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Slowdown temporary, India will revert to 8% growth: PM
Cobrapost sting: I-T notices to ICICI, Axis, HDFC banks
Arrest of Amway honchos will send a wrong signal: Ficci
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Restrict EPF contribution to basic pay: Ficci
Target defaulters, Chidambaram tells I-T officials
China’s increasing exports to India worrisome, says Ludhiana industry
Corporate Results
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Slowdown temporary, India will revert to 8% growth: PM
Tokyo, May 28
"The 5 per cent growth witnessed last year should be seen as a temporary slowdown. The Indian economy grew at an average of 8 per cent per year over the past decade, including the last year of 5 per cent growth. "The economic fundamentals which made that possible are still intact. We are confident therefore that we can return to the growth path of 8 per cent," said Singh, who is on three days visit to Japan. The visiting Prime Minister also assured business leaders that India would be taking more steps to attract foreign investments. "We have taken tangible steps to enhance incentives for investments. We have liberalised foreign investments in areas like multi-brand retail, power exchanges and civil aviation and further rationalisation and simplification is being planned. We have introduced further reforms in the financial markets," he said. Singh also informed that the RBI has indicated that it will start the process of issuing new bank licences. "As a result of these efforts, we expect that growth in 2013-14 will be much better than in the previous year, hopefully around 6 per cent or so. We will do even better in 2014-15," he said, adding, India's strategy for growth involves heavy investment in infrastructure. Admitting that "lack of quality infrastructure" is the single biggest obstacle to achieving higher levels of competitiveness, Singh informed business leaders that India has targeted an investment of around $1 trillion in infrastructure over the 12th Plan period (2012-17). Half of the investment is expected from the private sector and public-private-partnership. "India’s growth will provide expanding opportunities for foreign investment...I hope Japanese business will pick up a large share of the investment opportunities that India offers," the Prime Minister said. India accounts for only 4 per cent of total Japanese outward investment flow into Asia. — PTI
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Cobrapost sting: I-T notices to ICICI, Axis, HDFC banks
New Delhi, May 28 The department has asked these banks to produce documents for verification as part of its tax evasion probe. The notices have been issued under Section 131 of the I-T Act (power regarding discovery, production of evidence) after going through two confidential reports submitted recently to the Department of Revenue by the RBI and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), official sources said today. Apart from production of "books of account, deposit logs and other documents" over a period of more than 12 months, the department has also asked the banks to submit the reports of their respective internal enquiries conducted in the aftermath of the Cobrapost expose, they said. — PTI |
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Arrest of Amway honchos will send a wrong signal: Ficci
New Delhi, May 28 Three Amway officials - William S Pinckney, Anshu Budhraja and Sanjay Malhotra - were granted bail today by the Wayanad district court in Kerala. Amway said in a statement, “We also reiterate our continued confidence in the Indian legal and judiciary system and are confident of a favorable outcome at the end of the investigative and legal process in Kerala”. The company said it is “aggrieved and shocked at the sudden and unwarranted act of detention of its officials”, especially when they were fully cooperating in investigations, responsive to queries and documentation requests of the police authorities. It said a routine consumer redressal issue or complaint has been misinterpreted and booked under the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (PCMCS) (Banning) Act, 1978. This has repeatedly been a challenge not only in Kerala but elsewhere across India for the direct selling industry. The direct selling industry has been repeatedly seeking an amendment to the PCMCS Act. Direct selling is a business model involving the sale of products. There are no deposits or promised financial returns, which was at the heart of the PCMCS Act. Amway said it is a legitimate direct selling FMCG organisation which operates in 108 countries across the world retailing more than 450 products globally and 140 products in India, and has been compliant with all laid-down laws and guidelines of the Union and state governments, including that of the state governments of Kerala and Rajasthan. Ficci said the arrest of Amway India CEO William Scott Pinckney under the PCMCS Act is inappropriate. Ficci feels this arrest is unwarranted since there is no criminality involved and this case should have been handled as a consumer redressal also. Ficci said this arrest will give an inappropriate missive to the global business community and might also have adverse impact on Indo-US Business Relationships. Ficci secretary-general Didar Singh has written to the Chief Secretary of of Kerala requesting for a re-look into the matter.
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Restrict EPF contribution to basic pay: Ficci
New Delhi, May 28 Ficci said the proposal to re-notify the definition of 'basic wages' under the Employees Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provisions Act (EPF and MP Act) 1952, is fraught with huge financial implications both for industry and the government. It said it may even be counter-productive to the EPFO, as organisations who are extending coverage to employees receiving salaries above Rs 6,500 may choose to opt out, depriving the employees coverage under a globally renowned social security scheme. Most of the employees today join an organisation above this statutory limit and they are voluntarily covered by the industry. Currently, there are more than 50 million EPF subscribers from both organised and unorganised sectors and assets worth Rs 5 lakh crore are available with the EPFO for investment. Almost 40 per cent of these assets go to the Central and state government securities, said Naina Lal Kidwai, president, Ficci. The introduction of a triple test for the purposes of defining basic wages by a notification dated November 30, 2012 will arm the field staff of the EPFO with powers to brand any component of salary, other than those exempted, as part of the wages for deducting EPF contribution, imposing thereby a huge financial liability on the establishments. The move is ill-conceived and if brought into force will dampen business and investment sentiments which are already at a low ebb. However, Ficci supports PF deduction on full amount of 'minimum wages' where such wages are being paid under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. For employees who are on a higher salary bracket and receiving allowances as incentives or performance-based rewards to promote business, the PF contribution should be restricted to basic salary. |
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Gold, silver tumble on weak global cues
New Delhi, May 28 Sentiment turned bearish after gold declined in global markets, boosting the case for reduced stimulus. Gold in Singapore, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, fell by 0.6 per cent to $1,386.22 an ounce and silver by 0.7 per cent to $22.48 an ounce in Singapore. In addition, sluggish demand at prevailing higher levels and rising equities lured investors to park their funds in stock markets, which had negative impact on the precious metals. — PTI
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Target defaulters, Chidambaram tells I-T officials
New Delhi, May 28 "Tax officials should target non-filers and stop-filers to widen the tax base and tax collections," he said while addressing top officials of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) here. The minister emphasised that use of modern technology can yield far better results as far as tax collections are concerned than any other way. "We are in favour of intelligence and technology-based tax collection system which is both non-intrusive and non-evasive," Chidambaram said, adding the CBDT has assured that it will not only achieve the targets for 2013-14 but would also make every effort to exceed the target. The Income Tax Department is focusing on non-filers and stop-filers. It has identified 12 lakh such assessees and issued letters to about 1.75 lakh asking them to declare their true income and pay taxes. The Finance Ministry had undertaken an exercise to identify PAN card holders who had engaged in high-value transactions but were not paying full taxes. Based on the data analysis, the Income Tax Department has identified 12.19 lakh persons who have not filed tax returns. Of these, the department has identified high-profile cases for follow-up and monitoring. This exercise is now being expanded and a compliance management cell has been set up to ensure follow-up action and track return filing and tax payment of the target segment. He asked the top tax officials to "make quality assessments and issue quality orders along with speed". |
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China’s increasing exports to India worrisome, says Ludhiana industry
Ludhiana, May 28 During the year 2011-12, imports from China to India were to the tune of Rs 2,75,998 crore, which increased to Rs 2,95,520 crore by 2012-13 with an increase of 7.07 per cent. Whereas on the other side, exports from India to China have decreased from Rs 87,669 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 73,483 crore by 2012-13 with a decrease of more than 16 per cent. In the same period, exports to the USA from India have increased from Rs 1,66,474 crore to Rs 1,96,538 crore with an increase of 18 per cent and to the UAE it has increased from Rs 1,72,268 crore to Rs 1,97,716 crore with an increase of 14.77 per cent. "It is shocking that on the one hand India's exports to major countries are increasing while on the other hand Indian exports to China are decreasing by a huge margin of 16 per cent," said Badish Jindal, president of the Federation of Association of Small Industries of India (FASII). India is exporting just 4.5 per cent of its total exports to China whereas it is importing more than 11 per cent of its total import from China. The trade imbalance between India and China is increasing on year-on-year basis. Chinese imports have badly hit Ludhiana’s bicycle and electronics industry. Local industrialists want the government to take measures to check invasion of Chinese goods into India. "The products that we are importing from China can easily be produced by MSMEs in India. We are mainly exporting raw material to China, which we require here badly. We suggest some products should be kept solely for the production of MSME sector," added Jindal who will soon meet MSME minister in New Delhi. The FASII will also suggest preventive measures to the minister such as imposing high import duties on reserve MSME’s products in India and ban on subsidised tours to China by the Ministry of MSME. trade imbalance * India’s imports from China have increased by 7.07% * India’s exports to China have decreased by 16% * India exports just 4.5% of its total exports to China whereas it imports more than 11% of its total imports from China
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Corporate Results
New Delhi, May 28 Net profit in January-March at Rs 618.18 crore was 27.89 per cent higher than Rs 483.34 crore net profit in the same period a year ago, the company said. The company board recommended the payment of final dividend at the rate of 56 per cent (Rs 5.60 per share) for 2012-13. Havells net up 20% Electrical equipment maker Havells India today reported 19.84 per cent increase in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 at Rs 109.68 crore. Net income from operations stood at Rs 1,169.6 crore during the period under review, as against Rs 1,046.68 crore. Total income grew by 11 per cent to Rs 7,247.89 crore as compared to Rs 6,518.20 crore in the previous fiscal, it added. Colgate Palmolive Colgate Palmolive today reported 5.78 per cent decline in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013 at Rs 123.2 crore. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 130.77 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal, the company said. Net sales during the period under review stood Rs 811.58 crore as compared to Rs 685.94 crore in the previous fiscal, it added. Cognizant clocks highest revenue US-headquartered firm Cognizant clocked the highest growth rate of 20.1 per cent in revenues among the top five India-based IT services providers last year, global research firm Gartner said today. The NASDAQ-listed firm also displaced Infosys as the second-largest IT services provider in 2012 with a worldwide revenue of $7.1 billion, Gartner said. — PTI
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Addressing leading business honchos at a luncheon hosted by industry chamber Nippon Keidanren, Singh expressed confidence that economic growth in 2013-14 will improve to around 6 per cent from the decade's low of 5 per cent witnessed in the previous financial year.