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BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: Over four months into final placements at the older Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) at Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai), Kanpur, Madras (Chennai), Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati and Varanasi (BHU), the struggle to place students in a challenging environment hasn't gotten any easier.The schools are going all out to get more recruiters to campuses. The placement season ends in May-June for the IITs. Two of the top schools - IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi - have provided official placement data to ET. At IIT Bombay, the top choice for those who clear the entrance exam process, 33% of the 1,973 students participating in placements were yet to get jobs as of April 4. The older IITs are typically regarded by candidates as the most desirable. Apart from the eight older ones, India has 15 other IITs set up since 2008. IT-BHU became IIT-BHU (Varanasi) in 2012 by an act of Parliament.At IIT Delhi, about 1,083 of the 1,814 who signed up with the Office of Career Services (OCS) had got placed as of April 5, while around 40% are yet to get jobs. For undergraduate programmes (BTech+dual degree) the numbers are better: 81% of the 903 who participated have got jobs, the institute told ET.Low Packages Get Thumbs DownThose in the master's/PhD programmes aren't doing as well, lowering the overall hiring percentage.According to IIT Bombay's placement and internship report for 2022-23, around 82%, 1,516 of 1,845 students who had actively participated in placements, secured jobs at the end of the season last year. At IIT Delhi, the overall placement percentage was around 84%.At least 30% of students are still unplaced across the older IITs this season, and offers are down 15-25% from the same time last year, said people with knowledge of the matter.109205272Apart from IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi, the other older schools didn't provide official placement numbers.Students are reluctant to settle for companies making low offers."We are getting smaller companies offering Rs 5-6 lakh salaries but students want to hold out for higher packages. There is a lot of pressure on them given the hype around IITs," said a placement member at one of the older IITs.ET has been reporting since before the start of the placement season on the impact of the tech slowdown and the overall hiring pullback on placements across institutes, including the IITs.Sameer Jadhav, professor-in-charge of placements at IIT Bombay, said that out of the 2,396 students who registered, 1,973 participated in placements."We have 33% students yet to be placed," he said. "The placement season is still ongoing and ends on June 30. We have more than 35 companies yet to visit and more are being contacted."Large batch sizes across institutes have added to the challenge in an already tough year. At IIT Delhi, for instance, data show that 1,814 have so far opted for OCS services this time, a 20% jump from 1,513 last year. The number of PhD students - 175 - included in this has seen a six-fold increase from 2022-23 levels. "The OCS is planning to organise separate and dedicated placement drives for them," said R Ayothiraman, professor-in-charge, OCS."So far, we have 1,500 students who have job offers from over 350 companies. More are coming," said professor Rajib Maity, head of placement cell at IIT Kharagpur.

MUMBAI: Banks have begun questioning the 'source' of money that individuals are moving abroad, particularly to acquire properties overseas.Sometimes they are scanning past income statements to figure out the origin of the fund while a few banks recently enquired whether the money that would be transferred out of the country was a 'gift' from a relative.Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), resident individuals are permitted to transfer up to $250,000 a year abroad to invest in properties and securities, maintenance of relatives, among other specified purposes. Some of the tax professionals and bankers ET spoke to said authorised dealer (AD) banks are undertaking greater scrutiny before clearing LRS remittances."Many residents have used the LRS to remit funds since 2004. Similarly, non-resident Indians have remitted money under the regulation allowing them to transfer a million dollars a year from India. However, of late, many AD banks are holding back remittances, citing internal instructions which are not in the public domain or part of any regulation or master direction. It would be helpful if there's greater regulatory clarity on what is allowed and what is not," said Rajesh P Shah, partner at Jayantilal Thakkar and Company, a chartered accountancy firm specialising in tax and matters related to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).Total remittances under LRS rose from $12.68 billion in 2020-21 to $27.14 billion in 2022-23, after dipping to $19.61 billion in 2020-21. According to available figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which regulates the scheme, remittances crossed $27.4 billion for the April-January period of 2023-24.109205055At least two private banks (one large AD, another mid-sized) have recently questioned clients about the fund source, said sources. Banks, probably sensing the current regulatory milieu, feel that some are using the LRS window for purposes it was not originally meant for."The original interpretation of the liberalised remittance scheme was to ensure that any funds remitted for capital or current account transactions belong to the remitter (personal savings, education loan, salary, business income, as mentioned in form A2). Based on the RBI guidelines, the AD bank has the power to verify and even question the source of funds (more particularly for property or capital transactions) and request for supporting documentation like bank statements, tax returns, etc.," said Priyanshi Chokshi of Adarsha Advisors which offers tax and international accounting services.However, there are multiple scenarios where individuals remit funds as follows: a cash gift provided by a father to a son is further remitted, use of borrowed funds, use of funds obtained through financing from an individual's own company, said Chokshi. "The AD banks are now scrutinising such transactions in more detail, in line with the intention of RBI to ensure that a remitter uses funds 'belonging to him' and does not remit the funds for illegal or laundering purposes," she said.However, such remittances of 'gift' are primarily a mechanism to pool adequate funds by a family to purchase properties abroad. On certain occasions, such investments are a precursor to migrating to countries with programmes offering citizenship against investments."Asking for source details is not a mandate under the LRS norms. Such enquiries are more driven by the internal policies of the bank or in connection with any account-specific matters. It serves as a check as to whether the limits set up under the LRS are not exceeded directly or indirectly," said Yashesh Ashar, partner at Illume Advisory engaged in services like accounting, taxation, and corporate finance. For instance, a person, who has already exhausted his annual LRS limit, may ask a relative to send the money on his behalf.

Giving rest to all the speculations, American electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday confirmed his visit to India in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Musk wrote, "Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister @NarendraModi in India!" The CEO is likely to announce the company's investment plans in the country, reported PTI, citing sources. Musk, who has described as a 'natural progression' to provide Tesla electric vehicles in India, is likely to be accompanied by other company executives during the visit that is expected in the week of April 22, as per PTI source. However, there was no confirmation about this from Musk.— elonmusk (@elonmusk) In June last year, Musk met with Modi during the latter's US visit and stated that he planned to visit India in 2024 while expressing confidence that Tesla would enter the Indian market soon.His upcoming visit to India comes weeks after the government announced a new electric vehicle policy under which import duty concessions will be given to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of USD 500 million, a move aimed at attracting major global players like Tesla.As per the policy, the companies that would set up manufacturing facilities for EV passenger cars will be allowed to import a limited number of cars at lower customs /import duty of 15 per cent on vehicles costing USD 35,000 and above for a period of five years from the date of issuance of the approval letter by the government.At present, cars imported as completely built units (CBUs) attract customs duty ranging from 70 per cent to 100 per cent, depending on engine size and cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value less or above USD 40,000.The policy seeks to promote India as a manufacturing destination for EVs and attract investment from reputed global EV manufacturers.Last year, Tesla approached the Indian government seeking duty cuts to import its vehicles in India.Previously in 2022, Musk had said that Tesla, which was earlier seeking a reduction in import duties to sell its vehicles in India, would not manufacture its products unless it is allowed to first sell and service its cars in the country.In August 2021, Musk said that Tesla may set up a manufacturing unit in India if it first succeeds with imported vehicles in the country. He had said Tesla wanted to launch its vehicles in India "but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country!"

Governments, business leaders and development banks have two years to take action to avert far worse climate change, the U.N.'s climate chief said on Wednesday, in a speech that warned global warming is slipping down politicians' agendas. Scientists say halving climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is crucial to stop a rise in temperatures of more than 1.5 Celsius that would unleash more extreme weather and heat. Yet last year, the world's energy-related CO2 emissions increased to a record high. Current commitments to fight climate change would barely cut global emissions at all by 2030. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change said the next two years are "essential in saving our planet". "We still have a chance to make greenhouse gas emissions tumble, with a new generation of national climate plans. But we need these stronger plans, now," he said. Speaking at an event at the Chatham House think-tank in London, Stiell said the Group of 20 leading economic powers - together, responsible for 80% of global emissions - urgently needed to step up. The main task for this year's U.N. climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan, is for countries to agree a new target for climate finance to support developing countries struggling to invest in shifting away from fossil fuels and fighting climate change. U.N. climate summits have swelled in size in recent years, with thousands of lobbyists and business representatives attending alongside the government delegations directly involved in the negotiations. Nearly 84,000 people attended last year's COP28 summit in Dubai, drawing criticism from campaigners after more than 2,000 fossil fuel lobbyists registered to attend. Stiell said he would like to see future COP meetings reduced in size, while prioritising strong negotiation outcomes. He said he was in talks with Azerbaijan and Brazil - host of the next two U.N. climate summits - about this. He called for more climate finance to be raised through debt relief, cheaper financing for poorer countries, new sources of international finance such as a tax on shipping emissions, and reforms at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. "Every day finance ministers, CEOs, investors, and climate bankers and development bankers, direct trillions of dollars. It's time to shift those dollars," Stiell said. In a bumper year for elections around the world - with voters going to the polls from India, to South Africa and the United States - Stiell warned too often climate action was "slipping down cabinet agendas". Politicians from Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in the United States, to far-right parties seeking gains in the EU's upcoming election, have pushed back on climate policies as they court voters.