MUMBAI: Gold demand in India is likely to remain below its 10-year average for a third year in 2018 as higher taxes and new transparency rules on purchases may cap last year's rebound in buying, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Tuesday.

India is the world's second-biggest gold consumer and lower demand there could rein in global prices that have risen 8 per cent since mid-December, although a drop in imports of the metal would help India reduce its trade deficit.

Air India will get a one-time grant of 750,000 euros from Israel for launching direct flights between New Delhi and Tel Aviv, which is likely to be launched next month, a senior Israeli official said today. “The Ministry of Tourism will approve a grant to Air India in response to their request and according to the conditions of the directive, which includes a grant of 250,000 Euro per weekly flight, up to a total of three weekly flights,” Lydia Weitzman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism, told PTI here.

More than 15 years ago, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) -led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government of the time made an incumbent's election pitch around the so-called ‘India Shining’. Key to this pitch was the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ project of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

Today, a decade and a half later, under another BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, the scenario is quite different – now, it is the road transport ministry that seems to be calling the shots, not NHAI.

Markets regulator Sebi's decision to allow mutual fund houses to charge additional expenses from customers from beyond top 30 cities, as against 15 earlier will help in increasing penetration of such products, experts said.

"Sebi is now worried to develop the interiors of B-30 cities.

Commercial vehicle (CV) major Ashok Leyland is planning to invest around Rs 1 billion in the electric vehicle (EV) technology over the next two-three years. The company is also planning to showcase the prototype of its first EV product at the upcoming Auto Expo 2018, scheduled to start this week in New Delhi.

Ashok Leyland’s total planned capital expenditure for the 2018-19 financial year, including the expense of expanding its cabin facility, debottlenecking and investment in technologies, would be Rs 5-7 billion, said Chief Financial Officer Gopal Mahadevan.

Mumbai: In the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, which will be held today in Mumbai, the apex bank is expected to keep policy rates on hold for this week.

The six-member MPC, which is headed by RBI Governor Urijit Patel will meet for the sixth bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2017-18, later in the day.

Going by Tata Motors Ltd’s December quarter performance that missed profit estimates by a wide margin, the road ahead is likely to be a rough one. The main worry is due to the disappointing performance of its cash-cow Jaguar Land Rover Ltd (JLR) that has been churning out healthy profits for several years and which churned out 90% to 100% of the consolidated profits.

For the quarter, Tata Motors’ consolidated net profit of Rs 1,212 crore missed Bloomberg’s 15-broker average estimate by a huge 48%.

Bajaj Auto’s three-wheelers are on a fast track. The end of the permit raj for autorickshaws in Maharashtra has pushed the company’s three-wheeler sales to record highs in FY18 and this good run is expected to continue in FY19 too. Bajaj Auto has emerged as a major beneficiary of the end of the permit system in Maharashtra and issue of new permits in Delhi. There has been a recovery in three-wheeler exports as well, and the company is set to exceed its annual sales targets this year.

While core PPOP was largely in line (flat opex offset weak revenues), lower trading profit led to sharply lower bottom line. Net stressed assets declined to 8.7% of net customer assets. We hope top line growth revives with resolutions/ lower credit costs aiding RoA improvement. Retain Buy with PT of Rs 410.

Core PPOP: NIM at 3.14% was marginally better while fee income disappointed — management guides for double-digit growth on full year basis.

Q3 was strong on robust 38.2% Y-o-Y growth in Individual Rated Premium (IRP; market share further up to 13% vs 11.2% in FY17), improvement in persistency ratio (in majority of buckets), a gradual uptick in Value of New Business margin (VNB; up 40 bps q-o-q to 16%) and efficient cost management (calc expense ratio down 196 bps q-o-q to 10.9%). Consequently, PAT was in line at Rs 230 crore (up 20.9% y-o-y). VNB came in at Rs 930 crore and VNB margin at 16% in 9MFY18.

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