New Delhi, June 9
The address of the President outlining the growth agenda of the government has been welcomed by industry.

President Pranab Mukherjee has chalked out an agenda for growth and specifically talked about reviving investor sentiments, undertaking good administrative practices, and addressing tax issues in his address to Parliament today, said Ajay Shriram, president, CII, in a statement.

"The introduction of the GST, ease of doing business and single-window clearance of projects through hub-and-spoke system of the Centre and state government coordination are indeed very welcome announcements. The CII believes that institution of the GST alone can add as much as 1.5-2 percentage points to the GDP rate of growth," he said.

Special mention was made of developing manufacturing facilities along rail freight corridors. Taken as a whole, the proposed actions would have strongly positive impact on reviving growth, said a CII statement.

"The President today has laid out an insightful and aspirational vision for the country, bolstered by comprehensive and multi-dimensional measures aimed at reining in inflation, boosting agricultural productivity and kick-starting the investment cycle," said Shriram, commenting on the address to the nation by the President to Parliament.

The FICCI welcomed the roadmap of the new government as highlighted by the President in the joint sitting of Parliament.

"We are delighted to note government's commitment towards achievement of high economic growth, with equity and human development", said Sidharth Birla, president, FICCI.

"Various measures identified towards achieving maximum governance minimum government by improving public services delivery, including national e-governance plans, usage of social media for participative governance, introduction of Lokpal, building confidence in bureaucracy and enhancing ease of doing business, would help restore the credibility of institutions, improve investor confidence and reignite investment inflow in the country," said Birla.

He said the government's commitment towards large-scale job creation, through promotion of labour intensive manufacturing, agro-based industries and tourism is noteworthy.

Welcoming the Narendra Modi government's focus on urban infrastructure, developers' apex body, CREDAI national chairman Lalit Kumar Jain appreciated the plans for adopting single window system for clearances.

New Delhi, June 9
As President Pranab Mukherjee today outlined the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, the thrust was clearly on infrastructure development with a slew of projects declared across all sectors, be it hinterland, ports or the railways.

There was also stress on e-governance as the Modi-government said its backbone would be a "digital India".

From "sagar mala" (chain on the sea), connecting India's ports and the hinterland, to an enabling groundwork for cheaper air travel to small cities, President Pranab Mukherjee, while addressing the joint session of Parliament, pointed out, "Lack of robust infrastructure is one of India's major impediments."

During his 55-minute address, the President said: "The government will chalk out an ambitious infrastructure development programme to be implemented in the next 10 years. A fast-track, investment friendly and predictable public-private-partnership mechanism will be put in place."

Modernisation and revamping of Railways is on top of the infrastructure agenda. My government will launch a diamond quadrilateral project of high-speed trains, the President said.

He said the country would have a network of freight corridors with specialised agri-rail networks for perishable agricultural products. Investment in railways will be increased using innovative financing methods. Expansion of railways in hilly states and northeast region and modernisation of rail safety systems will be prime focus areas.

Policybazaar.com, has emerged as a leading web aggregator for insurance and the largest e-commerce platform for financial services in India. Yashish Dahiya, CEO & co-founder, Policybazaar.com talks about business and the industry trends.

Q. Tell us about your business model.

A. Policybazaar.com is an insurance web aggregator that enables the customers to make an informed choice by comparing the features of different insurance policies within a category. For the customers to compare directly from the insurers, we have tied up with insurance brokers who help us procure information such as price, benefit, insurance cover etc. On the basis of the information provided by us, the customer chooses the best option. The customers are not charged anything for this service. Our revenue comes from fixed marketing and advertisement fee from the insurance companies.

Q. What are your future plans?

A. We believe that insurance is still a category which is not understood properly by a majority of the customers who purchase it. Online insurance currently contributes to 1.5 per cent of the entire insurance market in the country. This means that it is not that people are not buying insurance (though India is still woefully poor in insurance penetration), but a lot of people who are buying insurance may not be doing so optimally. We want to increase awareness further about the idea of buying insurance only post comparing all prices and features. We hope to be a catalyst in this movement and plan to help increase the share of online insurance to up to 3 per cent within the next two-three years. Luckily, we have the support of most insurance companies which also see this as a key goal for the insurance industry to be successful in India. Proper insurance benefits companies and customers and it’s a win win for all. Apart from this, we wish to increase our share of influence on the online insurance market by playing a pivot role in the education and information of customers. We believe at the end of the day we provide a service and we want more and more customers to adopt that service.

Q. What is your view on the insurance sector?

A. Today, the insurance sector is in a very interesting phase. I believe the insurance sector today is in a consolidation phase, after growing exponentially within the first five years of privatisation. The insurance products in India have become more customer friendly after the regulatory changes taken up by the IRDA in 2010. We are witnessing innovation in both product and distribution by the insurers and are emulating the more mature markets in many ways, which is a very good thing. I am confident that now the insurance sector is headed towards a growth phase.

Q. What advice would you give to those buying online policy?

A. My only advice to the customers would be to compare and analyse the policies carefully before making the purchase. This will not only help them choose the right product but will also help their financial plans in the long term.

Q. How many registered users do you have?

A. We have a registered user base of over seven-eight million.

Q. What is the number of policies sold through your portal on monthly basis?

A. On an average, we sell about 25,000 policies per month.

New Delhi, June 9
NABARD has reduced the rate of interest by 20 basis points on the long-term refinance facility to banks with an objective to promote investments in agriculture.

Announcing the new rates, Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, Chairman, NABARD, said rates of refinance would now be 9.50 per cent for five years and above and 9.70 per cent for three-five years' period. Banks availing more than Rs 500 crore in a single drawl would further be incentivised by 10 bps. To combat food inflation, efficient agricultural technologies get a further incentive of 50 basis points. —TNS

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Reliance Communications launches roaming plan
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Mumbai metro carries 2.4 lakh commuters on first day
New Delhi: About 2.4 lakh commuters travelled on the first day of the Mumbai metro's operations, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (RInfra) said on Monday. The service operated by RInfra, through its special purpose vehicle Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd, was flagged off by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday. — PTI

Silver moves up 0.60 pc in futures trade
New Delhi: Silver prices rose by 0.60 per cent to Rs 40,236 per kg in futures trade today as speculators created fresh positions, tracking a firm global trend. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver for delivery in July rose by Rs 239, or 0.60 per cent to Rs 40,236 per kg in business turnover of 5,390 lots. Likewise, the white metal for delivery in September moved up by Rs 202, or 0.50 per cent to Rs 40,422 per kg in 288 lots. — PTI