The Union Cabinet has cleared disinvestment of the country's largest insurer LIC and a panel headed by the finance minister will now decide on the quantum of stake dilution, a senior official said on Monday. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had in January appointed actuarial firm Milliman Advisors LLP India to assess the embedded value of LIC ahead of the IPO (initial public offering), which is touted to be the biggest public issue in Indian corporate history. The Budget amendments to the LIC Act has been notified and the actuarial firm is expected to finalise the embedded value of the life insurer. Under the embedded value method, the insurance company's present value of future profit is also included in its present net asset value.
Although it has not been able to sell stake in any PSU so far this fiscal, the government will be able to meet the Rs 30,000 crore disinvestment target set for 2012-13, according to Department of Economic Affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram.
The appointment will be made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in consultation with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
"I dont think we will be able to contain fiscal deficit to our Budget plan of 5.1 per cent (of GDP). It could be 5.2 to 5.3 per cent, which is doable," Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram told reporters in New Delhi.
A panel led by the secretaries of the DEA and the DIPP would conduct a quarterly review on the pending proposals.
Maturity extension for redeemable preference shares stuck due to lack of directions in FDI rules.
DIPP's proposal is believed to have the support of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution and was originally mooted by the Forward Markets Commission.
Sri Lankans queued up to apply for fresh passports outside the department of immigration and emigration office in Colombo.
US nominee for World Bank president, Ajay Banga, has tested positive for COVID-19 following which the meetings scheduled during his two-day visit to India have been cancelled. According to a Finance Ministry statement, Banga's meeting with Nirmala Sitharaman would not happen as he is in quarantine. "During routine testing, Ajay Banga tested positive for COVID-19 but remains asymptomatic.
In order to provide greater leeway to central government departments and ministries to finalise centrally-funded projects, the Department of Expenditure under the finance ministry has increased the financial limits of projects requiring approval from various cost-approving bodies.
The proposal was mooted by the department of industrial policy and promotion in the ministry of commerce and industry.
DEA Secretary Arvind Mayaram is also expected to attend the event.
7 key areas that the Budget must address to re-energise the infrastructure sector, suggests Vinayak Chatterjee.
The postal department would be floating tenders for procurement of hardware and development of software. Pilots will be held in rural and urban post offices and the final roll out will be completed by September 2012.
Gold imports in 2011-12 amounted to $56.5 billion and in the current financial year, till December, they are estimated at $38 billion.
Gold and silver imports during April, 2013 jumped by 138 per cent to $7.5 billion against $3.1 billion in the year-ago period.
A high-level meeting will be convened soon to decide on probing the India operations of Chinese Telecom companies -- 'Huawei' and 'ZTE' -- against the backdrop of the US calling the two firms a threat to American national security.
As the United States focuses on the Indo-Pacific, in particular the Quad, the Biden administration needs to address India's ties with Russia and its 'downward trend of democratic values and institutions', said a report by the Democratic Party of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
Seeking to prevent misuse of funds belonging to foreign investors, the Reserve Bank has proposed that transfer of such funds to the Indian entity should be allowed only through escrow mechanism under which the money would remain with the bank pending investment.
The state's joblessness is three times higher than the national average of 7.8 per cent.
As part of it, the govt may permit 26% FDI in insurance broking through the automatic route.
This time, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who attended the first such retreat in 2008, would be present.
Documents related to 2G spectrum allocation cannot be accessed by the public till the Joint Parliamentary Committee completes its probe and submits its report, the Central Information Commission has stated. The JPC, which is probing the high-profile scam, has directed the finance ministry not to reveal any information till it completes the probe.
DEA official writes to DIPP suggesting that govt needs to understand what has been left out, and why, in the revised application of the retailer.
'The 2017 Doklam stand-off in Bhutan, the 2018 Maldives crisis, and the 2020 Nepal Kalapani border dispute shows how Beijing has shot off these countries' shoulders to target India.'
For the first time, the government is considering the merits of a tariff policy to contain prices that could include allowing external agencies to import commodities and cultivating some essential crops overseas. An inter-departmental team from the ministries of finance, food and consumer affairs and commerce has been asked to work out a strategy to this effect.The finance ministry's department of economic affairs has submitted its views and a final paper is under preparation
The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce has called a meeting on July 10 to discuss the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the cigarette industry.
A direction is this regard was given on Wednesday after Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal met in the presence of the secretaries of the Department of Economic Affairs and Coal Ministry
Industry is demanding a cut in repo rate to help revive India's sagging GDP growth that hit decade's low of 4.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2012-13.
Spectrum qualifies for the infrastructure criteria, say ministry officials.
In the first phase, most of the outdated regulations in the state and central Acts will be removed. Further, compliances with regard to annual inspections, licence renewal, and storage of multiple data will be eased.
The rupee has lost over 2.5 per cent in the two trading days of this week and nearly 10 per cent in the past six weeks on concerns of scaling down of stimulus packages by the US.
As part of the exercise, each family will get complete ownership of the businesses it manages while scrapping the holding company.
One hopes in his next term, Narendra Modi will take up the mission of inculcating respect for following rules in Indians as a mission. Therein lies the chance for India to become a developed country, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The rate of cash withdrawals over deposits was almost double in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, according to the latest analysis submitted by the RBI to the finance ministry.
Many bureaucrats have in the recent past switched sides to join companies.
This will enable security agencies to tap any call, real-time chat and data without help from the operators.
The government is likely to file draft papers for the mega initial public offering of LIC with market regulator Sebi by next week, while a portion of the issue would be reserved for anchor investors, a top official said on Wednesday.
Provident fund body may get support to ensure interest rate comparable with other savings instruments.
One wing of the government's definition of what constitues infrastructure is different from that of another and this needs to be resolved fast.
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