Business News at 10:00 am on 20th March, 2024

Let’s begin – The credit growth is likely to slow down in the next financial year as banks look to go slow on retail loans in response to the Reserve Bank of India’ measures aimed at curbing the expansion of retail credit. The credit growth is expected to decline by 100 basis points to 15% in FY25. The growth, excluding the merger impact of mortgage lender HDFC with HDFC Bank, is expected to be around 16-16.5% in the current fiscal. “Credit growth is expected to decline to 15% in the next financial year from 20.5%, which includes merger impact of HDFC with HDFC Bank, in the current fiscal,” said Soumyajit Niyogi, director, core analytical group, India Ratings and Research said.

Moving on – The Centre’s direct tax collections, after refunds, stood at Rs 18.9 trillion as of March 17 in the current financial year, a release by the finance ministry said on Tuesday. The mop-up accounts for 97% of the revised target of Rs 19.5 trillion for FY24, and is 19.9% higher on year. The collections include Corporation Tax mop-up of Rs 9.14 trillion, and Personal Income Tax including Securities Transaction Tax at Rs 9.72 trillion, as of March 17. CIT collections so far account for 99% of RE, and PIT accounts for 95%. The direct tax collections, before refunds, stood at Rs 22.3 trillion between April 1 – March 17.

Next up – Biscuits, snacks and beverage companies are expecting a sales spurt in April-May as the country prepares to go to the polls. The Election Commission of India on Saturday announced the schedule of the general elections, starting with the first phase on April 19. The seventh and final phase will be held on June 1, with the results to be declared on June 4. Food and beverage companies say that out-of-home consumption will increase as campaigning gathers pace and that they expect at least a 10-15% sales growth versus last year in April-May, thanks to the movement of people and political parties across the country.
“Meanwhile – India’s exports of agricultural and processed food products, after slowing down in the first three quarters of the current fiscal due to restriction on rice exports, have recovered, aided by a sharp spike in shipments of meat and daily products, and fruits & vegetables. Exports of these items under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority basket were just above the previous year level at $ 21.6 billion during the April-February period of the current fiscal year. According to quick estimate by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, rice exports in the first eleven months of 2023-24 dropped 7% to $9.32 billion on year because of the ban on white and broken rice exports.

In other news – Grasim Industries, an Aditya Birla group company, has raised Rs 1,250 crore from International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group’s private sector arm, by way of subscribing to non-convertible debentures. The company will use the sustainability-linked NCDs to support its investments for paint manufacturing. The funds would help in accelerating Grasim’s decarbonisation drive through the increased adoption of renewable energy and water recycling in the paint manufacturing process, Grasim said in a statement. In February, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla announced the launch of the group’s decorative paints brand Birla Opus, marking its foray into the Rs 80,000-crore domestic decorative paints market. The business was launched as a division of Grasim.

In a major update – Ushering in the new era of railway exports, Vande Bharat Express may soon hit the tracks of South American nations who are ‘very much interested’ and are presently in talks with India over a possible international trade of the train. Interacting with Financial Express, RITES Ltd Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Rahul Mithal informed,” We targeted those countries which have electrified broad gauge railway systems. We picked South American countries like Chile and Argentina which require minimal customisation. We picked two to three Latin American countries and they are very much interested and find the product good.” I am sure in the coming months and years, this will turn in the right direction, he added.

Lastly – GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a positive opening on Wednesday. GIFT Nifty traded up by 37 points or 0.17% at 21,899 indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Wednesday. Previously, on Tuesday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended down by 238.25 points or 1.08% to settle at 21,817.45, while the BSE Sensex plunged 736.37 points or 1.01% to 72,012.05. The key stocks to watch in trade are Vodafone Idea, TCS, SBI Card, Shakti Pumps, Tata Steel, Adani Enterprises, Persistent Systems, Tata Steel and Deccan Gold Mines among others.