Weekly Business News: India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020. News on Corporates, policies, budget, start-up world, funds, funding. Here’s a roundup of all the India business news that created the buzz in India this week:

Corporates – India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

• Oxford vaccine: DCGI orders Serum Institute of India to suspend recruitment.
• The DCGI has directed the Serum Institute of India to suspend recruitment for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate till further orders.
• As part of its ambitious plan to turn debt free over the next 3 years, Tata Motors has initiated the process of selling its stakes in 2 of its units – Tata Technologies and Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery.
• PE firm ADV Partners sold a 10.46% stake in Amber Enterprises for Rs 604 crores via open market transactions.
• Tata Sons on 5th September moved an urgent application before the SC to block Shapoorji Pallonji Group promoters from raising funds on Tata Sons shares.
• Adani Land Defence Systems and Technologies picked up a 51% stake in small arms manufacturer, PLR Systems in an all-cash transaction.
• Motherson Sumi announced its successful upsizing of its maiden NCD issue to Rs 2130 crores.

India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

• SEBI has shortlisted Airtel, Wipro, Tata Communications and 5 others to revamp its IT infra and communication systems.
• Analjit Singh, founder of Max Group sold a 4.6% stake in Max Healthcare for Rs 515 crores to buyers that included Capital Group and Ward Ferry.
• ITI on Thursday said the company is expecting to sign a telecom network contract worth Rs 7,796 crores with the Defence Ministry soon.
• As part of its move to attract global firms that are planning to shift manufacturing out of China, India is preparing to offer incentives to producers of high-efficiency solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and battery storage.
• Indiabulls Housing Finance sold a part stake in OakNorth Holding to HighSage Ventures LLC for Rs 440 crores.

India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

• The Bangalore ITAT dismissed an Income Tax appeal of adding Rs 152 crores worth of undisclosed income addition on Flipkart founders when they made an exit from UrbanTouch in 2012.
• Infosys, India’s second largest IT services firm said the company has plans to hire 500 more tech employees in Rhode Island by 2023 under its ‘Reskill and Restart’ program.
• The ban on PubG has left Esports firms in a chase to find alternatives.
• Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta told the SC that the Centre is considering modalities of relief to borrowers and will decide within two weeks on banks charging compound interest during the six-month moratorium period which ended on August 31. The SC then announced that no loan will be termed new NPA till 28 September.
• Paytm parent One97 Communications said ANT Financial has no influence on their operations.
• Retail auto sales picked up in August as rural and semi-urban markets demands rose after the lockdown and people purchased personal vehicles to guard against coronavirus.
• Sajith Sivanandan, managing director and business head for Google Pay & Next Billion User Initiative, Google India, said, “Contactless payments are gaining preference.”
• Ola  Electric  is speeding up its two-wheeler  EV  launch. This model will be a reconfigured version of the Netherlands-based Etergo BV’s App Scooter with software integration, including Ola Play, and locally manufactured hardware, including NavIC.
• Nestle India announced an initiative to support entrepreneurs through its kiosk business model.
• Dr Reddy’s Laboratories announced the launch of Remdesivir under the brand name ‘Redyx’ for Covid-19 treatment in India.

India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

• Coal India’s 54 mining projects are facing delays, mainly on account of delays in obtaining green nod and issues related to rehabilitation and resettlement.
• Ola Foods has shelved it’s plan to open offline QSR due to the pandemic. It will now focus on expanding its meal kits and private brands.
• The DCGI has sent a cause notice to HUL over a Lifebuoy sanitizer ad.
• PUBG parent, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is scouting for an Indian partner to resurrect its fortunes in its biggest market.
• Mayfield XII Mauritius, a venture capital investor, sold 5.81% stake in Tejas Networks for Rs 36 crores via open market transaction.
• The government gave another 3 months for businesses to hold AGMs till December end, in view of the rising COVID-19 cases.
• Gurdeep Singh, chairman and managing director at NTPC, said the company is planning on adding at least 5 GW solar capacity over the next two years.
• The ED fined Rs 100 crores to Standard Chartered for violating forex norms when it worked on the takeover of a local bank.
• Spencer’s Retail said it’s Nature’s Basket reported its first-ever positive EBITDA in the June quarter.
• The CCEA approved monetisation of Power Grid’ transmission assets, InvITs.
• Wipro said the company is planning to set up a Digital Innovation Hub at Düsseldorf in Germany. This centre will serve as the IT services major’s flagship centre in Europe.
• Wipro said the company has bagged a multi-year automotive software engineering contract from Marelli.

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India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

• HCL, India’s leading IT company, has set up its 1st development centre in Sri Lanka.
• SEBI has sent notices to CG Power over diversion of funds which was confirmed after a forensic audit.
• According to the company, the rebranding of Vodafone Idea as Vi reflects the spirit of integration.
• As demand for its products rise amid the COVID-19 crisis, ITC is now focusing on the post-covid era. The company said it will expand the capacity of some of its existing facilities.
• Paytm Mall sent a legal notice to Cyble for its blogpost that alleged false claim that the company suffered a massive data breach.
• The SBI said the bank has plans of recruiting over 14,000 people this year.
• Samsung India said it expects its online business in India to grow nearly 35% in 2020. The company is also driven by strong overall demand and success of its M series of devices.
• Mahindra Electric Mobility is planning to sharpen its focus on the EV components business. The company is in talks with nearly 5-6 global vehicle manufacturers for the same.
• Paytm Money claims to have reached a customer base of 6.6 million, surpassing Zerodha.
• Proxgy launches a Virtual Commerce Platform in India. It lets you experience the real-world in the times of Covid-19 by navigating the physical world through a proxy avatar while sitting at home.
• 5 years of investments via ETFs have yielded the EPFO negative returns, with implications for subscriber payout.
• Maruti Suzuki has shifted its gear as covid hits sales. The company has deferred its plan on selling nearly 5 million cars a year in India by 2030.
• Given the company’s relatively low market value, Vodafone Idea’s fundraising might drive down promoter holding.
• RIL released details relating to its spin off oil to chemicals business into a separate entity.
• Tata Steel’s CEO and MD, TV Narendran said the company’s production has now fully recovered to 100% as the company sees a revival in domestic demand in the current quarter.
• PVR has deferred its capex plans to control costs amid covid-19 disruptions.
• Despite COVID-19 and the lockdown, India witnessed a 23% increase in the export of farm produce between April and June. Rice and Sugar dominated the charts.
• The RBI’s norms on corporate loan structuring is likely to exclude a large number of companies as bankers expect advances worth only Rs 2-3 lakh crores to qualify for recast.

Start-up world, funds, funding and investments – India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

• Adani Ports & SEZ said the company raised Rs 900 crores through allotment of NCDs on a private placement basis.
• As part of its ongoing Series J round of funding, Zomato has raised $103 million from Tiger Global.
• Groww said the company has raised $30 million in a Series C round of funding from YC Continuity, Sequoia, and Ribbit Capital.
• Hippo Video has raised $4.5 million in a Series A round of funding led by Alpha Wave Incubation.
• Reliance Retail Ventures is set to draw additional investments worth $5 billion from KKR, Mubadala Investment, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
• QShala raised Rs 2.7 crores in angel funding led by Rainmatter Capital, a Zerodha-backed start-up incubator and fund.
• The union government is set  to  raise Rs 907 crores via stake sale in Bharat Dynamics Ltd.
• Indiabulls Housing Finance looks to raise Rs 735 crore via QIP.
• Motherson Sumi announced that the company will be raising funds via issuance of NCDs worth Rs 3000 crores to tide over the covid crisis.
• LIC booked a windfall gain of Rs 12000 crores between April to August from equity investments.
• Byju’s raised $500 million in a fresh round of funding led by Silver Lake. The company’s valuation now stands at $10.8 billion.
• Inflexor Ventures raised Rs 230 crores, marking the first close of Inflexor Technology Fund.
• StartupXseed Ventures launched its second fund worth Rs 200 crores. This fund will focus on early-stage investment in start-ups that are focused on deep technologies.
• InMobi’s unit, Glance is nearing the unicorn status as it is set to hit a valuation of more than $1 billion with its upcoming funding round.
• BluSmart Mobility has raised $7 million in a pre-series A funding from multiple investors.
• GCMMF, which markets Amul, is planning on investing Rs 1500 crores over the next 2 years to set up dairy, edible oil, potato, and other processing plants.
• Gaja Capital is in talks to lead the funding round of $100 million for 1mg.

Some stats: India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

• Mukesh Ambani’s RIL has offered to sell a $20 billion stake in its retail arm to Amazon.
• According to a study by CII and Hotelivate, the Travel and tourism sector is likely to lose Rs 5 lakh crores due to the covid-19 pandemic.
• Jindal Stainless reported a Q1 net loss of Rs 86.50 crores.
• Future Enterprises reported a Q4 consolidated net loss of Rs 394.77 crores.
• Maruti Suzuki India reported an 11% rise in production in August to 123769 units.

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India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

Tie-ups:

• Cube Highways and Infrastructure announced its agreement with SBI for Rs 3,500 crores worth of term loan facility to buy NHAI toll roads.

Ongoing cases: India Business News Weekly Roundup 7th to 12th September 2020

People:

• Netflix has appointed Bela Bajaria from India as it’s Vice President and global TV head.
• The DGCA suspended Gurcharan Arora, SpiceJet’s head of flight ops, for 3 months.

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