Indian Oil follows billionaires Ambani, Adani in green hydrogen bet

 

Indian Oil Corp. Ltd., the country's greatest oil purifier and a huge client of hydrogen, will cooperate with top sustainable power maker ReNew Power and Larsen and Toubro Ltd. to deliver green hydrogen that is quick picking up speed in the South Asian country's perfect push.
The three organizations have marked a limiting term sheet to together foster green hydrogen projects, while the state-run purifier and the designing significant will shape a different association for making electrolyzers for green hydrogen, as per a joint assertion from the three firms. The association will zero in on green hydrogen projects at Indian Oil's Mathura and Panipat treatment facilities in northern India.

Green hydrogen, created from water and green power and considered the cleanest type of fuel, is an expected way to decarbonize weighty businesses, like steel, concrete and petroleum processing plants. India, the world's third-greatest producer of ozone harming substances, plans to start to lead the pack and has won help from its most extravagant tycoons, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. India means to deliver 5 million tons of green hydrogen by 2030, when its interest for hydrogen is assessed at 12 million tons.

India's treatment facilities consume around 2,000,000 tons of hydrogen yearly, quite a bit of it by the Indian Oil bunch, which holds 33% of the country's oil handling limit. Indian Oil is as of now pursuing delivering 70,000 tons per year of green hydrogen by 2030, which will represent 10% of its general utilization at that point. Processing plants regularly use hydrogen for the expulsion of sulfur from energizes like diesel.

Google found to unfairly block rival payments on India store: CCI

 

Google's charging framework for application designers is "unjustifiable and oppressive," India's antitrust controller said in the underlying discoveries of a broad examination, preparing for likely punishments in future.

The Competition Commission of India observed Google oppressed engineers in its Play store charging strategy, as per archives seen by Bloomberg News. The discoveries come following a months-in length examination set off by fights from designers, who've grumbled the US web goliath charges an unjustifiably high expense as a trade-off for utilizing Android application stores and its exclusive installments administration.

Letter set Inc., Google's parent, and Apple Inc. have gone under strain from controllers all over the planet who blame the twin portable goliaths for constraining engineers to utilize their installment frameworks, then, at that point, taking an outsized cut of income. In South Korea, Google had to give an elective charging framework after administrative activity. In that market, Google said it was decreasing application producers' expenses by 4%.

"Google is forcing out of line and biased conditions disregarding guidelines," the Indian organization said in its starter report dated March 14.

"Google's direct is additionally bringing about disavowal of market admittance to contending UPI applications since the market for UPI empowered advanced installment applications is multi-sided, and the organization impacts will prompt a circumstance where Google Pay's rivals will be totally avoided from the market over the long haul," it expressed, alluding to the Unified Payments Interface or state-upheld installments framework.

Russia says it will drastically cut military activity near Kyiv, Chernihiv

 

Russia's military said on Tuesday it would fundamentally" cut back operations near Ukraine's capital and a northern city, potentially a significant concession by Moscow since it invaded its neighbour more than a month ago.

Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the move was meant to increase trust in talks aimed at ending fighting, as negotiators met face-to-face after several rounds of failed negotiations. But Russia's troops have been bogged down and struggling to make major advances recently.

The talks in Istanbul raised flickering hopes there could be progress toward ending a war that has ground into a bloody campaign of attrition. Fomin said Moscow had decided to fundamentally ... cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv to increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations."

Ukraine's military said it had noted withdrawals around Kyiv and Chernihiv, though the Pentagon said it could not corroborate the reports.

An adviser to the Ukrainian president said the meeting in Istanbul was focused on securing a cease-fire and guarantees for Ukraine's security issues that have been at the heart of previous unsuccessful negotiations.

Sri Lanka seeks additional $1-bn credit line from India: Report

 

Sri Lanka has sought an additional credit line of $1 billion from India to import essentials amid its worst economic crisis in decades, two sources said on Monday, as the Indian foreign minister began talks with the government of its neighbour. Sri Lanka faces an economic crisis as it struggles to pay for essential imports of food and fuel after a 70% drop in foreign exchange reserves since January 2020 led to a currency devaluation and efforts to seek help from global lenders. New Delhi has indicated it would meet the request for the new line, to be used for importing essential items such as rice, wheat flour, pulses, sugar and medicines, said one of the sources briefed on the matter. "Sri Lanka has requested an additional $1 billion credit line from India for imports of essentials," the second source said.

"This will be on top of the $1 billion credit line already pledged by India." Both sources declined to be identified as the discussions were confidential. The finance and foreign ministries of Sri Lanka, as well as India's foreign ministry, did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa signed the earlier credit line of $1 billion in the Indian capital of New Delhi this month to help pay for critical imports by the Indian Ocean island nation.

Anarock to facilitate sale of 5,400 flats of Amrapali for Rs 2k cr in NCR

 

Homegrown housing brokerage firm Anarock, which has got the mandate to sell around 5,400 unsold flats of erstwhile Amrapali group, on Thursday said it has facilitated the sale of 150 units for Rs 70 crore in the last one month and expects a total sales bookings of over Rs 2,200 crore in the next four years. The state-owned NBCC has undertaken the completion of many residential projects in Noida and Greater Noida under the aegis of Amrapali Stalled Projects and Investment Reconstruction Establishment (ASPIRE) and supervision of the Supreme Court of India. The proceeds from unsold units will be utilised to complete the stalled projects of Amrapali group. "We have got the mandate as exclusive channel partner for the sale of around 5,400 unsold homes in projects by the erstwhile Amrapali Group.

The total sales bookings in value terms is estimated at about Rs 2,200 crore," Anarock Vice Chairman Santhosh Kumar told PTI. ADVERTISING The company has already facilitated sales of 150 units for Rs 70 crore within just 30 days, the property consultant said in a statement. Anarock, which was founded by Anuj Puri in April 2017, said it would deploy proprietary PropTech marketing tools to market these projects. NBCC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) P K Gupta said: "41,000+ sold and 5,000+ unsold units in 20+ stalled projects, together accounting for 46,000+ units, will be delivered by NBCC in tranches by June 2024. It is the beginning of the biggest customer redressal initiative in the history of Noida/Greater Noida's real estate market." In the first phase, the properties on offer range from 1 BHKs to penthouses priced between Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore in 20 projects in Noida and Greater Noida. According to Anarock, all included projects of Amrapali group will be completed and delivered by June 2024 at an estimated project cost of Rs 8,189.82 crore.

MDH denies any move to sell business to Hindustan Unilever

 

Leading spice maker MDH Ltd has refuted the reports of a possible sale of its business to FMCG maker HUL. The reports suggested that MDH promoters are in talks to sell their business to HUL. Terming such reports as "completely false, fabricated and baseless", MDH in a message posted on its official Twitter account urged people "not to believe such rumours". "MDH Pvt Ltd is a legacy, which Mahashay Chimi Lal Ji and Mahashay Dharampal Ji nurtured all their lives, and we are committed to taking that legacy forward with all our heart," said a message from MDH Chairman Rajeev Gulati.

FMCG major HUL, which owns popular household brands such as - Lux, Lifebuoy, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Ponds - declined to comments on the issue. "We do not comment on market speculation," said an HUL spokesperson. A report had claimed HUL is in talks with the Delhi-based Mahashian Di Hatti Pvt. Ltd (MDH) to buy a majority stake. It had further claimed that the value of this deal may be anywhere between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 crore. However, MDH declined any such considerations. Recently several leading FMCG players such as ITC and Tata Consumers Pvt Ltd have increased their play into the spices segment, which is considered to be a high margin business.

HDFC approves retail home loans to the tune of Rs 2 trillion in FY22

 

India’s largest mortgage financier, HDFC Ltd, has approved retail home loans to the tune of Rs 2 trillion in FY22 so far, signifying the huge demand for home loans in an otherwise subdued credit market. This is the highest ever home loan approval by the mortgage financier in a financial year. Interest rates for housing loans are, perhaps, at the lowest levels they have ever been and are one of the key reasons why there is a huge demand for housing loans in the market with all lenders, including public sector banks, private sector banks, and housing finance companies competing to offer the cheapest rates to gain market share.

The low interest rate is a consequence of the liquidity injected into the system by the central bank to tide over the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The demand for housing loans is being driven by first time homeowners as well as by those who are looking to move up the property ladder. Geographically, the demand for housing loans is coming both from metros and non-metros. And, if one were to look at the segments, demand is being driven by affordable housing as well as high-end markets. The sweet spot for housing is still in the price range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore, the lender said in a statement.