Panel on data calls for national NPD authority
The Kris Gopalakrishnan-led committee has recommended the establishment of a national non-personal data (NPD) authority in the draft Bill, The Economic Times reported.
Why it’s important: The final report has already been submitted to the government.
Non-personal data is information that is stripped of personally identifiable material.
The panel also lays out provisions under which companies that control high amounts of data will be classified as “data businesses” as well as what will constitute a “high-value data” set.
Avenue Cap unit plans to raise Arcil stake to 69.6 percent
Avenue India Resurgent Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Avenue Capital, plans to acquire 44.6 percent in Asset Reconstruction Company of India (Arcil) from ICICI Bank, PNB, IDBI Bank and ICICI Home Finance for around Rs 840 crore, The Economic Times reported.
Why it’s important: Avenue India Resurgent Pte Ltd currently holds a 25 percent stake in the country’s oldest ARC.
It will increase its stake to 69.6 percent upon acquiring equity from the four shareholders.
The enterprise value of Arcil is around Rs 1,900 crore.
IDBI Bank, which holds 19.18 percent, will receive around Rs 360 crore, ICICI Bank with 13.26 percent will get Rs 250 crore, while PNB with a 10 percent equity holding will get Rs 188 crore.
ICICI Bank’s housing finance subsidiary with 2.26 percent will earn Rs 42 crore.
Retailers get into expansion mode after Covid worries subside
Retail players such as Reliance Retail, Tata-owned Trent, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, and Shoppers Stop are planning for store expansion as Covid worries are somewhat over, The Economic Times reported.
Why it’s important: They plan to launch newer formats and add newer categories as their sales reached or surpassed pre-Covid levels in the festive season.
All these companies shared rapid expansion plans for this fiscal and next in their earnings calls after the September quarter results.
Others like Landmark Group, Nike, Puma, Levi’s, Skechers, Biba and Blue Stone too are looking to expand as footfalls touched 90-95 percent of the pre-pandemic level.
Most retailers have reduced their debt with cash flows improving and expect debt to come down further, aiding their growth plans.
Discoms under IBC ambit, govt clarifies
The power ministry said that Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) provisions are “fully applicable” to State-run electricity distribution companies, Mint reported.
Why it’s important: The corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) can also be initiated against them.
This means potentially allowing creditors to turn the screws on indebted discoms.
Cash-strapped distribution firms across States currently owe around Rs 1 trillion to power generation companies.
Non-payment of coal dues by gencos was a big issue recently prompting concern over power shortage.
The move implies that State distribution firms can be taken to the NCLT for defaulting on payment of Rs 1 crore.
Godrej family trusts up stake by about 2 percent in group firm
The Godrej Industries, chaired by Adi Godrej, has acquired shares worth Rs 997 crore from their family trusts in Godrej Properties, Business Standard reported.
Why it’s important: The move is part of their plan to reduce cross-holdings in group companies.
At the same time, the trusts used the proceeds to acquire shares in Godrej Industries for Rs 870 crore.
According to the statistics submitted to the stock exchanges, BNG Family Trust, HNG Family Trust, NG Family Trust, PG Family Trust and SNG Family trust sold 0.42 per cent stake each in Godrej Properties to Godrej Industries and then used the proceeds to buy 0.75 per cent stake each in the GIL.
The sellers of GIL shares were Anamudi Real Estate and Godrej Seeds and Genetics, two other unlisted holding companies of the Godrej family.
In another related transaction, Godrej Industries also bought additional shares in Godrej Agrovet for ? 251 crore.
Meesho most downloaded e-comm app globally in October
Meesho has become the most downloaded e-commerce app globally in October 2021, Business Standard reported citing a recent SensorTower blog.
Why it’s important: The fast-growing internet commerce platform, also became the only Indian company and e-commerce platform to feature amongst the top-10 most downloaded non-gaming apps across the world.
SoftBank-backed Meesho also saw over 57 million downloads across the App Store and the Google Play Store from August-October 2021, according to App Annie, making it the most downloaded app across categories in India.
The company has seen installations in India grow by over 120 per cent quarter-on-quarter in Q3 2021, outranking all other e-commerce platforms in the country for quarterly downloads.
Equity scheme inflows slip 40 percent
The quantum of net inflows for October in equity schemes stood at Rs 5,215 crore, 40 per cent lower than the flows witnessed in the previous month, Business Standard reported.
Why it’s important: This is possibly due to some profit-booking given the rich valuations.
The equity markets had also turned choppy during the second half of October amid concerns around expensive valuations.
But positive market sentiment and a sustained rally continued to attract investors towards equity-oriented and hybrid mutual funds in October.
All schemes, barring ELSS and value/contra schemes, reported positive flows in the equity-oriented category.
This was the eighth consecutive month of net inflows for the category, with inflows since March totalling Rs 73,766 crore.Before that, equity-oriented funds witnessed net outflows for eight straight months, from July 2020 to February 2021, totalling ? 46,791 crore.
