Business News at 09:30 am on 17th March 2023

Let’s begin. Establishing a firm footing in the country within two years of starting operations under the production-linked incentive scheme, US giant Apple will close Financial Year 23 with iPhone exports in excess of Rs 37,000 crore, which will be 236% higher than the last fiscal. With this, the total mobile exports from the country during the current fiscal is set to cross Rs 80,000 crore, which will be higher than the government’s estimate of Rs 75,000 crore. On a year-on-year basis, the total exports will be up 75%. South Korean manufacturer Samsung Electronics is the other major global smartphone exporter under the scheme. According to industry estimates, at Rs 78,375 crore, mobile exports have already crossed the Rs 75,000-crore mark during April-February. In February alone, smartphone exports exceeded Rs 8,000 crore. On to industry. Tata Consultancy Services on Thursday appointed K Krithivasan as Rajesh Gopinathan’s successor. IT firm‘s veteran Gopinathan will resign as MD & CEO, effective September 15, to pursue other opportunities. TCS has nominated Krithivasan as the CEO-designate with immediate effect from March 16, and he will be appointed as MD & CEO from September 15. Gopinathan, who has been with the company for the past 22 years, was its MD & CEO for the last six years. In fact, he had a runway of another 4 years after he was reappointed till 2027 in March 2022. Gopinathan will continue with the company till September 15 to provide transition and support to his successor. Krithivasan is currently president and global head of the banking, financial services and insurance business group. IN some more industry news, Zee Entertainment Enterprises is said to have agreed to clear the dues of IndusInd Bank, following which the private lender would withdraw the insolvency proceedings initiated against the media firm. The move gains significance as Zee, an Essel Group company promoted by media baron Subhash Chandra, is nearing completion of its earlier announced merger with Culver Max Entertainment (formerly Sony Pictures Networks India) to create the country’s largest media company. On Thursday, Zee share prices soared 9.26%, the most in almost a year, to close at Rs 206.55 on the BSE. It had hit 10% upper circuit during intra-day trade. According to sources close to the development, the dues are expected to be cleared latest by Friday, following which formal announcements would be made. Meanwhile, nearly 510 million Permanent Account Numbers have been linked with Aadhaar ahead of the March 31 deadline. In all, there are about 630 million PANs and tax officials are hopeful that most people will get their PAN and Aadhaar linked. A senior official indicated that an extension of the deadline is not being planned as of now. “A lot of effort has been made to publicise the deadline and create awareness so that people will do the needful. An extension to the deadline is not being planned as of now although a last minute decision to this effect can not be ruled out,” said the official. A late fee of Rs 1,000 has to be paid for linking the two now. The government has made the linkage of PAN and Aadhaar mandatory by March 31, 2023 through a circular issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes in March last year. Moving on. The Centre may extend the Production-Linked Incentive scheme to new areas including toys, bicycles, furniture and construction equipment soon, to support private investments and job creation. These PLI proposals are at various stages, but are likely to be cleared soon. Toys, bicycles and furniture are labour-intensive sectors with significant MSME presences, a senior official told FE.The proposed new PLI schemes would be accommodated under the existing incentive package of Rs 1.97 trillion announced for 14 sectors in ten years through 2030. Exports of toys by India have shot up Rs 1,017 crore during the April-December period this fiscal and was Rs 2,601 crore in 2021-22. Lastly, economy. The Food Corporation of India has sold 491,000 tonne of wheat to private bulk buyers such as flour millers and food companies in the 6th e-auction, taking the total grains sold in open market this year to 3.37 MT. Out of 1.6 MT of wheat offered under the last pan-India e-auction by FCI to bulk buyers, 970 bidders across 23 regions purchased wheat at the average price of Rs 2,214/quintal against the Minimum Support Price of Rs 2,125/quintal fixed for the next procurement season (2023-24), beginning on April 1. Food Ministry in a statement on Thursday said that the sale has brought significant effect in cooling down the price of wheat and atta all over the country which is likely to remain stabilised with the future tenders for open sale of wheat.