Business News at 10:00 am on 8th March, 2024

Let’s begin – International rating agency Moody’s on Thursday raised India’s economic growth forecast to 8% for FY24 from 6.6% on the back of strong domestic consumption and capital expenditure by the government. On Wednesday, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said the real GDP growth likely to exceed the government’s second advance estimate of 7.6% for FY24 and move closer to 8%. “We expect India to be the fastest-growing economy among major G20 countries, with its real GDP growth to accelerate to around 8% in the fiscal year ending March 2024 from 7% in fiscal 2022-23,” Moody’s said in a report. Government capital expenditure and strong domestic consumption will underpin India’s economic growth, it said.

Up next – Some of the country’s top food companies such as ITC, PepsiCo India, Balaji Wafers and Prataap Snacks are in disagreement with the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, the apex tax body, regarding the imposition of an 18% goods and services tax on snack foods. The issue concerns a recent clarification by the government, classifying snacks as extruded and non-extruded, according to food industry sources that FE spoke to. In food processing, extrusion involves pushing ingredients through a machine to attain the desired shape. Many ready-to-eat snacks are produced through this process. For example, finger snacks like PepsiCo’s Kurkure, and Prataap Snacks’ Yellow Diamond puffs are examples of extruded snacks. Biscuits and potato chips are non-extruded snacks.
Moving on – The median board representation of women in the BSE 100 companies was a little over 16% in 2023, similar to the levels a year ago. According to the Corporate Governance Scores 2023 report released by proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services, for the full effect of gender diversity, women should comprise at least 30% of the board. The good news though is that the number of companies where women comprise 30% or more of the workforce increased from 16% to 24%. Though the progress has been slow, the consensus among women directors is that things have improved. Notably, the Companies Act 2013 made women’s representation in listed company boards mandatory.

In other news – The passenger segment of the Indian Railways is taking a route towards premiumisation. The near-doubling of the per-passenger revenue in the past six years coupled with the production of more premium coaches and launch of new high-end trains in the same period show that the railways are offering premium services to the passengers at a higher price, which is remunerative to it. This has helped reduce the cross-subsidisation of freight by the passenger segment to some extent, without drawing flak from political circles with announcement of across-the-board fare hikes. For instance, the transporter has been gradually ramping up the production of 3rd AC, AC 3 tier economy, 2nd AC, and 1st AC coaches among others.

Moving ahead – The ministry of corporate affairs is expected to come out with its inspection report on edtech firm Byju’s in next few weeks, said an official source. “The investigation on Byju’s was initiated 7-8 months ago, and there’s been a delay in concluding the probe. We are likely to bring out the inspection report in next few weeks,” an MCA official, who declined to be identified, told FE. Last month, MCA asked its field officers to speed up the inspection process on Byju’s which is in the middle of a corporate battle between its founders and the investors’ group. Byju’s is also facing scrutiny by the Financial Reporting Review Board of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Meanwhile – With the achievement of around 900 million tonne of the domestic coal production so far, the country is confident of achieving the 1 billion tonne target of coal output by the end of the financial year 2023-24, Union Minister for Coal and Mines, Pralhad Joshi said on Thursday. The coal ministry further expects the country’s coal stock with the coal-based thermal power plants to go up to 45 million tonne by the end of March, coal secretary Amrit Lal Meena said while addressing the media. As of March 7, the domestic coal based power plants maintain coal stocks of 43.5 million tonne, he said.

Lastly – The conclusion of the India-UK free trade agreement could be pushed beyond the general elections in both countries, despite last-mile dash by top officials from both sides, because differences still remain on issues of market access in key areas of goods and services. The formal announcement of commencement of the election process in India is expected by middle of March and the new government will be taking office latest by June. In July, it will be presenting the full budget for FY25 and priorities for the next five years. Speculation is rife in the UK that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may call for early elections.