Morning Buzz: Flipkart plans to raise $1 billion; Tata Motors projects volume growth for EVs, and more

Ecommerce giant Flipkart is planning to raise $1 billion, with parent Walmart committing to inject $600 million. Photo Illustration: Soumyabrata Roy/NurPhoto via Getty Images
 

Flipkart plans to raise $1 billion, Walmart commits $600 million

Ecommerce giant Flipkart is planning to raise $1 billion, with parent Walmart committing to inject $600 million. This would be Flipkart’s first fund raise since 2021, when it had closed a $3.6 billion funding round. The fresh funding will move towards existing line of businesses. The investment is significant as it comes during the funding winter when most startups and ecommerce ventures have found it difficult to raise fresh funding.
(Economic Times, Moneycontrol)

EVs to see 30-40 percent rise in volume growth in 2024: Tata Motors

Electric vehicles (EVs) could see a 30-40 percent jump in volume sales in the New Year, said Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors’ passenger vehicles and EV segment. Domestic sales could reach 95,000 units by 2023-end and demand is going to improve as charging points increase and the price of vehicles becomes more attractive. Dealers and companies manufacturing EVs are lining up heavy discounts, ranging from Rs 60,000 to Rs 4 lakh, for various brands.
(Business Standard)

General Atlantic to acquire majority stake in Amar Ujala's hospital chain Cygnus Healthcare

Private equity giant General Atlantic (GA) is finalising plans to pick up a 70 percent stake in multi-specialty hospital chain Ujala Cygnus Healthcare Services. GA will acquire a major portion of the stake from existing investors and a small portion from the promoters. The chain operates 19 hospitals across smaller cities in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, and Delhi. Plans are on to set up more hospitals in existing states and expand into Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.
(Business Standard, Economic Times)

Another fintech, BharatPe, shuns small-ticket lending

The risk of small-ticket lending in the form of unsecured loans is being felt by smaller lenders. After Paytm’s disclosure to virtually exit small-ticket lending, another fintech BharatPe says providing small-ticket loans will not be its focus. Unsecured lending has come under the scanner of the Reserve Bank of India, which has warned lenders of the concerns and it raised the risk weight for credit exposure to 125 percent. It will increase the cost of funds for banks and NBFCs for such loans.
(ET Prime)