“It is imperative the government recognise that the paucity of charging stations and battery-swapping infrastructure in the capital make the scheme’s ambitious targets virtually impossible to meet,” IAMAI said in a statement.

Under the scheme, the government plans to allow only electric two-wheelers to operate as e-bike taxis. IAMAI reacted to this provision, highlighting the adverse effects it could have on countless gig workers in Delhi. The association argued that while the EV ecosystem needs to grow in the country, sudden and stringent regulations could disrupt the livelihoods of these workers.

IAMAI also pointed out the financial burden associated with owning an EV at present, which poses challenges for most gig workers. “The target of 100% electrification of bike taxis operating in Delhi right from the outset also raises serious concerns as the lack of a moratorium for bike taxis could render numerous gig workers without work overnight,” IAMAI added.

The issue has already led to a legal battle involving bike taxi aggregator Rapido and the Delhi government. The Delhi High Court had issued a stay order on the government’s regulations, prompting the government to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court. The apex court stayed the High Court’s order, dealing a blow to Uber and Rapido.

The problem has been a matter of concern in the capital for some time now. In response, a group of 40 bike taxi drivers sought intervention from Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot. They submitted a memorandum to Gahlot’s office, urging him to prevent any enforcement or action against them by the city government.

The concerns raised by IAMAI highlight the need for a more comprehensive approach to the implementation of the EV scheme. While the government’s goals of promoting electric mobility are commendable, it is crucial to consider the challenges posed by the lack of EV infrastructure and the financial implications for gig workers.

To achieve a successful transition to EVs, it is necessary to create a supportive ecosystem that includes an adequate charging infrastructure, affordable EV options, and a phased approach that allows gig workers to adapt to the new regulations without jeopardizing their livelihoods. Balancing the environmental objectives with the socio-economic impact on the workforce is key to the sustainable development of the EV sector in Delhi.

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There are already more than 300 million people using UPI and over 500 million people using WhatsApp in India. With this option, customers have access to a new payment channel on an app that they are already familiar with, allowing them to pay their premiums.

This is also part of Tata AIA’s ambition to enhance its Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is a method used to assess how effectively the firm is satisfying the demands of its customers and influencing their behaviours.

“Our bottom-up approach, armed with technology, allows us to understand the needs of our consumers and continually improve our services,” said Sanjay Arora, executive vice president and head of operations for Tata AIA. We have made a huge step forward in improving the customer experience and boosting the convenience of transactions for them as a result of the implementation of an in-house intelligent platform that was designed in conjunction with WhatsApp and PayU.

The National Payments Council of India (NPCI) has given its approval for WhatsApp to begin its payments service in India in November 2020, with a maximum of 20 million users. In November 2021, the maximum number of users was increased to 40 million. The NPCI announced in April 2022 that it would further loosen the limit for WhatsApp Pay, bringing it down to 100 million.

It is the first time in the history of the insurance business that this particular method of payment has been made available. Customers now have the option to pay their premiums online, and they may just as quickly get confirmation and a receipt of their payment.

Tata AIA has also expanded its linguistic capabilities to include English, Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati, and Bengali. Renewal premium collections may now be made using a variety of digital channels, and the company can now communicate in all five of these languages.

Using an Adobe-based campaign management system, a communication drive through ‘WhatsApp’ and SMS services has been automated. This enables the organisation to monitor behaviour and change communication channels as required.

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According to its annual report, the publicly traded company in the Netherlands that invests in technology, Prosus, recently reduced the worth of the struggling edtech start-up to $5.1 billion. This is a drop of more than 75 percent compared to the start-up’s enormous value of $22 billion from the previous year.

According to the report, Prosus decreased the value of its 9.6 percent share in Byju’s during the financial year that ended in March, bringing it down to around $493 million. This comes only a few days after it, along with other investors, resigned from Byju’s board of directors.

The edtech company Prosus is the largest shareholder in the business. Counting General Atlantic and BlackRock among its supporters, Byju’s also counts investors as some of its backers. However, the investment management company BlackRock, which is located in the United States, has reduced its assessment of Byju on many occasions. In the beginning of this year, it decreased by Byju’s to 8.3 billion dollars.

Valuation reduction despite many hurdles

Byju’s is now struggling through a difficult period that is characterised by continuing investigations and recurring firings of employees.

The recent departures of three investor board members as well as Deloitte, the company that served as its auditor, have made its issues much worse.

It is also defending itself against a lawsuit brought against it in the United States for a loan of $1.2 billion. This complaint was filed many weeks after raids were conducted due to alleged breaches of regulations governing foreign exchange.

According to a report by the news agency Reuters, Byju’s recently informed investors that it would submit audited profits for 2022 by the end of September and results for 2023 by the end of December.

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“Once the market completely stabilises, the company will review its capital market strategy and remains confident in its capacity to sustain superior shareholder returns,” Singh said.

In the fiscal year 2022-2023, the total consolidated revenue of the Adani Group of enterprises was 1,38,175 crore, which is a 96 percent increase over the previous fiscal year’s total revenue of 70,433 crore. According to the annual report, the consolidated profits of the firm before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBIDTA) climbed by 112 percent to reach Rs 10,025 crore in the fiscal year 2022-2023. During the fiscal year 2022-2023, the consolidated profit after tax (PAT) that was attributable to owners rose by 218 percent to reach Rs 2,473 crore.

According to Singh’s comments in the annual report, the business had a creditable performance, which was characterised by profitable expansion as a result of good controls, compliance, and governance.

A US short-seller named Hindenburg Research published a damaging study at the beginning of January claiming accounting fraud and stock price manipulation at Adani Group. This revelation triggered a stock market meltdown that wiped around USD 145 billion off the conglomerate’s market value at its lowest point. Hindenburg Research is based in the United States.

The Adani Group, on the other hand, has refuted all of Hindenburg’s charges.

The Chief Financial Officer of the organisation also discussed the reasons why the overall risk profile of the organisation is still considered moderate. “Your company has an elaborate Risk Management Framework with corresponding alerts and triggers against external realities, promoting a timely response. In view of this, even as your company is large, its overall risk profile (aggregated across businesses) continues to be moderate,” Singh said.

“In a portfolio of businesses influenced by such diverse market pulls and pressures, the overriding validation of our strategic direction lies in our capital management. At AEL, capital management is our capacity to feed cash flows from a business for its own sustainable growth while addressing the short-term needs of other businesses,” he said.

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In an effort to regain the confidence of investors after the publication of a damaging report by a US short seller, the company returned debts totaling USD 2.65 billion earlier this month. This action brought a prepayment plan designed to reduce overall leverage to its conclusion.

The ports-to-energy conglomerate is now looking at robust growth in sectors such as airports, cement, renewables, solar panels, transportation and logistics, and power and transmission, it said, adding that several of Adani’s new infrastructure investments will also begin to fructify and generate cash in the coming years. Adani is a multinational company that operates in a variety of industries, ranging from ports to energy.

As a result of Adani’s efforts to foster strong and long-term expansion throughout its entire business portfolio, it is anticipated that the company’s consolidated EBITDA will rise by more than twenty percent over the course of the next several years. According to the memo, the company anticipates reaching its goal EBITDA of more than 90,000 crore by the end of FY23.

Over the course of the last several years, the company has made considerable investments in port infrastructure and successfully completed key projects in the areas of renewable energy, transportation, and port infrastructure.

Companies in a variety of industries, including airports and renewables, are reporting increased cash flows. Its robust asset base, which has been built up over the course of three decades, provides support for highly available vital infrastructure and guarantees outstanding asset performance throughout the life cycles of those assets.

EBITDA from the group’s listed portfolio reached Rs 57,219 crore in FY23 (the fiscal year running from April 2022 to March 2023). This is a year-over-year growth of 36%. Core infrastructure companies, which form 82.8 percent of the portfolio and include energy, transport, logistics, and flagship Adani Enterprise Ltd.’s infrastructure projects, reported a healthy 23 percent year-over-year increase in EBITDA to reach Rs 47,386 crore. Core infrastructure businesses also contributed to the growth of the portfolio overall.

The existing businesses of AEL also had a remarkable result, growing by 59% year-over-year to a total of Rs 5,466 crore in revenue. Ten percent of AEL’s total holdings are made up of the company’s current operations.

The Adani Group’s portfolio works in the utility and infrastructure sectors, delivering secure and steady cash flows. Approximately 83 percent of its EBITDA is produced by core infrastructure companies. The company is targeting expansion across a wide range of industries, including airports, cement, renewable energy, solar panel manufacturing, ports, power transmission, and the transmission of electrical power.

The previous year was a moment of considerable development for Adani, as the company’s portfolio saw strong growth of 36%, which was concurrently complimented by an efficient deleveraging plan, as can be seen by the company’s improved net debt to EBITDA ratio. This led to a period of substantial advancement.

When compared to the portfolio as a whole, the total net debt to EBITDA ratio decreased from 3.8 times in FY22 to 3.27 times in FY23. According to the note, the ratio of the group’s net debt to its run-rate EBITDA decreased to 2.8 times in FY22 from 3.2 times in FY23, which demonstrates the group’s good financial discipline in the midst of the robust expansion.

The management of the Adani Group has confirmed that there is not a large debt maturity on the horizon in the near future. This indicates that there is not a material refinancing risk or a necessity for near-term liquidity.

The value of the net assets relative to the total assets comes to 3,911 billion rupees. The company has, throughout the course of time, increased the diversity of its long-term debt portfolio, decreased its dependence on banks, and broadened the sources from which it obtains finance. Bonds account for 39% of the current debt, followed by global international banks with 29%, public and private banks, and NBFCs with 32% each.

The exposure of the company is still less than one percent of the overall bank exposures in India, and top Indian banks such as SBI and other PSUs have indicated their contentment with the ratio of the firm’s debt and equity to its EBITDA, which is 3.2 percent.

The group’s dollar debt is also properly hedged, and the recent increases in interest rates by the European Central Bank are likely to have a small effect on debt costs and service since the majority of ECBs are at a fixed rate, according to the note.

Adani Group has fully repaid both the USD 2.15 billion in loans obtained by pledging shares in the conglomerate’s listed enterprises and the USD 700 million in loans taken for the purchase of Ambuja Cement.

In addition, the letter mentions that the promoters have successfully concluded the sale of shares in four different listed group firms to GQG Partners, a major global investment company, for a total of USD 1.87 billion (Rs 15,446 crore).

Adani Connex, the company’s datacenter division, has just secured the biggest datacenter project financing in India, with USD 213 million secured from six foreign banks (SMBC, MUFG, Mizuho, ING, Natixis, and SCB). This makes Adani Connex the market leader in India’s datacenter industry.

This demonstrates the trust that the financing lenders have in Adani Portfolio and the companies it owns.

The US short-seller Hindenburg Research published a damaging study in January claiming accounting fraud and stock price manipulation at Adani Group. This revelation triggered a stock market meltdown that wiped out almost USD 145 billion from the conglomerate’s market value at its lowest point. Hindenburg Research is based in the United States.

Adani Group has completely refuted Hindenburg’s allegations, and the business is already planning a response campaign. In order to ease the concerns of the investors, the firm has rethought its goals and paid off part of its debt.

Cash Balance and FFO (together at Rs 77,889 crore) are much larger than the debt maturity cover for FY24, FY25, and FY26 at the combined portfolio level, which is 11,796 crore, Rs 32,373 crore, and Rs 16,614 crore, respectively.

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In accordance with the deal, Zydus Animal Health and Investments Ltd. will buy 65,06,500 fully paid-up equity shares of Mylab. Each share is worth Rs. 1 and represents 6.5 percent of Mylab’s total fully paid-up equity share capital. The price decided upon for this purchase is Rs. 106 crore.

Mylab is in the business of researching, developing, manufacturing, marketing, and selling in-vitro diagnostic kits, equipment, reagents, and related therapeutic products that are linked to its diagnostic portfolio. It also offers portfolio solutions for other labs and hospitals.

Zydus Lifesciences said in a regulatory filing that the planned investment in Mylab will help the company get into the growing diagnostics market, which is likely to see more in-clinic options with point-of-care testing devices.

After signing the share purchase deal, the acquisition should be completed within two months.

Zydus Lifesciences told investors on its most recent earnings call that the company is looking for chances to buy out niche assets in the US and strong names in India. It may also invest in certain assets in Europe.

In Q4 of FY23, combined net sales rose 30 percent year over year to Rs 5,010.60 crore. India and the US, which are key businesses, drove this growth. The US business did well because of one-time new business possibilities and the increase in sales of new products like gRevlimid and gTrokendi XR. The net earnings for the quarter ending in March 2023 were Rs 296.60 crore, which was 25% less than the same time last year.

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The Wall Street Journal reports that these most recent layoffs account for around 35 percent of Uber’s recruitment crew. The continual efforts of the corporation to optimise operations and increase cost effectiveness were a driving factor in the decision to reduce the number of employees. It is important to note that prior to the start of the epidemic in the middle of 2020, Uber had already cut the number of employees on its payroll by 17 percent.

In recent months, Uber has reduced its personnel on a smaller scale as compared to its primary competitor, Lyft, which has done the opposite.

In April, Lyft announced major changes to its personnel, lowering the total number of employees by around 26 percent. These layoffs were undertaken under the supervision of Lyft’s new CEO, David Risher. In addition, the corporation terminated the employment of around 700 of its staff members towards the end of the previous year. Lyft went ahead and implemented these changes in an effort to maintain healthy profit margins and improve its standing in the industry in comparison to its more established rival, Uber.

In May, Uber made public its anticipation that it would be profitable in terms of operational income by the end of this year, indicating that the firm had favourable financial prospects. The sequential decrease in headcount that occurred during the first quarter of the year was the catalyst for the decision to keep the workforce unchanged. By maintaining a consistent headcount, Uber hopes to achieve a balance between the company’s mission of maximising operational efficiency and serving the needs of its ride-sharing customers.

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Although a spokeswoman for the business maintains the number is closer to 150–170 people, other reports suggest that the mass layoffs would affect more than 200 employees. However, the figure is believed to be far lower. According to the allegations, the impacted workers suddenly had their access to email and Slack IDs stopped without receiving any previous notification.

Entrackr attempted to contact the founder of Mojocare, Rajat Gupta, as well as the company itself, in order to get a statement on the layoffs. When a response is obtained, the article will be updated accordingly. According to a statement made by a representative of Mojocare, their spokesman said, “Despite our best efforts, our business fundamentals have not worked out over the past few months.” We have made this decision in order to become more effective with our use of capital, and we will be rationalising our expenses.

Ashwin Swaminathan and Rajat Gupta established Mojocare, a digital wellness platform, in the year 2020. The site covers a variety of health domains, including sexual wellness, women’s wellness, mental wellness, and hair loss. Users of the portal may also connect with therapists, health coaches, nutritionists, and physicians via the platform. It has previously obtained financing in the amount of $20.6 million from investors such as B Capital, Chiratae Ventures, Sequoia India’s Surge, and Better Capital.

Mojocare has suffered yet another setback as a result of the latest layoffs, which took place over ten months after the business received its fundraising round. When the company did its most recent round of capital raising in 2022, it had already amassed a total of 24 million dollars in investment and was estimated to be worth between 70 and 75 million dollars.

The layoffs at Mojocare are just one more example of the rising trend among Indian businesses to reduce the number of their personnel since 2022. It is common practise to attribute these layoffs to causes such as the prolonged financial winter, unfavourable market circumstances, and the lack of a clear route to profitability. As the startup ecosystem works its way through these obstacles, businesses are being forced to make tough choices in order to survive and prosper in the cutthroat market.

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By means of a postal vote, the firm’s shareholders were asked for permission to proceed with a qualified institutional placement on May 15, 2023, which would include the issue of equity shares and/or other suitable securities to eligible investors. The business hoped to raise a maximum of Rs 8,500 crore.

98.64 percent of the votes cast supported the resolution, according to the report that the business filed with the BSE.

During a meeting held on May 13, 2023, the board of directors of the firm agreed to the plan.

Adani Transmission has said before that it anticipates growth prospects in its present operations and continues to analyse different avenues for organic development and achieving inorganic growth. In addition, Adani Transmission continues to assess various avenues for achieving growth via acquisition.

In order to do this, the firm will continue to need funds for the purpose of accomplishing such development and expansion.

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According to a source that was quoted by ET, CoinSwitch has intentions of submitting an application to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a stockbroker’s licence. It has also been reported that the firm is in discussion about offering fixed deposits with a number of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) as well as banks.

In view of the recent difficulties that cryptocurrency has been having all over the globe, not just in India, the cryptocurrency trading platform recently made an announcement that it intends to provide traditional investment goods such as mutual funds, US equities, and other similar items in the near future.

For example, despite the fact that Bitcoin’s price has increased over the course of the past several months or so, it is still only half of what it was in November 2021. In terms of market size and value, other big cryptocurrencies have also been severely impacted by the bear market. The difficult situation for cryptocurrency trading platforms has been exacerbated by India’s stringent crypto legislation and taxes. As a result, they have been encouraged to broaden their fintech offerings into more mainstream goods and services.

However, due to the recent increase in tax collected at source (TCS) on overseas transfers made under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), platforms that provide US equities have begun to shy away from the same. CoinSwitch is one such site.

The magazine quotes Ashish Singhal, the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency trading platform, as claiming that the cryptocurrency platform intends to become a wealthtech platform and that there are various products currently in development for the site.

Further, Singhal was reported as adding, “We aim to grow alongside them by offering a diverse range of asset classes, including mutual funds, fixed deposits, and more.” We expect to make an announcement about these goods before the end of the current fiscal year.

Inc42 has reached out to CoinSwitch for comment on the current situation, and the article will be updated as soon as the firm replies to our inquiry.

The announcement of a stock trading platform comes close to nine months after CoinSwitch introduced CoinSwitch Pro, a multi-exchange trading platform that enables users to trade crypto assets in Indian Rupees across various exchanges with a single login. The news of the stock trading platform comes almost nine months after CoinSwitch released CoinSwitch Pro.

CoinSwitch seems to be gearing up to join a field that is already saturated with a large number of startup brokers and traditional brokers. There are a number of conventional fintechs, such as Paytm and PhonePe, that also provide stock trading on their own platforms. This has increased the level of competition in the sector.

Regardless of this, even these stock trading platforms have been having a difficult time lately as a result of the continued high volatility in the stock markets. For example, as of the end of March 2023, Upstox had about 2.8 million active users, despite having lost roughly the same number of members as it had in June 2022. During the same period, Zerodha had a loss of around 200,000 active users.

CoinSwitch is a worldwide aggregator of cryptocurrency exchanges. It was established in 2017 by Singhal, Govind Soni, and Vimal Sagar Tiwari. Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) are among the investors in this unicorn company. The initial funding for the company was close to $300 million, with the most recent funding coming in the form of a $260 million Series C unicorn round in October 2021.

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