Awards Financial News

Samunnati announced a partnership with Northern Farmers Mega FPO on Monday, aiming to strengthen sustainable farming practices and improve market access for farmers across northern India. The partnership will connect over 50 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) with enhanced access to inputs, technology services, credit, and investment opportunities, it said in a statement. A key initiative under the collaboration focuses on converting paddy straw waste into clean energy alternatives, including compressed biogas and biomass pellets, addressing the region's persistent stubble-burning pollution issues. «This collaboration is a step toward building a sustainable and economically viable ecosystem for farmers,» Chennai-based Samunnati Founder and CEO Anil Kumar SG said.

Telangana government has issued orders sanctioning Rs 205 crore for acquiring over 280 acres of land for the development of Mamnoor Airport at Warangal, after GMR Group which manages Hyderabad Airport issued «No Objection» certificate for operation of the aerodrome. According to the GO issued on Sunday, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in July 2022, informed the state government that it is ready to develop Warangal Airport for A-320 type of aircraft for IFR (instrument flight rules) operations and is ready to bear the infrastructure cost, operational and maintenance of the proposed airport. A master plan has been prepared for the operation of A-320 type of aircraft for which an additional land measuring 253 acres is required from the state government of Telangana, free of cost and free from all encumbrances. The AAI also wanted the state government to take up the proposal and expedite handing over of the required land to the airports body and no objection certificate from Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.

«If you look five years into the future, North America is stagnating in terms of industry, Europe is shrinking, South America is shrinking. Southeast Asia is totally dominated by China, and China is shrinking really, really fast,» Borgas told ET in an exclusive interaction. The only growing parts of the world are India and the Middle East," he said. Refractories are used in the production of steel, cement, glass, aluminium and copper. RHI, which supplies to every steel and copper plant in the world, 80% of cement plants, and half of aluminium plants globally, believes that growth in India could be between 6% and 13% on a compound annual basis over the next five years.

Netflix Inc's foray into live sports streaming with the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul drew a massive global audience that peaked at 65 million viewers but resulted in thousands of complaints from viewers about connection problems and frozen screens. «We crashed the site,» said Paul after claiming victory over the 58-yr-old Tyson. «This is the biggest event.» In an internal company memo seen by Bloomberg News, chief technology officer Elizabeth Stone said the bout drew a maximum of 65 million viewers at any one time, rivaling some of the most-watched sporting events. Some of those viewers took to social media to vent their frustration over glitches in streaming the highly-anticipated showdown. More than 100,000 users reported network issues on the Downdetector website throughout the livestreaming, commenting on slow buffering and network issues. Netflix declined to comment on the outcome of the event. -Bloomberg

Adani Green Energy, India's largest private sector renewable power company, is looking to raise around $2 billion in the next few months in multiple tranches through international bonds and loans, according to people close to the development. The company will hit the bond market in the next few days with a $600 million issue, the people said. It had called off a $1.2-billion bond issue last month as investors demanded a higher yield due to geo-political issues then. It had last time given a price guidance for a fixed coupon rate of 7% for the 20-year bond. The pricing this time around is likely to be much higher, the people said. Yield on the 10-year US Treasury has been moving up in recent weeks, hitting its highest level since May 31.

Piramal Enterprises Ltd and Bain Capital Credit surrendered the licence for their asset reconstruction company (ARC), India Resurgence Asset Reconstruction Company, to the Reserve Bank of India, a development that shows growing challenges in the distressed assets market, said people aware of the development. Launched in 2018, the fund had invested in stressed assets using a mix of debt and equity. Regulatory hurdles, including restrictions on equity sales and difficulties in providing exits to equity investors, have now made the business of ARCs less attractive.

Colgate-Palmolive India managing director Prabha Narasimhan said people are delaying purchases or extending consumption of daily household and personal products and with a large number of people making these small changes, it has led to a slowdown in the overall market. «Consumers tend to titrate or delay their usage of things, just quite intuitively when they feel the pressure. We have so much headroom to go in terms of moving per capita consumption, our focus really needs to be on that instead of worrying about the big macro indicators and what's happening outside our control,» Narasimhan told ET. «We are certainly seeing a little bit of headwind as far as urban growth is concerned and I do expect it to be temporary.» A report by NielsenIQ said urban demand increased 2.8% year-on-year in the July-September period, while rural demand grew more than twice as fast at 6%. Overall, the FMCG sector grew 5.7% by value and 4.1% by volume during the quarter. The company behind the eponymous toothpaste brand controls half the oral care segment in country and outpaced the market with 10% growth during quarter ended September.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has recovered ₹35,500 crore of outstanding dues for the April-September period of this financial year, ET has learnt. This includes ₹23,000 crore of corporate tax and ₹12,500 crore of personal income tax. Officials said the figure is going to rise further as the board has asked field formations to focus on recovery and set zone-wise recovery targets.

bilateral talks with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and interacted with the Indian community. Modi arrived in the Nigerian capital early Sunday on the first trip to the West African country by an Indian prime minister after a gap of 17 years. After concluding his «productive» visit, Modi posted on X, «Thank you Nigeria for a productive visit, which will add strength and vigour to India-Nigeria friendship.» «PM @narendramodi concludes a productive visit in Abuja, Nigeria,» the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a post on X.

«All our FTAs, whether it is with the EU or UK, all are progressing as per the schedule,» the official said. In the coming weeks, a bilateral meeting is scheduled between the commerce secretary and the Director-General of the European Union to take stock of the negotiations for the proposed trade agreement with the European Union.

Fine Acers, a player in luxury resort investment, on Sunday said the company is targeting assets under management worth Rs 5,000 crore by 2026-27. The company has Rs 2,500 crore assets under management, it said. It added that the company has signed a USD 70 million deal with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts to develop four new hotels — one in Dubai and three in India. «Fine Acers has announced that the company is targeting assets under management worth Rs 5,000 crore,» it said in a statement.

Prestige Estates Projects Ltd plans to launch housing projects worth Rs 52,000 crore by March next year to encash surge in demand for residential properties. In its latest investors presentation, Prestige Estates has mentioned that the company plans to launch multiple projects in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Goa, and Delhi-NCR comprising more than 53 million sq ft area with a total sales bookings value of Rs 52,114 crore. According to a transcript of conference call with analysts, Prestige Estates CMD Irfan Razack expressed confidence that the company will be able to meet its sales bookings guidance for this fiscal year at Rs 24,000 crore. During the 2023-24 fiscal year, Prestige Estates clocked record sales booking of Rs 21,040 crore.

ACME Solar Holdings' subsidiary ACME Sun Power has secured a Rs 3,753 crore term loan financing from state-owned company REC Limited for the development and construction of a 320 MW green energy projects in collaboration with SJVN. The company informed stock exchanges on Sunday that the projects would be located in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan for solar capacity and Bhuj and Jam Khambhaliya in Gujarat. A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has been signed with SJVN and the grid connectivity has also been secured, the company said in the statement. It added that the land acquisition process is in advanced stages.

financial literacy awareness among the tribal population, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Odisha office has prepared five specific booklets in Santali (Ol Chik) language, an official said. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi released the booklets at Bali Jatra in Cuttack on Friday. The booklets were prepared to commemorate 90 years of RBI's operation in the country, the official said, adding that the central bank had also recently organised a series of events like quiz competition among students. «Continuing with the efforts towards financial education, the RBI, Bhubaneswar has taken the initiative of translating and printing the five useful target specific booklets in Santali (Ol Chiki script) language for distribution among the people of Santali speaking community,» a senior official said.

«MCs can significantly enhance them (non-tax revenues) by applying appropriate and adequate fees and user charges for essential services such as water supply, sanitation, and waste management while also ensuring seamless availability of high-quality public services,» it said. These measures, combined with more transparent and accountable governance practices, can contribute to bolstering the financial health of MCs, setting off a virtuous cycle of better services for the public, stronger revenues and a continuous upgrade of the urban infrastructure, it said.

Retail tomato prices declined 22.4 per cent month-on-month on improved supplies across the country, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said on Sunday. The all-India average retail price of tomatoes stood at Rs 52.35 per kg on November 14, down from Rs 67.50 per kg on October 14, according to an official statement. During the same period, modal wholesale prices at Delhi's Azadpur mandi witnessed a sharper decline of nearly 50 per cent to Rs 2,969 per quintal from Rs 5,883 per quintal, driven by increased arrivals. Similar price corrections were reported from key markets like Pimpalgaon (Maharashtra), Madanapalle (Andhra Pradesh), and Kolar (Karnataka), the ministry said.

Tata Motors is expecting passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales to maintain growth momentum in the ongoing quarter driven by year-end demand, according to a top company executive. As per FADA data, festive demand helped PV retail sales rise 32 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 4,83,159 units in October. The segment reported a 7 per cent YoY increase to 6,03,009 units during the 42-day festival period this year. In September, PV retail sales had seen a dip of 19 per cent to 2,75,681 units.

Oyo’s founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal is slated to buy another Rs 550 crore worth of shares to increase his stake in the company, as per documents seen by ET. According to the documents accessed by ET, Agarwal is set to buy Rs 550 crore worth of shares at 42.60 per share, a 45% premium to his last purchase in August 2024. Oyo’s last funding round of $175 million was led by Agarwal who bought $100 million worth of shares. It also included participation from various family offices and private investors such as InCred Wealth, J&A Partners — the family office of Mankind Pharma promoters, ASK Financial Holdings and investor Ashish Kacholia.

WestBridge Capital is joining forces with Neelesh Garg, outgoing managing director and CEO of Tata AIG General Insurance, to launch a new general insurance joint venture with a focus on AI-powered, digital-first services, two people aware of the development said. This will mark the Bengaluru-based private equity firm’s second investment into the insurance sector following its successful part-exit from Star Health Insurance through its IPO in 2021. WestBridge, which manages over $8 billion in investments in India, will hold a majority stake in the proposed venture, with Garg taking a 10% ownership position, people cited above said.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories and FDC Ltd are recalling generic medications in the US market due to manufacturing issues, according to the US health regulator. As per the latest Enforcement Report by Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the US-based subsidiary of Dr Reddy's Laboratories is recalling multiple strengths of Morphine Sulfate extended-release tablets in the US. The medication is used to relieve severe and persistent pain. As per the USFDA, Princeton-based Dr Reddy's Laboratories Inc is recalling 2,040 bottles of 15 mg Morphine Sulfate extended-release tablets due to «Failed Impurities/Degradation Specification».

Hyundai Motor India Ltd is betting big on CNG fuel option with sales of models equipped with the technology witnessing increasing demand across rural and urban markets in the country, according to a top company official. The company, which currently offers CNG variants in three models – Grand i10 NIOS, AURA, and EXTER – has seen the share of CNG models in its domestic sales rise to 11.4% in FY24, up from 9.1% in FY22. From April to October this fiscal year, the share of CNG models in the company’s domestic sales has increased to 12.8%. During this period, its total vehicle sales across all fuel types in the domestic market reached 3.54 lakh units.