MUMBAI: Surpassing market expectations, the share price of Jio Financial Services was set at Rs261.85 apiece at the end of a special pre-open call auction session conducted on the National Stock Exchange on Thursday morning. At this price, the newly created financial services arm of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is valued at Rs1,60,000 crore or around $20 billion. Most of the analysts had valued JFS, which is set to be spun out of RIL today, at around Rs150-200 per share. 

NSE and BSE held a pre-open call auction session for RIL between 9 am to 10 am which was aimed at determining the share value of Jio Financial Services.

The shares of JFS are not tradable yet and will remain in the indices of stock exchanges at a constant price till the listing date is announced. JFS will be removed from the indices three days after it lists as a separate entity and Reliance’s weight will be adjusted back.

Reliance, on Thursday, informed shareholders in a regulatory filing that the post-demerger cost of acquisition of RIL shares is 95.32 per cent and RSIL share is 4.68 per cent.

The share ratio for the demerger process is 1:1, which means that Reliance shareholders as of the record date will be eligible to receive one share of JFSL for every one share of RIL held.

Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday announced that its lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 will be launched on July 14 from the space port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

ISRO’s new heavylift launch vehicle LVM-3 will carry out the Moon mission.

“Announcing the launch of Chandrayaan-3: LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The launch is now scheduled for July 14, 2023, at 2:35 pm IST from SDSC (Satish Dhawan Space Centre), Sriharikota,” ISRO tweeted.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission carries scientific instruments to study the thermophysical properties of the lunar regolith, lunar seismicity, lunar surface plasma environment and elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site.

While the scope of these scientific instruments on the lander and the rover would fit in the theme of “Science of the Moon”, another experimental instrument will study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the Earth from the lunar orbit, which would fit in the theme of “Science from the Moon”, according to ISRO officials.

In March this year, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully completed the essential tests that validated its capability to withstand the harsh vibration and acoustic environment that the spacecraft would encounter during its launch.

These tests were particularly challenging, considering the fact that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which will be launched by LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-III) (earlier referred to as GSLV Mk III), is a composite of three modules — propulsion, lander and rover.

The propulsion module, which has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit, will carry the lander and rover configuration till 100 km of the lunar orbit.

The lander payloads are: ‘Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment’ to measure the thermal conductivity and temperature; ‘Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity’ for measuring the seismicity around the landing site; and ‘Langmuir Probe’ to estimate the plasma density and its variations.

A passive Laser Retroreflector Array from US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is also accommodated for lunar laser ranging studies.

The rover payloads are: ‘Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer’ and ‘Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy’ for deriving the elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site.

The lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the rover which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.

The main function of the propulsion module is to carry the lander module from launch vehicle injection till final lunar 100 km circular polar orbit and separate it.

Apart from this, the propulsion module also has one scientific payload as a value addition, which will be operated post separation of the lander module.

New Delhi: At least six YouTube channels allegedly promoting pro-Khalistan sentiments have been blocked at the instance of the government, a senior official said on Friday.

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra said six to eight YouTube channels, operating from foreign countries, have been blocked over the past 10 days.

He said the channels with content in Punjabi language were trying to foment trouble in the border state.

The government action came in the wake of supporters of radical preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh storming a police station in Ajnala with swords and guns to demand the release of one of their aides.

Singh was last year anointed head of ‘Waris Punjab De’, which was founded by actor and activist late Deep Sidhu, at an event held at Moga’s Rode, the native village of slain militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

Another senior official said YouTube has been taking action on the government’s requests to block channels within 48 hours.

The official said that the government has also asked YouTube to use artificial intelligence and algorithms to identify and block objectionable content automatically.

However, in the Indian context YouTube was facing problems as content was being uploaded in regional languages and the systems were in place to screen content in the English language.

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said it has imposed a penalty of over Rs 3.06 crore on Amazon Pay (India) Private Limited for non-compliance with certain provisions related to Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) and Know Your Customer (KYC) direction.

“It was observed that the entity was non-compliant with the directions issued by RBI on KYC requirements,” the RBI said in a statement.

The RBI had issued a notice to Amazon Pay (India) advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the directions.

“After considering the entity’s response, RBI concluded that the aforesaid charge of non-compliance with RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty,” it said.

The central bank, however, added the penalty is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the Amazon Pay (India) with its customers.

Amazon Pay is the digital payment arm of e-commerce giant Amazon.

NEW DELHI: Adani Group continues to face heat on Dalal Street with most group stocks getting locked into their respective lower price bands of 5% and 10%. This is the 8th straight session when the Group stocks are under tremendous selling pressures.

Monday’s share fall comes as global financial agencies, one by one, are cutting their dealing with the group. 

After Credit Suisse and Citigroup, British lender Standard Chartered has now stopped accepting Adani Group bonds as collateral on margin loans as the port-to-power conglomerate is facing allegations of stock manipulation (among other things) after US short-seller Hindenburg Research published a scathing report on the group on January 24th. 

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks and Life Insurance Corporation to declare their exposures to the Adani group while India’s capital market regulator Sebi said that it is committed to ensuring the stock market’s integrity and all necessary surveillance measures are in place to address any excessive volatility in individual shares.

On Monday, shares of the group’s flagship firm- Adani Enterprises- crashed about 10% to hit a low of Rs 1,434 on the BSE. Six stocks (Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Transmission, Adani Wilmar, Adani Power, and NDTV) were locked in at their respective lower price bands of 5% and 10% while Adani Ports was trading in with a minor gain of 1%.

The Group’s cement entities- ACC and Ambuja – were in red during the early trading hour of Monday. 

As per early estimates, Adani Group’s combined market capitalisation may fall about Rs 10 lakh crore by the end of today’s trading session if the stocks do not make a comeback. 

New York University professor and valuation guru Aswath Damodaran in a blog post said that he finds the fair value of Adani Enterprises at Rs 945.

Damodaran said even at Rs 1,531, Friday’s closing price for Adani Enterprises, the company is priced too high, given its fundamentals that includes cash flows, growth expectations and risks involved. His share price estimate for Adani Enterprises is not based on upbeat assumptions on revenue growth and operating margins.

“The market was over-stretched when it valued the Adani companies collectively at USD 220 billion (Rs 17,600 billion) and Adani Enterprises at USD 53 billion (Rs 4,243 billion),” Damodaran said.

He added that it is possible that Research was indulging in hyperbole when it described Adani to be ‘the biggest con’ in history. 

“I am puzzled that Hindenburg’s short thesis spends as much time as it does try to convince us that the company is over-levered. Being over-levered is not a con game, but a risk that equity investors in many investments take to increase their returns,” said Damodaran. 

He also said that he will not be buying shares of Adani group companies even if the group shares fall further as investors in family group companies, no matter how honourable the family, are buying into cross holdings, opacity, and the possibility of wealth transfers across family group companies.

The professor said the risks increase if the family group companies are built around political connections, “where you are one political election loss away from your biggest competitive advantage”. 

Adani Group stocks prices have crashed after the US-based activist investor firm Hindenburg Research accused the port-to-power conglomerate of pulling the “largest con in corporate history” by engaging in “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud” over the course of two decades.

The Adanis have called the Hindenburg report “maliciously mischievous and unresearched” and said it was evaluating legal action.

Anand: The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its dairy products under the Amul brand, on Friday increased the prices of its milk brands by Rs 2 per litre for all markets except Gujarat.

Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of the federation, made it clear that the hike in milk prices is not applicable to Gujarat and the new rates are meant only for other markets, including Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.

The new prices will be effective from Friday morning, the GCMMF said in a statement.

MUMBAI: Shares of Adani Group firms continued to remain weak for the seventh day running on Friday amid a host of negative events surrounding the companies.

The stock of Adani Enterprises tumbled 20 per cent to Rs 1,173.55 — its one-year low — on the BSE.

Shares of Adani Ports tanked 10 per cent, Adani Transmission (10 per cent), Adani Green Energy (10 per cent), Adani Power (5 per cent), Adani Total Gas (5 per cent), Adani Wilmar (4.99 per cent), NDTV (4.98 per cent), ACC (4.24 per cent) and Ambuja Cements (3 per cent).

The conglomerate’s combined market capitalisation has plummeted by more than $100 billion since US short-seller  which makes money by betting on shares falling — released an explosive report last week.

Adani himself has seen his fortune plummet by tens of billions of dollars, dumping him out of the real-times Forbes rich list top 10 and depriving him of his title as Asia’s richest person.

Adani late Wednesday cancelled a $2.5-billion stock sale meant to help reduce debt levels — long a concern — restore confidence and broaden its shareholder base.

Big banks including Credit Suisse and Citigroup have stopped accepting Adani bonds as collateral for loans to private clients, according to Bloomberg News.

That fuelled worries about how Adani will raise fresh funds, with Adani dollar bonds trading at distressed levels and signs of contagion in Indian markets increasing, Bloomberg reported.

According to Hindenburg Research, Adani has artificially boosted the share prices of its units by funnelling money into the stocks through offshore tax havens.

This “brazen accounting fraud scheme” is “the largest con in corporate history”, Hindenburg said.

Adani said it was the victim of a “maliciously mischievous” reputational attack and issued a 413-page statement on Sunday that it asserted showed Hindenburg’s claims were “nothing but a lie”.

Hindenburg said in response that Adani failed to answer most of the questions raised in its report.

Critics say Adani’s closeness to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also from Gujarat state, has helped him win business and avoid proper oversight.

---

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announced that the Centre will continue 50-year interest-free loans to state governments for one more year.

She also said the enhanced capex of Rs 10 lakh crore for infrastructure development is at 3.3 per cent of the GDP.

Presenting the Budget for 2023-24, she said the newly established infrastructure finance secretariat will assist in attracting more private investment.

An expert committee will also be set up to make infrastructure classification and financing framework suitable for Amrit Kaal, she added.

On October 13 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Gati Shakti – National Master Plan, aimed at developing integrated infrastructure to reduce logistics costs.

All logistics and connectivity infrastructure projects, entailing investment of over Rs 500 crore, are routed through the NPG, constituted under the PM Gati Shakti initiative.

She also informed that the PM Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Group scheme would benefit 3.5 lakh tribals.