May 25 - Cross-border business development agency, Dynamic Orbits, has released their April M&A Trends Overview for India.
According to the report, the Indian economy is faring better than expected and appears to have largely absorbed the negative aspects of the global financial crisis, partially because exports account for just 18 percent of its GDP.
The World Bank also has revised India’s expected 2009 GDP performance at around 7 percent.
Apr. 24 - The Delhi High Court has announced that it would abolish service tax on commercial rentals, cutting central government earnings by Rs 8,000 crore annually.
The regulation will help realtors, specially companies like retailers and call centers. Ernst & Young associate director Bipin Sapra told The Economic Times: “The high court order is a welcome one for the business and shall reduce the input costs in these tough times.”
The court says that renting of immovable property for use in the course or expansion of business is not regarded as a service, thus cannot be taxed in the first place.
Feb. 26 - A parliamentary panel released a report on Wednesday stating that the Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in New Delhi in October 2010 would need nothing short of a miracle to be completed on schedule. At a time when India and China are competing neck and neck for Asian dominance, India seems drastically under prepared for what the country hails as India’s Olympics. According to the report, only half of the 30,000 extra hotel rooms and most of the sporting venues needed would be completed by October.
The panel blames the lackadaisical attitude on the poor coordination between the various government agencies. "The 2010 games are drawing near and so many projects are yet to be initiated, let alone being completed," the AFP quoted the report by the panel on transport and tourism headed by federal lawmaker Sitaram Yechury. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct. 23 - Like most nations, India is not an insular economy, it will be affected by the global economic meltdown. Reaffirming his stance, that India's strong fundamentals will prevent it from going under, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to convince foreign investors and the Indian people that although India will face a temporary slowdown, the economy will return to faster growth when the situation stabilises. Singh's statement came to parliment just after the Reserve bank of India cut its key short-term lending rate by one percent to eight percent. The prime minister also promised that inflation would come down in the next two months. Read the rest of this entry »
Oct. 16 - India's central Bank, the Reserve Bank of India will cut the cash reserve ratio (the proportion of their deposits that banks have to maintain in cash with the central bank) by 100 basis points or 1 percent to 6.5 percent, releasing Rs 400 billion rupees ($8.2 billion) into the Indian banking system. This marks the third and steepest cut in CRR in the past two weeks, bringing the CRR down from 9 percent last month.
The RBI has also decided to release Rs 250 billion (US$5 billion) to commercial banks and credit institutions towards a farm waiver scheme immediately. According to the AFP. Last week the RBI announced a cash injection of 600 billion rupees (US$ 12 billion) into the financial system in two instalments. It has also doubled the investment limit for overseas investors in corporate bonds to US$6 billion.
All these measures will collectively, contribute Rs 1,450 billion (US$30 billion) to India's financial system this month. Read the rest of this entry »
Aug. 8 - India’s ruling Congress and the Communist Party of China (CPC) signed a pact on Thursday to put in place a mechanism that would help regular high-level exchanges between them. Signed by Chinese vice-president and standing committee member of the CPC’s politburo, Xi Jinping, and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the memorandum of understanding also provides the two parties the opportunity to consult each other on important bilateral, regional and international developments.
Aug. 1 - New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport will inaugurate its third runway on Indian Independence day (August 15). The second busiest airport in the country is ramping capacity in preparation for the Commonwealth Games which New Delhi will host in 2010. The new runway will increase the airport’s capacity from the present 36 landings and takeoffs an hour to 65.
According to the Times of India, the trial runs will take place for a few days and the runway will be made operational for commercial flights by the end of August or beginning of September. ‘‘Almost all civil and technical work has been completed and trial runs should begin soon,’’ an airport official said.
July 23 - Seventeen years after Manmohan Singh "libralized" India's economy leading the nation to attain Asian superpower status, he's once again proven that as a visionary he knows whats needed for India's development and that he's got the nation's support.
After two gruelling days in Parliment house, where leaders of the ruling coalition UPA party fought tooth and nail with their opposition, Manmohan Singh's UPA party won the trust vote by 19 votes. The ruling coalition secured 275 votes as against 256 by the Opposition. As many as 10 members were absent or abstained from voting. The emergency need for a trust vote was called for when the left parties, a large minority in the ruling coalition decided to withdraw from the government as Manmohan Singh agreed to sigh the nuclear deal with America.
July 18 - Hotel room rates in New Delhi have dropped almost 50 percent the lowest in two years on the back of rising aviation fuel fees and an economic slowdown, the Times of India reported
"Corporates have cut travel of their executives which has affected our occupancy. Although the tariff is in the range of Rs 5,000-Rs 8,000 (US$117-187) in five-stars, they are still pretty affordable. But with airfares being where they are, personal leisure travel is becoming out of reach of the middle class," said an leading hotelier.
July 3 - Trying to buffer India's borders with infrastructure, the national government on Wednesday issued a statement that the country would invest US$7.2 billion to build transport infrastructure in India's northeast by 2012.
A Bloomberg report stated that India plans to invest about 310 billion rupees (US$7.2 billion) by 2012 to build roads in the nation's northeast, improving connectivity with the states bordering China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
The government will also build airports and railway links to all state capitals of the region, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, inviting private investment in the region.
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