BT Podcast: Maruti Suzuki's abnormally high market share, IT department to issue notices to HNIs

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IT department to issue notices to HNIs
Widening its probe into bitcoin investments and trade, the Income Tax (IT) department is set to issue notices to 4 to 5 lakh high networth individuals (HNI) across the country who were trading on the exchanges of this unregulated virtual currency.Surveys were conducted at nine such exchanges last week to check instances of tax evasion.

Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 introduced
The government has introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha that will allow it to notify a higher period of maternity leave and raise gratuity limit for employees. The gratuity limit for private sector is expected to be raised to Rs 20 lakh in line with that in the government sector. Labour minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar introduced the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the House.

Process for mapping Aadhaar-linked accounts to subsidy payments, overhauled
The government is overhauling the process followed by banks for mapping Aadhaar-linked bank accounts to subsidy payments. It has also temporarily stopped the provision of overwriting existing subsidy-linked bank accounts with freshly mapped Aadhaar accounts. In a meeting held at the cabinet secretariat last week, banks were directed to stop the current process for the next 10 days starting Monday until their core banking software was changed to adopt the new system.

Adani Group cancels contract with Downer EDI
The Adani Group has cancelled an A$2 billion contract with Australian mining services company Downer EDI as part of a cost-cutting drive. Downer EDI is an engineering and infrastructure services provider. The contract relates to the A$16.5 billion Carmichael coal mine project, one of the world's largest. Adani added that the move was "simply a change in management structure" and that it is committed to developing the Carmichael project.

Maruti market share bypasses norms set globally
The largest automobile player in the Indian market, Maruti Suzuki, holds what is considered an abnormally high market share, compared to market leaders in other big markets. It also continues to expand on its market. Maruti is now at a market share of 50.4 per cent, up from 47.3 per cent last year. In China, the world's biggest market, Volkswagen is the largest, with a share of 17 per cent. In America, the second biggest, GM is leader with 18 per cent. In Japan, home to Maruti's parent, Suzuki, the biggest player, Toyota, has 28 per cent. In Germany, fourth largest, Volkswagen is leader with 21 per cent. Ford leads the British market with a share of about 12 per cent. Maruti has been able to expand market share in each of the past six years.

Xiaomi on a high
Xiaomi India is on a high. It's on the brink of exceeding the $2 bn revenue mark this calendar year and is confident about maintaining this momentum next year too. The brand is riding on its offline expansions and product launches beyond smartphones. The company has sold 4 million handsets in one month period of Diwali, a first for any smartphone brand in India.

BMW electric cars hit 1 lakh sales target
BMW said it had hit its target of selling 100,000 electric cars this year around the world, benefiting from strong demand in western Europe and the United States for models such as the i3 and the 2-series plug-in hybrid Active Tourer. This is more than 60 percent up from the 62,255 electric cars BMW sold last year. The German luxury carmaker has said it expects 2018 electric-vehicle (EV) sales to grow by a medium two-digit percentages.

India's mutual fund industry breaks records
India's mutual fund industry witnessed an incredible journey in 2017. The year saw the industry break previous records it had set during the 2006-07 Bull Run. The total assets under management (AUM) hit historic highs, investor count climbed new peaks and inflows through the systematic investment plan (SIP) route saw huge improvement. In all, the inflows in fund industry has been to the tune of over Rs 4 lakh crore

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