Sundaram Home Finance Managing Director D. Lakshminarayanan opening the new branch in Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Sundaram Home Finance Ltd. (SHFL) said it is aiming at a 50% increase in home loan disbursals in the current fiscal. The company on Tuesday inaugurated the Indore branch, Madhya Pradesh.

Last fiscal, the company disbursed ₹150 crore in Madhya Pradesh and is targeting disbursements of ₹225 crore, a growth of 50% this year, said Managing Director D. Lakshminarayanan.

SHFL already has a branch in Bhopal. The current move of opening new branches in Maharashtra and Rajasthan in recent months is aimed at steadily increasing SHFL’s presence outside of South India, he said.

Over the next 12-18 months, SHFL is planning to open three more branches in MP, the wholly owned subsidiary of Sundaram Finance Ltd. said.

Increasing affordability, residential properties ranging from small homes to villas and increasing demand for plots are said to be the reasons for SHFL’s foray into Indore. Besides, the company said it would cater to the growing market needs.

“We are also seeing an increasing presence of MSMEs and that provides us with opportunities to provide working capital funding,” the MD said.

“We believe that in terms of ticket sizes, credit profiles and growth opportunities, Indore presents a sweet spot,” he added.

SpiceJet had mentioned about the settlement pact with Carlyle Aviation, which had earlier also restructured certain debt with the airline.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

SpiceJet on Tuesday (September 10, 2024) said Carlyle Aviation will write off aircraft lease arrears worth $40.17 million as part of a settlement agreement that will also result in the entity hiking stake in the struggling airline.

Facing multiple headwinds, the budget carrier is working on ways to raise funds to the tune of ₹3,200 crore, including infusion of money by the promoter.

On Friday, SpiceJet had mentioned about the settlement pact with Carlyle Aviation, which had earlier also restructured certain debt with the airline.

Also read | SpiceJet vs IndiGo: How pandemic set the two airlines on diverging paths

In a release on Tuesday, the airline said there is a significant debt relief and Carlyle Aviation will write off $40.17 million in lease arrears.

Besides, the entity will convert $30 million in lease arrears into SpiceJet equity at ₹100 per share, following which its stake in the airline will increase significantly.

Currently, Carlyle Aviation has around 6% stake in the company.

According to the release, Carlyle Aviation will also convert $20 million in lease arrears into compulsorily convertible debentures of SpiceXpress & Logistics Pvt Ltd.

SpiceJet, which had a fleet of 74 planes in 2019, is operating around 20 aircraft. The outstanding liabilities include statutory dues worth ₹650 crore.

On Tuesday, shares of the airline rose 2.47% to ₹65.57 apiece.

Farmers at a bajra field in Haryana’s Mahendragarh district.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Given that a substantial proportion of rural households depend on agriculture in Haryana, agrarian issues were expected to pose a significant roadblock to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hat-trick in the State.

The farmers held protests to demand guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops. The political parties contesting in Haryana took this issue in their manifestos. The Congress promised a legal guarantee for MSP if elected, while the BJP committed to purchasing 24 crops at MSP. Using data from the CSDS-Lokniti survey, this piece explores farmers’ opinions on the BJP government’s ability to meet their needs.

Welfare schemes

The data reveal that while there are several welfare schemes from both Union and State governments, most farmers reported not benefiting from them, except for the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, which provides up to ₹6,000 per year as minimum income support. Six in 10 farmers had benefited from this scheme. In fact, State government schemes performed poorly in reaching farmers (Table 1).

Another finding that emerges from the data is that the beneficiaries of these schemes were more likely to vote for the BJP than non-beneficiaries. However, interestingly, among those benefiting from the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (which had the maximum beneficiaries), a greater proportion voted for the Congress compared with the BJP (44% versus 33%). Despite introducing several welfare schemes for this important segment, the government failed to implement them effectively.

Political commitment

The survey suggests that farmers perceived the Congress as the party that has worked the most for their welfare (Table 2). Asked which party had made the greatest effort for farmers, four in 10 (42%) farmers indicated the Congress, compared with 37% who favoured the BJP. The data suggest a clear preference among farmers for the Congress in terms of perceived advocacy and support for their interests, but a significant chunk also had trust in the BJP.

Farmers’ issues

The data reveal a polarised sentiment among the electorate regarding the BJP’s effectiveness in addressing farmers’ issues. About one in three farmers (30%) believed that the BJP had been ineffective in tackling their concerns. In contrast, about a quarter (25%) felt that their needs had been adequately met, suggesting that the BJP was successful in addressing the farmers’ issues to an extent (Table 3). These mixed responses underline a significant divide in perceptions of the BJP’s performance.

Vote Choice

When voters in Haryana were asked an open-ended question about the most significant voting issue, only 5% of voters identified farmer issues. However, this figure nearly doubled to 11% among farmers themselves. This clearly indicates that farmer issues were particularly important to the farming community in this election.

The data reveal a clear preference among farmers for the Congress, with 44% of farmers voting for the party compared with 35% for the BJP. In contrast, the voting patterns among non-farmers were more evenly distributed, with 41% supporting the BJP and 38% the Congress. This disparity highlights the stronger allegiance of the farming community to the Congress, indicating that agricultural issues significantly influenced their political preferences.

Given the significance of the Kisan issue in the Haryana Assembly election, the prolonged farmer protests served as a powerful expression of dissent against the BJP. The party’s failure to adequately address farmers’ demands over the past five years has resulted in a loss of trust within the farming community, leading many to support the Congress instead. Although the BJP was victorious, had the farmers backed the party, the difference, especially in vote share, would have been sharper.

The authors are researchers at Lokniti-CSDS

The Indian IT services industry is likely to register a second consecutive year of muted revenue growth, estimated at 4-6% in FY2025, but the operating profit margin is expected to be healthy, according to ICRA.

The persisting challenges and tepid topline growth notwithstanding, ICRA has forecast the industry’s operating profit margin (OPM) at a healthy about 22% in FY2025, with attrition levels having declined considerably and seen stabilising over the near term.

Despite expectations of continued subdued growth, ICRA has maintained its “stable outlook” on the Indian IT services industry, led by a well-established business position, expectation of healthy earnings and cash flow generation, and strong balance sheets of sector players.

“ICRA expects FY2025 to be the second consecutive year of muted revenue growth (for its sample set companies), estimated at 4-6%, given the lower discretionary technological spends by clients amidst persistent macro-economic uncertainty in the key markets of the US and Europe,” Deepak Jotwani, Vice President and Sector Head – Corporate Ratings, ICRA, said.

Higher inflation and interest costs have put pressure on clients across key industries, with an increasing focus on cost optimisation and business-critical projects, and deferment of large discretionary spends.

“Though the revenue conversion of the orders has slowed down, the order book and deal pipeline of most IT services companies remain strong. This, coupled with the increasing prominence of technological spend by clients as part of their overall capital allocation strategy, is expected to support the growth momentum once the macroeconomic headwinds subside over the medium term,” Jotwani said.

Revenue growth for the Indian IT services companies has remained tepid in the last five-six quarters as the sector continues to face challenges from macro-economic headwinds in key markets.

Accordingly, ICRA’s sample set companies (leading 15 large and medium-sized listed Indian IT services companies) recorded a modest on-year growth of about 5.5% in revenues in USD terms in FY2024, against 9.2% in FY2023.

Despite tepid revenue growth, ICRA expects the OPM for its sample set companies to remain healthy at about 22 % in FY2025, aided by easing out of wage cost inflation and optimisation of operational efficiencies.

The Indian IT services industry generates a lion’s share from the US, followed by Europe and the Rest of the World (RoW) markets.

ICRA’s sample set companies generated 55-60% of its Q1 FY2025 revenues from the US, while Europe contributed 22-25%, and the remaining came from the RoW markets.

So, the industry remains susceptible to macroeconomic uncertainties and any adverse regulatory changes in these markets, for example, the revenue growth from the US witnessed a sharp moderation in recent quarters as macroeconomic headwinds continue to intensify. Despite the moderation, however, growth in Europe has been more resilient compared to the US.

Higher adoption of generative AI (Gen-AI) remains a key monitorable for the industry, over the medium to long term. Leading Indian IT services companies have trained a sizeable portion of their employee base in Gen-AI skills and have already started ramping up their capability and service offerings, to deliver AI-based solutions to their clients.

“While the order book or revenue contribution from Gen-AI deals so far is limited, it is likely to pick up over the medium term as overall technology adoption is more pervasive,” according to ICRA.

Moderation in demand, coupled with the increase in utilisation of excess manpower capacity added in FY2023 has exerted pressure on hiring by IT services companies in recent times. This is demonstrated by negative net addition for the past seven quarters for the sample set companies, ICRA said.

While the level of negative net addition declined considerably in Q1 FY2025, ICRA expects hiring to remain muted in the near term until the growth momentum picks up materially.

Earlier, hiring by IT services companies was at an all-time high in FY2022 and H1 FY2023, buoyed by strong demand for digital technologies and to combat the surge in attrition levels. Moreover, there has been a steady decline in the last twelve-month (LTM) attrition for ICRA’s sample set companies over the last five quarters.

“The LTM attrition for ICRA’s sample set companies tapered significantly to 13.1 % in Q1 FY2025 from 23.2% in Q2 FY2023 as the overall slowdown in growth momentum and strong hiring in the previous fiscal corrected the demand-supply mismatch witnessed earlier. ICRA expects attrition levels to stabilise at a long-term average of 12-13% in FY2025,” Jotwani observed.

ICRA said it expects the financial profile of the majority of the industry players to remain strong, supported by healthy cash flow generation, lower debt, and robust liquidity.

On August 14, the Supreme Court stayed the verdict of NCLAT, setting aside the insolvency proceedings, approving its ₹158.9 crore dues settlement with the Indian cricket board.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (September 11, 2024) said it will hear on September 17 the appeal of U.S.-based creditor Glas Trust Company LLC against a judgment of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which had stayed insolvency proceedings against ed-tech firm BYJU’s and approved its ₹158.9 crore dues settlement with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI.)

A Bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was urged by a battery of lawyers that the plea be heard urgently keeping in mind the subsequent developments in the case.

The plea was mentioned by senior advocate N.K. Kaul, appearing for the ed-tech major, that the case needed to be heard at the earliest. The submission was supported by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the BCCI, and senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, also appearing for the ed-tech firm.

Mr. Kaul said another plea in the case has also been filed and that is listed for hearing on September 17 and hence, the present plea be either heard on that day or the hearings in both the cases be advanced to this Friday. “We will hear both the pleas on September 17,” the CJI said.

Senior advocate Shayam Divan, appearing for the U.S.-based creditor, said let the matters be heard together on September 17. Earlier on August 22, the Bench had refused to pass an interim order to ensure that the Committee of Creditors (CoC) does not hold any meeting in pursuance of the insolvency proceedings against the embattled ed-tech firm. It had listed the plea for a final hearing on August 27.

The Bench had said the developments, which may take place in the meantime, can be negated if it finds there was no merit in the appeal of the U.S.-based creditor against the judgment of appellate insolvency tribunal NCLAT.

The plea was mentioned earlier also on August 20 by Byju’s and the BCCI and the top court had then also refused to pass an interim order to restrain the Insolvency Resolution Professional (IRP) from constituting a committee of creditors (CoC) in the insolvency proceedings against the ed-tech firm.

In a major setback to Byju’s, the top court, on August 14, stayed the verdict of NCLAT, setting aside the insolvency proceedings against the ed-tech major and approving its ₹158.9 crore dues settlement with the Indian cricket board.

The August 2 verdict of the NCLAT had come as a huge relief for Byju’s as it had effectively put its founder Byju Raveendran back in control.

The top court, however, had prima facie termed the NCLAT verdict as “unconscionable” and stayed its operation while issuing notices to Byju’s and others on the appeal of the ed-tech firm’s U.S.-based creditor against the judgment of the insolvency appellate tribunal.

The case stemmed from Byju’s default on a ₹158.9 crore payment related to a sponsorship deal with the BCCI. The top court had directed the BCCI to keep a sum of ₹158 crore it had received from Byju’s after a settlement in a separate escrow account till further orders.

“Issue notice. Pending further orders there shall be a stay of the impugned order of August 2 of NCLAT. In the meantime, BCCI shall maintain the amount of ₹158 crore, which shall be realised in pursuance of a settlement, in a separate escrow account until further orders,” the Bench had said.

The NCLAT had approved the ₹158.9 crore dues settlement with the BCCI and set aside the insolvency proceedings against Byju’s. Byju’s had entered into a “Team Sponsor Agreement” with the BCCI in 2019. Under the agreement, the ed-tech firm got exclusive rights to display its brand on the Indian cricket team’s kit and some other benefits. Byju’s had to pay a sponsorship fee. The company met its obligations till the middle of 2022 but defaulted on subsequent payments of ₹158.9 crore.

After insolvency proceedings were initiated, Byju’s entered into a settlement with the BCCI. On July 16, the Bengaluru Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had admitted ‘Think and Learn’, Byju’s parent company, to the insolvency resolution process on a plea filed by the BCCI over default in payment of outstanding dues of almost ₹158.9 crore.

While suspending the board of the ed-tech firm, the NCLT had appointed an interim resolution professional to run the operations of the company, suspended the company’s board of directors, and brought it under moratorium by freezing its assets.

The U.S.-based lenders suspected that the settlement amount was being diverted from the credit they had extended to Byju’s.

SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Hindenburg Research accused Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch of not responding to “emerging issues”, a day after the Congress accused her of having 99% stake in a consultancy company that provided services to entities regulated by SEBI.

Foreign investors worried about market integrity, says Congress, seeking independent probe into SEBI

In its post on X, the short seller research firm said that Agora Advisory, a consultancy firm that it said was owned by Ms. Buch, provided services to listed entities including Mahindra and Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Dr. Reddy’s and Pidilite, while she was serving as a whole time member in SEBI. Similar allegations were levelled by the Congress on Tuesday (September 10, 2024) in a press briefing, which Dr. Reddy’s, Pidilite and Mahindra and Mahindra had denied in regulatory filings.

“These allegations apply to Ms. Buch’s Indian consulting entity with no details thus far on Ms. Buch’s Singapore-based consulting entity. Ms. Buch has maintained her complete silence for weeks on all of the emerging issues” Hindenburg said on September 11, in its post on X.

Also Read | On SEBI chairperson’s conflicts of interests

The Congress had claimed that Agora Advisory had continued to provide services to listed entities, contrary to an earlier statement by Ms. Buch saying the company had become dormant after she took up her role at SEBI.

In addition to this, the Congress also claimed that Ms. Buch’s spouse Dhaval Buch, was drawing income from Mahindra and Mahindra after his retirement.

All companies —  Mahindra and Mahindra, Pidilite and Dr. Reddy’s — have denied the allegations.

अमेज़न ग्रेट इंडियन फेस्टिवल सेल लाइव है और अगर आपने अभी तक कोई भी डील नहीं देखी है तो एक बार जरूर नज़र डाल सकते हैं. ऐसा इसलिए क्योंकि यहां कुछ ऐसे ऑफर्स भी मिल रहे हैं जिन्हें खरीदने पर बड़ी छूट दी जा रही है. फोन पर मिलने वाले कुछ खास ऑफर के बारे में बात करें तो ग्राहक यहां से कई बड़े ब्रांड के फोन को काफी सस्ते दाम पर घर ले जा सकते हैं. लेकिन कुछ बेस्ट डील की बात करें तो Realme GT 6T को भी अच्छे ऑफर पर उपलब्ध कराया जा रहा है. आइए जानते हैं इसपर मिलने वाले ऑफर के बारे में.

सेल बैनर से मालूम हुआ है कि ऑफर के तहत रियलमी GT 6T को 33,999 रुपये के बजाए 25,249 रुपये में घर लाया जा सकता है. इस कीमत के साथ कूपर की 3000 रुपये की छूट भी जुड़ी हुई है. साथ ही इसमें बैंक ऑफर भी मिला हुआ है. तो सोचिए सारे ऑफर मिलाने के बाद अगर आपको 34 हजार वाला फोन 25 हजार की रेंज में मिल जाए तो क्या बुरा है. आइए जानते हैं कैसे हैं फोन के सभी फीचर्स कैसे हैं…

ये भी पढ़ें- साल की सबसे बड़ी छूट पर मिल रहे हैं ब्रांडेड TV और फ्रिज, वाशिंग मशीन के ऑफर देख खरीद लेंगे आप

रियलमी GT 6T में 6.78-इंच का LTPO कर्व्ड AMOLED पैनल दिया गया है जिसका रेज़ोलूशन 2,789 x 1,264 पिक्सल और रिफ्रेश रेट 120Hz का है. फोन के फ्रंट पर कॉर्निंग गोरिल्ला ग्लास विक्टस 2 प्रोटेक्शन मिलती है.

Photo: Amazon.

फोन 4nm प्रोसेस पर बेस्ड क्वालकॉम के लेटेस्ट स्नैपड्रैगन 7+ जेन 3 चिपसेट पर काम करता है, और सभी ग्राफिक्स के लिए फोन को एड्रेनो 732 जीपीयू के साथ जोड़ा गया है. रियलमी GT 6T 12GB तक LPDDR5X मेमोरी और 512GB तक UFS 4.0 स्टोरेज के साथ आता है. फोन लेटेस्ट एंड्रॉयड 14 ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टम पर बेस्ड Realme UI 5.0 पर काम करता है.

ये भी पढ़ें- एक दो की नहीं, इन 4 OnePlus फोन की लुढ़क गई कीमत, सस्ता होने के साथ फ्री में मिल रहा है ईयरबड्स भी

पावर के लिए इस स्मार्टफोन में 5,500mAh की बैटरी दी गई है, जिसके साथ 120W SuperVOOC चार्जर दिया गया है. धूल और पानी से बचाव के लिए फोन को आईपी 65 रेटिंग मिलती है.

दमदार है कैमरा
कैमरे के तौर पर Realme GT 6T डुअल कैमरा सेटअप के साथ आता है, जिसमें 50 मेगापिक्सल का Sony LYT 600 प्राइमरी सेंसर और 8 मेगापिक्सल का अल्ट्रा-वाइड-एंगल लेंस शामिल है. सेल्फी और वीडियो कॉलिंग की सभी जरूरतों को पूरा करने के लिए फोन में 32 मेगापिक्सल का फ्रंट-फेसिंग शूटर भी मिलता है.

Tags: Amazon Prime

A new injectable facility of Aurobindo Pharma’s subsidiary Eugia Steriles has received its first product approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

The U.S. FDA inspected the unit in Parawada mandal of Anakapalli district, Andhra Pradesh, from March 28 to April 5. It has now received its first product approval from the U.S. FDA for Lidocaine Hydrochloride Injection, USP, 1% (10 mg/mL) and 2% (20 mg/mL).

The sANDA (supplemental abbreviated new drug application) was submitted as Prior Approval Supplement for addition of an alternate drug product manufacturing, labelling, packaging and testing facility, Aurobindo Pharma said in a filing on Wednesday.

The Lokniti-CSDS pre-poll survey was conducted between September 24 and October 2. A total of 2,429 respondents were interviewed across 22 Assembly constituencies and 110 polling stations.

The sampling design was multi-stage random sampling, which ensures that the selected sample is fully representative of the cross-section of voters in the country. The Assembly constituencies where the survey was conducted were randomly selected using the probability proportional to size method. Five polling stations were then selected from each of the sampled Assembly constituencies using the systematic random sampling method. Forty respondents were randomly selected using the systematic method from the electoral rolls of the sampled polling stations. Of the 40, we set a target of 25 interviews per polling station and sent trained field investigators to conduct face-to-face interviews using a pre-designed App.

The questionnaire was translated into Hindi. Though the sample is relatively small, it is truly representative of the voters of Haryana with regard to social composition. To make correction for under-representation of any social groups, weights have been applied (Table 1). The study was directed by Sanjay Kumar, Suhas Palshikar, Sandeep Shastri.

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar meets Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini in New Delhi following the BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections in Haryana.
| Photo Credit: ANI

About six of every 10 respondents in the Lokniti-CSDS survey indicated that the party was the most critical factor in deciding who to vote for. Another one-thirds (35%) believed that the MLA candidate from their constituency swayed their decision. A minuscule share mentioned the chief ministerial candidate in determining their voting preferences (Table 1). This could be well linked to the fact that there were multiple competitors in the chief ministerial race both within the BJP and Congress.

When it came to the respondents’ preferred Chief Minister candidate, there was a close race between two key leaders of the Congress and BJP. Incumbent BJP Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini was mentioned by one-third (33%) of the respondents, while two-time Congress Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda was close behind. (Table 2). The support for the top two names was clearly on party lines. About seven of every 10 BJP voters favoured Mr. Saini, while a similar share of Congress voters endorsed Mr. Hooda as their preferred choice. One-seventh (14%) of Congress voters referred to Kumari Shelja as their preferred option while one in every 10 BJP voters took the name of former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar (Table 3).

The respondents felt that the leadership tussle between Mr. Hooda and Kumari Selja adversely impacted the Congress. Nearly six of every 10 respondents (59%) said that this tussle did have an adverse impact. The remaining one-fourth said it had no impact or very little impact (Table 4).

The survey also tapped the impact of the Central leaders of the two major parties. More than two-thirds of the BJP voters said that even without Narendra Modi’s leadership, they would have voted for the BJP. However, two of every 10 did assert that they may have changed their voting preference if Mr. Modi did not lead the BJP (Table 5). Among Congress voters, close to three-fourth of the respondents said that even if Rahul Gandhi did not lead the Congress, they would continue to vote for the party (Table 6). A little over one in every 10 said that they would change the way they voted if Mr. Gandhi was not leading the Congress.

Clearly, Mr. Modi had a greater sway over BJP voters compared to the influence that Mr. Gandhi had over Congress voters.

Sandeep Shastri is Director-Academics, NITTE Education Trust, and National Coordinator, Lokniti Network