Category: Business & Economy

In November this year, India made a big leap in coal production! It produced 90.62 million tonnes (MT) of coal, up from 84.52 MT last year. That’s a fantastic increase of 7.20%!

Captive and other companies contributed significantly, producing 17.13 MT in November 2024, which is a whopping 37.69% more than the 12.44 MT last November.

So far this year (from April to November), India has produced 628.03 MT of coal, an increase from 591.32 MT during the same time last year. That’s a 6.21% growth!

Coal dispatches (the coal sent out for use) also improved. In November 2024, dispatches reached 85.22 MT, compared to 82.07 MT last year—a rise of 3.85%. Dispatches from captive and other sources jumped to 16.58 MT from 13.19 MT, marking a 25.73% increase.

For the fiscal year 2024-25, so far, total dispatches reached 657.75 MT, up from 623.78 MT last year, a growth of 5.45%.

The Ministry of Coal pointed out that coal imports for blending purposes dropped to 9.79 MT this year, down from 10.70 MT last year, which is an 8.5% decline. This shows India’s commitment to becoming more self-sufficient in coal production and relying less on imports. Yet, India still needs some imports, especially for coking coal and high-grade thermal coal, which are not enough in domestic reserves. These imports are crucial for important industries like steel.

Top car companies like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Toyota Kirloskar reported better sales in November, thanks to the wedding season, strong rural demand, and popular SUVs. However, Hyundai experienced a small drop in sales.

Maruti Suzuki sold 141,312 cars, a 5% increase from last year’s 134,158. They said this growth came from several factors: wedding season, strong rural sales, new special editions, and people continuing to buy SUVs. They also mentioned that the demand in rural areas rose to 48.7%, which is 2.2% higher than last year. However, in cities, they noticed that customers were waiting for better year-end offers before buying, causing a slight slowdown from October.

Maruti’s SUVs, which include Brezza, Ertiga, Grand Vitara, and XL6, sold 59,003 units compared to 49,016 last November. But, their smaller models like Alto and S-Presso saw sales drop from 9,959 to 9,750 units. The sales of compact cars like Baleno and Swift also fell from 64,679 to 61,373 units.

Tata Motors announced that their sales, including electric vehicles, rose by 2% to 47,063 units from 46,068 in November last year. Toyota’s sales jumped dramatically by 44%, reaching 25,586 units compared to 17,818 last year. Toyota mentioned that their wide range of cars meets different customer needs.

On the other hand, Hyundai Motor India reported a 2% decline in sales to 48,246 units, down from 49,451 last November, with exports down by 20% to 13,006 units. They did manage to achieve a record high for their rural sales, hitting 22.1%. SUVs made up 68.8% of their total sales.

Meanwhile, JSW MG Motor India saw a 20% increase in sales, reaching 6,019 units. Their electric vehicle, the Windsor, continued to perform well, with 3,144 sales. New energy vehicles made up a significant 70% of their sales, highlighting their importance to the company.

Nithin Kamath, the CEO of Zerodha, has shared important advice about keeping your money safe in the stock market. Recently, there have been more scams where people try to trick others into losing their money. Kamath wants to help everyone avoid these frauds.

Here are his top tips:

– Don’t Trust Too Easily: Always be careful when someone promises to help you get rich quickly. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

– Do Your Homework: Before investing your money, research and understand where you are putting it. Make sure the company and its products are real.

– Stay Informed: Learn about how the stock market works. The more you know, the better you can protect yourself from scams.

– Use Reliable Platforms: Choose trustworthy trading platforms like Niftystat. These are safer and have better protections against fraud.

Kamath encourages everyone to be smart and cautious when dealing with money in the stock market. Listening to his advice can help you avoid falling into traps set by scammers.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to keep interest rates the same in its upcoming meeting, set for December 4 to 6, 2024. This is because inflation (how much prices are rising) has gone above the safe limit of 6%, and there have been disappointing reports about how fast the country’s economy is growing.

The RBI, led by Governor Shaktikanta Das, has kept the interest rate steady at 6.5% since February 2023. Experts believe it might reduce rates in February 2025 if inflation shows signs of going down. Madan Sabnavis, the Chief Economist at Bank of Baroda, suggests that given the uncertain global situation and rising inflation, the RBI is likely to hold the interest rate steady this time.

India’s economy has recently grown at its slowest pace in two years, with an increase of only 5.4% in the last quarter, mainly due to poor performances in manufacturing and mining. Despite this, India is still the fastest-growing large economy. Aditi Nayar from ICRA believes the RBI will keep the interest rate unchanged even though growth numbers were disappointing.

The government wants the RBI to keep inflation, based on retail prices, at about 4%, with some room to go up or down. The RBI last raised the rate in February 2023, and it chose not to make any changes in its last review in October due to high food prices.

Dhruv Agarwala, CEO of Housing.com and PropTiger.com, thinks the RBI faces a tough challenge between boosting economic growth and controlling inflation. Although inflation might seem too high for a rate cut, ongoing concerns about slow growth might influence the RBI to reconsider.

Upasna Bhardwaj from Kotak Mahindra Bank highlighted that poor GDP growth reflects disappointing earnings from companies, and while there might be small improvements, overall growth will still fall short of the RBI’s earlier estimates.

In summary, the RBI is likely to keep interest rates steady as it navigates between rising inflation and slowing economic growth.

Billionaire Gautam Adani, head of the Adani Group, spoke out on Saturday about serious accusations from U.S. prosecutors, saying that challenges only make him stronger. While attending the Gem and Jewellery Awards in Jaipur, he mentioned, “Recently, we faced allegations about following laws at Adani Green Energy. This isn’t the first time we’ve faced issues. I can assure you that every challenge makes us tougher and turns obstacles into opportunities.”

Adani denied the claims, emphasizing that no one from his company has been charged with breaking the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or trying to hide the truth. He noted that in today’s world, negative news spreads quickly, but he remains committed to following the rules.

The U.S. claims that Adani and his team were involved in a scheme to pay over $250 million in bribes to Indian officials for solar energy contracts. They also alleged that Adani made false statements to U.S. investors about the company’s anti-bribery measures.

In response to the accusations, the Adani Group labeled them as “baseless.” The political situation in India has heated up, with opposition parties, especially the Congress party, calling for an investigation into Adani.

The Indian government stated that the bribery allegations are a legal matter between the U.S. and private companies. “We see this as a legal issue involving private firms and the U.S. Department of Justice. We weren’t informed beforehand and have not discussed it with the U.S. government,” said Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

New Delhi: The government of Andhra Pradesh, led by N Chandrababu Naidu, is reviewing important documents about a huge solar power project with Adani Green Energy (AGEL) that provides 7,000 MW of energy. They discovered that the previous government, led by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, made quick decisions about the project, raising some eyebrows.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) initially contacted Andhra Pradesh’s government on September 15, 2021, about acquiring solar power. Just one day later, on September 16, the Cabinet approved the proposal.

Fast forward a bit, on November 5, the Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Corporation (APCPDCL) told the state’s energy regulatory authority, APERC, to proceed with the project. This normally involves a detailed approval process that can take months, especially since public hearings are part of it. For example, a similar project took about six months to get approval. However, for the AGEL project, APERC approved it in just three days, on November 11.

By December 1, a power supply agreement was signed with SECI, completing the entire process in just two and a half months. Now, the Naidu government is thinking about asking SECI to cancel the agreement with AGEL and is considering whether they even need that much energy—7,000 MW.

Gautam Adani, the chairman of the Adani Group, spoke publicly for the first time after facing serious accusations and being charged in the US. He assured people that his company is dedicated to following the law and said, “Every attack makes us stronger.”

Two weeks ago, the US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain, leaders of Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), with serious crimes. They are accused of misleading investors, fraud, and violating US rules in documents related to AGEL’s bonds. The Adani Group called these accusations false and plans to defend itself in court.

At an award ceremony, Adani claimed that despite negative reports, no one from his company has been charged with breaking US laws. He expressed how misinformation travels faster than the truth but emphasized the group’s commitment to following the rules.

Recently, Adani Green Energy cancelled a $600 million bond issue due to the charges. This bond was very popular, oversubscribed three times, right before the prosecutors announced the case against him and his associates for bribing Indian officials over solar power contracts.

After the charges were made public, the stocks of Adani Group companies dropped significantly, losing about $26 billion in market value. However, they have started to bounce back, with many companies seeing stock prices rise recently.

Adani shared how facing challenges is part of aiming high. He believes that these challenges only make the group stronger and tougher. He remarked that although they have had successes, the obstacles are even bigger.

He mentioned how last year, the group stopped a huge share sale after a report from a US short-seller accused them of manipulating stocks. Despite this, their commitment to principles remained strong, and they raised funds from different international sources to reduce the company’s debt.

He reminisced about investing in a coal mine in Australia, which faced a lot of resistance for nearly ten years. He stated that the challenges they faced during that project have made them resilient, as they now have a successful mine in Australia.

Finally, Adani encouraged business leaders to embrace technology and sustainability for better future, empower skilled workers, and guide the younger generation to blend tradition with innovation.

Economists have lowered their growth predictions for India after new data showed that the country’s economy is growing more slowly than before. In the last quarter, from July to September, India’s economy grew at only 5.4%. This is the lowest rate in over a year and much less than what experts and the Reserve Bank of India expected, which was 7%.

Experts from companies like Goldman Sachs and Barclays have changed their forecasts. Goldman Sachs’ economists have reduced their growth estimate for this financial year to 6%, down from 6.4%. Other analysts have also lowered their expectations. They say the slowdown is because manufacturing activity is weaker than planned. Madhavi Arora, an economist from Emkay Global Financial Services, has also revised her prediction to 6% from 6.5%. She believes urban spending will remain low due to weak incomes, while any increase in rural spending is just temporary.

Falling wages, lower company profits, and high prices have made it hard for the economy to pick up in recent months. Because of this, several government officials are asking for lower interest rates. However, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das is hesitant to do so, saying it could be risky with inflation still high. The next meeting about interest rates is coming up on December 6.

Experts believe the disappointing GDP numbers may push the government to accelerate its spending on projects. However, they don’t think the slowdown in manufacturing will get better quickly. Some believe there is now a better chance of rate cuts starting in December. Economists suggest that even if there isn’t a rate cut, the Reserve Bank might need to lower the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve or use other methods to help banks lend more money. The Reserve Bank will also need to update its forecasts for inflation and GDP growth during this meeting since the inflation numbers have been higher than earlier estimates, and the actual GDP growth is below what was expected.

India is facing a big challenge in building its infrastructure, like roads and bridges, which need a lot of money. Major projects often depend on international funds to get cheaper loans. A big company in India, the Adani Group, wants to expand quickly but is having trouble getting money at good rates.

Right now, Adani is finding it tough to borrow money from local banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants to make it harder for banks to lend money for big projects. This could mean that banks won’t be able to give enough money for projects like those from Adani.

Before March 2019, Adani got most of its money from Indian banks – 42% from public sector banks and 33% from private ones. But after a big company called IL&FS failed, it became harder for banks to lend money. So, Adani started looking for money from international sources.

Now, with recent legal issues in the US and local lenders becoming less interested, Adani may need to look towards countries in the East for funds. However, borrowing money will probably still be expensive.

For companies like Adani Enterprises, Adani Total Gas, Adani Energy Solutions, and Adani Green Energy, having access to money is crucial because they are planning to build more than they currently operate. If Adani can’t get the money it needs, the company may have to slow down its growth, which would also slow down India’s progress in infrastructure developmentUS legal issues challenge Adani Group’s funding, impacting India’s infrastructure growth. Can the company find cheaper loans to support its ambitious projects?

The Exciting Growth of Live Events in India

India’s live events industry is growing really fast. It’s now worth a whopping Rs 88 lakh crore and is expected to grow by 18% every year until 2026! Big companies like TIPS Music, Saregama India, and Zomato are taking advantage of this boom. Famous artists like Coldplay and Diljit Dosanjh are performing at these events, and ticket prices can go as high as Rs 1 lakh!

Live music in India used to be just for a few fans, but now it’s popular everywhere. More people want to see both local and international stars. With more money to spend and a big number of young fans, the demand for live concerts is soaring. Event organizers are teaming up with digital platforms to make this even better.

TIPS Music
TIPS Music is one of the top music labels in India. They have a large collection of songs and are expanding their presence in live events. They are doing great on platforms like YouTube, which helps them sell more tickets and earn more money through licensing. Recently, TIPS Music partnered with TikTok to reach even more fans.

Saregama India
Saregama India is also doing well in the live events world. Their partnership with popular artist Diljit Dosanjh for his “Dil Luminati” tour has been a huge success. The tour is one of the fastest-selling in India, and it will help Saregama earn more money from live events.

Zomato
Ticket platforms like Zomato and BookMyShow are also growing. Zomato, using its ticketing platform Insider, is not just selling tickets but is also benefiting from food orders from concert-goers. BookMyShow is the leading ticketing site in India and is making a lot of money from exclusive events. After the pandemic, interest in live shows has picked up a lot.

People are especially excited about Coldplay’s upcoming shows in India, starting in January 2025. Tickets for Coldplay are so in-demand that they are being sold for as much as Rs 10 lakh on resale sites!

The live events market in India is expected to reach Rs 143 billion by 2026. This means companies involved in music licensing, ticketing, and event management are in a great position to profit. The growing enthusiasm for concerts like Coldplay and Diljit Dosanjh indicates a very bright future for live music in India.

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