Dev Chatterjee &Amp;Amp; Deepak Patel

Stories by Dev Chatterjee &Amp;Amp; Deepak Patel

Adani to focus on prepaying loans, not to add more debt

Adani to focus on prepaying loans, not to add more debt

Rediff.com   24 Apr 2023

Adani Group is expected to report a 20 per cent rise in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) at Rs 61,200 crore for the year that ended in March 2023 (2022-23, or FY23), according to a note submitted by the group to lenders recently. The group had earned Ebitda of Rs 57,299 crore in the preceding financial year that ended in March 2022 (2021-22). The group's gross debt was Rs 2.27 trillion as of March 31, 2023, and has projected to not take on additional debt until it lowers its existing one.

India Inc leans on InvITs to reduce debt, generate returns for investors

India Inc leans on InvITs to reduce debt, generate returns for investors

Rediff.com   20 Apr 2023

Reliance Industries, construction major L&T and IRB Infrastructure are some of the top companies that have used an infrastructure investment trust structure to reduce part of their debt and generate returns for their investors. Earlier this month, IRB Infrastructure InvIT was listed on the National Stock Exchange, giving its investors an option to exit by selling their units. The listing came within months of the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) guidelines for conversion of private unlisted InvITs into listed ones were issued.

Pilot suspensions rose 2x in 2022 for violating safety norms: DGCA

Pilot suspensions rose 2x in 2022 for violating safety norms: DGCA

Rediff.com   19 Apr 2023

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the licences of 92 pilots in 2022 for violating safety norms, which was more than double the 2021 figure. The number of scheduled flights (domestic and international) in India increased by 32.74 per cent to 1.3 million in 2022, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. A DGCA official stated that the minimum period of licence suspension in 2022 was one month and the maximum was three years.

Air India, SpiceJet, and Go First lost domestic market share in Q4FY23

Air India, SpiceJet, and Go First lost domestic market share in Q4FY23

Rediff.com   19 Apr 2023

Indian carriers transported 12.8 million domestic passengers in March 2023, a year-on-year growth of 21.41 per cent. India's largest carrier IndiGo shored up its domestic market share from 53.8 per cent in Q4 of FY22 to 55.7 per cent in Q4 of FY23, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data released on Monday.

Two-wheeler exports from India skid nearly 18% in FY23

Two-wheeler exports from India skid nearly 18% in FY23

Rediff.com   14 Apr 2023

Two-wheeler exports from India fell by 17.8 per cent to 3.65 million units in 2022-23 (FY23), according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) on Thursday. This decline is due to a rise in global inflation and the weakening of economies and currencies in key export markets of Africa, Latin America (LatAm), and South Asia. In contrast to FY23, two-wheeler exports from India jumped 35.4 per cent to 4.44 million units in 2021-22 (FY22).

Mercedes-Benz's India sales jump 36% in FY23; female customer base doubles

Mercedes-Benz's India sales jump 36% in FY23; female customer base doubles

Rediff.com   12 Apr 2023

Sales of Mercedes-Benz in the country have jumped by 36.67 per cent to 16,497 units in 2022-23 amid high demand for its top-end vehicles, according to its India MD & CEO Santosh Iyer. "This is the highest-ever sales recorded by the company in any financial year," he stated. In the luxury car segment of India, Mercedes-Benz is the market leader with about a 42 per cent share.

Hero MotoCorp offers VRS, eyes leaner organisation

Hero MotoCorp offers VRS, eyes leaner organisation

Rediff.com   7 Apr 2023

With a new chief executive officer (CEO) at the helm, the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp is now looking to cut flab and move towards a leaner organisation. It has launched a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its staff as it aims to make the organisation 'agile and future-ready'. Recently, the company's erstwhile chief financial officer (CFO) Niranjan Gupta was elevated as CEO.

RCap auction postponed to April 11 even as Torrent pursues litigation

RCap auction postponed to April 11 even as Torrent pursues litigation

Rediff.com   4 Apr 2023

Lenders have postponed the second auction to sell bankrupt Reliance Capital's assets by a week to April 11, even as the Torrent group, the highest bidder in the first round, pursues litigation in the Supreme Court. Lenders are expecting the Hinduja group and Torrent to participate in the second auction and maximise the value of the assets. American financial services major, Oakteee may also join the race, said a source.

Akasa's Focus: Connecting Metros To Non-Metros

Akasa's Focus: Connecting Metros To Non-Metros

Rediff.com   1 Apr 2023

'While we do some metro-to-metro flying, we have got a lot of metro-to-non-metro cities like Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru-Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru-Guwahati and Bengaluru-Kochi.'

Honda's EV roadmap: Dedicated factory, first two e-scooter models in a year

Honda's EV roadmap: Dedicated factory, first two e-scooter models in a year

Rediff.com   30 Mar 2023

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), India's second-largest two-wheeler maker, on Wednesday revealed its electric vehicle (EV) roadmap, which includes setting up a dedicated EV factory, launching the first two EVs in 2023-24, and establishing 6,000 battery exchange points in the country. HMSI plans to establish a specialised unit for the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), named 'Factory E', at its Narsapura plant located in Karnataka. Factory E will be created by converting an existing production line that currently manufactures internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, said Atsushi Ogata, HMSI managing director and chief executive officer.

Cyrus Mistry's assets may be divided among wife and sons

Cyrus Mistry's assets may be divided among wife and sons

Rediff.com   30 Mar 2023

The billionaire Mistry family's estate is likely to soon change hands. The assets in the name of Cyrus Mistry, who died in September last year, may soon be divided equally among his wife Rohiqa and sons Firoz and Zahan, according to sources. The reorganisation will also include the 9.2 per cent stake in Tata Sons, which is currently in Cyrus Mistry's name and held through his investment company Cyrus Investments.

Labour pains could hit Hyundai's buyout of GM's Talegaon plant

Labour pains could hit Hyundai's buyout of GM's Talegaon plant

Rediff.com   29 Mar 2023

Legal battles initiated by 1,000-odd former employees of the Talegaon plant continue to present a challenge for the acquisition process.

RCap lenders in a fix as Hindujas retract revised Rs 8,950-cr offer

RCap lenders in a fix as Hindujas retract revised Rs 8,950-cr offer

Rediff.com   27 Mar 2023

The Hinduja group is learnt to have backtracked from making a minimum Rs 8,950-crore offer for Reliance Capital (RCap) - a deal that it had belatedly put forth in December, after Torrent Investments emerged as the highest bidder for the bankrupt firm in the challenge process. The Hindujas' latest move has put Indian lenders, with an exposure of Rs 24,000 crore, in a spot as it was the former's revised offer that led to a call for a second auction and litigation by Torrent, which had placed a bid of Rs 8,649 crore in the first auction. Torrent has moved the Supreme Court and plans to wait for the apex court verdict before participating in any fresh auction. A banking source said there was an informal meeting of a few lenders of Reliance Capital with the bidders - the Torrent group and the Hinduja group on Friday when the latter changed its stand. The meeting of RCap's committee of creditors (CoC) is scheduled for Monday.

Traffic Surges; Airlines Grapple With Grounded Planes

Traffic Surges; Airlines Grapple With Grounded Planes

Rediff.com   21 Mar 2023

If all 102 grounded planes could fly, there will theoretically be 400 more Delhi-Mumbai flights every day.

Go First may take legal action against Pratt & Whitney over engine issues

Go First may take legal action against Pratt & Whitney over engine issues

Rediff.com   10 Mar 2023

Indian airline Go First is considering legal action against Pratt and Whitney (PW) for failing to provide compensation after March 2020 for planes grounded due to engine supply delays, sources said on Thursday. About 90 per cent of the airline's fleet of aircraft uses PW engines. About 24 of the airline's 55 planes are grounded due to delays in engine supply by PW.

Why M&A deals in India are down 80% so far in 2023

Why M&A deals in India are down 80% so far in 2023

Rediff.com   6 Mar 2023

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by Indian companies have declined sharply by 80 per cent so far this year, in contrast with the same period last year, as bankers predict lower deal volumes due to falling profit margins of Indian companies and feeble stock markets. The decline in Adani Group shares has also hit buyer sentiment. According to data from Refinitiv, M&As in India stood at $3.3 billion from 253 deals, year-to-date (YTD) - a fall of 80 per cent year-on-year (YoY). Cross-border deals by Indian companies were also down 84 per cent to just $1.5 billion.

42% Cars Sold In 2022 Were White

42% Cars Sold In 2022 Were White

Rediff.com   6 Mar 2023

White is easy to maintain, looks brighter than other colours over a longer period, is the least commonly rejected colour among family members, has high resale value, provides better safety at night, absorbs less heat in the summer season, makes small cars look bigger, and is not considered inauspicious.

'Every airport in India is on our radar'

'Every airport in India is on our radar'

Rediff.com   4 Mar 2023

'Domestic will remain very much the core of what IndiGo is.' 'But the emphasis in our next growth phase is going to be on the international side.'

Investors jittery as Vedanta stocks, bonds take a hit

Investors jittery as Vedanta stocks, bonds take a hit

Rediff.com   1 Mar 2023

Vedanta investors were jittery on Tuesday as its share price fell and bond yields of its parent firm rose following concerns raised by a rating agency on its capability to repay debt maturing later this year. Shares of the mining and metals major were down by 7 per cent on Tuesday to Rs 268 a piece on the BSE. The company has lost market valuation of 30 per cent in the last one year and 13 per cent since January 1 this year. Yields on the bonds of Vedanta Resources, the parent firm of the BSE-listed Vedanta, shot up to 39.8 per cent - showing investors' rising concern over the group's debt situation

Why Air India CCTO Deleted LinkedIn Post

Why Air India CCTO Deleted LinkedIn Post

Rediff.com   27 Feb 2023

In a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, February 15, night, Nipun Aggarwal had said Air India, in addition to the order of 470 planes, had the option to purchase 370 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.