Coronavirus in Iran takes a toll on basmati exports, domestic prices fall

Rice exports from India, already facing the headwinds of the US-Iran standoff and coronavirus outbreak in China, have been singed further with the scourge spreading to more countries including Iran, which is the top international destination for Indian basmati.

In the backdrop of the bleak export outlook, coupled with robust paddy production during 2019-20 of more than 117 million tonnes (MT) – higher by 9.67 MT than the five-year average production of nearly 107.80 MT – Indian exporters are now staring at losses.

Rice exports, which posted a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 14 per cent between 2010 and 2019, have been hit by the negative geopolitics, tighter trade norms and higher minimum support price (MSP) by the government.

The negative market dynamics are resulting in a downward basmati price trend on the bourses. On commodity exchange ICEX, top selling pusa basmati variety (PB1121) was trading at Rs 3,073 per quintal, or 1.4 per cent lower than the previous close, on being hammered by the coronavirus phenomenon.

However, consistent fall was seen in spot market for paddy .

In Delhi prices have almost halved from their peaks. The decline in exports and record domestic crop along with complaints of procurement not happening smoothly in many places. All put together has hit prices in local manusia.

Following coronavirus outbreak, Iran has stopped Indian basmati shipments with the result that exports have already fallen 18-20 per cent this fiscal year 2019-20.

Iran and Middle East together are the largest importers of Indian basmati, accounting for more than 30 per cent of shipments, Kedia Advisory director Ajay Kedia said, adding now the market is technically under long.

One of leading rice exporters Kohinoor Foods joint managing director Gurnam Arora said the halt on shipments to Iran was the major element weighing down the domestic rice market.

“Coronovirus is the biggest worry for exporters and with Iran now reporting such cases, the situation has only worsened. The impact of the outbreak has already started to show on the international trade and travel,” he told Business Standard adding the rice exporters had adopted a wait and watch stance as to how the situation unfolds in the coming 4-6 weeks.

Meanwhile, Mumbai-based rice trader Devendra Vora exuded greater pessimism with the market and said the rice segment was currently in a tailspin with no rescue in sight. “The market has continued to fall due to the various external and internal factors and we can only hope that the situation improves in the next 1-2 months,” he observed.

He had earlier suggested that the Centre should promote farm exports to Brazil, which was a big consumer of rice and wheat, so as to partly cushion the prospective losses to Indian exporters.

Export of rice especially basmati, to Iran, valued at $1.5 billion in 2018-19 financial year, continue to weather uncertainty following the US sanctions on its crude oil in 2019. Iran accounts for 25 per cent of Indian rice shipments.

According to a report by US-based trade finance company Drip Capital, rice exports have seen a decline across the globe with major dip emerging from West Asia due to geopolitical tensions. “YTD (year to date) exports so far are looking bleak with Iran, the biggest export market, seeing a 22 per cent fall in shipments,” Drip Capital co-founder and co-CEO Pushkar Mukewar said.

India is the world’s largest rice exporter accounting for 25 per cent of global share, while the commodity contributes 2 per cent to the overall Indian export basket.

French energy giant Total acquires 37.4% in Adani Gas for Rs 5,152 crore

French energy giant Total on Friday acquired 37.4 per cent stake in Gautam Adani-led Adani Gas, in a bulk deal worth Rs 5,152 crore.

Through the deal, Total Holdings SAS bought a stake from several Adani Group companies — including Adani Tradeline, Afro Asia Trade and Investments, S B Adani Family Trust, Universal Trade and Investments and Worldwide Emerging Market Holding.

In October last year, Total had announced its plans to buy Adani Group’s stake in Adani Gas through a mix of open offer and purchase from promoters. It was only on February 21 this year that the deal got the approval of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).

The downstream regulator had raised doubts and issued a show cause notice, given there were restrictions in the restructuring of city gas distribution (CGD) companies within five years of the licence being granted. The nod to PNGRB was given considering the importance of foreign participation in the CGD segment, and the need to expand the country’s network.

Total had said late last year that CGD was a natural extension of the plans of both partners to invest in infrastructure and assets worth over $1 billion, which included Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) infrastructure, as well as the marketing and fuel retail business.

Adani Group has city gas network operational in five cities, and has 84 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in these areas.

It is also in the process of setting up a network in 14 other geographical areas (GA). It has eight operational GAs in a joint venture with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), while 11 are in the implementation stage.

Adani Gas is also planning to set up 1,500 fuel stations, offering top-of-the-line products in the coming years. The expanded partnership will develop regasification terminals, including Dhamra LNG, on the east coast of India.

Apple closely watching coronavirus outbreak in South Korea, Italy: Cook

Apple Inc is closely watching how the coronavirus outbreak is unfolding in South Korea and Italy, where the company has suppliers, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in an interview.

Apple counts major Korean display makers Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> and LG Electronics Inc <066570.KS> among its suppliers. It also sources chips from a factory in Italy run by Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics , according to its most recent supplier list.

Cook told Fox Business Networks that Apple had re-opened 80 percent of its stores in China. He also said that iPhone factories in China had restarted and were in "phase three of the ramp mode."

"It will take some time, but by in large I think this is a temporary condition, not a long-term kind of thing," Cook said.

Asked if Apple would move manufacturing out of China to countries such as Vietnam or Cambodia, Cook said the company's supply chain was global and that the company considered speed to markets and engineering skills in addition to cost. He also said Apple's supply chain managers were examining how resilient to the coronavirus shock the company's supply chains were.

"And so the question for us after we get on the other side will be, was the resilience there or not and do we need to make some changes," he said. "My perspective sitting here today is that if there are changes, you're talking about adjusting some knobs, not some sort of wholesale fundamental change."

Apple last week said it would not meet its guidance for the quarter ending in March and that it would experience supply chain shortages. Cook said he did not know whether the coronavirus would affect the quarter ending in June.

On Wednesday at Apple's annual shareholder meeting, Cook said Apple would open its first retail store in India.

Cook was interviewed in Alabama, where he had traveled to announce a program to teach computer coding in schools.

Powered by hydrogen, Hyundai's trucks aim to conquer the Swiss Alps

Hyundai's hydrogen-powered 18-tonne trucks are set to hit the roads in Switzerland next month as the South Korean automaker looks to establish a case for its zero-emissions technology in a low carbon world.

Invented nearly two centuries ago, hydrogen fuel cells first lost out to combustion engines and now trail electric batteries in the push for greener transport because they are expensive, hydrogen is hard to store, and most of it is extracted from natural gas in a process that produces carbon emissions.

But when it comes to trucks, Hyundai and its partners argue that electric batteries won't always do the job because the bigger the payload, the bigger - and heavier - the battery, and that's a problem for crawling up Swiss mountains.

And with more than half of Switzerland's energy coming from hydropower, the country has the potential to extract "green" hydrogen from water with electrolysis, an energy-intensive but carbon-free process if powered by renewable electricity.

"It is not enough to produce a truck. You have to take care of the entire ecosystem, find like-minded partners and show this all makes sense for the customer," said Mark Freymueller, chief executive of Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility (HHM).

"It is possible to do this with a holistic approach and the right mindset," he told Reuters.

To be sure, Switzerland's green hydrogen is far more expensive than diesel now but Hyundai hopes that as governments clamp down on carbon emissions and the cost of producing the clean fuel drops, the numbers could start to add up.

McKinsey & Co said in study in January that the cost of hydrogen made with renewable energy could drop to 2 euros/kg by 2030 from 3-4.5 euros now - achieving cost parity with diesel for heavy vehicles, once the relative efficiency of the power sources and the lifetime costs of a truck are factored in.

While hydrogen has long been vaunted as a potential alternative to fossil fuels, expectations that fuel cells will have a role to play as the world decarbonises has helped push hydrogen-linked stocks to their highest in over a decade.

NORWAY NEXT?

For now, Hyundai is relying on government tax breaks for fuel cell trucks and its own subsidises to help make them economically viable for its partners: the end users, filling stations and green hydrogen suppliers.

Hyundai's H2 Xcient trucks have a 190 kilowatt fuel cell and seven high-pressure tanks holding nearly 35 kg of hydrogen, giving them a range of more than 400 km - far further than heavy goods vehicles powered by electric batteries on the market now.

Hyundai declined to say how much its subsidies will amount to. Globally, the company is betting heavily on hydrogen with plans to spend $6.7 billion on hydrogen technology by 2030 and to increase its annual capacity for fuel cells to 700,000.

It is starting out with 50 H2 Xcient trucks but plans to put 1,600 on Swiss roads by 2025 and is looking to launch similar projects in at least two more European countries this year, out of Austria, Germany, the Netherlands or Norway.

In Switzerland, HHM, the leasing unit set up by Hyundai and Swiss startup H2 energy, has partnered with Hydrospider, a joint venture of H2 Energy with industrial gas maker Linde and Swiss power utility Alpiq.

Hydrospider is about to start producing hydrogen for 40-50 Hyundai trucks at a 2 megawatt (MW) electrolysis plant at Goesgen. Stefan Linder, a member of Hydrospider's board of directors, said as more H2 trucks go into service it would have to boost capacity to 70 MW to 100 MW by 2023-2025.

In preparation for launching hydrogen trucks in Norway this year, H2 Energy has formed a partnership with Nel ASA, Greenstat and Akershus Energi to supply green hydrogen. Hydropower provides Norway with nearly all its electricity.

SUBSIDISED MODEL

The Swiss H2 Mobility Association - a group of nearly 20 firms - will be the first users, including the country's biggest retailer Migros, dairy producer Emmi, grocery chain Coop and filling station operators SOCAR and Tamoil.

End users such as Migros have committed to leasing Hyundai's trucks on pay-per-use contracts which give them mileage, warranty, services, insurance and access to sufficient hydrogen. HHM says its contracts will ensure Hydrospider and filling stations get sensible margins from the start.

"We are not fooling ourselves, it is initially a subsidised business model," said HHM's Freymueller, adding that this would be the case for the introduction of any new technology.

Over 10 years, an assumed investment of 1.3 million Swiss francs ($1.3 million) in a pump could be recovered if 15 trucks visited it exclusively for their annual fuelling needs, HHM estimates. Supermarket chain Migros is taking three Xcients and plans to measure their performance against a Mercedes-Benz truck powered by an electric battery, three biogas-fuelled trucks from Italy's Iveco - and diesel.

At the moment, Migros says it pays 50 million Swiss francs a year in heavy vehicle environmental duties (LSVA) levied on all vehicles over 3.5 tonnes using any roads in Switzerland. The Hyundai trucks will initially be exempt from LSVA.

Rainer Deutschmann, director of corporate transportation logistics at Migros, which operates 900 trucks shuttling between 22 production sites and nearly 900 shops, told Reuters he expected several technologies to play a role in decarbonisation.

"We will see on each journey what the energy consumption will be depending on the geography and topology," he said.

"With an electric battery, instead of carrying merchandise around you are carrying around the battery. You have a 200 km range, which you can use for a city, but you cannot use it for the Alps," he said. "H2 you can use for everything."

Coronavirus outbreak: Don't panic over supplies, says pharma industry

Amid rising cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), the captains of Indian pharma industry on Friday said there was no reason to panic over drug supplies in the domestic market. The industry, however, was unanimous that high level of dependence on one geography for key raw materials had to be reduced to mitigate risks.

Meanwhile, Gujarat-based Cadila Healthcare has launched an accelerated research programme for developing a vaccine for Covid-19 with multiple teams in India and Europe. Pankaj R Patel, chairman of Cadila Healthcare, said the vaccine candidate should be ready in 8-10 months with support from the regulators. “We felt a moral responsibility to step in as we have other flu vaccines, including swine flu, in our portfolio.”

Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shanghvi said the industry and government were working closely to reduce dependence on one country.

Plan is to build a few large clusters to make bulk drugs where manufacturers would be given incentives to produce low-value APIs. Concessions in terms of rates for power and water are likely to bring the industry on a par with Chinese counterparts.

India is capable of making all the ingredients that it now imports. Satish Reddy, chairman of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, said India missed out to China due to several factors, economies of scale being one. “We can make the ingredients here in India. We very much have the technology and capability to do so,” Reddy said.

According to the industry, all major players carry buffer stock of three months for key drugs and there is no need to worry immediately. Smaller firms have indicated that they were running out of raw material inventory as they did not carry buffer stock due to working capital concerns.

Lupin Managing Director Nilesh Gupta said his company was not affected much due the Chinese crisis as it was only one major API where they were dependent on Chinese imports. The industry said supplies from China had started to resume, however, it would take some time before it stabilised.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has asked states and Union Territories to keep a close watch on the availability of key raw materials that are imported from China and used in the production of all kinds of medicines.

Virus outbreak to impact global smartphone sales: Report

The outbreak may hit supplies of smartphone components from China to other countries at least till the second quarter of this year, according to research from Counterpoint Research.

“Our initial expectation was that the virus would be contained within two months and take three more months for things will get back to normal. We now expect Q1 PRC (People's Republic of China) sales to be down by around 25 per cent, compared to our original forecast. This is 18 per cent lower than Q1 last year. But this can worsen if the virus is not contained. Global sales will also go down 7 per cent compared to same period last year. Overall we think Q1 and Q2 will show negative growth both globally and in PRC before rebounding,” said Peter Richardson, research director at Counterpoint, in a blog on Thursday.

Visa on arrival for Japanese nationals suspended

India has temporarily suspended visa on arrival services for nationals of Japan and South Korea in view of the surge in the number of coronavirus cases in the countries, the Indian embassy said on Friday. The development comes a day after India evacuated 119 Indians and 5 foreigners who were on board the coronavirus-hit cruise ship, Diamond Princess, moored off the Japanese coast.

J&J ordered by Florida jury to pay $9 million in talc-cancer case

Johnson & Johnson was ordered by a Florida jury to pay $9 million to an 82-year-old woman who blamed asbestos-tainted talc for her cancer, the latest court loss for the company in US litigation over its iconic baby powder.

Jurors in Miami concluded on Thursday that asbestos in baby powder used by Blanca Mure-Cabrera over her lifetime contributed to the development of her mesothelioma, said David Jagolinzer, one of her lawyers. That type of cancer has been specifically linked to asbestos exposure.The trial loss is the second for J&J this year over claims the company knew some of its talc-based products were laced with asbestos and hid it from consumers. Earlier this month, a jury in J&J’s hometown of New Brunswick, New Jersey, ordered the company to pay $750 million in punitive damages to four people. A judge later reduced that award to $186.5 million.J&J -- the world’s largest maker of healthcare products -- said it will appeal the jury’s liability finding and damage award.

“Today’s verdict is at odds with the decades of evidence showing the company acted responsibly and was guided by sound science,” Kim Montagnino, a company spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.J&J still faces almost 18,000 lawsuits over the 135-year-old baby powder. A majority of the cases allege women who used the product got ovarian cancer, while a smaller number claim links to mesothelioma.

The talc litigation may eventually cost the company as much as $10 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Though baby powder accounts for only a small fraction of J&J’s annual revenue, it’s been a core brand for the company for more than a century.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers claim internal J&J documents show executives knew since the late 1960s that talc mined in places such as Vermont and Italy contained trace amounts of asbestos but failed to alert consumers or regulators. Asbestos is often found in mined talc, but the company says it is removed when processed. The listed ingredients in J&J’s baby powder are talc and fragrance.J&J -- which contends there’s never been any asbestos in its baby powder and that it marketed the product properly -- has steadfastly fought the claims at trial and on appeal, only settling a small number of lawsuits.Earlier this week, J&J agreed to settle a 62-year-old woman’s mesothelioma claims just before a trial in state court in Manhattan was set to begin. In court filings, lawyers for Laura Shanahan said she used baby powder daily starting as a young child. She was diagnosed with the asbestos-linked cancer in October. Terms of the settlement weren’t made public.

“The decision to resolve any particular case in no way changes our overall position that our talc is safe, is asbestos free and does not cause cancer,” Montagnino said in an emailed statement. “We do not have any organized program to settle Johnson’s baby powder cases, nor are we planning a settlement program.”

SBI Cards allots shares worth nearly Rs 2,800 crore to anchor investors

SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Cards), a subsidiary of State Bank of India (SBI), has allotted nearly Rs 2,800 crore worth of shares to anchor investors. These are institutional investors that commit to subscribe to the shares in the initial public offering (IPO) ahead of its opening. Many other investors look at the demand and quality of the anchor book to decide whether to apply in the IPO.

A total of 36.7 million shares have been allotted to 75 anchor investors at Rs 755 apiece, the top-end of the IPO price band. Some of the investors that have been allotted include sovereign funds belonging to the Singapore and Kuwait government, Fidelity, Nomura, BNP Paribas, GMO and Blackrock.

A total of 12 mutual fund houses also have got allotment for 48 schemes. Some of the fund houses include ICICI Prudential MF, Birla MF, Axis MF and Kotak MF.

Investment bankers said there was more demand than shares on offer in the anchor category. Market players said the anchor demand came on a day when the domestic markets saw one of its worst-ever crash would bode well for the IPO.

SBI Cards IPO opens on Monday and closes on Thursday. The company has set a price band of Rs 750-755 per share for its initial public offering (IPO).

At the top end, the issue size works out to Rs 10,355 crore ($1.4 billion), making it the largest Asian IPO in 2020 and fourth-biggest domestic IPO.

The IPO will comprise Rs 500 crore worth of fresh equity issuance, which will be used to strengthen the country’s second-largest credit card company’s capital base. The bulk of the IPO will be a secondary share sale by parent State Bank of India and private equity (PE) major Carlyle.

The largest public sector bank is offloading a 4 per cent stake in the IPO, while Carlyle will sell a 10 per cent stake.

After the issue, SBI’s stake will drop from 74 per cent at present to 70 per cent, while Carlyle will see its holding come down from 26 per cent to 16 per cent. The PE had bought the stake in 2017 from the lending arm of General Electric for about Rs 2,000 crore. The value of the stake has jumped to Rs 18,400 crore.

The public shareholding in SBI Cards will be 14 per cent post listing which will have to be enhanced to 25 per cent within three years.

SBI Cards will be the first credit card company to list in the domestic markets. The company will command a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 71,000 crore, making it India’s 38th most valuable company.

SBI Cards’ valuation could even exceed the Rs 1 trillion-mark going by the grey market premium. According to market operators, the stock is changing hands at a premium of 45 per cent (Rs 1,100 per share) in the unofficial market.

The SBI Cards IPO will be a test for investor appetite, which has been battered by the coronavirus outbreak.

Volkswagen strikes 'dieselgate' compensation deal with German consumers

An important chapter in Volkswagen years-long "dieselgate" emissions cheating saga appeared headed for a close Friday, as the German car giant agreed a compensation deal with domestic consumer groups.

VW and German consumer federation VZBV reached a "comprehensive agreement" in a first-of-its-kind collective lawsuit brought by around 400,000 diesel car drivers, the Brunswick higher state court said.

The mass lawsuit is one of the biggest legal hangovers from VW's 2015 admission to fitting 11 million vehicles worldwide with software to make the engines appear less polluting in regulatory tests than in real driving conditions.

Consumer federation VZBV said it would reveal details of the agreement at a 1:00 pm (1200 GMT) press conference.

Under German law, plaintiffs have a month to decide whether to accept the settlement offer after its approval by judges.

If fewer than 30 per cent of them reject the deal, it will go ahead.

Friday's announcement follows just two weeks after the two sides fell out in public after agreeing in principle on 830 million euros ($916.3 million) in payouts for German diesel car drivers.

VW said at the time the talks failed because of "disproportionate" fee demands from VZBV's lawyers.

But the consumer group said the money was needed to set up "a transparent, trustworthy and secure system" to actually pay out the cash.

Aside from the 400,000 diesel owners in the VZBV's grouped proceeding, around 70,000 individuals have open claims against VW.

In May, one individual's case will be heard at Germany's top administrative court, a ruling which could have influenced the outcome of the settlement talks.

So far the fallout from diesel cheating has cost VW more than 30 billion euros worldwide in legal costs, fines and compensation, most of it in the United States.

While American diesel buyers enjoyed generous buy-back and compensation schemes, German drivers have so far gone uncompensated for the impact of the scandal, which has since spread to other carmakers.

In an online announcement after talks broke down earlier this month, VW said it was ready to pay out between 1,350 and 6,257 euros per vehicle, depending on model and age.

Its conditions were that cars had to have been purchased before Jan 1, 2016, with the buyer a German resident and still in possession of the car.

Beyond compensation, VW appears to have got off comparatively lightly in fines levied in Germany.

The Wolfsburg-based group and subsidiaries Audi and Porsche paid a total of 2.3 billion euros in fines in the group's home country.

Beyond the actual owners of VW cars manipulated in "dieselgate," investors are also pursuing VW for billions, hoping to recoup the financial harm they suffered when the group's shares plunged after the scandal broke.

While the group has long since returned to profitability, it is making massive investments in electric mobility and automated driving in an attempt to catch up to a head start enjoyed by foreign competitors like Tesla.

In the coming years, VW, its subsidiaries and other German carmakers plan a slew of electric models, looking to polish their green credentials and avoid falling foul of harsh EU fines for excessive greenhouse emissions.

Coronavirus outbreak: LG Display suspends work at South Korea factory

LG Display has suspended work at its display module factory in the South Korean city of Gumi after a coronavirus case was confirmed, the company said.

An employee of a bank, located in the building housing the plant that turns out smartphone flat screens, tested positive for the virus, leading to the shutdown, a company spokeswoman said, adding that the line would restart on Tuesday.

Bharti Airtel makes additional payment of Rs 8,004 crore towards AGR dues

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Saturday said that it has made additional payment of Rs 8,004 crore towards adjusted gross revenue dues to the Department of Telecom (DoT).

The payment of Rs 8,004 crore is in addition to Rs 10,000 crore the company paid on February 17, 2020 in compliance to the Supreme Court judgement, it said in a regulatory filing.

The company said it calculated the liabilities on self assessment basis till December 31, 2019 and the payment includes interest up to February 29, 2020.

The company has carried out self assessment from FY 2006-07 up to December 31, 2019 and interest thereon up to February 29, 2020 in line with the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) judgement, Bharti Airtel said.

"Accordingly the company paid an additional amount of Rs 3,004 crore towards the full and final amounts due over and above ad-hoc amount of Rs 10,000 crore paid on February 17, 2020 on behalf of Bharti Group of companies," the filing said.

The payment included liabilities on Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom and Telenor India.

"We have also deposited an additional amount of Rs 5,000 crore, as an ad-hoc payment (subject to the subsequent refund/adjustment to cover differences, if any arising from the reconciliation exercise with the DoT," Airtel said.

According to DoT estimates, Airtel owed nearly Rs 35,586 crore, including licence fee, spectrum usage charges with interest on unpaid amount, penalty and interest on penalty till July 2019.

"Based on the aforesaid payment we have now complied with AGR judgement and the directions in the order of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated October 24, 2019," the company said.

Odisha to mop up Rs 20,000 cr incremental revenue from e-auctions: Pradhan

Online auctions of mineral blocks will bring in windfall gains for Odisha known for its repertoire of mineral wealth.

Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, the state could mop up an incremental Rs 20,000 crore each year owing to the transparent system of awarding mineral blocks through the auctions route.

“Odisha will be a huge gainer due to the new MMDR (Mines and Minerals Development & Regulation) Act. Previously, states only got royalty”, Pradhan said here at a workshop on 'Enabling Procedures for increase of steel usage for growth of economy' jointly organised by Union ministry of steel, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry, Japan.

Recently, Odisha successfully conducted electronic auctions of 19 lapsing iron and manganese ore blocks now run by merchant or non-captive iron ore blocks. All blocks elicited frenetic bidding with the average premium standing at 106 per cent. While JSW Steel proved to be a major disruptor at auctions, bagging four blocks, ArcelorMittal pocketed the Thakurani merchant iron ore block. Goa's leading merchant iron ore producer won the Nadidih block, quoting a steep premium of 145 per cent.

Pradhan stressed on the need to build a steel ecosystem in Odisha given the state's immense potential to contribute to primary steel production as well as value added products.

“Odisha is the number one steel producer in the country with an output of 27 million tonnes (mt). By 2030, steel production from Odisha can go up to 100 mt. Around 75 per cent of the country's envisaged steel production of 300 mt by 2030 is expected to come from the eastern region”, the minister said.

Rasika Chaube, additional secretary with the Union steel ministry said, “The ministry is concerned about steel consumption in the country. Our per capita steel consumption is 74 kg way below the global average of 225 kg and Japan's 550 kg. Odisha with a per capita steel consumption of 146 kg ranks eighth in the country. The Government of India's plan to infuse Rs 1 trillion in infrastructure will give a huge boost to the steel sector”.

T V Narendran, managing director & chief executive officer at Tata Steel felt there is a positive correlation between steel usage and the country's economic growth. “Steel usage in the country is still at a lower end. Rural market is expected to play a critical role in boosting demand. There is an excellent opportunity for foreign players to come to India and set up their facilities”.

Hemant Sharma, principal secretary (industries & MSME), Odisha said, “As the country is on course to becoming $5 trillion economy, the usage or consumption of steel will be inevitable for second wave of growth. We need to move from production of primary metal to value added products of steel”.

36 bottlenecks faced by 17 infra projects reviewed by Goyal-led panel

The Project Monitoring Group, headed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, reviewed as many as 36 bottlenecks faced by 17 infrastructure projects with total anticipated investment of Rs 32,910 crore, an official release said on Friday.

The commerce and industry ministry said the group has till date resolved more than 3,500 issues in 809 projects and has unlocked anticipated financial investment of more than Rs 32 lakh crore.

At the moment, it said, the group is handling 588 issues in 260 projects, with total anticipated investment of Rs 10 lakh crore.

The projects which were reviewed on February 27 include BPCL's petroleum and petrochemical projects in Rasayani, Maharashtra.

It said with an anticipated investment of Rs 7,000 crore, "this project is critical for BPCL's plan to grow its petrochemical business from its current 1 per cent of portfolio to 15 per cent".

This project will reduce import dependency of petrochemicals and boost growth of associated ancillary setups and industries, it said.

The other projects include four-laning of Govindpur (Rajganj)- Chas - West Bengal Border Section [NH-32]; implementation of transmission systems in Jharkhand; and Londa Miraj doubling project.

The Rs 1,800 crore Jharkahnd project is necessary to feed power in deficit load centres for economic and social growth in the state.

"Actionable directions and timelines were issued for the expeditious resolution of pending issues in all projects," it added.

In the meeting, Goyal emphasised the importance of setting up additional transmission lines for power projects in the expanding city of Bangalore where power deficits had arisen earlier due to lack of infrastructure, given high land prices for erecting new infrastructure.

Further the minister called for more ministries and states to upload their projects across sectors including defence to be taken up by the PMG.

Goyal, who also holds railways portfolio, directed railways to prioritise investments in projects where the state provides for 100 per cent land acquisition.

"He also directed all the states...to consider the use of technology in tree transplantation to avoid tree cutting," it added.

The commerce minister asked additional director general of forests and Ministry of Environment and Forests to provide a concept paper on best technologies available for tree transplantation.

The PMG meeting was attended by Som Prakash, Minister of State for commerce and industry, senior officers of DPIIT, Chief Secretaries of Karnataka and Maharashtra, and senior officers of Jharkhand, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh through video conference.

The PMG is an institutional mechanism of DPIIT (department for promotion of industry and internal trade) to expedite resolution of issues and removal of regulatory bottlenecks in projects, with investments upward of Rs 500 crore.

It enlists unresolved project issues of all Public, Private and PPP and undertakes fast-tracking of approvals, sectoral policy issues and removal of bottlenecks for expeditious commissioning.

Govt to meet exporters on Mar 3 to discuss opportunities amid coronavirus

The commerce and industry ministry has convened a meeting of exporters and industry on March 3 to discuss export and import opportunities emerging on account of the coronavirus outbreak in China.

The meeting will be chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

An industry source said that as China was a global supplier of goods, huge export and import opportunities have emerged due to the outbreak of this deadly disease in China and other parts of the globe.

"The outbreak of this disease has reflected that depending completely on one country for goods is not a good idea and in such a situation, India is best placed to fill this global supply chain gap," the source said.

According to a commerce ministry analysis, there are as many as 550 products where Indian exporters can plug global supply gaps.

These identified products accounted for about 75 per cent of India's exports in 2018. Currently, exports of these items are estimated at $243 billion.

Further 1,054 products have been identified where India is dependent on Chinese imports.

In the analysis, the ministry has identified alternate countries from where New Delhi can import products disrupted by the outbreak in China.

The ministry has shared this list of made in India products which can be used to plug global supply line disruption with embassies.

The death toll in China's deadly coronavirus has climbed to 2,788 so far 25 with confirmed cases rising sharply to 78,824.

Coronavirus will be challenge if issues not resolved in 3 weeks: Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the Coronavirus outbreak would emerge as a challenge for India if issues were not resolved in the coming three weeks. The statement comes on a day when the BSE Sensex crashed 1,448 points, or 3.64 per cent, over previous close to end the session at 38,297, mainly on concerns related to Coronavirus. All 30 constituents ended in the red.

"No need to press the panic button because of Coronovirus epidemic, the outbreak will be a challenge if issues do not get resolved in three weeks," Sitharaman said while speaking at the CNBCTV18 IBL Awards event.

Several industries, including pharmaceuticals, electronics, and others had raised red flags over likely shortage of raw materials and derailing of distribution. "The pharma and electronics sectors have suggested airlifting of materials from China," the minister said. Earlier, the finance minister had held a meeting with about 23 industries and said that they had not expressed any anxieties about raw material supplies or exports being disturbed.

"However, some of them felt that if after two months if the situation does not improve regarding containing the virus they may start having some problems of raw material availability. We are trying to see how we can help them out," she added.

The logistics of the same, like aggregating the goods and getting them to a single place will have to be done by the industry itself, she said, promising help from the government through the consular staff. Sitharaman said the government is "pushing the banks like never before" to lend as much as possible across all categories, including retail, home and agriculture segments.

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called a meeting of exporters and industry on March 3 to discuss export and import opportunities emerging on account of the Coronavirus outbreak in China. "This outbreak has reflected that depending completely on one country for goods is not a good idea and, in such a situation, India is best placed to fill this global supply chain gap," PTI quoted a ministry official as saying.

Steadiness in economy is good sign: Sitharaman as GDP growth stands at 4.7%

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the "steadiness" in the economy is a good sign, soon after the official data showed the December quarter GDP growth at 4.7 per cent.

Speaking at CNBC TV 18's business leadership awards event, Sitharaman made it clear that she was not expecting a jump in the number either.

India's economic growth slowed to 4.7 per cent in October-December 2019, according to official data released on Friday.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was registered at 5.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19, as per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

On the impact of coronavirus on the economy, she said there is no need to immediately press the "panic button", but admitted that it may get challenging if the issues prolong for another two or three weeks, citing her conversations with the industry players over the last few days.

She also said the pharmaceutical and electronic industries, which depend heavily on imports from China for raw materials, have suggested airlifting of essential items and the government may consider the same.

However, the logistics of the same, like aggregating the goods and getting them to a single place will have to be done by the industry itself, she said, promising help from the government through the consular staff.

Sitharaman said the government is "pushing the banks like never before" to lend as much as possible across all categories, including retail, home and agriculture segments.

She, however, said that the government wants to learn from the experiences of the 2008-09 and ensure that there are no non-performing assets piled up for later years.

Sitharaman said the government is working creating a development finance institution (DFI), as were bodies like ICICI and IDBI before they turned into full-fledged banks.

The minister said that the ministry has managed to do whatever it can for the economy within the space offered by keeping the fiscal deficit under check and also added that it is not "closing options" on the same.

Slowdown due to govt focusing more on political agenda than economy: Rajan

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has said slowdown in growth is due to the current government focussing more on meeting its political and social agenda rather than paying attention to the economy.

India can still reverse its slowing economic growth by paying attention to key issues, he said.

"It's a sad story, I think most recently, it is politics," Rajan said in response to a question on what was stopping India's growth which remains below potential.

In an interview to Bloomberg TV, Rajan said unfortunately the current government after a massive election win has "focussed more on fulfilling its political and social agenda rather than paying attention to the economic growth".

"Unfortunately, this drift has continued a pace of slowing growth, which was precipitated initially by some actions the government took such as the demonetisation and a poorly rolled out Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform," Rajan said.

India's GDP growth hit nearly 7-year low of 4.7 per cent in the December quarter, as per official data released on Friday.

The GDP growth for the quarter is the lowest since January-March of 2012-13.

In the interview, which was telecast before the official numbers were released, Rajan said India has not paid sufficient attention to cleaning up the financial sector and unfortunately, that is leading to the slowing growth.

"These are things that they can change if attention is paid to them and appropriate actions are taken," Rajan, Professor of Finance at University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said.

On being asked about the spread of the coronavirus globally and its impact, he said there will certainly be some legacy issues in terms of business rethinking in the global supply chain.

"If it is disrupted anywhere, the entire supply chain is held ransom and companies are going to start rethinking that should we actually have these really spread out global supply chain or to bring them back closer home and how much diversification should we have. Should we have multiple production sites across the world rather than have it focussed primarily in Asia," he said.

To boost commerce, Instagram to focus on empowering influencers in India

Facebook-owned Instagram is stepping up its presence across India by roping in more content creators and empowering influencers on its platform. It feels it can boost commerce on the platform in this way.

During the fourth quarter (Q4) earnings call, Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said that commerce and payments were key focus areas for the company and its goal was to make sure every small business has the same opportunity and access to sophisticated tools that only big firms have had access to historically.

To further its presence, Instagram has rolled out the Born On Instagram initiative, which helps influencers and users on its platforms better leverage the app and hone their storytelling capabilities. The programme is being rolled out in 15 cities across the country.

Asked if the aim was to promote commerce and brand sales by leveraging the platform, Manish Chopra, head of partnerships at Facebook India, said, “For us, these influencers and content creators are like micro-entrepreneurs whom we can mentor. Brands can connect with them via the platform. Brands can also advertise on Instagram and get loyal users”.

Zuckerberg, in the call, noted that Pura Vida — a jewelry company based in San Diego — ran ads on Facebook and Instagram for a 50 per cent discount, and sold more than 300,000 bracelets within nine days.

Instagram Stories is another front that Facebook is bullish on. As of December 2019, Stories had 4 million advertisers globally, double the number from December 2018.

The platform claimed that Bombas, a sock and apparel company, used Instagram Stories to show people wearing their socks while ice skating and gift wrapping, which resulted in a 60 per cent increase in purchases from people under the age of 35.

In Q4, the total consolidated number of ad impressions served across Facebook’s services increased by 31 per cent, while the average price per ad decreased by 5 per cent. Impressions growth was driven primarily by Facebook News Feed, Instagram Stories, and Instagram Feed.

According to Dave Wehner, Facebook’s chief financial officer, the year-on-year decline in average price per ad was primarily driven by the ongoing mix shift towards ads on Instagram Stories and in geographies that monetise at lower rates.

Last year, Instagram rolled out Branded Content Ads, which allow advertisers to reach out to audiences.

In the call, Zuckerberg had said that on the payments front, Facebook was focusing on different places with different products.

“For things like Instagram, and even a lot of what we’re doing on Facebook, it’s a lot more developed countries; for WhatsApp, it’s the biggest countries on WhatsApp. So that’s countries like India and Mexico and Brazil and Indonesia, which will make up a large part of the community on WhatsApp,” Zuckerberg said.

Tally launches Release 6.6, aims to improve accessibility for entrepreneurs

Leading business management software provider Tally Solutions aims to empower entrepreneurs with the launch of its latest release Tally.ERP 9 Release 6.6 bringing the Tally experience on web browsers. With this launch, Tally intends to assist businesses access critical business data anywhere through any device, securely and privately, while keeping the data on customer’s machines itself.

The release empowers entrepreneurs with business information like business reports and invoices. This will be accessible to them on web browsers, removing the dependency of having a particular type of computer or device, or installing Tally for the access.

Sudipta Dutta, General Manager- East Zone, Tally Solutions said, “We are delighted to launch Release 6.6, which is our first step towards enabling connectivity for SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises). With this release, we believe business owners will start interacting a lot more with their business data since it will be readily available wherever they are. They can now be better informed about the health of their business and be able to take decisions faster for their business growth”.

“Most financial applications contain sensitive and private information that needs to be accessed every day for business continuity. As the world moves more and more towards the cloud, there is an ardent need for these applications to be cautious as any breach of data could be detrimental for businesses. Keeping this reality in mind, we are enabling businesses to access critical business data even outside the office, on any device, anywhere through a web browser. This in addition to Tally’s trademark speed, simplicity and security”, he added.

Nationwide, Tally has 1.7 million users. “The Government has recognized Tally as one of the major employment providers. Now, the government is also looking at e-way bill generation from the next financial year”, Dutta said.

Oriental Insurance pegs capital need of around Rs 3000 crore in FY21

Public sector general insurance firm Oriental Insurance Company might need close to Rs 3,000 crore worth capital infusion to fund its growth plans in 2020-21.

According to A V Girijakumar, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Oriental Insurance Company, the capital would be needed to fund growth plans and maintain solvency ratio.

However, the actual growth plan would be finalized on the basis of capital support the insurer gets from the government.

The company’s board is slated to meet on March 18 to examine the budget for growth in the coming fiscal.

“While we may require a capital in the vicinity of Rs 3,000 crore for growth and meeting regulatory solvency requirement in FY-21, however, the business plan (growth plan) would be made in line with the capital support that we get,” Girijakumar told newspersons on the sidelines of a session on insurance organized by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Friday.

“The growth (in business premium) next year would be tailored to the capital support we get, we will take a considered view,” he added.

The Union Budget 2020 has earmarked Rs 6,950 crore for recapitalisation of the three public sector general insurance companies — National Insurance, Oriental Insurance and United India Insurance. The three firms are in dire need of capital to maintain solvency ratio.

According to Girijakumar, in Q3 of this financial year, the company had a loss of Rs 50 crore, against Rs 330 crore in Q2. Also, the solvency ratio is just about the regulatory norm of 1.50 per cent. Oriental Insurance’s solvency ratio was 1.56 in Q1FY20.

The state-owned general insurer, has been focusing on consolidating its business in 2019-20, is looking to grow marginally at about 6 per cent this financial year, with premium of about Rs 14,250 crore by March 2020. Last financial year, Oriental Insurance saw a business growth of over 15 per cent.

The insurer has been doing conciliation of motor third party cases, and has gone for price corrections in group health policy and property insurance. It is monitoring loss making businesses with a view to reprice them.

According to Girijakumar, the focus has been on “economics of business” rather than growing the business.

“Our focus this year has been on reviewing claims and settling them as quickly as we can. We had set a target of conciliation of close to 24,000 motor third party cases this fiscal, of this we have already completed 18,000 and are hopeful of achieving the remaining by the end of this fiscal. This will give us a big relief,” he said.

At present, health insurance accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the total premium, motor accounts for 34-35 per cent, while crop insurance makes up around 17 per cent of the total business of the company.

In the February 2018 Budget, the government had announced a plan to merge National Insurance, United India Insurance and Oriental Insurance, and list the merged entity on the stock exchanges.

However, there has little progress on the merger since, even as the financial health of the firms deteriorated in terms of losses, falling market share and poor solvency ratios.

The three insurers, under the aegis of GIPSA (General Insurance Public Sector Association), earlier appointed consultant EY to draw a blueprint for the merger plan.

True North scouts for acquisitions in orthopaedics and gynaecology space

Homegrown private equity (PE) player True North is scouting for acquisitions in the orthopaedics and gynaecology space to build its domestic formulations portfolio. The PE operates in this space through its portfolio company Integrace.

The PE firm is open to having co-investors, including other PE firms, to fund future acquisitions by Integrace. “In the last four-five years, we have been eyeing pharma as an area of opportunity and we are looking at several other segments – from contract manufacturing to active pharmaceutical ingredients, biosimilars and also domestic formulations,” said Satish Chander, partner, True North.

True North wanted to have a platform in the domestic formulations space, where it is the only or the largest shareholder. To build scale, it started scouting for divisions of drug firms that it could acquire. Chander said it is a fund that is focussed on control and buyouts.

Now, True North is focussed on growing Integrace by buying other products, divisions or smaller companies. Integrace is clocking a 12-15 per cent growth.

A natural extension of the orthopaedic division (which had an osteoporosis products), was the gynaecology segment as calcium supplements, among others, fit well into it. Also, neurology is another segment the PE is actively looking at as it fits well with the pain management portolio it has.

True North, however, is looking at acquiring a gynaecology division soon. It wants to have presence across the spectrum to fill prescriptions. Chander said that it is open to having a deal where it can plug the portfolio gaps that now exist.

For the next two years also, Integrace will focus on the orthopaedic and the gyanaecology segments.

It now has a 350-odd orthopaedic field force and a 180-strong gynaecology field force.

Biocon was one of the initial investments made by True North where it made 10-times returns on its investments when Biocon went public in 2003.

Telecom Italia picks KKR as exclusive partner for Italian broadband

Italy’s government wants the former phone monopoly and smaller fibre-optic operator Open Fiber to create a single ultra-fast broadband player to avoid duplicating investments.

A deal has proved tough to hammer out, prompting Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri on Wednesday to urge the parties to come to an agreement quickly to speed up progress on a strategic infrastructure. TIM said in a statement Gualtieri’s comments were “significant” and that the project with Open Fiber would help overcome the digital divide still existing in many part of the country.

Chief Executive Luigi Gubitosi will continue discussions on the plan and inform Italian institutions in line with existing laws that give the government special powers to intervene in sectors deemed strategic, TIM said.

Italy’s government wants to be kept abreast of developments in talks with KKR and of any agreement, a person close to the matter said.

As negotiations stalled and Open Fiber continued to roll out its network, TIM invited infrastructure funds to consider an investment in the potential future combined fibre-optic entity and KKR emerged earlier this month as the preferred bidder.

KKR will support TIM as the group seeks to reach a deal with Open Fiber, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. The US investment firm would still be TIM’s partner if an accord with Open Fiber failed to materialise, the source said.

Sources have said KKR has also expressed an interest in buying a minority stake in TIM’s last-mile network - the cables, mostly made of copper, that run from the street to users’ homes. The source said KKR could buy a 42-43% stake.

Debt-laden TIM, whose underperforming business is dogged by rising competition at home, can ill afford the heavy investments needed to upgrade its last-mile network.

KKR, which sources have said values TIM’s last-mile network at 7.0-7.5 billion euros, could help finance the fibre-optic rollout needed for the upgrade. Gubitosi has always said the combination with Open Fiber is the most efficient solution to provide Italy with the modern broadband infrastructure the government is keen to have.

But divergences on asset valuations, the structure of a potential combined entity and its governance as well as regulatory issues have so far hampered an accord. Open Fiber is jointly owned by state utility Enel and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the state lender which is also a key investor in TIM with a 10% stake.

TIM’s top shareholder is French media group Vivendi with a 24% stake while U.S. investment fund Elliott has around 9.8%. Both agree Telecom Italia should keep control of any future venture with Open Fiber, sources have said.

Coronavirus fuels recession fears: Worst week for global markets since 2008

Global share prices headed for the worst week since the darkest days of the world financial crisis in 2008 as investors braced for the coronavirus to become a pandemic and rapidly spread around the world.

Hopes that the epidemic that started in China would be over in a few months and economic activity would return to normal have been shattered, as new infections reported around the world now surpass those in China.

"The coronavirus now looks like a pandemic. Markets can cope even if there is big risk as long as we can see the end of the tunnel," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. "But at the moment, no one can tell how long this will last and how severe it will get."

MSCI all country world index fell 3.3 per cent on Thursday to bring its losses so far this week to 8.8 per cent, on course for its biggest weekly decline since a 9.8 per cent plunge in November 2008.

Wall Street shares led the rout as the S&P 500 fell 4.42 per cent, its largest percentage drop since August 2011.

It has lost 12 per cent since hitting a record close on Feb. 19, marking its fastest correction ever in just six trading days while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,190.95 points, its biggest points drop ever.

In Asia, Australian shares dropped 2.8 per cent to a six-month low while futures suggested Japan's Nikkei is on course to fall more than 2 per cent.

Fears of a major economic slump sent oil prices to their lowest level in more than a year. U.S. crude futures fell to $46.28 per barrel.

As investors flocked to the safety of high-grade bonds, U.S.

bond yields have plunged, with the benchmark 10-year notes yield hitting a record low of 1.241 per cent. It last stood at 1.274 per cent.

That is well below the three-month bill yield of 1.439 per cent, deepening the so-called inversion of the yield curve. Historically an inverted yield curve is one of the most reliable leading indicators of a U.S. recession.

As investors rushed to safe assets, gold stood at $1,646.4 near seven-year high of $1,688.9 hit earlier this month.

In currency markets, the yen rose to a three-week high of 109.33 to the dollar and last stood at 109.54.

The euro stood at $1.1005, having jumped over 1% in the previous session, the biggest gain in more than two years.

Top SoftBank exec ran smear campaigns against Nikesh Arora, Sama: Report

In a bid to emerge as the probable right-hand man of Masayoshi Son — chief of SoftBank — Rajeev Misra, Softbank's Vision Fund chief, ran a smear campaign to oust top executives Nikesh Arora and Alok Sama, The Wall Street Journal reported. Arora was once seen as the successor of Son. However, Misra wanted the position for himself. Misra runs a $100-billion technology fund that has invested in companies like in Uber, WeWork, Paytm, Oyo, etc.

WSJ, in its report, said that Misra planted negative stories against Nikesh Arora to damage his reputation in the company. This also included setting up of a honeytrap for potential sexual blackmail. The report said that Misra paid an Italian businessman $500,000 to carry out the plan while promising more money and a senior position in his office. He also inspired a shareholder smear campaign against Arora and Sama that charged both of them with unethical behaviour.

Misra's spokesperson denied the allegations and said, "These are old allegations which contain a series of falsehoods that have been consistently denied. (Misra) did not orchestrate a campaign against his former colleagues."

Nikesh Arora left Softbank in 2016, while Alok Sama quit in 2019. Currently, Arora is the CEO of Palo Alto Networks, and Sama is a senior advisor at Warburg Pincus. Softbank has come under criticism and is going through a rough patch as several investments made by Vision Fund have not done well. Softbank reported two disappointing quarters due to bad investments.

Pakistan says US invited to invest in China Pakistan-Economic Corridor

In an interesting move, cash-strapped Pakistan has invited the US to join the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, an ambitious infrastructure project looked with suspicion by the Trump administration for being non-transparent.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's adviser on commerce Abdul Razak Dawood on Thursday said the government made the offer during a meeting with the US trade delegation led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Wednesday, The Express Tribune reported.

Interestingly last month, senior US diplomat Alice Wells said that there is no transparency in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the firms blacklisted by the World Bank have got contracts under the project, which will increase Pakistan's debt burden.

Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia made the remarks while speaking at a think tank event during her four-day visit to Pakistan.

Khan's commerce advisor Razak said: "The US has shown interest in (Pakistan's) energy, oil and gas, agriculture and food processing".

China has committed to invest over USD 60 billion in Pakistan as part of the CPEC under which it planned to build a number of special economic zones.

India has objected to the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The US Commerce Secretary's visit is the result of recently-held discussions between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Donald Trump to promote bilateral trade and enhanced economic engagements, the report said.

"Pakistan-US market access is the main point. We want access to the US market," Dawood said, adding that the US official has assured of his cooperation.

Sharing details of the meeting, Dawood said the US officials have also expressed interest in promoting e-commerce.

"They have agreed that the US International Development Finance Corporation would help in developing new businesses in Pakistan. The US secretary is ready to send a commerce delegation for coordination," Dawood said.

He said they discussed bilateral relations and matters of mutual interest, and agreed to enhance mutual trade to a maximum level.

A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) could be a long-term goal because of complexity involved in the process, Dawood said.

CPEC connecting China's Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port is regarded as the flagship project of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is aimed at furthering China's global influence with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world.

The initiative also led to allegations of smaller countries reeling under mounting Chinese debt after Sri Lanka gave its strategic Hambantota port in a debt swap to China in 2017 on a 99-year lease.

This summer is likely to be hotter than normal, says IMD forecast

This summer is likely to be hotter than usual in most parts of northwest, west, central, and south India, according to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD’s) forecast released on Thursday. In the remaining meteorological subdivisions, the average temperature is expected to be near normal in the summer months (March to May).

Northwest India comprises UP, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana. Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are parts of central India, while Gujarat and Maharashtra come under west India.

Day temperatures are likely to be above normal by 0.5 degree Celsius over Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Chandigarh, western Uttar Pradesh, eastern Rajasthan, parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat, Konkan and Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathawada, Vidharbha, north interior and coastal Karnataka, and Kerala. The rest of the country is likely to experience near-normal maximum temperatures (between -0.5 degree Celsius and 0.5 degree Celsius).

Regarding monsoons, there is good news: El Niño (a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean with a global impact on weather patterns) is expected to be neutral in the March-May period, which precedes the rains. But a clearer picture on it is expected to come around April, when the IMD releases its official first monsoon forecast.

The water level in major reservoirs as of February 20 was 101.87 billion cubic metres (BCM) — 54 per cent more than in the corresponding period last year.

The southwest monsoon in 2019 (June to September) delivered 10 per cent above-average rainfall in the country, the highest in 25 years. In 1994, the rainfall was 110 per cent during the June-September period. Before that, more than 10 per cent above average rainfall was witnessed in 1990 (119 per cent).

The excess rainfall last year not only flooded several cities and towns, but also caused damage to standing kharif crop in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh (its eastern part).

Anti-CAA protests: Prohibitory notices issued to 4,000 people in Aligarh

The police in Aligarh has issued prohibitory notices to 4,000 people, restricting their movement and warning them of action if there was any trouble in the Uttar Pradesh town on Friday.

The police have issued notices to 200 people with a criminal background under Section 110 (G) of the CrPc and initiated process of the Goonda Act against 50 persons.

Besides, around 100 arms license holders, who are residents of Shahjamal, Jamalpur and Jeevangarh areas, where protests are going on, have been issued warning notices, threatening cancellations of their licenses, if they were seen at the protest sites.

Aligarh SSP, Muniraj G, said that 'red notices' had been issued to 2,000 anti-social elements, informing them about restrictions on their movement and 2,000 others were issued notices under section 107/116 of the CrPC asking them to sign bonds wherein they would undertake not to breach peace.

He said the police was on high alert and patrolling on highways has been intensified in view of the violence in the national capital.

"Additional police force -- nine companies of PAC and four companies of RAF -- along with three additional SPs, eight deputy SPs and eight station house officers (SHO) of neighbouring districts have already been deployed in Aligarh as a precautionary measure," the SSP added.

He further said that non-lethal weapons including anti-riot guns, tear gas guns and tear gas grenades, have been distributed at the police stations falling in the sensitive areas.

Police have identified eight spots in the town which fall in sensitive areas and organised meetings with local leaders to maintain peace.

Internet services that had been suspended in Aligarh following violent clashes between anti-CAA protesters and the police on Sunday, remain suspended.

 

Balakot airstrikes sent out clear message on terrorism: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said the Balakot airstrikes had sent out a clear message that infrastructure across the border could not be used as safe havens for terrorists.

"If we've to be prepared for the tasks assigned to us, then it's important we maintain credible deterrence at land, air and sea at all times," Singh said at the Centre for Air Power Studies.

Balakot airstrike conveyed India's clear message that infrastructure across the border won't be safe haven for terrorists. It forced rewriting of doctrines across the border, showed the country's resolve and capability, the defence minister said.

Speaking at the event, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said: "Deterrence comes from keeping every personnel trained and motivated."

Rawat underlined that credible deterrence comes from the will of the military leadership and intent of political leadership while taking the tough decision.

"This was amply shown after Kargil, Uri attacks and Pulwama attack," he added.

Tata Motors plunges 10% on reports of CCI probe, coronavirus woes

Shares of Tata Motors tumbled 10 per cent to Rs 130.50 on the BSE on Friday on reports that the Competition Commission of India is examining allegations that the company and two finance firms of its $100 billion parent group abused their market position while selling commercial vehicles. Besides, heavy selling was seen at the counter as concerns on China-originated coronavirus becoming a pandemic soured sentiment. China is one of Tata Motors' most significant markets in terms of volume and profit.

The automobile company allegedly dictated terms around the quantity and type of vehicles its former dealer in northern India - Varanasi Auto Sales - should stock, news agency Reuters reported. The latest complaint, filed last year by a family member of the dealer, alleged Tata Motors broke rules by working in concert with Tata Motors Finance and Tata Capital Financial Services while advancing dealer credit, the report said. 

"The automaker would stop supplying vehicles to the dealer if repayment of loans advanced by the two finance firms was delayed, indicating they were colluding," the report said quoting unnamed sources.

Tata Motors, however, told Reuters it had made submissions to the CCI and would provide full support to the watchdog. It added the CCI was "conducting a preliminary enquiry to determine if there are any merits to the case".

For the quarter ended December 2019, the vehicle manufacturer reported a profit before tax was Rs 1,350 crore, as against a loss before tax of Rs 29,228 crore reported during the same period last year.

During the post-result media address, P B Balaji, chief financial officer for the Tata Motors group, cautioned that demand in China could be hit with the Coronavirus outbreak, derailing the margin targets for the ongoing financial year.

“A few things on the horizon worry us, the big one being this,” Balaji had said. Saying they expected a three per cent Ebit (earnings before interest and tax) margin for Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), he cautioned that this could be hit by the virus outbreak, which needed to be “watched closely...It’s a developing situation and people are in the midst of a Chinese New Year break till February 8”. JLR’s retail sales in China rose rose 34.6 per cent, contributing 19.4 per cent in total sales. JLR’s overall sales during the quarter contracted 2.3 per cent to 141,200 units.

At 9:48 am, the stock was trading 7.7 per cent lower at Rs 133.75 apiece. In comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 1,147.6 points, or 2.89 per cent, at 38,602.62 level. A total of 3.01 crore shares have changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE till the time of writing of this report. So far in calendar year 2020, the stock has plummeted 22 per cent on the BSE, compared with a 3.6 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Bloodbath on Dalal Street erodes nearly Rs 5 trillion investor wealth

Domestic investor wealth plummeted by nearly Rs 5 trillion on Friday as equity markets crashed tracking global equity selloff amid rising uncertainty over the economic impact of coronavirus outbreak.

Market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies saw a massive decline after the 30-share index sank 1,100.27 points, or 2.77 per cent, to 38,645.39, and the NSE Nifty cracked 329.50 points, or 2.83 per cent, to 11,303.80.

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 465,915.58 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,47,74,108.50 crore on the BSE.

The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,52,40,024.08 crore at the end of trading on Thursday.

All Sensex components were trading in the red, led by losses in Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech and Reliance Industries.

Traders said investor sentiments also remained fragile amid incessant foreign fund outflows. On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,127.36 crore on Thursday, data available with stock exchanges showed.

Foreign investors have sold equities worth Rs 9,389 crore till Thursday, provisional data on the stock exchanges showed.

On the BSE, 1,602 scrips declined, while 183 advanced and 62 remained unchanged.

In the broader market, the BSE SmallCap index fell 3.45 per cent, while BSE MidCap index declined 3.53 per cent.

Nifty Metal index set for biggest weekly fall since October 2008

The Nifty Metal index is set for its biggest weekly fall in more than a decade as shares of metal companies remained under pressure on Friday on concerns of demand slump due to the coronavirus outbreak in top consumer China.

At 11:19 am, the Nifty Metal index, the top loser among sectoral indices, had slipped 6 per cent. The index has plunged 13 per cent during the current week. Earlier, in the week ended October 26, 2008, Nifty Metal index had tanked as much as 25 per cent, data shows.

During the week, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), Hindalco Industries, Vedanta, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), JSW Steel and Tata Steel from the Nifty Metal index have seen their stock price plunge in the range of 14 per cent to 19 per cent.

“Coronavirus is likely to keep up the pressure on domestic steel prices in the near term as demand pick-up has so far belied expectations. Besides, the landed price of hot-rolled coil (HRC) from Japan and South Korea is at a discount of 3–4 per cent to domestic steel price. This might attract greater imports into India. We will watch out for developments regarding the resumption of downstream activities in China,” analysts at Edelweiss Securities said in metals and mining sector update.

Among individual stocks, Hindalco Industries slipped 6 per cent to Rs 158, its lowest level since January 9, 2017. The stock of the leading producers of aluminium and copper was down 17 per cent during the week.

The fall in Hindalco’s stock price mirrors the decline seen in the US downstream aluminum rolled product companies (Arconic, Constellium and Kaiser) on worries about a wider spread of the COVID-19 into Europe and the US and the resultant impact on consumer spending and demand for rolled aluminum products across cans, autos and specialties, according to analysts at JP Morgan.

The stock offers an attractive risk-reward, given its lowest-cost aluminum producer status; strong earnings visibility in downstream rolled products; organic capex well below OFC generation; and valuations at 5.4x EV/EBITDA, a 30 per cent discount to its long-term average, the brokerage firm said with ‘overweight’ rating on the stock.

COMPANY LATEST ONE-WEEK BEFORE LOSS(%)

JINDAL STEEL 157.15 193.40 -18.7

VEDANTA 117.00 142.35 -17.8

HINDALCO INDS. 158.25 189.95 -16.7

S A I L 35.45 42.15 -15.9

JSW STEEL 237.30 281.80 -15.8

NATL. ALUMINIUM 33.15 38.80 -14.6

TATA STEEL 380.80 443.55 -14.2

Amul to acquire Heritage Foods' dairy plant in Punjab for Rs 21.2 cr

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF)'s flagship Amul Dairy is set to acquire Heritage Foods Ltd's dairy plant in Punjab for Rs 21.20 crore.

Heritage Foods Ltd's Board of Directors on Friday approved the sale of "all tangible assets" of the dairy plant located at Bhambri village of Fatehgarh Sahib district in Punjab, the company said in its filing with exchanges. The move is part of its business rationalisation in northern India. The board approved the sale to Anand-based Kaira District Milk Producers Union Ltd (Amul Dairy), the flagship dairy under GCMMF.

On its part, GCMMF is evaluating the acquisition proposal, with its board likely to take a call soon, even as it looks to expand operations in Punjab to cater North India for liquid milk, curd and buttermilk, among other dairy products.

"We are considering the proposal for acquisition. We are anyway expanding our operations in northern India, especially Punjab and need more production facilities as our sales are increasing," R S Sodhi, managing director, GCMMF told Business Standard.

Currently, GCMMF has two smaller plants in Punjab that largely manufacture liquid milk, curd and buttermilk and is looking to expand capacity for the same in the state.

According to Heritage Foods Ltd's filing with stock exchanges, the Bhambri plant in Punjab carries a net worth of Rs 21.10 crore and contributed 1.88 per cent or Rs 46.63 crore in terms of revenue from operations to the company's total Rs 2,482 crore turnover in fiscal year 2018-19.

S N Shrivastava given additional charge of Delhi police commissioner

Senior IPS officer S N Shrivastava was given the additional charge of the Delhi police commissioner with effect from Sunday, according to an official order.

On Monday, Shrivastava was repatriated from the Central Reserve Police Force and appointed as the special commissioner (law and order) of the Delhi police, amid the communal violence in northeast Delhi.

Shrivastava, a 1985-batch IPS officer, will take charge from incumbent Amulya Patnaik, who demits office on Saturday.

Shrivastava will hold the additional charge of the Delhi police commissioner with effect from Sunday and until further orders, the order issued by the Union Home Ministry said.

In the CRPF, Shrivastava was serving as the special director general (training). He had served the Delhi police in various capacities, including as the head of the elite anti-terror wing, Special Cell.

Ever since he rejoined the Delhi police, Shrivastava was busy in controlling the communal violence in northeast Delhi, in which at least 39 people were killed.

Sonia deputes 5-member team to visit riot-affected areas, submit report

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday deputed a five-member team to visit the riot-affected areas in northeast Delhi and submit a report to her after assessing the situation there.

The delegation comprises AICC general Secretary Mukul Wasnik, AICC in-charge Delhi Shaktisinh Gohil, Haryana PCC chief Kumari Selja, Ex-MP Tariq Anwar, and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev.

The Congress president has deputed a delegation of party leaders to visit the riot-affected areas in the National Capital of Delhi and asked the leaders to assess the situation emanating from the mindless violence in riot-affected areas and its after effects, the party said in a statement.

The team has been asked to submit a "detailed report to the Congress President immediately", the statement said.

The death toll in Delhi's communal violence rose to 39 on Friday.

Maharashtra to provide 5% quota to Muslims in education, says minister

Maharashtra's Maha Vikas Aghadi government has proposed to extend five per cent reservation to Muslims in educational institutes, Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik said here on Friday.

The state government will ensure that a legislation to this effect is passed soon, the minister informed the State Legislative Council.

He also assured the House of taking "appropriate action" in this regard before beginning of admissions in schools.

• Malik was responding to a question raised by Congress legislator Sharad Ranpise.