Business News: Budget 2024, Fitch Upgrade, Mutual Funds, Nestle, NSE Alert, Power Grid, Angel Tax, Nvidia

It could be mooted in its budget for 2024 as a slew of measures aimed at reviving consumption and spur the Gross Domestic Product, according to sources. One such move will be that of raising the threshold of income tax from an existing Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh under the new tax regime, thereby making more disposable incomes available at the lower strata. Though it has reduced the highest tax slab rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent, spillovers are unlikely. It focused on tax cuts over increased transfers to raise consumption as private consumption growth remains low.

Assuming recovery in consumption and higher investment, Fitch Ratings pegged India's growth at 7.2 per cent this fiscal as against the earlier projected growth of 7 per cent. The agency assumes growth of 6.5 per cent in FY25-26 and 6.2 per cent in FY26-27. at Fitch, which has brought the outlook in line with the RBI's estimate of 7.2 per cent growth amid improving rural demand and lowering inflation. Inflation is likely to moderate to 4.5 per cent by end-2024, Fitch also forecast, even as the RBI could cut policy interest rates by another 25 basis points to 6.25 percent.

A recent survey by Navi Mutual Fund across millennial and Gen Z investors and non-investors has brought to the fore some crucial insights on decision making and gaps in knowledge. Gaze remained most on eye on returns for about 50% of investors. More or less, 33% of those who invested in index funds confessed that they did not know at all how such funds work. Many misconceptions have come to the fore—of which the most common were that it requires a lot of financial knowledge, and huge initial amounts are required to invest in mutual funds. It was necessary to give financial literacy programs and easy-to-use instructional materials for young investors.

Nestle India has emerged as the biggest market for Maggi globally and the second largest for KitKat, riding on high double-digit growth. In FY24, it sold in excess of six billion servings of Maggi and 4,200 million KitKat fingers. It rode on innovations such as Oats Noodle and new KitKat products to drive sales. Nestle will likely invest Rs 7,500 crore by 2025 toward expanding capabilities to sustain growth. Though competition has increased, Maggi still enjoys a significant market share. The Indian arm of the company continues to pay 4.5% royalty to its parent firm after the prospective hike was turned down.

The National Stock Exchange has warned investors against some misleading Instagram and Telegram channels that are allegedly providing tips and illegal Dabba trading services. They operate as 'bse_nse_latest' on Instagram, while on Telegram, it is the channel 'BHARAT TRADING YATRA', on other platforms, Aditya from the Bear and Bull Platform. It has also cautioned against :) fraud ulent entities that claim to represent it and also about 'Choice Broking' and 'R K Global Shares & Securities Limited. The investors have, therefore, been advised to check the genuineness of sources and give their trust only to the registered entities for getting investment advice.

During a major grid incident in northern India, several Power system elements tripped due to surged demand of 89.4 GW amid intense heatwave conditions. The NRDC reported a sudden drop of 16.5 GW of load following the peak demand. Power engineers warned an alert one month ahead of the potential crisis and mentioned the upcoming rise in agricultural load in Punjab by late June; they stated that "the power situation may become uncontrollable."

Angel tax was brought in 2012 to offset unaccounted money in closely held companies. As a spate of funding declines and job losses afflicts the Indian industry, it is clamoring for its removal. That has been intensified since the Finance Bill of 2023 indemnified only Schedule VII companies from this levy. The Confederation of Indian Industry has pitched for the scrapping of the so-called Angel Tax—Section 56(2)(viib) of the Income-tax Act—in the Union Budget. Indeed, some even suggest scrubbing it because doing so will dramatically improve capital formation across the country.

Nvidia's rise has been breathtaking—from $400 billion in valuation just two years ago to over $3 trillion within a year. The company recently overtook Microsoft and Apple to become the world's most valuable public corporation. The boom is being driven by an expanding demand for its best-in-class graphics processing units, which are getting used to develop AI systems and hold the most outrageous gains in generative artificial intelligence technologies.