Feature
India’s growth of 5.3 percent intensifies rate cut demands
New Delhi: The Indian economy logged 5.3 percent growth in the second quarter of this fiscal, against 5.7 percent in the first quarter, making ground for the central bank to ease interest rates and the government to push for reforms.
Even though the 5.3-percent growth came as a pleasant surprise to some stakeholders who were anticipating a slightly lower rate of expansion, the manufacturing growth of a mere 0.1 percent came as a disappointment, as per Central Statistics Office (CSO) data.
The government has been nudging the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates and ease the flow of money to the industry — an advise that is expected to be taken seriously when Governor Raghuram Rajan reviews the monetary policy Tuesday.
This is also because the country’s annual retail inflation has eased to a record low of 5.52 percent in October, from 10.17 percent during the like month of last year, even as the wholesale inflation dipped to 1.77 percent from 2.38 percent.
At the same time, factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew by just 2.5 percent during September over the corresponding month of the previous year, pointing towards the persistent weakness in spurring manufacturing activity.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is scheduled to meet with Rajan a day ahead of the policy review, in what is widely anticipated as an opportunity for the government to push the case of India Inc that has been asking for more funds at lower costs.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said it was hopeful that further government-backed reforms and new a impetus by the central bank will allow the industry to gain financial strength to come back to a robust growth driven expansion mode.
“The RBI should review its status quoist approach and move towards paring interest rates in its forthcoming monetary policy to give a fillip to recovery, both through higher consumption spending and opening up channels for investment,” CII director general Chandrajit Banerjee said.
As per data on gross domestic product (GDP) released Friday, the economic growth during the second quarter was led by the output of social services (up 9.6 percent), financial sector (up 9.5 percent) and utilities like electricity and water (up 8.7 percent).
The farm sector also registered an impressive growth of 3.2 percent.
While lamenting on a lower economic expansion for the second quarter from the first, industry body Ficci (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) cited the subdued growth in manufacturing as a major cause of concern.
“Important element of the cost structure for manufacturing is interest rates and given the current inflation situation RBI should ease the monetary policy stance as this would give a boost to investment sentiment,” said Ficci president Sidharth Birla.
“We look forward to further action on all the pending reforms including early introduction of goods and services tax, changes to the land acquisition act and further reforms in labour laws.”
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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