Budget 2009 Live: Govt Job Portal, DAVP Waiver, Disinvestment, Railways

(by Preethi J & Nikhil Pahwa) We’re updating this post live, with inputs specific to the Telecom, Digital and Media industry. Do check back for updates. Other Key Updates – Fringe Benefit Tax abolished – Corporate Tax: No change – Goods & Services Tax: A roadmap for GST is being prepared, and an agreement on the basic structure has been [...]

Weekly Digest (26th June-3rd July 2009)

Date: 26th to 3rd July 2009 Segments: Editors Picks, Earnings, Your Picks, Events, Lists For Previous Editions: Weekly Digest Archive Editors Picks – Saleem Mobhani To Join Airtel As Mobile Entertainment Head Editor: By far, among the biggest stories of the last month, in terms of traffic and offline discussions. Mobhani’s move after nine years at Hungama to the client [...]

Indian Digital And Media Stocks Announcements For Week Ending 3 July 2009

Adlabs 1 July 2009:Updates 1 July 2009:Results Press Release 1 July 2009:Updates on Scheme of Arrangement 30 June 2009:Financial Results for March 31, 2009 Aksh Optifibre 3 July 2009:Fixes Book Closure Bharti Airtel 3 July 2009:Reg.13-SEBI(Prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations)1992 30 June 2009:Allotment of Equity Shares pursuant to ESOP Scheme 2005 IBN18 30 June 2009:Results Press Release 29 June 2009:Audited Financial Results for Mar 31, [...]

Digitoon #31: A Call For The Finance Minister

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Budget 2009 WebStream: ET Now, Ndtv, UTVi, Indian Govt; Facebook, Coveritlive

With around an hour left for the unveiling of the Union Budget for the 2009-10 fiscal, and much is expected from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Looking to cash in on potential viewers who would otherwise not be able to catch the budget on TV, media companies are planning to stream the Union Budget live. Indian Government: [...]

Catch Budget 2009-10 Updates Live Online

The budget is a very important issue of interest for every citizen and it pays to catch the budget news fast accompanied with good budgetary analysis. This election witnessed a major shift towards Election 2.0 (with everyone using Web 2.0 to discuss and analyse developments), the same could be said for the upcoming union budget [...]

It & Telecom Sector Expectations From Budget 2009-10

The run up to the budget has already seen hectic lobbying by Industry wide representatives. For the last few days, various bodies have met the finance minister and have been handling their wish lists earlier for benefits, to see a revival in their particular industry. The Indian IT sector is no different and NASSCOM, the [...]

Mixed Media: Do Indian newspapers need to worry about their future?

Should Indian newspapers be worried about their future? Yes, writes Pradyuman Maheshwari, if they continue to treat online media with disdain. While print in India will not face the same problems in the near future as they do in the US, rapid developments in cellphone technology and democratisation of the space, thanks to Twitter and blogs, necessitate that newspaper professionals embrace the Web.

Www: Wat Weekly WrapUp 29th June – 5th July

The end of june and the start of july led to news on the mobile number portability front as draft guidelines were out. The mobile news was flowing with DoT directing telecom operators to start using number 8 and have 11 digits. On the social media front mouthshut launched free accounts to brand owners [...]

Union Budget: What To Look For Today

The new government will present the 2009/10 budget on July 6 and is expected to expand both the budget deficit and its market borrowing requirement to support growth. Following are some scenarios on what Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee may announce and its impact on financial markets. The current fiscal year of 2009/10 runs until the end of next March. BUDGET DEFICIT The government is almost certain to expand the 2009/10 budget deficit beyond the 5.5 percent set in an interim and pre-election budget in February. Bonds have priced in expectations that the deficit will swell to between 6.25 percent and 6.5 percent of GDP. So it is unlikely to be rattled so long as the deficit is around these levels. But any sign that the government is bowing to pressure for populist spending measures to make good on promises made in the April and May general election would spark a bond sell off. If it also fails to present a plan to bring the deficit back under control in subsequent years, the country's credit rating could come under pressure. GOVERNMENT BORROWING TARGET The government will raise its borrowing target for 2009/10 to help pay for its increased budget deficit. A Reuters poll suggests it will rise to 3.95 trillion rupees, a level already factored into bond prices, from 3.62 trillion rupees set in the interim budget in February. Bond yields have jumped to factor in a massive increase in government borrowing. Ten-year bond yields , for example, are up 170 basis points since the start of the year. The forecast borrowing would be 29 percent above 2008/09 borrowing of 3.06 trillion rupees. ASSET SALES: Mukherjee is likely to announce plans to sell shares in some state run firms to help fund rural and social programmes, a central part of the government's election platform. Asset sales would relieve pressure on the bond market and help keep the budget deficit in check. Analysts say the stock market could absorb 100 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) in share sales. A higher amount would be difficult to swallow and would weigh on market sentiment. Analysts suggest Coal India Ltd and hydro-power generator NHPC would be among the easiest IPOs to complete. Shares in railways consulting firm RITES, power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Rural Electrification Corp and power transmission firm Power Grid Corp could also be sold off smoothly, they say. However, potential sales of telecoms firm Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Air India may be problematic. Unions have opposed IPOs of the telecoms firm and loss-making Air India would need to be restructured to make it attractive to investors. INFRASTUCTURE: Mukherjee is expected to announce more plans to repair India's shoddy infrastructure, considered by many foreign investors as the Achilles' heel of the economy that prevents the sort of double-digit growth seen in China. Infrastructure investment is currently around 6 percent of GDP, so that figure could rise, although the budget deficit limits spending for now. Measure would cover both urban and rural projects and include improving the rural roads network and building more low-cost homes to deal with massive demand. It will also announce plans to revamp public transport across the country including building metro rail networks in other cities. These moves will be positive for infrastructure firms and could benefit India's largest infrastructure firm Larsen & Toubro and others such as GMR, GVK and HCC among others. Indeed, the real estate sub-index on the Bombay stocks market has more than doubled in the past three months, compared with a 50 percent rise in the main index. REFORMS: The government is unlikely to unveil any significant economic reform plans in the budget even though its decisive election victory has put pressure on it to deliver new initiatives. Parliament is already chewing over plans to raise the foreign investment ceiling in insurers to 49 percent from 26 percent and reforms in the pension fund management sector -- a process likely to take 6-8 months before approval is reached.