The defence ministry has lost sight of what it intended to achieve -- which was to nurture private defence firms that would compete on equal terms with the 9 defence PSUs and the 41 Ordnance Factory Board factories.
The central government has for the first time allowed a private company, Bajaj Healthcare, to process opium to extract alkaloids used to make pain-killers, cough syrups, and even cancer drugs. Two government factories in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, and Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, do the work yet, processing some 800 tonnes of opium gum annually to extract alkaloids. The government on Tuesday gave Thane-based Bajaj Healthcare an initial contract to process 500 tonnes of opium gum annually and wants production to be at 800 tonnes per annum (tpa) in the next five years, indicating the state's exit from the highly-regulated sector.
The move to extend the income tax benefits enjoyed by units covered by the Software Technology Parks of India Act and those set up in export oriented units by another year -- up to March 31, 2011 will benefit around 6,000 STPI units and 2,486 EoUs. In its budget-related wish list, the commerce ministry had recommended a three-year extension of the scheme, while the industry has been asking for five.
Going by the current market cap of Rs 83,451.15 crore, 7.33 per cent stake in BPCL is expected to be valued around Rs 6,117 crore.
Oil marketing companies IOC, BPCL and HPCL have invited expressions of interest from start-ups that wish to be enrolled as fuel entrepreneurs for doorstep delivery of high-speed diesel through mobile petrol pumps.
Ruia, a chartered accountant whose business ranged from sugar to textiles and heavy engineering to tyres, refused to comment on queries about his interest in Air India.
Inching closer to resolving the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank issue, the Reserve Bank on Monday came out with a draft scheme for takeover of the crisis-hit bank by the Delhi-based Unity Small Finance Bank (USFB). The draft scheme of amalgamation envisages takeover of the assets and liabilities of PMC Bank, including deposits, by USFB, thus giving a greater degree of protection for the depositors, the RBI said. In September 2019, the RBI had superseded the board of PMC Bank and placed it under regulatory restrictions, including cap on withdrawals by its customers, after detection of certain financial irregularities, hiding and misreporting of loans given to real estate developer HDIL.
The polar satellite launch vehicle's 52nd mission is scheduled for lift-off at 15.41 hours on Thursday from the second launch pad at the spaceport of Sriharikota 'subject to weather conditions'.
Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com brings you amazing gadgets and mobile devices from CES 2022.
Paving the way for takeover of crisis-ridden Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC), the Reserve Bank of India on Friday granted in-principle approval to the Centrum Financial Services to set up a small finance bank. Centrum Financial Services was one of the applicants for takeover of the PMC Bank. "This 'in-principle' approval has been accorded in specific pursuance to the Centrum Financial Services Limited's offer dated February 1, 2021, in response to the expression of interest notification (November 3, 2020) published by the PMC Bank Ltd," the RBI said in a statement.
Sources involved in the bidding process confirmed that the entity had submitted a bid but expressed doubt over its acceptance
The government on Thursday permitted 100 per cent foreign investment under the automatic route in oil and gas PSUs which have received in-principle approval for strategic divestment. The move would facilitate privatisation of India's second biggest oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL). The government is privatising BPCL and selling its entire 52.98 per cent stake in the company.
Volkswagen faces paying out billions of dollars in fines and compensation after it admitted rigging tests on some of its diesel cars to make them appear cleaner.
No other corporate house in India is in a better position than Tata group for the takeover of debt-laden airline Air India, former deputy chairman of erstwhile Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Thursday. Tata Sons has emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of the state-run airline but the bid is yet to be approved by a group of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah. "You can't have a better corporate, with a better position than the Tatas, we can hand it (state-run airline Air India) over," he said while replying to a question in a virtual event.
The 2022-23 Budget has projected a disinvestment target of Rs 65,000 crore for next financial year. This is significantly lower than the estimated Rs 1.75 lakh crore budgeted for 2021-22. In the revised estimates, the target for 2021-22 has been cut to Rs 78,000 crore.
Police FIR reveals the bank had replaced 44 loan accounts of HDIL with 21,049 fictitious loan accounts. These 21,049 were actually not created in the core banking solution of the bank, but were mere entities in the advances master indent submitted to RBI for conducting its inspection for the year ended March 2018.
Even as Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that a final decision on expiry of tax benefits to export-oriented units and Software Technology Parks of India had not been taken yet, government sources indicated that an extension of the concessions was unlikely.
A fracture of interstate relations could be India's biggest risk coming out of the pandemic. This topped a list of critical risks for India over the next two years, according to Geneva-based World Economic Forum's Executive Opinion Survey (EOS), whose results were released on Tuesday. Other top risks include a debt crisis in large economies, widespread youth disillusionment, failure of technology governance and digital inequality.
Kirloskar Oil Engines files EoI for PSIDC stake in Punjab Tractors
Naresh Goyal-owned group companies, including the airline's general sales agent in India and abroad, and a car rental firm, are among those who have filed claims.
'Our sensors allow the missile to locate and identify the target even if it's on the move.'
Kumar said the Commission will follow the time-tested methods of consultations and consensus building in bringing about any reforms and will not shy away from tough decisions, according to an Election Commission (EC) statement.
The Reserve Bank on Friday extended the regulatory restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank by another six months till December 2021 to enable the completion of its takeover by Centrum Financial Services. Paving the way for takeover of the crisis-ridden bank, the RBI had earlier in the month granted in-principle approval to Centrum Financial Services to set up a small finance bank (SFB). "Taking into account the time required for completion of various activities involved in the process...the validity of the ...Directive dated September 23, 2019, as modified from time to time, has been extended for a further period from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, subject to review," the RBI said in a notification.
The airline's 100 per cent shareholding in profit-making budget carrier Air India Express as well as 50 per cent shareholding in equal joint venture Air India SATS Airport Services would also be sold.
These sweeping financial sanctions follow the action earlier this week to cut off Russia's frozen funds in the United States to make debt payments.
Defence ministry incompetence hobbles development of battle-taxis for the Indian Army.
In December 2019, the India arm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu surprised many with its ultra-competitive bid to become the transaction advisor for the country's largest strategic divestment in Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL). The multinational major quoted just Rs 1; the second-highest bidder, SBI Caps, reportedly quoted Rs 15-17 crore. For Deloitte, the motivation was to bag a prestigious deal adding a national energy company to its portfolio. No doubt, it expected BPCL to go to a marquee buyer in quick time.
The Natural History Museum's annual competition and exhibition, Wildlife Photographer of the Year has been the longest-running and most prestigious nature and wildlife photography competition that has been recognising the world's best nature photography every year since 1965.
Eicher Ltd has decided to file an Expression of Interest in response to the Preliminary Information Memorandum issued by KPMG for divestment of PSIDC stake in Punjab Tractors.
Road construction witnessed a near 60 per cent year-on-year jump in the first two months of financial year 2021-22 (FY22), despite restrictions being imposed in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19. Around 1,470 km of roads were constructed during the first two months of the current fiscal, as against 847 km in the corresponding period last year, according to official figures. However, these are provisional numbers as the state public works departments of Maharashtra and Goa are yet to provide data.
Fitch Ratings on Monday said uncertainty over the bidder consortiums and process complexity, including valuation, may lead to potential delays in privatisation of India's second-largest fuel retailer, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). Affirming BPCL's rating at 'BBB-' with a negative outlook, Fitch said it continues to treat the potential divestment of the company by the Indian government as an event risk. "Bidders are conducting due diligence, but uncertainty over the bidder consortiums and process complexity, including valuation, may lead to potential delays.
In another development, SBI Capital Markets, which had issued the expressions of interest on April 8, extended the deadline for submission of initial bids to April 12.
This would provide a major boost to the indigenous design and construction capability of submarines in India.
According to officials, more clarity might be required with regard to foreign fund managers in the context of Air India divestment.
"There are five Indian and six foreign companies which have submitted expression of interest (EoI) for buying stake in the gas transportation company (RGTIL)," a source privy to the development said.
The government is planning to liberalise the terms and conditions for the sale of the national carrier. The Centre is still pursuing the option of selling the airline's subsidiaries before the airline itself, in order to deal with an outstanding debt of around Rs 27,000 crore.
Experts say a large part of the expenditure in April was spent on heads such as creating infrastructure for testing capacity and procuring testing kits, among other things.
Thursday's launch is the last one of 2020 for ISRO.
The Royal Observatory Greenwich has announced the shortlisted images of the 2022 Astronomy Photographer of the Year!
JSW will pay at least Rs 4,000 crore Rs 40 billlion.