NEW DELHI: India’s business confidence index (BCI) moved up by 4.1 per cent in the third quarter of the current fiscal economic think-tank NCAER said today.
“The NCAER Business Confidence Index (BCI) increased by 4.1 per cent over the previous quarter from 142.5 in October 2014 to 148.4 in December” it said in a release.
The BCI index rose during the quarter on factors including expectation of improved economic conditions positive investment climate and rise in capacity utilisation.
However companies’ view about their financial position improving in next six months showed negative change.
“The BCI rose for all five sectors of the economy (consumer durables consumer non-durables intermediate goods capital goods and services) over the previous quarter with the services sector showing the largest growth of 12.5 per cent.”
Services sector also showed the highest BCI. The BCIs of capital goods and consumer non durables sector grew handsomely by 8.8 and 8 per cent respectively said the National Council of Applied Economic Research.
Sentiment on production domestic sales exports and pre-tax profits were mixed. Shares of firms expecting increases in these variables rose while shares of those expecting expansion of more than 10 per cent declined it said.
On polity NCAER’s Political Confidence Index (PCI) continued to rise and increased by 1.4 per cent during the quarter it said.
“Service sector units showed the maximum growth of 23 per cent in PCI. Intermediate goods and capital goods units showed a decline in PCI. Regionally the north grew by the most whereas the west declined by the most” it added.
The research paper by the Chair Professor, Dr Anil Sharma on “Transformation in Indian Agriculture, Allied Sectors and Rural India: Is there less krishi in Bharat?” describe the work carried out by the NABARD Chair Unit at NCAER during August 2011 to July 2014.
This report has examined the effect of computerisation in district and subordinate courts across the country. The NCAER assessment study has found that the eCourts project has created awareness about computerisation among courts and about the application software, namely, Case Information System, among the important stakeholders; the project has achieved more than 90 percent in ICT deployment in terms of asset creation; the eCourts project is able to save time in the work process through computerisation.
Despite repeated attempts, South Asian countries have managed only limited and sporadic success in mobilizing larger tax revenue. Tax-to-GDP ratios in most countries in the region remain below cross country averages and are considered inadequate to meet their financing needs. Underperformance in tax revenue generation does not seem due to paucity of tax policy reforms. South Asian countries have undertaken considerable reforms in the last decade, and their tax structures have converged with the rest of the world. But they have been less successful in widening their tax base, in strengthening tax administration, and in improving compliance. Additionally, structural factors such as large share of agriculture, low literacy, and large informal sectors have hindered tax collection. Further efforts in the region to increase tax revenue ought to be wider in scope than before and should extend to the subnational and local governments. They should focus on simplifying tax systems, strengthening tax administration, and broadening the tax base. These efforts should be situated within a wider reform program that aims to strengthen governance, improve business environment and help formalize their economies.
The NCAER Gas Price Pooling Study captures the macroeconomic impact of the increased power generation and its multiplier effects as a result of greater availability of gas, as well as the total costs of such a policy in the form of subsidies and revenue losses to other sectors. The net benefits are analysed under different scenarios, including plants operating at 30% PLF, 40% PLF and 50% PLF, and with and without the availability of domestic gas supplies.
