Top headlines: Tax growth picks up for cos in Q2; RBI defers MPC meet

From RBI's MPC meeting prep to Govt's plan to club unviable airports with main ones, here are top headlines this morning

Reliance Retail, L&T lead as advance tax growth picks up in Q2

Major technology and manufacturing companies, including Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL, and Larsen & Toubro (L&T), reported a jump in tax payment in the second quarter, as companies ramped up operations after relaxation in pandemic induced-lockdown. Even foreign banks like HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and JP Morgan Chase reported double-digit growth in payment. Read More

Not possible to please everyone, not in a popularity contest: Trai's Sharma

As his five–year term (after an extension) comes to an end on September 30, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman R S Sharma speaks to Business Standard on the stress in the telecom sector, the many controversies during his tenure, 5G services, pricing, spectrum auction, the need for fibre and more. Read More

Clix may seek indemnity from Lakshmi Vilas Bank's dues ahead of deal

Clix Capital and its affiliates, in talks with beleaguered Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) for an amalgamation, may seek some regulatory dispensations for the deal to crystalise. Highly placed sources told Business Standard that Clix Capital might insist that its directors were indemnified from any future claims made against the bank pertaining to its lending operations. Read More

Short of MPC members, RBI announces deferring monetary policy meeting

In an unprecedented move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said it was deferring meetings of its monetary policy committee (MPC) scheduled on September 29, 30, and October 1. The revised dates will be notified later, it clarified. “The meetings of the MPC on September 29, 30, and October 1 as announced are being rescheduled. The dates of the MPC’s meetings will be announced shortly,” the RBI said in its brief statement. Read More

Govt to club unviable airports with main ones in next privatisation round

Facing criticism that the policy of privatising profit-making airports is saddling the Airports Authority of India (AAI) with economically unviable airports and fostering monopoly in the sector, the Centre is planning to rewrite how airports have been privatised in the country. In the upcoming round of privatisation, unviable airports are likely to be clubbed with six main airports and a prospective bidder may be restricted to bid for two airports. Read More

Cash strapped and under-capitalised, SP group faces biggest test ever

For over a century, the Shapoorji Pallonji group has been one of the country’s top construction firms and thanks to its 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons, one of the most influential as well. This dominance, however, did not really reflect in its business operations. The Mumbai-based group was financially conservative and preferred the low-risk model of project execution rather than asset ownership that may demand big-ticket investments. Read More

IPL 2020: Cricket apps climb up the order in play store downloads

Move over messaging apps, TikTok clones and payment apps, folks. It’s IPL cricket fever time and most of the top 10 downloaded apps in the country every day are related to the game. The dizzying ascent of these cricket apps, some from near oblivion, after the IPL tournament began on September 19 in the UAE, has been meteoric, thus reflecting the status of the game as the country’s religion even during the pandemic and even when coronavirus has necessitated stadiums without audiences, without sound, and without atmosphere. Read More

MG Motors to invest Rs 1,000 crore more in India despite anti-China mood

MG Motors, the Indian arm of China’s SAIC Motor, says it will invest a further Rs 1,000 crore in the next one year to enhance capacity. This comes amid higher scrutiny by the government and a growing anti-China sentiment against Chinese investment. It plans to increase localisation of products, which would mean higher manufacturing in India, and also aims to assemble battery lines locally. Read More

Telcos ask govt to auction E&V spectrum bands instead of de-licensing them

Mobile service providers on Monday asked the Union government to allocate E&V bands of radiowaves via an auction process on an immediate basis instead of de-licensing them. De-licensing of these bands will “tilt the level playing field” against licensed telecom service providers (TSPs) since they are burdened with various costs like spectrum acquisition, license fee, spectrum usage charge and right of way, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said. Read More