Destinations Financial News

By Mariko Katsumura and Rocky Swift

Radisson Hotel Group, going ahead with its expansion strategy, announced the signing of Pramod Lands End Resort, a member of Radisson Individuals, in Gopalpur, Odisha. The 100-room hotel has been developed by Padma Eastern Hotels Private Limited and is set to open its doors in Q2, 2024.

Hotel chain Hyatt India will add eight new hotels in the South West Asian (SWA) region in this year that includes a foraying into Bangladesh with the opening of a new hotel in Dhaka.

immigration Minister, Marc Miller, recently announced two new pilot immigration programs aimed at benefitting the rural and Francophone minority communities. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will also work toward creating a permanent rural immigration program, states a release. The two pilots announced are the Rural Community Immigration Pilot and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation on Thursday today announced plans for the expansion of Hyatt’s brand portfolio in India and Southwest Asia region, and said it has a pipeline of eight new hotels that are expected to open across various leisure and city destinations in 2024. The hospitality chain said this growth is timed to coincide with the expected rebound of leisure and business travel in the country and the sub-continent. The chain said in 2024, its brand expansion in India and Southwest Asia will continue with its Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Place and Hyatt Centric brands.

funding winter intensified, according to a report by Bain & Company in collaboration with the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA). A convergence of domestic and global factors including stubborn inflation, heightened investors' performance expectations, and persistent higher interest rates prolonged the funding winter, the report said, adding that softening global consumption and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties hindered startups from showcasing the necessary performance.

Visa application volumes from Mumbai in 2023 registered a 30 per cent year-on-year growth, according to a report by VFS Global, closing in further to the pre-pandemic levels. When compared to the pre-pandemic numbers, visa application volumes from Mumbai reached 90 per cent of the 2019 levels. The demand pattern in Mumbai was in line with the overall growth trend registered in India, which saw a 16 per cent year-on-year in visa applications in 2023. In comparison to the pre-pandemic numbers, visa application volumes from India reached 93 per cent of the 2019 levels.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — Mexican retailer Walmex is set to invest around 34.5 billion pesos ($2.05 billion) in 2024, up 19% from previous year, according to a filing published on Tuesday.

As Indians increasingly opt for international holidays, especially after covid, the country’s airlines are following their flight trajectories. This has led to a sharp rise in the share of domestic airlines carrying passengers to global destinations from India, with growth rates to match albeit on a lower base. Experts say this trend is here to stay even as airlines focus on adding capacity to international routes to cater to rising demand.

New Delhi/Mumbai: Europe’s proposed carbon tax has split the Indian steel industry down the middle, with some companies in favour and others against, even as lobbying to waive or delay the levy continues. The tax, under the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), would increase costs for Indian steelmakers exporting to Europe, a key destination that is critical for their businesses. The tax has been supported by companies with major operations in Europe, such as Tata Steel.

Jane Fraser, chief executive officer of Citigroup. India's perfect policy prescriptions, cast-in-stone execution schedules and an unmatched ability to deliver development on a gigantic scale make it a unique investment destination, Fraser told ET in an interview. «The move from more of a cost arbitrage in India to now looking at it in terms of innovation from our Indian tech centres — they are drivers of our business strategy,'' she said. „Citi is doing a huge amount of work in transformation globally. That is all happening here in India.''

The world’s original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, scaled a fresh peak on Monday. It touched $72,234 per token, whipping past its pandemic summit of almost $69,000 back in November 2021. It lost about three-fourths of its value in a prolonged slump after that, with cryptosceptics gloating over the deflation of an ‘asset’ with neither any intrinsic value nor yield.

₹480 crore and arrested its six Pakistani crew members on Tuesday, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said in a release. Based on specific intelligence, a joint team of the Indian Coast Guard, Narcotics Control Bureau and Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) conducted an operation under codename “SAGAR-MANTHAN -2" in the Arabian Sea near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on March 8.

Maruti Suzuki is looking at transporting more vehicles it makes via railways to cut down costs and reduce emissions in line with the government’s push towards clean mobile solutions. The company, along with joint-venture partners, has invested over Rs 1081 crore to commission the country’s first in-plant railway siding at its manufacturing facility in Gujarat, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday. Maruti Suzuki plans to set up similar facilities in Manesar and Kharkhoda (Haryana). Overall, the company said it plans to substantially increase the proportion of cars it transports via railways as it doubles production to 4 million units per annum by 2030, from a little over 21% currently.

NEW DELHI : India’s tourism sector is yet to recover from the pandemic years, with international travellers who bring in higher tourism dollars preferring other countries in the Asia-Pacific region over domestic destinations. Despite a resurgence of global travel last year, India welcomed only about 7.24 million international travellers in 2023, according to the ‘India State Ranking Survey’ by hospitality consultancy Hotelivate and The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Prior to the pandemic, in FY20, India received about 10.93 million international travellers, as per India’s tourism ministry. Of them, about 6.98 million were non-resident Indians visiting family and friends back home.

The real estate landscape in Delhi-NCR has witnessed a significant transformation, with the capital city maintaining its status as a thriving center for economic and cultural activities. Simultaneously, the surrounding tier-2 cities have emerged as influential players, particularly in the real estate sector. Among these, Bhiwadi stands out, strategically located on the Rajasthan-Haryana border.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the picturesque Lakshadweep Islands has drawn attention to the process of applying for ILPs. This Union Territory, an idyllic paradise off the coast of Kerala, necessitates permits for all travellers, including Indians, to manage tourism numbers on these remote islands. Obtaining a permit requires submitting a clearance certificate from a local police station, along with identification documents, while online applications are also facilitated.

Narendra Modi will inaugurate 10 new Vande Bharat trains across various routes in the country, pushing the total number of operational trains past the half-century mark. These new additions come a little over two months since the last batch of trains were launched. 10 New Vande Bharat's Routes The 10 new trains cover a range of routes, including 1. Lucknow-Dehradun 2. Patna-Lucknow

Eknath Shinde on Monday inaugurated the south-bound corridor of Mumbai's coastal road, nicknamed Phase 1 of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project, stretching from Worli to Marine Drive in South Mumbai on Monday, March 11th. A 10.5-kilometer-long stretch will be opened for traffic in the first phase, an official said, adding that motorists can enter the coastal road from Worli Seaface, Haji Ali interchange and Amarson's interchange points, and exit at Marine Lines. “The maximum speed limit on Dharmveer Swarajya Rakshak Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Marg (Coastal Road) will be 80kmph, while in the tunnel it will be 60kmph and during turning & entry-exit points it will be 40kmph," Mumbai Traffic Police wrote in a post on X.

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.

Private sector investment in clean energy, especially in countries like India, is pivotal for the course of energy transition, said Riccardo Puliti, regional vice president, Asia and the Pacific, at International Finance Corporation. India continues to be the key destination for IFC, including in energy transition, and the World Bank Group member is looking to push up its investment in the country in the ongoing fiscal, which runs from July through June. In FY23 (July-June), IFC committed $3 billion across 30 projects, more than doubling its lending year-on-year. «This year we will do substantively more than that [FY23]. India is a country willing to move the needle on the energy mix,» he said. Financing that brings in private sector investment is vital to scaling India's climate solutions, he said. «The rule of the game is really to mobilise the private sector,» he added. India is IFC's largest investment destination with 10.4% of its global portfolio. It will help expand and diversify capital sources for critical power infrastructure, as done through its investment in IndiGrid, he said. IFC is also looking at sustainability-linked finance, enabling issuers to build a strong pipeline of green projects, Puliti said. IFC's focus is to leverage private capital to up support for sustainable infrastructure, industrial decarbonization, and green finance.