Mining magnate Anil Agarwal's conglomerate on Friday announced a major business shake-up, with flagship Vedanta Ltd approving a spin-off of its metals, power, aluminium and oil and gas businesses into separate listed entities and an overhaul of lucrative zinc unit planned as part of value creation and reducing debt load. Vedanta will issue one share of the five demerged businesses for every share held in the company, the firm said in a statement. The entire exercise, which would require shareholder and lender approval as well as a nod from the stock exchanges and courts, is expected to be completed in 12-15 months, its president for finance Ajay Agarwal said.
With the disruption caused by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the 'fear of unknown' is looming over the government's privatisation drive. Although there is a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability on how things will unfold, the government is hopeful of completing the transactions listed in the Budget with a delay of one to two months, said a top government official. However, "there are many unknown factors now, and we do not know whether there could be a third wave. But we are trying to carry on with our work", the official said." Since there is a lot of uncertainty, the estimates will have to be revised as rating agencies are revising their outlook for growth.
The proposed takeover of Cairn Energy's India business could see Non-Resident Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal emerging as the richest promoter of a corporate house in India ahead of Mukesh Ambani, who has ruled the list for long.
Unfazed by the Supreme Court upholding winding up of the company, shareholders of Devas Multimedia will continue to seek seizure of Indian government assets abroad to collect $1.2 billion the firm has been awarded by arbitration tribunals for cancellation of a satellite deal but are open for talks to settle the issue, their counsel said. "The decision by the Supreme Court does not change anything. The Modi government and the Indian courts cannot rewrite the facts. "Their flimsy allegations of fraud will never stand up in courts outside of India," said Matthew D McGill, partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and lead counsel for several Devas' shareholders.
Retrospective claims may not stand the test in international courts.
India has challenged in a Singapore court a verdict of an international arbitration tribunal that overturned its demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes from Vodafone Group Plc, sources said on Thursday. An international arbitration court had on September 25 rejected tax authorities' demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes and penalties relating to the British telecom giant's 2007 acquisition of an Indian operator. Two sources privy to the development said India had 90 days to file an appeal against the tribunal award, and the same was done in a Singapore court earlier this week.
'The kind of tax which will be generated from the second pillar may far outweigh what we may be losing in the first pillar.'
Whereas, the group is offering Cairn India's parent Cairn Energy Rs 405 a share, which includes a fee for not competing with it in India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan for the next three years.
In all, 61 companies have been pre-qualified to bid for 11 shallow water and 19 deepwater blocks in an international tender, according to Myanmar's Energy Ministry.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is likely to abandon the proposed Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) refinery at Barmer in Rajasthan if Cairn Energy declines discounts on the low grade crude oil the UK company will produce in the state.
RIL had got the block in an intensely fought auction by submitting better commercial and technical bids than other bidders including ONGC-GAIL and Cairn Energy.
Bihar is now poised to emerge as one of India's next major destinations for oil and natural gas reserves.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is likely to win at least half of the 20 oil and gas block bids which closed on Tuesday.
Petroleum Minister Ram Naik on Tuesday ruled out any increase in petrol and diesel prices in the run-up to the General Elections saying international crude oil prices have eased.
Of the 10 coal bed methane blocks on offer, bids were received only for 8. RIL bid for one block. Of the 24 deep water blocks on offer, bids were received only for eight.
Cameron Green braved cramps to smash a career-best 89 not out and secure Australia's nervy two-wicket victory against New Zealand in the opening one-day international in Cairns on Tuesday.
A plea of the UK-based Vedanta group company to export its share of crude oil from Barmer oil field in Rajasthan was on Tuesday rejected by the Delhi high court on the ground that domestic crude cannot be exported till India attained "self sufficiency".
Oil and Natural Gas Corp, India's largest oil producer, has proposed an investment of Rs 7967 crore (Rs 79.67 billion) in setting up a 7.5 million tonnes refinery at the site of recent oil find in Rajasthan.\n\n
The much-talked-about sale of Ambuja Cement and ACC by Holcim Group will see the single-biggest outflow of foreign capital from the country if the two cement firms are acquired by Indian investors. The deal, valued at nearly $10.35 billion, will put in the shade Cairn Energy Plc's exit from India in 2010, when it sold Cairn India to Vedanta Group for $4.48 billion. According to various reports, big business groups such as AV Birla, JSW Group, and Adani Group are in the fray to acquire Holcim's assets in India.
Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest refiner, has put up a war chest of $2 billion for acquiring a medium-sized foreign oil firm to set up its own exploration and production division.
The state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has walked away with bulk of the 21 oil and gas exploration blocks in the fourth round of new exploration licensing policy.
A French court has ordered freezing of an Indian government property in Paris on a plea by Devas shareholders who are seeking to enforce a USD 1.3 billion arbitration award over a cancelled satellite contract, according to the court order copy.
Cairn India is 25th on the list with 22.2 per cent CGR.
There is considerable speculation as to whether this award would have any bearing on another Vodafone-type case, namely, the ongoing tax-related arbitration proceedings with Cairn Energy.
Cairn India, a unit of UK-based Carin Energy, will have the potential to account for 20 per cent of India's oil production in the next decade once oil starts flowing from its three fields in Rajasthan.
'Devas will continue to pursue its rights and enforcement actions against India in courts around the world.'
Vodafone further said it has "always been confident" that no tax is due on the company. The government in August enacted a law to end all retrospective taxation imposed on indirect transfer of Indian assets. The rules under the law seek to withdraw tax demands made using a 2012 retrospective legislation to tax the indirect transfer of Indian assets and also refund the amount paid in these cases without any interest. Asked if the company has filed an application with the Indian government to settle the retrospective tax dispute, a Vodafone spokesperson said, "We can confirm we have filed an application".
Database to contain taxable financial transactions and history of any tax-paying individual.
The company is looking to invest more than $3 bn over the next three years.
Prayas Jain has been arrested for allegedly buying secret documents.
Billionaire Gautam Adani on Sunday won the race to acquire Swiss cement major Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC for $10.5 bn (around Rs 81,361 crore), including the open offers. The Adani family, through an offshore special-purpose vehicle, announced that it had entered into definitive agreements for the acquisition of Holcim Ltd's entire stake in two of India's leading cement companies -- Ambuja Cements and ACC -- the Adani group said in a statement. The group outbid Ultratech and JSW group to enter the cement industry and also emerge as the country's second-largest cement manufacturer, with 70 million tonnes of capacity annually.
As many as 44 shareholders of Flipkart sold their holdings to Walmart. The income tax law requires the buyer to withhold tax while making payment to the sellers, in case they are not exempted from levy of capital gains tax.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated discussions with banks to address financial stress in the telecom sector, particularly Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) that urgently requires fund infusion to stay afloat. There was a meeting of DOT officials and senior bankers on Friday on the issue of Vodafone, sources said, adding that banks have been asked to look for a solution within the prudential guidelines. According to sources, senior officials from the country's biggest lenders State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were also present among others in the meeting. More such meetings are expected to take place in the coming days, they said.
The government has signed Bippas with 72 nations.
India's tax officials, long the scourge of foreign investors, are under government pressure to avoid aggressive claims against overseas funds.
FM has agreed to dump an ill-conceived plan to slap a retrospective 20% levy on overseas asset managers
British telecom giant Vodafone Group plc on Friday won an arbitration against the Indian government over a demand for Rs 22,100 crore in taxes using retrospective legislation.
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