Data recap: bids for lithium, house prices

lithium quote

Mint reported that the government may invite bids to auction the newly discovered lithium reserves in Jammu as early as the June quarter. Earlier this month, the Geological Survey of India reported 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves in Reasi district, which would make India the world’s seventh largest holder of the mineral that helps power mobile phones and electric vehicles. China is currently the market leader and controls 75% of the world’s lithium refining.

[Chart 1]

cost of cotton

India’s cotton import bill is set to surge 200% year-on-year in 2022-23 to cross the $1 billion mark by January due to rising prices amid a global shortage. This is the second time in the last five years that cotton imports have crossed the one billion dollar mark. The issue was highlighted in the Economic Survey, which raised concerns over stagnant domestic production, high prices and high inflation for clothing and footwear. However, India remains a net exporter of cotton.

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EV Supply

Tata Motors has agreed to supply so many electric cars to Uber’s fleet network partners. The supply of the X-Pres-T sedan will be the largest supply of the EV and will be completed in 12-15 months. Many ride-sharing platforms are looking to have low-emission vehicles on their platforms and Uber has committed to offering its rides worldwide entirely through EVs by 2040. Tata Motors’ supply will be bigger than Uber’s 10,000-car deal with BlueSmart last year.

housing boom

Aided by strong demand and higher input prices, home prices are set to increase significantly in 2022. While the cost of construction has gone up, the real estate industry is likely to be supported by strong demand in the housing market. Among metro cities, the National Capital Region (NCR) witnessed the highest price increase in 2022 over the previous year, followed by Kolkata and Hyderabad. Prices are expected to increase by an average of 5-10% in the current year.

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optimism gap

After two years of normalcy, the income scenario of Indians improved. At least 69% of respondents to the YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial survey expect their earnings to increase this year, up from 50% at the end of 2020 and 64% at the end of 2021. Income, age and gender. nearly a quarter of bottom earners 20,000 per month, there is a possibility of salary cut or unchanged income. Women were also less optimistic than men.

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travel abroad

PTI reported that the average monthly expenditure by Indians on trips abroad is Rs. In April-December 2022, outbound remittances for travel stood at $9.95 billion, almost double that of the previous two years. Vietnam, Thailand, Europe and Indonesia are some of the top destinations preferred by Indians. However, the budget proposal to increase the rate of tax collected at source on foreign tour packages from 5% to 20% may buck this trend.

hotel recovery

India’s hotel industry has taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic but is now showing signs of recovery with the revival of travel and in-person meetings. According to hospitality consultancy HVS Anarock, average daily room rates increased by a third between July 2022 and December 2022, while occupancy rates reached almost 70% in December. Since the hotel business is closely linked to the travel business, the growing trend in air and rail travel augurs well for the industry.

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Chart of the week: Flying high

With Air India ordering 470 new aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, India has now become the second largest country after the US in terms of aircraft orders from January 2021. air india order

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