Page 14 - Banking Finance November 2024

ROUNDUP

India, UAE to set up food lion, but they are also co-investing (NBFCs) is specifically aimed at con-
through several other funds across the straining growth and reducing
corridor with $2 billion ini- world," said Goyal. interconnectedness between banks
tial funding and finance companies. This is accord-
India and the United Arab Emirates NBFC loan growth to mod- ing to the S&P report 'Indian Fincos'
(UAE) are advancing plans for a food erate to 18% in FY25: S&P Balancing Act'.
corridor between the two nations, Global Ratings Finance companies will sustain loan
with an initial investment of approxi- growth stronger than the banking sec-
Reflecting the cumulative impact of
mately $2 billion (about Rs 17,000 tor, which is expected to grow at 14
Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) actions,
crore) in food processing and logistics per cent. The finance companies' loan
for food parks. This initiative aims to loan growth of rated finance compa- book is unseasoned. Strong economic
strengthen the UAE's food security nies in India will moderate to 18 per growth has supported retail repay-
cent during the current financial year
while benefiting Indian farmers, said ment capacity.
Piyush Goyal, union minister of com- (FY25) from 20 per cent in FY24, ac- "We see the strength in retail lending
merce and industry, at the 12th High- cording to S&P Global Ratings. as a competitive edge, with finance
Level Task Force on Investments Geeta Chugh, credit analyst, S&P Glo- companies dominating in some retail
(HLTFI) press conference in Mumbai. bal Ratings, in a statement said, "We products," Chugh said.
The project is part of a broader invest- anticipate that recent actions by the
Generally, upper-layer finance compa-
ment strategy targeting $100 billion RBI will curtail lenders' over-exuber-
across key sectors, including infrastruc- ance, enhance compliance, and safe- nies have strong capital levels, which
will support credit growth over the
ture, manufacturing, and logistics. guard customers."
next two years and provide downside
"The investment comes through two RBI's decision to raise risk weights on buffers.
mediums. One is directly from the UAE, unsecured personal loans and loans to
which is in the region of about $20 bil- non-banking finance companies
BEML to manufacture
India's first bullet train
Amazon, India Post ink MoU to scale up deliveries State-run BEML Ltd has been awarded
E-commerce major Amazon has partnered with India Post to facilitate cus- the contract for the design, manufac-
tomer deliveries across every pin code in the country. turing, and commissioning of two high-
speed trainsets, each comprising eight
Amazon will tap India Posts' last mile delivery network, enabling the former
to enhance speed, efficiency and reach of its deliveries, especially in remote cars by Integral Coach Factory (ICF),
and rural pockets, according to the MoU. In the last 2-3 years, India Post's the company said in a filing to the
footprint across Amazon logistics network has more than doubled with stock exchanges.
pickup points growing from 6 locations to 13 locations across the country. "The price of each car is Rs 27.86 crore
and the total contract value is Rs
Amazon became the first ecommerce company to enable an end-to-end in-
tegrated cash-on-delivery solution with India Post. This along with overall 866.87 crore which includes design
cost, one-time development cost, non-
improvements has resulted in a near 3X increase in the volume of Amazon
parcels being delivered via India Post in the past 18 months."Our relation- recurring charges, one time cost to-
ship with India Post has been a pivotal part of Amazon's growth story in wards Jigs, fixtures, tooling and testing
India and has contributed to making ecommerce a nationwide phenomenon. facilities, which will be utilised for all
future High-Speed projects in India,"
By joining forces with this iconic institution that has served India for decades, the company added. BEML said that
we have been able to create new benchmarks in logistics and customer this project marks a significant mile-
service repeatedly over the years" said Abhinav Singh, VP Operations, Ama- stone in India's high-speed rail journey
zon India. This comes when the e-commerce's festival season sale is ongo- and will see the first indigenously de-
ing as and Amazon has increased the commissions of more than 50,000 cre- signed and manufactured trainsets
ators who are part of the influencer marketing network. with a test speed of 280 kmph.

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