Indian markets to open sharply lower

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In this episode, find out about equity raising plans of Indian Hotels and Vodafone plc, also find out about who is biddig for Actis Llp’s Indian renewable energy platform Sprng Energy

Business Term of the Day: Monetary policy committee
In this episode, find out about equity raising plans of Indian Hotels and Vodafone plc, also find out about who is biddig for Actis Llp’s Indian renewable energy platform Sprng Energy Business Term of the Day: Monetary policy committee       RBI to release minutes of the monetary policy committee meeting.   India could emerge as an energy superpower with clean energy exports set to soar to $500 billion over the next 20 years, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Wednesday. I foresee at least 20-30 new Indian companies in the energy and tech space which will grow as big as Reliance, if not bigger, in the next 10-20 years,”    Tata Consultancy Services: Has made changes to its leadership roles in North America. As part of the changes, Suresh Muthuswami has been elevated to the role of chairman, North America. This is one of the most significant leadership changes the company has announced for the region.   Vodafone Idea: Parent Vodafone Plc is in talks to sell up to a 5% stake in tower firm Indus Towers to Bharti Airtel, and use the proceeds to plough into Vodafone Idea Ltd, as the self-mandated March deadline for the loss-making Indian telco to raise funds from external investors draws near.   Shell Plc and Adani Group are likely to be front-runners to acquire Actis Llp’s Indian renewable energy platform Sprng Energy for around $1 billion in equity. The binding bids for Sprng Energy are to be placed by 15 March, in what would be one of the largest deals in India’s green energy sector. Seventeen firms had submitted non-binding bids in the first stage of the sale process, which Bank of America is managing.     Spandana Sphoorty: The microfinance lender said it would like to complete its proposed ₹300-crore fundraising by March and that its promoter Kedaara Capital and a significant long-term shareholder Valiant would subscribe to the shares in the preferential allotment at ₹459 per share, which is at a 20.5% premium to its Wednesday’s closing price.   Indian Hotels Company: Parent Tata Sons plans to dilute its stake by up to 8% in the hotel major, as the hospitality giant is looking to raise around ₹2,000 crore via qualified institutional placement (QIP) in the next two weeks. Tata Sons holds a 41% stake in IHCL, the operator of the Taj group of hotels. IHCL will use the proceeds to reduce its consolidated debt worth ₹1,905 crore.   Moving on to markets The key benchmark indices are expected to start Thursday’s session with deep cuts after a global sell-off in the US overnight.  SGX Nifty futures were quoting 16,840 levels, indicating a gap-down of around 280 points.   Oil prices, however, steadied on Wednesday amid reports that the US is unlikely to impose sanctions on Russian oil supply. Brent closed unchanged at $96.84 a barrel, while WTI crude inched higher to $92.10 a barrel.   Major markets in Asia were down considerably this morning. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Malaysia’s Kospi plunged 1.7 per cent each. Japan’s Nikkei, Straits Times and Taiwan were down around 1.2 per cent each. Business Term of the day Monetary policy committee – he Monetary Policy Committee is responsible for fixing the benchmark interest rate in India. The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee are held at least 4 times a year (specifically, at least once a QUARTER) and it publishes its decisions after each such meeting. The committee comprises six members – three officials of the Reserve Bank of India and three external members nominated by the Government of India. The Governor of Reserve Bank of India is the chairperson ex officio of the committee. Decisions are taken by majority with the Governor having the casting vote in case of a tie. The current mandate of the committee is to maintain inflation in the range of 2 to 6%