Business Today July 2016

Henning Holck-Larsen and Soren Kristian Toubro set up Larsen & Toubro (L&T) in Mumbai in 1938, initially as a representative of some Danish dairy equipment companies. In 1940, it got into construction and execution of big projects. By the 1950s, it had already made a name for itself for its ability to take charge of complex construction and engineering projects. In the 1960s and 1970s, it diversified into a number of areas, mostly businesses where some degree of engineering expertise would come into play, even though construction and engineering projects brought in the bulk of the sales and profits. In 1965, Anil Manibhai Naik joined L&T as a junior engineer. He rose through the ranks and became CEO and MD of the company in 1999. In 2003, he became the…

Industries Buried Under a Mountain of Debt This refers to your cover story on debt (Shedding Debt, June 19). It is a well analysed piece by the author about the mounting bad loans of Indian businesses. The demon of debt has left none – not even the big industrial houses like Tata Steel, Vedanta, and Bharti Airtel – outside its clutches. And the real estate industry is the worst affected. Since time immemorial, debt has always played a negative role. So, both for an individual or a firm, one has to be very, very realistic while dealing with unwanted debt. Definitely, it will take time to trim it but with a right plan, one can achieve the goal of becoming debt-free. B.S. Acharya, Berhampur Recognising Truckers’ Contribution This refers…

98,000CRORE bullet train project was stopped government telling the Indian Railways that the huge revenue losses from land allocation cannot be justified, given only a small portion of the corridor falls in the state. QUOTE “You will know when there is news. It would be cruel of me to spoil the fun the press is having” Raghuram Rajan, Reserve Bank of India Governor, in response to speculations over whether he would get a second term in office. TRYST WITH HISTORY Prime Minister Narendra Modi got his history wrong yet again when he told a gathering in Washington D.C. that the Sun Temple in Konark, Odisha, was built 2,000 years ago. According to the Archaeological Survey of India, the temple was built in AD 1255, or around 750 years ago. GRAVE…

23 BRIDGING THE GAP WHAT: Financial Clinic for MSMEs: Facilitating Businesses for Sustainability WHEN: June 23 (Mumbai); July 13 (Bengaluru); August 10 (Kolkata); August 30 (Hyderabad) WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The events will be held to provide assistance to regional MSMEs in getting the right fund provider as per their specific financial needs. Senior government officials and industry stalwarts will participate in panel discussions at the summit. 30 - 01 WORLD AFFAIRS WHAT: 8th Annual Session of the UN Governing Bodies Secretariat WHEN: June 30-July 1, 2016, Washington D.C. WHAT TO LOOK FOR: The group comprising 25 UN agencies and the IMF will engage in discussions related to corporate governance, meeting structures, gender inclusivity, inter-agency staff exchanges and sustainable development goals. 01 TACKLING NPAs WHAT: ARCON-2016: Second Summit on ARCs…

STEADY GROWTH India is now the fastest growing major economy in the world, edging past China A LOW INCOME COUNTRY BRICS peers (Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa) have a much higher per capita GNI than India. Brazil, China and South Africa belong to the upper middle income economy bracket while Russia is a high income economy INFLATION Much higher than the world average and remains a source of concern GIANT ECONOMY BUT... India is the third largest economy globally and accounts for 6.8 per cent of the world GDP based on purchasing power parity in 2014. But it ranks 146 in terms of per capita GDP, far below other BRICS countries HIGH SAVINGS India’s gross savings and gross capital formation (GCF) is higher than the average of lower middle income…

When defaulter-on-the-run Vijay Mallya offered to pay 4,000 crore to a consortium of 17 banks as a one-time settlement for his 9,000-crore outstanding loan, the bankers approached the Centre for assistance. But the government, which happens to be the owner of the public sector banks, threw the ball back to their court saying it was “a purely commercial decision of the banks”. The banks were left stranded as they neither had sufficient collaterals to recover the loan amount, nor did they have an answer to Mallya’s offer in the absence of a ‘loan haircut’ model. Soon, they rejected the offer, possibly fearing the wrath of investigating agencies, including the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Many believe that Mallya’s offer for a one-time settlement has set the ball rolling for working out…