The mutual fund (MF) industry had an action-packed 2023 as it tackled the scrapping of tax benefits for debt fund investors and surging flows into equity funds.
There is money to buy the central public sector enterprises, but buyers will need a firm assurance that the disvestment programme will keep environment issues front and centre of their corporate plans.
Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Resources (VRL), which has hired Standard Chartered Bank to raise funds for its Konkola copper mine assets, says it is engaging with several potential partners for both short-term funds and long-term equity financing for the Zambian project. A Vedanta official said its commitment to optimising capital allocation and driving expansion is a key cornerstone of its strategy for the mines. It will enhance value creation and operationalise the Konkola Copper Mines (KCM).
That apart, farmers will get loans for post-harvest storage of their produce at a subsidised interest rate of 7 per cent for six months.
The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long 'padayatra' of the state.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday assured cash-starved Yes Bank depositors that their money is safe and the RBI is working on an early resolution of the issue. "I'm in continuous interaction with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The central bank is fully seized of the matter and has assured they will give a quick resolution. I want to assure every depositor that their money shall be safe. Their monies are safe," Sitharaman told reporters in New Delhi.
In a festival gift to borrowers, the finance ministry on Wednesday approved guidelines for a scheme for grant of ex-gratia payment of the difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months of loans up to Rs 2 crore.
Fintech companies believe that the impact of Reserve Bank of India's order last week on unsecured loans will be visible in six to 12 months and prompt them to diversify and strengthen their secured portfolio. Fintechs which source funds through banks or non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are looking at quickly building their secured portfolio options to at least 40 per cent of their total portfolio. "Over the medium to long term, as part of our product strategy, we are evaluating secured products which can be enabled over a digital platform" said Yogi Sadana, the founder of Zype, a lending-focussed fintech.
'It's a toss-up between a fire sale of equity or merger with a strong bank,' points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The return of investor confidence in the equity markets is bringing some of the large companies back to the fund-raising table.
With inflationary expectations on the rise, bankers feel that interest rates would go up further in the coming weeks.
'If you look at where inflation (headline and core) is today in India and where the rates are, there's clearly room to cut rates.'
Some say the MPC will raise the rate, while others are of the view that there is already de facto interest rate tightening through rising bond yields, which might prompt the central bank to go for a pause.
The domestic stock market may face volatility amid the monthly derivatives expiry scheduled this week, while investors would mainly await the outcome of RBI's interest rate decision on Friday, said analysts. Global market movement would also continue to drive sentiment amid a bearish trend recently following rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may take cues from its global counterparts to raise interest rate for the fourth time in a row to control inflation.
The real estate sector wants "high-impact" measures, like special schemes and tax breaks for developers, to revive the fortunes of the affordable housing segment in the country, multiple executives told Business Standard. This segment has been struggling since the Covid-19 outbreak, in contrast to larger and costlier homes which have been selling like hot cakes. The demand comes at a time when the government is taking suggestions from industry players before tabling the General Budget in the Parliament next month.
ICICI Bank chief executive officer and MD K V Kamath on Tuesday said that there is no need to alter interest rates since the demand for credit is not high.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday raised the GDP growth projection for the current fiscal to 7 per cent from 6.5 per cent earlier on buoyant domestic demand and higher capacity utilisation in the manufacturing sector. Announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, however, flagged protracted geopolitical turmoil and global economic fragmentation as risks to the growth outlook. The RBI kept interest rates unchanged at 6.5 per cent in Friday's monetary policy statement.
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SBI Chairman in the last year's banking conclave had started a debate by seeking to abolish cash reserve ratio to enhance liquidity in the banking sector for more productive use.
The statements coming out of India on 'reclaiming' Kachchatheevu island from Sri Lanka have 'no ground', the Sri Lankan Minister of Fisheries Douglas Devananda has said.
From the appointed date, the authorised capital of the private sector bank would stand altered to Rs 5,000 crore and the number of equity shares at 2,400 crore having face value of Rs 2 each.
Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea is planning to begin 5G rollout in six months in select cities and places where 5G device concentration is high, a senior company official said on Friday. Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra said the company expects capital expenditure of the company to be in the range of Rs 50,000-Rs 55,000 crore over the next three years with focus on expanding and strengthening 4G coverage.
Benchmark indices failed to hold on to early gains and closed in the red for the seventh straight session on Thursday, with participants remaining in wait-and-watch mode ahead of the RBI's interest rate decision. Unabated selling by foreign funds added to the pressure, though a modest recovery in the rupee cushioned the fall, traders said. After rallying in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex came under selling pressure in the afternoon session and closed 188.32 points or 0.33 per cent lower at 56,409.96.
Images that should keep you grinning for days on end.
Government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has seen substantial gains from its investments in Adani group shares, which have experienced a significant recovery over the past year. The value of LIC's stake in Adani group companies surged by 51.6 per cent, or Rs 22,591 crore, reaching Rs 66,388 crore as of Friday's close. This compares to Rs 43,797 crore on May 31 last year, according to stock exchange data.
The central bank is engaged with other financial institutions for investment as part of the scheme to resurrect Yes Bank under RBI imposed moratorium since March 5.
Of the eight RBI governors who have held office since the 1991 economic liberalisation, Bimal Jalan had the longest stint and S Venkitaramanan, the shortest. Current Governor Shaktikanta Das will overtake Bimal Jalan before completing his second term in December, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Speaking at a function at Ghaziabad on Monday, State Bank Chairman-cum-Managing Director O P Bhatt said the bank has decided to raise the interest rate by 0.5 per cent on all loans such as home loans and auto loans which are linked to PLR. The revision in PLR came after SBI raised its PLR from 12.25 per cent to 12.75 per cent last week following Reserve Bank's increasing its key short-term lending rate to banks.
South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor Company is considering tax implications of listing its Indian unit before taking a final call, according to sources privy to the development. Hyundai Motor is mulling an initial public offering (IPO) for its Indian arm to raise around $3 billion (at a valuation of up to $30 billion), and talks are in the early stages between the company and bankers, banking sources revealed. Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), however, declined to comment on the development.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) unexpectedly kept the country's policy interest rate on hold on Wednesday, despite calling current inflation too high, citing the prospect of easing retail prices and its concerns about the weak domestic economy.
The undistributed funds totalling over Rs 25,000 crore lying with the capital markets regulator Sebi's account have come back into focus after the demise of Sahara Group's chief Subrata Roy. Roy passed away in Mumbai on Tuesday night at the age of 75 after battling a prolonged illness. He faced multiple regulatory and legal battles in connection with his group firms that were accused of circumventing regulations with ponzi schemes, allegations his group always denied.
Soren, who is scheduled to join the Bharatiya Janata Party on August 30, also resigned as an MLA of the state assembly and a minister in the Jharkhand Cabinet.
Banking and capital goods stocks were out of favour, while oil and auto stocks saw buying interest.
'I found it unbelievable that L&T said 45,000 jobs were waiting to be filled because of unavailability of suitable skillsets.' 'So, when the Opposition sweepingly says there are no jobs, I'm sorry... I'm not saying it's raining jobs, but there are jobs. The (skill) gap has to be bridged.'
The official liquidator said it would be in public interest that these properties are restored to him so that the interest of all creditors, including the applicant banks, can be "safeguarded".
'We do not believe in fire sale. We don't do it.'
Uttam Prakash Agarwal alleged that Citax and Braich offers were incomplete and did not include firm commitment as to the price, size, timings, confirmation from the banks about availability of the funds.
Customers of stressed Punjab & Maharashtra Co-Operative Bank (PMC Bank) will not get up to Rs 5 lakh insurance cover in the first lot as the multi-state co-operative bank is under the resolution process. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) in the first lot will pay customers of 20 stressed banks except PMC Bank. For the first lot, the mandatory 90 days period concludes on November 30.
ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys, M&M, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, SBI and Maruti were also among the gainers. On the other hand, IndusInd, TCS, Titan and Asian Paints declined.
Will the government now push to move away from what Mr Rajan has been doing in the last few years?
'We have a plan to plough back a 'This year in the first half we had profits of more than Rs 31,000 crore.' significant amount of profits this financial year.' 'We have seen this organic plough back of profit is one of best ways to support the equity of the bank.'
