Top headlines: Vax sites drop to half in India; crackdown on tax evaders

From Covid-19 vaccination sites dropping to half in India to PE-VC exits from Indian companies, here are top headlines this morning

Covid-19 vaccination sites drop to half in India amid shortage of doses

Mumbai municipality vehicles were en route to the Pune facility of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, Serum Institute of India, on Friday afternoon. An official said the cargo they pick up could beat the shortage of doses threatening to scuttle the Covid vaccination process in the country’s financial capital. “We are expecting as many as 188,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Read More

Crackdown on tax evaders: I-T notices to holders of foreign assets

The Income-Tax (I-T) Department has issued notices to taxpayers, seeking action under the black money and benami transactions laws for not disclosing their foreign assets in assessment years from FY14 to FY18. The notices have been issued ahead of the April 30 deadline, which has been set for reopening tax evasion cases as announced in Budget 2021, shortening the period of investigation to three years from six. Read More

6 start-ups join unicorn club this week; 150 likely by 2025, say experts

The Covid-19 pandemic seems to have accelerated the pace of start-ups joining the ‘unicorn’ club, with as many as 10 companies crossing the $1-billion valuation mark this year. Six of them have turned unicorns this week only. According to venture capital investors and experts, India is expected to have 150 unicorns by 2025. Currently, there are 47 Indian start-ups valued at $1 billion or more, and Paytm is the most valuable start-up at $16 billion, according to the Venture Intelligence data. Read More

Net direct tax mop-up exceeds revised estimates at Rs 9.45 trillion in FY21

Direct tax collection, excluding refunds, fell below Rs 10 trillion for the first time in four years in 2020-21. However, the collection was expected to decline even further due to the Covid-19 impact. This could be gauged from the fact that the FY21 mop-up of Rs 9.45 trillion was higher by around 4.5 per cent compared to the revised estimates. Also, the government issued 41 per cent higher refunds compared to last year. Read More

10-year bond yield drops to 5.97% in morning trade but closes at 6.02%

The 10-year bond yield fell below 6 per cent in intra-day trade on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) committed to buying at least Rs 1 trillion of bonds from the secondary market. In the morning trade, the yield dropped to 5.97 per cent, but it climbed up to close at 6.02 per cent once it was found that the central bank had refused to sell a new 5-year benchmark paper at the rate demanded by the market. Instead, the RBI forced the primary dealers, or underwrites of the auction, to buy almost the entire stock of the new 5-year benchmark paper at 5.63 per cent. Read More

Tata-Mistry case: SC verdict puts spotlight on duties of nominee directors

The Supreme Court’s recent judg­ment in the six-year-old boardroom and courtroom battle between the two principal stakeholders of the Tata group has put the sp­­o­t­light on the role and duties of no­minee directors of a charitable trust in a holding company. The apex court in its judgment dismissed the minority shareholders’ (Mistry group) claims of “oppression and mismanagement” at Tata Sons, the holding company of the conglomerate, when the board dec­i­ded to remove its then exe­c­utive chairman, Cyrus Mistry." Read More

PE-VC exits from Indian companies at two-year high after Covid-19 setback

Vani Kola, managing director of Kalaari Capital, recently wrote a blog on LinkedIn thanking Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, founder of Dream 11, for allowing the venture capitals (VCs) to play a part in the start-up’s journey. “Starting with a Series A investment, you have already returned $206 million to our limited partners (LPs), with upside potential to the tune of multiple folds for our shares still locked into the company; thank you for that,” she wrote. Read More

Coal India firms up Rs 40,000-crore domestic coal evacuation plan

In a bid to give a fillip to the Centre’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme, Coal India (CIL) has drafted plans to ramp up domestic coal evacuation facilities at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore. The miner will execute 35 projects to improve first-mile connectivity and coal handling plants as well as create more rail lines and sidings. Read More