Morning buzz: Vinfast to set up battery manufacturing plant in India, Dec manufacturing drops to 18-month low, and more

A worker assembles an electric car battery inside the battery pack shop at the electric automobile plant of VinFast in Haiphong, Vietnam. Image: Nhac Nguyen / AFP)

Vinfast to set up battery manufacturing plant in India  

Vinfast, the Vietnamese electric car company, plans to set up a battery manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu. The plant to be set up in Thoothukudi will be separate from its vehicle manufacturing plant. The company has also started hiring for its sales, legal and back office jobs in India. In October, the company had said it would build factories in India and Indonesia with a capacity of 50,000 vehicles annually.  
Mint
 

December manufacturing drops to 18-month low  

The HSBC India PMI Index came in at an 18-month low of 54.9 compared to 56 in November. The index also showed a lack of pressure on the capacity of manufacturers. The fall comes at a time when inflation is high, exports have moderated and core sector growth has fallen. Growth in the second quarter of FY23 was at 7.6 percent while CPI inflation was at 5.55 percent in November.  
Economic Times, Business Standard, Mint
 

IPO fundraising could rise 40 percent in 2024  

Twenty-seven companies with plans to raise Rs 28,500 crore have secured approvals from SEBI, according to Prime Database. This is in addition to the 36 companies looking to raise a combined Rs 40,500 crore through IPOs that are awaiting approvals. In 2023, 57 companies raised Rs 49,434 crore through IPOs which was 17 percent lower than the Rs 59,302 crore mobilised in 2022.  
Financial Express
 

Nikesh Arora turns billionaire  

Nikesh Arora, who was the highest-paid executive at Google when he left in 2012, has turned billionaire. Post Google, he joined SoftBank and made $135 million in his first-year compensation there. At Palo Alto Networks, Arora was handed $125 million in stock and options when he joined in 2018. The company has exceeded the targets it had set for itself and Arora’s stake is now worth $830 million. This combined with his previous pay makes him worth $1.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Economic Times, Mint, Business Standard