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Rupee Falls 3 Paise Against US Dollar in Early Trade

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The global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.32 percent higher at USD 63.48 per barrel.

PTI
Last Updated:March 19, 2021, 11:11 IST
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The rupee depreciated by 3 paise to 72.56 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, as muted opening in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiment. However, consistent foreign fund inflows and a weak dollar overseas supported the rupee, a forex dealer said.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened lower at 72.57 against the US dollar, then recovered some ground to quote at 72.56, a decline of 3 paise over its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 72.53 against the American currency.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 243.44 points lower at 48,973.08, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 74.30 points to 14,483.55 in early deals. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.05 percent to 91.81.

The global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.32 percent higher at USD 63.48 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market on Thursday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,258.47 crore, as per exchange data.

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Delhi HC stays Future on Reliance deal

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Court hands Amazon a win, asks why Biyani, other FRL promoters should not be sent to prison

In a major victory for U.S.-based e-commence giant Amazon, the Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled that Future Retail Limited (FRL) and its promoters including Kishore Biyani “deliberately and wilfully” violated the order of an emergency arbitrator (EA) restraining FRL from going ahead with its assets sale deal with Reliance Retail.

Noting that the intention of FRL and its promoters “do not appear to be honest”, the high court directed attachment of the assets of Future Coupons Private Limited (FCPL), FRL, Mr. Biyani and 10 other promoters.

Justice J.R. Midha also directed Mr. Biyani and the other promoters to be present before the court on the next date of hearing on April 28. It additionally issued show-cause notices to all the promoters “to show cause why they be not detained in civil prison for a term not exceeding three months” for violation of the emergency arbitrator’s order.

The high court also imposed a cost of ₹20 lakh on Future Group which will be deposited in the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for providing COVID-19 vaccines to senior citizens of Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.

It directed Future Group not to take any further action in violation of the interim order passed by the emergency arbitrator at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) on October 25, 2020. The high court’s order came on a plea of Amazon, which has 49% stake in FCPL, seeking enforcement of the EA award.

Amazon had contended that it had invested ₹1,43l crore in FCPL with the clear understanding that FRL would be the sole vehicle for its retail business and its retail assets would not be alienated without its consent and never to a Restricted Person, including the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group.

Amazon stated that FRL had taken various steps to transfer the retail assets to the restricted person, MDA Group, in violation of the EA order and that the firm was continuing with it.

‘Breached agreements’

“The respondents (Future Group) have breached the agreements. However, there is no remorse. The intention of the respondents does not appear to be honest,” the high court remarked.

FCPL, which holds 9.82% in FRL, has objected to the enforcement of the EA award on various ground including that the EA is not an Arbitrator or Arbitral Tribunal. The high court rejected this saying, “The interim order dated 25th October, 2020 is legal, valid and enforceable as an order of the Court”.

FRL had also argued that Reliance was acquiring the retail and wholesale business as also the logistics and warehousing business from the Future Group as going concerns on a slump sale basis for a lumpsum aggregate consideration of ₹24,713 crore. The high court, however, rejected FRL’s argument that if this scheme fell through, it was inevitable that FRL would go into liquidation.

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Rupee up by 2 paise at 72.53 against U.S. dollar

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Persistent foreign fund inflows and lower crude prices supported the domestic unit, forex traders said

The rupee erased some of its initial gains to end 2 paise higher at 72.53 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, tracking subdued equity market sentiment and a stronger dollar overseas.

Persistent foreign fund inflows and lower crude prices supported the domestic unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened strong at 72.48 against the greenback but failed to hold on to gains following a massive selloff in the domestic equity markets.

During the session, it witnessed an intra-day high of 72.43 and a low of 72.60. It finally settled 2 paise higher at 72.53 against the American currency. On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 72.55 against the American currency.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 585.10 points or 1.17% lower at 49,216.52, while the broader NSE Nifty dropped 163.45 points or 1.11% to 14,557.85.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.24% to 91.65.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.35% to $67.76 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth ₹2,625.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

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No proposal for scrutiny of GST assessment in faceless mode, says Anurag Thakur – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: There is no proposal of faceless scrutiny assessment of GST returns as the Goods and Services Tax rule already provide for electronic filing and assessment, minister of state for finance Anurag Singh Thakur said on Tuesday.
Income tax assessments are being done in a faceless manner except in certain conditions and till March 10, a total of 82,072 assessment cases have been completed in a faceless manner, he added.
To a query in the Rajya Sabha on whether the government is considering scrutiny of GST assessments and some stages of investigations by SFIO in a faceless mode, he said, “No such proposal for scrutiny of GST assessment in a faceless mode is under consideration of the Government presently as the GST laws and rules made thereunder already provide for electronic filing and assessment of returns on the common portal. With regard to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, the information is also nil”.
The minister said faceless assessments have been initiated to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by eliminating the interface between the Assessing Officer and assessee in the course of proceedings to the extent technologically feasible, optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation and introducing a team-based assessment with dynamic jurisdiction.
“An independent study to ascertain assessees’ experiences in a faceless manner is being conducted by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) have a tripartite arrangement with NCAER for conducting this independent assessment of Faceless Assessment Scheme of the CBDT,” Thakur said.

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Leave a comment anurag thakur, Business, Business news, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Department of Economic Affairs, economy, GST, GST Returns

AI adoption in organisations is moving ‘too fast’: KPMG survey

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Concerns around use of AI was more prominent among smaller firms, Gen Zs and Millennials. Ethics, governance, and regulation of AI are major factors, the study notes

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Business leaders are experiencing a COVID-19 whiplash from the pace of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, according to a report by audit firm KPMG. They see this acceleration to be moving “too fast”, but still are confident that AI can solve several challenges.

In its study titled Thriving in an AI World, the advisory firm notes that nearly half of business leaders in manufacturing, retail, and technology sectors believe AI is moving faster than it should. KPMG surveyed 950 business leaders across seven industries including technology, financial services, manufacturing and healthcare.

And within the industry group, leaders in healthcare and life sciences overwhelmingly said that AI helped them to monitor COVID-19 pandemic, develop vaccines and distribute them. The sentiment had resonated with executives in Financial Services, who noted that AI’s ability to detect fraud proved very effective this year.

Also Read | AI finds Bollywood’s association of beauty with fair skin unchanged

Concerns around use of AI was more prominent among smaller firms, Gen Zs and Millennials. Ethics, governance, and regulation of AI are major factors, the study notes.

“Moreover, many business leaders do not have a view into what their organisations are doing to control and govern AI and may fear risks are developing,” said Traci Gusher, principal of AI at KPMG.

In December, another global audit firm PwC noted in its report that AI use in India during the pandemic was greater than in countries like the U.S., Japan and the U.K.

Also Read | Studying e-cigarette using pattern with sensors and AI

KMPG’s survey also notes that executives prefer a regulated path for AI as opposed to a ‘Wild Wild West’ model – – a lawless and unruly.

“Additionally, a more robust regulatory environment may help facilitate commerce,” said Rob Dwyer, principal at KPMG. “It can help remove unintended barriers that may be a result of other laws or regulations, or due to lack of maturity of legal and technical standards.”

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Leave a comment AI, AI adoption, Algorithms, artificial intelligence, Business, ethics, governance, India, international law, KPMG, machine learning, organisations, PwC, regulation, robots, wild west

Exports up 0.67% in Februrary; trade deficit widens to $12.62 billion

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Imports rose by 6.96% to $40.54 billion in the month, the data showed.

Growing for the third consecutive month, the country’s exports rose marginally by 0.67% year-on-year to $ 27.93 billion in February even as trade deficit widened to $12.62 billion, according to official data released on Monday.

Imports rose by 6.96% to $40.54 billion in the month, the data showed. The trade deficit in February 2020 was at $10.16 billion.

Exports during April-February 2020-21 period contracted by 12.23% to $ 256.18 billion compared to $291.87 billion in the year-ago period. Imports dipped 23.11% to $340.8 billion in April-February.

In February, oil imports declined by 16.63% to $8.99 billion while during April-February the shipments were down by 40.18% to $72.08 billion. Gold imports in February jumped to $5.3 billion from $2.36 billion in the year-ago month.

Sectors which recorded positive exports growth during February include oilmeals, iron ore, rice (30.78%), carpet (19.46%), spices (18.61%), pharmaceuticals (14.74%), tobacco (7.71%), and chemicals (1.2%).

Sectors which recorded negative growth include oilseeds, leather, petroleum products, cashew, gems and jewellery, RMG (ready-made garments) of all textiles, tea, engineering goods, coffee and marine products.

Commenting on the data, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf pointed out that the marginal growth in exports was mainly on account of container shortages across the country which limited supply in the last week of the month due to increasing COVID-19 cases in certain states.

Rising exports from China have led to the shortage of containers in the region as most of the empty containers are available only for exports from China, as the shipping lines and container companies are being paid hefty premiums for bringing empty containers back to China, he said.

He asked that the government must address some of the key issues including timely announcement of the new foreign trade policy, adequate availability of containers, release of the required funds for RoDTEP, and softening of freight charges.

ICRA Ltd Principal Economist Aditi Nayar said that although a favourable base effect will push up the growth of both imports and exports in March 2021, “we expect the trade deficit to widen to $13.5-$14 billion in the ongoing month”.

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Rupee surges 33 paise to two-week high on forex inflows

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The rupee spurted by 33 paise to close at a more than two-week high of 72.46 against the U.S. dollar on Monday, continuing its gaining streak for the fourth session in a row on the back of forex inflows.

The rupee opened strong at 72.71 at the interbank forex market despite a lacklustre trend in the domestic equity market and gains in the dollar index.

The dollar index recovered from a week’s low on Monday on a rise in Treasury yields on inflation worries ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting.

Analysts said the forex market is likely to remain volatile ahead of the outcome of the Fed meeting.

The local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 72.40 and a low of 72.75 on Monday. It finally ended at 72.46, registering a rise of 33 paise over its previous close. Since March 9, the rupee has gained over 1%.

“Indian rupee started the week on a front foot following dollar inflows. Even after weaker domestic equities and a stronger dollar index, rupee outperformed among Asian currencies following strong foreign inflows in the primary equity market,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

The forex market is expected to remain volatile ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meet outcome, he stated.

“Though, there is no change in interest rate expected, the focus will remain on updated dots and any comments on rising real yields,” he said.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, climbed 0.12% to 91.78. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.01% to $69.21 per barrel. “Market participants remain cautious ahead of the important FOMC policy statement that will be released later this week. The expectation is that the central bank could maintain a status quo but economic projections and what stance the central bank holds on the economy is likely to impact the greenback,” said Gaurang Somaiyaa, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Mr. Somaiyaa further noted that “we expect the USDINR (Spot) to trade sideways with a negative bias and quote in the range of 72.20 and 72.80.” On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 397 points or 0.78% lower at 50,395.08, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 101.45 points or 0.67% to 14,929.50. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth ₹942.60 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

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‘Cement sector expected to grow over 10%’

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The domestic cement industry is likely to witness a growth rate of more than 10% in 2021 on account of demand revival, according to ACC Ltd.

The government’s spending on big infrastructure projects and affordable housing schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) with enhanced budgetary allocations would be “primary drivers of growth” for the cement industry, it said.

The cement industry had witnessed a de-growth of 10-12% due to the Covid-related disruptions. “The outlook for the cement sector in 2021 is robust, with growth estimated at more than 10% y-o-y over that in 2020,” ACC said in its latest annual report.

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Tata’s plan to take majority stake inBigBasket

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(Adds details)

, March 12 (Reuters) – Indian conglomerate TataSons plans to buy a majority stake in Alibaba-backedonline grocery seller BigBasket, a filing with thecountry’s antitrust body showed on Friday.

The deal, if approved, would put Tata – a more than150-year-old group with interests in everything from luxury carsto software – in direct competition with Amazon,Walmart’s Flipkart and an upstart grocery service fromReliance Industries, backed by billionaire MukeshAmbani.

In the filing with the Competition Commission of India, TataDigital Ltd, a wholly owned unit of Tata Sons, proposed to buy64.3% of an entity that runs business-to-business sales forBigBasket.

Media agencies have reported that the group aims to takecontrol of more than 60% of BigBasket, buying out Chinesee-commerce giant Alibaba’s stake.

The proposal comes as e-commerce sales, especially of foodand groceries, have exploded in India as the COVID-19 pandemicspurred a shift to online shopping.

BigBasket’s rivals are expected to spend heavily on thee-grocery business.

Flipkart has announced plans to expand to more Indiancities, while Reliance’s digital unit – which is likely tosupport its grocery service – has raised more than $20 billionfrom investors including Facebook and Alphabet’sGoogle.(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar in Bengaluru; Editing by MajuSamuel and Sriraj Kalluvila)

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‘MFI gross loan portfolio grew 6.4% as of Dec.’

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The gross loan portfolio of the microfinance sector grew by 6.4% to ₹2.27 lakh crore as of December 2020 as against ₹2.13 lakh crore a year earlier, according to a report.

The average ticket size of microfinance loans stood at ₹34,900 in the December quarter of the current fiscal, according to a report by credit information bureau CRIF High Mark.

“With a nearly 80% increase over the previous quarter [Q2 FY2020-21], disbursements by value stood at ₹56,090 crore [in Q3 FY 2020-21], which was 11.5% lower than Q3 FY2019-20,” the quarterly report said.

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The global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.32 percent higher at USD 63.48 per barrel.

Court hands Amazon a win, asks why Biyani, other FRL promoters should not be sent to prison

‘Breached agreements’

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