Hero MotoCorp eyes rural India to beat competition from Honda Motor Co
Hero MotoCorp, the country's biggest motorcycle maker, is wooing rural buyers with promotions such as free health checkups after competition from former partner Honda Motor Co. prompted the first drop in sales in almost a decade.
The New Delhi-based company, which gets over 45 % of its revenue from sales in non-urban areas in the world's second- largest market for the two wheelers, is organizing free vehicle servicing and medical camps in over 100,000 villages around the country to bolster its presence and attract new customers, according to Anil Dua, the senior VP for marketing and sales at Hero.
India's rural spending was $67.57 billion between 2009-10 and 2011-12, compared to urban consumption of $53.95 billion in the same period, according to a November 2012 note by India Brand Equity Foundation. Rising incomes and low penetration of consumer durables are the reasons cited for the growth in spending, according to the report.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, i4u, Worldnews, IBNLive, Zeenews)
India Ratings maintains negative outlook for retail sector
India Ratings has maintained a 'negative outlook' for the retail sector with "luxury segment" expected to be the worst hit in 2013.
"India Ratings has maintained a negative outlook on the retail sector for 2013. This is because of protracted weakness in consumer's discretionary spending due to higher inflation, marginal real wage growth and low level of macro-economic activity," the agency said in its report released today.
Observing that the retail sector registered a single digit growth in 2012 for the first time in the history, the report said "overall revenue is likely to grow at 3.0 % - 8.0 % year-on-year across large retailer".
Sales in 2012 were driven by discount offers by companies and the trend is likely to continue in 2013, it said, adding, "retailers focused on the luxury or premium segment may be worst hit".
(Sources: NDTV, Hindu Business Line, Livemint, Business Standard, Economic Times, Indiatimes)
India can achieve 4 per cent agricultural growth in 2012-17: Pranab
President Pranab Mukherjee today said the country can achieve the targeted 4 % growth in the agriculture sector during the 12th Plan period with the help of better seeds, improved water management practice and balanced use of fertilizers and pesticides, among others.
The farm sector needs priority access to power, credit, water and fertilizers, he said at a function to distribute 'Krishi Karman' awards to 18 states.
Stating that agriculture is a "challenging" sector, the President said the government should create employment opportunities in other sectors in order to reduce dependence of rural families on agriculture for livelihood. The growth of agriculture and allied sectors during the 11th Plan period (2007-12) stood at 3.3 %.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Financial Express, Times of India, Hindu Business Line)
Worst over for Indian economy; RBI likely to cut rates: BofA-ML
Following recent macroeconomic data on Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and trade deficit, Bank of America Merrill-Lynch (BofA-ML) has maintained its stance that the worst is over for the Indian economy.
In a recent report, BofA-ML said that while the November IIP has contracted at (-) 0.1%, the data was well above the bank's estimate of (-) 1.5% .The banks remain confident that industrial growth is bottoming.
In yet another report, BofA-ML's Economist, Indranil Sen Gupta, says that with the wholesale-price index (WPI) for the month of December cooling down to 7.2 %, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to cut rates by 25 basis points in its monetary policy review on January 29.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, i4u, Moneycontrol, Rediff, Yahoo News, India Everyday)
Services export in November 2012 at $12.03 billion: RBI data
India's services export in November 2012 stood at $12.03 billion, down 2.5 % from a month ago, Reserve Bank data showed today.
The total export from services in October was at $12.35 billion, as per the RBI data.
Imports of services also fell down slightly to $6.62 billion in November from $6.70 billion in the previous month. The services sector contributes about 55 % to the country's gross domestic product.
During April-November of 2012-13, the cumulative services receipt or exports has amounted to $92.12 billion. Services outgo or imports stood at $53.06 billion during this period of the fiscal.
(Sources: Economic Times, Indiatimes, Zeenews, IBNLive, NDTV, Rediff, Moneycontrol)
India turns attractive for defence investments
India is poised to become a favourite destination for global defence sector players with total offset opportunity for the commercial segment in the country set to cross $10 billion mark in 2013. With the government expected to raise the foreign investment limit from 26 % to 49 % in the defence sector in 2013, the country is likely to witness a next rush of investments, as per a recent study by Deloitte.
According to Deloitte Aerospace & Defence outlook 2013, while the global defence industry is expected to shrink, the growth in Indian defence sector is on the surge. “India continues to be one of the promising aerospace and defence (A&D) markets in the world due to the increasing demand in A&D equipment for the armed forces,” the Deloitte report says.
(Sources: Business Standard, i4u, Zeenews, IBNLive, NDTV, Yahoo News, India Everyday)
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