Business
Bureaucracy Today
'There Is Stress in Telecom Sector but Govt Will Settle It'
Minister of State for Communications Manoj Sinha met telecom industry leaders amidst a raging financial crisis in the sector saddled with Rs 4.5 lakh crores of debt due to the high licence fee, spectrum usage charges, the USO levy and the burden of paying spectrum auction dues in shortest possible time blocking the flow of funds for network expansion. Add intense competition to it unleashed by Reliance Jio with its free voice and data services bloodying the sector further as the incumbents’ net profits and revenue fall. The industry leaders (Airtel, Vodafone and Idea) and other small operators like Telenor, Aircel, RCom and TTSL are now demanding fiscal intervention from the Government through a lower licence fee (5%), SUC (1%) and a USO levy (3%). For a deferred payment for spectrum acquisition, the operators want an increase in the moratorium period to five years from the current two years and instalment payments in 15-20 years instead of in 10 years at present or till the validity of the licence period which the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) is currently looking into. In an exclusive interview with Bureaucracy Today after the IMG was set up, Sinha says he hopes the telecom sector will stabilise in six months.
6 min |
August 2017
Bureaucracy Today
Privatization Is The Way Forward For AI
According to recent Government data, nearly 17 per cent of the total routes operated by Air India are lossmaking. What led the national carrier to become a perennially loss-making airline. A Bureaucracy Todayanalysis.
5 min |
August 2017
Bureaucracy Today
India's Online Education Industry Will Be $1.96 Bn by 2021: Report
The online education industry in India will grow at a healthy rate of 8X to become a USD 1.96-billion industry by 2021, reveals a joint report of Google and KPMG. The study, which captured the growing influence of the Internet on the education industry in India, is based on a comprehensive market research conducted by KPMG, along with primary research combined with insights from Google search. The report finds that the paid user base will grow 6X from 1.6 million users in 2016 to 9.6 million users in 2021.
2 min |
August 2017
Bureaucracy Today
Treading The 'Slippery Path'
Political parties promise a lot of goodies in their poll manifestos. After coming to power many of these promises remain unfulfilled for which they look for excuses. Farm loan waiver is also a poll gimmick for many parties and promising it even in non-poll times giving in to the pressure of the powerful agrarian lobby is now a trend. Economic experts say it is a promise that should not be made and if made not to be honoured in the best interests of the country. But populism does not pay heed to economic rationalism. The result is divergence from fiscal discipline. Both the path and the outcome are slippery. A Bureaucracy Today analysis.
7 min |
August 2017
Bureaucracy Today
How To Profit From Residential Property Investment
Real estate has historically been acknowledged as a potentially lucrative investment asset class, which is why it continues to draw attention all across the globe. In India, the real estate sector is also the second largest employer and is estimated to grow by 30% in volume and scope over the coming decade. Forbes has pegged the growth of the Indian real estate industry at 7% in 2017, and the housing sector alone has been contributing between five percent and six percent and of the nation’s GDP over the past couple of years. All of this sounds good if you are a real estate investor or planning to become a part of the industry. But making money out of real estate can still be tricky territory. It is worth investing your time into understanding the market and the factors that can help make residential property investment profitable for you.
2 min |
September 2017
Bureaucracy Today
Optimizing Real Estate Value
Over the last few decades, India has undergone rapid industrialization – predominantly in manufacturing “clusters” most of which thrive in and around the metropolitan cities of the country. Some of the prime movers for this rapid growth have been the steady increase in the per capita income propelling urbanization, and the accurate perception of India as a hub for cost-effective manufacturing. Another encouraging factor has been a supportive politicoeconomic climate which has fostered favourable conditions for more and more large MNCs to set up their operating units in India. Various initiatives like Skill India, Make in India and Start-up India that have been launched by the Government in recent times have significantly driven economic growth. All of this, in order to be successful, has required project management as an underlying enabling factor.
2 min |
September 2017
Bureaucracy Today
'Mobile Congress Will Project India's ICT Potential To The World'
Every year in February, experts and the cream of global and Indian telecom products and services, IT professionals and networking products marketing heads gather at the coastal Spanish city of Barcelona to watch the live demonstration of various products that are yet to make their debut on the applications side, learn to sell their new line-ups and services amidst tight competition in the price sensitive and similar products market and above all sense the new technology. Then there is also the Asian event called the Mobile Congress of Shanghai which too attracts geeks and companies from across the world. It is also the destination for Indian companies and tech heads. But this September onwards, things may change. The India Mobile Congress (IMC) promises to match these events if not to replace them. The Indian event has also its share of controversy over the active participation of the number one mobile operator, Airtel, as Bharati Group chief Sunil Mittal has been elected Chairman for two years of the global GSM body, GSM Association (GSMA), which is the organiser of the Mobile World Congress – MWC Barcelona – the IMC’s rival event. Nevertheless, it’s a start that appears to be promising , at the right and the only right place. In an exclusive interview with Bureaucracy Today India Mobile Congress CEO Ramakrishna P says the IMC is not just an event, it’s going to be a trendsetter in networking and business opportunities, new product launches and emerging trends in technology. And add to this, the Telecom Department and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology have been its principal supporters. It does not get better than this.
4 min |
September 2017
Bureaucracy Today
Modi Shines On Many Fronts But Dims On unemployment
The winds of 2019 Lok Sabha elections seem to have started blowing. This is the time for initiating a debate on the effectiveness of governance by the Narendra Modi regime. To govern a country of India’s size, population and diversity is indeed a herculean task and to assess the changes that impacted the life of the common man for three years is still more difficult.
4 min |