Top headlines: Rajnath's statement on border row, Toyota halts expansion

From Rajnath Singh's statement on Ladakh stand-off to Apple's plans to shift manufacturing hub to India, Business Standard brings you top headlines of the day

Rajnath on India-China border row: We want peaceful solution but ready for all eventualities

China is trying to change the "status quo" along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and responsible for the military standoff, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Parliament on Tuesday. "India and China border issue remains unresolved. Till now, there has been no mutually acceptable solution. China disagrees on border," he said in the Lok Sabha. Read More...

Govt's PLI boost set to make India manufacturing hub for Apple iPhones

It will be celebration time for the government: After nearly three years of hard negotiations and policy changes, it will have succeeded in convincing an iconic global brand to shift part of its production from China to India. That had looked nearly impossible until a year earlier. The iconic brand here is Apple Inc, over 95 per cent of whose current mobile phone manufacturing takes place in just one country — China. Read More...

Toyota Motors halts expansion plans in India, blames high tax regime

Toyota Motor Corp. won’t expand further in India due to the country’s high tax regime, a blow for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who’s trying to lure global companies to offset the deep economic malaise brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The government keeps taxes on cars and motorbikes so high that companies find it hard to build scale, said Shekar Viswanathan, vice chairman of Toyota’s local unit, Toyota Kirloskar Motor. The high levies also put owning a car out of reach of many consumers, meaning factories are idled and jobs aren’t created, he said. Read More...

Asian economy to shrink, first time since 1960s, thanks to Covid-19: ADB

Developing Asia’s coronavirus-battered economy will shrink for the first time since the early 1960s, with the level of output next year still seen below pre-pandemic projections even as growth recovers, according to the Asian Development Bank. The region’s gross domestic product will decline by 0.7 per cent in 2020, down from June’s projection of an increase of 0.1 per cent, the Manila-based bank said in a report Tuesday. A contraction this year would be the first since 1962, Yasuyuki Sawada, the ADB’s chief economist, said in a live-streamed briefing. Read More...

Ratan Tata backed CashKaro raises $10 mn from investors in Series B funding

CashKaro, India’s largest Cashback and Coupons site has secured $10 million in a Series B funding round led by Korea Investment Partners and existing investor Kalaari Capital. This fresh funding takes the total amount raised by the Gurugram-based startup to $15 million. The company had previously raised their Series A and angel round of funding from Kalaari Capital, Ratan Tata, and London-based angel investors. Read More...