Business News at 10:00 am on 26th June, 2024

Let’s begin with the major update, The government is developing a “Labour Welfare and Employment Index” (LWEI), which would rank states/UTs on parameters of employment, labour welfare, social security coverage, and productivity. Through the index, it aims to encourage “healthy competition” between the states, and enhance ease of doing business, official sources told FE. The labour ministry is likely to unveil the LWEI in a few weeks, after consultations with the states, NITI Aayog, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and other union ministries, the sources added. An official said the index would ensure uniformity in labour laws’ implementation across states, and will have the broader objective of improving labour welfare. The plan may be announced by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharman in her Budget speech.

Moving on, The Adani Group plans to invest Rs 1.3 trillion in FY25 across its businesses, said Jugeshinder ‘Robbie’ Singh, group chief financial officer, on Tuesday. Bulk of the investments will be made in the airport and green energy sector, added Singh. The funding plan for these projects includes raising equity capital of up to $3 billion (Rs 25,000 crore) across Adani Enterprises and other group portfolio companies, he said. Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission have already taken shareholders’ clearances to sell shares to investors. The group is planning to refinance debt worth $3 billion in the ongoing year. The CFO also said some of the notices sent by the Sebi last month to group firms, citing alleged regulatory lapses, as “trivial” in nature.

In other news, The country’s auto companies have taken the superfast track on the road to expansion. In an indication of how confident they are about the demand trajectory, they have committed close to Rs 3-trillion investments in the next 7-10 years. Crisil estimates that around Rs 85,000 crore will be spent by FY26. That’s about 1.6 times the investment of Rs 53,000 crore in the last three financial years. The spends are not surprising given that Crisil estimates demand for passenger vehicles to grow at a compound 4.5-6.5% between FY24 and FY29 to reach 5.2-5.7 million units. Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular – sales in FY24 at 1.67 million were 21% higher than in FY23.

Meanwhile, Telecom operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, on Tuesday placed bids worth Rs 11,164 crore, which was the first day of spectrum auctions, against airwaves worth Rs 96,000 crore which are up for sale. This means out of a total spectrum of 10,523 MHz on sale, only 131 MHz 1.2%. However, with demand seen in the 1800 MHz band in West Bengal, Bihar, MP, and UP (East) circles; 900 MHz in Punjab, Rajasthan, UP (E) and West Bengal, the auction is expected to continue for a few more days. While the proceeds on the first day is higher than government’s internal estimate of around Rs 10,000 crore, it’s nearer the lower band estimate of around Rs 14,000 crore by analysts.

Up next, Wipro saw a sharp decline in its female workforce, shrinking to 68,231 employees in fiscal year 2024 from 90,721 the previous year — a drop of 22,490 employees, according to the company’s annual report. This decline coincides with Wipro’s overall workforce reduction, which saw a year-on-year decrease of 24,516 employees, bringing their total headcount to 234,054 as of March 31. This downturn reflects broader industry trends, where Wipro experienced a consecutive quarterly decline over the past five quarters, marking a significant departure from previous years of steady growth. Wipro is not alone in facing a reduction in workforce diversity. Industry peers such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also reported declines in their female employee numbers and their overall headcount.

Moving ahead, Exporters have called for a government-led initiative to develop a India-based shipping line of global standing. This would reduce the shipping costs, and help sharpen Indian exports’ competitiveness in the global markets, they feel. According to Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) India remitted $ 109 billion as transport service charge in 2020 and with rising exports it could touch $ 200 billion as exports touch $ 1 trillion by 2030. The meeting with the “trade and Services” sector also sought participation of export promotion councils for marine, leather and gems and jewellery. National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI), and regional chambers of commerce and industry also participated in the meeting.

Lately, let’s take a look at the key stocks for today. GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a negative opening on Wednesday. GIFT Nifty traded down by 36 points or 0.15% at 23,684.50 indicating a negative opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Wednesday. Previously, on Tuesday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended up by 183.45 points or 0.78% to settle at 23,721.30 while the BSE Sensex gained 712.44 points or 0.92% to 78,053.52. Here’s a look at the key stocks to watch in trade – Telecom Stocks, Coforge, Mazagon Dock, ICICI Bank, CE Info System, Adani Ports, DEE Development Engineers.