Foreign Investors Protest India’s Tax Regime

Foreign Investors Protest India’s Tax Regime

In a demonstration of solidarity in economic diplomacy, the ambassadors and high commissioners of seven rich countries have jointly protested against features of, what they term, India’s “retrograde’’ tax regime.

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The ambassadors of the US, the Netherlands and Spain, high commissioners of the UK, New Zealand and Australia and the head of the European Commission delegation have expressed their anxiety over the “growing unpredictability in India’s tax policies’’ and written to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee seeking an appointment.

They said India’s policies were creating an “unquantifiable risk in investment planning’’.

The letter has been marked to commerce minister Anand Sharma, deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, among others.

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The concern pertains to the application of punitive tax liabilities on deals with retrospective effect.

Their anxiety was triggered by the $2 billion tax controversy involving Vodafone’s $12 billion buyout of Hong Kong-based Hutchison’s stake in Hutch-Essar.

And now include tax troubles in deals such as

SabMiller’s acquisition of Foster’s Indian beer business,

Aditya Birla Nuvo’s acquisition of shares in Idea Cellular from AT&T Mauritius,

transfer of GECIS Global (Luxembourg) shares by GE to a consortium of US private equity funds and,

Vedanta’s acquisition of Sesa Goa shares held by Mitsui through a UK holding firm.

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In other words, what was until now seen as a problem between tax authorities and Vodafone has now escalated into a standoff between the governments of seven nations, including the US and the EU.

Source : Times Of India 14/10/09

Sweetness Of Sugar – Part 2 :)

Hello Friends, just an extension of our previous blog on Commodity Corner Series where we touched upon the aspects like seasonality,cyclic nature and analysis of price trend of Sugar.

Sweetness Of Sugar Part 2

Now we would read into the implication of falling production of sugar on stock market,market sentiment and the country’s import status.

Sugar Scrips Sweetens…

Falling production has sweetened sugar scrips.

Sugar stocks prices seems to remain strong for next three years.

The key drivers for such a strong up-cycle are:

1) Nominal production in current season as compared to consumption,

2) Lack of scope for further reduction in dealer stock level,

3) Increased cost of production as well as of import,

4) More sugar cane in India is being used to make jaggery that sells for almost double the price of white sugar.

In Diwali, sugar prices touched Rs. 35/ kg level.

This in turn helped all sugar companies to show growth as compared to current year’s net profit.

The most promising long positions and best return may be in sugar stocks like Shree Renuka Sugars and Balrampur Chini. Overall sugar stocks are bullish.

So take the best & calculated decision.

Imports Soaring……

For the 2009-10 crushing season (CS), the domestic and international price trends will depend on the production in Brazil, where producers should start favouring sugar over ethanol, as ethanol demand declines with falling crude prices.

With domestic consumption at 23 million tonnes for the next two years, & sugar consumption surpassing production, the country may import 3-4 million tonnes till September 2010.

The landed cost of imported sugar should be around Rs 19,000 a tonne. In the short term, the weaker USD will also support sugar.

The market seems to be in a set-up to move higher over the short run as India will continue to buy buying and the potential for imports will continue into 2009/2010 season.

……..Markets Bullish

Market sentiment has turned bullish, with the demand outlook boosted after the Indian government removed import duties.

A recovery in the world economy coupled with an increasing uptrend in these years leaves ahead sugar as a longer-term “buy and hold” commodity.

The factors that can determine the price direction for sugar futures in 2009 are:

1) If Dollar continues to rise in 2009, the upside potential for sugar could be limited,

2) Demand is a key factor for price direction,

3) A shift in acreage away from cane to crops like wheat, paddy and oilseeds as UP creating panic among farming community for Increase in cane payment arrears and delay in verdict on state advised price (SAP),

4) Mills are on the verge of early closure this season on limited availability of cane,

5) Government has come out with a policy to allow raw sugar imports to India,

6) Depreciating rupee and rising global prices, making sugar imports dearer & harden domestic sugar prices,

7) Greater diversion of cane towards the unorganized sector.

Concluding I would like to say that both the technical and fundamental outlook for the Sugar market appear to be bullish, but one is advised to trade with caution and stop losses.

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Trading Hours of Bourses Extended by SEBI :)

Trading Hours of Bourses Extended by SEBI

Market regulator SEBI on Friday extended the trading hours of bourses by up to two-and-a-half hours from 9 am to 5 pm, a move that may help in bringing back the trade that was seen shifting to Singapore Stock Exchange.

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It has been decided to permit the stock exchanges to set their trading hours (in the cash and derivatives segments) subject to the condition that the trading hours are between 9 am and 5 pm,” SEBI said in a statement.

The new trading hours would now help integrate the Indian bourses with Singapore and other Asian markets in the morning hours, and the European market in the evening hours, said SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla.

“Some trade that had shifted to SGX Nifty (Indian Nifty traded in Singapore Stock Exchange) can now be brought back to the country,” he said.

The current market hours stand from 9.55 am to 3.30 pm.

In Singapore, trading sessions are held between 9 am to 12.30 pm and 2 pm to 5 pm (local time).

In addition, there is pre-open routine from 8.30 am to 9 am and pre-close routine from 5 pm to 5.06 pm.

Singapore is around two and a half hours ahead of India.

This would provide an opportunity to NSE to try and align their timings to that of a few Asian markets like the SGX since this exchange permits trading in Nifty.

With market regulator SEBI now allowing longer trading hours, it is now up to the bourses to decide on the duration and when to reset their trade timings.

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Thunuguntla said, “All stock exchanges are likely to go for the maximum possible trading hours as they have been demanding it to be extended to 9 am to 9 pm.”

He said there is a serious competition ongoing between Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange, and then there is the new competitor MCX-SX.

“I will be surprised if any bourse not utilises the full timing,” he added.

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