COST Financial News

German Formula 1 racetrack designer Tilke, real estate consultancy company CBRE and architecture firm Arcop ranked the highest on a list of six international consultants that are competing for designing a racetrack in Gujarat's GIFT City that could position the financial centre also as an international sporting destination, according to people in the know. The Tilke-led consortium scored 98% marks in an evaluation conducted by Sports Authority of Gujarat during March 7-8 and is likely to be granted the work order to develop a design for the F1 track, the people said. The project could cost up to ₹10,000 crore.

For those wondering why private sector capex is not visible, here's an answer — it has reached a critical stage from where it is beginning to flow — said, CEO at Crisil, the biggest rating company that has the pulse of the Indian corporate world. Recent regulatory actions may slow the growth rate, but there is no trouble in sight, Mehta told Bhaskar Dutta and MC Govardhana Rangan in an interview. Edited excerpts: The latest GDP growth numbers surprised everyone. There are divergent views on it and we aren't seeing private capex yet. What are the corporates telling you? There are a few parts to this. One is the PLI (production-linked incentive scheme). It's very targeted — 15 sectors — and it's going to happen. Then there is conventional capex, the point that you are talking about. We are looking at capacity utilisation across multiple segments right now. What we are seeing is that in the top eight key segments, the capacity today is higher than the decadal average capacity utilisation that we have seen across those segments whether you take cement, steel, oil and gas, etc. Cement and steel plants are already expanding, refining is talking about green capex investment. Capex investment in these companies is at 13-14% versus 7-8% earlier. We are talking 13-14% growth in fixed assets. They have now started investing at a higher pace than earlier. The next question is about the sustainability of this growth. Can this be repeated?

An Economist article on 7 February 2024 by Elizabeth Lees presented a pictorial representation of the world’s heat map over the past 60 years as compared to pre-Industrial Age temperatures. The latter half of 2023 showed a 2° Celsius heating above the pre-industrial level, and while it was an El Niño year of additional warming, this illustrates the climate-change disaster that we are facing today. The only way the earth will survive is if we stop using fossil fuels as a source of energy at the earliest.

General Motors said Friday that it is resuming sales of its electric Chevrolet Blazer after software issues forced the automaker to halt sales in December

The popular weight-loss drug Wegovy can now be used to reduce the risk of stroke, heart attacks and other serious heart problems in patients who are overweight or who have obesity

The Romanian government has won a yearslong legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country

Himanta Biswa Sarma performed Bhumi Pujan ceremony of 50 MW Solar Project being developed in Sonitpur, Assam by SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of SJVN. The 50 MW Solar Project is being developed in Sitalmari village, in Barsola Block under Dhekiajuli Revenue Sector in Sonitpur district. It will be built at an estimated cost of Rs. 291 crores. The project will generate 101 million units of green energy in the first year and the cumulative energy generation over a period of 25 years will be about 2,319 million units. The energy generated will be supplied to Assam Power Development Corporation Limited at Rs. 3.92 per unit. Chairperson & Managing Director, SJVN, Geeta Kapur informed that SJVN has set its footprint in Assam and that SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL), the renewable arm of SJVN, is developing three solar projects of capacity 200 MW, 70 MW and 50 MW, thus amounting to a total power capacity in the state of 320 MW. Among these, the foundation stone for the 70 MW Solar Project in Dhubri, Assam was laid by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 4, 2024.

Ramadan starts, ANI reported on Sunday citing an Express Tribune report The report said the people of the neighbouring country are already facing a two to three-fold increase in the prices of essential kitchen items like vegetables, sugar, edible oil, ghee, meat, eggs, and pulses. This substantial increase in prices of essential commodities has added to the economic sufferings of low- to middle-income consumers. Experts see a further hike in commodity prices during the holy month of Ramadan, with a general surge of 31.5% in recent months.

NTPC Ltd, it's arm NTPC Green Energy, Coal India and NLC India on Sunday signed separate memoranda of understanding with Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd for setting up thermal and renewable energy projects. The MoU between NTPC & RVUNL was signed to explore opportunities for adding supercritical units to the existing Chhabra thermal power plant. The companies aim to implement measures to enhance efficiency and reduce the generation cost of the plant's existing units.

Startups in the country are “lost in the maze of existing regulations and controls that are applied to them sometimes even retrospectively”, Anand Mahindra, chairman Mahindra Group, said and called for increased ease of doing business for new enterprises. Delivering the 4th Annual Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture on ‘The role of industry in building a resilient and resurgent India’, Mahindra highlighted the importance of the government and industry working in a collaborative manner to achieve scale, innovation, and global reach.

₹40-45 lakh. So far, NexCAR 19 has been administered to 98 patients (including 76 during clinical trials) across 45 hospitals. The response rate is 60-70%, according to data provided to Mint by ImmunoACT, a startup founded by Purwar and incubated at Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) at IIT Bombay to commercialize the therapy.

free trade pact between India and the four-nation bloc European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Swiss State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Helene Budliger Artieda, affirmed that India will be world's premier manufacturing and service hub. She also said that the quality goods from India will get a very open market in Switzerland, adding that the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) will also open job opportunities for the Indian youth. Speaking to ANI, the Swiss Secretary said, «It's a massive moment of joy for us. We've been negotiating this agreement for more than 16 years...I'm completely delighted that we managed to push it through during the past eight months.»

With the cost of living through the roof, Canadian pet owners are also grappling with soaring veterinary bills that can sometimes put them in a “life-and-death situation.”

Sophia Leone passed away in her apartment about a week ago. This was disclosed by her step-father on GoFundMe while seeking funds for her memorial. She was 26. According to her step-father, Sophia Leone was found unresponsive in her apartment home on March 1st, 2024 by her family. The cause of her death has not been revealed. She is the third adult film star to pass away in two months. «A investigation by local police into the cause of death is still currently on going,» he step-father said. Sophia Leone's step-father said that the her sudden departure has plunged her loved ones and friends into profound shock and sorrow. In addition to grappling with the arduous process of mourning and seeking justice for Sophia, the family finds themselves burdened by unexpected financial challenges, he said in the post.

India’s fledgling electric vehicle market on expectations that a government push towards ecofriendly mobility and greater consumer awareness will further accelerate sales. Domestic electric passenger vehicle sales have picked up pace, with the number of mass-market models growing threefold to a dozen by seven companies in 2023, from just four models by three manufacturers prior to the pandemic, according to data collated by automotive market research firm Jato Dynamics. Tata Motors dominates the local EV market with its Tiago, Nexon, Tigor and Punch, followed by MG Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra. China’s BYD, a relatively new entrant, is making strong inroads, surging ahead of even established rivals such as South Korea’s Hyundai and Kia. BYD, the world's number one electric vehicle maker, launched the Seal sedan earlier this week — the third model in its portfolio after the e6 multipurpose vehicle and Atto 3 SUV.

This gradual, yet visible, shift in buying behaviour follows several futile attempts by companies to push sales of such products that either cost more or failed to spell out a clear value proposition for the consumer. Data by market researcher GfK India showed the contribution by volume, or number of units sold, for energy saving ACs with four and five stars has moved from 14% in 2019 to 27% in 2023. But for a category like refrigerators, which wouldn’t inflate power bills as much as an air-conditioner would, the volume contribution of such models remains flat at 10%.

Ramadan began on Sunday, people in Pakistan are bracing themselves for a hike in essential commodities, including food items, The Express Tribune reported. According to the report, the country already records a two to three-fold inflation in the prices of essential kitchen items, including vegetables, sugar, edible oil, ghee, meat, eggs, and pulses.

The federal government is reducing its nationalbeer tax that was set to increase on April 1, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Saturday.

Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked the Congress saying the opposition was busy with corruption and that the party jeopardised the security of the country by neglecting the development of border villages. Addressing public meetings in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the PM said he considered the entire northeast his family and that is why his government is focussing on the projects that have been lying pending for years. Modi was on a two-day visit to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier today, he inaugurated the Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, and said the Congress would have taken 20 years to do the kind of development work which was executed by his government in the last five years. Modi addressed the 'Viksit Bharat Viksit Northeast' Programme in Itanagar and said, «When the Congress government was supposed to build modern infrastructure near the borders, they were busy with corruption and kept our borders and villages underdeveloped, thereby jeopardising the security of the country. To keep our armed forces weak and deprive people of the necessities is the way of functioning of the Congress.» He added, «Entire northeast can witness the meaning of 'Modi ki guarantee' with the development works being done here.»

India will soon start making equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, Union telecom and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. «The entire semiconductor ecosystem of fabs, ATMP units, chemicals, gases, substrate, consumables and equipment for semiconductor manufacturing will be made in India,» he said. He was speaking at the inauguration of American chip equipment supplier Applied Materials' India Validation Centre in Bengaluru which was set up at a cost of $20 million.

India will soon start making equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. “The entire semiconductor ecosystem of fabs, ATMP units, chemicals, gases, substrate, consumables and equipment for semiconductor manufacturing will be made in India,” he said. He was speaking at the inauguration of American chip equipment supplier Applied Materials’ India Validation Centre in Bengaluru which was set up at a cost of $20 million.