QBiz: Banks, Telcos Told to Stop Creating Panic on Aadhaar & More

Here’s a roundup of the top business stories of the day.

The Supreme Court asked service providers, including banks and telecom companies, to indicate the last date for customers to link their services to Aadhaar.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

1. SC Asks Banks, Telecom Firms to Indicate Deadline for Aadhaar Linkage

The Supreme Court on Friday asked service providers, including banks and telecom companies, to indicate the last date for customers to link their services to Aadhaar.

Over the last few months, service providers have been calling and sending messages/emails to customers to link their bank accounts/phone numbers to Aadhaar or face deactivation of services, causing concern.

The last date for linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts as of now is 31 December and for mobile numbers it is 6 February 2018. The Centre is likely to extend the deadline for linking bank accounts to 31 March 2018.

(Source: Livemint)

2. Apple Value Touches $900 Billion as iPhone Demand Boosts Stock

Apple Inc briefly became the US’ first $900 billion company on the day its stores around the world were inundated with customers trying to get their hands on the new iPhone X.

Demand for the handset, which boasts a facial recognition system, an edge-to-edge display, and a price tag starting at $999, has prompted Apple to predict record sales of at least $84 billion in the Christmas quarter.

The shares gained as much as 3.7 percent to $174.26, briefly tipping Apple’s market capitalisation above $900 billion. They were up 2.1 percent at 9:55 a.m. in New York.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

3. Banks Give Wrong UID Numbers of 20 Lakh Loan Waiver Beneficiaries

The Maharashtra government with the help of Aadhaar averted a major financial bungle in its farm loan waiver scheme by detecting in time that data provided by banks on distressed farmers seeking waiver had wrong or inconsistent Aadhaar numbers.

Banks in the state had fed wrong Aadhaar numbers of nearly 20 lakh farmers of a total of 25.57 lakh applicants in their records. The consequence is that the state’s farm loan waiver rollout may now be delayed. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis pulled up the state level-bankers committee on the matter on 25 October, the state government informed the Centre.

(Source: The Economic Times)

4. Lenders Not Keen on Approving RCom Restructuring Plan in Current Form

Lenders to Reliance Communications Ltd are not keen on approving the restructuring plan submitted by the telecom operator after its merger with Aircel Ltd failed, two senior bankers directly involved in the case told BloombergQuint requesting anonymity.

Presented at a meeting earlier this week, the company’s plan asks lenders to convert Rs 7,100 crore worth of debt into equity. The banks declined to accept the conversion ratio, saying the share price quoted is much higher than what was approved under the Strategic Debt Restructuring scheme, the bankers said.

The conversion of debt into equity has to be on a fair-value basis, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s strategic debt restructuring scheme. The fair value of a stock of a listed SDR company is assessed by taking the average of the closing price in the 10 days preceding the reference date.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

5. Walmart India to Open 30 Stores in Next 3 Years

Walmart India Pvt Ltd, the local arm of the world’s largest retailer, is set to accelerate growth of its store network in the country, targeting opening 30 stores in the next three years, a top company executive said.

The company currently has 21 Best Price modern wholesale stores in India.

Walmart is planning to add five to seven stores in the next calendar year even as it begins piloting so called “dark stores” or fulfilment centres for retailers, stockists and kirana stores buying from it, said Krish Iyer, president and chief executive officer of Walmart India.

(Source: Livemint)

6. Torrent Pharma to Buy Unichem's India Business

Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd, the flagship company of the Ahmedabad-based Torrent group, on Friday said it had agreed to acquire the branded business of Unichem Laboratories Ltd in India and Nepal for Rs3,600 crore.

Torrent Pharmaceuticals, with annual revenue of more than Rs 5,800 crore, said it has entered into a definitive binding agreement with Unichem on Friday.

Unichem has a portfolio of more than 120 brands it sells in India and Nepal and a manufacturing plant in Sikkim that caters to these markets.

(Source: Livemint)

7. Five-Star Weddings Get GST Blessings: Big Boost for Banqueting in Upcoming Shaadi Season

At India’s five-star hotels, the goods and services tax (GST) has proven to be more than auspicious for the upcoming wedding season. Sure, the 28 percent GST on luxury hotel rooms has hurt but the flattening of multiple taxes promises to cheer up the banqueting end of the business.

“We are all sold out this (wedding) season. And the GST rates have helped,” said Tarun Thakral, chief operating officer of Delhi’s Le Meridien.

Previously, the multiple taxes — which could include a mandap levy — that hosts had to cough up to hold weddings in five-star hotels like the Meridien could cumulatively go up to 30-35 percent, Thakral said. But now the services, all clubbed under banqueting, are taxed at 18 percent. India’s biggest luxury hotel chains say wedding bookings have surged across the country, thanks to this.

(Source: The Economic Times)

8. NHAI May Cancel 20 Projects over Delays

As many as 20 highway contracts, including those of L&T Infrastructure, HCC, Essel Infra, MBL Infra, and Soma Enterprises are staring at termination from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) over delays in implementation by the contractors.

The NHAI has fixed 6 November as the last date for making their representation over the delay.

Besides the big players, the NHAI has terminated a contract, executed in April 2012, given to Transstroy Ltd for four-laning of the Obedullaganj-Betul section on NH-69 in Madhya Pradesh, due to the extremely slow pace of work on the project.

(Source: Business Standard)

9. World Food India: PepsiCo, ITC, Patanjali, Others Deliver Rs 68,000-Cr MoUs

World Food India, spread across India Gate and Vigyan Bhawan, turning Lutyens’ Delhi into a traffic nightmare, started Friday morning with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inviting investors to tap the “unlimited opportunities’’ in India’s food sector. Soon after, top executives of global food and retail majors from PepsiCo to Coca-Cola and Amazon to Metro, along with domestic biggies such as ITC and Patanjali, lined up to ink investment MoUs, totalling Rs 68,000 crore over multiple years.

The MoUs, 13 of them, formalised the investments promised earlier by these companies. Others such as Nestle offered to help the government in food safety, while making a reference to the Maggi ban debacle in India two years ago.

(Source: Business Standard)