City New Delhi Financial News

NEW DELHI : Mauritius-based offshore funds facing ambiguity over capital gains tax have received a shot in the arm at last following a verdict of the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). In a case about the foreign direct investment of Indium IV Holdings (Mauritius), the tribunal has allowed the fund to carry forward long term capital loss (LTCL) while simultaneously allowing the fund to claim treaty benefit for short term capital gains (STCG).

New Delhi: Late last month, a much-awaited milestone in the development of India’s financial markets was reached, when JP Morgan announced it would include a set of Indian government bonds in its widely-tracked global bond index. India’s inclusion in the JP Morgan Government Bond Index–Emerging Markets Global Diversified will happen in June 2024, and, according to estimates by analysts, could lead to inflows of $20-25 billion into the country over a year. If, as a result, India is included in other global emerging market bond indices as well, inflows could be even higher.

Residential price growth across the 107 world cities has slowed in Q2 2023, falling to 1.7% YoY from 11.7% YoY in Q2 2022, according to Knight Frank’s latest report ‘Global Residential Cities Index Q2 2023’. This is recorded to be lower than that experienced in the first wave of the pandemic, when growth reached a low of 2.9% in Q2 2019.

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that India will leave «no stone unturned» in its efforts to organise the 2036 Olympics as the government expressed a strong desire to host the biggest sporting event in the world. Modi declared open the 141st Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), where India will present its roadmap for hosting the quadrennial extravaganza. The IOC session is being held in the country after a gap of 40 years. The last Olympic Session was held in India in 1983 in New Delhi. PM Modi also said that India wishes to host the 2029 Youth Olympics. «Indians are very excited about hosting the Olympics Games.

NEW DELHI : India may shift sugar exports to the ‘prohibited’ category from ‘restricted’ for the entire 2023-24 (October-September) season, concerned about the impact of the weakest monsoon in five years on sugarcane crops in the major producing states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, two government officials said. Sugar mills can currently apply for an export quota under the restricted category, but moving to the prohibited category would mean a complete export ban. “Sugar output is expected to fall to 30 million tonnes (mt) in the 2023-24 sugar season against domestic consumption of 27.5-28 mt due to El Nino compromising monsoon rain in August," one of the officials said.

NEW DELHI : Ingka Group, the owner and operator of Ikea stores, wants to invest in Indian startups and the country’s energy sector via its investment arm, said Juvencio Maeztu, deputy chief executive officer of Ingka Group. After investing ₹10,500 crore in India’s retail market over the past decade, the company is now entering its next phase of expansion in the country, said Maeztu, who is also its board member and chief financial officer . The group is also preparing investment plans to open more stores in India and step up local manufacturing.

NEW DELHI : India’s trade deficit narrowed in September as imports plunged and exports continued to slide amid slowing demand in the West and China. Goods exports slipped marginally by 2.59% to $34.47 billion compared to $35.39 billion in September 2022, while imports fell a steeper 15% to $53.84 billion against $63.37 billion a year earlier. Consequently, the trade deficit fell to $19.37 billion, down over 30% from $27.98 billion a year ago, commerce ministry data showed.

NEW DELHI : On Thursday, HCL Technologies Ltd beat Street estimates to report a better-than-expected September quarter. Quarterly revenue remained sequentially flat, although net profit surged 7.9% to $464 million, while operating margin rose by a significant 1.5 percentage points. In an interview, C Vijayakumar, managing director and chief executive of HCL Technologies, said the company has slashed its FY24 guidance despite this result due to a weak overall first half of this fiscal.

New Delhi: Union minister of state for information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday said that seven working committees submitted their official report on the Centre’s India AI strategy. The latter includes a multi-year road map to develop an India Datasets platform to collect, organize and build foundational artificial intelligence (AI) models using anonymized data, and also indigenously develop AI compute infrastructure in a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

New Delhi: The luxury car segment in India, representing only around 1% of the rapidly expanding passenger vehicle market, is poised for a significant change over the next decade, driven by the increasing affluence of young Indians and their willingness to spend, said a top BMW executive. BMW is the second-largest luxury car manufacturer, following Mercedes Benz India. The Bavarian automaker that houses the Mini brand posted record sales between January and September at 9,580 units, up 10% from its previous peak recorded a year ago.

New Delhi: Post covid-19 health complications were observed in a significant portion of patients, according to a recent study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The study found that 18.6% individuals experienced difficulty in breathing (dyspnea), 10.5% reported fatigue, and 9.3% faced mental health issues after being discharged from hospitals. Data was collected from a hospital-based registry comprising 8,042 patients admitted to 31 healthcare facilities across India between September 2020 and October 2022.

NEW DELHI : India may not escape the impact of a global economic downturn particularly at a time elections are coming up, KPMG India chief executive officer (CEO) Yezdi Nagporewalla said. He also highlighted the opportunities thrown up by India’s large talent pool. “We are at a juncture where the global trends are not very positive.

NEW DELHI : Coca-Cola India on Friday said it has allocated record marketing budget for Thums-Up, Coca-Cola, and Sprite for September and December quarter by leveraging its global partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to intensify advertising efforts for the ongoing Men’s World Cup, as well as the festive season. The move follows a lacklustre performance by beverage makers in the summer.

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who has been more of a strategist and worked mostly from the backroom for Bengal's ruling party, seems to be undergoing a political image makeover. Since the start of this month, he has led sit-in protests in New Delhi and then in front of the Raj Bhawan in Kolkata, demanding funds to pay workers under the rural employment guarantee scheme that, according to his party, the BJP government at the Centre has been denying the state. This is the first time that he has led a street protest, in what is seen as a larger strategy to step into the shoes of aunt Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool supremo and BengalCM known for her «street fighter» image. Mamata Banerjee was absent at both Delhi and Kolkata protests where Abhishek was surrounded by senior leaders, MPs, MLA and ministers. Images of Abhishek Banerjee being dragged out of Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi by the Delhi Police last week brought back memories of Mamata Banerjee in her youth shouting slogans as a Youth Congress leader and her journey forward, such as the protest against the Tata Nano factory in Singur, political observers said.

palm oil imports in September fell 26% from the previous month to 834,797 metric tons, the lowest in three months, as higher inventories prompted refiners to curtail purchases, a trade body said on Friday. Lower purchases by the world's biggest importer of vegetable oils could lead to higher stocks of palm oil in key producers Indonesia and Malaysia, weighing on benchmark futures. Imports of soyoil edged 0.1% higher to 358,557 tons and those of sunflower oil were down about 17.8% at 300,732 tons, the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement. Vegetable oil imports fell about 17% to 1.55 million tons from last month's record purchases of 1.87 million tons, it added. «India imported more than necessary during July and August, but retail demand in the country is weak. Refiners are now struggling to sell imported oil,» said a Mumbai-based edible oil trader. In recent months, India has emerged as a primary destination for surplus oil supplies due to its lower import duty of 5.5% on crude palm oil, crude soybean oil, and crude sunflower oil, said B.V.

domestic aviation space. It is the pilot shortage at Akasa, the cancelled flights, and irate passengers. Or the hikes in passenger fares following the news, within an hour.

G20 nations on Thursday called for swift and coordinated implementation of the G20 roadmap to deal with the issues related to the crypto assets. The G20 Roadmap on Crypto Assets adopted by the G20 Finance Ministers was spelt out in a Synthesis Paper prepared jointly by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Financial Stability Board (FSB). «We adopt the roadmap proposed in the Synthesis Paper as a G20 Roadmap on Crypto Assets. We call for swift and coordinated implementation of the G20 Roadmap, including implementation of policy frameworks; outreach beyond G20 jurisdictions; global coordination, cooperation and information sharing; and addressing data gaps,» said a communique issued during the fourth meeting of the FMCBG. The G20 Roadmap on crypto assets is a detailed and action-oriented roadmap that will help coordinate global policy as well as develop mitigating strategies and regulations on such assets while also taking into consideration the specific implications on Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs). The Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) communique drew guidance from the G20 New Delhi Leaders Declaration (NDLD) and benefited significantly from the consensus that was reached at the Leaders' Summit last month, a press statement issued by the finance ministry said.

G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors have issued a joint communique in Marrakech, Morocco announcing unanimous adoption of a comprehensive roadmap aimed at regulating crypto assets. 

Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (the Upper House of the Russian parliament), led by Speaker Valentina Matvienko, arrived in New Delhi on Friday to participate in the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20). The delegation includes First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev and Member of the Federation Council Committee on Agricultural and Food Policy and Environmental Management, Tatyana Gigel, as well as members of the Duma. The theme of the event this year is «Parliaments for One Earth, One family, One future». The forum programme includes four sections — 'Agenda 2030 for SDGs: Showcasing Achievements, Accelerating Progress', 'Sustainable Energy Transition — Gateway to Green Future', 'Mainstreaming Gender Equality — From Women's Empowerment to Women Led Development' and 'Transformation in Peoples' Lives through Public Digital Platforms'. During the visit, the Russian delegates will also hold talks with the Indian representatives. At the conclusion of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20), a joint final statement is to be adopted.

Israel left Thursday evening from the Ben Gurion airport carrying 211 adults and an infant living in the war-battered region. The passengers were chosen on a «first come first serve» basis after a drive launched by the Indian embassy for all Indians to register at the mission's database. The government is bearing the cost of their return.

National Security Guard (NSG) director general MA Ganapathy said on Thursday that anti-terrorism professionals must examine the unprecedented attacks in Israel. He said it could never have been envisaged that terrorists could get under the radar of extremely sophisticated technological infrastructure and perpetrate the ghastly act on such a scale and proportion.