General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - September 2015

Sep 2015

Mar 06, 2021

Optiemus Infracom Completes Asset Sale

Electronics contract manufacturer Optiemus Infracom announced completion of sale of one of its real estate assets in Noida for Rs. 285 crore, which it plans to invest in expansion of mobile phone production business.
Optiemus is one of 16 entities whose proposal under the PLI scheme has been approved by the government. The PLI scheme for large-scale electronics manufacturing was notified on April 1, 2020.
The company said the sale of the real estate asset is in the overall best interest of the company as after exiting from its non-core asset, the company will now mainly focus on its core business of manufacturing of mobile and other mobility products to achieve maximum advantage of the PLI scheme.
Optiemus Infracom and Wistron jointly made mobile phones for LG, Blackberry, HTC, Oppo, OnePlus, JioPhones through their joint venture Optiemus Electronics. Optiemus Infracom has now purchased the entire stake of Wistron in Optiemus Electronics.

Kotak Mahindra Bank to Handle Salary Account of Indian Army Personnel

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank will handle the salary account of the Indian army personnel.
The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army for salary account.
The MoU enables Kotak to offer its salary account proposition, combined with exclusive benefits for the Indian Army, to all army personnel – both active and retired.
Through the Kotak salary account, all personnel of the Indian army will get access to the full range of Kotak's products and services including a zero-balance salary account that earns up to 4 per cent interest per annum with free unlimited ATM transactions on all VISA ATMs and anywhere banking across the bank's network of 1,603 branches and 2,573 ATMs across India.
The salary account will cover other benefits such as a bespoke salary account for the army personnel, enhanced complimentary personal accident insurance cover - for both on-duty and off-duty incidents.

Singapore Top Source of FDI in Apr-Dec into India

Singapore was the top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in the first nine months of FY21 at $15.7 billion, followed by the US at $12.82 billion with Mauritius at the third position at $3.47 billion.
As per the government, FDI equity inflows rose 40% year-on-year in the April-December of FY21 at $51.47 billion compared to $36.77 billion in the year ago period.
Gujarat garnered the highest share of FDI in the period at $21.23 billion followed by Maharashtra at $13.63 billion.
India's high foreign inflows come at a time when the global FDI collapsed in 2020, falling 42% to an estimated $859 billion from $1.5 trillion in 2019, according to UNCTAD.

Axis Bank Partners WhatsApp to Offer Basic Banking Services

Axis Bank said that it will be available on popular social messaging app WhatsApp and will allow basic banking services, including account balance, and transactions history.
The third largest private sector lender said the service will allow customers to seek information regarding their account balance, recent transactions, credit card payments, fixed and recurring deposit details, besides getting their queries answered in real-time.
The facilities will be available to both the bank and non-bank customers.

SBI Mutual Funds Launches First Overseas Fund

The State Bank of India (SBI) Mutual Funds has launched its first overseas offering in March 2021. The fund titled SBI International Access — US Equity FOF is an open-ended fund of funds scheme investing in a mutual fund scheme/ETFs that invest in US markets, which are domiciled overseas. The scheme will invest 95-100 per cent of its net assets generally in Amundi Funds.
The customers interested in the scheme are required to invest at least Rs. 5,000 for the first time. However, for additional purchase, the minimum application amount is Rs. 1,000.
There is no upper cap for the investment in this fund.

Indian Bank to Monetise Non-core Assets, Divest Stake in ASREC (India)

Public sector lender Indian Bank is planning to divest its stake in ASREC (India) Ltd, an asset reconstruction company. The bank said that this is part of its plan to monetise its non-core assets.
The Board of Directors of the bank gave in-principal approval for partial/full disinvestment of the lender's stake in its joint venture ASREC (India) Ltd. Indian Bank holds 38.26 per cent stake in ASREC (India).
ASERC acquires non-performing assets (NPAs) from banks and financial institutions at mutually agreed prices with the objective of maximising returns through innovative resolution strategies.

ICICI Bank Targeting to Serve 20 lakh Customers of Rival Banks

Private sector lender ICICI Bank said that 10 lakh customers of rival banks are using its mobile application for transactions. The lender expects the number of such customers, who are using the app for instant UPI-based payments and recharges, to double in the next three months.
Its head of digital channels and partnership Bijith Bhaskar said the bank is using NPCI''s interoperable infrastructure to serve customers of other banks as well through its app called "imobile pay".
Users like the ''Pay to Contacts'' feature the most. The functionality enables users to send money either to a mobile number or a UPI ID of their friends/contacts, to any payment app or a digital wallet, it said.

Mar 05, 2021

DSP Mutual Fund Launches New Floater Fund

DSP Investment Managers Private Ltd has launched DSP Floater Fund, an open-ended debt scheme predominantly investing in sovereign bonds and overnight index swaps (OIS) to help investors better navigate interest rate cycles. The NFO, which opened on March 04, 2021, will close on March 17, 2021.
According to the fund house, DSP Floater Fund is a one of its kind product in the short term category (duration band of 1 to 4 years) with interest rate hedge using paid position in OIS. The scheme aims to offer relatively stable returns for investors without worrying about changes in interest rate cycles.

Cabinet Nod to Pact between India and Fiji

The government approved a pact between India and Fiji for co-operation in the field of agriculture and allied sectors.
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Agriculture of Indian government and Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Fiji in this regard.
The MoU between India and Fiji provides for cooperation in various areas including promotion of joint ventures between private sectors of both countries.
The agreement also provides for exchange of research personnel, scientific experts, specialists, and technical trainees; technology transfer; development of infrastructure for agriculture development; development of human resources through training of officers and farmers by conducting seminars and workshops.

Wipro to Acquire UK-based Consultancy Firm Capco

Information Technology services major Wipro Ltd said that it would buy privately-held British consultancy firm Capco for $1.45 billion.
London-based Capco serves banking and financial institutions across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions, Wipro said in a regulatory filing adding that Capco services clients in the energy and commodities trading sector as well.
Capco has an experienced executive team withover 5,000 employees across the globe including India, US, UK, France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
The firm will operate as a separate unit (Capco – A Wipro Company).
With the acquisition, Wipro claims to be "one of the largest providers of integrated, end-to-end consulting, digital, cloud and IT transformation services at scale.

Disney to Close at Least 60 North American Stores

Walt Disney Co will close at least 60 Disney retail stores in North America this year, about 20 per cent of its worldwide total, as it revamps its digital shopping platforms to focus on e-commerce.
The media and entertainment company was also evaluating a significant reduction of stores in Europe, a spokesperson said, adding that locations in Japan and China would not be affected.
Disney currently operates roughly 300 Disney stores around the globe.

Adani Ports to Acquire Stake in Gangavaram Port

Gautam Adani-led Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone said that it is acquiring the 31.5 per cent stake of Windy Lakeside Investment in the Gangavaram Port (GPL) for Rs. 1,954 crore.
Adani Ports is also in talks with DVS Raju and family (promoters) for their 58.1 per cent stake in GPL. The remaining 10.4 per cent is held by the Andhra Pradesh government.
The acquisition, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to expand APSEZ's market share to 30 per cent across 12 locations in India.
GPL is located near the Visakhapatnam Port and has a capacity of 64 million tonnes (MT), the company said. It is an all-weather, deep-water, multi-purpose port capable of handling fully laden super cape size vessels of up to 200,000 deadweight tonne (DWT). The port handles a diverse mix of dry and bulk commodities including coal, iron ore, fertilizers, limestone, bauxite, sugar, alumina, and steel.

Hong Kong Dropped from Economic Freedom Index

Hong Kong has been excluded from the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom because its economic policies are controlled from Beijing, the Washington-based think tank said, removing Hong Kong from a list it topped for 25 years up to 2019.
The title of the world's freest economy for 2021 was retained by Singapore for the second year.
In the 2021 index, the foundation said that Hong Kong and Macau, both special administrative regions of China, were no longer included because even though citizens enjoy more economic freedom than the average resident of China, developments in recent years have demonstrated unambiguously that those policies are ultimately controlled from Beijing.

Adani Enterprises Crosses Rs. 1 Trillion Market Capitalisation

Adani Enterprises joined the elite club of companies with Rs. 1-trillion market capitalization (market-cap) on the BSE, after its share price hit a new high of Rs. 911, rallying 4 per cent in intra-day trade.
With the market-cap of Rs. 1 trillion Adani Enterprises stood at number 39th position in the overall market-cap ranking, the BSE data shows.
Adani Enterprises is the flagship company of Adani Group and has a current portfolio of robust businesses. The next-generation of its strategic business investments are centred on the fields of solar PV manufacturing, airport management, technology parks, and water infrastructure.

Mar 04, 2021

NCLT Upholds Doha Bank Plea

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai has upheld the petition of Doha Bank resulting in 100 per cent recovery for the Financial Creditors of Reliance Infratel Ltd. (RITL), aggregating to Rs. 3,515 crore.
Doha Bank, one of the Financial Creditors of RITL had filed an application against Corporate Guarantee Holders of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) and Reliance Telecom Limited (RTL), seeking priority payment for the financial creditors of RITL, from the proceeds of the company's resolution plan.
Reliance Jio has acquired these assets through NCLT driven debt resolution process. NCLT, Mumbai had approved the Reliance Infrtatel resolution plan in December 2020 in favour of Reliance Projects & Property Management Services Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited.
While approving the resolution plan, NCLT had directed that the distribution of proceeds to the Financial Creditors was subject to the disposal of Doha Bank application.

Axis Securities Launches Platform to Make Investment in Bonds and Debentures

Axis Securities announced the launch of 'YIELD' - an online platform to buy and sell bonds as well as debentures in the secondary market.
With a simple investment process, YIELD is the first-of-its-kind initiative that allows retail investors direct access to the debt instruments. This removes the hassle of filling up physical forms or the need for separate KYC with the bond institutions.
To facilitate transactions only in secure options, it aggregates only 'AAA' to 'A' rated quality debt instruments available for investment in the secondary market.
"With YIELD, we intend to provide a seamless online platform that gives retail investors access to bonds available earlier only to the large corporations, family offices, or HNIs," B Gopkumar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Axis Securities said.

Sri Lanka Reverses Offers Strategic Deep-Sea Port to India and Japan

Sri Lanka will offer a strategically located deep-sea port to India and Japan, as the island seeks to balance traditional ties against China's rising regional influence.
The government last month abruptly pulled out of an agreement with Delhi and Tokyo to jointly develop the partially built East Container Terminal, located next to a $500-million Chinese-run container jetty within the capital Colombo's sprawling port.
But Colombo reversed course, offering the West Container Terminal (WCT), which is yet to be built and located on the other side of the Chinese-run jetty known as the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT).

Kalpataru Power Transmission Bags Orders Worth Rs. 1,554 crore

Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) has won orders worth Rs. 1,554 crore.
The orders include those from India, CIS and Latin America in the power transmission business.
Besides, KPTL's international subsidiary has secured new power transmission projects in Europe.
KPTL is a specialized engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) company in India engaged in power transmission and distribution, oil & gas pipeline, railways, infrastructure development, civil contracting and warehousing & logistics business.
The company is currently executing several contracts in India, Africa, the Middle East, CIS, SAARC nations and Far East.

UPL and TeleSense Tie up for Tech Solutions

Agro-chemical firm UPL Ltd announced a strategic collaboration with US-based internet of things (IoT) innovator TeleSense to revolutionise post-harvest grain storage and transport.
UPL said that it will help TeleSense strengthen its sales channel by introducing monitoring solutions for post-harvest commodity storage and transport to multiple stakeholders across the agriculture value chain.
California-based TeleSense uses scalable sensor technology on an artificial intelligence (AI) platform to monitor the temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels of stored grain.

Mar 03, 2021

Reliance Gets World's First 'Carbon-neutral' Oil from the US

Reliance Industries Ltd has sourced the world's first consignment of carbon-neutral oil from the US as it looks to become a net zero-carbon company by 2035.
Reliance, which operates the world's largest single location oil refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat with capacity of 68.2 million tonnes a year, got 2 million barrels of consignment Permian basin.
Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a division of US oil major Occidental, delivered carbon-neutral oil to Reliance.
This transaction, which was arranged in conjunction with Macquarie Group's Commodities and Global Markets group (Macquarie), is the energy industry's first major petroleum shipment for which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the entire crude lifecycle, well-head through combustion of end products, have been offset.

Flipkart Ramps up Grocery Operations

E-commerce giant Flipkart, India's home grown e-commerce marketplace has expanded its grocery services to more than 50 cities in the country through its pan India marketplace. This expansion will provide users of 7 metro cities and over 40 neighbouring cities access to high-quality grocery products, quick deliveries and a seamless shopping experience.
In the grocery space, Flipkart competes with players such as BigBasket, Swiggy, Amazon, Grofers and Reliance's JioMart.

Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Gets In-principle Approval for Privatisation

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given in-principle approval to privatise Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd.
The government currently holds 100 per cent stake in the maker of crude steel. The PSU, that is a corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, comes under Ministry of Steel.
CCEA, in its meeting in January had approved strategic divestment of government's 100 per cent shareholding in the company along with management control.

India is Home to 177 Billionaires

India has retained its third position on the list of countries with a maximum number of billionaires. According to Hurun Global Rich List 2021, there are a total of 209 Indian billionaires in the world, including 32 living outside the country.
Out of the 209, India is home to 177 resident dollar billionaires. Further, the report added that at least 61 billionaires in India reside in Mumbai, followed by Delhi with 40 and Bengaluru at 22.
Apoorva Mehta of Instacart and Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath remained the youngest Indians billionaire on the list with a net worth of $1.5 billion. Mukesh Jagtiani of Landmark is the newest face from India on the Hurun Rich List 2021.

Adani Wins 5 Projects at Andhra Solar Auction

Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) won five mega solar power projects of 600 megawatt (MW) each in the bidding held by Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation Ltd (APGEC) for awarding 6.4 GW of ultra mega solar projects.
State-owned NTPC Ltd won 600 MW in the auction quoting the lowest tariff of Rs. 2.48 per kWh (unit).
The lowest tariff discovered in the whole auction process was Rs. 2.47 per unit by Torrent Power for a 300 MW solar project.
AGEL quoted tariff in the range of Rs. 2.49-2.58 per unit for the five projects, winning half the capacity offered by the state.
The final award of the projects is subject to the outcome of a writ petition filed in the High court of Andhra Pradesh.

Risk-based Internal Audit Mandatory for Select NBFCs, UCBs

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a risk-based internal audit (RBIA) system for select non-bank lenders and urban co-operative banks (UCBs).
All deposit-taking non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), NBFCs with an asset size of Rs. 5,000 crore, and UCBs with an asset size of Rs. 500 crore will have to implement the system by March 31, 2022.

ORIX and Teesta Urja Deal Complete

Japan's financial services firm ORIX Corp. and Greenko Energy Holdings have concluded a deal for the investment of $980 million in Greenko. This is the single largest foreign investment transaction in India's clean energy space.
In addition, Greenko has also completed the acquisition of 40% stake in Teesta Urja Ltd, which is setting up the 1.2 gigawatt (GW) hydropower project in North Sikkim, for $250 million.
With the ORIX deal also adding 873 MW of its operating wind assets to Hyderabad-based Greenko's portfolio, the completion of both these transactions takes Greenko's operational portfolio to 7.3 GW—India's largest operational clean energy portfolio.
The ORIX deal, announced last September, also pegged GIC Holdings Pte. Ltd and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) backed Greenko's equity and enterprise value at $5.75 billion and $10.2 billion respectively.

Reserve Bank India Remains Net Buyer of US Dollar in December

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) remained net buyer of the US dollar in December after it purchased USD 3.991 billion from the spot market.
During the reporting month, the central bank bought USD 10.014 billion and sold USD 6.023 billion in the spot market, the RBI said in its monthly bulletin for February 2021.
In November 2020, it was the net buyer of the US dollar after it had purchased USD 14.289 billion and sold USD 4.028 billion.
In December 2019, the central bank had bought USD 5.374 billion and sold USD 1.014 billion in the spot market.
In FY20, the central bank had net purchased USD 45.097 billion. It had bought USD 72.205 billion and sold USD 27.108 billion in the spot market.

Mar 02, 2021

O2 Power to Buy Stake in Hero Future Energies' Rajasthan SPV

- O2 Power, promoted by European alternative asset manager EQT and Temasek, is acquiring a 49% stake in Rahul Munjal-led Hero Future Energies Pvt. Ltd's special purpose vehicle (SPV)–Clean Solar Power Bhainsada–that is setting up a 250 megawatt (MW) solar capacity in Rajasthan.
- The SPV won this project by quoting a tariff of Rs2.53 per unit and has a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with state-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). An announcement is expected to be made shortly about this sale, that will help O2 Power reach a 1.23-gigawatt (GW) portfolio.
- This sale is part of the transaction for which Hero Future Energies has mandated HSBC to sell 500 MW of pre-construction assets. With an installed capacity of 1.7 GW and an additional 1.5GW under construction, Hero Future Energies plans to build a 3.5GW operating portfolio by 2022.

BPCL to Sell Entire Stake in Numaligarh Refinery

State-run Bharat Petroleum Corp. will offload its holding in its unit Numaligarh Refinery Ltd. for Rs. 9,878 crore ($1.3 billion) as part of its own privatisation process.
The country's second-biggest state refiner will sell its 61.65% holding in Numaligarh Refinery to a consortium of Oil India Ltd. and Engineers India Ltd. and may also include the state government of Assam, according to an exchange filing. The final sale pact will be entered into after obtaining clearances from its shareholders.
Oil India currently holds 26% in Numaligarh Refinery Ltd., which operates a 3 million-tons-a-year oil refinery in Assam. The refinery is being expanded threefold to meet the region's growing fuel demand. Assam state government owns 12.35% in the company.
Privatisation process of BPCL moves ahead with BPCL Board deciding to exit from NRL at a consideration of Rs 9875.96 Cr for its 61.65% stake with transfer of control. OIL, EIL and Government of Assam will be picking up the stake.

BOC Aviation and IndiGo Sign Purchase-leaseback Pact

BOC Aviation Limited has signed purchase-and-leaseback agreements with InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (IndiGo) for eight new Airbus A320NEO aircraft.
The addition of these eight A320NEO aircraft demonstrates our confidence in the future growth of the aviation market in India.
The aircraft will be powered by CFM Leap engines and are scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2021.

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