Realty prices will continue rising in 2015: Knight Frank

It's good news for home-owners, but not-so-good news for aspiring home buyers. Real estate consultancy Knight Frank says that despite the sluggish demand seen in the residential property markets over the last year, residential property prices are going higher, reports CNBC-TV18's Alexander Mathew.

Residential sales in India's top-six cities have fallen 17 percent in 2014. Normally, this low demand would drag prices down, but Knight Frank says that given a sharp decline in new launches, prices are actually heading higher.

For example in Mumbai, where new launches were down 43 percent in 2014, prices went up by 10 percent on average.

What's more, prices are expected to rise further as 2015 unfolds, though a sharp upswing may not be on the cards.

Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Dir – Research, Knight Frank said: "We expect that the combined six cities together, the sales will go up by 4 percent over the same period last year in the first half. However, the launches will still fall by 4 percent. There is always an upward pressure in price. However, we don't see much significant increase in price in the top six cities going forward."

It's not just residential property prices that are on the up. Commercial real estate prices, both rental and on sale, are also rising.

That's because new launches have dropped 6 percent in 2014, and absorption, or demand, is up 14 percent, with vacancy levels shrinking to 17.5 percent from 19.6 percent.

Unless more development begins soon, the supply crunch will lead to a further rise in rental costs.

Viral Desai, Director, Occupier Solutions Group said that with good support from government to incentivise developers to do more commercial real estate, there will be a balancing act. Otherwise, rents will increase by 10-15 percent in the next 12 to 15 months.

But all that won't happen overnight and so, Knight Frank says that while the first half of 2015 will see some consolidation by developers, it's the second half that will see them get any actual traction in sales.

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Govt likely to regulate, monitor e-commerce sector: Sources

The consumer affairs and IT ministries are studying plan to regulate e-commerce as the government feels predatory pricing, online fraud needs to be regulated.

It has being dubbed as India's sunrise sector and the government now wants to keep tabs on the e-commerce industry. Sources say the Centre is mulling regulating and monitoring the online retail sector.

The consumer affairs and IT ministries are studying plan to regulate e-commerce as the government feels predatory pricing, online fraud needs to be regulated. The ministry also believes e-Retailers are taking undue advantage by operating from low tax jurisdictions.

The consumer affairs ministry has floated a note to a committee of secretaries to this effect. According to the ministry the onus to mandate the regulation of the sector will rest with several ministries, not just one.

Consumer affairs ministry is likely to monitor predatory pricing, criminal frauds and the
Information Technology department is likely to handle server registration, data protection.

The Reserve Bank of India is also expected to come to rescue and regulate banking, payment gateway and forex issues.

The Revenue Department is likely to monitor taxation-related issues.

Reacting to the news, Vivek Gupta, partner, BMR Advisors said the e-tail industry is doing very well and there is conceptually no issue in government willing to create a regulator for the sector.

However, government must use a balanced approach as e-commerce impacts the economy in a huge way and is now one of the most profitable sectors, he added.

Gupta further said that the government should not meddle into trying to create a level playing field in e-tail segment and must avoid going overboard with regulations.

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Airtel payment bank will help 'reach the unbanked': Kotak

Bharti Airtel will sell 19.9 percent stake in Airtel M Commerce services to Kotak Mahindra Bank. In an interview to CNBC-TV18's Latha Venkatesh, Deepak Gupta, joint MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank, spoke about the deal.

It is first play into a totally new customer segment, the inclusive customer segment. As a standalone bank it is practically impossible to reach out to that mass in the market place.

Dipak Gupta

JMD

Kotak Mahindra Bank

Airtel M Commerce services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel , has decided to convert its existing prepaid payment service into a payments bank by applying for a license with the Reserve Bank of India.

Bharti Airtel will also sell 19.9 percent stake in Airtel M Commerce services to Kotak Mahindra Bank . Airtel M Commerce currently offers mobile money services under the brand name Airtel Money.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18's Latha Venkatesh, Deepak Gupta, joint MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank, spoke about the deal.

Edited excerpts from the interview on CNBC-TV18.

Q: Are you paying something for this 19.9 percent stake? What will it be?

A: We are investing in that company. There is an existing company which has a PPI license, it is an RBI approved PPI. We are investing in it and that company will apply for a payment bank.

Q: That investment, what does it cost you?

A: We have not disclosed that.

Q: How do you expect this joint venture to benefit Kotak Mahindra Bank?

A: It is first play into a totally new customer segment, the inclusive customer segment. As a standalone bank it is practically impossible to reach out to that mass in the market place.

If you look at Airtel, it has phenomenal reach, particularly if you look at the rural pockets, the unbanked segments. They have an existing reach, so it is a great way to reach out to a wider inclusive segment.

Bharti Airtel stock price

On January 29, 2015, Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 375.15, up Rs 1.40, or 0.37 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 419.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 282.10.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 27.40 per share as per the quarter ended September 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 13.69. The latest book value of the company is Rs 166.93 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.25.

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2014 saw most number of PE deals in last decade: Thornton

According to the third edition of Grant Thornton's 'The Fourth Wheel' -- a publication on PE in India produced in association with IVCA, PE investment in India is growing steadily since 2009, and stood at over USD 12 billion in 2014 alone.

The year 2014 saw 604 private equity deals, the highest number of transactions in the past decade, on the back of increase in investments in technology enabled consumer space including e-commerce, says a report.

According to the third edition of Grant Thornton's 'The Fourth Wheel' -- a publication on PE in India produced in association with IVCA, PE investment in India is growing steadily since 2009, and stood at over USD 12 billion in 2014 alone. "Today dynamic companies seek private equity funding not just for capital but the significant value addition they bring to the business and their ability to drive growth and value," Grant Thornton India LLP Partner Harish HV said.

He said: "PE players are in the forefront of creating new businesses particularly in the tech and e-commerce space, which is making some fundamental changes in the way business and economy function."

The report said that IT&ITES has attracted maximum investments worth USD 13 billion from over 900 deals in the last decade, followed by banking and financial services and pharma sector with 331 and 298 deals respectively. Furthermore, e-commerce topped the PE investment charts in 2014 and the wave is expected to result in consolidation trends in 2015 within the segment. The report says that IT/ITES and retail & consumer sectors will continue to see upward trend while banking and financial services (BFS), real estate and infrastructure (REI) and pharmaceuticals are expected to be attractive opportunities in 2015.

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Retired individuals want FM to make annuities tax free

Abhinav Guleccha

Union Budget is a sort of an "event" in India which represents the anticipations & hopes of people across all sections of the society. And this year's Union Budget is no different. In this backdrop, I have tried to touch upon some general expectations from the cross-section of society this time round as follows:

Investor:
We have a government that has got a clear mandate from the people of India and has a strong development agenda in place. The recent softening of inflation and rate cut from RBI is another strong positive. As we speak, the markets are touching record highs and it seems that the reform agenda coupled with the sentimental upswing in view of US President's visit to India has already started factoring in the valuations. This time round, investors expect the budget to be reform oriented and able to put the growth agenda on track.

Professionals & Business persons:
After a prolonged dull economic phase, professionals and business people are looking for a growth revival. Along with this, they are looking towards a friendlier and a more transparent tax regime whereby there is clarity on tax policy and measures are in place to resolve disputes in a time-bound manner. The players in the infrastructure space will be most keen to know how the  "Make in India" initiative and the plans to set up smart cities is going to pan out. Taking the cleanliness mission forward, entrepreneurs in waste recycling/ management sector will be keen to hear any tax concessions doled out to these sectors. Entrepreneurs in broadband, optical fibre and mobile telephony space are looking out to benefit from tax holidays and concessions given the government's agenda to connect villages through internet. Business people will also be keen to know of the new changes in indirect tax laws, if at all government plans to introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) from next year.

Retired:
Retired individuals will be looking towards the Finance Minister (FM) to make the annuities tax free in the hands of senior citizen. In view of rising medical costs & difficulties faced by senior citizens to avail decent health insurance cover, Budget proposals may come to rescue. Reverse Mortgage is a great way for retired people to earn a regular monthly income but it somehow has not picked up in India. Budget proposals may provide the push necessary to ensure the needed penetration of this product. Tax concessions to developers of "retirement homes" can also help senior citizens life a dignified lifestyle post retirement.

Student:
Students, particularly those keen to study in top colleges in India and abroad will want to hear any new government schemes/ grants / further tax concessions on educational loans. Subsidisation in the cost of study materials & easy availability of loans for computer equipments in case of low income families can be a big boost towards taking information technology to the villages in India.

Homemaker:
No big agendas, homemakers have a very clear request to the FM - rein in the prices of essential items like food items, groceries, petrol, diesel, LPG etc. so that household budgets don't go awry. In view of the recent incidents, there is again a need to relook at women safety and set aside more funds and measures in that direction.

Salaried:
The first & foremost expectation will always be that the tax slabs to be upped so that the monthly take home pay is increased. Existing limits for medical re-imbursement, conveyance, gift vouchers, meal-re-imbursement etc, which have not at all kept pace with inflation needs a serious review. Increased costs of medical expenses require Section 80D deduction limit should be reviewed & increase. In view of higher cost of real estate, maximum deduction in case of interest on housing loan taken for property can also be reviewed. Salaried professionals will also want the tax treatment of National Pension Scheme (NPS) at distribution stage to be reviewed to make it more attractive.

Conclusion:
As it can be seen, each section of the society has its own set of expectations from the Finance Minister in the coming Budget. But across sections, one thing is clear: India needs reform and development, and it remains to be seen how the Union Budget can propel India in that direction.

Abhinav is a member of The Financial Planners' Guild , India (FPGI). FPGI is an association of Practicing Certified Financial Planners to create awareness about Financial Planning among the public, promote professional excellence and ensure high quality practice standards.

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Kotak-AMSL deal: May see more such marriages, say experts

Airtel m-Commerce Services (AMSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel , is converting its existing prepaid payment instrument licence into a payments bank licence to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India. Bharti Airtel will also sell 19.9 percent stake in AMSL to Kotak Mahindra Bank . AMSL offers mobile money services under the brand name Airtel Money.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sanjay Kapoor, former CEO of Bharti Airtel and currently the chairman of Micromax and Mahesh Uppal of ComFirst India, discuss on the deal.

Below is the transcript of the interview

Q: Do you think this is an eminently sensible partnership, Kotak buying a 19 percent stake in Bharti Airtel's mobile arm?

Kapoor: Absolutely. When this policy was out little a while back that joint ventures could be made with banks, I had very openly said that this could actually bring in some new collaborations going forward. Even when the licensing was limited to having business correspondent kind relationships, that stage also there was strategic alliances without any monetary participation between telcos and banks and that time it was more for the KYC reasons and also that you have knowledge that comes to you from the other side but now as you enumerated and explained, there are lot more synergies that come together between the two.

They complement each other fairly well and one point that probably you did not cover was and every retail banker would have a lot of customers at the lower end who would be unprofitable. They could get a vent by this because they could be transferred to such like services, so for banks, its complementary and enriching because once you enrol a customer for a payment bank, then any services that the payment banks cannot offer can be passed on to the main bank. So both of them do some business development for each other as well which is a positive.

While I say all this, I still strongly believe that the fundamental around commercials and economic viability of a payments bank is yet to be seen and tested and that is going to get governed a lot by the transaction money that payments banks will charge and the number of transaction that will happen and that is yet to be tested. So I am not too sure how early, how much will it take for these relationships to yield profitability.

Q: I completely take your point, you put your finger on it for banks especially after Jan Dhan, they are all awakened to the fact that a lot of small accounts, probably no balance accounts are actually a cost and this cost will be greatly reduced if it is being done through and in collaboration with a mobile company. That will make transaction easier and make it more profitable to maintain such small accounts. They are otherwise a drain on the banking system no doubt but if you were heading a payments bank, what would you outsource to a bank?

Kapoor: All those things that you said, all treasury related matters would be outsourced. KYC is understood by banks a lot better. Many banks would already have platforms which are technology platforms ready although some of the telcos have built technology platforms as well overtime whether its M-Paisa or Little Money, these platforms have been created now from an I-T perspective as well. So there is lots but what the Telcos bring to the party is very clear. Telcos bring a capability of managing scale, a reach which no bank would have, especially by virtue of its retail outlets which are more than 1.5 million for large telecom companies and above all, their ability to bring their cost of transaction down to a fraction because they work at one paisa per second and those like denominations, they have understood cost of a transaction better than any banks would understand and they bring that to the party. But like I said, with small banks coming in, with Jan Dhan coming in, with payments coming in, obviously this is now going to stir up a lot of competition at that level as well and let's see how the transaction and the service really pans out in a fashion where there is enough for these banking systems to sustain themselves economically.

Q: I am inclined to believe that the competition at that level will be won hands down by the telcos, rather than by the banks for the reasons that you said. They have accessed a certain hinterland of India, which the banks have not been able to even dip into but it says that Kotak will buy a 19.9 percent stake. Do you think in all probability, that participation will come more by way of personnel, that a part of the cost will be borne by Kotak by just sending their personnel to man certain tasks?

Kapoor: Yes, there will be some intellectual participation as well as financial because they own 19.9 percent of the stake. But it cannot be restricted just to people. Their platforms, their know-how, everything will come into play. From a financial service perspective it's a play that banks understand better, from a distribution and reach perspective it's telcos who understand better.

Q: What is your sense, is this something which both parties get equal gains or will there be some kind of disproportionate gains for the bank?

Uppal: Both sides will stand to gain. Obviously banks are going into territory which is by and large familiar and the telcos clearly have not that much of a department in the banking business but clearly what they want to do as your colleague was also mentioning is to leverage their reach and scale. That enables them to reach parts that banks cant reach, at a scale that banks cannot match.

So, clearly it is something that the Telcos, particularly given their Average Revenue Per Units (ARPUs) currently would be very keen to ensure that they could add value if they like or actually extend the profitability of their operations. So, I believe there is something in it for both sides.

Q: You expect more such marriages, other telcos will also look for other banks?

Uppal: Yes, I do, I do expect that.

Q: You probably already in the know?

Uppal: No, I won't claim to but certainly I would imagine, especially the incumbent telcos and probably even the others would look to give up this opportunity. I do believe that they will all want to do their own deals with other banks.

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Mkt may be choppy with upward bias in Feb: Analysts

Indian benchmark indexes continued their upward march, ending the January series today with 9.5 percent gain, and catapulting equities to fresh all-time highs.

Looking forward, analysts expect the upward run to continue but warned a rally may interspersed with bouts of volatility or consolidation.

"We are in an uptrend. The only question is will it go into a consolidation or choppiness phase? Probably it will," said technical analyst Sudarshan Sukhani.

The January series was dictated by an ongoing change in consumer, business and investor sentiment, said Devang Mehta of AnandRathi. "The decisions taken yesterday – on the Vodafone transfer pricing case, 3G spectrum and divestment -- they all point to it."

He added that while he expected that the uptrend to continue, his only worrying aspect was the non participation of mid- and small-caps in the recent rally.

"The February series will be mixed. I think bulls will be in action for the first week. From thereon, it will be decided on what happens when the Budget session of Parliament begins. Finally, in the last few days, expectations will start soaring in the run-up to the Budget," said P Phani Sekhar of Karvy Stock Broking.

Sekhar added that he would invest in sectors such as IT, pharma and financials (but only on the private banks said). "If something concrete happens in the Budget to kickstart public spending, we could look at some of the infra plays, maybe the PSU banks."

United Spirits , which is up 26 percent in the past one month, may continue its run, Sukhani said. "Another solid performer, HUL , however, may consolidate," he added.

In the auto space, Sukhani said he prefers Maruti Suzuki  to Tata Motors  (another solid performer this month) for February.

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Xiaomi launches flagship mobile device Mi 4 at Rs 19,999

The company will soon start selling its products through Mi.com, a strategy it uses globally.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Thursday launched its flagship mobile device Mi 4 and said its MiUi 6 OS software will be available in India. Often referred to as the "Apple of China", Xiaomi's phones will be available exclusively on Flipkart from February 10.

Priced at Rs 19,999, Mi4 is Xiaomi's fifth launch in India since June 2014 and has already sold over 1 million handsets. Pre-registrations for the device start on January 28. Bullish about the company's prospects, India head, Manu Kumar Jain, said: "2014 has been pretty great. 2015 we will be bringing a lot many devices like TVs, Mi box and a category of internet-based devices. We will be setting up our own R&D center and our own e-commerce operations."

The company will soon start selling its products through Mi.com, a strategy it uses globally. "In India we have our site but you can't buy from it. This we will be enabling these sales. Which means, we will be setting up our own warehouses, logistics and payment methodology. When we do this it will happen 3-6 months from now. But we will continue to sell through Flipkart and Mi.com," added Jain.

According to an International Data Corp (IDC) report, vendors shipped a total of 17.59 million smartphones to India in the first quarter, compared with 6.14 million units in the same period in 2013. Samsung Electronics Co. continued to lead the smartphone market with a 35 percent market share in the first quarter of 2014, followed by Micromax (15 percent), Karbonn (10 percent), LAVA (6 percent) and Nokia (4 percent).

However, Xiaomi is not worried about the numbers. "You will be surprised if I were to tell you that we do not believe in sales and market share numbers. We just believe input, the right kind of product, pricing, and after-sales," said Jain.

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SpiceJet records 400% rise in bookings on Super Sale day 1

SpiceJet on Wednesday launched its first Super Sale Offer for 2015, with 5,00,000 seats for sale at all inclusive one way advance booking fares starting as low as Rs. 1,499 all-in yesterday.

SpiceJet  announced that on its first day of its latest Super sale offer (its first such sale in 2015), booking volumes quadrupled (increased by 4X or 400 percent), indicating continuing pent up demand in the market despite other airlines having held sales earlier this month.

SpiceJet on Wednesday launched its first Super Sale Offer for 2015, with 5,00,000 seats for sale at all inclusive one way advance booking fares starting as low as Rs. 1,499 all-in yesterday.

This offer is open for bookings made from January 28 to January 30, and is for travel between February 15 and June 30, 2015, and is applicable on all direct flights on SpiceJet's domestic network.  The offer available on first come first served basis, and seats per flight are limited.

SpiceJet's latest Super Sale will allow customers to sample its enhanced schedule that is launching on February 1, with improved metro to metro connectivity, attractive day return options, enhanced non-metro connections and better timings.

The network and schedule will be further enhanced in the Summer Schedule starting March 29, 2015.

"We are glad to witness an overwhelming response for our first signature promotion for 2015. Our aim has always been to incentivize customers to reward early planners with great discounted fares. With more seats under this offer, customers who have not planned to travel due to high last minutes fares can still plan in advance and enjoy super low fares to meet their travel needs", said Kaneswaran Avili, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet Ltd.

"The fantastic response to our first sale after a gap of three months sale is testimony to the goodwill SpiceJet has amongst customers in India. SpiceJet fundamentally changed the airline pricing model in India in 2014, making flying more affordable for more Indians than ever before. Customers remember it was SpiceJet that brought about this revolution in the industry with its innovative pricing and promotions, and they tell us they are happy to see the airline back on its feet and resuming its role as the market pace setter in India", added Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Operating Officer, SpiceJet Ltd.

Customers who still wish to book under this sale can visit www.spicejet.com , or get it done through online travel portals and travel agents.

Tickets charged under this offer are non refundable and non changeable (taxes and fees are refundable). Since there is limited inventory under the Offer, it will be available on first-come-first-served basis and is not applicable on group bookings.

SpiceJet stock price

On January 29, 2015, SpiceJet closed at Rs 21.80, down Rs 0.05, or 0.23 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 24.10 and the 52-week low was Rs 11.10.

The latest book value of the company is Rs -16.49 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was -1.32.

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Coal ordinance lacks clarity, says Delhi high court

The Delhi high court on Thursday said there was lack of clarity in the Coal ordinance 2014 as the authorities who had drafted it were "totally unclear" about it.

"All that we can say is whosoever drafted it (ordinance) was unclear. This (ordinance) is totally unclear," a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva observed.

It made these observations while hearing Jindal Steel and Power Ltd ( JSPL ) and its promoter Naveen Jindal's petition challenging the change of end-use of two coal blocks in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, which were earlier allocated to it.

One of the two blocks has been put up for auction. JSPL has contended in its plea that it has been excluded from bidding for the blocks Utkal B1 in Odisha and Gare Palma IV/6 in Chhattisgarh, earlier allocated to it, by changing their end-use from iron and steel to power.

The bench during the hearing posed several queries, including on the purpose of segregation of coal blocks, whose allocation were cancelled by Supreme Court, into three schedules.

"Schedule one had all the cancelled blocks. Schedule two comprised those blocks of schedule one which were fully operational. Schedule three were the non-operational blocks. What was the purpose of schedule 3?" it asked the Central government and JSPL.

It also queried whether end-use was considered while allocating coal blocks earlier and if yes, then why should the end-use be allowed to exist independent of the allocation, which has been scrapped by the apex court.

The court posed the query as JSPL claimed that end-use should remain the same if the goals of continuity and optimum utilization of coal reserves, as mandated by the ordinance, were to be achieved.

The court also questioned whether during the earlier allocation, the authorities had carried out any study to find out the suitability of a particular block for an end-use. It will continue hearing arguments tomorrow.

During the proceedings, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for JSPL and Jindal, said the government's 18 December 2014, notification by which it changed the end-use was "arbitrary and contrary" to the coal ordinance. He also said that the government had not framed any rational criteria for auction of the coal blocks.

He argued that the end-use criteria was made applicable only for allotment process and that too for public sector companies while private companies were excluded from the same.

Under the end-use criteria for allotment of coal blocks, proximity of the mine to the company's unit was a factor which decided allotment of a block, he said and added that this criteria "has been thrown out of the window" where private entities are concerned.

Earlier, the attorney general had said that entertaining the pleas of JSPL and Naveen Jindal would "result in stunting the entire auction process undertaken subsequent to Supreme Court verdict (cancelling the coal block allocations)."

JSPL, in its plea, has contended that it has set up steel and sponge iron units in Odisha and Chhattisgarh for over Rs.24,000 crore and if it was not able to bid for either blocks, earlier allotted to it, this investment would go waste.

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Coop banks can double gold loan under bullet repayment: RBI

Under the bullet repayment scheme, the banks need to maintain loan to value ratio of 75 per cent on the loan amount including the interest.

The Reserve Bank today doubled to Rs 2 lakh the amount of loan furnished by cooperative banks under the Gold Loan Bullet Repayment scheme. Earlier, all state and central cooperative banks were permitted to grant gold loans up to Rs 1 lakh with bullet repayment option.

"On a review, it has been decided to increase the quantum of loan that could be granted under the scheme, from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh subject to conditions," RBI said in a notification.

The period of the loan shall not exceed 12 months from the date of sanction. Under the bullet repayment scheme, the banks need to maintain loan to value ratio of 75 percent on the loan amount including the interest. However, if it is not maintained the loan would be treated as a non-performing asset (NPA), RBI added.

Also, the interest will be charged to the account on monthly basis but will become due for payment along with principal only at the end of 12 months from the date of sanction, it said. State and central co-operative banks grant loans for various purposes against the security of gold/gold ornaments as part of their lending policy.

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DoT panel questions TRAI's method for 3G auction base price

A DoT panel, which is looking into TRAI's recommendation on 3G spectrum price, has questioned the methodology for arriving at base rate of Rs 2,720 crore per megahertz for these airwaves, sources said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on December 31 had recommended this rate for 3G spectrum. This is about 19 percent lower compared to the price paid by service providers in the 2010 auction.

The pan-India per Mhz price paid by telecom companies was Rs 3,350.11 crore but TRAI took a figure of Rs 3,349.87 crore, sources added. The panel, headed by Department of Telecom (DoT) Member technology, is believed to have said that the last auction-determined price for a spectrum band should be the guiding benchmark for determining the reserve price for that band in a subsequent auction.

"TRAI has used this methodology in case of 1800 Mhz (known as 2G spectrum) band reserve price. However, it is not clear as to why TRAI has not adopted this method of benchmarking with last auction price of 2010 while recommending the reserve price of 2100 Mhz band (3G)," sources said, quoting the panel's report on this matter.

Inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission in its meeting on January 7 decided to sent recommendations back to TRAI to reconsider or clarify its stand on spectrum price. The other points on which TC has sought clarification include maximum quantum of spectrum a company can purchase, timeline for network roll-out, payment terms, annual spectrum charges etc.

The base price recommended by TRAI is about 80 per cent of the mean value of different prices calculated using four methods to compute the valuation of 3G spectrum. These methods include index based price, 0.83 times valuation of 1800 Mhz (2G) spectrum band, producer surplus model (based on net saving of operator after expenditure for providing services) and approach based on growth in mobile Internet usage. Countering TRAI's suggestion of determining reserve price for 3G spectrum at 80 per cent of average valuation, the panel is believed to have mentioned that for auctions held in February 2014, the government decided not to use this factor in case of prices in Metro and category A service areas.

Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata are counted as metro telecom service areas and category A service areas include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The panel has suggested index price based on SBI Prime Lending Rate as one of the options where as TRAI used SBI base rate.

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Tata Sons-SIA dream 'Vistara' to take off on January 9 2015

On January 9 2015, the Indian skies will see a new entrant flying. A product of two marquee names - India's latest full service airline, Vistara is the realisation of a long standing Tata dream. Here is a look at the making of this new airline.

On January 9 2015, the Indian skies will see a new entrant flying. A product of two marquee names - India's latest full service airline, Vistara is the realisation of a long standing Tata dream. Here is a look at the making of this new airline.

Watch videos for more...

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8K Miles net more than doubles in Q3, but stock plunges 10%

Going forward we are focusing our growth in healthcare and pharma domain by offering secured cloud solutions," said Suresh Venkatachari, the company founder and chairman said in a statement.

Leading cloud computing firm  8K Miles Software Services today reported a massive 173 percent increase in net income at Rs 5.4 crore in the three months to December, driven by higher sales income which jumped more than three times.

While total revenue rose 232 percent to Rs 34.8 crore, EBITDA jumped 311 percent to Rs 12.7 crore. "We grew our revenue in this quarter on both cloud solutions and cloud managed services.

Going forward we are focusing our growth in healthcare and pharma domain by offering secured cloud solutions," said Suresh Venkatachari, the company founder and chairman said in a statement.

However, in anticipation of the numbers announced after market hours, the 8K Miles hit a life-time high on the BSE at Rs 923, jumping 10 percent, but closed down 10 percent at Rs 744, while the benchmark gauge jumped 1.4 percent or 366 points. It can be noted that 8K Miles stocks have rallied more than 12 times in the past one year, hitting a life time high of Rs 923 apiece today while its 52-week low was Rs 75.

The Chennai-registered company is the only listed cloud player in the country and is headquartered in the Silicon Valley and has DSP Black Rock and Sundraram MF as investors with nearly 2 percent stake each. 8K Miles offers turnkey solutions on big data and mobility for SMBs, enterprises, and state/local government institutions.

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Deutsche Bank 2015 India outlook: Bull market to continue

According to Deutsche Bank's India strategy for 2015 the bull market in India is likely to continue. They have a Sensex target of 33000 for December 2015 even after the market has seen an upside of 30 percent last year, which implies a potential upside of 23 percent from current levels.

The report says in 2015 the markets will be driven by domestic retail money and not foreign institutional investor (FII) money, which is a big shift that they are expecting.

Last year there was USD 4 billion of DII money in the market, which Deutsche believes could double in 2015.

Sector Call

Sector specific, Deutsche Bank is overweight on financials, industrials and materials. These sectors according to them will drive the markets in 2015.

Meanwhile, the bank is surprisingly underweight on IT services apart from consumer staples because of valuation concerns. IT services they believe could underperform in 2015.

Stock Call

Stock specific it is a mixed blend of autos, financials and some bit of metal stocks.

They are very bullish on the two large banks  Axis Bank and  ICICI Bank from the private space and from the PSU space they are upbeat on State Bank of India.

Within autos they like  Maruti and  Mahindra and Mahindra . They have also picked up REC, SAIL and Tata Steel.

In terms of midcap stocks they have some interesting picks; they like  Bharat Forge even after sharp run up that we saw last year.  CESC is another one of their picks. They also like Cummins India ,  Gujarat Pipavav and HPCL in the oil and gas space.  HPCL is the only stock that they like in the entire oil and gas space and something like JSW Energy .

So, while the bank believes that there will be lot of volatility in the first half of 2015, the key message to the investors is hold on to their investments because even this year could be as good as last year. They have implieda 23 percent upside from current levels.

As far as Tata Steel is concerned, Deutsche Bank could be the only brokerage firm that is bullish on the stock for a long time now. In fact they have been the highest in terms of target as well. Their target it is close to around Rs 670 odd, which implies a 74 percent upside from current levels.

So, while they are not very bullish on the entire commodities cycle but within that they believe  Tata Steel is well poised and they can benefit heavily both from the Corus point of view and from the domestic upside as well. It's a very selective pick in the metals pack.

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Kotak Mahindra withdraws Parambi's nomination to MCX board

The commodity market regulator, Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had earlier reportedly questioned Kotak Mahindra Bank's claim on board representation in the MCX commodity exchange.

Kotak Mahindra Bank  today announced temporary withdrawal of the nomination of Paul Parambi to the Board of MCX, without assigning any reason.

"The Bank is announcing the withdrawal, for the time being, of the nomination of Paul Parambi to the Board of MCX," a statement issued here said. The commodity market regulator, Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had earlier reportedly questioned Kotak Mahindra Bank's claim on board representation in the MCX commodity exchange.

In July, while signing an agreement to buy an MCX stake, at a discount, from Financial Technologies , Kotak Bank had said the deal was just an investment and that it would not seek any "special rights or a board seat".

However, the bank recommended Paul Parambi, Head of Group Strategy, as a nominee on the MCX board last year. The FMC opined that Bank's nominee on the MCX board can lead to a "conflict of interest" as the bank also owns a 40 percent stake in the ACE Derivatives and Commodities Exchange.

Kotak Mahindra stock price

On January 06, 2015, Kotak Mahindra Bank closed at Rs 1340.95, up Rs 70.25, or 5.53 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1351.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 630.80.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 21.01 per share as per the quarter ended September 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 63.82. The latest book value of the company is Rs 159.07 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 8.43.

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Sebi proposes e-IPO norms; fast-track divestment by PSUs

To boost fund raising from markets, market regulator Sebi today proposed e-IPO norms where investors can bid for shares through Internet and eventually on mobiles, while already listed PSUs will be provided a 'fast-track' route for share sales to meet the disinvestment targets.

For already listed companies as well, Sebi has proposed a fast-track route for raising of funds through FPOs (Follow-on Public Offers) or Rights Offers (where funds can be raised from existing shareholders).

Under the new norms, Sebi has proposed to drastically cut the timeline for listing of shares within 2-3 days of the IPO, as against 12 days currently.

The fast-track route of raising capital has been proposed for companies having public shareholding market valuation of as low as Rs 250 crore, as against Rs 3,000 crore currently. The public sector entities can tap the 'fast-track' route even without complying to this minimum average market value limit, provided they meet other conditions, Sebi said. Under the 'fast-track' route, a listed company would not be required to file any draft offer document for its FPO or rights issue and they can proceed with fund-raising programme without necessarily getting 'observations' from Sebi.

Sebi has invited public comments till January 30, after which it would put in place final norms for e-IPO as also for fast-track issuances. The proposed moves are part of efforts to simplify the process of IPOs, lowering their costs and helping companies reach more retail investors in small towns.

Initially, investors would be able to place bids through Internet and by using broker terminals across the country, as against current practice of filling long paper forms. A framework for use of mobile applications for making bids in public issues can also be put in place for implementation in future, Sebi said.

Investors would also get SMS/e-mail alert for allotment under the IPO, similar to alerts being sent to investors for secondary market transactions. Further, on account of reduction in printing of application forms, the overall cost of public issues will also come down.

Sebi said that these proposals may be used for debt issues as well. However, in order to make this mechanism applicable to debt issues, suitable amendments may be required under SEBI (Issue and Listing  of Debt Securities) Regulations, 2008.

Under the proposed e-IPO mechanism, investment in public offerings can be done online without signing any physical document. e-IPOs will help fast-track the public offer process and lower the costs, besides allowing investors to apply for shares and buy these at a click on computers without the need for signature on bulky physical documents.

Currently, applications for IPOs can be uploaded on a real-time basis only through ASBA (Application Supported by Blocked Amount). Only self-certified syndicate banks are authorised to manage and offer ASBA, which allows application money to stay in an investor's bank account until the shares are allotted.

This will facilitate more retail investors in IPOs and the issuance process is likely to undergo a sea change, resulting in reduction in timelines. At present, the time taken for a company to get listed after initial share sale is around 12 days. Sebi might reduce the post issue timelines from T+12 days (12 days from issue closure to listing and trading) to T+6 days.

Once the process gets stabilised, timelines could be further curtailed to T+2/3 days. With regard to fast-track issuances of Follow on Public Offer (FPO) and rights issue, Sebi proposed that route can be
extended to companies having an average market capitalisation of between Rs 250 crore to Rs 3,000 crore.

However, for opting fast-track route, Sebi said that shares of these firms should not have been suspended (except for corporate actions) from trading in past three years. Besides, issuer, promoter group and directors of such firms should not have settled any alleged violation of securities laws through the consent mechanism with Sebi in last three years.

Further, such a company should not have direct or indirect conflict of interest with the lead manager, its group or associate company among others. For facilitating divestment of Central Public Sector
Enterprises (CPSEs), Sebi has recommended that the fast-track issue route would be available to them "without the requirement of a minimum average market capitalisation of public shareholding, subject to CPSEs complying with all the other existing conditions for fast-track route."

"Also, in case where CPSE is not able to comply with any of these conditions, Sebi may, based on the merits of the case, consider granting exemption," the discussion paper said. "Participants in various forums have indicated that issuers have inclination towards private placement, because of shorter time frame and lower costs associated with such route," Sebi said.

Therefore, the regulator has been examining ways to further facilitate capital raising by existing listed firms through FPO/Rights issue so as to provide retail investors the opportunity to participate in subsequent offerings and enable issuers to mop-up funds in the shortest possible time span.

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Ajay Singh, partners give plan to infuse $200mn in SpiceJet

As per a capital infusion plan received by the civil aviation ministry, the initial funds from an overall corpus of about USD 200 million may come in by January 10, sources said.

Crisis-hit  SpiceJet may get the first round of its much-needed fund infusion in the next two days, while more may come in a month's time as part of an estimated USD 200 million investment plan, sources said on Thursday.

As per a capital infusion plan received by the civil aviation ministry, the initial funds from an overall corpus of about USD 200 million may come in by January 10, sources said. "In about a month, more funds would come in," they added. Another official said that the ministry has received a proposal and the government is hopeful about the carrier's turnaround.

The airline, which is now operating about 200 flights a day, is also believed to have renewed its bank guarantee to Airports Authority of India (AAI). Sources said that the indications are positive so far and the government does not want one more airline to shut down as that would send wrong signals to the economy and the sector in
particular. The investors may be called in for a meeting early next week to the Ministry.

When contacted, a SpiceJet spokesperson refused to comment on any speculation. Shares of SpiceJet rose 2.8 percent on the BSE today.

The cash-strapped budget carrier had presented a revival plan to the civil aviation ministry late last month, but it was told to submit a revised comprehensive plan with more details.

SpiceJet's founding promoter Ajay Singh has also come to the rescue of the crisis-ridden airline, with Singh and a US-based investment fund planning to invest in the carrier. The potential investors are likely to buy stake from current promoter Kalanithi Maran by infusing USD 200 million to help the airline to stay afloat.

With the airline grounded for almost one full-day last December due to the oil companies' refusal to supply it jet fuel without cash, civil aviation ministry had come to its rescue with requests to oil marketing firms and the AAI to extend the credit line to the airline for two weeks till December 31, 2014. The credit facility by the AAI was later further extended by two weeks on January 1.

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RBI issues framework for leverage ratio for banks

The Reserve Bank today issued a framework for leverage ratio in line with Basel III norms to enable banks to strengthen risk management system and avert any possible crisis.

"Currently, Indian banking system is operating at a leverage ratio of more than 4.5 per cent. The final minimum leverage ratio will be stipulated taking into consideration the final rules prescribed by the Basel Committee by end-2017," RBI said in the Leverage Ratio Framework.

In the meantime, these guidelines will serve as the basis for parallel run by banks and also for the purpose of disclosures, it said. "During this period, Reserve Bank will monitor individual banks against an indicative leverage ratio of 4.5 per cent," it said.

The Basel Committee is monitoring banks' leverage data on a semi-annual basis in order to assess the design and calibration of the leverage ratio over a full credit cycle and for different types of business models.

The Committee will also closely monitor accounting standards and practices to address any differences in national accounting frameworks that are material to the definition and calculation of the leverage ratio, it said.

The public disclosure requirements of leverage ratio will begin from January 1, 2015, and the Basel Committee will monitor the impact of these disclosure requirements, it added. Accordingly, it said, banks operating in India are required to make disclosure of the leverage ratio and its components from April 1, 2015 on a quarterly basis and according to the disclosure templates.

Banks should also report their leverage ratio to the RBI (Department of Banking Regulation and Department of Banking Supervision) along with detailed calculations of capital and exposure measures on a quarterly basis, until further advice, it added.

The framework said, an underlying cause of the global financial crisis was the build-up of excessive on-and off-balance sheet leverage in the banking system. In many cases, banks built up excessive leverage while apparently maintaining strong risk-based capital ratios.

During the most severe part of the crisis, the banking sector was forced by the market to reduce its leverage in a manner that amplified downward pressure on asset prices, it added.

Also read:

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Nothing unusual has happened at TCS, says Nascom

As an industry body which is in this sector, which represents the companies in this sector, all major issues which affect the sector do come to our attention. And, we provide feedback to the companies on some of the areas of concern, says Nasscom.

Reacting to the news of widespread layoffs at  Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) that has the attention of industry watcher, which the company has denied, Nasscom while defending TCS said nothing unusual has happened at TCS and will look into the matter if it escalates.

According to R Chandrashekhar, president, Nasscom said: "Certain amount of churn for various reasons does take place and you are aware that there are certain industry norms. What we understand is that nothing of an unusual, extraordinary level has happened. If there is something, which needs attention in a particular company, I'm sure that, that company will address that."

"This is a sector in which the companies have to show and have shown nimbleness and adaptation," he added.

He further said: "As an industry body which is in this sector, which represents the companies in this sector, all major issues which affect the sector do come to our attention. And, we provide feedback to the companies on some of the areas of concern."

TCS stock price

On January 06, 2015, Tata Consultancy Services closed at Rs 2443.85, up Rs 27.05, or 1.12 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 2834.00 and the 52-week low was Rs 2000.50.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 99.52 per share as per the quarter ended September 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 24.56. The latest book value of the company is Rs 224.90 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 10.87.

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Govt hikes excise duty on petrol diesel by Rs 2 per litre

The government hopes to garner additional Rs 6,000-7,000 crore through this third hike.

Moneycontrol Bureau

The government on Thursday raised excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each.

According to an official statement, the hike in basic excise duty on petrol and diesel (both branded and unbranded) will aid in funding the government's ambitious infrastructure development programme, particularly building of 15000-kms of roads, during current and next financial year.

The hike in rates will come into effect from the midnight (January 2, 2015), said the statement, adding that there will be no change in other excise duty rates applicable to these commodities.

This is the third excise duty hike since November, which will help government raise additional Rs 6,000-7,000 crore during remaining three months of the current fiscal.

"Allocation of these resources to the road sector will also spur economic activity and employment generation arising from the road construction sector," the statement said.

IOC stock price

On January 01, 2015, Indian Oil Corporation closed at Rs 336.55, up Rs 4.95, or 1.49 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 410.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 194.50.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 41.40 per share as per the quarter ended September 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 8.13. The latest book value of the company is Rs 271.80 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 1.24.

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Sarda Energy pays Rs 122.69-cr additional levy to govt

While quashing allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks alloted since 1993, the apex court had in September last year also directed allottees to pay an additional levy of Rs 295 a tonne of coal extracted to compensate financial loss caused to the exchequer by the "illegal and arbitrary" allotments.

Sarda Energy and Minerals  has deposited Rs 122.69 crore as an additional levy with the Coal Controller, making itself eligible for taking part in the coal block allocation.

"...as directed by the Supreme Court vide its order dated September 24, 2014 and in terms of Coal Mines (Special Provisions (Ordinance, 2014, a sum of Rs 122.69 crore has been deposited as an additional levy with the coal controller," the company said in a BSE filing today.

While quashing allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks alloted since 1993, the apex court had in September last year also directed allottees to pay an additional levy of Rs 295 a tonne of coal extracted to compensate financial loss caused to the exchequer by the "illegal and arbitrary" allotments.

"The company has now become eligible to participate in the coal block auction process as payment of additional levy was a precondition for participating in the coal block auction process," the Raipur-based Sarda Energy and Minerals said.

Sarda Energy and Minerals was allotted Gare Palma IV/7 coal mine in April, 2000 and this was in operation since 2009.

It also had 20.63 per cent stake in a joint venture that was allocated Madanpur South Coal block.

"The payment has been made without prejudice to company's rights to seek remedy/redressal from appropriate forums," it added.

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Will year 2015 offer relief for Sahara's Subrata Roy?

Sahara group patriarch - Saharasri Subrata Roy turned 66 this June. However it was a birthday spent behind bars in Tihar. The central jail which houses the most notorious and infamous, has played host to Subrata Roy for nearly 10 months now. Will this year offer Roy a ray of light?

Sahara group patriarch - Saharasri Subrata Roy turned 66 this June. However it was a birthday spent behind bars in Tihar. The central jail which houses the most notorious and infamous, has played host to Subrata Roy for nearly 10 months now. Will this year offer Roy a ray of light?

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1st woman DGCA chief Sathiyavathy to take charge next week

Sathiyavathi, a 1982-batch IAS officer of the UT cadre, has been appointed as the Director General of Civil Aviation for three years till 2017. She is likely to take charge on Monday.

The first woman chief of aviation regulator DGCA M Sathiyavathy is likely to take charge from incumbent Prabhat Kumar early next week, officials said today.

Sathiyavathi, a 1982-batch IAS officer of the UT cadre, has been appointed as the Director General of Civil Aviation for three years till 2017. She is likely to take charge on Monday, the officials said.

Kumar, a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre who was appointed in January last year as the DGCA head for three years, would revert to his home cadre.

The top-level change comes at a time when DGCA is faced with a review report of the US regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which had downgraded its safety ranking to Category-II on par with countries like Bangladesh, Barbados, Ghana and Nicaragua.

India was till January last year holding the topmost safety ranking Category-I.

Kumar had taken a series of steps and brought in several regulations to enhance aviation safety to resolve the deficiencies pointed out by the FAA.

The FAA, which held its third audit of DGCA only last month, is likely to come up with its assessment over India's safety mechanism by February. Following this, it would decide whether or not to revert India to the top Category-I.

Kumar had initiated several measures and come up with new regulations to enhance safety of air operations. The measures included carrying out surprise checks on airlines, non-scheduled operators and chopper firms to test whether the mandatory safety requirements were being fulfilled by them.

Sathiyavathy, who was appointed as Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Civil Aviation Ministry in February and had served as Puducherry's chief secretary before that, is due for elevation as Secretary by July.

The DGCA chief's position has so far gone to IAS officers of the rank of Joint Secretary or Additional Secretary.

Also Read:  Vistara to launch operations from January 9

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RBI extends last date of receipt of applications for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks

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Jan 01, 2015, 07.50 PM IST | Source: RBI RBI extends last date of receipt of applications for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks Like this story, share it with millions of investors on M3 RBI extends last date of receipt of applications for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks RBI extends last date of receipt of applications for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks The Reserve Bank of India received requests seeking extension of time for submission of applications for Small Finance Banks / Payments Banks , the last date for which was January 16, 2015. Keeping in view the difficulties expressed by various parties, it has been decided to extend the last date of receipt of applications to February 2, 2015. Accordingly, applications will be accepted till the close of business as on February 2, 2015. Sangeeta Das Director Press Release : 2014-2015/1387

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Robert Vadra's Skylight Hospitality issued tax notice: Srcs

In response to the accusation, DLF had responded saying that it had dealt with Vadra as a private entrepreneur and that the loan was Business Advance which was given to make payments for land purchased from Vadra.

Son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Robert Vadra's owned Skylight hospitality firm has been issued a tax notice on Thursday. The Income-Tax department has asked Vadra to explain all his controversial land deals and financial transactions.

This is not the first time Vadra has been accused. Prior to this Robert Vadra has been accused of taking an interest-free loan of Rs 65 crores and heavy bargains on land from DLF Limited in exchange for political favors.

In response to the accusation,  DLF had responded saying that it had dealt with Vadra as a private entrepreneur and that the loan was Business Advance which was given to make payments for land purchased from Vadra.

Vadra was much criticised earlier by various political parties for losing his cool and pushing the reporter's mic away from him at an event in the national capital.

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Equity the best place to be in 2015: AB Money

Aditya Birla Money's investment strategy for 2015

Flashback 2014
The year 2014 has been memorable for Indian equity market, with Nifty delivering returns to the tune of 31.4% (in dollar terms 27.2%), best in 5 yrs. In May 2014, strong mandate of change was handed to single party (BJP) with majority to form the Government after 30 years. The newly elected PM, with its strong leadership skills has instilled confidence of global investors in Indian growth story. Key sweeping policy changes that has been implemented are: FDI in real estate, insurance, defense, Make in India campaign, Clean India campaign, online environmental clearance, amendments to land acquisition bill, roadmap for coal block auctions, roadmap for smart cities, revival and modernisation of railways and at last but not least the efforts to boost productivity of public machinery and cut in red tape. Moreover, 45% YTD correction in crude oil price is "icing on the cake" for Indian economy, thereby containing retail inflation below 5% and providing comfort to the govt. on CAD front. Rate cut is imminent in 1HCY15.

On international front, US FED has curbed its bond buying program and is gearing up for rate hike in 2HCY15. Impact of rate hike in US will have minimal impact on Indian economy as we have an healthy forex reserve of $320 bn (up $24.5 bn YTD). Crack in crude oil prices has led to fiscal and currency imbalance for oil exporters like Russia and Middle East (ME) countries. Europe, Japan, Brazil and China continues to struggle with growth pangs. Hence, Indian economy is in a sweet spot and likely to be preferred investment destination among the emerging markets. During CY14, FIIs invested $16 bn in Indian equity market, whereas DIIs were net seller to the tune of ` 75 bn.

Way forward 2015
Indian equity markets are trading at reasonable valuations, FY16E and FY17E P/E multiple of 14.6x and 12.8x, respectively. Nifty's earnings growth is likely to be 19.7% and 14.2% in FY16E and FY17E respectively (Bloomberg consensus). We believe that the newly elected government is committed to push reforms during CY15 with focus on PSE, Railways, Power, Infra, Defense sector and also structural changes in taxation like GST implementation.

Economy growth in CY15 hinges on recovery in capex cycle and the pace of the cut in the interest rate. During CY15, street will keenly watch various macro parameters like Fiscal & Current account deficit target for FY16, bond yields, GFCF, GDP growth and INR/$ equation. On international front, investors will focus on recovery in China, Europe & US and geo-political situation in ME.

In short term, markets will start discounting the budget expectations. In medium to long term, equity markets will be driven by earnings growth of respective sectors and companies. We believe 2015 will be the year of cyclical with key theme being home improvement solutions, deleveraging, revival in manufacturing activity, FDI in various sectors and revival of rural economy. We recommend to invest in equities and have shortlisted 9 businesses, which are likely to deliver 20-25% return during next 6-12 months.

For all recommendations, click here

Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.

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Clarifications to the queries to the Guidelines for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks

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Jan 01, 2015, 07.45 PM IST | Source: RBI Clarifications to the queries to the Guidelines for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks Like this story, share it with millions of investors on M3 Clarifications to the queries to the Guidelines for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks Clarifications to the queries to the Guidelines for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks The Reserve Bank of India today released on its website, clarifications to the queries on the Guidelines for Licensing of Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks in the Private Sector. The Reserve Bank released the Guidelines for licensing " Small Finance Banks " and " Payments Banks " in the Private Sector on its website on November 27, 2014. Following the issue of the guidelines, the Reserve Bank issued a press release on December 8, 2014 inviting queries from intending applicants seeking clarifications on the guidelines and also stated that considering that the clarifications provided would be of wider interest and use for all intending applicants, the Reserve Bank would post the clarifications on its website. The Reserve Bank has received 176 and 144 queries from individuals/organisations relating to Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks, respectively, up to the end of December 15, 2014. The clarifications to all the queries have been provided on the RBI website. A few queries have been clubbed with other related queries for the sake of clarity and continuity. Sangeeta Das Director Press Release : 2014-2015/1386

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Bank employees' unions to go on nationwide strike on Jan 7

The unions have been demanding a wage revision linked to the gross profit of the banks.

Bank employees' unions have decided go on a day-long strike on January 7 across the country to press for a wage hike.

Bank unions have also threatened to go on strike on multiple days later this month if their demand is not accepted.

"We want early conclusion of the 10th bipartite wage negotiation (with IBA) for satisfactory and reasonable wage hike and so we are going on an all-India bank strike on
January 7," United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) Convener Vishwas Utagi told reporters here today.

The UFBU is the umbrella organisation of employee and officer unions of nine banks. The unions have been demanding a wage revision linked to the gross profit of the banks. "Our demand is for a 23 per cent wage hike as against a rise of 11 percent offered by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA)," Utagi said.

IBA is the management body of banks which is carrying out negotiations with the Government and various unions. UFBU has also demanded withdrawal of an IBA letter to member-banks on visiting their mandates given to the association for unconditional wage negotiation at industry level.

IBA, in 2012, had written a letter to all its members asking them to submit a fresh mandate which will allow the body to negotiate bank-wise wage revision and the hike will be linked to the paying capacity of an individual lender.

"We will not allow bank-wise wage revision. We want an industry level negotiation," Utagi said. Post the January 7 strike, UFBU has decided for a complete shutdown of banking industry from January 21-24. It is also planning an indefinite strike from March 16 over the wage hike issue.

The bank employees had gone on a day-long strike on the same issue in November last year. This was followed by a zone-wise strike early last month.

Also Read: Consolidation in PSB space key for strong growth: Experts

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'States to be part of plan formulation under Niti Aayog'

The Planning Commission has been replaced by a new institution named Niti Aayog or the National Institution for Transforming India.

The Planning Commission has been replaced by a new institution named Niti Aayog or the National Institution for Transforming India. The government has envisaged this body to function as an economic think-tank with more participation from the states.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Kirit Parikh Ex-Head, Fuel Decontrol Panel & Former Member of Planning Commission, says the new institute provides real innovation by giving states liberty.

"Instead of Planning Commission formulating plan and then asking states to agree on it, here states would have much more input at the earlier level of the formulation of the plan," he said.

Below is the transcript of Kirit Parikh's interview with CNBC-TV18's Surabhi Upadhyay and Nayantara Rai.

Surabhi: Is it really going to be a materially different or new body or are we just talking about a change of name here?

A: Certainly there has been a change of name. The change of name implies a certain degree of change in emphasis. While the structure of the Planning Commission as proposed in the new resolution of the Cabinet is almost similar to the earlier one, except that the Planning Commission was reporting to the National Development Council consisting of the state chief ministers and Lieutenant Governors of Indian territory, but now there is a governing council which consists of the state Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors. So, I don't see much of a difference there.

Nayantara: What did you make of the fact that there is going to be a regional council, for example the governments press release makes one believe that while the Planning Commission had been top down, the new body is going to be bottom-up. We are going to have a regional council for a fixed tenure, it is going to only look at specific issues for states, is that materially different?

A: No it is not. Whenever there are issues which concern couple of states or few states together there was always consultative group setup of these states. However now we are formalising it, having a policy of regional council but this is a similar mechanism as we have seen in the past. So, I do not see this as much of an innovation.

Where I find the real innovation comes in this is that hopefully that instead of Planning Commission formulating a plan and then asking the states whether they agree with this or not, this is going to be something where states would have much more input at the earlier level of plan formulation.

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