QBiz: Infosys Promises Rs 13,000 Cr Payout; Ola Raises $250 Mn

The Quint’s compilation of business news from dailies across India.

1. Infosys Seeks to Buy Peace With New Co-Chairman, Rs13,000 Crore Payout Promise

Infosys Ltd named Ravi Venkatesan as co-chairman and decided to payout Rs 13,000 crore to shareholders through dividends and/or share buyback in an attempt to buy peace with its promoters and other shareholders. Starting this year, the company will use 70% of its free cash flows (as against 63% earlier) to award dividends or buy back shares.

The company made both announcements while declaring its results for the fourth quarter of 2016-17 and the full year. In the January-March quarter, Infosys reported a 0.7% sequential rise in dollar revenue to $2.57 billion (about Rs17,000 crore), allowing it to end fiscal 2016-17 with a 7.4% growth and $10.21 billion in revenue.

(Source: Livemint)

2. Ola Raises $250 Million In Fresh Funds From SoftBank

India’s largest ride-hailing start-up Ola raised $250 million in fresh funding from Japanese investor SoftBank Group as the cab aggregator looks to maintain its lead over rival Uber Technologies Inc.

SoftBank has invested through SIMI Pacific Pte Ltd, an affiliate of SoftBank Internet and Media Inc, documents filed with Registrar of Companies show.

Bloomberg had reported in November that Ola is looking to raise fresh funds at a 40 percent lower valuation. Ola didn’t immediately respond to BloombergQuint’s email seeking a comment on the fund-raise.

Earlier this week, Flipkart went for a down round or raised capital ($1.4 billion) at a lower valuation than its last fund-raise.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

3. Centre May Make Aadhaar Compulsory For Filings Under Companies Act

The government plans to make India’s biometric data-based unique identification number, Aadhaar, compulsory for regulatory filings made by key managerial personnel and directors under the Companies Act so as to weed out bogus entities.

There are more than nine lakh active companies in the country and the proposal comes at a time when authorities have stepped up efforts to curb money-laundering activities through shell firms.

Registered companies have to submit filings as mandated under the Companies Act in electronic format through the MCA21 portal. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is "actively considering" integration of Aadhaar for availing various MCA21 related services.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

4. RBI To Suck Out Rs 1 Lakh Crore Through T-Bill Auctions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has moved to suck out additional liquidity in the system by announcing the auction of treasury bills (T-bills) in four tranches.

The central bank will auction Rs 1 lakh crore in T-bills under the market stabilisation scheme (MSS), it said in a release on Thursday evening. The bills would be auctioned between 17 April and 8 May with the tenor of the bills being set at close to one year.

A surge in deposits after demonetisation and weak credit growth have led to excess liquidity in the system, which has driven down money market rates. The overnight call money market rate, for instance, has been below the benchmark repo rate of 6.25 percent for some time now.

(Source: BloombergQuint)

5. Airtel Moves TDSAT on Jio Delaying Withdrawal of 'Summer Surprise Offer'

Bharti Airtel has filed an application in telecom tribunal, objecting to the alleged delays by Reliance Jio while withdrawing its three-month complimentary offer as directed by regulator.

The interim application by Airtel pertains to Summer Surprise offer of Reliance Jio under which it was giving data and voice.

Airtel has also objected to continuation of scheme's benefits for those who had already subscribed to the said offer before it was withdrawn.

When contacted, Bharti Airtel declined to comment.

(Source: Business Standard)

6. Google Forays into Hyperlocal Services in India With Areo

Technology giant Google has launched a new food delivery and home services app for the India market, christened Areo, marking its entry into the hyperlocal, on-demand services space in India.

The app, which provides a range of services such as food delivery, home maintenance, fitness and electrical repairs, is operational in Bengaluru and Mumbai.

Currently available on Android, Areo is not a direct service provider, but an aggregator of services from local on-demand players like UrbanClap, Zimmber, Freshmenu, Box8, Holachef and Faasos, enabling consumers to schedule food deliveries or book appointments from the app. Consumers can either pay online or use the cash on delivery mode in the Areo app to pay for these services.

(Source: The Economic Times)

7. Exports Jump 28% in March; Trade Deficit Swells to 4-Month High of $10.4 Bn

Merchandise exports grew 27.6 per cent in March, the final month of the 2016-17 financial year, the steepest rate in a little over five years.

However, this failed to help outbound shipment cross $300 billion in FY17, for a second straight year. Exports were $305 billion in 2011-12 and remained a little over $300 billion in the next three years. These, however, declined to $269 billion in 2015-16.

The official data issued on Thursday showed an export rise for a seventh straight month in March to $29.2 billion, against $22.9 billion in the same month a year before, as petroleum and engineering exports rebounded. For 2016-17, exports were $274.6 billion, a 4.7 per cent rise over the $262.3 billion the previous year.

(Source: Business Standard)

8. India Solar Transactions Top Global Fund Raise of $3.2 Billion So Far in 2017: Report

Indian renewable energy companies have raised over $1.62 billion during the first quarter of 2017 in transactions ranging from venture capital (VC) funding, debt financing, project funding and merger and acquisitions (M&A), according to data from Mercom Capital Group Llc, a global clean energy consulting firm.

Transactions in Indian solar and renewable energy companies made up for nearly half of the total global funding raised by solar companies around the world in the first three months of 2017. The global solar sector raised total corporate funding of $3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2017—nearly double of $1.6 billion raised in the fourth quarter of 2016, Mercom said in a report on Thursday.

(Source: Livemint)

9. India to Raise H-1B Issue in Talks with USTR next Week

The first round of talks between the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office under the Donald Trump administration and India’s Commerce Ministry will kick off next week, giving New Delhi the opportunity to discuss its apprehensions on new work visa restrictions being considered by the US Congress.

India is also set to defend import levies on automobiles and motorcycles as the US may raise the issue of the high duties imposed on Harley Davidson bikes, a government official told BusinessLine.

Assistant USTR Mark Linscott will lead the US delegation, which will hold talks on 18 April with a team led by Anup Wadhawan, Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry.

(Source: The Hindu, Business Line)

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