Business News at 05:30 pm on 29th May, 2024

The government has set the ball rolling on the second round of Ease of Doing Business reforms, as part of multi-pronged strategy to catalyse the private investment cycle. According to official sources, it has prepared a draft framework to assess the cost of regulation, that is, the fraction of overall cost of doing business in the country that is attributable to compliance with various regulations and legal requirements. The estimate will be used as a critical input to another set of administrative reforms being planned to bring these costs down, the sources said. The idea is to not just curb the financial costs, but also cut the procedural delays that contribute to these. Meanwhile, Indian oil and gas public sector companies have spent over Rs 6,669 crore as capex in the first month of the current financial year, nearly 6% of their total capex target of Rs 1.2 lakh crore, provisional data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell showed. The capital expenditure during April was driven by ONGC, Indian Oil Corp, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. While ONGC incurred a capex of Rs 2,283 crore constituting 7.4% of its annual capex target of Rs 30,800 crore, Indian Oil spent Rs 2,174 crore of its annual target of Rs 30,909 crore in April. ONGC expects the oil output from the KG-98/2 block to subsequently reach its peak production of 45,000 barrels per day in Q4FY25. Moving on. The RBI has launched three major initiatives — the PRAVAAH portal, a Retail Direct mobile application, and a FinTech Repository. These initiatives were announced as part of the central bank’s bimonthly Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies in April 2023, April 2024, and December 2023, respectively. The PRAVAAH portal will make it convenient for any individual or entity to apply online for various regulatory approvals in a seamless manner. The portal will also enhance the efficiency of various processes related to granting of regulatory approvals and clearances by the RBI. On the portal, applicants can submit the application online, track and monitor the status of the application, and respond to any query sought by the RBI. Over to industry. Fast food chains continue to feel the pinch of soft demand, with out-of-home food consumption remaining weak for at least four quarters now. But most players remain optimistic about the future, led by an improved macro-economic environment and concerns regarding food inflation receding following an above-normal monsoon forecast. The March 2024 quarter, for instance, saw revenue growth for quick-service restaurants slide to 9% on an average, which is half of what it was in Q4FY23, according to analysts at BNP Paribas Securities. But companies have no plans to slow down store additions as most believe recovery will be gradual in the market. In some more industry news, BSNL’s engagement with Boston Consulting Group for a Rs 132 crore revival plan of the company is a futile exercise, the BSNL Employees Union has said. The association in a letter to BSNL CMD PK Purwar said, quote, “Already the company has engaged consultants such as Deloitte and KPMG. All the recommendations of these consultants have already been implemented. Still, BSNL’s condition has worsened,” unquote. On Monday, FE reported that BCG will prepare a three-year roadmap to transform state-owned BSNL so that it can effectively compete with private telecom operators. The key areas on which BCG will advise the loss-making telecom service provider include reducing operational costs, improving revenue, and developing sales and marketing strategies, among other things. On to market. The yield on benchmark 10-year G-Sec has fallen 23 basis points over the past month due to positive global and domestic factors. The recent record dividend transfer of Rs 12.1 trillion by RBI to the government has added to the euphoria. The yield on 10-year G-Sec has declined from 7.23% on April 19 to 6.996% on Tuesday. On May 22, the yield fell below 7% to 6.992%. Ramachandra Reddy, head of treasury, Karur Vysya Bank said that the bond market has received a series of good news on the global and domestic fronts in the past two-three weeks, and that record dividend from RBI will strengthen fiscal position of the government. Lastly, the stocks in focus. These include Reliance Industries , Adani Enterprises, Hindalco Industries, IRCTC, Amara Raja Energy, Wockhardt among others. The railway PSU reported a 1.9% year-on-year increase in net profit, reaching Rs 284.2 crore for the fourth quarter, compared to Rs 278.8 crore in the same quarter last year. IRCTC’s revenue from operations saw a 19.7% rise, climbing to Rs 1,154.8 crore from Rs 965 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. On the other hand, NBCC reported a 24.6% year-on-year increase in net profit, reaching Rs 141.5 crore for the fourth quarter, compared to Rs 113.6 crore in the same quarter of FY23.