Mahindra and Ford join hands again, may expand electric base

Agencies
September 19, 2017

New Delhi, Sept 19: Ford Motor and India's Mahindra Group have announced they will work together in a fresh partnership as the US giant looks to boost its presence in one of the world's fastest growing auto markets.

The two, who parted ways from a tie-up in 2005, will co-operate for three years on a number of areas including electric vehicles and sourcing.

"Ford is committed to India," said Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president and president of Global Markets in a statement.

"This alliance will allow us to work together to take advantage of the changes coming in the auto industry."

Most foreign auto makers have struggled in the budget-sensitive Indian market and Ford has a less than three percent market share.

The electric car market is expected to explode as governments around the world, including India and the world's biggest market China saying they intend to shift completely away from fossil fuelled cars within the next few decades.

Mahindra is the only Indian automaker that makes electric cars, and at a fraction of the cost of global brands such as Tesla and an agreement would give Ford access to the cheap technology. Mahindra on the other hand will be given access to new designs and markets.

Abdul Majeed, a partner at consultancy PwC, said more auto makers would in future seek strategic tie-ups as the industry sees a major shift towards greener transport and greater use of information technology.

"Alliances are critical to survive going forward. No one can resolve these (issues) on their own," Majeed said.

"There's a fundamental shift happening in the sector and you're getting competition from new emerging companies so you have to align to survive."

Japan's Toyota Motor and Suzuki announced plans to work together earlier this year to exchange expertise, while General Motors and Ford are also in various experiments with US ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies.

The announcement marks a U-turn for Ford under new chief executive Jim Hackett after his predec

essor Mark Fields had put the firm's India business on review.

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News Network
July 17,2020

Lukung, Jul 17: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday assured that not an inch of our land can be taken by any power in the world while he interacted with the Indian Army and ITBP personnel at Lukung.

Referring to the India-China border standoff, he said, "Talks are underway to resolve the border dispute but to what extent it can be resolved I cannot guarantee. I can assure you, not one inch of our land can be taken by any power in the world."

Emphasising on finding a diplomatic solution to the standoff, he further said, "If a solution can be found by talks, there is nothing better."
"Recently what happened between troops of India and China at PP14, how some of our personnel sacrificed their lives protecting our border. I am happy to meet you all but also saddened because of their loss. I pay my tributes to them," he added.

Singh interacted with the Army and Paramilitary troops here along with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.

Earlier today, the Defence Minister witnessed para dropping and scoping weapons here. He also inspected a Pika machine gun.

Indian Army T-90 tanks and BMP infantry combat vehicles carried out the exercise at Stakna, Leh in presence of Singh, Chief of Defence Staff and Army Chief.

Defence Minister is on a two-day visit to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. He will take stock of the situation at both the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Line of Control (LOC).

While Pakistan constantly violates ceasefire from across the LoC, China has continued to intrude into Indian territory in Ladakh region in recent past, escalating tensions between India and its eastern neighbour.

On June 15, twenty Indian soldiers laid out their lives during combat with Chinese forces in Galwan valley, leading to tensions between both nations. Chinese soldiers subsequently started moving back following dialogues between two countries through the military level and diplomatic level.

Singh was accompanied by the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.

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Agencies
June 12,2020

Mumbai, Jun 12: Following an overwhelming response for the mega rights issue of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries, the partly paid-up rights shares are set to debut on stock exchanges on June 15.

The biggest ever Rs 53,124 crore rights issue was subscribed 1.59 times and received bids worth Rs 84,000 crore on June 3.

Reliance said the rights issue saw a huge investor interest, including from lakhs of small investors and thousands of institutional investors, both Indian and foreign.

In 2019, Ambani said in the Reliance's annual general meeting that the company will be net zero debt by March 2021. The company is on course to achieve its target ahead of the deadline.

"In spite of the COVID-19 crisis and the lockdowns, the due-diligence by Saudi Aramco for the planned investment in the O2C business is on track as both the parties are committed and actively engaged," he said recently.

"With a strong visibility to these equity infusions, Reliance is set to achieve net zero debt status ahead of its own aggressive timeline. We believe rights issue was a part of the company's strategy of deleveraging its balance sheet," said Ambani. 

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News Network
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: The government has decided to rename National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), Faridabad, as Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management, an official statement said on Tuesday.

Set up in 1993 as a registered society under the Department of Expenditure, NIFM trains officers of Finance and Accounts Services recruited by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) as also officers of Indian Cost Accounts Service. The Union Finance Minister is the President of the NIFM Society.

"Aligning the vision and aspiration of the Institute for the future with the vision and contribution of late Arun Jaitley, the Government has decided to rename National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) as the Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management(AJNIFM)," the statement said.

NIFM has become a premier resource centre to meet the training needs of the central government for senior and middle level of management in the fields of public policy, financial management, public procurement and other governance issues for promoting highest standards of professional competence and practice.

Padma Vibhushan awardee Jaitley was the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs during May 26, 2014 to May 30, 2019.

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