The infra-major going belly up cracked open some major flaws in the system - the most evident being weak corporate governance and how layers of corporate structures could be formed adding to the opaqueness of the group.
The central government has agreed in-principle to Air India employees' main demands. It fears an industrial dissension now could impede the process of privatisation. It has agreed to bear the cost of liquidation loss on account of transfer to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) from company-owned trusts, inclusion of employees in the central government health scheme (CGHS), and encashment of leaves. The template of the Air India process will be followed for other public sector undertakings up for privatisation at a later date.
If Nirmala Sitharaman does indeed present a 'never-before' like Budget on February 1, going by her promise, she would create a new benchmark for post-contraction Budgets, observes A K Bhattacharya.
When the third round of bids was opened, Oaktree's offer was the highest, but with several riders. While Piramal offered higher upfront cash and offered to merge its financial business with DHFL, Adani was ranked third in the race, reports Dev Chatterjee.
A PhD from Chicago-Booth and a top-ranking IIT-IIM alumnus, Krishnamurthy Subramanian is one of the world's leading experts in banking, corporate governance and economic policy
The Centre's push to sell Air India on priority has led to delays in other strategic divestment proposals, such as privatising United India Insurance, as well as ongoing transactions, such as Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), revealed multiple officials involved in the process. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is yet to take new privatisation recommendations of the NITI Aayog to the core group of secretaries on disinvestment (CGD) headed by the Cabinet secretary, said one of the officials. The priority now is to ensure all approvals for Air India are in place since the government intends to hand over the national carrier as early as this month.
With the Jaypee acquisition, the Suraksha group, which made lenders an offer of Rs 7,736 crore, will be able to expand its footprint in north India after making inroads in Mumbai's real estate market over the past year. Sudhir Valia, the promoter, was a co-founder and executive director of India's biggest pharmaceutical firm, Sun Pharmaceuticals, and is a close relative of Dilip Shanghvi.
India's policy focus in recent months has been, on containment of fiscal deficit, along with measures that would boost investment levels in the economy.
'If some measures are implemented quickly, they can help revive growth.'
'The CEO will neither be able to guide the senior team in operational matters nor decide on their appointment, compensation or removal.' 'Yet, the CEO is responsible for the profit and loss of the bank!' 'Why would the senior executives listen to him?' 'Which self-respecting professional would want to be a CEO with these constraints?' asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'He is positive and likes to get work done,' is how a retired bureaucrat described him. 'I assume he will push the reform agenda with strength.'
The government is mulling changes in the income tax laws to bring cryptocurrencies under the tax net, with some changes that could form part of the Budget next year, a top official said. Revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj said that in terms of income tax, some people are already paying capital gains tax on the income from cryptocurrency, and in respect of Goods and Services Tax (GST) also the law is "very clear" that the rate would be applicable as those in case of other services.
But it is disappointing to note that Sitharaman's third Union Budget continues to promote a few problematic ideas, observes A K Bhattacharya.
Cash-rich Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) have to either invest their surplus funds or give it to someone for investment purpose, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.
'The rate of interest from the EPF is still attractive compared to the rates on fixed deposits, National Savings Scheme, Public Provident Fund...'
The Indian economy appears to have slowed down in 2018-19 due to lower private consumption, tepid growth in fixed investment and muted exports, a finance ministry report has said.
In yet another secretary-level change, government appointed Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981 Gujarat cadre IAS officer, as the new Financial Services Secretary replacing G S Sandhu.
Ramesh Menon, the veteran journalist suggests Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi what he should do if he wants to win 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Zee Entertainment last week witnessed shareholder activism that saw an open call for the ouster of promoters and the incumbent management led by Punit Goenka. Besides, Dish TV also faced a similar call earlier this month. The trouble at Zee Entertainment can be gauged from the fact that this is a unique company wherein the promoters own just 3.99 per cent, but fully control the firm.
The RBI panel has also recommended a government-sponsored 'fund of funds' of Rs 10,000 crore to support the venture capital and private equity firms investing in the MSME sector.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The government is drawing up a relief package for industry with steps such as relaxation of asset-classification norms by banks, thus allowing companies to delay the repayment of loans, and tax holidays for the worst-hit sectors like aviation and hospitality. But it might not be enough to stop more bankruptcies from getting filed.
The account turned bad before Chaudhari took over as SBI chairman and the asset was sold to AARC following an open bidding process, months after Chaudhari retired, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'When we say we want to increase pension participation, do we want to increase participation through the savings route?' 'Or do we want people to save in specific pension products?' asks Renuka Sane.
The richest Hindu temple in the world could soon come to the rescue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to recycle tonnes of idle gold and cut economy-hurting imports.
In simple terms, it refers to a deduction allowed in income tax, irrespective of expenses incurred or investment made by assessees.
'Banking is a business of trust.'
Special Judge O P Saini issued notice to the agency and sought its response by October 8.
The 15 proposals were cleared following recommendations by Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
Suggests cheque-only transaction for transaction beyond certain threshold.
Relax fiscal consolidation, boost public capex and reduce cost of finance, industry tells Centre
The cryptocurrency industry on Wednesday urged the government to take a nuanced approach towards regulating crypto assets in India and asked investors in the country to remain calm and not arrive at a rushed conclusion, a day after the government listed for introduction a Bill to ban all such cryptocurrencies, with some exceptions.
'Initially, Gift City was just another real estate project, but all that changed with Modi moving to New Delhi,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the proposal to set up Cabinet Committee on Investment under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to accord expeditious approval to projects of over Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion).
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance's meeting comes against the backdrop of CBI probing the Saradha scam in which thousands of crores or rupees of gullible investors were allegedly swindled.
Inflation targeting has worked well and the government must stay with it, and the framework is going to work well in the period ahead also, former RBI Governor D Subbarao said on Thursday. He also said low inflation contributes to sustainable growth. Addressing the 'Times Network India Economic Conclave' virtually, Subbarao said the government's proposal to privatise some public sector units is not akin to selling family silver but it is a route for putting India on a sustainable growth path.
Hero MotoCorp was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 4.46 per cent. IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Vedanta, SBI, M&M, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, HDFC and HDFC Bank too rose up to 3.63 per cent.
The parliamentary standing committee on finance has proposed a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) co-ordination mechanism to monitor foreign investments in the stock market.
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