The government on Monday budgeted Rs 1.75 lakh crore from stake sale in public sector companies and financial institutions, including 2 PSU banks and one general insurance company, in the next fiscal year beginning April 1. The amount is lower than the record Rs 2.10 lakh crore which was budgeted to be raised from CPSE disinvestment in the current fiscal year. However, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the government's CPSE stake sale programme, and the target has been lowered to Rs 32,000 crore in the Revised Estimates.
Regulator fears the insurer may get away without making an open offer.
Budget has already bombed at the box office and passing it without a revisit will be a mockery of the exercise though any modification may be short lived and perfunctory, observes V Ranganathan.
Hectic fundraising through initial public offerings (IPOs) is expected in October-November, with at least 30 companies are looking to collectively raise over Rs 45,000 crore through initial share-sales, merchant banking sources said. Of the total fundraising, a large chunk would be garnered by technology-driven companies. The successful IPO of food delivery company Zomato, which was overwhelmingly subscribed by over 38 times, encouraged new-age tech companies to come out with their primary share-sales.
Alvarez & Marsal will develop a detailed restructuring plan for the group to demonstrate to shareholders and lenders that it was self-sufficient in repaying its liabilities. So far, the IL&FS management had been working on its revival plan.
Life Insurance Corporation of India, which is among the largest property owners in India, is planning to acquire land worth Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) this year to develop commercial and residential complexes. This will be in addition to the Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) it spent last year for purchasing lands across the country.
The Railways plans to float an independent fund.
The Reserve Bank did not issue the final merger scheme for Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS India on Friday as stated earlier and is likely to do so only next week, according to a central bank official. While placing LVB under a moratorium and then issuing a draft amalgamation scheme on November 17, the RBI had said it would issue the final merger scheme on November 20 (Friday) so as to help complete the resolution for the 94-year-old lender by December 16. However, as of 2200 hrs on Friday, the central bank did not issue the final merger scheme. When contacted, a senior RBI official told PTI that the same would now be issued early next week.
Had Finance Minister Sitharaman thought a little more about the middle class, disadvantaged sections, and the poor who are struggling, it would have been an inclusive Budget that would have made history, notes Ramesh Menon.
CBI sources said Singh appeared before the probe team on Tuesday morning and was questioned.
The new business premium of life insurance companies usually sees the highest growth in the March quarter.
The primary market is set for a bumper Rs 80,000-crore bonanza with 30 companies already filing IPO papers to raise Rs 55,000 crore, while around 10 more are lined up for this month itself, seeking to mop up another Rs 25,000 crore, say investment bankers. The market has been on a non-stop rally, hitting new records almost every week, on the back of an influx of investors -- a vast majority of them first-timers -- coupled with a flood of liquidity. Foreign funds alone had pumped in a record $35 billion into the market in FY21, while the trend has continued this fiscal as well. Domestic institutions led by LIC have also infused trillions of rupees, helping woo retail investors in troves -- the year saw over 20 million new investors coming to the market.
With the disruption caused by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the 'fear of unknown' is looming over the government's privatisation drive. Although there is a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability on how things will unfold, the government is hopeful of completing the transactions listed in the Budget with a delay of one to two months, said a top government official. However, "there are many unknown factors now, and we do not know whether there could be a third wave. But we are trying to carry on with our work", the official said." Since there is a lot of uncertainty, the estimates will have to be revised as rating agencies are revising their outlook for growth.
The key assets put on the block include its entire stake in Reliance General Insurance Company, the third-largest private sector insurer, and a 49 per cent stake in Reliance Nippon Life Insurance, a joint venture with Nippon Life, which is among the top five private-sector insurance companies.
Naved Masood, former secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Sebi board member; TV Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education and Dinesh Kanabar, CEO, Dhruva Advisors have ceded their position on the NSE board following end of their tenure.
Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata group was among "multiple" entities who on Monday put in preliminary bids for buying the government's stake in loss-making carrier Air India.
Life Insurance Corporation and UTI Mutual Fund are in the fray for entering the lucrative pension business, which is slated to grow to Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) by 2010.
FPIs' ownership in NSE-listed companies reached a five-year high of 22.74 per cent in December 2020 on the back of huge net inflow of Rs 1.42 lakh crore by such investors in the third quarter.
At the same time, the Cabinet approved reducing government's stake in select PSUs such as IOC to below 51 per cent while continuing to retain management control.
To attract potential suitors, the government will ease asset valuation norms for Air India by allowing bidders to put in offers on an enterprise value basis, a source said on Monday. To begin with, the government is likely to further extend the deadline for putting in a preliminary expression of interest for the loss-making national carrier to December 15. The source said bids will be sought on an enterprise value basis - a popular valuation methodology for takeover deals.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, will answer your queries.
State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India has raised its holding in cement and construction major Larsen & Toubro by about one percentage point to 18.4 per cent.\n\n
If everything goes as expected, Arya, now a second year graduation student of a Thiruvananthapuram college, would not only become the new mayor of Kerala's capital, a position held by several significant personalities in the past, but also the youngest ever mayor in the country.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday arrested eight people, including the chief executive officer of LIC Housing Finance, for allegedly giving corporate loans for monetary considerations.
Payments can be made till April 21; for motor the relaxation is only for third-party insurance.
Retirement fund manager EPFO has decided to suspend further investments in the LIC Housing Finance till CBI completes investigations into the alleged involvement of its top official in the bribes-for-loans scam.
Nine days after their arrest in a cross-country housing loan scam, a special CBI court on Friday granted bail to all the eight accused, including LIC Housing Finance CEO Ramchandran Nair, after observing that their custody is not required further.
The Government today said it has not directed public sector banks to cut exposure in real estate following the housing-finance bribery scam. "No why should we say this," Financial Services Secretary R Gopalan told reporters when asked if the government has given such directions to the state-run banks.
The plan panel on Thursday termed the housing finance racket, involving the chief of LIC Housing Finance and several other officials of PSU banks, as a "very small" incident as far as banking system as a whole was concerned.
The higher dividend will help Tata Trusts, which owns 67 per cent stake in Tata Sons, to invest in its charitable activities. The total dividend outgo will be Rs 404 crore.
There are four public sector general insurance companies.
It has so far managed to raise only Rs 1,700 crore (Rs 17 billion), by divesting a 5% stake in Steel Authority of India.
The PM has assets worth Rs 2.5 crore including a residential plot in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, fixed deposits of Rs 1.27 crore and Rs 38,750 cash in hand.
'Kindly advise about the following stocks. Can I hold or exit?'
The government of India holds 24.5 per cent stake in GSTN while states together hold another 24.5 per cent
Those spending over Rs 2 lakh on foreign travel, incurring more than Rs 1 lakh electricity bills, or depositing over Rs 1 crore in current account will have to mandatorily file ITR even if their total income is below the taxable limit. The last date for filing has been extended to Nov 30 from Jul 31.
