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&nbspShares of IT major Infosys rose by over 1 per cent today ahead of its fourth-quarter results to be announced later in the day.

The scrip after making a positive opening further gained 1.35 per cent to Rs 1,177.95 on BSE.

At NSE, shares of the company went up by 1.33 per cent to Rs 1,178.15.

In terms of equity volume, 1.41 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE, and over 43 lakh shares changed hands at NSE during the morning trade.

At NSE, shares of the company went up by 1.33 per cent to Rs 1,178.15.

&nbspShares of IT major Infosys rose by over 1 per cent today ahead of its fourth-quarter results to be announced later in the day. The scrip after making a positive opening further gained 1.35 per cent to Rs 1,177.95 on BSE. At NSE, shares of the company went up by 1.33 per cent to Rs 1,178.15. In terms of equity volume, 1.41 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE, and over 43 lakh shares changed hands at NSE during the morning trade.

Ahead of fourth-quarter results, Infosys stocks rise

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that China's Belt and Road initiative is showing signs of progress but warned of potential debt risks for partner countries involved in joint projects.

One challenge is to ensure that Belt and Road only travels where it is needed, and the second is to focus on sound fiscal policies, Lagarde said in prepared comments in a speech at a Belt and Road conference in Beijing on Thursday.

"Fortunately, we know that China's leadership is aware of these potential risks - as well as the proven strategies that can help address the challenges," Lagarde said.

President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, unveiled in 2013, aims at building a modern-day Silk Road connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. China has pledged $126 billion for the ambitious plan.

In his opening speech to the annual Boao Forum on Tuesday - Asia's equivalent of Davos - Xi said Belt and Road pacts had been made over the last five years with more than 80 countries and international bodies.

Lagarde said the initiative can provide much needed infrastructure financing to partner countries, but should not be considered "a free lunch" by those nations.

Belt and Road ventures can lead to a "problematic" increase in debt, potentially restricting other spending as debt service obligations rise, which could create balance of payment challenges.

In countries where public debt is already high, careful management of financing terms is critical, in order to protect China and partner governments from entering into pacts that will cause financial difficulties in the future, Lagarde warned.

President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, unveiled in 2013, aims at building a modern-day Silk Road connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that China's Belt and Road initiative is showing signs of progress but warned of potential debt risks for partner countries involved in joint projects. One challenge is to ensure that Belt and Road only travels where it is needed, and the second is to focus on sound fiscal policies, Lagarde said in prepared comments in a speech at a Belt and Road conference in Beijing on Thursday. "Fortunately, we know that China's leadership is aware of these potential risks - as well as the proven strategies that can help address the challenges," Lagarde said. President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, unveiled in 2013, aims at building a modern-day Silk Road connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. China has pledged $126 billion for the ambitious plan. In his opening speech to the annual Boao Forum on Tuesday - Asia's equivalent of Davos - Xi said Belt and Road pacts had been made over the last five years with more than 80 countries and international bodies. Lagarde said the initiative can provide much needed infrastructure financing to partner countries, but should not be considered "a free lunch" by those nations. Belt and Road ventures can lead to a "problematic" increase in debt, potentially restricting other spending as debt service obligations rise, which could create balance of payment challenges. In countries where public debt is already high, careful management of financing terms is critical, in order to protect China and partner governments from entering into pacts that will cause financial difficulties in the future, Lagarde warned.

IMF's Lagarde says Belt and Road progressing but warns of debt risks

The BSE benchmark Sensex gained for the sixth straight session, reclaiming the crucial 34,000 level briefly in early trade on Thursday, ahead of IIP and inflation data scheduled to be released later in the day.

The government will issue Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers for February and inflation data for March based on consumer price index (CPI) today.

Caution ahead of key macroeconomic numbers and mixed sentiment in other Asian markets is likely to sway investor mood, brokers said.

The BSE 30-share Sensex was trading 62.38 points, or 0.18 per cent, higher at 34,002.82. In the previous five days, the index had gained 921.37 points.

The broader NSE Nifty rose 3.55 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 10,420.70.

IT, Teck, consumer durables, auto and power indices were in the positive zone, rising up to 1.08 per cent.

Major gainers were TCS, Infosys, Tata Motors, ONGC, Wipro, M&M and Hero MotoCorp, gaining up to 2.32 per cent.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 111.82 crore on Wednesday, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also bought equities worth Rs 362.30 crore, provisional data showed.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.07 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.45 per cent in early trade. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.03 per cent. 
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, ended 0.90 per cent lower in Wednesday's trade.

Caution ahead of key macroeconomic numbers and mixed sentiment in other Asian markets is likely to sway investor mood, brokers said.

The BSE benchmark Sensex gained for the sixth straight session, reclaiming the crucial 34,000 level briefly in early trade on Thursday, ahead of IIP and inflation data scheduled to be released later in the day. The government will issue Index of Industrial Production (IIP) numbers for February and inflation data for March based on consumer price index (CPI) today. Caution ahead of key macroeconomic numbers and mixed sentiment in other Asian markets is likely to sway investor mood, brokers said. The BSE 30-share Sensex was trading 62.38 points, or 0.18 per cent, higher at 34,002.82. In the previous five days, the index had gained 921.37 points. The broader NSE Nifty rose 3.55 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 10,420.70. IT, Teck, consumer durables, auto and power indices were in the positive zone, rising up to 1.08 per cent. Major gainers were TCS, Infosys, Tata Motors, ONGC, Wipro, M&M and Hero MotoCorp, gaining up to 2.32 per cent. Meanwhile, on a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 111.82 crore on Wednesday, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also bought equities worth Rs 362.30 crore, provisional data showed. In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.07 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.45 per cent in early trade. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.03 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, ended 0.90 per cent lower in Wednesday's trade.

Sensex, Nifty turn cautious ahead of key macro data

Walmart Inc is likely to reach a deal to buy a majority stake in Indian e-commerce player Flipkart by the end of June in what could be the US&nbsp;retail giant's biggest acquisition of an online business, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Walmart completed its due diligence on Flipkart and had made a proposal to buy 51 percent or more of the Indian company for between $10 billion to $12 billion.

A deal with Flipkart would step up Walmart's battle with Amazon.com for a bigger share of India's fledgling e-commerce market, which Morgan Stanley estimates will be worth $200 billion in a decade. Local media have reported that Amazon is exploring a possible counter offer for Flipkart.

Both sources declined to be named as the talks are private.

Walmart will buy both new and existing Flipkart shares, with the new shares expected to value the Bengaluru-based firm at at least $18 billion, the sources said. The price for existing shares would value the firm at about $12 billion, one of the people said.

Japan's SoftBank Group, which owns roughly one-fifth of Flipkart via its Vision Fund, is unlikely to sell any of its shares due to the low price being offered for the existing shares, this source said.

Reuters has previously reported that early investors such as Tiger Global, Accel and Naspers will likely sell their entire stakes in Flipkart to Walmart if a deal is reached.

A deal is not yet finalised, and talks between Walmart, Flipkart and its investors are ongoing, one of the people said.

Flipkart also counts eBay, Tencent Holdings and Microsoft Corp among its investors.

Flipkart did not respond to a request for comment, a representative for Walmart in India declined comment while SoftBank said it doesn't comment on speculation.

&nbsp;

BIG INDIAN BATTLE

For Walmart, the world's largest retailer known for its superstores, a deal with Flipkart would open up the vast Indian market.

Walmart has for years tried to enter India but has remained confined to a 'cash-and-carry' wholesale business amid tough restrictions on foreign investment. It currently operates 21 such stores in India.

By comparison, Amazon closely trails Flipkart, which along with its fashion units controls nearly 40 percent of India's online retail market, according to estimates by researcher Forrester.

Flipkart's investors are concerned that any deal with Amazon would run into regulatory hurdles as a combination would have more than 70 percent of India's online retail market, one of the sources said.

Walmart's push into e-commerce comes as Amazon has embraced offline retail, with an affiliate of the Seattle-based company picking up a $27.6 million stake in Indian retailer Shopper's Stop Ltd.

In the United States, Amazon also bought high-end grocer Whole Foods Market Inc for $13.7 billion last year.

Walmart's investment would give Flipkart not just additional funds to fight Amazon, but also arm it with a formidable ally with extensive experience in retailing, logistics and supply chain management.

Former Amazon employees Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal founded Flipkart in 2007 in India's tech hub of Bengaluru.

Like Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos, they began by selling books, but have diversified rapidly, including by selling smartphones, such as those made by China's Xiaomi, through exclusive flash sales, and now compete with Amazon in almost all product categories.&nbsp;

Walmart completed its due diligence on Flipkart and had made a proposal to buy 51 percent or more of the Indian company for between $10 billion to $12 billion

Walmart Inc is likely to reach a deal to buy a majority stake in Indian e-commerce player Flipkart by the end of June in what could be the US retail giant's biggest acquisition of an online business, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Walmart completed its due diligence on Flipkart and had made a proposal to buy 51 percent or more of the Indian company for between $10 billion to $12 billion. A deal with Flipkart would step up Walmart's battle with Amazon.com for a bigger share of India's fledgling e-commerce market, which Morgan Stanley estimates will be worth $200 billion in a decade. Local media have reported that Amazon is exploring a possible counter offer for Flipkart. Both sources declined to be named as the talks are private. Walmart will buy both new and existing Flipkart shares, with the new shares expected to value the Bengaluru-based firm at at least $18 billion, the sources said. The price for existing shares would value the firm at about $12 billion, one of the people said. Japan's SoftBank Group, which owns roughly one-fifth of Flipkart via its Vision Fund, is unlikely to sell any of its shares due to the low price being offered for the existing shares, this source said. Reuters has previously reported that early investors such as Tiger Global, Accel and Naspers will likely sell their entire stakes in Flipkart to Walmart if a deal is reached. A deal is not yet finalised, and talks between Walmart, Flipkart and its investors are ongoing, one of the people said. Flipkart also counts eBay, Tencent Holdings and Microsoft Corp among its investors. Flipkart did not respond to a request for comment, a representative for Walmart in India declined comment while SoftBank said it doesn't comment on speculation. BIG INDIAN BATTLE For Walmart, the world's largest retailer known for its superstores, a deal with Flipkart would open up the vast Indian market. Walmart has for years tried to enter India but has remained confined to a 'cash-and-carry' wholesale business amid tough restrictions on foreign investment. It currently operates 21 such stores in India. By comparison, Amazon closely trails Flipkart, which along with its fashion units controls nearly 40 percent of India's online retail market, according to estimates by researcher Forrester. Flipkart's investors are concerned that any deal with Amazon would run into regulatory hurdles as a combination would have more than 70 percent of India's online retail market, one of the sources said. Walmart's push into e-commerce comes as Amazon has embraced offline retail, with an affiliate of the Seattle-based company picking up a $27.6 million stake in Indian retailer Shopper's Stop Ltd. In the United States, Amazon also bought high-end grocer Whole Foods Market Inc for $13.7 billion last year. Walmart's investment would give Flipkart not just additional funds to fight Amazon, but also arm it with a formidable ally with extensive experience in retailing, logistics and supply chain management. Former Amazon employees Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal founded Flipkart in 2007 in India's tech hub of Bengaluru. Like Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos, they began by selling books, but have diversified rapidly, including by selling smartphones, such as those made by China's Xiaomi, through exclusive flash sales, and now compete with Amazon in almost all product categories.

Walmart close to buying majority of Flipkart, deal likely by end-June: Sources

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, will buy 50 per cent stake in the mega $44-billion oil refinery in Maharashtra.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed on sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF) conference here.

Saudi Oil Minister, Khalid&nbspAl-Falih, said India is a priority destination for Saudi investment and Aramco will continue to scout for opportunities beyond the west coast refinery.

Saudi Arabia will supply half of the 60 million tonne capacity, he said.

State-owned IOC, BPCL and HPCL will hold the remaining 50 per cent stake in the project.

&nbsp

&nbsp

&nbsp

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, will buy 50 per cent stake in the mega $44-billion oil refinery in Maharashtra

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, will buy 50 per cent stake in the mega $44-billion oil refinery in Maharashtra. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed on sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF) conference here. Saudi Oil Minister, Khalid&nbspAl-Falih, said India is a priority destination for Saudi investment and Aramco will continue to scout for opportunities beyond the west coast refinery. Saudi Arabia will supply half of the 60 million tonne capacity, he said. State-owned IOC, BPCL and HPCL will hold the remaining 50 per cent stake in the project.

Saudi Aramco to buy 50% stake in $44-billion oil refinery in Maharashtra

Alleging that the probable bidders are using "arm twisting tactics" to force the government sell the national carrier for cheap, a forum of 10 Air India unions has said that it will take up the issue with the PMO and the civil aviation ministry, among others.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the forum also reiterated its opposition to the privatisation of the loss-making airline, saying that "it (Air India) is our national pride and it served the nation many a times in need."

The statement comes following one after another potential bidder opting out of the Air India sale process after the government coming out with the terms of offer in the information memorandum.

 
"The so-claimed probable buyers are using arm twisting tactics so as to put pressure on the government to succumb to change the terms and conditions best suited to them and the Air India is sold for a song," the Joint Forum of Air India Unions/Guilds/Association said in the statement.

The forum comprises Air Corporations Employees Union, All India Service Engineers Associations, Air India Employees Union, Aviation Industry Employee Guild, Air India Aircraft Engineers Association, All India Aircraft Engineers Association, Air India Engineers Association, United Air India Officers Association, All India Cabin Crew Association and All India Airline Retired Personnel Association.

On March 28, the civil aviation ministry came out with the preliminary information memorandum on Air India's strategic disinvestment, as per which, the government plans to offload 76 per cent equity share capital of the national carrier as well as transfer the management control.

The proposed transaction would involve Air India, its low-cost arm Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services, which is an equal joint venture between the national airline and Singapore-based SATS.

"The joint forum as stated many times has strongly opposed the privatisation of Air India and its subsidiaries as the Air India is our national pride and served the nation many a times at needs," the forum said.

"This statement is issued by the joint forum to safeguard the national interest. A detailed letter in this regard will be sent to the prime minister office, ministry of civil aviation and Air India management," it added.

Budget carrier IndiGo, which is struggling with Pratt & Whitney engine issues in its A320 Neo planes, had initially evinced interest in acquiring Air India's international operations, but later backed out, saying such an option was not available under the disinvestment plan.

Days later, Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways also said it had decided not to participate in the Air India sale process considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on its review.

The forum had held a protest meeting also at the national carrier's Kalina officer here yesterday against the government's privatisation move.

The government is giving the Air India to private players at a time when the carrier is improving its operational and financial performance, the forum had alleged, stating that the move amounts to "socialising losses and privatising profits.

The statement comes following one after another potential bidder opting out of the Air India sale.

Alleging that the probable bidders are using "arm twisting tactics" to force the government sell the national carrier for cheap, a forum of 10 Air India unions has said that it will take up the issue with the PMO and the civil aviation ministry, among others. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the forum also reiterated its opposition to the privatisation of the loss-making airline, saying that "it (Air India) is our national pride and it served the nation many a times in need." The statement comes following one after another potential bidder opting out of the Air India sale process after the government coming out with the terms of offer in the information memorandum. "The so-claimed probable buyers are using arm twisting tactics so as to put pressure on the government to succumb to change the terms and conditions best suited to them and the Air India is sold for a song," the Joint Forum of Air India Unions/Guilds/Association said in the statement. The forum comprises Air Corporations Employees Union, All India Service Engineers Associations, Air India Employees Union, Aviation Industry Employee Guild, Air India Aircraft Engineers Association, All India Aircraft Engineers Association, Air India Engineers Association, United Air India Officers Association, All India Cabin Crew Association and All India Airline Retired Personnel Association. On March 28, the civil aviation ministry came out with the preliminary information memorandum on Air India's strategic disinvestment, as per which, the government plans to offload 76 per cent equity share capital of the national carrier as well as transfer the management control. The proposed transaction would involve Air India, its low-cost arm Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services, which is an equal joint venture between the national airline and Singapore-based SATS. "The joint forum as stated many times has strongly opposed the privatisation of Air India and its subsidiaries as the Air India is our national pride and served the nation many a times at needs," the forum said. "This statement is issued by the joint forum to safeguard the national interest. A detailed letter in this regard will be sent to the prime minister office, ministry of civil aviation and Air India management," it added. Budget carrier IndiGo, which is struggling with Pratt & Whitney engine issues in its A320 Neo planes, had initially evinced interest in acquiring Air India's international operations, but later backed out, saying such an option was not available under the disinvestment plan. Days later, Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways also said it had decided not to participate in the Air India sale process considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on its review. The forum had held a protest meeting also at the national carrier's Kalina officer here yesterday against the government's privatisation move. The government is giving the Air India to private players at a time when the carrier is improving its operational and financial performance, the forum had alleged, stating that the move amounts to "socialising losses and privatising profits.

Potential bidders 'arm twisting' govt on Air India sale, say unions

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, on Wednesday announced a $44-billion deal to build a giant refinery complex in India with three Indian oil majors.

The refinery at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra will be handle up to 1.2 million barrels of oil a day, the Saudi company said in a statement after signing a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.

The Ratnagiri complex "will rank among the largest world refining and petrochemicals projects and will be designed to meet India's fast-growing fuels and petrochemicals demand. The project cost is estimated at around $44 billion."

The Indian accord is just the latest in a string of deals — with French, US and Malaysia companies — announced by Aramco as it seeks to secure buyers for its oil.

Saudi Arabia is the world's second-biggest oil producer behind Russia, according to the International Energy Agency, while Aramco is the biggest company putting oil on the world market currently awash with the product.

"Investing in India is a key part of our company's global downstream strategy and another milestone in our growing relationship with India," said Saudi Aramco president Amin Nasser.

"The signing marks a significant development in India's oil and gas sector, enabling a strategic joint venture and investment partnership that will serve India's fast-growing demand for transportation fuels and chemical products.

"Participating in this mega project will allow Saudi Aramco to go beyond our crude oil supplier role to a fully integrated position that may help usher in other areas of collaboration, such as refining, marketing, and petrochemicals for India's future energy demands," said Nasser.

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have set up a joint venture for the deal with Aramco, Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.

Aramco said it may "seek to include a strategic partner to co-invest in the mega refinery".

Aramco and French firm Total this week announced a $5 billion deal to build a refinery at Jubail in Saudi Arabia.

Last month the Saudi firm awarded more than $8 billion worth of contracts to US firms to boost its US refinery operations.

Aramco has also pledged billions of dollars for deals in Malaysia and Indonesia in the past year.

The hotly-awaited stock market debut of the Saudi energy giant will be launched in 2018 or 2019, depending on the market, the kingdom's finance minister told AFP on Tuesday.

"If the market is ready in 2018, we will go in 2018. If not, we will wait until 2019," Mohammed al-Jadaan said of the giant initial public offering.

"We are not desperate for listing. We will only list when the market is right," he said.

The Aramco chief said last month that the company was on track for a 2018 listing, but that the date and venue would be decided by the company's state owner.

Jadaan said the government had not yet decided whether to list Aramco on the Saudi exchange alone, on a stock market abroad or seek a dual listing.

Saudi authorities plan to list five per cent of Aramco but the company has struggled to arrive at the $2 trillion valuation sought by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Indian accord is just the latest in a string of deals — with French, US and Malaysia companies — announced by Aramco as it seeks to secure buyers for its oil.

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, on Wednesday announced a $44-billion deal to build a giant refinery complex in India with three Indian oil majors. The refinery at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra will be handle up to 1.2 million barrels of oil a day, the Saudi company said in a statement after signing a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation. The Ratnagiri complex "will rank among the largest world refining and petrochemicals projects and will be designed to meet India's fast-growing fuels and petrochemicals demand. The project cost is estimated at around $44 billion." The Indian accord is just the latest in a string of deals — with French, US and Malaysia companies — announced by Aramco as it seeks to secure buyers for its oil. Saudi Arabia is the world's second-biggest oil producer behind Russia, according to the International Energy Agency, while Aramco is the biggest company putting oil on the world market currently awash with the product. "Investing in India is a key part of our company's global downstream strategy and another milestone in our growing relationship with India," said Saudi Aramco president Amin Nasser. "The signing marks a significant development in India's oil and gas sector, enabling a strategic joint venture and investment partnership that will serve India's fast-growing demand for transportation fuels and chemical products. "Participating in this mega project will allow Saudi Aramco to go beyond our crude oil supplier role to a fully integrated position that may help usher in other areas of collaboration, such as refining, marketing, and petrochemicals for India's future energy demands," said Nasser. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have set up a joint venture for the deal with Aramco, Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. Aramco said it may "seek to include a strategic partner to co-invest in the mega refinery". Aramco and French firm Total this week announced a $5 billion deal to build a refinery at Jubail in Saudi Arabia. Last month the Saudi firm awarded more than $8 billion worth of contracts to US firms to boost its US refinery operations. Aramco has also pledged billions of dollars for deals in Malaysia and Indonesia in the past year. The hotly-awaited stock market debut of the Saudi energy giant will be launched in 2018 or 2019, depending on the market, the kingdom's finance minister told AFP on Tuesday. "If the market is ready in 2018, we will go in 2018. If not, we will wait until 2019," Mohammed al-Jadaan said of the giant initial public offering. "We are not desperate for listing. We will only list when the market is right," he said. The Aramco chief said last month that the company was on track for a 2018 listing, but that the date and venue would be decided by the company's state owner. Jadaan said the government had not yet decided whether to list Aramco on the Saudi exchange alone, on a stock market abroad or seek a dual listing. Saudi authorities plan to list five per cent of Aramco but the company has struggled to arrive at the $2 trillion valuation sought by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Aramco's $44-billion deal may change the entire oil game for India

The rupee depreciated 12 paise to 65.11 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday ahead of the release of US Fed meeting minutes scheduled later in the day.

However, weakness in the US dollar against select currencies overseas and a higher opening in domestic equities capped the losses.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities worth Rs 684.99 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Yesterday, The rupee had ended higher by 3 paise at 64.99 against the American currency amid easing US-China trade war fears.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex advanced by 92.26 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 33,972.51 in early deals. 
&nbsp;

However, weakness in the US dollar against select currencies overseas and a higher opening in domestic equities capped the losses

The rupee depreciated 12 paise to 65.11 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday ahead of the release of US Fed meeting minutes scheduled later in the day. However, weakness in the US dollar against select currencies overseas and a higher opening in domestic equities capped the losses. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold equities worth Rs 684.99 crore yesterday, provisional data showed. Yesterday, The rupee had ended higher by 3 paise at 64.99 against the American currency amid easing US-China trade war fears. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex advanced by 92.26 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 33,972.51 in early deals.

Rupee sheds 12 paise against US dollar

Google has appealed against a ruling by India's competition watchdog that found it guilty of "search bias", while the website that brought the case also challenged the outcome, complaining the online search giant had got off too lightly.

In February, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Google Rs 136 crore, saying it was also abusing its dominance by giving its own online airline flight search product an unfair advantage over rivals.

Google, the core unit of US firm Alphabet Inc, said on Tuesday it had filed an appeal.

"We disagree with aspects of the CCI's decision, so we have filed an appeal and sought a stay on those findings," a Google spokesman told Reuters.

After the February ruling, Google had referred to the issues raised by the Commission as "narrow concerns". It noted the order indicated that on the majority of issues the CCI examined, Google's conduct complied with Indian competition laws.

However, a lawyer with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday that Matrimony.com, the Indian matchmaking website that had filed the case against Google was dissatisfied with the outcome and had lodged its own appeal.

Matrimony.com, according to the lawyer, has appealed against both the size of the fine, which it says is too small and the CCI's ruling that neither Google's specialised search design or its advertising service, AdWords, were breaking competition rules. Google did not comment on that development.

A CCI official called the watchdog's judgement "robust" and said it would defend its ruling at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

"Google was found to be indulging in practices of search bias and by doing so, it causes harm to its competitors as well as to users," the CCI had said in its 190-page ruling.

Search bias refers to the propensity for a search engine to favour certain websites over others in response to user queries, due to biases in their search algorithms or other factors. This can unduly hurt businesses that often rely on search engines to draw customers to their portals.

The appeal filed by Matrimony.com will be the latest anti-trust headache for Google, which remains mired in similar cases elsewhere in the world.

Last year, the European Commission imposed a record 2.4 billion euro ($3 billion) fine on the company for favouring its shopping service and demoting rival offerings. Google has appealed against the verdict.

In February, Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalised Google for "infringing anti-trust conduct".

Google has appealed against a ruling by India's competition watchdog that found it guilty of "search bias", while the website that brought the case also challenged the outcome, complaining the online search giant had got off too lightly. In February, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Google Rs 136 crore, saying it was also abusing its dominance by giving its own online airline flight search product an unfair advantage over rivals. Google, the core unit of US firm Alphabet Inc, said on Tuesday it had filed an appeal. "We disagree with aspects of the CCI's decision, so we have filed an appeal and sought a stay on those findings," a Google spokesman told Reuters. After the February ruling, Google had referred to the issues raised by the Commission as "narrow concerns". It noted the order indicated that on the majority of issues the CCI examined, Google's conduct complied with Indian competition laws. However, a lawyer with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday that Matrimony.com, the Indian matchmaking website that had filed the case against Google was dissatisfied with the outcome and had lodged its own appeal. Matrimony.com, according to the lawyer, has appealed against both the size of the fine, which it says is too small and the CCI's ruling that neither Google's specialised search design or its advertising service, AdWords, were breaking competition rules. Google did not comment on that development. A CCI official called the watchdog's judgement "robust" and said it would defend its ruling at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). "Google was found to be indulging in practices of search bias and by doing so, it causes harm to its competitors as well as to users," the CCI had said in its 190-page ruling. Search bias refers to the propensity for a search engine to favour certain websites over others in response to user queries, due to biases in their search algorithms or other factors. This can unduly hurt businesses that often rely on search engines to draw customers to their portals. The appeal filed by Matrimony.com will be the latest anti-trust headache for Google, which remains mired in similar cases elsewhere in the world. Last year, the European Commission imposed a record 2.4 billion euro ($3 billion) fine on the company for favouring its shopping service and demoting rival offerings. Google has appealed against the verdict.

Anti-trust case: ​Google appeals against Competition Commission of India ruling

Markets regulator Sebi today decided to make physical settlement of stock derivatives mandatory in a phased or calibrated manner, a move that could bring some much-needed balance between equity cash and derivative segments.&nbsp

The regulator has strengthened the existing entry criteria for introduction of stocks into the derivative segment in line with the increase in market capitalisation since the last revision of the criteria in 2012, Sebi said in the circular.&nbsp

Accordingly, existing criteria like market-wide position limit and median quarter-sigma order size have been revised upward from the current level of Rs 300 crore and Rs 10 lakh, respectively to Rs 500 crore and Rs 25 lakh, respectively.&nbsp

An additional criterion of average daily deliverable' value in the cash market of Rs 10 crore has also been prescribed. The enhanced criteria need to be met for a continuous period of six months.&nbsp

"It has been decided that physical settlement of stock derivatives shall be made mandatory in a phased/calibrated manner," Sebi noted.&nbsp

To begin with, Sebi said that stocks which are currently in derivatives but fail to meet any of the enhanced criteria would be physically settled.&nbsp

However, such stocks would exit the derivative segment if they fail to meet any of the enhanced criteria within one year or fail to meet any of the current existing criteria for a continuous period of three months.&nbsp

Stocks which are currently in derivatives and meet the enhanced criteria would be cash settled. Such stocks if they fail to meet any one of the enhanced criteria for continuous three months will move from cash settlement to physical settlement.&nbsp

After moving to physical settlement if such stock does not meet any of the current existing criteria for a continuous period of three months, then it would exit out of derivatives.

An additional criterion of average daily deliverable' value in the cash market of Rs 10 crore has also been prescribed.

Markets regulator Sebi today decided to make physical settlement of stock derivatives mandatory in a phased or calibrated manner, a move that could bring some much-needed balance between equity cash and derivative segments. The regulator has strengthened the existing entry criteria for introduction of stocks into the derivative segment in line with the increase in market capitalisation since the last revision of the criteria in 2012, Sebi said in the circular. Accordingly, existing criteria like market-wide position limit and median quarter-sigma order size have been revised upward from the current level of Rs 300 crore and Rs 10 lakh, respectively to Rs 500 crore and Rs 25 lakh, respectively. An additional criterion of average daily deliverable' value in the cash market of Rs 10 crore has also been prescribed. The enhanced criteria need to be met for a continuous period of six months. "It has been decided that physical settlement of stock derivatives shall be made mandatory in a phased/calibrated manner," Sebi noted. To begin with, Sebi said that stocks which are currently in derivatives but fail to meet any of the enhanced criteria would be physically settled. However, such stocks would exit the derivative segment if they fail to meet any of the enhanced criteria within one year or fail to meet any of the current existing criteria for a continuous period of three months. Stocks which are currently in derivatives and meet the enhanced criteria would be cash settled. Such stocks if they fail to meet any one of the enhanced criteria for continuous three months will move from cash settlement to physical settlement. After moving to physical settlement if such stock does not meet any of the current existing criteria for a continuous period of three months, then it would exit out of derivatives.

Sebi to make physical settlement mandatory in phased manner

Manila-based <a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/indias-growth-set-to-be-higher-than-china-in-2018-asian-development-bank-26598">Asian Development Bank(ADB)</a> today projected India's economic growth to pick up to 7.3 per cent this fiscal.

The Bank forecasted India to grow at &nbsp7.6 per cent in 2019-20.&nbsp

Reserve Bank of India had projected the country to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2017 fiscal. The Indian economy grew 6.6 per cent in the last fiscal.

ADB said the growth will pick up as the new tax regime improves productivity and as banking reform and corporate deleveraging take hold to reverse a downtrend in investment.

"In sum, growth is forecast to pick up to 7.3 per cent in FY2018 on improved rural consumption, a modest uptick in private investment, and less drag from net exports. Urban consumption growth will remain stable, and impetus from public investment modest," ADB said.

In December, the ADB had made a similar prediction asserting that South Asia will remain the fastest growing region in Asia Pacific with India projected to grow at 7.3 per cent.

"Also set to catalyse growth are benefits from the GST as it mitigates geographic fragmentation and adds revenue to the exchequer, as well as further progress on fiscal consolidation and reform to promote FDI," the Bank added.

ADB had said India's growth would be at a lower rate of 6.7 per cent in 2017 from the previous estimate of 7.0 per cent, however, as far as China was concerned the bank had said it would grow at 6.8 per cent &nbspbut in 2018 the country could see a dip with the economy growing at 6.4 per cent. 
&nbsp

ADB said the growth will pick up as the new tax regime improves productivity and as banking reform and corporate deleveraging take hold to reverse a downtrend in investment.

Manila-based Asian Development Bank(ADB) today projected India's economic growth to pick up to 7.3 per cent this fiscal. The Bank forecasted India to grow at &nbsp7.6 per cent in 2019-20. Reserve Bank of India had projected the country to grow at 7.4 per cent in 2017 fiscal. The Indian economy grew 6.6 per cent in the last fiscal. ADB said the growth will pick up as the new tax regime improves productivity and as banking reform and corporate deleveraging take hold to reverse a downtrend in investment. "In sum, growth is forecast to pick up to 7.3 per cent in FY2018 on improved rural consumption, a modest uptick in private investment, and less drag from net exports. Urban consumption growth will remain stable, and impetus from public investment modest," ADB said. In December, the ADB had made a similar prediction asserting that South Asia will remain the fastest growing region in Asia Pacific with India projected to grow at 7.3 per cent. "Also set to catalyse growth are benefits from the GST as it mitigates geographic fragmentation and adds revenue to the exchequer, as well as further progress on fiscal consolidation and reform to promote FDI," the Bank added. ADB had said India's growth would be at a lower rate of 6.7 per cent in 2017 from the previous estimate of 7.0 per cent, however, as far as China was concerned the bank had said it would grow at 6.8 per cent &nbspbut in 2018 the country could see a dip with the economy growing at 6.4 per cent.

Indian economy to grow at 7.3 per cent this fiscal, 7.6 per cent in 2019-20: Asian Development Bank

India`s steel-to-autos conglomerate Tata Group, widely seen as a potential suitor for Air India, is unlikely to consider a bid for the state-run carrier as the government`s terms are just too onerous, two sources familiar with the matter said.

India, keen to sell the loss-making, debt-ridden airline, finalised plans in late March to divest a 76 percent stake and offload about $5.1 billion of its debt.

But the government has stipulated the winning bidder cannot merge the airline with existing businesses as long as the government holds a stake. The winner may also be required to list Air India and would need to abide by conditions designed to safeguard employee interests, restricting its ability to cut staff.

Since the terms were disclosed, no company has come forward to say it is interested or to reaffirm previous interest, while Jet Airways and rival IndiGo, have already publicly opted out of the race.

Tata Group, which already owns stakes in two airline joint-ventures in India, does not see "how a deal would be workable" under the current terms, said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.&nbsp

The same source also said the airline had too much debt and noted there was little clarity on what a buyer would be allowed to do with the airline`s large workforce.

"Anyone who puts money upfront ... even for Tata to put in that kind of money, it would want complete control," added the second source.

Tata Sons, the holding company for the conglomerate Tata Group, declined to comment.

Prior to the disclosure of the terms, there had been some expression of interest from the group.

In January, Leslie Thng, the chief executive of Vistara, a joint-venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines told reporters its owners were open to evaluating a bid for Air India. Vistara declined to comment and Singapore Airlines had no immediate comment on Wednesday.

Last October, Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, said in a TV interview the group would "definitely look" at Air India once the privatisation process was finalised

India, keen to sell the loss-making, debt-ridden airline, finalised plans in late March to divest a 76 percent stake and offload about $5.1 billion of its debt

India`s steel-to-autos conglomerate Tata Group, widely seen as a potential suitor for Air India, is unlikely to consider a bid for the state-run carrier as the government`s terms are just too onerous, two sources familiar with the matter said. India, keen to sell the loss-making, debt-ridden airline, finalised plans in late March to divest a 76 percent stake and offload about $5.1 billion of its debt. But the government has stipulated the winning bidder cannot merge the airline with existing businesses as long as the government holds a stake. The winner may also be required to list Air India and would need to abide by conditions designed to safeguard employee interests, restricting its ability to cut staff. Since the terms were disclosed, no company has come forward to say it is interested or to reaffirm previous interest, while Jet Airways and rival IndiGo, have already publicly opted out of the race. Tata Group, which already owns stakes in two airline joint-ventures in India, does not see "how a deal would be workable" under the current terms, said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. The same source also said the airline had too much debt and noted there was little clarity on what a buyer would be allowed to do with the airline`s large workforce. "Anyone who puts money upfront ... even for Tata to put in that kind of money, it would want complete control," added the second source. Tata Sons, the holding company for the conglomerate Tata Group, declined to comment. Prior to the disclosure of the terms, there had been some expression of interest from the group. In January, Leslie Thng, the chief executive of Vistara, a joint-venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines told reporters its owners were open to evaluating a bid for Air India. Vistara declined to comment and Singapore Airlines had no immediate comment on Wednesday. Last October, Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, said in a TV interview the group would "definitely look" at Air India once the privatisation process was finalised

Tata Group unlikely to bid for Air India as terms too onerous

India is set to grant Saudi Aramco a 50 per cent stake in a planned 1.2 million-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, said an industry source with knowledge of the deal, a move that would give the kingdom a new outlet for its oil.

A preliminary agreement will be announced on Wednesday during a visit by Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih and Aramco CEO Amin Nasser`s to New Delhi, two separate sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Falih is attending the International Energy Forum in Delhi.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed by Nasser on Wednesday, the sources said.&nbsp

Aramco, like other major producers, wants to tap rising demand growth and invest in the world`s third-biggest oil consumer. Last year it opened an office in New Delhi.&nbsp

India outlined plans in February to expand its refining capacity by 77 per cent to about 8.8 million bpd by 2030.&nbsp

"There are some last minute negotiations on small issues, but both countries are almost ready to announce a deal," the first source told Reuters.

Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.&nbsp

Representatives of Aramco held a marathon meeting with their counterparts from Indian companies on Tuesday.&nbsp

Indian companies - Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum - have floated a joint-venture Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals (RRPL), to build the proposed refinery in Maharashtra.

B. Ashok, chief executive officer of RRPL, who attended the meeting with Aramco declined to comment on the discussions.&nbsp

Saudi Aramco, the world`s biggest oil producer, is moving to invest in refineries overseas to help lock in demand for its crude, and expand its market share ahead of an initial public offering that is expected later this or next year.&nbsp

During a visit to Delhi in February, Falih had said Saudi Arabia would also sign oil supply deals as part of the agreement to buy stakes in Indian refineries, a strategy the kingdom has adopted to expand its market share in Asia and fend off rivals.

Last year, Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars of investments in refinery projects in Indonesia and Malaysia that came with long-term crude oil supply deals.

Saudi Arabia is competing with Iraq to be India`s top oil supplier. Iraq displaced Saudi Arabia for the first time on an annual basis in 2017, data compiled by Reuters showed.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed by Nasser on Wednesday, the sources said

India is set to grant Saudi Aramco a 50 per cent stake in a planned 1.2 million-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, said an industry source with knowledge of the deal, a move that would give the kingdom a new outlet for its oil. A preliminary agreement will be announced on Wednesday during a visit by Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih and Aramco CEO Amin Nasser`s to New Delhi, two separate sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Falih is attending the International Energy Forum in Delhi. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed by Nasser on Wednesday, the sources said. Aramco, like other major producers, wants to tap rising demand growth and invest in the world`s third-biggest oil consumer. Last year it opened an office in New Delhi. India outlined plans in February to expand its refining capacity by 77 per cent to about 8.8 million bpd by 2030. "There are some last minute negotiations on small issues, but both countries are almost ready to announce a deal," the first source told Reuters. Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives of Aramco held a marathon meeting with their counterparts from Indian companies on Tuesday. Indian companies - Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum - have floated a joint-venture Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals (RRPL), to build the proposed refinery in Maharashtra. B. Ashok, chief executive officer of RRPL, who attended the meeting with Aramco declined to comment on the discussions. Saudi Aramco, the world`s biggest oil producer, is moving to invest in refineries overseas to help lock in demand for its crude, and expand its market share ahead of an initial public offering that is expected later this or next year. During a visit to Delhi in February, Falih had said Saudi Arabia would also sign oil supply deals as part of the agreement to buy stakes in Indian refineries, a strategy the kingdom has adopted to expand its market share in Asia and fend off rivals. Last year, Saudi Arabia pledged billions of dollars of investments in refinery projects in Indonesia and Malaysia that came with long-term crude oil supply deals. Saudi Arabia is competing with Iraq to be India`s top oil supplier. Iraq displaced Saudi Arabia for the first time on an annual basis in 2017, data compiled by Reuters showed.

India ready to give Saudi Aramco 50% stake in planned mega refinery in Ratnagiri

Ride-hailing platform Uber on Wednesday announced the launch of its new driver app, rebuilt completely from the ground up, for and with drivers.

The new app provides a more simple and personalised experience, designed to support drivers and delivery partners on every moment of their journey.

"The launch of the new partner (drivers and courier partners) app is a key milestone for Uber. It truly reflects our commitment to the people who have been our partners in growth. We have built this app by listening to what they needed and shaped it alongside them - over 100 partners from Bengaluru were a part of the global beta launch. Our teams spent time on-ground, interacting with partners through group sessions, ride alongs and in person meetings to gather inputs," said Pradeep Parameswaran, Head of Central Operations, Uber India and SA.

<img alt="Untitled design (12).jpg" data-entity-type="" data-entity-uuid="" height="450" src="http://images.wionews.com/iniline-images/Untitled%20design%20(12).jpg" width="770" />

The new app entails a number of features essential to both driver partners as well as customers.

-The new real-time Earnings Tracker lets drivers know-at a glance-how much they earned on their last trip, thus making it easy to track progress toward their goals.

-The new Status bar provides real-time updates on market conditions around them and opportunities for more trips nearby. When a driver taps an opportunity, the app will provide optional navigation to the recommended area.

-Drivers will be able to access notifications and messages about upcoming earning opportunities, feedback from their riders, and information about their account.

-Drivers can also manage a profile, giving them an opportunity to showcase what they do outside of Uber, which will allow riders to learn more about their driver and find new ways to connect.

The app also contains a comprehensive guide to getting started with Uber that will be available to drivers in the coming months, as per a blog post written by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

"Over six months, we launched nearly 40 new features designed to improve the driving experience. But our work was just getting started. While 180 Days was about correcting missteps of the past, we also needed to think longer term, and the obvious place to start was the Driver app. It sits at the center of the driver experience, but after a redesign two years ago, it was already showing its age. We knew we couldn't take the approach we'd taken in the past: redesign the app based on what we thought drivers wanted, launch it, then hope for the best. Instead we needed to listen to what drivers told us they needed, and shape the new app alongside them," he wrote.&nbsp

The new app provides a more simple and personalised experience, designed to support drivers and delivery partners on every moment of their journey

Ride-hailing platform Uber on Wednesday announced the launch of its new driver app, rebuilt completely from the ground up, for and with drivers. The new app provides a more simple and personalised experience, designed to support drivers and delivery partners on every moment of their journey. "The launch of the new partner (drivers and courier partners) app is a key milestone for Uber. It truly reflects our commitment to the people who have been our partners in growth. We have built this app by listening to what they needed and shaped it alongside them - over 100 partners from Bengaluru were a part of the global beta launch. Our teams spent time on-ground, interacting with partners through group sessions, ride alongs and in person meetings to gather inputs," said Pradeep Parameswaran, Head of Central Operations, Uber India and SA. The new app entails a number of features essential to both driver partners as well as customers. -The new real-time Earnings Tracker lets drivers know-at a glance-how much they earned on their last trip, thus making it easy to track progress toward their goals. -The new Status bar provides real-time updates on market conditions around them and opportunities for more trips nearby. When a driver taps an opportunity, the app will provide optional navigation to the recommended area. -Drivers will be able to access notifications and messages about upcoming earning opportunities, feedback from their riders, and information about their account. -Drivers can also manage a profile, giving them an opportunity to showcase what they do outside of Uber, which will allow riders to learn more about their driver and find new ways to connect. The app also contains a comprehensive guide to getting started with Uber that will be available to drivers in the coming months, as per a blog post written by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. "Over six months, we launched nearly 40 new features designed to improve the driving experience. But our work was just getting started. While 180 Days was about correcting missteps of the past, we also needed to think longer term, and the obvious place to start was the Driver app. It sits at the center of the driver experience, but after a redesign two years ago, it was already showing its age. We knew we couldn't take the approach we'd taken in the past: redesign the app based on what we thought drivers wanted, launch it, then hope for the best. Instead we needed to listen to what drivers told us they needed, and shape the new app alongside them," he wrote.

Uber launches new partner app in India

Jet Airways on Tuesday became the latest major Indian airline&nbsp;to rule out a bid for debt-laden national carrier Air India in a new blow to the government's privatisation plans.

The announcement came just days after rival IndiGo pulled out of the race&nbsp;to acquire Air India's operations meaning the government now has no clear frontrunner in the sale campaign.

"We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step," &nbsp;Jet Airways' deputy chief executive, Amit Agarwal said in a statement emailed to AFP.

"However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," he added.

Once the country's monopoly airline, Air India has slowly lost market share to new low-cost private players in one of the world's fastest-growing airline markets.

Air India ran losses for nearly a decade after a botched merger in 2007 and has debts of around $7.67 billion according to government figures.

It has received $5.8 billion in bailout funds from the government but needs even more working capital to turn it around, experts say.

The Indian government recently said it wanted to sell a 76 percent chunk of the struggling carrier.

It released bid documents on what would be one of the country's highest-profile asset sales in decades showing it wants the prospective buyer to take on all of Air India's operations.

IndiGo, India's largest airline, withdrew on Friday, saying it was interested only in Air India's international routes and not its domestic operations.

India has the world's fastest-growing passenger airline industry, expanding at an annual rate of around 20 percent.&nbsp;

About 100 million of its 1.25 billion people took to the skies in 2016 and airlines have embarked on huge purchases of new jets in expectation of new growth.

The announcement came just days after rival IndiGo pulled out of the race to acquire Air India's operations meaning the government now has no clear frontrunner in the sale campaign

Jet Airways on Tuesday became the latest major Indian airline to rule out a bid for debt-laden national carrier Air India in a new blow to the government's privatisation plans. The announcement came just days after rival IndiGo pulled out of the race to acquire Air India's operations meaning the government now has no clear frontrunner in the sale campaign. "We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step," Jet Airways' deputy chief executive, Amit Agarwal said in a statement emailed to AFP. "However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process," he added. Once the country's monopoly airline, Air India has slowly lost market share to new low-cost private players in one of the world's fastest-growing airline markets. Air India ran losses for nearly a decade after a botched merger in 2007 and has debts of around $7.67 billion according to government figures. It has received $5.8 billion in bailout funds from the government but needs even more working capital to turn it around, experts say. The Indian government recently said it wanted to sell a 76 percent chunk of the struggling carrier. It released bid documents on what would be one of the country's highest-profile asset sales in decades showing it wants the prospective buyer to take on all of Air India's operations. IndiGo, India's largest airline, withdrew on Friday, saying it was interested only in Air India's international routes and not its domestic operations. India has the world's fastest-growing passenger airline industry, expanding at an annual rate of around 20 percent. About 100 million of its 1.25 billion people took to the skies in 2016 and airlines have embarked on huge purchases of new jets in expectation of new growth.

Jet Airways rules out Air India bid

One would agree that starting a business is the greatest learning experience you can get (even if you are not successful in it).

I started by entrepreneurial journey with my school friend in 2015, leaving my lucrative job. The startup I created, a platform that connected people over skills and hobbies, became the eighth company in India to be backed by Facebook and was a winner of several national level competitions. The concept was well received as we were quick to gain traction but unable to scale further due to certain constraints, and hence decided to discontinue operations in 2017.

In this article, I am highlighting lessons I learnt during my start up years and sharing some personal views and tips that other aspiring entrepreneurs can benefit from.

Lesson 1: Have a well-defined monetisation strategy or business model from beginning

The first and the most important lesson is to have a clear monetisation strategy from the very beginning. The major problem with startup founders is that they are too optimistic about how easy it will be to acquire 'paying customers'. They assume that because they will build/offer an interesting website, mobile application, product or service, customers will come and they will build traction. And once traction is built, there concept will be easily monetised.

That doesn't necessarily happen in real if the monetisation strategy is not thought through during initial stages (or revenue projections are too optimistic) and worst the cost of acquiring the customer (CAC) becomes much higher that their lifetime value (LTV).

What founders must clearly understand first is that whether their product is a Vitamin (nice to have) or an Aspirin (must have) in the market they intend to serve. Second, if there is a scalable way to acquire customers and lastly if one can then monetize those customers at a significantly higher level than the cost of acquisition.

Tip: Do a POC on a small sample of target audience first. Check not if they will use your product, but if they will 'pay X amount' for the same (move from assumptions to estimations). Make sure the CAC is less that the LTV for this exercise.

Lesson 2: Focus on customer research and get feedback on prototypes

Customer is at the heart of any business and the founder must listen to all customer feedbacks, reviews/ratings and reasons for churn seriously. I would suggest while you are in development stage of the product, get a feedback on the prototype by a sample of target audience. Not every product or company is Apple, that customers don't know what they will want.

One of most appreciated and acclaimed product features for my mobile application came from discussions and research with my target audience during concept stage - ones my team never thought about in beginning. In fact, we also reached out to a couple of potential angel investors and industry experts in my network for feedbacks during concept stage. This ensured positive reviews and low churn among customers.

Best thing is to build or evolve the product sitting amongst your potential customers. That will give founders (along with customers leads pre-launch) very useful insights about their actual target customers right location or launch timing or if the product has a compelling enough value proposition and if market size of people that have pain and have funds is large enough.

Tip: Run your product prototype with atleast 5 customers daily by either cold calls or personal interviews. Also, reach out to 2 potential investors and an industry expert in your network for insights during development stages. Keep your product vision clear but be open to suggestions on product features.

Lesson 3: Be frugal

By being frugal I do not only mean working out of garage offices or keeping bean bags instead of office furniture, but being wise with operations, hiring or marketing budgets. A major reason why startups fail is because they run out of cash.

Our first marketing campaign was a Facebook ad for which we believed we needed a good experienced designer. However, as we were running tight on budgets we decided to delay hiring and do it ourselves – downloaded free stock images from web and ran a vanilla ad campaign (without any design). To our surprise the campaign did exceptionally well and was one of our best performing campaigns on Facebook (with regards to CAC costing half as compared to the average life time CAC we ever achieved).

Many of the highest engaging blogs and posts we ran were done by interns with whom we negotiated to pay only based on content performance. This way even interns delivered quality work.

This is extremely critical especially if you are bootstrapping. Even for funded companies, when they run out of funds before achieving the next agreed milestone, subsequent funding becomes difficult. Or even if they do raise, valuation will be significantly lower. The best of entrepreneurs spend only on essentials and do more with less.

Tip: Be sure if or when you really need to hire somebody or buy an expensive tool. Test if you can get results from what costs you zero money. Again, understand must haves and good to haves.

Lesson 4: Build Team smartly

"Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championships" - Michael Jordon 
&nbsp; 
Founder's vision and hard work are critical especially in the early stages for growth. However, team's alignment to founder's vision and their skill composition are of utmost importance for the company's long-term success. Having a perfect team is about sharing a single clear vision, passion to address customer pain point and balancing strengths-weaknesses among each other.

One wrong hiring cost our team delay of three months in product launch. This was huge considering our monthly burn rate and stiff investment scenario in the market.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Smart founders will build strong teams below them – people who are strong on strategy and even better at execution. This helps to build a sustainable and profitable venture. If the team is poor at execution, it will lead to product not getting built correctly or on time, and the go-to market execution will be poorly implemented.

Tip: Remember Guy Kawasaki from 'The Art of Start': B players hire A players and A players hire A+ players. Seek also for an aligned vision and speak frequently to your employees to keep them motivated.

Bonus lesson: Stress management

One of the most important personal lesson that start-up taught me was about managing stress. We all feel stress, and there is no escaping it and at times it affects our efficiency at work. I no way claim to master stress but the understanding about the subject has been useful for me. My two theories for dealing with stress:

• Let me begin with the Gestalt Theory in psychology which states that "the whole is other than the sum of its parts". One of the ramification of this theory is that stress, in actual, is only perceived more by people - it appears bigger in itself, as a whole. It can be broken down into specific elements or problems, which are simpler to address individually.

Thus, if you do feel stressed or are faced with a problem, write the reasons down until you can’t break them further. Then, prioritize and address them individually. &nbsp;

• Second, the core reason for most of the negative emotions like anger, anxiety, fear, lack of confidence, embarrassment etc. is due to confusion or simply the lack of information (about outcomes, about future, about another person, or being underprepared etc.). Thus, seeking more clarity or information, having clear communications, or doing more research on events/topics in personal or professional aspects could help avoid these negative emotions from coming in.

Tip: Remember the Quote by Tim Ferriss: "When you get specific with your fears, you rob them of their power".

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the authors and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

One of the most important personal lesson that start-up taught me was about managing stress.

One would agree that starting a business is the greatest learning experience you can get (even if you are not successful in it). I started by entrepreneurial journey with my school friend in 2015, leaving my lucrative job. The startup I created, a platform that connected people over skills and hobbies, became the eighth company in India to be backed by Facebook and was a winner of several national level competitions. The concept was well received as we were quick to gain traction but unable to scale further due to certain constraints, and hence decided to discontinue operations in 2017. In this article, I am highlighting lessons I learnt during my start up years and sharing some personal views and tips that other aspiring entrepreneurs can benefit from. Lesson 1: Have a well-defined monetisation strategy or business model from beginning The first and the most important lesson is to have a clear monetisation strategy from the very beginning. The major problem with startup founders is that they are too optimistic about how easy it will be to acquire 'paying customers'. They assume that because they will build/offer an interesting website, mobile application, product or service, customers will come and they will build traction. And once traction is built, there concept will be easily monetised. That doesn't necessarily happen in real if the monetisation strategy is not thought through during initial stages (or revenue projections are too optimistic) and worst the cost of acquiring the customer (CAC) becomes much higher that their lifetime value (LTV). What founders must clearly understand first is that whether their product is a Vitamin (nice to have) or an Aspirin (must have) in the market they intend to serve. Second, if there is a scalable way to acquire customers and lastly if one can then monetize those customers at a significantly higher level than the cost of acquisition. Tip: Do a POC on a small sample of target audience first. Check not if they will use your product, but if they will 'pay X amount' for the same (move from assumptions to estimations). Make sure the CAC is less that the LTV for this exercise. Lesson 2: Focus on customer research and get feedback on prototypes Customer is at the heart of any business and the founder must listen to all customer feedbacks, reviews/ratings and reasons for churn seriously. I would suggest while you are in development stage of the product, get a feedback on the prototype by a sample of target audience. Not every product or company is Apple, that customers don't know what they will want. One of most appreciated and acclaimed product features for my mobile application came from discussions and research with my target audience during concept stage - ones my team never thought about in beginning. In fact, we also reached out to a couple of potential angel investors and industry experts in my network for feedbacks during concept stage. This ensured positive reviews and low churn among customers. Best thing is to build or evolve the product sitting amongst your potential customers. That will give founders (along with customers leads pre-launch) very useful insights about their actual target customers right location or launch timing or if the product has a compelling enough value proposition and if market size of people that have pain and have funds is large enough. Tip: Run your product prototype with atleast 5 customers daily by either cold calls or personal interviews. Also, reach out to 2 potential investors and an industry expert in your network for insights during development stages. Keep your product vision clear but be open to suggestions on product features. Lesson 3: Be frugal By being frugal I do not only mean working out of garage offices or keeping bean bags instead of office furniture, but being wise with operations, hiring or marketing budgets. A major reason why startups fail is because they run out of cash. Our first marketing campaign was a Facebook ad for which we believed we needed a good experienced designer. However, as we were running tight on budgets we decided to delay hiring and do it ourselves – downloaded free stock images from web and ran a vanilla ad campaign (without any design). To our surprise the campaign did exceptionally well and was one of our best performing campaigns on Facebook (with regards to CAC costing half as compared to the average life time CAC we ever achieved). Many of the highest engaging blogs and posts we ran were done by interns with whom we negotiated to pay only based on content performance. This way even interns delivered quality work. This is extremely critical especially if you are bootstrapping. Even for funded companies, when they run out of funds before achieving the next agreed milestone, subsequent funding becomes difficult. Or even if they do raise, valuation will be significantly lower. The best of entrepreneurs spend only on essentials and do more with less. Tip: Be sure if or when you really need to hire somebody or buy an expensive tool. Test if you can get results from what costs you zero money. Again, understand must haves and good to haves. Lesson 4: Build Team smartly "Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championships" - Michael Jordon Founder's vision and hard work are critical especially in the early stages for growth. However, team's alignment to founder's vision and their skill composition are of utmost importance for the company's long-term success. Having a perfect team is about sharing a single clear vision, passion to address customer pain point and balancing strengths-weaknesses among each other. One wrong hiring cost our team delay of three months in product launch. This was huge considering our monthly burn rate and stiff investment scenario in the market. Smart founders will build strong teams below them – people who are strong on strategy and even better at execution. This helps to build a sustainable and profitable venture. If the team is poor at execution, it will lead to product not getting built correctly or on time, and the go-to market execution will be poorly implemented. Tip: Remember Guy Kawasaki from 'The Art of Start': B players hire A players and A players hire A+ players. Seek also for an aligned vision and speak frequently to your employees to keep them motivated. Bonus lesson: Stress management One of the most important personal lesson that start-up taught me was about managing stress. We all feel stress, and there is no escaping it and at times it affects our efficiency at work. I no way claim to master stress but the understanding about the subject has been useful for me. My two theories for dealing with stress: • Let me begin with the Gestalt Theory in psychology which states that "the whole is other than the sum of its parts". One of the ramification of this theory is that stress, in actual, is only perceived more by people - it appears bigger in itself, as a whole. It can be broken down into specific elements or problems, which are simpler to address individually. Thus, if you do feel stressed or are faced with a problem, write the reasons down until you can’t break them further. Then, prioritize and address them individually. • Second, the core reason for most of the negative emotions like anger, anxiety, fear, lack of confidence, embarrassment etc. is due to confusion or simply the lack of information (about outcomes, about future, about another person, or being underprepared etc.). Thus, seeking more clarity or information, having clear communications, or doing more research on events/topics in personal or professional aspects could help avoid these negative emotions from coming in. Tip: Remember the Quote by Tim Ferriss: "When you get specific with your fears, you rob them of their power". (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the authors and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Four lessons that can make your startup take-off

Bengaluru city is spreading the intoxicated water of its Bellandur lake to the other water bodies and the green activists see red alert in the city soon. The lake water has to be pumped out before any other body body is polluted.

Bengaluru: Bellandur lake water to be pumped out of the lake

I grew up in India, had been living in the US for the past 11 years, and recently returned to India full-time to launch a business after identifying an opportunity in the market. Prior to moving back to India, I worked as a venture capital (VC) investor in Florida, funding start-ups and early stage companies operating in the consumer and technology industries. I also served as the Chief Operating Officer of one of our venture capital portfolio companies, an international e-commerce business that sells watches, apparel, and accessories in over 30 countries.

One evening I was talking to my parents who described a recent painful mattress buying experience in Pune. They spent weeks searching for a mattress similar to what I had in the US but to their disappointment what they found was either very expensive or unavailable. They ultimately bought one of the old well-established brands at a high price. I immediately realised that this was a pain point that needed to be solved.

I gathered a team of experts to solve this problem. My old friend Vishal Mundhra, who loves to sleep, and is a tech expert, joined the team as the Chief Technology Officer. My former VC colleague, Joe Roos, a seasoned venture capital investor and retail industry expert, joined the team as the CFO.

We travelled the world to find the best components and technology to make the perfect mattress for India. We studied the competitive landscape and identified a number of key differentiating factors that would allow us to offer a superior product at an affordable price. It took us three months to figure out a name - we paid people to help us, completed surveys, but ultimately, I am proud to say that the name came to me when I was nodding off to sleep at my laptop.

Now the next step was how do we solve the pain points -&nbsp; we had to re-think the old mattress business model. We eliminated the traditional brick and mortar store model and focused on online sales. Rather than suffer the experience of dealing with aggressive style sales tactics in the store with pushy salespeople we created a beautifully designed and user-friendly website to showcase all the key features. By eliminating costly overhead and middlemen we could offer a superior product and pass the savings on to our consumers.

This has been a difficult entrepreneurial journey full of many risks and sacrifices. I left a comfortable job in the US and moved to Pune to build the business from scratch. I even left my supportive wife behind in the US because we both believe so strongly in this opportunity. The road so far has been full of ups and downs and last-minute surprises. Every step requires a tremendous amount of work, long hours, and often quick decisions. On the legal side we had to figure out the best structure to setup our company and how to react to the new GST regime in India. Since our materials are imported, we also had to deal with Indian Customs officials, which involves a lot of red tape and delays.

My advice to fellow entrepreneurs moving to India to start a business is that you must approach the market with an open mind - this is an amazing market but nothing is predictable. You must also be incredibly honest with yourself and others. You must pursue your dreams for the right reasons. The entrepreneurial path can be lonely, even when you assemble a great team, but I have never felt more passionate about any opportunity in my life and ultimately the sacrifices will be worth it. We are not simply selling a product, we are delivering happiness to consumers and providing them with a foundation upon which their dreams will be made.

The Indian market is incredibly dynamic and unique. Indian consumers can be demanding, frugal, and very price/value conscious. Very early on, we had to ensure that our deliveries were timely and precise to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction. We use high end vendors to fulfill our deliveries and go the extra mile to ensure our customers are satisfied. We have focused intensely on product quality using only the best internationally certified materials. We designed beautiful packaging to ensure that when the consumer receives our product they feel excited to open it and proud to own it. Every step of the customer journey is designed to ensure that we build lifelong relationships so that each customer feels that they are part of our family.

One of the most difficult aspects of a start-up is first demonstrating a minimum viable product (MVP) and product market fit. We were careful to demonstrate a clear market demand before investing and growing the business. Our early revenue traction confirms there is clear demand and feedback from our customers indicates additional demand for product extensions such as pillows. At this stage of the business you often must make a decision - do you continue to bootstrap the business or do you seek outside funding to help scale the model and promote growth? We ultimately decided that there is value in taking in outside strategic capital that will support our growth and allow us to leverage network resources. We are actively raising an angel/seed round and have found the Indian market to be highly fragmented on the investor side.

One of the biggest difficulties I face as the CEO is operating the business while also actively meeting prospective investors. I believe the key is to hire the right people and delegate as needed. &nbsp;

A start-up CEO's first reaction is to do everything on his own but that keeps us away from the more important strategic work. So as you grow the business get the right team in place to ensure that execution doesn't suffer and you keep making progress. Cash burn is very important so we focus on hiring inexpensive interns and using low rent space to ensure that the recurring cash burn is low. Cash should be spent on active marketing and revenue drivers at this stage.&nbsp; We are intensely focused on ROI and profitable spend avoiding anything that we deem wasteful or unnecessary. &nbsp;

Joe and I have reviewed thousands of start-ups across the course of our venture capital and private equity careers. The simplest advice that we can give would be to listen more than you talk. Learn from the mistakes of others and learn as much as you can as often as you can about your business, competitors, and the overall market. And don’t be afraid of taking risks!

(Sandeep was a venture capitalist and an investment banker prior to starting his own company.)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the authors and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

My advice to fellow entrepreneurs moving to India to start a business is that you must approach the market with an open mind.

I grew up in India, had been living in the US for the past 11 years, and recently returned to India full-time to launch a business after identifying an opportunity in the market. Prior to moving back to India, I worked as a venture capital (VC) investor in Florida, funding start-ups and early stage companies operating in the consumer and technology industries. I also served as the Chief Operating Officer of one of our venture capital portfolio companies, an international e-commerce business that sells watches, apparel, and accessories in over 30 countries. One evening I was talking to my parents who described a recent painful mattress buying experience in Pune. They spent weeks searching for a mattress similar to what I had in the US but to their disappointment what they found was either very expensive or unavailable. They ultimately bought one of the old well-established brands at a high price. I immediately realised that this was a pain point that needed to be solved. I gathered a team of experts to solve this problem. My old friend Vishal Mundhra, who loves to sleep, and is a tech expert, joined the team as the Chief Technology Officer. My former VC colleague, Joe Roos, a seasoned venture capital investor and retail industry expert, joined the team as the CFO. We travelled the world to find the best components and technology to make the perfect mattress for India. We studied the competitive landscape and identified a number of key differentiating factors that would allow us to offer a superior product at an affordable price. It took us three months to figure out a name - we paid people to help us, completed surveys, but ultimately, I am proud to say that the name came to me when I was nodding off to sleep at my laptop. Now the next step was how do we solve the pain points - we had to re-think the old mattress business model. We eliminated the traditional brick and mortar store model and focused on online sales. Rather than suffer the experience of dealing with aggressive style sales tactics in the store with pushy salespeople we created a beautifully designed and user-friendly website to showcase all the key features. By eliminating costly overhead and middlemen we could offer a superior product and pass the savings on to our consumers. This has been a difficult entrepreneurial journey full of many risks and sacrifices. I left a comfortable job in the US and moved to Pune to build the business from scratch. I even left my supportive wife behind in the US because we both believe so strongly in this opportunity. The road so far has been full of ups and downs and last-minute surprises. Every step requires a tremendous amount of work, long hours, and often quick decisions. On the legal side we had to figure out the best structure to setup our company and how to react to the new GST regime in India. Since our materials are imported, we also had to deal with Indian Customs officials, which involves a lot of red tape and delays. My advice to fellow entrepreneurs moving to India to start a business is that you must approach the market with an open mind - this is an amazing market but nothing is predictable. You must also be incredibly honest with yourself and others. You must pursue your dreams for the right reasons. The entrepreneurial path can be lonely, even when you assemble a great team, but I have never felt more passionate about any opportunity in my life and ultimately the sacrifices will be worth it. We are not simply selling a product, we are delivering happiness to consumers and providing them with a foundation upon which their dreams will be made. The Indian market is incredibly dynamic and unique. Indian consumers can be demanding, frugal, and very price/value conscious. Very early on, we had to ensure that our deliveries were timely and precise to ensure a high level of customer satisfaction. We use high end vendors to fulfill our deliveries and go the extra mile to ensure our customers are satisfied. We have focused intensely on product quality using only the best internationally certified materials. We designed beautiful packaging to ensure that when the consumer receives our product they feel excited to open it and proud to own it. Every step of the customer journey is designed to ensure that we build lifelong relationships so that each customer feels that they are part of our family. One of the most difficult aspects of a start-up is first demonstrating a minimum viable product (MVP) and product market fit. We were careful to demonstrate a clear market demand before investing and growing the business. Our early revenue traction confirms there is clear demand and feedback from our customers indicates additional demand for product extensions such as pillows. At this stage of the business you often must make a decision - do you continue to bootstrap the business or do you seek outside funding to help scale the model and promote growth? We ultimately decided that there is value in taking in outside strategic capital that will support our growth and allow us to leverage network resources. We are actively raising an angel/seed round and have found the Indian market to be highly fragmented on the investor side. One of the biggest difficulties I face as the CEO is operating the business while also actively meeting prospective investors. I believe the key is to hire the right people and delegate as needed. A start-up CEO's first reaction is to do everything on his own but that keeps us away from the more important strategic work. So as you grow the business get the right team in place to ensure that execution doesn't suffer and you keep making progress. Cash burn is very important so we focus on hiring inexpensive interns and using low rent space to ensure that the recurring cash burn is low. Cash should be spent on active marketing and revenue drivers at this stage. We are intensely focused on ROI and profitable spend avoiding anything that we deem wasteful or unnecessary. Joe and I have reviewed thousands of start-ups across the course of our venture capital and private equity careers. The simplest advice that we can give would be to listen more than you talk. Learn from the mistakes of others and learn as much as you can as often as you can about your business, competitors, and the overall market. And don’t be afraid of taking risks! (Sandeep was a venture capitalist and an investment banker prior to starting his own company.) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the authors and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: My advice for entrepreneurs who want to start business in India

On the first day of the financial year 2018-19, the retail prices of petrol and diesel were revised upwards. Now in Delhi, diesel price is at all-time high and petrol price is highest in the past four years. The global rise of crude oil price, which is now touching US $70 a barrel, is the reason for this steep increase.

This is overall painful for the society as petrol/diesel touches everybody's life. Demands are pouring in from different quarters for government to chip in to give some reprieve by way of reducing taxes or by capping the prices itself.

However, the fact of the matter is that this petroleum is India's perennial weakness, and as a society, we have no option but to live with it.

First, let's have a look at this sector.

Till the decade of the 90s, the oil sector was completely controlled by Government of India (GOI). Oil PSUs only acted as marketer. However, the 1991 liberalisation of Indian economy allowed private players to enter the oil sector and the process of price decontrol started as well. In 2002, GOI made the majority of petroleum products free from the APM (Administered Price Mechanism).

In 2003-04, private oil companies started marketing of petroleum products and barring products like LPG and kerosene, pricing of all other products started depending on market forces. GOI was only controlling products like LPG and kerosene through PSUs.

Trouble started when prices of crude oil started soaring steeply during mid of past decade (it even touched US $130-140 a barrel mark in 2008-09). At that point of time, had the Centre allowed market forces to decide the rate of petrol and diesel in sync with rising crude price, the whole economy and life of common citizen would have gone haywire and thus GOI again started controlling prices of petrol/diesel through PSUs. Private players could not take the brunt as in no case they were in the position to sell the products on par with PSUs, so they took a backseat.

Due to price cap by GOI, the PSUs suffered huge losses (under-recoveries) which were partially compensated by GOI and upstream oil companies (ONGC), but it was not at all adequate to cover the losses. Downstream oil companies started reeling.

Here let's look at few figures before we move forward. During 2016, India consumed around 210 MMT (million metric tonnes) of crude oil against a production of a meagre 40 MMT. Thus, around 81 per cent of the required petrol product had to be imported. Therefore, it is clear that in case of rising crude price, the inflated crude cost will go out of Indian economy for 80 per cent of the crude consumed. The worrisome fact is that demand is increasing manifold than the production. In 2006, consumption was just 121 MMT against the production of 35 MMT. As clear over past one-decade consumption has gone up with a growth rate of 4.9 per cent whereas same for production has been just 1.9 per cent. Since the economy is thriving and no major new oil discovery on the cards, this trend would definitely continue for the time to follow.

Selling products at forced lower prices was like postponing problems, which certainly is not the solution. Now when crude prices started plummeting again in 2014, it was a huge blessing for the country like India where petroleum is a scarce commodity. Once the crude price came down to a reasonable level, the GOI (NDA govt.) gave PSUs free hand to fix the price of diesel & petrol. The prices are now adjusted on daily basis.

In fact, when prices nosedived after NDA came in power, GOI took this opportunity to raise taxes to mint some extra money out of it. Nothing wrong with it per se. It was the GOI only who was sharing the most of the burden of under-recoveries when the crude price was high. Moreover, GOI is under pressure to maintain the fiscal deficit within limits.

Critics put up a simple mathematics. Crude price three years ago was double of what it is today then we should be paying half price for petrol and diesel today. But for sure it must be clear by now that it is just not possible.

GOI and PSUs are still sharing the burden of under-recoveries on kerosene and LPG and therefore it is only fair that at least all other products should be sold at on par pricing. The only thing here is that the government, for the time being, should mull over to reduce taxation on these products but there is not much scope of that either.

Let's pay a fair price for products you are buying. As a responsible citizen, our endeavour should be to make sure that we become little miser when it comes to consumption of petroleum products. Cribbing on prices is useless and completely misleading.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the authors and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

As a responsible citizen, our endeavour should be to make sure that we become little miser when it comes to consumption of petroleum products.

On the first day of the financial year 2018-19, the retail prices of petrol and diesel were revised upwards. Now in Delhi, diesel price is at all-time high and petrol price is highest in the past four years. The global rise of crude oil price, which is now touching US $70 a barrel, is the reason for this steep increase. This is overall painful for the society as petrol/diesel touches everybody's life. Demands are pouring in from different quarters for government to chip in to give some reprieve by way of reducing taxes or by capping the prices itself. However, the fact of the matter is that this petroleum is India's perennial weakness, and as a society, we have no option but to live with it. First, let's have a look at this sector. Till the decade of the 90s, the oil sector was completely controlled by Government of India (GOI). Oil PSUs only acted as marketer. However, the 1991 liberalisation of Indian economy allowed private players to enter the oil sector and the process of price decontrol started as well. In 2002, GOI made the majority of petroleum products free from the APM (Administered Price Mechanism). In 2003-04, private oil companies started marketing of petroleum products and barring products like LPG and kerosene, pricing of all other products started depending on market forces. GOI was only controlling products like LPG and kerosene through PSUs. Trouble started when prices of crude oil started soaring steeply during mid of past decade (it even touched US $130-140 a barrel mark in 2008-09). At that point of time, had the Centre allowed market forces to decide the rate of petrol and diesel in sync with rising crude price, the whole economy and life of common citizen would have gone haywire and thus GOI again started controlling prices of petrol/diesel through PSUs. Private players could not take the brunt as in no case they were in the position to sell the products on par with PSUs, so they took a backseat. Due to price cap by GOI, the PSUs suffered huge losses (under-recoveries) which were partially compensated by GOI and upstream oil companies (ONGC), but it was not at all adequate to cover the losses. Downstream oil companies started reeling. Here let's look at few figures before we move forward. During 2016, India consumed around 210 MMT (million metric tonnes) of crude oil against a production of a meagre 40 MMT. Thus, around 81 per cent of the required petrol product had to be imported. Therefore, it is clear that in case of rising crude price, the inflated crude cost will go out of Indian economy for 80 per cent of the crude consumed. The worrisome fact is that demand is increasing manifold than the production. In 2006, consumption was just 121 MMT against the production of 35 MMT. As clear over past one-decade consumption has gone up with a growth rate of 4.9 per cent whereas same for production has been just 1.9 per cent. Since the economy is thriving and no major new oil discovery on the cards, this trend would definitely continue for the time to follow. Selling products at forced lower prices was like postponing problems, which certainly is not the solution. Now when crude prices started plummeting again in 2014, it was a huge blessing for the country like India where petroleum is a scarce commodity. Once the crude price came down to a reasonable level, the GOI (NDA govt.) gave PSUs free hand to fix the price of diesel & petrol. The prices are now adjusted on daily basis. In fact, when prices nosedived after NDA came in power, GOI took this opportunity to raise taxes to mint some extra money out of it. Nothing wrong with it per se. It was the GOI only who was sharing the most of the burden of under-recoveries when the crude price was high. Moreover, GOI is under pressure to maintain the fiscal deficit within limits. Critics put up a simple mathematics. Crude price three years ago was double of what it is today then we should be paying half price for petrol and diesel today. But for sure it must be clear by now that it is just not possible. GOI and PSUs are still sharing the burden of under-recoveries on kerosene and LPG and therefore it is only fair that at least all other products should be sold at on par pricing. The only thing here is that the government, for the time being, should mull over to reduce taxation on these products but there is not much scope of that either. Let's pay a fair price for products you are buying. As a responsible citizen, our endeavour should be to make sure that we become little miser when it comes to consumption of petroleum products. Cribbing on prices is useless and completely misleading. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the authors and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: We have to live with rising prices of petrol and diesel

The rupee strengthened by 10 paise to 64.91 against the US dollar at the interbank forex market today on sustained selling of the greenback by exporters and banks amid foreign capital inflows.

Dealers said dollar's weakness against a basket of currencies supported the domestic unit.

On Friday, the rupee had gained 10 paise to end at 65.01 against the US currency which suffered losses in global markets on intensifying trade war worries.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fall by 60.10 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 32,536.44 in opening trade today.

According to the provisional exchange data, foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 1,628.19 crore on a net basis on Friday.

Dealers said dollar's weakness against a basket of currencies supported the domestic unit

The rupee strengthened by 10 paise to 64.91 against the US dollar at the interbank forex market today on sustained selling of the greenback by exporters and banks amid foreign capital inflows. Dealers said dollar's weakness against a basket of currencies supported the domestic unit. On Friday, the rupee had gained 10 paise to end at 65.01 against the US currency which suffered losses in global markets on intensifying trade war worries. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fall by 60.10 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 32,536.44 in opening trade today. According to the provisional exchange data, foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 1,628.19 crore on a net basis on Friday.

Rupee rises 10 paise against dollar in opening trade

Android users can now link their bank account to their WhatsApp and facilitate online payments. Android beta users will have a WhatsApp Payments option that can be enabled.

Users will be asked to link their bank account with the WhatsApp account and will also get an option to scan QR codes for payments.&nbsp;

WhatsApp's 2.18.79 Android version lets you link your bank account to your WhatsApp after verifying the mobile number via an SMS.&nbsp;

The Scan QR Code option -- available on WhatsApp version 2.18.93 -- will enable users to make payments by scanning QR codes.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/whatsappn-20180326090004.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
The service can be accessed by going to Settings > Payments. (WION)
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="javascript:void(0)" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

To access the feature you need to make sure that your Android device has the latest version of the application installed. The service can be accessed by going to Settings > Payments.&nbsp;

The Facebook-owned instant messaging application first launched its payment service option in February this year for select Android and iPhone devices.&nbsp;&nbsp;

WhatsApp's 2.18.79 Android version lets you link your bank account to your WhatsApp account after verifying the mobile number via an SMS

Android users can now link their bank account to their WhatsApp and facilitate online payments. Android beta users will have a WhatsApp Payments option that can be enabled. Users will be asked to link their bank account with the WhatsApp account and will also get an option to scan QR codes for payments. WhatsApp's 2.18.79 Android version lets you link your bank account to your WhatsApp after verifying the mobile number via an SMS. The Scan QR Code option -- available on WhatsApp version 2.18.93 -- will enable users to make payments by scanning QR codes. The service can be accessed by going to Settings > Payments. (WION) × To access the feature you need to make sure that your Android device has the latest version of the application installed. The service can be accessed by going to Settings > Payments. The Facebook-owned instant messaging application first launched its payment service option in February this year for select Android and iPhone devices.

You can now use WhatsApp to make payments

Britain is all set to take measures against Russia for its involvement in the poisoning of the ex Russian spy. Almost 10 European Union members are planning to expel Russian officials from there countries.

EU to take measures against Russia for a nerve agent attack on ex Russian spy

The threat of a global trade war sent stock markets sliding and investors rushing for the safety of currencies like the yen and government bonds on Friday, after US&nbsp;President Donald Trump announced tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese goods.

World stocks, down 3.4 per cent since Monday, are on course for their worst week since early February, when a spike in volatility sent markets into a tailspin.

European stocks fell at the open, with Germany&#39;s Dax down 1.6 per cent, the French CAC 40 1.5 per cent lower and Britain&#39;s FTSE 100 0.8 per cent in the red.

That followed large falls in the US, with the S&amp;P 500 shedding 2.5 per cent, and overnight in Asia, where the Japanese Nikkei 225 was the biggest loser slumping 4.5 per cent.

Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday that could impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from China, although the measures have a 30-day consultation period.

China urged the United States to &quot;pull back from the brink&quot;, but investors fear Trump&#39;s tariffs are leading the world&#39;s two largest economies into a trade war with potentially dire consequences for the global economy.

China disclosed its own plans on Friday to impose tariffs on up to $3 billion of US&nbsp;imports in retaliation against the US&nbsp;tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium products.

&quot;The equity markets are getting clobbered, which is not that surprising with fears of a trade war breaking out,&quot; said Paul Fage, a TD Securities emerging markets strategist.

With investors seeking out safer assets, many jumped into government bond markets in Europe and the United States.

US&nbsp;10-year Treasury yields, which fell almost 8 basis points on Thursday, were set for their biggest two-week fall since September. In Europe, benchmark issuer Germany&#39;s 10-year bond yield hovered close to 10-week lows struck a day earlier at around 0.52 per cent and was on track for its biggest two-week drop since August, down 13 basis points.

Many investors also turned to the yen, a currency likely to benefit from a full-fledged trade war. The Japanese currency gained 0.4 per cent against the dollar to 104.87 yen, the first time it has been below 105 since November 2016.

The Swiss franc, another currency bought in times of market uncertainty, rose 0.3 per cent versus the dollar, although it remained flat against the euro.

The dollar fell 0.2 per cent against a basket of currencies.

&quot;The FX market itself isn&#39;t sure, and its reaction to risk-off and lower bond yields across the board is to buy the yen and the Swiss franc,&quot; Kit Juckes, an FX strategist at Societe Generale, wrote in a daily note.

In commodity markets, oil prices recouped overnight losses after Saudi Arabia said that OPEC and Russian-led production curbs introduced in 2017 will need to be extended into 2019.

US&nbsp;crude futures were up 0.8 per cent at $64.79 per barrel after losing 1.3 per cent on Thursday and Brent gained 0.45 per&nbsp; cent to $69.22.

Safe-haven spot gold rose 1 per cent to $1,341 an ounce, highest since February 20.

Copper and iron prices both fell, as investors bet demand for the metals would suffer in a trade war.

Daniel Lockyer, senior fund manager at Hawksmoor Investment Management, said financial markets had got ahead of themselves and were failing to price in the risk a number of factors could trigger a sell-off.

&quot;It&#39;s not that we thought trade wars would cause the market to fall, it&#39;s that there was too much optimism priced into stock markets,&quot; he said.

The threat of a global trade war sent stock markets sliding and investors rushing for the safety of currencies like the yen and government bonds on Friday, after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese goods

The threat of a global trade war sent stock markets sliding and investors rushing for the safety of currencies like the yen and government bonds on Friday, after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese goods. World stocks, down 3.4 per cent since Monday, are on course for their worst week since early February, when a spike in volatility sent markets into a tailspin. European stocks fell at the open, with Germany's Dax down 1.6 per cent, the French CAC 40 1.5 per cent lower and Britain's FTSE 100 0.8 per cent in the red. That followed large falls in the US, with the S&P 500 shedding 2.5 per cent, and overnight in Asia, where the Japanese Nikkei 225 was the biggest loser slumping 4.5 per cent. Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday that could impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from China, although the measures have a 30-day consultation period. China urged the United States to "pull back from the brink", but investors fear Trump's tariffs are leading the world's two largest economies into a trade war with potentially dire consequences for the global economy. China disclosed its own plans on Friday to impose tariffs on up to $3 billion of US imports in retaliation against the US tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium products. "The equity markets are getting clobbered, which is not that surprising with fears of a trade war breaking out," said Paul Fage, a TD Securities emerging markets strategist. With investors seeking out safer assets, many jumped into government bond markets in Europe and the United States. US 10-year Treasury yields, which fell almost 8 basis points on Thursday, were set for their biggest two-week fall since September. In Europe, benchmark issuer Germany's 10-year bond yield hovered close to 10-week lows struck a day earlier at around 0.52 per cent and was on track for its biggest two-week drop since August, down 13 basis points. Many investors also turned to the yen, a currency likely to benefit from a full-fledged trade war. The Japanese currency gained 0.4 per cent against the dollar to 104.87 yen, the first time it has been below 105 since November 2016. The Swiss franc, another currency bought in times of market uncertainty, rose 0.3 per cent versus the dollar, although it remained flat against the euro. The dollar fell 0.2 per cent against a basket of currencies. "The FX market itself isn't sure, and its reaction to risk-off and lower bond yields across the board is to buy the yen and the Swiss franc," Kit Juckes, an FX strategist at Societe Generale, wrote in a daily note. In commodity markets, oil prices recouped overnight losses after Saudi Arabia said that OPEC and Russian-led production curbs introduced in 2017 will need to be extended into 2019. US crude futures were up 0.8 per cent at $64.79 per barrel after losing 1.3 per cent on Thursday and Brent gained 0.45 per cent to $69.22. Safe-haven spot gold rose 1 per cent to $1,341 an ounce, highest since February 20. Copper and iron prices both fell, as investors bet demand for the metals would suffer in a trade war. Daniel Lockyer, senior fund manager at Hawksmoor Investment Management, said financial markets had got ahead of themselves and were failing to price in the risk a number of factors could trigger a sell-off. "It's not that we thought trade wars would cause the market to fall, it's that there was too much optimism priced into stock markets," he said.

Global stocks slide, yen jumps, as trade war fears grip markets

Domestic equities took a beating Friday amid global selloff after US President Donald Trump imposed $ 60 billion tariffs on Chinese imports -- a move that has fuelled fears of a global trade war.

The BSE Sensex plunged below the 33,000-level, plummeting 471.44 points, or 1.42 per cent, to 32,534.83. The gauge had lost 129.91 points in the previous session.

The NSE Nifty too cracked below the crucial 10,000 mark by diving 153.45 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 9,961.30.

All the sectoral indices, led by metal, realty, banking and capital goods stocks, were trading in the red, falling up to 2.77 per cent.

Top laggards were Yes Bank, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp and L&amp;T, falling by up to 3.08 per cent.

Investor sentiment turned extremely bearish, in line with sharp losses on the Wall Street and Asian markets, on growing fears of a global trade war after Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese imports and Beijing drawing up a list of retaliatory measures, brokers said.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued selling on domestic bourses. On a net basis, they sold shares worth Rs 1,065.99 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases to the tune of Rs 1,127.78 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.

In Asia, Japan&#39;s Nikkei fell 3.54 per cent, Hong Kong&#39;s Hang Seng down 2.78 per cent in early deals. The Shanghai Composite index dropped by 3.06 per cent. 
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.93 per cent lower yesterday.

Domestic equities took a beating Friday amid global selloff after US President Donald Trump imposed $ 60 billion tariffs on Chinese imports -- a move that has fuelled fears of a global trade war

Domestic equities took a beating Friday amid global selloff after US President Donald Trump imposed $ 60 billion tariffs on Chinese imports -- a move that has fuelled fears of a global trade war. The BSE Sensex plunged below the 33,000-level, plummeting 471.44 points, or 1.42 per cent, to 32,534.83. The gauge had lost 129.91 points in the previous session. The NSE Nifty too cracked below the crucial 10,000 mark by diving 153.45 points, or 1.51 per cent, to 9,961.30. All the sectoral indices, led by metal, realty, banking and capital goods stocks, were trading in the red, falling up to 2.77 per cent. Top laggards were Yes Bank, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp and L&T, falling by up to 3.08 per cent. Investor sentiment turned extremely bearish, in line with sharp losses on the Wall Street and Asian markets, on growing fears of a global trade war after Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese imports and Beijing drawing up a list of retaliatory measures, brokers said. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued selling on domestic bourses. On a net basis, they sold shares worth Rs 1,065.99 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases to the tune of Rs 1,127.78 crore on Friday, provisional data showed. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 3.54 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 2.78 per cent in early deals. The Shanghai Composite index dropped by 3.06 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2.93 per cent lower yesterday.

Sensex plunges over 400 points, Nifty cracks below 10,000

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 130 points today due to profit booking in realty, capital goods, teck, auto and banking stocks due to renewed global trade war fears and losses in European markets.

The 30-share Sensex opened higher at 33,206.99 and advanced to hit a high of 33,281.77 in early trade.

However, it slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 32,963.31 in afternoon trade as fresh worries appeared after reports that the US President is mulling new sanctions on China.

The barometer finally ended lower by 129.91 points or 0.39 per cent at 33,006.27, ending its two-day gaining streak.

The NSE Nifty closed down by 40.50 points or 0.39 per cent at 10,114.75 as banking stocks dropped. It shuttled between 10,207.85 and 10,105.40 during the day.

&quot;Market started on a positive note on account of less hawkish Fed commentary on CY18 rate hike trajectory and in turn US 10-year yield declined. However, the gains were only short lived due to negative trend in European and other Asian market owing to re-emergence of trade war,&quot; Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd, said.

&quot;Investors are utilising every rally as an opportunity to sell,&quot; he added.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) said America has strong evidence of Beijing violating its commitments on intellectual property and technology transfers, fanning speculation that the White House may announce sanctions against China tomorrow.

China also promised to reply with &quot;necessary measures&quot; to defend its &quot;legitimate rights and interests&quot;.

Equity benchmarks erased early gains after realty, capital goods, teck, auto, PSU, IT, power and bankex counters came under selling pressure, falling up to 1.28 per cent.

Banking stocks again faced the heat largely due to weekly derivatives expiry in the NSE Bank Nifty. SBI, ICICI Bank, PNB, Canara Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, and Bank of Baroda ended with losses up to 2.62 per cent.

Other losers included Wipro, M&amp;M, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy&#39;s, Adani Ports, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, L&amp;T, TCS, Coal India, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Tata Steel and HUL, falling up to 2.32 per cent.

However, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, RIL, Sun Pharma, Asian Paint and NTPC ended in the positive zone, rising up to 2.45 per cent.

Selling pressure also emerged in the broader markets the BSE small-cap index down by 1.05 per cent and mid-caps fell 0.75 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, realty fell the most at 1.28 per cent, followed by capital goods (1.07 per cent), teck (0.99 per cent), auto (0.94 per cent), PSU (0.93 per cent), IT (0.91 per cent), infrastructure (0.69 per cent), power (0.66 per cent), bankex (0.66 per cent), healthcare (0.60 per cent), FMCG (0.36 per cent) and oil &amp; gas (0.29 per cent).

However, consumer durables rose by 0.79 per cent and metal 0.37 per cent.

Globally, Asian share markets ended mixed and European bourses opened lower following overnight losses on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time this year. The Federal Reserve delivered its sixth interest-rate increase since the end of 2015 and signalled it still expects to deliver two more before the end of the year.

Hong Kong&#39;s Hang Seng fell 1.09 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.53 per cent and Singapore down 0.65 per cent, while Japan&#39;s Nikkei was up by 0.99 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Paris CAC 40 fell 1.06 per cent and Frankfurt moved down 1.01 per cent in their early deals. The UK&#39;s FTSE also traded lower 0.53 per cent.

The 30-share Sensex opened higher at 33,206.99 and advanced to hit a high of 33,281.77 in early trade.

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell by 130 points today due to profit booking in realty, capital goods, teck, auto and banking stocks due to renewed global trade war fears and losses in European markets. The 30-share Sensex opened higher at 33,206.99 and advanced to hit a high of 33,281.77 in early trade. However, it slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 32,963.31 in afternoon trade as fresh worries appeared after reports that the US President is mulling new sanctions on China. The barometer finally ended lower by 129.91 points or 0.39 per cent at 33,006.27, ending its two-day gaining streak. The NSE Nifty closed down by 40.50 points or 0.39 per cent at 10,114.75 as banking stocks dropped. It shuttled between 10,207.85 and 10,105.40 during the day. "Market started on a positive note on account of less hawkish Fed commentary on CY18 rate hike trajectory and in turn US 10-year yield declined. However, the gains were only short lived due to negative trend in European and other Asian market owing to re-emergence of trade war," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd, said. "Investors are utilising every rally as an opportunity to sell," he added. The US Trade Representative (USTR) said America has strong evidence of Beijing violating its commitments on intellectual property and technology transfers, fanning speculation that the White House may announce sanctions against China tomorrow. China also promised to reply with "necessary measures" to defend its "legitimate rights and interests". Equity benchmarks erased early gains after realty, capital goods, teck, auto, PSU, IT, power and bankex counters came under selling pressure, falling up to 1.28 per cent. Banking stocks again faced the heat largely due to weekly derivatives expiry in the NSE Bank Nifty. SBI, ICICI Bank, PNB, Canara Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, and Bank of Baroda ended with losses up to 2.62 per cent. Other losers included Wipro, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's, Adani Ports, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, L&T, TCS, Coal India, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Tata Steel and HUL, falling up to 2.32 per cent. However, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, RIL, Sun Pharma, Asian Paint and NTPC ended in the positive zone, rising up to 2.45 per cent. Selling pressure also emerged in the broader markets the BSE small-cap index down by 1.05 per cent and mid-caps fell 0.75 per cent. Among the BSE sectoral indices, realty fell the most at 1.28 per cent, followed by capital goods (1.07 per cent), teck (0.99 per cent), auto (0.94 per cent), PSU (0.93 per cent), IT (0.91 per cent), infrastructure (0.69 per cent), power (0.66 per cent), bankex (0.66 per cent), healthcare (0.60 per cent), FMCG (0.36 per cent) and oil & gas (0.29 per cent). However, consumer durables rose by 0.79 per cent and metal 0.37 per cent. Globally, Asian share markets ended mixed and European bourses opened lower following overnight losses on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time this year. The Federal Reserve delivered its sixth interest-rate increase since the end of 2015 and signalled it still expects to deliver two more before the end of the year. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.09 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.53 per cent and Singapore down 0.65 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.99 per cent. In the Eurozone, Paris CAC 40 fell 1.06 per cent and Frankfurt moved down 1.01 per cent in their early deals. The UK's FTSE also traded lower 0.53 per cent.

Sensex falls 130 points at close on profit booking, trade war fears

Suzlon Group, India&#39;s largest renewable energy solutions provider, has designed and manufactured the country&#39;s longest wind turbine blade at its Padubidri Rotor Blade Unit in Karnataka&#39;s Udupi district.

The blade is 63 metres long and has been developed for the company&#39;s new S128 wind turbine family which has a rotor diameter of 128 metres, 1.5 times taller than the India Gate monument in Delhi.

The turbine blade uses carbon girder for improved strength; it provides the capability to utilise thinner aerodynamic profiles and provides higher lift with less drag. The blade is lighter and cost effective too.

&quot;It has been our continuous endeavour to reduce the levelised cost of energy by leveraging technology. Our R&amp;D efforts are focused on developing technologically advanced and innovative products. The new blade will offer higher aerodynamic performance and improved annual energy production (AEP) and will harness the optimal available wind resources,&quot; said J P Chalasani, Group CEO, Suzlon.

The new blade offers 33 per cent more swept area and is expected to deliver 32 per cent more energy generation compared to previous generation turbine blades.

&quot;The SB 63 blade is the longest and most efficient aerodynamic blade Suzlon has ever produced. We have introduced carbon fiber in the new generation of blades. This simultaneously reduces the weight of the blade and allows us to design even more aggressive airfoils. This creates a win-win solution for our turbine and our clients,&quot; said Duncan Koerbel, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Suzlon Energy.

These rotor blades will be transported using an innovative two-fold transport system, which will use a specialised &#39;Adapter Trailer&#39; for the first time in India.

The blade is 63 metres long and has been developed for the company's new S128 wind turbine family which has a rotor diameter of 128 metres.

Suzlon Group, India's largest renewable energy solutions provider, has designed and manufactured the country's longest wind turbine blade at its Padubidri Rotor Blade Unit in Karnataka's Udupi district. The blade is 63 metres long and has been developed for the company's new S128 wind turbine family which has a rotor diameter of 128 metres, 1.5 times taller than the India Gate monument in Delhi. The turbine blade uses carbon girder for improved strength; it provides the capability to utilise thinner aerodynamic profiles and provides higher lift with less drag. The blade is lighter and cost effective too. "It has been our continuous endeavour to reduce the levelised cost of energy by leveraging technology. Our R&D efforts are focused on developing technologically advanced and innovative products. The new blade will offer higher aerodynamic performance and improved annual energy production (AEP) and will harness the optimal available wind resources," said J P Chalasani, Group CEO, Suzlon. The new blade offers 33 per cent more swept area and is expected to deliver 32 per cent more energy generation compared to previous generation turbine blades. "The SB 63 blade is the longest and most efficient aerodynamic blade Suzlon has ever produced. We have introduced carbon fiber in the new generation of blades. This simultaneously reduces the weight of the blade and allows us to design even more aggressive airfoils. This creates a win-win solution for our turbine and our clients," said Duncan Koerbel, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Suzlon Energy. These rotor blades will be transported using an innovative two-fold transport system, which will use a specialised 'Adapter Trailer' for the first time in India.

Suzlon designs and manufactures India's longest wind turbine blade