Top headlines: Uncertain future amid lockdowns; Vax production speeded

From Airlines, hotels staring at uncertain future amid new curbs in Maharashtra to Swiggy closing $800-mn fundraising round, here are top headlines this morning

Airlines, hotels stare at uncertain future amid new curbs in Maharashtra

Just when airlines and hotels—battered by year-long Covid restrictions--were preparing to get back to normal business, the weekend lockdown announcement in Maharashtra threw their plans out of gear. While aviation and hospitality firms could face a significant slump in bookings, the retail industry may head for an uncertain future as well. Tightening of travel restrictions and introduction of RT-PCR tests by more states had led to a near flat air traffic growth in February and demand will be dented further due to new curbs in Maharashtra. Read More

FinMin confident of combating downside risk amid rising Covid-19 cases

The finance ministry on Monday said the country was equipped -- on the strength of the vaccination drive and the government’s management of the pandemic -- to combat any downside risks posed by the recent surge in Covid-19 cases. The ministry’s Economic Affairs Department, in its monthly report, said the capital expenditure (capex) cycle was in motion, and its signs would be seen in the second half of the year. Read More

Maharashtra Covid-19 curbs sink markets; Sensex falls over 1,400 points

Domestic stocks dropped on Monday following the imposition of strict restrictions in Maharashtra to contain the spread of Covid-19 infections, with investors fearing that the resurgence in virus cases could dent the economy recovery and hurt corporate earnings. The benchmark Sensex fell as much as 1,449 points, or 2.9 per cent, in intra-day trade. The index settled at 49,159, logging a loss of 870 points, or 1.7 per cent. The Nifty 50 index closed at 14,638, down 229 points, or 1.5 per cent. Both the indices fell the most since March 24. The rupee weakened 18 paise against the dollar to end at 73.29. Read More

Swiggy is closing $800-mn fundraising round, CEO informs employees

Food delivery firm Swiggy is in the process to close a $800-million funding round, with Falcon Edge Capital, Amansa Capital, Think Investments, Carmignac, and Goldman Sachs joining as new investors. This round will take the company's valuation close to $5 billion from $3.6 billion, said sources in the know. Read More

IBC ordinance allows prepack for MSMEs, eases resolution with minimum pain

The government has amended the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) through an Ordinance, enabling prepackaged resolution schemes for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and allowing corporate debtors to propose a resolution plan for the stressed company. “The minimum threshold of default will be announced as part of the regulation. The prepackaged scheme has given a semi-formal structure to the pre-insolvency stage. Read More

Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech to speed up Covid-19 vaccine production

A visit by a government panel to the facilities of Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech has put both the companies on an overdrive to raise capacities of Covid-19 vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, respectively. “The manufacturers were asked to come up with ‘innovative’ ways to ramp up capacities quickly as the domestic vaccine demand is on the rise,” said a member of the panel. Read More

PM Narendra Modi to soon unveil masterplan on multimodal connectivity

rime Minister Narendra Modi is soon expected to un­veil a national masterplan for providing multimodal connectivity across various industrial hubs to bolster economic growth. A senior government official said a mega launch was planned at the end of March. “However, it is now being pushed to another date due to elections in states such as Assam and West Bengal,” the official told Business Standard. “The final date is still being discussed." Read More

Discoms, state govts bet on storage technology to stabilise power supply

To bring about reliable power sup­ply amid increased use of renewable energy, discoms and state governments are investing in storage technologies. Tata Power Delhi Distribution Company (TPDDL), one of the pow­er distribution companies (disco­ms) in Delhi, for instance, recent­ly inaugurated a ‘community ene­rgy storage system’ in collaboration with Nexcharge. Read More