Top 10 biz headlines: Essar Steel insolvency, NBCC's Jaypee bid, and more

From Vistara's Europe plans to Jet Airways' pilot union, Business Standard brings you top 10 headlines that made news on Tuesday

Reject ArcelorMittal's Essar Steel bid as it misled courts: Prashant Ruia

In a fresh twist to the insolvency saga of Essar Steel India, the largest stakeholder of the company has approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) with a plea that ArcelorMittal India’s bid should be rejected as it had hid crucial facts regarding its shareholding in firms that have since turned non-performing assets (NPAs). The NCLAT has sought ArcelorMittal’s response to the petition and fixed May 13 as the next date of hearing. Read more here

Vistara's Europe plans likely to get grounded Jet Airways wings

The Tata group has pressed the pedal on its aviation ventures, rushing to fill the void after the recent grounding of Jet Airways. As part of this plan, the group’s full service carrier Vistara is considering acquiring 16 planes of grounded Jet, including 10 Boeing 777 aircraft. Read more here

Tariffs unjustifiably high, need level playing field: US Commerce Secretary

Pulling no punches, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Tuesday repeatedly hit out at India for charging high tariffs on US products, implementing market access barriers, and having a difficult regulatory environment. Read more here

Investors likely to be tight-fisted as private banks look to raise capital

Last week, Murli Natrajan was in Geneva to meet Aga Khan, founder-chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, to brief him on DCB Bank’s plans. “We are comfortable on the capital front as on date, but a year down the line, equity capital will have to be raised,” says the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development holds 15 per cent stake in the bank, but however blue-blooded your promoter-lineage is, investors will be much more tight-fisted in handing over money to private banks, going ahead. Read more here

Rs 33,000-crore tax hurdle for NBCC's bid for beleaguered Jaypee Infratech

A demand to extinguish income-tax liability of Rs 33,000 crore might make state-owned infrastructure major NBCC's bid for the beleaguered Jaypee Infratech's (JIL's) projects a tough call. 

The committee of creditors (CoC) of the debt-ridden developer will meet on May 9 to discuss NBCC's revised bid. According to the revised resolution plan, NBCC has demanded that the income-tax liabilities should be extinguished. Read more here

Jet Airways pilots' union urges SC to direct SBI to release funds

The Jet Airways pilots union, the National Aviator’s Guild (NAG), on Tuesday moved Supreme Court with a plea that the banks and lenders should be directed to release the interim funding to Jet Airways, which could help the airline restart operations. Read more here

Insolvency woes: RCom resolution professional asks for 13-month exclusion

The interim resolution professional of Reliance Communications (RCom) has sought an exclusion of 13 months (April 30, 2018-May 30, 2019) in RCom’s corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP).

This is because the initial insolvency proceedings against the debt-ridden telecom company was stayed by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and the Supreme Court. Read more here

CollegeDekho raises funding from Girnarsoft, Man Capital

Salman S.H.CollegeDekho.com, run by Girnarsoft Education Services Pvt. Ltd, has received funding of $8 million, the ed-tech startup said on Tuesday. The investors include Girnarsoft and London-based Man Capital LLP. 

In April 2016, both the investors had led a $2 million pre-Series A round in CollegeDekho, Livemint reported.

US talent crunch takes midcap IT to Canada, Mexico

Zensar TechnologiesNSE 1.44 % plans to open a new delivery centre in Canada later this year to service the North America market., according to Economic Times. 

Over the next 12 months, the company plans to add about 100 people at this location, in addition to doubling the number of people at the centre in Mexico, which it opened last year, said CEO Sandeep Kishore. “We will hire more people in North America depending on client requirements on a project basis,” he said.

Renewable energy players red-flag a host of issues plaguing sector, seek govt intervention

Players in the country’s renewable energy sector have collectively red-flagged delays in land acquisition, ramping down of power and transmission constraints among other issues at the first ‘Chintan Baithak’ called by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the Hindu Businessline reported.