Top headlines: HC puts Future-RIL deal on hold; Govt may sell stake in RVNL

From Delhi High Court putting Future-Reliance deal on hold to Jio, Airtel, Voda Idea making Rs 21,916 crore upfront payments for spectrum, here are top headlines this morning

In relief for Amazon, Delhi HC puts Future-Reliance deal on hold

In a win for e-commerce firm Amazon, the Delhi High Court on Thursday upheld the Emergency Award passed against the $3.4-billion Future-Reliance deal. The order, passed by a single-judge Bench of Justice J R Midha, will restrain Future Retail from going ahead with the deal. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh on Future and the money will go to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. The court held that Future Retail, Future Coupons (the promoter entity of Future Retail), founder and owner Kishore Biyani and others violated the Emergency Award. Issuing a show-cause notice to Biyani and others, it asked why they should not be detained in civil prison, according law platform Bar & Bench. Directing the attachment of Biyani's assets, the court ordered the filing of an affidavit describing his assets. Read More

DFI bond subscribers to get tax reimbursement from Centre's Rs 5K cr grant

The government-owned development finance institution (DFI) will not issue tax-free bonds, but subscribers will get reimbursement for the taxes paid from a Rs 5,000-crore grant from the Centre. "Instead of allowing the DFI to raise money through tax-saving instruments, the Bill provides that the tax element will get neutralised through this corpus," said a senior finance ministry official. The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Bill to create the government-promoted DFI. Read More

Scrappage plan has sops for buying new vehicles, pain for driving old ones

The Centre on Thursday announced the much-awaited vehicle scrapping policy, seeking to “increase business and employment, and reduce pollution and road hazards created by old vehicles”. Through this policy, the government is looking to incentivise scrapping vehicles older than 15 years and replacing them with new ones, while discouraging the use of old vehicles. “The scheme targets multiple problems at one go,” Nitin Gadkari, minister of road transport and highways, said, making a statement on the policy in the Lok Sabha. Read  More

Seizing Indian assets won't be easy for Cairn Energy, say experts

The UK-based oil major Cairn Energy faces a long and arduous process if it wishes to follow through on its threat of seizing Indian sovereign assets in case of non-enforcement of the international arbitration award, said experts. Hence, there is little chance of seizure, given international arbitration norms, the experts added. In fact, some government officials said Cairn’s best chance of getting the award enforced is to approach Indian courts, which could also take years. Read More

Second wave of Covid? From Tanishq to Panasonic, India Inc says we're ready

If, perchance, there should be a second Covid-19 wave, companies will not be scattering in disarray this time round because many of them have re-configured their businesses to cope, so companies such as jewellery seller Tanishq can let consumers try on necklaces and ear-rings virtually and deliver the items to their doorstep. Tanishq has overhauled its sales channels through a host of technological initiatives. Read More

Jio, Airtel, Voda Idea make Rs 21,916 crore upfront payments for spectrum

Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea on Thursday made upfront payments for the spectrum bought in the recently concluded auctions. It is learnt that while Reliance Jio has made a payment of Rs 15,019 crore, Bharti Airtel and Vi paid Rs 6,323 crore and Rs 574 crore, respectively. The telecom department had issued demand notes to the three operators on March 8, and the deadline for making the upfront payment was Thursday. Reliance Jio emerged the highest bidder in the 4G telecom spectrum auction, beating incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea by a wide margin. Read More

MCA21 Version 3.0: Govt's automated system to keep an eye on firms

Financial ratios of companies such as debt to turnover, inventory to turnover, or loan to assets will soon come under closer government scrutiny through an automated system under the soon-to-be-launched portal MCA21 Version 3.0. The central scrutiny centre being set up by the government will pull up companies if it detects any suspicious activity based on a list of parameters that are being finalised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), a senior official told Business Standard. Read More

Centre may sell stake in Rail Vikas Nigam through OFS this month

The government may sell its stake in Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) through an offer for sale (OFS) this month, according to a senior government official. The plan was delayed by a few months as the stock nosedived during the pandemic and was trading below its book value. The stock of the public sector undertaking (PSU), which executes railway infrastructure projects, has recovered since, and hit a 52-week high of Rs 35.60 on January 11, 2021. Read More