Top headlines: Saudi fund buys stake in RIL arm, Fitch cuts India ratings

Reliance has sold almost 25 per cent of equity in Jio Platforms since April. Read about that story and more in our morning news wrap.

The government will provide jobs to over 6 million migrant workers in six states by bringing together various schemes it runs, said the finance minister. The Supreme Court asked Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to submit their financial statements for the past 10 years in the long-winded adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case. Here is more about those stories in our morning wrap of top headlines.

Reliance sells 2.32% stake in Jio to Saudi wealth fund

Reliance Industries Ltd said it has sold a 2.32 per cent stake in its digital unit to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) for Rs 11,367 crore, taking the cumulative fund raising to about Rs 1.16 trillion in two months. Starting with Facebook Inc on April 22, Reliance has sold almost 25 per cent of equity in Jio Platforms: the maximum reports suggest the company intends to dilute to financial investors.

Made-in-India remdesivir may come by end of June

Gilead’s remdesivir, the only drug with an emergency use authorisation to treat Covid-19 in the US, is expected to be widely available in the Indian market by the end of this month, Business Standard reported. The drug may reduce the average time of hospital stay for Covid patients and improve their recovery time.

Govt projects to provide jobs to 6.7 mn migrant workers 

The government will provide jobs to over 6 million migrant workers in six states by bringing together various schemes it runs, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Based on data gathered from states, the government has estimated around 10 million workers have migrated back to their villages after the national lockdown was enforced in March-end to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

AGR case: SC orders telcos to file balance sheets of past 10 years

The Supreme Court has opened a new front, asking Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to submit their financial statements for the past 10 years in the long-winded adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case as the two telcos listed reasons for not furnishing bank guarantees and sought a 20-year term to pay their dues. The top court will next hear the case in the third week of July.

Fitch cuts India's sovereign rating outlook to negative

Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on India's sovereign ratings to ‘Negative’ from ‘Stable’, citing a weakened growth outlook and challenges from a high public debt burden due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fitch retained its rating at ‘BBB-‘, the lowest investment grade. This comes just weeks after Moody’s cut its rating for India.

Mukesh Ambani nears deal to buy stake in some units of Future Group

Reliance Industries is closing in on a deal that would see it acquire stakes in some units of Future Group, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would bolster the e-commerce ambitions of the conglomerate and its billionaire chairman Mukesh Ambani. An agreement between Ambani’s Reliance and Future, which has a partnership with Amazon.com Inc., could be announced as early as next month.

I-T tribunal stays tax demand against Tata Education and Development Trust

The Income-tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) stayed a tax demand against one of the entities of Tata Trusts, which owns a majority share in the group’s holding company Tata Sons. The Rs 100-crore tax demand on Tata Education and Development Trust was raised last year by the I-T department owing to cancellation of registration on past exempted income.

NPAs in corporate loans now under control, says SBI's Rajnish Kumar

Non-performing assets (NPAs) in small-ticket loans remain on the higher side, even as corporate bad loans are largely under control, according to Rajnish Kumar, chairman of SBI. In the last 15 days, SBI has sanctioned loans to about 200,000 MSMEs. Of this, nearly 60 per cent loans have already been disbursed, he said.

Moody's cuts rating on Tata Motors, changes outlook to negative

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Tata Motors corporate family rating (CFR) and the company's senior unsecured instruments rating to B1 from Ba3. The outlook on all ratings has been changed to negative from ratings under review, it said in a statement.

China must keep to its side of LAC, says India

India on Thursday again accused the Chinese of crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15. It also asked Beijing to not take any unilateral action to alter the LAC, but said the two sides were in regular touch.