The government must set up a Bank Investment Company to shrink its role in PSBs, if we are serious about tackling the two persistent issues - lax corporate governance practices and discretionary decision-making, says Shyamal Majumdar.
Besides Deepak Parekh, who heads financial institution HDFC, other committee members include key representatives of major banks and infrastructure finance institutions.
The move will increase working capital requirement for brokers, raise the work load on the system and will leave little room for contingencies.
Some international markets offer interest rates as low as one per cent, which could reduce the government's interest cost significantly.
This means taxpayers might continue to enjoy exemption on maturity of their investments
The idea is to do away with the need for the approval of the Core Group of Secretaries on Divestment for privatisation of companies, especially in non-strategic sectors.
The Gujarat International Finance Tech-City, or Gift City, is expected to be spread over 886 acres and will have a special economic zone on 261 acres.
The 15-member committee has also recommended the imposition of a goods and service tax on financial services, and creation of a currency spot market and rupee-settled exchange traded currency derivatives market.
However, BJP has not given any assurance of support and conveyed to the Finance Minister that the matter will be discussed within the party and take a call, sources said.
FIPB has deferred 18 proposals.
Cong leaders speak in two voices but final stand may be decided at a meeting headed by Rahul Gandhi next week
The proposed auction has business-friendly terms and conditions, including reduced upfront amount, adjustment of upfront amount against royalty and liberal efficiency parameters to encourage flexibility to operationalise the coal mines. Besides, 100 per cent FDI through automatic route has been allowed.
The minister observed it took years to get permissions to start a project.
The Cabinet had had approved promulgation of the Ordinance on Insurance Bill and re-promulgation of the Coal Ordinance on Wednesday, a day after the conclusion of the Winter session of Parliament.
The windfall from RBI may be used to trim borrowing, help fund Rs 3.3 lakh crore capex plan, capitalise banks and provide fiscal stimulus to some stressed sectors, experts and economists said.
Banks feel happy shifting their toxic assets from loan books to investment books while the ARCs enjoy the management fees with a smile, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Relying on the private sector to undertake infrastructure investment may not be a realistic proposition.
Though the Railways is yet to declare any five-year action plan, it is clear the government is not in a position to hand-hold it for any major expansion or upgrade. The issue, however, is how far the Railways can function within the PPP format. Recent history highlights some of the challenges.
This is despite expectations of a stormy session, given the unresolved standoff on the Opposition's insistence on a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the telecom spectrum controversy.
Special Judge O P Saini took strong objection to the agencies seeking repeated adjournments.
For next fiscal, the minority stake sale target has been kept at Rs 36,000 crore.
The government on Thursday gave its nod to a foreign direct investment of $150 million (Rs 675 crore) in Maran family-run Sun TV's ambitious direct to home service project.
Various start-ups have raised concerns on notices sent to them under the Section 56 of Income Tax Act to pay taxes on angel funds received by them.
Committing to more steps to boost economy, the Finance Ministry said initiatives taken by the government in the past one year will boost investment and revive the sagging growth.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the resolution plan of Twin Star Technologies -- a promoter entity of the Vedanta Resources group -- for the Videocon group. But it has pointed out that the successful resolution applicant is "paying almost nothing" as the amount offered is only 4.15 per cent of total outstanding claim. It noted the hair cut for all the creditors is 95.85 per cent and suggested to both committee of creditors (CoC) and the successful applicant an increase in the payout.
The guidelines for strategic disinvestment were issued on Monday itself when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget for 2016-17.
The reform priorities are clear: enhance savings, improve productivity. Just 25 basis points of moving interest rate up or down would not boost investment: Former RBI Governor Y V Reddy.
'We are probably working with flawed data on household finance.'
'Although Hong Kong weathered many a storm and displayed a remarkable resilience to bounce back, the developments in the territory have raised question marks with regard to its future stability and prosperity.' A revealing excerpt from Rup Narayan Das's Hong Kong Conundrum: Pangs of Transition.
The finance ministry is looking into a proposal that would allow overseas retail investors to invest directly in Indian equity markets. This is part of a review of the overall regime for the participation of foreign investors in primary and secondary markets.
A social stock exchange, broadly, is understood to be a platform that allows investors to buy shares, bonds or units in a social enterprise that has been vetted by the exchange. These allow firms operating in sectors such as health, environment and transportation to raise risk capital.
The Covid pandemic has left a question mark on how the central government manages its staff.
"For the Lok Sabha elections, we are making meticulous planning on all fronts including electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)," he said.
The Center for Responsive Politics said that an 'extraordinary influx' of political donations in the final months -- driven by a Supreme Court battle and closely watched races for the White House and Senate -- pushed total spending in the election past the previously estimated 11 billion dollars figure.
The market regulator is mulling safeguards relating to power of attorney.
The government had in July 2010 imposed a cess on coal at an effective rate of Rs 50 a tonne.
