Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services — one of the strongest contenders for a banking licence last year, which later on pulled out of the race — is now eyeing a universal bank licence, whose final guidelines are expected to be announced shortly.

“Our level of interest in a universal bank licence continues, except for the fact that we would like to review the regulatory framework under which the licences are being offered, so that it looks commercially viable and it is becomes administratively doable,” said Ramesh Iyer, managing director of the non-banking financial company (NBFC).

Air India is cutting down on flights to loss-making foreign routes and ramping up its domestic network in its summer schedule. Air India deploys its Airbus A320 fleet both on domestic and Gulf routes. The airline operates about 15 flights daily to Gulf sectors using the A320 planes. Over the next few months, Air India will be replacing all its A320-operated Gulf routes with Boeing 787 planes. “Currently, the Airbus A320 fleet utilisation is about 10-11 hours. The A320 aircraft will now be flown only on domestic routes and few South Asian routes. This will enable us to add more flights and routes within India. We plan to increase our domestic capacity in the summer schedule,” the spokesperson added.

Wipro on Monday confirmed the Bengaluru-based information technology (IT) services company was creating a new service line to deal with all new-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, advanced analytics, and big data. To be known as Wipro Analytics, the new unit will replace the Advanced Technologies & Solutions service line, currently headed by Jeff Heenan-Jalil, senior vice-president.

The line would come into effect from April 1, and would be headed by Heenan-Jalil, the company told the Business Standard.

In the latest sign of the crisis facing real estate companies, Gurgaon-based DLF has launched a mega discount sale of its properties, believed to be its largest so far, in cities across the country to drum up interest.

The company is offering discounts in 16 projects across Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Lucknow, Panchkula, Bhubaneswar, Kasauli and New Chandigarh as part of its DLF Spring Festival that will end on March 31.

Air India has defended the sale of five Boeing 777-200LR aircraft to Etihad Airways, saying retaining the fuel-guzzling planes would have aggravated its losses.

The government-owned carrier had acquired eight Boeing 777-200LRs in 2007 for $127 million each (Rs 787 crore as of Monday’s conversion rate). Air India sold five to Etihad for $68 million (Rs 421 crore).

Wipro, India’s third largest information technology services company, on Monday announced the appointment of a chief operating officer and said it was promoting two internal candidates as presidents.

The Bengaluru-based company named Abid Ali Neemuchwala, former business process outsourcing head at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), as its group president and chief operating officer (COO), a position lying vacant since A L Rao was made an advisor to the company after he retired in September 2009.

EuroPacific Growth Fund today picked up over three crore shares of Idea Cellular for Rs 534 crore through an open market transaction.

As per data bulk deal data available with the stock exchanges, the fund has purchased a total of 30,157,849 shares of the telecom player.

Buy Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) with target price of R887. We use use a 7x target EV/ebitda multiple on an FY16E basis, at a slight discount to the 7.5x multiple we accord to RIL’s cyclical refining and petchem earnings, though there could potentially be upside to these multiples if the marketing business continues to grow structurally driven by deregulation, minimal government intervention, and stable oil demand growth in India, and the companies are successful in establishing a good track record.

NEW DELHI: Ranjit Yadav, the ex-Samsung honcho hired by Tata Motors in 2012 to turn around its ailing car business, is understood to have put in his papers within three years of his joining.

Yadav, who had been appointed as the president of the car division in September 2012, was recently side-lined as the company brought in Maruti Suzuki veteran Mayank Pareek to head the domestic unit.

NEW DELHI: The SBI Composite Index, an indicator for tracking India's manufacturing activity, has shown a significant growth in output both in terms of month-on-month and yearly basis in March.

The monthly index has shown robust growth of 58.5 in March 2015, from 47.6 in February 2015, signalling the highest pace of growth in last 48 months.

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