QBiz: Auto Companies to Resume Production; 40 Jet Staffers Fired
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1. Auto Companies Prepare to Resume Production
Automobile companies, including Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), Mercedes-Benz, TVS Motor, and Royal Enfield, on Wednesday announced resumption of or plans to restart production at their respective manufacturing units following relaxation of guidelines by the government for the third phase of lockdown.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India said it would resume operations at its Manesar plant from 12 May.
The Gurugram district administration had allowed MSI to run the Manesar facility on a single shift basis, while fixing the total number of employees at plant at 4,696.
(Source: Livemint)
2. Around 40 Laid Off From Jet Airways’ Remaining Staff, Lenders to Decide on Fresh Round of EoIs
The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the already grounded and insolvent Jet Airways. About 40 people who were a part of Jet’s asset preservation team were let go earlier this week. More than a year after its grounding, the airline has found no buyers and lenders are in a fix on how to proceed further. “We are not sure at this point on whether to call for fresh expressions-of-interest (EoI). A decision will be made by Monday,” a senior banker told FE after the committee of creditors’ (CoC) meeting on Wednesday.
Parties that were previously interested in reviving the airline have either backed out or moved too slowly. The lenders have earlier called for multiple rounds of EoIs. The last round was invited in February after the Russian government-backed Far East Development Fund had expressed interest in the airline. On the other hand, liquidating the airline at this juncture makes little sense with the aviation industry undergoing a crisis. With no serious buyers, the CoC last month decided to extend the resolution deadline by 90 days. The earlier 270-day deadline ended on 15 March.
(Source: The Financial Express)
3. Delhi HC Lets Bharti Airtel Claim GST Refund of Rs 923 Crore
The Delhi high court on Tuesday allowed Bharti Airtel Ltd to claim goods and services tax (GST) refund of Rs 923 crore by rectifying its returns for the September quarter of 2017.
The court’s decision comes at a time the telecom sector is passing through a troubled phase with cutthroat tariffs and intense competition, though things have eased a bit with COVID-19-induced work from home causing a spurt in data consumption across India.
(Source: Livemint)
4. B2B Startups Help Kiranas Get Past Supply Chain Constraints
When India went into lockdown last month, S. Sandeep who runs a provisions store in Bengaluru’s crowded BTM layout, struggled to stock his shop. The sudden curbs paralyzed distributors. Movement of trucks stopped and most migrant workers left for their hometowns.
A month into the lockdown, things appear to have improved vastly for Sandeep. The store’s narrow aisles are now stacked with rows of chips, cookies and noodles, the way it has been for the past eight years since he started.
Sandeep, 37, now sources supplies from several big wholesalers, and business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce startups such as Jumbotail and Udaan. While he has been on these platforms earlier, Sandeep’s frequency of usage has only gone up as he struggles to get a variety of supplies from one place.
(Source: Livemint)
5. Online Database to Depict Fish Landing Centres’ Proximity to COVID Hotspots in Kerala Launched
The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) has launched an online GIS based database depicting the proximity of fish landing centres to Covid-19 hotspots in Kerala. The database offers visualisation of the entire 156 fish landing centres in Kerala in various colour groups in accordance with their geographical proximity with the hotspots identified by the government. The landing centres have been categorised in different groups according to their distance with the hotspots.
CMFRI said that this major development would become crucial in monitoring the activities at various fishing centres in the state. The first category, which requires priority in taking precautionary measures, includes fish landing centres located within 3 km of the hotspot. The landing centres within a distance of 3-5 km with the hotspots fall in second category, whereas the third category includes landing centres at a distance of 5-10 km from the hotspots.
(Source: The Financial Express)
6. Tech Boost for Frontline Workers: How IBM is Helping ICMR to Manage Process of Capturing COVID-19 Data
Technology continues to play a significant role in India’s fight against Covid-19. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has collaborated with IBM to implement a Watson virtual agent (called Watson Assistant) on its portal to respond to specific queries of frontline staff and data entry operators from various testing and diagnostic facilities across the country on coronavirus pandemic.
The virtual agent has been deployed on protected pages of the ICMR website that can be accessed only by authorised personnel who are involved with sample collection and testing in hospitals and diagnostic labs. The queries could be related to nature and process of data to be captured by test labs, how to record inventory of test kits and reagents, process of reporting to government agencies and references to the latest guidance, in addition to responding to queries on Covid-19 in general.
(Source: The Financial Express)
7. BSNL Seeks PM's Help in Preventing Rivals From Scuttling Firm's Revival
Employees’ union of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop domestic telecom gear makers from scuttling the company’s revival plan by putting a spanner in the tender for sourcing 4G equipment.
In a letter to PM Modi, BSNL staff said the issue raised by the industry body Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) was a ploy to stall the 4G equipment procurement and launching of 4G services by BSNL.
According to media reports, TEPC complained to the Department of Commerce that BSNL’s tendering process had was in contravention of the govt's “Make in India”policy and was heavily in favour of multinational companies.
(Source: The Business Standard)
8. Adani Enterprises Defers Capex Plans By Six Months Amid COVID-19 Lockdown
Amid the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) on Wednesday said it has deferred its capital expenditure (capex) plans by six months for fiscal 2020-21. The company has laid out a capex of Rs 10,000 crore for FY 2020-21.
Similarly, the company's plans around its new airports business is also delayed by six months though the size of capex may not change, said AEL's chief financial officer Jugeshinder Singh in a post-earnings call.
The flagship company of the Adani Group posted a consolidated loss before tax of Rs 13.89 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 30, 2020, according to its filing with the stock exchanges. The company had posted a consolidated profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 337.13 crore in the corresponding period last year.
(Source: The Business Standard)
9. Liquor Volumes May Take 20% Hit in FY21 Due to Closed Shops, Tax Hikes
The Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) market could decline by as much as 20 per in FY21 because of issues around distribution as well as tax hikes by states, executives at top liquor firms have told Business Standard.
This will be the sharpest fall in four years, they say, as various states increase tax on alcohol.
On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu increased taxes on alcohol by 10-15 per cent, joining Telangana, West Bengal, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, who had announced tax hikes of 16-75 per cent on liquor on Tuesday.
The IMFL market had last fallen by 2 per cent in FY18 to 308 million cases, growing 5.5 per cent in FY19 to 325 million cases and 1.5 per cent in FY20 to 330 million cases.
(Source: The Business Standard)
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