1. GST Brings in Nearly 50 Lakh New Taxpayers
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime has seen a significant change in the assesses segmentation compared to the pre-GST era when VAT and Central excise were in place. There are fewer assesses now in the lowest and highest slabs while all the other slabs have seen an increase.
As on 25 July, a total of 63.7 lakh taxpayers migrated from the old system, while 49.53 lakh new taxpayers became part of the indirect tax system taking the total number of taxpayers under GST to more than 1.13 crore. These include 17.66 lakh taxpayers who have opted for the composition scheme.
The government expects the total number of assesses to go up as the GST Council has decided to give businesses one more chance to migrate to the new system.(The Hindu Business Line)
2. Tech Mahindra & AION Capital Set to Buy Inter-Globe Enterprises
Tech Mahindra and AION Capital, a joint venture between global buyout investor Apollo and ICICI Venture, are leading the fray to acquire InterGlobe Technologies, the IT and back office arm of travel conglomerate Inter-Globe Enterprises, multiple sources familiar with the development said.
The two bidders made separate offers 10 days back to acquire the New Delhi-based company in a deal valued at around $400 million. Inter Globe Enterprises also the parent of India's largest airline IndiGo has diversified presence in aviation, hospitality, technology and real estate.
The sale process had also attracted the interest of private equity investors Blackstone, Carlyle, Everstone and Partners Group. (Source: The Times of India)
3. Shuttl Raises $11 Million Funding from Amazon India
Bus aggregator Shuttl, owned by Super Highway Labs Pvt. Ltd, has raised $11 million led by Amazon India, Amazon Alexa Fund and Dentsu Ventures, the startup said on Monday, 29 July. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Times Internet and Lightspeed Ventures have also participated.
Gurgaon-based Shuttl plans to use the funds to expand into two new cities by the end of 2018-19 and grow in existing cities including Delhi NCR and Jaipur. The company, which currently does 45,000 daily rides in five cities, is running pilots in Pune and Kolkata. It has about 60,000 active monthly users.
Shuttl was founded by Singh and Deepanshu Malviya, former colleagues at fashion e-tailer Jabong, with an aim to reduce congestion in cities by offering bus services that consumers can easily book through a mobile app. It started off an inter-city bus service, but three months later pivoted into intracity transport. (Source: Livemint)
4. Former Sequoia MDs to Launch Rs 2,000 cr Fund
Two former managing directors at venture capital fund Sequoia Capital are joining hands to launch a new Rs 2,000-crore investment firm, which will back early- to growth-stage private companies, multiple people familiar with the development said. VT Bharadwaj, who left the high-profile venture capital fund in April, and Gautam Mago, who had quit Sequoia a year ago, will invest in emerging companies across consumer, healthcare, financial services and technology sectors.
A91 Partners, as it's being called, will be among a new set of investment funds started by executives who have gone independent after long stints at bigger firms. The fund plans to start making investments by early next year. (Source: The Times of India)
5. Telangana Releases Rs 5,925-cr Farm Aid
The Telangana government has released Rs. 5,925 crore for the second phase of the Rythu Bandhu scheme for the rabi season. This is part of the Rs. 11,925-crore allocated in the 2018-19 Budget for the scheme that seeks to provide financial assistance of Rs. 4,000 each to farmers for every acre they own.
The scheme is aimed at providing liquidity to farmers to take care of the purchase of inputs ahead of the agricultural season. Disbursals for the kharif season were completed last month. The second phase of disbursals, aimed at providing financial assistance for the rabi season, is expected to kick off next month.
The state government issued an order on Saturday sanctioning Rs. 5,925 crore to the Department of Agriculture. This will complete utilisation of budgetary allocations for the scheme. (Source: The Hindu Business Line)
6. Reliance to Shut its Only Oil Field in KG-D6 in Sept
Exactly a decade after it started production, the MA oil and gas field in the Krishna-Godavari basin block (KG-D6) will seize to produce from September, said Reliance Industries Ltd.
Reliance has till date made 19 oil and gas discoveries in the Krishna-Godavari basin. Of these, D26 or MA - the only oil discovery in the block - was the first field to began production in September 2008. Dhirubhai-1 and Dhirubhai-3 (D1 and D3) fields went onstream in April 2009.
"MA field cessation expected by September 2018," Reliance said in an investor presentation post announcing June quarter earnings. The field had in the first month produced 39,976 tonnes of crude oil and peaked to 108,418 tonnes in May 2010 but has been declining ever since, revealed data. (Source: Livemint)
7. India-Centric PE Funds in Market to Raise $15B
A record 108 India-focused private equity firms are in the market to raise funds up to $15.1 billion - a four-year high - showcasing the attractiveness of Asia's third-largest economy for global investors.
According to data collated by Preqin, there are currently 108 PE funds in the process of raising new investment vehicles. The list includes True North, Multiples, Aditya Birla Private Equity Fund, Greater Pacific Capital and Next Orbit Ventures. Each of them are looking to raise between $500 million and $2 billion in capital.
In contrast, June 2017, the comparable year-ago period, had 97 funds on the road looking to raise $12.1 billion, while 2016 had 76 funds targeting to raise $11.3 billion.(Source: The Economic Times)
8. Essel Plans to Invest Rs 1,750 cr to Set up Electric Vehicle Charging Infra
Essel Infraprojects today said it is planning to invest Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner to set up electric vehicle charging and battery swapping infrastructure. Under the project, EIL will invest Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner with the launch of 250 charging stations, 1,000 battery swapping stations in 20 cities of Uttar Pradesh.
The announcement was made during the foundation stone-laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lucknow.
Speaking on the occasion, Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra said: "With the launch of this initiative, we have enhanced our association with the state and look forward to doing our bit in the government's vision of clean mobility. (Business Standard)
9. Only 66% of Registered Companies in India are Active: Govt data
About 66 percent of the 17.79 lakh companies registered in India were active at the end of June, official data showed amid the government continuing its clampdown on "shell companies". Latest data from the corporate affairs ministry showed that there were more than 11.89 lakh active companies as on 30 June.
Active companies are those carrying out normal business activities and make their statutory filings to the stock exchanges on time. There were 11,89,826 active companies as on 30 June.
Among 'active companies', Maharashtra has the maximum number of active companies (234,151), followed by Delhi (216,286) and West Bengal (1,34,336), the ministry said. (Source: Livemint)
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime has seen a significant change in the assesses segmentation compared to the pre-GST era when VAT and Central excise were in place. There are fewer assesses now in the lowest and highest slabs while all the other slabs have seen an increase.
As on 25 July, a total of 63.7 lakh taxpayers migrated from the old system, while 49.53 lakh new taxpayers became part of the indirect tax system taking the total number of taxpayers under GST to more than 1.13 crore. These include 17.66 lakh taxpayers who have opted for the composition scheme.
The government expects the total number of assesses to go up as the GST Council has decided to give businesses one more chance to migrate to the new system.(The Hindu Business Line)
2. Tech Mahindra & AION Capital Set to Buy Inter-Globe Enterprises
Tech Mahindra and AION Capital, a joint venture between global buyout investor Apollo and ICICI Venture, are leading the fray to acquire InterGlobe Technologies, the IT and back office arm of travel conglomerate Inter-Globe Enterprises, multiple sources familiar with the development said.
The two bidders made separate offers 10 days back to acquire the New Delhi-based company in a deal valued at around $400 million. Inter Globe Enterprises also the parent of India's largest airline IndiGo has diversified presence in aviation, hospitality, technology and real estate.
The sale process had also attracted the interest of private equity investors Blackstone, Carlyle, Everstone and Partners Group. (Source: The Times of India)
3. Shuttl Raises $11 Million Funding from Amazon India
Bus aggregator Shuttl, owned by Super Highway Labs Pvt. Ltd, has raised $11 million led by Amazon India, Amazon Alexa Fund and Dentsu Ventures, the startup said on Monday, 29 July. Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Times Internet and Lightspeed Ventures have also participated.
Gurgaon-based Shuttl plans to use the funds to expand into two new cities by the end of 2018-19 and grow in existing cities including Delhi NCR and Jaipur. The company, which currently does 45,000 daily rides in five cities, is running pilots in Pune and Kolkata. It has about 60,000 active monthly users.
Shuttl was founded by Singh and Deepanshu Malviya, former colleagues at fashion e-tailer Jabong, with an aim to reduce congestion in cities by offering bus services that consumers can easily book through a mobile app. It started off an inter-city bus service, but three months later pivoted into intracity transport. (Source: Livemint)
4. Former Sequoia MDs to Launch Rs 2,000 cr Fund
Two former managing directors at venture capital fund Sequoia Capital are joining hands to launch a new Rs 2,000-crore investment firm, which will back early- to growth-stage private companies, multiple people familiar with the development said. VT Bharadwaj, who left the high-profile venture capital fund in April, and Gautam Mago, who had quit Sequoia a year ago, will invest in emerging companies across consumer, healthcare, financial services and technology sectors.
A91 Partners, as it's being called, will be among a new set of investment funds started by executives who have gone independent after long stints at bigger firms. The fund plans to start making investments by early next year. (Source: The Times of India)
5. Telangana Releases Rs 5,925-cr Farm Aid
The Telangana government has released Rs. 5,925 crore for the second phase of the Rythu Bandhu scheme for the rabi season. This is part of the Rs. 11,925-crore allocated in the 2018-19 Budget for the scheme that seeks to provide financial assistance of Rs. 4,000 each to farmers for every acre they own.
The scheme is aimed at providing liquidity to farmers to take care of the purchase of inputs ahead of the agricultural season. Disbursals for the kharif season were completed last month. The second phase of disbursals, aimed at providing financial assistance for the rabi season, is expected to kick off next month.
The state government issued an order on Saturday sanctioning Rs. 5,925 crore to the Department of Agriculture. This will complete utilisation of budgetary allocations for the scheme. (Source: The Hindu Business Line)
6. Reliance to Shut its Only Oil Field in KG-D6 in Sept
Exactly a decade after it started production, the MA oil and gas field in the Krishna-Godavari basin block (KG-D6) will seize to produce from September, said Reliance Industries Ltd.
Reliance has till date made 19 oil and gas discoveries in the Krishna-Godavari basin. Of these, D26 or MA - the only oil discovery in the block - was the first field to began production in September 2008. Dhirubhai-1 and Dhirubhai-3 (D1 and D3) fields went onstream in April 2009.
"MA field cessation expected by September 2018," Reliance said in an investor presentation post announcing June quarter earnings. The field had in the first month produced 39,976 tonnes of crude oil and peaked to 108,418 tonnes in May 2010 but has been declining ever since, revealed data. (Source: Livemint)
7. India-Centric PE Funds in Market to Raise $15B
A record 108 India-focused private equity firms are in the market to raise funds up to $15.1 billion - a four-year high - showcasing the attractiveness of Asia's third-largest economy for global investors.
According to data collated by Preqin, there are currently 108 PE funds in the process of raising new investment vehicles. The list includes True North, Multiples, Aditya Birla Private Equity Fund, Greater Pacific Capital and Next Orbit Ventures. Each of them are looking to raise between $500 million and $2 billion in capital.
In contrast, June 2017, the comparable year-ago period, had 97 funds on the road looking to raise $12.1 billion, while 2016 had 76 funds targeting to raise $11.3 billion.(Source: The Economic Times)
8. Essel Plans to Invest Rs 1,750 cr to Set up Electric Vehicle Charging Infra
Essel Infraprojects today said it is planning to invest Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner to set up electric vehicle charging and battery swapping infrastructure. Under the project, EIL will invest Rs 1,750 crore in phased manner with the launch of 250 charging stations, 1,000 battery swapping stations in 20 cities of Uttar Pradesh.
The announcement was made during the foundation stone-laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lucknow.
Speaking on the occasion, Essel Group Chairman Subhash Chandra said: "With the launch of this initiative, we have enhanced our association with the state and look forward to doing our bit in the government's vision of clean mobility. (Business Standard)
9. Only 66% of Registered Companies in India are Active: Govt data
About 66 percent of the 17.79 lakh companies registered in India were active at the end of June, official data showed amid the government continuing its clampdown on "shell companies". Latest data from the corporate affairs ministry showed that there were more than 11.89 lakh active companies as on 30 June.
Active companies are those carrying out normal business activities and make their statutory filings to the stock exchanges on time. There were 11,89,826 active companies as on 30 June.
Among 'active companies', Maharashtra has the maximum number of active companies (234,151), followed by Delhi (216,286) and West Bengal (1,34,336), the ministry said. (Source: Livemint)
