New Delhi, May 22
The industry is upbeat over the proposed moves of the new government led by Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi to restructure ministries and a move towards a governance paradigm of “minimum government and maximum governance”.

Ficci today said it welcomed the new evolving governance structure with a focus on”minimum government and maximum governance”. This theme had been extensively used by Modi in his election campaign.

Ficci president Sidharth Birla said, “Plans to restructure ministries, have strong Centre-state ties and evolve long-term development programmes show the progressive mindset of the new leadership.”

There is a lot of buzz about restructuring of central ministries and reducing their number to around 20. This will involve merging of ministries with synergies for instance in infrastructure, energy, trade, tourism and social sectors, among others.

Ficci said it had suggested convergence of related ministries, especially in sectors like energy and infrastructure for better co-ordination and governance. This would ensure speedy clearances and productive decision making.

“A more responsive public administration with defined accountability will help restore credibility of institutions. We complement the new government on adopting true management excellence and seeking internal opinions and feedback on governance,” said Birla.

On the reports about breaking up Coal India and opening up the sector for competition, he says a break up of Coal India has been a long-standing demand in the interest of energy security and Ficci hopes that the new leadership will consider this reform at the earliest.

Former Power Minister and Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu said there was no need to privatise Coal India Ltd (CIL) right now for improving its production, although bids could be invited from private players for excavations.

In addition, moves are also afoot to liberalise FDI norms in sectors such as construction, railways, defence, e-commerce retailing and to boost manufacturing.

FDI into India grew by 8% year-on-year to $24.3 billion in 2013-14, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion data.

“We welcome the move of new leadership in recognising the industry concerns on land, labour, and environment. Ficci believes that these matters must be best left to states. We have suggested strengthening of Centre-state linkages for meaningful decentralisation for development. States must be incentivised to pace up the implementation of key reforms," said YK Modi, chairman, Ficci's Economic and Public Policy Council.

New Delhi, May 22
The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) has suggested the government to prune about 44 labour and factory laws.

NMCC member secretary Ajay Shankar said these laws had been in existence in the statute for long and should be pruned to just three to enable the industry, especially in its mid and small segments, to escape uncalled for bureaucratic intervention in their day-to-day operations.

Addressing a seminar on "Enhancing the Indian manufacturing competitiveness" organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today, Shankar said the NMCC would propose the setting up of public-funded equity funds to the new government as it would help release financial assistance to the industry.

He said the council had sent recommendations to this effect to the government recently. The new government should be able to condense the new labour laws into three categories that would address the labour concerns relating to employees' safety and security, their legitimate rights to work and provide them welfare.

The new labour laws should facilitate foreign investors to park their surpluses in India with an atmosphere of putting up manufacturing facilities in which the role of government is bare minimum, he stressed.

Shankar said, "The council is toying with this idea of public-funded equity funds and it will soon propose it to the new government."

He also demanded that the new government should be able to create an eco-system in which manufacturing is accelerated as in the absence of a sound eco-system, the manufacturing has fallen to a negative zone in the last couple of years.

Bangalore, May 22
Marking the biggest consolidation in the e-commerce space in India, homegrown e-retailer Flipkart today acquired online clothing seller Myntra Designs for an estimated Rs 2,000 crore in a deal that would give Flipkart control of roughly half of nation's e-commerce market by sales.

While the two companies did not disclose the financial terms, the deal is believed to have valued Myntra at about $330 million and its shareholders will get a combination of cash payouts and stakes in Flipkart.

"It is a 100% acquisition and going forward, we have big plans in this segment. Flipkart and Myntra are getting together to create one of the largest e-commerce stories and together we will dominate the market," Flipkart co-founder and CEO Sachin Bansal said.

"We, at Flipkart, believe that we want to be leaders in every segment and fashion is a category of the future, this acquisition will help us become leaders in this category," he said.

Sachin said Flipkart would invest $100 million (around Rs 600 crore) in its fashion business in the near-term.

Flipkart, which started in 2007 as an online bookstore, sells products across categories, including fashion and electronics. It also sells white goods and furniture.

The move is expected to help Flipkart strengthen its apparel portfolio and compete more aggressively with peers such as Amazon and Snapdeal.

Myntra will continue to operate as a separate entity with its co-founder and CEO Mukesh Bansal joining Flipkart board and heading the fashion business.

"It was very essential to keep Myntra a separate entity and preserve its culture. I'm here for the long haul and we will continue to grow in the market," Mukesh Bansal said. — PTI

Flipkart to invest $100m in fashion biz Both companies did not disclose the deal value, but sources suggest it could be worth about Rs 2,000 crore Both companies will continue to work separately and Flipkart will invest $100m (around Rs 600 crore) in its fashion business Post-acquisition, Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal will join the Flipkart board of directors and its fashion business The deal is expected to help Flipkart strengthen its apparel portfolio and compete more aggressively with Amazon and Snapdeal

New Delhi, May 22
Gold prices today tumbled by Rs 800 to hit a nine-month low of Rs 28,550 per 10 grams after the RBI allowed star trading houses and private jewellery exporters to import gold under easier norms. This is the biggest drop in a session in gold prices since August 2013.

The RBI's move to ease import norms is likely to enhance the availability of gold. The rupee went in the other direction rising by 30 paisa, its biggest single-day gain in a week, to close at over an 11-month peak of 58.47 against dollar following renewed selling of the US currency by exporters and a recovery in local equities.

Sachin Kothari of Bullionindia said the RBI move had an immediate effect on levels of premium on gold in the spot market which fell by almost 60% as compared to their previous levels and led to a sharp fall in the prices by Rs 800.

He said if the RBI continues with such measures to ease import of gold, there might be further decline in the premium over international gold prices and this would give a fillip to the supply of gold in India.

The RBI in July last year imposed restrictions on gold imports in order to check the burgeoning CAD and the sliding rupee. The Finance Ministry had also increased the duty on gold imports to check the supply and there is some buzz that with the new government, will ease some of these restrictions.

The World Gold Council today said the RBI move would help increase the official supplies. The RBI move also helped jewellery stocks as they rose by up to 20%.

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