- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
HERE are news in brief on Indian economy and business for Tuesday, May 21, 2024:
Reliance Industries Ltd has signed an agreement with Norway’s Nel ASA for sourcing technology to make electrolysers for production of green hydrogen as part of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s pivots toward green energy. The agreement with Nel Hydrogen Electrolyser AS, a fully owned subsidiary of Oslo-based Nel ASA, “provides Reliance with an exclusive license for Nel’s alkaline electrolysers in India and also allows Reliance to manufacture Nel’s alkaline electrolysers for captive purposes globally,” the Norwegian firm said in a statement. Ambani, Asia’s richest man who built his fortune on fossil fuels, in 2022 announced plans to invest USD 75 billion in renewables infrastructure including generation plants, solar panels and electrolyzers.
India’s domestic air passenger traffic rose by 3.88 per cent to 1.32 crore (13.2 million) in April, according to official data released on Tuesday. The traffic stood at 128.88 lakh (12.88 million) in April last year. As many as 1,370 passengers were affected due to denied boarding, with airlines spending Rs 136.23 lakh (£128,690) towards compensation and facilities in this regard, as per the data of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the civil aviation regulator. The data showed there were a total of 32,314 flight cancellations in April and airlines spent Rs 89.26 lakh (£84,319) towards compensation and facilities. Last month, a total of 109,910 flights were delayed. Airlines shelled out Rs 135.42 lakh (£127,924) towards facilitation.
India’s JSW Cement on Tuesday unveiled its plan to invest around Rs 30 billion (£23.6 billion) to set up a cement factory in the north-western state of Rajasthan, in a bid to meet growing demand for the key construction material. Cement makers in the country are ramping up production amid higher government spending in infrastructure and a healthy real-estate market. In April, market leader UltraTech Cement said it will set aside $3.9 billion (£3.06 billion) for ongoing capital expenditure over the next three years. The proposed unit of JSW Cement will supply cement to the states of Haryana and Punjab and the national capital region, besides Rajasthan, marking the firm’s entry into the country’s northern market, which is dominated by Shree Cement.
The suspension order on mining operations at Vedanta’s iron ore plant at Chitradurga in the southern state of Karnataka has been revoked, the company said on Tuesday. In April, Vedanta Ltd informed the BSE about the temporary suspension of mining operations at the iron ore mine due to non-compliance with the approved mining plan. “The Office of the Regional Controller of Mines, vide order dated May 21, 2024, has revoked the earlier order of suspension of mining operations under Rule 11(2) of the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017 in respect of our A. Narrain Iron Ore Mine,” the company said in a filing to the BSE. The suspension in mining operations was ordered by the Office of Regional Controller of Mines in Bengaluru, the state capital.
There is a wave of optimism globally, surrounding India’s economic prospects, with major financial institutions forecasting a significant upswing in growth, a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said. “Internationally there is a growing optimism that India is on the cusp of a long-awaited economic takeoff,” the central bank said. According to the RBI report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised India’s GDP growth forecast upwards by nearly two percentage points for the fiscal year 2023-24. The IMF’s April 2024 World Economic Outlook highlights the expected robustness in 2024 and 2025, attributing this to strong domestic demand and a growing working-age population.
The market capitalisation of companies listed on BSE has touched a milestone of $5 trillion (£4 trillion), hitting a fresh high on May 21, exchange data showed on Tuesday. Ongoing rally in the Indian stock markets helped in reaching this feat. Market capitalisation or market cap is the total value of a company’s stock, derived at by multiplying the stock price by the number of its outstanding shares. Barring a little volatility, Indian stock indices have been firm over the past several sessions, supported by strong support from a majority of sectoral indices. With the five phases of elections now behind us, it is widely expected by investors that the Narendra Modi-led government will come back to office with a comfortable margin for its third term. This also likely triggered fresh stock buying.
(With agencies)
