Top 10 biz headlines: Jet lenders push for revival, Grofers funding, & more

From Jet Airways stake sale to Grofers fundraising, Business Standard brings you top stories that made news on Wednesday

Jet lenders make last push to find investors to pick up stake in airline

Etihad Airways’ conditional offer to be a minority stakeholder in Jet Airways has thrown lenders into a tizzy. With little signs of any investor willing to buy 76 per cent, the lenders’ consortium led by State Bank of India has now initiated a process to find investors who could hold small stakes along with Etihad. The lenders are of the opinion that the ownership of Jet Airways can be divided between three entities, each holding 20 per cent, while Etihad could keep 24 per cent. Read more

Mumbai firm Darwin Group submits bid to invest in grounded Jet Airways

Ajay Harinath Singh, a Mumbai-based resident who claims to run diverse businesses across 11 countries, has submitted an offer to invest in Jet Airways. Singh’s Darwin Platform Group (DPG) is the third unsolicited bidder to stake a claim for revival of the grounded airline. Others include former flight steward-turned-entrepreneur Jason Unsworth and London-based investment firm Adi Partners. Read more

GDP likely to grow at around 7% in FY20: CEA Krishnamurthy Subramanian

Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian, busy in preparing the Economic Survey, projects India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2019-20 to be around 7 per cent. In an interview to Arup Roychoudhury & Indivjal Dhasmana, he says the next government should focus on capital, labour and land reforms, and that the debate on the accuracy of the official data is misinformed. Read the edited excerpts here

Higher GST will apply to dues on finished real estate projects: CBIC

If you’ve got an occupancy certificate (OC) for your house before April 1 this year, the payment of pending dues would draw 12 per cent goods and services tax (GST) rate and the builder will be able to avail of input tax credit. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has come out with another set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to clear the air on GST on real estate. Read more

FinMin, RBI try to cobble together consensus on economic outlook

Top finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials have held key meetings recently to hammer out a consensus on the economic outlook, just ahead of a new government coming to office. But the prospect of a rate cut by the RBI at its next review of the monetary policy on June 6 does not appear promising. Read more

Indian Railways eyes Maruti cars to boost freight business by 2030

India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) is likely to transport at least half of its cars via Indian Railways by 2030. This is a major fillip for the railways as the Gurgaon-based carmaker had transported only 500,000 cars via the rail route in the last four years. MSIL sold a total of 1.75 million vehicles in the domestic market in 2018-19, up 6 per cent from 1.65 million in 2017-18 (FY18). Read more

Online grocery firm Grofers raises over $200 mn led by Softbank Vision Fund

Grocery delivery firm Grofers has raised over $200 million in a fresh round of funding, led by the SoftBank Vision Fund, it said on Wednesday. A new investor, KTB, and existing investors, Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital, were also part of the funding Round F, raising the stakes in the high competition grocery market. Read more

How a deadly fungus colonized India’s ICUs

In the second week of April, a 62-year-old patient was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care hospital in Chennai with a slew of vague, generic complaints—ranging from “weakness" to “tiredness".

He was passing blood in his stool, and an investigation revealed that multiple blood transfusions he had undergone in previous hospitals had caused a reaction, which led to acute renal failure. After a few days, he developed a raging fever and, inexplicably, a chest infection. Read more

As Indian voters turn out to set record, stockbrokers get fidgety

Indian voters look determined to shatter past turnout records this election. Going by the trend seen till the end of the sixth phase of voting on May 12, brokerage Nomura India has projected that the ongoing elections may see record voter turnout of nearly 67 per cent, which would surpass the previous record of 66.4 per cent see during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Read more

We need to be unique and disruptive, says MG Motor India President Rajeev Chaba

The Chinese-owned British carmaker MG (Morris Garages) Motor made its debut in the Indian market on Wednesday by unveiling the Hector, which the company claims is India’s first internet car — with more than 50 connected features — as well as India’s first 48V hybrid SUV. In an interview to BusinessLine, Rajeev Chaba, President & Managing Director, MG Motor India, talks about Hector’s features, differentiating factors and the company’s strategy in India. Read more