India Financial News

Power Finance Corp (PFC) has committed about ₹21,000 crore toward helping build India's largest ever container port, the Vadhavan Port along the western coast, people aware of the development told ET. The big-ticket sanction comes almost two months after the union cabinet's approval of the ₹76,220-crore mega port project to be developed at Palghar district in Maharashtra. The project is to be developed by the Vadhavan Port Project Ltd, a special purpose vehicle formed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and the Maharashtra Maritime Board. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Maharashtra on August 30 for its foundation stone laying ceremony.

Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) franchises are expecting double-digit growth in sponsorship revenue from season 11 of the tournament that tentatively kicks off in October. The franchises cite PKL's consistent audience growth and low entry barrier in terms of cost compared to the Indian Premier League as evidence of its effectiveness in brand building. PKL's TV reach has jumped to 245 million in season 10, up from 222 million in season 9 and 189 million in season 8. JSW Group-owned Haryana Steelers' CEO Divyanshi Singh said the franchise is anticipating 12-15% growth in sponsorship revenue in season 11 compared with season 10.

Kellogg Co, is struggling with low sales growth and profit in India, a market that prefers traditional or savoury breakfast compared to its ready-to-eat cornflakes and muesli alternatives. For FY24, the American food company reported one of its slowest sales growth in a decade at 4% to ₹1,610 crore, with a net profit decline of 19% to ₹97 crore, as per its filing with the Registrar of Companies. A year ago, it had sales of ₹1,554 crore with net profit of ₹119 crore. Last week, chocolate maker Mars agreed to buy Kellanova for nearly $36 billion. «Cornflakes is on a decline as a category and for Kellogg, the segment accounts for the bulk of the sales. While the company has been driving sales of other products such as oats and muesli, competition is intense in these segments,» said an industry executive, who did not wish to be named. In India, Kellogg started its first manufacturing plant in 1994. Its second unit opened in 2016, followed by a research and development centre to develop breakfast products for India and other emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific. Four years ago, the company that globally relies on western style breakfast options, launched Indian options including upma in select markets to widen its consumer base, a strategy which has not worked yet.

Audi. Balbir Singh Dhillon, head, Audi India, said while the company is considering introducing more electric car models in the domestic market, and exploring the possibility of assembling them locally, policy continuity is required to make investments viable. He emphasised that subsidies are needed to drive growth in the EV segment, «till the time we reach a decent penetration level». «There is no science behind this; it's just a gut feeling that, maybe by the time we reach 50% EV penetration in the luxury space, we need that support (lower GST) and thereafter, it is driven by itself,» he said.

BIMSTEC Summit scheduled in Bangkok on September 4 owing to “technical issues” over formation of the cabinet. The decision to postpone the Summit was taken on Thursday as all preparations were ongoing till Wednesday. PM Narendra Modi in the light of the current circumstances will not travel to Bangkok. He was also scheduled to undertake a bilateral visit to Thailand on September 3. Modi is, however, expected to go ahead with the bilateral visit to Singapore on September 5, it has been learnt. Earlier he had plans to fly to Singapore from Bangkok. Ahead of Singapore visit, Ministerial delegations of the two countries will meet to firm up agenda to boost strategic partnership and the visit.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday as dividend of the Repco Bank, a Government of India enterprise functioning under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Shah congratulated the Repco Bank on achieving the remarkable feat of registering a stellar 11-per cent growth rate in the financial year 2023-24.

Adani Power Ltd's resolution plan to acquire Lanco Amarkantak Power Ltd (LAPL) through the insolvency resolution process. The company has admitted liabilities of Rs 15, 633 crore. Gautam Adani promoted listed power company had proposed to pay Rs 4,101 crore to acquire it through the bankruptcy process. “Successful acquisition and implementation of the resolution plan for acquisition of LAPL will advance APL's (Adani Power) position as India’s leading private sector power producer, with a combined operational power generation capacity of 15,850 MW,” said Adani Power in its stock exchange filing on Thursday.

Experian India, on Thursday announced the launch of AiDRIAN, an AI driven tool that detects potential fraud. AiDRIAN detects potential fraud at its source, preventing the possibility of financial loss in real time, the company said. The platform integrates device profiling, analysing over 150 device parameters to create unique device IDs and identify anomalies, Experian claimed. According to Experian’s 2024 Future of Fraud Forecast report, nearly 70% of businesses report increased fraud losses in recent years, and over half of consumers feel more vulnerable to fraud than before.

India may allow certain foreign investors to raise capital in rupees for investments in select countries, a government official said, in a move aimed at boosting the international use of the South Asian nation's currency. The plan comes after Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in July the nation will simplify its foreign direct investment and overseas investment rules to promote opportunities for use of the Indian rupees as a currency for overseas investments. The new provision could enable investments in rupees in select nations of «strategic interest» to India, said the official with direct knowledge of the plans.

Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said micro, small and medium industries will play an important role in realising the vision to transform India into a developed nation by 2047. Therefore, she said, they have been given special priority in the Union Budget. The finance minister was addressing the discussion programme with MSME marble cluster units in Udaipur on Thursday evening. «The participation of MSME is important in realising the vision of 2047. Therefore, it has been given expert priority in the budget,» she said.

Digital Commerce (ONDC), the aggregator platform that runs on open-source technology, is set to launch insurance and mutual fund products in the next two months and will partner MasterCard for credit cards. ONDC also launched six-minute digital loans that will offer unsecured credit to salaried and non-salaried customers. “We have deployed a Marine app, one insurer and two more are coming,” said T Koshy, CEO, ONDC. “For health (insurance) also, we are live, but the partner doesn’t have the licence. The motor (insurance) should happen in the next month or so. And MF will go live next month. We want to hit the 100-200 transactions first.”

Harindarpal Singh Banga and wife Indra Banga are likely to sell a 1.4% stake worth Rs 809 crore on Friday through block deals. According to the term sheet issued by the bankers, the Bangas plan to sell 4.09 crore shares at a floor price of Rs 198 apiece, which represents a 5.9% discount to Thursday’s closing price of Rs 210. Harindarpal was an early investor in Indian billionaire Falguni Nayar’s fashion giant Nykaa and held a 6.4% stake. He founded The Caravel Group, a global conglomerate primarily engaged in resources trading, maritime services, and asset management.

Nitish Kumar have assured the Muslim bodies that their parties would oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. His remarks came at a joint press conference of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hindi and other Muslim organisations where they asserted that they will launch a nationwide movement if the proposed legislation is not withdrawn and exhaust all measures within the ambit of law. «We have met various opposition parties. We also met Chandrababu Naidu, who assured us that 'we will oppose this bill'. We met Nitish Kumar yesterday and he also assured us that 'we will oppose this bill'. Tejashwi Yadav has also assured us that his party would oppose the bill. Uddhav Thackeray has made a statement that he would not allow anyone to lay a hand on the Waqf and Tamil Nadu Chief minister M K Stalin has also said he would oppose,» Rahmani said. Specifically asked about the details of the meeting with Naidu and Kumar, Rahmani did not give a direct answer and said the Muslim organisations want all secular parties, including the BJP allies, to support their stand in view of justice and secularism.

Realty developer M3M has reported Rs 3,911 crore sale during Q1FY 25, an increase of 37% increase from Rs 2854 crore during the same period last year. In the residential and plot development segment, M3M reported sales of Rs 2028 crore in Gurugram, Panipat and Noida region during the first quarter of FY 2023-24. Its sales during the first quarter of FY 2024-25 increased by 46% increase to Rs 2971 crore. M3M generated Rs 826 crore from its commercial segment during Q1FY 2023-24, which increased to Rs 940 crore this year.

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Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Prof. Jayant Varma raised concerns over the impact of the current monetary policy stance on the country's economic growth, the minutes of August meeting showed on Thursday. He argued that the policy, which he believes is excessively restrictive, is sacrificing growth potential at a time when India's economy could be accelerating. Varma, an external member of the MPC, had voted for a cut in repo rate during the meeting which took place on August 6-8. The committee, however, decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent with a 4:2 majority.

consumer goods (FMCG) company Dabur India Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu to set up a consumer goods manufacturing facility in the state, it said in a statement on Thursday. The phase-1 investment is approved at Rs 135 crore, which will increase to Rs 400 crore over a five-year period, the maker of Vatika shampoo and Real juice said. Dabur chief executive Mohit Malhotra said in a statement: “This investment will allow us to better serve the growing demand for our products in South India and strengthen our market presence in the region.” He said the development would enable economic development in the state by creating jobs and working closely with local vendors and supplier partners. This will be the company's first unit in South India, it said. This location will help meet business and logistical requirements efficiently and offer significant advantage and growth opportunities, Malhotra added. It is expected to create around 250 direct job opportunities and thousands of indirect employment opportunities.

Raveendran, the embattled founder of Byju's, appeared close to settling his company's payment dispute of Rs 158 crore with the Indian cricket board after approval by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). However, on August 14, theSupreme Court intervened by staying the NCLAT order that had approved the settlement agreement between Think & Learn Pvt Ltd--Byju's parent company--and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), adding to the woes of the troubled edtech firm. On Thursday, the apex court rejected pleas by Byju's and BCCI to halt a meeting of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) in its ongoing insolvency case. The court will hear the matter next on August 27.

Air India on Thursday announced that it will temporarily operate additional flights to Kolkata from four Indian cities to meet greater travel demand to the city during the upcoming Durga Puja festivities. Starting 20 September 2024, Air India will operate daily, non-stop flights to Kolkata from Bengaluru and Hyderabad for nearly a month. The airline has also increased frequency to Kolkata from Delhi effective 15 August 2024, and from Mumbai effective 25 September 2024.

₹24,000 a night rooms. Our focus is the remaining 90%," he said. "Dropping rates is not a good strategy for hotels, in general.