Business

Lucknow, Sep 23 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government, through its investment promotion agency Invest UP, has been successful in attracting beverages industrial units in Gorakhpur, Amethi, Prayagraj and Chitrakoot.

Varun Beverages Ltd, all India franchisee of PepsiCo, has been allotted land in these districts through fast-track mode for setting up their units for producing carbonated soft drinks, fruit pulp or juice-based drinks.

The company has proposed to invest Rs 3,740 crore in total in all the four plants with about 5,650 expected job opportunities.

Chief Executive Officer, Invest UP, Abhishek Prakash said: "Under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and guidance of industrial development minister Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi', policy of fast-track land allotment and promotion of mega projects in the state are proving to be significant enablers in attracting investment in the state."

Additional Chief Executive Officer, Prathamesh Kumar said that Varun Beverages Ltd. has been allotted 45-acre land through fast-track mode in Narkatha village of Gorakhpur.

The company proposes to invest Rs 1071. 28 crore here with around 1,500 expected employment avenues.

With allotment of 68. 6-acre land in Bargarh Industrial Area in Chitrakoot, Varun Beverages Ltd has proposed to invest around Rs 496.57 crore with estimated jobs to the tune of 1,000.

Around 24.7-acre land has been allotted in Saraswati Hi-Tech City, Naini-Prayagraj and the investor has proposed to invest Rs 1,052.57 crore with 1,500 employment opportunities, while 26.1-acre area has been allotted in in Trishundi Industrial Area-Amethi, where proposed investment is Rs 1,119.59 crores with 1,650 expected jobs.

--IANS
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Jaipur, Sep 22 (IANS) Heritage hotels should promote and preserve the local art and culture around them, Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra said on Thursday while addressing the inaugural session of the 9th annual convention of Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) at Alila Fort Bishangarh in Jaipur.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for all sectors but the tourism and hospitality industry was the worst hit. The folk arts and artistes also had to face immense losses during the pandemic. When the heritage hotels are recuperating as important tourist destinations across the country, they must proactively promote and preserve the local art and culture around them," the Governor said.

"The way of life of the local communities, their handicrafts, modes of livelihood, the crops they grow, their traditional ways of entertainment and leisure should be part of the experiences the heritage hotels give to tourists," he said.

The Governor also talked about late former Rajasthan chief minister, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's efforts in the development of tourism and conservation of heritage in the state. He further said that with a melange of magnificent forts, palaces and castles, Rajasthan has immense possibilities for tourism.

V.P. Singh Badnore, former Punjab Governor, said, "Rajasthan is the first state to declare tourism as an industry and this will give a big boost to employment in the state. This will also aid the hoteliers, tour guides, and restaurateurs etc who suffered a catastrophic blow in the pandemic." He further stressed on the need to preserve not just the tangible heritage assets such as buildings, monuments etc but also the intangible heritage assets like folklore, culture, among others.

Former Deputy Speaker and owner of Alila Fort, Bishangarh, Rao Rajendra Singh, said, "As per the World Travel and Tourism Council report, in 2019 the hotel and tourism sector's contribution to the national economy was worth Rs 15 trillion. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a 40 per cent fall and it dropped to Rs 9 trillion. Now in 2022, the industry has surpassed pre-Covid levels and now it stands at Rs 15.9 trillion."

Highlighting the importance of employment the sector provides, he said that every year it gives 2.4 million jobs. The sector is also gender neutral and provides employment to many women, he added.

President of Honour (Emeritus), IHHA, Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur, said that heritage plays a significant role in reminding people of the social values of the ancestors. Every state has its own unique heritage which needs to be protected, he added.

Conference Chairman and Vice President, IHHA, Steve Borgia, introduced the theme of the convention - 'Reincarnation of IHHA to Conserve and Protect Indian Heritage'. "The world is eagerly looking for a different 'India' and there is a need to think and do differently and strengthen our destinations and focus on the resurrection of all monuments, forts, palaces etc," he said.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 22 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday cancelled the licence of The Laxmi Co-operative Bank Ltd in Maharashtra's Solapur.

Consequently, the bank ceases to carry on banking business, with effect from the close of business on September 22.

The Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Maharashtra has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.

Following are the reason the central bank stated for cancelling the licence:

- The bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects. As such, it does not comply with the provisions of Section 11(1) and Section 22 (3) (d) read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

- The bank has failed to comply with the requirements of Sections 22(3) (a), 22 (3) (b), 22(3)(c), 22(3) (d) and 22(3)(e) read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949;

- The continuance of the bank is prejudicial to the interests of its depositors;

- The bank with its present financial position would be unable to pay its present depositors in full; and

- Public interest would be adversely affected if the bank is allowed to carry on its banking business any further.

On liquidation, every depositor would be entitled to receive deposit insurance claim amount of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 5 lakh only from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) subject to the provisions of DICGC Act, 1961.

As per the data submitted by the bank, about 99 per cent of the depositors are entitled to receive full amount of their deposits from the DICGC. As on September 13, the DICGC has already paid Rs 193.68 crore of the total insured deposits under the provisions of Section 18A of the DICGC Act, 1961 based on the willingness received from the concerned depositors of the bank.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) IndiGo, India's leading carrier, has started new daily direct flights between Mumbai and Ras Al-Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) from Thursday.

Ras Al-Khaimah is the 100th overall destination and 11th in the Middle East in the 6E network. It was also named as Gulf tourism capital for 2020 and 2021 by the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The operator and managing body of Ras Al-Khaimah International Airport welcomed the arrival of the inaugural IndiGo flight from Mumbai.

The aircraft received a ceremonial water cannon salute as it taxied to the terminal to mark the occasion.

Chairman of Ras Al-Khaimah International Airport Engineer, Sheikh Salem Bin Sultan Al Qasimi; Atanasios Titonis, Chief Executive Officer of Ras Al-Khaimah International Airport; Stanislav Bujnovsky, Director -- Commercial and Business Development, welcomed Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo, who travelled in the inaugural flight to Ras Al-Khaimah.

Elbers said, "We are very pleased to commence this first direct connection between Mumbai and Ras Al-Khaimah. For IndiGo, this is the 100th destination in the 6E network and our fourth emirate. Ras Al-Khaimah, which is known for its bright agricultural surroundings, is also focused on becoming the regional leader in sustainable tourism, which aligns well with our overall focus on sustainability. In vast and diverse India, IndiGo already serves an unparalleled 74 cities and communities throughout the nation. This new route, warmly welcomed by our customers and authorities, further enhances connectivity in the region as envisioned in IndiGo's strategy."

Sultan Al Qasimi said: "It is our pleasure to welcome IndiGo airlines to Ras Al-Khaimah International Airport and to be able to acknowledge the increased passenger flow from the Indian subcontinent. The driving force behind Ras Al-Khaimah's economy lies in its thriving tourism and industrial sector and IndiGo's approach is well-aligned to our passenger needs."

Titonis said: "IndiGo is the right airline partner in our portfolio as we are on our way to move into a destination airport. This partnership will boost our business and will open a new channel to serve the tourism for Ras Al-Khaimah as an Emirate."

--IANS
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Ahmedabad, Sep 21 (IANS) Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL), India's largest private power distribution company and the transmission arm of the diversified Adani Group, has submitted its Green House Gases (GHG) emission reduction plans, focussing on Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an international drive for containing global warming.

ATL has submitted its detailed plan and targets for GHG emission reduction to SBTi within one year towards its commitment to contribute to contain global warming.

As a part of its continued focus on sustainable growth and its net zero journey, ATL committed for the SBTi in October 2021. ATL will act in alignment with the much-needed climate action and devise a strategy to restrict global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius.

To meet these targets associated with the SBTi commitment, ATL has rolled out definite strategies. In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, ATL's subsidiary AEML (Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd) has introduced green tariffs, which enables AEML consumers to opt for green energy and receive a Green Power Certificate every month. This initiative is popular with consumers who wish to reduce their carbon footprint.

"We take seriously all initiatives focused on contributing to India's climate commitment through resolute climate action," said Anil Sardana, MD & CEO, Adani Transmission Ltd. "Submitting targets for the SBTi reiterates our commitment to devising sustainable ways of doing business. It also reinforces India's efforts to reduce climate risk through individual and collective action. A culmination of several smaller actions such as energy efficiency initiatives at sub-stations, de-linking of substations from the grid for auxiliary power while connecting them with solar energy, and introduction of efficient transmission lines aimed at reducing losses, combined with wider actions such as introduction of green tariff at AEML, will significantly contribute towards achieving positive climate action."

Signing up for the SBTi is an important step in the context of India's commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement. ATL became a signatory of UN Energy Compact at COP26 held in Glasgow in 2021. Through SBTi, companies are setting science-based emissions reduction targets - across their entire value chain - that are consistent with keeping global warming at 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. SBTi committed companies get 24 months to submit their targets. ATL, after committing to SBTi in Oct 2021, is one of the few companies to submit the emission reduction targets within one year.

SBTi is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It defines and promotes best practices in science-based target setting and independently assesses companies' targets.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) RIL's green hydrogen foray is part of its Net Carbon Zero target by 2035. Falling renewable cost and scale economics will lower green hydrogen cost. Given the capex intensity, RIL's strong balance sheet and backward integration puts it in the driver's seat in the US$ 74 billion opportunity, foreign brokerage, Jefferies said in a report.

RIL's hydrogen business is worth $ 8 billion (Rs 100/share) at a 20 per cent discount to European benchmark.

Backward integration into solar PV and energy storage system, access to cheap land, GW scale renewable generation facilities will lower its renewable power cost making its hydrogen production cost competitive. With annual capacity of 1 mmt green hydrogen requiring $ 25 billion in capex, RIL's adequately funded balance sheet is a key competitive advantage, the report said.

India aims to produce 5 mmt green H2 annually by 2030 requiring US$ 130 billion in capex per our est. Policy support, including capital subsidies, eliminating charges on renewable power, mandated use in refining and fertilizer, higher fertilizer subsidy funding and development of a carbon trading market should aid adoption. While charges on renewable power for green H2 were lowered recently, progress is needed in other areas.

"We value RIL's electrolyzer manufacturing business at a 20 per cent discount to the European benchmark and add the capitalised value of its captive H2 consumption. We discount its FY30E fair value at 12 per cent WACC to get a Jun-23E FV of US$ 8 billion. We revise PT to Rs 3,080 and maintain Buy," the report said.

Despite its higher cost, govts in major economies are accelerating green H2 adoption to cut carbon emissions. The EU recently identified investments of EUR 63-78 billion in the H2 ecosystem and 20 mmtpa consumption target in 2030 backed up by a funding plan.

Four polluting industries accounting for 98 per cent of global H2 demand can replace grey H2 produced in their facilities with green. High transportation cost, absence of pipelines and low well-to-wheel efficiency compared to batteries make usage in transportation and electricity generation challenging.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 21 (IANS) Tech giant Microsoft has announced that it is now rolling out the latest version of Windows 11 -- Windows 11 2022 update -- in more than 190 countries.

The company said the new update will expand Amazon App Store Preview to international markets, built-in Game Pass for Windows 11, new accessibility features, advanced security updates, and much more.

"Our launch approach to Windows 11 leverages our well-established update systems and processes. The measured and phased rollout will offer the update via Windows Update when data shows that your device is ready, as our objective is to provide a quality update experience," John Cable, Vice President, Program Management, Windows Servicing and Delivery, said in a blogpost.

"We will initially ramp up the offering availability in the first weeks as we monitor quality signals. If we detect that your device may have an issue, such as an application incompatibility, we may put a safeguard hold in place and not offer the update until that issue is resolved," Cable added.

Eligible users can choose to install the new update by opening Windows Update settings and selecting Check for updates.

The company said it is announcing a new set of experiences including the Tabbed File explorer, considered a component of the 2022 Update for all editions, which will be ready this October.

Microsoft mentioned that it has planned a phased rollout timed with the October optional non-security preview release for these features and then they will be made broadly available in the November 2022 security update release.

It has also reduced the download size of feature updates by 450MB for many users.

"We have also reduced download and installation time of the monthly cumulative update, as well as reclaimed hundreds of megabytes of disk footprint to give back to the user. Learn more about these improvements," the company said.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 21 (IANS) The gross non-performing assets (NPA) of the banks is expected to improved 90 basis points on-year to 5 per cent this fiscal year and another 100 basis points to a decadal low of 4 per cent by next fiscal, ratings agency CRISIL said in a release.

This was on the back of benefits from the proposed sale of NPAs to the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL), recovery in economy post pandemic and higher credit growth.

The release said that not all segments will perform equally well. The biggest improvement will be in the corporate segment, where gross NPAs is seen falling below 2 per cent next fiscal from a peak of ~16 per cent as on March 31, 2018.

"The steady improvement in corporate asset quality is clearly reflected in leading indicators such as the credit quality of bank exposures. A CRISIL Ratings study of large exposures of banks, constituting more than half of corporate advances, shows the share of high-safety1 exposures has increased to 77 per cent as on March 2022 from 59 per cent in March 2017, while exposure to sub-investment grade companies more than halved to 7 per cent versus 17 per cent," said Krishnan Sitaraman, Senior Director and Deputy Chief Ratings Officer, CRISIL Ratings.

This asset quality improvement in the corporate segment follows a significant clean-up done of bank books in recent years, and strengthened risk management and underwriting. This has also led to increased preference for borrowers with better credit profiles.

Gross NPA in the MSME2 segment is, however, expected to rise to 10-11 per cent by March 2024, from 9.3 per cent as on March 31, 2022.

While relief measures did help contain asset quality deterioration last fiscal, the segment saw the most restructuring at 6 per cent compared with 2 per cent for the overall banking sector. About a fourth of these accounts could potentially slip into NPAs.

The retail segment remains resilient and gross NPAs are expected to remain rangebound at 1.8-2.0 per cent over the medium term. While the impact of increase in interest rates and inflationary pressure on individual borrowers' cash flows will need to be monitored, almost half of the retail loans are home loans, where borrowers have relatively better credit profiles.

While segments such as unsecured loans may see some pressure, overall retail asset quality is expected to stay within expected bounds.

Agriculture segment gross NPAs is seen flat at 9-10 per cent following another year of reasonably normal monsoon and harvest.

--IANS
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Amman, Sep 20 (IANS) Jordan has resumed crude oil imports from Iraq after the Iraqi side fixed the logistical problems that suspended the supply for weeks, said Jordan's Energy Ministry.

Trucks have started loading the crude oil from the oil fields in Kirkuk governorate in northern Iraq, Jordan's Minister of Energy Saleh Kharabsheh said in a statement.

The ministry said that Jordan imported about 2.525 million barrels of oil from Iraq between September 2021 and July 2022, Xinhua news agency reported.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2021, Jordan imports around 10,000 barrels per day from Iraq, based on the monthly average price of Brent crude oil minus $16 per barrel to cover the difference in quality and transportation costs.

The 10,000 barrels cover around 7 per cent of Jordan's daily needs, according to the ministry.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 19 (IANS) As the sale of its electric two-wheeler declines, ride-hailing major Ola is reportedly laying off nearly 500 employees in another round, this time from its various software verticals of ANI technologies which operates at Ola Cabs.

CNBC first reported on Monday that several of the employees being laid off as part of the "restructuring exercise" worked on the Ola app.

The Bhavish Aggarwal-run company had nearly 1,100 employees in its core ride-hailing business.

Although Ola did not comment on laying off 500 employees from its software verticals, it said in a statement that Ola Electric has been increasing its focus on non-software engineering domains with a clear focus on building engineering and R&D capabilities, across vehicle, cell, battery, manufacturing and automation, autonomous engineering streams.

"The company currently has around 2,000 engineers and aims to increase its engineering talent pool to 5,000 over the next 18 months. In light of these efforts, the company is centralising operations and is undertaking a restructuring exercise to minimise redundancy and build a strong lateral structure that strengthens relevant roles and functions," the company mentioned.

Earlier restructuring exercises impacted employees across product, marketing, sales, supply, tech, business, and operations verticals at the company, affecting more than 1,000 employees.

However, according to sources, those layoffs impacted less than 500 employees and not 1,000, and "were a result of restructuring in the Cars and Dash businesses".

The ride-hailing major recently shut down its used vehicle business Ola Cars, as well as its quick-commerce business, Ola Dash, as the company shifted focus on its electric two-wheeler and car verticals.

Recently, Ola Electric's head of advanced battery engineering, Ashok Saraswat, moved on.

Saraswat, who joined SoftBank-backed Ola last year, is reportedly joining a company that is entering the battery business.

More than half a dozen senior executives have quit Ola Electric in recent months while over 30 senior executives have left Ola in the past two years.

Ola Electric's sales are diminishing and it sold 3,421 EV two-wheelers in August, a drop from 3,862 units the company sold in July, indicating that it still needs to bring its overall strategy back on track.

A recent report revealed that only 1 per cent household consumers plan to buy an e-scooter in the next six months amid safety and performance concerns, as the government probes multiple fires in electric two-wheelers.

--IANS
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