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Following a 50 basis points rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, on Thursday, Sensex and Nifty opened relatively higher. Sensex soared 575 points to reach 83,521, while NIFTY surged by 163 points touching down to 25,540 in early trading. Both indices also touched record highs, with Sensex at 83,563 and Nifty at 25,559. With all the 30 Sensex stocks being in green, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, TCS, and Infosys skyrocketed to 2.19%. The market capitalization of BSE-listed companies soared by Rs 3.1 crore, touching down to Rs 470.82 lakh crore. According to NSE data, foreign institutional investors net purchased Rs 1153.69 crore worth of equities on Wednesday. On the other hand, domestic investors added Rs 152.31 crore. Previously, the benchmark indices finished lower on Tuesday, with Sensex dipping by 131 points at 82,948 and NIFTY down by 41 points reaching 25,377.
As per CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd, half of India’s public infrastructure has been incompetently prepared to handle disasters, as emphasized at the Infrastructure Management Conference 2024 in Delhi. The event, which has been co-organized by CBRE and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has highlighted India’s susceptibility to natural and man-made catastrophes, demanding swift actions to improve infrastructure resilience. It was noted by CBRI that the increasing frequency of disasters like floods, cyclones, and heatwaves, posed a threat to India’s economy and population. It also put a focus on man-made disasters and cyberattacks which exacerbated the sistuation. In high-risk areas, lack of planned urbanization, demographic alterations, and climate changes aggravated the country’s infrastructure challenges. To address this, Smart Facilities Management technologies (FM) should be taken into consideration, with loT sensors, AI-driven analytics, and machine learning technologies to ameliorate disaster preparedness by detecting equipment failures, diminishing downtime, and enhancing resource allocation.
Proposals from 12 Indian startups have been endorsed by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), focused on chip design, pledging more than Rs 130 crore to these projects. These startups are operating on innovations starting from integrated circuits for telecom to AI hardware accelerators. The total project is worth Rs 342 crore, where the government is contributing Rs 133 crore so far, which includes a released sum of more than Rs 7 crore. The design-linked incentive (DLI) scheme is overseeing these approvals, and it has received 59 applications, 12 of which have been sanctioned, while the rest 21 are still under review. the selected companies include DV2JS Innovation (image sensor systems for automotive), Vervesemi Microelectronics (microcontroller ICs for industrial use), and Calligo Technologies (AI hardware accelerators), among others. The DLI scheme forms a part of a larger incentive worth $10 billion which emphasizes reinforcing India’s semiconductor ecosystem. The incentive provides financial backup and infrastructure to foster the development and utilization of semiconductor designs, including chipsets, integrated circuits, and system-on-chip (SoC) technologies throughout the forthcoming five years.
The Adani Group is assiduously eyeing global expansion in the power sector, with discussions underway for a $1.3 billion deal to establish three power lines in Kenya. The conglomerate already has power purchase agreements with Bangladesh and renewable energy projects in Australia and Sri Lanka. According to reports, Adani Transmission was granted contracts for 388 km of high-voltage transmission lines. The Kenyan Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO), however, has elucidated that talks with Adani Energy Solutions Lts are ongoing. Adonis’ proposal encompasses the construction of a 206 km Gilgil-Thika-Malaa-Konza line, a 98 km Menengai-Ol Kalou-Rumuruti Line, and a 95 km Rongai-Keringet-Chemosit line. While Adani is aiming for an 11.5% cost of debt and a 16% equity internal rate of return (IRR), KETRACO is in pursuit of a lower 9.5% cost of debt and a 14% IRR. Talks between both parties are still in progress.
