The banking sector, which is anxiously viewing the rising Covid graph in the country, doesn’t expect a repeat of 2020 but bankers are bracing for a rise in non-performing assets (NPAs). On the other hand, they expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to delay normalisation of the accommodative monetary policy and any possible hike in interest rates, with focus remaining on growth.

“We don’t expect any significant decline in credit offtake but there could be some slippages in loans if states impose stringent lockdown to tackle the pandemic,” said an official of a nationalised bank. Credit offtake growth has already declined to 0.4 per cent (Rs 43,484 crore) in December from 1.1 per cent (Rs 1,18,951 crore) in November.

Outsourced office spaces provider Simpliwork has expanded its footprint to enter the Chennai market.

The company has leased its latest 64,000 square feet centre in Chennai, housed in a development by K Raheja Corp, to credit card and payment solutions provider SBI Cards.

Over the next two years, Simpliwork plans to invest around Rs 650 crore in creating Grade A offices for leading corporates across the country. In the current financial year, Simpliwork said it has registered a 5x growth in turnover as compared to last year.

Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of India’s biggest private corporation Reliance Industries (RIL), has invested $200 million in Google-backed quick commerce company Dunzo. The Mukesh Ambani-led company will own 25.8% stake in the eight-year-old startup, on a fully diluted basis.

The valuation of the startup at which the financing round was done was not revealed. Just a back of the envelope calculation shows that if Ambani’s 25% stake is worth $200 million, the value of the entire 100% would be over $775 million. This is more than double the valuation of $300 million that was accorded to the company last year.

The Amazon-Future arbitration which is going on before a three-member arbitration tribunal over the latter's ₹ 24,500-crore deal with Reliance was halted by the Delhi High Court today.

The 2019 deal was suspended last month after the antitrust agency cited supression of information by Amazon while seeking clearances. Future argued there was no legal basis for the arbitration between the two sides to continue.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said there is a prima facie case in favour of appellants Future Retail Ltd (FRL) and Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) and if a stay is not granted, it will cause an irreparable loss to them.

Good news for railway passengers! The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has taken an important decision to restore all services for passengers, who will now be served healthy, clean and delicious food onboard once again. An order in this regard has already been sent to all concerned departments and stakeholders.

Mobile catering service resumes

The IRCTC explained that mobile catering is fully prepared to re-serve its customers with healthy, clean and delicious food. However, keeping in view the pandemic, additional security measures and guidelines are also being followed by staff.