Business News at 05:30 pm on 20th March 2023

Apart from the Personal Data Protection Bill, which is in the process of being presented to Parliament, the government also intends to spell out the definition of non-personal data or anonymised data. This means that firms will not be free to just remove the name of the users from any data set, make it anonymous, and use it for any commercial purpose. They will have to abide by the norms put in place by the government. The India Data Management Office will prescribe the standards by which the companies will have to anonymise the data and then use it for commercial purposes, for research and development, innovations etc, according to government officials. Meanwhile, the government is planning to come up with quality control orders for 250-300 goods in the coming months as part of a strategy to contain import of sub-standard products that tend to flood the markets and dent domestic manufacturing. Cigarette lighters, pens and household electrical items are some of the products that would be bound by the new norms. The department for promotion of industry and internal trade is understood to be working on these quality standards, which are likely to be brought in over the next few months. Once notified, these products would have to bear certification by the Bureau of Indian Standards and imports of non-certified goods would not be permitted. The move is in line with the government’s efforts to curb non-essential imports at a time when exports are witnessing contraction owing to the global economic slowdown, raising concerns over the trade and current account deficits. The idea is to use non-tariff measures to curb imports in areas where domestically manufactured alternatives are available. Over to economy. The Centre will rein in the fiscal deficit at the targeted 6.4% of the gross domestic product in the current financial year despite some likely variations in revenues and expenditures from the respective revised estimates, economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth told FE.Seth said a 6.5% economic growth next year appears to be likely and ‘reasonable’ and any adverse impact of the banking crisis in the advanced economies on India by way of capital outflows would be manageable, thanks to strong forex reserves. On the apprehension of a modest slippage from the fiscal deficit target for the current year due to a likely shortfall in tax revenues, the official said given the large Budget with several spending and revenue collection heads, there will always be some variations under some heads. On to some legal drama. The Supreme Court will on Monday hear a petition filed by Torrent Group against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s order that permitted holding a second e-auction for Reliance Capital. While the second round of auction is also scheduled for Monday, it is unlikely to take place till the apex court gives its direction. Torrent Investments, a group company through which Gujarat-based Torrent Group had placed its bid for the entire assets of RCap, sought an urgent hearing of the petition seven days ahead of the second challenge mechanism. Earlier this month, Torrent Group moved the Supreme Court against the NCLAT’s order that had permitted holding an extended auction for the debt-laden firm. Vistra ITCL (India), a member of the committee of creditors, is a respondent to the case. Moving on. The Union finance ministry on Sunday called applications to fill the post of deputy governor at Reserve Bank of India, as per a notification on RBI website. The candidate will succeed RBI deputy governor MK Jain, whose tenure is ending in June. The last date for submission of application is April 10, 2023 and candidates older than 60 years of age as on June 22, 2023 will not be considered eligible for the post. The salary for this position is fixed at Rs 2.25 lakh per month. The Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee is free to identify and recommend any other candidate too, the notice said. The application by the Centre states that candidates must have at least 15 years of experience in banking and financial market operations and have an extensive experience as a full-time director or Board member. Lastly, Airtel Payments Bank, Bharti Airtel’s fintech arm, will likely clock over Rs 1,300 crore in revenues in FY23, a year-on-year growth of over 40%, according to people aware of the matter. The reasons for the strong revenue growth can be attributed to a significant surge in the monthly transacting user base and cash management system business, increase in fee income from cross-selling of financial products like insurance and loans, etc, and growth in consumer deposits. In FY22, Airtel Payments Bank reported revenues of Rs 941 crore and a profit of Rs 9 crore.