Business News at 10:00 am on 22nd March, 2024

Let’s begin – Flipkart has rejigged its increment policy for the current year, splitting the annual salary increases into two tranches rather than have those reflecting in an employee’s pay structure. Further, to check attrition, especially at the senior levels, the company will also roll out 100% bonus to its employees and provide more ESOPs. The e-commerce platform has had a spate of layoffs recently and expects these measures to help retain employees across levels. As per the new policy, which the company has termed as merit-linked payout, if an employee is awarded a 5% annual increment, the overall salary will not reflect the increased amount.

Next up – The government is working on National Master Plan for development of highways and expressways for 2047, that will enable trucks to more than double the distance they cover in a day to 800 km, a senior official said Thursday. At present, trucks in India cover 300-350 km in a day which is much less than figures in the US and Europe. In Europe, the limit is 750 km a day while in the US the drivers can legally drive up to 1100-1200 km a day driving at the speed 100 km an hour. According to a recent study, logistics costs in the country range between 7.8% to 8.9% of the total economic output.

In other news – As arrivals of rabi crops have picked up, their mandi prices have started showing a mixed trend. Trade sources said the market prices of chana (gram), a vital pulse variety which has share of close to 50% in the country’s output, are ruling 7% above the minimum support price of Rs 5440/quintal for the 2024-25 season due to fear of decline in output. However, market prices of mustard, which has a share of more than 42% in the domestic production of oilseeds, are at present ruling 11% below the MSP of Rs 5650/quintal for 2023-24 season because of a surge in imports and prospect of a bumper output.

Moving on – Online homestay marketplace Airbnb reports a nearly 330% increase in searches for south Goa, which has emerged as India’s most popular getaway for the upcoming Holi and Easter long weekends. Online aggregator MakeMyTrip also reports Goa being the most favoured destination this weekend.With Holi on a Monday and Good Friday right after, many are making a long holiday of it as well, taking the entire week off between these two dates.Considered a religious festival, Holi holidayers are also seeking spiritual travel. Rajeev Kale, president and country head, holidays, MICE, Visa-Thomas Cook, said locales like Barsana, Nandgaon, Mathura, Gokul and Dau-G centered around the life and times of Lord Krishna are popular destinations this weekend.

Meanwhile – The HSBC Flash India composite Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to an eight-month high of 61.3 in March from 60.6 in February, amid buoyant demand conditions, which fuelled growth and accelerated aggregate sales, S&P Global said on Thursday. “Led by the strongest manufacturing output in nearly three-and-a-half years, the composite output index rose quickly. New orders rose at a faster pace than in the previous month, and within that both domestic and export orders showed improved vigour,” said Pranjul Bhandari, Chief India Economist at HSBC. The Flash India composite PMI is a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and service sectors.

In other major news – India’s petroleum products exports may be marginally outpacing the overall outward shipments, but imports of these items are rising at a faster rate. As a result, the country’s self-sufficiency in oil products has been witnessing a decline from 14.5% in 2011-12 to 12.6% in 2022-23, and further to 12.3% in April-February this fiscal, according to data from the government’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. India is already a huge net importer of crude oil, and import reliance for this primary source of energy has only risen in recent years. The country imported 43.8 million tonnes of petroleum products in Apr-Feb period, up 9% from the year last year. The imports were valued at $21.2 billion.

Lastly – GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a negative opening on Friday. GIFT Nifty traded down by 81.50 points or 0.37% at 22,032 indicating a negative opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Friday. Previously, on Thursday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended up by 172.85 points or 0.79% to settle at 22,011.95, while the BSE gained 539.50 points or 0.75% to 72,641.19. “Domestic market is taking cues from the global market infusing optimism as the Federal Reserve signalled to remain on track for three interest rate cuts this year despite inflation staying above long-term target,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.