After PM Modi Order, Enforcement Directorate’s crackdown on Shell Companies begins across 100 cities

by | posted in: Company Incorporations, e-filing of MCA Returns, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0
Enforcement Directorate is carrying out searches at 100 locations to detect shell companies.

Weeks after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office ordered a crackdown on shell companies used to launder money, the Enforcement Directorate on Saturday carried out nationwide searches across 100 locations targeting nearly 300 shell companies.

Sources said Saturday’s ED raids on shell firms across more than a dozen states was a direct fallout of the coordinated action against these firms. Among the cities where the Enforcement Directorate teams were conducting raids are Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Patna and Bengaluru. In Chennai, officials said searches were being carried out at 13 locations linked to 8 companies.

The PMO had last month identified paper companies, which do not conduct any operations but are used to launder money and evade taxes by other firms, as a big challenge to PM Modi’s war against black money.

As part of this exercise, the government had also decided to create a database of shell companies and their directors. A task force chaired jointly by the Revenue Secretary and Corporate Affairs Secretary was mandated to coordinate action against these dubious companies.

That the 1,155 shell companies detected over the last three years had been used as conduits by over 22,000 beneficiaries to launder money, one government official said, indicated how important it was to target shell companies. These companies face charges of dubious transactions running into more than Rs. 13,300 crore.

It is not clear if today’s multiple ED raids on shell firms are linked to the government’s finding that over 550 people had laundered Rs. 3,900 crore through such companies after the November 8 ban on the high-denomination notes.

An official report had earlier pointed that only 6 lakh of the 15 lakh registered companies file annual return. While it was possible that many of them may be defunct, officials said it could be possible that some of these could be involved in dubious transactions.

The Special Investigation Team to fight Black Money set up on the Supreme Court’s directions had also pointed that proactive detection of shell companies was going to be a key to the success of the government’s campaign.

Source: http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/after-pm-order-crackdown-on-shell-companies-begins-across-100-cities-1676030

GST bringing realty shake-up

by | posted in: Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs, Income Tax,e-Filing- Individuals, Firms, Companies | 0

Retailers, both of physical stores and e-commerce entities, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies and those in consumer durables have started rejigging their warehouse strategy.

This is in preparation for the national goods and services tax (GST), with the government working to an April 2017 deadline. All this could mean a shake-up in real estate, say analysts. A rough calculation suggests these businesses could look at reducing their warehouse count to half, while stepping up the total space acquisition in select destinations, once GST comes into play. In the next two to three years, businesses could see significant cost reduction due to the revised strategy.

Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson and Shoppers Stop are among those to have begun work on consolidating their warehouses, according to a source. These companies will take up mega space, in millions of square feet, to set up ‘mother warehouses’, he said. In the online space, top companies such as Flipkart and Amazon have been on an expansion spree for warehouses and fulfillment centres in the past two years, primarily to suit the complex tax structure through the country. Now, however, they won’t feel the need to have warehouses in every state and can strategise accordingly, Vijaya Ganesh Thangavel, managing director, Land & Industrial (India), Cushman & Wakefield, told this newspaper.

For instance, Max Fashion, a prominent retailer, has eight warehouses totaling 400,000 sq ft. The number is likely to come down to four after GST, says chief executive Vasanth Kumar. “The number will get firmed up once we know the full GST details and the implications such as the reverse logistics needs,’’ he said. Post GST, their warehouse count will be down but the total space covered could go up to around 600,000 sq ft by 2018 “to meet future business needs, as well our rate of growth at a 30-plus per cent CAGR (compounded annual rate)”.

If a typical e-commerce company was taking 300,000 to 400,000 sq ft in metros and tier-1 cities for warehouses, 100,000 sq ft in tier-2 and 40,000 to 50,000 sq ft in tier-3, the plan now will be to go for million sq ft space and more, away from big cities and in fewer locations, primarily where real estate cost won’t be prohibitive, says Thangavel of Cushman. Distribution centres, smaller in size in the range of 40,000 to 50,000 sq ft, could be set up closer to cities.

The biggest trend now is that prominent developers are getting into the warehouse space, which has mostly been a domain of local land owners till recently, according to Thangavel. Along with realtors, a new breed of advisors are coming up, only for warehouse planning. Also, warehouse parks are being set up for large structures. While the exercise of restructuring the warehouses will take a couple of years, he projects a cost reduction of at least 10 to 15 per cent by 2019-2020. Estimates are that big companies which have on an average one warehouse in every state, totaling to anything from 20 to 25, might look at eight to 10, pan-India post-GST.

“We understand that a few of the larger companies have started consolidating their warehousing requirements in strategic locations, in anticipation of GST, with a view to bringing efficiency into their supply chain,’’ said Rami Kaushal, managing director, Consulting and Valuations, CBRE South Asia.

Besides retailers and FMCG companies, even pharmaceutical companies would look at rationalising the number of operational warehouses and swap these for better quality and larger format ones, he said.

“Implementation of GST is expected to lead to rationalisation of warehousing demand, leading to lower logistics cost and reduced delivery time of manufactured goods,’’ Kaushal explained. The current complicated tax structure meant that choice in setting up inventory and distribution centres were based on the tax regime, rather than on operational efficiency, he said.

GST, when implemented, will free the decisions on warehousing and distribution from these tax considerations, according to Kaushal. ”This would enable occupiers to create larger hubs, servicing two or more states from a single location, which would help optimise inventory costs and increase efficiency.’’ This shift in operational planning would ultimately result in a hub and spoke model being adopted by many of the occupiers, he added.

Industrial warehousing space is estimated at approximately 800 million sq ft across the country and is expected to grow by nine to 10 per cent annually. A few sectors such as e-commerce, modern retailing and FMCG are expected to grow at about 20 per cent annually in the short term, according to CBRE.

A recent JLL report listed the National Capital Region, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad as top warehouse hubs. These eight city hubs together had a cumulative supply of organised Grade-A and Grade-B warehousing space of around 97 mn sq ft in 2015; this is expected to grow to around 116 mn sq ft by the end of 2016. It added that GST will result in emergence of new hubs such as Belgaum, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Goa, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur, Kolhapur, Lucknow/ Kanpur, Ludhiana, Nagpur, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Vapi and Vijayawada.

 

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/gst-bringing-realty-shake-up-116090801173_1.html

Bandhan Bank reduces microfinance loan rate

by | posted in: Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0

Bandhan Bank on Monday reduced its lending rate for micro loans by 0.6 per cent, bringing down the interest to 19.9 from 20.5 per cent.

This is the third time the bank has reduced its interest rate for such consumers. Immediately after the microfinance institution transformed itself into a bank last August, it had slashed the rate by 1.4 percentage points or 140 basis points (bps), effectively reducing the rate to 21 per cent. In April this year, the rate was reduced by another 0.5 per cent or 50 bps for micro-small-scale sectors, making it 20.5 per cent.

With the latest round of lending rate reduction, Bandhan Bank has pared is micro loan rate by 2.5 percentage points or 250 bps in three stages in less than 11 months since it started operations as a universal bank.

Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, the bank’s chairman and managing director, said: “With the transformation of the micro-lending institution into a bank, the cost of funds has come down so we can afford to lower the interest rates. This reduction will benefit the micro-small scale industry who finds it tough to arrange for their funds.”

Since its launch, the bank has mobilised close to Rs 15,000 crore of deposits.

According to Ghosh, this will not only help attract more people opting for loans, but it will ease their financial burden as well. The cost impact on the bank is stated to be favourable with this decision.

Micro loans are generally granted for 1-2 years.

Currently, Bandhan Bank operates across 29 states and Union Territories through a network of 688 branches, 2,022 doorstep service centres and 237 ATMs with more than 8.77 million customers being served by a team of 21,000 employees. The Kolkata-headquartered bank’s savings bank account interest rate is six per cent for balances above Rs 1 lakh and 4.25 per cent for balances up to Rs 1 lakh. For term deposits, the maximum interest rate offered is 8.25 per cent for one to three years, with an additional 0.5 per cent for senior citizens.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/bandhan-bank-reduces-microfinance-loan-rate-116071800513_1.html

Tamil Nadu to get 4th major port

by | posted in: Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs, India & International - Corporate updates | 0

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the setting up of a major port at Enayam near Colachel in Tamil Nadu. This would be the country’s 13th major port.

Colachel is about 50 km north-west of Kanyakumari.

India has 12 major ports — Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia). These handle approximately 61 per cent of the country’s cargo.

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) would be formed for the development of Colachel port, with an initial equity investment from the three existing major ports in Tamil Nadu — V O Chidambaranar Port Trust, Chennai Port Trust, and Kamarajar Port. The SPV would develop the port infrastructure, including dredging and reclamation, construction of breakwater and ensuring connectivity links, a statement said.

Fishermen in the coastal villages of Tamil Nadu have been opposing construction of this port, fearing sea erosion and loss of livelihood.

India has few ports with sufficient draft to match global cargo handling efficiencies. All of India’s trans-shipment (transfer of shipment from one carrier to another during transit) traffic is handled in Colombo, Singapore and other international ports. Indian port industry loses up to Rs 1,500 crore of revenues each year, the official statement said.

This major port at Enayam will act as a major gateway container port for Indian cargo now trans-shipped outside the country. It would also reduce the logistics cost for exporters and importers in south India, who depend on trans-shipment in Colombo or other ports, incurring additional port handling charges.

Minister of Shipping Nitin Gadkari had in April said the government had plans to add eight major ports in the country — including at Wadhawan in Maharashtra, Sagar in West Bengal and Colachel in Tamil Nadu.

 

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/tamil-nadu-to-get-4th-major-port-116070501191_1.html

SEBI begins proceedings to recover Rs 55,000 crore from defaulters

by | posted in: Corporate & Business Advisory Services, Corporate Updates, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs | 0

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has initiated recovery proceedings against defaulters to collect more than Rs 55,000 crore, largely on account of its clampdown on illicit money-pooling schemes.

Ever since it was given powers in October 2013 to recover penalties and investors’ money collected fraudulently, Sebi has initiated nearly 900 recovery proceedings, of which more than 200 have been fully completed.

The amount involved in these proceedings stands at Rs 55,015 crore, including Rs 52,959 crore in the last financial year. This include a total of Rs 52,912 crore in cases related to collective investment scheme (CIS) and deemed public issues and another Rs 47 crore to recover penalties.

More than 2,500 attachment notices have been issued during the period under review, including over 600 in 2015-16.

Interestingly, an amount of Rs 250 crore has been recovered in 207 cases. Promising high returns to the investors, several firms have raked in unauthorised funds through various mechanisms. The capital was raised through realty schemes and ‘buffalo purchase’, among others. Also, funds have been garnered by issuing securities to investors without complying with public issue norms.

To recover pending dues, Sebi has attached properties, bank and demat accounts of the defaulters. Besides, the regulator has sold shares attached in recovery proceedings in various defaulters in 744 trading sessions and realised an amount of over Rs 11 crore.

Through amendments in the Securities Laws Act, the government had enhanced powers of Sebi to take action against illegal money-pooling activities. It has been empowered to recover penalties imposed by the Adjudicating Officer, amount directed to be disgorged and money ordered to be refunded to the regulator.

The recovery powers include attachment of bank as well as demat accounts, sale of assets of the defaulters and arrest and detention of the defaulter.

The Act also provides for setting up of a special court to expedite the cases filed by Sebi. The government in consultation with the high courts have set up special courts in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

Besides, constitution of a special court in Delhi is in progress. However, a designated court is already dealing with Sebi cases.

 

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/sebi-begins-proceedings-to-recover-rs-55-000-crore-from-defaulters-116061400476_1.html

E-Commerce Industry to Cross $38 Billion Mark in India

by | posted in: Corporate Updates, Cross Border Transactions, M&As, Joint Ventures, Economy, Business Updates, Corporate Affairs, India & International - Corporate updates | 0

India’s e-commerce market is likely to touch $38-billion-mark in 2016, a 67 per cent jump over the $23 billion revenue it clocked last year, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).

“Increasing internet and mobile penetration, growing acceptability of online payments and favourable demographics has provided the e-commerce sector in India the unique opportunity to companies connect with their customers,” according to the Assocham’s latest report.

Buying trends during 2015 have witnessed a significant upward movement due to aggressive online discounts. India’s e-commerce market was worth about $3.8 billion in 2009, it went up to $17 billion in 2014 and to $23 billion in 2015 and is expected to touch $38-billion mark by 2016, said D.S. Rawat, Secretary General, Assocham.

Mobile commerce

Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is growing rapidly as a stable and secure supplement to the e-commerce industry. Shopping online through smart phones is proving to be a game changer and industry leaders believe that m-commerce could contribute up to 70 per cent of their total revenues, according to the report.

Mumbaikars had left behind all other cities in India shopping online in 2015. While Delhi residents rank second, Ahemdabad came third, Bangalore fourth and Kolkata fifth in their preference for online shopping in 2015.

“The customer is connected 24×7 through their smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices which is leading to a gradual evolution of e-commerce into mobile commerce and there is an issue of convenience which also leads to impulsive buying,” Mr Rawat said. The browsing trends, which have broadly shifted from the desktop to mobile devices in India, online shopping is also expected to follow suit, as one out of three customers currently makes transactions through mobiles in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. In 2015, 78 per cent of shopping queries were made through mobile devices, compared to 46 per cent in 2013, said Mr. Rawat.

The highest growth rate was seen in the apparel segment, almost 69.5 per cent over last year followed by electronic items by 62 per cent, baby care products at 53 per cent, beauty and personal care products at 52 per cent and home furnishings at 49 per cent. The most important contributing factor to the rapid growth of digital commerce in India is the increase in the use of smartphones. Mobiles and mobile accessories have taken up the maximum share of the digital commerce market in India, according to the paper.
Online shoppers

Almost 45 per cent of online shoppers reportedly preferred cash on delivery mode of payment over credit cards (16 per cent) and debit cards (21 per cent).

Only ten per cent opted for internet banking and a scanty seven per cent preferred cash cards, mobile wallets and other such modes of payment.

As per the findings, many small companies have also established online stores for group buying, which enable customers to obtain goods at a discount so long as a certain number of people make the purchases.

Shopping centres, whole sale markets and supermarkets should create their online stores to reduce costs and develop product-tracking systems, Mr Rawat said.

Among the age segments, the 18-25 years age group was the fastest growing age segment online with user growth being contributed by both male and female segments, it was said in the paper.

The survey highlights that three per cent of regular shoppers are in 18-25 age group, 52 per cent in 26-35, eight per cent in 36-45 and two per cent in the age group of 45-60.

Sixty-five per cent of online shoppers are male with females constituting 35 per cent. The products that were sold most in 2015 were mobile phones, iPad and accessories, MP3 players, digital cameras and jewellery, among others.

As per the study, there would be more than a five to seven-fold increase in revenue generated through e-commerce compared to last year with all branded apparel, accessories, jewellery, gifts, footwear available at a cheaper rates and being delivered at the doorstep. The most popular among the e-commerce websites — Snapdeal, Myntra, Flipkart, Amazon, Jabong and others — have been doling out massive price cuts or discounts on purchase of popular brands of apparels, footwear, electronic goods, coinciding with the year end.

According to the report, the one of the driving factors for the online shopping is the age profile of the consumers who are young, between 15-35 years. This segment is quite net savvy and enjoys doing new type of shopping experience, virtually from their desk top in office, lap tops at home or even Android-based phones.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/business/ecommerce-industry-to-cross-38-billion-this-year-assocham/article8058892.ece