Manufacturing Financial News

Indian shoppers are continuing to buy from retail chains especially when it comes to premium products and during big discount days or festive periods, as per a latest study by market researcher NielsenIQ. The study shows that these big shopping periods contribute 20% of incremental sales for FMCG and 60% for consumer electronic products. Non-food categories grow 1.8 times faster than food during these periods, driven by deep discounts and consumer preference for non-essentials. Categories such as toothpaste, toilet soap, and washing powder lead the charge, benefits with 20-30% incremental sales during big days, it said.

GE Power India Ltd (GPIL) on Wednesday said its Managing Director Prashant Jain has resigned. The board has appointed Puneet Bhatla as Additional Director and Managing Director from September 1, 2024, to June 30, 2027 subject to the approval of members, the company said in an exchange filing. «The board in its meeting held today...accepted resignation of Prashant Jain from the position of Managing Director with effect from close of business hours of 31 August 2024,» it added.

Reasons to BuyReasons to AvoidThe Prestige Iris Plus 750 W Mixer Grinder is a powerful kitchen appliance featuring a 750-watt motor. It includes four jars: three stainless steel jars (1.5L wet jar, 1L dry jar, and 300ml chutney jar) and a transparent juicer jar, all with super-efficient stainless steel blades. The grinder offers three-speed settings and comes with an ergonomic handle for easy use.

Recently, writing in the Economic Survey, the chief economic advisor observed that it is worth exploring whether India’s inflation targeting regime should focus on non-food inflation. The reasoning was that monetary policy is more effective in counteracting price pressures that arise out of excess aggregate demand, whereas food inflation is usually on account of supply constraints. In contrast, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor recently spoke after the monetary policy meeting and observed that food inflation is a major factor in determining inflationary expectations and therefore continues to be a matter of concern.

Ola Electric successfully met the minimum localisation criteria of 50% as mandated by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The company stands to receive incentives ranging from 13% to 18% of the determined sales value of compliant products for up to five consecutive financial years starting from Fiscal 2024. With this Ola Electric has become the only EV maker to get PLI compliance certification for four products: S1 Air, S1 Pro, and S1 X models in both 3 kWh and 4 kWh versions. The S1 Air received PLI certification earlier at the Auto PLI Conclave held in January 2024. Following this announcement, shares of Ola Electric rose by 4.4% to INR 143.8 in Wednesday trading on the BSE.

«The Modi 1.0 and the 2.0 had such a strong emphasis around the infra space and so I think there was a lot of confidence that the government through a mix of disinvestment, divestment, professionalising these companies, getting in private sector honchos to head it, and would improve their performance and so that, I would say, in a way, helped these stocks,» says Sunil Subramaniam, Market Expert. You just heard it from our research analyst, the kind of valuations some of these fancy defence, railway names are sitting at, the kind of growth trajectory and more importantly of late the kind of stock fall some of these stocks have seen, both on a monthly as well as on a weekly basis. Having said that, I mean, if you were to just elongate the chart for another one or two years, perhaps, a 30% fall is negligible, given the kind of returns some of these stocks have made. So, what is the right way of looking at the recent fall that some of these names have seen? Sunil Subramaniam: I think for an existing investor who got in early into this space, it is good to book profits. And the reason I say that is that A) a huge valuation gap between the same private sector related companies and the public sector. So, there was a catch-up rally happening because historically, they have always been at a discount to the private sector.

sports retailer Decathlon on Wednesday said it will invest 100 million euros (around Rs 933 crore) in India, its one of the fastest growing markets, in the next five years to expand retail footprint and manufacturing operations. The company expects its business to become double in next three to five years, said Decathlon India CEO Sankar Chaterjee. The company plans to have a network of 190 stores, having presence in over 90 stores in next 5 years as part of its expansion, he added. Besides, a handful of this would also be spent on enhancing the digital channel as per the omni-channel approach of the company.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will embark on a four-day visit to the US beginning August 23 to strengthen the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. During the visit, Singh will engage in talks with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, focusing on key defence cooperation initiatives, including the procurement of 31 MQ-9B Predator drones, joint manufacturing of Stryker infantry combat vehicles, and the co-production of GE F414 engines in India. The Defence Ministry announced that Singh's visit aims to deepen and broaden the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, in light of the growing momentum in bilateral relations and defence engagements. Officials highlighted the significance of Singh’s meetings, noting that the Indian Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has recently cleared the MQ-9B Predator drone deal with certain amendments, and the Indian Navy’s partnership with HawkEye 360 as part of the QUAD Indo-Pacific Partnership of Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA). “The visit is expected to further deepen and broaden the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership,” the Defence Ministry stated while announcing Singh’s trip to the US from August 23 to 26.

Rivian's head of manufacturing is leaving the electric vehicle startup to join Stellantis at a time when the maker of Jeep SUVs and Ram pickups is preparing to launch a number of battery powered cars. Tim Fallon will join Stellantis as its head of manufacturing in North America effective Sept 2, Stellantis said in a statement. Rivian, known for its R1S SUVs and R1T pickups, appointed its head of logistics Carlo Materazzo, a former Stellantis executive, to oversee production in the interim, CEO RJ Scaringe said in an internal email seen by Reuters.

Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), the company's majority shareholder, confirmed this move, as per the Business Standard report.Livemint could not independently verify the news development.“We are currently adjusting production to reduce market stock and are closely monitoring demand trends. India will be in a critical period with the upcoming festival season, so we will closely monitor demand trends," Suzuki Motor Corporation told analysts in a conference call, Business Standard reported quoting the transcript of the call.Despite a 7.4 per cent year-on-year increase in production to 496,000 units during the first quarter, sales growth lagged significantly, rising by only 1.2 per cent to 427,000 units, according to the Business Standard report.This slowdown in car sales has sparked concerns throughout the Indian auto industry, accumulating unsold vehicles at dealerships.

Microchip Technology said on Tuesday an «unauthorized party» disrupted the company's use of certain servers and some business operations. After detecting «potentially suspicious activity» in its IT systems on Saturday, the chipmaker began taking steps to assess and contain the issue, it said in a filing. Shares of the company were down about 3% in extended trading.

Accel has invested $9 million in Uppercase, nearly doubling the new-age luggage maker’s valuation after the investment to $60 million. The investment is earmarked for fuelling the brand’s expansion through new retail stores domestically as well as in Europe and the Middle East by next year, cofounder and managing director Sudip Ghose told ET. ET had reported on May 31 about Accel, an early investor in Flipkart, having discussions to invest in Uppercase, underscoring investor interest in new-age consumer retail brands.

Check your freezer

AMD is buying server maker ZT Systems in a cash-and-stock deal worth $4.9 billion as the chipmaker strengthens its artificial intelligence capacity in its efforts to compete with Nvidia

Ipca Laboratories is gearing up to make a strong return to the US generics business, with regulatory issues over its manufacturing facilities now behind, and integration of Unichem. The Mumbai-based drug maker is aiming for consolidated US revenue of $200 million (₹1,675 crore) in the next 12-18 months, managing director Ajit Kumar Jain told ET in an interview. The US business of Unichem clocked around $120 million revenue in FY24. While Ipca doesn't give a separate break up of its US revenue, it is quite small. «The US...we were there, but because of regulatory issues it took us some time to get those (regulatory) clearances; now all our plants have cleared,» Jain said.

Brookfield has proposed to put over 50,000 crore in renewable energy over three to five years in Andhra Pradesh, potentially the largest overseas investment in the sector. The company, through its Evren platform, plans to add 8.66 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar power projects, people aware of the development told ET. Senior executives from Brookfield, which manages renewable assets worth $102 billion globally, met Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday. “Met with managing director of Brookfield’s renewable power and transition group, Mr Nawal Saini… Brookfield has expressed a keen interest in investing in our state's renewable energy sector, particularly in solar, wind, and rooftop energy,” Naidu posted on X.

BEML, India's leading defence and heavy engineering PSU, on Tuesday signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding with the Directorate of Marine Engineering, Indian Navy. The agreement was signed at the Naval Headquarters in Delhi, with Ajit Kumar Srivastav, Director of Defence at BEML, and Rear Admiral K Srinivas, ACOM (D&R) of the Indian Navy. «This landmark agreement is a pivotal step in enhancing bilateral cooperation for the indigenous design, development, manufacture, testing, and product support of critical marine equipment and systems,» the BEML said in a statement. It also said the partnership aims to strengthen self-reliance in defence production and minimise reliance on foreign imports.

Manjushree Technopack filed their respective DRHPs with capital markets regulator to raise funds through an IPO. The IPO of Unimech is a combination of fresh equity issue of up to Rs 250 crore and an offer of sale (OFS) up to Rs 250 crore by promoter and promoter group selling shareholders.

Taiwan's Bestec Group has proposed to set up a manufacturing unit near Bengaluru at an investment of Rs 200 crore. Industries Minister MB Patil announced this after he met Bestec Group chairman Mike Chen and vice chairman Teresa Dong on Tuesday. The minister assured that the government would provide full support to facilitate the company's plans.

Why People Love Loud Music, published on the website of Loop Earplugs, Antwerp-headquartered manufacturers of noise-reducing earphones, writer Samuel De Koning alludes to the ‘sacculus’ as a factor. The organ is part of the balance-regulating vestibular system in our inner ear. “It’s special because it has direct connections to pleasure centres in the brain.