Business Today 4 August 2024

Corporate battles are always fascinating to chronicle, and India has seen quite a few, big and small. So, it’s not surprising that Indian corporate and business circles are busy discussing the latest boardroom battle that is currently playing out—the feud between the Burman family of Dabur and the board of the ₹6,300-crore financial services company Religare Enterprises, in particular its Executive Chairperson Rashmi Saluja. In a nutshell, the story is that the Burmans badly want Religare, but Saluja and her colleagues on the board are resisting the takeover attempt tooth and nail. Add the regulatory angle with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to the mix and you have the perfect corporate potboiler. The Burmans have been eyeing Religare since 2018 when they picked up a stake in…

SOURCE: PIB, PTI, MEDIA REPORTS HIGH AND MIGHTY IN JUNE, INDIAN RAILWAYS SUCCESSFULLY TESTED A MAINLINE ELECTRIC MULTIPLE UNIT TRAIN ON THE CHENAB BRIDGE IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR. ONCE COMPLETED, THIS WILL BE THE WORLD’S HIGHEST RAILWAY BRIDGE. HERE ARE THE KEY FIGURES: ₹1,486 crore The cost of the bridge, a steep rise from the estimated ₹512.74 crore per the 2004 contract 359 metres Height of the bridge; surpasses China’s record of 275 metres 120 years Expected lifespan; will be able to withstand wind speeds up to 26 December ₹35,000 crore Cost of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link project, of which the bridge is a part…

MIGHTY MIDDLE BSE MIDCAP AND BSE SMALLCAP CLIMBED MORE THAN 20% DURING JANUARY-JUNE 2024, OUTPERFORMING THE BENCHMARK BSE SENSEX RIGHT ON THE MONEY COCHIN SHIPYARD AND AEGIS LOGISTICS WERE AMONG 12 STOCKS IN THE BSE 500 THAT DOUBLED INVESTOR MONEY IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2024… NOTE RETURNS DURING JANUARY-JUNE 2024 SOURCE ACE EQUITY TRADE SHOW THE REAL ESTATE, TELECOM, AND POWER SECTOR INDICES RALLIED THE MOST IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2024, WHILE THE FMCG AND IT SECTORS UNDERPERFORMED NOTE RETURNS DURING JANUARY-JUNE 2024 SOURCE ACE EQUITY ₹439 LAKH CRORE THE COMBINED MARKET CAP OF BSE-LISTED FIRMS AS OF JUNE 28, 2024, COMPARED TO ₹364 LAKH CRORE ON DECEMBER 29, 2023—UP NEARLY 21% 85,000 THE LEVEL BENCHMARK BSE SENSEX MAY TOUCH BY DECEMBER 2024, ACCORDING TO RELIGARE BROKING WEALTH…

THE SECURITIES AND Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has made a series of interventions over the past year to check illegal stock advice being dispensed by financial influencers, or finfluencers, but with limited results. Finfluencer content continues to flourish in the face of repeated strictures from the regulator and the imposition of fines in some instances. That has prompted Sebi to change tack. At a meeting at the end of June, Sebi’s board decided that it was time to crank the pressure up a notch. It will now impose penalties on entities it regulates if they associate with finfluencers who give stock advice illegally. Presenting the new framework after that meeting, Sebi Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch spelt out the changes. “As you know, we have jurisdiction over entities that we…

1 Fines can be imposed for violations under Regulation 26 Sebi (Stock Brokers) Regulations, 1992 2 Registration certificates can be suspended under Regulation 27 of Sebi (Stock Brokers) Regulations 3 It can initiate prosecution under Section 24 of Sebi Act for offences like trading without registration 4 Sebi can penalise entities for failures such as non-compliance with reporting requirements, improper recordkeeping 5 It can enforce disgorgement of unlawful gains, mandating corrective actions…

AS YOU ENTER a Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) dealership in West Delhi, you can’t help but notice pamphlets of the recently-launched Dream Series edition. The showroom also features special monsoon discounts of up to ₹1 lakh on select models. A similar scenario is found at Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra showrooms, where discounts of up to ₹1.4 lakh are offered on some models like Tata Safari, Tata Harrier, and XUV700 amid increasing competition. Meanwhile, Honda is offering discounts of up to ₹96,000 on models such as Amaze, City, and Elevate. IPO-bound Hyundai Motor India is also offering discounts of up to ₹2 lakh. Auto discounts typically surface during the festival season, which usually kicks off in September. While advantageous for customers, this early occurrence points to increased inventory…