- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
HERE are some news in brief related to India’s economy and business for Tuesday, July 26, 2022:
Indian energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bengaluru-based renewable energy firm Greenko ZeroC Private Limited (Greenko) to jointly pursue opportunities in renewables, green hydrogen, green ammonia and other derivatives of green hydrogen, Asian News International reported. The MoU, which is valid for two years, was inked in New Delhi by ONGC director onshore Anurag Sharma and Greenko CEO & managing director Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, in the presence of Indian petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
The opening day of India’s biggest spectrum auction for 72 GHz (gigahertz) of 5G airwaves worth Rs 4.3 lakh crore (£45 billion/$54 billion) concluded with four rounds of auction. The day saw bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore (£15 billion/$18 billion). All the four applicants — Ambani’s Reliance Jio, Mittal’s Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and an Adani group firm “actively” participated in the auction of the 5G spectrum which offers ultra-high speeds (about 10 times quicker than 4G), lag-free connectivity and can enable countless connected devices to share data in real-time.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, soaring crude oil prices, and tightening of global financial conditions are major reasons for the weakening of the Indian rupee, which slipped below 80 against the US dollar recently, the Narendra Modi government said in the parliament on Tuesday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha or the Upper House, Indian minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said, “Global factors such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, soaring crude oil prices and tightening of global financial conditions are the major reasons for the weakening of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for India for the current fiscal by 80 basis points to 7.4 per cent. Moneycontrol reported. A similar downgrade has also been made to the growth forecast for FY24, which is now at 6.1 per cent as against 6.9 per cent earlier. “For India, the revision reflects mainly less favourable external conditions and more rapid policy tightening,” the IMF said on Tuesday in an update to its World Economic Outlook report.
Indian consumer protection regulator CCPA (Central Consumer Protection Authority) on Tuesday said it has issued notices to 4-5 Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturers, taking suo moto cognizance of consumer complaints regarding series of battery explosions in EVs, the Press Trust of India reported. CCPA chief commissioner Nidhi Khare said the authority will commence the hearing on this matter soon. “We have issued notices to 4-5 companies. We asked them to provide reasons for series of fire incidents in EVs and why the regulator should not take action against them,” Khare told reporters.
Indian engineering firm Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,702 crore (£177 million/$213 million) for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, as compared to Rs 1,174 crore (£122 million/$147 million) recorded in the corresponding period of the last year, registering a year-on-year growth of 45 per cent, ANI reported. L&T achieved consolidated revenues of Rs 35,853 crore (£3.7 billion/$4.4 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, recording a y-o-y growth of 22 per cent with strong execution witnessed in the Infrastructure Segment and riding on the sustaining growth momentum in the IT&TS portfolio. International revenues during the quarter under review stood at Rs 13,235 crore (£1.37 billion/$1.65 billion), which is 37 per cent of the total revenue.
South Korean gaming giant Krafton has reportedly invested $100 million (£83 million) in the Indian market and is preparing to launch many new titles soon. The video-game maker had vouched for that much investment in the Indian market two years ago, Tech Crunch reported. Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO, Krafton India, said “the company also has more in the store for the country, including investments in local startups”. When asked about how much the company has spent so far out of its investment, Sohn said: “We did reach our target and have already spent $100 million from our original investment plan. We are working towards two–three deals that should hopefully be converted in August, pushing us towards roughly $140 million (£116 million) being invested in the country. There have been roughly eight investments in total in the last one or one-and-a-half years. We will keep investing in gaming, gaming-related and tech startups in the country.”
Tata Steel expects prices to start shooting up from the December quarter on the back of revival in demand after a weak monsoon quarter, the Hindu BusinessLine reported. TV Narendran, managing director, Tata Steel, told BusinessLine that steel prices were close to bottom, if not at the bottom. He added that even in long products, thermal coal prices are increasing and have impacted DRI business, which in turn, has taken a toll on 50 per cent of long-product business.
YourSpex, an emerging name in the Indian eyewear space, has launched a one-of-its-kind customizable lens range to offer its customers personalised and affordable lens packages, ANI reported. Customers can now get a wide range of lenses, including single vision, bifocal, progressive, or computer specs, at a very competitive price. They can also choose from multiple add-ons like Blue-Blocker, anti-glare, anti-scratch, photochromic, and much more.
