Warehouse leasing by corporates rose a healthy 31% Y-o-Y to surpass 13 million sq ft during the first half of the 2019 calendar year (CY), with Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore accounting for more than 60% of the activity. The demand during the period was mainly driven by third-party logistics (3PL) players, followed by e-commerce companies.  Except the Delhi-NCR and Bangalore, all other cities witnessed a marginal growth in leasing. In a few instances, tier II cities like Hosur (Tamil Nadu) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) saw rise in leasing with large e-commerce players taking up 0.64 million sq ft and 0.15 million sq ft, respectively.

Publication : Financial Express

Date : August 16, 2019

“In the coming days, 1.5 lakh wellness centres will be created at villages. One medical college in the midst of three Lok Sabha constituencies, housing for 2 crore poor people, drinking water supply in 15 crore rural households and 1.25 lakh km roads in rural areas, besides connecting every village with broadband and optical fibre network are some of the targets to be achieved,” Modi said. High-speed internet will be key for a host of facilities to reach rural hinterlands, including digital payment, online education, telemedicine, etc.

Publication : Mint

Date : August 16, 2019

The government’s recent decision to give relief to start-ups on assessment of angel tax notices would provide a safeguard to them and promote their growth, according to experts. Seeking to calm the nerves of start-ups worried about angel tax, the government last week assured that explanation given by them to a tax notice in a limited scrutiny case would be summarily accepted without any questions asked by the taxman.The Central Board for Direct Taxes’ (CBDT) circular with this effect “brings in more safeguard by requiring assessing officers to procure his or her supervisor’s consent before starting on any inquiry

Publication : Moneycontrol

Date : August 15, 2019

Walmart’s international unit saw operating profits fall by nearly 30% to $900 million in the second quarter ended July of the financial year 2020, primarily due to the inclusion of Flipkart. The company also saw its net sales in international markets fall by 1.1% to $29.1 billion even as the Bentonville-based retail giant reported strong numbers in its home market US. This is the second continuous quarter for Walmart where its international earnings have been impacted due to Flipkart as it saw a fall of 38% in operating profits to $790 million in the first quarter.

Publication : ET Retail

Date : August 16, 2019