Business
IndiGo can’t fly high with feud in the cockpit | Opinion

The co-founders of India’s No. 1 airline are engaged in a bitter feud. Their quarrel couldn’t have come at a worse time for minority shareholders of Inter Globe Aviation Ltd., the company that owns IndiGo.
Investors were just starting to enjoy the fruits of a frenetic expansion that saw the no-frills carrier, Asia’s largest, double its capacity in the three years through March. Full-cost rival Jet Airways India Ltd. tried to keep up, until it was forced to ground its last plane in April under a truckload of debt. Meanwhile, InterGlobe has put together a cash war chest — net of debt — of nearly $2 billion.
This is the time for IndiGo to be rewarding shareholders by consolidating its leadership position and filling the gap left by Jet, especially on overseas routes. Instead, the founders are busy picking fights.
Rakesh Gangwal, a former CEO of U.S. Airways Group Inc., has dashed off a letter to the Indian stock-market regulator alleging corporate-governance lapses. He says partner Rahul Bhatia, who owns 1 percentage point more than U.S.-based Gangwal’s 37% stake, is dragging IndiGo into transactions with his other businesses, which are mostly housed under Inter Globe Enterprises Ltd.(IGE Group), without adequate auditing.The airline pays rent to IGE’sreal-estate unit; the crew stays at hotels operated by Bhatia’s joint venture with Accor SA;pilots are trained at IGE’sflight simulator, a collaboration with Canada’s CAE Inc.; a Bhatia firm has also acted as a sales agent for IndiGo.
What amounted to$22 million of related-party transactions, for a carrier that took in $4 billion in annual revenue, doesn’t exactly smack of a governance scandal. Not at an airline that thrives on keeping its costs under control. Bhatia, for his part, wants to know why Gangwal is questioning the arrangement snow when he “did not raise for 13 years a whisper.” The India-based partner say she took most of the economic risk when setting up the airline.Besides, Gangwal isn’t denying entering into a shareholders’ agreement that gives Bhatia control,including the power to nominate half of the six-member board and most of the top managers.
Gangwal’s letter mentions whistle blowers.Unless those charges are serious and material, the battle looks more about monetizing a business that he never wanted any part of until a persistent Bhatia talked him into it.
Today, the co-founders can be legitimately proud of IndiGo, a rare success story in global aviation,achieved in a brutally price-competitive and fast-growing market.The problem seems to be about dividing up that success fairly.
It probably rankles billionaire Gangwal, the strategy whiz, that his37% stake is perhaps worth less than the market value of roughly $3 billion, while his money-man (former) friend’s38% stake is worth much more.(1) After all, any airline or a buyout firm willing to write that big a check would want a measure of influence over the airline’s future: That’s something only Bhatia can give.If that’s the real reason Gangwal is seeking to enlist the regulator’s help “to make necessary changes to the unusual controlling rights available to the IGE Group,”then it’s a failure of mediation.
From the shareholders’ perspective, it’s a dangerous lapse. Indians’ trust in business and business tycoons, finance and financiers, accounts and auditors has probably never been lower. Any suggestion of impropriety now can spiral out of control. No wonder the infighting dragged Inter Globe shares down nearly 11%on Wednesday, as investors braced themselves for a protracted and unpleasant legal and public-relations skirmish – much like the one that flared up at the Tata Group in 2016, after it fired then-Chairman Cyrus Mistry, who also happened to be a large shareholder.
IndiGo became No. 1 by making flights take off and land on time more often than most other large global airlines. To investors’ horror,the messiness the carrier so studiously avoided in its operations –by relying on a single type of aircraft (the narrow-bodied Airbus), deploying its fleet efficiently and growing it strategically – has finally come back to haunt it. Not at the tarmac, but in the boardroom.
(1) The total market capitalization is about $8 billion.
Business
Breaking News: Silicon Valley Bank’s Collapse Sends Shockwaves Through Financial World – Is India’s Banking System Next to Crumble?

Image Source: maxpixel.net
Are Indian Banks Ready to Face the Heat of Rising Interest Rates?
As Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) faces the heat of collapsing amidst rising domestic interest rates, Indian banks are left wondering if they are next in line. With the Indian economy still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, the prospect of rising interest rates could lead to a devastating blow to the country’s banking sector. Will Indian banks be able to weather the storm or will they collapse like SVB?
Indian banks have already faced a tumultuous few years with multiple frauds and defaults taking place, leaving many questioning their resilience. With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) indicating that it may hike interest rates in the near future, the pressure on Indian banks is set to increase. The question remains – are Indian banks prepared to face the heat of rising interest rates or will they buckle under the pressure? Only time will tell.
Business
Delhi: Businesses can now remain open 24×7, over 300 applications cleared by L-G

Photo by Rehan Fazal on Unsplash
From restaurants to transport services and BPOs to online delivery services, all those who apply for exemptions will be allowed to operate 24×7 in Delhi starting next week, with Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena approving the proposal to exempt 314 such places to operate all day long, some of them pending since 2016, officials said.
“The L-G has directed that notification to this effect be issued within seven days. The decision of providing exemption under Sections 14, 15 & 16 of the Delhi Shops & Establishment Act, 1954, is expected to boost employment generation and promote a positive and favorable business environment that is a prerequisite for economic growth. The decision will also provide a fillip to the much desired ‘nightlife’ in the city,” said an official.
Source: IndianExpress
Business
Swiggy Instamart figures, Mumbaikars ordered 570 times more condoms in the last one year

Customers are also ordering medical-related things through online shopping platforms. In metros like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Bangalore, people are buying goods online in large numbers. People living in metro cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai ordered an average of 6 million eggs in the last year.
These days people are doing online shopping fiercely in the country. Through Grocery Service Platforms, the goods of need are easily reaching people’s homes. From vegetables to medicines, just a few clicks on the smartphone are reaching people’s doorsteps. According to a survey, Swiggy Instamart has provided service to more than 9 million users between June 2021 and June 2022. In metros like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Bangalore, people are buying goods online in large numbers.
Healthcare products orders
Customers are also ordering medical-related things through online shopping platforms. According to a survey, Mumbaikars have ordered 570 times more condoms in the last 12 months. At the same time, in 2021, Instamart received orders for about two million sanitary napkins, menstrual cups, and tampons. Apart from this, a lot of orders have also been received for grocery items.
56 lakh packets of noodles ordered
According to the survey, between April and June last year, there was a 42 percent increase in the demand for ice cream in these metro cities. It was also learned that most of the orders were placed after 10 pm. In metro cities, people have ordered 5.6 million packets of instant noodles. In Hyderabad, users ordered around 27,000 bottles of fresh juice during the summer months.
60 lakh eggs ordered
The demand for eggs has increased manifold in the last two years. People living in metro cities including Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai ordered an average of 6 million eggs in the last year. According to the report, customers from Bangalore and Hyderabad ordered the maximum number of eggs for breakfast. At the same time, people of Mumbai, Jaipur, and Coimbatore have ordered the maximum number of eggs online at the time of dinner.
Demand for dairy products
There has been a huge jump in orders for both tea and coffee. According to the report, there has been an increase of 2,000 percent in its demand. At the same time, 3 crore orders of milk have come for milk. People from Bangalore and Mumbai have placed more orders in the morning. Regular milk, full cream milk and toned milk are the most ordered dairy products.
Ordering fruits and vegetables
Orders for 62,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables have been received in the last year. With 12,000 orders, Bengaluru tops the list of organic product buyers. At the same time, Hyderabad and Bangalore together have ordered more than 290 tonnes of green chilies in 12 months. Over 2 lakh orders have been received for bathroom cleaners, scrub pads, drain cleaners, and more in the last year.
Source: Aajtak
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