Espresso: Pidilite's investment arm, the data centres rush

Pidilite hikes stake in AapkaPainter Solutions

Madhumala Ventures, a subsidiary of adhesives-maker Pidilite Industries, has invested less than Rs 15 crore in AapkaPainter Solutions (AKP), which provides painting and waterproofing solutions to retail consumers.

The Pidilite subsidiary had invested Rs 3 crore and Rs 2 crore in the previous two financial years. The latest tranche in AKP takes its stake up from 28.89 percent to 47 percent.

Madhumala Ventures invested Rs 19.2 crore in Livspace, a leading home design and renovation platform in India and Southeast Asia, in financial year 2020-21. Previously, it has also invested in Homevista Décor & Furnishings (HomeLane), and Trendsutra Platform Services (Pepperfry).

RBI’s status quo on monetary policy

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has kept the repo rate—at which banks borrow from RBI—unchanged at 4 percent in its latest monetary policy review. It will continue an accommodative policy stance to revive and sustain economic growth.

“Our actions, together with those of the government, are aimed at alleviating distress and prioritising growth, while keeping the financial system healthy and stable,” RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, said in a statement.

The MPC retained its earlier projection of real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 9.5 percent for financial year 2021-22, where the first quarter is expected to grow by 21.4 percent. The committee raised its inflation projection for the fiscal from 5.1 percent to 5.7 percent.

Das said the recovery remains uneven across sectors, and needs to be supported by all policymakers. “The Reserve Bank remains in ‘whatever-it -takes’ mode, with a readiness to deploy all its policy levers—monetary, prudential, or regulatory,” he added.

SAIL’s profits jump 12.3 percent

Public sector steel major Steel Authority of India (SAIL) reported bumper results for the first quarter of financial year 2021-22, with a 12.3 percent sequential growth in consolidated profit of Rs 3,897.36 crore.

On an annual basis, the June 2021 quarter saw a far superior performance compared to the lockdown-hit quarter of FY2021 when SAIL reported consolidated loss of Rs 1,226.47 crore.

SAIL’s revenues jumped over 2.2 times from Rs 9,346.21 crore in June 2020 to Rs 20,745.75 crore in the June 2021 quarter. “Though the demand for steel products in the quarter has not had the same momentum as during Q4 of FY2021, focused intervention in several areas have helped in achieving this robust performance,” Soma Mandal, Chairman of SAIL, said in an exchange filing.

Adani Group floats data-centre subsidiary

Adani Enterprises has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary named Noida Data Center.

“NDCL is incorporated with the object to develop, operate, maintain, deal with the business of data centre(s) and IT/ ITeS/ cloud, providing services related thereto and to undertake activities associated with its infrastructure development including land acquisition, and development for the said purpose,” Adani Enterprises said, in its stock exchange filing.

Macrotech sees digital-first opportunities

While the Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted a lot of pain, it has also led to rapid changes for people in their personal and professional lives, said Macrotech Developers, a real estate firm in Mumbai, in its latest annual report.

“The digital/e-commerce economy and housing have been two of the biggest beneficiaries of these changes,” according to Macrotech. The second half of the 2021 fiscal saw heightened interest in its digital infrastructure (warehousing, data centres, industrial) vertical with large requirements for land and buildings from a spectrum of players like e-commerce, logistics, pharma and value-added manufacturing sectors.

Airtel eyes SOHO market

Airtel has partnered with Google Cloud and Cisco to launch ‘Airtel Office Internet’ for the small office and home office (SOHO) market comprising entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The ‘Airtel Office Internet’ will offer broadband connectivity with speeds up to 1 Gbps, secured with solutions from Cisco and Kaspersky to prevent malicious attacks. Google Cloud will provide complimentary Google Workspace licenses to these businesses to use Gmail and other office tools.

TCS wins Rich Products deal

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has won a deal with family-owned food company Rich Products in the US to drive its supply chain transformation.

TCS will deploy a cloud-based planning platform for Rich Products. “Using AI/ML-based data analysis and a digital twin foundation, the intelligent platform will autonomously predict issues, risks, and opportunities,” TCS said in a press release.