More foreign fund inflows seen ahead (10th March, 2005)
Global fund managers and Chief Investment Officers (CIOs) expect the strong Foreign Institutional Investor (FIIs) inflows into India to continue as the country is expected to be the fastest growing countries among its Asian peers.
Fund managers who attended a Confederation of Indian Industries seminal on ‘Investing of value-fund managers perspective’ were gung-go about the huge growth potential, fair valuation and strong corporate governance followed by Indian companies.
They expect these factors to change global investors’ perception towards more exposure to Indian equities.

Govt. may seek special dividend from rich PSUs (10th March, 2005)
Profitable public sector enterprises are expected to cough up special dividends in 2005-06, in addition to their normal dividend outgo.
The sharply improving fortunes of these companies in a booming stock market has prompted the government to dip deeper into the till. The logic is that as owner the government is entitled to more dividends if the companies are doing well.

Direct tax collection to fall short by Rs. 10,000 crore (10th March, 2005)
The all-India direct tax collection this year is likely to fall short of the target. The shortfalls is likely to be in the region of Rs. 10,000 crore.
The direct tax projection for this fiscal, ending on March 31, 2005, is about Rs. 1,40,000 crore, nearly 40% more than the collection fiscal.

Consumer loans zoom 35% since Dec. (10th March, 2005)
Fear of rising prices and interest rates notwithstanding, consumer goods financiers have recorded since 35% plus jump indisbursement since Dec. ‘04. More than 70% of the volumes have come from high-end products across categories such as cars, durables and two-wheelers. Leading financiers said the high-profit margins in big-ticket items have helped them offer competitive interest rates even at the low-end of the market.
The postponement of purchases owing to budget expectations in Jan-Feb ‘05 had led to some sluggish trends. “However, March and April are expected to yield some brisk volume. The cut in personal tax rates and the resultant higher disposable incomes have also added to the upbeat consumer mood,” said a senior official in a leading finance company.

Finance cos look to ride high on real estate funds (10th March, 2005)
A booming economy and suring demand for real estate is driving large financial firms and private equity funds to launch exclusive funds targeted at the real estate sector, while at the same time including big-ticket institutional investors to loosen their purse strings. HDFC and ICICI Venture, both announced plan for real estate funds last year, are likely to collect between themselves at least Rs. 2,000 crore from domestic and foreign investors, officials in both forms said. While HDFC’s Real Estate Fund is likely to raise about Rs. 1,000 crore, ICICI Venture’s India Advantage Fund-3 is expected to mop up atleast $225 million.