Tag: digitisation

Investment in digital infrastructure crucial for emerging economies, says Narendra Modi

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the digital revolution has offered new opportunities to the members of the BRICS grouping and other emerging economies and it is essential to invest in artificial intelligence and big data analytics to reap the benefits.

Addressing the BRICS Outreach Session here, Modi called for more investment in the digital infrastructure and skill development in the area of digitisation.

“Today we are once again at the historic turning point. Thanks to digital revolution, new opportunities are emerging for us and that is the reason why it is necessary that we be completely ready for the changes that will come out through AI and big data analytics,” he said.

Emphasising on India’s historic and deep links with Africa, the prime minister said his government has accorded the highest priority towards maintaining peace, freedom and development in Africa.

India’s ties with Africa are time-tested and the Government of India has deepened its engagement with the continent, he said.

“Economic and development cooperation between India and Africa have touched new heights,” Modi said at the meeting, also attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Michel Temer.

The prime minister said in the last four years, more the 100 bilateral talks and visits at the level of head of states and government have taken place which has taken bilateral cooperation and economic ties to a new level.

He said 118 lines of credit worth $11 billion have been extended to over 40 African countries.

He said India welcomes the effort for regional economic integration by the countries in Africa.

He said free trade and commerce in the last three decades has helped hundreds of millions people come out of poverty.

To take the benefits of globalisation to them is the most important task, he said.

Highlighting the challenges of globalisation, he said that inclusive development must remain at the core of all efforts.

He said after the financial crisis of 2008, the threats of protectionism are hovering over this fundamental aspect of the globalisation.

“The most profound effect of decrease in growth rate has been felt by countries such us ours who could not gain from the industrial progress made during the colonial time,” the prime minister said.

He said India will continue to share its experiences and learning under the South-South co-operation.

He said while addressing Uganda’s Parliament this week he had outlined the 10 principles for India’s engagement with African nations.

This 10 principles, he said, formulated as per the needs of Africa are the guidelines for the development and strengthening of India’s ties with the continent.

He also noted that African students come to India to study and also receive Indian scholarships.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Digitisation offers $39 billion export opportunities for Indian firms by 2022

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Rising digitisation will unlock a potential $39 billion worth of export opportunities for Indian businesses in select verticals by 2022, up from $16 billion in 2017, a Google-KPMG report said on Thursday.

The verticals that provides high-potential export opportunities are travel, media and entertainment, Software-as-a Service (SaaS), consumer brands and real estate, said the report titled, “Indian Brands Going Global: A $39 billion opportunity”.

“Rising global connectivity is opening up new opportunities for businesses to expand internationally. There is a huge international growth opportunity for select verticals and we wanted to capture that through this report,” said Shalini Girish, director-marketing solutions, Google India.

“We have also introduced a revamped Google ‘Market Finder’ tool that can help businesses overcome the barriers when they want to expand internationally,” she added.

Asia-Pacific is one of the most attractive region for expansion by Indian players, with China, Malaysia and Indonesia as key target countries.

Digitally mature geographies such as the US and UK are other lucrative geographies which can be tapped through digital channels, the report outlined.

“With ‘Market Finder’ tool, businesses can get access to all the resources they need to find the right market for their products and services, translate their websites and ad text, find new customers with relevant online ads”, Girish said.

For travel, Asia-Pacific and Middle East are the broad focus markets with UAE, Indonesia as very high potential markets for Indian online travel agencies.

For the media and entertainment vertical, markets like the US, the UK, the UAE and mobile-firsts markets like Brazil are extremely lucrative for video consumption.

In music, growing markets like South East Asia, Malaysia and the Philippines offer new opportunities for the players. The industry is set to grow at a CAGR of 37 per cent to $3.46 billion by 2022 from a $0.71 billion in 2017.

The India real estate market offers superior long-term returns, the opportunity for realtors from the NRI customers is expected to grow from $11.5 billion in 2017 to $25.7 billion in 2022.

“Indian real estate developers could tap into the NRI and high net worth individual (HNI) customer base by leveraging technology and digital platforms,” the report said.

Asia-Pacific is the focus region for consumer brands — the fastest-growing region in apparel and consumer durables.

“China, Vietnam and Indonesia are rapidly growing jewellery markets. Consumer brand market in select retail verticals is expected to grow from $1.5 billion to $2.64 billion by 2022.

“Geographically, share of developing economies in global trade is on the rise. This presents a compelling case for Indian Businesses to ‘Look East’ for growth,” said Sreedhar Prasad, partner and head, consumer markets & internet business advisory, KPMG India.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Group of Ministers favours deferment of sops for digital payments under GST by a year

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Sushil Modi led ministerial panel will recommend to the GST Council to defer by a year the proposal to incentivise digital payments under GST, citing revenue implications of doling out concessional tax rate.

The panel, in its meeting today, has decided to wait for stabilisation of revenues under Goods and Services Tax and the new return filing systems in the current fiscal before considering differential GST rates for people making payments using the digital mode.

Besides, another ministerial panel under Modi, on Reverse Charge Mechanism has decided to recommend powers to the GST Council to notify the registered persons who would come under RCM purview.

The meetings of the two Group of Ministers (GoM) were held here today.

The recommendations of these ministerial panels will be placed before the GST Council, chaired by union finance minister and comprising his state counterparts, in its next meeting on July 21.

Modi said the GoM on digital transaction has decided that this is not an opportune moment to incentivise digital payments as it will have revenue implication. “Let returns and GST revenues stabilise, then we can think about incentivising digital transaction”.

“The GoM will be recommending to the Council that it may think about the proposal of incentivising digital transaction again after a year. The GoM is recommending deferring the proposal for a year,” the Bihar deputy chief minister said.

To incentivise digital transaction, the GST Council in its last meeting in May had discussed giving a concession of 2% in GST rate (where the tax rate is 3% or more) to consumers making payment through cheque or digital mode. The discount would be capped at Rs 100 per transaction.

The five member GoM on incentivising digital transaction include Gujarat deputy chief minister Nitinbhai Patel, West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra, Haryana excise & taxation minister Capt Abhimanyu and Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal.

With regard to the decision on RCM, Modi said the GoM will recommend that the GST Council will decide on the class of registered persons who would be required to deposit taxes on reverse charge basis.

“We have recommended omitting the present Section 9(4) and introducing a new Section 9(4) which will permit the government, on the recommendations of the GST Council, to notify specific class of registered persons, goods which would be covered under RCM provision,” he added.

The conditions and the date for levying of RCM will be decided by the council, Modi noted.

Under the RCM in GST law, registered dealers are required to make tax payments in case they procure goods from unregistered businesses.

Currently, RCM, which is touted as an anti-evasion measure, has been deferred till September 30.

Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, and Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac, among others are a part of the GoM on RCM, which was constituted in March by the GST Council.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

ICICI Bank’s mortgage portfolio crosses Rs 1.5 trillion

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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ICICI Bank on Wednesday announced that it has crossed the milestone of disbursing mortgage loans of over Rs 1.5 trillion.

It aims to grow its pan-India mortgage book to Rs 2 trillion by end of financial year 2020, a company statement said.

“ICICI Bank catalysed the growth of retail lending in the country in early 2000 by making retail loans, especially home loans, widely accessible and affordable. As a result of our continued endeavour, we have crossed the milestone of disbursing over Rs 1.5 trillion of mortgage loans, in a profitable manner with the lowest delinquency in the industry,” said Anup Bagchi, executive director, ICICI Bank.

“We will continue to expand our mortgage portfolio at an annual growth rate of over 15 per cent and aim to cross Rs 2 trillion by end of FY20. To achieve this, we are expanding our network to many new locations in tier II/III cities as well as micro-markets on the periphery of major cities and continue to leverage on technology to offer home loans in a fully digitised manner,” he said.

In a bid to digitize the mortgage eco-system, the bank has enabled developers to obtain approvals for their projects in a paperless manner. This initiative has enabled the bank to approve 2,000 new housing projects, completely online.

The bank has also enabled online repository of 30,000 approved projects across 40 cities for its customers.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Digitisation of insurance policies picking up albeit slowly

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Insurance repositories are seeing increased business volume in the past six months but there is a long way to go, said a top official of CAMS Insurance Repository Services.

“The business volumes have increased in the last six months owing to IRDAI’s (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) decision asking the life insurers to digitise all policies received in digital format,” its CEO S.V. Ramanan told IANS here.

Noting that about 2.5 crore life insurance policies (1.5 crore by Life Insurance Corporation of India and one crore by private life insurers) and about 12 crore health and motor policies are sold by non-life insurers in India annually, he said that there is a long way to go for the repositories as only 12 lakh life insurance policies are in digital format till date.

But the good news is that the business is slowly growing, he added.

“While average cost for a life insurer for maintaining a policy in a repository is about Rs 40 per year, it is Rs 10 per year for a non-life insurer in respect of health and motor insurance policies,” Ramanan said.

Totally there are four insurance repositories in the country viz NSDL, CDSL, CAMS and Karvy.

Simply put, insurance repositories keep the policies in digital or demat form like company shares.

As per the regulatory norms, the digital record keeper should be a third party.

Ramanan said a life insurer spends around Rs 150 per policy on its maintenance in traditional/paper format and opting for digital format is a major cost saver for them.

Queried about the insurance repositories charging about Rs 40 per life insurance policy per year, he said if the volumes pick up, then the overall cost may come down.

However, adoption by life and non-life insurers of having their policies in digital platform is not great as they feel it has dual costs — maintaining policies in paper as well as digital formats.

Ramanan said pure record keeping may not get the insurance repositories money and hence, CAMS provides other services like tele-marketing, agency administration, issue of policies and their administration and claims processing for an additional fee.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow