Business News at 10:00 am on 21st March, 2024

Let’s begin with the major update – While the amendments to land acquisition law was put in abeyance in 2015 due to fierce political opposition, the Centre will likely revisit the issue after the general election to usher in the much-needed reforms in land records and titling and tenancy. Changes could be proposed in the land-use policies for urban, forest, and agricultural land, to ensure that the pace of industrialisation and infrastrcture creation is not stymied by delays in land acquisition. Streamlining these issues would augment credit flow to the needy sectors and resolve land-related disputes, which comprise almost two-thirds of pending court cases in India, analysts said.

Moving on – Pune will be a 100 million square feet office space market in around two years, Anshuman Magazine, chairman and CEO – India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE, said. The office space in the city is currently at 84 million square feet. Notably, this is large for a city of Pune’s size, Magazine said. Office space in Pune was higher than in many global cities, he added. According to real estate consulting firm, CBRE South Asia, office leasing in Pune is projected to touch almost seven million square feet the highest in the last six years and a year-on-year growth of 13%. Pune is currently the sixth-largest office market in India.

In other news – Madhya Pradesh, the second biggest contributor to the central pool wheat stock after Punjab, is aiming to procure a 8.2 million tonne of grain in the 2024-25 rabi marketing season, which is expected to bolster the government’s wheat stock which has plummeted to lowest level since 2016. Smita Bharadwaj, additional chief secretary, food, civil supplies and consumer affairs, Madhya Pradesh told FE that over 1.5 million farmers have registered for procurement operations which have just commenced which are likely to pick up pace in the next few weeks. In the previous marketing season 23-24, Madhya Pradesh contributed 7.09 MT of wheat to the total procurement drive. Overall purchase in the central Indian state could surpass the target.

Meanwhile – Fintech loan disbursements rose 12% year-on-year to 2.5 crore in October-December, a report by the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment showed on Wednesday. The disbursement value rose 46% to Rs 33,922 crore for the quarter under review. The report analyses the disbursement data of 37 member companies. The average loan ticket size for loans stood at Rs 11,945. Total assets under management of the fintech industry were at Rs 41,220 crore. For companies that own non-banking financial companies, 76% of the assets under management is on-balance exposure while the rest is off-balance. Based on data from 28 members, 80% are profitable, the report showed. Quarterly trends inform us that FACE members are adapting well to the market condition.

Up next – Prompted by ChatGPT, GenAI has raised business leaders’ expectations regarding the usefulness of AI in delivering operational and business value. As per a Lenovo study, companies in the Asia Pacific are planning to increase AI expenditure by 45% in 2024 compared to the previous year. Chief information officers across India and Korea lead in GenAI investments in the AP region, followed by ASEAN+, ANZ, and Japan. Amit Luthra, MD– India, Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group, said, “CIOs in India are confident about AI, with 95% expressing certainty that it will create a competitive advantage, and 57% of them consider it to be a game changer for their firms.

Moving ahead – Price controls on pharmaceutical formulations and medical devices should be based separate set of rules, as the two are different product categories, a senior government official said, even as a government committee is set to review the decade-old Drug Order, 2013. Speaking to FE, Arunish Chawla, secretary at Department of Pharmaceuticals, however sought to assuage the medical devices makers’ fear that the review could result in wider price controls that would cripple the industry. The secretary added that the reason to replace the existing DPCO is to differentiate between the drugs and medical devices segments. “In the old DPCO, the pharma and medical devices were treated in the same way but they are structurally different products.”

Lastly – GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a positive opening on Thursday. GIFT Nifty traded up by 128.50 points or 0.59% at 22,053 indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Thursday. Previously, on Wednesday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended up by 21.65 points or 0.10% to settle at 21,839.10, while the BSE gained 89.64 points or 0.12% to 72,101.69. The key stocks to watch in trade are Torrent Power, TVS Motor, Wipro, Crompton Greaves, Prince Pipes and Fittings, Wockhardt, Cyient, Rail Vikas Nigam, Jupiter Wagons, Suzlon, and Krystal Integrated Services among others.