Microsoft Corp has restored all services -- including email access -- to Russian oil giant Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy, just before a scheduled hearing in the Delhi high court over the service suspension.
Russian oil giant PJSC Rosneft Oil Company is in early talks with Reliance Industries for sale of its 49.13 per cent stake in Nayara Energy, which operates a 20-million tonnes-a-year oil refinery and 6,750 petrol pumps in India, sources said. Reliance has held preliminary talks for acquisition of Nayara, which will help it overtake state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to become India's No.1 oil refiner as well as give a meaningful presence in the fuel marketing space.
The diversified steel-to-telecom Essar Group, with revenues of $ 15 billion, is readying to consolidate its retail initiatives under one roof to maximise synergies and explore new avenues of growth. To shape its plans, Essar is forming a centralised retail think-tank at a group level to strategise the conglomerate's future course of action.
Essar Telecom Retail Ltd will be introducing a pan-Indian network of retail telecom outlets called TheMobileStore, which will offer state-of-the-art technology in telecom solutions besides several value-added services.
Essar Telecom Retail said on Tuesday it will invest $250 million in two to three years to set up 2,500 stores in a bid to take its revenue beyond $1 billion.
The company would also increase its head count by over eight-fold to 10,000 in the next three years from the current 1,200.
The company would also increase its head count by ten fold to 10,000 in the next three years from the current 1000.
Indian family-run business houses have in recent years seen ugly public spats between owners over control. But metals-to-ports conglomerate Essar's Ruia family seems to be an exception. Three generations of the Ruia family - founder brother Shashi and Ravi Ruia, their children and grandchildren - continue to live under one roof and jointly run the business empire.
The agreement came in after the Ruias agreed to clear most of the Rs 26,000-crore dues to the lenders on completion of the transaction.
The private companies want a level playing field so that they can compete with the government companies in fuel retailing.
"We are seriously looking at launching our own mobile brand, offering a complete range of handsets to bring better value to our customers. We are currently negotiating with a couple of original equipment manufacturers (OEM)," Rajiv Agarwal, chief executive officer and director, The MobileStore, said, while refusing to give details.
Essar Oil on Tuesday said it will set up 50 petrol stations before the end of this fiscal.
At $12-bn valuation, this will be India's largest FDI; deal to be announced on Saturday, says Dev Chatterjee.
PSUs to wait and watch, IndianOil says losing Rs 1.37 on every litre of petrol.
Essar Oil has cut petrol and diesel prices by an average of Rs 1.50 a litre to bring them at par with that of public sector firms.
Analysts say the Essar Group has been following a policy of delisting just when its businesses begin to record substantial upside, denying shareholders their share of decent returns.
As fuel prices surged in September, the government's decision to ask companies to cut price by Rs1 each on a litre of petrol and diesel came as a dampner for private players.
The Ruias-managed Essar Oil is fast catching up with Reliance Industries in the number of petrol pumps set up by private sector retailers.
Essar Oil Ltd, India's second largest fuel retailer, has reopened about 350 petrol pumps it was forced to shut down due to heavy losses on matching petrol and diesel prices with hugely-subsidised public sector rates.
The government is planning to probe into diesel imports by private firms that had been given a license to retail the imported fuel but are selling it to industrial and bulk consumers.
As crude oil prices rose sharply, private companies like Essar Oil and Reliance Industries closed their retail outlets as they found it difficult to compete with state-owned oil companies, which were selling fuel below the production cost with support from the government. While Essar Oil has drawn up plans to re-open its retail outlets, Reliance Industries has decided not to go ahead with the retail plan
Rosneft bought a 49 per cent stake in Essar Oil's refinery port and petrol pumps, while Netherlands-based Trafigura Group Pte, one of the world's biggest commodity trading companies, and Russian investment fund United Capital Partners split another 49 per cent equity equally.
Essar Oil has decided to cut petrol and diesel prices in the range 50 paise to Rs 2.50 per litre effective from July 16.
The Essar group has also closed down 275 outlets across the country. The two companies could not withstand 'unfair competition' from government-backed companies which are compensated for selling fuel at subsidised rates.
India, the world's fourth-biggest oil consumer, recently offered Saudi Aramco a stake in refineries and petrochemical projects.
The petroleum ministry has rapped Reliance Industries for failing to meet its obligations of opening and operating 10 per cent of its petrol and diesel retail outlets in remote and low-service areas.
The three companies in separate presentations to the Kirit Parikh Committee on fuel pricing suggested immediate freeing of petrol and diesel prices from government control.
After briefly maintaining prices at par with public sector oil marketing companies following the June 25 price hike, private fuel retailers Essar Oil and Reliance Industries are selling petrol and diesel at a premium of Rs 0.50 to 2.50 per litre in some states.
"Online portals are also bleeding heavily and have huge accumulated losses. There is pressure from investors to cut down on discounting."
Sales have picked up in the past few days for retailers in the apparel and consumer durables segments.
In the last few years, zero per cent financing has become quite attractive as consumers aspire to buy the latest products, especially in categories such as mobile phones and television sets.
Aims to save time in entering infotech retail The MobileStore, the Esaar group's mobile phone retail chain, has announced the acquisition of the operations of Impact Retail Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount.
In 2017, a consortium led by Russian state oil company Rosneft agreed to buy Essar Oil for $12.9 billion in India's biggest foreign acquisition of a homegrown company. Rosneft's buyout of Essar's assets was meant to herald a wave of energy investments in India - over six decades after Esso, Caltex and Shell invested in India's refining sector in the 1950s. But the government has tripped up in its efforts to sell Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), formerly Burmah Shell, a blue chip public sector company. Bidders include a couple of global funds and resources firm Vedanta.
Chanda Kochhar, who was arrested for a cash-for-loan scam on Friday, was once a powerful banker and instrumental in making ICICI Bank the country's biggest private sector lender. Kochhar, a regular feature on Forbes top global honchos lists, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) along with her husband Deepak Kochhar in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by ICICI Bank to Videocon Group companies. Kochhars were called to the agency headquarters and arrested after a brief questioning session. Her chapter at ICICI Bank ended abruptly in 2018 when the board of directors approved a request from Kochhar to seek early retirement following allegation of corruption and quid pro-quo while extending loans to the now bankrupt Videocon Industries.
Malls, retail stores are being hit by online sales and are struggling this festive season.
The ministry of petroleum and natural gas has granted seven authorisations to companies for selling automobile (auto) fuels in the country. These new approvals are under the relaxed guidelines for authorisation to market transportation fuels that were revised in 2019. This is expected to make the competition more intense in India's petroleum retail business. According to a top oil ministry official, a fresh marketing authorisation has been granted to Reliance Industries (RIL) under these norms. This is being done since RIL's existing retail marketing authorisation has been transferred to its subsidiary Reliance BP Mobility
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