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Emerging economies must prepare for US interest rate hikes, the International Monetary Fund said, warning that faster than expected Federal Reserve moves could rattle financial markets and trigger capital outflows and currency depreciation abroad.

In a blog published Monday, the IMF said it expected robust US growth to continue, with inflation likely to moderate later in the year. The global lender is due to release fresh global economic forecasts on January 25.

It said a gradual, well-telegraphed tightening of US monetary policy would likely have little impact on emerging markets, with foreign demand offsetting the impact of rising financing costs.

But broad-based US wage inflation or sustained supply bottlenecks could boost prices more than anticipated and fuel expectations for more rapid inflation, triggering faster rate hikes by the US central bank.

"Emerging economies should prepare for potential bouts of economic turbulence," the IMF said, citing the risks posed by faster-than-expected Fed rate hikes and the resurgent pandemic.

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St. Louis Fed President James Bullard this week said the Fed could raise interest rates as soon as March, months earlier than previously expected, and is now in a "good position" to take even more aggressive steps against inflation, as needed.

"Faster Fed rate increases could rattle financial markets and tighten financial conditions globally. These developments could come with a slowing of US demand and trade and may lead to capital outflows and currency depreciation in emerging markets," senior IMF officials wrote in the blog.

It said emerging markets with high public and private debt, foreign exchange exposures, and lower current-account balances had already seen larger movements of their currencies relative to the US dollar.The fund said emerging markets with stronger inflation pressures or weaker institutions should act swiftly to let currencies depreciate and raise benchmark interest rates.It urged central banks to clearly and consistently communicate their plans to tighten policy, and said countries with high levels of debt denominated in foreign currencies should look to hedge their exposures where feasible.

Governments could also announce plans to boost fiscal resources by gradually increasing tax revenues, implementing pension and subsidy overhauls, or other measures, it added.

Petrol and diesel prices will remain unchanged on January 8 - a notification issued by state-owned fuel retailers showed.

The last rate cut was by Delhi which reduced the local sales tax or value-added tax (VAT) on petrol from 30 to 19.4 percent from December 1 midnight, bringing down the price by around Rs 8 to Rs 95.41 a litre. Diesel price also remains unchanged in the national capital at Rs 86.67 a litre.

On November 3, the Centre had gone for the deepest excise duty cut ever to bring down retail prices from record highs, reducing the duty on petrol by Rs 5 and on diesel by Rs 10. Many states and union territories followed the Centre's led to give further relief to consumers.

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In Mumbai, a November 4 cut reduced the price of petrol to Rs 109.98 a litre, which remains unchanged. Diesel is at Rs 94.14 a litre.

In Kolkata, petrol and diesel prices remained at Rs 104.67 and Rs 89.79. Petrol was at Rs 101.40 and diesel at Rs 91.43 in Chennai.

The states and union territories that had gone for VAT reduction after the excise duty cut by the Centre include Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Sikkim, Mizoram, Daman and Diu, Karnataka and Puducherry.

Others include Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Gujarat, Nagaland, Punjab, Goa, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Andaman and Nicobar, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.States that have so far not lowered VAT include are largely opposition ruled states including Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. TMC-governed West Bengal, Left-ruled Kerala, TRS-led Telangana and YSR Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh have also not cut VAT.

Congress-ruled Punjab, which is due for election by March, has seen the biggest drop in petrol prices after it slashed VAT the most. The union territory of Ladakh saw the biggest fall in diesel rates.

Shares of NHPC advanced 3 percent intraday to Rs 32.35 on January 6 after company signed an agreement with Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha (GEDCOL) for formation of a JV company for development of 500 MW floating Solar Power Projects in various water reservoirs in the State of Odisha.

"The Parties hereby decide and agree to jointly establish a Company under the name of "Odisha Solar Power Development Company Limited" or any other name as may be approved by Registrar of Companies upon the terms & conditions contained in Promoters Agreement, for implementation of 500 MW Floating Solar Power Projects in Odisha and explore further potential of installing floating solar projects after joint identification in subsequent periods in Odisha State and plan such other Solar Projects as a developer or under any other arrangement as may be decided by the JVC from time to time as per Gol directions," NHPC said in a regulatory filing.

NHPC will hold 76 percent stake in the JV, while GEDCOL will hold 26 percent.

At 10:46 am, shares of NHPC were trading at Rs 32.20 apiece on the BSE, up 2.22 percent, while the benchmark Sensex tanked 890.6 points or 1.48 percent to 59,332.55.

The Gujarat government announced a 20 percent reduction in value-added tax (VAT) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to bring the levy at 5 per cent in a move to boost tourism in the state. This was the second cut in VAT on ATF in less than a month.

The decision to reduce VAT on jet fuel was taken by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel at a meeting, a state government release said.

"With the reduction of tax rate by 20 per cent, the effective VAT on ATF in Gujarat will be five per cent," the release said.

Complaints have piled up in the past couple of months against app-based ridesharing companies for cancellations. After offering a way for commuters to overcome their dependence on metered taxi operators -- be it taxis or auto rickshaws – cab aggregators have become as bad in terms of service if not worse.

The way out for app-based operators is not yet clear, but the complaints definitely put the back on the core issue of connectivity from airports or rather the lack of it -- especially on the public transport front.

Most global airports -- from Singapore’s Changi to London’s Heathrow -- have metro connectivity to the airports, In India, except Delhi, no other Indian airport offers metro connectivity. The one in Delhi was limited to Terminal 3 until recently.

Metro rail networks are being planned across multiple cities, which already have an airport or in the middle of airport expansion or in some cases planning to build a new airport, yet in most cases, the metro lines and the airport do not converge.

It seems as if the airports were never to be covered as part of the metro network. The Kolkata metro -- the oldest such rail network in India -- was completed in the 1980s, yet until now the airport is not connected with the metro.

Maximum struggle for new airports

Both Bengaluru and Hyderabad got their new airports in 2008. Five years earlier, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was commissioned to prepare a feasibility report for Bengaluru metro. Two lines were recommended, none of which would connect to the airport.

Many years of delay later, the metro has been operational, but little has moved to connect the airport with a dedicated metro. As Bengaluru airport expands, it continues to rely on expensive cab rides to the airport; with passengers stuck in traffic and a wary eye on the watch to see if they would make it in time for the flight.

The airport luckily has better bus connectivity with dedicated airport routes, unlike many other cities. But a bus route via the arterial city centre of Bengaluru does not provide any solace from traffic.

Hyderabad’s metro was operationalised in 2017, nine years after the airport, but a route to the airport is still in the works. The 11.6-kilometre P V Narasimha Rao elevated road is the only alternative for a quick trip to Hyderabad city from the airport, which itself is in expansion mode and expected to reach a capacity of 34 million passengers per year by next year.

Airport connectivity not in the metro plan

The last couple of years has seen the government speed up metro connectivity in many cities. Mumbai - the second largest airport in the country, has had a controversial metro, but the airport is still not on the map, not yet!

Likewise, metros are in operation or on the verge of inauguration in Kochi, Jaipur, Bhopal, Varanasi, Pune and Patna, where there is no immediate plan to connect the airport to the metro network.

All these places have cultural, religious, tourism or business significance.

A few exceptions and future-ready

Lucknow metro’s red line starts at the airport, one of the few examples of airport and metro connectivity being part of the plan.

Chennai and Nagpur have airport metro stations but the planning has not exactly been ideal. The distance between Nagpur airport’s terminal and the metro station is over a kilometre away, likewise for Chennai.

The airports are working with the metro authorities for a feeder network with electric vehicles or buses.

Metros in Indore, Vizag and Coimbatore have plans to connect to the airports in the city as part of their initial metro lines but the rail network is still some time away and most of the infrastructure projects in the country have been delayed because of COVID-19.

Jewar airport is slated to open with a metro station in its forecourt.

Viability a concern

When the Delhi Metro’s airport line opened, it was operated by Reliance Infrastructure Ltd – an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company. Reliance Infra started operation of the Delhi Airport Metro line -- which connected to Delhi Metro’s network in New Delhi and Dwarka Sector 21, was termed financially unviable by the private operator, leading to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) taking over the line and reducing ticket prices to attract more passengers.

There are two views about airport metros -- one which talks about a dedicated line like in New Delhi, where the rakes are customised to carry air passengers’ luggage.

The other is to have the airport station as part of a larger metro network, where the line is viable without having separate rakes.

The bottomline would matter, but the convenience, security and cost of metro rail offers a bigger advantage than any other mode of transport. It is high time that airports and metro planning authorities act in sync to put in place a viable solution at a time when the aviation ecosystem is looking at becoming net zero on the carbon emissions front

India expects to achieve its export target of $400 billion in the current fiscal year that runs through March, the country’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.