Business News at 10:00 am on 9th January, 2024

Let’s begin…Telecom has been the most litigious sector, but going forward around 80% of disputes would get settled at the department level and 99% at the telecom tribunal level, communications and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told FE. The minister said that the newly-enacted telecom law has put in place an online dispute resolution mechanism between users, service platforms, and the government. The Act stipulates appointment of an adjudicating officer as well as a separate designated appeals committee (DAC) before a case goes to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) level for resolution. The communications and IT minister said that he was sure that going forward this template will be adopted by other sectors of the economy as well.

“Let’s begin…. Bloomberg Index Services on Monday proposed including Indian government securities in its emerging market local currency index from September, a move that could lead to billions of dollars of capital inflows into the country. This comes four months after the inclusion of Indian gilts in JPMorgan’s EM index. After the announcement, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the action could channelise $23 billion in foreign capital flows into India. The RBI introduced G-secs that were exempt from foreign investment restrictions under “fully accessible route” in April 2020. As a result, the Indian FAR bonds will be included in the EM local currency indices with an initial weight of 20% of their full market value in September 2024.
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“Next up….There has been a rising call to boycott the Maldives as a travel destination by Indians across social media platforms, but domestic airlines are not looking to reduce flights to the island nation yet. Bookings to the popular tourist destination for Indians, however, have taken a major hit after ‘derogatory remarks’ by some Maldives ministers made against India and PM Narendra Modi. But there have not been any cancellations of flights by the domestic carriers. Full-service carrier Vistara’s chief commercial officer Deepak Rajawat said on Monday that the airline has not cancelled any flight to the Maldives so far and will monitor the demand. We will have to monitor it in a week or so.
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“In other news, the GMR Group-owned Delhi International Airports has won an arbitration against the state-owned Airports Authority of India over revenue sharing during the pandemic period of March 19, 2020, to February 28, 2022. Sources said the tribunal’s directive entails a refund of Rs 500 crore from AAI and a waiver of Rs 1,800-crore payment to the authority. According to a regulatory filing by the GMR Group, the tribunal has also ruled that the concession agreement, which gives it the right to operate the airport till 2036, and shall be extended by one year and eleven months. AAI is likely to challenge the award.
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Additionally….India’s mutual fund assets crossed the Rs 50-trillion mark for the first time in December 2023, hitting Rs 50.77 trillion, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India showed. In a sign of how much more comfortable Indians are today investing their money, rather than simply saving it, inflows into systematic investment plans (SIPs) touched another new high of Rs 17,611 crore in December, 2023. Rashesh Shah, chairman, Edelweiss group, observed that even at a level of $50 trillion, we are less than 1% of the global AUM. “We have a long way to go but the success of the SIP should sustain,” Shah told the Financial Express.
“Moreover…..The two-day Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet has led to investment commitments to the tune of Rs 6.64 trillion in the state, with a potential job generation of 26.9 million. The second day of GIM saw big-ticket investment proposals from Tata Power Renewable Energy which has committed a total investment of Rs 70,000 crore in various sites and four MoUs from Adani group of companies, aggregating investment promises of Rs 42,768 crore, Sembcorp’s Rs 36,238 crore, Leap Green Energy’s Rs 17,400 crore and Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s Rs 17,000 crore. Other investment commitments include Saint-Gobain’s Rs 3,400 crore, Royal Enfield’s Rs 3,000 crore, Sify Technologies’ Rs 2,500 crore, Microsoft India’s Rs 2,740 crore, and Stellantis EV’s Rs 2,000 crore.

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“In good news for the aviation sector…The exponential growth of international traffic to and from India has the potential for further induction of widebody aircraft by domestic airlines, Boeing India President Salil Gupte told FE. “As the world’s third-largest civil aviation market, India’s fleet is set to nearly quadruple in size by 2041 compared to 2019,”Gupte said. “With this expansion, India-based airlines have a significant opportunity to capture their fair share in international markets, especially to the US, Canada, Europe and Australia,” he added. Currently, on India-US routes, Indian carriers account for less than 20% of the total market, in contrast to peer markets like China and Japan, where home-based airlines dominate a much larger share of air traffic.
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“Lastly…Here are stocks to watch for today – GIFT Nifty traded up by 126.50 points or 0.59% at 21,703 indicating positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Tuesday. Previously, on Monday, the NSE Nifty 50 dipped 197.80 points or 0.91% to settle at 21,513, while the BSE Sensex ended lower by 670.93 points or 0.93% to 71,355.22. Nifty ended the day close to its support at 21,500 and the short-term 14-day moving average, accompanied by a bearish engulfing candlestick pattern. This indicates a change in market sentiment. If 21,500 is breached in closing figures, Nifty may move towards the next support level at 21,200.

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Additionally…Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the country’s largest consumer goods company, is pushing large or family packs into select general trade outlets in top 100 towns, as it seeks to shore up volume growth, at least three distributors from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have told FE. The move is also aimed at bringing large general trade stores, those measuring 1,000-1,200 sq ft and above in terms of size, up to speed with modern trade by providing them large packs commonly found in modern trade outlets. The initiative has been rolled out across soaps and detergents, foods, beverages and personal care in what HUL calls ‘Bharat ke Shehar’, distributors said. The initiative also allows HUL, say distributors, to offer steep price-offs and discounts.

In some exciting news, Airfares to Ayodhya have soared and tickets to the temple town now cost more than international fares as tourists flock to the city for the opening of the Ram temple on January 22. A one-way flight direct flight on IndiGo from Mumbai, to the newly opened Maharishi Valmiki International Airport, Ayodhyadham, on January 19, will set back the passenger by Rupees 20,700. In contrast, a direct Air India Mumbai-Singapore flight for the same day is priced at Rupees 10,987; a direct flight to Bangkok from Mumbai costs Rupees 13,800. Moreover, as Ayodhya has less than 1,500 operational hotel rooms, room rates have jumped by 4-5 times.

In other news…Tamil Nadu on Sunday witnessed investments to the tune of rupees 58,000 crore on the first day of its flagship Global Investors meet with big ticket fund inflows from JSW group, Tata Electronics, Hyundai and Pegatron, among others, across various sectors in the state. Major memorandum of understanding (MoUs) for investments include Vietnam-based VinFast’sRupees 16,000 crore, JSW’sRupees 12,000 crore, over Rupees 12,082 crore by Tata Electronics, Rupees 7,360 crore by Hyundai, and Rupees 6,180 crore by TVS Group. iPhone-maker Pegatron will invest Rupees 1,000 crore while First Solar committed Rupees 2,500 crore, Godrej Consumer Rupees 515 crore, Mitsubishi Electric Rupees 200 crore and Qualcomm Rupees 177 crore. Ola Electric and AP Moller-Maersk expressed their intent for additional investment in the state.

Moreover…India Inc’s earnings for the December 2023 quarter are expected to show strong growth on the back of good numbers from auto manufacturers, banks, capital goods makers, cement producers and residential real estate developers. In aggregate, companies are likely to report a high single-digit increase in profits when seen year-on-year, though the rise may be somewhat modest sequentially. Good results from oil marketing companies (OMCs) will boost aggregate profits thanks to the helpful base in Q3FY23 when these firms reported losses. However, IT services players are expected to turn in an ordinary performance. With the rural economy yet to recover, makers of consumer staples are tipped to report a very subdued low-to-mid single-digit volume increases.

Lastly…Here are stocks to watch for today – Reliance Industries, TVS Motors, Titan, Marico, Adani Wilmar, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Power, Jupiter Wagons. GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a lacklustre opening on Monday. Here’s a look at the key stocks to watch in trade. GIFT Nifty traded down by just 2 points or 0.01% at 21,766 indicating lacklustre opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Monday. Previously, on Friday, the NSE Nifty 50 gained 52.20 points or 0.24% to settle at 21,710.80, while the BSE Sensex ended higher by 178.58 points or 0.25% to 72,026.15.