Close on the heels of Jio’s blockbuster IPO, Reliance Industries has reported its strongest-ever quarterly financial performance in the September quarter, with record revenue, EBITDA and net profits. The company’s robust performance in its oil-to-chemicals business, growth in digital services and retail drove a 28 percent increase in revenue. Consolidated revenue rose to a record Rs 3.62 lakh crore in the fiscal second quarter. EBITDA grew 24 percent to an all-time high of Rs 62,409 crore, while net profit increased 34 percent to a record Rs 29,550 crore. Jio Platforms, Reliance’s digital services business, reported revenue of Rs 47,485 crore, up 11 percent from a year earlier.
Walmart has launched an investigation into alleged wrongdoing at Flipkart following whistleblower complaints that employees in its smartphones and luggage and travel accessories divisions received kickbacks totalling more than Rs 150 crore, Tushar Goenka and Chandra R. Srikanth report. Certain employees are alleged to have accepted favours from brands in exchange for preferential treatment. Walmart owns more than 80% of Flipkart.
Private equity firms TPG Capital, Bain Capital and CVC Capital are vying for a majority stake in Baazar Retail, the operator of Baazar Kolkata, Ashwin Mohan reports. Existing investors Siguler Guff, O3 Alternatives and NR Group, which together hold around 51%, are exploring a complete exit at a valuation of more than Rs 5,000 crore.
Jio Platforms, after its spectacular IPO debut this week, could enter the Nifty 50 in September next year and the BSE Sensex in December 2027, Zoya Springwala reports. Its eventual inclusion could trigger buying worth as much as Rs 36,500 crore by passive funds, about 21% more than the Rs 30,213 crore raised through its IPO.
For the Tata Group, the focus is on putting more capital behind its manufacturing ambitions. Tata Sons has infused another Rs 1,100 crore into Tata Electronics, its iPhone and semiconductor manufacturing arm, to fund ongoing capital expenditure in its semiconductor businesses, Swaraj Singh Dhanjal reports. The September infusion follows a Rs 1,500 crore investment in March, bringing the combined value of the two infusions to Rs 2,600 crore.
While the government remains open to reviewing the long-term capital gains tax, major foreign portfolio investors have proposed a three-tier structure for capital gains on Indian equities, Pavan Burugula reports. Their proposal includes a new, more concessional category for shares held for more than three years, with a complete exemption from capital gains tax. The proposal was made during recent discussions with senior Finance Ministry officials.
There may soon be a change in the notes we carry in our wallets. The RBI plans to retain the dimensions of existing Rs 10 and Rs 20 notes for its proposed polymer currency pilot, Anupreksha Jain reports. The decision is intended to avoid the expense of reconfiguring ATMs, with the rollout likely to begin on April 1. Previous nationwide recalibration exercises cost the ATM industry around Rs 100 crore to modify roughly 2.4 lakh machines.
Foreign airlines are yet to commit to transferring international operations from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport to the new Navi Mumbai International Airport, Swaraj Baggaonkar reports. The Adani Group is seeking commitments ahead of the planned redevelopment of Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1 next year. While IndiGo and the Air India Group have agreed to move some services; Lufthansa Group and Singapore Airlines have yet to commit and Emirates has raised concerns about the readiness of supporting infrastructure at the new airport.
A homegrown drugmaker has emerged as an unlikely winner in India’s fiercely competitive semaglutide market. Ahmedabad-based Eris Lifesciences claims its semaglutide brand Sundae has become the country’s leader by prescriptions and volumes, and the second-largest by value after Novo Nordisk. Eris chairman and managing director Amit Bakshi told Viswanath Pilla that positioning the drug primarily as a diabetes treatment with additional weight-loss benefits - rather than weight-loss drug - was key.
And finally, with the US midterms less than a week away, the cost of filling up at the pump is emerging as a prominent issue in several closely contested districts. Google Search data shows gas prices attracting more interest than immigration or abortion in parts of the Midwest and Pennsylvania, Ishaan Gera reports. The picture varies across the country, with immigration drawing greater interest in New York and South Florida, and abortion remaining a significant concern in parts of North Carolina and Virginia.
