The Adani group has officially announced plans to invest $70 billion over the next 10 years to become the world’s largest renewable energy business and produce the cheapest hydrogen. Adani Green is targeting 45 GW of renewable capacity by 2030 at an investment of $20 billion. Adani Transmission will hike its renewable power procurement from 3% to 70% by 2030. Adani Group is already the world’s largest solar developer. Hydrogen is expected to be the fuel of the future and even Reliance is betting heavily on it.
With most states following the centre by cutting VAT on petrol and diesel, the states will have to forego Rs.44,000 crore of tax revenues but higher central tax devolution of Rs.60,000 crore will offset this loss. The centre took the initiative by cutting excise on petrol by Rs.5 and po diesel by Rs.10 to bring down prices further. Already 25 states and UTs have already chipped with VAT cuts. In FY22, the consumption of petrol and diesel is expected to rise by 14% and 8% respectively as a result of excise duty and VAT cuts.
Tata Steel reported consolidated net profits at a record level of Rs.11,918 crore for the quarter ending Sep-21. That marks an increase of nearly 661% on yoy basis. Total revenues for the quarter were up 55% at Rs.60,282 crore, boosted by higher volumes and robust steel prices. For the quarter, the EBITDA of Tata Steel increased by 12% as higher material and logistics costs put pressure on the bottom line. In the India business, the crude steel production in Q2 increased 3% to 4.73 MT while deliveries rose 11% at 4.58 MT.
In the midst of all the furore over US inflation, Chinese Evergrande and the Indian digital IPO boom, gold has quietly touched a 9-month high in line with global cues. In global markets, gold touched $1,861 per troy ounce after the 6.2% US inflation pushed investors to the safety of gold. Most investors are seeking hard-asset hedges against rising inflation. The months of December and January have been traditionally bullish months for gold. However, one counter argument is that rate hikes could make gold unattractive.
Finance Ministry directed all central government entities to release 75% of disputed amounts in 600 projects under litigation and estimated at Rs.50,000 crore. In many cases, contractors had won arbitration but monies are still locked up as government entities move appellate tribunals. The construction and the infrastructure sector is facing a major cash crunch due to this reason and the government is keen to loosen the tightness. The 75% amount can be paid immediately into an escrow account against a bank guarantee.
It looks like happy days for Boeing as it is likely to win a critical deal from Akasa Air to supply 70-80 Boeing 737 Max-jets. Akasa Air is backed by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and had onboarded senior aviation veterans to drive the show. Post the pandemic, India continues to be the fastest growing aviation market. The deal is expected to be announced during the Dubai Air Show. The deal is expected to be valued at $10 billion over the next few years. Indigo, India’s leading airline, has been a loyal customer of Airbus from the start.
The IPO of Go Fashion Ltd will open for subscription on 17-Nov and close on 22-Nov. Go Fashion owns the women’s wear brand Go Colors. The Rs.800 crore IPO will comprise of Rs.125 crore of fresh issue and Rs.675 crore offer for sale. The fresh issue component will be used to bankroll the opening of 120 exclusive brand outlets, apart from other working capital needs. Sequoia Capital has been an early investor and holds 28.73% in Go Fashion. The Go Colors brand specializes in bottom-wear products for Indian women.
Zee Entertainment, in the midst of all the controversy over the Sony merger and the continuation of the CEO, has reported stellar results in the Sep-21 quarter. Net profits were up 187% at Rs.270 crore in Q2. Overall operating revenues were up 15% at Rs.1,979 crore. While subscription revenues fell 1.5%, the advertisement revenues surged by 20.7% to Rs.1,089 crore. In the second half of FY22, Zee is geared up to release movies in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Punjabi. Opening of theatres will be a big boost.