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Tata joins iPhone makers’ club

In the years ahead, the Tata Group has the potential to solidify their position as a pivotal player in the iPhone manufacturing ecosystem…writes Nishant Arora

With Tata Electronics now hogging the limelight for iPhone manufacturing in India, industry experts on Monday said that with their ambition on semiconductors and EVs, it only makes sense for the Tata Group to gain expertise in manufacturing high-end iPhones in the country.

Currently, iPhone 12 and iPhone SE (second generation) are being manufactured/assembled at Taiwan-based iPhone manufacturer Wistron’s Karnataka factory, which Tata Electronics is set to take over soon.

Once the final takeover is done, the facility is likely to manufacture new Apple products that may include the upcoming iPhone series.

“With the new make-in-India potentially entry to mid-level iPhone 15 series, the Tata Group will make a modest beginning in this new partnership,” according to Prabhu Ram, Head, Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.

“We anticipate a remarkable growth trajectory for the Tata Group in the coming years as they gain expertise and experience in high-end iPhone manufacturing,” he told IANS.

In the years ahead, the Tata Group has the potential to solidify their position as a pivotal player in the iPhone manufacturing ecosystem.

Wistron’s factory in Karnataka, that employs about 12,000 people, constitutes a major chunk of its business in the country.

According to reports, Wistron will be winding down its operations soon and is “likely to approach the National Company Law Tribunal and the Registrar of Companies to dissolve its India operations”.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing/assembly of iPhone 13 and 14 in the country will continue at Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur facility on the outskirts of Chennai, according to sources.

As the iPhone consumption increases in the country, Apple needs more suppliers to ramp up production here, as it reportedly aims to take away a significant chunk of manufacturing from China to countries like India and Vietnam.

‘Make in India’ shipments from Apple grew 65 per cent (on-year) by volume and 162 per cent by value, taking the brand’s value share to 25 per cent in 2022, up from 12 per cent in 2021, according to Counterpoint Research.

Tata.

According to senior research analyst Prachir Singh, Apple’s EMS (electronics manufacturing services) partners Foxconn Hon Hai and Wistron were the fastest growing manufacturers among the top 10 in Q4 2022 and “the growth was also fuelled by increasing exports from Apple”.

Overall, iPhone exports from the country surged to cross $5 billion (over Rs 40,000 crore) in FY23.

Apple set a quarterly record in the January-March period in India and grew very strong, in double digits year-over-year, according to the company’s CEO Tim Cook who was in India last month to open the first branded retail stores in Mumbai and New Delhi.

Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint, told IANS that Tatas’ semiconductor ambitions are serious and came at a very important juncture amid India’s digital goals.

“First, they can leverage the semiconductor strength in their EV business and second, their chips can be aligned with Apple in the future and the learning curve will be great for them,” Pathak told IANS.

Third, the government policy will help them with OST and ATMP and scale their semiconductor ambitions.

Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OST), also referred to as assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) units, plays a crucial role in semiconductor manufacturing.

“Tatas are known for their diversified business and now with everything connected and semiconductors being their key components, it all makes perfect sense for them to manufacture high-end iPhones,” Pathak added.

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Tata Group to buy Bisleri International

The current management will continue for two years as part of the deal…reports Asian Lite News

Ramesh Chauhan is divesting Bisleri International to Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) for an estimated Rs 6,000-7,000 crore, The Economic Times reported.

The current management will continue for two years as part of the deal. Chauhan, 82, has been in indifferent health in recent times and says he doesn’t have a successor to take Bisleri to the next level of expansion. Daughter Jayanti isn’t too keen on the business, Chauhan said. Bisleri is India’s largest packaged water company.

The Tata Group “will nurture and take care of it even better,” although selling Bisleri was still a “painful” decision, Chauhan said.

“I like the Tata culture of values and integrity and hence made up my mind despite the aggression shown by other interested buyers”, the report said.

Bisleri is said to have had several suitors at different times, including Reliance Retail, Nestle and Danone. Talks with Tata have been going on for two years and he made up his mind after meeting Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and Tata Consumer CEO Sunil D’Souza a few months back. “I like them. They are good guys,” he told ET.

Shares of Tata Group firms surge after SC verdict against Mistry

Chauhan doesn’t see any point in holding minority stakes after selling the business. “What will I do with it when I am not running the show?” he said.

Meanwhile, Tata Consumer Goods has launched its own brand of plant-based meats.

Tata Consumer Products (TCPL, a USD 9 billion giant and one of India’s leading FMCG players) has begun selling their new ‘TATA Simply Better’ line of plant-based meats across India through their store on Amazon Prime and Flipkart!

This nationwide launch of plant-based meats, from a company that is strongly committed to delivering better nutrition to their consumers, is a significant milestone in India’s smart protein story. Smart protein – also referred to as alternative protein globally – focuses on pioneering foods that are viable alternatives to animal-derived meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood. And plant-based meats are at the forefront of smart protein. Today’s plant-based meats go far beyond the previous generation of soya nuggets to provide meat eaters with a simple switch, not a sacrifice.

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Business

Tata Group in rejig mode

The latest group rejig comes after the announcement of the merger of Tata Coffee Ltd with Tata Consumer Products Ltd…reports Asian Lite News

Steel major Tata Steel Ltd on Friday announced a mega merger of listed and unlisted companies, mainly to derive business synergies and also to reduce and simplify the Tata Group’s steel business structure.

Tata Steel’s Board on Thursday approved the amalgamation of seven group companies with the former.

The merging seven companies are: Tata Steel Long Products Ltd, Tinplate Company of India Ltd, Tata Metaliks Ltd, TRF Ltd, Indian Steel & Wire Products Ltd, Tata Steel Mining Ltd, and S & T Mining Company Ltd.

The latest group rejig comes after the announcement of the merger of Tata Coffee Ltd with Tata Consumer Products Ltd.

A reorganization of the group’s aviation business has also been reported in the media. The group has Air India, Air India Express, AI SATS, Vistara, and Air Asia.

The metal group companies’ prime focus and share exchange ratios are as follows:

Tata Steel Long Products (listed) is in the business of production and marketing of sponge iron, which is a single end use (steel making) and a single grade product.

The amalgamation will consolidate the business of Tata Steel Long Products and Tata Steel resulting in focused growth, operational efficiencies, and business synergies. In addition, resulting corporate holding structure will bring enhanced agility to business ecosystem of the merged entity.

As per of the amalgamation scheme, Tata Steel will issue 67 fully paid shares of Re 1 each to shareholders of Tata Steel Long (except Tata Steel) for every 10 fully paid up equity shares of Rs 10 each.

A subsidiary of Tata Steel, The Tinplate Company (listed) is engaged in the manufacture of tinplate and tinplate-related products which is a value-added product of hot rolled coils.

Tata Steel believes that the resources of the merged entity can be pooled to unlock the opportunity for creating shareholder value.

There will be 33 shares of Tata Steel issued for every 10 shares of Rs 10 each for shareholders of The Tinplate Company.

Tata Metaliks (listed) is a subsidiary company of Tata Steel, manufacturing and selling of pig iron and ductile iron pipes and its allied accessories. 70 shares of Tata Steel will be issued for every 10 shares held by Tata Metaliks shareholders.

TRF Ltd (listed) is primarily engaged in the business of undertaking turnkey projects of material handling for the infrastructure sector and also in production of such material handling equipments. Here, 17 shares of Tata Steel will be issued for every 10 shares of TRF Ltd held by its shareholders.

Indian Steel & Wire Products Ltd (unlisted) is primarily engaged in the business of manufacture of wire rods, TMT rebars, wires and wire products as an external processing agent of the Tata Steel and manufacturing and direct marketing of welding products, nails, rolls, and castings. Rs 426 will be paid per share of Rs 10 held by shareholders.

Tata Steel Mining Ltd (unlisted), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, has its presence in the manufacture of ferro chrome.

Further, through its successful acquisition of Rohit Ferro Tech Ltd under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, it has its manufacturing facility in Jajpur, Odisha and Bishnupur, West Bengal.

Along with manufacturing of ferro chrome, Tata Steel Mining has also pursued the commercial mining of chrome ore and iron ore and have executed mining leases for three chromite blocks viz. Sukinda, Saruabil and Kamarda in Jajpur and is awaiting execution of mining lease for an iron ore block located at Gandhalpada in the state’s Keonjhar district.

On amalgamation, the entire paid-up share capital of Tata Steel Mining will get cancelled.

S & T Mining Company Ltd (unlisted) is another wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, and engaged, inter alia, in the business of acquiring coal blocks, carrying out exploration, development of mine, extraction and mining of coal from the identified blocks.

However, it has been non-operational since FY 2018-19, and upon amalgamation, the entire paid-up capital will stand cancelled.

According to Tata Steel, each scheme is subject to regulatory approvals.

As on March 31, Tata Steel had net assets of Rs 1,25,433.76 crore and revenue from operations of Rs 1,29,021.35, the Tinplate Company assets of Rs 1,170.97 crore and revenue of Rs 4,249.51 crore, Tata Metaliks Ltd assets of Rs 1,525.27 crore and revenue of Rs 2,745.53 crore, TRF Ltd assets of Rs 289.52 crore and revenue of Rs 127.14 crore, Indian Steel & Wire assets of Rs 142.05 crore and revenue of Rs 354.15 crore, Tata Steel Mining assets of Rs 77.36 crore and revenue of Rs 4,605.38, and S & T Mining assets of Rs 0.77 crore while revenue was nil.

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Tata to make iPhones in India?

If the agreement is successful, Tata might become the first Indian business to manufacture iPhones…reports Asian Lite News

Tata Group is in discussions with a Taiwanese supplier to Apple in order to build an electronics manufacturing joint venture in India and assemble iPhones here, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

According to the report, the discussions with Wistron are aimed at making Tata a force in technology manufacturing and the Group wants to tap the Taiwanese company’s expertise in product development, supply chain, and assembly.

If the agreement is successful, Tata might become the first Indian business to manufacture iPhones, which are now largely put together in China and India by Taiwanese manufacturing behemoths like Wistron and Foxconn Technology Group, the report said.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that the next iPhone 15 is likely to be manufactured at the same time in India and China next year.

“The iPhone 14’s mass production schedule in India this year is still about six weeks behind China, but the gap has improved significantly. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that India and China will be able to produce the new iPhone 15 at the same time next year,” Kuo tweeted earlier.

Last month, reports mentioned that the tech giant would start the production of the latest iPhones in India two months after its debut. However, Kuo later noted that it would be manufactured “about six weeks” later.

Apple first started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with iPhone SE. The tech giant manufactures some of its most advanced iPhones in the country, including iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, at the Foxconn facility, while iPhone SE and iPhone 12 are being assembled at the Wistron factory in the country.

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Tata to buy Ford’s Sanand plant

With the proposed investments, it would establish an installed capacity of 300,000 units per annum, which would be scalable to more than 400,000 units, the filing said, adding it would take a few months time….reports Asian Lite News

Automobile maker Tata Motors’ subsidiary Tata Passenger Electric Mobility on Monday signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ford India and the government of Gujarat for takeover of Ford’s passenger vehicle manufacturing facility at Sanand.

The MoU included land and buildings; vehicle manufacturing plant; machinery and equipment; and besides transfer of all eligible employees of Ford India’s Sanand’s vehicle manufacturing operations, subject to the signing of definitive agreements and receipt of relevant approvals, the automaker said in a regulatory filing.

The Ford India vehicle manufacturing site at Sanand is a state-of-the-art site. Tata Motors’ arm would invest into new machinery and equipment which is necessary to commission and make the unit ready to produce its vehicles.

With the proposed investments, it would establish an installed capacity of 300,000 units per annum, which would be scalable to more than 400,000 units, the filing said, adding it would take a few months time.

Notably, the unit is adjacent to the existing manufacturing facility of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles at Sanand, which it believes will help in a smooth transition.

“Tata Motors has had a strong presence in Gujarat for more than a decade with its own manufacturing facility at Sanand. This MoU further reinforces our commitment to the state by creating more employment and business opportunities. Rising customer preference for passenger and electric vehicles made by Tata Motors has led to a multi-fold growth for the company over the past few years,” said Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.

This potential transaction will support expansion of capacity, thus securing future growth and opportunity to further strengthen the company’s position in the passenger and electric vehicles space, Chandra said.

The MoU will be followed by signing of the definitive transaction agreements between Tata Motors’ arm and Ford India over the next few weeks, the filing added.

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India News

RSS hospital only for Hindus? Ratan Tata once asked Gadkari

The Union Minister said more needs to be done to improve health and education infrastructure in the country….reports Asian Lite News

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday shared an anecdote and said he had once told industrialist Ratan Tata that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) did not discriminate on the basis of religion.

Gadkari, who inaugurated a hospital in Pune, said when he was a minister in the Maharashtra government, one of the RSS functionaries had requested him to help in getting Ratan Tata for the inauguration of a hospital.

“During the inauguration, Ratan Tata asked me if this hospital is only for the Hindu community, to which I asked him why he feels that? He (Ratan Tata) replied as it is an RSS hospital. I told him that it is for every community and there is nothing like this in RSS,” he added.

The Union Minister said more needs to be done to improve health and education infrastructure in the country.

“In the education and health sector, the facilities are not available as required in the country. If the urban area has the facilities, the situation in the rural areas is not good, especially the situation of education. But the facilities are improving,” he said.

Gadkari also said that he “does only 10 per cent politics and 90 per cent social work”.

Yechury slams RSS chief

Communist Party of India( Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday slammed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment on ‘Akhand Bharat’ and said that RSS is playing with people’s emotion.

While talking to ANI, Yechury said, “What is this Akhand Bharat? They live on spreading this sort of poison, hate and consequently, violence follows. Please explain to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan what ‘Akhand Bharat’ they are talking about.”

“They are just playing with the people’s emotion and think that they would get the support of the people then this is a big mistake,” Yechury said.

CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury further told ANI, “The unity, integrity of the country and such diversity only maintain through social harmony and communal harmony that is being violated and this it is a disservice to the great country like India.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Bhagwat said, “India will again become ‘Akhand Bharat’ in 15 years. We will see all this with our own eyes. He said that according to astrology from the saints, in 20 to 25 years, India will again be a united India.”

“If all of us together increase the speed of this work, then in 10 to 15 years, Akhand Bharat will be formed. In 15 years, the country will be rebuilt, all those who come in the way will be erased,” he added while inaugurating the idol of Brahmalin Mahamandaleshwar Shri 1008 Swami Divyanand Giri, Pran Pratishtha and Shri Gurutray Temple in Kankhal in Haridwar in Uttarakhand. (ANI)

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Tata pledges to make Air India a world-class airline

Besides, he added if the employees can bring in the passion, and work in a coordinated fashion with a single-minded purpose, then the goal would be achieved in a shorter time frame…reports Asian Lite News

Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran on Wednesday said the group is committed to make Air India a world-class airline which it deserves to become.

In his maiden address to the staff via a virtual platform, he said the Tata Group has very big dreams for Air India.

According to Chandrasekaran, the airline would focus on customer service, technological advancements such as website, application, front and back-office systems, among others.

He also mentioned upgrading the aircraft fleet to expand the network both on the domestic and international fronts, and to ensure best possible hospitality to passengers.

Besides, he added if the employees can bring in the passion, and work in a coordinated fashion with a single-minded purpose, then the goal would be achieved in a shorter time frame.

Earlier this week, Tata Sons had announced the appointment of Mehmet Ilker Ayci as the new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Air India, subject to certain clearances. In January 2022, the Centre handed over the management control of national carrier Air India to a subsidiary of Tata Sons.

With this Air India’s strategic disinvestment was complete after the Centre received a consideration of Rs 2,700 crore from the ‘Strategic Partner’ — Talace — which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

Besides the upfront payment, Talace will retain debt of Rs 15,300 crore.

The transaction covered three entities – Air India, Air India Express and AI SATS.

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After Air India, Tata takes over Neelachal Ispat Nigam

At present, NINL has an integrated steel plant with a capacity of 1.1 MT, at Odisha’s Kalinganagar. The company has been running in huge losses and the plant has been closed since March 30, 2020….reports Asian Lite News

The Centre has approved Tata Steel Long Products’ bid to buy steel producer Neelachal Ispat Nigam, an official statement said on Monday.

The Centre’s ‘Alternative Mechanism’ approved the bid for buying 93.71 per cent of shares of JV partners of four CPSEs and two Odisha state government PSEs at the bid enterprise value of Rs 12,100 crore.

The Centre does not hold any equity in the company.

“However, on the request of the Boards of selling shareholder PSEs and on concurrence by the Govt of Odisha, the CCEA ‘in principle’ approved strategic disinvestment of NINL on January 8, 2020, and authorised Department of Disinvestment & Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to undertake the transaction,” the statement said.

At present, NINL has an integrated steel plant with a capacity of 1.1 MT, at Odisha’s Kalinganagar. The company has been running in huge losses and the plant has been closed since March 30, 2020. Besides, it has debt and liabilities exceeding Rs 6,600 crore as on March 31, 2021, including overdues of promoters, banks, other creditors and employees.

The company has negative networth of Rs 3,487 crore and accumulated losses of Rs 4,228 crore as of March 31, 2021.

“Tata Steel Long Products Ltd (TSLP) emerged as ‘H-1’ bidder, whose bid has been accepted by the AM. Letter of Intent (LoI) is being issued to TSLP inviting them to sign the SPA. At this stage, 10 per cent of the bid amount shall be paid by the successful bidder into the Escrow account.

“This is the first instance of privatisation of a public sector steel manufacturing enterprise in India. The success of the transaction is a win-win situation for all.”

As per the Finance Ministry, the biggest advantage of this privatisation will be to the local economy of the region as the strategic buyer will be able to revive a closed plant, bring in modern technology, best managerial practices and make infusion of fresh capital, which will help in augmenting the capacity of the plant.

“Govt. of Odisha has given active support to the process of privatisation. The privatisation will help in creating new jobs in the region by creation of ancillary industries and supplier’s network.

“Keeping in view the best interest of the serving employees, it was decided to keep the employees’ dues as the top most ranking liability in the ‘Waterfall Agreement’ to be satisfied first before any other liability.”

Furthermore, the ministry cited that the transaction is on “going concern” basis and the employees of NINL will continue to be the employees of the company in terms of the ‘Share Purchase Agreement’ (SPA), which binds the buyer to have a lock-in period of one year.

“The strategic buyer will also be bound to follow the terms of VRS applicable to CPSEs whenever such a decision is taken.

“Post-sale consideration will go towards settling of the liabilities of the company, in the order provided in ‘Waterfall Agreement’.”

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It’s official: Tata takes over Air India

The acquisition envisaged 100 per cent equity share capital of Air India and Air India Express, and 50 per cent for that of Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace….reports Asian Lite News

Pic credit Twitter @airindiain

 The Centre on Thursday handed over the management control of national carrier Air India to a subsidiary of Tata Sons.

With this Air India’s strategic disinvestment was complete after the Centre received a consideration of Rs 2,700 crore from the ‘Strategic Partner’ — Talace — which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

Besides the upfront payment, Talace will retain a debt of Rs 15,300 crore.

Notably, the transaction covered three entities – Air India, Air India Express and AI SATS.

“The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100 per cent shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control. A new Board, led by the Strategic Partner, takes charge of Air India,” tweeted Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

On Thursday, Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi ahead of the official handover of Air India.

Afterwards, at ‘Airlines House’, the HQ of Air India, a new board was constituted which included Tata Group’s executives.

“We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline,” Chandrasekaran said.

“I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India, to our Group, and look forward to working together.”

Last month, the Competition Commission of India had approved the acquisition of Air India, Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace.

The acquisition envisaged 100 per cent equity share capital of Air India and Air India Express, and 50 per cent for that of Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace.

The airline, along with AIXL, is primarily engaged in the business of providing domestic and international scheduled air passenger transport service, along with air cargo transport service.

Air India SATS Airport Services is engaged in the business of providing ground handling services at Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram airports, and cargo handling services at Bengaluru airport.

Tata Sons’ subsidiary Talace had emerged as the highest bidder for the national carrier under the divestment process.

It had quoted an enterprise value of Rs 18,000 crore for 100 per cent equity shareholding of the Centre in Air India along with that of Air India Express and AISATS.

On its part, the Centre had stipulated a reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore.

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Tata takes back Air India

Under the deal now, Tata Sons will acquire Air India, 50 per cent of Air India-Sats, and Air India Express…reports Asian Lite News

Life has come full circle for the Tata Group which has emerged as the winning bidder to takeover Air India, an airline that they once started and nurtured before the government decided to nationalise the air carrier in 1953.

In a throwback of the journey the airline has taken so far, Ratan Tata, the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, on Friday tweeted an old photograph of the company’s former Chairman J.R.D. Tata getting down from an Air India aircraft, minutes after Tata Sons won the bid to regain control of the airline.

“Welcome back, Air India!”, Ratan Tata tweeted.

“The Tata Group winning the bid for Air India is great news! While admittedly it will take considerable effort to rebuild Air India, it will hopefully provide a very strong market opportunity to the Tata Group’s presence in the aviation industry,” he said.

“On an emotional note, Air India, under the leadership of Mr JRD Tata, had, at one time, gained the reputation of being one of the most prestigious airlines in the world. Tatas will have the opportunity of regaining the image and reputation it enjoyed in earlier years. Mr JRD Tata would have been overjoyed if he was in our midst today,” Ratan Tata tweeted.

“We also need to recognise and thank the government for its recent policy of opening select industries to the private sector. Welcome back, Air India!,” he said.

It was in 1932 that Tatas’ journey into the aviation sector in India began, which in 1946 led to the renaming of the Tata Airline to Air India after the entity turned public. The airline went out from its hands in 1953 when the government decided to nationalise it.

Under the deal now, Tata Sons will acquire Air India, 50 per cent of Air India-Sats, and Air India Express. The government will get Rs 2,700 crore in cash from the sale. The rest is the government’s debt, which Air India will take over.

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