New Delhi, August 5
With improvement in economic activity and revival of sentiments, the RBI today said GDP growth in the current fiscal is expected to rise up to 5.5% from 4.7% in the last financial year.

"The implementation of government policy actions that have been announced should create a congenial setting for a steady improvement in domestic demand and supply conditions," RBI said in its bi-monthly policy statement.

Sentiments on domestic economic activity appear to be reviving, RBI said, adding that there are early signs of modest strengthening of corporate sales and business flows.

"Prospects of re-invigoration of growth have improved modestly... the central estimate of real GDP growth of 5.5% within a likely range of 5 to 6% for 2014-15 can be sustained," it said.

Driven by improved performance of the manufacturing sector, industrial production growth soared to 19-month high of 4.7% in May.

Also, India’s export growth remained in double digit for the second month in a row at 10.22% in June.

The firming up of export growth should support manufacturing and services sector, it said.

Further, the revival of investments, unblocking of stalled projects, pick-up in external demand and stabilisation in global crude prices could help achieve the growth estimates, the RBI said.

As per the Finance Ministry estimates, GDP growth in the current fiscal is expected be in the range of 5.4-5.9%. — PTI

New Delhi, August 5
Homegrown firms in the world's largest mobile phone markets — India and China — have piped Korean electronics giant Samsung to capture the handset market, a clear indication that these companies are upping their ante by delivering compelling products at aggressive price points.

According to research firms Canalys and Counterpoint, Micromax took the lead over Samsung in the Indian mobile phone market in April-June quarter of 2014, while in China Xiaomi drubbed the electronics giant to take the leadership position in smartphones during the same period.

"Micromax became the leading mobile phone supplier brand in India in Q2 2014 for the first time ever surpassing Samsung capturing 17% market share up from 13% in Q1 2014," Counterpoint Research said.

Micromax was also the second largest smartphone vendor closing in on Samsung, capturing 19% share in this fast-growing segment, it added.

In mobiles phones, Samsung's market share stood at 14.4%, while in smartphones the firm still retained the market leader spot with 25.3% share, it said. — PTI

Captures 19% market share

* Micromax took the lead over Samsung in the Indian mobile phone market in April-June quarter of 2014, while in China Xiaomi drubbed Samsung to take the leadership position

* It surpassed Samsung and captured 17% market share in Q2 of 2014

* It was also the second largest smartphone vendor closing in on Samsung, capturing 19% share in Q2

Chandigarh, August 5
The Credit Information Bureau Limited (CIBIL) will soon start giving a risk index on corporate entities to banks before they decide on extending credit to these corporates. Considering the high non-performing asset (NPA) base of corporate loans with banks, this information will come in handy for risk aversion for the banks.

So far, CIBIL collects only the credit history of all corporate entities who have availed any kind of loan from a financial institution. Each time a company seeks a fresh loan, its credit history is provided to the bank from the CIBIL database, but it is not given any score, as is the case in case of retail loanees.

Harshala Chandorkar, senior VP, CIBIL, said the list of wilful defaulters among corporates is already displayed on the website of CIBIL. “But this is a new initiative we are working on. The index will indicate the risk involved in lending to any corporate,” she said.

CIBIL works on four platforms —Consumer Bureau, Commercial Bureau, CIBIL Detect, and CIBIL Mortgage Check. The Bureau has over 1,000 strong member base (banks, financial institutions, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and housing finance companies). Chandorkar said credit information on individuals has a record of 350 million accounts (for almost 170 million loanees in the country), while the commercial bureau has 19 million records. “We have seen a steep rise in our membership after we have started including small banks, cooperative banks, and non-banking financial companies, from 2011-12 onwards,” she said.

She said they have launched two new solutions — Alerts or Triggers for banks (wherein if any loanee becomes defaulter with a particular bank, his information is passed on to the other bank which has extended him loan); and, Instant Acquisition (targeting NBFCs advancing loans for hi-end gadgets to instantly trace the credit history of a prospective consumer and allowing it to decide on extending a loan).

New Delhi, August 5
Pushing global economic growth by an additional 2% in the next five years and sharing information on taxation between countries will be a part of agenda at the Brisbane Summit of the G20 leaders to be held in November.

“Sharing information across taxation jurisdiction is very important. We need to make sure that global taxation system is in line with the requirements of the 21st century,” said Australia’s G20 Sherpa Heather Smith while speaking about the agenda of the summit.

The other key issues to be taken up at the summit, which is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will include raising the global GDP by an additional 2% in the next five years and boosting infrastructure sector funding. Smith said the G20 will also focus on the issues dear to India like energy security, food security and financial inclusion.

“We are trying to deliver the 2% target. We have some good commitments about competition policy and about infrastructure funding and we would like to see more commitments in removing barriers for trade facilitation,” she said.

The preparatory work for the summit of G20, which is a grouping of developed and developing nations, is on and the G20 secretariat is reported to have received about 700 ground level strategies to boost global economic growth. Of these about 200-300 are new measures.

The G20 Summit is scheduled at Brisbane on November 15-16. It will be preceded by separate ministerial level meetings of Labour and Employment and Finance.

On the issue of WTO talks that failed recently, estimates are that the failure to ink the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) may cost the global economy $820 billion and 16 million in terms of new jobs.

The agenda

* To push global economic growth by an additional 2% in the next five years

* To share information on taxation between countries

* To boost infrastructure sector funding

* Energy security, food security and financial inclusion

New Delhi, August 5
Skills Academy Pvt Ltd today announced the acquisition of A4e India Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of A4e Limited (a UK-based company).

The buyout will allow Skills Academy to enhance reach into new areas across different states in India and also leverage the varied experience of existing A4e employees to help increase the scale of the business.

A4e provides skill development, training and placements across various industries and different states in India.