Business News at 10:00 am on 19th January, 2024

Let’s begin. The financial crunch at Vodafone Idea, which has so far been unable to raise funds from investors, is showing as the company’s dues to the government towards quarterly statutory dues like licence fee and spectrum usage charge, have risen by Rs 702 crore, as it has not been able to make payment for the October-December quarter of the current fiscal. With this the telecom operator’s total dues to the government has gone up to over Rs 1,000 crore. According to sources, the company has been able to clear only 10% or Rs 78 crore of the statutory dues for the quarter, adding that it has sought some additional time from DoT to clear the pending dues.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said he does not see any risks to the banking system from the sharper rise in loan portfolios of lenders and the slower increase in the liability franchises. Speaking to CNBC TV18 on the sidelines of the World Economic Summit at Davos, Das, however, cautioned banks, asking them to avoid “exuberance in lending and ensure that there is some correlation between deposit base and credit growth”. The governor said that the deposit growth has been 12-13% while credit has grown at about 15%, but at the moment they don’t see any risks. He, however, said the RBI hasn’t mandated any number for the credit-deposit ratio, nor does it propose to do.
In some more economy news, Retail inflation in pulses may remain elevated till at least May, before easing up on account of the setting in of a high-base effect, trade source say. While there are concerns about the production of pulses in rabi season due to 5% annual fall in area, the supplies are expected to improve with kharif harvest, and liberal imports. A bad monsoon could however upset the calculations, and keep prices high for longer period, the sources said. Officials said that the government is keeping a close watch on pulses prices. It is aiming to protect farmers as well as consumer interests through retail interventions as well as direct purchase of pulses from farmers at market prices.
Moving on. The government may make a slew of announcements in the upcoming interim Budget giving a new dimension to the ongoing efforts to improve “ease of doing business” in the country. The move follows the World Bank’s plan to replace its two-decades-old “doing business” report with a new comprehensive gauge – business-ready – to be unveiled in the next three-four months. According to official sources, the new steps to be unveiled would mostly be linked to delivery of government services to businesses through digital means. India has been almost steadily improving its ranking in the World Bank’s annual DB assessments of countries, which it discontinued in 2020 following a row over “data manipulation.” The government is keen the upward mobility is accelerated.
In other news, the Reserve Bank of India in its monthly bulletin released on Thursday said that India should aim to secure at least 7% real GDP growth in FY25 in an environment of “macroeconomic stability”. The RBI in the State of the Economy report said that in India, potential output is picking up with actual output running above it, although the gap is moderate. Stating that the recent assaults on commercial vessels in the Red Sea trade route have placed significant strain on global supply chains, the report said on Thursday that, the situation imparted “considerable uncertainty to the near-term outlook for India’s merchandise trade.” Slowdown in exports has emerged as a drag on growth, but “the outlook is lighting up at new frontiers.”
On to technology. Smartphone makers’ shipments to retail outlets or carriers fell 2% to 148.6 million units in 2023, data from market research firm Canalys showed. Analysts said that the reason for fall in shipments can be attributed to weakness in demand and higher inventory with the dealers. In the later half, however, the shipments picked up pace owing to increase in demand during the festive season, which in a way restricted the yearly fall in exports and drove the market towards stability. In the October-December quarter, smartphone shipments rose 20% year-on-year to 38.9 million units, according to Canalys.
Lastly, the stocks you need to watch out today. These include RIL, SBI, Lupin, Bandhan Bank, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Paytm, REC, and JSW Infra. According to Motilal Oswal Financial Services’ estimates, Reliance Industries Limited is expected to register a 10.6% YoY increase in net sales and an 11.6% YoY rise in adjusted PAT for Q3FY24. The brokerage firm suggests that RIL’s consolidated EBITDA might remain unchanged QoQ, standing at Rs 41,100 crore. On the other hand, Renewable Energy Corporation has been designated as the key implementation agency for the Ministry of Renewable Energy’s rooftop solar initiative.