Page 382 - Business Finance
Audi targets tier-II, III cities through 'Workshop First' strategy
Luxury carmaker Audi India Sunday said it has adopted a new strategy to expand its footprint by first setting up workshops in tier-II and III cities, followed by showrooms. With the luxury car market getting relatively mature in India, Audi is working on the Workshop First strategy to expand its network across the country. "The idea is always to identify locations, which will be important in the future. Audi will enter these cities with a Workshop First strategy," Rahil Ansari, Audi India head told PTI. The company has many cities with a substantial car park and will make a gradual plan to enter them with first setting up a workshop, followed by establishing a showroom, he added. Under this strategy, Audi India last month rolled out the first workshop in Vijayawada, where the company does not have a dealership yet. Before this, most of the customers used to take their cars to Hyderabad for servicing. When asked how many such service units will be launched under this programme, Ansari
Hinduja brothers top UK rich list, Reuben brothers second
Indian-origin brothers dominate the annual rich list of Britain's wealthiest, with the Hinduja brothers ranked at No. 1 with a fortune of 22 billion pounds followed by Mumbai-born Reuben brothers in second place with 18.66 billion pounds. Srichand and Gopichand Hinduja, who run the Hinduja Group of companies in the UK, registered a 1.35 billion pounds jump in their fortunes over the previous year to return to the top of the Sunday Times Rich List' after topping it back in 2014 and 2017. "Whether or not Britain leaves the EU, Gopi Hinduja is convinced it can forge a closer relationship with his family's homeland," notes the newspaper's profile on the 79-year-old Co-Chair of the Hinduja Group, G P Hinduja. The London-based industrialist, along with UK-based brother Sri, 83, and their brothers Prakash, 73, and Ashok, 68, who live in Geneva and Mumbai respectively, control more than 50 companies with a total turnover of nearly 40 billion pounds worldwide in 2018, notes the Rich List. The .
Las Vegas Sands invests USD 2.2 bn to build Londoner Macao
Integrated resorts operator Las Vegas Sands and Sands China will be investing USD 2.2 billion to build a British Themed Property, The Londoner Macao, which will be fully operational by 2021, according to company officials. The Londoner Macao is the refurbishment of the company's existing Sands Cotai Strip integrated resort and once completed it will have replicas of all the major British landmarks including Palace of Westminster, Houses of Parliament, the iconic Elizabeth Tower and Clock face, they said. More details about the project were revealed here in Macao by Las Vegas Sands President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Goldstein in the presence of Sands China's global brand ambassador and British football icon David Beckham and Wilfred Wong, the president of Sands China. "The project will open progressively over by 2020 and by 2021 it will join existing 'Venetian' and 'Parisian Macao' as company's must see properties," Goldstein said. Sands is investing heavily in Macao because .
Logistic firm Bhumika enters real estate market, to invest Rs 300 cr in first project at Udaipur
Logistic firm Bhumika group has forayed into real estate and is developing a mixed use project at Udaipur, Rajasthan with an investment of Rs 300 crore. The company is developing over 10 lakh sq ft area in the first phase of this project named Urban Square. "We are developing our first real estate project at Udaipur. The total area in this project will be 18 lakh sq ft. But, we are currently developing the first phase comprising over 10 lakh sq ft," Bhumika group Director and chief executive officer Uddhav Poddar said. The project cost for the first phase in Rs 300 crore, he said. Urban Square project is being financed with a mix of equity, sales advances, internal accruals and debt which has been secured from Aditya Birla Finance Ltd, Poddar added. The construction work has already started and the first phase will be delivered in the next three years. In the first phase, the company is constructing a 5star hotel with 200 keys and has roped in Holiday Inn for the management ...
UDAN high on promise, low on delivery
The hype around Udan (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme and low entry-barrier prompted a rich farmer from Maharashtra to approach the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to launch air services on select routes. But his initial enthusiasm soon fizzled out.
Logistics major D B Schenker aims to double warehousing space to 7 million sq ft
European logistics major D B Schenker aims to nearly double warehousing space to 7 million square feet in India in three years as it sees growing demand from corporates for such facilities, especially after the GST implementation, a top official has said. The company expects its top-line from the logistics businesses comprising of contract logistics for companies and other land-based activities to grow at a faster pace of 20 per cent. We are at 4 million square feet of space under management and will take it to 7 million square feet in three years, its country chief executive Vishal Sharma told PTI in an interaction. From an investments perspective, it will not be a large tab as much of this space will be owned by other developers and will be contracted on a longer term basis, he said. It can be noted that in the last few months, there have been a slew of announcements by realty developers about creating warehousing space. Sharma expressed happiness about getting the necessary space ..
Govt to set up panel under DGFT to look at steel availability for engineering exporters
The government has decided to set up a committee under the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) to look into availability of steel at competitive prices for engineering goods exporters, an official said. "The committee will submit its report to steel and commerce ministries within two months. It will suggest measures which will be a win-win situation for both steel producers and engineering exporters," the official added. Engineering goods exporters are demanding that they should get steel at global prices as domestic rates are higher. However, steel producers state that freight charges and cost of production is high in the country, which push up prices. The decision to set up the committee, which will also have members from the engineering sector, was taken during a meeting last week between the senior officials of steel and commerce ministries and exporters. In that meeting, engineering players said steel should be made available at competitive rates so that outbound shipments ..
SRF Limited announces definitive agreement to sell its Engineering Plastics Business to DSM
SRF Limited, a chemical based multi-business entity engaged in the manufacturing of industrial and speciality intermediates announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Engineering Plastics Business to DSM, the Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company in an all-cash transaction, amounting to Rs 320 crore.The company's Engineering Plastics Business manufactures multiple grades of engineering plastic compounds, catering to the automotive and electrical industries."Today marks a significant milestone for our company, as we take another step along our strategic direction of focusing on our core Businesses," said Ashish Bharat Ram, Managing Director, SRF Limited."While the Engineering Plastics Business has been a profitable and niche business for us, we felt that scaling it into a large business would have taken significant time and in that sense passing it onto a credible player would be logical for everyone involved", he added.Broadly, the transaction ...
MCA-21 version 3 to offer ease of doing biz, online compliance monitoring
Amid the row over functionality of its database, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is working on the Version 3 of MCA-21 database, which will address many current flaws in this online registry.
Diesel to be preferred fuel for SUVs, MUVs even post BS-VI: Experts
Diesel might lose its share in fuelling the passenger car segment in the near future but the key transportation fuel will continue to dominate the multi-utility and sports utility vehicles in the medium term.
FinMin reworking strategic sale procedure for CPSEs
The finance ministry is reworking strategic sale procedure to ensure outright sale of CPSEs within 4 months of issuance of documents to potential investors, a move aimed at ensuring speedier conclusion of the entire process, an official said. However, for CPSEs like Air India, which are relatively bigger in size, the timeline for completion of strategic sale is likely to be fixed at 6 months from the date of issuance of Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) about the company. Currently, there is no set timeline for concluding strategic sale of a state-owned company and the entire process, in some cases, drags on for months, if not years. "The strategic sale policy is already in place, but the procedure needs to be streamlined so that the sale process is completed within 3-4 months' time. The thinking is that if a process cannot be completed in 4 months then it should be abandoned," an official told PTI. Facing a daunting task of meeting the Rs 90,000-crore disinvestment target in ..
New US tariffs on China imports to signal prolonged corporate headwind: Fitch
Although credit implications are limited, risk mitigation via pricing actions, supply chain adjustments, localised production and end-market diversification could increase in importance due to the need to manage ongoing trade uncertainty, it said.Earlier this week, the United States accused China of reneging on prior concessions and confirmed tariffs on 200 billion dollars of Chinese imports could increase to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on Friday. The possibility the tariff could be extended to another 325 billion dollars of imports not already taxed was also raised.Tit-for-tat tariffs began in early 2018. Major sticking points in trade negotiations include technology transfer and intellectual property.Fitch Ratings Inc -- one of the Big Three credit rating agencies globally -- said the state of US-China trading relationship is an important issue for American corporations due to the size of Chinese market, intricate global supply chains and potential knock-on effects on the global ...
'MCA-21 is on real-time basis, ghost cos get ousted via KYC drive'
As the government sets out to counter views of its agency raising eligibility of MCA-21 data as one of the tools to arrive at GDP numbers, the Corporate Affairs Ministry has dismissed any bogus data within the database saying MCA-21 is on real time basis and if a company after entering the database is non-functional, it gets removed at the time of KYC drive.
China's response to US-tariffs to guide markets (Market Outlook)
An already nervous global financial markets may not see a recovery anytime soon as China has stated that it will respond to tariffs slapped by the US. International markets along with the Indian equities will take its cue from the magnitude of China's response in the days to come.
Hinduja brothers top UK's Rich List for third time
The billionaire Hinduja brothers have been named as the wealthiest people in the UK for a third time, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
Public services provided by private players need strict monitoring (Column: Spy's Eye)
In a liberal democracy the State favours the idea of both public and private sectors running their businesses in a healthy competition for the good of the people. Growth requires investments from private players in areas like infrastructure, health, power, communications and banking and it is the duty of the government to provide the right 'external environ' - that would include a set of parameters ranging from political stability to a satisfactory law and order situation - to attract such players.
Chanda Kochhar Money Trail-I: En familia Kochhar is biggest beneficiary (IANS Exclusive)
When you cut a corner to get to the front of the line, question is what do you do when you get there? What is the event horizon and are you availing pecuniary benefit from it? The Chanda Kochhar-Advani family (Chanda Kochhar before marriage to Deepak Kochhar was 'Advani') enterprise in complicity with Videocon's Venugopal Dhoot is a result of a shameful abuse of power and pelf. An unholy trinity involved in chicanery and deceit. It is built on an edifice of greed and naked avarice.
Bonds of Buddhism and Hinduism strengthened friendly relations between India, Vietnam: VP Naidu
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday held talks with Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on a wide range of issues and underscored the importance of strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations to ensure peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region. Naidu, who is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the 16th UN Day of Vesak Celebrations Sunday in Ha Nam province, reiterated during his talks with Phuc that cordial and friendly relations between India and Vietnam have been strengthened by bonds of Buddhism and Hinduism, according to an official statement. Referring to the growing cooperation between the two nations in different fields, he informed Phuc that India is ready to partner with Vietnam in satellite construction, both for civilian and non-civilian purposes. Naidu also assured him that India remains committed to extend cooperation in training and capacity building of Vietnam's defence forces. On bilateral trade, the vice ...
Industry's SC/ST affirmative action plan progress slow: DICCI
Progress under the affirmative action plan of the Chamber of Indian Industry for people from SC/ST communities was slow and results not too good, and the Centre should review it and take a call on whether there was need for reservations in the private sector, Milind Kamble, founder-chairman of the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) said Saturday. Kamble, who was this week appointed chairperson of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management Jammu, was here to attend the national executive council meeting of DICCI held at Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII). "Frankly speaking, though I am a member of the CII (Chamber of Indian Industry) National Council and co-chair of the CII's Affirmative Action Task Force, this (affirmative action) is not happening at the speed that it should have," he said. "A lot of things like buyer-seller meets and vendor development meets are happening. Traction has increased, but results have ...
IOB net loss narrows to Rs 1,985 cr in Q4
State-owned Indian Overseas Bank Saturday reported narrowing of its net loss to Rs 1,985.16 crore in the quarter ended March 2019 on account of declining bad loans. The bank had posted a loss of Rs 3,606.73 crore during the January-December quarter of 2017-18. Total income stood at Rs 5,473.92 crore in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal as against Rs 5,814.42 crore in the same period a year ago, it said in a regulatory filing. The Chennai-headquartered bank provided for Rs 4,501.92 crore towards provisioning and contingencies during the said quarter. This compares with Rs 6,774.55 crore in the year-ago quarter. Gross non-performing asset (NPA) as a percentage of advances was 21.97 per cent, down from 25.28 per cent in the year-ago quarter. Net NPA also declined to 10.81 per cent in the fourth quarter from 15.33 per cent. On annual basis, the bank posted a net loss of Rs 3,737.88 crore during the fiscal ended March 2019. In 2017-18 fiscal, its net loss was Rs 6,299.49 crore.