General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - February 2017

Feb 2017

Dec 18, 2019

Retail Loans to Double in 5 Years

According to a study jointly conducted by private sector lender ICICI Bank and rating agency Crisil, retail loan book of financiers in India will double to Rs. 96 lakh crore by March 2024, compared with Rs. 48 lakh crore in March 2019.
The retail loan book of financiers will double to Rs 96 lakh crore by March 2024 due to higher private consumption, willingness to take loans and usage of data analytics.

BSNL to Save Rs. 1,300 crore in FY20 with VRS Offer

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) said that post VRS, it expects to save Rs. 1,300 crore in wage bills this fiscal after the scheme becomes effective in January, 2020.
In all, 78,569 employees have opted for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).
On January 31, 2020, the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) will be effective.
As per CMD P.K. Purwar, the goal is that people who have applied for VRS, their application should be considered and approved.
Mr. Pawar said that after the VRS, BSNL will have around 70,000 employees, but added that the company has an option to hire contractual employees from third parties as and when required.

NBCC Bid to Acquire Jaypee Infra Cleared

A week-long voting process threw up NBCC Limited as an overwhelming favourite to complete the under-construction assets of Jaypee Infratech. Pitted against a consortium of Suraksha Realty Limited and Lakshdeep Investments and Finance Private Limited, the state-owned company secured 97.36% of the votes that had 13 lenders and over 12,000 homebuyers participating in the exercise.
The projects, many of them lying along the 167-km-long Yamuna Expressway, are based in Noida, Tappal, Jaganpur, Agra and Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.
Jaypee Infratech is one of the twelve companies that figured in the first list the Reserve Bank of India had sent to the banks in June 2017 to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against under the newly minted Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).
The middle-class families, who have had their money stuck for as many as eight to nine years, can now hope to get their dream asset in nine to 42 months as promised by NBCC.

Telecom Body Defers Zero IUC by a Year

The telecom regulator deferred by a year a plan to scrap a levy charged by operators for handling incoming calls from rival networks, offering relief to older telcos that generate a part of their revenue from interconnect usage charges (IUC).
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will now scrap IUC from 1 January 2021 instead of next month. As a result, operators will continue to earn 6 paise a minute for every mobile call they receive on their networks till 31 December, 2020.

Boeing to Halt Production of 737 Max

Boeing has suspended production of the 737 MAX starting January 2020 as it struggles to get approval from regulators to put the plane back in the air.
Boeing's decision is expected to pose further problems not only for SpiceJet, which has ordered 205 of these aircraft in 2017, but also for other airlines worldwide.

Elgi Equipments Acquires Michigan Air Solutions

Elgi Compressors USA Inc, a subsidiary of Elgi Equipment Limited, acquired Michigan Air Solutions, one of the largest independent air compressor distributors in Michigan.
With this acquisition, Elgi has expanded its presence in the US.
According to Jairam Varadaraj, Managing Director, Elgi Equipments Ltd, Michigan Air Solutions complements Elgi's global growth strategy, and brings significant market reach and scale, that will add further value to our product offerings and go-to-marker plan across the region.
Elgi's acquisition of Michigan Air is a continuation of strategy to invest in select, inorganic opportunities to gain presence in the North American market.

Dec 17, 2019

BYD Plans to Make India a Hub

V. Rishi Kumar BYD Co Limited, the diversified business conglomerate based in Shenzhen, China, is on expansion mode in India through the 'Make in India' drive.
It is in the process of stepping up its engagement in India in the entire electric mobility chain and electronics, while also seeking to transform it as a hub for the region.
The company is evaluating the possibility of introducing pure electric passenger vehicles and exploring business prospect for rail transit.
Build Your Dreams, set up in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in 1995, has made its India entry with a tie up with Olectra Greentech (Goldstone) for supply of electric buses. It is now looking at expanding its manufacturing base in Chennai, where it manufacturers electric buses.

Tata Motors in Alliance Talks with Chinese Firms

Tata Motors Ltd, India's largest vehicle maker, is in initial talks with a couple of Chinese automobile companies for a tie-up for its passenger vehicles business.
These companies may either invest directly in Tata Motors or form a joint venture. The collaboration could include joint development of technologies related to electric mobility, sharing of manufacturing capacities, development of engines and platforms and other aspects of the business.
The move could help Tata Motors significantly reduce its debt for its India business that stood at Rs. 23,365.49 crore as of 30 September, according to Bloomberg. Its consolidated debt, including that of its UK unit Jaguar Land Rover, stood at Rs. 95,465.08 crore.

Legacy Arms Help Air India

At a time when Air India (AI) is striving to keep the operations going despite serious financial crunch, several of its arms are helping it stay afloat.
These institutions, namely its engineering division, now called Air India Engineering Services Ltd. that runs MRO services, its security department with 3,600 personnel as well as its Aviation Security Training Institute, in-house crew training institute and simulator facility are helping it to manage operations in a cost-effective manner.
The government has cut the financial lifeline to the loss-making national carrier which is being sold or dis-invested through a listing.

U.K. HC Rejects Plea against Anil Ambani

The UK High Court dismissed an application for summary judgment by Chinese banks for a $680 million claim against Anil Ambani.
The court, however, passed a conditional order on the basis that Ambani's defence against the claim, while possible, is improbable.
Now, the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales asked Ambani's legal team to submit further evidence in his defence and prove that the claim by Chinese lenders holds no merit.

ArcelorMittal Forms JV with Nippon Steel

ArcelorMittal SA formed a joint venture with Nippon Steel Corp to run Essar Steel, the bankrupt Indian steel company that ArcelorMittal took over.
India's Supreme Court had cleared the way for ArcelorMittal to take over Essar Steel following a legal tussle that dragged through multiple courts for over two years. ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel had bid jointly for Essar, which has a capacity of 10 million tonnes of steel per year.
ArcelorMittal holds 60% stake in the new venture - ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India Ltd - the world's biggest steelmaker.
The new company aims to export up to 15 million tonnes of finished steel.
Essar Steel, which had debts of nearly 500 billion rupees ($7 billion), was among twelve large steel and infrastructure companies that were referred to India's bankruptcy court in 2017.

RBI Asks Banks to Waive NEFT Charges

Giving a big boost to digital funds movement, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) operationalised round-the-clock (24 X 7 basis) availability of the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and asked the banks not to levy any charges on NEFT transfer from savings bank account holders.
Customers can now transfer money through NEFT without paying any charges any time of the day whereas banks charge a fee for fund transfer through cheques and demand draft (DD).
In order to give further impetus to digital retail payments, it has now been decided that member banks shall not levy any charges from their savings bank account holders for funds transfers done through NEFT system which are initiated online (internet banking and/ or mobile apps of the banks).

Dec 16, 2019

RIL Arm Inks Pact To Get Investments From Canada's Brookfield

Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings Limited (RIIHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), entered into binding agreements with Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, and its institutional partners, for an investment of Rs. 25,215 crore in the units to be issued by the Tower Infrastructure Trust.
At the closing of the transaction, the Trust will own 100% of the issued and paid up equity share capital of Reliance Jio lnfratel Private Limited (RJIPL). RJIPL has a portfolio of approximately 130,000 telecom towers that form the backbone of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited's network. The company plans to scale up to 1,75,000 towers eventually.

Coal Ministry to Set Up 'Sustainable Development Cell'

The Coal Ministry will establish 'Sustainable Development Cell' (SDC) for promoting sustainable coal mining in the country and address environmental concerns at closure of mines.
The SDC envisages to address environment mitigation measures in a systemic manner and provide a better environment to people working and residing in the vicinity of mines.
"The Ministry of Coal has decided to establish a 'Sustainable Development Cell' in order to promote environmentally sustainable coal mining in the country and address environmental concerns during the decommissioning or closure of mines.

Dec 15, 2019

Plastic Industry Seeks Hike in Customs Duty

Faced with a sharp decline in exports and an erosion in domestic offtake brought on by a spurt in imports, India's plastic manufacturers have urged the government to increase customs duty, levy anti-dumping duty and review foreign trade agreements (FTAs) to restrict supply of cheap and poor-quality products from overseas markets.
Plastic producers under the aegis of the All-India Plastics Manufacturers Association (AIPMA) met with other players in the value chain to discuss steps needed for the revival of the domestic industry. AIPMA, which represents some 22,000 makers of plastic and allied products, highlighted the need to bring the industry on a growth trajectory to prevent closure of these units and improve exports of plastic products.

Government to Allot 6 Coal Mines to Reduce Coal Imports

The Ministry of Coal initiated the auction process of coal mines. The move by the government is to reduce coal imports. After the poor participation of investors in the previous rounds of coal auctions, the government is now finally considering allotment of six mines soon.
The Ministry of Coal had initiated the auction process for 27 coal mines under tranches 8, 9 and 10 for non-regulated sector and the allotment process for 15 coal mines under tranches 6, 7, 8 and 9 for various specified end-uses such as power, iron & steel.
These mines will add more than 5mt coal per annum and boost the coal production in the country and reduce the dependence of industries on imported coal. This will also generate about Rs. 15,000 crore revenue for state governments where the mines are located besides royalties and other applicable taxes.

Russia Keen to Boost Investment in Pakistan

As per Stanislav L. Korolev, Russian investors are keen to explore business opportunities in Pakistan and want to further strengthen trade and investment cooperation with Pakistani.
While addressing the business community at the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Korolev discussed various options for promoting business collaboration between the private sectors of both countries.
Korolev was part of a 64-member delegation headed by Minister for Trade and Industries for the Russian Federation Denis V Manturov visiting Pakistan.
The new Pak-Russia deal is expected to amount $9 billion under which Islamabad would purchase heavy and medium fighter jets, medium and short-range air defence systems, tanks, combat helicopters, and warships.

Google Wants US Fed to Replicate India's UPI Model

The US Federal Reserve, or the Fed, should replicate India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) model for its proposed interbank real-time gross settlement (RTGS) service, Google recommended.
Launched in 2016, the UPI is the country's flagship real-time payments system, which allows users to transfer money directly from their bank accounts. Since it works across multiple bank accounts, without revealing the details of one's account to the other party, it makes paying someone as simple as handing over cash. Citing the UPI's phenomenal success in India, Google, in a letter to the Fed, said that FedNow should be an open system, like the UPI.

Dec 14, 2019

Piramal Realty Signs Partnership with Omkar

Piramal Realty, the real estate unit of Piramal Group, entered into a joint development agreement with another local builder Omkar Realtors & Developers to develop a residential project in Mumbai's Mahim area with a total investment of around Rs. 3000 crore.
This is the second time both the firms entered into such a partnership, the first one being a luxury housing project at Mahalakshmi, a neighbourhood in south Mumbai.
Under the existing partnership, Piramal plans to develop 2.2 million square feet over 4 acres in Mahim, making it the residential projects in the area.

RIL Arm Buys Stake in Asteria

Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL) acquired over 51% stake in Asteria Aerospace for Rs. 23.12 crore. The investment will further enable the group's initiatives in emerging technology. RSBVL proposes to make a further investment of up to Rs. 125 crore, subject to Asteria achieving agreed milestones. Post the further investment, the shareholding of RSBVL will increase to 87.3% of the equity share capital of Asteria.

AU SFB Raises Rs. 525 cr from Temasek Arm

AU Small Finance Bank said that Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek through its wholly-owned subsidiary Camas Investments Pte invested Rs. 525 crore ($74 million) in the lender by conversion of warrants. With this investment, Temasek firmed up its stake at 4.8% in AU Bank.
As per managing director and CEO Sanjay Agarwal, the completion of Temasek's investment is a reflection of the uniqueness of our secured retail and steadily growing granular deposit franchise, stable portfolio quality, margins and growth headroom.

Virtuous Retail Buys Tata Realty's Retail Mall Portfolio

Virtuous Retail South Asia Pte. Ltd (VRSA), the retail development arm of investment firm The Xander Group Inc., acquired the Trilium shopping mall portfolio from Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd (TRIL) for $100 million.
VRSA's acquisition comprises a shopping mall each in Nagpur and Amritsar, of around 700,000 sq.ft and 1 million sq.ft, respectively, which will boost its mall portfolio and expand its presence across both large and small cities.
VRSA also recently bought 20 acres in Thane, near Mumbai, from Raymond Ltd for Rs. 700 crore.
With these acquisitions, VRSA's operational and under-development retail portfolio in India is currently more than 13 million sq.ft across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, along with smaller cities such as Surat, Mohali, Amritsar and Nagpur.
The buyout of TRIL's retail portfolio is in line with VRSA's rapid, pan-India expansion strategy through both greenfield development and acquisition of existing, high-quality retail assets.

Share on

TCY Analytics (View Subscription Plans)

Subscribe to GK Updates

I want to receive

GK Tags

October GK, September GK, August GK, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS AND ECONOMY, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, SPORTS, NATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, PERSONS IN NEWS, DAYS AND EVENTS, AWARDS AND HONOURS, GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES, GENDER/ HEALTH/ EDUCATION, ART AND CULTURE, BOOKS AND AUTHORS, TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY AWARENESS, ART AND CULTURE, LAW AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Start Discussion

On any topic

Take Tests

Compiled from GK updates

Login

Sign Up

Forgot Password

Download TCY App

Unlock All Services and Enjoy The Premium Benefits

US$ 10

US$ 13

US$ 15

US$ 17

US$ 19

US$ 20

US$ 21

US$ 22

US$ 23

US$ 24

US$ 25

US$ 26