Top 10 biz headlines: IIP contracts, Honda suspends Manesar plant, and more

From festive passenger vehicle sales to Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hitting $38 billion, here are the top headlines for the day

1. Industrial output sees steepest fall in 8 years, shrinks 4.3% in September

Industrial output contracted by 4.3 per cent for the second-straight month in September, nosediving to an 8-year low. Spurred by a major loss in manufacturing output and a deepening slowdown in capital goods production, the latest contraction was much higher than the 1.4 per cent fall in August. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) fell by the highest margin since October 2011, data released on Monday showed. Read more.

2. Urban cooperative banks' business size may be capped at Rs 20,000 cr

The new regulatory framework for urban co-operative banks (UCBs) is expected to stipulate a threshold business size of Rs 20,000 crore, beyond which it will not be life as usual for these entities. Curbs are also expected to be placed on UCBs on some of their specific activities (especially on sensitive sectors like realty), so as to restrain their growth, given the less-than-adequate oversight of them. Read more.


3. Honda Manesar operations suspended indefinitely as talks with workers fail

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) has indefinitely suspended operations at its plant in Manesar, Haryana. Alleging misconduct by its permanent workers, labour unions and contract staff, the plant management informed all stakeholders, through a notice, that starting Monday “normal operations” at the plant were being suspended. Read more.


4. Festive sales help passenger vehicles snap 11-month declining streak in Oct

Attractive consumer offers in the festive season, coupled with brisk growth in utility vehicles (UVs), drove passenger vehicle (PV) sales in India into positive terrain after 11 months of persistent decline, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) said on Monday.

Dragged down by two-wheelers and commercial vehicles, the overall dispatches (all categories) during the month saw a year-on-year (YoY) drop of 12.76 per cent. Read more.

5. Tata Steel beats auto sector blues with higher sales in branded products

Tata Steel has overcome the slowdown in automotive sector by registering higher sales in segments like industrial projects and branded products.

During April-September of FY20, Tata Steel's sales volumes in industrial products and projects moved up by eight per cent year-on-year (y-o-y). Sales growth in branded products and retail were even higher at 10 per cent y-o-y. Read more.

6. Private banks score on core operations, better control over bad debt in Q2

Private sector banks showed greater resilience in their core operations and exhibited better control over their bad debt. Profit before tax increased but the new tax regime upset the net profit numbers for the whole sector, as the lenders decided to move to the new regime.

While profit before tax grew 68.1 per cent, net profit for the private sector banks grew only 1.4 per cent because of tax charges and elevated provisioning. Read more.

7. ONGC may revise terms of production-boosting plan for 64 oil and gas fields

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is likely to revise the terms of the much-hyped production enhancement plan for 64 oil and gas fields, after concerns raised by prospective bidders over the operating cost and other bidding criteria.

According to multiple sources, at least 14 of the 23 companies that participated in the pre-bid meeting on September 17 had asked for “compensation covering the operating cost to be borne by the contractor related to the baseline production”. Read more.

8. Cement and steel firms hike prices as construction demand picks up

Prices of steel and cement are showing early signs of recovery led by low inventory level at the user end and a pick-up in construction activity post-monsoon combined with festive buying.

Steel companies have increased prices of flat steel in November by Rs 500-750 a tonne and long steel up to Rs 1,000 a tonne after a gap of more than seven months. Read more. 

9. Q2 GDP growth could fall below 5%(Livemint)
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With industrial output in the September quarter contracting 0.4% from a 3% expansion in the preceding three months, economic growth is likely to slow to less than 5% in the quarter ended September, data for which is to be released on 29 November, a report in Livemint said.

10. India to Fund 250 Defence Startups Over Next 5 Years

India will fund at least 250 defence startups over the next five years as it seeks new technologies to give a cutting edge to the armed forces. The plan is to achieve at least 50 ‘tangible innovations’ by the startups that can be inducted over the coming years, Economic Times reported. The defence ministry will be earmarking at least ₹500 crore for its Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative and will try to bring together innovators with public and private sector industry and the armed forces to find new technology solutions.

11. Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit record $38 billion; growth slows

Chinese retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s sales for its 24-hour Singles’ Day shopping blitz hit a record $38.4 billion, more than US rival Amazon.com Inc’s haul last quarter from online store sales.

But sales growth for the annual shopping festival eased to 26%, the weakest since the event started in 2009, held back by a slowing e-commerce industry in China as the country’s economic expansion heads toward a historic low, a report in Reuters said. Read more.