Officials say a fall in global oil prices will reduce the government's subsidy burden, giving it a greater chance of hitting its ambitious fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year to March.
Reliance Industries has regained the top slot among Indian energy companies on the Platts global list
Earlier this year, the government raised around Rs 1,000-crore by selling its stake in Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam.
The economy can't grow without increasing electrification, which requires more power plants, and given coal is the cheapest form of fuel and is abundant, it makes sense that India is looking to boost the use of the fuel.
Euphoric about India's biggest IPO, possibly to garner up to Rs 15,000 crore, from the world's largest coal producer CIL, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Friday said October is an "auspicious" month to launch the issue.
It will be helpful advice for a chief minister-in-waiting who is going to have to deal with empty coffers and overflowing expectations
Top sources in the government told Business Standard that Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's opposition to divestment plans of profit-making public sector entities prompted the cabinet not to take it up for discussion today.
The BSE benchmark Sensex surged about 241 points to end at 35,165.48 and the NSE Nifty gained 84 points to close at 10,688.65.
The government on Wednesday expressed disappointment over a French company snapping up Mahatma Gandhi's Johannesburg house, through Sotheby's auction firm, but said it will continue efforts to acquire the heritage property through a public sector company."The matter concerns national sentiment and I will leave no stone unturned to acquire the historic property and declare it a national monument," said Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.
According to the decision, such entities can now first operate through e-commerce and then open brick-and-mortar stores.
Mutual funds breathed easy today, with the flow into liquid and liquid-plus schemes soaring to Rs 30,000-35,000 crore. This is in contrast to the situation over the past few days when a liquidity squeeze caused by the Coal India issue soaking up cash forced companies and banks to withdraw money from mutual funds.
There was a sharp fall in power output on Thursday from a plant in Gujarat that left India more than 9,000 megawatts short of peak demand, according to two officials at the state grid operator.
In the run-up to the Coal India initial public offering (IPO), brokers are offering Rs 500-700 to 'rent' the demat accounts of retail investors not subscribing to the issue. The rent is for the duration of the issue, which opens on Monday and closes four days later.
If cleared, the ONGC arm will become the first subsidiary company of an existing Maharatna to get into this superior league among government-owned entities.
In view of flurry of IPOs expected in the immediate future, here is a simple tip which will make investors' participation in IPOs more profitable and enjoyable.
Road projects alone worth $10 billion face delays over land disputes and other clearances.
The provision in the new mining bill approved by a group of ministers last week for 26 per cent profit sharing by mining companies with affected residents of the area they operate in hasn't been welcomed by many in the sector.
Committed to keep fiscal deficit under check, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a high-level meeting on Tuesday to push forward the disinvestment programme with a view to achieve the budgetary target of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) in the current fiscal.
Reliance Industries on Tuesday toppled state-run oil major ONGC to become the country's second most valued firm after TCS.
Coal India Ltd, the world's largest coal producer, may buy up to a 15 per cent stake in US-based Peabody Energy Corp's Australian assets early next fiscal for an estimated USD 100 million (about Rs 450 crore).
It is up to the government to take a decision on this before it starts auctioning.
The incidence of shareholder activism in India is more than that in other Asian countries, according to a BNP Paribas Asia Strategy report.
Select companies in infra, capital goods, private banks, auto, oil & gas, and mining could be considered by investors.
Its market capitalisation tops those of the 3 largest Indian firms combined
ArcelorMittal, Anglo Australian major Rio Tinto, Hyderabad-based GVK Power & Infrastructure, Essar Mineral Resources and JSW Steel are among 10 prominent corporations in a shortlist to develop 18 abandoned coal mines owned by state-owned Coal India Ltd and its eight subsidiaries.
The amount is around a fifth of the cumulative investment in fixed assets by these companies.
Government-owned companies are more generous in rewarding their shareholders with dividends.
The Ministry of Finance may seek the Union Cabinet's approval for the proposed 10 per cent stake sale in state-owned Coal India Ltd by the end of this month, a senior Coal Ministry official said
Kicking off its disinvestment drive, the government will sell 5 per cent of its stake in steel major SAIL on Nov 5.
The government is likely to go ahead with divestment in 12-15 public sector units, including SAIL, Coal India, Hindustan Copper, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd and Engineers India Ltd among others next fiscal to raise Rs 40,000 crore, as stated in the budget.
The proposed units comprise seven coking coal washeries and 13 non-coking coal washeries.
Gains were led by Tata Motors amid robust sales in June along with select financials.
Court says no evidence of cartel in low bids for coal blocks.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
The Solicitor General had told the bench that several members of the National Disaster Response Force were working at the site and instead of the army, the government has sent navy personnel there as the mine was submerged in water.
The divestment department has lined up a host of companies.
Jaiswal's statement came after Coal India said its multi-billion dollars worth of projects could become unviable if prices were not hiked. The PSU is seeking a nominal increase in prices of its products which were marginally revised last in 2007.
Bids for eight coal blocks were sent for re-examination.
The Centre has identified 50 new public sector undertakings (PSUs) to be put on the capital markets for selling 10 per cent of government stakes to raise funds for development programmes.
"We expect the government to exempt our employees from paying tax on housing perquisites. On an average, every year our non-executive workers pay about Rs 144 crore to the government on account of such tax. Exemption will motivate our employees, working and living in difficult conditions," said Coal India Ltd Chairman P S Bhattacharyya.
