Your Loan Eligibility Holds the Key to Your Dream Home

LATEST NEWS – Have you ever been hounded by telemarketers urging you to apply for a loan? Calls, text messages, WhatsApp or even meeting you in person, representatives of financial companies leave no stone unturned when it comes to convincing you to take a loan.

But how is the LOAN ELIGIBILITY application processed? Do lenders really bend over backwards to hand you the loan cheque? It does not quite work that way.

Yes, sales personnel employed by financial institutions are aggressive in their attempts to lure you. They have to be; their commissions depend on it. And if one takes the bait and applies for a loan, the situation is likely to change by the time the application is processed.

It is the borrower who is expected to satisfy the credit parameters and fulfil all the eligibility criteria for the Home Loan.

Let’s get down to the basics. What do you think is the main eligibility criteria for taking a Home Loan?

The simple answer is the borrower’s ability to repay the loan.

This means the income of the loan applicant must be enough to pay the instalments on time. The lender provides a schedule for paying the equated monthly instalments (EMIs).

With interest rates favourable, now is as good a time to take a Home Loan as any. And non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) such as BAJAJ FINSERV offer instant approvals and Home Loans at attractive interest rates when you apply online.

Find out how:(READ MORE...)

Why are More People Applying for Personal Loans?

 

Why do people prefer Personal Loans

There are many factors that make Personal Loans more attractive.

• Easy to get: Personal Loans are easier to obtain than many other types of loans.
• Flexible usage: You can use the funds in a variety of ways. You can use it to pay for a vacation or a medical emergency. You can use it to fund a wedding, renovate a house, and more. 
• Quick process: It can take as little as three days to get approval for a Personal Loan. Just make sure you have all the necessary documentation.
• No collateral: Personal Loans are unsecured loans. In other words, they are not backed by any collateral. This helps reduce the documents required for your loan application or even the duration of the vetting process. 

You can even apply for a Personal Loan from the convenience of your home. All you need to do is visit the lender’s website. An application for a Personal Loan from Bajaj Finserv , for instance, usually takes seconds for approval and you can get funds of up to Rs.25 lakh in as little as 72 hours. 

The bottom line

Personal Loans are popular today, but it is important that you opt for a professional lender to avail financing. Keep the various factors in mind when you apply for a Personal Loan and take the first step towards fulfilling your financial goals. (read more...)

BJP vs Kargil martyr's daughter: Rijiju asks who's 'polluting' her mind

Pratap Simha, BJP MP from Mysuru, compared her to dreaded gangster Dawood

 

The campaign of Gurmehar Kaur a Kargil martyr's daughter, against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Monday drew controversial reactions from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders with Union minister Kiren Rijiju wondering who was "polluting" her mind and another comparing her with wanted gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Pratap Simha, BJP MP from Mysuru, tweeted, "At least Dawood did not use the crutches of his father's name to justify his anti-national stand."

His tweet came as Kaur's campaign went viral online with her photograph in which she said, "Pakistan did not kill my father. War killed him."

To mock her, Simha also posted a photograph showing Dawood with the message, "I didn't kill people in 1993. Bombs killed them."

Rijiju also took to Twitter to take a dig at her.

"Who's polluting this young girl's mind? Strong armed forces prevent a war. India never attacked anyone but a weak India was always invaded," the minister of state for home affairs said.

Kiren Rijiju

@KirenRijiju

Who's polluting this young girl's mind? A strong Arm Force prevents a war. India never attacked anyone but a weak India was always invaded.

Kiren Rijiju

@KirenRijiju

Some people say they need Freedom in India. Listen to those people taking shelter in India after facing torture in neighbouring countries. 

Talking to reporters, he later said, "One should not say things which could demoralise the countrymen and the forces. Everybody has freedom but that does not mean that you raise slogans to weaken the country."

The daughter of Kargil martyr Captain Mandeep Singh and a Delhi University student, 24-year-old Kaur had started a social media campaign "I am not afraid of ABVP" following the violence at Ramjas college. Her campaign has gone viral and received support from students across various universities.

"Everyone has right of views but she said Pakistan didn't kill our brave martyr and India should shun war. India never perpetrated violence," Rijiju said.

The Union minister of state for home said freedom of expression is not a licence to shout anti-national slogans in campuses. "Criticise the government but don't abuse the motherland," he said.

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Oscars 2017: La La Land wins 6 awards

There was high drama when the award for best film was announced at the 89th Acacdemy Awards

The 89th Academy Awards ceremony took place at Los Angeles earlier this morning. La La Land got 14 nominations, including thumbs up for Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling and Damien Chazelle. It bagged the Oscars 2017 in 6 of these categories, narrowly missing out on the award for the the best film. It won the awards for best director, best actress, best original score and best original song for City of Stars. Here are the details:

Best Director-Damien Chazelle

Damien Chazelle, the Hollywood wunderkind behind this year's most loved movie "La La Land", became the youngest filmmaker to win best director trophy at the 89th Academy Awards today. Six years in the making, it was a dream project for 32-year-old Chazelle who wanted to pay tribute to old Hollywood musicals with his LA-set story of ambition and romance. In his speech, Chazelle recognised his fellow nominees and his stars -- Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. He also paid tribute to his girlfriend Olivia Hamilton.

Best Song-Justin Hurwitz

Justin Hurwitz took home best song for his much-loved number 'City of Stars' and the enchanting soundtrack of "La La Land" at the 89th annual Academy Awards. The track, whose lyrics are by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, features Ryan Gosling as an LA-based musician playing to the tunes of jazz and crooning, "City of stars... Are you shining just for me?... City of stars... There's so much that I can't see."The track comes twice in the movie, at first with Gosling's character Sebastin Wilder singing it longingly and the other time Mia, played by Emma Stone, humming it along with him.

Best actress- Emma Stone

Emma Stone danced her way to victory as she took home the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Mia in Damien Chazelle's soaring musical "La La Land". The 28-year-old triumphed for the first time at Oscars defeating strong contenders like Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Ruth Negga (Loving), Natalie Portman (Jackie) and veteran actress Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins).

Stone's performance, as an aspiring actress working as a barista in a cafe, in the film was praised for being superbly smart, witty and vulnerable.

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Nokia 3310 makes a comeback with 22 hours of battery life, dual sim

Price in India, other countries can fluctuate a little bit because of taxation and cost factors

Finnish mobile device player Nokia is in reboot mode as it gets ready to bring to India its 17-year-old iconic Nokia 3310 handset for about Rs 3,500, along with its Android smartphones, next quarter.

"All the products that we have announced Nokia 3310, Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 will be available in the second quarter of this year in India. Average global selling price for Nokia 3310 is 49 euros," HMD Global Oy Chief Marketing Officer Pekka Rantala said.

HMD Global has licence to design and sell Nokia branded phones globally as well as use technologies developed by Nokia Corporation.

"Now, we are celebrating the new era of Nokia brand that is the reason we are with HMD Global. Let me also be very clear that we would not license the Nokia brand to just anybody. It means too much to us. We chose carefully. We looked at the market. We looked at Google to be our brand licensing partner which could do this for a long time," Nokia President and CEO Rajeev Suri said.

HMD Global also unveiled Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 smartphones for 189 euros and 139 euros built on Google's Android platform. The company has already been selling Nokia 6 in China. One model of Nokia 6 with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal storage will be retailed at around 229 euros and the other one with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal memory with support for external memory card will be available for around 299 euros.

Nokia 6 has 5.5-inch screen size, 8 MP front camera and 16 MP rear camera.

Nokia 3 and 5 have 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage and support memory card of up to 128 GB.

The Nokia 3 smartphone sports 5-inch screen size, 8 megapixel camera in the front and back. Nokia 5 has a 5.2-inch screen, 8 MP front and 13 MP back cameras.

Rantala said the price in India and other countries can fluctuate a little bit because of taxation and other cost factors associated with individual countries.

Nokia 3310, known for its robustness, was the most widely used feature phone globally in 2000-05. It is estimated to have sold 126 million units globally when there were only a few countries with mobile networks.

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I got threatened with rape for opposing ABVP: Kargil martyr's daugther

Gurmehar's Facebook post against ABVP went viral in the wake of the violence at Ramjas college

Gurmehar Kaur's Facebook post in protest of ABVP. Photo: Twitter (@mehartweets)

The Delhi University student, whose social media campaign against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) recently went viral, on Sunday alleged that she had received "rape threats".

Lady Sri Ram Ram College student Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of Kargil martyr Captain Mandeep Singh, said she has attracted a barrage of hate messages over her stand on the issue.

"I have been getting a lot of threats on social media. I think it is very scary when people threaten you with violence or with rape," she told NDTV.

Issuing rape threats "in the name of nationalism" is not right, she added.

Her comments received widespread support, including from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"Just listen to this. THIS is BJP. They will destroy our country. Everyone must rise against their goondaism," he tweeted while sharing her statement.

After the North Campus clash, Kaur had changed her Facebook profile picture holding a placard which read "I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP".

 

 

Gurmehar Kaur

@mehartweets

Don't call me a Martyrs daughter if that bothers you. I never claimed anything otherwise. You can call me Gurmehar.

12:39 AM - 27 Feb 2017

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Sena steady, BJP makes big gains, Congress decimated in Maha civic polls

Shiv Sena is leading in 84 seats, BJP 80, while Congress 31 in BMC

The ruling Shiv Sena appeared all set to retain control over the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's biggest and richest civic body, election officials said on Thursday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was pushed to a distant second slot in Mumbai in the civic body elections held across Maharashtra.

Of the 227 BMC seats, the Sena led in 84, still short of the 114 needed for a simple majority.

The BJP had won 80 seats while the Congress was at a distant third with 31 seats to its credit.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was poised to win 10 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) eight and the All Indian Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen four.

Stunned by the outcome, Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam offered to resign from the post.

Buoyed by its imminent victory in Mumbai, Shiv Sena supporters celebrated across Mumbai.

The BMC had an annual budget of Rs 37,000 crore in 2016-17. Read more

Also Read:

BJP sweeps Maha civic polls 2017, neck-to-neck with Shiv Sena in Mumbai

BMC polls: No clear verdict but BJP makes big gains

BJP's win in civic polls a mandate on transparency and note ban: Fadnavis

Reliance Jio effect: Bharti Airtel gets Telenor for free

Bharti to spend Rs 1,600 cr for spectrum payout over 10 years; Telenor to service its own debt

 

In what will lead to yet another multinational exit in the telecom space, Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced the acquisition of Telenor India. It’s a no-cash deal, which will see Norway’s telco packing up and leaving the country, as business had become unsustainable. 

While the companies refused to speak on the size of the deal, sources in the know pegged Bharti’s cost of acquisition at Rs 1,600 crore. This money will be used for paying the outstanding amount for the spectrum that Telenor has acquired, it is learnt. Bharti Airtel will also take over Telenor’s contracts for tower lease and infrastructure. 

The spectrum payment will be made in phases for the next 10 years. Saying that telecom was a “spectrum game’’, a source added the additional spectrum of 43.4 MHz in the 1,800-MHz band, known for 4G data efficiency, coming from Telenor, was expected to be “more than sufficient for Bharti over the next four to five years”.

Bharti claimed the acquisition would bolster its footprint with the additional spectrum band, besides eliminating smaller and fringe players. 

Whether the deal would help Bharti take on Reliance Jio in the fiercely competitive environment, an analyst said, “Market forces along with customer service and network quality would determine the winner.’’ 

The acquired company’s debt of about Rs 1,500 crore will be serviced by Telenor itself, executives said. 

While Bharti would gain around 44 million new subscribers, adding to its current base of 269 million, once the deal fructifies by end of the year, Telenor would get to exit without paying any severance charges for its infrastructure contracts and tower lease deals. Bharti would replace Telenor in those agreements with the likes of IBM, Ericsson and Nokia. 

Telenor, which was among the telcos to get as many as 122 licences in 2008 under then telecom minister A Raja, has had a stormy run in India that had begun with a venture with real estate company Unitech. Subsequently, Unitech faced charges in the 2G spectrum scam and Telenor went on a solo ride. The Norwegian company, which had bet on India as the fastest growing telecom market, is exiting India to cut its losses, experts said. 

Sigve Brekke, chief executive officer (CEO) of Telenor Group, said, “Finding a long-term solution to our India business has been a priority for us, and we are pleased with our agreement with Airtel. After thorough consideration, it is our view that the significant investments needed to secure Telenor India’s future business on a standalone basis will not give an acceptable level of return.”

According to Gopal Vittal, managing director and CEO (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel, “On completion, the proposed acquisition will undergo seamless integration, both on the customer as well as the network side, and further strengthen our market position in several key circles.” The proposed transaction will also create substantial long term value for Bharti shareholders given the significant synergies, Vittal said.

Shares of Bharti Airtel opened at Rs 371.80 on the BSE and closed at Rs 363.50, after touching a 52-week high of Rs 400.65.

Disconnected from India

• In 2006, Hutchison exited the Indian market with Vodafone buying a controlling stake in the company
• In 2012, Dubai-based telecom major Etisalat shut operations of its Indian arm, following SC judgment to cancel 122 licences
• In 2012, Sistema hinted at scaling down India operations, after SC cancelled 21 wireless telephony licences of SSTL, its Indian JV
• In 2014, NTT DoCoMo announced wrapping up operations in India. Following this, DoCoMo and Tata Teleservices, its India partner, got into a spat over payment for which the litigation is on

Read More …

Snapdeal orders mass lay-off; FreeCharge to be sold for $300 mn

Founders forego salary

Once a success story of the burgeoning start-up ecosystem, Gurgaon-based online marketplace Snapdeal on Wednesday said it would cut more jobs, stop paying its founders and sell its digital wallet FreeCharge.

Co-founder Kunal Bahl, in an email to employees on Wednesday, finally accepted tough decisions— including letting go of people and a full pay cut for him— are being taken. It has also put on sale FreeCharge and is in talks with Naspers, the South Africa-based internet group, to sell it for $300 million.

“We are combining teams, reducing layers, eliminating non-core projects and strengthening the focus on profitable growth. Sadly, we will also be saying really painful goodbyes to some of our colleagues in this process. This is, by far, the hardest decision we have ever taken,” said Bahl.

Though the company refused to divulge the exact number of people to be sacked, sources close to the development said 800 employees would be laid off over the next few days. Sources confirmed 100 were asked to go on the day itself, within a few minutes of Bahl’s email.

“By the time we finished reading the mail, HR (human resource) called us to their office. They said we would get three months of severance pay. We said yes, as that was the only option on the table,” said an employee who was sacked on Wednesday.

According to sources, employees from marketing, ad-tech, category, digital marketing, engineering team, catalogues, have all been asked to leave. Bahl and his co-founder Rohit Bansal said they will not take pay henceforth.

Read Full Story >>>

Bharti Airtel to buy Telenor India unit in response to Jio onslaught

Jio's gameplan is also sparking consolidation moves.

Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom network operator, is buying Norwegian Telenor's India unit, in yet another consolidation move in India driven by upstart rival Jio's disruptive pricing.

Bharti Airtel said on Thursday it will buy Telenor (India) Communications Pvt Ltd, as part of which it will acquire the Norwegian company's operations in six Indian states. It did not disclose financial terms of the deal.

The entry late last year of Reliance Industries' wireless carrier Jio into India's crowded telecom sector with its free voice and deeply discounted data plans has pushed rivals to slash costs, sharply eroding their profits.

Bharti Airtel reported its lowest profit in four years in the October-December quarter while No. 3 player Idea Cellular posted its first-ever quarterly loss for the same period.

Jio's gameplan is also sparking consolidation moves.

Britain's Vodafone Group said last month it was in talks to merge its Indian subsidiary with Idea Cellular to create India's largest mobile operator with about $12 billion in sales.

And earlier, Reliance Communications had entered into an agreement to merge its wireless business with smaller rival Aircel.

"The decision to exit India has not been taken lightly. After thorough consideration, it is our view that the significant investments needed to secure Telenor India's future business on a standalone basis will not give an acceptable level of return," Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor Group, said in a statement.

Shares of Bharti Airtel, in which Singapore Telecommunications is the second-biggest shareholder, jumped 5.5 percent in early Mumbai trade after the deal was announced.

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UP elections live: 10.23% voting in fourth phase till 9 am

Campaigning in elections for 53 assembly seats from 12 districts of Uttar Pradesh ended on Tuesday



• 10:36 AM

  12-15% turnout till 10 AM in phase-IV
  
  

• 10:20 AM

  Problem in EVM machine number 296 in Jhansi.
  
  

• 10:19 AM

  Villagers boycott polling in Fatehpur's Khaga over developmental issues. No votes polled at booths 105 and 106, 9 at booth number 107 and 8 at booth number 109.
  
  

• 10:00 AM

  As UP votes, #iVote4Cycle trends on Twitter

  

  The fourth phase of polling for Uttar Pradesh elections has begun today. Districts in Bundelkhand region -- Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Banda, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot and Fatehpur -- are among those that will see polling.
  
  Voting is also being held in Pratapgarh, Allahabad and Rae Bareli, the parliamentary constituency represented by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
  
  As many as 680 candidates are in the fray in the fourth phase of the assembly elections, including the maximum number of 26 from the Allahabad North constituency.
  
  In the 2012 assembly polls, the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) won 24 seats of these 53 seats at stake on Thursday, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 15, the Congress six, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) five and Peace Party three.

  READ MORE....

Reliance Jio effect: Airtel, Voda and Idea could lose 10% of premium users

The end of freebies is also positive for the sector

The unlimited Rs 303 data plan for Reliance Jio prime members with free voice is expected to dent the premium subscriber base of the sector including those of the big three - Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular --to the tune of 17 per cent. This is assuming that the premium data subscribers pay an average of Rs 600 per month. While there are about 350 million data subscribers, about 100 million are in the premium category.

Analysts at Motilal Oswal Securities say that if the downtrading were to happen from the higher average revenue per user (ARPU) level of Rs 600 to Rs 303, the sector will be impacted to the tune of Rs 35,640 crore a year. The larger players will be affected more as their ARPUs are much higher than the Rs 303 tariff of RJio.

Of Bharti Airtel’s overall subscriber base of 266 million, about 55 million are data subscribers who pay an average of data ARPU of Rs 174.7. Vodafone and Idea have a data subscriber base similar to Bharti Airtel and data ARPU of Rs 111-118. Operators do not reveal the proportion of premium subscribers.

The impact, however, could be offset as there could be some uptrading as well. While the premium subscribers could be in the Rs 500 and above bracket, analysts say there would be some proportion of subscribers in the Rs 200-Rs 300 range who may want to up trade to the unlimited offering. Thus the net impact could be 8-10 per cent, feel analysts.

The end of freebies is a positive for the sector as operators can now plan their response and long-term strategy. Currently, Bharti Airtel unlimited postpaid plans start at Rs 549 which includes unlimited voice calling and 6GB of data. They will have to tweak this to match RJio’s attractive offer thus putting pressure on their data ARPUs especially those at the higher end.

Stocks of Bharti and Idea Cellular are in the green given that uncertainty has come to an end. RIL investors too welcomed the move to turn Jio into a paid service and pushed the stock nearly 10 percent cent on Wednesday.

 

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Here is what Airtel, Idea and Vodafone are offering to counter Reliance Jio

Old telcos have sweetened their offerings considerably to take on the Reliance Jio challenge

Reliance Jio made a big announcement on Tuesday following which the road ahead doesn't look smooth for rivals Airtel, Idea Cellular, Vodafone, among others. Although the free services provided since its launch, including 1GB data at 4G speeds every day, unlimited voice calls and unlimited text messages will be over after 31 March, the operator has introduced a new plan called Jio Prime which will allow users to avail the facilities for another year at a nominal price. 

Here are the key points:

Membership: Jio Prime membership is limited to the 100 million existing Reliance Jio users as well as those who join the network before March 31, 2017.

Cost: All Jio members can enroll prime membership for a one time fee of Rs 99 (which is valid for one year). Additionally, to get the free mobile data and other benefits, users will need to pay another Rs. 303 per month for the next 12 months (which amounts to Rs 10 per day, approximately).

Subscription: To subscribe, users can go to any Jio store or Jio partner store. Besides, MyJio app and Jio.com website can also be used. 
Commencement: Users can start subscribing to the plan from March 1. It will end on March 31.

Offers: Under the plan, unlimited mobile data for a year (1GB daily FUP limit), media and content benefits associated with the Jio apps suite are available. "There will be many other attractive deals and offers from both Jio and its partners (for) the Jio Prime members," a statement released by the company said. Like the current offer, Jio Prime will also reduce the internet speed to 128kbps after the 1GB data per day limit is crossed.

Users who do not subscribe: Reliance Jio users who opt not to subscribe the Jio Prime membership will have to pay for data and other services, but not voice calls (including on roaming)

.
A quick look at the offers provided by Vodafone, Airtel and Idea:

Vodafone

• Vodafone announced seven new 4G plans for prepaid users last month.
• The plan starts at Rs 150 for which user gets 1GB of 4G data valid for 30 days.Similarly, 4G services at Rs 250, 4GB data, at Rs 350, 6GB data, at Rs 450, 9GB  data, at Rs 650, 13GB data, at Rs 999 Plan 22GB data and Rs 1500 Plan 35GB   data are available for 30 days. Unlike Reliance Jio, there is no daily limit in any of the plans.
• Only prepaid customers can avail these plans. Airtel.

Airtel 

At present, the telecom company has two plans on offer that gives some sort of a competition to Reliance Jio.  

Prepaid 4G data plan: It provides 30GB of 4G data at Rs 1,495 for three months. 

Special 4G data plan:

• It offers data worth Rs 9,000 for 12 months to customers who switch to Airtel 4G.The 12 months offer is available to any customer with a 4G mobile handset, and who is currently not on the Airtel network. Any customer, including existing Airtel customers, upgrading to a new 4G handset can also avail this offer.
• This offer can be availed only till February 28, 2017.

READ MORE...

Free run ends for Jio users on 31 March but Reliance keeps goodies rolling

Attractive offering from April 1 will cause more stress for Airtel, Vodafone, Idea

 

The paid offering from Reliance Jio announced by Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday, will exert more pressure on rivals Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

The new offerings will no longer be free but Jio has priced its services attractively to retain its 100 million customers, who have signed up since September 5, when the services were first offered. Jio is seeking to retain them through special prime memberships at a one-time fee of Rs 99 and Rs 303 a month for unlimited voice, data and content. 

“Customers who sign up by March 31 (2017) will be able to use unlimited data and voice services for a year at Rs 303 a month under a special offer,” Ambani said, adding Jio would match the highest-selling tariff of other operators and provide 20 per cent more data.

Although the details were not known, the latest offer by Jio was at least 20 per cent cheaper than the unlimited plans announced by incumbents, analysts said. 

“Falling voice and data realisations for incumbent operators are expected to continue in the March quarter and stabilise thereon,” said Manoj Behera of Phillip Capital.

Behera added, “Any improvement is expected to come only by the second half of 2017-18 and will depend on how the incumbents respond to the offers.” 

Jio’s free offer last September forced Airtel to announce unlimited plans at Rs 549, down from Rs 749 a few quarters ago. 

Revenues of Airtel and Idea have been hit by falling realisation and analysts said margins would be affected by higher costs. Idea’s operating profit margin, now 25 per cent, could decline by 100-150 basis points, they added. 

Subscriber churn is also expected to rise after Jio’s paid plans start on April 1. The monthly churn levels for Idea and Airtel are four-six per cent. Since Jio’s launch, most users have two SIM cards. Airtel and Idea have seen a fall in data use as subscribers switched to the free Jio service. 

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N Chandrasekaran walks into Tata corner room

King-size headaches face new chairman, with no quick or easy solutions in sight

N

latest News | Chandrasekaran, new chairman of Tata Sons, walks into the corner room in Bombay House on Tuesday. Amid uncertainties at almost all group companies due to global challenges, litigation and legacy issues. 

Chandra, who will succeed the ousted Cyrus Mistry, will have to take an immediate call on loss-making Tata Teleservices. The company requires fresh fund infusion of Rs 10,000 crore by the financial year starting April 1. This is apart from Tata Tele facing the prospect of losing another $1.2 billion to NTT Docomo, which has sued Tata Sons in US, UK and Indian courts to force the latter to buy back its 26.5 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices. 

With the Reliance Jio launch and Idea-Vodafone merger, fringe players like Tata Tele would face more heat and Chandra will have to decide how much more of Tata Sons’ money should be poured into the company, said an analyst.

The legacy issues, noted by Mistry in several letters after his ouster to Tata Sons’ board members, would continue to dog the group in the coming years. There are no quick solutions for these, say analysts. 

One example is the decision Chandra will have to make on Tata Steel, losing substantial money in its British operations. The latter is in talks for a merger with Thyssenkrupp to cut the losses. A recent ballot by British worker unions has paved the way for pension reform that could lead to a merger with the German giant.

Tata Motors is another big hurdle, though the company is taking several steps to revive its passenger car business in India. A border tax promised by US President Donald Trump could upset the finances at its Jaguar Land Rover arm, as the company does not have any plant in the US, say analysts.

 

"Apart from managing the companies, how Chandra takes care of the Tata satraps and their friends would be a key challenge," said a former official. Mistry had complained on former chairman Ratan Tata's friends having signed profitable deals with Tata companies resulting in huge losses to, for instance, Tata Capital and Tata Power. The Tatas have denied the allegations. 

The good news for Chandra will be that Tata group numbers look good at the consolidated level. These are among the best financial ratios and one of the lowest leverage ratios in the country's top family-owned conglomerates. The bad news is that if Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Motors’ JLR are excluded, the picture becomes hazy for group finances| READ MORE..