General Awareness

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - May 2018

May 2018

Dec 31, 2020

Kalpataru Power Transmission Bags Orders

Kalpataru Power Transmission Ltd (KPTL) secured new orders worth Rs. 900 crore in the domestic and overseas markets. The company won orders in the T&D (transmission and distribution) business from the overseas market.
KPTL also bagged engineering, procurement and construction orders for pipeline laying and associated works in India.

Chhattisgarh Signs MoU to Set Up India's 1st Ethanol Plant under PPP Model

Chhattisgarh government signed a contract execution (MoU) for the country's first ethanol plant to be set up in the state under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The contract was signed by Bhoramdev Cooperative Sugar Factory Kawardha and Chhattisgarh Distillery Limited's subsidiary NKJ Biofuel for a period of 30 years.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that setting up of ethanol plant will prove to be important in ensuring timely payment of sugarcane price to farmers and ensuring full utilisation of sugar factory capacity.
The establishment of the ethanol plant will generate direct and indirect employment opportunities and will form the basis for economic prosperity in the region.
The present government of Chhattisgarh has kept the issues related to farmers and their development work paramount. The State government was the first to waive the agricultural loans and in view of the interest of the sugarcane farmers, the ethanol plant is being set up by the PPP model as a permanent solution to the economic hardship of sugar factories.

RIL Completes Acquisition of IMG Worldwide's Stake in Sports Management JV

Reliance Industries Ltd has completed acquisition of IMG Worldwide LLC's stake in their sports management joint venture IMG Reliance Ltd (IMG-R). Accordingly, IMG-R has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries.
Reliance Industries Ltd announced that it will buy out IMG Worldwide LLC from their sports management joint venture (JV) for Rs. 52.08 crore.
RIL had formed an equal joint venture with IMG Worldwide, an international sports marketing and management company, in 2010 to develop, market and manage sports and entertainment in India.
IMG is a global leader in sports, fashion, events and media, operating in more than 30 countries, and is a part of the Endeavor network.

Godrej Consumer Forays into Home Cleaning Products

FMCG maker Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) forayed into home cleaning products, a segment which is witnessing fast growth after the pandemic.
The Godrej group firm would provide surface cleaning and disinfecting solution under its newly-launched brand Godrej ProClean.
According to the marketing research firm AC Nielsen, the home cleaning products segment, which includes branded floor, toilet and bathroom cleaners, is estimated to be around Rs. 2,600 crore.
ProClean aims to cater to the rising demand for home hygiene products especially in the current context where there is emphasis on products that offer protection against germs.

Reliance-BP Consortium Invites Bidders for Gas from KG D6 Basin

Reliance Industries Ltd and UK's BP Plc have invited companies to bid for the sale of gas produced from the KG D6 basin, which will be available from February 1. Both the energy giants have formed a joint venture to develop and produce gas from deep water fields in the KG-D6 block off the Kakinada coast.
The gas produced for KG D6 will be available for sale at the delivery point at Gadimoga near Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh tentatively from 01 February 2021.
The KG D6 field is located about 60km from the existing KG D6 Control & Riser Platform off the Kakinada coast. It comprises a subsea production system tied back to CRP via a subsea pipeline.

Dec 30, 2020

Future Group Firms Receive Large Orders from Reliance

According to Future Group founder Kishore Biyani, the group's fast-moving consumer goods firm, Future Consumer, and apparel manufacturing company Future Enterprises have received large orders from Reliance Retail.
Reliance Retail, a unit of Reliance Industries, agreed to buy the retail assets of the Future Group on a slump sale basis for about Rs. 25,000 crore, it was announced in August. The deal is yet to be closed.
The Competition Commission of India has already approved the deal, which also requires clearance from the SEBI and the NCLT, in addition to NOCs from creditors and minority shareholders. Meanwhile, Amazon, which owns a 49% stake in Future Coupons, a Future Group holding company, has won a stay on the deal from the Singapore International Arbitration Centre last month, and has asked Indian regulators to consider the interim order before clearing the transaction.

Tata Sons to Buy Stake in AirAsia India

Tata Sons Ltd. has agreed to buy an additional 32.67% stake in AirAsia India Ltd. from its joint venture partner for $37.66 million, increasing its stake in the budget airline to 83.67%.
Tata Sons, which owns a 51% stake in the Indian joint venture, also has the option to buy out AirAsia Bhd's remaining 16.33% stake after the closure of the deal.
AirAsia Bhd had in June approached the Tata group to sell its stake, as mandated by the terms of the joint venture under which Tata Sons has the first right to buy out the shares.
This (Tata Sons) transaction will reduce cash burn of the company in the short term and allow AirAsia to concentrate on the recovery of its key ASEAN markets in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines in the long run.

Rule of 1% GST Liability Payable in Cash May Impact 45,000 Units

The mandatory requirement of 1% cash payment of GST liability effective January 1 would be applicable to about 45,000 taxpayers. This comes to only 0.37% of the total businesses registered in the Goods and Services Tax system.
To curb tax evasion by way of fake invoicing, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had recently made it mandatory for businesses with monthly turnover of more than Rs. 50 lakh to pay at least 1% of their GST liability in cash. The new rule restricts use of input tax credit (ITC) for discharging GST liability to 99% effective January 1, 2021.
However, this restriction will not apply in cases where the managing director or any partner has paid more than Rs. 1 lakh as income tax or the registered person has received a refund amount of more than Rs. 1 lakh in the preceding financial year on account of unutilised input tax credit.
Data analysis showed that of the total GST taxpayer base of 1.2 crore, only about 4 lakh have monthly supply value greater than Rs. 50 lakh. Of these, only about 1.5 lakh pay less than 1% of their GST liability in cash. When exclusions in the rule are applied, around 1.05 lakh taxpayers get further excluded from these 1.5 lakh taxpayers. Thus, the rule would apply only to 40,000 to 45,000 taxpayers.

Dec 29, 2020

Axis Bank Prunes Overseas Business

Axis Bank is pruning its overseas operation as part of a strategy of focusing on Indian market.
It closed branches in Shanghai and Colombo last month while it is in the process of winding up Hong Kong branch.
It is also looking to surrender its UK banking subsidiary license and close operations by April 2021.

LIC Sells 2% Stake in ICICI Bank

Country's largest insurer Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has sold 2 per cent stake in private sector lender ICICI Bank through open market transactions.
The insurer sold 13.8 crore shares, representing 2.002 per cent stake of ICICI Bank, over a period of November 27 to December 24, 2020.
Following the stake sale, LIC's holding in the bank has reduced to 6.74 per cent from 8.74 per cent earlier.

Electric Car Major Tesla to Enter India in 2021

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that American electric car major Tesla is set to start its operations in India next year (2021) and would also look at setting up of a manufacturing unit based on demand.
The Road, Transport and Highways Minister has been pushing for green fuel and electric vehicles for cutting India's huge Rs. 8 lakh crore crude imports.
Tesla Inc. co-founder and chief executive Elon Musk had in October said the company will enter the Indian market in 2021.

Dec 28, 2020

Dubai Ruler Approves $15.5 bn Budget for 2021

Dubai, the business and financial hub of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has approved a 57.1 billion dirham ($15.55 billion) budget for 2021, when the economy is expected to recover from a contraction this year.
The statement did not give a comparison to actual spending in 2020, but was slightly higher than a revised spending figure of nearly 56.16 billion dirhams quoted in Dubai's sukuk prospectus in August.
However, the size of the 2021 budget is 14% below the 66.4 billion dirhams the government had initially planned for 2020.
The 2021 budget, which was approved by Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, takes into account the exceptional economic conditions of the fiscal year 2020 and the repercussions of the pandemic on the global economy.
Dubai, with its diversified trade and tourism economy, was hit hard by a lockdown and suspension of flights earlier this year. The economy is expected to contract 6.2% in 2020 before growing 4% in 2021, supported by the continued recovery of economic activities.

FM Allows Rajasthan to Borrow Rs. 2,731 cr more Post Ease of Doing Business Reform

The Finance Ministry permitted Rajasthan to borrow an additional Rs. 2,731 crore after the state successfully undertook ease of doing business reforms.
Rajasthan has now joined the five other states namely, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, which have completed the reform facilitating ease of doing business to be eligible for additional borrowing. These six states have been granted additional borrowing permission of Rs. 19,459 crore.
The ease of doing business is an important indicator of the investment friendly business climate in the country. The government had in May decided to link grant of additional borrowing permissions to states who undertake the reforms to facilitate ease of doing business.

Dec 27, 2020

India to Become 5th Largest Economy in 2025, 3rd Largest by 2030: CEBR

According to Centre for Economics and Business Research, India, which appears to have been pushed back to being the world's sixth biggest economy in 2020, will again overtake the UK to become the fifth largest in 2025 and race to the third spot by 2030.
India had overtaken the UK in 2019 to become the fifth largest economy in the world but has been relegated to 6th spot in 2020.
The CEBR forecasts that the Indian economy will expand by 9 per cent in 2021 and by 7 per cent in 2022.
The UK-based think tank forecast that China will in 2028 overtake the US to become the world's biggest economy.

DLF Rental Arm to buy Hines Stake in Commercial Project in Gurgaon

Realty major DLF's rental arm DCCDL has entered into an agreement to acquire the stake of US-based Hines in a premium commercial project in Gurugram for Rs. 780 crore.
DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL), the joint venture firm of DLF and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, has entered into a securities purchase agreement with funds managed by Hines for acquisition of their stake in Fairleaf Real Estate, which owns and operates 'One Horizon Center'.
The purchase consideration for this acquisition is approximately Rs. 780 crore, subject to customary closing adjustments.

Honda Halts Production at Noida Facility

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) formally announced closure of manufacturing operations at its Greater Noida facility in Uttar Pradesh.
The automaker said that the decision to cease production at the plant, which came up in 1997, has been taken as part of realignment of manufacturing operations with the goal of improving business efficiency.
With the closure of Greater Noida facility, HCIL has also discontinued CR-V and Civic models in the country. Both the models were being manufactured at the plant.

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