The government on Friday approved sale of its minority stakes in four public sector firms -- Hindustan Copper, Oil India, MMTC and Nalco-- to raise up to Rs 15,000 crore.
The government is expected to take a decision tomorrow on the issue of allowing foreign airlines to buy up to 49 per cent stake in cash-starved Indian carriers.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Friday cleared award of four Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks to an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-led consortium and three blocks to a consortium led by Australia's Arrow Energy.
The new credit-linked subsidy programme, called Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme, was approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The financial implication of the new scheme, to be implemented over a four-year period, is estimated at Rs 4,485 crore (Rs 44.85 billion), Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters.
Admitting that prices of sugar, pulses and vegetables are rising, the government today said it is planning to increase the subsidy for distribution of pulses through ration shops to provide relief to the common man.
The 15 proposals were cleared following recommendations by Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
Aiming at bolstering the sagging economy as well as providing housing to all, the urban poor will get 5 per cent interest subsidy for home loans up to Rs 100,000, taken during the Eleventh Plan period.
FDI in real estate will now be through the automatic route and not through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
The airline intends to raise the money to meet its cash flow requirements and had got the shareholders' approval for the same on July 24.
State-run Power Finance Corporation (PFC) on Thursday said it has appointed four merchant bankers - Goldman Sachs, JM Financial, DSP Merill Lynch and ICICI Securities - to manage the Rs 5,600 crore (Rs 56 billion) follow-on public offer.
Finance Minister announced the approval of the scholarship scheme for students of minority communities. The scheme will be effective during 11th Five Year Plan.
Deputy Commissioner for the New York City Mayor's Office for International Affairs Dilip Chauhan made the announcement in the presence of Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr Ramdas Athawale, who delivered the keynote address at a special event organised at the UN headquarters on Monday to commemorate Dr Ambedkar's 134th birth anniversary.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to decide on a Planning Commission proposal to allocate a portion of power generated from Centrally-owned utilities for open access to large consumers.
The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on a pilot basis in 52 select districts for the remaining period of the XIth five year plan.
The new rules for foreign investment issued by the Cabinet committee on economic affairs have two specific problems. Both lie in the new provision that any company which has an Indian majority shareholding and Indian control will be treated as an Indian company.
Post-sale, the government stake would be 75 per cent, which will help NTPC to comply with the minimum public shareholding norms.
In a major decision to liberalise the broadcast sector, the government on Friday decided to raise FDI cap to 74 per cent in various services of the sector, except the TV news channels and FM radio where the cap of 26 per cent will apply.
The relaxation will apply to those sectors that have composite caps (foreign direct investment or FDI plus FII). "The move will not impact sectors like banking and insurance which are governed by Acts of Parliament. However, sectors with composite caps which see administrative control like telecommunication services, broadcast services like direct-to-home and FM radio will benefit," a Delhi based FDI policy expert told Business Standard.
The government on Friday said it has started implementing liberal FDI rules under which proposals up to Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) foreign equity would be cleared by the Finance Minister without seeking approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
As a result of the downturn in commodity prices across the world, and the easing of supply constraints on most commodities because of good domestic production, there is hardly any incentive for over-stocking by trade or bulk consumers of agri-commodities. Also, it is amply clear that the imposition of storage limits on farm goods has had little impact on their prices or the overall rate of inflation. Even the ban on futures trading has proved ineffectual.
The government holds 85.82 per cent stake in SAIL.
The approval to bring in the FDI is subject to compliance with RBI and SEBI guidelines, besides subjected to approval of the relevant high courts for the demerger of distribution business of Volvo India. The finance ministry had already approved the FDI proposal of Volvo to invest $30 million (Rs 123 crore) for induction of foreign equity up to 8.1 per cent by way of acquisition of shares in EML.
The government on Thursday further liberalised the foreing investment regime by allowing Foreign Investment Promotion Board to clear proposals from overseas entities worth up to Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion), against the existing limit of Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion).
The government on Thursday decided to substantially hike the post-matric scholarship amount and other benefits given to students from scheduled tribes and those disabled.
Another roadblock to be removed from FDI path; Load on insurance chest.
In a bid to encourage the fertiliser industry to increase its production volumes, the government has extended the system of actual freight reimbursement to all types of fertilisers. Currently, only urea enjoys this concession.
Norway-based telecom company Telenor has raised its stake in its Indian joint venture with Unitech Wireless to 60.1 percent from 49 percent at an investment of Rs 1,493 crore.
Call to hike the limit for investment approval from CCEA to Rs 1,500 crore.
The government's disinvestment programme made a muted re-start with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approving the part-sale of its stake in two power companies -- NTPC and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam -- but postponing a decision on the overall disinvestment policy.
The government's decision to divest its stake in power PSU NTPC would be delayed as the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs could not meet on Thursday due to pre-occupation of key ministers.
With shrinking employment opportunities in the state sector, the government on Thursday approved a Rs 1,800 crore (Rs 18 billion) scheme for incentivising private sector to employ 1,00,000 disabled people a year.
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs is all set to announce the guidelines for FDI in commodity exchanges. Following this, the Forward Markets Commission is expected to submit the proposal for ownership structure of exchanges before the Union ministry of consumer affairs.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last evening gave OVL, the overseas arm of the state-run explorer, approval to invest its share of $204 million in the oilfield. Over and above these, the two have committed a minimum exploration investment of $165 million and an additional optional exploration expenditure of $235 million.
To stay on the right side of the Trinamool Congress, the Centre has opened its coffers for West Bengal.
Giving relief to the employees of loss-making public sector units, the government on Wednesday decided to continue supporting distressed public sector units in meeting their wage bills and other statutory payments.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had on July 22 cleared the sale of stake by RIL to BP in 21 blocks.
Following the two-tranche disinvestment, the government and the company would get Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) each, Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Although the Oil Ministry has the authority to decide on Reliance selling 30 per cent interest to BP in 23 exploration blocks, including the prize eastern offshore KG-D6 gas fields, the ministry on Tuesday decided to refer the deal to the CCEA, sources privy to the development said.
The government is planning an extensive exercise to map a "hazard line" along the country's 7,500 km coastline, from Gujarat to West Bengal. This marks the first time environmentally sensitive coastal areas will be clearly demarcated. The Rs 1,156-crore project, known as the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project, was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday.
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