The Tata group may have to deploy upwards of $1 billion to improve the airline's passenger reservation system, upgrade and refurbish Air India's fleet, primarily the wide-body aircraft which are the mainstay for the airline's international operations, people in the know said. While the group has not yet decided on how it intends to integrate Air India with its existing airlines AirAsia India and Vistara, sources said the first task will be to refinance Air India's existing loans, upgrade its aircraft gradually, and rewrite multiple business contracts with vendors and suppliers. "They will have to do 100 things to stabilise the airline and will have to put in a lot of money," DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, confirming that many aircraft are grounded.
In the season of aviation action, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air has secured the crucial no-objection certificate (NoC) from the civil aviation ministry. It expects to start operations next summer. The airline will now have to apply for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for operations permit. Aviation sector has been in the limelight with the Tata Group winning the Air India bid last week.
Amit Shah's net worth grew 32 per cent to Rs 37.91 crore, mainly due to 80 per cent appreciation in the market value of his securities.
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has introduced a 20-per cent cashback offer on select prepaid plans, intensifying competition in the Indian telecommunications (telecom) market. Jio is the largest telecom service provider in India, with 443 million subscribers as of July. Jio's cashback offer will drive cross-selling across Reliance's various retail businesses, but the move is also being seen by some analysts as a signal that tariff hikes may not be around the corner just yet.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) is working on a fresh business plan that could alter its funding requirements. Addressing shareholder queries at the company's annual general meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, Vi chairman Himanshu Kapania said the exact amount will be worked out upon submission of a new business plan. "The management is working on a new business plan and will come to the board with the funding requirements," Kapania told shareholders in his first AGM as chairman.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chairman Ajay Tyagi on Thursday defended the recent reforms announced by the regulator, such as peak margin norms and shortening of the trade settlement cycle, saying they were in the interest of investors. The moves were criticised by the broking community and the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). Speaking to the media after his inaugural address at the CII Financial Markets Summit, Tyagi said: "The new peak margin norms are in everyone's interest.
It is Mumbai's favourite festival and is celebrated each year with fervour and frenzy. But when the city welcomes "Ganpati Bappa" this Friday, the celebrations will be low key. With a cap on the size of idols, ban on processions and restrictions on devotees visiting pandals, celebrations are toned down for the second year in a row. Festival budgets have shrunk and as a result, corporate sponsorships have dried out.
Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor, managing director (MD) and joint MD of media firm Balaji Telefilms have failed to obtain requisite votes on resolutions pertaining to their remuneration. According to stock exchange disclosure made by the company, the two separate special resolutions on setting their salaries for the next years got 56.77 per cent and 55.45 per cent 'against' vote.
Challenging the "illegal" reduction in its claim by the erstwhile resolution professional (RP) in the Jet Airways revival plan, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) has moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) citing discrimination. The NCLAT on Thursday issued notices to RP Ashish Chhawchharia and the committee of creditors on PNB's plea to set aside the insolvency court's approval of the airline's revival plan. It has posted the matter for further hearing on September 21.
Air India is leaving behind some 50 bags at the Delhi airport as it flies to the US, reducing what it carries after the closure of Afghanistan's airspace increased flight time by at least 30 minutes. Air India flies the Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft to New York, Newark, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco.
With Canada, Australia extending restrictions, admission seekers are deferring their studies or looking elsewhere.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is in the process of issuing a show-cause notice to Vodafone Idea (Vi) for delaying the payment of licence fee. Companies pay 8 per cent of their adjusted gross revenue as licence fee. This also includes a universal service obligation levy. The fee is collected from each of the 22 telecom circles in the country on a quarterly basis.
It's raining IPOs, with eight issues hitting the market in a span of six days. However, the pace of new filings points to a deluge during the latter part of the year. So far this year, 58 companies have filed their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator for initial public offerings (IPOs), exceeding the combined tally of 50 in the last two years. Industry participants said the filing count could cross 100 this year, setting a new benchmark in terms of amount mobilised in a calendar year.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) lost 12.4 million subscribers in the first quarter of FY22, the most since the fourth quarter of FY20, as the second wave of Covid hurt its operational and financial performance. Vi had managed to trim subscriber losses in the third and fourth quarters of FY21. However, it lost 12.4 million subscribers and its customer base shrunk to 255.4 million in the first quarter of FY22. Sequential fall in 4G users was modest, indicating that most of the loss was in the low-margin 2G segment.
Technology firm Wipro has a "high probability" of getting included in the benchmark Sensex, while two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto is the "most likely" deletion candidate, according to an analysis done by Brian Freitas, an analyst at independent research provider Smartkarma. The changes to the index will be announced mid-November, and will become effective from December 17. The December review uses the 6-month average market capitalisation and trading turnover data between May 1 and October 31 to determine changes.
Minimum one-way air fares between Delhi and London are priced upwards of Rs one lakh in August due to limited number of seats, data collected by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) shows. The United Kingdom has included India in the amber list and the change came into effect from Sunday. With this, passengers from India needn't undergo institutional quarantine and can self-isolate at home for 10 days.
The relentless rally in small- and mid-cap stocks continues as large-caps show signs of fatigue. In July, the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 8.1 per cent, extending its year-to-date (YTD) gains to 48.5 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 added 3.1 per cent, taking its YTD rise to 33.5 per cent. On the other hand, the Nifty50 remained unchanged for the month, with YTD gains of 12.7 per cent.
The government should convert Vodafone Idea's (Vi) debt into equity to avoid a duopoly in the telecom sector, Deutsche Bank Research said in its report on Monday. This, the bank suggested, would be the only viable solution in the backdrop of the Supreme Court dismissing the telecom company's application for recomputation of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
India's first unicorn Zomato will make its stock market debut on Friday, marking a historic moment for the domestic capital market. As per initial schedule, Zomato's listing was to take place on July 27. However, investment banks managed to complete the share allotment and listing formalities ahead of the deadline. Under the Sebi framework, the timeline between IPO closing and listing has to be six working days. Zomato's IPO had closed on July 16.
Tata Sons has started the process of due diligence of state-owned Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express. Sources said the group has appointed Bain and Company and Seabury Group for this purpose. Once complete, a financial bid will be submitted and a deal to take over the airline is likely to fructify by end of this year or even earlier, people involved in the process said. Simultaneously, the group has brought in veterans in the aviation business from Delta and United Airlines to prepare a plan for post-merger integration of Air India with its existing airline ventures. Tata Sons operates Vistara - a 51:49 percent joint venture with Singapore Airlines and Air Asia India, in which Tatas hold 83.67 per cent stakes.