Net claims by non-residents up at $332 bn

"This change in the net position reflected a USD 37.8 billion increase in the value of foreign-owned assets in India vis-a-vis a USD 24.9 billion increase in the value of Indian residents' financial assets abroad," RBI said.

Net claims by non-residents on India increased to USD 331.6 billion as on March 31 -- up USD 12.8 billion from the previous quarter. The increase in claims largely reflected valuation effects, the Reserve Bank today said in a release on 'India's International Investment Position (IIP), March 2014'.

The difference between an economy's external financial assets and liabilities is its net IIP. "This change in the net position reflected a USD 37.8 billion increase in the value of foreign-owned assets in India vis-a-vis a USD 24.9 billion increase in the value of Indian residents' financial assets abroad," RBI said.

Also Read: External debt up over 7% on higher non-resident deposits

Foreign-owned assets increased by USD 37.8 billion over the previous quarter to USD 814.8 billion, mainly on increase of USD 16.1 billion in direct investment in India and an increase of USD 13.4 billion in portfolio investment. Among other investment liabilities, loans (mainly external commercial borrowings) increased by USD 7.5 billion and trade credits declined by USD 4.5 billion.

Assets of Indian residents abroad rose by USD 24.9 billion from previous quarter to USD 483.2 billion mainly due to increase of USD 10.3 billion reserve assets and USD 8.9 billion direct investment abroad. In terms of annual variations, international financial assets abroad increased by USD 35.4 billion, to USD 483.2billion as on March 31, 2014.

"These included increase of USD 9.2 billion in direct investment abroad and USD 12.1 billion in reserve assets," RBI said. Also, international financial liabilities increased by USD 40.3 billion on a year-on-year basis to USD 814.8 billion. "As a result of the...changes in external assets and liabilities, net claims of non-residents on India increased by USD 4.9 billion as at end-March 2014, on a year-on-year basis," RBI said.

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ICICI to open branches in Australia, SA, Mauritius: Kochhar

The country's largest private sector lender  ICICI Bank Monday said it plans to open branches in Australia, South Africa and Mauritius.

The city-headquartered bank has received the regulatory clearances to open the branches and will also upgrade its representative office in China, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar told reporters on the sidelines of its 20th annual general meeting here.

"Under the bank's foreign expansion plans, we will open branches in Australia, South Africa and Mauritius for which clearance is received from the Reserve Bank of India. We already have a representative office in China, where we will open a full-fledged branch," she said.

Also Read: HDFC Bank seeks shareholders' nod to raise Rs 10,000 cr

ICICI has the largest overseas network among Indian private sector banks, she said, adding that it has three subsidiaries and eight representative offices abroad.

The subsidiaries in the UK and Canada have had selective growth in business along with an improvement in profitability after a period of consolidation, she said.

"We have also focused on optimising the capital levels in this business through repatriation of capital and dividend payouts," she added.

Fiscal 2013-14 was a year in which ICICI focused on strengthening its business, network, technological capabilities and financial parameters, she said.

The bank added 653 branches and 834 ATMs to take the total network to 3,753 branches and 11,315 ATMs, she said.

"We were cognizant of the risks in the environment and calibrated our approach accordingly. Our future outlook is positive. We believe that the formation of a stable government with a focus on growth will help realise India's vast potential," Kochhar said.

A strong and diversified franchise, large distribution network, healthy capital position and sustained improvements in the balance sheet and profitability profile will help it leverage opportunities for profitable growth, she asserted.

Kochhar pointed out that during FY 2014, it could improve the performance in an environment marked by elevated interest rates, low growth and significant market volatility.

"We adopted a balanced approach towards growth, profitability and risk management," she said.

ICICI Bank stock price

On June 30, 2014, ICICI Bank closed at Rs 1418.45, up Rs 33.65, or 2.43 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 1590.35 and the 52-week low was Rs 758.80.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 84.85 per share as per the quarter ended March 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 16.72. The latest book value of the company is Rs 633.13 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.24.

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External debt up over 7% on higher non-resident deposits

In terms of major components, the share of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) continued to be the highest at 33.3 percent (USD 146.5 billion).

Higher non-resident deposits led to a rise of 7.6 percent in India's external debt at USD 440.6 billion for the financial year ended March 31. "India's external debt, as at end-March 2014, was placed at USD 440.6 billion showing an increase of USD 31.2 billion or 7.6 percent over the level at end-March 2013.

"The increase in total external debt during financial year 2013-14 was primarily on account of rise in Non-Resident Deposits," Reserve Bank data showed today. In a release about 'India's External Debt as at the end of March 2014', it said the surge in outstanding stock of NRI deposits can mainly be attributed to mobilisation of fresh FCNR(B) deposits by commercial banks under the swap scheme offered by the RBI during September to November 2013.

Also Read: RBI switches to online bond platform to manage cash

In terms of major components, the share of external commercial borrowings (ECBs) continued to be the highest at 33.3 percent (USD 146.5 billion). It was followed by NRI deposits at 23.6 per cent (USD 103.8 billion) and short term debt at 20.3 per cent (USD 89.2 billion). The RBI said: "US dollar denominated debt continued to be the largest component of India's external debt with a share of 61.8 percent as at end-March 2014, followed by Indian rupee (21.1 percent), SDR (6.9 percent), Japanese Yen (5.1 percent) and Euro (3.4 percent)."

Also, government or sovereign external debt stood at USD 81.5 billion as at end-March 2014 as against USD 81.7 billion as at end-March 2013.

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Nasscom for special measures in Budget on startups, others

In its pre-budget proposal, IT-BPO industry body Nasscom has pitched for special measures to foster the eco-system for entrepreneurs, startups and innovation.

"There are few important issues that we have flagged to the Finance Minister in the context of the budget..." Nasscom President R Chandrashekar told reporters here.

"We have identified more than dozen different areas which require attention like the funding, the taxation, the ease of forming, operating and closing the company," he said.

Nasscom has talked about training and entrepreneurship development, incubators and accelerators, the funding needs-especially the early stage seed funding-, the kind of infrastructure support in the academic institutions for research and commercialisation of such innovative ideas.

"There are more than dozen such areas which we felt need to be supported with technology entrepreneurship mission. Our first and foremost point is that the technology entrepreneurship mission needs to be announced with an initial allocation of 500 crore to look at all these issues including regulatory simplification and bench marking of this to international practices," he added.

Chandrashekar said the body has also said that for global companies which are operating in multiple geographies they should have the opportunity to consolidate their income globally and operate in a consolidated manner for taxation, which are good for the companies and good for the regulatory authorities as well.

Chandrashekhar said there are a number of issues like transfer pricing, applicability of royalty on software, the manner in which the transaction by units are subjected tax even though they are exempted under SEZ policy.

"....so there are number of different areas which have lead to lot of legal disputes. It has been a mounting set of disputes because of extreme interpretations and we feel all these issues need to be addressed," he said.

For larger companies greater clarity, predictability and transparency in the regulations as well as in the enforcement, and for the smaller companies technology entrepreneurship mission, these are the two critical areas, he said.

He also said "we believe if the mission (India technology entrepreneurship mission) is introduced, then India being a large country has the potential to create 50,000 technology startups, generating an employment of 3 million and contributing USD 100 billion out of the 300 billion turnover that we expect this segment to reach by 2020."

"This is only in terms of the direct turnover in the sector and not the multiplier effect in the other sectors which it would have, which is going to be in order of magnitude larger," Chandrashekar stated.

Nasscom today announced the commencement of the third phase of NASSCOM 10,000 Startups initiative by opening-up of applications from technology startups across the country.

It also announced the launch of the NASSCOM Technology Startup Registry which will act as a repository of India's technology startups in the web, mobile, e-commerce, SAAS, marketplace space and will act as a discovery platform for investors, enterprises, media and government authorities.

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Govt hikes import tariff value on gold, silver

The import tariff value- base price at which customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing- is revised on a fortnightly basis, taking into account the volatility in global prices.

The government today hiked the import tariff value on gold and silver to USD 428 per 10 grams and USD 688 per kg, respectively, as global prices rose on safe-haven buying in the wake of geo-political tensions.

During the second fortnight of this month, tariff value on imported gold stood at USD 411 per 10 grams and silver at USD 632 per kg.

The import tariff value- base price at which customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing- is revised on a fortnightly basis, taking into account the volatility in global prices.

The hike in tariff value on imported gold and silver has been notified by the Central Board of Excise and Customs, an official statement said.

Global gold prices have firmed up due to the escalating violence in Iraq and Ukraine that has bolstered demand for the precious metal. In London, spot gold prices had hit a two-month high of USD 1,325.90 per ounce last week.

India's gold imports have declined over 74 percent to USD 1.75 billion in April this year due to restrictions imposed by the government on inbound shipments of the precious metal to narrow the current account deficit.

Gold is the second largest import item for India after petroleum. Due to several curbs, the country's total gold and silver imports dropped 40 percent to USD 33.46 billion in 2013-14, against USD 55.79 billion in the previous year.

These curbs include raising the import duty on the metal to 10 percent and also making it mandatory for traders to export 20 percent of the imported gold.

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Petrol price hiked by Rs 1.69/litre, diesel by Rs 0.50

Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 73.58 per litre, up Rs 2.02 from Rs 71.56 at present. Diesel rates will go up by 56 paise to Rs 57.84 per litre.

Petrol price was today hiked by a steep Rs 1.69 per litre and diesel by 50 paise a litre as the crisis in Iraq spooked international oil and currency markets.

The hike, effective midnight tonight, excludes local sales tax or VAT and the actual increase will be higher, varying from city to city.

Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 73.58 per litre, up Rs 2.02 from Rs 71.56 at present. Diesel rates will go up by 56 paise to Rs 57.84 per litre.

"Due to geo-political unrest in the Middle East, there has been significant increase in international oil prices during the past two weeks.

"The international prices of gasoline (petrol) have increased by more than USD 4 per barrel, and the rupee-US dollar exchange rate has also deteriorated. The combined impact of both these factors has warranted an increase in petrol prices by Rs 1.69 per litre, excluding state levies," Indian Oil Corp , the nation's largest oil firm, said.

Diesel rates were hiked in continuation with the previous UPA government's January 2013 policy of raising prices in small doses every month to eliminate subsidy.

IOC said despite the 17 hikes since then, oil firms are losing Rs 3.40 a litre on diesel. Losses have increased from Rs 2.80 a litre earlier this month due to firming up of international oil rates and the rupee depreciating against the US dollar.

Besides diesel, the state oil firms lose Rs 33.07 a litre on kerosene sold through the public distribution system (PDS) and Rs 449 per 14.2-kg domestic subsidised LPG (cooking gas) cylinder.

IOC said at current rate the industry (IOC plus Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum) are projected to end the fiscal with Rs 107,850 crore of revenue losses.

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Sebi passes consent order in Gemini Communications case

Market regulator Sebi today settled charges of non-compliance of takeover norms against foreign institutional investor Merrill Lynch International after the company paid over Rs 40 lakh in settlement fees.

While passing the consent order, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said it has disposed of adjudication proceedings against the company and this order will come into force immediately.

Market regulator had initiated adjudication proceedings against Merrill Lynch in the matter of Gemini Communications to inquire into the alleged violation of Sebi (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeover) Regulations.

It found that Gemini Communications issued euro 1.5 crore Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCB) to Merrill Lynch in July 2007 with a maturity date on July 18, 2012.

As per the FCCB agreement, Merrill Lynch had a right to convert the bonds into shares during the conversion period effective from August 1, 2007 to June 18, 2012 which would represent 1.97 crore shares (15.59 percent) of the issuer's share capital upon conversion.

It was alleged that Merrill Lynch had made a disclosure of cessation of its right to convert FCCBs of the company to the stock exchanges on October 26, 2012  after a delay of four months, which  should have been made on June 20, 2012 or one  month prior to the maturity date of July 18, 2012.

Also, it was alleged that Merrill Lynch had made disclosure of revival of conversion on November 12, 2012 with a delay of over three months, which should have been disclosed by July 20, 2012.

While the adjudication proceedings were in progress, Merrill Lynch submitted a consent order application to Sebi in August last year. It proposed to pay Rs 40.34 lakh as settlement fee.

Under the consent mechanism, a company can settle an issue with the regulator after paying a penalty, without accepting or rejecting the charges against it.

After that, the consent terms were placed before the High Powered Advisory Committee of Sebi and the committee after deliberation "recommended that the case for settlement on payment of Rs 40.34 lakh towards settlement charges."

Consequently, the company remitted the amount towards the settlement charges.

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Religare Invesco Growth: For those with risk appetite

The fund is suitable for those investors who want an exposure to large as well as mid caps in their portfolio with a time horizon of more than 3 years.

Nature: Equity oriented open ended

Inception: August 2007

Assets under Management: Rs 30 crore at the end of March 2014

Fund Manager: Vetri Subramaniam and Vinay Paharia

Analysis:

• Religare Invesco Growth Fund invests in large and mid cap stocks and at the end of November 2012 the fund had the highest exposure to banks with 19 per cent of its portfolio in this area. Consumer non durables, finance and petroleum products were some of the other leading sectors present in the portfolio. The fund took aggressive position and this was visible in its holdings. ITC was the top individual holding with a 9 per cent share. HDFC Bank, HDFC, L&T, Reliance Industries, ONGC, Infosys and Maruti were some of the other leading stocks in the portfolio. The BSE 100 was the benchmark index for the fund and portfolio turnover was 0.44 times. The fund was an underperformer over a one year period but an outperformer over the three year period ended September 2012.
• Six months later banks continued to be the top sector and now it had a 22 per cent share of the portfolio. Software, oil and finance were some of the other sectors with a significant share. The turnover ratio was steady below 0.5 times. HDFC Bank was the top individual holding while ONGC, HDFC, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, L&T, Maruti and Britannia were some of the other top stocks in the portfolio. The fund was an outperformer over the one and three year periods ended March 2013.
• There was a change in the portfolio by November 2013 as banks and software were now having an equal weightage of around 16 per cent each.  Petroleum products and consumer non durables were two other sectors with a significant share. The portfolio turnover ratio remained steady. HDFC Bank was the top holding with an 8 per cent share. Reliance Industries, TCS, HDFC, Britannia, Wipro, L&T, Maruti and ICICI Bank were some of the leading holdings. The fund was an outperformer over the one and three year time periods ended September 2013.
• At the end of May 2014 banks had a slightly higher exposure in the portfolio as compared to software. Auto and Finance were some of the other leading sectors present in the portfolio.  HDFC Bank was the top individual holding with a 10 per cent share in the portfolio. TCS, HDFC, ICICI Bank. L&T, Wipro, Maruti, Hero Motocorp and Britannia were some of the other leading holdings. The funds portfolio turnover ratio had dropped to 0.3 times. The fund was an outperformer over the one and three year time periods ended March 2014.
• The fund is suitable for those investors who are willing to take some additional risk and want an exposure to large as well as mid caps in their portfolio with a time horizon of more than 3 years.

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Top ten rainiest cities in India on Sunday

According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, torrential rain occurred in many parts of Sub Himalayan West Bengal and Northeastern states in the last 24 hours. Monsoon performance will continue to be at its best in these states as more heavy rain is likely throughout this week.

Our list of top ten rainiest cities therefore includes cities from these states only. The table clearly shows West Bengal remained the wettest state on Sunday:

Cities State Rainfall (in millimetres) Bagdogra West Bengal 253 Cherrapunji Meghalaya 174 Panagarh West Bengal 121 Darjeeling West Bengal 104 Kalingpong West Bengal 54 Digha West Bengal 53 Behrampur West Bengal 42 Kolkata West Bengal 41 Guwahati Assam 41 Malda West Bengal 39 Photo by trekearth

By: Skymetweather.com

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All info about black money will be made public: Centre

The latest request was made by the Finance Ministry after a Swiss government official recently said that his country was ready to co-operate proactively with India to share details on a "spontaneous" basis about persons and entities suspected to have untaxed assets in Swiss banks.

The Centre will put in public domain all information it gets about black money stashed in foreign banks, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today. "The government will put all the information it gets regarding black money in public domain when the time comes. We will take steps keeping in view the international and national laws," he told reporters.

Singh said constitution of Special Investigation Team on black money immediately after the formation of the government was an appreciable step. India has made a fresh request to Switzerland seeking bank details and names of Indians having unaccounted money in the country's banks. The latest request was made by the Finance Ministry after a Swiss government official recently said that his country was ready to co-operate proactively with India to share details on a "spontaneous" basis about persons and entities suspected to have untaxed assets in Swiss banks.

Singh said as far as National Population Register (NPR) was concerned door-to-door verification will be done in the next three years and identity cards issued. "So far, the process was slow, but we have accelerated it. On the basis of NPR we will identify who is the citizen of the country and who is not," Singh said while replying to a question regarding Bangladeshi migrants.

The BJP leader also attacked the previous UPA government, accusing it of having "derailed" the country's economy completely. "The present government is making all efforts to bring economy back on the track for which measures are being taken," he said, adding that the government will take support of all the states in this. The Union Minister, however, said evaluating any government in initial days is not justified.

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