Alibaba financial affiliate valued at $60 bn: reports
China’s top internet finance company, e-commerce giant Alibaba’s affiliate Ant Financial, could start the process of going public this year, reports said Monday, with the firm’s latest fundraising valuing it at $60 billion. Ant Financial Services Group, which owns and operates the Paypal-like service Alipay, has met the Chinese listing requirement of three years profitability, Bloomberg News cited unidentified sources as saying. It is planning to list on the Shanghai stock exchange, they said, and could become China’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) since 2010. Ant declined to “comment on market speculations”. Partly owned by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Ant Financial also runs China’s largest money market fund and provides financial services focussed on serving small companies. It is currently seeking private funding of $3.5 billion, Bloomberg reported, valuing it at around $60 billion. None of China’s biggest Internet firms are quoted on its domestic exchanges, “so it could enjoy a significant premium in value if it lists in the country”, Li Muzhi, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Arete Research Searches told Bloomberg News. “A lot of the potential retail investors are also Ant Financial’s users,” the analyst added. Alibaba’s Taobao platform is estimated to have more than 90 percent of the consumer-to-consumer market in China, while Alipay handles around 80 percent of online payments in China. Last week the companies announced a joint $1.25 billion investment in an online food delivery firm, the latest in a series of acquisitions as Alibaba diversifies its activities from consumer-to-consumer sales to video streaming and print media. On Monday Alibaba’s movie-making division said it signed deals with Paramount Pictures to invest in two new films, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and Star Trek Beyond. Alibaba also just announced a $1.0 billion investment in a leading online shopping platform in Southeast Asia, Lazada.
India Inc to hire more but pay moderately: Report
India Inc is expected to hire more people but pay moderately, with the average salary hike this fiscal likely to range between 11-13 per cent across industries and functions, says a TeamLease report. According to the staffing services firm, the Indian job market is showing signs of maturity and industries are getting smarter at rewarding talent. The TeamLease Jobs and salary primer report 2016-17 said that unlike last year’s universal double digit salary growth, only 42 per cent of profiles will witness a significant increment in pay packets this fiscal. The average salary hike will range between 11-13 per cent across industries and functions, it said. “The current stagnancy in salary growth is more of a course correction. The renewed focus on talent acquisition coupled with improvement in business scenario, will bring back the buoyancy in reward and compensation structure,” TeamLease Services Senior Vice President Rituparna Chakraborty said. Sector-wise, information technology, agriculture and agrochemicals, FMCG, FMCD, healthcare and pharma, hospitality, retail and telecommunications are likely to see salary growth rates upwards of 11 per cent. A city-wise analysis shows that Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai are prominent on the scale of high increments. As per the report, salaries in the Blue Collar domain see a steep rise for select profiles, with employers wanting to reward and retain specialized skills. In the power and energy sector (electrician, supervisor) and in the hospitality space (gym instructor, housekeeping) are cases where blue collar job profiles have garnered lofty salary increments this year. The unified salary report covers 15 key industry verticals and nine cities. Salaries benchmarked in this document are mostly those pertaining to junior to mid-level profiles.
Trade in fake goods has worsened to almost half a trillion dollars: OECD
Counterfeited and pirated goods accounted for up to 2.5 per cent of world trade, or as much as $461 billion, significantly damaging companies and state coffers, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Monday. The trade in fake products such as Louis Vuitton bags or Nike shoes has also worsened in the past decade, with a previous OECD study in 2008 estimating it at up to 1.9 per cent of world imports or $200 billion. The impact of counterfeiting is greater for rich countries – where most of the companies making the highly desirable branded goods are based – with the European Union importing up to 5 per cent of fakes in 2013, or as much as $116 billion. The Paris-based think-tank said China appeared as the largest producer of counterfeited products, but that the intellectual property rights of Chinese companies had also been frequently infringed. The OECD cited the post-financial crisis revival in trade, the emergence of globalised value chains and booming e-commerce as reasons for the rise in pirated goods trade since 2008.
Reliance Industries looks to shut crude distillation unit in May
Reliance Industries (RIL) said the SEZ refinery of the company is planning to shut down one crude distillation unit for routine maintenance and inspection for about 3 weeks from May 1. “The SEZ refinery of the company is planning to shut down one crude distillation unit for routine maintenance and inspection (M&l) activities from May 1, 2016, for about 3 weeks,”. “The other three crude distillation units, including all secondary processing units, are expected to operate at normal throughput at Jamnagar refinery complex. The company does not anticipate any impact on its commercial commitments.”
C K Deshmukh appointed CVO in Indian Oil Corporation
IAS officer C K Deshmukh was today appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Deshmukh, a 1996 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed to the post till May 23, 2017, the date on which she completes combined central deputation tenure of seven years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said. The CVO acts as distant arm of Central Vigilance Commission to check corruption and strengthen anti-graft measures in an organisation.
Top bureaucrats in fray for chairman post in Oil India
Senior IAS officers Anil Kumar Jain and Ravi Kapoor are among the 10 candidates in fray for the top job at Oil India Ltd, the nation’s second biggest state-owned oil and gas explorer. The ten candidates short-listed from nearly 60 applicants have been called for interview by a three member Search-cum- Selection Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha on April 25, sources privy to the information said. Of the short-listed, four are bureaucrats. While Jain is a 1986 Batch IAS officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre who is currently Adviser with NITI Aayog, Kapoor is 1986 batch IAS officer from Assam Meghalya cadre who is currently Joint Secretary in Department of Commerce. Both of them have previously served in the Oil Ministry. 1988-batch Assam Meghalya cadre IAS officer Jishnu Barua, currently Joint Secretary in Department of Personnel & Training has also been called for interview, sources said. From within Oil India, Director (Operations) P K Sharma has been called for interview. OIL Director (Finance) Rupshikha Saikia Borah, who was previously selected for the top job by government headhunter PESB but rejected by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), was not considered even though she had applied again. Others in fray include P K Rao, Director (Operations), ONGC Videsh Ltd and Ashutosh Karnatak, Director (Project), GAIL India Ltd. From the private sector, Sunil K Bharti, who previously worked with Cairn India has been called for interview. The government had taken the search committee route after it failed to get a suitable candidate in previous three attempts by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB). PESB in its first round of interview in November 2014 found Borah and five others unsuitable to replace S K Srivastava, who retired on June 30, 2015. It, however, selected Borah when it conducted a second round of interviews in February 2015. This led to Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) asking what had changed between November 2014 and February 2015 that Borah became suitable from unsuitable. Following this, the selections were scrapped and fresh applications called. None of the 12 candidates including Borah were found suitable in the third round of interviews done by PESB in September. After Srivastava retired on June 30, 2015 the Oil Ministry named senior bureaucrat U P Singh as the acting Chairman and Managing Director of OIL. Singh, who is Additional Secretary (Exploration) in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, will continue to hold the responsibility till further orders, the sources said. OIL will be the second large public sector unit to have its head selected through a search committee. In February, Gurdeep Singh, Managing Director of Gujarat State Electricity Corp, was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of NTPCBSE 1.68 %, the nation’s largest power producer.
India turns ‘no fly zone’ for business jets on weekends
With the government having put ease of doing business in India at the top of its agenda, VistaJet boss Thomas Flohr knows one change he’d like to see happen — get the aviation regulator to work on weekends so that overflight approvals don’t need to take three days. To be sure, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation will approve emergency requests in a matter of hours but for everybody else, the office is shut on Saturday and Sunday. Flohr had wanted to fly from Myanmar to Dubai on Monday, January 4, for which permission was sought on the preceding Friday, New Year’s Day. But VistaJet, the world’s largest operator of business jets, was told it wouldn’t be able to get approval before Tuesday. “I had to be in Dubai on Monday,” Flohr told ETin a recent interview. Circumventing India meant an additional three hours of flying time-—it took him nine hours instead of six to get to Dubai from Myanmar. And it’s not just overflights, even trips to Indian destinations from overseas at short notice, say by a corporate boss in her company jet, risk getting stuck. All foreign-registered aircraft using Indian air space need DGCA approval. While scheduled commercial airlines have a fixed timetable and approvals are obtained in advance, business jets need permission each time they fly into or over India, as do those seeking to fly overseas from the country. Flohr said the regulator can speed up things by hiring a few more people because such delays hurt India’s image when it’s aiming to draw overseas investment. “Aviation is a 24/7 business. How can the regulator not work on weekends?” Flohr said. “The Indian government is trying to improve its ranking in ease of doing business in India. The government can improve it further by hiring five to 10 people who can work on weekends.” The solution may not be that simple though. DGCA didn’t respond to queries but an official who didn’t want to be named said such permission wasn’t just up to the regulator. Apart from emergencies, such applications need to be cleared by the home ministry and other government departments. Indian business jet operators echo the concerns raised by Flohr. International flight plans filed by them also get stuck because of weekends and holidays. “Every Indian business aircraft flying international has to take approvals from the DGCA. These approvals are delayed, as the DGCA does not work on weekends,” said RK Bali, secretary at the Business Aircraft Operators Association, which represents 130 business aircraft operators registered in the country. To be sure, DGCA officials try to be as accommodative as they can. A business aircraft operator said that flight plans have at times been sent for approval to their homes. “They take pride in saying that they are helpful and sign on approvals even when they are off on weekends. But this problem can be sorted completely by hiring people to work on weekends, which they won’t,” said the person, who didn’t want to be named. In the US, once an operator has been approved by the aviation authorities, it doesn’t have to seek permission every time one of its planes uses the country’s airspace. “Why cannot India copy systems prevalent in the US? I do not need a permit to fly to the US because we are approved by them,” said Flohr, whose company has a fleet of 61 aircraft, five of them dedicated to the Indian market. The situation in China was similar to India until five years ago, but that country has now fixed the problem, he said. “Somewhat it’s the same for India. Once these norms are relaxed, it will immensely benefit the country.” Bali also said that the situation is not in sync with the requirements of aviation. “There is a huge gap between aviation’s requirement and regulator’s attitude,” he said.
5/20 rule set to be tweaked: MoS for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma
Indicating that the decade-old norm for international operations by the domestic carriers, popularly known as 5/20 rule, is set to be tweaked, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma today expressed hope that the Union Cabinet will give its nod to the revised norm by this month. The rule was a “matter of concern,” and has been addressed (appropriately), Sharma, who is Minister of State for Civil Aviation, said at an event. “(We) have sent the revised 5/20 rule for consultation… it should be back in 10-15 days and then can be taken up by the cabinet anytime,” he told reporters. The existing regulation requires an Indian carrier to have a minimum five years of domestic flying experience and a fleet of at least 20 planes to fly overseas. The issue of 5/20 international flying norm has witnessed extensive debates with legacy carriers opposing any changes to the rule, while start-up airlines – AirAsia India and Vistara – are against continuing with the requirement. Sharma also said Civil Aviation Ministry has already sent the draft aviation policy for inter-ministerial consultation, adding that “it should be taken up by the cabinet anytime.” All issues relating to the aviation sector will be addressed in new policy, he added. Measures suggested in the draft policy, which was unveiled last October, seek to give a boost to the Indian aviation sector, which has a high growth potential, and strengthen regional connectivity. It has suggested tax incentives for airlines, maintenance and repair works of aircraft besides mooting 2 per cent levy on all air tickets to fund regional connectivity scheme. There are other significant proposals such as increasing FDI limit for foreign airlines, setting up of no-frills airports and providing viability gap funding for airlines to bolster regional air connectivity. Sharma said that the Government was open to re-look at taxations on jet fuel for the states participating in the regional connectivity scheme. “We have already proposed a haircut to bring taxation to 1 per cent on the regional connectivity scheme,” he said. On the issue of fixing thresholds for economy class air fares, Sharma said that the “price capping” was being looked at through a consensus method.
Now, AI chief speaks out against watchdogs slowing decison-making
More bureaucrats are now coming out openly to voice their concerns about taking decisions in a government set-up that can later be interpreted any which way by agencies like the CBI, CAG and CVC. Just over a week after coal secretary Anil Swarup voiced resentment in government circles over watchdogs turning roadblocks through a Facebook post, Air India chairman Ashwini Lohani has bared his heart too. “The dilemma of a public sector chief. That too of a complex, decayed yet live wire organisation like AI. Do I set it right even at the cost of self sacrifice…. Do I play safe and let the organisation sink. Or take major decisions and run the risk of being run down myself when my decisions would be dissected in hindsight?…. Perhaps there are no easy answers and I have to depend only on the voice of my conscience,” Lohani said in a Facebook post on Thursday. Earlier this week, Lohani said in his blog: “The role of the check posts, namely the vigilance and audit setups has to be reviewed and drastically curtailed. Malafide has to be handled with an iron hand, mistakes need to be merely glossed over. Trust in human beings has to be brought back…” Senior AI officials working closely with Lohani say private airline managements are able to quickly take decisions. “AI is competing with quick footed people like Naresh Goyal (of Jet), Rahul Bhatia and Aditya Ghosh (promoter and president of IndiGo) who are the big boys of Indian aviation. They take decisions over phone calls and implementation happens soon after. AI, on the other hand like all PSUs, has huge systems to follow. So its decision-making is not fast like the airlines it is competing with,” said an official. Also, bureaucrats running AI — whether in airline management or mandarins of the aviation ministry — are now scared of taking big ticket decisions to to avoid spending their retirement years in Tihar Jail. Most bureaucrats now want to ‘uneventfully’ (read indecisively) complete their tenure to avoid ‘problems’ with the watchdogs. “What really foxes me is the mess and the amount of indecision at all levels that must have gone into almost on a continuous basis to achieve the grand mess that we are saddled with today at the national carrier. Yes it is true that the typical staid way of functioning must have helped a lot, as that alone guarantees maintenance of status quo and hefty premium on non-deliverance,” Lohani’s blog earlier this week said. Sources say the time has come to take some big decisions at AI, like expanding its wide body fleet as the airline has major plans for adding new destinations in Europe, Africa and Americas. The fleet and network expansion will mean employing more people and opening offices abroad. “AI can either continue as it is or take a leap frog under the decisive leadership of PM Modi who has always favoured a strong public sector. Even divesting in AI will mean improving the airline first so that it can attract some buyers. Who will buy it in the current form?” said an employee.
Asian Development Bank clears $300 million loan for upgradation of UP roads
Multi-lateral funding agency Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a project loan of $300 million (about Rs 2,000 crore) for upgradation of over 400 km of major district roads in Uttar Pradesh. The project supports the state government’s core road network improvement master plan, under which the government plans to improve the roads through a combination of state, private and multilateral resources, ADB said in a statement. The loan, which is ADB’s first road sector assistance in Uttar Pradesh, will be used to improve around 430 km of major district roads, upgrading them to standard design widths, suitable for use in all types of weather and with safety features, including widened and strengthened culverts and bridges. The Manila-based lender said a key element of the project is the inclusion of 5-year performance-based maintenance contracts to ensure ongoing high-standard upkeep of the roads. Uttar Pradesh is the country’s most populous state and has the largest rural population, along with widely dispersed industrial centres, making its total road network of around 3,00,000 km crucial for its economy and development. However, significant stretches have inadequate widths and poor surfacing, leading to higher economic costs and making them hazard-prone. Along with ADB’s loan, the government of Uttar Pradesh will provide support of $128 million for the project.