Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year pushed through new laws that would reduce the government’s role in agriculture, aimed at fixing a system that has led to huge rice surpluses in a country that still grapples with malnutrition, the New York Times reported. But the laws would reduce the role of government-run markets for grain, which the farmers fear would eventually undermine the price subsidies that make their work possible. If that happens, the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on the land could be in jeopardy.
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India
An Indian court put on hold on Monday an order restraining Future Group chief Kishore Biyani from selling personal assets, amid legal challenges to the group’s $3.4-billion retail deal, Reuters reported. The legal fight over Future’s assets has embroiled two of the world’s richest men, Jeff Bezos of U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc and Mukesh Ambani of Indian congolomerate Reliance Industries. In various Indian courts, including the Supreme Court, Amazon has accused Future of violating certain contracts by agreeing to sell its retail assets to Reliance.
Thirty-four creditors of Greensill Capital Pty, the Australian parent of the collapsed British supply chain financier, submitted over A$1.75 billion ($1.35 billion) in claims to the company, administrators said on Friday, Reuters reported. About $1.15 billion of that was made by Japan’s Softbank Group, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. The source declined to be identified as the person was not permitted to speak publicly.
India’s rupee is the only currency in Asia to strengthen amid this month’s rout in risk assets, thanks to a spree of share-sale offers that are luring foreign investors, Bloomberg News reported. The rupee has advanced 1.3% in March, boosted by $2.9 billion of overseas purchases of local stocks, including inflows related to initial public offerings. Nine share-sale offers worth about 59 billion rupees ($813 million) this month would have added to one of the highest inflows into emerging Asia, according to Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd.
A key transit project on the India-Myanmar border, Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport (KMTT), has been delayed due to bankruptcy and ongoing insolvency proceedings against one of the contractors before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the Union home ministry informed a parliamentary panel, the Economic Times reported. The project is considered crucial for improving connectivity.
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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Chennai has approved the resolution plan submitted by Haldia Petrochemicals for Nagarjuna Oil Corporation Ltd. (NOCL), The Hindu reported. V. Mahesh, liquidator for NOCL, confirmed the development, but the final order copy is awaited. NOCL's refinery project in Cuddalore was supposed to go on stream in 2012, but faced numerous delays, including in the form of a cyclone in 2011. Time and cost overruns resulted in the project cost escalating to ₹15,000 crore from ₹3,500 crore.
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Anil Agarwal, the billionaire founder of the Vedanta commodities empire, is offering a higher price to repurchase shares of his cash-rich Indian unit that’s key to his debt-repayment plans, Bloomberg News reported. London-based Vedanta Resources Ltd. will now seek to buy 17.51% of Mumbai-listed Vedanta Ltd. at 235 rupees ($3.24) a share, it said in an exchange filing Tuesday. That’s up from the previous 10% at 160 rupees apiece.
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The dedicated bankruptcy court has admitted the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against BSE-listed Manpasand Beverages Ltd, the Economic Times of India reported. The Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has appointed Arpan Maheshkumar Shah as Interim Resolution Professional for the company.
India will propose a law banning cryptocurrencies, fining anyone trading in the country or even holding such digital assets, a senior government official told Reuters in a potential blow to millions of investors piling into the red-hot asset class. The bill, one of the world’s strictest policies against cryptocurrencies, would criminalise possession, issuance, mining, trading and transferring crypto-assets, said the official, who has direct knowledge of the plan.
India’s markets regulator unveiled new rules late Wednesday that will limit investments by mutual funds in some debt instruments, after investors suffered losses from writedowns on riskier bonds last year, Bloomberg News reported. The regulations, which take effect April 1, relate to debt such as some securities sold by banks which have features that allow losses to be imposed on creditors before equity holders, according to a circular from the Securities & Exchange Board of India.