Top biz headlines: Bezos' India pitch, Airtel's fundraising, and more

From Huawei's likely 5G trial to DHFL-lenders meet, Business Standard brings you the top business headlines of the day

1. Bharti Airtel's mega issuance buoys 2020 outlook for fundraising

Telecom major Bharti Airtel’s $2-billion fundraising has boosted the prospects for the new year, particularly through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route.

Underpinned by a broad rally in the secondary market, corporate India will raise a significantly higher amount than it did last year through fundraising instruments such as QIPs and block deals, according to market experts. Read more

2. ED digs deeper into Amrapali-JPMorgan case, probes 'ultimate beneficiaries'

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the “ultimate beneficiaries” of the Amrapali group’s homebuyers’ money, allegedly diverted abroad through shell firms in collusion with investment banking firm JPMorgan India, according to an official at the federal agency. Read more

3. Jeff Bezos bets on 'Indian century', gives MSMEs $1-billion push

Amazon.com Inc Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday that his company would invest an additional $1 billion (about Rs 7,000 crore) to help bring small businesses online in India, and also committed to using the retail giant’s “size, scope and scale” to export $10 billion of made-in-India goods by 2025. Read more

4. Jet Airways gets two suitors as EoI deadline ends, Hindujas back out

South America-based Synergy Group and Delhi-based Prudent ARC have submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) for the revival of Jet Airways. The deadline for the submission of EoIs ended on Wednesday.

Sources said the Hinduja Group had explored investing in the beleaguered airline, but backed out later because it found no value. A Dubai-based fund, too, had evinced interest in investing in the grounded airline, but did not submit an offer. Read more
 

5. Huawei likely to conduct trial runs of 5G waves for Airtel, Vodafone

Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei is expected to conduct 5G trials for Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, sources said, as the central government finalises the trial runs before the spectrum auctions.

Sources said both Airtel and Vodafone have also joined ZTE, Nokia and Ericsson, apart from Huawei, for conducting the 5G trials. Reliance Jio will rope in South Korean equipment maker Samsung. Read more

6. Karvy case: Interim relief to Axis Bank from Securities Appellate Tribunal

The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Wednesday granted interim relief to Axis Bank in the appeal filed by the latter against the order passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in the Karvy case. Read more

7. Budget wishlist: Steel industry expects relief from taxes, logistic costs

The recent years have seen India alternating between a net exporter and net importer of steel. There was much discomfort in the government with the industry raising demand for stricter duty barriers when India’s imports of 7.83 million tonnes (mt) in 2018-19 exceeded exports by 1.47 mt.

The introduction of steel import monitoring system (SIMS) is with the objective of incontrovertibly establishing what is already within the capacity of the local industry. Read more

8. Govt may propose GST refunds on capital goods purchases to exporters

In a bid to alleviate exporters’ concerns amid an economic slowdown, the government is likely to propose changes to the goods and services tax (GST) policy to allow for the refund on taxes paid on capital goods purchases to exporters. Read more

9. Administrator of DHFL meets lenders today to take stock of their claims

The Reserve Bank of India-appointed administrator is set to meet lenders to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) on Thursday to take stock of claims made by them. The administrator, R Subramaniakumar, had set a deadline of December 17, 2019 for creditors to submit their claims. Lenders comprising banks, bondholders, including retail bondholders, and employees are said to have submitted claims totalling Rs 87,905 crore. Read more

10. Cybersecurity Startups See Billions in Keeping You Safe

Cybersecurity companies such as Innefu Labs, Lucideus and McAfee are looking to build solutions to combat the next big threats to consumers in an increasingly digital economy.

Many first-time users have taken to India’s growing digital economy following the launch of many initiatives by the Narendra Modi government to boost digital literacy in the past few years, but awareness about cybersecurity and infrastructure are still lacking, cybersecurity experts said, reported Economic Times.