The country’s retirement system ranks last in the global pension index in india

The country’s retirement system ranks last
in the global pension index, says a study
by global consulting major Mercer.
Still, the National Pension System (NPS),
which was launched by the government in
June as part of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojana, will help the country improve its
index, the study said.
The country’s index value fell from 43.5
in 2014 to 40.3 in 2015, primarily due to
a recent review conducted by the
economic intelligence unit that showed a
material reduction in its household
savings rate, Melbourne Mercer Global
Pension Index (MMGPI) report said.
Enhanced participation in the National
Pension System will help the country
increase its index value, it added.
Denmark has been rated as the country
with the best retirement system in the
world. Australia, Germany, Japan,
Singapore and the UK have increased
their pension age to offset the increase in
life expectancies.
Now in its seventh year, the MMGPI
measured 25 retirement income systems
against more than 40 indicators, under
the sub-indices of adequacy,
sustainability and integrity.
The report covers close to 60 percent of
the world’s population and suggests how
governments can provide adequate and
sustainable benefits that protect their
citizens, against longevity risk.
The report rated Denmark as the country
with the best retirement system for the
fourth consecutive year in 2015, with an
overall score of 81.7.
However, it said that the Indian retirement
system continues to rank last.

Mutual fund assets set to hit Rs 20 lakh crore by 2018

Mutual fund assets set to hit Rs 20 lakh crore by 2018
Despite the global
headwinds, retail investors are shopping
in a big way via the mutual fund route,
and the industry is set to touch Rs 20
lakh crore asset base in the next three
years.
Total assets under management or AUM
of the mutual fund industry are expected
to cross Rs 20 lakh crore mark by 2018
from Rs 12 lakh crore, or roughly 10 per
cent of India’s GDP , which stands at $2
trillion, according to a report.
Faster growth is backed by factors such
as low penetration, a sound
macroeconomic environment and
favourable demographics, according to a
joint report by EY and Cafemutual.
It is difficult to comment if AUM could
touch the Rs 20 lakh crore mark or not,
but it looks reasonable and very mush
possible, Dinesh Khara, MD & CEO, SBI
Mutual Fund, said on the sidelines of
Cafemutual Confluence 2015.
The India mutual fund industry is in a
sweet spot with all the enabling
ingredients in place. Strong fundamentals
of the economy helped cushion the Indian
financial markets (including mutual funds)
during the global financial crisis.
If we just look at the SIP or systematic
investment plan, which has increased
multiple times, it only shows that
investors are maturing, Anup Bagchi, MD
& CEO, ICICI Securities, said on the
sidelines of the Cafemutual Confluence
2015.
This is evident from the fact that fund
managers continued their shopping spree
in August, purchasing shares worth a
staggering Rs 10,533 crore even though
overseas investors or FIIs pulled out a
record amount of money from the stock
market.
This was the 16th consecutive month
when mutual funds were net buyers of
equities.
Latest data showed fund managers
bought shares worth a net Rs 10,533
crore last month while foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs) took a record Rs 17,434
crore off the table during the period.
This is an all-time high net outflow by
FPIs since 1997, said a PTI report. In
October 2008, FPIs offloaded a net of Rs
15,347 crore from the market in the
aftermath of the Lehman Brothers
collapse, which triggered the global
financial crisis.
Since 2008, AUM of the Indian mutual
fund industry has grown at a CAGR of
16.84 per cent, outpacing the global
average of approximately 8.8 per cent in
the same period, said the report.
The report also highlighted that there lies
a significant opportunity to channel
household savings, which are only at Rs
11.7 lakh crore into capital markets.

India has the potential to become the world’s largest middle class consumer market with total consumer spend of nearly US$ 13 trillion by 2030

Urbanisation and rise in middle class The movement of population to town and cities for jobs is resulting in urbanisation. By 2025, India will have six megacities, accommodating a population of 10 million or more. As per estimates, India will have 63 cities with a population of one million or more, compared to 43 cities in 2011(Source: PwC). Increasing urbanisation and awareness for basic
sanitation will create more demand for sanitaryware in the coming years.India has the potential to become the world’s largest middle class consumer market with total consumer spend of nearly US$ 13 trillion by 2030 (Source: Deloitte report titled ‘India matters: Winning in growth markets’). This segment is embracing international lifestyles, translating into a surge in for modern amenities.

Indian Companies raise Rs 11,000 crore via rights issue in FY 15

Fund raising through rights issue has crossed Rs 11,000 crore mark this year, indicating growing traction among domestic firms to mop up capital via this route. 

This is much higher than about Rs 5,224 crore garnered via issuing ‘rights’ shares in the entire 2014. 

Market experts say that fund raising through this route is likely to go up further as many firms have lined up plans for rights issue, where shares are issued to existing investors at a pre-determined price, normally at a discount, in proportion to their holdings. 

As per an analysis of capital raised through this route, a total of seven firms have raked in Rs 11,535 crore so far this year (January-July). Most of the funds were for expansion and to support working capital requirements. 

The largest rights issue was from Tata Motors that raked in Rs 7,498 crore followed by Future Retail (Rs 1,589 crore), GMR Infrastructure (Rs 1,402 crore), State Bank of Travancore (Rs 474 crore), Can Fin Homes (Rs 276 crore), Zee Media Corp (Rs 195 crore) and Vascon Engineers (Rs 100 crore). 

According to market analysts, a positive outlook for equities and availability of capital have opened this window for the companies to mop up fresh funds from issuing ‘rights’ shares. 

There was a huge gap between the capital raised through rights issue and funds garnered via IPO routes. A total of Rs 4,000 crore has been mopped up via initial public offerings (IPOs) so far this year.

List of multi national companies from India.

1. Aditya Birla Group
      The Aditya Birla Group is a multinational
conglomerate named after Aditya Vikram
Birla , headquartered in the Aditya Birla
Centre in Worli , Mumbai , India.

Aditya Birla Group of Companies

Aditya Birla Chemicals (India) Limited
Aditya Birla Chemicals (Thailand)
Limited
Aditya Birla Financial Services Group
(ABFSG)
Birla Sun Life Insurance
Birla Sun Life Asset Management
Company Ltd.
Aditya Birla Finance Limited
Aditya Birla Money Limited
Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers
Aditya Birla Capital Advisors Private
Limited
Aditya Birla Minerals
Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited
Aditya Birla Retail
Aditya Birla Science and Technology
Company Limited
Alexandria Carbon Black Company SAE
Alexandria Fiber Company SAE
Birla Jingwei Fibres Company Limited
Birla Laos Pulp and Plantations
Company Limited
Dahej Harbour & Infrastructure Limited
Hindalco industries
Domsjö Fabriker
Essel Mining and Industries
Grasim Industries Limited
Idea Cellular Limited
Indo Phil Cotton Mills
Indo Phil Textile Mills
Indo Thai Synthetics
Liaoning Birla Carbon Company Limited
Louis Phillipe
Novelis Inc.
Pan Century Surfactants Inc.
Peter England
People
PT Elegant Textile Industry
PT Indo Bharat Rayon
PT Indo Liberty Textiles
PT Indo Raya Kimia
PT Sunrise Bumi Textiles
Swiss Singapore Overseas Enterprises
Pte Limited
Thai Acrylic Fibre
Thai Carbon Black
Thai Rayon
UltraTech Cement Limited
Utkal Alumina International Limited
Pantaloons Fashion & Retail

2. Asian Paints
            Asian Paints in South Asia (India,
Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka).
SCIB Paints in Egypt.
Berger in South East Asia (Singapore),
Middle East (UAE, Bahrain and Oman),
Caribbean (Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad &
Tobago).Apco Coatings in South Pacific (Fiji,
Tonga, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu).
Taubmans in South Pacific (Fiji and
Samoa)

3. ICICI Bank
             ICICI Bank is an Indian multinational
banking and financial services company
headquartered in Mumbai , Maharashtra ,
India . As of 2014 it is the second largest
bank in India in terms of assets and
market capitalisation . It offers a wide
range of banking products and financial
services for corporate and retail
customers through a variety of delivery
channels and specialised subsidiaries in
the areas of investment banking, life , non-
life insurance , venture capital and asset
management. The Bank has a network of
4,050 branches and 12,642 ATMs in
India, and has a presence in 17 countries
including India.

4.Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited
Multinational pharmaceutical company
headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra
that manufactures and sells
pharmaceutical formulations and active
pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)
primarily in India and the United States.
The company offers formulations in
various therapeutic areas, such as
cardiology , psychiatry , neurology ,
gastroenterology and diabetology . It also
provides APIs such as warfarin,
carbamazepine, etodolac, and clorazepate,
as well as anticancers, steroids, peptides,
sex hormones, and controlled substance.

5. Tata Motors
Tata Motors Limited (formerly TELCO ,
short for Tata Engineering and
Locomotive Company) is an Indian
multinational automotive manufacturing
company headquartered in Mumbai,
Maharashtra , India and a subsidiary of the
Tata Group . Its products include
passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches,
buses, construction equipment and
military vehicles. It is the world’s 17th-
largest motor vehicle manufacturing
company, fourth-largest truck
manufacturer, and second-largest bus
manufacturer by volume.
Tata Motors has auto manufacturing and
assembly plants in Jamshedpur,
Pantnagar , Lucknow, Sanand , Dharwad ,
and Pune in India, as well as in Argentina,
South Africa, Thailand, and the United
Kingdom. It has research and
development centres in Pune,
Jamshedpur, Lucknow, and Dharwad,
India,chintalapudi and in South Korea,
Spain, and the United Kingdom. Tata
Motors’ principal subsidiaries include the
British premium car maker Jaguar Land
Rover (the maker of Jaguar, Land Rover,
and Range Rover cars) and the South
Korean commercial vehicle manufactuer
Tata Daewoo. Tata Motors has a bus-
manufacturing joint venture with
Marcopolo S.A. ( Tata Marcopolo), a
construction-equipment manufacturing
joint venture with Hitachi ( Tata Hitachi
Construction Machinery), and a joint
venture with Fiat which manufactures
automotive components and Fiat and Tata
branded vehicles.
Founded in 1945 as a manufacturer of
locomotives , the company manufactured
its first commercial vehicle in 1954 in a
collaboration with Daimler-Benz AG, which
ended in 1969. Tata Motors entered the
passenger vehicle market in 1991 with the
launch of the Tata Sierra, becoming the
first Indian manufacturer to achieve the
capability of developing a competitive
indigenous automobile. [4] In 1998, Tata
launched the first fully indigenous Indian
passenger car, the Indica , and in 2008
launched the Tata Nano , the world’s
cheapest car. Tata Motors acquired the
South Korean truck manufacturer Daewoo
Commercial Vehicles Company in 2004
and purchased Jaguar Land Rover from
Ford in 2008.
Tata Motors is listed on the Bombay Stock
Exchange, where it is a constituent of the
BSE SENSEX index, the National Stock
Exchange of India , and the New York
Stock Exchange. Tata Motors is ranked
287th in the 2014 Fortune Global 500
ranking of the world’s biggest
corporations.

6. Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services Limited ( TCS )
is an Indian multinational information
technology (IT) service , consulting and
business solutions company
headquartered in Mumbai , Maharashtra . [2]
[3] TCS operates in 46 countries. [4] It is a
subsidiary of the Tata Group and is listed
on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the
National Stock Exchange of India . TCS is
one of the largest Indian companies by
market capitalization ($80 billion)
and is the largest India-based IT services
company by 2013 revenues. TCS is
now placed among the ‘Big 4’ most
valuable IT services brands worldwide. [9]
In 2013, TCS is ranked 57th overall in the
Forbes World’s Most Innovative
Companies ranking, making it both the
highest-ranked IT services company and
the first Indian company. It is the
world’s 10th largest IT services provider,
measured by the revenues.

8. Tech Mahindra

Tech Mahindra Limited is an Indian
multinational provider of information
technology (IT), networking technology
solutions and business support services
(BPO) to the telecommunications industry. Tech Mahindra is a part of the
Mahindra Group conglomerate. Anand
Mahindra is the founder of Tech
Mahindra. Earlier it was known as
Mahindra British Telecom.It is
headquartered at Pune, Maharashtra ,
India. Tech Mahindra was ranked #5 in
India’s software services (IT) firms and
overall #111 in Fortune India 500 list for
2012. Tech Mahindra, on 25 June
2013, announced the completion of a
merger with Mahindra Satyam .
The combined entity has 103,281
employees, as of 2015, across 51
countries, servicing 767 customers
globally. It has 15 overseas offices for
BPO (business process outsourcing)
operations and software development. Its
revenue for 2012-13 was put at $2.7
billion (Rs. 162 billion). Tech
Mahindra has operations in more than 51
countries with 40 sales offices and 72
delivery centres. Assessed at SEI CMMi
Level 5, its Software headcount stood at
72,952, BPO at 22,693 and Support at
7,636 at the end of the financial year
2015.

9. Wipro

Wipro Limited ( Western India Products
Limited) is an Indian multinational IT
Consulting and System Integration
services company headquartered in
Bangalore, India . As of March 2015,
the company has 158,200 employees
servicing over 900 of the Fortune 1000
corporations with a presence in 67
countries. On 31 March 2015, its
market capitalization was approximately $
35 Billion, making it one of India’s largest
publicly traded companies and seventh
largest IT Services firm in the World.
To focus on core IT Business, it
demerged its non-IT businesses into a
separate company named Wipro
Enterprises Limited with effect from 31
March 2013. The demerged companies
are consumer care, lighting, healthcare
and infrastructure engineering which
contributed approximately 10% of the
revenues of Wipro Limited in previous
financial year.

Tourist arrivals to the country under the e- visa facility have jumped over 10 times year-on-year during January-May 2015.

Tourist arrivals to the country under the e-
visa facility have jumped over 10 times
year-on-year during January-May 2015.
MUMBAI: Tourist arrivals to the country
under the e-visa facility have jumped over
10 times year-on-year during January-May
2015 when 1,10,657 tourists used the ‘e-
Tourist Visa’ scheme launched in
November last year.
In comparison, only 9,841 tourists used
the earlier ‘Visa on Arrival’ scheme during
January- May 2014, according to tourism
ministry data.
The Visa on Arrival facility was available
to citizen of 12 countries while the e-
Tourist Visa (eTV) facility was launched
for nationals of 43 countries. Last month,
the government extended the scheme to
31 more countries.
Under the eTV scheme, a foreign tourist
can apply for a visa by uploading his
passport and photograph and paying his/
her visa fee online. The authorities
process the application and send him/her
an electronic travel authorisation, or e-
visa, through email within 72 hours.
The tourism ministry statement further
added that 15,659 tourist arrived on e-
Tourist Visa during the month of May
2015 as compared to 1,833 during the
month of May 2014, registering a growth
of around 754%.
India has jumped 13 ranks in the World
Economic Forum Travel and Tourism
Competitiveness Index, 2015.
Top 10 Countries that availed e-Tourist
Visa in May 2015
1. USA – 37.82%
2. Germany – 9.35%
3. Australia – 8.95%
4. Russian Federation – 5.85%
5. Republic of Korea – 4.30%
6. UAE – 3.53%
7. Mexico – 3.16%
8. Ukraine – 3.01%
9. Japan – 2.89%
10. Singapore – 2.43%

Indians least prepared for retirement , bank on children : study

Indians are least prepared for retirement among major economies and a large number brandishes the explanation that their children would take care if them in their sunset years .
           India is as yet relatively a country of young people with a median age of 30 years and those older than 60 years constitute about 12 crore of 125 crore plus population. Yet . this number is poised to grow 37 crore by 2050. Significantly even though the cost of living and medical ex-expenses continue to raise the average percentage of per capita retirement and pension assets as a percentage of the GDP is lowest among the world at 15 per cent. Other countries in comparison Brazil 41:percent Australia 146 ,US 79,  Germany 21

India’s per capita retirement & pension assets lowest in world

               India’s per capita retirement and pension
assets as a percentage of GDP is among
the lowest in the world, according to
survey report by Reliance Capital Asset
Management
MUMBAI: India’s per capita retirement and
pension assets as a percentage of GDP is
among the lowest in the world, according
to survey report by Reliance Capital Asset
Management.
India has 15.1 per cent of retirement
assets as a percentage of GDP, when
compared to 21 per cent in Germany, 41
per cent in Brazil, 78.9 per cent in USA
and 146 per cent in Australia, the first
retirement survey by RCAM, which is a
part of Reliance Capital, said today.
The survey was conducted online pan-
India in collaboration with IMRB
International.
“India is a young country with the median
age of its population under 30 years. We
have around 100 million people today
above the age of 60 years, which is
expected to triple to 300 million by 2050.
“This will pose a huge economic
challenge for the country if we do not
plan for providing right retirement options
today,” RCAM Deputy Chief Executive
Officer Himanshu Vyapak said in a
statement.
“With this study, we have made an attempt
to understand the mindset of the
consumer towards retirement planning,”
he said.
“India’s per capita retirement and pension
assets as a percentage of GDP are
amongst the lowest in the world,” he
added.
The online survey reveals that retirement
planning is the most important financial
goal for respondents, ahead of other
goals, including buying a house,
education of children and marriage. The
retirement planning goal is the most
important for the 30-40 and 41-55 age
groups.
The most important reason for consumers
to buy a retirement plan are “enjoying
retired life” and “taking care of family”.
States like UP have expressed greater
concern towards rising costs on account
of inflation and would like their retirement
returns to beat inflation, the study said.
The survey reveals that majority of the
respondents prefer to invest in retirement
plans between the ages of 30-40 years.
More than 60 per cent of the respondents
said they would like to start saving for
retirement before they reach 40.

The government has received a total upfront payment of over Rs 32,300 crore from telecom players against the spectrum sold during the March auction

The government has received a total
upfront payment of over Rs 32,300 crore
from telecom players against the
spectrum sold during the March auction,
well above the minimum outstanding due
of Rs 28,835.34 crore.
Telecom major Bharti Airte l has paid the
entire sum for Rajasthan and North East
circles. The Department of Telecom (DoT)
has received Rs 32,377.85 crore, nearly
Rs 3,500 crore above the minimum due,
sources told PTI.
Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest telecom
operator, has paid Rs 11,374.7 crore,
while the upfront amount due from it was
Rs 7,832.20 crore. All other telecom
operators have paid the minimum amount
due from them. The bank guarantees have
also been received as per demand, they
said.
India’s biggest telecom spectrum auction
ended on March 25 after 19 days of fierce
bidding that fetched bids worth about Rs
1.10 lakh crore to the government. After
the completion of the auction, Telecom
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad made an
appeal to all successful companies to
make payments. The proceeds from the
auction of airwaves are expected to help
the government keep the fiscal deficit
within the target of 4.1 percent of the
GDP, or about Rs 5.12 lakh crore, for
2014-15.
As per DoT, Aircel has paid Rs 742.5
crore, Idea Cellular Rs 7,734.2 crore,
Reliance Communications Rs 1,104.1
crore, Reliance Jio Infocomm Rs 2,591.8
crore, Tata Teleservices Rs 2,013.3 crore
and Vodafone Rs 6,817.2 crore.
Many successful spectrum bidders,
including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio,
Vodafone and Idea Cellular had paid
about Rs 10,808 crore towards upfront
payments till March 31, helping the
government meet its fiscal deficit target of
4.1 percent for 2014-15. As per the final
results, Idea made total commitment of Rs
30,252.87crore followed by Airtel at Rs
29,129.08 crore, Vodafone Rs 25,806.06
crore, Reliance Jio Infocomm Rs
97,632.81 crore, Reliance Communication
Rs 4,290.49 crore, Tata Teleservices Rs
7,851.33 crore and Aircel Rs 2,250 crore.

Sectors of the Indian economy with high growth potential

Some promising sectors of the Indian
economy with high growth potential are
discussed below:
1. Engineering
The engineering sector has remained a
high potential business, which has played
a crucial role in boosting the economy
and supporting the growth of other key
sectors of the economy. It contributes
almost 8 percent to the annual GDP. India
is the largest exporter of machinery and
other engineering products in the third
world countries. India competes
successfully in the global capital goods
market, catering to the needs of steel
plants, power plants, cement,
petrochemical units as well as mining. It
also exports farm equipment, such as
tractors and harvesters, construction
machinery, passenger cars, electrics,
electronics and pollution control
equipment.
2. Transportation
The transportation industry is an
evergreen sector in India, with very large
potential for growth. This sector
comprises roadways, ports, super
highways, rail as well as aviation. It is a
high growth sector contributing to 8.5%
of GDP. This sector has unique
opportunities of foreign investments in
highway construction and management
but is also bogged down by issues of
land acquisition and environmental
clearances. Aviation too has good
potential under new FDI norms. Railways
are yet to open up for private investment,
but will offer tremendous opportunities as
and when it gets restrictions are lifted.
3. InfoTech Industry
The Infosys Auditorium
India’s strength in the Information
technology sector is based on the
development of sophisticated knowledge
base and competence of specially trained
professionals. The industry constitutes
the export driven IT services sector and
business process outsourcing. The IT and
ITES companies contribute substantially to
Indian GDP growth. It has been the prime
mover of the services sector in India,
which in turn contributes to the extent of
almost 60% of the GDP. The city of
Bangalore (now called Bengaluru) is the
IT capital of India. The industry accounts
for almost 25% of the total exports from
India. It has grown at an exponential
velocity and has led to accelerated
development of metropolitan cities
spurring the growth of other sectors. This
has continued to be the most preferred
sector of global investors. This sector will
be the immediate beneficiary of the
current global recovery.
Today an increasing number of equity
diversified mutual funds are seen favoring
technology companies and telecom firms,
among the sensitivity index stocks, as the
IT sector benefits from a rupee stabilized
at a lower level and there is an increasing
demand for IT services from US and the
other developed economies.
4. Banking and Insurance
The banking sector in India has witnessed
a vast growth, supported by sizeable
investments in IT and diversification of
innovative service offerings. The banking
sector index has increased at a
compounded rate of over 10-12 percent
per annum since the year 2001. Mutual
funds of this sector have given a return of
9 to 12% over last 3 years. As and when
public sector banks are privatized the
value discovery process could result in
gains for investors.
India’s life insurance business ranks fifth
among the largest global markets. The
sector has been growing at rates
exceeding 20%. The nonlife insurance
Industry has grown at rate of 15%. The
insurance sector opened up to private
investors in last few years and the market
is getting competitive with the entry of
global players. Overall this strengthens
the risk management capability of the
economy.
5. Real estate
With ever growing demand for housing
and commercial space, Indian real estate
has emerged as one of the fastest
growing sectors of the emerging markets.
It has attracted significant participation of
foreign investors. Real estate has been
contributing as much as 13% of the
country’s GDP. Rapid corporatization has
helped it to attract funds from the capital
market. Rapid urbanization has helped the
sector to grow.
6 Retailing business
From the present market size of US$ 500
billion, the Indian retailing trade is
expected to reach US$ 1.3 trillion by the
end of 2020, as per the report of Ministry
of food and consumer affairs in India.
The opportunity has attracted significant
investments from global players. India’s
rapidly growing urbanization has
contributed to the growth of the organized
retailing in the country. The retail industry
is the backbone of growth of the economy
with over 20% contribution towards the
national GDP. The Indian retail sector is
ranked among the top five global retail
markets.
Non conventional sectors like Education
and Training, Entertainment and media, as
well as Telecom and Pharma sectors also
have very good growth potential.