Business News

Several neighborhoods in South Delhi will now receive water only once daily instead of twice, as part of a water rationing strategy announced by Water Minister Atishi on Tuesday. This decision affects areas like Greater Kailash, Lajpat Nagar, Panchsheel Park, Hauz Khas, Chittaranjan Park, and nearby locations. The change will remain in effect until the water supply situation improves. "I know that where water is being supplied twice a day, people will be troubled if it is cut off for once a day, but I appeal to all Delhiites that we should not think only about ourselves. We should think about everyone," minister Atishi said.North and South West Delhi, including Mehrauli and Chattarpur, are also facing significant water challenges this summer amid a prolonged heatwave in northwest India as temperature in outskirts of Delhi soared closer to 50 degrees. The situation has been exacerbated by Haryana's cessation of Yamuna water releases to Delhi since the beginning of May, the minister claimed. In the Delhi Jal Board's (DJB) summer bulletin on Tuesday, it was reported that the city's total water production was at 978 million gallons per day (MGD), with Wazirabad producing 110 MGD against a capacity of 131 MGD. Although there was a slight improvement from Monday's production of 969.32 MGD, Wazirabad's issues continue to impact the overall supply.Minister Atishi called for "collective responsibility," urging residents to avoid wasteful water use, such as washing vehicles with open pipes. She warned that if these voluntary measures are ineffective, the government might issue fines for water wastage in the coming days.Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva blamed the severe water shortage on the incompetence of the AAP government, pointing fingers at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Water Minister Atishi. Sachdeva criticized the government's failure to manage the water crisis .Delhi AAP govt blames HaryanaIn response, Minister Atishi accused Haryana of not releasing Delhi's share of water since May 1 and announced various measures, including water supply rationalization across the national capital. During a press conference, Atishi highlighted that many Delhi areas are struggling with water shortages and appealed to residents to use water sparingly. The Delhi government is in continuous discussions with Haryana to resolve the issue and if no progress is made soon, they may approach the Supreme Court, the minister said."Haryana has stopped release of Delhi's share of water. The water level at Wazirabad was 674.5 feet on May 1. This is the average level that should be maintained. Last year in April, May, and June, the minimum level was maintained at 674.5 feet," Atishi said.Providing data, Atishi noted that by May 8, Wazirabad's water level had decreased to 672 feet, and by May 20, it was at 671 feet, further declining to 669.8 feet on the day of the announcement. To cope with the shortage, borewells that previously operated for six to seven hours are now running for 14 hours, and the number of water tankers has been increased.

Nvidia's shares rallied around 6% to hit a record high on Tuesday, leaving the AI chipmaker's stock market value about $100 billion away from overtaking Apple in a major reshuffle of Wall street's biggest players. Last trading at $1,128, Nvidia's market capitalization reached $2.8 trillion, compared to a market value of $2.9 trillion for Apple, which is Wall Street's second-most valuable company after Microsoft. Its stock surged as much as 8% to $1,149.39 during the session, an intra-day record high. Apple's stock was down 0.2% in afternoon trading. Nvidia's shares have surged nearly 13% since it forecast second-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations last week and announced a stock split, which excited investors as they continue to bet on the AI poster child. "The market has been struggling to keep up with the company's ever improving growth trajectory. At a mid-thirties forward earnings multiple, this still doesn't feel like bubble territory," said Derren Nathan, head of equity analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown. Nvidia recently traded at 36 times its forward profit estimates, compared with 38 for Advanced Micro Devices and 21 for Intel, according to LSEG data. The company's shares have more than doubled so far this year after more than tripling last year. Nvidia, which has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, reported a five-fold jump in revenue at its data center segment last week as customers line up for their high-performance chips. Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon.com and other technology companies have been competing for a limited supply of Nvidia's high-end chips as they race to dominate AI computing. "Business is doing incredibly well, there are so many opportunities to keep growing, and the AI theme still has legs. When the song is that catchy, investors want to keep humming it all day long, said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell when asked about the stock's rally. Long considered a must-own stock on Wall Street, Apple has underperformed other Big Tech companies in recent months, falling around 2% this year as it struggles with weak iPhone demand and tough competition in China. Microsoft overtook Apple as the world's most valuable company earlier this year as it raced ahead of other tech firms due to gains made by early investments in artificial intelligence across its cloud services. Microsoft's shares were down 0.4% on Tuesday, giving it a market value of $3.1 trillion. Apple has also been slower in rolling out generative AI, which can generate human-like responses to written prompts, than rivals such as Microsoft and Google, which are weaving them into products.

Adani Group chairman, Gautam Adani, is likely considering acquiring a stake in Paytm's parent company One97 Communications, reported The Times of India quoting sources familiar with the matter. As per the report, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma visited Adani at his office in Ahmedabad to "finalise the contours of a deal" on Tuesday.However, Paytm has denied any such discussion in an exchange filing. Vijay Shekhar Sharma has no plans to sell personal stake in One97 Communications, reported ETNow quoting its sources.Shares of Paytm's parent co One97 Communications jumped 5% at open on BSE. It was trading at 359.55 rupees, up 4.99% at 9:21 am while BSE Sensex was dow 318 points.If the said deal is successfully negotiated, it will signify the ports-to-airports conglomerate's entry into the fintech industry, and it will position it against competitors like Google Pay, Walmart-owned PhonePe, and Mukesh Ambani's Jio Financial. Quoting the sources the report said that Adani and Sharma have been in talks for an extended period, with their recent meeting at Adani Corporate House in Ahmedabad on Tuesday focusing on "finalising the contours of the deal."The reported sources also mentioned that Adani is engaging with West Asian funds to attract them as investors in One 97, the company that pioneered mobile payments in India.Vijay Shekhar Sharma holds approximately 19 percent of One 97 Communications, with his stake valued at Rs 4,218 crore based on the stock's closing price of Rs 342 per share on Tuesday. He directly owns 9 percent of Paytm and another 10 percent through Resilient Asset Management, a foreign entity. According to One 97's stock exchange filings, both Sharma and Resilient are classified as public shareholders. 110516844Other major shareholders of One 97 include the private equity fund Saif Partners, holding 15%, Antfin Netherlands, founded by Jack Ma, with a 10% stake, and the company's directors, who collectively own 9%.Founded by Sharma in 2007, One 97's IPO was the second largest in the country, and the company currently has a market capitalization of over Rs 21,000 crore.The Paytm OdysseyOne 97 was initially a recharge platform which later transitioned its payment and merchant acquiring operations to Paytm Payments Bank (PPBL).However, RBI barred Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) from accepting deposits, credit transactions or top-ups in any customer accounts, wallets, and FASTags, keeping in view the interest of customers, including merchants from March 15 onwards. The company shifted its focus to UPI payments, distribution, and merchant acceptance.Earlier this month, One97 said its losses widened to Rs 550 crore. The company had posted a loss of Rs 167.5 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing."Our fourth quarter FY24 results were impacted by temporary disruption on account of UPI transition etc. and permanent disruption because of the PPBL embargo. Paytm reported a revenue of Rs 2,267 crore, a modest decline of 3 per cent Y-o-Y (year-on-year). Our contribution margin was 57 per cent including UPI incentives, and 51 per cent excluding UPI incentives," Paytm said in a statement.Paytm also warned of job cuts and said it would trim non-core assets after reporting its first sales decline on record, reflecting fallout from a regulatory probe.

Mumbai: Edgy over Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group's plans to roll over pledged Tata Sons shares to refinance over $2 billion debt, Tata Trusts has, for the first time, officially said these are non-transferable. The Trusts, which holds a controlling 66% in group holding company Tata Sons, is worried about possible litigation with lenders over enforcing the security in case SP Group defaults. "As is publicly known, Tata Sons' shares are not freely transferable," said Tata Trusts chief executive Siddharth Sharma in response to ET's emailed queries on the Trusts' legal position on the matter.SP Group, promoted by the Mistry family, has pledged its entire 18.5% in Tata Sons held through two entities to secure monies from private credit funds such as Ares and Farallon. Additionally, it needs to raise funds for a separate repayment due in three months and refinance existing high-cost borrowings. Lenders are assessing whether the shares can be pledged further as enforceability remains uncertain. They are, however, taking comfort from the fact that the shares have been pledged thrice in the past, said people with knowledge of the matter.110516287Shapoorji Pallonji Group has also offered additional assets as collateral and is currently in advanced talks with Power Finance Corp (PFC) to raise over $2 billion in debt.SP Group didn’t respond to queries.The board of Tata Trusts has been concerned over the rollover of these shares among lenders, said an executive aware of the matter. “There has also been angst over SP Group cashing in on the equity of the Tata Sons shares. But SP Group says they have a right to use it as they will, as bona fide shareholders,” another executive said.SP Group entity Evangelos Ventures raised $1.5 billion from Ares and Farallon in 2021 and 2022. This is priced at 22% and goes up to 28% if not refinanced by March 31, 2025, when it matures. The group is exploring refinancing options with several lenders to bring down the cost.“Refinancing above 18.75% will increase costs for the debt raised at (group company) Goswami Infratech. So, the group is in talks with PFC to refinance its debt and raise new loans at a lower rate,” said a source.In September this year, SP Group has to make a scheduled payment of about $216 million for Goswami Infratech’s $1.7-billion raise via non-convertible bonds last year.Subject of DebateTata Sons Articles of Association 57-61 regulate the transfer of shares in the event of a shareholder default, said officials close to the matter.However, the pledged shares matter could be the subject of a legal case, as it wasn’t dealt with explicitly in the Supreme Court ruling of March 26, 2021, over Mistry’s dismissal, in favour of Tata group.“Tata Trusts can legally challenge the group, if need be, on the shares pledge,” said Ashish Kumar Singh, partner at Capstone Legal. “The subject matter of the case before the Supreme Court was not directly related to pledge of shares, which is the reason why an interlocutory application was required to be filed to bring it to the notice of the court. Mere dismissal of the interlocutory application does not necessarily bar the parties from agitating the issue again.”Shapoorji Pallonji Group, though, maintains there is no restriction on its ownership over the shares and the right to raise capital against them, in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling.“Also, there have been no defaults till date and the group is committed to working on reducing its debt as early as possible,” said a person close to SP Group.Tata Trusts may have to make the challenge before the National Company Law Tribunal or a high court, said Singh.Once close associates, the Tata and SP groups have been opposed to each other following the late Cyrus Mistry's ouster as Tata Sons chairman in October 2016. Since then, the Mistry family’s Tata holding has been a bone of contention.

Mumbai: Adani Group's promoter entities, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, increased their stakes in two listed entities - Adani Enterprises and Adani Green Energy - in May ahead of a proposed fundraising programme for some of its group firms.According to NSE data, promoter entities bought 72.70 lakh shares of flagship company Adani Enterprises worth ₹2,162 crore and 1.39 crore shares of Adani Green Energy worth ₹2,507 crore in multiple tranches between May 10 and May 23.Adani Enterprises and Adani Energy Solutions are in the process of finalising their fund raising plans. On Tuesday, the board of Adani Enterprises approved raising ₹16,600 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) and other methods. A day earlier, Adani Energy Solutions approved raising ₹12,500 crore through QIP and other methods.According to NSE data, Adani group entity Emerging Market Investment DMCC bought shares worth ₹764 crore in Adani Enterprises, while Kempas Trade and Investment acquired shares worth ₹1,398 crore in the company. Similarly, Ardour Investment Holding bought shares worth ₹1,599 crore in Adani Green Energy, while another group entity, Adani Tradelines, bought shares worth ₹908 crore.110515856As on March 31, promoters owned 72.61% in Adani Enterprises and 56.37% in Adani Green.Last month, the Adani Group increased its stake in Ambuja Cements by 3.6% through conversion of warrants, taking its stake in the company to 70.3%. The group converted the remaining warrants worth ₹8,339 crore.The Adani family sold shares in several group companies in the first-half of 2023 following an adverse report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg in January. The report alleged accounting fraud and stock price manipulation within the group, triggering a stock market rout that erased about $ 150 billion in market value at its lowest point. The Adani group denied all the allegations.In the first tranche, the Adani family sold stakes worth $1.87 billion in four listed group companies to the US-based boutique investment firm GQG Partners in March.