Top headlines: Flipkart gets ED notice, Maruti hits chip roadblock

Business Standard brings you the top headlines on Thursday

Maruti Suzuki India said its production will be affected due to a semiconductor shortage. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has slapped a show-cause notice of Rs 10,600 crore on Flipkart. More on those stories in our top headlines. 

ED slaps Rs 10,600-crore notice on Flipkart for forex violations

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has slapped its biggest FEMA show-cause notice of Rs 10,600 crore on Flipkart and nine other entities/ individuals linked to the e-commerce major for allegedly flouting foreign exchange rules.

The central probe agency has charged these entities by an order issued in July by the adjudicating authority of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Read more

Govt stands to lose whether it saves debt-laden Vodafone Idea or not

The government will have to make substantial payments, as well as forego revenues in FY’23, if it wants to work on the survival of Vodafone Idea because it will have to extend the same incentives to the entire telecom sector.

According to estimates, the industry has to spend around Rs 21,000-Rs 25,000 crore for spectrum which it bought on a deferred payment basis. Read more

Maruti hits semiconductor roadblock in Gujarat; plants to cut shift timings

India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) said its production will be impacted due to a semiconductor shortage that has severely hit the global automotive industry.

The company said Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG), which contracts manufacturers for Maruti, will shut production for three consecutive Saturdays in August. It may also bring down working to just one shift, due to the shortage. Read more

As countries ease restrictions for India, tourists firm up travel plans

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in May had put the brakes on overseas travel but the tide is slowly turning as more countries welcome vaccinated Indian tourists. On Tuesday, Spain opened the doors to fully vaccinated Indians, joining France, Ger­many and Switzerland which did so a few weeks earlier. Read more

Indian holidaymakers are taking advantage of this even as they deal with challenges such as limited non-stop flights, reduced visa slots and the lack of approval to Covaxin.

Govt likely to reduce private sector's 25% Covid-19 vaccine quota

The Centre has indicated that with lower utilisation of Covid vaccines by the private sector, its 25 per cent quota may not be necessary.

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Rajya Sabha, in response to a question by MP Sushil Kumar Modi, that the government took over 7-9 per cent of the private sector’s quota since it had not been utilised.

Vaccine makers, the government has indicated, can provide doses to the private sector according to demand and the remaining would be bought by the government. Read more