In today’s weekly round-up, we talk about National Highways Authority of India expanding list of highways to be monetised, Disney and Reliance’s deal and Indian Railways’ Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, among other things.
Weekly Business Roundup at 10:00 am on 17th December 2023.
[Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated]
===
In today’s weekly round-up, we begin with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which has decided to revise the list of highway stretches on offer for monetisation in the third round through infrastructure investment trust (InVIT) and has added five more to the bundle. The addition of new stretches to the six already on offer takes the total length of highways to be monetised through the third round to 1,029 km from 580 km earlier. These stretches will be offered to National Highways Infra Trust, which is sponsored by NHAI. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board hold 25% each in the trust while 15.86% is held by NHAI and 9.86% by SBI Balanced Advantage Fund.
Moving on, In a move towards bolstering sustainability in the aviation sector, GMR Airports, along with its partner Groupe ADP, has forged a strategic alliance with aerospace majors Safran and Airbus to advance the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in the country, Delhi International Airport’s chief executive officer, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, told FE earlier. The Delhi International Airport is a subsidiary of GMR Airports. At present, India ranks as the third-largest domestic aviation market globally, with a projected annual growth rate of approximately 9%. The accelerated rise in air passenger numbers and aircraft movements has led the Centre as well as the private sector to place emphasis on SAF to meet carbon reduction targets.
Next up, The bond issuances by Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) received strong response on December 13, with investors bidding more than double the notified amount. The issuances by these two public sector units received bids aggregating Rs 14,589 crore, against the total notified amount of Rs 6,500 crore. However, funds have been raised at a relatively higher cost due to the hardening in coupon rates in recent months. The IRFC issue received total bids worth Rs 7,610 crore, against the issue size of Rs 3,000 crore, while PFC received total bids worth Rs 6,979 crore for its Rs 3,500-crore issuance. IRFC raised funds at a coupon rate of 7.67% while PFC mopped up at 7.69%.
Now, Railways. The Ministry of Railways fully completed the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC). The DFCs are high-speed and high-capacity railway corridors that are exclusively meant for the transportation of freight or goods and commodities. The Ministry has taken a major step towards improving the logistics and connectivity of the country by constructing two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs)- Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC). Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) stretches from Ludhiana in Punjab to Sonnagar in West Bengal, covering a length of 1337 km. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) which stretches from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai, covering a length of 1506 km has been completed up to 78 per cent.
In other news, Pune-headquartered KPIT Technologies, an independent software integration partner to the automotive and mobility ecosystem unveiled its Sodium (Na)-ion battery technology this week. The company said with the unveiling it joined a small and elite group of sustainability-focused organisations worldwide that have developed sodium-ion-based battery technology. This technology promises to reduce import dependency on core battery materials. It has several use-cases for automotive and mobility, especially for electric two-, three-wheelers and commercial vehicles. It has promising applications in stationary deployments, such as UPS backups and grid storage, as well as in the marine and defence sectors. KPIT Tech said it demonstrated the exemplary and synergetic industry-academia collaboration between the company and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune.
Next up, HPL Electric and Power Ltd., an electrical equipment manufacturing company in India, announced that it won smart meter orders worth Rs 545 crore from various prestigious customers in the normal course of business. This achievement, it said, marked a significant stride in HPL’s journey, further solidifying its market share in the competitive smart meter arena. The order is indicative of HPL Electric’s continued growth trajectory and promising future in the industry. This order, the company added, is a milestone in HPL’s journey and a strong indicator of its promising future in the smart metering industry.
Lastly, Sources have said that Walt Disney and Reliance Industries, led by Asia’s richest tycoon Mukesh Ambani, are expected to sign a non-binding pact as early as December 18, Monday, to merge their media operations in India in a cash-and-stock deal. Ambani’s retail-to-refining conglomerate will infuse money to hold at least 51% of the merged entity if the deal goes through, the people said. Disney will hold the rest, the sources added, in what will be one of the largest media behemoths in India. The diligence and valuation exercises would start after the exclusivity agreement is signed next week.
