Discover the top business headlines that are trending across India today!
Taj’s parent company, Indian Hotels Co. Ltd., is now all set to add 120 hotels to its chain over the next few years across premium and mid-range labels - in an attempt to capture the rising demand in travel and wedding. Among these, 14 have already been unveiled, 11 are scheduled for this year, 30 are planned for next year, and 35 the year after. Within the next 10 months, it will make its foray into the Europe continent by opening the 1952-built Hessischer Hof in Frankfurt.
In an interview on Bloomberg TV, the firm's managing director Puneet Chhatwal stated that they will "selectively grow flagship Taj brand in key international markets".
Air India Group is currently preparing its merger with Vistara on November 12. As part of it, the company on Friday announced a reshuffling of its senior management team. Vinod Kanan, CEO of Vistara and the Chief Integration Officer for the merger, will continue to manage the integration post-merger. Also, he will join the management committee and report directly to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson. Deepak Rajawat, Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer, will take on the role of Chief Financial Officer at Air India Express - he will report to Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh and assist Air India Group CFO Sanjay Sharma on strategic initiatives. Hamish Maxwell, Vistara’s Senior Vice President, will manage an advisory role with Air India Express CEO, and Pushpinder Singh, Chief Operations Officer of Air India Express, will return to flying duties. Both Deepa Chadha, Senior Vice President of HR & Corporate Affairs at Vistara, and Vinod Bhatt, Chief Information Officer, will take on senior roles at other Tata Group companies.
According to an investigation by India's antitrust body, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), food delivery giants Zomato and Swiggy breached competition laws by favoring select restaurant chains on their platforms. The investigation findings reveal that Zomato entered into "exclusivity contracts" with partners in exchange for lower commissions, while Swiggy guaranteed business growth to certain outlets on the condition of exclusivity. The CCI mentioned in its report that these agreements prevented "the market from becoming more competitive".
Notably, this investigation began in 2022 when the National Restaurant Association of India filed a complaint about the impact on food outlets due to the anti-competitive practices of Zomato and Swiggy.
The highly anticipated Swiggy IPO opened on November 06 and closed on November 08. Now, according to the latest reports, its share allotment will take place on Monday, November 11. The whole process will be supervised by the registrar, and investors will get shares on a lottery basis. The allotment status can be checked through the BSE or the registrar's website.
Notably, the Swiggy IPO is the second-largest public offer in 2024 (after Hyundai Motor India) and the sixth-largest ever in the country. The Rs 11,327 crore issue had a price band of Rs 371 to Rs 390 per share. The book-built issue witnessed a total subscription of 3.59 times, the retail portion was booked 1.14 times, and the segment reserved for qualified institutions buyers (QIB) was subscribed 6.02 times.
Siddhartha Mohanty, the MD and CEO of Life Insurance Corporation, revealed in a recent statement that the state-owned company will finalize the stake buy in a health insurance company by the end of the current financial year. As he said, "The groundwork is on. By the end of this financial year, I am expecting that we will have some stake in a standalone health insurance company, after receiving clearances from regulatory authorities." However, he didn't share the name of the company where LIC is planning to buy a stake.
"We want to be a large and serious player in the health insurance segment. We are confident that we can make a significant impact because the market potential is enormous," said Mohanty.
