Business News at 10:00 am on 28th May, 2024

Let’s begin…the larger-than-expected RBI dividend of Rs 2.11 trillion to the Centre should help ensure that the 5.1% aim of fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio for FY25 is met, and could also be used to lower it further, Fitch Ratings said in a note. The RBI recently announced a record-high dividend transfer to the government equivalent to 0.6% of GDP from its operations in FY24. This is above the 0.3% of GDP expected in the FY25 budget from February, so will aid the authorities in meeting near-term deficit reduction goals, the note said. An important driver of higher RBI profits appears to be higher interest revenue on foreign assets, though the central bank has not yet provided a detailed breakdown, it said. Next up, Financially constrained edtech firm, Byju’s, has told its employee in a recent townhall that it will clear their salaries and other statutory dues, based on its cash flow and future availability of funds. In a message to its technology staff reviewed by Fe, Jiny Thattil, the company’s chief technology officer, provided details on commitments outlined in the townhall with founder Byju Raveendran. The commitments include, clearing outstanding salary dues for February and March of active employees between June 15-30, with a worst-case scenario of July 8. Employees have also been assured there will not be any disruption in monthly salary credits for the next six months. Moving on, The RBI will buy back securities worth Rs 40,000 crore on May 30. The buyback involves four government bonds with maturity dates in the second half of 2024. In a statement, the bank said, quote, There is no notified amount for the individual securities within the aggregate ceiling of Rs 40,000 crore. Auction for securities will be conducted using the multiple price method, end quote. Auction results will be announced on May 30, while the settlement will occur on May 31, according to the RBI. This will be the fourth buyback by the RBI, after its previous three attempts did not yield desired results. In other news, A division bench of the Delhi High Court on Monday refused to interfere with the order of the single-judge directing SpiceJet to comply with a United Kingdom court order and return two leased aircraft and three engines to TWC Aviation Capital. Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Amit Bansal made it clear that it will not grant any interim relief to SpiceJet as the low-cost carrier owes nearly Rs 120 crore to the lessor. The court said, quote, As far as we are concerned, we are not giving any interim order. We have heard you, no interim order…Rs 120 crore outstanding amount…you have cannibalised the aircraft, taken away the engines, that is the prima facie view, end quote. Up next, In a bid to curb SMS scams, the government has blacklisted eight principal entities involved in sending more than 10,000 fraudulent messages in the past three months, according to a release by the department of telecommunications. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre under the ministry of home affairs provided information about the misuse of eight SMS Headers — alphanumeric strings assigned to principal entities to send commercial messages — for sending fraudulent communications for committing cybercrime. Principal entities mean businesses such as banks and insurance companies that send commercial messages to subscribers. The release said, quote, All the 8 PEs along with the 73 SMS Headers and 1,522 SMS content templates owned by them have been blacklisted, end quote. In another development, Adani Energy Solutions on Monday received the board’s approval to raise Rs 12,500 crore through qualified institutional placement of shares or other avenues in one or more tranches. Besides other regulatory approvals, the board will seek shareholders’ nod at the company’s annual general meeting on June 25. The company is yet to fix the QIP date and the price at which the securities will be issued. The company aims to tap four to five big international investors who are keen to participate in the country’s infrastructure growth, a Bloomberg report said. Adani Group, which has raised almost $6 billion from marquee investors since January last year, is aiming to aggressively expand its businesses. Lastly, GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a lacklustre opening on Tuesday. Here is all you need to know before the market opens. GIFT Nifty traded down by 6.50 points or 0.04% at 23,025.50 indicating a lacklustre opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Tuesday. Previously, on Monday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended down by 24.65 or 0.11% to settle at 22,932.10 while the BSE ended marginally lower by just 19.89 points or 0.03% to 75,390.50. US markets remained closed on Monday, May 27, in observance of Memorial Day. Wall Street ended at record highs on Friday.