Top headlines: Lenders to seek fresh DHFL bids; firms begin salary rollback

From lenders planning to seek fresh bids for DHFL to BJP's free Covid-19 vaccine poll promise in Bihar, here are top headlines this morning

Not impressed by current offers, lenders may seek fresh bids for DHFL

The lenders to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL), which is facing bankruptcy proceedings, are not enthused by the offers made by Oaktree, Piramal Group, Adani Group, and SC Lowy for acquiring the company or its portfolios, and have called the bidders for further negotiations next week. Unless the bidders sweeten their offers, the lenders will reject them on grounds of their being “too unattractive”, said a source close to the development. Read More

Comeback mission: Indian handset companies bet on PLI scheme to beat rivals

After languishing for long, Indian smartphone majors are gearing up to fight back. At least two of them – Lava and Micromax – are arming themselves against the Chinese rivals which made them insignificant in the local market over the past few years. Noida-headquartered Lava International, for instance, has scripted a comprehensive plan for a comeback. Expansion of the local manufacturing base to strengthening distribution and R&D, new product line-up to global tie-ups for exports, the company wants to do it all. Read More

Bihar elections: BJP's free Covid-19 vaccine poll promise draws ire

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday released the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manifesto for the Bihar Assembly polls, which promised free Covid vaccine once it has been cleared by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). It also sought to reach out to the youth with the promise of 1.9 million jobs in the next five years and farmers with the assurance of bringing lentils under the minimum support price regime. Read More

DHFL's Wadhawan can't offer assets to banks for settlement: 63 Moons

Countering DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhwan's settlement offer to an RBI administrator by transferring his rights in properties worth over Rs 43,000 crore, 63 Moons Technologies has served a cease and desist notice against any such move citing Madras High Court's injunction order barring the NBFC from selling, alienating or encumbering any asset. 63 Moons had filed civil and criminal cases against DHFL and Wadhawans, accusing them of fraud and siphoning off money. It had invested Rs 218 crore in non-convertible debentures issued by DHFL on an assurance of a high rate of interest of over 9 per cent per annum, but the troubled firm allegedly failed to make any payment after 2016-17. Read More

Festive delight for employees as firms begin to rollback salary cuts

After nearly seven months of reduced salary due to the pandemic stress, Priyanka Singh (name changed), a senior executive at an online radio platform, will finally receive her full remuneration for this month, just in time for the Diwali festivities. “There is some solace that salaries are back to normal. We are all hoping that things remain stable now,” says Singh. Over the last three weeks several technology bellwether firms--TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL and Mindtree--have announced plans to give out increments and bonuses. Read More

Hindalco turns environment-harming product into a money-minting resource

The safe storage of red mud, a highly toxic by-product in the process of producing alumina, has been a perennial problem of aluminium manufacturers. Recently, however, Hindalco Industries surprised the global aluminium industry by finding use for the complete regeneration of red mud at its three alumina refineries. Working closely with cement groups, Hindalco Managing Director Satish Pai said the company had developed a “high grade material for the construction industry” from red mud. The idea is not novel. Read More

Ericsson wants prior investments linked to PLI scheme eligibility

Ericsson India has made it clear that the draft production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom gear makers, which replicates the rules for mobile devices, will not work for them, as the scheme does not give credit to the substantial investment that the European telecom gear maker has made in India since 2014. Nitin Bansal, managing director of Ericsson India, and head, networks, for southeast Asia, Oceania and India, said: “We already export from India and can surely scale up. Read More

IT firms to expand localisation drive as US proposes more work visa hurdles

A remote working model and the efforts of the Indian IT services companies in the past years to increase their localisation drive, especially in the United States, are expected to keep these firms largely insulated from the series of immigration-related measures that the US is taking. The US Department of State today proposed not to issue temporary business visas for H-1B speciality occupations. The visa was widely used by IT firms to depute technology professionals to the US for a brief period to execute jobs for clients onsite through B1 visas. Read More

India OTT market to become sixth-largest by 2024, says PwC report

A media and entertainment report released on Thursday by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says the over-the-top (OTT) market in India will surpass that of South Korea, Germany, and Australia to become the sixth-largest by 2024. India is already the fastest-growing OTT market in the world, expanding at a CAGR of 28.6 per cent, it said. Read More