The Supreme Court recently stayed all criminal proceedings before a trial court against IT mogul and philanthropist Azim Premji and his wife Yaseem, who had sought quashing of summons issued to them by a Bengaluru court in “frivolous criminal complaints” against merger of investment and trading companies Vidya, Regal and Napean with Hasham Investment and Trading Company, all owned by the Premji group. Premji said the three companies were merged with Hasham Investment in 2015 after the RBI gave in-principle approval followed by the Karnataka HC’s green signal.
RIL returns to gas market after a decade
Reliance Industries announced the start of production from the ‘R Cluster’ field off the Andhra coast, staging a comeback in India’s gas market a decade after its 2009 debut with D1-D3 fields and a short-lived promise of turning the KG-D6 block into the country’s gas bowl. R cluster is the first among three deep water projects Reliance is developing with BP in the KG-D6 block at an estimated investment of $5 billion. Located at a water depth of more than 2,000 metres, R Cluster is also the deepest offshore gas field in Asia and the first ultra deep water project to come on stream in India, the companies said in a joint statement.
Brazil’s bus co Marcopolo exits Tata JV
Brazilian bus and coach body builder Marcopolo is exiting India by selling its 49% stake in local joint venture to partner Tata Motors for around £10 million. Marcopolo joined Tata Motors 14 years ago to “extend its presence in the high-potential Indian market”. But due to a “refreshed business strategy”, it has now decided to exit India and has offered to sell its 49% stake back to Tata Motors.
The joint venture builds bus bodies on chassis supplied by Tata Motors at its manufacturing facilities in Dharwad and Lucknow and the Indian company marketed them under the Starbus brand. The Brazilian company, however, has allowed Tata Motors to continue to use the ‘Marcopolo’ trademark for another three years in India.
India may curb import of China’s honey adulterant
The government of India is considering curbs, including a possible ban, on the import of high fructose syrup, whose traces were found in honey sold under several well-known brand names. Citing the recent controversy, micro, small and medium enterprises and transport minister Nitin Gadkari has taken up the issue of restricting the import of the adulterant, which may also include a steep increase in import duty. “Large quantity of high fructose syrup is imported from China and is widely being sold in the market, used for adulteration with honey, as it is difficult to detect even with sophisticated testing,” Gadkari said in a letter to commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal. He argued that this was posing a serious threat to the honey industry and impacted livelihood.
