This blog will keep track of key global and local developments impacting business and markets through the day. Important local and global political developments will also find resonance here.
A Japanese company is planning to build the world’s tallest wooden skyscraper with 90% of the building made of wood, reports CNBC. Sumitomo Forestry says its wooden high-rise — dubbed the W350 — will be 350 meters tall and the planned structure will be a hybrid of mostly wood and steel. The 70-storey building, expected to be built in Tokyo, will comprise of stores, offices, hotels and private homes, the company noted in plans released earlier in February.
Sumitomo Forestry, which notes on its website that « happiness grows from trees, » said it aimed to create environmentally-friendly, timber-utilizing cities which « become forests through increased use of wooden architecture for high-rise buildings. » Building with wood is still not cheap, however. Using 185,000 cubic meters of timber, the building is expected to cost around 600 billion yen ($5.6 billion) which is twice the amount of a conventional high-rise building constructed with current technology.
However, the company believed that those costs would come down as timber became a more-frequently used material: « Going forward, the economic feasibility of the project will be enhanced by reducing costs through technological development. » Currently the tallest wooden building is 18-storeys high and serves as accommodation for students at the University of British Colombia.
The online retail market will see over 30% year-on-year growth per annum till 2021, driven by the millennials, reports PTI. Since 2010, the share of online retail in total retail market has grown at a rapid pace to reach 3% in 2015, Deloitte noted in a report. « It is further expected to grow at a compounded rate of above 30% from 2016 to 2021, driven by the shift of millennials and younger population from traditional retail to online channels, » it said.
Pakistan government has refused to provide details of its decision to send over 1,000 soldiers to its close-ally Saudi Arabia for deployment, prompting Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani to threaten Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir with « contempt of parliament proceedings », reports PTI.
The government approved a Rs 1,384 crore tunnel project in Uttarakhand as part of ‘Char Dham’ project to connect Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri. The tunnel will reduce the travel distance from Dharasu to Yamunotri by about 20 km and travel time by about an hour.
The decision was taken at a CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today. « The CCEA…has given approval to the construction of 4.5 km long two-lane bi-directional Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel with escape passage including approaches on Dharasu-Yamunotri section between Chainage 25.4 km and Chainage 51 km in Uttarakhand, » the Road, Transport and Highways Ministry said in a statement.
The tunnel, expected to be completed in four years, will provide all weather connectivity to Yamunotri, encouraging regional socio-economic development, trade and tourism in the country, it said. « The civil construction cost of the project is estimated at Rs 1,119.69 crore, while the total project cost is Rs 1,383.78 crore, which is inclusive of the cost towards Land Acquisition & Rehabilitation and other pre-construction activities as well as maintenance and operation cost of tunnel for four years, » the statement said.
Ambuja Cements ‘ Q4 CY17 earnings beat analyst expectations on Tuesday. Standalone net profit grew 88.8% YoY at Rs 338 crore far ahead of CNBC-TV18 analyst poll estimates of Rs 251 crore. Profit in the year-ago quarter stood at Rs 179 crore.
The cement maker said standalone revenue from operations increased 21.9% YoY to Rs 2,712.6 crore in Q4, compared to Rs 2,224.5 crore in the same quarter last year. Sale volumes showed a 17.4% growth at 5.87 million tonne for quarter ended December 2017, up from 5 MT in the year-ago period.
EBITDA growth of 61.5% YoY at Rs 540.6 crore and margin expansion of 480 basis points at 19.9% in Q4 were also far ahead of CNBC-TV18 analyst poll estimates of Rs 394 crore and 15.2%, respectively. Tax expenses during the quarter increased to Rs 85.9 crore from Rs 26.2 crore in the same quarter last year.
The Cabinet approved extra-budgetary support for government’s flagship housing scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), an official source said. Under the PMAY(U), the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry targets construction of about 1.2 crore houses for the urban poor.
The scheme got allocation at Rs 6,505 crore for Budget 2018-19 as compared to Rs 6,042.81 crore in 2017-18. However, additional budgetary resources of Rs 25,000 crore was also proposed for the scheme to be raised outside the general budget. In urban areas, the assistance has been sanctioned for construction of over 39 lakh houses so far.
The government approved opening up of coal mining to the private sector for commercial use, a major reform in the sector since its nationalisation in 1973, reports PTI. Announcing the decision taken by CCEA, Coal and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said the reform is expected to bring efficiency in the coal sector by moving from an era of monopoly to competition.
