Business News at 10:00 am on 27th December 2023

Let’s begin – GIFT Nifty traded up by just 31.50 points or 0.15% at 21,533, indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Wednesday. Previously, on Tuesday, the NSE Nifty 50 gained 91.95 points or 0.43% to settle at 21,441.35, while the BSE Sensex ended higher by 229.84 points or 0.32% to 71,336.80. The stocks to keep an eye on today are Adani Green, Manthan Alloys, Vishnu Prakash, SJVN, Happy Forgings, LIC and Credo Brands. Moving on – While 2023 saw the funding winter becoming harsher for startups across the board, the scenario is unlikely to change much in the new year. While there is some optimism among a section of the investor community about a gradual rebound, most rule out a quick recovery. In 2023, funding in Indian tech startups hit the lowest in five years, as per Tracxn data, continuing a funding slump that began in the middle of last year. Many investors will closely watch the impact of the parliamentary elections and the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy on the funding environment. Earlier this month, the Fed signalled three rate cuts in the year ahead, if inflation data continues to cooperate. Next up – The promoters of Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy arm of Adani Group, will infuse Rs 9,350 crore in the company that would be used to cut debt. This transaction follows a $1.4-billion debt raised earlier this month and takes the total capital raised to $3 billion.The company’s board on Tuesday approved a proposal to issue 63.1 million warrants at Rs 1,480.75 per share to the promoters for the fundraise. The funds will be utilised for deleveraging and accelerating growth spends, AGEL said in a regulatory update. The infusion of Rs 9,350 crore would also help AGEL achieve its target of 45 GW capacity by 2030. The company has 20.6 GW locked in capacity and land of over 200,000-acre across the country. In another development – Multilateral discussions on shifting away from fossil fuels and relying more on renewable energy capacity seemed to put India in a tough spot in the past year. The government, however, asserted repeatedly through the year – including at the COP28 summit held in Dubai in November –the country’s dependence on coal-based capacity will not only stay, but it would also have to scale up thermal power before the phasing down starts. This ‘balanced’ approach was considered appropriate by most analysts as the country’s power demand reaches new peaks. The country has set a target of achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by the year 2030 and to fulfill the same would require 50 GW of capacity addition every year. Meanwhile – With an increase in coverage of crop insurance amongst the farmers, expenditure under the Prashan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana is projected to increase by 28% in current fiscal to Rs 17, 500 crore compared to budget estimate, official sources said. Against a BE for FY24 at Rs 13,625 crore, the finance ministry has released Rs 12,500 crore under PMFBY to the agriculture ministry so far. Sources said that the number of farmers enrolled under PMFBY is projected to touch a record 40 million in 2023-24, a 27% increase from the 31.5 million enrolled in FY23. An official said about 40% of farmers who would enroll under the crop insurance are those who had not availed loans from the banks. In other news – German carrier Lufthansa Airlines will increase the frequency of its flights to and from India to 64 per week from January 16. Currently, the per week frequency is 56 flights.Ettiyil said that the airline will start its Frankfurt-Hyderabad flights on Boeing 787–900 aircraft from January 16, with 5 weekly frequencies. The airline recently added a new Bangalore-Munich flight service. By the middle of 2024, the airline’s per week frequency will go up to 68, Ettiyil stated. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi, are important for it to connect its three hubs of Munich, Zürich, and Frankfurt, to India. Ettiyil mentioned that for the next couple of years, the airline will maintain this level of growth. Lastly – This has been the best year for public sector unit indices in a decade. The PSU index, comprising 56 listed firms, rallied over 53% in CY23. The other public sector index, BSE CPSE index with 57 stocks, has done even better, rising 71.7%. This is more than double of the benchmarks’ Sensex and Nifty-50, which have risen 17.3% and 18.4%, respectively. In fact, the rally in PSU stocks has been so remarkable that out of 84 listed stocks, almost a fourth of them or 24 gave returns of over 100% while another 25 gave returns between 50% and 100%. And just 4 stocks – Powergrid Infra, Bharat Immunologicals, SBI Cards and Indraprastha Gas – are in the red.