Paytm's Market Cap Plunge 💸, Byju's Bankruptcy Filing 📉, India's EV-Boosting Budget 🚗

Catch up on the latest in 🇮🇳 Indian 🇮🇳 startups and tech landscape - all in 5 minutes. [Newsletter Banner] Daily 🇮🇳 IndiaTech 🇮🇳 Roundup Welcome to today's edition of NextBigWhat Daily News! Today's top stories include Paytm's market cap loss, Byju's subsidiary filing for bankruptcy, and India's 2024 budget focusing on EVs and job creation. 📉💔🚗 Help us reach your your friends and colleagues! Share the NextBigWhat newsletter. [Tweet it]( [Whatsapp]( Paytm loses $2.1 billion in market cap following Indian central bank restrictions 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Paytm’s shares fell 20% before hitting a temporary trading halt, resulting in a $2.1 billion loss in market cap over two days. - The Reserve Bank of India expanded restrictions on Paytm’s Payments Bank, prohibiting it from offering several banking services. - Despite the setback, Paytm management aims to offset the loss over time and does not foresee significant impacts on its insurance distribution and equity broking business. Paytm to operate as usual despite RBI restrictions, says CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma assures the app will continue to function beyond February 29, despite RBI barring Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) from accepting deposits. - The company is working on a migration plan for PPBL, wallet, and FASTag users with other banks, anticipating an impact of ₹300-500 crore on its annual operational profit. - Paytm’s offline merchant network, device business, and other financial services are not affected by the RBI’s order, and user deposits in savings accounts, wallets, and FASTags will remain unaffected. How to launch a million-dollar business (this weekend) [NBW Newsletter Ad]( Noah Kagan, the CEO of AppSumo, shares his insightful journey of launching million-dollar businesses over a weekend BigIdeas from Tim Ferris' podcast with Noah [Get it 🚀]( Byju’s American subsidiary files for bankruptcy amid debt crisis 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Byju’s Alpha Inc., a subsidiary of Byju’s, has filed for bankruptcy in the US after defaulting on $1.2 billion in debt. - The company plans to sue a Florida hedge fund it accuses of helping Byju’s parent company hide over $500 million from creditors. - Major investors are calling for a reconstitution of Byju’s board and a change in leadership due to concerns about the company’s future stability. Apple’s Q1 growth fueled by markets including India, company to further invest in future-shaping technologies 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Apple’s Q1 revenue of $119.6 billion, a 2% YoY increase, was driven by record-breaking sales in India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Chile. - CEO Tim Cook highlighted the company’s strong performance in emerging markets, with over 2.2 billion active devices worldwide. - Apple plans to continue investing in technologies such as artificial intelligence, with details of ongoing work to be shared later this year. Get NBW News: The short news app for busy professionals. [App Store]( [Google Play]( Paytm anticipates ₹300-500 crore hit as RBI bars customers from topping up wallets 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Paytm predicts a ₹300-500 crore impact on its annual operational profit due to the RBI barring Paytm Payments Bank Ltd from accepting deposits or top-ups. - The action follows a comprehensive system audit report and subsequent compliance validation report of external auditors. - One97 Communications Ltd, which owns Paytm, will now work only with other banks and not with Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, accelerating plans to move to other bank partners. India reduces import duty on mobile parts to 10%, encourages local production 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - India’s Ministry of Finance has cut import duty on mobile components from 15% to 10%, potentially lowering manufacturing costs and consumer prices. - Duties for manufacturing these goods domestically have been entirely eliminated, indicating a push for local production. - This follows a 2020 incentive scheme by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which led to the creation of 500,000 jobs in mobile manufacturing. Viacom 18 set to acquire 60% of Disney India’s business 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Disney India is in preliminary talks to sell 60% of its business to Viacom 18, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. - Post-merger, Viacom 18 is expected to create a subsidiary to absorb Star India and has begun anti-trust due diligence. - The merger signifies the contraction of the online streaming market in India, following Disney+Hotstar’s loss of streaming rights for the IPL and HBO content to JioCinema. Income tax return processing time reduced to 10 days, announces Finance Minister Sitharaman 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a reduction in income tax return processing time from 93 days in 2013-14 to 10 days in 2024. - The decrease is attributed to technological innovations, including updated income tax returns, a new Form 26AS, and pre-filled tax returns. - The automation of tasks and introduction of Faceless Assessment and Appeal have improved tax-payer services, efficiency, transparency, and accountability. Key points from Finance Minister Sitharaman’s interim budget speech 2024 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - The interim budget for 2024/25 includes plans for fiscal consolidation, borrowings, and future taxation policy. - Highlights include the construction of 2 crore more houses, conversion of 40,000 rail bogies to vande bharat standards, and a fiscal deficit target of 5.1% for FY25. - Other points include no changes in tax rates, the extension of 43 crore loans under PM Mudra Yojana, and a promise of economic reforms to drive growth. India’s 2024 budget aims to boost EV manufacturing and job creation 🇮🇳 IndiaTech - Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the government’s focus on expanding Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing and charging infrastructure in her Interim Union Budget 2024 speech. - The initiatives are expected to accelerate EV adoption, generate employment opportunities, and help India reach its net zero emission target by 2070. - Industry leaders are largely optimistic about the measures, but some believe a more robust policy framework and greater incentives for EV manufacturing and R&D would have been beneficial. © 2023 Zakti Techmedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. | [Unsubscribe](