News digest: Trai lowers IUC, festive sales, economic revival plan and more

From Jaitley discusses ways to revive GDP growth to Trai cuts IUC by over half, BS brings you up to speed with latest news

Advantage Jio: Trai cuts IUC by over half

In a fresh blow to incumbent mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has cut the interconnect usage charges (IUC, also known as terminating charges) by 57 per cent to 6 paise per minute effective October 1, from 14 paise currently. In two years, the charges would come down to zero, meaning there won’t be any payment for calls landing on other telcos’ networks. Read more

 

Top ministers brainstorm on ways to boost growth

The government has swung into action to draw up a blueprint to revive the economy after gross domestic product (GDP) growth slipped to its lowest level under the Narendra Modi government, on the back of a slowdown due to demonetisation and the introduction of the goods and service tax (GST). Read more

 

E-tailer war rooms ready for festive sales from today

From conducting extensive checks and optimising backroom tech to organising masseuse-on-call, midnight jam sessions and buffet for their employees, the three big e-tailers — Amazon India, Flipkart and Paytm Mall — are stocking up war rooms hours before they head for festive sales. The e-commerce players, who would start their festive season sales on Wednesday, are not only preparing their teams for the coming marathon but also ensuring that employees have all the comforts to wade through the next couple of days. Read more

 

JSW in talks with multiple investors for Bhushan bid

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel is in discussions to tie up with multiple investors for its proposed bid for insolvency-facing Bhushan Steel. At this point, the discussions are on with Piramal-Bain fund, JFE Steel Corporation and private equity firm KKR. Sources said JSW was likely to bid "aggressively" for Bhushan Steel. The private equity players, who would provide funds, could exit after a few years, while JFE could be a technology partner and may even explore equity participation. The management of Bhushan Steel would be with JSW Steel if the consortium were to win the bid. Bhushan Steel has a capacity of 5.6 million tonnes. It had a debt of Rs 44,478 crore in FY16. Read more

 

Record average deal size lights up IPO Street

The average initial public offering (IPO) size so far this year has been the highest in the history of the domestic market aided by big-ticket offerings such as SBI Life Insurance and ICICI Lombard. Read more