"My aim is to make Maharashtra the world's big financial powerhouse and to make Mumbai a global fintech capital," he said.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
The S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices have managed to stay afloat in a volatile January that saw the frontline indices hit their respective 52-week high levels and then slip. While the S&P BSE Sensex has lost over 2 per cent thus far in January, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices have gained nearly 2.5 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively during this period.
'The snakes and ladders game will continue till the consolidation process is complete simply because we don't know how bad the scene is, with some of the banks being merged,' says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Bandhan Bank has filed a draft red herring prospectus with Sebi for an IPO of up to 119 million equity shares, with face value of Rs 10 each.
The year 2014-15 could well go as one of long-pending financial sector reforms, expected to have a lasting impact.
'It would be reasonable to assume that Modi 3.0 would be more focused on projects and schemes which do not require any legislative change or which have the support of its coalition partners,' asserts A K Bhattacharya.
Banks have become more vigilant over the past two weeks, with many more officials involved in loan approval and disbursal.
"We will raise Rs 300 crore via bonds of two-, three- and five-year tenures. This will be our maiden bond issuance and is part of our effort to widen funding sources," says Vimal Bhandari, executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Arka Fincap. The firm, a subsidiary of Kirloskar Oil, is only five years old and small (assets of around Rs 5,000 crore with an "AA" rating), but the response to this float will be closely watched: It would be the first by a non-banking finance company (NBFC) after Mint Road upped the risk weights on bank exposures to them by 25 percentage points. The move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has caught NBFCs off guard even though the issue had been flagged by Governor Shaktikanta Das with their corner-room occupants (and that of banks) in July and August 2023 - on consumer credit and the dependency on bank borrowings.
Is the worst over for Indian banks? The past two years saw them ride on treasury trades as deposits soared and credit growth dipped sharply. Gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs) moved south, and the provision coverage ratio (PCR), capital buffers, and profitability indicators are back at pre-pandemic levels. So, what's the plot ahead?
Domestic institutional investors pumped Rs 2.3 trillion into equities during H1 CY24. Of this, mutual funds contributed 80%.
Of the 2,562 customer complaints received between January 2020 and March 2021, a majority relate to illegal apps. At least two dozen suicide cases have been reported, perpetrated by the harassment by loan app operators, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
To ease pressure due to the coronavirus lockdown, corporate have asked banks and the government for a six-month liquidity line, so that they can pay off their suppliers and employees.
'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 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the minimum capital requirement for so-called shadow banks and tightened rules on deposits and bad loans to avoid any potential risk to the economy from these rapidly growing finance firms by regulating them like traditional banks.
ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by ITC, SBI, HCL Tech, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Tech Mahindra. NSE Nifty advanced 32 points to 15,856.05.
Banks are in need of government support to manage the stressed assets
Are you a first-time IPO investor? Even if IPOs appear attractive with expectations of high returns, they come with risks and complexities, cautions Sheetal Jhaveri and shares her checklist to help you navigate through the world of IPOs
'This segment has performed very well for us and this is reflected in our bounce rate which is about three to four per cent.'
Now that the economy is growing at a higher-than-expected rate, it is time to accelerate the pace of fiscal consolidation, and the Budget could be a good starting point, argues Rajesh Kumar.
BharatPe co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover, who was recently embroiled in a controversy over purportedly using abusive language against Kotak Mahindra Bank staff, has taken a voluntary leave till March-end. Grover informed the company's Board about his decision to proceed on leave earlier in the day, as per a statement issued by the fintech company on Wednesday. "For now, the Board has accepted Ashneer's decision which we agree is in the best interests of the company, our employees and investors, and the millions of merchants we support each day," it said. It added that the company will continue to be led by its CEO Suhail Sameer and its management team.
While IDBI Bank's 140 million customers and 1800-odd branches will come in handy for LIC to hawk insurance, the bank can use LIC's massive agent network to sell its retail loans. But if it is run the same way it had been in the past and LIC is a proxy of the government, then it has no future, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
It has been a year since the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated prompt corrective action (PCA), an exercise that puts weak banks under central bank scrutiny, against the 94-year-old Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB). But recently, this low-profile Chennai-headquartered bank found itself attracting some unwonted publicity when 60 per cent of its shareholders voted against a proposal to re-appoint seven directors, including one of the promoters, K R Pradeep (who holds around 2 per cent), and the company's managing director & chief executive officer S Sundar.
PNB has rich experience in the integration of commercial banks.
Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Thursday said the economy is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal notwithstanding deficient rains in August. India recorded economic growth of 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2023-24 against 13.1 per cent in the year-ago period. India's economy in Q1 grew at the fastest pace in a year, on the shoulders of a boost in capital expenditure both at central and state levels, along with stronger consumption demand, especially in rural areas, and improved performance in the services sector, he said.
'If we want faster growth and want greater flow of credit towards the private sector, it's important to have many more of such large entities.'
rediffGURU Ramalingam Kalirajan answers your personal finance queries.
Why can't we have a sunset clause for the ARCs, which is a global norm? questions Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Amid slowdown blues, the government has unveiled a raft of measures over the past few months aimed at improving liquidity in the system, moderating interest rates as well as credit growth apart from addressing stress in the NBFC sector.
'We expect the bull-market phase to still persist, but now led by large-caps which offer better valuation and benefit from FII inflows.'
'We expect continued pressure on midcaps, but any sharp correction looks unlikely from here on.'
'I have been advising investors since the last couple of months to at least take their capital out.' 'Most of the people have made 50-60 per cent in the market, if not more, they must at least take their capital out.'
Every 30 seconds its website is connected to an SME for a loan, every five minutes it evaluates a loan, and every 20 minutes it disburses a loan.
'The global situation is not very good.'
Mudra Bank will be a Rs 20,000-crore institution, which would "primarily be responsible for refinancing all micro-finance institutions.
If you invest for the shorter-term now, you will be able to roll over to higher rates when the interest-rate cycle turns, advises Sarbajeet K Sen.
Which entrepreneur would willingly part with her or his hard-earned money for grasping, self-serving politicians? asks Debashis Basu.
The Congress on Friday alleged that the electoral bonds data has exposed 'corrupt tactics' of the Bharatiya Janata Party such as quid pro quo, seeking donations for the company's protection, kickbacks and money laundering through shell companies.
The growth opportunity for a business, people running the business, governance structure at a company, technology adoption and the firm's belief in frugality are the list of priorities which should be considered before choosing a stock to invest in, Jhunjunwala said.
S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday said Indian banks face a systemic risk as the second COVID wave will impair the performance of financial institutions in the April-September period. Stating that economic recovery remains highly vulnerable to setbacks due to COVID, particularly if fresh outbreaks trigger new lockdowns, S&P said the banking sector's weak loans will likely remain elevated at 11-12 per cent of gross loans in the next 12 to 18 months. "The second wave has front-ended weakness in asset quality," said S&P Global Ratings Credit Analyst Deepali Seth Chhabria. "Financial institutions face a strained first half amid weak collections and poor disbursements."
'Several businesses like entertainment, hospitality, travel etc would never be the same again.'