Category: India

Deadline on Soured Indian Loans Offers Opening to Private Equity

An impending round of bad-loan provisioning by Indian banks provides an opportunity for private equity and special-situation funds to pick up soured assets at lower prices. Brought on by the expiry of a central-bank deadline for lenders to clean up their balance sheets, the expected provisions will force them to recognize lower valuations on bad debt, making them easier to dispose, according to S. Sriniwasan, chief executive officer of the Kotak Special Situations Credit Fund.

India Blocks Theatrical Release of Feminist Drama ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’

Alankrita Shrivastava’s film, which won honors at Tokyo and Mumbai last year, features “abusive words, audio pornography” and more, says the country’s censor board. After winning accolades on the film festival circuit, Indian female empowerment drama Lipstick Under My Burkha has hit a hurdle at home with India’s censor board denying the film a theatrical release certificate.

Why It Makes Sense for Apple to Make iPhone SEs in India, but Not Other Models

The tech giant’s reported plans to produce the low-cost iPhone model in India would allow it to avoid important tariffs and possibly obtain lower labor costs. For years, Tim Cook has argued that India is Apple’s next big emerging markets growth opportunity as its huge population, growing middle class and 4G network rollouts create a large base of consumers able and willing to buy a high-end smartphone.

India Said to Cut Bank Capital Infusion for This Fiscal Year

India may cut the amount of capital it plans to inject into state-controlled lenders this fiscal year by as much as 78 billion rupees because of slow loan growth, people with knowledge of the matter said. The government, which had promised to inject 250 billion rupees into the lenders in the year ending March 31, has decided to defer 21 billion rupees of the pledged amount into next financial year, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Indian Bank Shunning Corporate Loans Sees Stock Tripling in Year

Indian Bank, a century-old state-owned lender based in the country’s south, has emerged as Asia’s top-performing bank stock in the past year, driven by a focus on consumer loans that are less likely to sour than corporate advances. The Chennai-based firm is aiming to boost retail lending, which includes mortgages and loans underpinned by gold as collateral, to account for 60 percent of its loan book over the next two years, up from 52 percent at the end of December, according to Chief Executive Officer Mahesh Kumar Jain.

Apple Set to Begin Making iPhones in India by April’s End

Apple Inc. will begin assembling iPhones in India by the end of April, a regional minister says, heightening its focus on the world’s fastest-growing major smartphone market as growth slows elsewhere. The U.S. company has tapped Taiwan’s Wistron Corp. to put together its phones in the tech capital of Bangalore in Karnataka, said Priyank Kharge, the state’s information technology minister.

Indian government cuts taxes, pledges to boost rural economy

Indian laborers work at a flyover construction site in Jammu, India, Wednesday, Feb.1, 2017. India’s finance minister Wednesday pledged relief for middle class taxpayers and small and medium-sized companies while planning billions of dollars in spending to double farmers’ incomes over the next five years and improve the country’s ramshackle infrastructure and provide cheap homes to people.

Locals Wary of Modi Budget as Foreigners Sell $6 Billion of Debt

The risk of record borrowings is turning Indian bond investors skeptical going into the government’s budget Wednesday, just as foreign funds exit the market at the fastest pace since 2013. Primary dealers have rescued two of the last four sovereign-debt auctions, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is expected to announce an unprecedented 6.25 trillion rupees in gross market borrowings to fund the fiscal deficit, a survey conducted by Bloomberg shows.

SBI Head Lays Out Deposit Puzzle Faced by India’s Biggest Lender

Analysts scratching their heads over the impact on India’s banks of the country’s move to ban high-value notes have every right to be puzzled, as estimates offered by the chairman of State Bank of India indicate. The bank could retain anything from 15 percent to 40 percent of the deposit boost it received after the government withdrew about four-fifths of the banknotes in circulation in November, Arundhati Bhattacharya said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg Television’s Erik Schatzker.

China’s Clean Air Bid Scares Rivals in Duel Over Dirty Fuel

The Asian country’s road to cleaner air has been gradual, with lead-free gasoline only becoming a requirement in 2000, almost three decades behind the U.S. This month, China imposed new curbs on the amount of sulfur in vehicle fuels to about a fifth of the previous standard, putting it on par with Europe, which has the world’s strictest emissions controls. While the change helps China battle the smog that’s choking residents from Beijing to Xian, many of its refiners still produce the dirtier fuel.

Largest India Bank Sees Loan Growth Jumping From 25-Year Low

State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, is predicting an acceleration in loan growth from a 25-year low after slashing borrowing costs to the lowest level in at least six years. The state-run lender cut lending rates based on the marginal costs of funds by 90 basis points across all tenures on Sunday.

The dirty secret about your clothes

A woman hangs dyed yarn to dry at a textile mill on the outskirts of Agartala, capital of India’s northeastern state of Tripura. In the Colours of Nature dye house, Vijayakumar Varathan is busy prepping a vat of indigo.