Heena Sharma Blog

Google on Monday announced Google for India Digitization Fund worth $10 billion (Rs 75,000 crore), which the technology giant would invest in India over the next 5-7 years. The investment will be done through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments. Calling India's digital journey far from complete, Pichai announced the Google for India Digitization Fund that will invest nearly $ 10 billion in India over 5-7 years. "We’ll do this through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments. This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy," wrote Pichai. Read More

As lockdown restrictions to curb the novel coronavirus pandemic are being eased and businesses are gearing up to resume operations, domestic cooking gas price for June has been raised by Rs 11.50 in Delhi from Monday, June1. The price of non-subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder in Delhi has been increased by Rs 11.50 for an Indane gas cylinder. This is effective from June 1. “The Retail Selling Price of LPG in Delhi market for the month of May 2020 was reduced from Rs 744 to Rs. 581.50 per cylinder for all consumers in line with drop in international prices,” The Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) said in a statement. Read More

Health care sector on Sunday welcomed the government’s decision to ramp up infrastructure and undertaking structural reforms, but said the industry also needed support in view of the headwinds it faced due to Covid-19 pandemic . The announcements by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to increase investment in public health, ramping up infrastructure at grassroot level and getting future ready for Covid-like public health crises are strategic reforms, apex industry body NATHEALTH said. Read More

The extended lockdown to contain Covid-19 pandemic which has stalled traffic on the ground as in the air is expected to heap enormous losses on infrastructure industries in both sectors, analytics company Crisil said on Thursday. Its estimates indicate that the aviation industry will crash-land this fiscal year with a revenue loss of Rs 24,000 crore to 25,000 crore. Airlines will be the worst-affected, contributing more than 70 per cent of the losses or Rs 17,000 crore followed by airport operators with Rs 5,000 crore to 5,500 crore and airport retailers (including retail, food and beverages and duty-free) with Rs 1,700 crore to 1,800 crore. Read More

The sharp hike in excise duty for auto fuels – petrol and diesel – is likely to add Rs 1.4 trillion to the government’s kitty, says the latest report by Barclays . The projection assumes that demand for both petrol and diesel will fall 12 per cent in FY20-21 as the economic activity in the country gets hampered on account of the Covid-19 related shutdown. Apart from the increase in central government taxes, several states and union territories, including Delhi, Haryana, Assam, Punjab, also have raised the state tax on fuel. This is likely to result in a modest rise in fuel prices to rise modestly, given that the increase in the government’s tax should not lead to higher fuel prices owing to the significant drop in crude oil costs through April. Read More

Hitting out at the Congress party, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that wilful defaulters were beneficiaries of 'phone banking' under the UPA regime and the Modi government was chasing them to recover the dues. She was responding to the opposition's allegations of loan waivers worth Rs 68,607 crore in the form of write-offs of top 50 wilful defaulters during the first half of the financial year ended March 2020. The Finance Minister, through a series of tweets on Tuesday, said that the Congress has attempted to mislead people, and former Congress President Rahul Gandhi should introspect why his party fails to play a constructive role in cleaning up the system. Read More

Uttar Pradesh won't allow industries in 19 districts to resume work after they reported 10 new coronavirus cases , a day after the centre said states could let some businesses get back to work. Notably, these 19 districts include nearly all the major industrial hubs of UP - Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Moradabad, Shamli, Bulandshahr, Firozabad, Saharanpur, Baghpat, Basti, Hapur, Bijnore, Sitapur, Rampur and Amroha. The resumption of the industrial activities in the remaining 56 districts would also be under the vigil for adhering to the social distancing and lockdown norms. Read More

As the Narendra Modi -led central government continues to pick pieces in the puzzle to rein in the coronavirus pandemic in India, the economic costs of the nationwide lockdown on millions of poor could be catastrophic. Projections based on a recent analysis by researchers at the United Nations University (UNU) show that, in the worst case scenario, 104 million more people in India could fall below the World Bank-determined poverty line of $3.2 a day for lower-middle-income countries. At present, 60 per cent of India’s population, or an estimated 812 million people, live below that poverty line. In effect, the coronavirus pandemic and the economic consequences of an extended business shutdown could swell the ranks of India’s poorest to 915 million. From 60 per cent, the proportion of people below the poverty line could increase to 68 per cent – a situation seen in the country more than a decade ago. Much of the Indian government’s efforts to mitigate poverty over the years coul...

. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced additional set of regulatory measures to reduce the burden of debt servicing due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, including an asset classification standstill for accounts that avail a moratorium between March 1 and May 31. Such accounts will, therefore, be classified as non-performing assets from 180 days of overdue, rather than the current norm of 90 days, according to a set of measures announced by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday. “Economic activity has come to a standstill during the period of the lockdown, with consequential lingering effects which have unambiguously affected the cash flows of households and businesses,” the RBI said. On March 27, the RBI had permitted lending institutions in India to grant a moratorium of three months on payment of current dues falling between March 1 and May 31, 2020. Read More

Mobile phones, televisions, refrigerators, laptops and stationary items will be allowed to be sold through e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal from April 20 during the lockdown, officials said on Thursday. The clarification from a senior home ministry official came a day after Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued revised guidelines for the extended lockdown period till May 3. Electronic items like the mobile phones, TVs, laptops will be available on the e-commerce platforms from April 20, the official said. However, the delivery vans of the e-commerce companies will need permission from authorities for plying on the roads. According to Wednesday's guidelines, commercial and private establishments were allowed to operate during the extended lockdown. Read More

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country are keeping a wary eye on the government's decision to allow select manufacturing units to reopen on April 20. While MSMEs in most sectors have welcomed the latest move, they argue that lack of financial support from the government might result in these firms not running even if they manage to reopen. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has recommended focus primarily on increasing the financing available to MSMEs with relaxed collateral norms, an extension of the RBI moratorium and wage support. It also suggested expediting fund of funds for MSMEs which has been under the government's consideration and augmenting the assets of MUDRA Bank. Read More

On the preventive front, many states, including Haryana, Goa and Kerala, have started using ayurvedic medicines for asymptomatic patients and even frontline workers. “The ayush ministry had invited suggestions from ayurvedic and homeopathy practitioners across India. They got around 2,000 proposals. Now, the task force (formed for scientific validation of ayurveda and traditional medicine formulas through research institutions) that has been going through these proposals has shortlisted a protocol. It is expected to be notified soon,” said an industry source, who has been attending meetings with the ministry. Once notified, these would then be tried on patients suffering from Covid-19 — first on asymptomatic ones or non-severe patients and also suspects. Read More

The Central Industrial Security Force , which guards 63 Indian airports, has recommended staggered flight schedules and closure of check-in counters two hours prior to departure to avoid crowding and maintaining social distancing. These suggestions are part of business continuity plan submitted by the CISF to the civil aviation ministry. Domestic and international flights are suspended till April 14 as part of a nationwide lockdown. Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said restrictions will be lifted once government is confident that spread of virus is controlled and it poses no danger to citizens. While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will it make mandatory for airlines to keep all middle seats in aircraft vacant, CISF has made its own recommendations to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Read More

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 announced Rs 1.7 trillion stimulus package to provide relief to the underprivileged, poor and migrant workers affected by a 21-day nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 crisis . Among several other benefits, the FM also announced amendment in the EPFO regulation to allow employees withdraw up to 75 per cent of their corpus as non-refundable advance, or three months' basic salary, whichever is less. Now, the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has started taking withdrawal requests, and has also issued a circular on the frequently asked questions. Have a question? Here are the FAQs answered: Who is eligible for the advance from EPF to fight Covid-19 Pandemic? Any member of EPF Scheme, 1952 with UAN (Universal account number) employed in any establishment or factory covered under EPF & MP Act, 1952. Read More

The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is likely to hit the global economy, including India, hard over the next few months. With nearly 75 per cent of the Indian economy in lockdown mode, Nomura has lowered the 2020 GDP growth forecast to -0.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) from 4.5 per cent. “We now expect GDP growth to slide from 4.7 per cent y-o-y in Q4 2019 to 3.1 per cent in Q1 and plunge to -6.1 per cent in Q2, when both domestic and external demand will weaken. We are building in a sequential pickup in the second half of 2020, but the pace of recovery is likely to be much weaker given some lasting damage to potential output,” wrote Sonal Varma, managing director and chief India economist at Nomura in a co-authored report with Aurodeep Nandi titled 'COVID-19’s impact on the world economy'. In its worst case projection if the Covid-19 pandemic becomes a full-blown credit crisis for India, corporates find it difficult to stay afloat, and banks struggle with the balan...

In a unprecedented move, the central government is likely to extend the March 31 deadline of paying income taxes by a month, in view of Covid-19 pandemic , said two officials privy to the development. If situation worsens, it may be pushed till June end, officials added. The move follows the difficulties being faced by the taxpayers in meeting the compliance requirement under the Income-tax laws. The ordinance with this regard would come soon, said one of the two officials. The Budget session of Parliament was cut short on Monday and both the houses were adjourned sine die. Sources say that if implemented, this will be the first time in the history of tax filing, that the Centre would postpone the date of income tax filing which would lead to change in the structure of financial year. Read More

The National Health Authority is on a war footing to ready a COVID-19 special package under the government’s flagship Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY scheme as the number of coronavirus cases continue to rise and many states go for a lockdown. NHA chief executive Indu Bhushan told Business Standard that this is among the steps being taken by the Authority just in case there’s a need. Specific coronavirus-related plans for isolation wards are being finetuned, after which it would be reviewed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in terms of protocol. It will have to be approved by the NHA’s governing board after that. Officials pointed out that such a package would be needed if coronavirus spreads to the community level. Currently, the Ayushman-PMJAY scheme, which does not deal with preventive healthcare cover, offers hospitalisation packages for intensive care units, high-dependency units and normal wards. There’s no provision for isolation wards under the universal health as...

Malaysia will not take retaliatory trade action against India over its boycott of palm oil purchases amid a political row between the two countries, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday. India, the world's largest edible oil buyer, this month effectively halted imports from its largest supplier and the world's second-biggest producer in response to comments from Mahathir attacking India's domestic policies. "We are too small to take retaliatory action," Mahathir told reporters in Langkawi, a resort island off the western coast of Malaysia. "We have to find ways and means to overcome that," he added. The 94-year-old premier of Muslim-majority Malaysia has criticised New Delhi's new religion-based citizenship law and also accused India of invading Kashmir. Mahathir again criticised India's citizenship law on Monday, saying he believed it was "grossly unfair". India has been Malaysia's largest palm oil market f...

To protect consumer interests, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday has released amendments to the New Tariff Orde r (NTO). According to the new order, number of free-to-air channels has increased, pricing for pay channels has reduced and TRAI has capped the number of bouquets of pay channels offered by broadcasters. Analysts say this move is likely to lower the average revenue per user (ARPU) for TV operators. It had surged by close to 60 per cent, on an average, after the NTO took effect. This would mean a lower share of revenue for broadcasters, who used to get almost 50 per cent share after the NTO came into being in February last year. It will negatively impact broadcasters’ revenue, which had grown 30-40 per cent year-on-year due to the higher share and increased ARPU. At present, direct-to-home (DTH) or cable TV operators provide only 100 channels for a network capacity fee (NCF) levy of Rs 153. Now, cable operators will have to provide 200 ch...

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has released amendments to the New Tariff Order (NTO), in which it has directed cable operators to provide 200 channels for Rs 153. It has also reviewed the pricing of channel bouquets compared to a la carte ones. The regulator has now set January 15 as the deadline for broadcasters to announce their new pricing structure. At present, direct-to-home (DTH) or cable TV operators provide only 100 channels for a network capacity fee (NCF) levy of Rs 153 (Rs 130 excluding taxes). Analysts say this move is likely to lower the average revenue per user (ARPU) for TV operators. It had surged close to 60 per cent, on an average, after the NTO took effect. This would mean a lower share of revenue for broadcasters, who used to get almost 50 per cent share after the NTO came into being in February last year. Trai said it has analysed the comments of stakeholders, particularly to protect the interests of consumers, and has accordingly mo...