Page 14 - Banking Finance March 2022

ROUNDUP

(EPFO) is likely to start investing again mobility picking up and fossil fuel con- PV exports from India
in corporate bonds issued by private sumption declining over time.
sector companies, after a gap of over jumps 46%
That would mean more services such
two years. as electric vehicle charging stations Passenger vehicle exports from India
increased 46 per cent in the first nine
As per the current investment pattern, and service centres emerging as
months of the current fiscal year, with
the EPFO can invest up to 20 per cent sources of GST collections, while an
of its annual incremental deposits - emphasis on tax compliance in domes- Maruti Suzuki India leading the seg-
around Rs 36,000 crore at present - in tic transactions and a wider tax base ment with dispatches of around 1.68
lakh units, as per the latest data by
corporate bonds. But the investments helps make up for the lower usage of
SIAM.
have in recent years been restricted to fossil fuels for revenue collections.
bonds of public sector companies. The total passenger vehicle (PV) ex-
In an interview, the CBIC chairman said
ports stood at 4,24,037 units in April-
Options like when to invest in private- that compliance improvement mea-
sector bonds and when and how to sures taken by the department are al- December 2021-22 as compared with
exit from such investments were dis- ready showing in GST collections. 2,91,170 units in the same period a
year ago.
cussed at the retirement fund body's
Finance Investment and Audit Commit- Digital Advt spend to hit Passenger car shipments saw 45 per
tee (FIAC) meeting. cent growth at 2,75,728 units while
$753b: Study utility vehicle exports rose 47 per cent
"No concrete decision has been taken
today. We have been discussing the is- Global digital advertising spending will at 1,46,688 units during the period
sue since last couple of meetings and increase from $407 billion in 2022 to under review, the data by the Society
$753 billion in 2026. These figures cor- of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
today, we extended that discussion
respond to an increase of 85%. The showed.
and deliberated from various angles of
risk versus gain and on aspects of such forecast also says that by 2026, mobile Export of vans nearly doubled to 1,621
app revenue will account for 56% of
investments," said K E Raghunathan, a units in April-December 2021-22 as
FIAC member and also a member of the total. compared with 877 units in the same
the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), Analysts say that while the privacy period last fiscal year.
the highest decision-making body of changes adopted by Apple and Google Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) led the seg-
the EPFO and headed by the Union limit the potential for effective ad at- ment during the period, followed by
Labour Minister. tribution, there are still great oppor- Hyundai Motor India and Kia India at
tunities. The availability of the second and third positions, respec-
CBIC to scale up depart- SKAdNetwork on iOS, for example, is tively.
an important opportunity for advertis-
mental audits to boost ers to access aggregated data, allow-
GST compliance ing them to target areas suitable for Goyal asks VC funds to in-

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes growth. vest in small-town startups
and Customs (CBIC) is set to scale up Analysts predict that total mobile app Global venture capital (VC) funds
scrutiny and departmental audits of ad spend will increase from $201 bil- should focus more on startups from
risky taxpayers to improve goods and lion in 2022 to $425 billion in 2026 as tier-II and tier-III cities, said Union
services tax (GST) collections while us- brands strive to win consumer trust. minister of commerce and industry
ing data and technology to ensure that Piyush Goyal, who was chairing the
The forecast expects desktop ad
officials make decisions transparently, spending to increase from $97 billion fourth roundtable with global VC funds.
chairman Vivek Johri said in an inter- in 2022 to $142 billion in 2026, despite The funds should explore new sectors
view.
the redirection of spending to portable for investing, promote and protect the
Johri anticipates the central devices and the implementation of intellectual property created by young
government's indirect tax revenue data protection rules affecting cookie Indian entrepreneurs, provide exper-
sources to undergo a shift, with green policy. tise to scale up, and explore greater

14 | 2022 | MARCH | BANKING FINANCE