Warren Buffett’s firm confirms Paytm deal, India’s first biofuel flight, and more top news

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It's official. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has made an investment in Paytm’s parent One97 Communications, Economic Times reports, quoting a statement. But Berkshire did not share details of the transaction. Earlier, media reports said the legendary investor’s company was in talks to invest ?2,000-2,500 crore in Paytm for a 3-4% stake. Paytm is India’s largest payment services provider and claims to have hit a monthly gross transaction value of $4 billion.

SpiceJet successfully tested India’s maiden biofuel-powered flight. A 78-seater Bombardier Q400 aircraft, propelled by a blend of 75% air turbine fuel and 25% biojet fuel, took off from Dehradun and landed in Delhi. “It has the potential to reduce our dependence on ATF by up to 50% on every flight and bring down fares,” SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh said. Rival IndiGo also toyed with the idea about five years ago, but dumped it later in favour of cheaper imported jet fuel. Union minister Nitin Gadkari said the government was looking to float a "special policy" for biofuel use in the aviation sector.

Also: Jet Airways reported a net loss of ?1,326 crore for the April-June quarter, its third-highest ever. The troubled airline had reported a standalone net profit of ?53.5 crore in the year-ago period. Chairman Naresh Goyal said the carrier planned to “infuse capital and monetise stake in its loyalty programme” to turn around its fortunes. Jet had deferred its quarterly results due to differences with auditors, which attracted inquiries by government authorities.

The Kerala floods could lower the state's GDP by 2.2 percentage points and inflate its fiscal deficit to 5.4%, according to a report from Acuit Ratings. With 90,000 km of roads and hundreds of bridges wrecked, and nearly 50,000 acres of crops destroyed, the damage from the catastrophe is being pegged at ?35,000 crore, much more than the state's annual budget. Tourism, agro-based industries such as rubber, tea and textiles, and even IT will witness a slowdown. Meanwhile, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged ‘Malayalis’ around the world to donate a month's salary to rebuild the disaster-hit state.

The government has approved the commercial use of drones. Starting December, real estate developers, power producers and mining companies, among others, can use drones for mapping, surveying and photography purposes. But e-commerce companies will have to wait to deliver shipments via the aerial route, with the drones allowed to fly only along the visual line of sight, below 400 feet and with riders on weight. Manufacturers feel the rules are too restrictive as any drone intended for commercial use will weigh more than 2 kg, making it necessary for the operator to seek permission every time it’s operated.

Uber is shifting its focus to bikes and scooters, reports Financial Times. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi concedes the move will draw revenue away from Uber’s car drivers and expects the company, which suffered losses of $4.5 billion last year, to take a financial hit in the short term. Uber bought bike-sharing company Jump in April, and partnered with e-scooter company Lime in July. 

Idea of the Day: In order to create workplaces fair to women, start with a mixed set of candidates for any opening, says Walmart.com president and CEO and Jet.com founder and CEO Marc Lore.

“I encourage you to keep pushing until you have a diverse group of candidates and hold off interviewing anyone until you can interview a diverse slate, including men and women.”

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.

This article was updated. From earlier: Three American firms with links to Nirav Modi “directly involved” in $2-billion PNB fraud

— Abhigyan Chand and Mandar M Bakre/Share this using #DailyRundown