted duty structure that allows China to import bauxite from India and sell back finished goods AND WHAT THE INDUSTRY WANTS Raising import duty on aluminium finished products from 5 per cent to 15 per cent Reducing import duty on raw materials from 7.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent Increasing export duty on bauxite from 20 per cent to 50 per cent Increasing Duty Drawback An unprecedented downturn in the global commodity cycle and persistent rise in…

1 TWO CONSECUTIVE BAD MONSOONS... % deviation (rainfall) from normal 2 ...CAUSE FARM SECTOR GROWTH TO SLOW Gross Value Added at Constant Basic Prices (2011/12 prices) 3 MEANWHILE, THE GOVT DOES NOT RAISE THE MSP OF CROPS... 4 ...CAUSING RURAL INCOME GROWTH TO COME TO A STANDSTILL... Average wage increase (%) in rural India for men 5 ...EVEN AS RURAL INFLATION CONTINUES TO BITE Retail price inflation (in%) for rural labourers…

“Over 180 million satellite TV viewers are paying anywhere between 200 and 450 for their TV connection. Can you entice at least 20 million viewers to pay for 100 more for digital content, which they can have on demand?”JYOTI DESHPANDE, CEO, Eros International If you walked into the office of the CEO of a broadcast company some 18 months ago, the conversation invariably centred around their forthcoming big-ticket television shows. With the television distribution ecosystem beginning to get digitised and the consumers getting access to better quality television viewing, every broadcaster was more than willing to shell out crores on high-concept shows. The game was to strengthen their offerings of high-definition channels. While Star India didn’t get tired of talking about its `100-crore investment on the epic Mahabharata, Sony Pictures…

Sajida was 14 years old when she got her first period. In the middle of the school day, she was sent home, amid giggles and whispers of her classmates. Back in the one-room tenement, where she lived with five members of her family, Sajida’s mother equipped her eldest daughter with a soft muslin cloth. Sajida’s was kept at home for two weeks. Her father reluctantly allowed her to complete the school year, but that was to be her last. What does a girl need to study for anyways? Shaadi hi to karin hai (after all she must be married off). In the old days it was easier – girls were married soon after puberty. But now the law requires them to be at least 18. Thus, Sajida spent the next…

The real show stoppers were a bevy of new compact sports utility vehicles mostly stamped in neat metal frames and ideal for the fast-expanding Indian middle class. The post-liberalisation economic boom and rising incomes have helped the industry raise aspirations where the average ticket size of cars has now touched `5 lakh – a quantum jump from `3.2 lakh five years ago. Banking on the growing propensity to spend more on cars, companies have pushed the envelope to develop new-generation vehicles, with SUVs and crossovers dominating this season of the motoring show. From Hyundai’s HND-14, a sub-four metre SUV that boasts multi-function lifestyle in its acclaimed fluidic styling, to Maruti Suzuki’s aggressively priced Vitara Brezza, which is expected to change the way Indians perceive the fast-growing market, were the most…

On a sunny Saturday afternoon 84 golfers teed off at Eagleton Golf Resort to participate in the Bangalore leg of the 20th edition of the LLOYD-Business Today Pro-Am of Champions event. The picturesque golf course at Eagleton fulfilled a dual purpose for every golfer who participated. It presented each with the appropriate level of challenge and enjoyment. The 18-hole championship course, which has even hosted a European Ladies Tour, is a pleasure to play on with changes in elevation, water hazards in play and nearly 70 bunkers to avoid. With the resort set-up, which includes rooms, restaurants and other leisure activities, this is a perfect weekend getaway. Played in the Stableford format with Double Peoria handicap, the afternoon witnessed some great golfing action with players vying for both individual as…

THE LATEST CHANGES, 78 IN ALL, HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED BY THE COMPANIES LAW COMMITTEE The half-baked Companies Act, 2013, has come to haunt industry yet again. It has been just one-and-a-half year since the new Companies Act came into force. Already, around 100 amendments have been either made or proposed. The latest changes, 78 in all, have been recommended by the Companies Law Committee, constituted in May 2015. And this, when the full law is not in force yet. Alhough most experts have welcomed the recommendations, they complain that the changes are too much in too little time (the law came into force on 1 April 2014). This shows the law was hurriedly drafted, they say. Darshan Upadhyay, Partner, Economic Laws Practice, says even when the law was being drafted,…

India, as a nation, should move forward by taking everybody together and, that is why, we speak about the need for faster growth, and inclusive growth. The government should increase its social sector spending to achieve that faster and inclusive growthD. Raja, National Secretary, CPI, and Member of Parliament Mysimplephilosophyisthatgrowthhastobeeitherdemanddriven or policy-driven. The fact is that after 2008 it has been largely policy-driven, whether economic or monetary policies. Sensible policies helped us maintain that edge. For some time we are going to be a policy-led growth economyMukesh Butani, Chairman, BMR Advisors, and Managing Partner, BMR Legal The Centre is now actually looking at areas where there is real deficit, that is, what's on the ground, and some attempt (is being made) to actually address those. Whether the government will be…

On December 17, 2015, US-based Philip Morris, the manufacturer of iconic cigarette brand Marlboro, lost a legal battle against the Australian government in an international arbitration tribunal. The company was trying to challenge an Australian law, which was legislated from a public health perspective to discourage the promotion of tobacco products. The Australian government had limited the use of brands, logos and trademarks on cigarette packs sold in the country. Philip Morris argued that the law harmed its investment interests in Australia. The global tobacco giant was empowered to drag the Australian government before a tribunal set up under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules on the basis of an agreement that the country had earlier signed with Hong Kong. The Investment Promotion and Protection…

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government says the core of its economic strategy is investment-led, and not consumption-led, growth. However, its ambitious plan to invest heavily in infrastructure is being hit by a resource crunch, at the heart of which is the country’s extremely low tax base — the proportion of people out of the total population that pays taxes (see A Narrow Base). A lot of income and business activities in India go unreported. Due to this, the government loses a significant tax revenue, both direct and indirect. This is the reason for the country’ low tax-to-GDP ratio of 9-10 per cent over the past five years. Brazil’s tax-to-GDP ratio is 14 per cent. The figures are 15 per cent for Russia and 25 per cent for South Africa…

The Dharavi unit employs 10 women to make chemical-free biodegradable sanitary pads. It could also help the women of Dharavi to improve their menstrual hygiene Aakar provides the raw material and distributes the finished product. Here, pine fibre is being pulverised and stacked in moulds before it is pressed manually The sealing section takes a moulded pad base, puts a layer of bio sheet on it and seals it with another pressing machine. The supervisor then quality checks it before it is packed After inspection, pads are sterilised and packed into muted green packaging with the Anandi logo, to differentiate it from the bright colours of chemical pads available in the market…

10,000 Electric two-wheelers and cars are sold in India every year. In China, it is over 200, 000 The Indian automotive industry’s biggest event brings to fore a host of new and environment-friendly mobility options, which could allay growing environment concerns. While hybrid and electric technologies may still be in their nascent stage in the subcontinent, with the pressure on fossil fuels ramping up, green technologies are evolving as a viable power solution to tackle the ever-growing commuting demands. The emphasis on these alternatives was more than evident at the Auto Expo 2016. The buzz was around Toyota Prius – the world's first mass-produced hybrid with over eight million units sold so far. It offers the most solid template of technological evolution – a conventional petrol engine mated to an…

A few years ago, the iPhone and Android platforms took the smartphone world by storm, and players who dominated this space at that time started losing out. Nokia’s Symbian, for example, gave in and its smartphone portfolio was sold off to Microsoft. BlackBerry, which was once a cult, revamped its operating system to come up with BlackBerry 10 OS to stay relevant. The OS offered flawless productivity and multitasking, but again, the company did not have the necessary apps to take on competition. Now, BlackBerry is trying something new – adopting the Android operating system for its hardware. But is it too little, too late? Physical Keyboard Is Back Be it the BlackBerry Bold 9900 or the Playbook tablet, it always offered sturdy devices. The overall build quality, including the…

The evening of January 29 in Bangalore, India’s IT and start-up hub, made for a perfect setting for discussion and brainstorming amongst HR leaders of top companies in the city. The venue, the Hyatt hotel, turned a hotbed of activity as panellists debated the nuances of (a) how start-ups should deal with HR issues while growing the business, and (b) the freelance marketplace: Can it plug the skills gap for companies? Both discussions were moderated by BT’S Deputy Editor Venkatesha Babu. The first topic starred six of the city’s leading entrepreneurs and HR practitioners. K. Ganesh, Partner of Growthstory.in and a serial entrepreneur, started proceedings: “When you start a company, you’re trying to prove a business model. As you grow, the culture and kind of people required changes.” Ganesh referred…

INTERVIEW “India has to make dramatic changes to have same opportunities as China” John and Doris Naisbitt, authors of international bestseller Megatrends, talk about the rise of the Global Southern belt and its impact on the world in an interaction with BT’s Sarika Malhotra businesstoday.in/naisbitt-book PERSPECTIVES Why US-led Trade Deal Worries India The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, signed between the US and 11 other countries, may be a threat to India businesstoday.in/ustrade-india How to Play the Indian Financial Markets The strategy for different asset classes over the next few months businesstoday.in/india-financialmarkets Early Q3 Numbers Show Continuing Decline in Revenue Growth Analysts believe that this is definitely not an inflection point for India Inc businesstoday.in/q3-revenuegrowth NEWS Five Takeaways from Raghuram Rajan While reviewing the monetary policy, the RBI governor has made…

FM ARUN JAITLEY HAD EXPRESSED A DESIRE TO PHASE OUT TAX INCENTIVES WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY LOWERING THE EFFECTIVE RATE OF CORPORATE TAXES Prime Minister Narendra Modi was merely stating the obvious. At a recent function in Delhi, he expressed his discomfort over the practice of giving away 62,000 crore annually as tax incentives to corporate India. His government’s stand on such forgone revenue was well known much before this observation. The difficulty in continuing with several tax incentives – 32 of them contributed to a revenue loss of `62,398 crore in the previous financial year – was highlighted by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his budget speech last year. Jaitley had expressed a desire to phase out these tax incentives while simultaneously lowering the effective rate of corporate taxes from 30…

It is a Saturday afternoon, and all lanes of Ganori village, 60 km from Aurangabad, are leading to the weekly market. The elders, in resplendent pink turbans, are having a heated discussion. The topic is local politics. They are worried. Rains have eluded the village for the third year in a row. The people are struggling to make ends meet. Take Devidas Nagorao Dhangore, who grows cotton and bajra on his five-acre farm. When rainfall is good, he earns `40,000 a year. For the past two years, he has been earning half of this. Last year, he bought seeds worth 50,000 on credit. He has been unable to pay up. That’s not all. Two years ago, when harvest was good, he had bought a bike. He has not been able…

$100 bn Size of the Indian real estate market The world’s tallest building so far, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, employed this technique. So did one of the marvels of modern-day architecture – the Sydney Opera House. Prefabricated construction, beginning in Europe after World War II, has been commonplace in many parts of the world for decades. But it is only now catching on in India. Building, not brick by brick, but by joining parts that have already been cast – much the way cars are assembled at automobile factories – comprises so far merely 1 per cent or so of India’s $100-billion real estate market. But given the prolonged slump in residential real estate, with inventories at a historic high – around 200,000 unsold flats in the National Capital Region…

After hearing of a recent Oxford University study on advancing automation and its potential to displace workers, Yuh-Mei Hutt, of Tallahassee, Florida, wrote, “The idea that half of today’s jobs may vanish has changed my view of my children’s future.” Hutt was reacting not only as a mother; she heads a business and occasionally blogs about emerging technologies. Familiar as she is with the upside of computerisation, the downside looms large. “How will they compete against AI?” she asked. “How will they compete against a much older and experienced workforce vying for even fewer positions?” Suddenly, it seems, people in all walks of life are becoming very concerned about advancing automation. And they should be: Unless we find as many tasks to give humans as we find to take away…

The biennial motoring show brings some super star attractions offering unique opportunities for mobility. Honda introduced Navi – a dinky little bike with unique styling. The other attraction was the driverless shuttle bus, which could be the mode of transport in controlled campuses. It may not be in the same league as Google's autonomous car, but would surely change the way short commuting is perceived. The cabin-less structure featuring a floating design seat and powered by Honda's MotoGP RC213V engine, the Maclaren Honda MP4-30 concept model embodies the feat of creative craftsmanship.…

From Behind Bars Having seen various ups and downs in his life, Sahara Group founder, Subrata Roy, has decided to write his life experiences from within the walls of Tihar jail, where he has been incarcerated for about two years now. Life Mantras is the first of the three books under the series titled Thoughts from Tihar. Roy’s group firms were accused of unlawfully collecting millions from investors. Sahara has been trying to sell some of its prized assets, including New York's Plaza Hotel, the Grosvenor House in London, Sahara Star Hotel in Mumbai and its stake in a Formula One racing team, to free Roy from jail. The Banker’s Cure Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s recent decision to reduce key interest rates below zero could possibly help the…