'Clearly, the next few months will be very challenging for industry.' 'We are clearly in a phase where recovery is a dream.'
RBI is expecting the rupee to stay close to Rs 75 to a dollar, as COVID-19 forces foreign funds to withdraw from emerging markets.
Top companies reported that despite most of them making staples and essential products, movement of raw material, goods and labour remained restricted, impacting sales.
Though Kishore Biyani is selling stakes in group companies to pay off debt, a significant share price crash since January this year is making his task difficult.
Overcrowding, unsanitary conditions in Asia's largest slum pose big challenges to containment.
News viewership was the biggest gainer during the first full week of lockdown, growing 298 per cent versus the pre-COVID period between January 11 and 31. Ramayana, whose rerun has begun on Doordarshan, was the top-rated show on Saturday and Sunday.
Many firms have asked those joining on April 1 to delay their on-boarding by 2-3 months. The outlook for the airline, tourism, hotel, and media industries is bleak too.
Cancellation of at least Rs 3,000-crore worth of business has happened in the past few weeks.
Indian companies will have to repay overseas debt worth $7.5 billion in the June quarter.
Weak demand from the poultry sector has resulted in a sharp decline in feed prices too, with both soybean and maize prices falling by nearly 25 per cent in the past two months. The poultry market consumes around half of soybean and maize production in India.
'There is a clear business impact. People are avoiding crowded places and gatherings across cities. This is hitting business, both at traditional and modern trade outlets, during the Holi season, which kicked off from Saturday,' says Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
To sell off L&T IDPL, Nabha Power; transfer Hyderabad Metro to an InvIT.
Apart from the Adani group, the Tata group, the Hinduja group, Indigo and a New York-based fund, Interups, are expected to submit EoIs.
RIL's stake in Network18 would reduce to 64 per cent, from 75%, following the merger
Vodafone Idea, which reported a loss of Rs 6,439 crore in the December quarter, said it had received letters from the department of telecommunications (DoT) directing immediate payment of dues amounting to Rs 54,000 crores after the SC judgment. "The company is currently assessing the amount that it will be able to pay to DoT towards the dues calculated based on AGR, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in its order dated October 24, 2019. The company proposes to pay the amount so assessed in the next few days," it stated.
Vodafone Idea's net worth (or shareholders' equity) was down 73 per cent year-on-year to around Rs 17,600 crore at the end of the December 2019 quarter after the company reported a net loss of around Rs 6,400 crore during the quarter. Cumulatively, the company has lost nearly Rs 45,000 crore in the last four quarters, eroding its net worth to its lowest level in three-year. Analysts said a such a low level of net worth, coupled with continuing losses in operations, ruled out the possibility of the company getting fresh loans from lenders to fund its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues of Rs 54,000 crore.
The first to see price hikes will be soaps. In the past six months, domestic palm oil prices have increased by 46 per cent. Palm oil is a key input going into soaps.
The increased tax target comes at a time when consumer spending and sales growth are slowing down and most companies are not investing in new capacities.
Experts feel that mall owners anticipate an increase in costs to the tune of 15-20 per cent annually, prompting a mixed response to the '24 hours' initiative. A mall owner said while the policy is good in spirit, implementing it would be a challenge as night shopping or eating out wasn't a habit in Mumbai yet.
UV Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd has made the highest bid of Rs 16,000 crore to buy Anil Ambani group's Reliance Communications and Reliance Telecom, which are in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Last year it was the highest bidder for taking over Aircel's assets for an upfront payment of Rs 150 crore. Surajeet Das Gupta and Dev Chatterjee dig deeper to find out more about this little known company.
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