APEDA to conduct Basmati survey in 4 mln ha, double the area of actual crop grown

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 6, 2026 | Business

Last week, Union Minister of State for Commerce Jitin Prasada unveiled India’s first AI-based Basmati Paddy Survey project (2026–2028), an ambitious initiative to be implemented by APEDA covering approximately 4 million hectares.

This target has sparked significant industry debate, as APEDA’s own 2023 report estimated the total Basmati cultivation area at only 2.14 million hectares, less than half of the new project’s scope. The discrepancy has fuelled intense discussions regarding a potential expansion of the current Basmati Geographical Indication (GI) zone, a move that remains contested given that the legal inclusion of Madhya Pradesh is still sub-judice. By deploying AI across such a vastly expanded territory, the government appears to be preparing for a broader mapping of aromatic rice production, even as the official boundaries of the traditional Basmati belt remain a matter of legal and regional contention.

Besides, there are issues with regard to collaboration with a particular industry body, whose representative is also a Board member of the Basmati Export Development Foundation (BEDF), since the funding of the project has to come from the corpus of BEDF. To generate funds for BEDF, APEDA currently charges ₹70 per tonne from Basmati exporters for registration of contract, which is mandatory before allowing shipments.

The Basmati Paddy Survey project (2026–2028) will cover nearly 4 million hectares, collect data from over 150,000 ground-truth points and engage with more than 500,000 farmers, the government statement said. The aim is to support precise crop assessment, varietal identification, scientific advisory services and improved export planning.

Industry sources said that till Kharif 2023, APEDA was conducting the Basmati survey every year, except during the Covid pandemic, and it discontinued the survey from 2024 under pressure from a few exporters. The sources also said that the agency which conducted the survey was requested to include the non-GI areas, which it politely refused since the crop grown in those areas does not qualify to be called Basmati legally.

Queries sent to APEDA for reply were not answered till the time of writing.

The Indian Rice Exporters’ Federation (IREF) said it was not approached by APEDA so far for any collaboration for a crop survey and, given a chance, it would like to partner for the initiative. “We plan to approach APEDA for a joint collaboration and involving IREF in the entire process for carrying out the proposed Crop Survey which is the main pivot for well-conceived policy decisions,” said Vinod Kaul, director general of IREF. Precise data and statistics about production can be generated only through a structured crop survey, he added.

However, IREF favoured a crop survey in non-GI areas as well. “It would be beneficial to have Basmati crop survey report in two segments — Basmati rice cultivated in the GI Area and Basmati rice varieties cultivated in other than GI area,” Kaul said.

Historically, the actual area sown with pure Basmati varieties in India is typically around 2.1 million hectares. However, the GI region for Basmati — which covers parts of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir — spans a much larger area, over 6 million hectares.

After prolonged hearings for years, the Chennai-based GI registry in February 2016 issued the GI certificate to APEDA for Basmati rice, under which the recognised area included some districts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi. The Order was upheld by the GI appellate tribunal, dismissing the appeal of the Madhya Pradesh government for the state’s inclusion.

When the matter reached the Madras High Court in 2020, the MP state government was asked why it did not approach the Registrar of Trade Marks seeking cancellation or modification in the GI Certificate issued to APEDA since it was a statutory remedy. The High Court dismissed the petition. But MP moved the Supreme Court, which in September 2021 set aside the High Court order and remanded the matter back for fresh consideration, preferably within three months. Since then, the matter is pending.

Published on May 6, 2026

Source link

Gold, silver firm up on prospects of easing US-Iran tensions

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 6, 2026 | Business

Gold prices jumped by ₹3,224 to ₹1,50,860 per 10 g against ₹147,636 on Tuesday on hopes of an early end to the ongoing West Asia war.

Silver prices jumped ₹8,602 to ₹2,49,067 a kg from the previous close of ₹2,40,465 on expectation of higher demand.

The sharp recovery in bullion prices followed prospects of a US-Iran peace agreement leading to softer dollar and oil prices. This, in turn, will remove the two key headwinds that have weighed on bullion since the war began.

Brent crude tumbled 7 per cent to about $102 a barrel and WTI plunged 8 per cent to below $94, extending a sharp two-day sell-off as a breakthrough in US-Iran negotiations appeared closer than at any point since the war began.

Easing geopolitical tensions

The yellow metal opened on a firm note at ₹1,50,636 per 10 gram and gained further on easing geopolitical tension and softer crude oil prices.

On MCX, gold for June delivery was up 2 per cent at ₹1,52,601, while the August and October contracts were up 2 per cent each at ₹1,56,052 and ₹159,175 per 10 grams.

Similarly, silver for July and September delivery on MCX jumped 4 per cent each to ₹2,54,152 and ₹2,59,447 a kg, respectively.

Comex gold surged over 3 per cent to a one-week high of $4,720 an ounce, while silver jumped nearly 6 per cent to $77.87 an ounce, its highest level in two weeks.

Inflation risks ease

Ajay Kumar, Director, Kedia Commodities said the US is close to a preliminary agreement with Iran, including conditions such as a 12 to 15 year halt in nuclear enrichment, enhanced UN inspections, and gradual sanctions relief with asset unfreezing.

“The decline in oil prices helped ease inflation concerns, reducing expectations of aggressive monetary tightening. Earlier, gold faced strong selling pressure as elevated energy costs fuelled inflation fears and supported higher interest rate expectations,” he added.

Kaynat Chainwala, AVP Commodity Research, Kotak Securities, said with oil-linked inflation risks easing, the macro environment tilts modestly bullish for precious metals.

With geopolitical developments continuing to dominate price action, the impact of any negative US data may prove secondary to any further headlines out of Washington or Tehran, she said.

The accelerated decline reflects a rapid unwinding of the geopolitical risk premium that had driven both Brent and WTI benchmarks to multi-year highs last week, she added.

Published on May 6, 2026

Source link

ECLGS 5.0 could potentially benefit about 1.1 crore MSMEs: SBI report

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 6, 2026 | Business

The scheme aims to provide 100% credit guarantee coverage for MSMEs and 90% for non-MSMEs as well as airline sector, to member lending institutions by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC)
| Photo Credit:
SRIRAM MA

The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) 5.0 could potentially benefit about 1.1 crore MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) accounts, leading to an incremental credit flow of ₹2.3 lakh per account, per an assessment by State Bank of India’s economic research department.

“This timely intervention will ensure liquidity support, protect jobs, sustain supply chains, and strengthen resilience of the Indian economy,” SBI’s ERD said in a note. The MSMEs that will benefit from ECLGS constitute about 45 per cent of total MSME portfolio of banks, it added.

The government is targeting total additional credit flow of ₹2.55 lakh crore (including ₹5,000 crore for airlines) under ECLGS 5.0, which is aimed at ensuring that lenders extend additional credit support to eligible business borrowers in view of West Asia situation.

The scheme aims to provide credit guarantee coverage of 100 per cent for MSMEs and 90 per cent for non-MSMEs as well as airline sector, to Member Lending Institutions (MLIs) by the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC).

Exigencies, eligibility

The credit guarantee coverage is for the amount in default under the additional credit facility extended to the eligible borrowers to tide over any short-term liquidity mismatches in view of West Asia crisis.

Existing standard MSMEs (100 per cent guarantee) and non-MSMEs (including airline sector 90 per cent guarantee) with existing working capital limits are eligible for the scheme. The quantum of support is in addition up to 20 per cent of peak working capital utilised during Q4 FY26 (capped at ₹100 crore). For airlines, the quantum of support is up to 100 per cent (capped at ₹1,500 crore per borrower).

Indian Bank’s Managing Director Binod Kumar estimated an additional credit flow of ₹12,000 crore-₹15,000 crore under the ECLGS scheme.

He emphasised that earlier versions of the scheme worked well, with the claims being very low. “(Earlier versions of) ECLGS scheme really worked very well, helping companies tide over difficult times. And at the same time, guarantee claim was very minimum.

“…I have asked my people to identify MSME accounts and proactively approach them and extend benefits to eligible borrowers as per scheme,” Kumar said.

Aviation sector

SBI’s ERD underscored that ECLGS 5.0 is particularly going to benefit the aviation sector.

“The impact of the war in West Asia is two-fold on the aviation sector. First is the increase in ATF cost, which on an average accounts for 30-40 per cent of the operating costs. Second is the impact on passenger traffic that has reduced due to greater uncertainty and higher prices. But depending upon the metro city, this escalation is in 35-52 per cent range,” the report said.

In this context, the ERD noted that the outstanding bank credit for aviation sector as of March 2026 is ₹52,600 and it registered a growth of 14 per cent y-o-y in March 2026. At full disbursement of ₹5,000 crore for the aviation sector, the proposed measure will be 9.5 per cent of ₹52,600 crore.

Published on May 6, 2026

Source link

Broker’s Call: Aditya Birla Capital (Outperform)

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 6, 2026 | Business

Target: ₹415

CMP: ₹369.25

Aditya Birla Capital (standalone)’s Q4 PAT rose 19 per cent y-o-y to ₹780 crore, in line with estimates. Higher-than-expected opex (cost-to-income at 35 per cent vs 33 per cent MQe) was offset by lower credit costs (1 per cent vs 1.2 per cent expected). RoA improved 6 bps q-o-q to 2.3 per cent.

AUM growth was healthy at 27 per cent, driven by personal loans (+38 per cent) and unsecured business loans (+47 per cent). Credit cost fell 19 bps q-o-q to a five-year low of 1 per cent, supported by a broad-based 20-bps q-o-q decline in GNPA. The management expects credit costs to remain range-bound despite higher unsecured exposure, aided by a largely collateral-backed portfolio (about 72 per cent of the book) and limited impact from the West Asia conflict to date.

NIM fell 4 bps quarter on quarter due to competitive pressure and MTM losses, but should recover as personal and unsecured loans (about 23 per cent of the book) scale-up and a 2-3 per cent rise in mix should drive a 25-30 bps margin uplift over the next few quarters, supporting a RoA target of 2.5 per cent by FY27-end.

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance reported Q4 VNB and APE growth of 14 per cent, both above expectations. VNB margins improved 20 bps y-o-y, . The management targets VNB margins of 18-20 per cent in FY27 and APE growth of 20 per cent over the next three years. Maintain Outperform: Our top pick in the NBFC space.

Published on May 6, 2026

Source link

Broker’s Call: Sobha (Buy)

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 6, 2026 | Business

Target: ₹2,500

CMP: ₹1,447.80

Sobha reported Q4 pre-sales of ₹2,040 crore, up 11 per cent y-o-y, supported by about 1.3 million sq ft of volume, with Bengaluru contributing 51 per cent, followed by NCR at about 30 per cent and Kerala at about 13 per cent. Q4 momentum was aided by the late-quarter launch of Sobha Rivana (Greater Noida; about 2.5 million sq ft (msf)), which clocked in ₹500 crore of bookings (about 25 per cent of Phase 1) despite a compressed launch window alongside steady sustenance sales across key markets.

Overall, FY26 pre-sales stood at ₹8,100 crore, up 30 per cent y-o-y , driven by 6 msf of launches across nine projects and healthy traction in existing inventory, with Bengaluru at 55 per cent and NCR at 30 per cent, anchoring growth.

The management targets about 30 per cent pre-sales growth, supported by about 10 msf of launches with a GDV of about ₹15,000 crore and ₹12,000-13,000 crore of inventory, implying ₹27,000-28,000 crore of pipeline for FY27. OCF guidance stands at ₹2,000 crore, up about 22 per cent. Q1-FY27 is off to a strong start, led by Sobha Crescent (Gurugram; ₹1,100 crore booked, about 50 per cent sold in the first month), while Hoskote Phase 1 (5.3 msf with a GDV of ₹7,000 crore; about 50 per cent release) is near launch-ready.

The stock price implies a >30 per cent discount to our March 2027E NAV. We raise our pre-sales by up to 23 per cent during FY27-28E while retaining our SOTP-based TP to ₹2,500.

Published on May 6, 2026

Source link

Truck rentals in April stay firm amid stable logistics activity: Shriram Mobility Bulletin

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 6, 2026 | Business

Rentals increased on key routes such as Delhi–Kolkata–Delhi by around 2.4 per cent and Kolkata–Guwahati–Kolkata by about 2 per cent
| Photo Credit:
KSL

India’s mobility and logistics sector witnessed relatively stable trucking activity during April, following the strong momentum seen at the close of the financial year. Truck rentals across key trunk routes remained firm, with marginal month-on-month changes and continued resilience on a year-on-year basis.

Rentals increased on key routes such as Delhi–Kolkata–Delhi by around 2.4 per cent and Kolkata–Guwahati–Kolkata by about 2 per cent, while Delhi–Mumbai–Delhi, Mumbai–Chennai–Mumbai and Bengaluru-led corridors, which recorded modest increases.

Fuel consumption trends reflected this cooling in activity. Petrol consumption declined by about 3 per cent month-on-month, while diesel consumption fell by nearly 5 per cent, indicating relatively lower freight movement.

On a year-on-year basis, growth in vehicle sales remained robust across segments, with two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and passenger vehicles rising by 69 per cent, 106 per cent, and 125 per cent, respectively, underscoring sustained expansion, the bulletin said.

Air cargo trends provided a broader macro perspective, indicating steady year-on-year growth in logistics activity. Freight movement across key airports remained strong, with Chennai recording growth of over 11 per cent, followed by Hyderabad at nearly 10 per cent and Bengaluru at close to 6 per cent.

Passenger traffic also remained robust in markets such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad, reflecting continued strength in economic and travel activity, even as trends varied across cities, the bulletin said.

Sudarshan Holla, Joint Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer – Commercial Vehicles, Shriram Finance, said the fiscal year has seen a stable start, with truck rentals holding firm. Peak summer heat, however, could affect trucking activity in May.

Published on May 6, 2026

Source link

« Older Entries

Next Entries »

Times Top News

Times Top News