Business News at 09:30 am on 26th October 2023

Let’s begin – GIFT Nifty traded down 29 points or 0.15% at 19,050.5, indicating a negative opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Thursday. Previously on Wednesday, the NSE Nifty 50 tanked 159.60 points or 0.83% to settle at 19,122.15, while the BSE Sensex shed as much as 522.82 points or 0.81% to 64,049.06. The stocks to keep an eye on today are Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, Sona Comstar, Jubilant Foodworks, IRM Energy and Gulf Oil Lubricants India.
Moving on – In a move to strengthen the senior management team and better succession planning of private sector banks and wholly-owned subsidiaries of foreign banks, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday asked them to ensure the presence of at least two whole-time directors (WTDs), including the MD & CEO, on their boards. Banks that do not meet the minimum requirement have to submit their proposals for the appointment of WTDs within four months. The number of WTDs shall be decided by the respective board by taking into account factors such as the size of operations, business complexity, and other relevant aspects, RBI said in a circular.
Next up – The Cabinet on Wednesday approved Nutrients Based Subsidy rates for phosphatic and potassic fertilisers for the rabi season 2023-24 at Rs 22,303 crore. This represents a 57% decline compared to previous year thanks to a fall in the global prices of the soil nutrients. In 2022-23, total NBS for both kharif and rabi seasons was Rs 1.12 trillion while in the current fiscal the non-urea subsidy burden is likely to decline by 46% to Rs 60,303 crore. The Cabinet approved subsidies for nitrogen Rs 47.02/kg, phosphorus Rs 20.82/kg, potash Rs 2.38/kg and sulphur Rs 1.89/kg for the current rabi season which commenced from October 1.
In another development – A record number of passengers during the peak travel season of summer has helped the aviation industry fly past the pre-Covid-19 total till September this year. At the current rate of growth, not only will FY24 breach pre-Covid-19 levels, it will even become the best year ever for the sector. By the end of September, the total number of passengers recorded at the 132 operational airports across the country stood at 183.27 million. While this was 22% higher than the 150 million clocked in the same period last year, and 8% higher than the 170 million clocked in FY20. According to AAI data, while the domestic passenger count so far in FY24 at 150.33 million has gone past the previous peak for the same period, international passenger numbers at 32.93 million are still lower.
Meanwhile – IT major Tata Consultancy Services has received a notice from the Maharashtra state government’s deputy labour commissioner’s office in Pune over the delay in onboarding of lateral recruits. The company’s management representatives have been called for a meeting on November 2 to resolve the issue. The labour office was responding to complaints filed by the Nascent Information Technology Employment Senate, an IT employees’ union. Both affected persons and company representatives have been told to attend the joint meeting in Pune. NITES had first filed the complaint in July 2023 over the delay in onboarding of 200 employees. The NITES letter was initially filed with the central government urging the labour minister to intervene in this matter.
In other news – Food ordering and delivery platform Zomato announced the launch of a comprehensive maternity insurance plan for its female delivery partners. The insurance plan will cover expenses related to pregnancy, consisting of birth and any maternity complication. The maternity insurance cover is powered by ACKO. It extends to the female delivery partners who have completed 1,000 deliveries on the Zomato platform and have been active since the last 60 days on the date of intimation for the maternity insurance plan. This insurance plan provides upto Rs 25,000 for normal delivery, upto Rs 40,000 for cesarean sections, and upto Rs 40,000 in case of maternity complications such as miscarriage and abortion.
Lastly – The Centre’s interest-free loan disbursement to state governments for asset-creating projects has reached Rs 0.54 trillion or 57% of the sanctioned amount for FY24 in the first half of the year. Of the Rs 1.3 trillion 50-year capex loan facility for states in FY24, the Center has already issued sanction letters totalling Rs 0.94 trillion to states in H1FY24. In the first half of the previous financial year, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 0.51 trillion out of the Rs 1 trillion facility but no disbursements had taken place. During the month of September 2023, untied capital expenditure worth Rs 16,006 crore was released to the eligible states under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2023-24.