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BUSINESS AND ECONOMY - July 2022

Jul 2022

May 23, 2023

Dangote Launches Africa's Biggest Oil Refinery

Nigeria commissioned Dangote Refinery, Africa's biggest, which will produce 650,000 barrels a day, giving it the potential to address the country's energy supply crisis.
Owned by Nigerian industrialist and Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, the refinery is expected to boost domestic refining capacity, getting rid of the current consumption shortfall. It will also reduce import dependency and stimulate economic growth.
It is the first privately owned crude oil refinery in Nigeria. Nigeria's existing refineries, plagued by operational inefficiencies under government control, have failed to meet the growing demand for petroleum products. Substantial imports have become necessary.
Nigeria currently imports more than 80% of its refined petroleum products. The country is the largest importer of refined petroleum products in Africa. Local production will therefore massively cut the country's import bill.

Mumbai Emerges as Third-biggest Data Centre Market in Asia-Pacific

Shanghai, Tokyo and Mumbai emerged as the top data centre markets in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Knight Frank. International property consultant Knight Frank came out with a 'Data Centre Q1 2023' report, in partnership with leading data centre research and analytics platform DC Byte.
The report focused on nine rapidly emerging markets in APAC – Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Shanghai (2,692 MW), Tokyo (2,575 MW) and Mumbai (2,337 MW) emerged as the top Data Centre markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

TCS Bags Order from BSNL for 4G Deployment across India

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) won an advance purchase order valued over Rs. 15,000 crore from telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) for the deployment of a 4G network across India.
Tejas Networks Ltd is a part of the TCS-led consortium that bagged the BSNL pan-India 4G project. BSNL has issued Advance Purchase Order (APO) to TCS as well as ITI for this project. Tejas Networks will supply and service the Radio Access Networks (RAN) equipment.
Tejas Networks is an optical, broadband and data networking products company. The company designs, develops and sells its products to telecom service providers, internet service providers, utilities, security and government entities in 75 countries.

Blackstone Acquires International Gemological Institute

International Gemological Institute (IGI), the world's largest certification player for lab grown diamonds and the second largest certification player for natural diamonds, was fully acquired by global private equity firm Blackstone. The $535m deal sees Blackstone taking over the 80% stake held by China-based investment firm Fosun, as well as the 20% stake held by Roland Lorie, a member of the founding family.
Founded in 1975 in Antwerp, IGI is a global player with a global footprint of 29 laboratories and 18 schools of gemology across 10 countries. IGI is the world's first gemological laboratory to hold ISO accreditation in both natural and lab-grown diamonds. Since 2005, IGI has pioneered the certification of lab-grown diamonds, paving the authentication and standardization of a rapidly growing industry.

May 22, 2023

Times Group Splits

India's largest media conglomerate The Times Group finally reached an agreement to split the group's businesses between the two brothers - Sameer Jain and Vineet Jain.
According to reports, the elder brother, Sameer, is slated to get the print businesses of the group along with their digital editions. His share is believed to account for the media conglomerate's highest revenue-grossing business. His younger brother, Vineet, would be getting the digital, TV and entertainment businesses of the media house.

Canara Bank the Largest Buyer from GeM Portal among the State-owned Lenders in 2022-23

India's largest lender SBI was quite slow in procuring goods and services from government-owned GeM portal in 2022-23 and lagged behind smaller counterparts, including Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank, according to the government data.
Canara Bank emerged as the largest buyer among the state-owned lenders in 2022-23, making total purchases of Rs. 592.82 crore from the portal, the data showed.
Punjab National Bank (Rs. 164.57 crore) was the second largest, followed by Indian Overseas Bank (Rs. 159.82 crore), State Bank of India (Rs. 158.22 crore), Indian Bank (Rs. 111.59 crore), Bank of India (Rs. 63.81 crore), Bank of Baroda (Rs. 48.63 crore), Union Bank of India (Rs. 37.03 crore), Bank of Maharashtra (Rs. 10.26 crore), Punjab and Sind Bank (Rs. 9.98 crore), UCO Bank (Rs. 5.30 crore) and Central Bank of India (Rs. 4.54 crore) in 2022-23.
The GeM portal was launched on August 9, 2016, for online purchasing of goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments.

RBI Announces Withdrawal of Rs. 2000 Banknotes from Circulation

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made a significant decision to withdraw the Rs. 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation. Although these banknotes will no longer be issued, they will retain their status as legal tender. The move came as the objective of introducing the Rs. 2000 banknotes was fulfilled, and other denominations now adequately meet the currency requirements of the economy.
The introduction of Rs. 2000 banknotes in November 2016 was a response to the withdrawal of legal tender status for Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 banknotes. This measure aimed to fulfil the urgent currency requirements at the time. However, the printing of Rs. 2000 banknotes was halted in 2018-19 as their purpose was served.
The withdrawal of Rs. 2000 banknotes aligns with the RBI's "Clean Note Policy." This policy aims to maintain the quality of currency in circulation and promote efficiency in the banking system.
While the RBI has initiated the withdrawal process, it emphasizes that the Rs. 2000 banknotes will remain legal tender. Individuals have until September 30, 2023, to exchange or deposit their Rs. 2000 banknotes in their bank accounts. After this date, banks may stop accepting Rs. 2000 banknotes for exchange, although they can still be deposited into bank accounts.

India Plans Start-up Exchange Programmes with Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan

India is planning start-up exchange programmes with its neighbours to boost entrepreneurial cooperation in the region.
After developing a framework for exchange with Bangladesh, India is now planning to execute a similar initiative for Bhutan and Nepal.
India in its exchange programme aims to support exchange visits between start-ups from India and the neighbouring countries to facilitate and enhance partnerships, business relations and knowledge exchange. This in turn can help boost the subcontinent's economy through the exchange of ideas in emerging areas of technology and innovation.
Such exchange programmes in the region will not only help MSMEs in the region but also provide support for Global Value Chains (GVC) that are looking to make a shift.

Aditya Birla Capital Launches Udyog Plus

Aditya Birla Capital, the financial services business of the Aditya Birla Group, through its lending arm, Aditya Birla Finance, launched the Udyog Plus, an innovative one-stop business platform, designed for MSME customers. This new B2B digital platform offers a wide range of solutions for MSMEs, including financing, protection, investments, advisory and value-added services for managing and growing their businesses.
Udyog Plus is an open marketplace that can be accessed through the financing section of the Aditya Birla Capital website by both existing as well as new customers of Aditya Birla Finance.

Centre Plans to Make Chhattisgarh's Gevra Asia's Largest Coal Mine

The Centre plans to increase the capacity of the Gevra Mega project in Chhattisgarh of South Eastern Coalfields (SECL) from 50 million tonne of coal production in a year to 70 million tonne, making it Asia's largest coal-producing mine in Asia.
The Gevra Mega project is currently the largest coal-producing mine in the country and is in second position in the Asia-pacific region.
Indonesia's Sangatta Mine in East Kalimantan, was the largest surface coal-producing mine in the Asia-Pacific region, producing approximately 49.2 million tonnes of coal and an estimated 51.4 million metric tons per annum (mmtpa) of Run-of-Mine (ROM) in 2021.

May 21, 2023

Paytm Partners with SBI Card and NPCI to Launch Paytm SBI Card on RuPay

Paytm's parent company One97 Communications Ltd partnered with SBI Card and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch the Paytm SBI Card on the RuPay network. The cardholders will get discounts on transactions through the Paytm mobile app using the card.
Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed users to link RuPay credit cards to the United Payments Interface (UPI). NPIC later said that it has enabled key aggregators like Paytm, Google Pay, BharatPe, and PayU to help merchants make transactions through RuPay credit cards on UPI in India.

May 20, 2023

Wipro Enters Into a Five-year Business Partnership with ServiceNow

IT major Wipro Limited, entered into a five-year business partnership with ServiceNow to invest in and bring new offerings to market that will empower clients to drive business transformation, overcome business challenges, and deliver greater value.
The agreement expands both the companies' existing partnership and is expected to help accelerate Wipro's goal of building a $1 billion business with ServiceNow by the end of 2026.
As part of the partnership Wipro and ServiceNow will deliver joint clients process consulting, implementation, configuration, and managed services. The partnership will cover all global geographies and will initially focus on four key industries: Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Energy and Utilities.

CCI Approves Proposed Merger of Credit Suisse Group AG with UBS Group AG

Fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) cleared the proposed merger of Credit Suisse Group AG with UBS Group AG.
Both Credit Suisse Group AG (Credit Suisse) and UBS Group AG (UBS) are multinational investment banks and financial services companies founded and based in Switzerland.
The transaction entails UBS' proposed acquisition of Credit Suisse by way of an absorption merger with UBS being the surviving legal entity, according to CCI.
Post transaction, all Credit Suisse's assets, liabilities, and contracts will be transferred to UBS in their entirety.
The proposed transaction was necessitated due to Credit Suisse's financial difficulties.
Deals beyond a certain threshold require approval from the regulator, which keeps a tab on unfair business practices in the marketplace.

May 19, 2023

HDFC Mutual Fund Launches India's First Defence Fund

HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd launched the country's first mutual fund focussed on defence sector, a move that will provide investors an opportunity to participate in growth potential of this space.
The fund will invest at least 80 per cent of its net assets in defence and allied sector companies. Defence and allied sector stocks include stocks forming part of aerospace and defence; explosives, shipbuilding and allied services.

RBI Allows SBI Funds Management to Acquire up to 9.99% Stake in HDFC Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave approval to SBI Funds Management to acquire up to 9.99% stake in merger-bound HDFC Bank.
The central bank further informed SBI Funds Management to complete the said stake acquisition in bank within a period of six months by November 15, 2023.
The approval granted by the RBI is subject to conditions, including compliance with the relevant provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, RBI's master direction and guidelines on acquisition and holding of shares or voting rights in banking companies and other regulations.

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