OPINION, P6 ECONOMY, P2 RENU KOHLI Reviving growth difficult if consumption remains anaemic COMPANIES, P5 EDITORIAL NEW RESPONSIBILITY GREEN PUSH Economy not out of the woods yet, surprising that GFCF growth is pegged at 15% Ex-RBI governor Urjit Patel appointed vice president of AIIB Adani Group sets up new arm ANIL for renewable energy projects NEW DELHI, MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2022 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL. XLVII NO. 268, 16 PAGES, `8.00 (PATNA `8.00, RAIPUR `8.00) P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E AFTER THREE months of selling spree, foreign investors have turned net buyers in the first week of January by infusing `3,202 crore in Indian equities, as correction in markets provided them good buying opportunity, reports PTI in New Delhi. No anti-dumping duty on steel products THE GOVERNMENT has decided not to impose antidumping duty on certain steel products being imported from countries like China, Japan and Korea, reports PTI in New Delhi. 41.8 60 50 40 BSE-30 Index earnings growth (%) 19.3 30 20 0 2017 2018 2019 2020 Dec (E) Mar Jun Sep Mar Jun Sep Dec -20 Mar Jun Sep -10 Dec WHILE NORMALCY RETURNED tomostpartsofthe country in the December,2021 quarter,the economic recovery doesnotseemtohavegainedthe kind of momentum one might have hoped for.Despite it being a period of festivity, consumer demand wasn’t particularly strong,possibly because of the inflation in product prices and also because the services sector —whichemployslargenumbers —hadn’tfullyrecovered. As such, while India Inc’s aggregateresultsforthequarter 2.0 10 FE BUREAU New Delhi, January 9 Dec Auto and consumer durables anaemic, lower provisions behind banks’ healthy profits Mar Jun Sep FPIs turn net buyers of equities in Jan so far Strong headline results maskweak pockets Dec KOTAK MAHINDRA Bank(KMB) on Sunday said it was pursuing appropriate legal action against Ashneer Grover, co-founder BharatPe, for a notice sent by him dated October 30, 2021. In a late release the private sector lender said :“This is with reference to media queries regarding the legal notice dated October 30, 2021, sent on behalf ofAshneer Grover & Madhuri Grover, addressed to Kotak Mahindra Bank, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. Q3FY22 EARNINGS Mar Jun Sep IN THE NEWS Notice from BharatPe co-founder: KMB says will take legal action 2021 ● MULTI-LAYERED FIGHT Dispute with Future Group: Amazon moves NCLAT, SC FE BUREAU New Delhi, January 9 AMAZON HAS MOVED the National CompanyLawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT) challenging last month's CompetitionCommissionofIndia(CCI) order that suspended the regulatory approval for its 2019 deal with local retailer Future Group. The NCLAT is likely to hear the matter this week, sources said. Continued on Page 2 OFF GUARD People gather at Mumbai's Juhu beach defying restrictions imposed amid Covid surge PTI Source: Kotak Institutional Equities estimates willbeimpressive,theywouldbe driven primarily by four or five sectors—IT,metals,BFSIandoil & gas.A fairly large number of companies —30% — could reportayear-on-yearfallinprofits. At the same time, close to 40% of firms will likelyreport a profitgrowthofmorethan15%. The strong aggregate head- linegrowthwillhideweakspots including automobiles, consumer durables and construction materials; it will also camouflagethequalityofearningsof banksthatwillhavegainedmore from lower loan loss provisions ratherthantheircorebusiness. Continued on Page 2 PM to convene meeting of CMs to discuss Covid situation No plan to impose lockdown in Delhi yet: Arvind Kejriwal PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi has called for convening a meeting with chief ministers to discuss state-specific scenarios, best-practices and the public health response to the pandemic.The PM on Sunday reviewed the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country. ■ Page 2 DELHI CHIEF minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said there is no plan to impose a lockdown as of now in the city, and that there will be no need for it if people wear masks. He said that on Sunday, the city is likely to report 22,000 Covid-19 cases in 24 hours. ● CONTINGENCY ● BOOST FOR EXPORTS Tax refund schemes may Extra borrowing space for see sharp hike in outlay states likely in FY23 too BANIKINKAR PATTANAYAK New Delhi, January 9 THE GOVERNMENT WILL likelyraiseallocationundertwo crucial tax remission schemes for exporters —RoDTEP and RoSCTL — to as much as `22,000-27,000 crore in the Budget for the next fiscal from about `19,400 crore in FY22,a seniorofficial told FE. "Given the sharp rebound in exports,there is a need to raise outlay for these schemes substantially to ensure all exporters continuetogettaxremissionand ouroutboundshipmentsremain `25,000-30,000 cr Likely FY23 outlay for two key tax refund schemes for exporters `19,400 cr* FY22 allocation for these schemes *Ofwhich `12,454 cr Earmarked for RoDTEP scheme, meant for most exporters `6,946 cr RoSCTLscheme outlay, for only garment & madeup exporters trulyzero-rated,insyncwithbest globalpractices,"hesaid. Continued on Page 2 PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, January 9 FOR THE THIRD year in a row, the Centre will likely set the states’ net borrowing limit at a level higher than prescribed under the fiscal responsibility framework in FY23,in view of their higher spending commitments amid below-potential revenue mop-up. But the extra borrowing space to be granted next fiscal will be relatively less, as the Centre is concerned about a greaterleeway pushing the states' debt to a precarious level. New Delhi States' borrowing ceiling (% of GSDP) 5 FY21 4.5* FY22 *including 0.5% for power sector reforms 3.5-4 FY23 (likely) Continued on Page 2 States' capex pace strong till Nov, may slow in Q4 Page 2