India Stocks: Summary of Top Articles

Tata Electronics intends to establish two more semiconductor factories in Dholera, Gujarat. Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation will be the partner for the first phase, with a planned production start in 2026 totaling 9100 billion rupees.

Suppliers of the semiconductor ecosystem are likely to be attracted to Tata Group's massive plan, which includes a 2700 billion rupees facility to be built in Assam. India's emerging plans as a global semiconductor hub seem to be attracting large-scale investments by local companies.

Swiggy is considering filing an IPO application aiming to raise over $1 billion in funding this week, as reported by Business Standard. The Bengaluru-based company is awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Details are still under consideration and subject to change.

Swiggy's listing will add to the strong pipeline of stock sales in India. It is expected that further listings will take place in the coming months, including Hyundai Motor's largest-ever listing and LG Electronics, which has the potential to raise $1.4 billion through an IPO.

Members of the Oberoi family are involved in an inheritance dispute within the hospitality group's expansion plan, according to the Economic Times. On one side are Vikramjit Oberoi, Natasha Oberoi, and Arjun Oberoi, while on the other side is Anastasia Oberoi, the daughter born to the late PRS Oberoi and Miliyarja Jozic Oberoi. The center of the dispute involves two different wills allegedly created by PRS Oberoi.

In large Indian business families, succession disputes do not always proceed smoothly. The conflict among the scions of the Oberoi family has been going on for the past 3-4 years and may impact the development plans of the hospitality industry giant, which is seeking to sign more hotel contracts in a highly competitive industry.

The dispute between Bharat Forge's president Baba Kalyani and his brothers may take on a new dimension with the emergence of a court affidavit submitted two years ago, as reported by Mint. The document contains a will, in which Baba Kalyani's late mother Slochana Kalyani bequeathed most of the family assets to his brother Gaurishankar Kalyani, in contrast to the claims made by the elder brother Baba Kalyani regarding the family assets.

This new development, involving the hitherto primarily ongoing family feud between Suganda Hilemas and her family, and the families of Baba Kalyani and Gaurishankar Kalyani, represents a new turn. It may lead to new legal challenges.

According to the Hindu Business Line, due to the continuous rise in the stock market, brokers' margin financing and securities lending has been allowed to leverage up to five times the trading in the spot market. The margin financing and securities lending balance has soared to 8000 billion rupees, showing an increase of over 55% in the past 8 months. It has increased to about three times since the end of last year, which was 5100 billion rupees.

This expansion is due to the market growth and an increase in the number of direct stock trading clients in the past few years. This increase could push up the financial leverage of stockbrokers who borrow from banks or go to the market to raise funds.

According to the Economic Times, as part of the process of reviewing the base year of national accounts and various public statistics, the Central Government is considering using purchases on quick commerce platforms such as Zepto, Blinkit, Instamart, and BigBasket to understand changes in consumption patterns and the pace of economic activity.

In India, since the pandemic, quick commerce has been growing rapidly, and the platforms operated in this sector are said to account for 5-6% of total household grocery expenditure in the country. Most FMCG companies have stated that it is the fastest growing sales channel.

The gap between the growth of non-food credit and deposits of banks operating in India narrowed from 3.11% points on July 26 to 2.75% points on August 23, citing the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India, as reported by Mint. The credit growth rate as of August 23 was 13.6% year-on-year, while the deposit growth rate during the same period was 10.8%.

In India, credit growth was significantly outpacing deposit growth. Recent regulatory measures have been implemented and the worrying gap appears to be narrowing as banks restrain their lending enthusiasm. It seems that the credit growth rate will show a declining trend until the end of this fiscal year.

JSW Energy announced that its subsidiary, JSW Renew Energy Two, has started operating a 300MW wind power plant in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. This is the company's first greenfield wind power plant commissioned by the Indian Solar Energy Corporation.

Wind power generation, which was once a major player in the domestic renewable energy sector, has seen a slowdown in capacity expansion in recent years. However, wind power generation remains an important element in India's energy transition.

According to Business Standard, the government is considering imposing higher fines on banks operating in India that fail to comply with regulatory standards. The central government is allowing the regulatory authorities to review the mechanism they follow by amending the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 and the Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934.

There are concerns that the existing penalty amounts may not be an effective deterrent for large organizations and repeat offenders. Increasing the penalties may help alleviate these concerns.

According to Mint, hostile takeovers in India may become easier as the Competition Commission of India's approval may no longer be required for companies to acquire up to 25% of the target company's shares in the secondary market before making a formal bid, with the backing of the Competition Act regulator. This provision is one of several changes in the M&A rules communicated by the Competition Commission of India last week.

The new merger review standards based on transaction amount by the Competition Commission do not have a grandfather clause. A company purchasing 25% of the shares is required to conduct a public tender offer to ordinary shareholders as mandated by market regulatory authorities.