Top headlines: Steel firms struggle, state finances to take a hit, and more

From Uber and BigBasket joining hands to deliver essentials, oil producers seeking relief from govt to venture capitalists warning start-ups, Business Standard brings you top headlines of the day

Covid-19 lockdown: Uber, BigBasket partner for essential service delivery

In a B2B partnership, Uber and BigBasket have joined hands to provide doorstep delivery of everyday essentials to people amid the ongoing 21-day lockdown due to coronavirus. The last mile delivery will be initially available in four cities - Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Noida and Hyderabad, with Uber looking to rope in other e-commerce platforms and supermarkets. UberGo, UberXL and UberMoto will be available for the entire day for delivery of the goods ordered. Read More...

Covid19 impact: Steel companies struggle with labour shortage post lockdown

Steel companies are dealing with labour shortage despite trucks being available for transportation of input materials and finished goods amid the Covid-19 lockdown. The firms, which are currently operating at 40-60% of their entire capacity are facing the challenge of finding manual labour to load and unload trucks at the warehouses and public sidings. Tata Steel, JSW Steel are some of the major firms that have announced reduction in production levels as shutting down a blast furnace may have a major impact financially. Read More...

Biodiesel industry faces coronavirus heat as meat exports drop sharply

Biodiesel firms are facing challenges as Asian and West Asian countries have halted import of buffalo and goat meat amid the coronavirus outbreak. As a result, animal tallow production, one of the key materials of biodiesel, have dropped significantly which has led the manufacturers to function at around 30-40% of its capacity since December. Read More...

State finances to take bigger hit than Centre's due to coronavirus lockdown

State financies will be affected more than the Centre as indirect taxes on transport fuel, vehicle sales, alcohol, real estate transactions, electricity, and films & entertainment account for a majority of state governments’ tax revenues. All these activities have come to a grinding halt in the past two weeks due to coronavirus lockdown. Whereas, the Centre draws its revenues from taxes on income, manufacturing and imports that have not seen a sharp decline and may revive once this lockdown is over. Read More...

Covid-19: Oil producers knock govt's door, seek relaxation in royalty, cess

With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting demand and pushing international crude prices to new lows, oil and gas producers are seeking reduction and postponement in royalty, cess and profit petroleum from the government. The move from Association of Oil and Gas Operators comes after a sharp fall in oil prices since January resulting in decline of operator revenue. Read More...

Covid-19: Supply of pulses to ease soon as Nafed ties up with dal mills

Nafed, Centre's pulse procurement agency, has tied up with dal mills for smooth processing of the pulses supply chain hit hard due to Covid-19 lockdown. Nafed will help in supply of whole grain for processing, and to get processed dal for the government’s planned distribution through public distribution system, Business Standard reported. Read More...

Cut ops: US, Europe firms tell tech vendors in India amid Covid-19 outbreak

European firms in the travel, hospitality and manufacturing sectors are asking Indian IT service vendors to reduce support that may see a decline of the share in core revenue. However, Business Standard has learnt that this potentially opens up the window for renegotiation of prices as the clients are likely to hold back their IT expenditure, affecting India's export revenue. Read More...

Be prepared for the worst of Covid-19: Venture Capitalists tell start-ups

Venture Capital firms in a open letter to start-ups listed out the difficulties these firms are going to face in the next one month and also charted out routes to tackle the crisis in the next one year. Firms including Accel, Kalaari, SAIF Partners and Sequoia have advised start-ups to be prepared for the worst as the Covid-19 lockdown has been challenging for the start-up ecosystem in the country. Read More...

Oyo invokes 'force majeure' clause on agreements of hotel owners

As the Covid-19 pandemic continued to wreak havoc in businesses across the globe, Oyo has written to hotel owners invoking 'force majeure' clauses on their agreements stating sharp decline in revenues as the reason and added that it is unlikely to pick up in the next few months. However, hotel owners refused to agree to the letter as they argued that the clause was never included in the contract, reported the Economic Times.

‘Operating 90% stores despite supply side, labour challenges’

More Retail owned by Sama Capital and Amazon.com is operating at 90% despite the lockdown hitting supply chain of commodities. More Retail was bought by Samara Capital from Aditya Birla Group in 2018 and has around 645 stores across the natin, reports Livemint.