Newsmakers: Cairn India, Vedanta merger stuck in tax row, monsoon forecast and more

Key business news events for the day

• 1/5

Airtel M-commerce arm gets payment bank licence Bharti Airtel said on Monday its mobile commerce subsidiary, Airtel M Commerce Services, has received payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India. "We are pleased to inform you that Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL), a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited has been granted payments bank licence from Reserve Bank of India on April 11, 2016," Airtel said in a regulatory filing.

• 2/5

Cairn India, Vedanta merger only after tax liability settled: Govt In a setback to mining mogul Anil Agarwal, the government said on Monday it would not allow him to merge subsidiary Cairn India with his flagship firm Vedanta unless the Rs 10,247 crore tax issue is settled. Cairn-Vedanta merger cannot be allowed unless the tax liability is settled, a top government official said. Agarwal's Vedanta Group had in 2011 acquired Cairn India from its British promoters, Cairn Energy Plc, and last year proposed to merge the cash-rich firm with BSE-listed Vedanta Ltd.

• 3/5

2016 monsoon rains seen above average: Skymet Annual monsoon rains are likely to be 105 per cent above a long-term average, the country's only private weather forecaster said on Monday, snapping two straight years of drought that cut farm output and hit farmers' income. The July-September monsoon delivers nearly 70 per cent of annual rains and waters half of India's farmlands that lack irrigation facilities. There is a 35 per cent probability of above average rainfall, Skymet said in a statement.

• 4/5

Idea Cellular selects Nokia to provide 4G technology in 3 circles Idea Cellular has selected Nokia to provide the technology for its 4G LTE rollout in three of its key regional circles-Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, a company statement said on Monday. "With Nokia's Single RAN (radio access network) site solution, Idea Cellular will be able to optimize its investments and deliver a superior mobile broadband experience, with faster speeds and better smartphone performance for its subscribers," the statement said.

• 5/5

RBS to close India business as it shrinks global assetsRoyal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will close its corporate banking operations in India as part of a plan to sell or shut businesses in two-thirds of the countries it operates in, a person familiar with the situation said. RBS, which was briefly the world's largest bank by assets, has spent the eight years since a 45-billion pound ($64 billion) government bailout cutting costs and reorganising. It is closing the Indian business after failing to find a buyer, the person told Reuters on Monday.