Sustainability Financial News

council of ministers have brainstormed on vision document for Viksit Bharat 2047 and detailed action plan for the next 5 years, said government sources on Sunday. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In what may be the last such meeting before the big polls, several ministries articulated their ideas in the meeting. Meanwhile, after formation of the new government in May 2024 and for quick implementation of the said plan, a 100-day agenda for immediate steps has also been worked upon, they said.

new government in May 2024. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to announce the dates of Lok Sabha elections 2024 anytime now and the polls are expected in April-May this year. The blueprint for the Viksit Bharat vision was formulated following an exhaustive two-year-long preparation phase, characterized by extensive consultations among ministries, state governments, academia, industry bodies, civil society, and scientific organizations.

Narendra Modi today urged 'everyone' to donate money to the Bharatiya Janata Party to boost nation building by monetarily helping the efforts of the saffron party, which meanwhile is gearing up for the Lok Sabha elections. The call to donate money to BJP comes weeks after the Supreme Court banned electoral bond, which was introduced by the Modi government, and helped political parties raise money. These bonds, which allowed for anonymous donations, had become a key component of political funding, with some regional parties relying heavily on them for financial support. For the BJP, electoral bonds constitute more than half of its overall income, indicating their crucial role in sustaining political campaigns. The prime minister donated 2,000 rupees to the BJP party fund.

GDP growth print for 3Q contrasts the grim reality of household consumption and income situation. The latest national expenditure survey (2022-23), released after a lag of 11 years shows real consumption grew modestly at 3% over the past 11 years and the PLFS data indicates flat real incomes over the past four years. Also, most consumer companies have shown a lackluster demand situation. What is not surprising is that the persisting discordance has accentuated in the 3Q print and reflects in a) the large contribution of the discrepancy component, b) a sharp rise in net indirect taxes translating into enlarged expenditure GDP, and c) a disproportionate decline in imports relative to the decline in consumption.

Tata Steel shares, which hit a fresh peak of Rs 156 on BSE, have shown a powerful breakouhavet on the daily chart, accompanied by a notable surge in volumes. “Additionally, the formation of a Morning Star pattern, a bullish reversal candle pattern, indicates strong support for the stock. The momentum indicator, RSI, has also provided a buy crossover, confirming the bullish undertone in the stock,” says Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities.

Vinay Jaising, MD, JM Financial Services, says “for us, capex and industrials put together, had north of a 50-55% growth. Railways, again, fantastic growth. So that space, in terms of earnings trajectory, did really well. In energy, we are underweight but that did extremely well, courtesy the OMCs. I do not know how long that will sustain or whether we will start seeing either crude prices move up or margins move down, but overall in terms of numbers, a 20 plus percent year-on-year increase in capex made our overall portfolio earnings go up north of 25% and that was exciting for us.” The markets got mighty enthused by the big GDP number. There has been two back-to-back strong readings on the GDP. In the last commentary, the RBI governor already took their own estimate for GDP higher, above 7%. Other rating agencies could follow soon. Is this growth sustainable? The market will start looking for valuations if the growth is not sustainable, but growth appears to be falling in place now? Vinay Jaising: Absolutely.

PwDs) in the workforce, corporate India still has a long road ahead. As per an analysis of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)-mandated Business Responsibility and Sustainability reports filed by 1,062 listed companies for 2022/2022-23, more than 87% of them said their workplaces were accessible to people with disabilities. However, only 0.6% of permanent workers they employed were PwDs.

AI have sought to allay the fears of governments and corporations by selling a future full of hope and assurance. Par for the course. Every political and economic revolution has offered these twin promises in lieu of a change that requires widespread — willing or unwilling — compliance and support to succeed. During the Industrial Revolution, capitalists organised workers in mills and factories to ensure the division of labour could increase output and profitability. The great hope then was that mechanisation would accelerate the pace of trade, while enriching lives of workers, many of whom were skilled craftsmen, through guaranteed employment and regular wages. Some of this came to pass, to the great delight of Utilitarian philosophers, including Thomas Gradgrind in Charles Dickens' 1854 novel, Hard Times. Gradgrind believed that simple mathematical facts were sufficient to overcome the burden of proof. But unreasonably long hours, subsistence wages, and little scope for advancement transformed the worker into a 'cog in the wheel', essential for productivity but utterly lacking in independence. The world was more unequal than before, with wealth being consolidated at an unprecedented rate.

By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart

foreign institutional investors (FIIs) poured in Rs 1,539 crore last month despite the US bond yields ruling high with the 10-year yield at around 4.25%. “FIIs may again turn sellers in some of the coming days. But they are unlikely to sell aggressively because their selling is not having any impact on the market, which is setting new record highs. FIIs will have to buy the same shares, which they are selling now, at higher prices when the situation turns favourable for FII buying. Therefore, even if they sell in the coming days, that will be subdued selling,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

electric two-wheeler (E2W) market in India saw a significant surge in registrations during February 2024, indicating a robust 24% year-on-year growth in high-speed scooters. According to data sourced from Vahan, this surge reflects the growing traction of electric vehicles in the country, with key players making strides in this evolving sector. In February, registrations of high-speed E2Ws reached a total of 81,963 units, maintaining a steady month-on-month status. It's worth noting that the presence of an additional day in February contributed to this growth. The year-to-date average monthly run rate stood at 73,190 units, showing a remarkable 21% increase compared to the previous fiscal year's average of 60,500 units. The electric two-wheeler penetration rate for February 2024 reached 5.7%, a slight increase from January's 5.6%, highlighting the sustained momentum of E2Ws in the market.

Fossil fuels have powered human progress for centuries, but their unimpeded use has left us with a ‘substantial possibility’ of the global temperature rise breaching the 2° Celsius threshold by mid-century, despite significant efforts to counter global warming. Notably, the Global North accounted for about 75% of the cumulative global emissions until the last century. But as the Global South – which includes India – moves along a similar growth curve, it is crucial to remember that it does not have the luxury of having vast reserves of fossil fuels at its disposal. Besides, India’s aspirations for a renewable energy-driven future face a challenging path. Despite significant progress, with around 43% of installed power capacity being renewable, coal-based thermal power still contributes to roughly 75% of India’s power generation due to the intermittent nature of solar and wind energy. India must balance decarbonization with industrialization to fuel economic growth and employment opportunities.

ANI, the operation, initiated on March 1st following precise intelligence inputs, resulted in the retrieval of one .38 pistol, 10 homemade improvised explosive devices (IEDs), three grenades, and various types of ammunition. Furthermore, the recovered weapons and ammunition were transferred to the local police authorities.

₹23.51 crore. while DIIs were buyers for three out of five sessions, with a total investment of ₹8,268 crore, according to stock exchange data. On a monthly basis, FIIs have infused over ₹870 crore in cash markets despite high US bond yields.

₹1,282 crore, to help relaunch its Italian steel mill in Piombino. The company in a press release said that its subsidiary, JSW Steel Italy SRL, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Italian authorities to relaunch the site.

Nifty on Friday ended the first trading session of the March series 366 points higher above the 22,300 mark and at fresh record highs. The index formed a bullish Marubozu candle on the charts. “The index broke out of a two-month consolidation zone and such volatility contraction is usually followed by a strong rally. The 61.8% Fibonacci projection level from the start of Nifty’s rally since October is at 23,200. If the breakout is sustained a quick march towards 23,000 can be expected. The demand zone has now shifted upwards to 22,200-22,250 which is expected to act as support for Nifty,” Sheersham Gupta, Director and Senior Technical Analyst at Rupeezy, said.

Vedanta Aluminium recently launched agriculture-based sustainable livelihood initiative “Jeevika Samriddhi Project” for farmers in Odisha. The company said the project is functioning in Odisha's Jharsuguda district. It said that the company's flagship project has elevated the lives of over 400 farming households in its initial phases. With the third phase underway now, the project aims at empowering an additional 500 farming households in the villages of Parmanpur, Kumudapali, and Dalki in Jharsuguda district, it added. From pond restoration and solar pumps ensuring reliable irrigation to modern micro-irrigation methods optimizing water usage, the project familiarises farmers on using advanced techniques like the “System of Rice Intensification (SRI)” and the “WADI’ model to revitalize barren lands, boosting crop yields sustainably, the company stated.

CorporatEdge (CE), a premium serviced workspace solutions company plans to expand its total footprint by 10x to 1.7 million square feet across major cities over the next 5 years. “CorporatEdge has tapped into the growing demand for flexible workspaces and would deploy over Rs. 300 crore in the next 5 years. The expansion will be spread across 10 cities pan-India and densify presence in the existing cities as well,” said Aashish S Shukla, Managing Director of CorporatEdge. Recently, the firm launched its third facility named ‘Marquee’ in Bengaluru, at the Prestige Trade Tower spread over 29000 sq.ft. The is pegged as a Offitel — Office hotel facility with serviced offices, team offices, private office suites, director cabins and range of F&B offering and has a capacity of 350 workstations.

Brazil’s finance minister told his peers during a G20 meeting in Sao Paulo that countries should implement a global tax on the super-rich in an effort to tackle rampant tax evasion

Harsha Upadhyaya, CIO-Equity, Kotak AMC, says it is definitely difficult to find value buys in this market, but there are several sectors which are likely to grow at a decent teens kind of earnings trajectory. Those are the names which will have potential to outperform the market. Maybe the volatility will increase, but still there is enough growth on the table. Upadhayaya further says: “It is not that mid and smallcaps will not give returns or correct a lot at this point of time, it is just that from a risk-reward perspective, it makes sense to have a little bit of tilt towards largecaps and that is what we have been suggesting to most of our investors.”

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has now released a draft framework for banks to follow. As per the framework, banks will be mandated to disclose those climate-related risks which have a bearing on their financial stability. While observing that climate-related risks are one of the emerging risk and are expected to significantly impact them, these entities play an important role in financing the transition towards an environmentally sustainable economy.