Go First, the airline owned by the Wadia group which is currently under bankruptcy protection, has now asked the committee of creditors for additional funds to resume operations. This was put up at the recent meeting with lenders. The airline is expecting funding of up to Rs600 crore from these banks to be able to resume operations and continue as a going concern till the time alternate arrangements are made. It is not clear if the banks would be open to fund a defunct airline. DGCA approval for resumption is pending.
TCS expanded its partnership with the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) of UK, taking the deal size to $1.9 billion. The contract will be for 10 years; extendable for another 5 years. NEST is UK’s largest workplace pension scheme. TCS is working to digitally transform NEST’s scheme administration services. It will also help NEST deliver enhanced member experiences and better retirement outcomes for people across the UK. TCS BANCS will power a digitally enabled omnichannel platform for its 12 million members.
It looks like the proposed merger between Zee Entertainment and Sony Pictures could be at risk following the recent SEBI order barring Subhash Chandra and Punit Goenka from holding any key management position (KMP) in any listed Indian company. The regulator had levelled serious charges of misuse of funds and highlighted major governance issues. BOFA has red-flagged that the governance issue could put a spoke on the deal. Zee is already facing top line pressure due to slowdown in ad spending on television.
Ideaforge Technology, the manufacturer of Unmanned Aerial Survey (Drones) has set a price band of Rs638 to Rs672 for its upcoming IPO opening on June 26, 2023. Ideaforge plans to raise Rs567 crore which will comprise of a fresh issue of Rs240 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of Rs327 crore. Apart from the promoters, institutional investors like Florintree Enterprise and Celesta Capital hold over 11% each. The fresh issue portion was originally slated at Rs300 crore but was reduced after Rs60 crore pre-IPO funding.
The electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) appears to be doing the job that the agriculture marketing bill could not do. Today, thanks to e-NAM, more farmers have access to buyers anywhere in India. The trade in farm produce on the e-NAM platform is already closing in on Rs1 trillion. The e-NAM will also the pave for a digital wholesale market in farm trade through the use of negotiable warehouse receipts (e-NWR). The e-NAM is already weakening the grip of APMC mandis, albeit in an indirect way.
Indian Government has cleared the semiconductor proposal by the US-based chip maker, Micron. It will set up a semiconductor test and packaging unit worth $2.7 billion in India. Micron specialises in computer memory products and flash drives. The OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) proposal of Micron was cleared after the government increased the incentives. Other players like Tatas and Sahasra Semiconductors are also actively participating in the OSAT opportunity. India is betting big on these chips.
Credit Wise Capital, the microfinancing NBFC, announced a co-lending partnership with Muthoot Capital worth Rs400 crore. The agreement will enable seamless digital financing solutions to customers buying two-wheelers across India. Both the companies are expected to gain from this partnership. Muthoot is part of the national gold financing company and sees tremendous potential in 2-wheeler financing. It will also leverage the branch network of its flagship (Muthoot Finance) to sell this product across the country.
According to a recent PWC survey, nearly 54% of Indian manufacturing companies have implemented AI (Artificial Intelligence) and analytics for business functions. PWC surveyed companies across 6 verticals, including consumer goods, high-tech electronics, chemicals, Healthcare, automotive and industrials. The main finding was that companies are focusing on improving processes efficiencies, cutting downtime, and automating processes using IOT. Companies prefer adopt standardised digital solution across their plants.