Top headlines: Tata's reject Mistry's offer; TVS changes ownership model

From Tatas rejecting Mistrys' settlement offer to divide Tata Sons' assets to Mittal, Musk betting on satellite broadband as telecom's new star, here are top headlines this morning

Tatas reject Mistrys' settlement offer to divide Tata Sons' assets

Just two days after the Tata group had told the Supreme Court that the Mistry family stake in Tata Sons was estimated at 70,000- 80,000 crore against the other camp’s Rs 1.75-trillion valuation, its counsel has rejected the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) group’s proposal of dividing the assets of the salt-to-software conglomerate. Tata Sons counsel Harish Salve said in the top court on Thursday that the Mistrys were seeking division of assets including 18.4 per cent stake in the Tata brand. Read More

UPL shares slump on fund-diversion charge; firm denies allegations

Shares of chemical firm UPL Ltd closed nearly 11 per cent down on Thursday on reports that a whistle-blower had alleged corporate governance lapses in the company and that its promoters had siphoned off funds. The whistle-blower also alleged that UPL entered into rent deals with a shell company owned by its employees and paid crores of rupees in rent for properties held by the latter, which was earlier owned by the promoter family. Read More

Family-owned TVS group changes ownership model, to scrap holding company

The $8.5-billion TVS group on Thursday decided to go for restructuring by giving each family group complete ownership of businesses they manage and scrapping the holding company. There won't be any cross holdings, the family has agreed, according to the new terms. Read More

Walmart commits to sourcing $10 bn of India-Made goods each year by 2027

Walmart commits to sourcing $10 bn of India-Made goods each year by 2027 To accelerate its India exports, Walmart will strengthen the development of the supply chain ecosystem in India Peerzada Abrar Bengaluru, 11 December Seven years after splitting with its joint venture partner Bharti Enterprises over regulatory hurdles such as mandatory sourcing norms from India, Bentonville-based major Walmart has outlined an ambitious target to export goods from the country. Read More

Space wars: Mittal, Musk bet on satellite broadband as telecom's new star

Space wars are here again, but with a difference. Pitted on one side is India’s telecom czar Sunil Mittal who has taken a big gamble by buying a 50 per cent stake in the once bankrupt low earth orbit constellation satellite company OneWeb. The company, Bharti Global, is planning to invest $2 billion (of which it has already put in $500 million) to put up more satellites and it has set a stiff deadline to launch its commercial internet services by October next year in the UK, Alaska, northern Russia and northern Europe. Read More

NIAL turns to Indian banks to raise Rs 3,000 cr for Jewar airport

Noida International Airport (NIAL), the special purpose vehicle which will operate the Greater Noida International Airport in Jewar, is in talks with Indian banks to raise around Rs 3,000 crore to fund its first-phase expansion. Flughaffen Zurich, the operator of the Zurich International Airport that also won the bid to build and operate the Jewar airport last year, aims to complete the first phase of the project by 2024. Read More

Reliance Jio's 5G plan treads the line between optimism and realism

Is Mukesh Ambani’s announcement that Reliance Jio will offer 5G services towards the second half of next year a case of mad optimism or a realistic target? The statement, made a few days ago at the Indian Mobile Congress, stumped the industry. The feasibility of the goal depends on three factors. One, can the DoT keep its promise of going for a 5G auction in March-April despite opposition to the high base price? Two, how much money is Jio ready to raise and invest after RIL made such a mammoth effort to become debt-free? Read More

Strong Rabi season offtake helps fertilizer stocks extend gains

Shares of fertiliser companies extended their gains as the Street remains optimistic of higher offtake during the ongoing rabi season. Encouraged by abundant rainfall and higher soil moisture, farmers have started sowing rabi crops at a brisk pace this year, covering four per cent more area by November end than in the whole of the previous season. Read More

ATM moment of banking services is here as lenders make apps open for all

Long after automated teller machines (ATM) were made interoperable for bank customers, the whole gamut of banking is becoming membership agnostic. Earlier this week, ICICI Bank created some buzz by announcing its banking app — iMobile Pay — would be free for all to use. A customer need not be with the bank but can link her bank account with a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ID with ICICI Bank and start using it for all kinds of payments across all platforms. Read More

Coronavirus pandemic to keep repayment risks elevated for securtised loans

The repayment risks on securitised loans in India will remain elevated for the next 12 months despite the improvement in collection efficiency after the end of moratorium, according to rating agency Moody’s. Weak economic conditions will continue to hurt borrowers' ability to repay loans, keeping performance risks for asset-backed securities (ABS) elevated. Read More