Nationwide ban likely on some plastics, the case for duopoly in telecom, and more top news

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India will outlaw the use of six single-use plastic products — bags, cups, plates, small bottles, straws and certain types of sachet, Reuters reports, citing unidentified government officials. The ban will cover manufacturing, usage and import of such items and is expected to shave up to 10% from India's annual plastic consumption of 14 million tonnes. An announcement is expected on October 2, but people will get a six-month window before penalties are enforced. E-commerce firms will also be asked to reduce plastic packaging, the news agency said. Join the conversation.

The telecom sector could become a two-way race between Bharti Airtel and Jio, Business Standard (paywall) reports, citing analysts. Much of Jio’s subscriber addition is coming at the expense of Vodafone-Idea while Bharti Airtel has been able to protect its 30% market share, the publication said. Jio is targeting 500 million subscribers (from 340 million presently) and if the Mukesh Ambani-led company succeeds, Vodafone-Idea could become a smaller operator, alongside the state-run BSNL. Where Vodafone-Idea scores? It has more spectrum assets than Jio. Join the conversation.

Expect 75 new state-run medical colleges to come up by 2022. The institutes will be attached to district and referral hospitals in under-served regions that have at least 200 beds, the government said. Thus, 15,700 additional medical seats will become available for aspiring doctors under a previously-sanctioned expenditure program of ₹24,375 crore. 82 such colleges were set up in the last 5 years, union minister Prakash Javadekar said. India presently faces a shortage of 600,000 doctors: there’s just one government medic for 10,189 persons.

India has tweaked FDI norms in four sectors with the aim of reviving the economy and positioning the country as an attractive investment destination. The 30% domestic sourcing norm has been diluted for single-brand retail and players will be allowed to set up online stores before establishing brick-and-mortar ones — changes that could boost Apple and Ikea’s India play. 100% FDI will be allowed in coal mining, contract manufacturing and insurance intermediaries through the automatic route. Also, an FDI cap of 26% has been introduced for digital news media.

Private equity giant TPG is in early-stage talks to acquire Café Coffee Day, Economic Times reports. The proposed transaction could value the coffee chain, which has about 1,750 outlets across the country, at ₹3,500-4,000 crore. The divestment is part of the group’s attempts to become debt free and release cash to the promoter family after last month’s suicide of founder VG Siddharth: a majority of the 54% promoter stake in the group’s holding firm, CDEL, has been pledged. A fortnight ago, the group sold its 90-acre IT Park in Bengaluru to Blackstone for ₹3,000 crore. Join the conversation.

Idea of the Day: Treat the culture of the company as a living, breathing thing, says Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman in an interview with LinkedIn. 

“You're not placing it under a slide or encasing it in amber. You're trying to make it better every year and someone new who shows up has something to add to that, not just something to learn about it.”

- LinkedIn Editors India/Share this using #DailyRundown