Daily Sector News Today – 11.01.2018
* AGRICULTURE: The government is likely to increase the budget allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana to 130 bln rupees for 2018-19 (Apr-Mar) from 107.01 bln rupees for this financial year.
* AVIATION: The government will be ready with rules for seaplane services for operators within the next three months, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said. The country's aviation watchdog has asked airlines to submit monthly reports on their fleet to maintain transparency about airworthiness of aircraft.
* BANKING: The Indian Banks Association has clarified that social media rumours that all free services provided by banks would cease on Jan 20, were "baseless and false". NCR Corp has completed the sale of a significant portion of its assets and related customer contracts with respect to finance ministry-outsourced automated teller machines business in Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Lakshadweep to Electronic Payment & Services. The Reserve Bank of India has notified that existing non-banking financial companies cannot operate as peer-to-peer lenders.
- The Reserve Bank of India clarified that it had no connection with a report on the security aspects of Aadhaar by S. Ananth, adjunct faculty at the Institute for Development and Research in Banking that is affiliated to the central bank. India is likely to consider expanding its bankruptcy law to include cross-border insolvency, which helps lenders tap defaulters' assets overseas, as a top panel at the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India meets on Thursday to help strengthen the framework dedicated to recover bad loans.
* CORPORATE: JSW Group, has urged the government to allow public sector companies to take over production at seven iron ore mines in Odisha that have defaulted on penalty payment levied by the Supreme Court for breaching production limit.
* ENERGY: International Finance Corp, part of the World Bank group, is close to investing $440 mln or 28 bln rupees in Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh.
* FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS: Mumbai-based Amar Tea, owner of the Society brand, has a market share of 40%, and is ahead of fast moving consumer goods stalwarts such as HUL and TATA GLOBAL BEVERAGES in Maharashtra.
* FUNDS: Mutual funds companies are expected to spend more than 3.50 bln rupees on advertising in 2018 to educate investors and debunk myths associated with the product.
* INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: A new bill aimed at protecting online data and related privacy of citizens has been delayed, and is likely to be tabled only during the Winter Session later this year or the Budget Session in 2019.
* MEDIA: Emerald Media, the Pan-Asian media investment platform backed by US private equity firm KKR, has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Cosoms-Maya that produces children's animation content and is seeking to expand its footprint beyond India.
* PHARMACEUTICALS: Intas Pharmaceuticals is offering just under $1 bln to acquire UK-based Mallinckrodt's US generics business, below the asking price of at least $1.2 bln. AUROBINDO PHARMA, CADILA HEALTHCARE, TORRENT PHARMACEUTICALS and Intas Pharmaceuticals have expressed preliminary interest in buying the European generics business of Paris-headquartered pharmaceutical giant Sanofi.
- India's drug regulator is gearing up to re-inspect manufacturing units of several pharmaceutical companies across the country to ensure they have taken measures to improve the quality of medicines sold here and exported to other markets.
* RAILWAY: The Indian Railways has hiked freight rates for coal and coke by 11-20%, effective from Jan 15, according to a notification. The Railways also said it will not levy a busy season surcharge and development charge on the two commodities.
* REALTY: Housing sales in Dec quarter across top eight property markets have risen 28% from a year ago to 51,701 apartments.
* REGULATORY: Securities and Exchange Board of India has banned global auditing firm Price Waterhouse Network from auditing listed companies for two years starting April for its role in the 80-bln-rupee Satyam scam that took place in 2009. The Centre, which needs all the funds it can muster to prevent the fiscal deficit from widening, has rejected the Airports Authority of India's request seeking an exemption from dividend payment, asking the state-run operator of aviation facilities to finance expansion projects by harnessing its cash reserves instead of using last year's profits.
* STEEL: Bidders for the bankrupt Essar Steel, including private equity funds such as Aion and SSG Capital and steelmakers such as Arcelor Mittal, JSW STEEL, and NIPPON STEEL are seeking to tie up bank funding.
* TAXATION: The finance ministry has reiterated that the last date for filing return in form GSTR-1 remains Jan 10. A committee of economists has suggested bringing back long-term capital gains tax on securities including shares, said Govinda Rao, a former member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council.
* TELECOMMUNICATION: The Department of Telecom has deferred a meeting scheduled for today with mobile service providers to discuss the issue of call drops following a request from some companies. Turmoil in India's telecom sector has hit the recruitment industry hard, with their revenue from the segment falling sharply in the past 12 months as companies curbed hiring and paid less for placements.
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* AVIATION: The government will be ready with rules for seaplane services for operators within the next three months, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said. The country's aviation watchdog has asked airlines to submit monthly reports on their fleet to maintain transparency about airworthiness of aircraft.
* BANKING: The Indian Banks Association has clarified that social media rumours that all free services provided by banks would cease on Jan 20, were "baseless and false". NCR Corp has completed the sale of a significant portion of its assets and related customer contracts with respect to finance ministry-outsourced automated teller machines business in Kerala, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Lakshadweep to Electronic Payment & Services. The Reserve Bank of India has notified that existing non-banking financial companies cannot operate as peer-to-peer lenders.
- The Reserve Bank of India clarified that it had no connection with a report on the security aspects of Aadhaar by S. Ananth, adjunct faculty at the Institute for Development and Research in Banking that is affiliated to the central bank. India is likely to consider expanding its bankruptcy law to include cross-border insolvency, which helps lenders tap defaulters' assets overseas, as a top panel at the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India meets on Thursday to help strengthen the framework dedicated to recover bad loans.
* CORPORATE: JSW Group, has urged the government to allow public sector companies to take over production at seven iron ore mines in Odisha that have defaulted on penalty payment levied by the Supreme Court for breaching production limit.
* ENERGY: International Finance Corp, part of the World Bank group, is close to investing $440 mln or 28 bln rupees in Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Park in Madhya Pradesh.
* FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS: Mumbai-based Amar Tea, owner of the Society brand, has a market share of 40%, and is ahead of fast moving consumer goods stalwarts such as HUL and TATA GLOBAL BEVERAGES in Maharashtra.
* FUNDS: Mutual funds companies are expected to spend more than 3.50 bln rupees on advertising in 2018 to educate investors and debunk myths associated with the product.
* INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: A new bill aimed at protecting online data and related privacy of citizens has been delayed, and is likely to be tabled only during the Winter Session later this year or the Budget Session in 2019.
* MEDIA: Emerald Media, the Pan-Asian media investment platform backed by US private equity firm KKR, has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Cosoms-Maya that produces children's animation content and is seeking to expand its footprint beyond India.
* PHARMACEUTICALS: Intas Pharmaceuticals is offering just under $1 bln to acquire UK-based Mallinckrodt's US generics business, below the asking price of at least $1.2 bln. AUROBINDO PHARMA, CADILA HEALTHCARE, TORRENT PHARMACEUTICALS and Intas Pharmaceuticals have expressed preliminary interest in buying the European generics business of Paris-headquartered pharmaceutical giant Sanofi.
- India's drug regulator is gearing up to re-inspect manufacturing units of several pharmaceutical companies across the country to ensure they have taken measures to improve the quality of medicines sold here and exported to other markets.
* RAILWAY: The Indian Railways has hiked freight rates for coal and coke by 11-20%, effective from Jan 15, according to a notification. The Railways also said it will not levy a busy season surcharge and development charge on the two commodities.
* REALTY: Housing sales in Dec quarter across top eight property markets have risen 28% from a year ago to 51,701 apartments.
* REGULATORY: Securities and Exchange Board of India has banned global auditing firm Price Waterhouse Network from auditing listed companies for two years starting April for its role in the 80-bln-rupee Satyam scam that took place in 2009. The Centre, which needs all the funds it can muster to prevent the fiscal deficit from widening, has rejected the Airports Authority of India's request seeking an exemption from dividend payment, asking the state-run operator of aviation facilities to finance expansion projects by harnessing its cash reserves instead of using last year's profits.
* STEEL: Bidders for the bankrupt Essar Steel, including private equity funds such as Aion and SSG Capital and steelmakers such as Arcelor Mittal, JSW STEEL, and NIPPON STEEL are seeking to tie up bank funding.
* TAXATION: The finance ministry has reiterated that the last date for filing return in form GSTR-1 remains Jan 10. A committee of economists has suggested bringing back long-term capital gains tax on securities including shares, said Govinda Rao, a former member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council.
* TELECOMMUNICATION: The Department of Telecom has deferred a meeting scheduled for today with mobile service providers to discuss the issue of call drops following a request from some companies. Turmoil in India's telecom sector has hit the recruitment industry hard, with their revenue from the segment falling sharply in the past 12 months as companies curbed hiring and paid less for placements.
