Economy - May 16, 2020

Second tranche of economic package focuses on migrant workers, small farmers

Second tranche of economic package focuses on migrant workers, small farmers

In relation with the earlier announcement made on May 12, 2020 by the Prime Minister, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman provides microscopic view explaining sub divisions of ₹20 lakh crore package. It has been strategically designed to provide relief to various divisions of the country. The 1st tranche was announced on May 13, 2020 and on the following day, the 2nd tranche with aid money aggregating to ₹2.46 lakh crore.

Nirmala Sitharaman announcing stimulus:

The 2nd tranche of the cumulative ₹20 lakh crore package mainly focus on extending aid to the migrant workers, small farmers and poor section in the urban regions. With the aim of reviving the economy, 2nd tranche announces supply of free food grain, provision of concessional credit support and new affordable rental housing plan. A significant announcement bringing relief to two of the most vulnerable huge population is fully guaranteed loan for the MSMEs and farm support schemes for the small farmers.

Other major announcement made is the “one nation, one ration card” plan. It binds a quick shift to single ration card across the country. This will promise uninterrupted supply of ration to the poor in spite of their change in place of residence if any. Further, to stimulate investments of ₹70,000 crore, a new Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme, extending some relief in interest has been announced for the middle class section to build houses till March 31, 2021. Lower middle income group for the scheme comprises of individual with an annual income of ₹6 -18 lakh.

Interest subvention support of 2% has been extended on Mudra Shishu loans upto ₹50,000 costing ₹1,500 crores. This scheme is projected to benefit around 30 million people. This extension in scheme will further help in creating jobs and restoring demand for commodities like steel, cement and transportation industry and other incidental and auxiliary sector. Credit guarantee of ₹3 lakh crore for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) has been announced under this scheme worth ₹5.94 lakh crore.

Empathizing with Migrants:

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentions the glimpse of migrant families including their children carrying baggage walking on feet is sorrowful.
The package will provide 2 lakh crore concessional credit for around 25 million farmers. Announcing further, a ₹30,000 crore refinance scheme for the small farmers will be sanctioned by National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD). ₹3,500 crore is budgeted to be spent on 80 million migrants who don’t hold any ration cards, providing 5 kg wheat/ rice per person along with 1 kg chana per family per month for 2 months.

By March 2021, all public distribution system (PDS) ration cards are said to be digitalized, enabling access to ration (out of the total family quota) to every member of the family residing in different part of India. By August 2020, 670 million beneficiaries making 83% of the PDS will enjoy national portability. Government along with private players will come together to provide new affordable rental housing to the migrant workers.

Other Benefits of this scheme:

Announcements made in the 2nd tranche will not have much impact on the fiscal deficit. It will only be ₹11,000 crore. This will bring the aggregate cost of add on incentives given to ₹66,500 crore, that is 0.34% of GDP. Migrants returning to their rural home towns are being precisely monitored and are being registered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

The scheme has generated a total of 146.2 million man days of work, which is nearly 40% in excess in comparison to the same period in 2019. Further, emphasis on the steps undertaken to make amendments in labor laws and measures are taken to extend social security for the workers employed in unorganized sector.

Announcing ahead, the Government within a span of a month is about to launch a special scheme. The scheme will enable easy access of loan facility to street vendors. Under this scheme, they will be provided with an initial working capital of ₹10,000 or less per person. The above mentioned scheme is said to have a ₹5,000 crore budget.

Under supervision of State and UT Government:

Industry is showing a positive response towards the measures announced. Schemes are to be implemented under supervision of Governments of the respective state and Union Territory. It has been witnessed several times in the past that targeting the beneficiaries is the most difficult task and proper planning and proper implementation. If followed by proper execution, it can only lead to success of the government’s vision of revival of the economy.

Government announces first tranche of economic package

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Business, Economy - May 16, 2020

Government announces first tranche of economic package

Government announces first tranche of economic package

To go by the struggle caused due to COVID-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced an economic package of ₹ 20 lakh crore under government’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan / Self-Reliant India. Government noted Lockdown 4.0 will be implemented, with all the new rules and regulation which are applicable state wise and will be completely different from the previous lockdowns. The national movement of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan / Self-Reliant India initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to support India’s small and local business. He emphasized on slogan viz. #VOCALFORLOCAL.

Aid to Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in this economic booster package:

Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), Microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Housing finance companies (HFCs) will get liquidity support of ₹30,000 crore under liquidity scheme. Under this scheme, banks can invest in investment-grade debt papers issued by NBFCs, HFCs and MFIs through both primary and secondary market transactions. The investment up to ₹30,000 crore will be entirely guaranteed by Government of India.

Additionally, NBFCs, MFIs, and HFCs will even get the assistance of ₹45,000 crore under partial guarantee scheme. This assistance provided by the government is to provide liquidity support to institutions whose credit rating is low. This will be applicable to all unrated papers and the papers with ratings of AA and below issued by NBFCs, MFIs, and HFCs. This will enhance the liquidity support of all the institutions under NBFCs, MFIs, and HFCs. Under this scheme, the first 20% loss will be borne by Indian government i.e. public sector banks resulting in a liquidity of ₹45,000 crore.

Aid to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in this economic booster package:

New rules and regulation introduced in MSMEs is to enhance the growth of small businesses are as follows:

1) Government of India introduced the new definition for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which includes increase in investment limits, new additional criteria of turnover, manufacturing and service sector will be considered same and introduced some new amendments to law. New definition states micro units, small units and medium can invest up to ₹1 crore and turnover below ₹5 crore, ₹10 crore and turnover below ₹50 crore, ₹20 crore and turnover below ₹100 crore, respectively.

2) Government introduced the provision of Collateral-free Automatic Loans of ₹3 lakh crore. This provision will help 45 lakh MSMEs in India. MSMEs can avail loan from banks, and NBFC’s. The eligibility criteria of granting loan is MSMEs with ₹25 crore outstanding credit & turnover of ₹100 crore are eligible to take advantage of this provision. They can avail the scheme before October 31st 2020. However, interest will be charged on the loan granted, but 100% guarantee will be ensured by Banks & NBFCs.

3) MSMEs which are undergoing through massive losses and NPAs, provision of Subordinate Debt worth ₹ 20,000 crore will be offered by the government. Approximately 2 lakh small companies will be aided through this provision. Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) will get assistance of ₹4,000 crore from government in return CGTMSE will provide partial credit guarantee support to banks.

4) Government will set up Fund of Funds (FoF) amounting ₹10,000 crore. This will help MSMEs for equity funding and in their potential growth and viability. Set up Fund of Funds (FoF) will be functioned by Mother Funds and some daughter funds. Daughter fund level will help Fund of Funds (FoF) to provide assistance of ₹50,000 crore MSME’s to get listed on stock exchanges and also for their expansion.

5) To support movement of VOCAL FOR LOCAL government will not pass global tender worth ₹200 crore. This step will immensely help in the growth of MSME’s.

6) Government noted all the dues of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will be cleared in the upcoming 45 days.

Aid to Employee Provident Funds (EPF’s) in this economic booster package:

Government of India stated they will extend their support under Employees Provident Fund scheme by 3 months i.e. for the month of June, July, and August 2020. This provision will cover 3.67 lakh institutions and help approximately 71 lakh employees by providing liquidity relief of ₹2,500 crore.

Relief of ₹6,750 crore will be observed by a reduction in Employees Provident Funds (EPF) contribution for business and workers. This provision will cover 6.5 lakh institutions covered under Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) and approximately 4.3 crore employees are benefited. However, state run Public sector undertakings (PSU’s) will continue to pay 12% as employer contribution.

Aid to contractors in this economic booster package:

Railways, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and various central agency will get leeway up to 6 months in construction work, all contacts which have obligations to complete in a stipulated time period. Bank guarantees are partially released to ease cash flows.

• Aid to Real Estate sector in this economic booster package:

Extension of 6 months will be provided in a timeline of all Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) projects. All the registration and completion dates of projects under RERA will be covered in this provision.

Aid in Tax Reforms in this economic booster package:

There will be a reduction of 25% in TDS/TCS on all the transactions executed by individuals and businesses. This provision will help to provide liquidity support of ₹50,000 crore. This reduction will be effective from 14th May 2020 to 31st March 2021. Due date of income tax return (ITR) filings is extended to 30th November 2020.

What are liquid funds? Find more

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Business, Economy, Expert Views, Markets - May 15, 2020

What are liquid funds? Find more

Liquid funds are also debt funds that lend for a period of up to 91 days. These are the safest funds among all other schemes, being short-term. It is appropriate for putting money aside for emergencies. There is negligible risk of loss if one invests for minimum one month. These are known for giving up to 50% and at times even 100% higher returns than the savings bank account. These have low annual fee ranging from 0.30%- 0.70%

Portfolio with liquid funds fetches:

• No Lock-in Period – By the name, it suggests they have no lock-in period and give quick access to cash by redemption.

• Quick Withdrawals – Liquid fund withdrawals can be made within 24 hours.

• Lowest Interest Rate Risk – These funds mainly invest in fixed income securities which have a short maturity period, hence have one of the lowest rate risk as compared to others.

• Tax Benefits – Liquid Funds offer valuable tax benefits.

• Comparatively Good Returns – Liquid funds offer an average return of about 8% per annum.

For instance,

Franklin India Liquid Fund is presently giving a return of +7.04% p.a.

Tata Liquid Fund is presently giving a return of +6.91% p.a.

Edelweiss Liquid Fund is presently giving a return of +6.86% p.a.

Comparing and Contrasting:

Current Fixed Deposit Rates are ranging from 3.00%-6.75% p.a. covering all classes of investors.

Comparing these with the previously mentioned Credit Risk Fund and Liquid Fund, we can learn that these funds give more returns as compared to the Bank FDs.

Credit risk funds. Should you invest?

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Business, Equities, Expert Views, Investor Forum, Markets - May 15, 2020

Credit risk funds. Should you invest?

Credit risk funds. Should you invest?

Credit risk funds are debt funds that lend not less than 65% of their portfolio in the lower rated instruments (less than AA rated papers). The borrowers have to shell out higher interest charges to compensate for their lower credit rating, which translates into a higher risk for the lender due to an increased possibility of default. Although, these funds lend mostly for short duration. They are still one of the riskiest in the category.

These funds are ideal for an investment horizon of at least 3-5 years. There is a high probability of incurring losses if held for short term.These funds tend to deliver higher returns than Bank Fixed Deposits thereby involving higher risk.

Portfolio with Credit Risk Funds fetches:

• Higher Return : These funds take high risks and invest that money in the low risk instruments and the returns generated are higher as compared to other funds.

• Tax Benefits: These funds are tax-efficient as the Long Term Capital Gains (LTCG) is flat 20% where as if the assessee is in 30% slab still LTCG will be taxable at 20%.

• Extended Supervision: In these funds, fund managers play a very significant role in obtaining remarkable returns. Credit rating alone is not the only basis of decision making. There are various parameters such as the company’s scope of expansion, its potential and business model.

For instance,

ICICI Prudential Credit Risk Fund is presently giving return of +8.64% p.a.

Kotak Credit Risk Fund is presently giving return of +7.44% p.a

HDFC Credit Risk Fund is presently giving return of +7.55% p.a

Debt, hybrid mutual funds see large outflows in April

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Economy - May 15, 2020

India's borrowing target now raised to Rs 12 lakh crores

India’s borrowing target now raised to Rs 12 lakh crores

From the estimated amount in the budget of 7.8 lakh crores, the government has increased the gross market borrowing target to Rs 12 lakh crores for the financial year 2020-21. It attributes nearly 54% increase to deal with the problem of illiquidity during the economic crisis due to corona virus pandemic.

The circular:

The government issued a circular on 8th May 2020, which said that the gross borrowing target has been raised from the budgeted Rs 7.8 lakh crores to Rs 12 lakh crores. In a statement given on Friday, the Finance ministry said that an increase in the borrowing targets has been done after consultations with the RBI and has been inevitable during this covid-19 pandemic crisis.

Increase in budgeted borrowings:

A few days ago, a package worth Rs 1.7 lakh crores was announced. It is expected that there will be additional packages and programs introduced in the days ahead to have fiscal support. This is because of the expected reduction in the tax revenue from the lock down. It is expected that the revenue shortfall would be same as the additional borrowings of Rs. 4.2 lakh crores in this financial year. The recent surge in the fuel prices will generate an additional Rs 1.4 lakh crores but still cannot reduce the revenue shortfall.

A senior government official communicated with the media that there will definitely be a revenue shortfall in this financial year. It is because many of the industries are shut down amid lock down in the month of April. For now, they are focusing on the expenditure side. If the situation improves in the second half of the year, then the government will scale down the estimated borrowings. He added that the RBI has not taken any call for monetizing the deficit. A stimulus package will be announced very soon and the government is working on it.

Borrowing Plan:

The government plans to borrow an amount of Rs 7 lakh crores in the first half of this financial year than the earlier of plan of Rs. 4.88 lakh crores. So it means that the government can borrow at the most Rs 6 lakh crores by the end of September. The government can borrow an average of Rs 30,000 crores per week according to the current plan as compared to the earlier plan of borrowing Rs 19,000 – 21,000 crores. This will leave a balance of Rs 5 lakh crores which can be borrowed in the second half then the earlier plan of Rs 2.92 lakh crores.

Benefits of additional borrowings:

The additional market borrowings would lead to an increase in the bond yields and would also ensure adequate liquidity in this system. According to the report given by finance ministry, the surplus liquidity in the banking system is Rs 6.07 lakh crores currently.

Debt, hybrid mutual funds see large outflows in April

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Economy - May 9, 2020

Debt, hybrid mutual funds see large outflows in April

Debt, hybrid mutual funds see large outflows in April

The financial market is undergoing a major liquidity crisis in Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) sector. This net outflow in debt fund is due to intense credit issue floating in the market.

Reason for Huge outflow in Debt Mutual Funds:

On 23rd April 2020, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund discontinued 6 of its Debt mutual funds. They stated the reason for discontinuing six of its debt mutual funds to be the illiquid situation floating in debt market due to the unusual wake of COVID-19. They mentioned this step took by the company is for the safeguarding the interest of customers and to protect their money invested with us.

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund abruptly discontinued the trade of Systematic transfer plan (STP) and Systematic withdrawal plan (SWP) and some of their debt schemes. This created panic among all the potential investors of this category. The decision took by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund is adversely affecting the entire debt mutual fund category.

Outflow observed in different schemes:

The highest outflow observed is in the Credit risk fund amounting to ₹19,238.98 crore in April 2020. The second highest outflow is observed in Low duration fund of total ₹9,841.07 crore for the same time period. Further various schemes observed outflows viz. Ultra Short Duration fund, Money market fund, Short Duration fund of total ₹3,419.32 crore, ₹1,210.35 crore, ₹2,309.05 crore respectively. There are few more firms which observed unforeseen outflows.

Schemes which stood strong despite of crisis:

Liquid fund did not observe any outflow. On the contrary, it observed inflow of ₹68,848.01 crore in April 2020. Further various schemes which observed inflows viz. Long Duration fund, Banking and PSU fund, and Gilt fund of total ₹301.94 crore, ₹6,561.20 crore, and ₹2,515.61 crore respectively.

Scenario of Hybrid Funds:

Hybrid funds refers to funds which invest in both equity & debt. These funds are also critically damaged. Arbitrage fund in the category of hybrid funds is the only fund which observed Inflow of total ₹6,587.05 crore in April 2020. Funds viz. Equity saving, Multi Asset allocation, Dynamic Asset allocation/Balanced Advantage, Balanced Hybrid Fund/Aggressive Hybrid Fund, and Conservative Hybrid Fund in the category of hybrid fund observed a huge outflow in April 2020.

Views on this unexpected scenario:

The decision taken by Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund devastated the entire financial market. In this time of crisis, an ordinary investor will genuinely think to safeguard his\her money and no other option is left with them besides grabbing their money back into the pocket.

Startups offer Esops to help employees

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Business - May 9, 2020

Startups offer Esops to help employees

Startups offer Esops to help employees

Incidental to economic distress invited by COVID-19, some of India’s top startups are rendering additional stock options to their employees in order to retain them even after having performed reduction in salaries mandatorily or voluntarily both. Among others, one is Zomato, a well known food delivery chain. Other is “On Your Own Rooms” popularly known as the Oyo Rooms, next is Grofers, the grocery delivery startup, Bounce, known for offering dock-less scooters enhancing mobility, Paytm an e-commerce payment and shopping application.

Zomato was seen initiating a voluntary salary reduction scheme in April, offering those employees add on stocks in order to compensate their decreased pay cheques. According to the estimates, around 2,700 employees undertook voluntary pay cuts empathizing with the company’s situation.

Why Esops?

This decision is a rational one. Companies resorting to pay cuts will not remain appealing to employees who previously worked on high salaries, retaining the talent is a skill, during these tough situations, Esop can be the best possible option to engage employees if not for life but at least for a fixed tenure. According to the sources, Zomato is already having pool of untouched shares with it which they can now use to offer its employees. While others are managing from their founder’s holding in the organizations.

Grofers is backed by Soft Bank, helping it to increase the Esop pool. It is planning to enhance pool by an addition of $25 million, summing up to make it raise $60-70 million. Further, Paytm, Zomato and Oyo are known to have Esop pools ranging around 2.6% – 5.5% of their overall shareholding.

The companies are still deciding as to what ratio of compensation will be granted and what can be the best articulated Esop plan that they can come up with, for instance lower price or shorter lock-in periods since they are being issued in compensation to liquid cash. Paytm, has earlier announced that it is willing to offer Esop linked appraisal scheme this year. For which, it will keep aside Rs 250 crore in Esops to be offered to the target achievers, sincere and honest employees, high performers and fresh joinees of their organization.

SBI CARDS Q4FY20 Result Highlights

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Economy - May 8, 2020

Franklin Templeton receives prepayments from bond issuers

Franklin Templeton receives prepayments from bond issuers

On April 23, Franklin Templeton India’s 6 debt funds, which closed due to illiquidity and redemption pressure amid the COVID-19 turmoil, have received around ₹2,000 crore in repayments/prepayments from underlying bonds. Investors who have contributed are Xander Financial and Hero Solar Energy. Some energy sector and renewable sector organizations have also contributed in the same.

The recent scenario:

Franklin Templeton has borrowed capital from banks to manage the remittance pressure for these 6 schemes that we are talking about. Hence, the total amount received has been directed towards settling these bank liabilities. Recovery can be seen in the dynamic accrual fund and the amount of ₹100 crore received from Hero Solar Energy has been received under this fund only. Soon the ultrashort term fund will also become cash positive.

According to Franklin Templeton, they will be receiving such continuous inflow regularly and all maturities and other commitments will be met by their portfolio securities, as per predefined timeline. Adding, they are optimistic with respect to further decrease in borrowing levels throughout these funds. They will be receiving funds through coupons, scheduled maturities and prepayments.

The funds that wound up had total assets under management (AUM) amounting ₹25,856 crore. While few investors have made payments and/or advances with Franklin, the matter of concern is that many of the debt funds are still lacking enormous liquidity. Around 88-100 percent of the portfolio ranks below “AA-” along with no or low trading. As per the guidelines laid by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), before any repayment to unit holders, every scheme must clear its total liabilities. Once the liabilities are cleared, Franklin plans to reach out to investors for their approval via electronic mode.

Clearing the misconception:

There is a misguided judgment that the borrowing decreases the AUM of the respective scheme and that on repayment of the same it takes away value from the investors. Whereas, in the beginning only the borrowing is regarded as a liability and its adjustments are taken care of while computing AUM. Viably, the portfolio value is kept much higher than the AUM that is revealed. Therefore, repayment of borrowing keeps the AUM intact.

The second reason for shutdown of Franklin’s 6 debt funds:

Another cause for closing down these schemes is the recent SEBI guideline, which forbids funds from investing more than 10% of their assets in unlisted bonds. In India, anything rated below AAA- is considered non-venture grade since high return market is extremely immature in these categories. Franklin’s six funds had a lot of similar kind of private debt. In October 2019, when SEBI announced the new rule saying that any investments in unlisted instruments should be less than 10%, this gave a double blow to these 6 schemes of Franklin. As a result, it could not hold more than 10% nor it could be traded as there were not many buyers and the guideline was not allowing exchanging. This stranded around 33% of its assets.

SEBI turns down proposal on easing QIP pricing norms

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Economy - May 7, 2020

SEBI turns down proposal on easing QIP pricing norms

SEBI turns down proposal on easing QIP pricing norms

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) scrapped the proposal requesting loosening of pricing norms for the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP). Relaxing the pricing norms would have made it easier for companies to raise capital amid turmoil caused by the pandemic. Therefore, a plea was made to SEBI by merchant banks to permit companies to offer a 10% discount on the floor price.

The present market fluctuation is forbidding the companies under existing norms to price their offerings more alluringly. Therefore, they are facing acute shortage of funds. As per prevailing rules, it is mandatory that the issue price in a QIP to not be less than the average of weekly high and low for 2 weeks preceding the relevant date. Bankers have now requested a discount to be increased from 5% to up to 10%. This will offer a great relief to the companies and will aid institutional investors to raise money.

The market scenario:

The capital markets regulator said that the share prices are already at their lowest and demand of further discounting is not justifiable. As compared to previous years, market is already at its low. From the day the news of corona virus was out in February till present, there has been huge declines. Nifty went down by 24%. Similarly, mid cap and small cap witnessed a decline by 27% and 26%. The losses could have been further high if the markets would not have recovered in the past weeks.

Money raised from QIPs between 2015 to 2019 by corporate India amounts to ₹1.31 trillion. To emphasize further, organizations have raised around Rs 51,216 crore through QIPs in FY20. According to 2020 data, capital amounting to ₹20,360 crore has been raised from QIPs.

SEBI proactively extending relaxations amidst pandemic:

Since the beginning of the lock down, SEBI has been proactively giving genuinely necessary relaxations to help listed entities and indirectly to the public shareholders supporting them to face the economic turmoil invited by the pandemic. In March, RBI proposed to relax the compliance of the compulsory 6 months gap between 2 back to back QIP issues. This was after the requests of companies wanting a waiver on the requirement of the cooling off period between two back to back QIP issues. Further, raising funds via rights issues and initial public offerings have already been made easier for companies. The recent request is much in line with relaxations. The regulator has granted relaxations for making ways easier for the companies to raise money from the market.

How will this relaxation help companies?

Investment bankers mention that lower floor prices in QIP issues will provide better access to capital by the companies. Moreover, QIP provides a fast track way that allows organizations that are listed to raise funds through equity or equity-linked instruments. Changes in QIP norms will improvise access to equity capital. Increasing the discount on floor rate to 10% will provide a larger stretch to companies to raise equity capital in a highly volatile and risky market scenario. This may lead to higher dilution, but the capital may be critical for survival and supporting business.

Undoubtedly, this will concern the capital markets regulator. According to bankers, there is not much scope of malpractices. The issue of QIPs does not allow promoters to take part. In case of dilution, it will affect not only shareholders but promoters too, hence keeping a natural check on pricing and sizing of a QIP issue.

Post lock down Scenario:

When the economy and markets begin recouping post the lock down, QIPs could rise as a significant raising support for organizations. So a relaxation on the pricing norm as discussed earlier will have a great positive impact.

States impose higher taxes to raise revenue

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Business, Economy - May 6, 2020

States impose higher taxes to raise revenue

States impose higher taxes to raise revenue

After 40 days, the government has decided to heave the lock down in some areas where no COVID-19 cases exist. The decision comes with some additional norms. On May 4, liquor shops were opened across the country. Currently, all states are struggling for funds due to lock down measures taken to overcome this pandemic. This has resulted in halt of all economic activities. In terms of revenue, taxes on alcohol play very crucial role in earning tax revenue. Around 10-15% tax revenue is earned from alcohol and 15-20% from petroleum products.

How much tax is increased?

To raise revenue, the state governments has increased the sales taxes on liquor and excise on fuels. Almost 13 states have increased taxes. Delhi has put a 70% tax on all types of liquor. The Andhra Pradesh government has increased the tax to 50% on liquor. Earlier, the tax rate was 25% in Andhra Pradesh which has now increased. Rajasthan and West Bengal have also increased the tax on liquor by 15% and 30% respectively. Fuel prices are also hiked by the states. Rajasthan had already increased prices on 22nd March by Rs. 2.2 per litre. The prices was raised again by 0.5-1.1 per litre. The Delhi government raised VAT on both diesel and petrol to 30%.

Importance of liquor sale to states:

Alcohol sale support states to earn more revenue than from other commodities. Revenues are earned from taxes on commodities like country spirits such as malt liquor, country fermented liquor, foreign liquor and spirits such as medical and toilet product which contain alcohol, commercial and denatured spirits, Indian made foreign liquor which are sold to canteen stores and other drugs which contains alcohol. Other than this, income is also earned by confiscating, licensing and penalties imposed on alcohol products.
According to the Indian ratings and research firm, more than 20% revenue of states and union territories such as Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Karnataka is earned only through sale of alcohol. Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattisgarh earn 15-20 %. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Haryana earn 10-15% and rest of the states earn less than 10%.

Budget 19-20 report of RBI:

On an average, states shares 46% in total revenue receipts and the same is contributed to the central. According to this report, five revenue heads such as property and capital transaction tax, vehicle tax, Value added tax (VAT), SGST and state excise tax contribute 90% to the SOTR (state own tax revenue).

HDFC eyes up to raise capital amid pandemic

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