QBiz: Govt’s Rs 3.25 Bn Air India Debt; Netflix CEO Praises Jio

Here are the top business stories of the day.

Government owes cash-strapped Air India over Rs 3.25 billion for VVIP flights. 

(Photo: The Quint/Lijjumol Joseph)

1. Jet Airways, Air France-KLM, Delta Consortium to Bid for Air India

A consortium of Jet Airways, Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines is understood to have expressed interest in the disinvestment of national carrier Air India, according to sources.

Moving ahead with the strategic disinvestment of loss-making Air India, the government is expected to soon invite Expression of Interest (EoI) from the bidders. Against this backdrop, sources said a consortium of three full services, including Jet Airways, are keen to put in their bid for the national carrier.

Jet Airways along with Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines are interested in participating in the Air India disinvestment, sources told PTI. When contacted, a Jet Airways spokesperson said the airline would not like to comment on speculations. Queries sent to Air France-KLM and Delta remained unanswered.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

2. Xiaomi to Launch Six Smartphones in India This Year

Chinese smartphone and appliances maker Xiaomi Corp plans to launch at least six smartphone models in India this year, open 100 exclusive stores, release more new product categories in the near term and build out a big, non-smartphone business from its new range of televisions.

In an interview, Xiaomi global vice-president and India head Manu Kumar Jain said the Chinese firm, which has been a prolific investor in India’s rapidly-growing start-up ecosystem in recent times, will look to write a mix of small and large cheques to acquire stakes in software and internet start-ups over the next 12 months, while increasing the pace of its investments over the next few years, as part of its broader strategy to invest $1 billion in Indian ventures.

(Source: LiveMint)

3. Amazon, Flipkart, Alibaba Get Ready to Slug it Out Over Bread and Butter

Amazon, Flipkart and Alibaba are primed to pour billions of dollars into revolutionising the way one shops for fruits, vegetables, bread, eggs and cereal apart from other assorted trappings of daily life.

And right through 2018, the e-commerce giants will fill up the digital aisles with grocery items that they hope will transform the several parameters of consumer engagement: loyalty, frequency of purchase and trust.

(Source: Business Standard)

4. Govt Owes Cash-Strapped Air India Over Rs 3.25 Bn for VVIP Flights

The government owes over Rs 3.25 billion to cash-strapped Air India with bills pending for VVIP chartered flights to foreign countries, according to an RTI response.

The national carrier, which is on the verge of being privatised, has provided details of pending bills towards various ministries responsible for the VVIP visits in its latest response to the information sought by Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra.

The details provided in the response dated 8 March shows that Rs 3.25 billiion worth of bills for VVIP charter flights are pending as on 31 January 2018.

(Source: Business Standard)

5. Foreign Investors’ Bearish Stance Continues; March Outflow At Rs 6,000 Crore

Foreign investors have pulled out nearly Rs 6,000 crore from the Indian capital markets in just six trading days of this month, primarily due to better opportunities in other emerging nations.

Net withdrawal by foreign portfolio investors from equities stood at Rs 2,410 crore during March 1-9, while the same from the debt market was Rs 3,473 crore, translating into a total outflow of Rs 5,883 crore, depositories’ data showed.

This follows an outflow of over Rs 11,000 crore from the capital markets — equity and debt — last month.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

6. JSW Steel to Raise $1 Billion Via Overseas Bonds to Acquire Distressed Assets

JSW Steel Ltd is tapping overseas bond investors to raise $1 billion to fund its plan to buy distressed assets in India, two people directly aware of the plans said.

Sajjan Jindal-controlled JSW has hired investment banks JP Morgan, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank to manage the fund raising, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. The company plans to sell bonds that will mature between 5–7 years to overseas investors.

(Source: LiveMint)

7. India Should Drag USA in WTO Over Tariff Hike Decision, Say Trade Experts

India should drag the US in the World Trade Organization's (WTO) dispute mechanism against the move to hike import duties on steel and aluminium, as the decision will impact exports and it is not in compliance with the global trade norms, experts today said.

The decision of the US would not only impact India's export of these goods to America but also affect global trade, Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said.

"Such decisions are protectionist in nature. India needs to approach the WTO against this move as it would severely hit global trade," Dhar said.

Former commerce secretary GK Pillai said the country should take action against America and also raise duties on products like almonds, pistachio and Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The US exports these items to India.

(Source: PTI)

8. E-Way Relief, For Now, to E-Commerce, Courier Firms Sending Small Orders

Small orders that are part of a large consignment of multiple deliveries will not require generation of an electronic-way bill from 1 April. A relief to e-commerce, courier companies and the likes. Only, this relaxation might be temporary.

At its meeting on Saturday, 10 March, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council decided to make it mandatory for inter-state movement of goods worth over Rs 50,000 to have e-way bills from 1 April. The requirement for such bills in intra-state movement would be implemented in a phased manner.

This essentially means if a truck out for delivery is carrying 20 orders, of which four are priced over Rs 50,000, only four e-way bills will need to be generated.

(Source: Business Standard)

9. Every Country Needs a Jio: Netflix CEO Reed Hastings

Netflix, the world’s largest online video streaming company, said telecom operators around the world should take a cue from India’s Reliance Jio Infocomm to help make the internet more accessible at lower prices.

“Reliance Jio has been a transformational network in India and has brought down data cost massively. There are other people around the world having that kind of impact and can get people to use internet more. We hope someone would do a Reliance Jio in every other country,” said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.

Reliance Jio, which started services in September 2016, has helped to spur data consumption in the country with its 4G-only network.

(Source: Economic Times)