Business News at 09:30 am on 15th December 2023

Let’s begin…Union Power Minister, R K Singh has said that even after the country adds 80 GW of thermal capacity by 2030, the share of coal-based power in installed capacity will come down to 23% by then from 68% in 2014. He said this while talking about the final deal adopted at the recently concluded COP28 summit. The government aims to add 80 GW of thermal capacity by 2030 in order to meet the rising power demand while working towards tripling it’s renewable energy capacity to 500 GW in the same timeline. Addressing the country’s network of transmission lines, Singh said that the country is not lagging behind but the pace of RE capacity addition is much faster than the building of transmission lines.

Next up, Reliance Industries (RIL) continued to be the largest wealth creator in India for the fifth time in succession, generating Rupees 9.6 trillion during the 2018-23 period. The top 100 companies created Rupees 70.5 trillion through the five-year period, showed the Wealth Creation Study for 2018-2023 by Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL). RIL contributed 13.7% to the total wealth created by the top 100, with its share price showing a 22% CAGR. Over the last 17 five-year study periods, RIL ranked first on 10 occasions. TCS, ICICI Bank, Infosys, and Airtel were others among the top five. Lloyds Metals, a relatively low-profile entity, emerged the ‘Fastest Wealth Creator’ at a CAGR of 79%.

Moving on, Pierer Mobility AG, which owns the KTM and Husqvarna brands, has announced that it would partially relocate production and R&D activities from Austria to China (CFMOTO) and India (Bajaj Auto). Bajaj Auto is part-owner of the company, which both manufactures and sells the KTM and Husqvarna brands. The company said that unfavourable economic conditions in Europe prompted the decision to relocate. It added that, quote, “Among other things, this (decision) is intended to exploit cost advantages in these regions and accelerate development and industrialisation processes,” unquote The decision would lead to a reduction in staff of up to 300 employees at the Austrian locations in 2024. The company expects the global economic environment to be difficult in FY24.

In other news, Bengaluru-based QuadGen Wireless Solutions has entered into a partnership with Vietnam’s state-owned telecom major Viettel High Tech to manufacture 5G network equipment. The products will include radio access, optical transmission and core network equipment, particularly targeted for the sub-urban and rural markets where the low average per-user revenue makes it cost intensive for telecom operators to deploy 5G network equipment. The partnership also includes the participation of Silicon Valley-based Ai20X. The company said that while QuadGen brings in its network engineering and software expertise and Viettel brings in design, R&D, and manufacturing knowledge, Ai20X creates an ecosystem to bring in other companies with differentiating products.

Next up, Essar group has signed three agreements with the Gujarat government to invest Rs 55,000 crore across port, power and energy transition, and create more than 10,000 jobs. This is as part of the company’s renewed phase of making strategic investments in the state. The group has signed an MOU to develop a 1 giga watt green hydrogen project with an estimated Rs 30,000-crore investment. This would be undertaken by EET Future Energy, an Essar Group company, and will initially focus on export of green hydrogen derivatives to Europe. The company will set up a 1 GW green hydrogen electrolyser near Khambhaliya in the Devbhoomi Dwarka district, which will create 4,500 direct and indirect jobs.

Additionally, Marquee global investors like UAE’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and Dutch pension fund APG have put in bids to buy Canada’s largest pension fund manager CPPIB’s 50% stake in IndoSpace Core, said sources in the know. Canadian investor Oxford Properties and Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate arm of Canadian pension fund CDPQ, are also in the race. As per the sources, the deal is expected to be of around $700 million and CPPIB has given the mandate to Morgan Stanley to run the sale process. IndoSpace Core, an owner and developer of warehouses, is a joint venture between IndoSpace and CPPIB, which is the majority owner with an about 80% in the venture.

Lastly, news from stock market…GIFT Nifty traded up 83 points or 0.14% at 21,423, indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Friday. Previously, on Thursday, the NSE Nifty 50 jumped 256.35 points or 1.23% to settle at 21,182.70, while the BSE Sensex soared 926.60 points or 1.34% to 70,514.20. Some of the stocks to watch out for today include Adani Enterprises, State Bank of India, Eide, Hero MotoCorp, Texamco Rail, BHEL and Bharat Heavy Electricals. State Bank of India is set to acquire a 6.35% stake, comprising 3.7 lakh shares, in Canpac Trends at Rs 1,349 apiece.