Even as questions swirl around his role within Tata Trusts, industrialist Venu Srinivasan is making a bold new bet elsewhere. Hamsini Karthik reports that the TVS group patriarch is set to acquire a 9.99% stake in Jana Small Finance Bank, his first direct investment in a bank. The proposed Rs 500 crore investment is expected to strengthen Jana SFB’s capital position, and sources said the move should be seen as a financial investment.
Despite war clouds on the economy, dealmaking activity remains brisk. Cognizant has joined the race to acquire healthcare technology services provider CitiusTech after private equity contenders Temasek and ChrysCapital exited the process, reports Ashwin Mohan and Chandra R Srikanth. Separately, Ashwin Mohan reports that the contest for Re Sustainability has narrowed to five suitors: a consortium of TPG, CPPIB, and NIIF, alongside Blackstone, Advent International, I Squared Capital and Bain Capital.
India is rethinking its energy security plans. Meghna Mittal and Arunima Bharadwaj report that the government is exploring the feasibility of a direct deep-sea pipeline from the UAE to reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for India’s LNG and LPG imports from the Gulf.
The backdrop is that the pressure on India’s fuel retailers from selling products at a loss is becoming harder for the government to ignore. Stress-testing different pricing scenarios, Ishaan Gera finds that petrol and diesel prices may need to rise by around 20% from current levels for oil retailers to return to last year’s economics as soaring crude prices and a sharply weaker rupee squeeze margins. Current monthly under-recoveries are estimated at more than Rs 55,000 crore. A Rs 2 per litre increase in petrol prices would reduce those losses by a mere Rs 3,300 crore a month.
The central government might step up scrutiny of gold imports from the UAE, Priyansh Verma and Adrija Chatterjee report. There are concerns that importers could use the concessional duty route following the recent hike in gold import duties. The issue could come up during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to the UAE on May 15. Harsh V Pant writes that the PM’s five-nation visit to the UAE, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy will help India consolidate its partnerships amid structural churn in global alliances and reinforce India’s multi-alignment approach.
India’s AI ecosystem is beginning to take shape. Tushar Goenka and Chandra Srikanth report that Sarvam AI’s $300 million fundraising round will be led by HCL Technologies, which alone is expected to invest $150 million.
Sunil Bharti Mittal used Bharti Airtel’s latest earnings interaction to make a broader point about India Inc’s priorities. He took a swipe at India’s IT industry for prioritising dividends and buybacks over acquisitions and the development of long-term capabilities. Danish Khan reports that the Airtel chairman said that Airtel will continue pursuing growth opportunities globally even as it rewards shareholders. Mittal also said that he aims to consolidate promoter holdings and restore Bharti Telecom’s controlling stake to above 50%. On succession, Mittal expects the next generation to take over the reins of the company in the coming decade.
And finally, policy uncertainty briefly rattled sugar stocks on Thursday after the Centre banned sugar exports until September 30. Shares of Balrampur Chini, Triveni Engineering and Sree Renuka Sugars fell sharply before recovering some ground after the government clarified that exports to the US and European Union would still be allowed.