Daily Pulse India: Mallya Smokes The Peace Pipe, Tata Steel Wants To Leave UK, How Much Reliance Really Invested In Jio

Let’s Settle: That’s what Vijay Mallya is telling banks, who are sitting on over a billion dollars of loans to his defunct airline. He has offered to pay about half of the amount to banks by September and another $300 million if he wins a case against an aircraft maker. This is the first offer that Mallya has made since he took off for an unknown destination weeks ago. Banks may not be too keen to accept a delayed payment, but they are running out of options, especially as they haven’t had much success in recovering money by selling the assets they hold. With Mallya being chased by every investigative agency there is, they may have little choice but to take what money they get.

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Hiving Off: Tata Steel has decided to get out of UK for good, putting at risk its 15,000 employees and a move that may result in a severe embarrassment for the Cameron government.  The government has been quick to assure the workers that it would explore all options, but added that there are limits to what it can do. The nine-year old Corus acquisition has been a drain on its finances, so Tata Steel watchers believe the decision is exit is the right one. The question now is, who will come forward to buy the ailing steel company? Here's a chart by Mint newspaper on now Tata Steel's Europe operations are doing:

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Bridging the gap: Lenders who are looking to extend funds to road, power and telecom projects have been allowed raise money from abroad, as the government tried to push more money into infrastructure, where projects are strapped for cash. Banks, reeling under bad loans, many of which are in such projects, are in no position to lend any more. Finance companies can now step in to fill the gap, by borrowing money from overseas. Of course, all the safety riders apply.

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That’s Entertainment: The media and entertainment industry in India is expected to grow 14 percent a year to touch $34 billion by 2020, in the latest estimates of the FICCI-KPMG annual report. The growth rate is the same as predicted a year ago, although a bigger part of that expansion is expected to come from the nascent digital industry.

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Jio: Speaking of which, if you were wondering how much Reliance is really spending on the much-hyped Jio business, group chairman Mukesh Ambani has an answer. Calling Jio the world’s biggest startup, he said he invested 1.5 trillion rupees ($23 billion), way above the $13 billion estimate of industry watchers.

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Don’t disclose it: That’s what the RBI is telling the Supreme court. The court had asked the central bank for a list of defaulters with over 5 billion rupees of defaulted loans. The bank did so, with a caution that disclosing the names could “may accentuate the failure of business,” putting livelihoods of the employees at risk. Touche.

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Cover Image: PM Modi in Brussels a week after a terror attack, where India and Belgium agreed to work together  to fight terrorism.

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