Business News at 09:30 am on 3rd November 2023

Let’s begin. Two major industry issues which has divided telecom operators and big tech firms — regulation of OTT communication services and allotment of satellite spectrum – are unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. This is because the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India which has to submit its recommendations on the same to the government, is without a regular chairman for more than a month now. The erstwhile chairman, PD Vagehla’s three-year term ended on September 30 and the government has so far not appointed his successor. Sources said that it is unlikely that in the absence of a new chairman, the regulator will finalise its recommendations.
On to economy. To cool down the prices, the government has offloaded 3.04 million tonne of wheat under the open market sale scheme by the Food Corporation of India to bulk buyers this year. The government is aiming to sell 10 MT of wheat through OMSS till March 31, 2024 to boost domestic supplies. A food ministry official said, quote, “We will have a surplus of more than 10 MT of wheat after meeting buffer requirements by the end of current fiscal,” unquote. On Wednesday, the corporation sold 0.28 MT of wheat, which was the highest quantity sold in a weekly e-auction commenced in June, against 0.3 MT offered on sale for the flour millers and processors. The wheat was sold to 2389 bidders in this week’s e-auction.
Over to banking. Retail loan originations rose 15% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2023 as consumption-led demand remained strong, TransUnion CIBIL said in a report. TransUnion CIBIL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Rajesh Kumar said that the latest CMI indicates financial stability with healthy retail credit growth and broadly stable delinquency levels, even though a few pockets show signs of risk build-up. He added that India’s large young population, and low credit penetration in the new-to-credit segment, provide huge untapped potential for accelerating credit growth and financial inclusion. The report has been prepared on the basis of credit market indicators.
Meanwhile, India believes the move by the European Union to impose carbon tax on imports of certain bulk commodities is “ill-conceived” and that it will eventually be dropped, but in the meantime, it will introduce domestic taxation as a solution, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday. Goyal at an event said, quote, “Last week I met the EU commissioner and told him that the carbon tax will mean the death knell of manufacturing in Europe. First casualty will be the auto sector. This will be a great opportunity for countries like India to develop vibrant auto sectors,” unquote. He added, quote, “One of these days they will realise they will have to drop CBAM. It is ill-conceived and has not addressed the entire issue correctly and fairly,” unquote.
Moving on. Mining major Vedanta, a subsidiary of London-headquartered Vedanta Resources, has divested its stake in Mt Lyell Copper Mine in Australia to New Century Resources. This came after New Century Resources, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sibanye-Stillwater Group, exercised an option to acquire the mine on Wednesday. Mt Lyell Copper Mine in Australia is owned by Monte Cello BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of VEDL. The copper asset has been on care and maintenance for the last seven years and was not strategic for Vedanta with its size and country presence, it said in a regulatory update. MCBV is also entitled to receive a royalty consideration based on future revenues of CMT. The transaction is expected to be completed on or before December 31.
In other news, frequent natural disasters as a consequence of climate change have got as many as 62% of organisations globally taking cognisance of the impact of such events on their environmental initiatives, as per the fifth edition of Environmental Sustainability Index compiled during Q3 of 2023 by Honeywell and The Futurum Group. The index also finds that an increasing number of organisations globally are boosting their annual sustainability investments by 50%. Almost 73% of surveyed organisations are optimistic about achieving their near-term sustainability goals, which is an 11% increase from 2022. As many as 84% are planning to invest more in emissions reduction and pollution prevention.
Lastly, let’s look at the stocks in focus. These include Adani Enterprises, Tata Motors, Vedanta, Lupin, and IRFC among others. Adani Enterprises on Thursday recorded its second-quarter profit for the financial year 2023-24 at Rs 227.82 crore, down 50.6% in comparison to Rs 460.94 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23. On the other hand, Tata Motors has reported its financial results for Q2 FY2024. The company reported revenue of Rs 1.04 lakh crore as against Rs 78,846 crore a year ago, the net profit came at Rs 3,764 crore as against a loss of Rs 944.61 crore for the same period last year.