RCom says will overcome Ericsson, Infratel challenges to Jio asset sale

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications said it was confident of overcoming the twin legal challenges posed by shareholders in its tower subsidiary and one of the company’s unsecured creditors, Ericsson. The company is selling much of its spectrum, fiber, towers and other network assets to Reliance Jio Infocomm, led by Anil Ambani’s brother Mukesh, for an […]

India’s garment industry suffocates under GST bottlenecks

Apparel Export Promotion Council of India has sounded alarm on the continued decline in apparel production in India and said India won’t be able to meet the garment export target of $20 bln this year. “If the capital blockage continues and the cost competitiveness of the industry is not restored, the slippage in exports will […]

Lupin launches generic version of Bayer’s birth control pill Safyral

Pharma major Lupin said it launched a generic version of Bayer’s birth control drug Safyral tablets in the US. The company had received FDA approval for the launch in December. The tablets has annual sales of approximately USD 22 million in the US. Lupin’s product will be called Tydemy. The combination is indicated for use […]

Indigo, Go Air can use grounded planes after changing engines: Jayant Sinha

Aviation minister Jayant Sinha said India’s largest airline Indigo and competitor Go Air can use their grounded planes if they are able to secure ‘alternative engines’ to be used in place of the faulty ones. “We do not consider these engines safe,” Sinha said in the context of the aviation sector regulator’s directive to ground […]

Doctors rushed to Jodhpur after Amitabh Bachchan falls ill

A team of doctors has been rushed to the set of film ‘Thugs of Hindustan’ in Jodhpur in Rajasthan after actor Amitabh Bachchan complained of ‘general uneasiness’. Bachchan’s condition is reported to be stable. The veteran actor has been shooting for the movie for several months. According to sources, the likely cause of the uneasiness […]

NTPC launches $400 mln USD bonds at 4.5% interest

NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power producer, said it is raising $400 mln (Rs 2,600 cr) by selling dollar-denominated bonds that carry a 4.5% interest. The bonds were priced yesterday and the issue is now open, the company said. The notes will mature on March 19, 2028. Both the principal and interest payments will be made […]

Before leaving, Emmanuel Macron leaves a ‘Thank You’ message for Indians

Unlike other foreign leaders feted by Indian in recent years, French President Emmanuel Macron left a message directly to Indian people before stepping on to the plane back home. In a video message posted on Twitter, Macron sounded less like a politician and more like a ordinary person as he thanked everyone for making possible […]

IOCL, HPCL, BPCL open to buying petrol pump land – Pradhan

State-owned oil marketing companies, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, are open to buying the land on which their retail outlets are located to offset rising real estate prices, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said. Pradhan was responding to a concern about how rising real estate prices in cities and towns are leading to landlords […]

PNB revamps SWIFT system, to deploy Infosys’ Finacle 10 software

Punjab National Bank, in the eye of a storm after a couple of employees issued unauthorized credit guarantees worth $2 bln to clients, said it has put in place procedural and technological changes required to prevent a repeat of the incident. Two key technical changes being implemented are a revamp of the way the bank […]

Zee Entertainment confirms MIB complaint against Den Networks

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, the flagship company of the Zee Group, confirmed that it has filed a complaint against Den Networks. It said the complaint referred to violations of the provisions of the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, various Digital Addressable System rules and the Copyright Act. “Such action by the company is in the […]

L&T, BHEL tapped to roll out India’s indigenous nuclear power program

Larsen & Toubro, India’s largest construction company, and BHEL, India’s largest supplier of power plant equipment, are among those tapped by the Nuclear Power Corporation for the rollout of the first large-scale nuclear power plants developed using Indian technology. While L&T said it received a Rs 442 cr order to supply forgings for steam generators […]

India’s T-Series becomes most-viewed Youtube channel

Thanks to the explosion of data connectivity unleashed by Reliance Jio and other operators, an Indian company has emerged as by far the most popular channel on Youtube by number of views. According to Youtube tracking service Social Blade, Indian record label T-Series today has hit monthly views of close to 2 bln (200 cr) […]

Star India threatens Airtel Digital with complete disconnection of channels

Taking the fight up a notch, Star India, the biggest television broadcaster in the country, has threatened to disconnect all its 56 channels currently aired by Airtel Digital, India’s second-biggest DTH network. “Dear Airtel Digital customer, your favorite channel.. along with all 56 channels in Star India bouquet is likely to be disconnected on Airtel […]

JioTV adds multi-camera, multi-mic feature; VR coming soon

Reliance Jio, the 4G operator, said users of its JioTV streaming app can now choose any of the five camera angles while watching the ongoing Nidahas trophy as part of a new ‘interactive TV’ feature. Similarly, they can also choose to listen to different mics, such as the one on the stump or the stadium […]

AIADMK to start ‘JTV’ to take on Jaya TV and Sun TV

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam, the party of the late chief minister J Jayalalitha, has unveiled the names and emblem of the four television channels that it is planning to start. The general entertainment channel will be called ‘J TV’. In addition, there will be three channels focused on music (MusicJ), Movies (MoviesJ) and […]

Singapore’s Wilmar takes control of Shree Renuka Sugars

Singapore-based agricultural commodity player Wilmar International has taken a controlling stake in Shree Renuka Sugars, one of India’s largest sugar companies that was saddled with high levels of debt. As of December 30, both the Indian promoter and Wilmar had a stake of just above 27% with about 257 mln shares each. On Friday, the […]

Prakash Industries to spin off plastics business, enter packaging business

Prakash Industries said it will spin off its plastics business and enter the ‘flexible plastic packaging’ segment, a move that would see it competing with the likes of Uflex. The company said the new business will focus on high performance barrier films and laminates for use in packaging food, beverages, oil, personal care and pharmaceutical […]

Under JioFi onslaught, Indian datacard brands exit the market

Under an onslaught of cheap wireless internet devices from Reliance Jio, Indian brands such as iBall, Intex and Micromax have virtually exited the data dongle market, while the once dominant Huawei has been reduced to a 7% share, according to CMR. For the whole of 2017, all the top five models of datacards belonged to […]