General Affairs
Hundreds Bid Emotional Farewell To Siachen Bravehearts In Tamil Nadu
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MADURAI/THENI: Hundreds of people today bid emotional farewell to Siachen bravehearts G Ganesan and S Kumar, whose last rites were performed with full state honours at Chokkathevanpatti in Madurai and Kumanan Kuzhu in Theni districts respectively.
While Sepoy Ganesan (25) was cremated at Chokkathevanpatti, Havildar Kumar (37) was buried at Kumanankuzhu.
The atmosphere at the funeral was highly emotional with friends, relatives and locals bidding tearful farewell.
District Collectors of Madurai and Theni - Veeraraghava Rao and Venkatachalam respectively- handed over cheques of Rs. 10 lakh each to the bereaved families, the solatium announced by the state government.
The government has also assured job to one family member of the two deceased soldiers.
Mr Ganesan, Mr Kumar and eight other soldiers, including Havildar M Elumalai of Vellore and Sepoy N Ramamurthy from Krishnagiri of Tamil Nadu, got buried in snow after an avalanche hit their high-altitude post in Siachen glacier in Ladakh on February 3.
One of them, Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, found alive under the snow, also died on February 11 after battling for life.
MADURAI/THENI: Hundreds of people today bid emotional farewell to Siachen bravehearts G Ganesan and S Kumar, whose last rites were performed with full state honours at Chokkathevanpatti in Madurai and Kumanan Kuzhu in Theni districts respectively.While Sepoy Ganesan (25) was cremated at Chokkathevanpatti, Havildar Kumar (37) was buried at Kumanankuzhu.
The atmosphere at the funeral was highly emotional with friends, relatives and locals bidding tearful farewell.
District Collectors of Madurai and Theni - Veeraraghava Rao and Venkatachalam respectively- handed over cheques of Rs. 10 lakh each to the bereaved families, the solatium announced by the state government.
The government has also assured job to one family member of the two deceased soldiers.
Mr Ganesan, Mr Kumar and eight other soldiers, including Havildar M Elumalai of Vellore and Sepoy N Ramamurthy from Krishnagiri of Tamil Nadu, got buried in snow after an avalanche hit their high-altitude post in Siachen glacier in Ladakh on February 3.
One of them, Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, found alive under the snow, also died on February 11 after battling for life.
BJP Wrests Maihar Assembly Seat From Congress In Madhya Pradesh
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BHOPAL: Dealing a blow to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, ruling BJP today won the Maihar Assembly seat in a bypoll with party nominee Narayan Tripathi defeating the main opposition party's Manish Patel by a margin of 27,544 votes.
Mr Tripathi secured 82,703 votes while Mr Patel polled 55,159 votes, an election official said.
The outcome came as a double jolt for Congress as Mr Tripathi, after winning the seat in 2013 Assembly polls, had quit the party to join BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Later, he resigned from the seat which necessitated the bypoll.
The victory came as a morale-booster for the BJP after it conceded to the Congress the Jhabua Lok Sabha seat in a bypoll shortly after the drubbing in the Bihar Assembly elections, which analysts then took as a sign of declining fortunes of the long-ruling saffron party in the state.
The win in Maihar is expected to enhance the confidence of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh where it heavily relies on the appeal of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The victory comes just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sherpur in neighbouring Sehore district on February 18, where farmers will felicitate him for launching new crop insurance scheme.
Buoyed by the bypoll victory, Mr Chouhan said at Sherpur, "I am thankful to the people of Maihar for this victory and will visit the town on February 22 to personally convey my thanks to them."
Mr Chouhan was at Sherpur to review preperations for PM Modi's visit on February 18.
For Congress also, the bypoll in Maihar was a prestigious battle as it had won it in 2013 despite BJP getting more than two-third majority in the state Assembly.
Traditionally Maihar, part of Satna Lok Sabha constituency, is seen as a Congress stronghold.
The BJP, keen on wresting the seat from the Congress, fielded Mr Tripathi himself for the bypoll.
Congress also made its best efforts to ensure Mr Tripathi's defeat by fielding Mr Patel, who had joined Congress by quitting Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), seeking to consolidate backward class voters in the Brahmin-dominated seat, a strategy which failed to click.
While the Congress had won the seat eight times since 1957, Janata Party, an Indpendent, Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and BJP tasted victory once each.
BJP's Motilal Tiwari won it in 2008.
Mr Tripathi bagged the seat for the Congress in 2013 by a margin of 6,975 votes by defeating BJP's Ramesh Prasad.
The chief minister had campaigned vigorously in the last three-four days in Maihar to ensure BJP's victory.
Others in the fray this time included BSP's Ram Lakhan Singh Patel, a former legislator and SP's Ram Niwas Urmalia.
Mr Tripathi secured 82,703 votes while Mr Patel polled 55,159 votes, an election official said.
The outcome came as a double jolt for Congress as Mr Tripathi, after winning the seat in 2013 Assembly polls, had quit the party to join BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Later, he resigned from the seat which necessitated the bypoll.
The victory came as a morale-booster for the BJP after it conceded to the Congress the Jhabua Lok Sabha seat in a bypoll shortly after the drubbing in the Bihar Assembly elections, which analysts then took as a sign of declining fortunes of the long-ruling saffron party in the state.
The win in Maihar is expected to enhance the confidence of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh where it heavily relies on the appeal of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
The victory comes just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sherpur in neighbouring Sehore district on February 18, where farmers will felicitate him for launching new crop insurance scheme.
Buoyed by the bypoll victory, Mr Chouhan said at Sherpur, "I am thankful to the people of Maihar for this victory and will visit the town on February 22 to personally convey my thanks to them."
Mr Chouhan was at Sherpur to review preperations for PM Modi's visit on February 18.
For Congress also, the bypoll in Maihar was a prestigious battle as it had won it in 2013 despite BJP getting more than two-third majority in the state Assembly.
Traditionally Maihar, part of Satna Lok Sabha constituency, is seen as a Congress stronghold.
The BJP, keen on wresting the seat from the Congress, fielded Mr Tripathi himself for the bypoll.
Congress also made its best efforts to ensure Mr Tripathi's defeat by fielding Mr Patel, who had joined Congress by quitting Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), seeking to consolidate backward class voters in the Brahmin-dominated seat, a strategy which failed to click.
While the Congress had won the seat eight times since 1957, Janata Party, an Indpendent, Janata Dal, Samajwadi Party and BJP tasted victory once each.
BJP's Motilal Tiwari won it in 2008.
Mr Tripathi bagged the seat for the Congress in 2013 by a margin of 6,975 votes by defeating BJP's Ramesh Prasad.
The chief minister had campaigned vigorously in the last three-four days in Maihar to ensure BJP's victory.
Others in the fray this time included BSP's Ram Lakhan Singh Patel, a former legislator and SP's Ram Niwas Urmalia.
JNU Row: Court Agrees To Hear Plea On Patiala House Scuffle Tomorrow
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today agreed to give an urgent hearing tomorrow to a plea seeking action against those involved in thrashing journalists and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students and teachers in the Patiala House court complex where a student union leader was to be produced.
The petition filed by ND Jaiprakash, an alumnus of JNU, who was hurt in the violence yesterday, sought action against the people involved in the violence and over "inaction" on the part of Delhi Police.
The petition, which was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief JTS Thakur by senior advocate, Indira Jaising, also demanded that the security measures in the court complex, should be such that no person becomes victim of violence.
The petition said the violence witnessed in the court not only endangered the life of JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested in a case of sedition, but also prevented journalists from carrying out their work of reporting court proceedings.
It said that Mr Kumar will be produced in court again on expiry of his police remand.
The petition also sought a direction to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Delhi Police to take all preventive action so that no such violence takes place either inside the court roomor within the court complex as such type of activities in the court complex put the life of the accused in peril.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today agreed to give an urgent hearing tomorrow to a plea seeking action against those involved in thrashing journalists and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students and teachers in the Patiala House court complex where a student union leader was to be produced.The petition filed by ND Jaiprakash, an alumnus of JNU, who was hurt in the violence yesterday, sought action against the people involved in the violence and over "inaction" on the part of Delhi Police.
The petition said the violence witnessed in the court not only endangered the life of JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested in a case of sedition, but also prevented journalists from carrying out their work of reporting court proceedings.
It said that Mr Kumar will be produced in court again on expiry of his police remand.
The petition also sought a direction to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Delhi Police to take all preventive action so that no such violence takes place either inside the court roomor within the court complex as such type of activities in the court complex put the life of the accused in peril.
Probe Ordered Into 2 Civilian Deaths In Pulwama Firing Case
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SRINAGAR: A magisterial inquiry was today ordered into the deaths of two civilians, including a girl, allegedly in firing by security forces yesterday, on a crowd that was holding a protest over an encounter in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.
District Magistrate Pulwama, Niraj Kumar, ordered a time-bound probe to ascertain the cause of the deaths and injuries to the civilians after an encounter between security forces and militants in Kakapora area of the district, officials said.
They said the inquiry officer Additional District Magistrate, Pulwama, Shahbaz Ahmad Mirza, has been asked to submit the inquiry report within 15 days.
The two youths have been identified as Danish and Shahista, a police official said. A crowd of protesters yesterday started pelting stones at security forces at Lillhar in the Kakapora area near the encounter site, he said.
The inquiry officer has said that members of the public, who have any information on the incident, may appear before him in his office at the District Administrative Complex Pulwama to record the statement on any working day within a period of six days.
"In case any person desires, he can also file a detailed affidavit duly attested during this period," the officer said.
Meanwhile, the National Conference (NC) demanded a time-bound judicial probe into the killing of the two civilians, saying "a mere magisterial inquiry into the incident is not enough".
"A mere magisterial inquiry cannot suffice given the nature and enormity of the tragedy. The party demands a high-level judicial probe into the incident that resulted in the death of two young civilians and injuries to many others," NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said in a statement here.
He said the findings of the proposed judicial probe be made public in a time-bound manner.
"Any attempt to subvert the truth would be highly regrettable. Responsibility should be fixed and the guilty should be punished," Mr Sagar said.
NC has said that "disproportionate and wanton use of lethal force" on unarmed civilians and incidents like these discredit the principles of democracy and peace.
SRINAGAR: A magisterial inquiry was today ordered into the deaths of two civilians, including a girl, allegedly in firing by security forces yesterday, on a crowd that was holding a protest over an encounter in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.District Magistrate Pulwama, Niraj Kumar, ordered a time-bound probe to ascertain the cause of the deaths and injuries to the civilians after an encounter between security forces and militants in Kakapora area of the district, officials said.
The two youths have been identified as Danish and Shahista, a police official said. A crowd of protesters yesterday started pelting stones at security forces at Lillhar in the Kakapora area near the encounter site, he said.
The inquiry officer has said that members of the public, who have any information on the incident, may appear before him in his office at the District Administrative Complex Pulwama to record the statement on any working day within a period of six days.
"In case any person desires, he can also file a detailed affidavit duly attested during this period," the officer said.
Meanwhile, the National Conference (NC) demanded a time-bound judicial probe into the killing of the two civilians, saying "a mere magisterial inquiry into the incident is not enough".
"A mere magisterial inquiry cannot suffice given the nature and enormity of the tragedy. The party demands a high-level judicial probe into the incident that resulted in the death of two young civilians and injuries to many others," NC General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said in a statement here.
He said the findings of the proposed judicial probe be made public in a time-bound manner.
"Any attempt to subvert the truth would be highly regrettable. Responsibility should be fixed and the guilty should be punished," Mr Sagar said.
NC has said that "disproportionate and wanton use of lethal force" on unarmed civilians and incidents like these discredit the principles of democracy and peace.
Mehbooba Mufti Agrees To Meet BJP This Week: Sources
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SRINAGAR: After days of uncertainty over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti has given the BJP a positive signal.
Ms Mufti has messaged her readiness to hold talks with BJP leader Ram Madhav any time this week.
The BJP's alliance with Ms Mufti is in limbo over the PDP leader's demand for time-bound confidence building measures and the implementing of the agenda of alliance that the two parties had agreed to when they joined hands to take power last year.
Mr Madhav was expected to visit Srinagar on Monday to meet Ms Mufti to try and end the stalemate between the alliance partners since the death of Ms Mufti's father and Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7. Instead, he visited poll-bound Assam.
Sources told that on the BJP's request for a meeting, Ms Mufti conveyed that she was ready anytime after Monday, when the traditional 40th day prayer ceremony was held for her father. Local BJP leaders including former deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh visited the Muftis yesterday but there was no discussion on government formation.
Sources say Ms Mufti wants to meet with the BJP before she leaves for Delhi on February 22 to attend the budget session of Parliament. Ms Mufti is the parliamentarian representing the Anantnag constituency in south Kashmir.
The massive controversy at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University over an event held in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru may cause discomfort to Ms Mufti. The central government is facing opposition criticism over the arrest of a student on sedition charges, for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans at that event.
"(Mehbooba) is very uncomfortable at whatever is happening over the JNU event," a source told.
The PDP has a strong view on Afzal Guru's hanging and used it to target rival National Conference in the 2014 election. Days after the execution, Mr Saeed wrote a strongly worded letter to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that Afzal's remains be handed over.
BJP sources insist that the JNU row will not affect the party's ties with the PDP.
SRINAGAR: After days of uncertainty over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti has given the BJP a positive signal.Ms Mufti has messaged her readiness to hold talks with BJP leader Ram Madhav any time this week.
The BJP's alliance with Ms Mufti is in limbo over the PDP leader's demand for time-bound confidence building measures and the implementing of the agenda of alliance that the two parties had agreed to when they joined hands to take power last year.
Sources told that on the BJP's request for a meeting, Ms Mufti conveyed that she was ready anytime after Monday, when the traditional 40th day prayer ceremony was held for her father. Local BJP leaders including former deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh visited the Muftis yesterday but there was no discussion on government formation.
Sources say Ms Mufti wants to meet with the BJP before she leaves for Delhi on February 22 to attend the budget session of Parliament. Ms Mufti is the parliamentarian representing the Anantnag constituency in south Kashmir.
The massive controversy at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University over an event held in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru may cause discomfort to Ms Mufti. The central government is facing opposition criticism over the arrest of a student on sedition charges, for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans at that event.
"(Mehbooba) is very uncomfortable at whatever is happening over the JNU event," a source told.
The PDP has a strong view on Afzal Guru's hanging and used it to target rival National Conference in the 2014 election. Days after the execution, Mr Saeed wrote a strongly worded letter to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that Afzal's remains be handed over.
BJP sources insist that the JNU row will not affect the party's ties with the PDP.
Business Affairs
Sensex ends 362 points lower, Nifty slips below 7,050 on profit-booking; SBI top loser
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Snapping the three-long gaining streak, the S&P BSE Sensexwiped off all early gains to end the day 362 points on Tuesday, while broader CNX Nifty slipped below its key 7,050-mark after testing 7,200.
The benchmark indices sank as investors booked profits in sectors such as banks and capital goods, while sentiment was also hit after data showed exports shrank in January for a 14th straight month.
The 30-share index ended the day at 23,191, down 362.15 points, while broad-based 50-share index quoted 7,048, down 114.70 points at close.
Market breadth turned fairly negative with 26 of the 30 Sensex components ending the day in red.
The falls contrasted with gains in most of the region, which benefitted from a combination of stabilising Chinese markets, rebounding oil prices and solid US consumption data. The NSE Nifty surged 2.6 per cent on Monday, its biggest single-day percentage gain in more than a year, as state-run banks recovered from recent losses, but analysts warn overall sentiment remains weak due to poor corporate earnings and caution ahead of the 2016/17 budget due on February 29.
"It has largely to do with good amount of short-covering that had happened yesterday and that had propelled the rally in the market," said Deven Choksey, managing director of KR Choksey Securities.
"I doubt there was any genuine aggressive buying yesterday."
Meanwhile, data late on Monday showed domestic exports fell 13.6 per cent last month from a year ago on continued weak demand from Europe.
SBI was the worst performing stock on both the headline indices and lost nearly 7 per cent.
Software services exporters were among the day's losers, with Infosys down 0.95 per cent.
Bank of Baroda fell as much as 5.6 per cent after the state-run lender rallied 22.55 per cent on Monday following positive management comments.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's UB Holdings fell as much as 13.4 per cent, after Punjab National Bank declared the company as a "wilful defaulter" on Tuesday.
Jindal Steel and Power dropped as much as 5.9 per cent after local ratings agency CRISIL downgraded JNSP credit to A4+ from A3+.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite settled the day 3.29 per cent higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1.08 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei ended flat.
Snapping the three-long gaining streak, the S&P BSE Sensexwiped off all early gains to end the day 362 points on Tuesday, while broader CNX Nifty slipped below its key 7,050-mark after testing 7,200.
The benchmark indices sank as investors booked profits in sectors such as banks and capital goods, while sentiment was also hit after data showed exports shrank in January for a 14th straight month.
The 30-share index ended the day at 23,191, down 362.15 points, while broad-based 50-share index quoted 7,048, down 114.70 points at close.
Market breadth turned fairly negative with 26 of the 30 Sensex components ending the day in red.
The falls contrasted with gains in most of the region, which benefitted from a combination of stabilising Chinese markets, rebounding oil prices and solid US consumption data. The NSE Nifty surged 2.6 per cent on Monday, its biggest single-day percentage gain in more than a year, as state-run banks recovered from recent losses, but analysts warn overall sentiment remains weak due to poor corporate earnings and caution ahead of the 2016/17 budget due on February 29.
"It has largely to do with good amount of short-covering that had happened yesterday and that had propelled the rally in the market," said Deven Choksey, managing director of KR Choksey Securities.
"I doubt there was any genuine aggressive buying yesterday."
Meanwhile, data late on Monday showed domestic exports fell 13.6 per cent last month from a year ago on continued weak demand from Europe.
SBI was the worst performing stock on both the headline indices and lost nearly 7 per cent.
Software services exporters were among the day's losers, with Infosys down 0.95 per cent.
Bank of Baroda fell as much as 5.6 per cent after the state-run lender rallied 22.55 per cent on Monday following positive management comments.
Liquor baron Vijay Mallya's UB Holdings fell as much as 13.4 per cent, after Punjab National Bank declared the company as a "wilful defaulter" on Tuesday.
Jindal Steel and Power dropped as much as 5.9 per cent after local ratings agency CRISIL downgraded JNSP credit to A4+ from A3+.
Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite settled the day 3.29 per cent higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1.08 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei ended flat.
Budget 2016 wishlist: What market pundits expect from FM Arun Jaitley's Budget box
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As the Budget 2016-17 draws near, investors have started building expectations on a slew of likely reforms and announcements from the mega event, which could prove pro-investment and revive earnings of India Inc - a pre-requisite for the market to come out of the bear hug.
There are widespread concerns over US Fed rate hikes, yuan devaluation and lack of steps taken by Bank of Japan (BoJ) and European Central Bank (ECB)to revive the regions.
While India is seen to be in a sweet spot, given the falling commodity prices, earnings revival is yet to kick off in this part of the world.
As such all eyes have shifted to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who on Sunday promised to come up with banking reforms, other than key announcements in his third Budget, to give a fillip to the economy.
While industry will be looking for tax sops, economists would keep an eye on fiscal math. Investors, meanwhile, will watch out how effectively Jaitley trade between pro-poor and pro-market choices.
Vikas Gupta, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at ArthVeda Capital believes even if budget turns out to be a pro-poor budget, the quality of government measures will determine market reaction.
"What will matter is whether the pro-poor push is led by redistributive expenditure like subsidies and MNREGA schemes or led by productivity, efficiency and infrastructure-led push. In the case of former, it would be clearly taken as negative by the market," told Gupta to Business Today online.
The government had revised its fiscal deficit target from 3.6 per cent to 3.9 per cent in the previous Budget. Analysts feel a deviation again in this Budget will mean loss of credibility.
"While a small slippage may not be viewed negatively, any adverse comment to rein in the deficit will have an impact both on bond and equity market investments by foreign institutional investors (FIIs)," told Shrey Jain, Founder and MD, SAS online.com to Business Today online.
Below are these and some more key expectations that Dalal Street wishes in the Budget 2016 to be met:
1) Tax announcements
Tax announcements are the most striking feature of Budget and are closely followed by industrialists and common men alike. Investors are expecting more tax incentives for savings in the pension funds under National Pension System (NPS).
"A level playing platform on tax incentives for all kinds of long term savings products, be it Mutual Fund or Life Insurance Sector or National Pension System is expected," told Shridhar, CIO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance to Business Today online.
Dinesh Rohira, Founder & CEO, 5nance.com said: "Tax reforms have always been an important lever in defining the success of any budget, it's been long due, there is a golden opportunity in this budget to get constructive in this area and bring about a meaningful change."
On Goods and Services Tax (GST), Rohira sounded caution and said GST may take some time because of the political deadlock, however, simpler and effective tax reforms if carried out in this budget, especially towards enabling the common man and stimulating retail participation in the growth story, will go a long way in creating a very positive environment vide this budget.
2) Infra push
The government has neglected growth and stimulation in the infrastructure and real estate sector over the last three-four years. As they hold significance on contributing to an overall growth of the economy, a strong boost to these sectors must be accorded in this budget.
"We expect the budget to provide a clear roadmap for an increase in capital expenditures by government especially in the infrastructure sector. This, in our view, is extremely critical especially in light of the declining investment by private sector. Sectors like roads, railways, ports should be a clear focus area," said Gupta.
3) Rural push
For Ambareesh Baliga, independent market analyst, focus on rural segment, thereby reviving the rural economy is one of the most important expectations from the coming Budget. In the same vein, Gupta expects the Budget to introduce measures to stimulate the agrarian economy given the deficient monsoon led slowdown over the past few years crippled it. However, stimulus measures, he added, should be more oriented towards improving productivity and efficiency of system by building rural roads and improving irrigation systems etc, rather than making redistributive expenditures like subsidies.
4) Clarity on capital infusion in banks
Dalal Street expects a lot more clarity on the plans to improve the state of public sector banks (PSBs) either through big bang capital infusion or privatisation.
"Between 4,00,000-5,00,000 crores capitalization is required for the PSBs. This will restore their capital adequacy ratio to a respectable level and position them for fresh lending opportunities," said market analyst Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
5) Fiscal consolidation
Fiscal prudence on the part of government will be closely monitored. Jain advises the government to avoid going further down the path of fiscal adventurism in this Budget.
"Lower than expected revenue growth, the Seventh Pay Commission award, OROP award to defence personnel, and the failure to meet the disinvestment target will make it difficult for the government to meet last Budget's fiscal deficit target," said Jain.
6) Sops for foreign investors
Jain also hopes the government will announce reforms aimed at enhancing ease of doing business in India. FDI has turned buoyant in recent times even as FII flows into equities have turned negative, said Jain, adding more sops should be given to foreign investors to encourage further FDI flows.
"The tax regime in particular should turn investor friendly and issues like retrospective tax should be given a burial. Foreign investors will find an announcement to this effect reassuring," suggested Jain.
7) Focus on housing for all
Baliga expects home loan rates to come down, while Gupta calls for special focus on housing for all program, low income housing and smart cities.
As the Budget 2016-17 draws near, investors have started building expectations on a slew of likely reforms and announcements from the mega event, which could prove pro-investment and revive earnings of India Inc - a pre-requisite for the market to come out of the bear hug.
There are widespread concerns over US Fed rate hikes, yuan devaluation and lack of steps taken by Bank of Japan (BoJ) and European Central Bank (ECB)to revive the regions.
While India is seen to be in a sweet spot, given the falling commodity prices, earnings revival is yet to kick off in this part of the world.
As such all eyes have shifted to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who on Sunday promised to come up with banking reforms, other than key announcements in his third Budget, to give a fillip to the economy.
As such all eyes have shifted to the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who on Sunday promised to come up with banking reforms, other than key announcements in his third Budget, to give a fillip to the economy.
While industry will be looking for tax sops, economists would keep an eye on fiscal math. Investors, meanwhile, will watch out how effectively Jaitley trade between pro-poor and pro-market choices.
Vikas Gupta, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at ArthVeda Capital believes even if budget turns out to be a pro-poor budget, the quality of government measures will determine market reaction.
"What will matter is whether the pro-poor push is led by redistributive expenditure like subsidies and MNREGA schemes or led by productivity, efficiency and infrastructure-led push. In the case of former, it would be clearly taken as negative by the market," told Gupta to Business Today online.
"What will matter is whether the pro-poor push is led by redistributive expenditure like subsidies and MNREGA schemes or led by productivity, efficiency and infrastructure-led push. In the case of former, it would be clearly taken as negative by the market," told Gupta to Business Today online.
The government had revised its fiscal deficit target from 3.6 per cent to 3.9 per cent in the previous Budget. Analysts feel a deviation again in this Budget will mean loss of credibility.
"While a small slippage may not be viewed negatively, any adverse comment to rein in the deficit will have an impact both on bond and equity market investments by foreign institutional investors (FIIs)," told Shrey Jain, Founder and MD, SAS online.com to Business Today online.
Below are these and some more key expectations that Dalal Street wishes in the Budget 2016 to be met:
1) Tax announcements
Tax announcements are the most striking feature of Budget and are closely followed by industrialists and common men alike. Investors are expecting more tax incentives for savings in the pension funds under National Pension System (NPS).
"A level playing platform on tax incentives for all kinds of long term savings products, be it Mutual Fund or Life Insurance Sector or National Pension System is expected," told Shridhar, CIO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance to Business Today online.
Dinesh Rohira, Founder & CEO, 5nance.com said: "Tax reforms have always been an important lever in defining the success of any budget, it's been long due, there is a golden opportunity in this budget to get constructive in this area and bring about a meaningful change."
On Goods and Services Tax (GST), Rohira sounded caution and said GST may take some time because of the political deadlock, however, simpler and effective tax reforms if carried out in this budget, especially towards enabling the common man and stimulating retail participation in the growth story, will go a long way in creating a very positive environment vide this budget.
2) Infra push
The government has neglected growth and stimulation in the infrastructure and real estate sector over the last three-four years. As they hold significance on contributing to an overall growth of the economy, a strong boost to these sectors must be accorded in this budget.
"We expect the budget to provide a clear roadmap for an increase in capital expenditures by government especially in the infrastructure sector. This, in our view, is extremely critical especially in light of the declining investment by private sector. Sectors like roads, railways, ports should be a clear focus area," said Gupta.
3) Rural push
For Ambareesh Baliga, independent market analyst, focus on rural segment, thereby reviving the rural economy is one of the most important expectations from the coming Budget. In the same vein, Gupta expects the Budget to introduce measures to stimulate the agrarian economy given the deficient monsoon led slowdown over the past few years crippled it. However, stimulus measures, he added, should be more oriented towards improving productivity and efficiency of system by building rural roads and improving irrigation systems etc, rather than making redistributive expenditures like subsidies.
4) Clarity on capital infusion in banks
Dalal Street expects a lot more clarity on the plans to improve the state of public sector banks (PSBs) either through big bang capital infusion or privatisation.
"Between 4,00,000-5,00,000 crores capitalization is required for the PSBs. This will restore their capital adequacy ratio to a respectable level and position them for fresh lending opportunities," said market analyst Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
5) Fiscal consolidation
Fiscal prudence on the part of government will be closely monitored. Jain advises the government to avoid going further down the path of fiscal adventurism in this Budget.
"Lower than expected revenue growth, the Seventh Pay Commission award, OROP award to defence personnel, and the failure to meet the disinvestment target will make it difficult for the government to meet last Budget's fiscal deficit target," said Jain.
6) Sops for foreign investors
Jain also hopes the government will announce reforms aimed at enhancing ease of doing business in India. FDI has turned buoyant in recent times even as FII flows into equities have turned negative, said Jain, adding more sops should be given to foreign investors to encourage further FDI flows.
"The tax regime in particular should turn investor friendly and issues like retrospective tax should be given a burial. Foreign investors will find an announcement to this effect reassuring," suggested Jain.
7) Focus on housing for all
Baliga expects home loan rates to come down, while Gupta calls for special focus on housing for all program, low income housing and smart cities.
India's aim to import GMO-free corn meets obstacles
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As India prepares to import corn for the first time in 16 years, at least one stipulation in its international tender has become much tougher to meet - that shipments of the crop are completely free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The Asian country of 1.2 billion people does not allow cultivation of any genetically modified food, and has rules that are supposed to ensure that imports contain no trace of GMOs. But an explosion in the use of GM crops worldwide means that purity grade has become harder to attain and, with a growing risk of the supply chain being contaminated, underlines the vulnerabilities faced by countries trying to stay GM free.
Even a shipment containing a handful of genetically altered seeds could cross pollinate with local varieties and mean that in India's case farmers end up illegally growing GM crops.
"They can buy non-GMO corn, especially out of the Black sea region, but I doubt anybody can offer shipments with zero presence of GMOs," James Dunsterville, an agricultural commodities analyst at Geneva-based commodities information platform AgFlow.
South Korea's Daewoo International won the tender to ship 250,000 tonnes of non-GM corn to India from Ukraine, but two international traders in Singapore and an exporter in Kiev said Ukraine could at best guarantee 99.1 per cent non-GM corn.
"The biggest risk of accepting anything less than 99, or 100, per cent is that the imported GM corn may eventually get mixed with conventional seeds that farmers sow in India," said an Indian government scientist.
"If, God forbid, any GM seed gets mixed here, it'll spoil the entire Indian agriculture," added the scientist, who asked not to be named since he was not authorised to talk to media.
Daewoo declined to comment but two sources close to the company said it would be able to meet the requirements and that it was aware of the conditions in last month's tender issued by Indian state-run firm PEC.
RISKS OF CONTAMINATION
Shrinking arable land, volatile weather and a world population tipped to top 9 billion by 2050 are increasing pressures to plant GM crops to boost yields and protect from pests.
Much of the corn in major producers such as the United States, Brazil and Argentina is GM, helping production hit record levels in recent years and keeping a lid on food prices.
Global corn prices Cv1 have recovered about 13 per cent after hitting a 5-year low in 2014 but are still more than 50 per cent below a record price of $8.49 a bushel in 2012.
Indicating the difficulty of keeping GM free, Greenpeace said that Chinese farmers were illegally growing GM corn, despite an official ban on cultivating GM varieties or other staple food crops.
The environmental group said almost all samples taken from cornfields in some parts of the north-east, China's breadbasket, tested positive for GMO. China has not directly commented on the report, though officials have issued warnings to seed dealers and farmers not to use unapproved GM seeds.
Some farm economists have said India should speed up efforts to embrace GM foods after China took a step towards this with its bid for Swiss transgenic seed developer Syngenta.
But public and political opposition in India remains strong amid fears they could compromise food safety and biodiversity. GM advocates say such fears are not scientifically proven.
"India must reject cargoes from suppliers who promise to provide corn that is only 99.1 per cent free of GM organisms," said Devinder Sharma, an independent food and trade policy analyst based in Chandigarh, highlighting a risk of contamination.
However, Sharma said that it had become standard global practice for GM-free buyers to settle for crops that were up to 99 per cent GM free.
A source at trader PEC said India's condition that the imports were non-GM was sacrosanct.
PEC received 15 bids from global traders including Daewoo, Noble, Cargill and Agro Corp to supply corn mainly to be used as animal feed for India's poultry industry.
But Singapore-based traders said there could have been more participants in the tender but for the non-GM restriction.
Though Ukraine and growers in Europe, such as France, do produce non-GMO corn, suppliers may not be able to guarantee supplies are completely free of gene-altered grains because of common bulk handling systems, said a trading manager with an international trading company.
"It could be a dirty truck or a dirty conveyor belt. It only takes one seed to get a GMO positive result," Sharma said.
As India prepares to import corn for the first time in 16 years, at least one stipulation in its international tender has become much tougher to meet - that shipments of the crop are completely free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The Asian country of 1.2 billion people does not allow cultivation of any genetically modified food, and has rules that are supposed to ensure that imports contain no trace of GMOs. But an explosion in the use of GM crops worldwide means that purity grade has become harder to attain and, with a growing risk of the supply chain being contaminated, underlines the vulnerabilities faced by countries trying to stay GM free.
Even a shipment containing a handful of genetically altered seeds could cross pollinate with local varieties and mean that in India's case farmers end up illegally growing GM crops.
"They can buy non-GMO corn, especially out of the Black sea region, but I doubt anybody can offer shipments with zero presence of GMOs," James Dunsterville, an agricultural commodities analyst at Geneva-based commodities information platform AgFlow.
South Korea's Daewoo International won the tender to ship 250,000 tonnes of non-GM corn to India from Ukraine, but two international traders in Singapore and an exporter in Kiev said Ukraine could at best guarantee 99.1 per cent non-GM corn.
"The biggest risk of accepting anything less than 99, or 100, per cent is that the imported GM corn may eventually get mixed with conventional seeds that farmers sow in India," said an Indian government scientist.
"If, God forbid, any GM seed gets mixed here, it'll spoil the entire Indian agriculture," added the scientist, who asked not to be named since he was not authorised to talk to media.
Daewoo declined to comment but two sources close to the company said it would be able to meet the requirements and that it was aware of the conditions in last month's tender issued by Indian state-run firm PEC.
RISKS OF CONTAMINATION
RISKS OF CONTAMINATION
Shrinking arable land, volatile weather and a world population tipped to top 9 billion by 2050 are increasing pressures to plant GM crops to boost yields and protect from pests.
Much of the corn in major producers such as the United States, Brazil and Argentina is GM, helping production hit record levels in recent years and keeping a lid on food prices.
Global corn prices Cv1 have recovered about 13 per cent after hitting a 5-year low in 2014 but are still more than 50 per cent below a record price of $8.49 a bushel in 2012.
Indicating the difficulty of keeping GM free, Greenpeace said that Chinese farmers were illegally growing GM corn, despite an official ban on cultivating GM varieties or other staple food crops.
The environmental group said almost all samples taken from cornfields in some parts of the north-east, China's breadbasket, tested positive for GMO. China has not directly commented on the report, though officials have issued warnings to seed dealers and farmers not to use unapproved GM seeds.
Some farm economists have said India should speed up efforts to embrace GM foods after China took a step towards this with its bid for Swiss transgenic seed developer Syngenta.
But public and political opposition in India remains strong amid fears they could compromise food safety and biodiversity. GM advocates say such fears are not scientifically proven.
"India must reject cargoes from suppliers who promise to provide corn that is only 99.1 per cent free of GM organisms," said Devinder Sharma, an independent food and trade policy analyst based in Chandigarh, highlighting a risk of contamination.
However, Sharma said that it had become standard global practice for GM-free buyers to settle for crops that were up to 99 per cent GM free.
A source at trader PEC said India's condition that the imports were non-GM was sacrosanct.
PEC received 15 bids from global traders including Daewoo, Noble, Cargill and Agro Corp to supply corn mainly to be used as animal feed for India's poultry industry.
But Singapore-based traders said there could have been more participants in the tender but for the non-GM restriction.
Though Ukraine and growers in Europe, such as France, do produce non-GMO corn, suppliers may not be able to guarantee supplies are completely free of gene-altered grains because of common bulk handling systems, said a trading manager with an international trading company.
"It could be a dirty truck or a dirty conveyor belt. It only takes one seed to get a GMO positive result," Sharma said.
Vodafone receives $2 billion income tax reminder notice
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The income tax department has issued a reminder notice to Vodafone Group Plc about a tax demand worth more than $2 billion, saying it could seize the British telecoms company's assets in India if it is not paid.
Vodafone, one of country's largest corporate investors, has repeatedly clashed with the authorities over taxes since it bought Hutchison's mobile business in 2007. It was held liable for capital gains tax which authorities say is owed on the deal.
A dispute over the tax demand worth more than $2 billion related to that deal has yet to be resolved.
"We can confirm that we have received a tax reminder from the tax department that also references asset seizures in the event of non-payment," a London-based spokesman for Vodafone said in a statement.
"This dispute is currently the subject of international arbitration. The Indian government stated in 2014 that existing tax disputes, including ours, would be resolved through existing judicial process," the spokesman said.
The income tax department has issued a reminder notice to Vodafone Group Plc about a tax demand worth more than $2 billion, saying it could seize the British telecoms company's assets in India if it is not paid.
Vodafone, one of country's largest corporate investors, has repeatedly clashed with the authorities over taxes since it bought Hutchison's mobile business in 2007. It was held liable for capital gains tax which authorities say is owed on the deal.
A dispute over the tax demand worth more than $2 billion related to that deal has yet to be resolved.
"We can confirm that we have received a tax reminder from the tax department that also references asset seizures in the event of non-payment," a London-based spokesman for Vodafone said in a statement.
"This dispute is currently the subject of international arbitration. The Indian government stated in 2014 that existing tax disputes, including ours, would be resolved through existing judicial process," the spokesman said.
India Inc feeling the heat as rural consumption dips
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It is a Saturday afternoon, and all lanes of Ganori village, 60 km from Aurangabad, are leading to the weekly market. The elders, in resplendent pink turbans, are having a heated discussion. The topic is local politics. They are worried. Rains have eluded the village for the third year in a row. The people are struggling to make ends meet.
Take Devidas Nagorao Dhangore, who grows cotton and bajra on his five-acre farm. When rainfall is good, he earns Rs 40,000 a year. For the past two years, he has been earning half of this. Last year, he bought seeds worth Rs 50,000 on credit. He has been unable to pay up. That's not all. Two years ago, when harvest was good, he had bought a bike. He has not been able to repay this loan either. "I need more loan but no bank is willing to lend me money," he says.
In the nearby Phoolambri village, Ajinath Tandure employs 20 labourers on his farm. In the past two years, his farm income has halved, and he is unable to pay the workers. "In good times, I had given them loans. Now, I am deducting from their salaries the money I had lent them."
Nearly 1,500 km away, in Bihar's Vaishali district, Satyendra Singh, 46, owns a five-acre farm. Unseasonal rain in early 2015 ruined his crop. "I usually produce 50 quintals wheat but got just nine quintals." He is yet to get paid even for the nine quintals that he had sold. After that, monsoons were below normal. "I spent Rs 20,000-25,000 on paddy. I am going to be in trouble." The state government promised to pay Rs 6,500 an acre to those hit by unseasonal rain but Singh got paid for just one acre. "I am still waiting for the rest." It costs Rs 30,000-40,000 to plant wheat on a one-acre farm. Singh, obviously, is far from breaking even.
This year, almost everybody living in large swathes of the country not covered by irrigation systems has a similar story to tell - stories about lives getting derailed by two consecutive failed monsoons, topped by a government whose policies failed to provide timely help and, in some cases, token minimum support price (MSP) increase, for instance, made matters worse. That all this came right in the middle of a sharp slowdown in construction projects, which hit rural wages, did not help either (see A Tale of Unending Woes). Stagnating rural incomes, rising rural consumer inflation and increasing debt burden are taking a toll in large areas of the countryside. The net result: rural consumption in a range of products is sliding dramatically.
The crisis is so deep that its spillover has made the whole economy anaemic. India Inc, for instance, is finding that one of the biggest engines powering it for the past few years - rural consumption - is not working anymore. It could not have been otherwise as agriculture, after all, contributes 17.4 per cent to the country's gross domestic product, or GDP, and provides direct and indirect sustenance to 49 per cent Indians.
Agriculture growth in the past one year, says D.P. Joshi, Chief Economist, Crisil, has been a paltry 1 per cent; it was 3-3.5 per cent between 2009 and 2013.
Two-wheeler makers, almost half of whose sales are directly dependent on rural demand, have been feeling the heat. Even as scooter sales grew 12.62 per cent in April-December 2015 over April-December 2014, sales of motorcycles and mopeds, whose demand is largely rural-led, dropped 3.42 per cent and 6.38 per cent, respectively. "Market sentiment in some rural areas has been impacted due to various factors, including the curtailment of rural job scheme spends, poor crop realisation and moderating wages," says a spokesperson of Hero MotoCorp, India's largest two-wheeler maker. Hero gets 46 per cent sales from rural markets, and it has witnessed around 8 per cent decline in the past year.
Tractor sales, an important barometer of economic sentiment in rural markets, dipped 15 per cent in the last financial year, according to the Tractor Manufacturers Association. In the ongoing financial year, sales have plunged 10 per cent.
A TALE OF UNENDING WOES
Elusive rains, low farm sector/wage growth and high rural infl ation are haunting rural India.
Satyendra Singh of Vaishali had planned to buy an insecticide sprinkler and a tractor this year. He has deferred the plan. Punjeram Ramdas Gadve, a resident of Ghoti village in Maharashtra's Igatpuri district, is bargaining hard for a hefty discount on a 110-cc bike that he needs for moving around his 10-acre farm. He even roped in his friend so that they could get a bargain on two bikes. Gadve says he wouldn't have bargained like this two years ago. "My plan was to buy an SUV (sports utility vehicle) but unseasonal rain last year ruined my crop. I lost Rs 25,000 per acre," he says. The Hero dealer at Ghoti, Amol Mende, says he can't afford more discounts. In 2014, he had sold 1,200 bikes. In the first seven months of 2015, he had managed only 100. In 2014/15, domestic motorcycle sales had risen 2.5 per cent compared to the average of 13 per cent in the preceding five years. The year 2015/16 may be worse if we go by the current level of sales in rural areas.
Such a sharp dip in consumption is bad news for the economy as 68-70 per cent out of the country's 1.2 billion people live in rural areas. These areas account for 55 per cent consumption and one-third savings.
R. Ramkumar, Professor and Dean (School of Development Studies), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), says rural India contributes 35-40 per cent to the country's GDP. "Its sheer size makes it impossible for us to ignore it. GDP growth has to be influenced by the largest segment of the population. Agriculture accounts for half the total income in rural areas. So, what happens to agricultural income is important as rural income drives rural demand and rural demand drives industrial growth."
Sometime Ago
Rural India was booming till a year-and-half ago, especially between 2008 and 2013. According to an Accenture report, the monthly per capita spending of rural consumers rose 17 per cent between 2010 and 2012; urban spends grew just 12 per cent during the period. From tractors and specialised seeds to two-wheelers and LED TVs, rural consumers wanted them all.
"There were a lot of goods rural India did not buy much before 2000. Then, rural demand for things such as two-wheelers and anything to do with construction and personal care grew significantly," says Abhijit Sen, a former member of the Planning Commission.
Consumption patterns changed after 2004, says Pronab Sen, Chairman, National Statistical Commission. "Agriculture prices rose faster than non-agriculture prices and rural wages grew faster than agriculture prices. There was income redistribution from urban to rural areas and in rural areas from landed to non-landed," he said.
So, when Mondelez India, the maker of Cadbury chocolates, started to focus on rural areas in 2012, it started with Rs 5 and Rs 10 packs. It was surprised to find enough takers for its premium offerings, Silk and Celebrations, priced over Rs 100. "People watched same programmes, same ads, generating similar aspirations," says Sunil Taldar, Director (Sales & International Business), Mondelez India.
People are even cutting down on consumption of everyday items. (Photo: Rachit Goswami)
"A rural customer is also not willing to compromise on quality. While 90 per cent consumers in rural areas may not have much purchasing power, the rest 10 per cent are exposed to the best in the country," says a Tata Motors spokesperson.
Policies That Worked
The spurt in consumption in rural areas around the middle of the last decade was not just due to the rise in farm yields. It also had to do with government schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) that promised to pay one person in a rural family a fixed wage for 100 days in a year. The exact wages vary from state to state, though the average right now is around Rs 170. "When MNREGA started in 2008, the wages were Rs 60 per day. Today, they are around Rs 170. That's how rural incomes went up," says Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, CARE Ratings. Added to this was the increase in MSP of over 9 per cent a year between 2009 and 2013. Tractor sales, as a result, rose over 50 per cent during the period. The farmers also started buying high-quality inputs such as seeds.
The period between 2009 and 2013 saw farmers going for massive upgrades, says Balram Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovet. "When prices of farm output rose, productivity became paramount. Therefore, the farmer started investing in technologies and products to de-risk his business." Therefore, if a farmer earlier bought Type-III cattle feed, priced at Rs 14 per kg, he didn't hesitate in investing in Type-1 feed, priced at Rs 24 a kg. Yadav says five years ago, Type III used to account for 75 per cent sales. Now, Type-I accounts for 75 per cent sales.
It was boom time for the infrastructure sector too. Road and other infrastructure projects required labour. This was an additional income source for the rural population.
"Two years ago, everyone was growing in rural India. People had surplus money for their aspirations. Some bought land and gold, some invested in post office savings and bank deposits. Many bought two-wheelers and second-hand cars," says Ramesh Iyer, Managing Director, Mahindra Finance, the consumer finance arm of the Mahindra Group that focuses on rural markets.
(Photo: Rachit Goswami)
That fairytale has now come to an end. If weather was not bad enough, the economy as a whole, including infrastructure projects, has slowed. Though road projects have picked up somewhat of late, Crisil's Joshi says the takeoff is not strong enough to impact job generation.
"The size of infrastructure works has reduced. Cash flows have got stretched. So, the entire consumption story has come under pressure," says Iyer of Mahindra Finance, whose profit after tax fell 37 per cent in the third quarter of 2015/16. "Contractors' payments are not coming from government agencies. So, they are unable to pay their labourers, and the surplus they have is shrinking. This is affecting their ability to service the loans," he says.
The other reason for slow income growth is fiscal restraint by the Centre to control inflation. The BJP government, according to a report by Moody's Investor Service, has kept a tighter rein on MSP than the earlier government. The report says that in June 2015, for instance, the government announced a 3.7 per cent increase in MSP for paddy, much less than the 9.1 per cent average annual rise between 2019/10 and 2013/14.
"The policies are against the farmer," says Ambas Gunaji Jadhav, a farmer from Phoolambri village in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra who grows cotton and maize. Jadhav says cotton prices have fallen from Rs 7,000 to Rs 3,000 a quintal in the last one year while maize prices have risen from Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 a quintal.
The Moody's report says that the MNREGA expenditure was Rs 36,030 crore in 2014/15, down from Rs 39,780 crore and Rs 38,800 crore in 2012/13 and 2013/14, respectively. Rajendar Ishwar, a farm labourer in Waki village in Nasik district of Maharashtra, says his wages have not risen for the past two years. The land owner, he says, pays him Rs 150 per day. This also has not been regular of late due to crop damage. He now works as an auto-rickshaw driver in Nasik and earns Rs 150 per day. "I have heard about the MNREGA but don't know what it means."
In Bihar, though a lot of villagers we met were enrolled under the MNREGA, they said money seldom reaches them. Siyaram Singh, a labourer in Vaishali district, says he is enrolled under the MNREGA but does not get either work or money. Most of the money, he claims, is pocketed by local officials.
However, Ramkumar of TISS attributes the dip in consumption to shrinking public expenditure and not just the cut in MNREGA allocation or lower MSP increases. "It's part of a larger decline in government expenditure as a share of GDP after 2011. After Pranab Mukherjee left and P. Chidambaram came (as finance minister), the austerity drive came back to the agenda. As a result, MNREGA also suffered. What you see in rural areas is the result of five years of shrinking public expenditure."
MNREGA, says Abhijit Sen, covers just 2 per cent rural population. "How much can Rs 30,000 core do for a country like ours?" he asks. He says what mattered earlier was the construction boom. "When rural incomes were growing at 6-7 per cent (real rate of growth), they (rural folks) themselves were building houses. Both urban and rural construction boom led to high demand for labour."
Changing Patterns
Fall in incomes is making people defer purchases. Om Prakash Yadav, who works as a computer operator in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district, earns over 50 per cent income from agriculture. He was hoping to buy a car this year. However, with his crop getting hit, he has deferred the plan. "My wife is likely to get a job. We will probably be able to afford the loan instalments after that," he says.
Devidas Nagorao Dhangore of Kanori village in Marathwada wants to replace his 10-year-old tractor. "If rains are good and the harvest is decent, I will first repay my current loans than buy a tractor." In 2014/15, tractor sales had fallen 13.1 per cent.
Rajesh Jejurikar, CEO, Mahindra Farms, says while 2013/14 saw 21 per cent growth in tractor sales, 2014/15 was bad. In 2015, the overall market for tractors contracted 14 per cent due to deficit rains. Though Mahindra Farms registered 47 per cent growth in November 2015 due to festivals, sales grew just 1 per cent in January this year. In September 2015, the sales had dipped 37 per cent. "Sentiment plays an important role. It is decided by prospects of good monsoon, rise in MSPs, and so on," he says.
(Photo: Rachit Goswami)
Mangal Singh Pawar, Managing Partner, Ratnaprabha Auto Agencies, the dealer for Mahindra tractors in close to 1,200 villages in and around Aurangabad, says sales have declined over 50 per cent in the past couple of years.
Similarly, domestic light commercial vehicle, or LCV, sales fell 12 per cent in 2014/15. J.K. Sahay, Manager, Tirhut Automobiles, the dealer for Ashok Leyland LCVs in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, says dip in rural incomes has hit demand for pick-up trucks and mini-buses in the past one year. In the Marathwada region, dealers are reporting a 50 per cent dip in TV and fridge sales.
In these markets, such as areas around Nashik or in Bihar's Vaishali, there is a clear trend of people going for cheaper options. Harshal Kulthe, who runs a consumer electronics shop in Ghoti village near Igatpuri, also sells a plethora of local brands such as Iconic, Melbon and Hilton. Kulthe says while sales of established brands have fallen 20 per cent in the last one year, sales of local brands have risen over 30 per cent. "All the national brands are offering steep discounts, but still there aren't any takers," says Kulthe.
Dinanath Modanwal, who owns an electronics shop in a village near Jaunpur in UP, echoes Kulthe's views. He says local television brands such as Tellex, Texla and Beston have a lot of takers.
C.M. Singh, COO, Videocon Industries, says in 2011/12 and 2012/13, rural sales were growing 35-40 per cent. This has now come down to 8-10 per cent. "We have come up with 16-inch LED TVs priced at less than Rs 8,000 and 150-litre refrigerators for rural markets. There are no takers for these. People don't want to buy unless it is really necessary." Consumer durables sales have fallen 30 per cent in the past one year.
Such down-trading is happening across categories. Kalpana Ajinath Tandure, a resident of Kanori village in the Marathwada region, used to buy either Wheel detergent or a Rin bar to wash clothes till about a year ago. With prices escalating and her husband's income falling, she now buys detergent from the weekly market where she says she gets Wheel loose. "I have stopped stocking for the whole month," she says.
Satyendra Singh of Naamedih village in Vaishali, whose family uses personal care brands such as Lux, Clinic Plus and Fair & Lovely, doesn't want to replace these brands. "If I buy any soap other than Lux, my children start complaining," he says. So, he has started buying smaller packs.
Local Brands Ahoy!
Around 55 km from Nasik, in a village called Waki, Kiran Kale, who owns a grocery shop, struggles to sell branded items. Biscuits in the village are synonymous with Parle G and Monaco. Apart from grocery items like sugar, tea and flour, the store has a few one-rupee sachets of Clinic Plus shampoo, covered by dust. Kale says there are hardly any takers for them. "People buy biscuits only when they have visitors, but with harvest not being good, there are no takers. Shampoo used to be in demand, but not now," he says.
However, one thing that the people consume a lot are locally-packaged snacks. In fact, Kale's store hardly has any loose snacks (farsan). "Packaged farsan is more hygienic," says Rajendar Ishwar, a customer of Kale. Therefore, local brands such as Euro Chips, Officer Choice Wafers and Suder Moong Dal, which have a price advantage, do well here.
Similarly, in places in and around Bhimavaram and in parts of East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, Meena Bakery biscuits give national brands such stiff competition due to a 15-20 per cent price advantage.
In Andhra, local brands rule the soft drinks market, too. Artos, manufactured in Ramachandrapuram in East Godavari district, reportedly has a higher market share in the region than Pepsi and Coke.
In Bihar's Vaishali, a detergent brand, Ganga Active, made in Hajipur, shares shelf space with brands such as Wheel and Ghadi and sells more than both, claim locals. The district also has a local snack brand, Njoy chips, which again sells more than Bingo and Lays.
Unsystematic Change
TISS' Ramkumar says rural income growth in the past few years happened by chance. He says rural India has never seen any systematic growth in incomes. He says 33 per cent of the world's chronic poor live in India and their incomes are as low as `26 per day. He says there has never been a conscious effort towards land reforms, compulsory education or giving people a social security net.
"Healthy development of capitalism has always been preceded by a transformation in the agricultural sector. In India, capitalism has hardly grown as the rural market is under-developed," he says.
So, the last decade's growth, say economists, was driven by a rise in government expenditure, apart from high global commodity prices that increased farm incomes. The government also started spending heavily on infrastructure, increasing rural incomes.
S. Chandrasekhar, Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Research, says in 1993/94, six million people used to criss-cross urban-rural boundaries per day, which rose to over 25 million a day by 2011/12. "Therefore, clearly, the future rural consumption will be a function of whether India is able to invest in roads and build an affordable transport system so that people can go where jobs are available," he says.
Now, with government expenditure on infrastructure and agriculture under pressure, and global commodity prices hitting a low, rural incomes and, consequently, consumption have hit a dead end. "Rural incomes did go up, but as I said, not due to systemic transformation of rural areas," says TISS' Ramkumar.
Desperate Moves
Rural sales of Parle fell over 12 per cent in 2014. In 2015, they were flat. Other FMCG brands are also feeling the pinch. Hindustan Unilever is offering a Rs 2 discount on a 200-gm bar of Surf Excel. Santoor is offering a pack of three soaps for Rs 50, helping the consumer save `5. Parle Products has been offering extra grams in every pack of Monaco biscuits.
However, such incentives, says Dilip Patni, a kirana store owner in Phoolambri village of the Marathwada region, rarely work. He says in an environment where consumption has dipped almost 70 per cent, people don't get swayed by such offers and buy only what they need.
Mayank Shah, Deputy Marketing Manager (marketing head of the biscuits business), Parle Products, admits that deep discounting is not working in rural markets. "Rural buying patterns are different. They buy what they need, especially when the going isn't good."
Varun Berry, Managing Director, Britannia Industries, doesn't believe in deep discounts. "Most brands can afford to offer extra grams as commodity prices are low. But once input prices rise, they will have to increase prices, and that's when consumers will move away from them."
Harsh Agarwal, Director, Emami, says the good news is that high consumption levels of the past few years have made rural consumers more aspirational. He says the past one year has seen a dip in demand in both rural and urban areas. "When incomes have fallen, the task of marketers is to ensure that they offer products that are affordable."
Iyer of Mahindra Finance agrees that the spell of prosperity has made the rural consumer more aspirational. "As of now, they are awaiting good times. Our role is to partner with them and not force them to repay loans when we know they can't. Today, if somebody pays us three times a month, we take money from him three times a month."
For Cadbury, growth in rural areas continues to be three times higher than that in urban markets, says Taldar of Mondelez. He says rural consumers are not down-trading but reducing the frequency of consumption.
Even as scooter sales grew 12.62 per cent in April-December 2015, sales of motorcycles and mopeds dropped 3.42 per cent and 6.38 per cent, respectively. (Photo: Rachit Goswami)
One of the worst hit in rural areas is Coca-Cola India. Both beverages and chocolates fall in the discretionary category and are among the first things people stop buying in a slowdown. Coca-Cola India, says its spokesperson, has been offering beverages in smaller packs and at lower price points. Have these initiatives worked? While the companys spokesperson chooses not to comment, the kirana store owner at Phoolambri village says though the company has been trying to make its products affordable, they are not finding many takers.
The automobile companies, on the other hand, are merely waiting for the good times to come. Pawan Munjal, CMD and CEO of Hero Motocorp, says the dip in rural consumption has severely hit his company. "Months have passed and we have not seen double-digit sales growth," he says.
For Tata Motors, 50 per cent sales of Tata Ace and Tata Magic are in towns with population of less than 100,000. The company's spokesperson says poor sentiment in these markets has hit the entire industry. "However, with the government increasing spending on infrastructure, we are looking forward to the second half of the financial year," he says.
With large areas experiencing a rainfall deficiency of over 50 per cent, rural consumption will in all likelihood continue to be low. However, the dip that the industry is brooding over is actually restricted to less than half of rural India. Economists say rural consumption is restricted to just 45 per cent of Indian villages. The remaining 55 per cent have hardly ever had a consumption story as the big brands have not been able to reach out to this segment. "These are markets that don't have good road infrastructure. Distributing products there is fairly expensive," says B. Krishna Rao, Product Manager (head of the snacks business), Parle Products.
So, while one may blame poor monsoon or the current economic scenario for low incomes in rural areas, economists say the problem is far more deep-rooted. "We have built a weak, stunted and deformed capitalist market, and unless we do something drastic that increases incomes and, thereby, consumption, these ups and downs will continue," says Ramkumar of TISS.
With erratic rainfall becoming a way of life, Joshi of Crisil feels the government should urgently look at drought-proofing the economy.
The government indeed has to do a lot of re-thinking about rural India.
It is a Saturday afternoon, and all lanes of Ganori village, 60 km from Aurangabad, are leading to the weekly market. The elders, in resplendent pink turbans, are having a heated discussion. The topic is local politics. They are worried. Rains have eluded the village for the third year in a row. The people are struggling to make ends meet.
Take Devidas Nagorao Dhangore, who grows cotton and bajra on his five-acre farm. When rainfall is good, he earns Rs 40,000 a year. For the past two years, he has been earning half of this. Last year, he bought seeds worth Rs 50,000 on credit. He has been unable to pay up. That's not all. Two years ago, when harvest was good, he had bought a bike. He has not been able to repay this loan either. "I need more loan but no bank is willing to lend me money," he says.
In the nearby Phoolambri village, Ajinath Tandure employs 20 labourers on his farm. In the past two years, his farm income has halved, and he is unable to pay the workers. "In good times, I had given them loans. Now, I am deducting from their salaries the money I had lent them."
Nearly 1,500 km away, in Bihar's Vaishali district, Satyendra Singh, 46, owns a five-acre farm. Unseasonal rain in early 2015 ruined his crop. "I usually produce 50 quintals wheat but got just nine quintals." He is yet to get paid even for the nine quintals that he had sold. After that, monsoons were below normal. "I spent Rs 20,000-25,000 on paddy. I am going to be in trouble." The state government promised to pay Rs 6,500 an acre to those hit by unseasonal rain but Singh got paid for just one acre. "I am still waiting for the rest." It costs Rs 30,000-40,000 to plant wheat on a one-acre farm. Singh, obviously, is far from breaking even.
The crisis is so deep that its spillover has made the whole economy anaemic. India Inc, for instance, is finding that one of the biggest engines powering it for the past few years - rural consumption - is not working anymore. It could not have been otherwise as agriculture, after all, contributes 17.4 per cent to the country's gross domestic product, or GDP, and provides direct and indirect sustenance to 49 per cent Indians.
Agriculture growth in the past one year, says D.P. Joshi, Chief Economist, Crisil, has been a paltry 1 per cent; it was 3-3.5 per cent between 2009 and 2013.
Two-wheeler makers, almost half of whose sales are directly dependent on rural demand, have been feeling the heat. Even as scooter sales grew 12.62 per cent in April-December 2015 over April-December 2014, sales of motorcycles and mopeds, whose demand is largely rural-led, dropped 3.42 per cent and 6.38 per cent, respectively. "Market sentiment in some rural areas has been impacted due to various factors, including the curtailment of rural job scheme spends, poor crop realisation and moderating wages," says a spokesperson of Hero MotoCorp, India's largest two-wheeler maker. Hero gets 46 per cent sales from rural markets, and it has witnessed around 8 per cent decline in the past year.
Tractor sales, an important barometer of economic sentiment in rural markets, dipped 15 per cent in the last financial year, according to the Tractor Manufacturers Association. In the ongoing financial year, sales have plunged 10 per cent.
A TALE OF UNENDING WOES
Elusive rains, low farm sector/wage growth and high rural infl ation are haunting rural India.
Satyendra Singh of Vaishali had planned to buy an insecticide sprinkler and a tractor this year. He has deferred the plan. Punjeram Ramdas Gadve, a resident of Ghoti village in Maharashtra's Igatpuri district, is bargaining hard for a hefty discount on a 110-cc bike that he needs for moving around his 10-acre farm. He even roped in his friend so that they could get a bargain on two bikes. Gadve says he wouldn't have bargained like this two years ago. "My plan was to buy an SUV (sports utility vehicle) but unseasonal rain last year ruined my crop. I lost Rs 25,000 per acre," he says. The Hero dealer at Ghoti, Amol Mende, says he can't afford more discounts. In 2014, he had sold 1,200 bikes. In the first seven months of 2015, he had managed only 100. In 2014/15, domestic motorcycle sales had risen 2.5 per cent compared to the average of 13 per cent in the preceding five years. The year 2015/16 may be worse if we go by the current level of sales in rural areas.
Such a sharp dip in consumption is bad news for the economy as 68-70 per cent out of the country's 1.2 billion people live in rural areas. These areas account for 55 per cent consumption and one-third savings.
R. Ramkumar, Professor and Dean (School of Development Studies), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), says rural India contributes 35-40 per cent to the country's GDP. "Its sheer size makes it impossible for us to ignore it. GDP growth has to be influenced by the largest segment of the population. Agriculture accounts for half the total income in rural areas. So, what happens to agricultural income is important as rural income drives rural demand and rural demand drives industrial growth."
Sometime Ago
Rural India was booming till a year-and-half ago, especially between 2008 and 2013. According to an Accenture report, the monthly per capita spending of rural consumers rose 17 per cent between 2010 and 2012; urban spends grew just 12 per cent during the period. From tractors and specialised seeds to two-wheelers and LED TVs, rural consumers wanted them all.
"There were a lot of goods rural India did not buy much before 2000. Then, rural demand for things such as two-wheelers and anything to do with construction and personal care grew significantly," says Abhijit Sen, a former member of the Planning Commission.
Consumption patterns changed after 2004, says Pronab Sen, Chairman, National Statistical Commission. "Agriculture prices rose faster than non-agriculture prices and rural wages grew faster than agriculture prices. There was income redistribution from urban to rural areas and in rural areas from landed to non-landed," he said.
So, when Mondelez India, the maker of Cadbury chocolates, started to focus on rural areas in 2012, it started with Rs 5 and Rs 10 packs. It was surprised to find enough takers for its premium offerings, Silk and Celebrations, priced over Rs 100. "People watched same programmes, same ads, generating similar aspirations," says Sunil Taldar, Director (Sales & International Business), Mondelez India.
People are even cutting down on consumption of everyday items. (Photo: Rachit Goswami)
"A rural customer is also not willing to compromise on quality. While 90 per cent consumers in rural areas may not have much purchasing power, the rest 10 per cent are exposed to the best in the country," says a Tata Motors spokesperson.
Policies That Worked
The spurt in consumption in rural areas around the middle of the last decade was not just due to the rise in farm yields. It also had to do with government schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) that promised to pay one person in a rural family a fixed wage for 100 days in a year. The exact wages vary from state to state, though the average right now is around Rs 170. "When MNREGA started in 2008, the wages were Rs 60 per day. Today, they are around Rs 170. That's how rural incomes went up," says Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, CARE Ratings. Added to this was the increase in MSP of over 9 per cent a year between 2009 and 2013. Tractor sales, as a result, rose over 50 per cent during the period. The farmers also started buying high-quality inputs such as seeds.
The period between 2009 and 2013 saw farmers going for massive upgrades, says Balram Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovet. "When prices of farm output rose, productivity became paramount. Therefore, the farmer started investing in technologies and products to de-risk his business." Therefore, if a farmer earlier bought Type-III cattle feed, priced at Rs 14 per kg, he didn't hesitate in investing in Type-1 feed, priced at Rs 24 a kg. Yadav says five years ago, Type III used to account for 75 per cent sales. Now, Type-I accounts for 75 per cent sales.
It was boom time for the infrastructure sector too. Road and other infrastructure projects required labour. This was an additional income source for the rural population.
"Two years ago, everyone was growing in rural India. People had surplus money for their aspirations. Some bought land and gold, some invested in post office savings and bank deposits. Many bought two-wheelers and second-hand cars," says Ramesh Iyer, Managing Director, Mahindra Finance, the consumer finance arm of the Mahindra Group that focuses on rural markets.
(Photo: Rachit Goswami)
"The size of infrastructure works has reduced. Cash flows have got stretched. So, the entire consumption story has come under pressure," says Iyer of Mahindra Finance, whose profit after tax fell 37 per cent in the third quarter of 2015/16. "Contractors' payments are not coming from government agencies. So, they are unable to pay their labourers, and the surplus they have is shrinking. This is affecting their ability to service the loans," he says.
The other reason for slow income growth is fiscal restraint by the Centre to control inflation. The BJP government, according to a report by Moody's Investor Service, has kept a tighter rein on MSP than the earlier government. The report says that in June 2015, for instance, the government announced a 3.7 per cent increase in MSP for paddy, much less than the 9.1 per cent average annual rise between 2019/10 and 2013/14.
"The policies are against the farmer," says Ambas Gunaji Jadhav, a farmer from Phoolambri village in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra who grows cotton and maize. Jadhav says cotton prices have fallen from Rs 7,000 to Rs 3,000 a quintal in the last one year while maize prices have risen from Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 a quintal.
The Moody's report says that the MNREGA expenditure was Rs 36,030 crore in 2014/15, down from Rs 39,780 crore and Rs 38,800 crore in 2012/13 and 2013/14, respectively. Rajendar Ishwar, a farm labourer in Waki village in Nasik district of Maharashtra, says his wages have not risen for the past two years. The land owner, he says, pays him Rs 150 per day. This also has not been regular of late due to crop damage. He now works as an auto-rickshaw driver in Nasik and earns Rs 150 per day. "I have heard about the MNREGA but don't know what it means."
In Bihar, though a lot of villagers we met were enrolled under the MNREGA, they said money seldom reaches them. Siyaram Singh, a labourer in Vaishali district, says he is enrolled under the MNREGA but does not get either work or money. Most of the money, he claims, is pocketed by local officials.
However, Ramkumar of TISS attributes the dip in consumption to shrinking public expenditure and not just the cut in MNREGA allocation or lower MSP increases. "It's part of a larger decline in government expenditure as a share of GDP after 2011. After Pranab Mukherjee left and P. Chidambaram came (as finance minister), the austerity drive came back to the agenda. As a result, MNREGA also suffered. What you see in rural areas is the result of five years of shrinking public expenditure."
MNREGA, says Abhijit Sen, covers just 2 per cent rural population. "How much can Rs 30,000 core do for a country like ours?" he asks. He says what mattered earlier was the construction boom. "When rural incomes were growing at 6-7 per cent (real rate of growth), they (rural folks) themselves were building houses. Both urban and rural construction boom led to high demand for labour."
Changing Patterns
Fall in incomes is making people defer purchases. Om Prakash Yadav, who works as a computer operator in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district, earns over 50 per cent income from agriculture. He was hoping to buy a car this year. However, with his crop getting hit, he has deferred the plan. "My wife is likely to get a job. We will probably be able to afford the loan instalments after that," he says.
Devidas Nagorao Dhangore of Kanori village in Marathwada wants to replace his 10-year-old tractor. "If rains are good and the harvest is decent, I will first repay my current loans than buy a tractor." In 2014/15, tractor sales had fallen 13.1 per cent.
Rajesh Jejurikar, CEO, Mahindra Farms, says while 2013/14 saw 21 per cent growth in tractor sales, 2014/15 was bad. In 2015, the overall market for tractors contracted 14 per cent due to deficit rains. Though Mahindra Farms registered 47 per cent growth in November 2015 due to festivals, sales grew just 1 per cent in January this year. In September 2015, the sales had dipped 37 per cent. "Sentiment plays an important role. It is decided by prospects of good monsoon, rise in MSPs, and so on," he says.
(Photo: Rachit Goswami)
Mangal Singh Pawar, Managing Partner, Ratnaprabha Auto Agencies, the dealer for Mahindra tractors in close to 1,200 villages in and around Aurangabad, says sales have declined over 50 per cent in the past couple of years.
Similarly, domestic light commercial vehicle, or LCV, sales fell 12 per cent in 2014/15. J.K. Sahay, Manager, Tirhut Automobiles, the dealer for Ashok Leyland LCVs in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, says dip in rural incomes has hit demand for pick-up trucks and mini-buses in the past one year. In the Marathwada region, dealers are reporting a 50 per cent dip in TV and fridge sales.
In these markets, such as areas around Nashik or in Bihar's Vaishali, there is a clear trend of people going for cheaper options. Harshal Kulthe, who runs a consumer electronics shop in Ghoti village near Igatpuri, also sells a plethora of local brands such as Iconic, Melbon and Hilton. Kulthe says while sales of established brands have fallen 20 per cent in the last one year, sales of local brands have risen over 30 per cent. "All the national brands are offering steep discounts, but still there aren't any takers," says Kulthe.
C.M. Singh, COO, Videocon Industries, says in 2011/12 and 2012/13, rural sales were growing 35-40 per cent. This has now come down to 8-10 per cent. "We have come up with 16-inch LED TVs priced at less than Rs 8,000 and 150-litre refrigerators for rural markets. There are no takers for these. People don't want to buy unless it is really necessary." Consumer durables sales have fallen 30 per cent in the past one year.
Such down-trading is happening across categories. Kalpana Ajinath Tandure, a resident of Kanori village in the Marathwada region, used to buy either Wheel detergent or a Rin bar to wash clothes till about a year ago. With prices escalating and her husband's income falling, she now buys detergent from the weekly market where she says she gets Wheel loose. "I have stopped stocking for the whole month," she says.
Satyendra Singh of Naamedih village in Vaishali, whose family uses personal care brands such as Lux, Clinic Plus and Fair & Lovely, doesn't want to replace these brands. "If I buy any soap other than Lux, my children start complaining," he says. So, he has started buying smaller packs.
Local Brands Ahoy!
Around 55 km from Nasik, in a village called Waki, Kiran Kale, who owns a grocery shop, struggles to sell branded items. Biscuits in the village are synonymous with Parle G and Monaco. Apart from grocery items like sugar, tea and flour, the store has a few one-rupee sachets of Clinic Plus shampoo, covered by dust. Kale says there are hardly any takers for them. "People buy biscuits only when they have visitors, but with harvest not being good, there are no takers. Shampoo used to be in demand, but not now," he says.
However, one thing that the people consume a lot are locally-packaged snacks. In fact, Kale's store hardly has any loose snacks (farsan). "Packaged farsan is more hygienic," says Rajendar Ishwar, a customer of Kale. Therefore, local brands such as Euro Chips, Officer Choice Wafers and Suder Moong Dal, which have a price advantage, do well here.
Similarly, in places in and around Bhimavaram and in parts of East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, Meena Bakery biscuits give national brands such stiff competition due to a 15-20 per cent price advantage.
In Andhra, local brands rule the soft drinks market, too. Artos, manufactured in Ramachandrapuram in East Godavari district, reportedly has a higher market share in the region than Pepsi and Coke.
In Bihar's Vaishali, a detergent brand, Ganga Active, made in Hajipur, shares shelf space with brands such as Wheel and Ghadi and sells more than both, claim locals. The district also has a local snack brand, Njoy chips, which again sells more than Bingo and Lays.
Unsystematic Change
"Healthy development of capitalism has always been preceded by a transformation in the agricultural sector. In India, capitalism has hardly grown as the rural market is under-developed," he says.
So, the last decade's growth, say economists, was driven by a rise in government expenditure, apart from high global commodity prices that increased farm incomes. The government also started spending heavily on infrastructure, increasing rural incomes.
S. Chandrasekhar, Associate Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Research, says in 1993/94, six million people used to criss-cross urban-rural boundaries per day, which rose to over 25 million a day by 2011/12. "Therefore, clearly, the future rural consumption will be a function of whether India is able to invest in roads and build an affordable transport system so that people can go where jobs are available," he says.
Now, with government expenditure on infrastructure and agriculture under pressure, and global commodity prices hitting a low, rural incomes and, consequently, consumption have hit a dead end. "Rural incomes did go up, but as I said, not due to systemic transformation of rural areas," says TISS' Ramkumar.
Desperate Moves
Rural sales of Parle fell over 12 per cent in 2014. In 2015, they were flat. Other FMCG brands are also feeling the pinch. Hindustan Unilever is offering a Rs 2 discount on a 200-gm bar of Surf Excel. Santoor is offering a pack of three soaps for Rs 50, helping the consumer save `5. Parle Products has been offering extra grams in every pack of Monaco biscuits.
However, such incentives, says Dilip Patni, a kirana store owner in Phoolambri village of the Marathwada region, rarely work. He says in an environment where consumption has dipped almost 70 per cent, people don't get swayed by such offers and buy only what they need.
Mayank Shah, Deputy Marketing Manager (marketing head of the biscuits business), Parle Products, admits that deep discounting is not working in rural markets. "Rural buying patterns are different. They buy what they need, especially when the going isn't good."
Varun Berry, Managing Director, Britannia Industries, doesn't believe in deep discounts. "Most brands can afford to offer extra grams as commodity prices are low. But once input prices rise, they will have to increase prices, and that's when consumers will move away from them."
Iyer of Mahindra Finance agrees that the spell of prosperity has made the rural consumer more aspirational. "As of now, they are awaiting good times. Our role is to partner with them and not force them to repay loans when we know they can't. Today, if somebody pays us three times a month, we take money from him three times a month."
For Cadbury, growth in rural areas continues to be three times higher than that in urban markets, says Taldar of Mondelez. He says rural consumers are not down-trading but reducing the frequency of consumption.
Even as scooter sales grew 12.62 per cent in April-December 2015, sales of motorcycles and mopeds dropped 3.42 per cent and 6.38 per cent, respectively. (Photo: Rachit Goswami)
One of the worst hit in rural areas is Coca-Cola India. Both beverages and chocolates fall in the discretionary category and are among the first things people stop buying in a slowdown. Coca-Cola India, says its spokesperson, has been offering beverages in smaller packs and at lower price points. Have these initiatives worked? While the companys spokesperson chooses not to comment, the kirana store owner at Phoolambri village says though the company has been trying to make its products affordable, they are not finding many takers.
The automobile companies, on the other hand, are merely waiting for the good times to come. Pawan Munjal, CMD and CEO of Hero Motocorp, says the dip in rural consumption has severely hit his company. "Months have passed and we have not seen double-digit sales growth," he says.
For Tata Motors, 50 per cent sales of Tata Ace and Tata Magic are in towns with population of less than 100,000. The company's spokesperson says poor sentiment in these markets has hit the entire industry. "However, with the government increasing spending on infrastructure, we are looking forward to the second half of the financial year," he says.
With large areas experiencing a rainfall deficiency of over 50 per cent, rural consumption will in all likelihood continue to be low. However, the dip that the industry is brooding over is actually restricted to less than half of rural India. Economists say rural consumption is restricted to just 45 per cent of Indian villages. The remaining 55 per cent have hardly ever had a consumption story as the big brands have not been able to reach out to this segment. "These are markets that don't have good road infrastructure. Distributing products there is fairly expensive," says B. Krishna Rao, Product Manager (head of the snacks business), Parle Products.
So, while one may blame poor monsoon or the current economic scenario for low incomes in rural areas, economists say the problem is far more deep-rooted. "We have built a weak, stunted and deformed capitalist market, and unless we do something drastic that increases incomes and, thereby, consumption, these ups and downs will continue," says Ramkumar of TISS.
With erratic rainfall becoming a way of life, Joshi of Crisil feels the government should urgently look at drought-proofing the economy.
The government indeed has to do a lot of re-thinking about rural India.
General Awareness
Indian Railways At a Glance
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Dear Readers,we have collected some important information about Indian Railways. We hope, it will help you in Competitive exams.
Indian Railways is an Indian state-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is one of the world’s largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km and 7,112 stations.
- Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Mumbai to Thane
- Indian Railways Nationalised in 1950
- The country’s first railway, built by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway
- The Indian railway system is the largest in Asia and third in the world after USA and Canada.
- It is the biggest employer in the world and the largest single undertaking in the country
- It has the second biggest electrified system in the world after Russia
- Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones.which are further sub-divided into68 divisions
- Each zone is headed by a general manager
Railway Zones
Name Established Headquarters Divisions Southern 14 April 1951 Chennai Chennai,
Tiruchirappalli,
Madurai, and
Salem,
Palakkad,
Thiruvananthapuram Central 5 November 1951 Mumbai Mumbai,CST,
Bhusawal, Pune,
Solapur and
Nagpur Western 5 November 1951 Mumbai Mumbai,Central,
Ratlam, Ahmedabad,
Rajkot,
Bhavnagar
and Vadodara Eastern 14 April 1952 Kolkata Howrah, Sealdah,
Asansol
and Malda Town Northern 14 April 1952 Delhi Delhi, Ambala,
Firozpur, Lucknow
and
Moradabad North Eastern 14 April 1952 Gorakhpur Izzatnagar,
Lucknow
and Varanasi South Eastern 1955 Kolkata Adra,
Chakradharpur,
Kharagpur
and Ranchi Northeast Frontier 15 January 1958 Maligaon Alipurduar,
Katihar,
Rangia,
Lumding and
Tinsukia South Central 2 October 1966 Secunderabad Vijayawada,
Secunderabad,
Guntakal,
Guntur,
Hyderabad
and Nanded East Central 1 October 2002 Hajipur Danapur, Dhanbad,
Mughalsarai,
Samastipur
and Sonpur North Western 1 October 2002 Jaipur Jaipur, Ajmer,
Bikaner
and Jodhpur East Coast 1 April 2003 Bhubaneswar Khurda Road,
Sambalpur
and Visakhapatnam North Central 1 April 2003 Allahabad Allahabad, Agra
and Jhansi South East Central 1 April 2003 Bilaspur Bilaspur, Raipur
and Nagpur South Western 1 April 2003 Hubli Hubli, Bangalore,
Mysore
and Gulbarga West Central 1 April 2003 Jabalpur Jabalpur, Bhopal
and Kota
Railway Tracks:
- Track – Distance between rails
- Broad Gauge – 1676mm
- Metre Gauge – 1000mm
- Narrow Gauge – 762mm/610mm
Manufacturing Unit
Name of the Unit Location Chittaranjan Locomotive Works Chittaranjan, West Bengal Central Organisation for Railway Electrification Allahabad, UP Diesel Locomotive Works Varanasi, UP Diesel Loco Modernisation Works Patiala, Punjab Integral Coach Factory Chennai, Tamil Nadu Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala, Punjab Rail Wheel Factory Bangalore, Karnataka Rail Coach Factory Raebareli, UP Rail Wheel Plant Chhapra, Bihar Diesel Component Factory Dankuni, West Bengal
Luxury Train routes
Name Run by Route Palace on Wheels Rajasthan Tourism Delhi-Jaipur-Sawai-Madhopur-Chittorgarh-Udaipur-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Bharatpur-Agra-Delhi Deccan Odyssey Maharashtra Tourism New Delhi – Sawai Madhopur – Agra – Jaipur – Udaipur – Vadodara – Ellora Caves – Mumbai The Golden Chariot Karnataka Tourism Bengaluru, Kabini, Mysore-Belur – Halebidu – Hampi – Badami –Goa – Bengaluru Royal Rajasthan on Wheels Rajasthan Tourism Delhi – Jaipur – Jaisalmer – Jodhpur –Sawai – Madhopur – Chittorgarh – Udaipur – Bharatpur – Agra – Delhi
Important Railway Committees
- Shahnawaz Committee – 1954, High Level Safety Review Committee
- Kanjaru Committee – 1962, Railway Accidents Committee
- Wahchoo Committee – 1968, Railway Safety Committee
- Seekari Committee – 1978, Railway Accidents Enquiry Committee
- Khanna Committee – 1998, Railway Safety Review Committee
- Arvind Panagariya committee – 2016 to fast-track bullet train project
Important facts about Railway:
- First train in India – Mumbai to Thane, With 400 passengers, this train completed its journey of 34 kms with the help of three engines–Sahib, Sindh and Sultan.
- Father of Indian Railway – Lord Dalhousie
- Fastest train – The Bhopal Shatabdi Express,1988,betweenAgra and New Delhi
- Slowest train in India- Nilgri Express,between Chennai and Mettupalayam
- First electric train – Deccan Queen, 1931,connects Mumbai with Pune .
- First double-decker train – Shatabdi train was flagged off in October 2011
- First air-conditioned double-decker train – Shatabdi train will run from Mumbai to Goa
- First underground railway (Metro Railway) – Kolkata Metro(1984)
- Largest Zone in Indian Railways – Northern Railway
- A platform surrounded by rail lines from all the four sides – Island platform
- First railway station – Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai.
- Longest running train -Vivek Express. It runs from Dibrugarh in upper Assam to Kanyakumari at the southern tip of Tamil Nadu.
- Longest railway platform –Kharagpur has the world’s third longest railway platform with a length of 1,072.5 metres (3,519 ft).
- First A.C. train between Bombay and Baroda started – 1936
- First broad gauge super fast train – rajdhani express new delhi howrah 1stmarch 1969
- First metre gauge super fast train – pink city express new delhi jaipur 17thoct 1981
- First narrow gauge super fast train – shivalik deluxe express kalka – shimla 9thaug 1996
- First time table 1853 central india
- First stamp on indian railways 4 annas 10thdec 1936 by king george
- First ac train mumbai and baroda 1936
- First automatic signalling system 1928
- First railway book stall – 1877 allahabad wheeler & co ltd
- First wagon in india 1920 jessop & co., Kolkata
- First vestibuled train 1stjune 1930, deccan queen
- World’s first double decker train – 1862 bb&cir
- First railway tunnel of Indian railway -Parsik tunnel
- First rail minister after independence – John Mathai and before independence Asif Ali
- Countries there is no railway line – Lebanon,Mauritius reunion, Libya, Argentina, Afghanistan, Papua,New Guinea
- Trains that have placed in Guinness Book -Darjeeling Toy Train, Nilgiri Mountain Train Simla Toy Train, Mathenron Toy Train, Place on wheels Royal Orient, Buddha circular Express, Fairy Queen.
- Satpura Express numerical name 10001/10002 – run between Jabalpur and Balaghat
- Longest train -Prayagraj Express (26 Coaches, New Delhi–Allahabad)
- Highest Railway station in India – Similiguda (996.08 mt from sea level in the Valtair division of Southern–Eastern Railway)
- Highest river bridge manufactured under Konkan Railway – Panval River Rail bridge (64 mt. high)
- Division that has maximum number of tunnels – Kalka Simla division of Northern Railway (103 tunnels)
- Longest railway bridge of Indian railway – Railway bridge in Kerala near Kochchi joins Idapalli to Vallerpadma (Length 4.62 km)
- Last railway station of Northern Railway and Indian Railway – Bajalta
- Indian state has maximum rail routes – Uttar Pradesh
- Himsagar Express passes through – 11 States(Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala)
- Railway station that has all the three rails -Dumdum Railway station (EMU rail service circular Railway and Metro Railway)
- Railway station has smallest name from the English alphabets -IB (Between Howrah–Nagpur)
- Railway station has longest name – Venkatanarsimharajuvaripeta (Tamilnadu)
- First female operator in Delhi Metro – Minakshi Sharma.
- First female to become the member of Railway Board – Vijaylaxmi Vishwanathan
- Longest platform situated – Khadagpur (West Bengal)
- Train only for women run – From Churchgate to Boriwali in Mumbai
- Metro Rail in Calcutta – 1984
- Railway week celebrated on 10–16April.
- 19 Railway Recruitment Boards are there in India
- First tourist rail – Palace on wheels in 1982 between Delhi–Jaipur
- Railway accident in the history of Indian Railway occurred in Morghat (Pure–Bombay root) on 5 January, 1869
- Longest rail route in India – from Dibrugarh (Assam) To Kanyakumari
- First monorail operate in India – From Sarhind to Alampur and Bhawani mandi to Patiala
- India’s first indigenous steam engine – F–734
- First longest railway tunnel situated between Monkey hill and Khandala (2100 mt)
- First telecommunication between guard and driver – Mumbai–New Delhi (Rajdhani Express)
- First Rajdhani Express ran between New Delhi–Howrah , 1969
- First DC electrical rail engine – Lokmanya (CLW manufactured it in 1961)
- First computer reservation system start in New Delhi, 2002
- Biggest railway yard located in India-Itarasi (Madhya Pradesh)
- Southern Eastern Railway is known as ‘Blue chip’
- Metroman – Shridharan (Delhi Metro Rail Engineers)
- First Duranto Express ran between Sialdah and New Delhi 18 September, 2009
- Numbers of Indian railway used to be of 5 Digits from 20 December, 2010
- Busiest railway station in Indian-Lucknow (64 Trains everyday).
- First railway factory established in Jamalpur, 1890
- Train runs between India and Pakistan – Samjhauta Express, Thar Express
- Railway zone launched first Railway Time Table -Central Railway
- State with minimum rail routes – Manipur
- First blind friendly train, from Mysuru to Varanasi – Train no. 16226/ 16230.
Other Important Recent Facts :
- Dial 138 for medical emergency on train launched by Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Railways.
- Golden Day in the history of Northeast – 10 August 2015
- Harsh Vardhan, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and Prakash Javadekar flagged off the special train(16 coaches) named Science Express Climate Action Special – “Climate Change” – 64 locations.
- Japan offered to finance India’s first bullet train with an estimated cost of Rs. 90000 crores – Mumbai and Ahmedabad with speed 300km/h and 350km/h.
- Delhi Metro’s bagged ranked first in“information during travel” and holds second position in “train cleanliness and comfort”.
- Japanese maglev fastest passenger train across the world, has broken an earlier speed record of 581 kmph as the train reached 603 kmph.
- First Compressed Natural Gas(CNG)flagged off – two trains(Rewari to Rohtak and Rewari to Bikaner station) from Haryana’s Rewari station.
- Mobile-‘m-Indicator’ launched for the safety of women-Mumbai suburban trains.
- Mumbai will get its 1st double-decker bridge on P D’Mello Road at CST that will have railway tracks and a motorway.
- India’s 1st railway-line built between Gandhidham and Tuna-Tekra Port under PPP model inaugurated in Gujarat.
- Union cabinet approved a proposal to redevelop 400 railway stations using a contract method called the “Swiss challenge”- 400 stations.
- Gatimaan Express,India’s 1st semi-high speed train service with supersonic calliber between Delhi and Agra at a speed of 160 kph
- India’s 1st Diesel Electric Multiple Unit(DEMU) train service with an air-conditioned coach is launched in Kochi – Ernakulam-Tripunithura-Piravom train service.
- 1st goods train from Lumding to Silchar in Assam-210Km.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged 1st train service from Thalaimannar to Madhu Road in Northern Sri Lanka.
- Indian Railways IRCTC Launched Ru-Pay pre-paid debit card-24th March 2015.
- Delhi & Tokyo may ink pact for India’s first Bullet Train – Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
- Diamond Quadtrilateral project – High speed rail connects Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi
- Current Railway Minister – Suresh Prabhu
- Dear Readers,we have collected some important information about Indian Railways. We hope, it will help you in Competitive exams.Indian Railways is an Indian state-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is one of the world’s largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km and 7,112 stations.
- Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Mumbai to Thane
- Indian Railways Nationalised in 1950
- The country’s first railway, built by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway
- The Indian railway system is the largest in Asia and third in the world after USA and Canada.
- It is the biggest employer in the world and the largest single undertaking in the country
- It has the second biggest electrified system in the world after Russia
- Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones.which are further sub-divided into68 divisions
- Each zone is headed by a general manager
Railway ZonesName Established Headquarters Divisions Southern 14 April 1951 Chennai Chennai,
Tiruchirappalli,
Madurai, and
Salem,
Palakkad,
ThiruvananthapuramCentral 5 November 1951 Mumbai Mumbai,CST,
Bhusawal, Pune,
Solapur and
NagpurWestern 5 November 1951 Mumbai Mumbai,Central,
Ratlam, Ahmedabad,
Rajkot,
Bhavnagar
and VadodaraEastern 14 April 1952 Kolkata Howrah, Sealdah,
Asansol
and Malda TownNorthern 14 April 1952 Delhi Delhi, Ambala,
Firozpur, Lucknow
and
MoradabadNorth Eastern 14 April 1952 Gorakhpur Izzatnagar,
Lucknow
and VaranasiSouth Eastern 1955 Kolkata Adra,
Chakradharpur,
Kharagpur
and RanchiNortheast Frontier 15 January 1958 Maligaon Alipurduar,
Katihar,
Rangia,
Lumding and
TinsukiaSouth Central 2 October 1966 Secunderabad Vijayawada,
Secunderabad,
Guntakal,
Guntur,
Hyderabad
and NandedEast Central 1 October 2002 Hajipur Danapur, Dhanbad,
Mughalsarai,
Samastipur
and SonpurNorth Western 1 October 2002 Jaipur Jaipur, Ajmer,
Bikaner
and JodhpurEast Coast 1 April 2003 Bhubaneswar Khurda Road,
Sambalpur
and VisakhapatnamNorth Central 1 April 2003 Allahabad Allahabad, Agra
and JhansiSouth East Central 1 April 2003 Bilaspur Bilaspur, Raipur
and NagpurSouth Western 1 April 2003 Hubli Hubli, Bangalore,
Mysore
and GulbargaWest Central 1 April 2003 Jabalpur Jabalpur, Bhopal
and KotaRailway Tracks:- Track – Distance between rails
- Broad Gauge – 1676mm
- Metre Gauge – 1000mm
- Narrow Gauge – 762mm/610mm
Manufacturing UnitName of the Unit Location Chittaranjan Locomotive Works Chittaranjan, West Bengal Central Organisation for Railway Electrification Allahabad, UP Diesel Locomotive Works Varanasi, UP Diesel Loco Modernisation Works Patiala, Punjab Integral Coach Factory Chennai, Tamil Nadu Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala, Punjab Rail Wheel Factory Bangalore, Karnataka Rail Coach Factory Raebareli, UP Rail Wheel Plant Chhapra, Bihar Diesel Component Factory Dankuni, West Bengal Luxury Train routesName Run by Route Palace on Wheels Rajasthan Tourism Delhi-Jaipur-Sawai-Madhopur-Chittorgarh-Udaipur-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Bharatpur-Agra-Delhi Deccan Odyssey Maharashtra Tourism New Delhi – Sawai Madhopur – Agra – Jaipur – Udaipur – Vadodara – Ellora Caves – Mumbai The Golden Chariot Karnataka Tourism Bengaluru, Kabini, Mysore-Belur – Halebidu – Hampi – Badami –Goa – Bengaluru Royal Rajasthan on Wheels Rajasthan Tourism Delhi – Jaipur – Jaisalmer – Jodhpur –Sawai – Madhopur – Chittorgarh – Udaipur – Bharatpur – Agra – Delhi Important Railway Committees- Shahnawaz Committee – 1954, High Level Safety Review Committee
- Kanjaru Committee – 1962, Railway Accidents Committee
- Wahchoo Committee – 1968, Railway Safety Committee
- Seekari Committee – 1978, Railway Accidents Enquiry Committee
- Khanna Committee – 1998, Railway Safety Review Committee
- Arvind Panagariya committee – 2016 to fast-track bullet train project
Important facts about Railway:- First train in India – Mumbai to Thane, With 400 passengers, this train completed its journey of 34 kms with the help of three engines–Sahib, Sindh and Sultan.
- Father of Indian Railway – Lord Dalhousie
- Fastest train – The Bhopal Shatabdi Express,1988,betweenAgra and New Delhi
- Slowest train in India- Nilgri Express,between Chennai and Mettupalayam
- First electric train – Deccan Queen, 1931,connects Mumbai with Pune .
- First double-decker train – Shatabdi train was flagged off in October 2011
- First air-conditioned double-decker train – Shatabdi train will run from Mumbai to Goa
- First underground railway (Metro Railway) – Kolkata Metro(1984)
- Largest Zone in Indian Railways – Northern Railway
- A platform surrounded by rail lines from all the four sides – Island platform
- First railway station – Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station in Mumbai.
- Longest running train -Vivek Express. It runs from Dibrugarh in upper Assam to Kanyakumari at the southern tip of Tamil Nadu.
- Longest railway platform –Kharagpur has the world’s third longest railway platform with a length of 1,072.5 metres (3,519 ft).
- First A.C. train between Bombay and Baroda started – 1936
- First broad gauge super fast train – rajdhani express new delhi howrah 1stmarch 1969
- First metre gauge super fast train – pink city express new delhi jaipur 17thoct 1981
- First narrow gauge super fast train – shivalik deluxe express kalka – shimla 9thaug 1996
- First time table 1853 central india
- First stamp on indian railways 4 annas 10thdec 1936 by king george
- First ac train mumbai and baroda 1936
- First automatic signalling system 1928
- First railway book stall – 1877 allahabad wheeler & co ltd
- First wagon in india 1920 jessop & co., Kolkata
- First vestibuled train 1stjune 1930, deccan queen
- World’s first double decker train – 1862 bb&cir
- First railway tunnel of Indian railway -Parsik tunnel
- First rail minister after independence – John Mathai and before independence Asif Ali
- Countries there is no railway line – Lebanon,Mauritius reunion, Libya, Argentina, Afghanistan, Papua,New Guinea
- Trains that have placed in Guinness Book -Darjeeling Toy Train, Nilgiri Mountain Train Simla Toy Train, Mathenron Toy Train, Place on wheels Royal Orient, Buddha circular Express, Fairy Queen.
- Satpura Express numerical name 10001/10002 – run between Jabalpur and Balaghat
- Longest train -Prayagraj Express (26 Coaches, New Delhi–Allahabad)
- Highest Railway station in India – Similiguda (996.08 mt from sea level in the Valtair division of Southern–Eastern Railway)
- Highest river bridge manufactured under Konkan Railway – Panval River Rail bridge (64 mt. high)
- Division that has maximum number of tunnels – Kalka Simla division of Northern Railway (103 tunnels)
- Longest railway bridge of Indian railway – Railway bridge in Kerala near Kochchi joins Idapalli to Vallerpadma (Length 4.62 km)
- Last railway station of Northern Railway and Indian Railway – Bajalta
- Indian state has maximum rail routes – Uttar Pradesh
- Himsagar Express passes through – 11 States(Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Kerala)
- Railway station that has all the three rails -Dumdum Railway station (EMU rail service circular Railway and Metro Railway)
- Railway station has smallest name from the English alphabets -IB (Between Howrah–Nagpur)
- Railway station has longest name – Venkatanarsimharajuvaripeta (Tamilnadu)
- First female operator in Delhi Metro – Minakshi Sharma.
- First female to become the member of Railway Board – Vijaylaxmi Vishwanathan
- Longest platform situated – Khadagpur (West Bengal)
- Train only for women run – From Churchgate to Boriwali in Mumbai
- Metro Rail in Calcutta – 1984
- Railway week celebrated on 10–16April.
- 19 Railway Recruitment Boards are there in India
- First tourist rail – Palace on wheels in 1982 between Delhi–Jaipur
- Railway accident in the history of Indian Railway occurred in Morghat (Pure–Bombay root) on 5 January, 1869
- Longest rail route in India – from Dibrugarh (Assam) To Kanyakumari
- First monorail operate in India – From Sarhind to Alampur and Bhawani mandi to Patiala
- India’s first indigenous steam engine – F–734
- First longest railway tunnel situated between Monkey hill and Khandala (2100 mt)
- First telecommunication between guard and driver – Mumbai–New Delhi (Rajdhani Express)
- First Rajdhani Express ran between New Delhi–Howrah , 1969
- First DC electrical rail engine – Lokmanya (CLW manufactured it in 1961)
- First computer reservation system start in New Delhi, 2002
- Biggest railway yard located in India-Itarasi (Madhya Pradesh)
- Southern Eastern Railway is known as ‘Blue chip’
- Metroman – Shridharan (Delhi Metro Rail Engineers)
- First Duranto Express ran between Sialdah and New Delhi 18 September, 2009
- Numbers of Indian railway used to be of 5 Digits from 20 December, 2010
- Busiest railway station in Indian-Lucknow (64 Trains everyday).
- First railway factory established in Jamalpur, 1890
- Train runs between India and Pakistan – Samjhauta Express, Thar Express
- Railway zone launched first Railway Time Table -Central Railway
- State with minimum rail routes – Manipur
- First blind friendly train, from Mysuru to Varanasi – Train no. 16226/ 16230.
Other Important Recent Facts :- Dial 138 for medical emergency on train launched by Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Railways.
- Golden Day in the history of Northeast – 10 August 2015
- Harsh Vardhan, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and Prakash Javadekar flagged off the special train(16 coaches) named Science Express Climate Action Special – “Climate Change” – 64 locations.
- Japan offered to finance India’s first bullet train with an estimated cost of Rs. 90000 crores – Mumbai and Ahmedabad with speed 300km/h and 350km/h.
- Delhi Metro’s bagged ranked first in“information during travel” and holds second position in “train cleanliness and comfort”.
- Japanese maglev fastest passenger train across the world, has broken an earlier speed record of 581 kmph as the train reached 603 kmph.
- First Compressed Natural Gas(CNG)flagged off – two trains(Rewari to Rohtak and Rewari to Bikaner station) from Haryana’s Rewari station.
- Mobile-‘m-Indicator’ launched for the safety of women-Mumbai suburban trains.
- Mumbai will get its 1st double-decker bridge on P D’Mello Road at CST that will have railway tracks and a motorway.
- India’s 1st railway-line built between Gandhidham and Tuna-Tekra Port under PPP model inaugurated in Gujarat.
- Union cabinet approved a proposal to redevelop 400 railway stations using a contract method called the “Swiss challenge”- 400 stations.
- Gatimaan Express,India’s 1st semi-high speed train service with supersonic calliber between Delhi and Agra at a speed of 160 kph
- India’s 1st Diesel Electric Multiple Unit(DEMU) train service with an air-conditioned coach is launched in Kochi – Ernakulam-Tripunithura-Piravom train service.
- 1st goods train from Lumding to Silchar in Assam-210Km.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged 1st train service from Thalaimannar to Madhu Road in Northern Sri Lanka.
- Indian Railways IRCTC Launched Ru-Pay pre-paid debit card-24th March 2015.
- Delhi & Tokyo may ink pact for India’s first Bullet Train – Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
- Diamond Quadtrilateral project – High speed rail connects Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi
- Current Railway Minister – Suresh Prabhu
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