5 lakh crore for telecom business and acquired additional spectrum for Rs 13,700 crore in the recently held government auction in October 2016. "RIL has invested significantly in its telecom infrastructure and expects to cover 90 per cent of the population by end-FY18. The outlook on the ratings is 'stable', the US-based agency said in a statement. New Delhi: Fitch on November 3 affirmed Reliance Industries' rating at 'BBB-' with a stable outlook on robust refinery and petrochemical business as also "strong growth potential" in recently launched telecom venture. Future capex relating to Jio will depend on the growth of its customer base," it said.24 million barrels per day - and robust asset quality, which enables it to consistently deliver gross refining margins (GRM) above regional benchmarks.8 per barrel. "RIL's ratings are supported by its strong business profile - a large-scale refinery with capacity of around 1. "We also expect Jio's wide range of offerings, including media and entertainment content (offered free till end-2017), to help in subscriber additions and data consumption, which will drive cash generation.

Fitch said it expects strong growth potential in telecom business, and we expect RIL to be able to take advantage of the strong growth potential in the India telecom market.. "We expect the GRM to narrow in the near term in line with the industry trends; although the commissioning of a gasification unit in FY'17 should result in a sustained increase in RIL's GRMs by around USD 1.5-2. "We also expect lower overall capex after FY'18 although the company may continue to invest in its telecom business," it said, adding RIL has already planned a total capex of Rs 1. It said robust refining and petrochemical operations are supported by their large scale, asset quality and the company's leading position in the two segments.5 per barrel," it added. Fitch expects the benefits from its investments in the refinery and petrochemical operations to start accruing from 2017-18 and support improvement in its profitability and operational cash flows.

During the six months to September 30, RIL recorded Gross Refining Margin (GRM) of USD 10.RIL has invested significantly in its automotive injection mold Manufacturers telecom infrastructure and expects to cover 90 per cent of the population by end-FY18. Large investments nearing completion will further enhance the company's competitiveness in these areas, Fitch added. Fitch said that Jio will face intense competition from the financially strong incumbent Indian telecom players, but falling data tariffs will support significant expansion of overall data consumption in India over the medium term. Fitch Ratings has affirmed Reliance Industries' (RIL) Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB-', and its Long-Term Local-Currency IDR at 'BBB'. The company also has a strong market position in petrochemicals," it said. We expect the robust infrastructure along with its affordable 4G data offerings to support Jio's growth," it said. RIL launched its telecom business under the Jio brand in September 2016. It said the robust operating cash flows from its refining and petrochemical businesses will provide some cushion against any weak cash generation from the telecom operations for some time

" Asked if enough is being done to unearth black money, Rangarajan said while one thing is to bring it back, the other is to prevent black money accumulation.the opportunity or the scope for creation of black money will be less," Rangarajan said. But if you exclude oil, the non-oil export is also showing a decline, but not severe a decline as the overall exports, because on the import side we are gained by the fall in the oil prices," Rangarajan pointed out. Congress has been stalling the passage of GST Bill over its demand for a simple GST regime where states do not have powers to levy additional tax over a 18 per cent tax rate, which should form part of the Constitutional Amendment Bill. "The export of oil products from India has also suffered because of fall in the value. "When you look at total value of exports, the decline is very strong.Growth rate in the current fiscal ending March 2016 will be around 7.

I would still think that the current account deficit will still be manageable. "But the non-oil exports will depend upon a large extent on how the world economy behaves," Rangarajan added. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had last week hinted at accepting Congress' stand on scrapping 1 per cent additional tax, but said that their demand for incorporating the GST rate in the Constitution Bill was not agreeable. "Export growth may come down or may be moderated, but at the same time we have the benefit of lower imports because the oil imports. At an industry meet on GST, Jaitley had said the 1 per cent additional tax on inter-state sales was proposed as manufacturing states like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu were of the opinion that they, having spent money on putting up infrastructure, would lose on revenue as GST is more of a destination tax. Referring to the stand-off on GST, Rangarajan, who was also the former Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, said: "But on other issues, I think there should be some amount Tray injection mold of flexibility, and we should also take note that whatever compromise is worked out is acceptable to the states also. That’s my estimate," he said.

Hyderabad: The proposed 1 per cent additional tax on inter-state sales is against the spirit of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and that should not be implemented, former RBI Governor C Rangarajan said. "I think as we move towards less and less controls and as the fiscal system gets stabilised at a reasonable level.the value of oil imports is coming down very fast because oil prices have gone below (USD) 50 (a barrel)," he said.. "I think GST is a good measure.. Much depends upon how the world economy picks up. Certainly that 1 per cent tax, that was contemplated, goes against the spirit of GST, and that should not be implemented," said Rangarajan . "Perhaps the growth rate in the current fiscal ending March 31, 2016, will be around 7.. The states may not like too rigid a formulation. On the country's GDP growth, Rangarajan said the economy as a whole would do slightly better than last year.5 per cent..5 per cent. As for the country's exports continuing to fall for the 12th month in a row in November, he noted that India also benefited from lower imports