Top headlines: India Inc earnings estimate upgrade, India woos Tesla

Earnings estimates of India Inc see upgrade after strong Q3 results

After a better-than-expected show by India Inc in the December 2020 quarter, there is more good news for investors and market participants. Even as corporate profits were already expected to grow at a robust pace in FY22 and FY23, the country’s top brokerages have now upgraded the earnings per share (EPS) estimates of big listed companies for FY21-FY23. Read more
 

Half of telecom spectrum sold goes to Reliance Jio at Rs 57,122 crore
Reliance Jio has bagged more than 50 per cent of the total quantum of airwaves sold by paying Rs 57,122.65 crore. Of the 855.6 megahertz of spectrum sold, Jio has got 488 megahertz. The company spent more than 60 per cent of this amount on buying spectrum in the 800 Mhz band — the next best bet after the most expensive 700 Mhz band which went unsold once more. Read more
 

Sebi's expert panel to probe glitch at NSE, submit report by March 15

The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) technical advisory committee has been mandated to probe the trading halt at National Stock Exchange (NSE) and fix accountability. The panel, which is currently chaired by Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT Madras, is learnt to have sought an explanation over two key issues from NSE. Read more
 

India woos Tesla with offer of cheaper production costs than China

India is ready to offer incentives to ensure Tesla Inc's cost of production would be less than in China if the carmaker commits to making its electric vehicles in the south Asian country, transport minister Nitin Gadkari told Reuters. Gadkari's pitch comes weeks after billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla registered a company in India in a step towards entering the country, possibly as soon as mid-2021. Read more
 

Ministries baulk at giving large procurement contracts to foreign companies

A number of central ministries are refraining from awarding large procurement contracts to foreign companies in sectors where capabilities exist at home, a senior government official told Business Standard.

This is aimed at giving impetus to domestic manufacturing. Read more
 

Over 5 million registrations on Co-WIN in two days, no glitches: R S Sharma

The Co-WIN portal, the backbone of covid vaccination drive in the country, has seen more than 5 million registrations in the last two days, R S Sharma, chairman of the empowered group on vaccination told reporters on Tuesday. Stressing that there were no glitches with the Co-WIN portal, Sharma said that going forward people would be allowed to book slots online depending upon the capacity of the hospitals. Read more
 

$31 billion lined up for 400 port projects across 7,500-km coastline: PM

India will invest $82 billion (or Rs 6 trillion) in port projects by 2035, raise the share of clean renewable energy source in the maritime sector, develop waterways, augment seaplane services, boost tourism around lighthouses, and generate 2 million jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday. Read more

Suzuki Motor charges up for EVs, spells out strategy for the first time

Last week, Suzuki Motor Corp (SMC) in an investor presentation expressed strong intent to enter the electric vehicle (EV) space. This is part of a larger strategy the Hamamatsu-based firm has drawn up in developing electrification of technologies as it seeks to achieve carbon neutrality.

The significance of this presentation is that it marked the first time that the Japanese carmaker spelt out its EV strategy with well-defined timelines. Read more