Top headlines: Tata invests Rs 300 cr in AirAsia; RBI MPC decision today

From Tata investing Rs 300 cr in crisis-hit AirAsia to FMCG sector upbeat on Q2 results, here are top headlines this morning

Tatas to give wings to crisis-hit AirAsia India, invest Rs 300 cr via OCDs

Tata Sons will pump money into its low-cost aviation venture AirAsia India against the inability of Malaysian airline AirAsia Berhad, the joint venture partner, to fund the company. Tata Sons owns 51 per cent in the joint venture while AirAsia Berhad has the rest. Funding will be through optionally convertible debentures (OCDs), which will allow Tata Sons to convert the debt into equity at a later stage. This will reduce the stake of AirAsia Berhad, which is looking to exit the joint venture while it fights to mitigate the impact of the pandemic back home in Malaysia. Read More

16 PLI projects get nod in Rs 10.5-trillion electronics manufacturing push

The Centre on Tuesday approved 16 proposals from marquee brands, including makers of Apple devices, under two new flagship schemes, in a move expected to fetch Rs 11,000-crore additional investments in local electronics manufacturing. In turn, this would imply production worth Rs 10.5 trillion over the next five years, giving a fillip to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India and Atma Nirbhar Bharat schemes. Read More

Sebi shields small investors from AT1 bonds, urges 'full discretion'

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday took steps to restrict retail investor participation in additional tier 1 (AT1) bonds — instruments which were in the news amid troubles at private sector lender YES Bank. In a circular, the markets regulator said issuing AT1 bonds must be done compulsorily on the electronic book provider platform. More importantly, issuers and stock exchanges have to ensure that only qualified institutional buyers are issued these bonds. Further, the minimum allotment and trading lot size shall be Rs 1 crore. Read More

Reserve Bank's monetary policy decision to be announced on Friday

With the government filling up the vacancies for three external members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) on Monday night, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the panel would hold meetings from Wednesday to Friday to arrive at a policy decision. The government named Jayanth Varma, professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Ashima Goyal, former member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister; and Shashanka Bhide, senior advisor at the National Council of Applied Economic Research as external members of the MPC. Read More

On path to recovery: FMCG sector upbeat on Q2 results amid demand revival

The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is upbeat on second quarter numbers, pointing towards the demand revival driven by the relaxation in restrictions as well as consumers adjusting to the new normal. Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) on Tuesday said it was likely to deliver double-digit sales growth in the second quarter, led by an uptick in categories such as hygiene and household insecticides. Read More

Reliance Retail Ventures likely to divest only 10-15% stake: Sources

Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), is expected to divest only a small stake of 10-15 per cent in its retail holding company, the proceeds of which will be used to fund acquisitions such as the retail and wholesale business of Future Group and others. As part of its initial and ongoing fund-raising exercise, RRVL has already divested 8.48 per cent stake to a bevy of private equity funds for Rs 37,710 crore. Read More

We can quickly come back to pre-Covid levels, says SBI's Rajnish Kumar

Keeping the bank’s operations up and running in the last six months has been the most challenging period for Rajnish Kumar, who retired as chairman of SBI, in his 40-year career. The financial system in India has managed the situation well but needs fixing, Kumar tells Abhijit Lele. Read More

Piramal Pharma readies war chest for potential acquisition targets

After raising Rs 3,523 crore by selling 20 per cent equity to Carlyle Group, Piramal Pharma (PPL) is looking actively for potential acquisition targets, along with growing its existing business. It will list the firm after it achieves more scale. A decade after Piramal sold its domestic formulations business to Abbott Laboratories for $3.72 billion, the group is now looking at re-entering the space in India. Read More

Explained: What GST Council decided for taxpayers, big and small

The coverage of the decisions by the Goods and Services Tax Council in its 42nd meeting on Monday has focused on the compensation to states. While important, this doesn’t have a day-to-day impact on the taxpayer. A number of other decisions taken by the Council do, however. It’s been three years since GST rolled out and the Council clearly feels that it is time to implement those features that were originally envisaged but were kept in abeyance. Read More