Abhijit Lele And Arindam Majumder

Stories by Abhijit Lele And Arindam Majumder

RIL shareholders to meet on May 2 on demerger of financial services biz

RIL shareholders to meet on May 2 on demerger of financial services biz

Rediff.com   31 Mar 2023

Lenders and shareholders of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will meet on May 2 to demerge the firm's financial services business. This is expected to create a big player in segments including the NBFC (non-banking financial company) space with net worth of Rs 25,851 crore as of March 2022. According to the plan, RIL shareholders will get a share in the demerged entity for each one held in the company.

HDFC's exit to ease fund-raising conditions for high-rated finance firms

HDFC's exit to ease fund-raising conditions for high-rated finance firms

Rediff.com   27 Mar 2023

Highly-rated finance firms and housing finance companies are expected to benefit from the absence of Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) from the bond market once it merges with the HDFC Bank in early FY24. Post merger, the bond market is expected to become less crowded, which will ease fund raising conditions for other players in the field. It may perhaps also compress the spread for debt instruments floated by housing finance companies (HFCs) over 10-year government bonds, subject to demand and supply conditions.

PSBs wrote off Rs 29,000 cr in Dec quarter

PSBs wrote off Rs 29,000 cr in Dec quarter

Rediff.com   15 Feb 2023

Public-sector banks (PSBs) in Q3FY23 wrote off bad loans worth Rs 29,000 crore, up from Rs 23,000 crore in the same quarter a year ago, as part of a clean-up exercise. According to estimates by rating agency CARE Ratings, the write-offs by PSBs in April-December 2022, at Rs 81,000 crore, were lower than the Rs 90,000 crore in April-December 2021. Sanjay Agarwal, senior director, CARE Ratings, said a lot of it was driven by regulations, and assets that had 100 per cent provision coverage were written off.

Banks get time till Dec end to renew safe deposit locker agreements

Banks get time till Dec end to renew safe deposit locker agreements

Rediff.com   24 Jan 2023

The Reserve Bank of India on Monday gave banks time till end of December 2023 to complete renewal of agreements for the existing safe deposit lockers of customers. Banks were earlier required to complete the process by January 01, 2023. The central bank has asked them to complete work in phases with intermediate milestones of 50 per cent by June 30, and 75 per cent by September 30.

SBI To Raise Another 10,000 cr Through Infrastructure Bonds

SBI To Raise Another 10,000 cr Through Infrastructure Bonds

Rediff.com   4 Jan 2023

UCO Bank mulls AT1 offering to raise Rs 1,000 cr.

Change Of Guard At Banks, LIC In 2023

Change Of Guard At Banks, LIC In 2023

Rediff.com   31 Dec 2022

The first quarter of calendar 2023 will see new faces heading four large public-sector banks -- Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank, and Bank of India.

Privatisation of PSBs gets bankers' thumbs up

Privatisation of PSBs gets bankers' thumbs up

Rediff.com   22 Dec 2022

Exuding confidence in sustaining the tempo of credit growth, public sector bankers said on Wednesday that consolidation in the public sector bank (PSB) space has given them a robust base to scale. The privatisation of PSBs can be done through divestment of government stake to a wider base of investors without haste. There is nothing to worry about at this point (high credit offtake) as underwriting standards and risk management are much better.

In a U-turn, outstanding NRI deposits rise in October

In a U-turn, outstanding NRI deposits rise in October

Rediff.com   21 Dec 2022

Breaking the streak of continuous fall in outstanding amounts, non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits rose for the first time in the financial year to $134.54 billion in October 2022. The figure was $133.67 billion in September. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed that NRI deposits were in shrinking mode for the first six months of FY23. They fell to $133.67 billion in September from $139 billion in March.

RBI issues framework for Indian banks' foreign biz

RBI issues framework for Indian banks' foreign biz

Rediff.com   2 Dec 2022

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put in place a framework to allow overseas subsidiaries and branches of Indian banks and financial institutions to undertake activities not specifically permitted in the Indian domestic market. The framework also specifies the applicability of these instructions to International Financial Services Centres in India, including Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). While these activities may not need prior approval, they are subject to compliance with all applicable laws/regulations and conditions stipulated by the RBI and those prescribed by the host regulator.

Excess credit growth to affect banks: Fitch

Excess credit growth to affect banks: Fitch

Rediff.com   29 Nov 2022

Global rating agency Fitch said on Monday that bank credit growth in excess of 13 per cent year on year in FY23 could put pressure on core equity tier ratios (CET1) of banks, especially public sector lenders. It may limit the buffers of Indian banks to absorb potential future losses. Bank credit expanded by 11.5 per cent in FY22. Full-year loan growth for FY23 will represent a modest slowdown from the 17 per cent YoY pace in H1FY23.

SBI in talks with EIB for euro 200 mn green funding

SBI in talks with EIB for euro 200 mn green funding

Rediff.com   14 Nov 2022

After securing a euro 150 million Credit line for solar energy finance from a German financial institution, State Bank of India is in talks with european Investment Bank for about euro 200 million to fund climate finance. Recently the country's largest lender obtained euro 150 million in green funding from German government-owned KFW on soft terms and a long repayment period. SBI will use funds to finance solar energy projects.

'There is space for a brand like Vistara'

'There is space for a brand like Vistara'

Rediff.com   17 Aug 2022

'I am seven months into the job, but it feels like seven years.'

SpiceJet told to operate only half its flights for 8 weeks

SpiceJet told to operate only half its flights for 8 weeks

Rediff.com   28 Jul 2022

In an unprecedented action, Indian aviation regulator DGCA has directed low-cost airline Spicejet to operate only 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks. This follows an unusually high number of incidents involving the airline, raising safety concerns. The curtailment of capacity is unlikely to have any commercial impact on the airline owned by entrepreneur Ajay Singh. SpiceJet already operates less than 50 per cent of the flights it had filed for the summer schedule.

UDAN international plan under cloud as AirAsia India fails to get permit

UDAN international plan under cloud as AirAsia India fails to get permit

Rediff.com   26 Jul 2022

Tata group-owned AirAsia India's inability to get approval for international flights is hurting UDAN, the Indian government's regional air connectivity project that also aims to link cities in Northeast India and Odisha to places abroad. Sources said the civil aviation ministry is waiting for the low-cost airline to come under the full ownership of Tata Sons and become part of Air India, the former state-owned carrier now owned by the private conglomerate, before allowing it to operate international flights. Tata owns 84 per cent stake in AirAsia India and it is understood that the group will complete the process of buying rest of the stake by July's end.

Covid-19: Remittances from West Asia hit in FY21

Covid-19: Remittances from West Asia hit in FY21

Rediff.com   25 Jul 2022

The money sent home by Indians from West Asian countries took a beating in 2020-21 due to the pandemic. On the other hand, overseas Indians in advanced nations - the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore - emerged as important sources of remittance, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) survey. Indians working in informal sectors in West Asia seem to have been impacted the most due to the lockdowns and subdued crude oil prices as well as slower pace of migration in recent years.

Major PSU banks to go live on account aggregator system by July-end

Major PSU banks to go live on account aggregator system by July-end

Rediff.com   21 Jul 2022

After the finance minister directed public sector banks to join the account aggregator (AA) ecosystem, 5-6 major ones, including State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda are expected to go live by July-end. Sahmati, an industry alliance for the AA ecosystem, has been working with PSU banks to get them onboarded for quite some time now. So far, Union Bank of India and Punjab National Bank (PNB) have gone live on the AA ecosystem. While Union Bank has been live for a while, PNB went live earlier this month.

Labour pain for pvt domestic airlines as staff threaten mass leave over pay

Labour pain for pvt domestic airlines as staff threaten mass leave over pay

Rediff.com   21 Jul 2022

Failure to reinstate salary even two years after the drastic cuts has landed the airline industry in a massive industrial relation crisis. While employees of Air India had organised a strike back in 2011, it is for the first time that private airlines are facing serious stress related to workers. IndiGo witnessed two of them, back to back. In the first instance, around 50 per cent of the IndiGo flights were delayed as a large number of crew members went on mass sick leave, apparently to participate in a rival airline's walk-in job interview.

How Ukraine war may give wings to Jet's international plans

How Ukraine war may give wings to Jet's international plans

Rediff.com   6 Jul 2022

Jet Airways is looking to lease around 20 Airbus A320 aircraft from lessors by 2024 as it aims to restart operations and fly international routes in the next one-and-a-half years. Jet's A320 aircraft fleet, according to sources, will be a mix of the Ceo and the more fuel-efficient Neo variants. These planes were originally intended for Russian airlines but could not be delivered following western sanctions on Russia over its Ukraine invasion.

Cabin crew, guards among 1,600 Air India employees opting for VRS

Cabin crew, guards among 1,600 Air India employees opting for VRS

Rediff.com   1 Jul 2022

More than 1,600 employees of Air India, the former state-run carrier now owned by the Tata group, have opted for voluntary retirement under a scheme announced on June 1. These employees comprise 22 per cent of permanent staff (around 7,000). The airline has a total employee strength of around 10,800, including those on contract.

Weakening Rupee And Student Loans: What You Need To Know

Weakening Rupee And Student Loans: What You Need To Know

Rediff.com   27 Jun 2022

The depreciation in rupee may pose a problem for students who have taken loans from Indian lenders.