Business Today 29-Dec-19

In its nearly three decades of chronicling India’s business, economy and stock markets, Business Today has undergone multiple avatars in tune with the changing times. But none as dramatic as the “Digital First” philosophy that unfolds with this issue in your hands. Our web platform businesstoday.in is the fulcrum of this change as we prioritise the latest, the newsy and the “snacky” on business and economy via stories, podcasts, videos, infographics and slideshows – first on the web. The magazine, which has undergone a complete makeover with a refreshing new design will provide you deep insights and perspective on current business topics. To do this, for your specialised interests we are sporting new and revamped sections on “Management”, “Technology”, “Policy”, “Corporate”, “Start-ups” and “Economy” in the hub of the magazine.…

Parliamentarians quibble like Tweedledum and Tweedledee over the state of the economy but worst fears have come true with 4.5 per cent GDP growth in the July-September quarter. With sixth successive quarter of deceleration in the economy, India is now officially in a deep slowdown – the longest spell of downturn in over two decades. The last such slowdown that dragged on for six quarters was between Q4FY11 and Q1FY13. But this time round it’s different. With Q3 of FY20 likely to be as bad, if not worse, the economy will likely break records for all the wrong reasons. It’s going to be a painful and bumpy ride on the path to recovery. The most optimistic see a turnaround in four quarters, the most pessimistic expect full recovery after eight…

CSR IS MANDATORY IF… …net worth is ₹500 cr or more …total turnover is ₹1,000 cr or more …net profit is ₹5 cr or more WHERE IT COMES FROM… Crude oil, finance and banking firms account for over 41% of CSR spending NOT REACHING THE POOR Around 44 of Niti Aayog’s 'backward districts' have received no CSR allocation. Developed states account for more than 60% of CSR expenditure CONTINUING MISMATCH India’s CSR spend rose to ₹17,584 cr in FY19 from ₹10,065 cr in FY15 but is still less than the amount mandated THE BIG PICTURE In FY15, 51% of all registered companies were spending on CSR. This rose to 61% in FY19 THE BIG CONTRIBUTORS Top 10 companies with highest CSR expenditure in FY19 …WHERE IT GOES Prosperous states dominate…

₹ 1,04,339 CRORE Total loss incurred in second quarter of FY20 by Vodafone Idea, Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel due to provisioning for past AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues to the government GOOD MONSOON WOES This is the first time since 1997 that India has had an above normal monsoon in an El Nino year. However, that does not mean it’s great for farmers. With floods covering 137 districts in 12 states during the monsoon period, several kharif crops were affected RICE PRODUCTION 12% Decrease to 90.04 million tonnes (acreage also down by 1%) SOYBEAN PRODUCTION 12% Fall in production due to excess rainfall in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra (acreage up by 1%) PULSES PRODUCTION 4.5% Decrease to 82 million tonnes (acreage also down by 2%) COTTON PRODUCTION 23% Increase…

4.5% Second quarter GDP growth number, the lowest in six years On November 29, immediately after the National Statistical Office (NSO) came out with the second quarter GDP growth numbers – 4.5 per cent, a six-year low – the government went into damage control. Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and K. Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor, addressed a hurriedly called media briefing. The government’s usual comforting words were that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong, growth has bottomed out and that the growth rate from the next quarter would improve. A day before the second quarter numbers were announced, Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha that “if you are looking at the economy with a discerning view, you see that the growth may have come down but…

The monetary policy committee of the RBI says India’s GDP is likely to grow 5 per cent in 2019/20, less than your forecast. Is OECD a bit ambitious in its projection of 5.8%? We had made this forecast before the latest quarterly GDP growth numbers were out. At the time we made the forecast, we were the most pessimistic of all international organisations. Today, we are probably more in line or slightly optimistic. If you were to take into account (the number for the June-September quarter), we might have revised it a little lower. The government is talking about making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025. Isn’t this a difficult target even if one takes your near-term projections of 6.2 per cent growth forecast for 2020/21 and 6.4 per…