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Forget Flipkart, Amazon, government is buying lakhs of smart phones from this little known portal
By: Krishnanand Tripathi | Updated: April 22, 2019 8:44 PM

E-Commerce: Smart phones, bicycles, computers, printers and automobiles have emerged as the fastest moving categories on the portal.
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E-Commerce: GeM has fast emerged as the preferred mode of procurement for goods and services in the public sector.

Government E-Marketplace (GeM): Government departments are buying lakhs of smart phones, bicycles, computers and printers online to cut cost and root out corruption in public procurement. However, these large scale online purchases don’t mean big bucks to top e-commerce firms such as Amzaon, Flipkart and Snapdeal.

Thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India initiative, a little known government portal is helping various ministries, departments, PSUs and state governments to purchase these items at competitive prices in a transparent manner.

Early this year when women and child development department of government of Maharashtra was looking to purchase over 1.2 lakh smart phones for its Poshan Abhiyan scheme, it did not turn to Amazon or Flipkart. It procured these phones at a total cost of Rs 100 crore, over Rs 8,300 a piece. The order was placed on Government E-Marketplace (GeM) portal through competitive bidding.

Similarly, when India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) was surveying the market to procure around 1.5 lakh smart phones, availability of large number of original equipment manufacturers on government’s platform helped it to identify the right product. The Bank placed two different orders on the same day in November 2018 to procure 1.5 lakh smart phones at a cost of Rs 153 crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched Government E-marketplace (GeM) in 2016 to provide a transparent and efficient mechanism for the public procurement worth over Rs 3 lakh crore a year.

Within three years of its operation, the GeM notched a total turnover of over Rs 17,000 crore last year. Though the total value of confirmed orders was around Rs 22,000 crore but the orders worth over Rs 42,00 crore were delayed despite confirmation of the lowest bidder due to ongoing election process and other reasons.

In 2018-19, the total procurement by the state governments also crossed the total procurement by the central government on GeM platform.

Encouraged by the strong demands from the state governments, GeM CEO Radha Chauhan has set an ambitious target of notching a turnover of Rs 50,000 in the current financial year.

Forget Flipkart, Amazon, government is buying lakhs of smart phones from this little known portal
 
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On fast track: Modi government to make it easier for new firms to start operations
By: Krishnanand Tripathi | Updated: April 22, 2019 5:18 PM

Ease of doing business: The government is planning to complete the processing of registration of a company with GSTIN, EPFO & ESIC through a single form AGILE within three days of filing.
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Ease of doing businesses: Government allows registration with several departments with one single form.

Ease of Doing Business: The Modi government looks to cut down the time required for a company to register with various government departments before kick-starting operations, in line with its push to improve ease of doing business in India. These registrations include obtaining a permanent account number (PAN), registration with GST, EPFO and ESIC among other things. However, the process of registration with multiple agencies is cumbersome and it delays the start of business activity.

In order to further improve the business sentiment in the country, the government is working to have a centralised registration process that will also cut down the time required for these things to less than 72 hours.

Experts point out that it was important for the government to club all the registration processes together so that a newly incorporated entity can hit the ground running. It is also in line with the vision of the government to improve the ease of doing business. India has improved its ease of doing business ranking by 65 points in the last four years, from 142 in 2014 to 77 in 2018, with the government now aiming to enter into top 50 countries in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking.

“To ensure that a newly incorporated entity is almost ready to commence their business from the next day of incorporation, it is important that the application for all central numbers and registrations be clubbed together into one form and accordingly processed along with all other incorporation documents,” said Prashant Prakhar, senior member of regulatory and financial practice at Nishith Desai Associates.

MCA introduces AGILE form for multiple registrations
Last month, the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has notified an AGILE form that will be filed along with the incorporation application form SPICe. This AGILE (INC-35) form linked with SPICe incorporation will be processed alongside the incorporation request and it will register the newly registered company with GSTIN, Employees Provident Fund Organisation and Employees State Insurance Corporation.

“Introduction of AGILE form is a welcome step in this regard. It should practically reduce the time-line for incorporation and commencement of business for a company in India to half,” Prashant Prakhar told Financial Express Online.

Delay in registration of company name major impediment
However, the first step in the direction of incorporating a company itself is a time consuming process. Experts point out that lack of a statutory time-line for the Central Registration Centre (CRC) within which the name must be approved causes the delay.

Prashant Prakhar who advises companies on inbound investment in India says that it will be a good idea to specify a statutory time-line within which the CRC should approve or reject an application seeking reservation of a company’s name. Usually registration of a company’s name takes up to a week.

On fast track: Modi government to make it easier for new firms to start operations
 
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Riding on big push by Modi government, Khadi sales jump by 164% in 5 years
By: Krishnanand Tripathi | Updated: April 17, 2019 11:43 AM

Khadi India: The strong support by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was crucial in increasing the sale of Khadi products by over 164% in last 5 years.
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Khadi India: The sale of Khadi product has registered an increase of over 164% in last 5 years.

Khadi: The sale of Khadi garments and fabric has grown by more than 164% in the last five years due to unprecedented push given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and aggressive marketing by Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) that also included expansion and modernisation of Khadi stores across the country. KVIC also took strong action against fake Khadi products that led to a surge in the sale of genuine Khadi prodcuts.

The sale of Khadi products has registered double digit growth since 2015, growing by close to 30% between 2015 to 2019, except in 2017-18 when it came down to 17%. Encouraged by the sales figure, KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena has set an ambitious target of achieving Rs 5,000 crore sales in the current fiscal.

“The are two reasons for this growth: aggressive marketing and stringent action taken by us against fake Khadi products. We have served notices and took action against those who used to sell spurious mill made products in the name of Khadi,” said Vinai Kumar Saxena, chairman of Khadi & Village Industries Commission.

Skin friendly Khadi products that were falling out of customers’ preference due to poor branding and marketing received a big boost when Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to buy at least one Khadi product while delivering his first weekly radio address Mann Ki Baat on October 3, 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to gift Khadi products instead of bouquet of flowers also encouraged government departments to buy and gift Khadi products.

“Most important thing is getting the support of Prime Minister. I have seen the past records, our sale to Indian Railways used to be in the range of Rs 5-7 crore a year. Today, it is over Rs 80-90 crore a year, single orders are worth over Rs 15 crore,” Mr Saxena told Financial Express Online.

Encouraged by the Prime Minister’s support, KVIC also targeted youth to turn Khadi into a fashion statement. It hired young designers from reputed institutions like NIFT for a complete makeover of its products to appeal to youth.

“We generated awareness among youth. In order to attract youth we launched western wears. We also approached universities and colleges to reach out to students. Because of the support given by the IGNOU, over 4 lakh students adopted Khadi products,” added Mr Saxena.

Due to the initiatives taken by the KVIC, last year Patna municipal corporation decided to use uniforms made of Khadi products for 17,000 sanitation workers engaged by it.

In order to capture the market dominated by private garment and cloth manufacturers, KVIC also invested heavily in expansion and modernisation of Khadi stores across the country.

There are over 8,000 Khadi stores in the country, selling both Khadi garments and fabric to customers. Out of total 8,061 stores, 1700 new stores have been opened in the last four-and-a-half years.

KVIC owns 17 stores and rest are owned and managed by Khadi institutions. KVIC has also helped Khandi institutions in modernisation of 2,000 stores during this period that completely changed the customers’ perception and experience.

Riding on big push by Modi government, Khadi sales jump by 164% in 5 years
 
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FinMin ratifies 8.65 per cent interest on EPF for 2018-19
The Finance Ministry has approved 8.65 per cent rate of interest on Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) for 2018-19 as decided by retirement fund body EPFO, benefitting more than 6 crore formal sector workers.

"The Department of Financial Services (DFS), a wing of Finance Ministry, has given its concurrence to Employees Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) decision to provide 8.65 per cent rate of interest for 2018-19 to its subscribers," a source privy to the development told PTI.

"The DFS has approved the proposal subject to fulfilment of certain conditions related to efficient management of the retirement fund," the source said further.

Earlier in February, the EPFO's apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees headed by Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar had decided to raise the interest rate on EPF to 8.65 per cent for 2018-19, which was the first increase in the last three years.

The interest rate on EPF was hiked to 8.65 per cent for the last fiscal from 8.55 per cent provided in 2017-18. The EPFO had earlier reduced the interest rate in 2016-17 to 8.65 per cent from 8.8 per cent in 2015-16.

After the Finance Ministry concurrence, the Income Tax Department and the Labour Ministry would notify the rate of interest for 2018-19. Thereafter the EPFO would give directions to its over 120 field offices to credit the rate of interest into subscribers' account and settle their claims accordingly.

According to the EPFO estimates, there would be a surplus of Rs 151.67 crore after providing 8.65 per cent rate of interest for 2018-19 on EPF. There would have been a deficit of Rs 158 crore on providing 8.7 per cent rate of interest in EPF for last fiscal. That is why the body decided to provide 8.65 per cent rate of interest for 2018-19. The EPFO had provided a five-year low interest rate of 8.55 per cent to its subscribers for 2017-18.
FinMin ratifies 8.65 per cent interest on EPF for 2018-19 | Business News
 

In the name of the Ummah, if you could appeal to Azim Premji - he has committed his own personal fortune evaluated at 21 billion USD to charity foundation bearing his name of which he's already donated more than 2 billion USD to philanthropic causes. Enough to wipe out at least some of your debt.

Oh, just a small detail. He's a Kutchi Nizari Ismaili Shia, whose father turned down Jinnah's invitation to come to Pakistan , which had he accepted would have seen Premji running a chain of convenience stores in Bradford or Birmingham at best or a spare parts biz in Karachi at worst .But don't let that discourage you. Remember, money has no colour.

@zarvan ; @safriz
 
_Anonymous_ said:

In the name of the Ummah, if you could appeal to Azim Premji - he has committed his own personal fortune evaluated at 21 billion USD to charity foundation bearing his name of which he's already donated more than 2 billion USD to philanthropic causes. Enough to wipe out at least some of your debt.

Oh, just a small detail. He's a Kutchi Nizari Ismaili Shia, whose father turned down Jinnah's invitation to come to Pakistan , which had he accepted would have seen Premji running a chain of convenience stores in Bradford or Birmingham at best or a spare parts biz in Karachi at worst .But don't let that discourage you. Remember, money has no colour.

@zarvan ; @safriz
Click to expand...
Bhai sahib.. aur kitna loge bachhon ki.. Ab to jaan baksh do 😉!!
 
_Anonymous_ said:

In the name of the Ummah, if you could appeal to Azim Premji - he has committed his own personal fortune evaluated at 21 billion USD to charity foundation bearing his name of which he's already donated more than 2 billion USD to philanthropic causes. Enough to wipe out at least some of your debt.

Oh, just a small detail. He's a Kutchi Nizari Ismaili Shia, whose father turned down Jinnah's invitation to come to Pakistan , which had he accepted would have seen Premji running a chain of convenience stores in Bradford or Birmingham at best or a spare parts biz in Karachi at worst .But don't let that discourage you. Remember, money has no colour.

@zarvan ; @safriz
Click to expand...
Though its good for countries like India, but remember he donated the shares to his own trust not to some poor community. Many wealthy families have done that e.g. Tata Sons is the biggest example.
 
Blackstone accelerates Wall Street charge into India
Wall Street firm Blackstone is accelerating its search for growth in India, which has seen a boom in its private equity market in recent years.

The New York-based private equity and alternative asset management company said Monday it has agreed to commit up to $460 million for a majority stake in Essel Propack, a Mumbai-based specialty packaging company whose clients include L'Oreal and Colgate.

The deal follows Blackstone's acquisition of Aadhar Housing Finance, a leading Indian loan provider, from Wadhawan Global Capital, another local conglomerate, in February for an undisclosed sum.

In his annual letter to shareholders published this month, Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman revealed that
Blackstone has deployed more capital in India than in any other emerging market. Since 2006, the company has committed about $10 billion to investments in the country, about half of which went to private equity deals.

India's strong gross domestic product growth and other tailwinds, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic reforms, have made the country an especially compelling investment destination.

Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of Blackstone, attends this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The New York-based firm manages $512 billion in global assets. © Reuters

Meanwhile, India's wealthier but slower-growing neighbor, China, continues trudging through a prolonged trade war with the U.S. while trying to curb an economic slowdown, casting uncertainties over its market.

India also represents one of Blackstone's top performing areas for private equity, Jonathan Gray, the company's president and chief operating officer, said in a February op-ed for the Economic Times.

"In fact, if you ask me which countries in the world have the brightest futures over the next 10 or 20 years, India would be near the top of the list," Gray wrote. "We are big believers in India."

Last year, Blackstone made one of its biggest exits in Asia when it sold Intelenet Global Services, a Mumbai-based business process outsourcing company, for $1 billion to Teleperformance. Blackstone invested $385 million into the company in 2015.

According to a March report by Bain & Company, the total value of private equity deals in India increased to $28 billion in 2018, up 79% from the five-year average, while exit value jumped 164% to $29 billion over the same period.

Though optimistic about India's macroeconomic outlook, the report raised concerns about the increasing competition in the country's private equity market, which has led sellers to post higher prices.

Kiki Yang, a partner at Bain & Company in Hong Kong and author of the report, told the Nikkei Asian Review that many investors are trying to take cues from business trends that occurred in China to identify which companies are going to bring the next wave of growth in India.

"The population, the rising middle class, the internet penetration, the prevalence of e-commerce and the whole ecosystem -- we have looked at a number of things that bear quite some similarities between India and China," Yang said. "Investors will ask questions like -- 'OK, if China is here today, where are we in India?'"
Blackstone accelerates Wall Street charge into India
 
Japan‐India Institute for Manufacturing opens up in Sri City
Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu inaugurated the ‘Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing’ (JIM), a residential skill training centre at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.

The Japanese envoy said, “This is the very first JIM in Andhra Pradesh and first JIM by multiple Japanese companies. I am confident that students will make use of the training provided transform themselves as skilled technicians in manufacturing.”

Yoshio Nishida, Director, Kobelco Group, which is the lead company in managing JIM outlined the importance of the centre for the growth of the manufacturing sector and outlined its the features of Sri City-JIM.

Experts from the Sri City based Japanese companies Kobelco Group (as lead player), Isuzu Motors India, Nippon Seiki, India Metal One Steel Plate Processing (IMOP), Kikuwa India, MCNS Polyurethanes India and Aisan Auto Parts India (AAI) will give hand-on-training to students with classroom learning.

The JIM scheme was initiated as a collaborative programme between the governments along with Japanese companies to create a pool of skilled manpower for manufacturing units in India.

This partnership scheme aims at imparting training to 30,000 Indian youth in Japanese Manufacturing Soft skills. Eight JIMs are already functioning in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka .

The JIM is aimed at imparting training and skills in the manufacturing sector and later get engaged with various firms.
Japan‐India Institute for Manufacturing opens up in Sri City
 
FPIs stay bullish on India for third month; invest Rs 17,219 cr in April
Foreign investors were net buyers in the Indian capital markets for the third straight month in April, pouring in Rs 17,219 crore on favourable macroeconomic conditions and ample liquidity.

India has been one of the top recipients of foreign fund flows among emerging markets since February 2019 on the back of positive global sentiment, improving growth outlook, supportive macros and dovish stance taken by the RBI, experts said.

Overseas investors had put in a net sum of Rs 45,981 crore in March and Rs 11,182 crore in February in the capital markets (both equity and debt).

According to the latest depositories data, foreign portfolio investors (FPI) pumped in a net sum of Rs 21,032.04 crore into equities but pulled out a net amount of Rs 3,812.94 crore from the debt market during April 1-26, taking the total net investment to Rs 17,219.10 crore.

"Expectation of a slowdown in the global economy led several central banks to adopt a dovish stance towards interest rates in order to provide a boost to their dwindling economies.

"This augured well for the emerging markets as it improved global liquidity which has been making its way into the emerging markets and India is getting its share from that," said Himanshu Srivastava, senior research analyst, manager research at Morningstar.

Alok Agarwala, Senior VP and Head - Investment Analytics at Bajaj Capital attributed the decline of foreign flows into debt markets to "rise in crude oil prices and worries over the supply overhang" as it has diminished the hope of yields coming down further.

Sustainability of economic growth, behaviour of crude oil prices and formation of a stable government at the Centre will play significant role in the continuation of FPI flows, he added.
FPIs stay bullish on India for third month; invest Rs 17,219 cr in April
 
200 US firms aim to move production base from China to India post-LS polls
About 200 American companies are seeking to move their manufacturing base from China to India post the general elections, a top US-based advocacy group has said, observing that there is a fantastic opportunity with
firms looking at alternatives to the Communist giant.

The US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum's (USISPF) President Mukesh Aghi said that the companies are talking to them about how to set up an alternative to China by investing in India.

Aghi said that USISPF's recommendation to the new government would be to accelerate the reforms and bring transparency in the decision-making process.

I think that's critical. We would advise to bring more transparency in the process and to make it more consultative because in the last 12 to 18 months, we are seeing US companies look at some of the decisions being made, either e-commerce or data localisation, as more domestic-oriented than global, he told PTI in an interview.

In his reply to what the agenda of the new Indian government should be to attract investment, Aghi suggested that New Delhi needs to accelerate reforms, be more transparent in the process and engage more.

We need to understand how we can attract those companies. And that means all the way from land issues to customs issues to being part of the global supply chain. Those are critical issues. There's a whole plethora of reforms that need to go further down, and I think that is also going to create a lot of jobs, he said.

He said that Mark Linscott, the former Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asian Affairs, is working with USISPF member companies to come up with a recommendation as to what India needs to do to enhance its exports and work up from that perspective.

One recommendation, which I strongly believe is going to help India is that we should now start thinking of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the U.S," Aghi said.

"I think if India is concerned about cheap goods coming from China, an FTA will eliminate that need. You can put barriers to Chinese goods and still have the U.S. providing access to the Indian market and Indian companies having more access to the US market, and issues like GSP would diminish, he said.

Aghi said that they have formed a high-level manufacturing council within the member companies, led by John Kern, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Operations at Cisco who are putting a document together detailing what India needs to do to turn it into a manufacturing hub.

"We plan to have the document ready by the time elections are over as part of recommendation, he said.
What they're saying is we want a backup strategy to start manufacturing in India. There are small-small issues, which can slow them down. And at the moment most of them are waiting for elections to be over. But there's a large deluge of companies keen to not only manufacture in India but also who want to go after the domestic market, he said.

On the amount of investment these companies would bring to India, he said the number in question is substantial.
If you look at, our member companies in the last four years have invested over USD 50 billion, he added.
200 US firms aim to move production base from China to India post-LS polls
 
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Majority of new cos yield good returns this year; gain up to 21%

4/29/2019 4:52:00 PM

New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) A majority of the newly-listed companies are trading well above their issue price, giving investors returns of up to 21 per cent this year.

Since the start of 2019, as many as six companies have got listed on the bourses. Of this, five firms are trading above their issue price, fixed after their initial public offerings, as per an analysis of the performance of the new listings showed.

Among the new entrants, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, which got listed on April 11, has seen the biggest rally in its scrip, which jumped 21.31 per cent from its initial public offer (IPO) price on the NSE.

Wires and cables manufacturer Polycab India, whose scrip debuted on April 16, zoomed 19.94 per cent as compared to its issue price.

The scrip of Chalet Hotels climbed 14.64 per cent and those of Xelpmoc Design and Tech Limited rose by 7.57 per cent against the price at which they had issued shares to investors. Both the companies had made their market debut earlier in February this year.

Xelpmoc Design and Tech Ltd is a provider of professional and technical consulting services, offering technology services and end-to-end technology solutions and support.

Market analysts said that price band of the offers as also the overall trend in market play key role in the success of isssue.

Besides, the scrip of Metropolis Healthcare gained 6.82 per cent from its issue price after getting listed on April 15.

MSTC is the only firm to take a hit in its share price, falling 11.66 per cent since its listing on March 29. MSTC's initial share sale was extended and also its price band was revised.

Meanwhile, Neogen Chemicals, which concluded its initial public offer on Friday, is yet to list its shares on the bourses.

In the broader market, the NSE Nifty has zoomed 8.23 per cent so far this year.

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