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Wendy’s Co. has struck a deal with India’s Rebel Foods to open about 250 so-called cloud kitchens across the country, one of the most ambitious efforts yet to serve customers through delivery rather than the traditional fast-food stores as the industry adapts to the coronavirus pandemic.The US. company is experimenting with a new format as the Covid-19 outbreak makes many consumers unwilling or unable to visit traditional stores. Cloud kitchens, which derive their name from cloud computing, are remote facilities without seating or cashiers that prepare food exclusively for delivery.Wendy’s, with nine brick-and-mortar outlets in India, said it believes its cloud kitchen alliance is the largest yet in the industry. Rebel Foods, backed by Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is the world’s largest cloud-kitchen operator with more than 300 locations.“India is one of our high-growth, high-potential markets,” Abigail Pringle, Wendy’s chief development officer, speaking via video con...

NEW DELHI: Drug firm SeQuent Scientific Ltd on Tuesday announced the launch of veterinary medicine Halofusol in 19 European countries.In a regulatory filing, SeQuent Scientific said it has launched Halofusol 0.5 mg/ml oral solution for calves in 19 European countries.The product had recently received approval from European Medicines Agency (EMA) through its Spanish subsidiary Laboratorios Karizoo, S A, the company added.It said that the new product was developed at SeQuent's R&D centre in Barcelona, Spain and will be manufactured in Spain.Halofusol is an oral anti-protozoal solution for the prevention and reduction of diarrhoea in new-born calves. The newly launched product is a generic version of Halocur with market size of Euro 10 million in EU, the company said.SeQuent said it is also planning to extend the launch to other geographies.Shares of SeQuent Scientific Ltd were trading 0.03 per cent lower at Rs 155.75 apiece on BSE. from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3mlhJkt

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL) has handled more than three million domestic passengers since restarting operations after the Covid-19 lockdowns from May 25, reflecting an uptick in air traffic movement, with over 260 domestic flights and 30,000 passengers a day now. The airport has also regained 51 destinations out of the 55 domestic destinations it had before the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak.With three new domestic destinations – Kozhikode, Imphal and Jagdalpur -- the airport is now connected to 54 destinations in the domestic sector, emerging as the second best connected airport after Delhi. GHIAL said in a statement on Monday that the airport saw passenger footfalls increasing to over 30,000 a day during November from about 3,000 domestic passengers a day in the first few weeks after domestic operations recommenced from May 25.The airport said it had handled over 3 million domestic passengers from the day of recommencement till November 23. The Indian aviat...

By Paulina Duran and Jessica DiNapoli SYDNEY/NEW YORK: Asian share markets opened slightly higher on Tuesday buoyed by the prospect of a COVID-19 vaccine, reversing the previous day's dips as investors took profits at the end of a record-breaking month. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.26 per cent on Tuesday after closing the month 9 per cent higher, the best November since 2001. Japan's Nikkei and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 were each 0.9 per cent higher, while South Korea was up 1.4 per cent. China's blue-chip CSI300 index was 0.72 per cent higher on Tuesday, after data on Monday that pointed to a continued recovery in the world's second-largest economy against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We've seen clearly a huge wave of liquidity coming to equities in response to the vaccine news and in response to U.S. election news," said Hamish Tadgell, a portfolio manager at SG Hiscock & Company. "But t...

NEW DELHI: The arbitration award to Vodafone by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the long-standing tax dispute was recently discussed at the highest level of the government as the deadline to appeal against the verdict approaches.While there is a strong view within the administration that the award should be challenged at the Singapore-based appellate tribunal, no final decision has been taken yet, said people familiar with the development.The issue was discussed at a recent meeting where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present. The government has time till December-end to appeal against the award and another meeting is likely to be held soon to finalise a response, said these people.A final call on the issue would be taken after examining all pros and cons, including the legal ramifications and impact on investment sentiment.Some experts are of the view that India should not appeal against the arbitration award as it would send a positive signal to foreign inve...

New Delhi: Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson want India to include their existing manufacturing-related investments in the production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme, which was recently announced by the government for telecom and networking products. The scheme is expected to support and incentivise exports from India, similar to the plan which has kicked off for the mobile handset industry. The European telecom gear vendors also want India to focus on bringing the component ecosystem under the new scheme, which aims at giving sops of nearly Rs 12,200 crore. “Cost levels in India productions are a little higher than other countries, so I really welcome this kind of a policy which is coming up to provide incentives for local manufacturers because that really helps the Indian economy,” Sanjay Malik, the India market head for Nokia told ET. “The whole policy framework is known at a very high level... We are also awaiting details. but there’s only one appeal from my side that it (scheme...

New Delhi: Vodafone Idea (Vi) is expected to lose 50-70 million subscribers in the next 12 months after haemorrhaging 155 million subscribers in the last nine quarters, Fitch Ratings said, adding that Reliance Jio Infocomm could net more than half of Vi’s subscriber losses, with Bharti Airtel bagging the rest. “We expect Bharti and Jio to increase their combined revenue market share to 80% (it was around 74% by September) in the next 12-18 months,” Fitch Ratings said on Monday. In the second quarter, Airtel added 14 million subscribers — double that of Jio's seven million. Vodafone Idea is rapidly losing market share given its weak balance sheet and limited financial flexibility. Fitch said Vodafone Idea's plan to raise about $3.4 billion through a mix of equity and debt is unlikely to restore its competitive position and reverse subscriber losses, as it would still be insufficient capex. 79498837 Vodafone Idea has so far paid about $1.1 billion of its total $8.9 billion dues r...

Mumbai: Indian savers rarely have had to brood over eroding values of their fixed deposits unlike their Western counterparts. While interest rates in India have not been cut to the near-zero levels as in the advanced economies, the Reserve Bank of India’s latest experiment with negative real interest rates, in an attempt to jumpstart the economy, is forcing squirrels out of their burrows. Result: They are dipping their toes into shares that have hitherto been ignored by the markets — and even out-of-favour residential properties.Real rate is the return that a security earns over inflation. Currently, the safest banks offer around 5% for one-year fixed deposits, while the consumer inflation in October was at 7.6%. So, the current real rate of return — before taxes — is -2.6%, which essentially means inflation is eating away at the value of savings. Effectively, negative real rates punish cash hoarders.So how are savers reacting? The concept of real rates is alien to most small-time save...

Mumbai: High net worth individuals (HNIs), ultra-HNIs and even informed retail investors have lapped up trades that offer annualised returns of between 15 per cent and 54 per cent by buying futures contracts and simultaneously selling underlying shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank, MRF, Bajaj Finance and Shriram Transport Finance Company that have seen heavy cash-based buying recently due to MSCI inflows running into billions of dollars.Termed reverse arbitrage, the trades exploit spot-futures mispricing due to supply-demand factors like the recent MSCI rebalancing-induced heavy cash buying, or corporate actions that lead to heavy futures selling due to anticipated fall in cash market shares. The trades in the current context offer risk-free monthly spreads or returns of 1.2-3.6 per cent. On an annualised basis, the returns gross 15-16 per cent and 54 per cent in one case. Kotak Mahindra Bank December 31 futures last traded at a Rs 23.3 a share discount (1.24 per cent monthly spread) to the ...

ET Intelligence Group: Burger King India, a national master franchisee of the international brand, plans to raise Rs 450 crore through a fresh issue of shares, which will be used to expand store presence and reduce debt. It will raise another Rs 354 crore through an offer for sale of existing shares. Given the company’s faster growth and lower valuation compared with the listed peers, investors willing to benefit from the country’s long term consumption growth may consider the IPO.BusinessIncorporated in 2013, Burger King India has exclusive rights to develop, establish, operate and franchise Burger King branded restaurants in India. It is one of the fastest growing quick service restaurants (QSR) in India. After opening the first outlet at the end of 2014, it had 261 restaurants as of September 2020. The company aims to take the total to 370 by the end of 2022 and to 700 by the end of 2026. Its restaurants operate primarily in four different formats including high street locations, hi...

India’s top three telecoms Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio are likely to tamp down hiring over the next year while battling the pandemic and fighting to keep costs under check and the only space that will see some recruitment is the digital segment, with likely job offers rolled out in the cloud, security and automation segments, staffing firms and headhunters said."The hiring for the three telcos will be almost negligible for the next one year. Recruitment in the senior segment is happening in profiles like head for B2C, digital head, or someone responsible for bringing in automation across the company," said Navnit Singh, managing director, India, for search firm Korn Ferry.The growth in senior profiles for automation may not have happened now, had the pandemic not accelerated automation and digital adoption, Singh said.But others are not as optimistic."There will be de-growth in the total number of people employed in the telecom services company. The hir...

New Delhi: Petrol prices have scaled a 25-month peak following successive rate hikes by state oil companies in the last ten days.Since 19th November, petrol prices have risen by Rs 1.28 per litre while diesel prices are up by Rs 1.96 per litre. Petrol sold for Rs 82.34 per litre on Monday in Delhi, the highest since 19th October 2018. Diesel sold for Rs 72.42 a litre, the highest since 16th September this year. Petrol and diesel rate rise has followed a sprint in international crude oil prices that are up a quarter in November. Crude oil is trading around $47 a barrel currently. Hopes that an effective vaccine could help contain the pandemic and the consequent demand damage, and the possibility that key producers’ cartel would roll over supply cut have boosted oil prices.Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and smaller allies will decide in a two-day meeting starting Monday on whether to extend output cut.Domestic fuel prices are expected to be aligned w...

5G connections across the globe are estimated to be 3.5 billion and India will account for 350 million subscriptions by 2026, according to a report by telecom company Ericsson.India may get its first 5G connection in 2021 if spectrum auctions are held early next year, said Ericsson Head of Network Solutions (Southeast Asia, Oceania and India) Nitin Bansal.Globally, more than 1 billion people, 15 per cent of the world’s population, are expected to live in an area that has 5G coverage rolled out, according to the ‘Ericsson Mobility Report 2020’ released on Monday.“In 2026, 60 per cent of the world’s population will have access to 5G coverage, with 5G subscriptions forecast to reach 3.5 billion. In India, 5G subscriptions will surpass 350 million, accounting for 27 per cent of all mobile subscriptions in 2026,” the report said.Bansal said that based on the reported timeline for spectrum auction for 5G services, he expects India to have its first 5G connection in 2021.According to the repo...

NEW DELHI: A superb growth in tractor sales and strong demand for other vehicles, especially from rural India, will keep the auto sales numbers in the green as automakers start reporting data from Tuesday onwards. Auto sales have been improving for a few months now, especially riding on sustained demand from rural markets and festive sales. This is also seen in shares of auto companies, which have been on an upward trajectory.“The automobiles industry is expected to continue to be on a roll in November with strong sales volumes driven by robust tractor sales, followed by passenger vehicles and two-wheeler sales,” Sharekhan said in a report.The broker expects two-wheelers to register 20 per cent YoY growth led by Hero Moto and Bajaj Auto. The sales will be driven by higher offtake from semi-urban, tier-II and tier-III cities, it said. Passenger vehicle segment is expected to clock a 13.9 per cent YoY growth led by Maruti Suzuki and M&M, Sharekhan said.Analysts say they have noticed ...

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: US information technology company Cohesity is likely to emerge as the top paymaster this year at the Indian Institutes of Technology, where final placements in virtual mode start on December 1.Officials from leading campuses told ET that the San Jose-based company will offer salaries of $200,000 (Rs 1.48 crore) per annum on a cost-to-company basis to the selected students for US roles, which is the highest package for the Class of 2021 so far.According to IIT placement team members, Cohesity will offer a gross salary of $120,000 per annum, while variable components and stock options account for roughly $80,000.“The offer packages have been shared with the respective placement cells and they are very competitive,” Apurv Gupta, chief technology officer of Cohesity, said in an email response to ET, without mentioning figures. The company will visit the IITs at Bombay, Kanpur, Madras, Delhi, Kharagpur, Roorkee and BHU (Varanasi) to hire software engineers and research en...

New Delhi: Moody's Investors Service on Monday said the bank capital will moderately fall in emerging Asia over the next two years, with India seeing larger capital decline without further infusion. In a report, Moody's said the uncertain trajectory of asset quality is one of the biggest threats for emerging market banks, as operating conditions remain challenging amid the current COVID pandemic. The 2021 outlook for banks in emerging markets is negative, while the outlook for insurers is stable, it said. "In the Asia Pacific region, banks' rising nonperforming loans and insurers' volatile investment portfolios are in focus. Capital will moderately fall in emerging Asia over the next two years, and banks in India and Sri Lanka will post larger capital declines without public or private injections," Moody's said. It said non-performing loans (NPLs) will rise most for banks in India and Thailand because of the greater shock to their economies and historicall...

A new book maps the trail-blazing story of the brand, the company and most of all, the individuals who have made Royal Enfield what it is now -- a premium homegrown consumer brand for the global markets. The book, "Indian Icon: A Cult Called Royal Enfield", is written by journalist Amrit Raj. Beside spilling the beans on the "behind-the-scenes takeover dramas" and the "bare-knuckled battle" to create the iconic brand, it is also the story of the clash of the old guard with the new leading to dramatic changes in the business. "New brands inspire the kind of devotion that an Enfield does. Its distinctive look and feel, the sound of its engine and the image that it creates of its rider have all contributed to putting the brand on the kind of pedestal that others could only dream of.. The book takes you to the heart of the Royal Enfield story," said Raj. From the beginning of the brand's journey in India in the early 1950s, the Enfield bikes have...

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel's Africa arm and telecom gear maker Nokia on Monday announced a three-year deal to modernise network in Nairobi with high-speed 4G, and deploy 5G-ready equipment. The deployment of 5G-ready network started in June and will cover hundreds of sites, the statement said. It will include upgrading existing 2G, 3G and 4G radio access network (RAN) coverage in urban, semi-urban, highways, tourist spots and central business districts in Nairobi and the rest of Kenya, it added. Nokia's network infrastructure will also offer Airtel Kenya the option to smoothly transition to 5G when necessary. The upgraded network will deliver enhanced connectivity to customers of Airtel Kenya and access to new, high-speed data services. Airtel Kenya CEO P D Sarma said in the statement said, "We are in the midst of rolling out our network to enhance coverage along with modernisation of our data network that will help us deliver improved, high-speed data services to our custom...

MUMBAI: Singapore's DBS Group said on Monday it had completed its takeover of distressed Lakshmi Vilas Bank, helping it shift from a largely digital presence in India to having hundreds of branches. The 94-year old Chennai-based private bank was folded into DBS's Indian subsidiary at the request of the Reserve Bank of India which cited a serious deterioration in its finances. Southeast Asia's largest lender, which will pump in 25 billion rupees ($338 million) into its India unit, until recently had just over 30 branches in India but has now added more than 550 and 900-plus ATMs. Rebranding of LVB branches has begun and ATM screens have also been reconfigured to reflect DBS's logo, according to a source familiar with the matter who added the exercise is likely to be completed within a week. The source declined to be identified as the information was not public. DBS India did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on the rebranding. DBS confirmed it will con...

Mumbai: Attractive valuations for the Burger King’s initial public offer (IPO) has pushed up the grey market premium for the stock to nearly 56 per cent two days before the offer opens on Wednesday.The Rs 810 crore offer would comprise of Rs 450 crore of fresh issue and offer for sale of up to 6 crore equity shares by promoter QSR Asia and would be sold in Rs 59-60 price range. At the upper price band, the OFS is valued at Rs 360 crore. Also, the company raised Rs 92 crore as pre-IPO placement from Amansa Investments in November.Dealers in the grey market said the stock was being traded at a premium of Rs 30-34, which translates to nearly 56 per cent premium to the offer price.“The IPO is seeing good traction in the unlisted market. Basically, investors are comparing it with Jubilant FoodWorks, and the valuations are cheap in comparison,” said Dinesh Gupta, co-founder of Unlisted Zone.Angel Broking pointed Burger King’s peer Jubilant Foodworks is currently trading at 8.7 EV/sales on FY...

New Delhi: Housing sales in 2020 is likely to rebounded to more than 50% of the overall sales clocked in 2019, according to property consultants Anarock.Anarock sold 1805 homes in September-October period, an 78% increase from previous year when the firm sold1,016 homes across top 9 cities in India and Dubai.According to Anarock, despite COVID-19, organic buyer demand boosted sales amidst ongoing festive offers and discounts, government incentives (particularly stamp duty cut in Maharashtra) & prevailing low home loan rates.“Our sales in these two months saw a 78% y-o-y jump over the same period in 2019. Much can be attributed to the multiple schemes and offers available across cities this year – particularly the limited-period stamp duty cuts in Maharashtra,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants. “In many cities, these incentives add up to an overall financial benefit of 5-15% of the property cost. The rock-bottom home loan interest rates have also played a role...

As uncertainty over the performances of actively managed equity schemes lingers, there is merit in allocating a portion of your portfolio to low-cost passive equity products, like index funds and ETFs. These funds mimic the returns of the indices. Usually the number of gaining stocks shrink when markets are at all-time highs.Financial advisors say funds actively managed by managers tend to struggle in such times.In the past two years, various fund houses have introduced index funds and ETFs that bet on various indices and asset classes. ET takes a look at four equity index funds recommended by financial advisors. Tata Index NiftyExpense Ration: 0.05 per cent (Direct plan)Assets Under Management: Rs 70 croresTop 5 holdings: Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, TCSA plain vanilla Nifty index fund, with the lowest expense ratio. Financial planners feel this is one of the best starting point for investors beginning their equity journey. It works well for someone wanting market ex...

ET Intelligence Group: Stocks of city gas distribution (CGD) companies could be accorded a premium price-earnings multiple compared to their average since the downstream gas regulator’s fresh rules to allow new players would not translate into heightened competition as initially feared by investors. CGD companies such as Indraprastha Gas and Mahanagar Gas saw their stocks rise 10-14 per cent last Friday after the Petroleum and Natural Regulatory Board (PNGRB) announced its policy on open access — a rule for the usage of gas infrastructure facility of incumbent players by a new entrant — which removed the overhang on stocks for the past one-and-a-half years.Under the new policy, third party open access has been allowed for new CNG stations after the date of notification while the existing facilities operated by dealers and franchisees of authorised CGD companies (including oil marketing companies) have been kept out of its ambit. It even bars OMCs from putting up their own dispenser uni...

Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have received 182 pre-placement offers (PPOs) this year as compared to 170 PPOs in the last placement season. Companies take students as interns for a brief time lasting over a month following which they make job offers also called PPOs to these students. At IITs, students receive job offers as part of PPOs and direct recruitment by companies also called the final placements. The Phase I of campus placements is scheduled to commence on 1st December 2020 for the academic year 2020-21. Like the final placement this year which would be held virtually, even the internship drive was completely held online for the first time. “The sustained increase in the number of PPOs this year is a clear reflection of the academic quality of IIT Madras and its students. I am optimistic that we would be able to carry forward this momentum and our students would obtain the best possible job offers in Phase-1 placements," said professor CS Sha...

MUMBAI: As organizations reassess their overall office space requirements and look for workplace flexibility in the wake of the pandemic, activity in the co-working offices segment is likely to gather further momentum in the next year as operators will reposition themselves and continue to drive the commercial real estate market of the country.Leasing by co-working operators is expected to increase 42% on-year in 2021 to 4.9 million sq ft with shared offices likely to gain greater significance in the post-Covid world, showed a Savills India study.Co-working players are expected to close the year 2020 with leasing of around 3.4 million sq ft, accounting for 11% share of the total office leasing market. Although the overall leasing activity is expected to reduce significantly in 2020 as compared to 2019, it is expected to increase steadily over the next two years. The share of co-working space take-up in overall office leasing activity is poised to rebound to a 15% share in 2021, similar...

MUMBAI: Retail investors can now subscribe to initial public offers (IPOs) through Paytm Money. Digital financial services platform announced on Monday that it has enabled investors to instantly apply for all the IPOs via UPI ID, linked to their bank accounts to quickly complete the IPO application process. The company is leveraging the convenience of UPI infrastructure to offer a faster turnaround time reduced to 3-4 days for completion of the entire process.This launch will benefit retail investors with wealth creation opportunities, as they will be able to seamlessly apply and join the growth story of rapidly expanding companies, said Paytm. The company has made the process of IPO application completely digital & simple for retail investors across the country to apply for IPOs. It will continue to innovate and add new tech-savvy features for enhanced user experience.The platform offers an interface to make changes, cancel or reapply the bidding application within the IPO window....

By Niall FergusonIn “Shuggie Bain,” Douglas Stuart’s award-winning and harrowing depiction of alcoholism, sectarianism and deprivation in post-industrial Scotland, money is always scarce and often dirty. Deserted by her second husband and unable to hold down a job, Shuggie’s mother, Agnes, relies on her twice-a-week child benefit to feed her children — or her booze habit. As the latter nearly always wins, she and Shuggie are regularly reduced to desperate expedients to fend off starvation: Extracting coins from electricity and television meters, pawning their few valuable possessions, and ultimately selling their bodies for brutal sexual favors. Stuart vividly captures the miseries of a Glasgow of greasy coins and filthy banknotes. After one of many wretched copulations in the back of a taxi, one of Agnes’s lovers inadvertently showers her with coins from his pocket. Shuggie’s father briefly reappears at one point, handing his son two 20-pence pieces from his taxi’s change dispenser by...

The Trump administration has introduced via a ‘temporary final rule’ a visa-bond pilot program where applications from certain countries travelling to the US for business or as tourists will have to furnish a bond, it's denomination can be as high as $ 15,000.However, as the overstay rate for Indians travelling on B1/B2 visas (business and tourist visas) is not high, Indians are excluded from having to furnish such a bond under the pilot program. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, nearly 12.26 lakh Indians who had visited US on these two visas were expected to depart, or in other words the authorised period of their visa tenure expired within this fiscal year. Only 13,203 overstayed which resulted in India’s overstay rate of 1.08% - much below the 10% which the Trump administration is focussed on targeting.The temporary final rule was published on November 24 and the pilot program will come into effect, 30 days post that, which is by end December. It will apply to nat...

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Employers’ Association has written to the state government asking it to take stern action against employees who have resorted to protests outside the Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) manufacturing facility at Bidadi, 40 km off Bengaluru.In a letter to chief secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar, association president BC Prabhakar has expressed concerns over the possibility of the strike spreading to other industries as well. “We request you to take immediate steps to declare curfew around the premises of TKM, Bidadi, and take stringent action including arrest of troublemakers and also bar them from entering the Bidadi area,” the letter said.Unless timely steps are taken, there is a possibility of such employee unfair practices spreading to other industries. This will permanently damage the investment climate in Karnataka, the association stated as the protests at the facility has entered the third week.While the company has declared a lockout for the second time, some employe...

MUMBAI: India Inc has quietly progressed on the gender diversity front in spite of the pandemic. Engineering firm ABB, Hindustan Zinc (HZL), Sun Life Asia Service Center (ASC) and leading direct selling FMCG major Amway have improved upon their gender diversity numbers significantly this year through proactive hiring of women candidates.Zurich-based ABB, which underwent a transformation from a power and manufacturing company to a technology and automation company two years ago, has seen its diversity numbers increase to 14% in October this year from 9% in 2018. A traditional set-up in manufacturing can make it extremely challenging for women to consider this segment as a career option. ABB India CHRO Raman Kumar Singh said it’s challenging to fill up positions with a woman candidate due to a smaller pool of women in manufacturing. “A big inflection point for us was to bring a shift in thinking. Once we have communicated that a certain role can be done by a woman, we seek more time to l...

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to keep interest rates unchanged and reiterate its accommodative stance in this week’s monetary policy review, buoyed by good news on the economic front, said investors and traders. But it could also cite concerns about inflation, which has stubbornly remained above the prescribed target range. The monetary policy committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet on December 2-4.Bankers will watch out for any guidance on how the RBI plans to manage the record excess liquidity in the financial system, which has distorted market conditions and led to a drop in short-term rates. Some companies are borrowing at rates lower than the RBI benchmark.“Liquidity is in an excess territory and frankly gone out of hand and could lead to inflation in the future,” said DBS Bank head of treasury Ashish Vaidya. “A part of this is due to the dollar buying by the RBI which has infused cash into the system.”79483825‘Downside Risks to Growth Remain’“It will help if they...

Large lenders may soon impress upon the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the need to tweak a rule to make it easier to rejig loans to companies impacted by the pandemic-induced slowdown. In several cases, such a change will spare companies hit by Covid-19 the stigma attached to a nonperforming asset (NPA) as well lower provisioning for banks. This would call for recognising the months between the ‘invocation of the resolution framework’ (for one-time restructuring of a loan) and its ‘implementation’ as a standstill period.“This may help more banks as well as borrowers to take up one-time restructuring of loans… It will be all the more relevant once the Supreme Court lifts the stay on classification of loan assets,” a senior banker told ET.According to the regulations, the loan resolution process announced by RBI to address Covid-related stress is invoked when lenders representing 75% by value and 60% by number agree to restructure a loan. Unlike normal restructuring under earlier regulation...

Last month, the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh (RKM), an umbrella body of more than 180 farmer groups, wrote to chief ministers of all states demanding they oppose the three farm market reform laws — Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act — that were ratified by the president on September 27. RKM sought state governments to take up the matter with the Supreme Court, charging the Centre of having usurped the states’ rights to make laws on agricultural issues.It also demanded that all states come out with their own legislations providing a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce. The ongoing farmers’ protests come on the back of these developments.So, what are the farmers protesting? Against apprehensions that Agricultural Produce Market Committees may be dismantled, MSP may not be offered, foodgrain may n...