Weekly News 02 - 06 October 2023
02 October 2023 - (Economic Times) Pharma cos can supply generic Bedaquiline to other countries
Indian pharmaceutical companies will now be able to supply generic anti-TB drug Bedaquiline to other countries without the fear of litigation, with multinational pharma giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) confirming that it will not enforce secondary patents for Bedaquiline in any of the low and middle-income countries.
"The decision is intended to assure current and future generic manufacturers that they may manufacture and sell high-quality generic versions of SIRTURO without a concern that the Company will enforce its bedaquiline patents, provided the generic versions of SIRTURO® produced or supplied by generic manufacturers are of good quality, medically acceptable, and are used only in the 134 low- and middle-income countries," J&J said in a statement last week.
03 October 2023 - (Economic Times) Oil prices ‘too high’, India calls for higher production by Opec+
Ministers and oil industry chiefs are gathering for the biggest energy conference in the Middle East as crude heads toward $100 a barrel. Whether prices can hold at these levels and the outlook for OPEC+ supply cuts are among the topics that will be discussed. But this year, the climate is looming large over the forum. Delegates at the annual Adipec summit in Abu Dhabi, which has been dominated by oil in its long-running history, will devote a lot of their time to the energy transition.
Chief executive officers of Shell Plc, TotalEnergies SE and Occidental Petroleum Corp., among others, will later Monday discuss plans for the energy transition. UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei and OPEC Secretary-General Haitham al-Ghais are also scheduled to speak. India has “a constant dialogue with all producing countries where we keep raising this point” that crude prices are too high, Pankaj Jain, secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said in an interview.
04 October 2023 - (Economic Times) Uniform tariff for renewable energy on the anvil
The Indian government is working on finalizing procedures to pool tariffs of renewable energy capacities, aiming to make electricity tariffs uniform for power distribution companies. This plan involves creating separate pools for different types of renewable energy projects, such as solar, wind, and hybrid, based on their technologies. The weighted average of tariffs from these pools will be determined and could be revised monthly.
"Final modalities are being worked out now, while guidelines have already been issued," one of the persons said. The power ministry had in January amended the Electricity Rules to facilitate the tariff pooling mechanism. In the pooling system, renewable energy implementing agencies will procure renewable power and supply it to distribution companies at a uniform tariff. This will not have any impact on the tariffs for the renewable energy developers. This means all upcoming projects and those where power purchase agreements have not been signed will be bundled.
05 October 2023 - (Economic Times) In first, senior IBBI functionaries endorse focus on ESG in insolvency resolution
A paper by two senior functionaries of the insolvency regulator has proposed an amendment to the bankruptcy law to explicitly mandate the consideration of ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors during the evaluation of resolution plans for stressed firms given the growing global focus on sustainability.
The paper by Sudhakar Shukla, a full-time member of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), and Asit Behera, a manager handling insolvency resolution at the regulator, also proposed that the role of the insolvency professional be expanded to consider ESG risks and opportunities for the bankrupt firm undergoing a restructuring process. Titled 'The Case for ESG Integration in Insolvency and Restructuring', the paper marks the first time senior functionaries of the regulator have explicitly endorsed ESG focus in insolvency resolution.
06 October 2023 - (Economic Times) India forges ahead like 'jawan' amid many threats from global conditions
The Reserve Bank of India's Governor, Shaktikanta Das, stated that India's economy remains resilient despite global trends. He mentioned that domestic economic activity is strong due to robust domestic demand. However, Das also warned of risks to India's outlook, including geopolitical tensions, global economic slowdown, and uneven monsoon. The panel projected India's real GDP growth for 2023-24 at 6.5% and emphasized the need to remain vigilant.
"The Indian economy is forging ahead in a challenging global environment, drawing strength from its underlying macroeconomic fundamentals and buffers," Das said. The Governor's comments come close on the heels of the World Bank keeping India's growth forecast for FY24 unchanged at 6.3% in its India Development Update released on October 3.
