Month: October 2019

India and Germany to sign 15 MoUs during Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India and Germany are likely to sign 15 MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) during the visit of Chancellor Angela Merkel from November 1 to 2.

“The whole focus of the visit is to elevate the trade partnership and open up new areas for cooperation”, said a diplomatic source. India and Germany are likely to ink MoU’s on civil aviation, smart cities, skill development, artificial intelligence, green and urban mobility, start-ups, strategic projects and agriculture.

Chancellor Merkel will be accompanied by 12 cabinet ministers and a large business delegation as well. The primary focus of the visit is the fifth round of inter-governmental consultations.

Merkel would have a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of officials and a one on one meeting is also scheduled. The German Chancellor will participate in two meetings with business leaders and a visit to Continental’s auto components manufacturing plant in Manesar is also scheduled.

The visit assumes importance in light of the recent resolution passed by the German parliament to upgrade ties with India. In fact, during a discussion in parliament, German foreign minister Heiko Maas described India as a pillar of stability in South Asia.

“It would be dangerous from a European point of view to constrict Asia policy too much to China, especially as we have a partner in India that is much closer to our values and our understanding of democracy”, he said. It is clear that Germany sees India as a natural partner at a time when China’s growth is a concern.

In an interview to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, deputy leader of the Christian Democratic Union Johann Wadephul said, “Although Europeans benefit from business dealings with China, Beijing’s stated aim to become the world’s dominant technological and economic player by 2049 means that China poses a growing economic challenge for Europe.”

Bilateral trade between the two countries stands at approximately $20 billion and German companies have invested $11.7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) since 2000.

Chancellor Merkel would receive a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Sources in the know told CNBC-TV18 that the Chancellor may remain seated during the recital of the national anthem of both countries on account of her medical condition.

“There was a request from the German government to allow the Chancellor to remain seated during the national anthem as she has been having difficulty in standing without support and we have respected the request”, said an official requesting anonymity.

Merkel, who is 65-year-old, has had a spate of trembling bouts in public events. She has been the Chancellor of Germany since the last 14 years and she is likely to step down in 2021.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rupee ends almost flat against US dollar

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The rupee pared its initial gains to close almost flat at 70.92 against the US dollar on Thursday due to dollar buying by importers and banks.

Rising crude prices and month-end dollar demand from oil importers weighed on the rupee sentiment, dealers said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened strong at 70.77 against the US dollar, driven by the US Federal Reserve’s move to lower its interest rates for a third straight time.

The domestic unit, later, gave up gains to settle at 70.92, showing a marginal fall of 2 paise over its previous close.

“Rupee has been trading in the narrow range of 70.68-71.10 for last seven sessions. After positive opening of 6 paise, rupee lost the ground after Dow index fell in the electronic trade in the second half of the session,” said V K Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities.

The BSE Sensex settled 77.18 points, or 0.19 per cent, higher at 40,129.05. The broader NSE Nifty too advanced 33.35 points, or 0.28 per cent, to close at 11,877.45.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,870.87 crore on Thursday, exchange data showed.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.43 per cent to 97.22 after reports suggested that China was doubting reaching a trade deal with the US.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.05 per cent higher at USD 60.64 per barrel.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.45 per cent in morning trade.
The Financial Benchmarks India fixed the reference rate for the US dollar at 70.9915, for the British pound at 91.3594and for the euro at 78.8929. It set the rate Japanese yen at 65.23 for 100 yens.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Gold prices up Rs 115 to Rs 39,017 per 10 gram

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Gold prices on Thursday rose Rs 115 to Rs 39,017 per 10 gram in the national capital on firm global trends, according to HDFC Securities.

On Wednesday, gold had closed at Rs 38,902 per 10 gram.

“Spot gold prices for 24 karat gold in Delhi were quoted higher by Rs 115 up for the day on a weaker rupee and strong international prices,” HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said.

The rupee depreciated by 7 paise to Rs 70.97 during the day.

Silver prices also increased Rs 95 to Rs 47,490 per kg, from Rs 47,395 per kg at the close of the previous trade.

The US Federal Reserve has cut key interest rates in line with the market expectations. However, the Fed has signalled to halt further monetary easing, Patel said.

In the international market, gold was trading higher at USD 1,500 per ounce and silver at USD 18 an ounce.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Yes Bank’s capital raising plans: Will RBI give its approval?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Private sector lenders Yes Bank on Thursday said that it has received a binding offer from a global investor for an investment of $1.2 billion in the bank through fresh issuance of equity shares, subject to regulatory, board and shareholders approvals.

In a statement released to the exchanges, the bank also said that it continues to be in advanced discussions with other global and domestic investors.

A back of the envelope calculation shows that fresh issuance of equity shares to raise $1.2 billion would roughly translate to 33 percent holding in the bank at current market prices. This is where the bank may face hurdles.

RBI Approval A Hurdle?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines on ownership/shareholding in private sector banks currently do not allow a single investor to own more than 10 percent stake in a private bank.

As per the instructions issued by RBI on May 12, 2016, the shareholding patters were split into two broad categories of individuals (natural persons) and legal entities/institutions, and separate limits were stipulated for non-financial and financial institutions, which were divided into diversified and non-diversified institutions.

For the legal entities/institutions category, RBI allowed up to 40 percent shareholding cap for financial institutions that fall under “regulated, well-diversified and listed/supranational institution/public sector undertaking/government” sub-category.

The RBI has also provided for a window under “special circumstances” where the shareholding cap can be “permitted on a case to case basis”.

This 2016 circular reads, “Shareholders may be permitted higher shareholding as per the principles specified in chapter II above subject to the following:

(a) In banks where there are no major regulatory/supervisory concerns, a person may be permitted to acquire higher shareholding, if the same is supported by the Board of the Directors of the concerned bank. In such banks, hostile takeover shall not be permitted.

(b) In banks where there are regulatory/supervisory concerns and, wherein the opinion of the RBI, a change in the ownership/management of the bank is necessary for the interests of the depositors of the bank / public interest, RBI may at its discretion permit a person to acquire higher shareholding, even if the concerned bank’s Board does not support the same. Such a person, may or may not be an existing shareholder.

(c) Any such person who has been permitted by RBI to have higher shareholding than the limits specified in the matrix at paragraph 6 above, shall be required to bring down the shareholding to the level as specified in the matrix, within 12 years from the date of such higher shareholding being permitted, unless RBI has advised in writing to the contrary.

(d) Any person who has been permitted by RBI to have a shareholding of 10 percent or more in a bank, shall be subject to a minimum holding period of five years. Such person shall be free to divest his holdings thereafter unless otherwise required specifically by the Reserve Bank.

There are examples of both stands being taken by RBI. While RBI declined the proposal for a higher than 10 percent shareholding by HDFC Ltd in Bandhan Bank during the Gruh Finance deal, the regulator has in the past made exceptions in the case of Catholic Syrian Bank where it allowed Fairfax Holdings to take 51 percent stake and also LIC to take over majority stake in IDBI Bank.

Ravneet Gill, who took reins of the bank in March this year, was tasked with repairing the bank’s balance sheet and raise confidence capital after RBI ousted it’s founding promoter Rana Kapoor as managing director and chief executive officer of the bank.

The bank’s stock price has been under pressure due to concerns about its asset quality and fell to a decade low of Rs 29.05 on October 1 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Yes Bank’s capital adequacy ratio slipped to at 15.7 percent as of June 30 versus 17.3 percent during the same quarter last year, with Common Equity Tier-1 ratio at 8 percent.

The bank reported a massive quarterly loss in the June quarter, worsened by large provisions for bad loans. It reported gross non-performing assets of 5.01 percent in the quarter ending June 30th compared to 3.22 percent in the previous quarter, while maintaining a watch list of Rs 10,000 crores of exposure, which is potentially at the risk of turning bad.

Given the stress in the bank, and its dire need of capital to tide over the current crisis, RBI may well make an exception with certain conditions.

Commenting on the news, Krishnan ASV, vice-president of SBI Cap Securities told CNBC-TV18 that, “Entire risk of whether Yes Bank survives in its current avatar can now be evaded.”

He added that if RBI makes an exception for Yes Bank and permits a higher shareholding, then it could do so with a sunset clause condition, for instance.

Investor Name Not Disclosed

On October 3, Ravneet Gill, in a conference call with analysts, said, “We have been engaged with the regulator which of course I am not at liberty to discuss over here. But I think the issue is that there are 3 constituencies of investors that we are effectively engaged with. As I mentioned to you, first is private equity, second is certain strategic investors, and the third is family offices.”

Yes Bank has not disclosed the name of this investor who is looking to infuse $1.2 billion into the bank. The identity of this investor will be key. From an RBI point of view, a well-diversified and regulated financial entity or investor is sure to find more favour.

Reports had also suggested that a technology company could potentially pick up a large stake in Yes Bank. If this comes to be true, then RBI would be setting a new precedent by granting such an approval.

For now, the stamp of confidence from this unknown investor was enough to give hope to the investors, sending the stock zooming over 30 percent in trade today.

Krishnan told CNBC-TV18, “We are in an especially weak credit environment. You have seen banks during this earnings season letting investors know that things may not be smooth riding over the rest of FY20. The Yes Bank needs patient capital right now. For every bad news, you can’t keep hammering the stock because then the stock will only go one way. Sometimes the fundamentals need to take over. If this is patient capital, then it will be good news.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explainer: WhatsApp users hit by Pegasus; how does the spyware operate?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Facebook-owned WhatsApp sued Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group this week alleging that it exploited its video calling system to snoop on 1,400 selected users globally.

The micro-blogging platform confirmed that Indian human rights activists and journalists were among those targeted by the spyware and that the company reached out to the affected users this week.

WhatsApp head Will Cathcart said the lawsuit was filed after an investigation showed the Israeli firm’s role the cyberattack, despite its denials.

What is Pegasus and how does it operate and infect devices?

Developed by the Israeli cyber arms firm, NSO Group, Pegasus is a spyware that can be installed on devices running on iOS and Android by sending people malicious “exploit links.” Upon clicking on a malicious link, Pegasus secretly penetrates in the device and it extracts users private data, i.e. it can read text messages, track calls, collect passwords, trace the phone location as well as gather information from apps including (but not limited to) iMessage, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Skype.

According to Citizen Lab, once Pegasus is installed, it begins contacting the operator’s command and control (C&C) servers to receive and execute operators’ commands, and send back the target’s private data, including passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages, and live voice calls from popular mobile messaging apps.

WhatsApp in a blogpost has written, “We sent a special WhatsApp message to approximately 1,400 users that we have reason to believe were impacted by [May 2019] attack to directly inform them about what happened.”

Discovered in August 2016, this spyware has the potential of reading text messages, tracking calls, collecting passwords, tracing the location of the phone, accessing the target device’s microphones and video cameras, and gathering information from apps.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Delhi-based legal tech start-up Lawyered raises $100,000 from angel investors

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Lawyered, a Delhi-based legal tech start-up, has raised $100,000 from a clutch of angel investors. The successful fundraising will help the firm expedite product development, which will enable sustained discoverability for its customers, the company said in a statement.

The fresh funds will also be used to expand market base and clinch new partnerships and collaborations.

Lawyered is a legal-tech discovery platform, which was a part of India Accelerator’s Summer 2018 cohort. Lawyered helps companies, startups, business owners and individuals connect to a legal professional matching their requirements through their platform. It also helps legal professionals in their online and offline outreach enabling them to attain more clients. The company says it doesn’t take service charges or commission.

The angel investors include Pramendra Tomar, Group General Counsel at Apollo International Limited, Ratish Pandey, ex-General Manager at Bose Corporation, Munish Bhatia, ex-CSC and GM at IAC and Sumit Aggarwal, owner of Rainbows.

Said Himanshu Gupta, Founder and CEO of Lawyered: “The key area which Lawyered is transforming is how businesses find lawyers. With ever-increasing population of internet users, consumer demand through the internet is driving big changes in the way we find lawyers. The erstwhile methods like personal connections or word-of-mouth aren’t long-lasting or scalable. This is where Lawyered adds value to its customers.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

The Moneycontrol Pro Great Diwali Discount is Closing Ahead of Schedule. Subscribe Now.

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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All good things must come to an end, unfortunately.

Moneycontrol (MC) has been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to the Moneycontrol Pro Diwali offer, a rare opportunity to access a quality product at an attractive price. Now, MC has decided to close the offer earlier than scheduled. The Offer will now end on Thursday, 7th November.

You know what that means! Subscribe if you have not already. And spread the word among your friends and family. To subscribe, log on to www.moneycontrol.com or the Moneycontrol app (on Android Only) and enter the COUPON CODE: DIWALI to buy a Moneycontrol Pro annual subscription for Rs 289 only.

iPhone users can also avail this offer by first subscribing on the desktop by applying the above coupon code and then using the same user-id to login on iPhone.

For those new to the story, Moneycontrol Pro is the premium subscription service from Moneycontrol, part of the Network18 Group. Its USPs include insights, trends, ideas and analyses that help you in creating personal wealth and make informed investment decisions. In just 5 months since launch, it is amongst the largest news subscription service in India offering many other benefits.

Moneycontrol Pro helps the discerning investor in cutting through an information overload and provides not just actionable investment ideas, but also other elements that go into making an informed decision.

Moneycontrol Pro (which works as an in-app purchase and is also available on non-app platforms) offers subscribers curated markets data, exclusive trading recommendations, independent equity analysis, and actionable investment ideas.

Our editors parse news, trends and data to bring you daily insights and opinion for you to stay on top of the game.

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Be sure to subscribe soon and join the Moneycontrol Pro community.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Better with Age: How two women launched new enterprises midlife

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Are you over 50 and thinking of moving away from a career or corporate work to set up your own business? Would you be ready for the challenges ahead?

The growth of new female solo-preneurs over the age of 50 in the Western world just keeps on growing. They are stepping out from the shadow of their families and becoming leaders. Women at this stage in life are more passionate, engaged, take greater risks and therefore make a greater impact.

Two midlife entrepreneurs share their business lessons with us.

Sarah Sparks

“Choose to Thrive” is UK-based Sarah Sparks’ long-standing motto for the past 20 years. As a well-known public speaker, she advocates the concept of ‘thriving at work’, and teaches the skills of being an effective leader and a high-performance person for the long term, not just for life peaks.

Sarah says, “You need to have a sustainable strategy. I was a victim of burnout and there was huge collateral damage from not paying attention. Not only did it affect my work career, but also my finances and personal relationships. Successful entrepreneurs focus on something they are passionate about. It gives them the extra energy to get across their message. The burnout experience was the making of me although it was painful to go through at the time.”

Sarah admits she found the shift from the corporate world into the entrepreneurial world a real shock to the system. “I did not appreciate just how much of the infrastructure I relied upon – whether it was the person who cleaned the bathroom, to the IT guy who could fix any computer glitch. When I worked at Goldman Sachs, all I had to do was turn up and do my job; the rest was done by others. Now I have to do literally everything. It takes time.”

Sarah shares three tips for startup founders:

Protect your sleep

Statistics say that entrepreneurs are four times more likely to burn out than the rest of the population. One of the reasons is the lack of sleep boundaries. Being an entrepreneur is tough; there is no pay when you are sick or on holiday, which causes more worry and stress.

Sarah says, “When you are responsible for bringing in the paycheck each day, extra hours seem compulsory. We all sacrifice sleep from time to time to get things done, yet doing it all of the time is the issue. Make it the exception to the rule, not the other way around. If you are sleep deprived, you cannot function well and it takes longer for tasks to be completed. Lack of sleep can also increase the chances of developing future conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or Alzheimer’s.”

Chase the Green

Know what you do with your daily 24 hours. Included in those 1440 minutes a day is a magic element called ‘time out’: time to breathe deeply, down tools and have a FAB break (Fluid Adjustment Break). Spend a moment in nature, stretch, sing, meditate, anything that allows you to switch off from stress. It’s doesn’t have to be long yet it will have such a huge impact on your mind, body and business.

Morning Routine

Says Sarah: “Be on top of your day, do not allow your day to be on top of you! Most people immediately pick up their phone upon waking up. Did you know you will be 26 per cent less productive than those that don’t? Have a morning routine that allows you to reflect and ask yourself the WIN question (What’s Important Now?). This allows you to realise that what was important yesterday may not be today, and then allows you to decide what must get done today.”

Follow Sarah on Facebook

Marjut Valtanen

Marjut Valtanen, originally from Finland, worked for years in the global corporate world. Now, however, she focuses on what she can give back to others. Her advice is simple: make goals, plans or phases, and break them down into doable actions.

Says Marjut: “If you really have the desire to change the work you do, listen to that feeling and have a go. This is the only way to have a life of no regrets. Most people stop right at this stage, because they have not created a plan to move forward. You may be afraid of how to pay the daily bills, yet planning helps calm these fears and find answers to your insecurities.”

Phase One: Be Prepared

First, Marjut made a five-year plan for herself while still working for Nokia in Singapore. She began saving money by making lifestyle changes. “I carried on working and at the same time started a volunteer agency focusing on environmental conservation. With such a plan, I was able to stop my consultancy work after two years,” she narrates.

She also built her network. “Contacts are what you make your business on,” she says.

Phase Two: Follow Your Passion

Marjut’s next plan evolved around the start of her own company. “Seven years ago, I came to Tanzania and loved it immediately. I saw an opportunity to create a business and make a difference in other people’s lives,” she says. “Aid is not the answer to alleviating poverty in Africa; all it does is fuels corruption. I wanted to work in Africa, yet a new country meant new challenges.”

But Marjut’s first business attempt failed miserably. “Failure is good and an important part of being an entrepreneur. Failure is also where you confirm your passion. I persevered and found people I could rely on and together we designed handmade products suitable for export. Little by little, I began to make head ground.”

Phase Three: Ask Questions

“There are so many opportunities in Africa, it can be difficult to decide what to focus on,” says Marjut. “Who I will work with? How will I work and in which direction do I want this to go? Women need support in Tanzania to understand how to grow their business, so what is the best way to do this?”

With the help of co-founders Jen and Asya, her project ‘Wifi Zanzibar’ is taking form. It offers local women an opportunity to showcase and sell products as well as test the market with very little cost. “My phase three will be all about getting curious about all of the above questions. I can only do this if I put a time limit in place. I have given myself six months to find the answers. See you on the other side.”

Follow Marjut on Facebook

Kay Newton is an award-winning speaker, writer and midlife strategist. Follow her on KayNewton.com.

First published in eShe magazine

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Jio opposes telcos’ bailout, says Airtel, Vodafone Idea have capacity to pay dues

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio on Thursday strongly opposed any bailout to telecom companies at taxpayer’s expense and asserted that telcos should be mandated to deposit their dues within the court-stipulated timeline of three months, as they have the capacity to comfortably clear their liabilities.

In a letter to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday, Jio argued that even an unlikely event of failure of two operators will not have an adverse impact on the sector dynamics given the “existence of vibrant competition including the presence of the PSUs” as well as absence of any restriction on entry of new operators.

Jio said it did not agree with COAI’s alarmist views that telecom sector will collapse in the absence of immediate relief by the government. Jio had shot off a strongly-worded letter to Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Wednesday, blasting the telecom lobby for writing a letter to the government regarding an “alleged unprecedented” crisis in the sector and acting in the sole interests of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Idea.

COAI on Tuesday urged a newly formed panel of secretaries to prescribe immediate relief measures to address the Supreme Court ruling on the so-called adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue first, given the ‘urgency of the situation’.

It also lambasted industry body COAI for writing to government “under the influence of two of its members in furtherance of their vested interests” and accused the association of acting as a “mouthpiece of two service providers” and harbouring a negative bias towards Jio.

Launching a full-fledged attack on Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) for writing ex-parte to the government on the financial distress in the sector, Jio said the body was “blackmailing” to “extract relief from the government” after all legal recourse had expired.

Read the full text of Reliance Jio’s letter to COAI

“We submit that the so-called affected service providers have sufficient financial capacity to pay the government dues by monetising their existing assets/investments and by issuing fresh equity in their companies,” it wrote in the letter to Prasad.

Jio said it “strongly disagrees with COAI submission that in absence of immediate relief by the government the telecom sector will collapse and there would be unprecedented crisis in the sector as two of the three private operators will be facing extreme financial crisis.”

“We submit that COAI has used threatening and blackmailing tone with the government by referring to possible job loss, quality of service loss and loss of investment in the sector and its contentions border on contempt of Supreme Court judgement, especially when the Supreme Court has prescribed three months’ time to deposit the due amount,” it said.

“COAI is clearly insinuating that if the immediate relief by doing away with all legal financial obligations emerging from the Supreme Court’s judgment in adjusted gross revenue case is not provided, the two operators might stop operations. We request the government to strongly rebuff such suggestions and insinuations,” it wrote.

Operators face no constraint of making funds available to pay-off their legal obligations, the issue seems to be only with the intent, Jio alleged.
Jio — the new and the most aggressive member of the telecom clan — contended that the COAI does not represent the industry and urged the government not to accept it as an association of telecom service providers.

“A plain reading of the COAI letter imminently insinuates and casts unwarranted and undue aspersions against RJIL, when there’s no need or a cause for it any manner whatsoever. This makes the entire effort of COAI, a ‘sham’ exercise at the behest of and perpetuating the vested interests of the two select members alone,” Jio said.

Jio said that its promoters have made an equity investment of Rs 1.75 lakh crores in the sector, whereas equity investment by Airtel and Vodafone-Idea has been inadequate, and added that failure of older operators cannot be blamed on the government.

Jio said that the service providers are themselves responsible for their current condition and pointed out that the government should not be obliged to bail them out of their own commercial failure and financial mismanagement. Jio also charged operators of “forum shopping to get relief by threatening the Government”, despite being internally prepared for the situation.

“…we request the Government to reject the COAI demand for a financial relief on the Supreme Court Judgement and their other outstanding liabilities including the spectrum payments etc. and all operators should be mandated to deposit applicable amounts within the three months time period, as mandated by Supreme Court,” Jio said.

It suggested that other industry issues of rationalisation of levies and taxes and GST credit could be considered by the government, but urged that that COAI should not be allowed to mix these legitimate issues with its demand for investment infusing financial package for the industry.

The Supreme Court last week upheld the government’s position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses in calculating the annual Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of telecom companies, a share of which is paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.

While Bharti Airtel faces a liability of around Rs 42,000 crore after including licence fees and spectrum usage charges, Vodafone-Idea may have to pay about Rs 40,000 crore. Jio may have to pay around Rs 14 crore.

(With PTI inputs)

Disclaimer: RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow