RBI income up but expenditure rises more sharply: Annual Report

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s total income increased 2% in the year ended June 2016 to Rs 80,870 crore from Rs 79,256 crore in the previous year. However a sharper rise in the expenditure meant that the net disposable income for the central bank dropped marginally. 

In its annual report published on Monday, RBI said expenditure increased 12% to Rs 14,990 crore from Rs 13,356 crore "primarily due to provisions made for reimbursing service tax on agency commission paid to agency banks." RBI follows the July to June financial year. 

RBI being the banker to the government pays a commission to banks for different financial services offered for the government. In the year ended June 2016 besides the commissions paid, the central bank also had to pay service tax on such commissions, inflating expenses further. 

As a result the surplus transferred to the government dipped marginally by 0.03% to Rs 65,876 crore in the year ended June 2016 from Rs 65,896 crore in the year ended June 2015.

DMICDC partners IIFCL to boost investment in industrial space

The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation has signed an MoU with India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) to share expertise and help boost investment opportunities in industrial space. 

"DMICDC and IIFCL, which provides long-term financing to viable infrastructure projects, on Friday signed an MoU to share their knowledge, resources and expertise and help boost investment opportunities in industrial development," DMICDC said in a statement. 

IIFCL has offered to consider financing DMIC projects such as airports, urban public transport, energy, social and commercial infrastructure, it said. 

Under the MoU, it said the DMICDC will also be able to avail the services of IIFCL subsidiaries such as IIFCL Projects Ltd, which specialises in project advisory, loan syndication and financial consultancy services such as appraisals, PPP structuring and bid process management. 

Sanjeev Kaushik, Deputy Managing Director, who signed the MoU on behalf of IIFCL, said the two organisations would pool their resources and expertise to accelerate infrastructure development in India. 

"Projects such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor are the future engines of Indian economic growth and development," he said. 

Manipur government appeals to employees to wear khadi once a week

KOLKATA: With the increasing popularity of Khadi amongst government offices, Manipur Government has appealed to all its functionaries and employees to wear khadi voluntarily at least once a week and preferably on Fridays. 

This appeal follows after a sustained campaign launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in generating rural employment for weavers and artisans and in sustaining their livelihood at time when factory-spun contemporary casual clothing has takenover the imagination of all. 

Vivek Kumar Dewangan, commissioner (commerce and industry)government of Manipur, in a circular to all that departments said "This appeal to the functionaries and employees of Manipur Government to recognise the quality and wholesome value of Khadi. and wear once in week preferably every Friday." 

PM Narendra Modi’s Vietnam visit is to signal India’s presence in South-East Asia

NEW DELHI: Narendra Modi's to visit Vietnam on September 3 enroute to China for the G-20 Summit signaling India's growing strategic presence in South East Asia in Beijing's periphery. Delhi is expected to offer additional support to Hanoi's military establishment, including finance and training, assistance to space sector, greater investments besides acquiring possible stakes in supplementary hydrocarbon blocks. 

While the highlight of PM's day-long visit will be signing of contract for supply of four patrol boats to Vietnamese military under the $100 -million line of credit that was extended during its PM's India visit in October 2014, India could offer additional financial support in building capacity of Hanoi's military establishment and may increase quota for training of armed forces personnel and undertake further repair and maintenance of defence hardware, hinted persons familiar with the developments. India's support to Vietnam's defence sector is aimed at augmenting capacity of the Southeast Asian nation's military establishment. 

Vietnam — the current country coordinator for India in the ASEAN -- has an expanding strategic partnership with India in the region in more than one way. Today, Hanoi besides Singapore is among the two top strategic partners in ASEAN. While the growing defence partnership --based on common Russian military platform — has captured the popular imagination, maritime and cyber security covers the other areas of security covers the other areas of security cooperation, hinted official sources. A key outcome of the visit could be a document on cyber security partnership. 

Built on the bonhomie of the Cold War era when India extended emotional and moral support to the forces fighting American military, Delhi and Hanoi have drawn closer to each other over the past decade amid China's growing aggression and ambitions in SE Asia including South China Sea (SCS) region. That he chose to visit Vietnam, a claimant in SCS, ahead of China and later Laos for East and ASEAN Summits itself has a symbolic significance. 

Experts of India-Vietnam affairs, however, point out that both sides prefer to keep key strands of the strategic partnership under wraps to avoid reaction from Beijing. While India is not militarily active in South China Sea (SCS) region and advocates peaceful resolution, Delhi has asserted that it favours rules based global order based on UNCLOS and against unilateral actions after the Arbitration Court in Hague on July 12 dismissed Beijing's historical claims in SCS in a case vis a vis Philippines. 

Airtel cuts 4G price by up to 80% to check Reliance Jio effect

NEW DELHI: In a move to counter Reliance Jio, telecom major Bharti Airtel BSE -0.68 % has slashed 4G and 3G mobile internet charges by up to 80 per cent to as low as Rs 51 per gigabyte (GB) under a special scheme. 

To avail this benefit, AirtelBSE -0.68 % customers will have to recharge with Rs 1,498 against which they will get 1GB of 4G or 3G mobile internet usage valid for 28 days, the company said in a statement. 
Post exhaustion of 1GB data limit, the customers can get .. 
At present, Airtel offers 1GB of 3G or 4G mobile internet for Rs 259 valid for 28 days. 
The company is also set to launch a similar scheme in lower denomination of Rs 748. Under this scheme, Airtel customers will get 1GB of 4G for Rs 99 over a period of six months. 
"These prepaid packs are live in Delhi and will get launched across circles by August 31, 2016," the statement said. "With these innovative packs, we are redefining the value proposition on our data packs and allowing our customers get a lot more within the same budget," Bharti Airtel Director - Operations (India & South Asia) , Ajai Puri said. 
Airtel in July started offering up to 67 per cent more data in existing 4G and 3G schemes which was followed by Idea Cellular and Vodafone. 
In August, Airtel made voice calling free even in roaming under a new plan for Rs 1,199 which also i .. 
Players like Airtel and Idea have upped the ante in mobile data pricing ahead of the upcoming commercial launch by Reliance Jio. The company had said it has over 1.5 million test users on its network. 
Reliance Jio, which is gearing up to launch its 4G services, had also said during the recently-concluded quarter, it extended its trial services to all LYF devices users under the Jio LYF Preview Offer. 

Larsen & Toubro sets Rs 2 lakh cr revenue target by 2021

Engineering firm Larsen & Toubro has set a target of almost doubling its sales to Rs 2 lakh crore by 2020-21, its Chairman AM Naik, who will be retiring next year, has said.

Addressing the shareholders at the company's 71st annual general meeting in Mumbai, he said: "I would like to take this opportunity to share my vision of the L&T of tomorrow...Our goal is to achieve a revenue of Rs 2 trillion by 2020/21 without compromising on our margins and achieving an order inflow in excess of Rs 2.5 trillion per annum."

Naik, who has been associated with company for over 4 decades, exuded confidence that with the economy starting to turn around this target is achievable, provided the right strategy and on-ground execution.

He also drew his optimism from the strategic advice the company has received from two international consultants to reach these targets.

As part of sharpening the business focus, Naik said the company has "identified select growth businesses in L&T's broad portfolio. These include IT, technology services, defence, smart world and water management.

"Our strategic plan involves re-allocation of resources -both talent and capital - to businesses with visible value creation potential. As most of these are also asset-light businesses, the initiative will be in line with our larger objective of building an asset-light organisation," the Chairman said.

The country's largest engineering and construction behemoth had reported consolidated revenue of Rs 1,03,522 crore for the year ended March 31, 2016, a 12 per cent over the previous year, and its consolidated net income for the year rose just 7 per cent to Rs 5,091 crore. 

MNC seed firms form new lobby group in India

Amid signs of extreme disappointment over the central government's move to allegedly water down intellectual property (IP) rights over biotech traits, 10 leading seed companies - mostly Indian subsidiaries of multinational corporations - on Friday launched a new association to advocate their cause.

Announcing the formation of "Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII)" in Delhi on Friday, the founding members said that the new body will represent companies committed to Indian agriculture, and R&D that benefits Indian farmers.

The members include Monsanto, Mahyco, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow Agro, Dupont Poineer, Metahelix, Namdhari, Rasi seeds and Shriram Bioseeds.  The key purpose and commitments of the FSII include providing a platform that will bring together like-minded seed companies who are committed to the seed business, IP creation, IP protection and working for the welfare of Indian farmers, the founding members stated.

FSII has already given its views on the draft notification on the "licensing and formats for GM technology agreement" put out by the agriculture ministry recently. While the new body finds the draft agreement norms one-sided and against their interest, several domestic seed companies find it acceptable.

"It is important to ensure both food and nutritional security for the country's growing population. Seed is one of the key inputs that can deliver innovative solutions to address the agricultural challenges we have. This new Association is committed to increase efforts in research and innovation in Seed - which in turn,  would help our farmers and Indian Agriculture " Ramasami , Chairman and Managing Director of Rasi Seeds, a founding member of FSII said.

Ramasami also explained that the new association is driven by the fundamental value of respecting research and intellectual properties of each other. "The Association believes that no single company has all the solutions and hence collaborations, joint ventures, licensing arrangements and similar approaches are necessary among the members of the industry. Such collaborative working is possible only based on fair dealings, mutual trust, respect for the law and honoring of contractual obligations. FSII is committed to foster such values amongst its members.

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