India’s gross direct tax collections increased 24.58% to Rs 14.71 trillion resulting in net inflows of Rs12.31 trillion after refunds. There was a sharp surge in personal income tax mop-up by 30.5% yoy. Net tax collections up to the 10th of January are 19.6% higher on a yoy basis. This net figure represents nearly 86.7% of the total annual budgeted collections so India should see revenues spilling higher than the budget estimates for FY23. Finance Minister will present Union Budget 2023-24 on 01st February 2023.
As India takes bold steps to establish itself in the supply chain for electric vehicles there is a more practical problem that India is up against. India has been trying to manufacture batteries for EVs, which is the most expensive component, and that is where it is facing challenges. India is still short on robust supply chains and recycling capabilities as it only has a fraction of the raw materials to satisfy the demand for lithium-ion batteries. China has already captured most of the nickel, cobalt and copper assets and mines overseas.
Piramal Capital will grow retail loan book to over Rs100,000 crore in next 3 years from Rs25,000 crore. The company has been rebranded as Piramal Finance; with focus on housing finance, SME lending, retail finance and corporate lending. Developer financing is the mainstay at Rs42,000 crore. It wants to de-risk this model. Its retail book comes mainly from the takeover of DHFL. While 63% of the retail book is housing finance, 26% is MSME Financing. Piramal Finance is led by former Axis Bank honcho, Sridhar Jayaram.
Bharti Airtel stock dipped 4 per cent to Rs760.60 after JP Morgan downgraded the stock to “Underweight” and reduced its price target to Rs710. JP Morgan expects higher 5G capex and absence of tariff hikes to push down ROIC. Bharti has now corrected 13% from its peak price of Rs877. The last round of tariff hikes in 2022 did not come through due to competitive pressures. Both Bharti and Jio are now focused on roll out of 5G services. Consumer appetite for tariff hikes may be limited due to the upcoming election cycle.
NRIs can soon make payments through Unified Payments Interface (UPI), even without Indian mobile number. NPCI has allowed NRIs in 10 countries to digitally transfer funds using UPI platform from their international numbers using their NRE or NRO accounts. These countries include Singapore, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, USA, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and UK. This service will be in partnership with designated banks and in compliance with FEMA and anti-money laundering provisions.
Funding for Indian start-ups dropped 33% to $24 billion in 2022 on yoy basis as per a recent PWC report. However, the start-up funding was more than double the figure of 2019 and 2020. Start-up funding stood at $13.2 billion in 2019, $10.9 billion in 2020 and $35.2 billion in 2021. Even within IT services, SAAS is still the preferred space for start-up funding flows. In volume terms, early-stage deals accounted for 60–62% of the total funding in 2021 and 2022 in volume terms with an average ticket size of $4 million per deal.
The ambitious super app, Tata Neu, launched in April 2022 by Tata group is likely to meet just half the sales target for the year. The group is likely to review its digital strategy. It had set a target of $8 billion sales through Tata Neu, but only $4 billion was achieved. The project was hailed as the future of the Tata group, but these may still be early days. To bolster its online presence, Tata group had acquired digital properties like Big Basket and 1 MG and invested more than $2 billion over the last 3 years in digital space.
Hindustan Unilever acquired 51% of Zywie Ventures Private Limited for a consideration of Rs264.28 crore, valuing the company at around Rs520 crore. The remaining 49% will be acquired in the second tranche. It owns the brand OZIVA, which is a pioneering plant-based and clean-label consumer wellness brand. OZIVA focuses on lifestyle protein, hair and beauty supplements and women’s health. This is considered a high growth area in the Indian market. The balance 49% acquisition will be done on completion of 36 months.