Government To Revise The Price Of Natural Gas

The rise in gas price will not only encourage the upstream companies to invest in exploring more challenging frontiers to augment gas production for the country, but a good amount of this increased price will flow back to the government in terms of royalty and dividend which could be invested in various development programs 

Pragmatic Approach to Attract FDI in Multi Brand Retail Trade

CII  urges Government to adopt a Pragmatic Approach to Attract FDI in Multi Brand Retail Trade

Organized retail in India has been growing at a healthy CAGR of nearly 25 percent over the last five years.

However organized retail still forms less than 10 percent of the sales across most consumer categories in India. In categories like food and grocery organized retail contributes less than 3 percent of sales.

This gap in sales through organized retail provides the growth opportunity. As per a BCG study, the consumption set to more than triple in size over the next decade, and sales through organized retail could reach nearly 20 percent by 2020. The study also found that FDI in Multi brand Retail will give a boost to the Organized Retail sector, which positively impacts several stakeholders including – producers, workers, employees and consumers and Government and hence, the overall economy. Under a favorable regulatory and economic environment, opening up of FDI can increase organized retail market size to USD 260 billion by 2020 (constant exchange rates). 

Untapped Potential in Indian Mutual Fund Market

The mutual fund industry has registered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18% from 2009 – 2013, but the national population is still largely under-banked with a very low level of financial inclusion.

The business of Indian mutual funds (MFs) industry is largely confined within the Tier 1 cities, however, the industry is focused on developing the penetration ratio and increasing its presence in other cities. Currently, the top five cities of India contribute to 74% of the entire pie, with the remaining 26% distributed among other cities.

Given the current scenario of market volatility and uncertainty, these are challenging times for the mutual fund industry, where the investor perceives investments in the capital market to be risky and unsafe, and hesitates to channelize his savings into mutual fund products. It is critical that the distributor undertakes measures and initiatives to educate the investor and increase the level of awareness. Considering the critical role played by the distributor, it is of immense importance that the distributor fraternity is adequately trained and regulated so that the mutual fund product is sold for the right purpose and adequate time period. 

Indian team at the Olympics of Skills 2013

WorldSkills International Competitions 2013 Organized by the Amsterdam-based not-for-profit organization WorldSkills International,  is the largest vocational skills competition globally.

It takes place in a different country every two years and brings together over 1,000 young people, up to 22 years of age, from across the world to compete in a variety of skills ranging from welding to web designing. Competitors representing their countries, pitch their skills against the best of the best for gold, silver and bronze medals. This year it is being held from  02 – 07 July 2013, Leipzig, Germany.