Below is a shortlist of all the important articles from newspapers.
Paytm loan to help fund Sharma Raheja QBE deal
Paytm’s proposal to loan an estimated ₹740 crore to its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s investment firms will be used to finance his purchase of Raheja QBE general insurance company, Economic Times reported citing sources.
How it is important: It is crucial for the company because an early closure of the insurance deal is good as it prepares for a public listing by November.
The current proposal to lend up to ₹740 crore, or around $100 million, to two of Sharma’s companies — VSS Holdings and VSS Investco — is expected to help seal the deal sooner.
Consumer goods sales rise 10-15% as pent-up demand flows
Consumer electronics and smartphones have got a boost in the past 10 days or so, says Economic Times.
The reason: States began easing pandemic-led lockdown.
The rise is similar to the bump from pent-up demand last year when the lockdown was lifted.
Who gets the benefits: Brands, retailers and online marketplaces see a 10-15% spurt in sales from the year earlier.
Online purchase of non-essentials is also gradually resuming.
Demand is robust for apparels, laptops, refrigerators, air-conditioners smartphones, washing machines, microwave ovens, kitchen appliances and small items of furniture.
Around 60% of the markets are already open.
Ultra-luxury cars beat Covid blues
Mercedes-Benz has already sold out the entire lot of the super-luxury GLS-Maybach it plans to bring to India in 2021, and has started taking bookings for delivery next year, says Economic Times.
The vehicle, with a price tag of ₹2.5-4.3 crore before road tax was launched on Tuesday. It has reserved 50 units of the SUV for India this year.
More than 50 units of Lamborghinis, costing over Rs 3.5 crore each, have also been booked for this year.
Audi is getting steady orders for its top-of-the-line models priced above ₹1 crore, compared with the ₹50-75 lakh range.
What it is suggesting: The trend suggests demand for ultra-luxury vehicles is largely unfettered by Covid-19.
The super-rich is largely unaffected by the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic.
Customers have now realised that a recovery could happen quickly as well and are more confident to spend.
Over the pandemic, people have experienced the fragility of life and want to celebrate their time to the most with their loved ones.
According to a Hurun Research report, India added one billionaire every 10 days in 2020.
The country had more than 2.5 lakh dollar millionaires last year.
HNIs navigate tax structures to take business and family abroad
Several high net-worth individuals (HNI) and promoters have started the process of moving out their businesses and families to the UAE, Singapore and the United Kingdom even as the second Covid wave shows signs of subsiding in India, says Economic Times.
How it is done: Many businessmen have created intermediary companies based in these countries so that the operations could be handled from these locations.
The second Covid wave-exposed many businessmen and their families to the virus and many of them are looking to move to countries that offer better health infrastructure and security of high-value lives.
Most companies have created such structures where some of the key decision-makers have been moved in these holding or intermediary companies outside India.
Going ahead, these companies will end up holding global operations including the Indian business as well.
Other factors such as accessing global investment opportunities and avoiding future tax problems while exiting businesses are also in play.
The tax department looks at fact patterns and also where the decision-makers of a company reside.
SPV to monetise PSU land in last lap
The Union government is firming up contours of the special purpose vehicle for monetising land available with public sector enterprises, says Economic Times.
What the plan is: The government has made asset monetisation as one of its key agendas for generating revenue, value creation and reducing debt of public sector units.
This is likely to be on the lines of NBCC and could operate on a fee-based model.
Land assets of central public sector enterprises under closure and non-core land assets of CPSEs under strategic divestment would be pooled and then monetised by the company.
Freehold land will be transferred to this proposed firm, which will monetise it through direct sale or through the real estate investment trust or REIT model.
Metros top hazard index for spreading infection: Study
Delhi tops the hazard index of spreading an infection, followed by Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. Pune is at number 10, says The Times of India.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, have created a ‘hazard map’ of 446 cities and towns with populations of over 1 lakh to identify areas from where pandemic outbreaks can spread rapidly.
How it is important: Researchers said infections can travel out through better transportation networks and mobility patterns from these cities because of the large, well-connected transport hubs.
If mobility patterns of people are known, geographical spread of infection can be mapped out.
Govt in talks with private sector to set up hospitals
The Union government is in talks with the private sector for setting up hospitals across the country, says The Times of India.
How it is done: It using corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.
It is also nudging the corporate sector to push home sales using the PM Awas Yojana, which offers interest subsidy on home loans.
It is to be seen as a part of a strategy to boost demand for cement and steel and also clear the large inventory with builders.
Construction and real estate are also seen to be crucial to reviving the job market.
The suggestion to set up hospitals came from some of the industrial houses, which proposed to set up a facility in a cluster around their plants to meet the requirements of their workers as well as people living in neighbouring districts.
The government is looking to draft a possible policy paper on the issue.
Virus curve dives below 2020 peak after nine weeks
New covid-19 cases in India were set to remain below the 100,000-mark for the second straight day on Tuesday, taking the infection curve below last year’s peak numbers, says a Mint report. But the decline in daily death count was less steep.
Why it is important: This will enable the economic activity to inch up again.
The Nomura Business Resumption Index, which takes into account several high-frequency indicators, has risen from 60.2 at its lowest in May to 69.7, with 100 denoting pre-pandemic activities.
More states beginning to reopen as the devastating second wave of the pandemic weakens.
The risks ahead: Unlike last year, the second-wave curve has been steep in both its ascent and descent.
While the positivity rate is now far lower than the first-wave peak, the number of active cases still remains higher than last year, an indicator of the long trail left behind by the second wave.
The gradual lifting of lockdowns also poses a risk, given that the second wave is far from over in some parts.
Eight states are still witnessing more cases than they did at their worst in 2020.
‘Short courses, global growth at the crux of acquisitions’
Edtech platform for higher education, upGrad, is looking at inorganic growth to expand its footprint in international markets and enter new verticals, says a Mint interview with upGrad co-founder and chief executive Ronnie Screwvala.
Upgrading growth: The startup has acquired six companies so far and will hire more than 1,000 employees over the next three months to fuel its growth. It had recently raised $120 million from Temasek Holdings.
It is in the process of raising another $40 million from International Finance Corp.
The company’s acquisition strategy is that it looks to foray into short-form courses.
The company expects 40% of its revenues to come from international markets over the next two years.
India, China trade looking up again
Trade between India and China soared by around 70% year-on-year to at least $48 billion in the first five months of 2021, Hindustan Times reported quoting the latest data from Chinese customs.
Publicly available data from India too showed healthy growth, although the numbers differed from those put out by Chinese state media.
According to the Indian data, trade grew 55.83% in the first five months of the year.
Why it is important: Chinese state media interpreted the increase in bilateral trade as a sign of resilience in ties between the two countries despite serious conflict at the border and political differences.
According to the Indian data, imports from China rose 59.13% to $33.49 billion.
Tax filing glitches: FM asks Nilekani, Infosys not to let down taxpayer
Infosys came under fire from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as income-tax filers faced technical hiccups on the new tax e-filing portal, which went live on June 7 night, says Business Standard.
Sitharaman asked Infosys and its co-founder and chairman Nandan Nilekani to address the grievances in a tweet and “not let taxpayers down”.
Nilekani assured the FM that the company was working to resolve the issue.
What the plan is: The new e-filing portal 2.0 was unveiled on Monday, replacing the earlier version, with new additional features aimed at significantly reducing the time required to process income tax returns (ITRs) and issuing refunds.
The project worth ₹ 4,241 crore was to bring ease and transparency for users, cut processing time from 63 days to one day.
Carmakers see demand in first two days of unlock
Car bookings have started seeing an initial uptick just after the easing of lockdown in several places this week, says Business Standard.
Hurdles ahead: Executives at car companies and dealers are a lot more guarded in their outlook amid restricted operations and graded opening of States.
Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors see a good response but they are also sceptical of the so-called V-shaped recovery that one saw last time.
The sales, particularly of two-wheelers, may not bounce back immediately and may take another two months to come back on track.