Over 7% jump in onion crop, 6% rise in grains estimated

Divi's Laboratories said it has sought shareholers' approval for the re-appointment of Kiran S Divi as the company’s CEO. "The board of directors, at its meeting held on January 4, has decided to seek approval of shareholders by postal ballot for...re-appointment of Kiran S Divi as whole-time director and chief executive officer,” the firm said.

New Delhi, Jan. 27: HDFC on Monday reported a near four-fold growth in net profit at Rs 8,372.5 crore for the three months to December against Rs 2,113.8 crore in the same period last fiscal year. HDFC said the gain in bottomline is notional. as it is based on the valuation gain on its 9.9 per cent stake in Bandhan Bank following the merger of Gruh Finance effective last October.

Profit after tax came to Rs 8,372.5 crore compared to Rs 2,113.8 crore a year ago.

Bengaluru, Jan. 27: IndiGo on Monday reported a rise in quarterly profit, helped by increased efficiencies and a boost from lower fuel costs. Revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) rose 5.6 per cent for the December quarter. The higher the RASK, the more profitable an airline is. Fuel costs for the quarter dropped 2 per cent to Rs 3,342 crore. The airline’s owner, Interglobe Aviation Ltd, said net profit for the quarter came in at Rs 490 crore, compared with Rs 191 crore in the same period last year. and access to credit facilities eased,” said Shubham Jain, group head and senior vice president, corporate ratings, Icra.

The mission also has witnessed varying levels of progress from state-tostate, with the states of Andhra Pradesh, UP, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal achieving significantly higher house completions than other states.

Experts find that further impetus will be required to achieve PMAY’s overall mission goals in a timebound manner. These would mainly relate to release of idle government land to address the issue of land availability, especially near urban centers, development of social infrastructure and connectivity for peripheral land parcels, expedited clearance and approval process to further encourage private sector participation and eased availability of funding for project finance.

Hyderabad, Jan. 27: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories suffered nearly `570 crore loss for the December quarter against `485 crore profit after tax during the year-ago quarter. Revenues for the quarter was up by 14 per cent to `4,384 crore against `3,850 crore YoY.

Commenting on the results, co-chairman and managing director, G.V. Prasad said, “The profits were impacted due to trigger-based impairment charge taken on a few products including gNuvaring.”

Onion production is expected to rise 7 per cent in 2019-20, promising comfort on the price front. Horticulture production for the year may remain flat, though rabi food grain production might be 6 per cent higher.

Onion production is expected to be 24.45 million tonnes, up 7.17 per cent against 22.82 million tonnes in 2018-19, as per the first advance estimate of the Ministry of Agriculture. Higher price of the commodity in recent months led to higher acreage this time. Onion crop has been grown in 12.93 lakh hectares in the 2019-20 crop year (July-June), higher than 12.20 lakh in the previous year.

Potato production, too, is expected to be up by 3.49 per cent to 51.94 million tonnes compared to 50.19 million tonnes in 2018-19. Tomato production may remain almost flat at 19.33 million tonnes against 19.01 million tonnes in 2018-19. Overall, vegetable production is expected to be up by 2.64 per cent.

However, horticulture production may remain almost flat as fruit production is expected to be lower by 2.27 per cent in 2019-20 over 2018-19, mainly due to loss in production of grapes, banana, mango, citrus, papaya and pomegranate.

Rabi food grain production is expected to be 6 per cent higher at 1,527 lakh tonnes against 1,432 lakh tonnes in the previous year on better cereal harvest. However, pulses and oil seeds may see some decline in output, according to the first estimate of National Collateral Management Services Limited (NCML).

“Bountiful rains received during the monsoon season have boosted the prospects of crop production in the ensuing rabi season. This year is likely to see a record food grain production led by the wheat crop along with corn and jowar. Oilseeds and pulses may end up lower than the previous year,” said Siraj Chaudhry, MD & CEO, NCML.

Overall cereal production is forecast to increase by 7 per cent in the current rabi season. Wheat production during rabi 2019-20 is estimated at 1,090 lakh tonnes, which is 6.27 per cent higher than last year production of 1,021 lakh tonnes. Production of wheat is expected to increase due to higher acreage, increase in minimum support price, and better yield on the back of prolonged cold waves and winter rainfall in key production states.

Production of rabi paddy is estimated to increase by 5 per cent compared to previous year. Maize production during rabi 2019-20 is estimated to be 89.2 lakh tonnes, which is higher by 8.25 per cent compared to last year. Jowar production during the current rabi season is estimated at 31.2 lakh tonnes as against 20.2 during rabi 2018, up by 35.2 per cent.

Pulses production may see a marginal decline to 144.8 lakh tonnes as against 148 lakh tonnes from the previous year. Production of gram during rabi is estimated at 95.82 lakh tonnes, lower by 5 per cent compared to last year production of 101.3 lakh tonnes.

Additionally, rabi moong bean crop is estimated to decline by 10 per cent to 4.62 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 from 5.10 lakh tonnes in the foregoing year due to decline in acreage.

Among oilseeds, mustard production is estimated at 85.79 lakh tonnes, lower by 8.8 per cent against 93.4 lakh tonnes last year. Production of groundnut during rabi will be similar to that of last year.