 "Top headlines: Disney explores option for India biz, veggie prices soar")
Disney exploring strategic options for its India biz including JV, and sale
Walt Disney is exploring strategic options for its Star India business, including a joint venture or a sale, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The company has talked to at least one bank about ways to help the India business grow, while sharing some of the costs, according to the report. Read more
Foxconn in talks for 2 fab plants as Vedanta joint venture fails
Having walked out of a joint venture with the Vedanta group to set up a semiconductor plant in Gujarat, Taiwanese major Foxconn is learnt to be looking at chip manufacturing in the country separately. According to a source in the know, Foxconn is planning to apply to the government to set up two fab plants on its own. One of the facilities that the Taiwanese firm is planning will be a compound semiconductor plant based on gallium nitride to make chips used widely in power electronics, electric vehicles (two-wheelers) and telecom devices. The other fab will be based on silicon, one of the people engaged in the talks said. Read more
GST Council okays 28% tax on online gaming, casinos and horse racing
The all-powerful Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Tuesday approved the imposition of a uniform 28 per cent tax on full “face value” of bets involving online gaming, casinos and horse racing. This will bring them on a par with betting and gambling. Industry stakeholders had been arguing that games of skill be treated differently from games of chance for tax purposes. The Council also decided to lower the service tax levied on food and beverages consumed at cinema halls to 5 per cent from 18 per cent, and tweaked the definition of Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) for levying a cess over and above the GST rate. Read more
HDFC Bank gets six months to move HDFC clients to external benchmark
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given HDFC Bank six months to migrate HDFC’s home loan customers to external benchmark linked lending rate (EBLR), top sources in the bank told Business Standard. Almost half of HDFC’s 5.4 million customers are home loan customers. It is mandatory for banks to link retail loans and loans to micro, medium and small enterprises to an external benchmark. Non-banking financial companies do not have such a mandate. Most banks’ retail loans are linked to the RBI’s repo rate. Read more
Monsoon fury: Soaring veggie prices stoke inflation fears; biz count losses
Unprecedented rains and floods in the northern region in the past few days have not only caused extensive damage to lives and property but have also impacted business and commercial establishments. Vegetable prices have gone through the roof in the national capital and many other parts of the country since rains started pouring earlier this month. Traders say vegetable prices would come down only after roads open and skies clear, even as water in the fields will take time to recede. Read more