All stories by Sachin P Mampatta
Why Government Jobs Are In Short Supply
Rediff.com13 Jul 2023Almost 25 per cent central government posts were vacant as of March 2022, compared to 9.4 per cent in March 2002.
New manufacturing projects decline in June 2023, shows CMIE data
Rediff.com4 Jul 2023New investment projects announced in the manufacturing sector declined in the three months ended June 2023. The value of new projects was lower than in the March quarter, as well as the year-ago period, shows data from project tracker the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). The new project announcements worth around Rs 85,000 crore in the manufacturing segment in June were a 48 per cent decline from the Rs 1.6 trillion in March and a 66 per cent decline from the Rs 2.5 trillion seen in June 2022.
Uttar Pradesh adds 126,000 new investors in April; Maharashtra loses pull
Rediff.com15 Jun 2023The state with the most people has displaced the state with the largest economy in terms of investor additions. Uttar Pradesh (UP) added 126,000 new investors in April, reveals National Stock Exchange (NSE) disclosures. This is higher than Maharashtra's 118,000. Maharashtra, which is home to India's financial capital of Mumbai, has traditionally been the biggest source of investors.
In debate over NPS and EPFO returns, one retirement fund edges ahead
Rediff.com12 Jun 2023If you work for 30 years, a two per cent difference in pension returns can reduce your final retirement nest egg by 40 per cent. The Rs 9-trillion National Pension System (NPS) seems to be delivering incrementally higher returns than the twice-as-large Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), shows a Business Standard analysis of data over the last seven years for the two retirement fund bodies. An investor who put in Rs 100 in retirement savings seven years ago would have seen her NPS nest egg grow to Rs 182 by 2023, according to the analysis based on the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority's recently released Handbook of National Pension System Statistics 2023.
GST and states, a reality check of how indirect tax system is working
Rediff.com15 May 2023Taiwan in 1951 came up with an ingenious plan to improve tax compliance: citizens taking receipts for purchases could use them as lottery tickets. Customers were incentivized, and businesses found it hard to evade taxes. The plan's success prompted other countries, Slovakia and Greece among them, to launch similar initiatives. India doesn't seem to find the need yet for such schemes amid surging goods and services tax (GST) collections.
India's Rigid Food Inflation Bites Harder
Rediff.com18 Apr 2023Nearly a third of an average Indian citizen's consumption budget is spent on food.
Why Are Indians Obsessed With Overworking?
Rediff.com1 Mar 2023Never mind work-life balance: this generation spends more time on the job than ever before.
Indian investments in foreign stocks, property at record high in Dec
Rediff.com1 Mar 2023The amount of money Indians invested in foreign securities, property, and deposits in 2022 was likely the highest on record. At $2.1 billion, it was the largest spend for any 12-month period according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) data going back over a decade. The amount spent for each individual segment was also the highest.
More than two dozen companies do the vanishing act
Rediff.com2 Feb 2023The companies on the list are from sectors including trading, finance, packaging, textile, realty, and others. Trading and finance companies account for half-a-dozen companies each.
Will Foreign Universities Set Up Campuses In India?
Rediff.com30 Jan 2023The 38.5 million enrolled for higher education in 2019-2020 outnumbered Canada's entire population of 38.2 million.
As wealth inequality grows, is it time for an Indian inheritance tax?
Rediff.com27 Jan 2023Billionaire Bill Gates, in a 2019 interview, supported bringing back a regulation in the US to require the super-rich to pay a 55 per cent tax when they inherit their family fortune. Proponents of an inheritance or estate tax say it reduces inequality and creates a meritocratic society by chipping away at the enormous advantages the children of the wealthiest families enjoy by an accident of birth. Many large economies levy such a tax on their richest citizens; India does not.
Debt as investment avenue is more appealing for the wealthy
Rediff.com12 Jan 2023Debt as an investment avenue for the wealthy has been attracting more assets than equity. The portfolio management service (PMS) industry, whose services require a minimum investment of Rs 50 lakh, has seen a 4.4 per cent decline in equity assets since March 2022.
Capex Crosses Rs 6 Trillion In December
Rediff.com10 Jan 2023'If private capex has to kick in, there should at least be 2-3 years of visibility.'
Gautam Adani's wealth up relative to India's GDP
Rediff.com27 Oct 2022Amid increasing volatility and recession fears looming over global markets that has led to the decline in wealth of a number of billionaires, Gautam Adani was the only one to buck the trend. The billionaire added $43.3 billion in net worth between Diwali 2021 (November 4) and this year's Diwali (October 24) according to Bloomberg data. He added more wealth than the gross domestic product (GDP)of more than a dozen Indian states.
Capex on new projects declines further in Q2
Rediff.com11 Oct 2022Expenditure on new projects slowed down for the second quarter in a row amid an uncertain global environment and higher borrowing costs. There were new projects worth a cumulative Rs 3.26 trillion in the July-September period, according to data provided by project tracker Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). This figure is much less than Rs 4.39 trillion in the June quarter (Q1FY23) and Rs 8.46 trillion in the March quarter (Q4FY22).
Explained: How India's crude import sources have changed over time
Rediff.com16 Sep 2022India's crude oil imports are coming in from a changing mix of countries, with the top three accounting for around 60 per cent of total imports. Russia emerged as the largest source of crude oil imports for India in June, as per the latest available data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The data which is released with a lag, showed that Russian imports accounted for 24 per cent of the total crude imports into the country.
Businessmen suicides outnumber farmers' for 2nd year in a row
Rediff.com31 Aug 2022The states recording the highest number of such deaths include Karnataka (14.3 per cent), Maharashtra (13.2 per cent), and Madhya Pradesh (11.3 per cent). Tamil Nadu (9.4 per cent) and Telangana (7.5 per cent) were the other two in the top five.
Rs 1 Trillion Freebies By State Govts
Rediff.com27 Aug 2022'The power sector accounts for much of the financial burden of state governments in India.'
When Rakesh Jhunjhunwala used to get Rs 60 as trainee CA
Rediff.com22 Aug 2022Nearly four decades ago, when Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was a young chartered accountant in training, he was paid a conveyance of Rs 60. Deductions would take away Rs 15 from this princely sum and he was left with Rs 45 by the time the allowance made its way to his hands. He would save as much as he could from this amount, so that he would have a small amount to spend when he met his friends on the weekend at Chicken Centre. This was an eatery popular with the young at the time, perhaps because food and drink were affordable even for those new to the workforce.
Foreign companies' interest in India fades, shows data
Rediff.com19 Aug 2022George Acland from Great Britain ran a coffee plantation in Sri Lanka and set up India's first jute mill in 1855. He raised capital and imported the machinery for the mill on the banks of the Hooghly in West Bengal. His company wasn't a great success, but his pioneering work paved the way for India to dominate the jute industry.