Indian budget carrier Akasa Air has been forced to cut flights in the short-term after many of its pilots quit abruptly, sparking a legal dispute in court where the company has warned that further resignations may even force it to shut down, Reuters reported. A small set of pilots "abandoned their duties" and left without serving their mandatory contractual notice period, causing a disruption of flights, but the airline is on course to invest in growing its operations and ordering more planes, CEO Vinay Dube told employees in an email on Tuesday.
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Lenders to Indian education-technology company Byju’s have alleged that it covertly transferred $533 million to a Florida-based hedge fund, adding another dimension to their legal feud with one of India’s most highly valued startups, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. A lender lawsuit filed in a Miami court last week alleges Byju’s sent $533 million that should have been in its U.S. affiliate’s bank accounts to Camshaft Capital, described as a Miami-area hedge fund, and concealed the whereabouts of that money from the company’s lenders.
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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will hear on September 26 the resolution plan for debt-ridden Reliance Capital submitted by Hinduja Group firm Indusind International Holdings Ltd (IIHL) as Torrent Investments' plea to keep the decision in abeyance has been rejected, the Economic Times of India reported. The Mumbai bench of the insolvency tribunal has rejected the Torrent's plea to keep the application for approving IIHL's resolution plan in abeyance till a final order is passed by the Supreme Court in the matter.
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Indian edtech titan Byju’s has made a surprise repayment proposal to lenders, in which the firm has offered to pay back its entire $1.2 billion term loan in less than six months, Bloomberg News reported. The company is offering to repay $300 million of the distressed debt within three months if the amendment proposal is accepted and the remaining amount in the subsequent three months, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Byju’s is in talks with private equity funds and strategic investors to sell some of its overseas units to fund the repayment.
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The deadline for submitting preliminary interest to bid for insolvent Go Airlines (India) is likely to be extended by another two-to-three weeks amid lack of any such application by suitors, two banking sources told Reuters on Friday. The resolution professional for the company, which operated the Go First carrier, had in July invited investor interest on behalf of creditors after the airline filed for insolvency in May. The deadline was initially set for Aug. 9, but was later extended to Sept. 8.
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The Reserve Bank of India has been frequently intervening in the non-deliverable forward (NDF) market to make sure that the rupee does not drop to a record low, four bankers told Reuters on Thursday. The rupee was at 83.1525 to the U.S. dollar as of 11:16 a.m. IST, not too far from its record low of 83.29 hit in October 2022. The currency has largely avoided the decline in its Asian peers. "The RBI intervened on NDF in the morning (before local over-the-counter, OTC, markets opened) and it did the same yesterday," the head of treasury at a private sector bank said.
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Financial technology companies should create a self-regulatory body to address their needs and challenges, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday, as the industry grows at a break-neck speed due to surging demand for digital payments and borrowings, Reuters reported. "I would like to use this opportunity to urge and encourage the fintechs to establish a self-regulatory organisation or SRO themselves. From the Reserve Bank, we are willing to engage with you," Das said while delivering the keynote address at the Global FinTech Fest 2023 (GFF).
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The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday issued notice to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) in a plea by IDBI Bank to initiate insolvency proceedings against the company, the Hindu Business Line reported. IDBI Bank, in its plea, said it was unable to recover unpaid dues of around ₹150 crore from Zee. The tribunal instructed both parties to submit replies and rejoinders, setting the next hearing for the matter on October 11.
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India’s economy registered impressive growth of 7.8% in the first quarter of the current financial year (April-June), attributed to good performance by the agriculture and financial sectors, according to official data released on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. The World Bank says India is one of the fastest-growing economies of the world and is poised to continue on this path. India's agriculture sector recorded growth of 3.5% in three months, up from 2.4% in the April-June quarter last year, according to the data released by the government-run National Statistical Office.
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The Adani Group said cash and profit generated from its sprawling infrastructure business can cover all the debt maturing each year in the coming decade, messaging that’s part of the Indian conglomerate’s latest effort to shore up investor confidence months after a damaging short seller attack, Bloomberg News reported. In a credit report released Thursday, the power-to-port conglomerate founded by billionaire Gautam Adani said its cash flow generated from business operations and balances stood at 778.9 billion rupees ($9.4 billion) as of end-March.
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