• Mumbai: Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s energy unit is nearing a deal to acquire a 1,370-megawatt thermal power plant backed by GMR Infrastructure Ltd., according to people with knowledge of the matter.
• Adani Power Ltd. will take over about ₹3,800 crore ($543 million) of loans out of a total of ₹5,800 crore that GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd. owes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Adani Power will also assume non-funded liabilities of about ₹1,400 crore, the people said.
• India’s central bank has been looking to restructure stressed loans that have already pushed dozens of companies into bankruptcy. The RBI is attempting to clean up more than $210 billion of soured debt on bank balance sheets and has previously asked lenders to take about 40 large defaulters to bankruptcy court lest overdue borrowings slow growth in Asia’s third-largest economy. In February, it introduced new rules and a timeline for delinquent loans to be recast.
• A deal is likely to be announced in the next few weeks after lenders give a formal approval, the people said. Lenders took control of GMR Chhattisgarh from GMR Infrastructure after adopting a restructuring plan last year that converted about ₹3,000 crore of debt into about 52% of equity.
• GMR Chhattisgarh comprises two 685-megawatt coal-power units that started operations in 2015 and 2016, according to GMR’s website. Spokesmen for Adani Power and GMR Infrastructure didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
• Adani Power, Vedanta Ltd., JSW Energy Ltd. and state-run NLC India Ltd. were among firms that submitted non-biding bids for the project, lender Power Finance Corp. said in a 31 May statement.

• In a continued effort to provide its customers with reliable and efficient service, CMA CGM will reshuffle its EPIC 1 service connecting North Europe with the Indian Subcontinent.
• As per a release, London Gateway will replace Felixstowe and the Dunkirk call will be suspended. The new rotation is as follows:
  • Southampton - Rotterdam - Antwerp - London Gateway - Le Havre - King Abdullah - Djibouti - Port Qasim - Nhava Sheva - Hazira - Mundra - King Abdullah - Gioia Tauro - Tanger Med - Southampton
  • As from m/v MSC ATHOS 0EG19W1MA, EPIC 1 will call at London Gateway (ETA September 10, 2018) instead of Felixstowe.
  • m/v MSC MARIA ELENA will be the last vessel to call at Dunkirk (ETA September 13, 2018).
• The release added that the following options for Dunkirk shipments can be offered:
  • Westbound: via Southampton on FAL 1
  • Eastbound: via Le Havre on EURAF 1

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected that India will grow at a rate of 7.3 per cent in the current year and 7.4 per cent in 2019, up from the 6.7 per cent growth rate recorded in 2017.

If the projections come to fruition, India will once again become the fastest growing major economy in the world, overtaking China.

"India's growth is expected to increase to 7.3 per cent in 2018 and to 7.4 per cent in 2019 (slightly lower than in the April 2018 World Economic Outlook for 2019, given the recent increase in oil prices and the tightening of global financial conditions), up from 6.7 per cent in 2017," the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook report.

This acceleration, it added, reflected a rebound from transitory shocks (the cash ban and implementation of the national Goods and Services Tax), with strengthening investment and robust private consumption, reports said.

Handles record 317 TEUs

• Seaways Shipping and Logistics Ltd (Seaways) has till now successfully completed three voyages from Kolkata, India to Chittagong, Bangladesh under the Indo-Bangladesh Coastal Shipping Treaty.
• The vessel MV Harbour 1 called at Kolkata Port on September 24, 2018 carrying 174 TEUs and sailed back with 143 TEUs, loaded with general commodities.
• The vessel reached Chittagong safely on September 28. All loading and unloading work was completed within a day’s time.
• Over the years, the government of India has been working towards increased movement of cargo through coastal shipping, rather than by road. Currently, tonnes of cargo move by road to the Bangladesh border every day, causing huge traffic congestion and delays in reaching the destination. If a part of these cargoes are moved by sea, the end customer gains through quicker transit and cost savings.
• It is in this context that Seaways has been contributing to the government of India’s aim to bring down the logistics cost of carrying containerised cargo between India and Bangladesh, said a release.

Russian rail monopoly RZD and Indian Railways will sign a memorandum to set up a joint operator of rail cargo traffic via the North-South corridor, informed Alexander Misharin, First Deputy Director General, RZD. He named traffic via the North-South corridor among the priorities for cooperation between the two companies.

"We plan to sign a memorandum of agreement on developing cooperation with Indian Railways, which includes design and supplies of dispatch control systems, automated systems, creating a joint operator, study and preparation of documents to organise joint agreements on cargo traffic," he said.

The North-South international transport corridor is aimed at transporting cargo from India and Persian Gulf countries to western and northern Europe via Iran, Azerbaijian and Russia. The corridor’s main advantage is that the delivery will be two or three times faster than via other routes. Initially, the side plan to transport five million tonnes annually, and the volume may be doubled in the future.

The German Embassy here held a press meet recently to talk about the industrial growth and free trade agreement between India and the European Union (EU).

Speaking on the occasion, the German Ambassador, Mr Martin Ney, said that exports from Germany to India have increased substantially in the last few years. In 2017, direct investment in India by the German mechanical engineering sector totalled 1.2 billion euro - three times higher than in 2008, he said.

Stating that Germany supports a free trade agreement between India and the EU, Mr Ney said, "Despite willingness on the part of India to resume talks on FTA, no political decision has been taken yet to restart the negotiations. The FTA between the European Union countries and India is the need of the hour," he added.