Savings via DBT(Direct Benefit Transfer) cross Rs 58,000 crore mark: Ravi Shankar Prasad-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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28 September  2017

Direct Benefit Transfer (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions) 

Government has saved Rs 58,000 crore through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme used in various subsidy programmes, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The electronics and IT minister said the government is utilising digital technology to bring about changes that benefit poor and underprivileged.

"We opened Jan Dhan accounts for poor and underprivileged. We linked that to Aadhaar and mobile phones. and we started sending gas subsidy, ration subsidy, kerosene subsidy and food subsidy directly to the bank account. We have saved Rs 58,000 crore which used to be pocketed by middlemen," Prasad said at the AIMA convention here. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

This Rs 58,000 crore money is not private money it is tax payer's money which required to be saved and digital governance is doing that, he added.

Elaborating on the success of the DBT initiative, Prasad said that the government has so far been able to unearth 3 crore fake gas connections and has also annulled 2.7 crore fake ration cards. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"The idea we set for ourselves when we went for digital revolution is, that we want to create technology which is inclusive and at the same time affordable and dependable," he added. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Linking up various schemes and services like hospitals digitally have benefited the poor and underprivileged, Prasad said.

The minister also confirmed that discussions were held recently to link driving license with Aadhaar card in order contain issue of dual licenses.

"We are going to link up your motor vehicle driving license with Aadhaar," Prasad noted. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Bullish on growth of digital economy in the country, the minister said the segment would be a 1 trillion dollar industry over the next 5-7 years.

"Indian digital economy is going to become 1 trillion dollar economy in coming 5-7 years. When I say digital economy it includes IT and IT enabled services, communications, electronics manufacturing, cyber security, digital payments and e-commerce," Prasad said. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The segment would also help generate additional employment to around 50-70 lakh people over the next 5-7 years, he added.

Elaborating on mobile companies setting manufacturing plants in the country, Prasad said that over the last three years around 100 new companies have set production facilities. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"Noida and Greater Noida have become a hit with around 32 plants coming up in the region. The units are for mobiles, batteries, chargers etc," he added.

He added that with the growth of mobile segment, app consumption itself is going to become a multi-billion industry in India.

Referring to critics Prasad said: "Jo alochna karte hain woh alochana karte rahen, hum apna kaam karte rahen. (Let those who criticise, criticise, we will keep doing our work.)"The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Global Stocks Stable As Investors Gauge US Tax Plan Impact-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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28 September  2017

South Korea financial markets (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

Global stock markets were stable Thursday as investors tried to gauge the impact of the sweeping tax reform plan unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump, while geopolitical tensions surrounding North Korea kept confidence in check.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.2 percent at 7,297 while France's CAC 40 added 0.1 percent to 5,284. Germany's DAX advanced 0.3 percent to 12,698. Futures augured a lukewarm start on Wall Street. S&P futures and Dow futures both fell 0.1 percent. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

US POLITICS WATCH: Trump and congressional Republicans proposed a $5 trillion tax plan on Wednesday, calling it much-needed relief for the middle class and a boost for the economy. The proposal would deeply cut taxes for corporations from the current 35 percent to 25 percent and simplify the tax system, while nearly doubling the standard deduction used by most Americans. The plan was widely expected by investors but with negotiations ahead, the final picture of the tax plan is unclear. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

THE QUOTE: "While the impact from the new framework on Asian markets remains debatable with repatriation of offshore earnings one to expect, investors will likely look to the improvement it may bring to U.S. companies and in turn stock market in the near term," said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

ASIA'S DAY: Asian markets finished mixed. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.5 percent to 20,363.11 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1 percent to 5,670.40. In South Korea, the Kospi finished flat at 2,373.14. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.8 percent to 27,421.60 and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to 3,339.64. Stocks in Southeast Asia were mixed.

CHIP DEAL: Asian chipmakers involved in Toshiba's chip unit sales gained ground after a consortium of companies from Japan, South Korea and the United States disclosed that it will purchase the struggling Japanese tech company's memory chip business. Shares of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc., which is part of the consortium that also includes Bain Capital Private Equity and Apple, rose 1 percent. Toshiba Corp.'s stock jumped 2.3 percent.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 51 cents to $52.65 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 26 cents to close at $52.14 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, gained 41 cents to $58.31 per barrel in London. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 112.62 yen from 112.82 yen. The euro rose to $1.1772 from $1.1750.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Nifty, Sensex may try to bounce – Wednesday closing report-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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27 September  2017

I had mentioned in Tuesday’s closing report that Nifty, Sensex might rise if Tuesday’s low holds. The major indices of the Indian stock markets went below Tuesday’s lows on Wednesday and suffered a sharp correction closing with losses of more than 1.30% over Tuesday’s close. The trends of the major indices in the course of Wednesday’s trading are given in the table below:

 

Major Indices (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

According to market observers, caution ahead of futures and options (F&O) expiry, coupled with a weak rupee and profit booking in banking, healthcare and automobile stocks, hampered investors' risk-taking appetite. On the NSE, there were 192 advances, 1,284 declines and 34 unchanged. Market close on Wednesday has marked the longest losing streak for the indices after a seven-day fall that ended on 22 December, 2016, pointed out market analysts. Sentiment was also dampened, when news agencies flashed that there was a firefight and heavy casualties were suffered by the NSCN-Khaplang in Nagaland along the India-Myanmar border, according to a tweet from the Eastern Command.

Piramal Finance on Wednesday announced its foray into the retail housing finance business through its wholly-owned subsidiary Piramal Housing Finance. "Under a licence received from the National Housing Bank to operate, the housing finance vertical will offer home loans as well as loans against property and construction finance for small developers," the company said in a statement. "Given the size, scale and market relevance of the wholesale lending business, it was a natural progression to assess opportunities within the retail lending space." "The retail housing finance business will initially focus on a product roll out across all major metro cities and thereafter seek to establish a pan-India presence, including tier 2, 3 towns and cities. The retail construction finance arm will focus on local developers in tier 1 and top developers in tier 2, 3 geographies," it said. Piramal Finance's existing wholesale business has over Rs35,000 crore in assets under management (across debt and equity), with funding across over 300 projects and over 100 development partners, it added. Piramal Enterprises shares closed at Rs2,620.00, down 2.35% on the BSE.

Automobile manufacturer Datsun India on Tuesday launched hatchback "redi-GO GOLD 1.0L" priced from Rs369,737. According to Jerome Saigot, Vice President, Marketing and Datsun Business Unit, Nissan Motor India, "Datsun redi-GO GOLD" offers high-value-for-money cars for customers. The hatchback is powered by the "Intelligent Spark Automated Technology (iSAT) 1.0L" three-cylinder engine, paired with a five-speed manual transmission. The S & P BSE Auto index 23,778.84, down 1.56% on the BSE.

With exponential data consumption, the telecom industry is expected to generate revenue of $38.25 billion by 2017-end, registering a compounded annual growth rate of 5.2% between 2014 and 2017, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said on Wednesday. India is the second largest telecom market in the world with 1.2 billion telecom users and 450 million internet users, he added. The telecom industry generates 4 million direct and indirect employment. The S & P BSE Telecom index closed at 1,338.88, down 0.34% on the BSE. Huawei Telecommunications India on Wednesday said it has tied up with Bharti Airtel for the deployment of Airtel's Massive MIMO -- an integral component in India's roadmap to 5G deployment -- in Bengaluru. The company said the Massive MIMO solution can potentially increase spectrum efficiency by five to seven times, enhancing intensive coverage and user experience. 

Divi's Laboratories shares plunged to Rs874.70, losing about 9% in the process, soon after trading commenced on Wednesday morning, reacting to news that the company's Vizag unit 2 received six observations in Form 483 from the US health regulator. The inspection took place during the period September 11 - 19. Pointing out that Divi's Laboratories failed to test individual batches of final API with conformity with all appropriate specifications and that the company has not thoroughly investigated the lab failures, the USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) issued six observations. Alleged failure to validate the manufacturing cleaning length and inadequate cleaning instructions were among the other observations made by the US drug regulator. The shares of the company closed at Rs850.15, down 11.60% on the BSE.

The Congress, led by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday launched a frontal attack on the Modi government over the state of the economy, after BJP leader Yashwant Sinha aired his views on the "mess", and warned people to brace for tougher times ahead. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your copilot and FM speaking. Please fasten your seat belts and take brace position. The wings have fallen off our plane," Gandhi tweeted while sharing the article Sinha wrote in The Indian Express, critical of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. In the hard-hitting remarks, Sinha, who was the Finance Minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government, lashed out at "superman" Jaitley for making a "mess" of the Indian economy which is headed for a "hard landing" as sector after sector is slipping into distress. With the news on the economy being bad, the Indian stock markets are not bullish at high share prices. However, the long term trend of the stock markets is bullish and there is no sell-out.

The top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below:

 

Top Gainer (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

The closing values of the major Asian indices are given in the table below:The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Asian Indices (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

India likely to be $6 trillion economy in 10 years: Morgan Stanley-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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27 September  2017

India (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

India is expected to be a USD 6 trillion economy -- the third largest in the world -- in the next 10 years, majorly helped by digitisation, says a report.

According to global brokerage Morgan Stanley, India's digitisation drive would provide a boost of 50-75 basis points to GDP growth in the coming decade.

"We estimate that digitisation will provide a boost of 50-75 basis points to GDP growth and forecast that India will grow to USD 6 trillion economy and achieve upper-middle income status by by 2026-27," Morgan Stanley head India research and India equity strategist Ridham Desai told reporters here.

"We expect India's real and nominal GDP growth to compound annually by 7.1 percent and 11.2 percent respectively over the coming decade," he added.

Citing the report 'India's digital leap - The multi-trillion dollar opportunity' released today, Desai said apart from some short term teething problems including implementation of GST, there is scope for visible shifts in economic activity starting in 2018 which would eventually lead India to be the top five equity markets in the world with a market capitalisation of USD 6.1 trillion and the third-largest listed financial services sector around the globe with a market cap of USD 1.8 trillion by 2027.

India's consumer sectors is also likely to add about USD 1.5 trillion over the next ten years.

"We project gross FDI inflows amounting to USD 120 billion by FY'27, almost double the current 12-month trailing run rate of USD 64 billion," Desai said.

Accordingly, Desai also noted that stock markets are likely to remain robust as a stronger economic growth should drive stronger corporate earnings growth.

Desai also said the country is also likely to witness strong domestic participation in equities.

"We project equity saving of USD 420 billion-USD 525 billion over the next ten years, versus the respective USD 60 billion and USD 120 billion that households and foreign portfolios invested over the previous ten years," he said.

While the report exudes confidence that India's growth story is to continue, it also identified certain risks.

These are with respect to political stability, privacy debate over Aadhaar, and implementation of GST, among others.

The report said that while the Supreme Court has made privacy a fundamental right in a recent judgement, private parties will likely continue to question whether Aadhaar violates privacy rights.

"Any adverse judgement in the courts could derail one of the main anchors of our framework," it said.

Further, it noted that GST is expected to disrupt smaller businesses causing job losses and a general slowdown in economic growth, however, it is likely to lead to lower public debt to GDP subsequently.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Data is the new oil, India does not need to import it: Mukesh Ambani-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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27 September  2017 

Mukesh Ambani (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions) 

Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday said data is the new oil and India does not need to import it.

"Data is the new oil. India does not need to import it. We have it in super abundance. It will be a new source of value and will create opportunities and prosperity for India and millions of Indians," Ambani said while addressing the India Mobile Congress here.

"As a nation, we missed out on the first three global industrial revolutions -- namely mechanisation, mass production and automation. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, fuelled by connectivity, data and Artificial Intelligence, has now begun.

"India now has the opportunity to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is set to usher in more dramatic transformations globally than the three previous revolutions. Mobile Internet and cloud computing are the foundational technologies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

Ambani said India has leapfrogged from a lowly 155th in mobile broadband penetration to being the world`s largest mobile data-consuming nation in just one year.

He further said: "Data is the oxygen of a digital economy. We cannot deprive Indians of this vital life-sustaining resource. We have to provide ubiquitous access to high-speed data at affordable prices."

Ambani said the Indian mobile market is now overflowing with data.

"All of us have worked to create a robust digital circulatory system to carry data to each one of the 1.3 billion Indians, including those living in the remotest village.

"Within the next 12 months, 4G coverage in India will become larger than the 2G coverage. There is an urgent need to apply the revolutionary powers of digital technologies to India`s pressing needs and challenges."

He charted out three must-do tasks for the industry and government alike.

First, he said: "We must explore and implement innovative ideas to generate employment, self-employment and income-generation opportunities for millions of Indian youth."

Secondly, he said digital technologies can be a boon for achieving national priorities of energy security, water security, and resource security and, thirdly, India`s human capital is our greatest asset.

"Therefore, digitalisation of education, training and human resource development in a comprehensive manner must be regarded as a precondition for the success of Digital India. To accomplish all these tasks, the telecom and IT industry will have to partner with every sector of the economy and government, every business and every institution, from the biggest to the smallest."

"I believe that in the next 10 years, India will grow from a $2.5 trillion economy to a $7 trillion economy and rank among the top three economies in the world."The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

RBI to keep rates steady in October, cut growth forecast-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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27 September  2017

RBI (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

The Reserve Bank will hold policy steady at its October 4 meeting, and well past next year, amid weak economic growth and signs inflation may soon overshoot its target, a Reuters poll found.

Asia`s third-largest economy started losing momentum after the government scrapped 86 percent of currency in circulation late last year, hurting demand in India`s cash-reliant economy, and the slowdown was compounded by the implementation of a new tax system.

In August, despite a neutral policy bias, India`s central bank cut the key policy rate after lowering its economic growth forecast in June to 7.3 percent from 7.4 percent for the current fiscal year. 

The latest poll of 60 economists showed although the RBI will hold its key repo rate at a seven-year low of 6 percent next week, it will downgrade its growth forecast again following disruptions caused by the new tax. 

Introduced July 1, the national tax system caused confusion over product pricing and pushed activity in India`s private sector into contraction. 

Economic growth slowed to a three-year low last quarter, prompting some economists to lower their outlook. 

"RBI has already been highlighting downside risks to growth, and that bias should now crystallize in the updated forecasts," said Abhishek Upadhyay, economist at ICICI Securities PD.

However, lacklustre growth and inflation hovering below the RBI`s 4 percent medium-term target - annual retail inflation was 3.36 percent in August - would not be enough to drive the RBI into action, economists said.

Nearly two-thirds of forecasters who answered an extra question said there was a chance consumer inflation would overshoot the RBI`s medium-term target this fiscal year and medians suggest the Bank would hold policy until at least April 2019, the end of the forecast horizon.

The reverse repo rate is expected to be left at 5.75 percent across the same period.

However, not all economists are convinced the RBI will keep policy rates unchanged.

Credit Agricole CIB, Geojit Financial Services and Trust Capital predict a 25 basis point trim in the repo rate next week. Over a quarter of economists polled expect a cut by year-end. 

"Growth is below the central bank`s expectations and they will react to that by their easing policy stance as strong annual growth is not achievable after what happened in the first quarter of this fiscal year," said Darius Kowalczyk, senior economist at Credit Agricole CIB. 

"So in order to stimulate aggregate demand, they will lower nominal rates and the time to do this is running out as inflation is rebounding."The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Gains For Banks And Technology Stocks Lead US Indexes Higher-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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27 September  2017 

Wall Street financial markets (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

U.S. stock indexes are slightly higher Wednesday as banks rise along with bond yields, but utilities and other big-dividend stocks tumble. Smaller companies are climbing as investors review tax cuts proposed by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, and technology companies continue to recover some of their recent losses. Athletic gear giant Nike is falling as investors are concerned about its U.S. business.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,499 as of 10:50 a.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average was unchanged at 22,283. The Nasdaq composite advanced 35 points, or 0.6 percent, to 6,415. The Russell 2000 index, which is made up of smaller-company stocks, continued to set records as it gained 6 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,463.

FED FOCUS: Investors bet that interest rates will keep rising. Tuesday afternoon, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank will be careful not to raise interest rates too slowly even though inflation has long been weaker than the Fed expects. Investors currently think the Fed will raise rates again in December, and Yellen and other policymakers say they plan to raise rates several more times in 2018.

The yield on the 2-year Treasury note rose to 1.47 percent from 1.45 percent. The yield on the 10-year note climbed to 2.30 percent from 2.24 percent. That helped banks, as higher interest rates mean they can charge more to lend money. Bank of America picked up 56 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $25.38 and Citigroup rose $1.41, or 2 percent, to $72.35.

Companies that pay big dividends, including real estate investment trusts and utility companies, took steep losses. Rising bond yields made government bonds a more appealing investment to investors seeking income.

CURRENCIES: The dollar also got stronger. It rose to 112.82 yen from 112.17 yen. The euro fell to $1.1733 from $1.1798.

LACES UNTIED: Shoe and athletic gear maker Nike said sales in the U.S. remained weak in its first fiscal quarter and steep discounts continued to affect its business. While its earnings and revenue were better than analysts expected, analysts chalked much of that up to lower taxes, stock repurchases, and spending cuts.

Nike stock lost $2.02, or 3.8 percent, to $51.68. Other sporting goods companies also slumped. Under Armour gave up 30 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $16.24. Retailer Dick's Sporting Goods shed 42 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $27.19 and Foot Locker fell 48 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $34.64.

TAX PLANS: President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are proposing a tax plan that cuts taxes for individuals and corporations, reduces the number of personal tax brackets, and nearly doubles the standard deduction used by most Americans. The top tax rate for corporations would be cut to 25 percent from 35 percent. But with months of negotiations likely ahead and many key details missing, it's not clear what kind of plan might ultimately pass.

TWITTER TEST: Twitter climbed after the company said it will test a 280-character limit for tweets. That's double the current limit, which has existed for the social media company's entire history. The stock gained 27 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $16.86.

Other technology companies also climbed. Chipmaker Micron Technology had a better quarter than investors expected, and its stock rose $2.77, or 8.1 percent, to $36.95. Facebook climbed $2.34, or 1.4 percent, to $166.55 and Apple picked up $1.33 to $154.47.

POWERING DOWN: Utility company Scana dropped after state police in South Carolina said they are looking into "potential criminality" by the company after a nuclear plant construction project was shut down after some $10 billion had already been spent. Scana said it will cooperate fully with the inquiry. Its stock sank $3.30, or 5.9 percent, to $52.27.

Scana's South Carolina Electric & Gas unit and partner Santee Cooper canceled the project in July after contractor Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy.

LOSING ITS LUSTER: Gold fell to its lowest in a month. The metal's price declined $11.10 to $1,290.60 an ounce. Two weeks ago gold was at a 12-month high, but it's fallen sharply since then.

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11 cents to $51.99 a barrel in the New York while Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, fell 33 cents to $57.59 a barrel in London.

OVERSEAS: The FTSE 100 index in Britain rose 0.4 percent while Germany's DAX rose 0.6 percent. The CAC 40 in France added 0.4 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent and South Korea's Kospi dipped less than 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.5 percent.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Nifty, Sensex May Rise If Tuesday’s Low Holds – Tuesday closing report-The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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26 September  2017

I had mentioned in Monday’s closing report that Nifty, Sensex might try a weak bounce. The major indices of the Indian stock markets were range-bound on Tuesday and closed with minor gains over Monday’s close. The trends of the major indices in the course of Tuesday’s trading are given in the table below:

 

Major Indices (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

Key Indian equity indices were dragged lower during the mid-afternoon trade session on Tuesday as rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula dented investors' risk-taking appetite. According to market observers, broadly negative global indices and subdued domestic growth outlook too dampened key indices. 

The market made a subdued start on Tuesday, in line with a sluggish Asian opening, as worries over North Korea made investors cautious, observed market analysts. FMCG (fast moving consumer goods), consumer durables, banking and PSU (public sector undertaking) banking stocks were in the red, losing up to 0.32%. Some losses were pared by buying in metals and realty stocks. The rupee weakened by 18 paise to a fresh six-month low of 65.28 against the US dollar during early trade. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday lowered the penalty on savings accounts for non-maintenance of minimum balance while exempting the accounts of minors and pensioners. The largest public sector bank had levied penalty for not maintaining minimum balance in its savings accounts starting April 1. The Jan Dhan and Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts were already exempt from this. SBI shares closed at Rs257.50, down 0.44% on the BSE.

Reliance Capital said on Tuesday said that it will setup a standalone health insurance company. According to Reliance Capital's Executive Director Anmol Ambani, the firm has received "round 1 approval from the IRDA". "We expect to become operational beginning early next year," Ambani said while addressing shareholders during the company's annual general meeting held here. "There are three factors indicating significant growth potential in retail health insurance -- Changing demographics: a younger India with higher income, higher assets, and more financially aware -- the rising cost of healthcare -- an increase in lifestyle related ailments," he added. Reliance Capital shares closed at Rs620.55, down 0.76% on the BSE. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

In a bid to reach out to customers globally, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major Dabur India on Tuesday said it has tied up with global e-commerce giant Amazon to launch around 30 products on the platform. The company said under this collaboration, Amazon will help to take around 30 products from its popular range such as Vatika hair oil, Meswak toothpaste, Red toothpaste and Chyawanprash to consumers in the US. "We are starting with about 30 products... starting with oils, chyawanprash, honey and many others, and soon will be populated with another 80 products which are in the pipeline and are being discussed with the Amazon team and our team locally," Krishan Kumar Chutani, Executive Director - Consumer Care Business, Dabur India, said here in an interaction with reporters. Chutani added that the rest of the 80 products will be launched in another six-to-eight months. According to Dabur India, it will also offer an exclusive range of products specially created for Amazon's global customers. Dabur India shares closed at Rs308.10, down 1.42% on the BSE.

The Indian pharmaceutical sector, which has witnessed tepid growth on the domestic and international fronts, is likely to see return of normalcy only by 2021, pharma major Lupin's Executive Director and CFO Ramesh Swaminathan said on Monday. "We have lined up quite a few products for launch. Year 2018-19 could be better than 2017-18. And the year 2021 should be pretty good for us... 65% of our portfolio is generics, it will not be a paradigm shift in immediate future," he told BTVi in an interview.  "We are not that big in injectibles, but we are getting there. We have a rich pipeline for United States. Look at the products to be launched in next three years. By 2021, we will see levels of normalcy return to most companies, including us," the company Chief Financial Officer (CFO) added. On the domestic front, the sector's growth has been affected because the pharmaceutical companies resorted to de-stocking in the first quarter of the current fiscal as caution ahead of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout from July 1. Swaminathan said the last few quarters have been very difficult for the sector.  "Price erosion was rampant in the US. There could be a second wave of price erosion; could be 10% in one year. The pain will last for a few more quarters. The first quarter was impacted by the GST, (and) de-stocking in India," he said. "Going forward, there are markets that have certainly moved. But for the US, it could be lacklustre. Most companies are moving towards specialty. After this wave of consolidation, you may see some stability," the Lupin Executive Director added. He said that speciality and complex generics were going to be the portfolio for pharmaceuticals in coming times.  "We (Lupin) have been working for the last four years for portfolio and acquired companies for platform technologies. We are in the process of evaluating options on the specialty front, where we could be looking at intellectual property (IP)-driven products. These will bear fruit in the next couple of years," he said. "Lot of these endeavours would call for deeper pockets. For us, research and development is about 13%, but I don't think it will go up to 18% like in the case of big pharma companies. We can use more innovative deeds and pass on the risk to financial partners and share it on the upside. That's the way forward for Indian companies," Swaminathan added. Lupin shares closed at Rs1,005.15, up 1.40% on the BSE.

The top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below:

 

Top Gainer (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)

The closing values of the major Asian indices are given in the table below: The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Asian Indices (The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions)