Airfares have nearly doubled in a matter of days on routes hit by the cancellation of 200 weekly flights linking Mumbai airport to 12 cities. The fares have soared as high as 193 per cent following a recent government order to cancel flights to ease "persistent congestion" that was causing delays. Aside from the reduction in flights on 12 routes, two destinations - Hubli and Jabalpur - have lost connectivity with Mumbai since last week, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium's data reviewed
A bulk of the Paris-headquartered IT major Capgemini's proposed euro 2 billion investment over three years in artificial intelligence (AI) is coming to India, a top official of the company said here on Wednesday. The three areas where the European tech major is investing are talent acquisitions, talent reskilling and for partnerships and creating a centre of excellence (CoE). "We have announced we will be training 100,000 people by the first half of 2024.
Calling out the need for a global consultative approach towards the creation of regulations around artificial intelligence (AI), Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for information technology, said India has taken the lead in framing such regulations. He also stated that these frameworks will be presented by June-July this year. "India has taken the lead in creating this draft paper.
It has been seven months since the iconic motorcycle manufacturers, Harley-Davidson and Triumph, embarked on their journey in India with the backing of partners Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto. According to data shared by the Indian majors, both brands are already creating ripples in the above 350cc category. The increase in sales has prompted a ramp-up in production and even the doubling of retail touchpoints for one of them.
The on-time performance (OTP) of Indian carriers took a major dip in January as dense fog foiled their flight schedules. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation reviewed by Business Standard, five out of six major Indian carriers - IndiGo, Air India, AIX Connect, Akasa Air, and Vistara - recorded their lowest OTPs in at least the last 11 months. In response to queries, an Air India spokesperson said that during this winter, northern India experienced unusually prolonged periods of dense fog affecting traffic at the airline's two largest hubs -- Delhi and Mumbai.
Of the top four companies, which collectively hold more than half of India's market share, two have pitted Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Deol against each other.
South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Company is considering tax implications of listing its Indian unit before taking a final call, according to sources privy to the development. Hyundai Motor is mulling an initial public offering (IPO) for its Indian arm to raise around $3 billion (at a valuation of up to $30 billion), and talks are in the early stages between the company and bankers, banking sources revealed. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), however, declined to comment on the development.
'The private sector will look to the budget to check whether there are any headwinds or tailwinds.'
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday issued specific measures for aviation sector players to mitigate the risk of runway incursions at Indian airports. The measures include activating stop bars by Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) to inform aircraft when not to proceed, establishing contingency plans in case stop bars malfunction, establishing runway safety teams at airports, and conducting comprehensive training programs for pilots, ATC personnel, aircraft maintenance engineers, and airport drivers.
Preparations are in the final stages by the Chennai-headquartered space-tech startup Agnikul Cosmos for the maiden launch of India's first-ever private launchpad and the second rocket launch by a private sector player.
The push given to rooftop solar installation in the Interim Budget ties in with its high rate of adoption in Tier-II and -III cities of India. If original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automobile industry, government, and the solar sector are to be believed, in cities of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Kerala, 45-50 per cent of electric-vehicle (EV) users are employing rooftop power to charge their vehicles. This is compared to the national average of 25 per cent, say industry sources.
'We do not see people getting reduced, but because of automation, we will do more work.'
Kinetic on Wednesday relaunched the iconic two-wheeler Luna in an electric avatar, addressing the demand for affordable electric vehicles (EVs), more than two decades after its initial introduction. e-Luna will be available at an introductory ex-showroom price of Rs 69,990, as announced by Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and chief executive officer of Kinetic Green, after Union Road Minister Nitin Gadkari launched the vehicle. Motwani pointed out that the current top 10 electric two-wheelers in the country are priced between Rs 1.05 lakh and Rs 1.49 lakh, making them a "luxury" that is not "practical and accessible" for most people in India.
Brokerage firms on Wednesday appeared divided in their calls on Larsen & Toubro (L&T) after the company's 2023-24 (FY24) October-December quarter (third quarter, or Q3) performance and guidance for the quarters ahead. While few stayed optimistic about the stock over future order inflow prospects, others saw increasing exposure to West Asia and fixed price contracts as a concern. In Wednesday's trade, L&T's share price closed at Rs 3,480 per piece, 4.22 per cent down from its previous day's close.
After startups and Big Tech, the layoff season may have begun at the $245 billion Indian information-technology (IT) industry. Bengaluru-based IT major Wipro is looking to cut hundreds of jobs, targeting mid-level employees working onsite as the company looks to improve margins, according to a media report, citing two sources. The company has said it is aligning its business and talent to the changing market environment.
Investments worth more than Rs 80 trillion are expected in roads, railways and urban infrastructure between now and FY30 and the supply chains helping to build this core infrastructure are also readying to cash in on the growth. In the first half of the current financial year, orders worth more than Rs 2.6 trillion were tendered in the roads and railways segment alone, according to data sourced from ICRA Ratings and Research. "India's transportation infrastructure sector is in high gear, and we enjoy a sizable share of it," said S V Desai, whole time director and senior executive vice president (Civil Infrastructure) for Larsen & Toubro.
For the consumer, there would be practically no impact on prices of essential medicines this year.
'If businessmen should be included in the political process -- which is essential in my opinion -- they need to have the freedom to express themselves and to take stands against the government of the day, without fear of reprisals and attacks on their business.'
The pharmaceuticals sector is expected to post a revenue growth of around 13.5 per cent and a net profit growth of 30.3 per cent for the third quarter of 2023-24 (FY24), riding on the approval for niche drugs in the US market, fall in raw material prices and correction in shipping rates. In the healthcare segment, hospitals are expected to post revenue growth of 13 per cent during the coverage, while net profit growth would be around 37 per cent, ICICI Securities said in a note. However, the performance may not be comparable on a sequential basis due to the offset of the festive season in Q3FY24, the analysts noted.
'From data on enquiries, we can build what we call a data lake or a data warehouse where data is classified into various cohorts and then we use AI and ML tools to predict demand down the line.'
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