Integrate ‘Assemble in India’ into Make in India

    The Economic Survey of 2019-20 has revealed that India has to learn a lesson from China's success in exports and launch a project "Assemble in India" for the world which would improve or boost the Indian Economy by generating revenue and at the same time create of a about 10 million jobs.

     China, currently being the largest export economy in the world which means it is the largest manufacturing economy and exporter of goods. Economic Survey added that presently with the US- China trade tensions, India has to make use of this opportunities in export manufacturing and creation of jobs.  Such a move is expected to pave way for India's aspiration be a 5 trillion economy.

     By implementing "Assemble in India" it is expected to raise export share of India to 3.5% and create about 4 crore jobs by 2025.

     The US- China trade war has a major effect on the world and is causing major adjustments in the global value chain and firms are looking for alternative location for operations. Even before the trade war began, China's image of being the low cost provider was changing due to labour shortages and increased wages.

     The Survey said that India has to focus on the group of industries called 'network products' like computers,electric and electronic equipments, telecommunication equipments and automobiles where production process are fragmented and controlled by multi nationals.

After 50 years at the helm, Rahul Bajaj steps down from executive role

RAHUL BAJAJ

After several decades at the helm, Bajaj group patriarch Rahul Bajaj will step down as chairman of the holding company, Bajaj Holdings & Investments, Bajaj Auto, and Bajaj Finserv.
Bajaj Auto, the maker of the Pulsar brand of motorcycles and RE three-wheelers, said on Thursday that the 81-year-old business leader, who has been a whole-time director and chairman of the automobile making arm since April 1, 1970, would take a non-executive role.
He oversaw the successful transition of Bajaj Auto from the ‘Hamara Bajaj’ days through its popular Chetak brand of scooters to the World’s Favourite Indian — Bajaj now sells its motorcycles in over 70 countries. Bajaj, who played an active role in the affairs of the company till 2005, took a backseat in group companies, passing on the baton to the elder son, Rajiv Bajaj, for the auto business, and for the financial services business to the younger son, Sanjiv Bajaj.

Bajaj’s resignation from the top post comes against the backdrop of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) rule that calls for a separation of the posts of chairman and managing director of top 500 listed companies. It also says the chairperson of a company's board should be a non-executive director and should not be related to the MD or CEO. The rule has now been deferred by two years.

“The tenure of appointment of Rahul Bajaj as executive chairman is expiring on March 31, 2020. Due to certain commitments and other preoccupation, Bajaj has decided not to continue as a whole-time director of the company after the expiry of his current term on March 31, 2020,” the company said in a notification to the stock exchanges on Thursday.

The company will seek shareholders’ approval through a special resolution, it said. On Wednesday, Bajaj Finserv, the group’s financial services business, also notified Bajaj’s resignation as chairman, including from subsidiaries Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

Popular for his plain-speak and harsh critique of the government’s policies since the pre-liberalisation era, the Padma Bhushan awardee is a Harvard Business School alumnus. He is known in corporate circles as the man who does not mince words when it comes to any matter of national interest or echoing corporate India’s woes. On November 30, 2019, at an awards event organised by the Economic Times in Mumbai, Rahul Bajaj said he was “born anti-establishment”.

In the 1970s, when Italy's Piaggio didn’t renew Bajaj's licence, he began manufacturing his own brand of scooters with names like Chetak and Super.

Tax Projection for FY20 sees massive cut

The coming financial year will see the Indian government lose ₹1-1.5 trillion in potential revenue. Economic slowdown and corporate tax reduction are the major reasons for this downward trend. This is the second time that the tax projection for the next fiscal year is being changed since the interim budget in last year. The total revenue was initially projected to be ₹25.5 trillion with a growth rate of 22.5% over the previous year. Economic growth is expected to fall to a 11-year low of 5% in 2029-20. An overall demand slowdown can also be seen in the goods and service sector. Tax collection from direct sources has seen an extremely low growth rate of 0.7% till December 15^th.

The current projection has come under scrutiny by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the high projected growth despite the apparent slump. The target was revised by ₹90,000 crore in the July Budget, it still required a growth of 18.26% more than double of the 8.3% seen in 2018-19. The target last year despite being cut had the highest shortfall since 2014. Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist at ‘Care Ratings’ said “Ideally, the tax target for the fiscal year should be cut by ₹1 trillion to 1.5 trillion in the upcoming budget. Ironically the demonetisation year was the only year in which collection ₹17.1 trillion exceeded the budget projection of ₹16.3 million.

The tax department in In FY19, despite asking for a reduced revision was tasked with acquiring an additional ₹50,000 crore. This was to be spent on farmer-related welfare schemes. Central GST collections, part of the indirect tax fell 9% short of the revised collection target of ₹4.5 trillion. Officials attributed this to rate rationalisation on a variety of items. Tax buoyancy is estimated to be at 1.44 this year. In layman’s terms if nominal GDP expands by 10%, direct tax collection will grow by 14.4%, which seems to be impossible. FM Nirmala Sitharaman had cut tax rate of companies from 25-30 to 22% for existing companies to battle the economic slowdown. This takes away a huge chunk of any revenue growth.

Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan has asked to tax officials of the country to step up efforts to achieve the set tax targets. These taxmen have been given a target of ₹13.35 trillion for direct taxes. They were told that the corporate tax cut of ₹1.45 trillion should not be used as an excuse for lower collections. How these officials are supposed to conjure a trillion and a half rupees is anyone’s guess.

Apple and Samsung is1n fight for world's No 1 smartphone seller

Apple and Samsung are fighting to be world No 1 smartphone seller.Apple are  back to back introducing new smartphones.They introduced apple 10 and after few months they bring Apple 11 and Apple 11 pro with three cameras and its minimum price  is 1,00,000 and Samsung on other side is not low new innovations they are also  updated Galaxy S series they lasted introduced S10 Plus price 70,000 with 512 GB Space and 8 GB RAM.By new innovations they are currently second 68.8 million and first Apple with 70.7 million. Huawei technologies challenging Samsung electronics for the title of world's most profilic smartphone vendor, it 's the more familiar foe of Apple that now threatening the south korea throne.due to research firms are forced to estimate  because Apple stopped providing its own Iphone figures a year ago,while Samsung gives a total number that includes smartphones and feature phones.
 All three market tracking firms estimate Huawei shipped 65 million units in quarter a respectable performance in light of heavy US sanctions the company been under. Apple this week reported record fourth quarter revenue and profit spiking share price to new high.Samsung reported improved operating profit from its mobile phones,but it was stung by a prolonged slump in memory chips historically its most profitable business. The iphone recovery appears primarly by the successful launch of iphone 11 as the company started the year on downward trajectory that was reversed in final quarter.Apple has asked suppliers and chipmakers to increase their production in order to meet higher than expected demand and they decided to introduce lower cost Iphone as soon as march.
 For 2019 overall samsung shipped far more smartphones than Apple 295 million to 193 million.Samsung plans to refresh of its galaxy devices with introduced 5G technology through rest of the year.

Apple and Samsung in fight for world's No.1 smartphone seller

Between Apple’s a success launch of the iPhone 11 own family of products and Samsung’s new foldable phone expected in February, the 2 giants will remain in close opposition in the course of the year. While 2019 commenced off with expectancies of Huawei Technologies Co. difficult Samsung Electronics Co. For the name of world’s maximum prolific Smartphone vendor, it’s the more acquainted foe of Apple Inc. That’s now threatening the South Korean titan’s throne.    Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo are China’s biggest Smartphone brands. Around the world, they are making the handset business brutally competitive. This week, after Apple warned of disappointing iPhone sales in China, industry observers said that devices from the Chinese brands were a major culprit.

Apple sits comfortably a top the market in many countries, including China, for the highest-end handsets. But companies like Huawei have started to do elsewhere what they have done in China, competing with the iPhone on experience and value and luring customers with price comparisons that make them rethink buying Apple’s signature product. Industry trackers on Thursday released estimates that show the iPhone maker close to matching or surpassing its Korean rival in shipments at some stage in the pivotal holiday region. Strategy Analytics placed Apple’s iPhone shipments for the quarter at 70.7 million, slightly in advance of Samsung’s 68.8 million. Canalys gauged the U.S. business enterprise had moved 78 million, surpassing the Asian brand’s seventy one million. And researchers at HIS Markit have the positions flipped – with Samsung at 70.7 million and Apple at 67.7 million.

Apple this week reported document fourth quarter sales and profit, spiking its share price to a brand new high. The iPhone changed into over again its crown jewel, bolstered by strong boom within the company’s wearable’s and offerings groups. Samsung reported improved operating take advantage of its mobile business, however it was stung by way of a prolonged hunch in reminiscence chips, historically its most worthwhile business. Apple typically receives a large bump in iPhone sales within the fourth quarter, whilst it introduce new models. For 2019 overall, Samsung shipped far greater smartphones than Apple – 295 million to 193 million, in step with IHS. Samsung plans a refresh of its flagship Galaxy devices and a brand new foldable phone in February, and it stated it will push 5G era deeper into its mid-variety Galaxy A series through the relaxation of the year. That should hold the two organizations in close competition during 2020, with Huawei not likely to figure within the communique so long as it remains below U.S. imposed restrictions.  

Samsung Electronics Says Q4 Net Profit Slumps 38%

Samsung Electronics Says Q4 Net Profit Slumps 38%

Samsung has reported a 34 per cent fall in operating profit to around $6 billion in the fourth quarter, its become the worst performance since 2015. Its  net profit fell 38% to about $4.7 billion, while its revenue for the quarter was up 1% to about $50.7 billion due to low demand in key products and falling chip prices in the market.

Fourth quarter profit dropped from a year earlier due to the continued fall in memory chip prices and weakness in display panels. Samsung expects this drop because of weak sale from seasonality in the memory chips, OLED ( organic light emitting diodes) and consumer electronics. In the fourth  quarter operating profit more than halved to 3.45 trillion won in Samsung‘s main stray chip division and its mobile division profit surged by two- thirds to 2.52 trillion won, makes a strong sales of flagship models.

Samsung has been strained by trade tensions between the US and China, and caught in a diplomatic row between Seoul and Tokyo over war time history, with japan imposing tough restrictions on exports crucial to South Korean tech giants in July. 

Samsung’s chip peers like Intel and TSMC earlier offered a positive reaction and fueling hopes of a rebound in chips prices after a slide that were started in late 2018. They were expected January- March earnings to fall from the preceding quarter, reflecting low seasonal demand for chip and displays. “ Samsung offered a conservative out look for the memory market, and there is a disconnect between market views and the company views when it comes to the strength of the recovery”.said by Park Sung-soon, an analyst at Cape Investment and Securities.

In 2020, Samsung is pinning its hopes on increasing availability of 5G telecom services driving sales of its handsets. Global demand for the super fast 5G handsets in 2019 was higher than expected, with nearly 19 million units shipped world wide according to the latest data from market researcher strategy analytics.

Real estate market on tight belt

The interest on several land has increased in Gurugram. On an average, a land-lot acquired for Rs 25 lakh an acre in 2003 was called at anything from Rs 6 crore to Rs 15 crore an acre in 2013. Also, several broker's offices for dealing with real estate business have shrunk in number, not just in Gurugram but in Noida and other places. NCR has now become a place of delayed projects of apartments.

While demonetisation and economic slowdown in the country altered the overall real estate sector. With the government taking over management debt ridden builder Unitech and big brands such as Jaypee going into insolvency and many more including Amarapali, Supertech and Ansals coming under criminal proceedings, the real estate sector in our country it's currently at the depression phase of the business cycle. 

Market estimates suggest that almost 150 real estate promoters had to go to jail just because they had created some violation or the other in the past couple of years. This previous statement does not mean that there is no competition left in the market. Developers like Godrej Properties, Mahindras and Tata Housing is spread out in NCR at various price ranges including luxury offerings. Developers like Vatika, M3M and ATS are also doing reasonably well in real estate.

The property market across the country requires assistance and guidance and also help from the side of the government, regulatory authorities, judiciary and financial institutions so that the decline in the past decade is not going to repeat. The introduction of Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA) has been a confidence building measure, but the opportunity remains limited. DLF had been listing out steps taken to beat the financial stress and cut down on their liabilities and debts. They have been concentrating on completing projects and focused on leasing, also they cut down their expansion policies.

93 billion dollars (Rs 6.63 trillion) was accounted for 80 per cent of share of the total real estate loan for Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), NCR and Bengaluru together. There can be multiple reasons for this current state of real estate segment. The demand-supply mismatch between the customer and the developers were a prime reason for depression in real estate segment. The growing residential demand of people from other cities also added to the reason. The next reason is that the government's focus on affordable homes took away the space for luxury housing. Funding to developers from banks, non-banking finance companies as well as housing finance companies is frozen. 

The general tendancy of public is to save money to the maximum, thereby, never investing in real estate. Therefore, it is expected that investors won't be interested in real estate and unless these investors do not return this year, the real estate sector would not revive. Although, there might be a revival point in this sector when buyers would feel that there is no possibility of getting cheated. And this moment of revival won't be in the near future.

Facebook to introduce Whatsapp Pay.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced  WhatsApp will roll out its payment feature within 6 months in India. According to him, it will be easy as sending a photo to transfer money. In India, Whatapp Pay will be based on UPI just like Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePe. Whatsapp's payment feature hasn't got a license in India because all transactions using UPI has to be stored in India.WhatsApp has about 400 million users in India. The payment feature is currently running in pilot mode. If the company gets a payment license for a full-fledged rollout, other players in the market, including Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm will face competition.

Beyond WhatsApp Payments, Zuckerberg said the company is working on several other efforts to help facilitate more commerce from Facebook Marketplace to Instagram Shopping. “We're taking a number of different approaches here, ranging from people buying and selling to each other directly to businesses setting up storefronts, to people engaging with businesses directly through messaging and a number of things on payments -- using existing national systems like India's UPI to creating new global systems,” he said. Facebook beat Wall Street estimates in the quarter ended December but slowing profit growth dragged down share prices. Net income rose 7% year-over-year to $7.3 billion, compared to 61% growth over 2018.

Indian Airlines Suspending China Flights

China is now in a state where they have to be very cautious and save their population from a very dangerous virus which have dropped down so many people and it is still massively spreading out. The virus is named as Coronavirus and many people are still on observation. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) says -The whole world must be on alert to deal with the spread of Coronavirus and has urged countries to be prepared so that they are ready to detect any cases that occur and isolate and treat the sick.

India has already taken its step one by one to fight against this virus, one of those steps are on behalf of the Airlines of the country. Travel agencies are in cancellations of leisure trips to southeast Asia. On Wednesday Air India and Indigo joined their Global peers in suspending flights to China.

British airways and Lion air has announced temporary suspension of their Flights to China. This step is taken to stop the outbreak of Coronavirus. The airlines are now facing huge amount of ticket cancellations and the business people have postponed their dates to some other dates.

Indigo airlines have taken this decision with much effort and careful assessment as they even know what would be the impact they have to face on behalf of cancellations and refunding to the customers. They are completely acting wisely according to the situation of the country and they have taken this into a sense of Precautionary measures. Both the companies are also given precautions to their Aircrafts and cabin crew also. The crew has to be very careful while handling East Asian flights as they are not allowed to go to cities during the layover time. The crew has been asked to wear masks and it also they provide extra masks to the passengers too.

Despite of all these the cancellations of tickets are huge but only some regions are allotted to travel. China is a key contributor to tourism receipts but the country is in such a condition were they have to take effort to overcome this situation and come back to normal.

Jaguar LandRover Demand

Despite falling the sales in the domestic market, Chinese demand for British luxury brands Jaguar and LandRover helped Indian automaker Tata Motors returns to the black on Thursday. The firm reported a net profit of 17.39 billion rupees ($244.6 million) for the three months to December. They had also reported a loss for the December quarter a year earlier.  Jaguar LandRover chief executive Ralf Speth said that the conditions in the automotive industry remain challenging but they are encouraged by recovery of our China business and the success of the new Range Rover. 

Sales of Jaguar Land Rover rose 24.3 percent in China during the  quarter. 

But domestic sales fell by almost seven percent during the same period as inventory rised up and purchases decreased. 

Tata Motors is implementing a turnaround strategy for Jaguar Land Rover, which it acquired from FORD in 2008, seen as an important barometer of overall economic health. Jaguar Land Rover, with agrowing demand for environmentally friendly vehicles in key markets, this week launched a luxury electric sports car.

MERCEDES BENZ in India said earlier this month that it expected the country's automobile sector to bounce back in the second half of 2020. The auto sector slowdown, which comes led to a sharp downturn in the Indian economy, has led to the loss of thousands of jobs.

Six States See Fall In Tax Revenues Till November

 As Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman gets ready to present the second budget. The bulk of states’ revenue comes from the devolution from the Centre’s divisible tax pool, GST, VAT on petroleum, and excise duty on alcohol. States like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Manipur, and Uttarakhand saw fall in their overall tax receipts during the first eight months of the current fiscal year, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. On the other hand, tax revenues rose 13.44 per cent for West Bengal in this period. The bulk of states’ revenue comes from the devolution from the Centre’s divisible tax pool, Goods and Services Tax (GST), value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum, and excise duty on alcohol. These revenues declined by 11.4 per cent in this period in Andhra Pradesh, while Punjab witnessed 10.4 per cent contraction. Figures for these two states are also available till December. If these are taken into account, Kerala saw some reduction in the rate of fall at 10.9 per cent. However, Punjab witnessed an increase, as its tax revenues saw 11.7 per cent decrease. Among other states, Manipur, too, had 11.4 per cent fall in tax revenue during April-November 2019. There was 3.11 per cent southward movement in these revenues in Gujarat, while another industrial state - Maharashtra - had 0.3 per cent fall in the first eight months of 2019-20 (FY20). However, Maharashtra saw a rise in December, making its tax receipts increase by 2.87 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Uttarakhand witnessed 0.35 per cent decline in tax receipts during April-November of FY20. M S Mani, partner at Deloitte India, said, “States are expected to increase compliance and detect evasion in order to ramp up GST collection. "In addition, they would also focus on increasing VAT revenue from the sale of petroleum products and alcoholic beverages. The impact of shrinkage in tax revenue in these states impacted their fiscal deficit numbers. The deficit in Andhra Pradesh was 83.4 per cent of Budget Estimates (BE) by December in the current financial year. Similarly, Punjab saw a deficit at 42.4 per cent in the first nine months of FY20. Fiscal deficit in Gujarat, however, stood at 27.5 per cent of BE in the first eight months of the current fiscal year. Similarly, Maharashtra had its fiscal deficit at 7.37 per cent of BE in the first nine months of the year. In the case of Manipur, however, the deficit stood at 31.39 per cent of BE during April-November of the year. West Bengal’s fiscal deficit stood at 43.7 per cent of BE in the first eight months of the year. As Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman gets ready to present the second budget.

Budget 2020: Markets brace for Rs 8-trillion gross borrowing in FY21

 The upcoming fiscal year, the bond market expects the government to announce heavy borrowing.but the numbers could be masked through off-balance sheet items, such as enabling public sector companies to raise government-serviced bonds.

 B Prasanna, head of global markets and proprietary trading group;ICICI Bank said that,"The broad consensus of this year budget affects the market participants for 2020-21 (FY21) fiscal deficit is at 3.5 per cent, which would converted  into gross borrowings of Rs 7.7-7.9 trillion. A reliable Budget which bring up anything below these numbers would be a positive surprise for the market". According to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act,Bond traders say the market wouldn’t be bothered if the government is not able to keep the fiscal glide  and overshoots its targets by 0.5 percentage points.

The current situation is same as what it was in 2014-15, At that time,when the market was okay with the government they were breaching the target, and the government didn’t do that at that timr.creative accounting is the main cause for upsets of market and foreign investors.

Creative mode of accounting is allowing public sector undertakings to raise government serviced bonds. While the government pays for the principal and interest, the numbers don’t reflect in the total borrowing. Such a possibility has already taken assurance after the Nabard last Friday said it would be raising Rs 7,000 crore worth of government serviced bonds on Friday.

The repayment around Rs 2.35 trillion, gross borrowings of the Centre are expected to come at Rs 7.85 trillion. In addition, states are expected to borrow Rs 7 trillion, thus, taking the total borrowing for FY21 to be closer to Rs 15 trillion.the government is considering increasing the limit of foreign portfolio investments to 10 per cent of the outstanding, from the current 6 per cent. This may get announced in the Budget itself, say sources. But on an immediate basis, the market is gearing up for extra borrowing for the current fiscal year.

The expanding footprint of TikTok

Social media is a platform that never fails to surprise. The most you entertain your users, you will get succeed. While the giants like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter remain relevant here -a new contender has entered the arena, especially among the young people- TikTok.This social media app allows the users to post short lip-synced, music, talent, or comedy videos, TikTok taking the social media world by storm.

Global time spent on TikTok grew 210% year-on-year in 2019. In a market dominated by American social media networks, ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns both TikTok and Helo, has cut itself a large slice of the Indian market, especially outside its metros. Both its short video sharing apps have ranked as the top two breakout social apps of 2019 in India (App Annie, State of the Mobile 2020), which also their largest market outside china. A spokesperson for ByteDance said that increased internet penetration and adoption of smartphones has fuelled its popularity. TikTok was the most downloaded app in the US in October 2018, the first Chinese app to achieve this. In February 2019, TikTok, together with Douyin, hit one billion downloads globally, excluding the Android installs in China. In 2019, TikTok was announced to be the 7^th most downloaded mobile app of the decade.

According to the App Annie report, TikTok has been inching its way up the charts in western markets too, it topped the list in Canada and was ranked number two in the US. TikTok’s explosion in India in the 18-month period since January 2018 has expanded its reach to 30% of all Indian smartphones as of august 2019, according to data provided by Delhi based market intelligence firm KalaGato. With the app’s rising popularity, Indian users have been spending more than 30 minutes a day on TikTok, ahead of both Instagram and Snapchat. The company spokesperson said that over the last two years, popular content creators, credible educational institutions and partners, and celebrities have joined TikTok making it a vibrant space.

India is priority market for ByteDance, being the second most popular market outside its home and the company has spent considerable time understanding its need and limitations. Multifunctional and multilingual, the platform attracts a wide spectrum of users who tap into the network for multiple reasons. This making the platform sticky and engaging, for users, and lucrative for brands.  

US Disappointed as Johnson Gives Huawei Partial 5G Role

US Disappointed as Johnson Gives Huawei Partial 5G Role

UK Prime minister Boris Johnson risked a rift with president trump as he gave Huawei technologies company the green light to help develop parts of Britain next generation broadband networks. While the UK Government announced it will keep what is called higg risk vendors such as Huawei out of the most sensitive core parts of its 5G mobile networks, the company are going to be ready to supply other equipment that's critical to the roll out of broadband like antenna’s and base stations.
Trump administration, which wanted Johnson to impose an outright ban on the Shenzhen- based tech giant, citing concerns that its gear might be susceptible to infiltration by Chinese spies. Initial reaction from Washington was muted. A senior US administration officially expressed disappointment as Johnson’s decision, but also hope that the US and therefore the UK could still find how to exclude component from untrusted vendors in 5G systems in future.
Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska said that, their special relationship is less special now that the UK has embraced the surveillance state commies at Huawei. The compromise between the outright ban on Huawei sought by the US and the access sought by the telecommunication companies. Under the UK’s policy, a cap of up to 35 percent will be imposed on Huawei’s share of the non-sensitive parts of the next generation networks, such as antennas, masts and even fixed-line fiber- to- the house components. The government said that 35 percent cap will be kept under review and could reduce over time. The phone carriers like BT Group Plc’s EE, Vodafone Group Plc and Three have to rejig their 5G plans to comply. Three a unit of hongkong based CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. Has been depending on Huawei to deliver the entirety of its 5G radio access network, with Nokia Chosen to provide the core.
In a report the Huawei Vice president Victor Zhang said it was ”reassured” that the UK will let the company keep working with carriers on 5G. he also added that “this evidence-based decision will end in a more advanced,secured and more cost effective telecoms infrastructure that's fit the future”. The confideration of British Industry, the leading business lobby within the country said that, “this solution appears a wise compromise that provides the united kingdom access to cutting-edge technology, whilst building in appropriate checks and balances around security”. By curbing Huawei’s access but still allowing the supplier to play a role in 5G, the british officials are betting that they can manage any security risks at home and still maintain intelligence sharing ties with the US and other allies.

Fintech companies call for measures to ease liquidity

Financial technology, also known as fintech, is an economic industry composed of companies that use technology to make financial services more efficient. Fintech companies operating in the digital lending space are expecting measures in the Budget that will improve cash flow for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The industry officials said that the steps to improve the liquidity position of the digital lenders, which have seen a significant rise in Cost of Capital in the past year will also activate the demand for credit in the digital lending space.

“Facilitating debt flow to SMEs through digital lending non banking financial companies (NBFCs) will help unlock capital for borrowers at the grass roots level,” said Gaurav Hinduja co-founder and managing director (MD) at Capital Float. The Amazon-backed NBFC, which tied up with Japan’s largest financial institutions Credit Saison. Online lenders which are betting big on the unsecured personal loan segment said deduction in income tax rates can improve the demand situation.

Increase in present income tax exemption limits should spur demand and consumption, providing a much needed stimulus. This year’s budget will continue with the momentum started with ‘Start-up India’ that enabled self-certification, income tax exemptions, rebate in filing patents for new companies. Post the Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) crisis, many digital lenders have seen an increase in their cost of capital in the past year by more than 150 basis points which has directly impacted the bottom line i.e. the net profits of the firms. Even many firms have seen a fall in debt flows from banks and traditional NBFCs.

Airtel Africa's net in Q3 down on higher tax outgo

Bharti Airtel’s Africa arm posted profit after tax of $103 million in the December quarter, down 21% year-on-year from of $133 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, due to higher tax outgo in the period.These are the company’s third quarterly financial results since raising $750 million through its initial public offering (IPO) in June last year. The shares were priced at 80 pence apiece, giving it a market capitalization of around $3.9 billion.

Airtel Africa posted revenue of $883 million, up 14.2% year-on-year from $783 million, largely driven by improved performance in the ‘Rest of Africa’ region, supported by solid results in Nigeria and East Africa, the company said.The revenue increase is significant for the African arm of Bharti Airtel, which battles a bruising tariff war with rival Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd at home turf.
It also comes at a time when Bharti Airtel and other operators are emerging from an adverse court verdict which mandates telecom companies to pay dues totalling over ₹1 trillion to the Indian government.

The 24 October Supreme Court order that ended the 14-year legal battle between telcos and the department of telecommunication (DoT) has asked Bharti Airtel to cough up ₹35,586 crore in dues, straining its already precarious financial situation in India.The telecom company currently awaits Supreme Court’s hearing on its modification plea filed earlier this month which seeks that the operators be allowed to negotiate a sustainable payment schedule with the department.
Bharti Airtel will declare its December quarter earnings for India operations on 4 February.
Africa has proved to be a beacon of hope for the company, which is faced with a struggling India business.

SIT on black money for capping cash at home

Seized cash should be deposited in the consolidated fund in India

A special investigation team on black money has proposed a cap on keeping cash at home. They suggested that seized unaccounted cash by law and enforcement agencies be deposited in the consolidated fund of India. The proposed measures aims to bring norms to curb illegal and unaccounted cash. It is due to the fact that the unaccounted wealth is being held as cash. The law enforcement agency said that proper cash management can only succeed only if there is a limitation on cash holdings.

At present, federal agencies deposit unaccounted cash seized to the dedicated bank account of respective agency with state bank of India where challan has name and permanent account number of assesses in whose name the amount gets deposited. In the recent meeting held at Ahmadabad, this recommendation had made by the panel of retired judges and bureaucrats with the central agencies including income- tax, Directorate of revenue intelligence etc.

The panel raised concern s over cash economy and malpractices like bribe during seizure of unaccounted cash. In the first full financial year after demonetization (FY18), 67.91 per cent of unaccounted cash was made up of 2,000 Rs notes and it was bit lower at 65.93 per cent in FY 19. In 2017, the government had introduced a cash transaction limit of 2 lakh per day. There was no limitation on cash holding. The SIT was constituted to ensure that the government uncovers which Indians have hidden untaxed money in India and foreign bank accounts.