Indian refined sunflower oil volumes are projected to witness a decline of 8–10 percent in FY25 amid a decline in demand for sunflower oil. According to a report by CRISIL Ratings, domestic consumers have returned to soybean oil after prices declined following a good soy harvest.

The report further highlights that despite this shift, sunflower oil refiners are expected to experience a 50–60 basis point expansion in profitability, attributed to stable prices, effective hedging policies, and the government’s commitment to continuing duty-free imports.

“With a bumper crop, the price of soybean oil is likely to correct by USD 100 per tonne on-year and be on a par with sunflower oil in fiscal 2025. The resultant shift in consumption towards soybean oil will lower sunflower oil volume to 28-29 lakh tonne in fiscal 2025 from 32 lakh tonne in fiscal 2024, although volume would remain higher than the historical average of five years through fiscal 2024,” said Jayashree Nandakumar, Director, CRISIL Ratings.

The report also shares that despite an anticipated decline in volumes, the prices of refined sunflower oil are expected to hold steady due to high shipping and freight costs amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East.

“Despite the degrowth, profitability of refiners would improve 50–60 bps, supported by favorable spreads on robust demand and no anticipated sharp fluctuations in prices. Also, refiners have firm hedging policies in place to avoid downside price risks,” said Rishi Hari, Associate Director, CRISIL Ratings.

The Indian edible oil landscape is primarily dominated by palm oil, comprising approximately 40 percent of total volumes, followed by soybean oil and sunflower oil with shares of 20 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Sunflower oil demand is intricately linked to the pricing dynamics of its substitutes, particularly palm oil and soybean oil.

India has significant sunflower oil refining capacities and imports over 95 percent of its sunflower crude requirement. While refined sunflower oil is predominantly consumed within the country, the movement in its prices largely depends on that of imported crude.

Construction sector entities’ revenues to grow by 12-15% in FY25: Icra. ICRA maintains a stable outlook on the sector with steady growth.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) projects a consistent performance for the construction sector in FY25, particularly highlighting the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) segment. However, concerns persist regarding the roads’ EPC sub-sector, indicating a declining perspective.

Krishan Binani, Director of Corporate Ratings at Ind-Ra, attributes the neutral outlook to the anticipation of a 10% to 12% year-on-year revenue growth in FY25. He anticipates a pickup in order inflows in the latter half of the fiscal year, driven by supportive government budgets and an expected surge in private-sector capital expenditure.

Binani stated, “The neutral sector outlook is backed by an expectation of 10 per cent-12 per cent yoy revenue growth in FY25. Order inflows are likely to pick up in 2HFY25, led by supportive government budgets along with the expectation of acceleration of the private sector’s capex. Margins are expected to modestly pick up with credit metrics improving further.”

Despite the ongoing emphasis on capital expenditure by the central government and the anticipated resurgence in state and private spending, the pace of order execution within the EPC sector is likely to moderate in FY25, particularly in the first quarter due to elections. The Centre’s own capex is projected to grow at 17 per cent in FY25, following the trend of reduced spending in an election year.

Ind-Ra’s analysis, excluding Larsen & Toubro Ltd, indicates that revenue growth in FY24 exceeded expectations, likely reaching 17 per cent-18 per cent compared to the estimated 14 per cent-16 per cent. The civil construction, power (especially transmission & distribution), water, and metro sectors are expected to lead revenue growth in FY25, while growth in roads and railways may be sluggish.

Ind-Ra expects a modest margin expansion of 30-50 basis points year-on-year in FY25, with further recovery anticipated in credit metrics due to increased profitability and a stable working capital cycle. New order inflows are anticipated to begin in late 2QFY25, following the conclusion of elections.

Despite the significant growth in tender awards in FY24, the upcoming elections may slow down tendering activities in 1QFY25, with momentum expected to pick up from June 2024 onwards. The liquidity profile of EPC sector entities in FY25 is predicted to remain adequate, supported by improvements in cash flow from operations and proposed capital expenditure financing.

However, increased working capital requirements due to the withdrawal of exemptions provided under Atmanirbhar Bharat could pose challenges. Banks are expected to maintain cautious lending practices to EPC players, with tightened sanctioning terms and increased collateral requirements due to sector volatility.

Nonetheless, Ind-Ra observed some improvement in liquidity profiles in 9MFY24, with rising recoveries and an increase in non-fund-based limits across the sector.

Uttarakhand’s Commissioner of Food Safety mandates comprehensive testing of locally manufactured spices to ensure top quality and restore consumer trust.

In a tumultuous turn of events, the spice industry of India finds itself embroiled in a heated controversy over the export of its culinary treasures. The Center’s recent directive to all state governments, mandating rigorous quality tests on spices, underscores the severity of the situation. This move comes in response to mounting concerns over the quality assurance of these essential commodities, despite routine sampling efforts by the Spices Board and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) failing to provide a clear verdict.

The spotlight has now shifted to Uttarakhand, where the Commissioner of Food Safety, Dr R Rajesh Kumar, has issued a mandate for comprehensive testing of all locally manufactured spices. With over 50 spice production units operating in the state, this directive aims to uphold the highest standards of quality and restore consumer confidence. “The commissioner has instructed food safety officers across all 13 districts to conduct sampling at spice manufacturing facilities to verify the quality of various spices,” stated Kumar.

However, the stakes are undeniably high, casting a shadow of uncertainty over major spice giants such as MDH and Everest. Recent reports have sounded alarms, suggesting that over half of India’s spice exports could be jeopardized by the ongoing controversy. Urgent action is imperative to salvage the reputation of the nation’s spice industry, the report emphasized.

Adding an international dimension to the saga, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has entered the fray. In a statement released on Tuesday, FSANZ announced its investigation into allegations of contamination surrounding spice mixes produced by Indian companies MDH and Everest. The fallout from this probe has the potential to extend to Australian shores, potentially leading to product recalls, echoing actions already taken in Hong Kong and Singapore.

At the crux of the controversy lies the detection of the carcinogenic chemical ethylene oxide in these products, prompting mandatory recalls. The violations cited include the presence of salmonella contamination, a common culprit behind foodborne illnesses, alongside ethylene oxide, a hazardous fumigating agent.

As the saga unfolds, the Indian spice industry finds itself at a crossroads, grappling with the repercussions of lax quality control measures and the tarnishing of its global reputation. The need for swift and decisive action to address these pressing concerns cannot be overstated. The livelihoods of countless farmers, manufacturers, and exporters are on the line, underscoring the urgency for a resolution to restore trust and integrity in India’s spice exports.

In response to these developments, stakeholders across the industry are calling for a concerted effort to implement stricter quality assurance protocols, bolster regulatory oversight, and enhance transparency in the supply chain. Only through collective action and unwavering commitment to upholding the highest standards of quality and safety can the Indian spice industry emerge from this crisis stronger and more resilient than ever before.

As consumers around the world await the outcome of investigations and the implementation of remedial measures, the fate of India’s spice exports hangs in the balance. The stakes are high, but with decisive action and a renewed focus on quality, the industry can overcome this challenging chapter and reaffirm its position as a global leader in the spice trade.

To enhance cotton production, a pilot project was initiated in 2023-2024, introducing technologies like High Density Planting System (HDPS), Closer Spacing planting, and Production technology for ELS cotton.

India needs to focus on R&D and improved cultivation methods to meet the rising cotton demand in the textile industry at a time when the fiber crop is serving as a cornerstone in supporting the livelihoods of approximately 6 million farmers and an additional 40-50 million individuals involved in related activities, said Raghavan Sampath Kumar, Executive Director, Federation of Seed Industry of India (FSII). He pointed to what Chandrakant Patil, Minister of Textiles, Government of Maharashtra, wrote in an article recently highlighting that the country stands at the cusp of becoming a global textile powerhouse, with numerous states like Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu spearheading policy initiatives to establish textile parks.

The aim is to propel the industry towards a projected $250-billion in textile production by 2030. Sampath Kumar said the textile industry is undergoing a significant transformation with initiatives like the PLI Scheme for Textiles, Kasturi Cotton Bharat program, National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), SAMARTH, and PM MITRA, development of 11 exclusive textile parks, strengthening the textile value chain through technological upgradation and so on. With over 45 million skilled workers, the textile sector is significant for employment and economic growth in India. To boost India’s textile sector’s global competitiveness, promoting cotton cultivation is paramount as approximately 74% of the apparel exported from India is made of cotton. Yet, with cotton being the primary source, there are key challenges and concerns that both the government and industry need to acknowledge and address, Sampath Kumar said.

Firstly, the cotton industry requires revitalization through increased production and strengthening of the value chain. With the introduction of Bt Cotton, India saw a significant surge in cotton production from 10 to nearly 40 million bales annually between early 2000s and FY2014, transforming into a leading producer. Cotton production in India increased steadily and rather steeply from 2004-05 onwards primarily due to a sharp rise in yield. However, continuously evolving challenges of pests and diseases, weeds, salinity and soil degradation, and climate aberrations are causing stagnation post-FY2015, with production at 36.2 million bales in FY2022.

Hence, the cotton industry in India is currently at crossroads and there is an imminent need to find innovative solutions through scientific research. Research on pests particularly pink bollworm, several diseases, herbicide-tolerance enable more efficient control against these challenges, reducing manual labor and potentially increasing yields. All these present enormous opportunities for sustainable growth. However, to achieve the above, there should be an imperative on promoting new concepts like High Density Planting System, to increase yields and improve profitability.

It’s crucial for both government and private sectors to collaborate in adopting and promoting innovative technologies to boost yield and farmers’ income, Sampath Kumar added. To enhance cotton production, a pilot project was initiated in 2023-2024, introducing technologies like High Density Planting System (HDPS), Closer Spacing planting, and Production technology for ELS cotton. HDPS has shown promising results, with Maharashtra farmers reporting a three fold yield increase.

It involves denser sowing, boosting light interception, boll production, and yield while optimizing nutrient and water use and suppressing weed growth. Popularizing such practices will increase overall cotton production, realizing the state’s aspiration to drive the Indian textile industry’s growth story.

That has begun to change with the help of smart electricity meters, artificial intelligence and modelling by innovative energy companies.

Automakers from General Motors to Volvo Cars, alongside utilities and charging app operators are calculating their financial cut as EVs that allow their owners to sell power back to grids become a more realistic prospect. Bidirectional, or vehicle-togrid (V2G), charging lets EV owners charge at overnight off-peak rates then sell power back to grids at a profit during peak hours. For short periods, a million EVs could provide as much power as a large nuclear power plant, says Nick Woolley, CEO of UK software firm energy, which is working on V2G technology with Siemens, Nissan, Volkswagen and others. For many years V2G remained largely theoretical, as the Nissan Leaf was the sole EV capable of it.

That has begun to change with the help of smart electricity meters, artificial intelligence and modelling by innovative energy companies. And most major automakers, including Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen, Renault and Toyota are expected to launch V2G capable models over the coming years. Chinese manufacturers, such as BYD have also developed the technology and, crucially, the Chinese government plans a big role for V2G by 2030. “There is a lot of money to be made,” Doron Frenkel, CEO of Driivz, said of balancing grids. “Everyone wants their own piece of this.” Driivz has access to millions of EVs via the white-label charging software it provides to automakers and others.

In the United States, bidirectional charging is experimental, while in major European market Germany regulatory hurdles around how to price any energy sold back into the grid mean it is a distant prospect. Bidirectional chargers are also more expensive than conventional ones because for now they are produced on a smaller scale. But in the UK, Octopus Energy has launched a V2G tariff for customers, offering free charging if owners keep their EVs plugged in overnight. Octopus plans a similar tariff this year in its other energy markets, including France, Japan, New Zealand and the U.S. state of Texas. “This is a real thing,” Octopus’ global head of flexibility Alex Schoch said. “It’s no longer a theoretical, academic discussion.”

AUTO/ENERGY COMPANIES

Among the breakthroughs that are bringing V2G closer, automakers have set up their own energy units, joining the software platforms, energy distributors and others that are vying for V2G revenue.

They do not yet know how much they might make. Most of the money will go to EV owners, leaving just pennies per kilowatt for intermediaries selling power to grids, but across millions of EVs, that would add up. Within the next few months, GM will launch an electric Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck capable of powering homes – the same technology as V2G – and all its EVs will have bidirectional capability by 2026, Aseem Kapur, GM Energy’s energy solutions director, said.

GM plans to both sell energy to utilities and partner with aggregators pooling larger numbers of EVs to sell power, Kapur said. The automaker is also building partnerships with U.S. utilities, including Duke Energy. GM rival Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup is V2G capable.

CHEAPER BILLS AND GRID BALANCING

Shilpen Patel, 39, has been using his Nissan Leaf for an Octopus Energy V2G pilot scheme in London since 2020, plugging in when at home and cutting his annual household energy bill by 700 pounds ($871.08), or about a third. “The savings have been pretty remarkable,” Patel said. As a precursor to V2G at scale, companies including Octopus already operate grid balancing services. To avoid firing up expensive additional capacity, grid operators pay them to power down EV chargers for very short periods. Denmark’s Monta, for instance, gives charging app users in some markets around 8 euros ($8.53) per month for grid balancing, while Driivz uses it to protect the Dutch grid from demand spikes.

Volkswagen’s energy unit Elli is building a trading platform in Germany for grid balancing as a precursor to V2G and plans to expand or work with partners in other markets, said Ingo Mueller, the unit’s head of energy solutions. Nuvve provides V2G services for around 500 electric buses in a number of U.S. states, an easy proposition as they are plugged in most of the day and during school holidays.

But for passenger EVs, persuading customers via apps with accurate and attractive pricing will be vital. Platforms with reliable AI forecasts for how many EVs will be plugged in will get more business from the likes of Duke Energy, which is running bidirectional tests with GM and Ford. “You’ve got to be able to accurately predict how much capacity is available at any given time,” said Zachary Kuznar, managing director for grid solutions development at Duke. Automakers’ energy units will mostly lack the scale to aggregate enough EVs locally to sell power to utilities, so emerging platforms, including Kaluza or The Mobility House, aim to act as intermediaries, aggregating EVs across multiple brands.

Those intermediaries will also need to ensure EVs do not overburden grids if everyone charges when prices are low and discharges when they are high, Timo Kern, director of energy systems and markets at Munich-based energy research institute FfE, said. Renault has partnered with The Mobility House, while Volvo is working both on its own platform and with others like Kaluza, said Alexander Petrofski, who heads Volvo Cars Energy Solutions. Kaluza is also working with other automakers including Volkswagen, Stellantis, Nissan, GM, Mitsubishi and Porsche to act as an intermediary with thousands of utilities, said Kaluza’s chief product officer Neel Gulhar.

He said charging app providers or others could sidestep automakers and run V2G services via EV chargers. But Kaluza wants to partner with automakers because of the data they can access. “We need those partnerships because you get a lot more data from the vehicle than you do from chargers,” Gulhar said.

Indian Railways gears up for a record-breaking summer with plans to operate 9,111 trips, a substantial increase from last year’s 6,369 trips.

In preparation for the anticipated surge in travel demand during the summer season, Indian Railways has announced plans to operate a record-breaking 9,111 trips, marking a significant increase from the 6,369 trips offered during the previous summer in 2023. These additional trains are strategically planned to connect key destinations across the country, aiming to facilitate seamless travel along major railway routes. All zonal railways spanning India have mobilized to manage the heightened summer travel rush originating from states such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi.

The process of planning and operating additional trains is a dynamic one, with continuous monitoring and assessment of demand from various sources such as media reports, social media platforms, the Railway Integrated helpline number 139, and waitlist passenger data in the Passenger Reservation System (PRS). Based on these inputs, the number of trains and trips are adjusted accordingly throughout the season to meet evolving travel requirements.

Ensuring passenger comfort and safety is paramount during the summer season. Zonal Railways have been instructed to maintain the availability of drinking water at railway stations, while elaborate crowd control measures are implemented at major stations. Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel are stationed at originating stations to enforce queue systems for entry into General Class coaches, with skilled staff monitoring CCTV cameras to provide real-time assistance to passengers. To regulate crowd flow and prevent stampede-like situations, Government Railway Police (GRP) and RPF staff are deployed at foot-over bridges. Passengers can conveniently book tickets for these additional trains through railway ticket counters or the IRCTC website/app.

Indian Railways’ proactive approach to managing the summer travel rush underscores its commitment to passenger convenience and safety. As the nation’s lifeline for transportation, Indian Railways continues to adapt and innovate to meet the evolving needs of travelers across the country.

As the summer season approaches, Indian Railways is ramping up its efforts to accommodate the surge in travel demand, ensuring that passengers can reach their destinations comfortably and efficiently. The unprecedented number of trips, totaling 9,111, reflects the railway’s commitment to meeting the needs of travelers across the country. With trains planned to connect key destinations and major railway routes, passengers from various states are set to benefit from the expanded service. The collaborative approach involving all zonal railways ensures a coordinated effort to address the influx of travelers during the peak summer months.

Moreover, the dynamic nature of planning and operating additional trains allows Indian Railways to respond swiftly to changing demand patterns throughout the season. By leveraging inputs from diverse sources, including media reports, social media platforms, and passenger reservation data, the railway can optimize its services to accommodate passenger needs effectively. In addition to enhancing connectivity, Indian Railways is prioritizing passenger safety and comfort. Measures such as ensuring the availability of drinking water at railway stations, implementing crowd control measures, and deploying security personnel demonstrate the railway’s commitment to providing a safe and pleasant travel experience for passengers.

Overall, Indian Railways’ proactive approach to managing the summer travel rush reaffirms its status as the backbone of transportation in India, facilitating essential connections and journeys for millions of passengers nationwide.