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☆ India's Tata Group signs $1.6 bln EV battery plant deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Sumit Khanna | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AHMEDABAD, June 2 (Reuters) - India's Tata Group signed an outline deal on Friday on building a lithium-ion cell factory, based on investment of about 130 billion rupees ($1.58 billion), as part of the nation's efforts to create its own electric vehicle supply chain. Compared to the size of its population, India's car market is tiny. Tata Motors dominates its electric vehicle (EV) sales, which made up just 1% of India's total car sales of about 3.8 million last year. "The plant will go a long way in contributing to the development of the EV ecosystem in Gujarat and India," Vijay Nehra, an official in the Gujarat state government told Reuters. ($1 = 82.3373 Indian rupees)Reporting by Sumit Khanna and Tanvi Mehta; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Vijay Nehra, Sumit Khanna, Tanvi Mehta, Barbara Lewis Organizations: India's Tata Group, Tata Motors, Solutions, Reuters, Thomson Locations: AHMEDABAD, Gujarat, Sanand, India

☆ Factbox: Companies invest in EV battery factories in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Below are recent investments announced by companies:GERMANYSweden's Northvolt said on May 13 it will invest 3-5 billion euros ($3.3-5.5 billion) in an EV battery plant in Heide in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein as long as subsidies are approved. Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) plans to build six battery factories in Europe totalling 240 gigawatt (GWh) of capacity by 2030. Production at its first battery plant, "SalzGiga", in Salzgitter in the Lower Saxony region will start in 2025. Slovakian battery manufacturer InoBat said last October it had signed a declaration of intent with the Spanish government to set up an EV battery factory in central Spain's city Valladolid, expected to cost 3 billion euros. POLANDLG Chem EV battery in Wroclaw started production in the second half of 2017, with a capacity of 100,000 batteries per year.

Persons: Helena Soderpalm, GERMANY Sweden's Northvolt, China's CATL, Germany's, Mercedes Benz, Elon Musk, Berclau, Taiwan's ProLogium, Jean, Luc Monfort, Mata, BASQUEVOLT, InoBat, China's BYD, AEHRA, Poland's, Alessandro Parodi, Tiago Brandao, Matteo Allievi, Barbara Lewis, Milla Nissi Organizations: REUTERS, Volkswagen, EV, Germany's BASF, Automotive Cells Company, ACC, Stellantis, Tesla, FRANCE Joint, France, Renault, Basque Country, Spanish, India's Tata Group, ITALY Joint, POLAND LG, European Commission, SWEDEN Northvolt's Skelleftea, Thomson Locations: Vasteras, Sweden, Europe, Asia, United States, GERMANY, Heide, Schleswig, Holstein, Salzgitter, Lower Saxony, China, Erfurt, Thuringia, Schwarzheide, Brandenburg ., Ludwigsfelde, Berlin, Kaiserslautern, Rhineland, Palatinate, Gigafactory, FRANCE, Billy, France, Dunkirk, Douai, Ruitz, Ergué, Quimper, Montreal, SPAIN Spain, Europe's, Germany, Navalmoral de, Extremadura, Sagunto, Valencia, Spain, Basque, Slovakian, Spain's, Valladolid, Britain, ITALY, Termoli, POLAND, Wroclaw, HUNGARY

☆ India’s airline turbulence will be felt abroad
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

India’s Go First has gone into bankruptcy – the country’s second airline to do so since 2019. Its subsequent public and messy spat with engine suppliers and lessors will have ripple effects across the industry and abroad. Go, the country’s third largest airline with a 7% market share, blames Raytheon Technologies-backed (RTX.N) Pratt & Whitney’s “faulty” engines. A global industry association, Aviation Working Group, has put India on a watchlist for violating global conventions on repossession of airplanes. The trouble at Go may not put them off but it promises some extra turbulence ahead.

In granting bankruptcy protection, the National Company Law Tribunal in New Delhi ordered a moratorium on Go First's assets and leases. But bankruptcy protection supersede lessors' repossession requests. Go First's lessors also include SMBC Aviation Capital and CDB Aviation's GY Aviation Leasing. Its voluntary seeking of bankruptcy protection to renegotiate contracts and debt marks a first for an Indian airline, and Chief Executive Officer Kaushik Khona, who was present as the order was read, hailed the tribunal's decision as "historic". The Indian tribunal said the new resolution professional will take "all necessary steps including the execution of the arbitral award".

India has made it easier for lessors to take back planes if airlines default on payments after joining an international treaty known as the Cape Town Convention. But lack of a proper legislation to enforce the treaty means India's bankruptcy law will supersede lessors' repossession requests, lawyers said. Go First's lessors include major global names such as Jackson Square Aviation, SMBC Aviation Capital and CDB Aviation's GY Aviation Leasing. Bigger rivals IndiGo (INGL.NS) and Tata Group's Air India are charting major expansion plans with hundreds of new planes on order as domestic air travel in India surpasses pre-pandemic levels. Air India did not immediately respond.

☆ Disheartened Go First pilots rush to Air India's jobs drive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Tanvi Mehta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, May 4 (Reuters) - Dozens of pilots, many from crisis-hit Go First, flocked to a Tata group hotel near Delhi on Thursday for walk-in interviews with the conglomerate's Air India airline. Air India said on Twitter the hiring drive in Delhi and Mumbai would be extended by a day to Friday. An Air India spokesperson told Reuters it had received more than 700 applications in response to an advert last week for pilots, which it is currently processing. Go First and Vistara - a Tata group joint venture with Singapore Airlines - declined to comment. A planned merger of Air India with Vistara and the launch of Akasa Air have increased competition for staff and planes as the industry recovers.

☆ Amid risk of stalling in EV race, Spain's rebooted aid scheme gets warm reception
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Madrid will launch a new, more flexible version of the PERTE scheme around July, worth 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) after last year's initial funding round flopped, with only 27% of an earmarked 2.9 billion euros allocated. Stellantis already manufactures EVs in Spain and received 67 million euros from the first PERTE, but could request more funds to boost production. Griffiths said using the EU funds is "essential" for Spain's future as some investments would otherwise be non-viable. Unlike Germany, Europe's leading car producer, Spain lacks a domestic manufacturer to champion the EV cause. In last year's PERTE round, VW-SEAT received the highest payout, of 357 million euros, but had hoped for more.

☆ Air India's plans to modernise under new owner Tata
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

2022June 15 - Campbell Wilson, the New Zealand-born former CEO of Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI) budget offshoot Scoot takes over as Air India CEO. July 4 - Air India signs a deal to adopt Amadeus IT Group's (AMA.MC) Altea software, including for revenue management. Nov. 2 - Air India completes a deal to acquire 100% of AirAsia India and begins to integrate it with Air India Express as part of a broader restructuring of Tata's airline business. Nov. 29 - Tata says it will merge Air India with Vistara, its joint venture with Singapore Airlines. Feb. 13 - Air India resumes non-stop service between Mumbai and New York, weeks after the launch of non-stop Mumbai-San Francisco.

[1/2] An Air India Airbus A320neo passenger plane moves on the runway after landing at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, in Ahmedabad, India, October 22, 2021. In another sign of the formerly government-owned carrier's whirlwind transformation under its new owner Tata Group, Air India is testing ChatGPT, OpenAI's popular chatbot, to replace paper-based practices. Air India is not only reworking every aspect of operations - from systems to supply chains - but integrating four Tata-related airlines, with Air India due to merge with Vistara while low-cost Air India Express and AirAsia India also converge. Airline mergers in India have had little success with Air India still hobbled by the botched integration of Indian Airlines in 2007. Air India's planes are already a mix of Airbus (AIR.PA) and Boeing (BA.N) jets with multiple cabin configurations.

☆ India's travel industry may not overtake China soon but there are still 'massive' opportunities
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Charmaine Jacob | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesIndia's airline industry may be on a strong growth trajectory — but don't expect India's outbound travel to overtake China's soon, aviation analysts say. "The gap between China and India is huge," Lalitya Dhavala, valuations consultant at travel analytics firm Cirium told CNBC. India's robust growth trajectoryThe analysts agree there's potential for growth in India's domestic and international travel market. In comparison to China, India has a larger share of young adults, with 40% of its population under 25 years old, Dhavala said. Late last year, Indian conglomerate Tata Group announced that Vistara will merge with national carrier Air India by March 2024.

☆ India's Tata Group mulls pumping $2 bln into super app venture -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, March 23 (Reuters) - Indian salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group is considering injecting another $2 billion into its super app venture to bolster its digital business, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Tata Group has also asked Tata Digital to look for ways to boost the valuation of the super app, according to the report. A Tata Group spokesperson and Tata Digital declined to comment on the report. Tata launched the e-commerce super app in April last year, offering everything from apparel to air tickets in a renewed push for a slice of a fast-growing market dominated by Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Walmart's (WMT.N) Flipkart. Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ India's TCS, Infosys have highest exposure to U.S. regional banks - J.P.Morgan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The Infosys logo is seen at the SIBOS banking and financial conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Chris HelgrenMarch 17 (Reuters) - Top Indian information technology firms Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS) and Infosys (INFY.NS) have the highest exposure to regional banks in the United States that are gripped by a financial turmoil, analysts at J.P.Morgan said on Friday. All three companies might need to set aside provisions in the fourth quarter due to their exposure to SVB, J.P. Morgan said in a note. Indian IT firms draw the bulk of their revenue from the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector. Within BFSI, their exposure to the U.S. banks is on average 62% and Europe 23%, J.P. Morgan said.

☆ From Apple to Boeing, India is being put to the test as China manufacturing alternative
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Vikram Barhat | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe ties between American companies and India as a manufacturing and supply chain partner are getting deeper. The Boeing deal is indicative of the wider trend among global manufacturers including Apple, Samsung and Nokia, to accelerate manufacturing in India. As far back as 2014 it launched the "Make in India" campaign to raise the profile of India as a global manufacturing hub and encourage multinational companies to produce in India. Boeing, Air India issues The partners have their internal issues to work through. That's on top of the hurdles foreign companies can expect to face in India's accleration as a manufacturing and supply chain partner.

☆ Air India's order for 470 jets at list price of $70 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW DELHI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Tata group-owned Air India's order for a record 470 aircraft from Airbus (AIR.PA) and Boeing Co (BA.N) will be at a list price of $70 billion, Chief Executive Campbell Wilson said on Monday, as the airline seeks opportunities to expand in long haul international. Air India had, earlier this month, announced provisional deals for 220 planes from Boeing and 250 from Airbus in an order that would eclipse previous records for an order by a single carrier. The airline plans to fund the order with a combination of resources, including internal cash flow, shareholder equity and sale-and-leaseback of aircraft, Wilson told reporters at a press conference. Air India, once considered a world-class airline in India, saw its image tarnish in the mid-2000s due to financial troubles, an ageing fleet and poor service. "Air India has embarked on probably the greatest transformation in aviation history," Wilson added.

☆ India Signals Its Arrival as a Force in Aviation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Megha Mandavia | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Newly privatized Air India is making up for lost time. A turnaround of India’s flag carrier Air India Ltd. could place the country on the global aviation map. The beleaguered airline just kick-started the process with a historic aircraft order. Last week, Air India ordered 470 jets from aircraft giants Boeing Co. and Airbus, marking the largest deal for commercial aircraft in aviation history. The airline also has an option of ordering an additional 370 planes in the future.

☆ Air India has options to buy 370 more jets after mammoth order
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Air India has options and purchase rights to buy 370 more aircraft from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade, an company executive said in a recent LinkedIn post, days after the carrier unveiled a record order for 470 jets. "The order comprises of 470 firm aircraft, 370 options and purchase rights to be procured from Airbus and Boeing over the next decade," said Nipun Aggarwal, chief commercial and transformation officer at Air India, wrote in a post late Wednesday. The firm order comprises 220 Boeing (BA.N) planes and 250 Airbus (AIR.PA) aircraft, while the options can be converted to firm orders at a later date. Aggarwal also said Air India had signed long-term engine maintenance contracts with CFM International (CFM), Rolls-Royce (RR.L) and GE Aerospace (GE.N). Aggarwal said the aspiration with this order is to connect India "non-stop" to every major city in the world and shows the "tremendous economic potential" unleashed by the privatisation of Air India.

For airlines, sale-and-leasebacks have been a popular way to generate liquidity and ease balance sheets. They then aim to sell them at a profit to lessors at the expense of agreeing to pay a rent. "It's a cheap and often tax-efficient way for the airline to raise finance," said an aircraft finance source. "Lessors are already queuing up to do business with Air India. Some lessors say it is not worth it after new money poured into aviation looking for returns when interest rates were low.

[1/4] Air India passenger aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport in Mumbai, India, February 14, 2023. REUTERS/Francis MascarenhasBENGALURU, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Air India has agreed to buy 250 jets from Airbus (AIR.PA), part of a mammoth deal for 470 planes, as the carrier heralds a decades-long transformation under its new owners, Tata Group. The deal is expected to also include an order for 220 planes from Airbus rival Boeing (BA.N), Reuters reported. "We see this moment as the most significant moment for the Tata Group's Air India, Indian aviation and the manufacturing sector in India," he said. Reuters in December reported that Air India was in negotiations for a deal close to 500 planes.

Tata Group, which regained control of Air India last year after decades of public ownership, put out just six paragraphs. "Air India negotiated hard and the team is very sharp despite having no prior aviation experience. A second person who watched the billions fall into place said the Air India negotiators were "methodical, tough and very sophisticated". Plans for announcements on the anniversary of Tata's Air India takeover slipped as engine talks wore on. Analysts caution many obstacles remain to Air India's plans.

☆ Apple faces obstacles in move to boost India manufacturing - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 14 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is facing challenges as it tries to increase production in India, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the iPhone maker's operations. This 50% 'yield' does not meet Apple's goal for zero defects, FT reported, adding that the company's process of expanding in India has been slow in part due to challenges in logistics, tariffs and infrastructure. Apple and Tata Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Apple has bet big on India since it began iPhone assembly in the country in 2017 through Wistron Corp (3231.TW) and later Foxconn, in line with the Indian government's push for local manufacturing. Last month, India's trade minister said that Apple wants India to account for up to 25% of its production from about 5 - 7% currently.

BENGALURU, Feb 13 (Reuters) - India wants to more than triple annual defence exports to $5 billion by 2024/25 from $1.5 billion currently as it looks to ramp up domestic manufacturing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday while inaugurating the Aero India show. "Today, India is not just a market for defence companies, it is also a potential defence partner," Modi said in his speech at the show. "I call on India's private sector to invest more and more in the country's defence sector." India, for decades one of the world's biggest importers of defence equipment, now exports to 75 countries, he added. India's airlines are also expanding, with Tata Group's Air India expected to announce a potentially record deal to buy nearly 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing, worth more than $100 billion at list prices.

☆ Alibaba sells remaining stake at India's Paytm as it continues to exit market
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

In January, Alibaba sold about 3% of Paytm for $125 million, cutting its holdings from 6.26%, based on NSE data. ‘India’s Alipay’Founded in 2010, Paytm is India’s largest payment platform, with more than 300 million registered customers and over 20 million merchants. Paytm and Ant Group had been working on “synergies” since Ant made the initial investment, the company said. In early 2021, Alibaba sold a major stake in BigBasket, an online grocery retailer, to Indian conglomerate Tata Group. In May 2022, Alibaba and Ant Group offloaded their entire stake in Paytm Mall, the e-commerce platform of Paytm.

BENGALURU, India, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) plans to invest about $24 million in India to set up a logistics centre for airplane parts, Salil Gupte, president of the local unit told Reuters on Monday, boosting its footprint in the country amid a large plane order. Boeing's share includes 220 planes split as 190 737 MAX narrowbody jets, 20 787 widebodies, and 10 777Xs. Boeing forecasts India's carriers will need 2,200 new planes over the next 20 years, and with narrowbody planes making up the bulk Gupte expects that to be a focus area for Boeing. "As the middle-class grows and as India leads the world economic growth, you will see more and more people fly. That means we need to ensure our customers have the narrowbody aircraft they need to serve this market," he said.

BENGALURU/PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - French planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) on Friday signed an agreement with Air India for 250 jets, as part of the Indian carrier's jumbo deal under its new owners, Tata Group, industry sources told Reuters. This is part of a potentially record order for close to 500 jets split equally between Airbus and rival planemaker Boeing (BA.N), which was first reported by Reuters in December. Air India did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment outside of regular business hours. While the Airbus figure is slightly lower than the 275 originally envisaged, sources did not rule out a provision by Air India for top-up acquisitions or leases at a later point. Air India also wants to win a bigger share of regional international traffic and the domestic market, setting up a battle on both fronts with IndiGo.

☆ Is the iPhone's 'Made in India' era beginning as Apple breaks with China?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said Apple was already making between 5% and 7% of its products in India. His comments come at a time when Foxconn (HNHPF), a top Apple supplier, is looking to expand its operations in India after suffering severe supply disruptions in China. For years, Apple had relied on a vast manufacturing network in China to mass produce iPhones, iPads and other popular products. China headaches mountBut the world’s most valuable company posted shockingly weak earnings this month, partly because of its recent problems in China. According to Counterpoint’s Pathak, India accounts for 16% of the global smartphone production, while China constitutes 70%.

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