February 2019

The Annual Post Budget Analysis on the Union Budget 2019-2020 was held on the 4th of February. The Lecture was delivered by Mr. Homi P Ranina, eminent Lawyer and Tax Expert from Mumbai. The event went off very well and we had almost 180 participants including students and industry representatives attending.

In his address, Mr. Ranina said that the last budget of the present Government has sought to lay down the road map for transforming the Indian economy by ushering an era of digitization, the fruits of which will be reaped in the coming years. The main thrust of the budget proposals is to continue fiscal consolidation and restrict the fiscal deficit of 2018-19 to the level of 3.4% of the GDP, with a promise that in the next fiscal 2019-20, the attempt would be to retain it at 3.4%, despite disbursement of Rs.75,000 crore on direct benefit transfers to marginal farmers.

India needs to be made the manufacturing hub of the world and this finds its imprint on the budget proposals by encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship among millions of Indians by providing credit facilities and training programmes to hone the skills of young entrepreneurs.  A road map has been chalked out for enhancing investments in key sectors and passing on the benefit of the growth process to the common man.

The gist of Mr. Ranina’s talk is given in this issue of the Newsletter for your information.

I’m also happy to inform you that the Chamber successfully conducted the 2 day – ‘The Last Mile- Eligibility to Employability’ Certificate Workshop on the 15^th and 16^th of February. I would take this opportunity to thank you all and the Members of the Executive Committee of the Chamber for the support and co-operation received. I would also like to thank the Workshop Sponsors’ – The Eastern Group of Companies (Principal Sponsor) and the Associate Sponsors, The Federal Bank Ltd., and CMRL for their generous support to this endeavour of the Chamber.

The Workshop was aimed at equipping fresh graduates / students hone their skills to become employable and to take-up good jobs.

The programme commenced with an Inaugural Session at which Mr. S Venkatesh, Management Board Member and President, Group HR, RPG Enterprises, Mumbai delivered the Inaugural Address. This was followed by a Panel Discussion moderated by Mr. Mark Antony Sequeira, Master Trainer & CEO – Maestro HR Pvt. Ltd. Chennai, on ‘Careers 2020 and Beyond – Your Way Forward.’  Mr. S Venkatesh, Prof. Dr. Radha Thevannoor, Group Director – SCMS, Cochin and Mr. K Harikumar, Managing Director, Travancore Cochin Chemicals Ltd., were the other panel members.

The second-day’s programme started off with a Panel Discussion on ‘Bridging the Eligibility Employability Divide.’ The Discussion was moderated by Mr. Vinayaraghavan, Former CEO, Harrisons Malayalam Limited. Mr. Vineeth P Mathew, DGM – HR & Training, Synthite Industries Pvt. Ltd., Ms. Rajasree R, HR Head, TCS, Kochi and Ms. Nisha Menon, Director, Tax – PwC India were the Panelists.

The session was attended by 80 students from 24 different educational institutions.

We propose to conduct this event annually henceforth.

On the 21^st of February British Conservative MP Mr. Bob Blackman visited the Chamber to discuss business possibilities, especially in the field of health care and Ayurveda. He also spoke about Brexit, its pros and cons and the future of Great Britain.

Detailed reports on these events along with pictures are carried in this issue of Newsletter.

Friends, the next CEO Forum Breakfast Meeting will be held on the 1st of March 2019. Mr. Abraham Chacko, Former ED, Federal Bank Limited, Independent Director – Jana Holdings Ltd., will be the Speaker at the Session. He will speak on “Kerala and Singapore – A Similitude: The Way Forward”.

On the 15^th of March we will be organizing a Workshop on “Marketing in the Age of IoT, AI, and Block Chain” at Hotel Abad Plaza, Ernakulam. The Speaker will be Mr. Arun James, Business Head – Outcome Infotech, Bangalore. The details of the programme are being sent to you separately.

The Cochin Chamber has more programmes and activities lined up for the coming months, details of which will be intimated to you in due course.

I trust that you will make use of these opportunities to the fullest.

Wishing you all the very best!

V Venugopal

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted the CEO Forum’s – 2^nd Breakfast Meeting on Friday, 1^st February 2019 at Taj Gateway Hotel, Ernakulam. The Guest Speaker at the meeting was Prof. Abraham Koshy, Professor – Marketing, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Calling the meeting to order, Mr. V Venugopal, President of the Chamber delivered the Welcome Address and introduced the Speaker of the day

Prof. Abraham Koshy’s talk was on the “Bonsai Management Syndrome.”

In his talk, Prof. Koshy spoke about thought leadership and administrative leadership and how the former is the new strategy for corporate growth. Corporations that embrace thought leadership as a strategy for growth represent the essence of market leadership and change the rules of client management. He also explained the term ‘Bonsai Manager’ as one whose growth has not reached its potential due to his/her own acts of omission and commission.

Prof. Koshy explained in detail the growth requirements for a Company viz. data collection, innovation, exploration, and results. He spoke on how data collection is a fundamental aspect for the growth of an organization and also the importance of having actual facts supporting a product’s success or failure rather than having mere opinions or expectations. He emphasized the importance of thinking ‘out of the box’ and also suggested that it is important not to be burdened by past successes since an organization needs to explore new opportunities in order to overcome the bonsai syndrome.

Prof. Koshy spoke about the control management of an organization and how micromanagement can damage efficiency. Controls should be goal oriented, he said. He specified the need for a shift from activity-based control to result-based control. He also explained the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 Rule and how 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Prof. Koshy shed some light on how an organization could identify the bonsai syndrome by measuring its growth over the years, from people development index and whether there is a spark of innovation.

Mr. Venugopal C Govind, Past President of the Chamber, presented a memento to Prof. Koshy.

Mr. K Harikumar, Vice President of the Chamber proposed the Vote of Thanks.

The interactive session concluded by 10 a.m with breakfast.

Gist of the speech delivered by Mr. H. P. Ranina, tax expert, at the Annual post Budget Analysis 2019

Mr. Piyush Goyal, the Finance Minister, had the unenviable task of framing his proposals in a difficult environment, both nationally and globally.  The entire world economic order is facing the threat of lower growth, rising unemployment and unstable financial markets.  India has also its share of worries despite the higher projected growth rate of 7.2% during the current financial year.

The last budget of the present Government lays down the road map for transforming the Indian economy by ushering an era of digitization, the fruits of which will be reaped in the coming years. The main thrust of his budget proposals is to continue fiscal consolidation and restrict the fiscal deficit of 2018-19 to the level of 3.4% of the GDP, with a promise that in the next fiscal 2019-20, he would attempt to retain it at 3.4%, despite disbursement of Rs.75,000 crore on direct benefit transfers to marginal farmers.

The vision of the Government to make India the manufacturing hub of the world finds its imprint on the budget proposals by encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship among millions of Indians by providing credit facilities and training programmes to hone the skills of young entrepreneurs.  A road map has been chalked out for enhancing investments in key sectors and passing on the benefit of the growth process to the common man.

For the first time, the Indian Government has made a serious attempt for providing social security coverage for workers in the unorganized sector.  While these systems are in existence in all developed countries of the world, they were conspicuous by their absence in India.  A pension scheme has been formulated whereby workers would be provided with pensionary benefits of Rs. 3,000 per month after reaching the age of 60.

The subsidy burden has been streamlined by overhauling the delivery system through direct transfer of cash benefits.  This has been accomplished by using the banking system which has been made more inclusive as a result of Jan Dhan bank accounts being opened by almost 34 crore Indians who never had a bank account earlier.  As a result, most of the international agencies had upgraded India’s economic growth potential and investor confidence has grown substantially in the last four years.

Initial steps are being taken to move towards the provision of basic universal income being guaranteed to the lowest level of Indian society.  Small and marginal farmers who own cultivable land upto two hectares will be provided income support of Rs.6,000 per annum.  The amount will be directly transferred into the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers.  The total outlay on this programme is estimated at Rs.75,000 crore in a whole year.  The Kisan Credit Card scheme is being extended to cover those who are involved in animal husbandry and in fisheries.  They will also be given 2% interest subsidy on the loan availed through the scheme.

The Finance Minister has highlighted the fact that the banking sector has now been put on a stronger ground as a result of reforms being initiated, including the implementation of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code.  An amount close to Rs.3 lakh crore has already been recovered by banks and creditors.  The strategy of recognition, resolution, recapitalization and reforms has been successful.  Public sector banks have been recapitalized to the extent of Rs.2.6 lakh crore.  Amalgamation of banks have brought the benefits of economies of scale and improved access to capital which would reduce dependence on budgetary funding.

To sustain the basic needs of the common man, Rs.1,70,000 crore was spent in the current financial year to provide food grains at affordable prices.  About 2.5 crore families have now been provided free electricity connections. The universal healthcare programme, Ayushman Bharat, will provide medical treatment to as many as 50 crore citizens.

To empower youth and promote self-employment opportunities, 15.56 crore loan applications have been sanctioned and Rs.7,23,000 crore have been disbursed.  With job seekers becoming job creators, India has become the world’s second largest start-up hub.  To help the small scale sector, loans are being sanctioned upto Rs.1 crore in the shortest possible time, and those units which are registered for the Goods & Services Tax will get a 2% interest rebate.

India is now leading the world in the consumption of mobile data which has increased by over fifty times in the last five years. The number of companies manufacturing mobiles and components has increased from 2 to 268.  About 3 lakh common service centres employing around 12 lakh people are digitally delivering different types of services to citizens who are not computer literate.  There is a proposal to make one lakh villages into digital villages over the next five years.

On the direct tax front, the Finance Minister has announced that persons having taxable income upto Rs.5 lakhs per annum will not have to pay tax because they will get a tax rebate under section 87-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 upto a maximum of Rs.12,500.  However, this benefit will not be available to those tax payers whose taxable income exceeds Rs.5 lakhs per annum.

Standard deduction for salaried employees has been increased by 25% from Rs.40,000 to Rs.50,000.  The notional income in respect of self-occupied property is proposed to be exempted from the financial year 2019-20 to the extent of two self-occupied houses, instead of one at present.

For those who make taxable capital gains upto Rs.2 crore in a financial year, they will now be permitted to roll over these capital gains in two residential properties, if they so wish, to avail of the exemption under section 54.  Upto the current financial year ending on 31^st March, 2019, it was mandatory to invest the taxable capital gains only in one residential house. The new provision will help families who may want to have two houses by selling one, giving a boost to the real estate sector which currently has a large stock of unsold residential units.

Developers will also not have to pay tax for two years, instead of one year at present, if they hold on to unsold properties.  Those builders who are undertaking affordable housing schemes will now get the benefit of tax exemption under section 80-IBA if their project is approved by 31^st March, 2020.

For the fixed income earners, interest on bank deposits is currently exempt under section 80-TTA upto Rs.10,000.  This is proposed to be increased to Rs.40,000 with effect from the financial year 2019-20.  Where a person has rented out his property, he will not have to suffer deduction of tax at source so long as his rental income does not exceed Rs.2,40,000 per annum from the financial year 2019-20; currently, the exemption from withholding tax is given where the rental income is Rs.1,80,000 per annum or less.

Within the next two years, the Income tax Department will be totally digitized and all functions will become online.  All returns will be processed in 24 hours from the time of filing and refunds will be issued simultaneously.  All verification and assessment of returns selected for scrutiny will be done electronically in back offices without any personal interface between tax payers and tax officers.  The number of tax returns filed during 2018-19 has gone up from 3.79 crore to 6.85 crore, resulting in substantial increase in tax collections.  Almost 99.5% of income tax returns have been accepted by the tax department under the summary assessment scheme.

Some critics have called this an election budget.  However, the voter is not going to be swayed by the sops which have been announced in the interim budget.  What may weigh with the voters is the track record of this Government.  Inflation has been down from 10.1% to 4.6% which is a creditable achievement.  More than 15 lakh rural houses have been connected by all-weather roads.

Subsidized housing has been provided to 1.5 crore families. New electricity connections have been given to 2.5 crore families, and 6 crore LPG connections have been provided in rural homes. Around 19 crore families are eligible for subsidized life and accident insurance cover.

The Finance Minister has, at the end of his speech, set out the Vision of the Government for the decade ending 2030. The first dimension of this Vision is to complete the construction of the physical and social infrastructure of roads, railways, ports, inland waterways, urban transportation, hospitals and schools.  The second Vision is to digitize the entire economy and create millions of jobs in the emerging ecosystem.  The third limb is to make the Nation pollution free by ensuring use of electric vehicles, energy storage devices and solar energy.

Rural industrialization which would generate massive employment in smaller cities and towns is the fourth pillar of the Vision, whereby global manufacturing hubs will be set up in various sectors, including automobiles and electronics.  The fifth and sixth limbs of the Vision are to provide safe drinking water to all Indians and clean up the rivers. Developing inland waterways will enhance the income potential of millions of citizens residing along the river banks as it is in advanced countries like Germany.

The seventh dimension of the Vision is to develop space programmes and to become the launch-pad for satellites which would be used by many countries of the world.  The next Vision is to enhance farm productivity through modern agricultural practices and value addition and formulate an integrated approach for agro and food processing, packaging and maintenance of cold chains.

The ninth dimension is to create and support a robust health infrastructure and provide insurance coverage to all citizens.  The ultimate goal of the Vision is to transform India into a minimum government, maximum governance Nation having a bureaucracy which is proactive, reform oriented and accountable to citizens.

If the broad parameters of this Vision are fulfilled by 2030, the full potential of the Indian economy will be realized, laying the foundation for India’s next phase of growth and development.  While the Indian economy will grow from a 2.7 trillion dollar economy at present to a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2023, some international institutions have projected that by 2030 the Indian economy will be the second largest in the world after China, based on the purchasing power parity method of calculating the comparable size of economies.

The budget has been structured to meet the aspirations of most sections of society. Marginal farmers, unorganized sector workers and middle class families have been given benefits and incentives which were long overdue. Despite this being an interim budget, it lays the foundation for a full fledged programme to be implemented after the elections.

Most of the infrastructure projects will come to fruition and see the light of the day by 2023.  This will lay the foundation for exponential growth which only China had achieved during the past decade.  There is no doubt that India’s time has come to be in the league of the most advanced economies of the world, having surpassed even today both England and France.

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted a two-day Certificate Workshop ‘The Last Mile – Eligibility to Employability’ for ‘students’ on the 15th and 16th February 2019 at Hotel Abad Plaza, Ernakulam.

The Workshop was aimed at equipping fresh graduates / students hone their skills to become employable and to take-up good jobs.

Mr. V Venugopal, President of the Chamber delivered the Welcome Address.

The programme commenced with an Inaugural Session at which Mr. S Venkatesh, Management Board Member and President, Group HR, RPG Enterprises, Mumbai delivered the Inaugural Address. The Inaugural Session was followed by a Panel Discussion moderated by Mr. Mark Antony Sequeira, Master Trainer & CEO – Maestro HR Pvt. Ltd. Chennai, on ‘Careers 2020 and Beyond – Your Way Forward.’  Mr. S Venkatesh, Prof. Dr. Radha Thevannoor, Group Director – SCMS, Cochin and Mr. K Harikumar, Managing Director, Travancore Cochin Chemicals Ltd., the other panel members, shared their views on the rapidly evolving job landscape, the skills one needs to possess in order to succeed in the coming years and also how the push for entrepreneurship through schemes like Start-Up India is beginning to positively impact jobs and opportunities.

Mr. V Venugopal, President of the Chamber, Mr. C S Kartha, Past President of the Chamber, Ms. Vinodini Issac, Executive Committee Member, presented the Mementos to the Speakers.

The training sessions commenced with an assessment test to evaluate the students’ skills in timing, persuasion, analysis, and problem-solving. Later the students were divided into various teams and were given various scenarios to discuss and reach a logical conclusion and to present them. Mock interviews were conducted to help the students understand what is expected in a real job interview and to help them improve themselves.

The second-day’s programme started off with a Panel Discussion on ‘Bridging the Eligibility Employability Divide.’ The Discussion was moderated by Mr. Vinayaraghavan, Former CEO, Harrisons Malayalam Limited. Mr. Vineeth P Mathew, DGM – HR & Training, Synthite Industries Pvt. Ltd., Ms. Rajasree R, HR Head, TCS, Kochi and Ms. Nisha Menon, Director, Tax – PwC India were the Panelists. They shared their views on how one needs to keep pace with next-generation technology skills, bridging the digital skill gap and how soft business skills like creativity, decision – making, interpersonal skills, leadership skills and time management will always be in high demand.

Following the Panel Discussion Mementos were presented to the Speakers.

The Student teams were given various activities to enhance their skills by completing the tasks assigned in the most efficient and effective way. Group Discussions were conducted, on various topics, to help the students improve their thinking process, communication skills, personality traits and the skills needed to contribute effectively to the goal accomplishment process. The students were evaluated on the basis of their communication skills, knowledge, listening skills etc.

Certificates of merit were awarded to the students who performed their best in the Mock Interviews and Group Discussions and also to the Best Team. Participation certificates were given to all students who attended the two day programme.

Mr. C.S Kartha, Past President of the Chamber, proposed the Vote of Thanks.

The session, attended by 80 students from 24 different educational institutions concluded by 6:30 p.m with a team photo shoot.

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted Conservative British Member of Parliament Mr. Robert (Bob) Blackman on the 21st of February, 2019 in the Chamber Conference Hall, Willingdon Island.

Mr. V Venugopal, President of the Chamber welcomed Mr. Blackman to the Chamber.

Mr. Blackman said that the purpose of his visit was to discuss business possibilities, especially in the field of health care and Ayurveda. Brexit and its possible fallout was also part of the discussions.

Mr. Blackman explained the reasons for Britain wanting to leave the European Union and the benefits that will accrue after Brexit. He said that 17.4 million people had voted to leave the Union in a referendum conducted in 2016. According to the Lisbon treaty, both the sides will get two years to agree to the terms of the split. He also mentioned the fact that the process was started in 2017 and Britain is scheduled to leave on 29th March 2019 regardless of whether there is a deal with the Union or not. He also said that the UK will be free to conduct trade all around the world, after Brexit, which will be advantageous for them.

Mr. Blackman agreed with suggestions made that the UK visa and immigration policies needed to be liberalised and promised to take up the issue with the British Foreign Office on his return to the UK.

Mr. V Venugopal, President of the Chamber presented a Memento to Mr. Blackman and thanked him for his visit.

Mr. Blackman was accompanied by his wife Nicole Blackman.

The 3rd Breakfast Meeting under the aegis of the Chamber’s CEO FORUM 2019 will be held on Friday, the 1st of March 2019 between 8.00 am and 10.00 am at the Anchor Hall, Taj Gateway Hotel, Marine Drive, Ernakulam.

The Speaker at this Session will be Mr. Abraham Chacko, Former ED, Federal Bank Ltd. and Independent Director, Jana Holdings Ltd., Bangalore who will speak on ‘Kerala and Singapore – A Similitude: The Way Forward.’

Organizations today are staring at a ‘Disruption’ in the way they work brought about by a generational shift in computing. Disruptive technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and the Internet of Things (IoT) are driving continuous business transformation. The marketing landscape, especially the Marketing Technology (MarTech) landscape has also witnessed a tremendous upheaval. Newer technologies have ‘democratized’ marketing by enabling lean marketing teams to understand customers better, produce captivating content, and orchestrate meaningful engagement; all without engaging the traditional big advertising agencies.

The Cochin Chamber of Commerce & Industry is organising a Full Day Workshop on “Marketing in the Age of Internet of Things (IOT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain” on Friday, 15th March 2019 at Vantage Point, Hotel Abad Plaza, M.G. Road, Cochin. The session is scheduled from 9 am to 5 pm.

Mr. Arun James, Business Head, Outcome Infotech, Bangalore will be the Faculty for the Workshop.

This one-day interactive event will help Business Heads, CMO’s and Senior Marketing Professionals to embark on a technology driven Marketing Transformation journey by introducing them to the MarTech landscape, and equipping them to calibrate the right marketing stacks based on their unique requirements.

The survey done for India Skills Report 2018 focuses on future skills requirement and results show that AI & Robotics are leading the next gen jobs along with others.  The survey clearly highlights that nearly 50% of the applicants appearing for the interview either do not meet the skills requirement or may possess skills only to meet the basic requirement of employers. It is estimated that the Indian workforce will increase to approximately 600 million in the year 2022 from the current 473 million. As the workforce will increase by about 27 percent during this period the overall composition of the unorganized sector and organized sector will slightly change from 92 percent and 8 percent today, to 90 percent and 10 percent by 2022. The major forces impacting these shifts are that of globalization, the expanding domestic Indian market and adoption of exponential technologies, like AI, Robotics, and IOT by Indian corporates. Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are ushering in a new age of automation, as machines match or outperform human performance in a range of work activities, including ones requiring cognitive abilities. The other interesting aspect is that while only 5 percent of the activities performed today can be automated fully, almost 60 percent of current activities have at least 30 percent constituent activities that can be automated. This implies that more job activities will be fundamentally altered by automation than completely automated. This essentially means that people will continue to work alongside machines to produce the growth in per capita GDP to which countries around the world aspire. This wave of automation will result in a slew of new age jobs. These new age roles demand different skill sets from that of the existing labour force. Some examples of such roles are Data Scientist, 3D Printing, Digital Marketing, Cyber Security Specialist, Block Chain Architect etc. When one looks at potential jobs being created due to automation, the early indicators suggest that more jobs will be created in sectors aided by automation than the sectors creating automation solutions themselves. As estimated in the World Economic Forum ‘future of jobs’ report, in India the overall employment outlook is of strong growth in consumer and professional services industries while it suggests moderate growth in basic infrastructure, energy and mobility. The same report indicates that people in the information and communication technology industry are likely to be re-skilled. As per the Report, cognitive abilities such as creativity, logical reasoning and problem sensitivity, will be required in jobs in 2020. According to the India Skills Report 2018, Bangalore, Chennai, Indore, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Pune and Tiruchirappalli are the cities with a high employability rate. Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh are the States with high employability rates. Kerala tops the charts in skills like Emotional Intelligence and Self-determination.

The Survey also states that every organization prefers an experienced and trained pool of candidates over fresh or inexperienced candidates for various reasons viz. the training effort (time & cost), productivity and opportunity cost etc. which in turn affects employability of fresh graduates applying for jobs.

Today digital technologies such as 3D printing, sensors, cognitive technologies, robotics, AI and the “Internet of Things (IOT)” are changing the way companies design, develop, and deliver almost every product and service. Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Design (Software, Hardware, and Concept etc.), Research & Development and Robotics are the future job areas with Data Analytics and R&D emerging as areas of maximum scope. Domain Understanding, Adaptability and Positive Attitude were identified as the most preferred employability skills according to reports and the preferred sourcing channels of employers were Job Portals, Internal referrals and Consultants.

Interestingly, the Cochin Chamber had conducted a 2-day workshop called the “The Last Mile 2019- Eligibility 2 Employability” on the 15^th and 16^th of February 2019 for the students who are on the threshold of starting their careers. The programme was an effort to spread awareness among the students of the need to be job ready from day one by keeping abreast of the various changes in the employment requirements and making themselves employable in every sense of the word.