- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Here are news in brief related to Indian economy and business for Thursday, October 6, 2022:
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani on Thursday announced the opening of a first-of-its-kind space in the sphere of the arts, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, Asian News International reported. Ambani announced that the cultural centre will be dedicated to her mother Nita M Ambani–an educationist, businesswoman, philanthropist and long-time patron of the arts–it promises to be a cultural landmark. NMACC is housed within the Jio World Centre, which is also home to the country’s largest convention centre, retail and hospitality outlets, and more, all in the heart of India’s financial and entertainment capital.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), the country’s main national competition regulator, must “fairly and squarely” address issues arising out of cross-country mergers and acquisitions, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, Moneycontrol reported. “As we evolve to be a digital economy, the challenges that digitization brings are also very important for us to address, we can’t ignore them,” she said at an event organised by the competition regulator on Thursday. “The multi-national nature of activities… where companies are seeking to have interlocking positions in global value chains. There are holding companies, there are new acquisitions, there are mergers happening across the globe,” the minister added.
Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube on Thursday said the airline’s performance in the first 60 days since starting operations has been “satisfying”, Press Trust of India reported. The airline started operations on August 7 and has six planes in its fleet. It plans to have a total of 18 aircraft by the end of this fiscal. “We are very happy, satisfied with… our performance,” Dube said here. He also said the airline is “on track” as per plans and that the performance has been satisfying. The airline is currently flying 30 flights daily. The airline has placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX planes. The airline will soon allow travellers to carry domesticated dogs and cats in cabin and cargo.
Mercedes-Benz India expects to garner 25 per cent of its sales from electric cars over the next five years, given the rapid adoption rate, according to managing director and chief executive officer Martin Schwenk, The Hindu reported. “We have a portfolio of 25 cars in India,” Schwenk said. “Over the next five years, we hope to have at least 25% of our sales number to come from the new segment (EVs) and grow further substantially,” he said in an interview. Mentioning that they were working on a strategy, he said: “I would assume that we will have additional models in the line up. At this stage, we don’t have a firm decision or firm plan to communicate. Our factory at Pune is flexible and capable of producing electric cars. With the launch of EQS, it should open door for future investment in India.”
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals on Thursday said it has launched Thiazolidinedione Lobeglitazone in the country for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in adults, PTI reported. The Mumbai-based drug firm has launched the medication under the brand name LOBG and is priced at around Rs 10 per tablet. Indians have a high prevalence of insulin resistance and that makes LOBG an appealing treatment option in managing uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes among insulin-resistant diabetic patients, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said in a statement.
IT company Happiest Minds Technologies board on Wednesday approved raising of up to Rs 1,400 crore through equity or debt bonds, the company said in a regulatory filing, PTI reported. “We wish to inform you that the board at its meeting held today i.e. October 5, 2022 has inter alia considered and approved the matter related to raising funds,” the filing said. The company board has approved “raising of up to Rs 1,400 crore inclusive of premium amount, if any” by way of issuance of any instrument or securities, including equity shares, global depository receipts, American depository receipts, fully/partly convertible debentures, foreign currency convertible bonds, warrants, or any combination thereof.
The record six-month-long freeze in petrol and diesel price revision in all likelihood will be extended after international oil prices rose on the announcement of deep production cuts by OPEC+, PTI reported. Some of the world’s top oil-producing countries on Wednesday agreed to slash production by two million barrels per day to spur recovery in oil prices that had dropped to pre-Ukraine war levels. For India, this is bad news as a fall in oil prices in recent weeks had helped it cut down on its import bill as well as limit losses that state-owned fuel retailers were incurring on selling petrol and diesel.
Reliance Jio on Thursday started beta trials of 5G services in the national capital along with three other cities – Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi – with users getting download speed of over 1 gbps, ANI reported. At Chanakyapuri, in Lutyens’ Zone of New Delhi, the users got internet speed of over 1 gbps. During the trial, the company said, “Now 5G services will be available only on an invitation basis.” According to the company, gradually people will start getting 5G signals in the entire city in a phased manner. Jio is branded stand-alone 5G technology as ‘True 5G’. A Delhi-based user said he is satisfied with the 5G speed being offered. “The internet speed on 5G is a welcome change over 4G and it should soon be made available,” said Rajesh, a user in Delhi.
