Ajmera Group announces first overseas project in Bahrain, four in London

Real estate developer Ajmera Group announced their first international project in Bahrain along with four other projects in London. The Group also aims to develop of a land bank of2 mn square feet in India and around 1 mn square feet in the international markets.

It has formed a strategic partnership with Mayfair Housing and formed Ajmera Mayfair Realty Group to jointly invest Rs 14 bn into developing residential towers in Bahrain called Golden Gate. The two towers of Golden Gate (45 and 53 storeys) will comprise of apartments across 1,40,000 square meters of built up space. Ajmera Mayfair Realty Group has collaborated with Kooheji Golden Gate (KGG), a local real estate developer. The project is spread across 1.45 million square meters of land reclaimed from the Arabian sea. The total investment in Bahrain is around Rs 21 bn, of which around Rs 14 bn is by Ajmera and the remaining by Mayfair.

Walmart to invest Rs 1.8 bn to improve farmers' livelihood in next 5 years

As part of its initiative to support sustainable livelihood for farmers in India, the Walmart Foundation Thursday announced investment of Rs 1.8 billion over the next five years in the country.

"The Walmart Foundation, working beyond the Walmart India supply chain, will invest approximately Rs 1.8 billion ($25 million) to improve farmers' livelihood over the next five years," Walmart International CEO Judith McKenna said.

She was speaking at a meeting with local farmers in Kasimpur village on the outskirts of the state capital.

Walmart India CEO Krish Iyer, Walmart India Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar and Flipkart Group CEO Binny Bansal accompanied McKenna when she toured a vegetable farm and evinced keen interest in the cultivation going on there. Walmart Vice President of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs Paul Dyck was also present.

The high-level delegation Wednesday discussed with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath various matters related to investment by Walmart in the state.

Indian companies are turning to machines quicker than its global peers

A textile-yarn company in western Indian soon will have more machines than workers. A manufacturer in southern India sold almost double the number of its automated goods last year. India’s biggest carmaker has one robot for every four plant employees.

Automation will double over the next three years in Indian factories, according to a survey by Willis Towers Watson. Companies in the Asia Pacific region reckon machines will account for 23 per cent of work, on average, over the next three years, compared with 13 per cent today. In India, that figure is expected to rise to almost 30 per cent from 14 per cent over the same period.

India Inc. is turning to machines quicker than its global peers. But unlike companies in Japan and Germany — which are automating to move up the food chain as their workers age — factories in the world’s second most populous country have a surprising motivation: They’re running out of willing (human) workers.

This is also happening as India’s ballooning working-age population needs more jobs. Over the next decade, 138 million people will be added to the workforce, a 30 per cent rise, according to the McKinsey Global Institute.

Tata Power, HPCL partner to set up electric vehicle charging stations

Private power producer Tata Power and state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) on Thursday announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for setting up the electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at HPCL retail outlets and other locations across India. The two companies will also explore other opportunities for collaboration in renewable energy.

"Tata Power and HPCL, through this new landmark MoU, have agreed to collaborate in planning, development and operation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (e-cars, e-rickshaws, e-bikes, e-buses, etc.), at suitable locations across India. Both the entities also intend to explore areas of opportunities and collaboration in related fields like renewable energy," Tata Power said in a statement today.

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Rajnish Mehta, Executive Director, Corporate Strategy Planning & Business Development, HPCL said, " Tata Power with its focused approach towards sustainable and clean energy and wider outreach across the power value chain, provides an excellent opportunity for an integrated Oil and Gas company like HPCL to collaborate for promoting the e-mobility initiative. We intend to leverage on our vast marketing infrastructure network in the form of Retail Outlets and other locations for setting up of electric vehicle charging stations on pan India basis”.

IL&FS withdraws declaration for seeking shareholders' nod for dividend

Debt-laden infrastructure financier Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) on Thursday said it had withdrawn a declaration seeking members’ approval for the dividend.

In its corrigendum to notice of an annual general meeting and annual report for 2017-18, filed with the listing department of BSE, the company told its shareholders that “the debenture trustee vide its letter dated September 24, 2018, has not consented to the declaration and payment of dividend on equity shares.”

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IL&FS explained that it had defaulted on its payment of interest on non-convertible debentures (NCDs). And, pursuant to one of the covenants of the debenture trust deed, it was required to obtain prior consent of the debenture trustee, Centbank Financial Service Ltd, for declaration and distribution of dividend on equity shares.

Debt-ridden IL&FS scraps dividend to its shareholders ahead of AGM

Just two days before its annual general meeting on Saturday, the beleaguered IL&FS has scrapped Re 1 per share dividend to its shareholders.

Just a month ago, IL&FS had earlier reduced its dividend from Rs 6 to Re 1 per share. The dividend was scrapped after its debenture trustee – Centbank Financial Services did not give permission to offer dividend to its shareholders. Centbank's action came after the company defaulted on its debentures.

IL&FS shareholders include Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) which owns 25.34 per cent, HDFC Ltd has 9.02 per cent, Central Bank of India (7.67 per cent) and State Bank of India (6.42 per cent). These institutions jointly hold around 49 per cent shareholding in IL&FS while foreign institutional investors including ORIX Corporation, Japan owns 23.54 per cent and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi holds 12.56 per cent of the stake.

As a part of the plan for de-leveraging the balance sheet and monetisation of the portfolio, IL&FS now plans to raise equity capital of Rs 45 billion by way of rights issue and raise a line of credit of Rs 35 billion from LIC and SBI to meet any temporary liquidity requirement.

Apollo Hospitals, SBI Card partner up to launch co-branded credit card

Apollo Hospitals Group and SBI Card, the country's second-largest credit card issuer, on Wednesday announced a partnership to launch the Apollo SBI Card. Apollo Hospitals claims that it is the first of its kind co-branded credit card in the healthcare segment. Apollo SBI cardholders will receive complimentary OneApollo membership through which they can enjoy exclusive discounts and savings of up to 10 per cent on health check-ups, diagnostic services, pharmacy products, physiotherapy, etc. Through this membership, cardholders can avail of complimentary services such as consultations, dental screening, home sample collection, counselling with diabetic educator and dedicated relationship manager at Apollo Cradle, etc. Further, cardholders can avail of savings and benefits of up to Rs 40,000 through the OneApollo membership.