IBC Tweaks approved, GST benefit ensured, E-cabs by Uber- Weekly Digest #53

CBEC Chairman, Vanaja Sarna has written to the biggest companies to ensure that the GST cut from 28% to 18% on 178 consumer products is passed on to the consumers.
Infibeam is in talks with Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings to sell a minority stake. The company is also considering strategic investment in and buyouts of retail chains that are using its platform to sell online.
Government bonds rallied the most in a year after the RBI on Friday scrapped plans to sell bonds in the open market to absorb excess liquidity.
Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) announced the appointment of former AirAsia CEO Mrithyunjay Chandilya as Chief Executive Officer of their Logistics Business.
Lenders of debt-ridden Reliance Communications have approved the sale of real estate assets in Delhi and Chennai to Canada-based asset management firm Brookfield for ₹801 crores.

Apple has reduced margin for retailers from 6.5% to 4.5%, making it further frustrating for its dealers in India as they struggle to meet the demand of the flagship phone in India.
Paytm has picked up an equity stake in a digital loan startup CreditMate for ₹6 crores to help its customers access to credit to buy two-wheelers.
TRAI has proposed removing the 50% limit put for companies on holding spectrum within each band. The move is expected to encourage mergers and acquisitions and spectrum trading.Trai also suggested increasing the overall spectrum holding limit for companies to 35% from 25%.
A consumer court has ordered builder Amrapali to deposit over ₹10 crores as the compensation payable to the home buyers of its delayed Sapphire project in Noida
Citigroup sold more than 3.5 crore shares of L&T Finance Holdings (1.92%), for over ₹637 crore through an open market transaction.

The government has sought to tighten the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to ensure that wilful defaulters and promoters of companies in loan default over an extended period of time won’t be able to get their hands back on assets during the resolution process.
Tiger Global Management to sell off its early shareholdings in Ola ($300 million) and Flipkart ($600-$700 million) for estimated $1 billion to Japan’s Soft-Bank.
Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications and its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma have together invested ₹60 crores and ₹62 crore in Paytm Payments Bank, taking their total fund infusion to ₹400 crore.
NHAI has borrowed ₹5,000 crore from EPFO by selling long-tenure bonds to aid the government’s Bharatmala road project.
Shares of Future groups companies surged between 3% and 12% after the company announced that it plans to open 10,000 member-only Easyday Stores by 2022.

The president signed off on an ordinance amending the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to help prevent defaulters from bidding for their assets in resolution proceedings and regaining control at discounted prices. Now it is allowed only if they pay up dues to lenders before resolution plans are put in place.
The government has told consumer goods firms and industry stakeholders that new price tags on existing stocks should clearly show the difference that the recent cut in GST has made.
The Mittal family, promoters of Bharti Airtel, pledged ₹7,000 crore, 10% of its wealth, to support the Bharti Foundation, the Bharti Group’s philanthropic arm.

Standard & Poor’s retained its sovereign rating for India at BBB with a stable outlook. Its rival Moody last week lifted its rating for India by a notch after a gap of nearly 14 years.
The government appointed RBSA Advisors as valuation advisors on Air India, to advise them on the disinvestment of the national carrier. RBSA had advised both Air India and Indian Airlines during their merger in 2007.
Mahindra & Mahindra has entered into a partnership with Uber India to deploy electric vehicles in Delhi and Hyderabad from February 2018, and later expanding to other cities.
Satin Creditcare Network to raise ₹205 crore from private sector lender IndusInd Bank, as well as from existing overseas shareholders. The funds to be utilized to support growth.

Source: The Economic Times
Image