As Wal-Mart's disclosures on lobbying generated political heat in India, records with American House of Representatives show that around 27 Indian companies have spent money on lobbying in the US.
A day after FIPB cleared the Tata-Singapore Airlines' (SIA) airline venture, Tata group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata and SIA chief Goh Choon Phong on Friday met Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh exuding confidence of launching flights by May-June next year.
Air Asia will hold 49 per cent and the remaining will be owned by Tata Sons and Telestra Tradeplace Pvt.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Manmohan issued notice to Civil Aviation Ministry, DGCA and others and sought their response by October 30.
The proposal was cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, Finance Ministry said in a statement.
The bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog issued notices to the Centre, Foreign Investment Promotion Board and Commerce and Civil Aviation ministries and sought their responses by October 30.
The acquisition comes in the wake of the Australian firm deciding to exit the specialty consumer electronics category and divest the business in Australia and New Zealand as well, apart from India.
TCS still ace in the pack
Though there was no official word on what transpired at the meeting this afternoon, it is understood that the plans for the launch of the airline came up during the discussions.
The county's largest IT company TCS on Friday reported a 7.2 per cent jump in December quarter net to Rs 8,701 crore on a consolidated basis, and seemed to suggest the worst is behind by projecting double-digit revenue growth for FY22. The company, a cash cow for Tata Sons, saw a 5.4 per cent growth in revenue at Rs 42,015 crore for the quarter. Operating profit margin came in at 26.6 per cent despite implementing wage hikes, after consistently missing the 26-28 per cent aspirational band for many quarters.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
The Tata empire turns 150 this year. R Gopalakrishnan, former director, Tata Sons Ltd, imagines a conversation among the group's founder Jamsetji, his son Dorabji, his successor, Nowroji Saklatwala, and his successor, J R D Tata.
Profit in FY13 up 18% to Rs 3,713 crore, dividend income jumps 37%
Ratan Tata has got over Rs 1 crore as compensation for serving as an independent director on the board of NYSE-listed Alcoa Inc during 2012.
Docomo has now moved the London Court of Arbitration.
Few people know Ratan Tata as well as R K Krishna Kumar does. Widely perceived to be among the managers closest to Tata, Krishna Kumar assesses Ratan Tata, the man and business leader, in this exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
He has succeeded because he knew there needed to be a huge transformation in innovation and R&D capacity.
Call it a coincidence - as Ratan Tata was preparing to hand over the baton of Tata Sons to Cyrus Mistry, Sebi banned Dilip Pendse, former MD of the erstwhile Tata Finance from the capital market for a period of two years.
Unlike his predecessor, JRD Tata, who in 1991 handed over to him the chairmanship of Tata Sons as well as control of the trusts, Ratan will continue to retain control of the latter.
Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation for innovation in philanthropy.
Cyrus Mistry, who takes over captaincy of the Tata group this Friday, doesn't have to worry about the wicket. With a team comprising some of India's best corporate leaders - all carefully handpicked by his predecessor - Mistry can surely hit the ground running.
Ratan Tata was deeply involved in promoting a technology-oriented culture in the group
Tata Consultancy Services, the $73 billion IT group, is India's biggest company by market value and four times the size of any other listed Tata entity
'The competition between the two is definitely going to be of great interest to the Indian market.'
Air Asia is partnering with Tata Sons and little known Arun Bhatia for their India entry.
On Tata's retirement in December, 2012, Mistry will take the charge of IHCL.
Analysts say Tatas could sustain their current pace of growth, provided the group's "cash cows", such as TCS and Tata Motors, continue to deliver.
The sale price would be 72.5 billion rupees ($1.19 billion) -- the equivalent to half of the original acquisition price -- or a 'fair market price', whichever was higher, as agreed when DoCoMo made the initial investment in 2009, Japan's top mobile phone services operator said in a statement.
'I don't think his influence over his company will just suddenly eradicate. I am sure he will be a sort of holy ghost over the whole company.' Zubin Mehta recalls his more than five decade association with Ratan Tata in an exclusive conversation with Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
The airline is also looking at cities in the northeast.
These trusts are being registered under a new framework.
The race to get a New Umbrella Entity (NUE) licence for digital payments may get crowded. As many as six consortiums are said to be in the fray to apply for an NUE licence, which would create a for-profit National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)-like body for retail payments. A consortium led by Financial Software and Systems (FSS), a leading provider of payment products and payment processor, is in talks and may file an application to the RBI for an NUE license, said sources aware of the development. The other constituents of this group include Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, India Post Payments Bank, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), and a few small finance banks.
Tata group will invest over Rs 45,000 crore on various businesses over next two years and would look to expand its presence in global markets besides in India, the group's new chief Cyrus P Mistry said.
Throughout his two-decade long stint as chairman, Tata has never shied away from any adversary or adversity.
In the past, Tata Motors gave India its many first - country's first indigenous car (Tata Indica), first sports utility vehicle (Safari), first micro truck (Ace) or a Rs 100,000 car for the common citizen (Nano). After JLR's acquisition, however, the company has failed to connect with Indian car buyers.
Few businessmen demonstrate the zeal that he does for innovating for the bottom of the pyramid, says Adi Godrej.
"The group expressed belief that philanthropy and social service are integral to the development of any society. The meeting was focused on sharing ideas on philanthropy and not about any pledges. It discussed social work in areas like education, health, water and agriculture," stated the Azim Premji Foundation, the not-for-profit organisation run by Premji.
Temasek is exiting by selling its 10 per cent stake while Network Digital Distribution Services will pare part of its 30 per cent stake.
He said land acquisition and coal block auctions, and water were challenges impeding the growth of the sector.
Top HR minds in India, including Santrupt Misra of Aditya Birla Group, Satish Pradhan of Tata Sons, P Dwarakanath of Max India, Aquil Busrai (ex-IBM India) and Price Augustine of Mahindra & Mahindra and Pankaj Bansal of People Strong were among those who brainstormed with Maruti Suzuki India chief operating officer (administration) S Y Siddiqui last week.
