India Ranked 75th In The World''s Best Nations For Business - March 20, 2009

India ranked 75th in the world''s best nations for business after skidding 11 positions. The data is accumulated by US publication Forbes. India slipped from its position as lost position in many areas like technology, corporate tax rate, freedom and calming corruption. Forbes'' annual list ranks 127 nations on the basis of business environment in a country for entrepreneurs, investors and workers.

Further, Denmark topped list for the second successive year. However, India turns out to be unable to hold its 64th position in the list. The US gained two positions to be ranked 2nd on the list. Apart from this, Canada and Singapore have moved up 4 spots each to 3rd and 4th respectively.

India Inc''s M&A Value Dips 53% In 4 yrs - Feb 24, 2009

Continuous downfall in the stock market has led the current market valuation of corporate India''s mergers and acquisitions losing behind by a whopping $24.04 billion, in just four years time. During 2005-08, listed Indian companies have been involved in M&A activities worth $45 billion, but the current mark-to-market value of such M&As is down to $20.96 billion, with a loss of 53 per cent, SMC Capital said in a report. Though M&As are meant more for long-term strategic reasons, a loss of $24.04 billion is lot of money to totally ignore. However, the overall M&A experience by Indian corporates turning sour, raising questions about the very rationality of such aggressive M&As, SMC Capitals CEO Jagannadham Thunuguntla said.

Fast and aggressive M&As by Indian corporates on unprecedented bull market, was also one of the key reason for fall in its valuations, as during the four-year time (2005-08) the equity market went through a rough patch. A yearly comparison shows that the listed M&As of 2005 are performing relatively better with current mark-to-market return of negative 6.68 per cent. However, the listed M&As of 2006, 2007 and 2008 are bleeding severely with losses as high as 62.84 per cent, the report said.

Nearly 85 per cent of the listed M&As during 2005-08 are posting losses. There were 54 deals in the period under review, out of which as many as 46 are in losses. Only eight deals representing 15 per cent have been able to post profits and these deals were from sectors like energy, manufacturing, oil and gas and telecom. Deals that reported profits were NTPC-Ratnagiri Gas, GAIL-Ratnagiri Gas, Vodafone-Bharti, Tata Power-Arutmin, Holcim-HCC, Bharat Petroleum-Encana, Indian Oil-IBP Company.

All the other sectors under review, barring telecom, that posted negative returns are aviation (69.94 per cent), Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (44.09 per cent), energy (37.07 per cent), hospitality (75.72 per cent), IT and ITeS (57.87 per cent), manufacturing (62.71 per cent), media and entertainment (78.66 per cent), oil and gas (16.81 per cent), pharma and healthcare (67.10 per cent).

Corp Tax Collection May Meet Estimate - Jan 27, 2009

The growth in corporate tax collection was likely to meet the budget estimate level of 26.1 per cent backed by a ''recovery'' in the last quarter of the current fiscal, an economic-think tank has said.

"Advance tax payment was down 22 per cent to Rs 42,000 crore in December 2008 over the year-ago level. However, corporate tax collection is likely to revive in the last quarter of the current fiscal", Centre for Monitoring India Economy (CMIE) has said in its report. However, the budget amount for corporate tax collection is Rs 2,26,361 crore for the financial year 2008-09.

CMIE said "In the year 2008-09, growth in corporate tax collection is expected to reach the budget growth of 21.6 per cent". According to CMIE, corporate tax collection registered an impressive growth, registering 38.2 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal. Despite a drop in revenue recorded in October and November 2008, the cumulative growth till November remained robust at the same level, the report said.

CMIE expects India Inc would enhance its profits, riding piggyback on the steep fall in crude oil prices in the international market and large payments to fertilizer companies towards fertiliser subsidies. In the last quarter of 2008-09, PAT is estimated to grow by an impressive 38 per cent, the report said.