The Signal (weekly highlights)

1. GST collection for January climbs to record ₹1.40 lakh crore

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in January, 2022 was more than ₹1.40 lakh crore, the first time it clocked in this high

In January, revenues from import of goods were 26% higher and the revenues from domestic transaction, including import of services, 12% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year

2. Crude price hovers around record high

The crude oil price is at USD 90 per barrel for the US crude and the Brent is trading at USD 91.5 per bbl. This is the seventh weekly gain for the crude oil prices and has seen 26 percent of gains in the last seven weeks for the crude prices.

The major producers in the OPEC+ have raised their output target each month since August by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd)  but have failed to meet their production targets as some members have struggled with capacity constraints. Tensions between Russia and the West also underpinned crude prices.

3. Massive push toward infrastructure development

The finance minister fixed the outlay on capital expenditure for the next year at Rs 7.5 lakh crore, which was sharply higher than the Rs 5.5 lakh crore budgeted for 2021-22.

The capital expenditure outlay for the next financial year will be 2.9 percent of India’s GDP.  The proposal to fund infrastructure through PM Gati Shakti, Public Private Partnerships, etc. will mark the escalation of economic prosperity.

4. Government decides to focus on green bonds as part of its overall borrowing programme

Issuance of sovereign green bonds which will help reduce carbon intensity; set-up of government-backed funds for climate action, tech-based and agricultural initiatives; defense R&D opened up for private players through an SPV model.

Green bonds have been fast gaining popularity with Climate Bonds Market Intelligence pegging the green bond market size at an all-time high of $517.4 billion in 2021.

5. Auto rally despite continued pressure on sales last month

Despite the weakness in domestic market, healthy buying was witnessed across the auto stocks. On Thursday, Nifty Auto index was up 163.30 points or 1.40 percent, while the benchmark Nifty 50 index was down 96.70 points or 0.54 percent at 17,683.30.

TVS Motors which jumped over 5 percent followed by Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki and Ashok Leyland which added 2-3 percent each, were among the top gainers.