Udupi-based Robosoft Technologies, a digital transformation solutions firm that counts Apple as its client, has signed a definitive agreement to sell the company to the Japanese firm Technopro Holdings for the total cost of Rs. 805 crore.
Robosoft was founded by Rohith Bhat in 1996 in Udupi, a small town in Karnataka. With Apple as its first customer, Robosoft set out to create software solutions. Since then it has developed device drivers, games, video editing software, and imaging software for demanding clients across the globe.
Robosoft will continue to be led by its current management team, headed by chief executive officer Ravi Teja Bommireddipalli who is also being elevated to managing director and CEO.
RBI to Levy Penalty on ATMs that Run Out of Cash
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks and white label automated teller machine (ATM) operators to put in place a robust system that will allow them to monitor the availability of cash in ATMs and ensure timely replenishment to avoid cash-out situations.
The central bank has introduced a 'scheme of penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs', effective October 1, 2021, wherein banks and white label ATM operators will be penalised, in the event of cash-outs beyond the permissible time limit.
According to the scheme, a penalty of Rs. 10,000 per ATM will be levied in the event of a cash-out situation for more than 10 hours in a month. "In the case of white label ATMs, the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular white label ATM. The bank, may, at its discretion, recover the penalty from the white label ATM operator.
Suvomoy Saha is Eveready's New Joint Managing Director
The country's largest dry cell battery maker, Eveready Industries India, appointed Suvomoy Saha as joint managing director, for re-orientation of processes in the post pandemic world and new growth avenues.
The move comes more than a year after the Burman family – promoters of Dabur India – became the largest shareholder in Eveready at around 19.84 per cent. The Khaitan family – promoters of Eveready – is at 4.77 per cent and Amritanshu Khaitan, is the managing director of the company.
Saha was a non-executive director prior to his appointment as joint managing director. From March 2005 to July 2019, he was a whole time director of Eveready.
Hindujas Sell Health Care Unit to Baring Private Equity
Hinduja Group's business process management entity, Hinduja Global Solutions Limited (HGS) entered into definitive agreements to divest its Healthcare Services business to funds affiliated with Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), at an enterprise value of $1.2 bilion.
The deal is subject to closing adjustments, and is expected to complete within 90 days, subject to shareholder and other regulatory approvals.
Amazon to End Partnership with Murthy's Catamaran Ventures
E-commerce giant Amazon and Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy's Catamaran Ventures have mutually decided to not continue their joint venture (JV) beyond the end of its current term. The JV, Prione Business Services, which has been running successfully for the past seven years, was coming up for renewal in May 2022.
Amazon and Catamaran had entered into a JV in the early days of e-commerce in India with a shared vision of transforming small businesses in a fast-changing digital world by providing online capabilities and enabling them access to customers - both in India and abroad.
India Companies Seal 181 Deals in July
According to Grant Thornton Bharat's Dealtracker, India Inc recorded 181 deals amounting to $13.2 billion in July 2021.
There has been a significant year-on-year rise in deal volumes at 66 per cent and 3 per cent increase in the deal values. This is also the highest record volumes for any given month since 2005.
Aug 10, 2021
Govt's SWAMIH Fund to Invest in Six Amrapali Projects
Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing SWAMIH Investment Fund I (SWAMIH Fund), sponsored by Union Government and managed by an arm of SBI Capital Markets, will invest Rs. 650 crore in six projects of erstwhile Amrapali Group at Noida and Greater Noida.
The fund manager SBICAP Ventures has signed agreement with the Supreme court appointed receiver for infusing the funds.
The projects receiving the funds include include Silicon City-1, Silicon City-2, Crystal Homes, Centurian Park- Low Rise, O2 Valley and Tropical Garden where 6,947 units are stalled of which 6,132 units are sold but homebuyers are awaiting delivery. These projects were launched almost about 10 years ago between 2011 and 2013 and have been delayed for more than 4-5 years from their promised delivery timeline.
RBI Hikes Collateral Free Loans to SHGs
The Reserve Bank of India notified the enhancement of collateral free loans to self-help groups (SHGs) from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 20 lakh under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
The DAY-NRLM is the flagship programme of Government of India for promoting poverty reduction through building strong institutions of the poor, particularly women, and enabling these institutions to access a range of financial services and livelihoods.
DAY-NRLM adopts a demand driven approach, enabling the states to formulate their own state-specific poverty reduction action plans.
For loans to SHGs up to Rs. 10 lakh, no collateral and no margin will be charged.
"For loans to SHGs above Rs. 10 lakh and up to Rs. 20 lakh, no collateral should be charged and no lien should be marked against savings bank account of SHGs.
However, the entire loan (irrespective of the loan outstanding, even if it subsequently goes below Rs. 10 lakh) would be eligible for coverage under Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU).
Wipro Appoints Jason Eichenholz as Global Partnerships Lead
IT services firm Wipro Ltd has appointed former Deloitte Consulting executive Jason Eichenholz as its Senior Vice President and Global Partnership Lead.
Eichenholz will lead Wipro's efforts across all partnerships, and will report to Chief Growth Officer Stephanie Trautman.
Eichenholz will be based in Florida, US.
With over two decades of experience working in enterprise technology, Eichenholz brings deep cloud experience and a passion to couple technology with sales and service techniques to Wipro.
Gift City, India Insurtech Ink Pact to Promote Fintech in Insurance Sector
GIFT City, the country's first international financial services centre (IFSC), has collaborated with the India InsurTech Association (IIA) to promote financial technology in the insurance sector.
IIA is a not-for-profit organisation working towards growing a technology-driven insurance ecosystem in India.
The two entities will collaborate on building thought leadership in the field of insurance and creating awareness about GIFT City among Indian and foreign insurance companies, the country's first operational smart city said in a statement.
To raise awareness about GIFT-IFSC, the collaboration will organise events, information series, seminars, and conferences.
Aug 09, 2021
IDBI Bank Strategic Sale: 7 Firms in Race for Transaction Advisor
As many as seven firms, including JM Financial, Ernst and Young and Deloitte, have bid for managing the strategic sale of IDBI Bank.
These firms would make a virtual presentation before the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), which is handling the sale process, on August 10.
The firms that have bid for acting as transaction advisor are Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, Ernst and Young LLP, ICICI Securities, JM Financial Ltd, KPMG, RBSA Capital Advisors LLP and SBI Capital Markets.
DIPAM would appoint one transaction advisor for the strategic sale of IDBI Bank, in which the central government and LIC together own more than 94 per cent.
LIC, currently having management control, has a 49.24 per cent stake, while the government holds 45.48 per cent in the bank. Non-promoter shareholding stands at 5.29 per cent.
JSPL Accepts Revised Offer from Worldone to divest Stake in Jindal Power
Jindal Steel and Power Limited's Board accepted the revised binding offer from Worldone Private Limited (acquirer) to divest its 96.42 per cent stake in Jindal Power Limited (JPL), a material subsidiary of JSPL.
The deal will also entail debt associated with JPL (of Rs. 6,566 crores approx as on December 31, 2020) moving out of JSPL's consolidated books, thereby, strengtheningJSPL's balance sheet.
Equitas Small Finance Bank Launches 'Equitech' to Boost Fintech Start-ups
Equitas Small Finance Bank is set to launch 'Equitech' - a Fintech Accelerator aimed at the start-up ecosystem. It is a unique program designed to scale up and help Fintechs curate their products and define a go-to-market strategy. This will help the Fintechs to reach the next level and take its product to the market in a more targeted manner. The program has been launched on 07 August and the application process for the enrolment has commenced.
The program aims to augment the fintech ideas into outcome-driven partnerships with key focus on product and customer acquisition.
Karnataka Bank Empanelled as 'Agency Bank' for Government Business
Karnataka Bank said that the bank is empanelled by the Reserve Bank of India to act as an empanelled "Agency Bank", Karnataka Bank is now authorised to undertake the Government businesses such as Revenue receipts and payments on behalf of the Central/State Governments, Pension payments in respect of Central / State Governments, Collection of stamp duty charges and also any other item of work specifically advised by Reserve Bank of India.
Aug 08, 2021
RBI Keeps Repo Rate Unchanged
The Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee kept the key interest rates unchanged for a seventh straight meeting, while retaining an accommodative stance to help revive the economy amid coronavirus-related stress.
The repo rate and reverse repo rate would remain unchanged at 4 per cent and 3.35 per cent, respectively, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, after a three-day meeting of the committee in Mumbai.
The central bank kept its FY22 GDP forecast at 9.5 per cent and it projected retail inflation for the same period to be 5.7 per cent from 5.1 per cent earlier.
ICICI Prudential Life Ties up with NPCI for UPI Autopay
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has tied up with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to provide a Unified Payments Interface Autopay facility to its customers. This tie-up is another step in the company's digitalisation journey, which provides customers with a hassle-free and seamless experience across the policy lifecycle.
While purchasing a life insurance policy, customers can link their bank accounts with UPI Autopay for payment of premium.
The UPI Autopay e-mandate can be activated by customers by using their smartphones to make regular renewal premium payments in a paperless format.
The UPI payment mode is fast becoming a preferred route of payment due to the contactless and frictionless experience it provides.
Customers can set up the e-mandate facility to make their regular renewal premium payments and ensure financial security for self and their families.
Customers can enable the UPI Auotpay feature on their UPI apps. Alternatively, it can be enabled for banks through an e-mandate.
ICICI Prudential Life Ties up with NPCI for UPI Autopay
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has tied up with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to provide a Unified Payments Interface Autopay facility to its customers. This tie-up is another step in the company's digitalisation journey, which provides customers with a hassle-free and seamless experience across the policy lifecycle.
Axis Bank Crosses one Million Customers on WhatsApp Banking
Axis Bank has crossed the milestone of over one million customers on its WhatsApp banking channel with a total request count of 6 million till now. Axis Bank had launched banking services on WhatsApp in January 2021 and has since witnessed robust organic growth in its customer base for WhatsApp banking.
After signing up for the service, customers can inquire and get details of products across savings account, credit and debit cards, deposits and personal loans. Non-financial service requests can also be initiated, such as locating ATMs or getting updates on third-party deals available on credit and debit cards.
Aug 07, 2021
Suryoday Small Finance Bank Opens 'Health and Wellness Savings Account
Suryoday Small Finance Bank (SSFB) has launched a 'Suryoday Health and Wellness Savings Account' to help customers grow their wealth and also take care of their family's health amid the covid-19 pandemic.
The account offers an attractive interest rate and comes with three major benefits for a family of four -- top-up health insurance of Rs. 25 lakh, annual healthcare package and on-call emergency ambulance medical care services.
Top-up health insurance and healthcare package are free of charge for one year after opening the account. Free ambulance service up to a distance of 20 km will be available at 102 locations across the country till March-end 2022. For opening the savings account, customers will need to maintain an average monthly balance of Rs. 3 lakh and have to be eligible as per the key health declaration form.
Haryana Formulates Policy to Create Land Banks for Govt. Dept
In a bid to prevent distress sale of land by farmers, the Haryana government has provided an option to them by formulating a policy to create land banks for government departments, boards and corporations.
Under this policy, farmers can advise the state government for selecting a site for the development project at a particular place.
A decision to this regard was taken in the meeting of the Council of Ministers under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
This policy may be called the Policy for Creating Land Bank for the Government Department including Boards and Corporations and disposal thereof for development projects.
Action Taken against HDFC Bank, Mastercard to Ensure Compliance
A keenness to ensure compliance to regulatory guidelines has led the RBI to initiate strong actions against entities like HDFC Bank, Mastercard and American Express, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said.
The RBI has banned HDFC Bank from selling new credit cards after instances of service outages, and asked Mastercard and American Express to not sell any new cards for data localisation non-compliance.
Oil Ministry Launches Sixth Bid Round of Open Acreage Licensing Programme
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched the sixth round of bid under the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP). There are 21 blocks, with an area of approximately 35,346 sq km are on offer to investors.
The bidders would be able to submit their bids on an online e-bidding portal starting August 6, 2021 and the deadline for bid submission is October 6, 2021. Award of these blocks to winning bidders is expected by the end of November 2021.
In earlier rounds, the Oil Ministry had awarded 105 blocks spanning an area of around 156,580 sq km, which attracted total committed investment of about $2.4 billion.
SBI General Insurance Partners with SahiPay to Offer General Insurance Products
SBI General Insurance, one of India's leading General Insurance companies, announced a tie-up with Manipal Business Solutions to increase insurance penetration in the rural markets. SahiPay, the fastest growing tech-enabled financial inclusion platform of Manipal Business Solutions, provides digital and financial services to customers in semi-urban and rural India.
This association marks a significant milestone for SBI General in realizing its vision of becoming the most trusted general insurer for India as well as Bharat.
Through this partnership, SBI General will provide a bouquet of non-life insurance solutions to SahiPay customers.
RITES Bags Highest Ever Order from Ministry of Railways
State-owned RITES Limited has secured its highest-ever work order worth Rs. 4,027 crore for railway track works from the Ministry of Railways.
The turnkey order includes the three new line projects - Belgam-Dharwad via Kittur, Shimoga-Shikaripura-Ranebennur and Tumkur-Devangree via Chitradurga.
RITES is a public sector enterprise and a leading player in the transport consultancy and engineering sector in India, having diversified services and geographical reach.