Billionaire Gautam Adani's group is said to be planning a surprise entry into the race to acquire telecom spectrum, which will pitch it directly against Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, sources said. Applications for participating in the July 26 auction of airwaves, including those capable of providing fifth-generation or 5G telecom services such as ultra-high-speed internet connectivity, closed on Friday with at least four applications. Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea -- the three private players in the telecom sector -- applied, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
As the WEF summit draws to a close on Saturday, a few big names from India including Mukesh Ambani and Anand Mahindra were missing in action while Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Jordan's King Abdullah II were among global leaders who cancelled their trips at the last moment.
Together, they controlled nearly Rs 26 lakh crore of assets at the end of FY16.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hosted British royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton for lunch to the accompaniment of classical music.
Tatas, Adani, Bharti, HDFC and Sun Groups have clocked huge gains.
Mukesh Ambani said the Digital India initiative has the potential to transform the lives of 1.2 billion Indians using the power of digital technology.
Bharti Airtel and Tata Group on Monday announced a strategic partnership for implementing 5G network solutions for India. Tata Group has developed "O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) based Radio and NSA/SA (Non-Standalone/standalone) Core and has integrated a totally indigenous telecom stack, leveraging the Group capabilities and that of its partners", according to a joint statement. This will be available for commercial development starting January 2022.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday assured the Delhi high court it will not arrest Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav this month, after which the politician agreed he will appear before the probe agency on March 25 for questioning in connection with a case related to the alleged land-for-jobs scam.
Bharti Airtel is the largest mobile phone operator in the country.
The CBI has named Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, in addition to 12 people who were given jobs in Railway zones of Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, Hajipur, the officials said.
The retailer has registered a new company called 'Wal-Mart India Private Ltd' in the country.
The CBI suspects that Yadav had played a crucial role in facilitating the jobs and later, the transfer of land to Prasad's family.
SoftBank's investments in the past two years include $627 million in online-retailing marketplace Snapdeal and leading a $210 million funding round in taxi-hailing app Ola Cabs.
Airtel acquired African telecom operator Zain in 2010 for $10.7 billion.
Cash-strapped telco Vodafone Idea's proposal for investment of up to Rs 15,000 crore through foreign direct investment (FDI) has been approved by the Union government, according to officials. A top-level group, comprising representatives from the ministries of home affairs, external affairs, finance and commerce and industry, took the decision. The nod, which is an enabling provision, would help the financially-stressed company raise funds to pay up some of its dues linked to adjusted gross revenue (AGR), reduce debts and use the money for operational expenses.
It emerges that Vi has probably offered good data quality despite being short on spectrum and infrastructure due to its stretched finances. Did the two companies that merged face the heat due to price wars? Probably. Did the government's tough stance in demanding its "due" share of telecom revenues hurt the company? Certainly!
Adani Green Energy entered the list of top-10 most valued companies in terms of market capitalisation (m-cap) in the country on Monday after its stock price zoomed 16.3 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 2,701.6 on the BSE. Adani Green Energy's m-cap now stands at Rs 4.22 trillion, surpassing Bharti Airtel, which has an m-cap of Rs 4.16 trillion. With today's rally, the stock has zoomed about 25 per cent in the last two trading days after UAE's International Holding Company (IHC) agreed to invest Rs 3,850 crore in Adani Green Energy through preferential issue.
The Hinduja Group, Mukesh Ambani, Murugappa, and the Adani groups were the other gainers in the Modi regime, while Naveen Jindal and Sun Pharma groups saw the most erosion in their m-cap in the last five years, reports Krishna Kant.
Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea has decided to defer payment of additional adjusted gross revenues of Rs 8,837 crore dues by a period of four years. The company in a late night filing on June 22, said that the DoT on June 15, has raised adjusted gross revenue (AGR) demand for additional two financial years beyond 2016-17, which were not covered under the Supreme court order on the statutory dues. Vodafone Idea (VIL) in the filing said that its board of directors "has approved the exercise of the option of deferment of the AGR related dues by a period of four years with immediate effect, in accordance with the said DoT Letter.
Annu Kapoor delivers a fine performance in this not-so-novel Web series about Kota and its IIT coaching system, says Namrata Thakker.
Noel Tata likes to relax at his Alibaug beach home on weekends, but he is equally passionate about driving on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway at a speed of over 100 kilometres per hour.
Retailers present in India are in talks with Carrefour to buy its assets piecemeal, rather than the whole business.
Unlike many other B-schools, IIM Ahmedabad follows a cluster system of final placements process where sectors are invited in cohorts at regular intervals.
Vodafone plc has made it clear that it will not make any fresh equity infusion in its Indian telecom business--Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL). Responding to a query, a spokesperson at the UK-headquartered telco said: "Just to confirm our position, there will be no new equity infusion from Vodafone Group." This is the first time that Vodafone has spoken about its stand after the government announced a telecom package.
Reliance Industries was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding over 2 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, SBI, Tata Steel, HDFC and Axis Bank. NSE Nifty fell 56.40 points to 16,238.20.
Discussing the prospect of more reform earlier this month, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced a delay in the 5G spectrum auction. India's telecom sector regulation has to be benchmarked with the global best, he said. It's another matter that many countries have either introduced or are about to roll out 5G services that will enable cutting-edge tech in diverse areas. For India, too, it will mean a lot for healthcare, robotics and unleashing a new chapter in Digital India perhaps.
India's cash-rich promoters are not the same as the wealthiest. For example, Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian based on his stake in Reliance Industries, followed by Premji, the Adani family of the Adani group, and Radhakishan Damani of Avenue Supermarts.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal has expressed hope that the government and regulators will step in to ensure the sector remains a viable place for continued investments and asserted that the industry requires "long overdue" support to maintain its current 3+1 structure. In the latest annual report of Airtel, Mittal said as the sector's role in the economy becomes more pervasive, its challenges loom larger. Issues such as unsustainable pricing and low returns in a highly capital-intensive environment, coupled with legacy legal issues, "have extracted their toll", Mittal observed.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, on October 15, gave its recommendation on spectrum auction for premium 900 Mhz band and 1800 Mhz band that are presently being used for 2G GSM mobile services by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications.
The Tata group's tryst with mobile services, with either CDMA or GSM technology, did not really fly, forcing it to close operations and write off losses. Now the group is back in the big game, this time straddling the telecom equipment, network and technology space in India as well as the global market. To this end, it is leveraging the opportunities that flow from 5G technology through open radio access network, or O-RAN. Recently, the Tata Sons' subsidiary Panatone Finvest acquired 43.3 per cent in Bengaluru-based telecom equipment manufacturer Tejas Network for Rs 1,850 crore and announced it would buy another 26 per cent of the voting capital through an open offer.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your stock market queries.
As global economies contract because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the focus of most of the India Inc has now moved back to the home market where demand is expected to pick substantially from the coming festival season.
A leading Brazilian poultry company has also expressed keen interest in joining hands with Kishore Biyani's Future Group to sell their products in the country
Home minister heads several groups of ministers, including the one to decide the revival package for Bharat Sanchar Nigam and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam. His ministry also takes decisive calls on national security in relation to telecom operations as well as equipment and technology used in the industry.
Shravin Mittal's venture capital firm, Unbound Advisors, has made investments worth over $500 million so far
Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla has offered to hand over his stake in debt-laden Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) to the government or any other entity that the government may consider worthy to keep the company operational. The billionaire businessman made the offer in June in a letter to Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba. According to official data, VIL had an adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability of Rs 58,254 crore out of which the company has paid Rs 7,854.37 crore and Rs 50,399.63 crore is outstanding.
Further stimulus measures are expected in the upcoming Budget where the focus is likely to be on reforms, including some structural measures such as reducing red tape and boosting foreign direct investment. The meeting with industrialists is in the series of discussions that Modi has had during the last couple of weeks to seek suggestions to revive growth.
Bharti Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal on Wednesday asserted that a large nation like India needs three private players in the telecom sector, and hoped the government would take measures to offer relief to the industry that is facing "serious financial stress". The comments assume significance in the backdrop of Vodafone Idea's desperate struggle to stay afloat. Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had in June this year offered to hand over the group's stake in debt-laden Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) to the government or any other entity to ensure that the company remains a going concern.
The Association for Democratic Reforms has stated in its report that 87 percent of the contributions or donations made to political parties in the past eight years were from business houses. The corporate houses contributed Rs 378.89 crore, constituting 87 per cent of the total contribution from known sources of political parties.
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