The IDBI Bank – a public sector bank [PSB] in which the Government of India [GOI] holds 80.96% shareholding – is in deep financial trouble with non-performing assets [NPAs] as a percentage of the borrowings reaching a high of 28% as on March 2018. Despite infusion of Rs 10,600 crore in 2017-18 for its recapitalization, the capital adequacy ratio [CAR] is barely close to the minimum required 9%. In the budget for 2016-17, the government had announced its intent to divest majority stake and transfer control to a private promoter. After dilly dallying on this for over two years, the government has now taken a U-turn and decided to let Life Insurance Corporation [LIC] hike its stake in IDBI Bank...
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Category: Regulatory environment
FDI in food retail – Amazon faces policy hurdles
In the budget for 2016-17, the union government had announced 100% foreign direct investment [FDI] in food retail – both offline and online. However, such investment was subject to retailer selling only the food procured from farmers in India and processed locally and undertaking investment in back-end infrastructure. The Indian retail market is worth over US$ 650 billion of which food alone accounts for about 50%. The market is dominated by small grocery [or the so called mom-and-pop] stores. The organized retail constitutes less than 10% despite the private sector [albeit domestic] having made forays into retail for over two decades now. So, the opportunities for FDI in food are unprecedented. In this backdrop, one would have expected a big...
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Walmart’s backdoor entry in Indian retail
Walmart – the US$ 500 billion retail giant has acquired 77% stake in Flipkart – the leading Indian brand in e-commerce segment – with an investment of US$ 16 billion. The balance 23% will be with minority investors including Alphabet [a subsidiary of global internet giant Google] which will invest US$ 1.5 billion. Walmart is not new to the Indian market. It came to India initially in 2007 in the ‘wholesale cash and carry’ business viz. sale to wholesalers and other bulk buyers [including institutional agencies] under a joint venture [JV] arrangement with Bharti Retail. This was under the then FDI [foreign direct investment] policy which allowed foreign investor 51% stake in this business. In 2012, the then government under...
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What prompts e-commerce players burn cash?
In the current times, the consumers of a variety of items from FMCG to electronics to consumer durable etc are having a hey day with access to these at substantially low price from e-commerce platform. Several products are available at a discount as high as 50% [or even higher] over the maximum retail price [MRP]. Juxtaposed with the fact that the requested item is delivered right at the doorsteps of the consumer makes the buy from the platform all the more attractive. But, there is a darker side to it. A close look at the very dynamics of how such heavy discounts are given would show it up. At the very outset, it is important to understand that MRP is...
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Telecomm – is the regulator siding with predator?
A little over 18 months ago, in a bizarre move rarely seen before in any part of the world, a Greenfield 4G operator viz. Reliance Jio [RJ] entered the Indian telecomm market with ‘free’ and ‘unlimited’ voice calls and low-cost data. After launching an introductory offer in September, 2016 for free – both data and voice for 6 months, from April, 2017, it charged data at throwaway price Rs 50 per GB, even as voice calls continue to be free ad infinitum. For a conglomerate [read: RJ] investing hundreds of thousands crores in laying infrastructure and paying heavily for purchase of spectrum, an attempt to sell services virtually for free was a brazen case of ‘predatory’ pricing with the sole...
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Bank loot – humans fail systems not vice versa
In the wake of over Rs 13,000 crores fraud perpetrated by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi on Punjab National Bank [PNB] – second largest public sector bank [PSB] – the Reserve Bank of India [RBI] has barred banks from issuing letters of undertaking [LoUs] and letters of comfort [LoCs] with immediate effect. However, it has allowed banks to continue to issue letters of credit [LCs] and bank guarantees [BGs]. The decision has caused consternation in industry circles who argue that this move will cause a big disruption in trade financing [as LoUs/LoCs currently account for about US$ 20-40 billion worth of outstanding finance] and raise credit costs for importers. In a country ridden with a flood of scams, it is...
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NPAs – will the patient survive surgery?
Replying to the debate on President’s address during the opening of the budget session of the parliament, prime minister, Modi squarely blamed the erstwhile UPA dispensation led by Congress for the most serious problem of NPAs [non-performing assets] of the banks – mostly public sector banks [PSBs]. What Modi was alluding to was that there had been massive proliferation of loans given by the banks on the directions of the ruling political establishment to favored industrialists and businessmen without conducting due diligence, assessing the viability of the projects/businesses and seeking mortgages. During 2008-2014, loans worth Rs 3500,000 crore were given. A big slice of these loans turned in to NPAs. Yet, these were kept under cover even as a host...
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Corporate tax sans exemption – miles away
While, presenting the union budget for 2015-16, finance minister, Arun Jaitely had announced that the corporate tax rate would be reduced from existing 30% to 25% over a period of 5 years. This was to be synchronized with withdrawal of all exemptions available under the existing dispensation. In the budget for 2016-17, for new projects set up after April 2016, the tax rate was reduced to 25%. Further, companies with turnover less than Rs 5 crore were charged 29% plus surcharge. In 2017-18, the tax rate for small companies was further reduced to 25% even while increasing the qualifying limit to Rs 50 crore. In the budget for 2018-19, Jaitely has given the benefit of 25% rate to all companies...
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Will SEBI protect minority shareholders of Tata entities?
The Securities and Exchange Board of India [SEBI] is looking at whether Tata Sons’ plan of becoming a private limited company from a public one would impact shareholders, especially minority shareholders of listed Tata entities that own shares in Tata Sons. Meanwhile, new structure has also been challenged before National Company Law Tribunal [NCLT]. Tata Sons Limited [TSL] is the primary holding company of over US$ 100 billion conglomerate having presence in almost every major sector viz. power, steel, automobiles, telecomm, chemicals, information technology [IT] etc. It has controlling interest in high profile companies such as Tata Motors Ltd [TML], Tata Steel Ltd [TSL], Tata Consultancy Services [TCS], Tata Power Ltd [TPL], India Hotels Co. [IHC], Tata Chemicals Ltd [TCL] [to name a...
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Removing judicial hurdles to accelerate growth
Recently, the Union Cabinet approved amendments to the Specific Relief Act, 1963, and a Bill viz. The Specific Relief [amendment] Bill, 2017 was introduced in the parliament on December 22, 2017. It deals with specific fulfillment of a contract as part of the Government’s ease of doing business policy. The amendments proposes that after two parties enter into an agreement and one of them breaks the contract, the affected party will have the freedom to get the contract executed by a third party. Also, the affected party can get costs and other expenses recovered from the party which broke the agreement [under the existing law, the courts grant monetary compensation in exceptional circumstances]. In case, the contract relates to infrastructure...
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