News digest: Essar Steel sale, E-commerce policy, Airtel results, and more

Arcelor bids higher than Numetal for Essar Steel; CoC to meet on Friday

ArcelorMittal’s bid for Essar Steel in the first round of bidding for the stressed asset is likely to be higher than that of Numetal.

The financial bids submitted by the two companies on February 12 were opened on Tuesday by the committee of creditors (CoC) at a marathon meeting lasting more than seven hours. Read more...

Relief for Airtel, Idea as tribunal stays Trai's predatory pricing order

In a relief to incumbents, including Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular, and a setback to newcomer Reliance Jio, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Tuesday imposed an interim stay on the clauses of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai’s) order relating to reporting requirements and the new definition for ascertaining “significant market power” (SMP). The tribunal did not, however, grant a stay on the whole regulation on predatory pricing.

Airtel and Idea had approached the TDSAT challenging Trai’s regulation as they felt the new rules favoured Reliance Jio, which is a party in the case. Read more...

Lowest quarterly profit for Bharti Airtel in 15 years: Q4 net plunges 78%

Telecommunications sector leader, Bharti Airtel, has reported a 78 per cent drop in net profit to Rs 830 million, for the quarter ended March 31, as an intense price war roils the industry. A cut in international termination rates further impacted the revenues of the company.

This is the lowest quarterly profit for the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company in nearly 15 years. Read more...

RIL's high borrowing costs a sign of troubles ahead for India Inc

At a time when the policy repo rate is at 6 per cent and three-month government treasury bills are trading at 6.15 per cent, India’s biggest company, Reliance Industries, raised Rs 15 billion of three-month money on Monday at 7.1 per cent.

About the same time last year, Reliance was raising money for two to three months at 6.13-6.15 per cent, much closer to the prevailing treasury bill rate. On Tuesday, Godrej Industries raised money through three-month commercial paper at 7.12 per cent. 

State-owned firms, though, seem to be doing remarkably well. Chennai Petroleum raised money for two months at 6.59 per cent on April 16, while Indian Oil at 6.55 per cent. Read more...

E-commerce policy in six months; to tackle data privacy and tax issues

The government has announced that a framework for an e-commerce policy will be prepared within the next six months.

The comprehensive policy is expected to focus on all aspects of the e-commerce business and consumers. It will encompass data privacy and taxation, apart from a host of technical aspects such as technology transfer, server localisation and connectivity issues. Read more...

It'll rain malls in India this year: 7.8 mn sq ft space under construction

Call it the impact of rising consumption at brick-and-mortar stores or private equity pouring in, it is going to rain malls in India this year: an estimated 7.8 million sq ft of space has been procured to construct them -- the most since 2011, and 40 per cent higher than 2017, according to property consultancy JLL.

JLL said the next three years could see around 20 million sq ft of mall space hitting the market as all the big developers such as DLF, Prestige, Brigade Phoenix Mills, L&T, Nitesh Estates and a host of regional and local developers are building new malls. Read more...