OTAKUBAY

Plane giants Airbus and Boeing face mounting pressure to set up jetliner plants in India, after the country's civil aviation minister told Reuters the "time has come" to serve its soaring demand with jets assembled on domestic soil. Jyotiraditya Scindia said conditions were ripe for a "leap of faith" by both jetmakers as India's fast-growing aeronautical industry reaches an "inflection point" - highlighted by plans to assemble Airbus C295 military transport planes locally in India. Asked whether Airbus and Boeing should now consider setting up jetliner assembly in India, Scindia said, "Absolutely, and with a capital A, and the reason why I said capital A is because Airbus has already made that huge landmark step: the C295." Airbus and Boeing have both highlighted the scale and technology of existing investments in India, playing down the significance of final passenger jet assembly. An Airbus-Tata consortium plans to assemble 40 C295

Plane giants Airbus and Boeing face mounting pressure to set up jetliner plants in India, after the country's civil aviation minister told Reuters the "time has come" to serve its soaring demand with jets assembled on domestic soil. Jyotiraditya Scindia said conditions were ripe for a "leap of faith" by both jetmakers as India's fast-growing aeronautical industry reaches an "inflection point" - highlighted by plans to assemble Airbus C295 military transport planes locally in India. Asked whether Airbus and Boeing should now consider setting up jetliner assembly in India, Scindia said, "Absolutely, and with a capital A, and the reason why I said capital A is because Airbus has already made that huge landmark step: the C295." Airbus and Boeing have both highlighted the scale and technology of existing investments in India, playing down the significance of final passenger jet assembly. An Airbus-Tata consortium plans to assemble 40 C295

India may propose that investments in debt mutual funds be taxed as short-term capital gains, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, a move that could strip investors of the long-term tax benefits that made such investments popular. The change could benefit bank deposits, which have been growing more slowly than credit demand over the past 12 months leading to higher funding costs for lenders. The proposed changes are likely to be part of the finance bill amendments that could be tabled in the parliament on Friday. Mutual funds with less than 35% invested in equities are proposed to be treated as short-term and the indexation benefits that help significantly reduce tax liability available to such funds may be removed prospectively, the source said. As such, the tax rate applicable would be based on the income tax slab in which the investor falls. "The impact would be meaningful, if you are a debt investor, you will compare returns with other debt instruments,&quo

India may propose that investments in debt mutual funds be taxed as short-term capital gains, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, a move that could strip investors of the long-term tax benefits that made such investments popular. The change could benefit bank deposits, which have been growing more slowly than credit demand over the past 12 months leading to higher funding costs for lenders. The proposed changes are likely to be part of the finance bill amendments that could be tabled in the parliament on Friday. Mutual funds with less than 35% invested in equities are proposed to be treated as short-term and the indexation benefits that help significantly reduce tax liability available to such funds may be removed prospectively, the source said. As such, the tax rate applicable would be based on the income tax slab in which the investor falls. "The impact would be meaningful, if you are a debt investor, you will compare returns with other debt instruments,&quo

The rupee slipped by 4 paise to 82.24 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday amid a stronger dollar in the overseas markets and losses in domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened lower by 12 paise at 82.32 as the US dollar rebounded against global currencies in early Asian trade. The rupee pared some of the losses to trade at 82.24, registering a loss of 4 paise over the previous close of 82.20 on Thursday. Traders said a stronger US dollar and losses in domestic equities weighed on the local unit. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.06 per cent higher at 102.63. Crude oil prices declined in early Asian trade on reports that the US is likely to defer restocking of its strategic reserves despite current low prices. Global oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.16 per cent to USD 75.79 per barrel. Benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 63.71 points or 0.11

Shares of Global Surfaces Ltd, which is into processing natural stones and manufacturing engineered quartz, made a smart debut on the exchanges on Thursday, listing with a premium of over 17 per cent against the issue price of Rs 140. The stock made its debut at Rs 163, higher by 16.42 per cent from the issue price on the BSE. It further rallied 22.25 per cent to Rs 171.15. At the NSE, shares of the company began the trade at Rs 164, a jump of 17.14 per cent. The initial share sale of Global Surfaces Ltd was subscribed 12.21 times on the final day of the offer on Wednesday last week. The company's IPO had a fresh issuance of 85.20 lakh equity shares and an Offer For Sale of up to 25.5 lakh equity shares. Global Surfaces had set a price band of Rs 133-140 a share for its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The initial share sale opened for subscription on March 13 and ended on March 15. Funds raised through fresh issuance will be used for setting up the company's proposed facil

Shares of Global Surfaces Ltd, which is into processing natural stones and manufacturing engineered quartz, made a smart debut on the exchanges on Thursday, listing with a premium of over 17 per cent against the issue price of Rs 140. The stock made its debut at Rs 163, higher by 16.42 per cent from the issue price on the BSE. It further rallied 22.25 per cent to Rs 171.15. At the NSE, shares of the company began the trade at Rs 164, a jump of 17.14 per cent. The initial share sale of Global Surfaces Ltd was subscribed 12.21 times on the final day of the offer on Wednesday last week. The company's IPO had a fresh issuance of 85.20 lakh equity shares and an Offer For Sale of up to 25.5 lakh equity shares. Global Surfaces had set a price band of Rs 133-140 a share for its Initial Public Offering (IPO). The initial share sale opened for subscription on March 13 and ended on March 15. Funds raised through fresh issuance will be used for setting up the company's proposed facil

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, but indicated it was on the verge of pausing further increases in borrowing costs after the recent collapse of two U.S. banks. Fed Chair Jerome Powell sought to reassure investors about the soundness of the banking system, saying that the management of Silicon Valley Bank "failed badly," but that the bank's collapse did not indicate wider weaknesses in the banking system. "These are not weaknesses that are running broadly through the banking system," he said, adding that the takeover of Credit Suisse seemed to have been a positive outcome. The Federal Open Market Committee policy statement also said the U.S. banking system is "sound and resilient." Even so, Wall Street ended sharply lower after Powell told a news conference that officials were still intent on fighting inflation while also eying the extent to which recent bank failures had cooled demand and sl

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, but indicated it was on the verge of pausing further increases in borrowing costs after the recent collapse of two U.S. banks. Fed Chair Jerome Powell sought to reassure investors about the soundness of the banking system, saying that the management of Silicon Valley Bank "failed badly," but that the bank's collapse did not indicate wider weaknesses in the banking system. "These are not weaknesses that are running broadly through the banking system," he said, adding that the takeover of Credit Suisse seemed to have been a positive outcome. The Federal Open Market Committee policy statement also said the U.S. banking system is "sound and resilient." Even so, Wall Street ended sharply lower after Powell told a news conference that officials were still intent on fighting inflation while also eying the extent to which recent bank failures had cooled demand and sl

Shares opened lower on Thursday, led by IT stocks, after the Federal Reserve reiterated its fight against inflation even as it signalled it might soon pause interest rate hikes and as the U.S. treasury secretary ruled out insuring all banking deposits. The Nifty 50 index was down 0.39% at 17,082, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.45% to 57,948.52, as of 9:38 a.m. IST. The broader Asian equity indexes were subdued. Eight of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined with high weightage financials and information technology (IT) stocks losing 0.5% and 1%, respectively. All 10 constituents of the IT index logged losses. IT companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the United States and Europe, could be pressured by the uncertain banking sector outlook and an overall slowdown in client spending due to higher rates, analysts said. Wall Street equities initially rose after the Fed raised rates by 25 basis points, as expected. The indexes then reversed course to end sh