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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Contractors send legal notice to CM over 90,000-crore dues
MUMBAI: Contractors executing government projects have sent a legal notice to the chief minister, deputy chief ministers, chief secretary and various government departments, demanding that dues amounting to more than ₹90,000 crore be paid to them. They have also demanded a time-bound payment schedule within a fortnight, or else they will move court, they claim. Represented by the Builders' Association of India (BAI), the contractors say they have been demanding that the government release their dues for a year, but to no avail. The work they have executed includes infrastructure projects such as the building of roads and bridges, irrigation works, and repairs of government buildings, among other things. In February, Anand Gupta, vice-president, BAI, said at a press conference that contractors would launch a 'stop work protest' if they didn't get their money soon. The public works department owes them ₹46,000 crore; Jal Jeevan Mission ₹18,000 crore; rural development department ₹8,600 crore; water resources department ₹19,700 crore; and urban development department ₹1,700 crore, among others. The total outstanding sum is more than ₹90,000 crore. The contractors are particularly upset with the government's largesse under the Ladki Bahin Scheme, which has stirred much controversy since it was launched as an election sop late last year. In February, the association pointed out that while contractors weren't being paid money owed to them, the state was spending taxpayers' money – ₹3,700 crore a month – to hand out ₹1,500 a month to 2.46 crore women across the state. When no word was forthcoming form the government, BAI on June 10 sent a legal notice to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, chief secretary Sujata Saunik, and several other ministers and secretaries of various government departments. 'The dues have crossed ₹90,000 crore and it has become difficult to work without money. Contractors have been paying heavy interest on unpaid bills to banks, from which funds have been borrowed to carry out the work. We want the government to give us a payment schedule with a time limit. If the state government does not do this within a fortnight, we will approach the high court,' according to the legal notice sent by BAI. Gupta said that when BAI representatives and contractors met state officials, the latter expressed their inability to pay their dues. They said they were constrained by the state's budget. 'On the other hand, the government has been spending over ₹40,000 crore on the social sector, to hand out cash benefits. The government is free to do whatever it wants but, first, it should pay us for completed works,' he said. This year, the state finance minister presented a ₹7.20 lakh crore annual budget, with a ₹45,892-crore revenue deficit and ₹1,36,234-crore fiscal deficit. And, yet, despite these alarming numbers, an allocation of ₹36,000 crore has been made for the Ladki Bahin scheme. Calls and text messages to the offices of the chief minister, chief secretary, finance minister Ajit Pawar, and additional chief secretary of the finance department OP Gupta went unanswered.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
India Struggles to Shake Off Pessimism After $1.3 Trillion Stock Rout
(Bloomberg) -- Follow Bloomberg India on WhatsApp for exclusive content and analysis on what billionaires, businesses and markets are doing. Sign up here. NJ College to Merge With State School After Financial Stress Trump Administration Plans to Eliminate Dozens of Housing Offices Where New York City's Zoning Reform Will Add Housing Buffalo's Billion-Dollar Freeway Fix Is on Ice, But Not Because of Trump Inside the 'Not Architecture' of High Line Designers Diller Scofidio + Renfro Global fund managers are in no rush to load up on Indian stocks even after an unprecedented losing streak has lowered equity valuations. That's because the market is still grappling with challenges posed by an economic slowdown, profit downgrades and potential US tariffs. Traders looking for bargains within Asia are gravitating toward still-cheap Chinese equities, which are in the middle of a bull run sparked by developments in artificial intelligence. The sentiment illustrates how the highly touted stock rotation from China to India has gone into reverse as growth in the South Asian economy returns to a relatively slower pre-Covid norm amid a decline in consumption. Overseas investors have pulled almost $15 billion from local shares so far this year, putting outflows on track to surpass the record $17 billion registered in 2022. The selloff has wiped out $1.3 trillion from India's market value. 'Global investors would need to see sustained evidence of economic recovery and corporate earnings growth,' said Anand Gupta, a portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors in Singapore. Investors want to see increased consumer spending in urban and rural areas and positive commentary from corporates, he said. India's benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index is trading at 18 times forward earnings, compared with 21 times in September. But despite the drop, the market's multiple remains higher than that of all its emerging Asian peers. Latest government figures show India's economy will expand at a four-year low of 6.5% in the current fiscal year. Some analysts expect growth in the coming years to remain well below the nearly 9% average seen in the past three years. Corporate profits have also taken a hit in this environment. More than 60% of companies comprising the Nifty 50 Index saw downgrades to their forward profit estimates last month, according to JM Financial Ltd. India's earnings revision momentum — a measure that tracks how upgrades fare against downgrades — is among the weakest for developing economies in the region, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Some investors are finding value amid the relentless selloff. The market is seeing 'no clear signs of bottoming, but it is a great time to look for bargains,' said veteran emerging-market investor Mark Mobius. 'The Indian market will recover. We continue to look for opportunities and hold what we have.' At the same time, selling by company founders and employees has also become less intense, easing pressure on the market. The cohort sold 4.9 billion rupees ($56.4 million) this quarter, after withdrawing an average 114.3 billion rupees in the last eight quarters, according to data from Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd. 'We have started to gradually reduce our underweight positions in India as some names are starting to look reasonably valued,' said Julie Ho, a portfolio manager at JPMorgan Asset Management. 'It is important to note that overall market expectations are still high, and broad valuations remain rich.' Lingering risks such as US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs, and his assertion that India charges the US higher levies than the US charges it, are likely to keep foreign investors on the sidelines. A growing chance of a recession in the US is another dampener given that Indian stocks have a positive correlation with US equities. 'We are getting there in terms of an attractive entry point in the market but I don't see reasons for a vertical recovery,' said Rajeev Thakkar, chief investment officer at PPFAS Asset Management. 'It will be more gradual and led by earnings.' --With assistance from Joanne Wong and Vrishti Beniwal. (An AI summary previously at the top of the story was removed as it inaccurately described the size and scope for the $17 billion outflows.) An All-American Finance Empire Drew Billions—and a Regulator's Attention The Mysterious Billionaire Behind the World's Most Popular Vapes Greenland Voters Weigh Their Election's Most Important Issue: Trump Rich People Are Firing a Cash Cannon at the US Economy—But at What Cost? Snack Makers Are Removing Fake Colors From Processed Foods ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
