India In-Focus — Indian shares rise; Serum plans African vaccine plant; Paytm expects central bank curbs to be lifted soon

MUMBAI: Indian shares rose slightly on Tuesday, helped by automobile and metal stocks, with investors watching the shares of newly-listed logistics firm Delhivery.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.13 percent at 16,236.35 by 0350 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.14 percent to 54,365.34.

Vaccine giant Serum plans African plant in global expansion

The Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, is considering setting up its first manufacturing plant in Africa as it looks to expand globally after its success in selling COVID-19 vaccines, its CEO told Reuters on Monday.

“It’s never been a better time to be a vaccine manufacturer. I’m looking at expanding our manufacturing across the globe,” SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“There are some great countries out there: South Africa, Rwanda, you know, to name a few that we’re looking at.”

Africa was the only continent that did not have its own manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines during the worst phases of the pandemic in the last two years, leaving it at the mercy of suppliers from overseas, including the SII.

Paytm payments bank expects central bank curbs to be lifted soon

India’s Paytm Payments Bank, which facilitates transactions on mobile commerce platform Paytm, expects the central bank to allow it to resume taking on new customers in the next few months, a top executive told Reuters.

In March, the Reserve Bank of India ordered a comprehensive audit of the company’s IT systems, citing “material” supervisory concerns, without elaborating further, and barring it from taking on new customers.

The bank is working with the RBI to complete the IT audit and address the regulator’s concerns.

“The process is underway and we think it should take three to five months from where we are right now,” Madhur Deora, group chief financial officer, Paytm, told Reuters on Sunday.

SoftBank-backed logistics firm Delhivery valued at $4.9bn in India debut

Shares of Delhivery, an Indian logistics startup backed by SoftBank Group, rose as much as 7.6 percent in their market debut on Tuesday, giving the company a valuation of 379.60 billion rupees ($4.89 billion).

The Gurugram-based company’s services include parcel transportation, warehousing, cross-border and supply chain services to more than 23,000 customers, and counts popular e-commerce sites such as Amazon Inc. and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart as its clients.

Delhivery’s IPO, trimmed by nearly 30 percent to 52.35 billion rupees, was subscribed 1.63 times earlier this month at an offer price set at 487 rupees.

The offering included a fresh issue of shares worth up to 40 billion rupees and an offer for sale of shares worth 12.35 billion rupees from existing shareholders, including US private-equity firm Carlyle Group Inc. and Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.

(With input from Reuters)