Business

Chennai, Sep 14 (IANS) The BMW Group on Wednesday categorically refuted reports of setting up an auto component plant in Punjab. "BMW Group India has no plans for setting up additional manufacturing operations in Punjab," the German group said in a statement.

Along with cars and motorcycles, BMW Group's activities in India comprise of financial services for its premium clientele, the statement added.

BMW Group is firmly committed to its Indian operations with its manufacturing plant in Chennai, a parts warehouse in Pune, a training centre in Gurgaon-NCR and a well-developed dealer network across major metropolitans of the country.

The BMW gets some two wheeler models manufactured by two and three wheeler maker TVS Motor Company.

BMW India and BMW India Financial Services are 100 per cent subsidiaries of the BMW Group and are headquartered in Gurgaon (National Capital Region), the BMW Group said.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 14 (IANS) The assets under management (AUM) of housing finance companies are expected to grow 10-12 per cent in this financial year 2022-23, as against 8 per cent in the last financial year, mainly due to home loans, which could grow 15 per cent on-year, said CRISIL.

Last fiscal, HFC growth was a story of two halves: stunted to just about 2 per cent (annualised) in the first half because of the second wave of the pandemic, and a V-shaped 14 per cent (annualised) growth in the second half.

"Structural factors driving end-user housing demand remain intact this fiscal despite the impact of rising real estate prices and interest rates. This should drive 13-15 per cent growth in the home loan segment. And despite the recent hikes, interest rates remain below previous cycles and haven't impacted customer interest materially," said Krishnan Sitaraman, Senior Director and Deputy Chief Ratings Officer, CRISIL Ratings.

Despite the growth, housing finance companies are expected to continue losing home-loan market share to banks amid stiff competition.

While access to funding is not a big challenge for most housing financiers, competitive borrowing cost is crucial versus banks, which benefit from low-cost deposit funding.

HFCs have already conceded 400 basis points market-share to banks over the past four fiscals resulting in banks' share rising to 62 per cent as of March 2022.

This trend is unlikely to reverse in the near term. Banks are expected to gain market share further with HDFC Ltd, the largest HFC, set to merge with HDFC Bank next fiscal.

The ability of HFCs to compete with banks in the traditional salaried-home-loan segment remains a challenge given their relatively higher funding costs.

HFCs are expected to increasingly partner with banks and leverage each other's strengths to grow their books. Some HFCs are already moving in this direction. Therefore, asset/on-book growth is likely to be lower compared with AUM growth.

Meanwhile, one segment where HFCs have been growing relatively faster is affordable housing loans, where competition from banks is limited.

Affordable housing financiers (AHFCs), therefore, have seen relatively better growth of 12-15 per cent in the recent past despite moderation from earlier levels. Given their relatively smaller footprint and large underlying demand, AHFCs are expected to keep growing faster than traditional HFCs.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 14 (IANS) State-owned lender, State Bank of India (SBI) hit the Rs 5 lakh crore market capitalisation on Wednesday after its shares touched a record high of Rs 564.45.

With this market capitalisation, SBI stood on the seventh position in the market capitalisation ranking.

SBI has become the third lender in the country to cross the market cap of Rs 5 lakh crore.

HDFC Bank held first rank in this list, which was followed by ICICI Bank.

At 1.10 p.m., SBI shares were up Rs 14.75 or 2.64 per cent at Rs 573.00.

Meanwhile, Sensex was trading 126.21 points or 0.21 per cent down at 60,444.87, and Nifty was 32.90 points or 0.18 per cent down at 18,037.15.

--IANS
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Mogadishu, Sep 14 (IANS) The UN migration agency, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has said it requires more than $50 million to reach 2.5 million people affected by the drought by the end of 2023.

IOM's Deputy Director General Amy Pope, who ended a four-day visit to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, and Baidoa, said on Tuesday that the crisis in Somalia is deepening, noting that with the fifth failed rainy season imminent, humanitarian actors require greater resources to help communities in need survive, rebuild and foster resilience.

Pope added in a statement issued in Mogadishu that the situation in Somalia which is facing severe drought demands the world's urgent attention, solidarity, and support, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The communities I met are being devastated by climatic change, despite Somalia being one of the least contributors to global emissions. Millions do not have sufficient water or food. Hundreds of thousands of people could die," she said.

According to Pope, time is running out for Somalia where rural communities are facing the dire consequences of a climate emergency as they grapple with decades of instability, disease and economic crises.

Without a rapid increase in assistance, the Somalia Food Security and Nutrition analysis which was launched last week projects that famine will be a reality in parts of the country by October.

The drought has forced more than 1 million people to leave their homes in search of water, food, and humanitarian services, according to the UN.

According to IOM, over 80 per cent of the displaced are women, children and the elderly who are bearing the brunt of the crisis, and most people have settled in towns and cities where support services are already greatly overstretched, and sanitation is poor.

The last famine in Somalia was declared just over ten years ago in 2011, which led to the death of an estimated 250,000 people.

The current drought has already claimed the lives of at least 730 children, but the true figure could be much higher, as 7.8 million people are facing extreme food shortages, the IOM said.

"Without sufficient funding, millions of people in Somalia will be left to suffer the fallout of devastating hunger, disease and displacement. The impact of this crisis will be felt by generations to come," Pope said.

--IANS
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San Francisco, Sep 13 (IANS) Twitter shareholders on Tuesday voted to approve Tesla CEO Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover bid.

The vote came as Musk's lead team is in a court battle to get out of the deal.

Twitter confirmed that a preliminary count shows it has enough votes to approve the deal, reports The Verge.

Twitter has sued Musk for allegedly breaching the deal agreement.

The vote lets Twitter continue with a lawsuit intended to make Musk close the acquisition.

The legal battle is expected to start in mid-October.

The approval means that Musk and Twitter will proceed to an October trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

"Twitter will push to close the deal regardless, alleging that Musk's complaints are merely a pretext for backing out," the report mentioned.

The vote case as Twitter whistleblower Peter Zatko testified at a US Senate committee.

The Tesla CEO is also trying to buy more time from the court to kick off the Twitter trial, set for October 17, citing the testimony by Zatko.

Musk's legal team has proposed a new timeline that would push the week-long trial to late November.

The former Twitter security head has alleged that Twitter misled regulators about its security practices and actual number of bot accounts.

Musk has said that the testimony of Twitter whistleblower justifies his termination of the $44 billion deal to buy the micro-blogging platform.

--IANS
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Munich, Sep 13 (IANS) Efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to rope in major investments from Germany bore fruit on Tuesday as auto giant BMW agreed to set up its auto part manufacturing unit in state.

A decision to this effect was taken during the Chief Minister's visit to the BMW headquarters here.

During the visit, Mann showcased Punjab government's work to promote industry in the state after which BMW agreed to set up its auto component unit in state.

Buoyed over it, Mann said this will be the second unit of the company in India as already one such unit was operational in Chennai.

He said this will give a major boost to industrial growth of the state and open new vistas of employment for youth.

The Chief Minister also invited BMW to collaborate with the state in the e-mobility sector.

He was apprised that e-mobility is a major sector of focus for the auto giant which targets 50 per cent of its global sales to consist of fully electric vehicles by 2030 under the leadership of Chairman of the Board of Management, BMW AG, Oliver Zipse.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) Endowed with abundant natural produce, various parts of India often face the challenge of too much stubble. Making proper use of stubble, the country started making biofuels out of it.

Biofuels promote greenery and protect nature. These are not only nature friendly but also promotes the contribution of farmers in protecting the environment. This also boosts the use of alternative fuels.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a second generation (2G) ethanol plant at Haryana's Panipat.

On one side, India produces abundant paddy and wheat but its stubble is not fully utilised. The bio-fuel plant at Panipat will not only dispose off the stubble without burning it but will have multiple benefits.

Dedicating the 2G ethanol plant at Panipat to the country, the Prime Minister said: "The bio-fuel plant of Panipat will also be able to dispose off the stubble without burning it. Stubble which was a burden for the farmers, and was a cause of concern, would become a means of additional income for them. Pollution will be reduced, and the contribution of farmers to protecting the environment will increase further."

The priorities of the Central government include increasing the income of farmers as well as promoting an alternative to petrol, diesel, and gas. This plant reflects the same commitment.

This plant will reduce pollution in Delhi, Haryana, and the National Capital Region.

India needs abundant energy for growth and prosperity. Strong efforts were initiated in the last few years to become self reliant in the field of energy. The dedication of the plant is part of a long series of steps taken by the government over the years to boost the production and usage of biofuels in the country. This is in line with the Prime Minister's constant endeavour to transform the energy sector into being more affordable, accessible, efficient, and sustainable.

The 2G ethanol plant has been built at an estimated cost of over Rs 900 crore by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

Based on state-of-the-art indigenous technology, the project will turn a new chapter in India's waste-to-wealth endeavours by utilising about 2 lakh tonnes of rice straw annually to generate around 3 crore litres of ethanol annually.

Creating an end-use for the agri-crop residue would empower farmers and provide an additional income generation opportunity.

Due to the mixing of ethanol in petrol, in the last seven-eight years, about Rs 50,000 crore of the country have been saved from going abroad. And about the same amount has gone to the farmers of our country because of ethanol blending.

Till eight years ago only 40 crore litres of ethanol was produced in the country; now this production is about 400 crore litres.

The project will provide direct employment to people involved in the plant operation and indirect employment will be generated in the supply chain for rice straw cutting, handling, storage among others.

By reducing the burning of rice straw, the project will reduce Greenhouse Gases equivalent to about 3 lakh tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent emissions per annum, which can be understood as equivalent to replacing nearly 63,000 cars annually on the country's roads.

Gas is reaching through pipes to more than a crore households. The country is also working on the goal that in the next few years, more than 75 per cent of the households in the country will get piped gas.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday issued another circular to further clarify issues arising on deduction of tax at source under the newly-inserted Section 194-R in respect of benefits or perquisites provided to residents in cash or in kind in the course of business or profession.

As per the circular, now bank and financial institutions need not deduct tax at source in respect of benefits provided to its borrowers by waiver of loan or advance by way of one-time settlement.

Similarly, a company in which the public is substantially interested need not deduct tax at source while issuing bonus or rights shares.

The implication of this clarification will be that a company in which public is not substantially interested will be required to deduct tax at source while issuing bonus or rights shares despite such receipt of bonus or right shares being not taxable in the hands of the shareholders.

The reasoning given in this circular for exempting a company in which the public is substantially interested from deduction of tax at source while issuing bonus or rights shares equally applies to a private company in which the public is not substantially interested, experts said.

Experts say this circular may be fishing in troubled waters as it is differentiating between taxpayers. Experts also wonder if by doing that the legislative intent is being bypassed by such circulars.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) While all eyes are on BYJU's much-awaited FY21 financial results that were set to be revealed on Wednesday, the edtech major has registered nearly Rs 9,991 crore in revenues in FY22 and its core K12 education business is growing fast, top sources have revealed.

In six months from February 2022 till July 2022, the company logged Rs 6,175 crore revenue, breaking all previous sales records, three people close to the matter told IANS.

This is a substantial gain from its FY20 financial report, when the company registered revenue of Rs 2,434 crore with a net profit of Rs 51 crore.

BYJU's investors were ecstatic at the company's growth in the core business in the recently-concluded meeting, sources told IANS, as the company logged 50 per cent growth (year-on-year) in its core K12 India business at Rs 1,205 crore, leaving no competition anywhere near it.

After getting acquired by BYJU's for $1 billion last year, Aakash Educational Services (AESL) has transformed into a hybrid edtech firm, expanding rapidly across the country, which is one of the key reasons behind BYJU's FY22 success.

Meanwhile, after nearly 18 months delay of "ironing out the complexities", edtech major BYJU's was all set to reveal its financial report for FY21.

The company had received an 'unqualified' report from auditor Deloitte late last month.

According to sources, there may be a substantial difference between the projected sales and the audited revenue in BYJU's FY21 financial results.

Last valued at $22 billion, BYJU's has so far raised over $6 billion in funding, and aims to file an IPO in the US through the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) route.

The company is likely to raise over $500 million (nearly Rs 3,900 crore) at a valuation of around $23 billion soon.

--IANS
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Monza (Italy), Sep 13 (IANS) Team Principal Toto Wolff is hopeful that Mercedes can push Ferrari for the runner-up spot in the 2022 constructors' standings after "maximizing" their Italian Grand Prix points haul "on a track that doesn't suit the team".

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell started the Monza weekend within reach of the pace-setting Ferrari and Red Bull cars but dropped back as practice wore on and ended qualifying almost one-and-a-half seconds off pole position.

On race day, however, Russell capitalised on a host of grid penalties to convert a front-row start into another podium finish, while Hamilton fought his way through the field from P19 to claim fifth -- adding important points to Mercedes tally.

"I think you (can) see that we are on a track that doesn't suit us, (and) we are clearly third on the road, so (positions) three and five is probably the maximum (result)," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

As for Hamilton's drive from the back of the grid, he added, "It was enjoyable. In the beginning, it looked like [he was] a little bit stuck, but once the tyres came together, he was very quick."

"I think it's all to play for. We just need to do the best every single weekend and see whether we come out second," Wolff said.

Asked if P2 would 'soften the blow' of an otherwise difficult campaign, he said, "Maybe a bit, but there [are] more blows that we are ending up 30 seconds behind the leader, and that is the gap that we need to catch up."

--IANS

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