After dragging days; Draghi drives up sentiment now

Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or to lose. - Lyndon B. Johnson
 
A happy end to a tumultuous week appears to be in store. The name is Draghi, Mario Draghi; and the ECB Chief has for now provided the much needed relief rally to global markets. Draghi stated that Europe’s monetary policy will be reviewed and recalibrated in March as downside risks to the economy has increased due to the descent in oil prices and crisis emanating from the emerging markets, particularly China. The statement indicated a strong possibility of another round of quantitative easing. Meanwhile, ECB at its policy meet decided to keep the benchmark rate unchanged at 0.05%. The overnight deposit rate was also left unchanged at -0.3%
 
The outlook is a positive start. Early indications are indices could remain in the green for most part of the day if global cues provide support. The Nifty has been making a series of lower tops since March, which suggests that it is moving in a downward sloping channel with lower trendline support placed around 7200. Sharp corrections tend to provide choppy movement wherein index will have few days of uptick followed by few days of downtick. For now it looks like we will have an uptick.  Cairn India and ITC results will be in limelight among others.
 
Asian markets are mostly in the green. US indices advanced on Thursday on the back of a recovery in crude oil prices. Dow climbed 0.7% and S&P 500 rose 0.5%.
 
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said it needs some additional growth engines and the focus now is on reviving private investments. 
 
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (I/C) Dharmendra Pradhan said that the present Indian government is keen to move towards a geographically diversified energy basket, and this has resulted in India’s greater focus on Africa as a vital region for sourcing petroleum products in coming years. 
 
India's airlines may cut their cumulative losses by up to 72% this financial year said CAPA-Centre for Aviation. 
 
Shares of Reliance Capital and Idea Cellular Ltd will be in focus. Reliance Capital Ltd posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates of Rs. 2350 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to Rs. 2130 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2014. 
 
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has rejected Niti Aayog chief Arvind Panagariya's suggestion to raise the central bank's inflation target, according to reports. Rajan reportedly said that the current global market turbulence may owe much to central banks persisting with stimulus programmes for too long.
 
Among stocks to watch: 
 
ITC: The company will announce its Q3 result today. The company is likely to post revenue of Rs. 9,326 crore in Q3, a 4.3% growth Y-o-Y basis and 4.7% growth Q-o-Q basis as per IIFL estimates.
 
Alembic Pharma: Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd reported a 281% increase in net profit at Rs.269.5 crore for the third quarter that ended on December 31, 2015.
 
Cairn India: The company will announce its Q3 result today. IIFL expects net revenue to plunge 42.5% to Rs. 2,014 crore yoy; Q3 net revenue is expected to decline 10.2% qoq.
 
Cipla: Cipla's founder Y.K. Hamied plans to increase his shareholding in one of India's leading drugmakers to more than 20 per cent by acquiring over 5 per cent additional stake, reports a business daily. Cipla informed BSE that FIL Capital Investments (Mauritius) II Limited have informed the company that they have received intimation from the Competition Commission of India that the CCI has granted its approval with respect to, inter alia, the proposed investment by FIL Capital Investments (Mauritius) II Limited in Cipla Health Limited, subsidiary of the Company.
 
Tata Motors: Tata Motors will be showcasing more than 25 models and concepts across its passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle range, besides cars from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) at the 2016 Auto Expo, reports a financial newspaper.
 
Biocon Ltd: The net profit for the quarter stands at Rs. 103 crore, up 13%. The company’s revenue at Rs. 836.4 crore, registered growth of 8.73% yoy.
 
RCOM: The company will announce its Q3 result today. IIFL expects net profit to fall 18.2% to Rs. 164.60 crore yoy; however, Q3 net profit is expected to rise 5.5% qoq.
 
Tata Steel: Tata Steel has suspended operations at its Canadian iron ore mining and processing project, reports a financial newspaper.
 
Lupin: Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has reduced his stake in drug maker Lupin to 1.14% for the third quarter ended December 31, 2015. Jhunjhunwala now holds 51,15,105 shares of Lupin.
 
MRF: MRF is looking to set up a new plant to ramp up production, as its existing nine plants are running to full capacity. No call has been taken yet on the location of the new plant, Executive Vice President (Marketing) Koshy K Varghese has been quoted as saying.
 
Reliance Cap: Reliance Capital Ltd posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates of Rs. 2350 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 as compared to Rs. 2130 mn for the quarter ended December 31, 2014.
 
Lumax Auto Tech: The company will announce its Q3 result today.IIFL expects net revenue to increase 6% to Rs. 224 crore yoy; however, Q3 net revenue is expected to slump 2.9% qoq.
 
Raymond: Raymond reported a fall of 28.5% in net profit to Rs.40.1 crore for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2015 as compared to Rs.56.1 crore in the same period last year.
 
IndiGo: The company reported PAT of Rs. 6,572.88 million in December quarter compared to Rs.5,315.68 million, an increase of 23.7% year-on-year.
 
Max India: Max India will be dropped from BSE indices from January 27 following demerger of its health and allied vertical and specialty film business, according to reports.
 
Syngene Intl: The net profit for the quarter stands at Rs.  58.8 crore. The total income was at Rs. 280.4 crore as against Rs 227.6 Cr (YoY).
 
IL&FS Engineering: IL&FS Engineering and Construction Company rallied 2.3% to Rs.54.20 on BSE. The company has received a letter of acceptance (LOA) from GAIL (India) for laying and construction of pipeline along with associated works for pipeline replacement project in Gujarat region.
 
Kalpataru Power: The company has announced that it has bagged transmission orders worth Rs.1,295 crore.
 
VST Industries: VST Industries reported standalone net profit of Rs. 41.1 crore for the quarter, registering growth of 35.37% yoy. The company’s standalone total income from operation of Rs. 217.17 crore, up by 9.60% yoy.
 
HFCL Ltd: HFCL Ltd reported a jump of 66.76% in its standalone net profit at Rs 70.16 crore for the three months period ended December 31, 2015. 
 
Zee Media Corporation Ltd: The media company reported narrowing down of its consolidated net loss to Rs 1.11 crore for the third quarter ended December. 
 
M&M Financial: The company reported standalone net profit of Rs. 67.16 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, registering decline of 50.76% yoy and 54.05% qoq.
 
Chambal Fertilisers: Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd reported net loss at Rs.163.3 crore for the third quarter that ended on December 31, 2015.
 
Hindustan Zinc: The net profit for the quarter stands at Rs. 1811 crore. The total income for the quarter was at Rs.3430. 6 crore.
 
Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd: The company has reported 2.1 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit of Rs 80.44 crore for the quarter ended December. 
 
Results for today: ITC, Reliance Communications, Cairn India, Spicejet, Ashoka Buildcon, Atul,D B Corp,Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Lumax Auto Technologies, Kesoram Industries,Kirloskar Pneumatic,Supreme Petrochem, Can Fin Homes, Greenlam Industries, Coromandel International, CMI FPE, Everest Organics, Geojit Bnp Paribas Financial Services,L&T Finance Holdings, Shemaroo Entertainment, Indiabulls Wholesale Services, J.J.Exporters, Joy Realty, Keltech Energies, Kushal Tradelink, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India, Onward Technologies, Pioneer Embroideries, Roto Pumps, Sarla Performance Fibers,Sj Corporation,Software Technology Group International,Store One Retail India, Tourism Finance Corporation Of India, Tecil Chemicals & Hydro Power, Veejay Lakshmi Engineering Works, Vardhman Special Steels
 
Global data: World Economic Forum - Davos CHF, Nikkei Manufacturing PMI (Jan)Preliminar JPY, MNI Business Sentiment Indicator (Dec) CNY, ECB President Draghi's Speech  EUR Markit Manufacturing PMI (Jan)Preliminar EUR, Markit Services PMI (Jan)Preliminar EUR, Markit PMI Composite (Jan)Preliminar EUR, Markit Manufacturing PMI (Jan)Preliminar EUR, Markit Services PMI (Jan)Preliminar EUR, Markit PMI Composit (Jan)Preliminar EUR, Markit Services PMI (Dec)Preliminar EUR, Markit Manufacturing PMI (Dec)Preliminar EUR, Markit PMI Composite (Dec)Preliminar EUR, Retail Sales ex-Fuel (MoM) (Dec) GBP, Retail Sales (MoM) (Dec) GBP, Retail Sales (YoY) (Dec) GBP, Retail Sales ex-Fuel (YoY) (Dec) GBP, Public Sector Net Borrowing (Nov) GBP, Bank Loan Growth INR, FX Reserves, USD INR, Chicago Fed National Activity Index (Dec) USD, Retail Sales (MoM) (Nov) CAD, Retail Sales ex Autos (MoM) (Nov) CAD, Consumer Price Index - Core (MoM) (Dec) CAD, Consumer Price Index (YoY) (Dec) CAD,Bank of Canada Consumer Price Index Core (MoM) (Dec) CAD, Bank of Canada Consumer Price Index Core (YoY) (Dec) CAD, Consumer Price Index (MoM) (Dec) CAD, Markit Manufacturing PMI (Jan)Preliminar USD, Existing Home Sales (MoM) (Dec) USD, Existing Home Sales Change (MoM) (Dec) USD, CB Leading Indicator (MoM) (Dec) USD, Baker Hughes US Oil Rig Count USD
 
Trends in FII flows: The FIIs were net sellers of Rs.17.47 bn in the cash segment on Thursday. The domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of Rs.12.67 bn as per the provisional figures released by the NSE.
 
Other news in the media:
 
Chanda Kochhar said that ICICI Bank is targeting total transactions worth Rs 800bn through mobile banking by the end of this fiscal. (ET)
 
HSIL Ltd. is looking to increase its share in the sanitary ware market from the current 20%. The company, which is putting up a greenfield plant for manufacture of pipes in Telengana at a cost of Rs 1bn, hopes to better the industry growth of 8%. (ET)
 
Idea Cellular raised its capital expenditure guidance for the current fiscal to Rs 75bn up from Rs 65bn announced earlier. (BS)
 
Natco Pharma announced that it has signed a non-exclusive, royalty free licensing agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool and Bristol-Myers Squibb to manufacture and sell generic versions of the latter's chronic hepatitis C medicine -Daclatasvir Dihydrochloride. (BS)
 
Fearing notional loss of revenue due to tax concessions given to Paradip refinery of Indian Oil Corporation, the Odisha government has sought review of the MoU with the company. (BS)
 
Granules USA, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Granules India has entered into an agreement with Par Pharmaceutical Inc., a subsidiary of Endo International Plc to market the generic version of OTC omeprazole and sodium bicarbonate in the US. (BL)
 
State-owned Indian Oil Corp has nearly doubled the crude oil it buys from Nigeria on a term or fixed contract as it looks to diversify sources of supplies. (BL)
 
Mankind Pharma is setting up a manufacturing plant in the US to establish its footprint in that market. Currently the company earns about Rs 300mn annually from international business and it aims to grow it to Rs 1bn in next five years. (ET)
 
To double the capacity of state transport buses, the forthcoming Budget may contain a proposal for an annual grant of Rs 25bn for state road transport corporations to increase their fleet. (BS)
 
Large multinational enterprises (MNEs) may soon be put on notice with the Indian taxman set to get more empowered to obtain information on their global allocations of incomes and taxes. The upcoming budget will see India requiring MNEs to furnish information on their global incomes and taxes with the local income tax authorities. (BL)

Pre Session- Gap up opening seen for Sensex on global rebound

Indian equity benchmarks are poised to witness a positive opening on Friday tracking a bullish trend in markets across Asia and overnight gains at Wall Street as prospects of central bank stimulus from Japan to the Euro area and a rally in oil prices bolstered the appetite for risky assets. Strength in the CNX Nifty Index futures for January delivery which advanced by 0.79 per cent or 58 points at 7,364 at 10:20 am Singapore time also signals that Dalal Street may open higher today. Speculation is rife that the Bank of Japan is set to consider more easing measures while European Central Bank (ECB) chief Mario Draghi on Thursday hinted that he may bolster stimulus as early as March as a commodity slump rekindles the threat of deflation in the Euro area economy. Further monetary easing measures in developed economies may support the global economic recovery and help tackle the threat of disinflation. Back home, traders will eye the December quarter earnings from Cairn India, ITC, Reliance Communication and SpiceJet to be unveiled today. Shares of telecom operator Idea Cellular may see some selling pressure today after the company on Thursday in after-market hours announced Q3 earnings that missed analysts’ estimates. India's third largest wireless operator posted a marginal dip in third quarter consolidated net income at Rs 764.21 crore, year on year on high spectrum costs. Marking a second straight drop, the 30-share Sensex on Thursday shed 99.83 points or 0.41 per cent to end at the lowest level in over 20 months at 23,962.21 as weakness in Asian shares, a continued oil rout and rupee depreciation pulled down the benchmark from the 24 K mark.

Asian stocks soared on Friday as traders cheered speculation of a central bank stimulus boost in Japan while the ECB also hinted at further monetary easing as soon as March as policymakers step up efforts to combat depressed inflation amidst a rout in oil prices. China’s Shanghai Composite advanced led by a rally in energy producers amidst a rebound in oil prices which were back towards the USD 30 per barrel mark, while officials indicated they will curb industrial overcapacity which is dragging down economic growth. Hang Seng soared over 2 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied over 3 per cent as a weaker yen bolstered the lure for exporter stocks, and as speculation grew that the Bank of Japan will step up stimulus. Wall Street ended on a bullish note on Friday as speculation rose that China and Europe could boost stimulus if needed, while oil prices witnessed a rebound. The ECB, which kept key interest rates unchanged at record lows, vowed to take policy action in March when it will consider expanding monetary stimulus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.74 per cent; the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.01 per cent while S&P 500 closed up 0.52 per cent.

Top traded Volumes on NSE Nifty – State Bank of India 28697205.00, Axis Bank Ltd. 28200956.00, Vedanta Ltd. 23015169.00, Tata Motors Ltd. 16524035.00 and ICICI Bank Ltd. 14241694.00.

On BSE, total number of shares traded was 28.06 Crore and total turnover stood at Rs. 3007.26 Crore.

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures was 481383 with a total turnover of Rs. 24631.88 Crore. Along with this total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 728293 with a total turnover of Rs. 32694.57 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 5943386 with a total turnover of Rs. 321724.80 Crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 424136 with a total turnover of Rs. 19919.44 Crore.

The FIIs on 21/01/2016 stood as net seller in equity and debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs. 3888.71 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs. 463.64 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs. 5084.56 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs. 698.31 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs. -1195.85 Crore and Rs. -234.67 Crore.

RBI allows pre-mature withdrawal in gold monetisation scheme

In an effort to make the Gold Monetisation Scheme more customer-friendly, the RBI said depositors will be able to withdraw medium-term (5-7 year) and long-term government deposits (12-15 years) pre-maturely after the minimum lock-in period, though with a penalty, reported PTI.

The Reserve Bank made a few amendments to its Master Direction on the Scheme.

The modifications, it said, have been made in consultation with the government to make the Scheme "more customer-friendly".

The rate of interest on the deposits will be decided by government and notified by the RBI from time to time.

The current rate of interest as notified by the government on medium term deposit is 2.25 per cent per annum and on long term deposit is 2.50 per cent per annum.

"The depositors will be able to withdraw medium term and long term government deposits pre-maturely after the minimum lock-in period of three years in the case of medium term deposits and after five years in the case of long term deposits," it said as per the media reports.

However, there will be penalty in the "form of lower rate of interest for premature withdrawals" depending upon the actual period for which the deposit has run.

Further in the case of large tenders of gold, the RBI said the metal can be deposited directly with refiners wherever they have the assaying capacity.

"This will reduce the time lag between the time the raw gold is deposited and it starts bearing interest," RBI said.

RBI also clarified that government will pay the participating banks a total commission of 2.5 per cent (1.5 per cent handling charges and 1 per cent commission) in the first year.

The Scheme will be reviewed regularly based on feedback so as to address any implementation issue and to make it more customer friendly.

Last week, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das had said under the Gold Monetisation Scheme more than 500 kg of gold has already mobilised and the Scheme was picking up.

Under the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS), 2015, banks will collect gold for up to 15 years to auction them off or lend to jewellers from time to time.

In November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a scheme to channelise gold worth over Rs 52 lakh crore lying with households into the banking system and floated paper bonds to curb its imports that have made India the largest buyer of gold in the world.

India imports a staggering 1,000 tonnes of gold every year, draining out foreign exchange and putting pressure on the fiscal deficit. An estimated 20,000 tonnes of gold worth over Rs 52 lakh crore is lying with households and temples.

Realty saless, PE investments to improve in 2016: Survey

The real estate sector is likely to see improvement in sales and equity deals in 2016 as the economy shows signs of revival on the back of various policy decisions taken by the government, a report said as per the PTI.

According to a survey jointly conducted by JLL and RICS, nearly 66.7 per cent of respondents foresee improvement in sales over the next 12 months.

"The markets have witnessed significant stress with sales under pressure due to increasing prices, longer delivery timelines for projects and a range of such factors.

"However, a majority of the respondents (in survey) now expect sales to improve over the next 12 months and this indeed augurs well for the real estate market," RICS South Asia Managing Director Devina Ghildial said as per the PTI report.

The firms interviewed a wide range of investors, including private equity players in the real estate sector, for the survey titled 'Peering into 2016: Taking Pulse Of Investor Preference'.

According to the report, nearly 71.1 per cent investors believe pure equity investments in the sector will continue to increase over the next 12 months.

"Pure equity investments have seen a return and been on the increase and the momentum is expected to continue over the 12 months. This aligns with the recalibration of the investment community's role as a long term partner with key and select developers," it added.

A majority of respondents, however, feel that equity investments will be restricted to Grade A names and will not be available for developers with limited institutional financing track record over the next 12 months.

As per the report, investors clearly voiced that even though the refinancing cycle is not expected to meet its logical conclusion in 2016, the number of successful exits will increase this year.

"Driven by the need to increase returns and a desire to diversify, investor interest in international property markets is once again on the rise and India definitely seems to be leading that interest," Ghildial said.

Commercial office and mid-segment residential property will be the top two preferred choices of investors, with IT/ITeS office rounding up the third spot, it noted.

From a city perspective, Mumbai and Bengaluru remain the top two preferred investment spots, with Pune coming in a distant third, beating the NCR.

"While the respondents are overwhelmingly optimistic on the sales improving in 2016, they are however circumspect on the possibility of REIT listings hitting the Indian capital markets in 2016 and the emergence of affordable housing as a viable investment theme," JLL India Chief Operating Officer and International Director Ramesh Nair said.

Pensioners a/c not to have more than 14 credit transactions a year: RBI

The Reserve Bank has directed banks that a pensioner's account should not exceed more than 14 credit transactions in a calender year for retirement and arrear payments, said the media reports.

The agency banks are compensated at Rs 65 per transaction for handling pension computation, payment and related services on behalf of central and state governments.

However, RBI said that it has come to its notice that banks are apportioning payment of arrears on account of dearness relief (DR) or delay in start of pension monthwise, which is resulting in inflated agency commission claims.

"It is reiterated that number of commisionable transactions for payment of agency commission on account of pension in a year should not exceed 14.

"This includes one monthly credit for payment of net pension and a maximum of two per year for payment of arrears on account of increase in DR, if applicable", RBI said in a circular.

RBI also directed the banks that cases involving payment of arrears on account of late start/restart of pension qualifies as a single transaction for claiming of agency commission.

"In other words, any payment of arrears on account of late start/restart of pension should be effected in a single credit transaction instead of separate monthly credits."

Besides, some of the central government departments and state governments prefer to compute the pension figures on their own and pass them on to banks for payment.

Such transactions may be included under non-pension payments, on which agency commission is payable on a turnover basis as per the existing norms, currently at 5.5 paise per Rs 100, RBI said.

Further, in a separate directive, RBI allowed currency chest holding banks to enhance the service charges levied on cash deposited by non-chest bank branches from existing Rs 2 per packet of 100 pieces to Rs 5 per packet.

These instructions come into effect from February 1, 2016.

RBI, said the non-chest bank branches linked with currency chests may be advised in advance of the revised rates.

World Bank to provide $250-mn loan for Kosi Basin proj

India has signed a USD 250 million loan agreement with the World Bank for Bihar Kosi Basin Development project, aimed at enhancing resilience to floods and increase agriculture productivity. The objective of the project is to enhance resilience to floods and increase agricultural production and productivity in the targeted districts in the Kosi River Basin, and to enhance Bihar's capacity to respond promptly and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency, Finance Ministry said in a statement. The primary beneficiaries will be rural producers and households in the Kosi River Basin who are regularly exposed to floods, it added. This includes farmers who lost their agricultural lands due to the silt deposits brought by the 2008 Kosi River Flood as well as farmers in the project area that are currently without access to irrigation and other technologies, improved agricultural practices and an adequate transport network, the statement said. The project has five components - Improving Flood Risk Management, Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and Competitiveness, Augmenting Connectivity, Contingent Emergency Response and Implementation Support. It is a loan for an implementation period of 5 years and the Bihar government is the implementing agency. The financing agreement was signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of Government of India and Onno Ruhl, Country Director in India, on behalf of the World Bank.

India can fill the gap left by China’s slowdown: Australia

A top Australian Minister has said that India, with its swelling middle class and rapid urbanisation, can fill the gap left by the slowdown in China. Commenting on the issue, Australia Resource Minister Josh Frydenberg told the media, "Other opportunities in the region, particularly in ASEAN countries, particularly in India, will hopefully meet the hole that has been left by the slowdown in China." "(India) haven't gone through the urbanisation and development that China has but under the (Narendra) Modi government they're very intent on following that path," he added. The Minister further predicted that urbanisation and a growing middle class in India will open doors for Australia after gloomy economic news from China, the world's second largest economy. The minister further cited that the IMF's global growth forecasts of 3.4 per cent in 2016 and 3.6 per cent in 2017 were still very strong.

Govt urges India Inc to move towards low carbon economy

Indian industry, which will play an important role in meeting the goals set by India’s INDCs, will need to meet obligations even as they capitalise on new business opportunities, said Ashok Lavasa, secretary, ministry of environment, forest and climate change, on Wednesday. Speaking at the CII Conference on ‘Roadmap to a Low Carbon Economy’, Lavasa said, “It is equally a question of opportunities and obligations for the Industry.” Elaborating on the Industry’s role in capitalising on the opportunities in the low carbon segment, he said, “Two government missions that have performed exceedingly well - the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency and the National Solar Mission - have succeeded because of the great enthusiasm and commitment with which Industry participated in these. “There are huge opportunities in renewables across generation, evacuation, storage, R&D as well as energy management systems to bring it at par with conventional fuels. The challenge lies in finding offgrid solutions and fully integrating renewables into India’s fuel mix,” he said. Speaking about energy efficiency, another key focus area of the Government, Lavasa said that more sectors are being included in the ambit of energy efficient processes, and targets are being intensified. He said that opportunities are emerging for Industry in the areas of technology, technology transfers, and capacity building. He shared that the MoEFCC is considering a policy to encourage Industry to participate in afforestation projects. Another interesting area for Industry is the Green India Mission.

100% digitisation of ration cards to be achieved soon: Min

The government has achieved significant mile stones in the reforms of PDS by making it more transparent and leak proof during last 19 months, said Ram Vilas Paswan, the minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution. Paswan said that digitisation of ration cards is one of the important components for making PDS leak proof, 97 per cent cards across the country have been digitised, and soon 100 per cent will be digitised. All the 36 States/UTs have online system for redressal of PDS grievances now. Direct cash transfer of food subsidy to the beneficiaries started in Chandigarh and Puducherry in September this year, he said. The Minister said that based on the recommendations of High Level Committee on restructuring of FCI, procurement policy for paddy modified to ensure reach of MSP operations to more farmers. As a result huge paddy procurement has been made during Kharif season. The government also provided relief to the farmers during the year by relaxing procurement norms for their crops affected with the unprecedented rains and hailstorms. Paswan said that farmers’ interest and welfare is very high priority for the government, this is the reason it is making sustained efforts to facilitate payment of sugarcane arrears. Due to these efforts arrears came down from Rs. 21,000 cr as to 2,700 cr as on 12.1.2016 for the sugar season of 2014-15.

Focusing on reviving private investments: FM

Confident of utilising the headroom available to the Indian economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it needs some additional growth engines and the focus now is on reviving private investments, reported PTI. Inviting foreign players to invest in the infrastructure space, he exuded confidence that the stuck reform measures like GST would go through as the numbers in the Upper House will change favourably soon. No reform proposal has actually got stuck for long so far despite India being a 'noisy democracy', he said. Jaitley was speaking at a breakfast session on 'India -- The next growth engine of the world', organised by industry body CII and consultancy BCG here on the sidelines of the WEF Annual Meeting. "We have a very noisy democracy... But I am finding that there are more people who want to support the growth and the others are very minuscule minority... Any economy needs multiple engines of growth," he said. "In the past we had fewer such engines and we need a few more. Public investment is one that we are doing. We are concentrating on infrastructure and for the first time in history we have been able to rationalise the subsidies," the Finance Minister added. According to him, people are eventually going to pay for the goods and services they want to buy and for the weaker sections technology would be used to ensure that the benefits reach the right target group. Noting that a series of reform measures are pending, Jaitley said some of these become symbol of whether India would be able to cross this obstacle or not. "India is a noisy democracy but I am sure that we would be able to get all of them through. Some measures have got delayed but none of them have actually hit a complete road block," he added. In days to come India will have to focus on reviving private investments, Jaitley said, adding, "we are asking people from all over the world to become partners in India's infrastructure growth story". "I have always said the current rate of 7-7.5 per cent is not our real potential and we have potential to add 1-1.5 per cent. There is still head space that we have and I am sure we would be able to reach that," he said.

Alembic Pharma Q3 net zooms 281% at Rs 270 cr

Alembic Pharmaceuticals has reported a whopping 281.2 per cent growth in its consolidate net profit at Rs 269.5 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2015 buoyed by US business. The company had registered consolidate net profit of Rs 70.66 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, the company said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Revenue shot up 81 per cent to Rs 921.7 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 511.8 crore in same quarter last fiscal aided by exports. International business has registered a 248 percent year-on-year growth at Rs 521 crore with India branded business growing 15 per cent and API business showing 24 percent growth. The company said specialty segment among India business grew by 22 per cent with Tellzy becoming the fastest growing Telmisartan brand, adding India generics business declined 40 percent to Rs 20 crore. Meanwhile, shares of the company closed trading at Rs 625.65 apiece, up 6.48 per cent from the previous close on BSE.

KPTL secures new orders worth Rs 1,295 cr

Engineering firm Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) on Thursday said it has bagged four new orders for power transmission projects totalling Rs 1,295 crore. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, KPTL said, “The company has secured new orders/notification of award of approximately Rs 1,295 crore.” It’s first order is for establishment of transmission system strengthening for transfer of power from new hydro-electric power projects in Bhutan to India. The 400 KV transmission line project to be constructed in West Bengal and Bihar worth Rs 864 crore has been awarded by the company's 100 per cent subsidiary Alipurduar Transmission Ltd, it added. This is the third BOOM (Build Own Operate Maintain) project to be executed by the company. The second order is for turnkey transmission line project in Nepal worth approximately Rs 238 crore from Nepal Electricity Authority, the company said in a statement. The company further said that, it has received another order for construction of 380 KV overhead transmission lines in Saudi Arabia worth approximately Rs 146 crore. The project is implemented by Kalpataru IBN Omairah, a joint venture between IBN Omairah Contracting Company and KPTL, where KPTL owns 65 per cent equity stake. Another order is for transmission tower supply project worth Rs 47 crore from Power Grid Warora Transmission Ltd (a subsidiary of Power Grid Corp). Commentig on the development, KPTL, Managing Director, Manish Mohnot said, “The order inflow in the year till date is over Rs 6,150 crore which is over 1.4 times last year's revenues. Strong pipeline of orders from both domestic and international markets, provide us clear growth visibility for next two years.” Meanwhile, shares of the company closed at Rs 187.2 apiece, down 1.94 per cent, from previous close on BSE.