Top headlines: All Jaguars to go electric, IT sector revenue to hit $194 bn

JLR's $3.5 bn plan to take all Jaguars, 60% Land Rovers electric by 2030

All Jaguar cars and six out of every 10 Land Rover models will go electric by 2030 as the UK subsidiary of Tata Motors ditches the combustion engine in favour of the zero-emission technology as part of its ‘Reimagine’ strategy. The company will invest about 2.5 billion pounds ($3.5 billion) a year into electrification and related technologies. Read more

IT sector to grow by 2% to $194 bn, add 138,000 employees in FY21: Nasscom

The National Association of Software & Services Companies (Nasscom) has projected a 2.3 per cent revenue growth in FY21 for the country’s information technology industry despite the pandemic. Nasscom has pegged the Indian IT industry’s revenue during the current financial year at $194 billion, up from $190 billion in FY20. Compared to previous years when the industry registered a growth of 6 to 7 per cent, the current numbers are subdued. Read more

How RBI's currency operations are spiking forward premia across tenures

Forward rates in the currency markets have risen sharply across tenures as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is understood to have increased its intervention in the future and forward segment. From about 3.5 per cent at the start of December to 6 per cent now, the three-month forwards rates are the most affected. Similar trends can be seen in 6-month and one-year forward points as well. Even the five-year segment has shown a jump. Read more

More Covid vaccine supplies lined up as India gets ready for Phase 3 drive

As India enters phase-III of Covid-19 vaccination, in which around 270 million people are to be inoculated, firms are looking to ramp up capacities at their production units. Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer that produced 1.5 billion doses last fiscal, is ramping up its capacity (including non-Covid vaccines) to 2.5 billion by the end of 2021. Of this, around two billion doses is expected by June.

Similarly, Bharat Biotech is on track to have 150 million doses ready by June. Read more

GoAir's chances of thriving may depend on the promoters taking a back seat

GoAir’s failure to retain senior management has been ascribed to the classic weakness of Indian promoters. As a former senior manager put it, “You cannot have three people flying a plane” — a reference to chairman Nusli Wadia, his younger son and managing director Jeh Wadia and the “CEO of the day”. Read more

Covid-19 vaccines not ready for open-market roll-out yet, says govt

A month into the vaccination drive, which has covered more than 8.5 million so far, the health ministry has indicated that Covid-19 vaccines are not likely to be there in the open market anytime soon.

This is because the government is not willing to take chances with technical protocols and the responsibility of a national vaccine roll-out.Read more

States' fiscal deficit to narrow to 4.3% of GDP in FY22: Ind-Ra

The agency’s earlier forecast for FY21 was 4.5 per cent. The revision was made due to a sharper-than-expected contraction of 6.1 per cent in the nominal GDP. Ind-Ra estimated the nominal GDP to grow 14.5 per cent in FY22. Read more

Factory reset: Production slumps in the powerloom hub of Bhiwandi

Though the fear and ferocity of the Covid-19 pandemic has receded, Bhiwandi’s core powerloom industry is in deep crisis. The volatility in yarn prices has posed a severe challenge to powerloom owners who resumed full-fledged operations only in August last year. It is said that 50 per cent of the looms are operating only 3-4 days a week. Read more

Tata Sons dials banks to pay Rs 1,250 cr Tata Tele AGR dues and loans

Tata Sons, the parent company of Tata Teleservices, is in talks with banks to raise funds to pay latter’s dues to the banks and to the Indian government. The loss-making telecom company has to pay Rs 1,250 crore of dues to banks and another 10 per cent of outstandings to the government as AGR (adjusted gross revenue) as per the Supreme Court judgement before March end, said a banking source. Read more