India and the U.S. agreed on Thursday to start talks to clinch an early trade deal and resolve their standoff over tariffs as New Delhi promised to buy more U.S. oil, gas and military equipment and fight illegal immigration, Reuters reported. The series of agreements emerged after talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House, just hours after Trump railed against the climate for U.S. businesses in India and unveiled a roadmap for reciprocal tariffs on countries that put duties on U.S. imports.
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India’s Shapoorji Pallonji Group is in advanced talks with top global private credit funds as it aims to raise as much as $3.3 billion in the country’s biggest-ever local currency private debt deal, Bloomberg News reported. Investors in discussion for the deal include Cerberus Capital Management LP, Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Varde Partners LP, said the people who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Deutsche Bank is the sole arranger for the deal, they added. Other investors in talks include Farallon Capital Management, Ares Management Corp.
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Oil refiners in India — eager to keep importing cheap crude from Russia — are working with merchants, shippers and other middlemen to rebuild supply chains as tougher US sanctions come into effect, Bloomberg News reported. Speaking on the sidelines of India’s flagship energy gathering in Delhi, executives said the existing networks were being reconfigured with selling entities, tankers and insurance providers that are not on Washington’s blacklist.
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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has terminated the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) against Logix Infrastructure Pvt Ltd — the developer of Blossom County in Sector 137 — citing "fraudulent intent" in the petition, the Times of India reported. In its Feb 6 order, the tribunal asked the resolution professional (RP) to allow Logix Infrastructure's former directors to take back control of the company's management.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is counting on a two-pronged stimulus of tax and interest rate cuts to turn around India’s slowing economy, but investors may need more convincing that the measures will be enough, Bloomberg News reported. The decision by India’s central bank on Friday to reduce its key rate for the first time in five years comes less than a week after Modi’s government unveiled historic tax cuts in its federal budget. Taken together, the measures underscore the urgency with which Modi’s government is moving to address the growth slowdown gripping the economy.
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The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) wants the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code to allow group-level insolvency and concurrent bidding to both speed up and maximise recoveries of stuck loans, the Economic Times of India reported. Citing cases like Videocon and SREI, the regulator is looking to introduce "coordinated resolution for interconnected entities" to reduce costs and quicken the process.
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India plans to review import tariffs on over 30 items, including luxury cars, solar cells and chemicals, a senior finance ministry official said, potentially leading to increased imports from the United States as global trade tensions grow, Reuters reported. The move, aimed at reducing average tariffs, comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the U.S. next week. In a bid to avoid President Donald Trump's growing tariff actions, India has already reduced average import tariff rates to 11% from 13% on several items in the latest budget.
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