India to Tax Solar Equipment Imports
The government has decided to impose 40% basis customs duty (BCD) on solar modules and 25% on solar cells from April 2022, in a move that would make imports costlier and encourage local manufacturing.
The customs duty will replace a 15% safeguard duty currently imposed on imports from China and Malaysia.
The development follows the government announcing a PLI scheme that offers manufacturers in 10 sectors, including those of high-efficiency solar modules, a total benefit of Rs 1.97 trillion. The plan has gained traction with 15 companies considering total investments of around $3 billion to build solar equipment manufacturing facilities in India.
The Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative has geared up the country towards scaling up domestic manufacturing. Scaling up domestic solar manufacturing would also enable India to export solar cells/modules and play a larger role in global supply chains. This would also provide other countries with an alternative avenue for procuring solar cells/modules.
FMCG Companies hike prices
Packaged consumer goods companies have either raised prices of products such as detergents, soaps, creams, toothpaste, edible oils and tea or are planning to do so to offset rising costs of key raw materials.
Rising prices of crude, palm oil and tea and robust demand growth of consumer goods have given confidence to companies to hike prices.
For instance, a chemical used in all home and personal care products named Palm fatty acid distillate has surged 36% in the last 12 months. Also, freight and packing costs have increased which have started to impact margins.
FMCG companies have high pricing power. We expect the price hikes will not have a much impact on the volumes, given the demand is robust. However as and when the raw material prices softens, the companies will limit price increase to support consumer offtake.
EaseMyTrip IPO – 2nd most subscribed issue of 2021
Easy Trip Planners’ (EaseMyTrip) initial share sale became the second most subscribed issue so far in 2021 on its third and final day.
The online travel portal’s issue was subscribed 160.18 times according to the stock exchange data. MTAR Technologies’ IPO leads the race with a subscription of 200.79 times while shares of IRFC were the least subscribed at 3.49 times.
EaseMyTrip is the only player among the key online travel agencies (OTA) in India which has been consistently earning profits. Being 100% bootstrapped, cost efficiency is in the DNA of the company and that has enabled them to manage profitability.
