The new PM would be more than unwise to attempt steering away from India into an all-encompassing Chinese embrace that would ultimately swamp Bhutanese identity, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lashed out at previous governments, saying they seemed to hate development and "looted" public money to win elections.
A new crop of lending agencies like Dewan Housing Finance, Gruh Finance, Micro House Finance Corporation, SEWA and Mahindra Rural Housing Finance have entered the market.
'The stimulus message was tagged on to what was meant to be an exhortation to self-reliance, glossing over the near impossibility of merging the immediate requirement of relief for a huge population and a questionable strategy for the future trajectory of a large economy aspiring to superstardom,' points out Shreekant Sambrani.
Ahead of India's annual budget presentation next week, IMF's chief economist Gita Gopinath has favoured the extension of the pandemic support measures, thrust on investment in infrastructure and expanding health sectors programmes like Ayushman Bharat, and a very credible divestment path for commercially viable companies. The Indian government has provided a lot of schemes for small and medium enterprises, most of which is in the form of liquidity support, Gopinath told PTI on Tuesday. "And you want to revisit it and see how effectively that is working and see whether additional support may need to be provided," she said while responding to a question on her recommendations to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, ahead of her presentation of the annual Union Budget on February 1. It would be a good time for banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to raise capital given the attractiveness of financing conditions at this point, she said.
The budget is "farmer friendly, common citizen friendly, business environment friendly" and will add to 'ease of living' and 'ease of doing business', Modi added.
The meeting with economists and financial experts has been called off due to pressing engagements of the finance minister.
In televised remarks after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget, Modi said it has many provisions for the agriculture sector, including for making loans easier for farmers.
Vodafone's Kisan Mitra will provide a spectrum of services for India's small farmers, simple mobile service interventions that can increase a farmer's income by Rs 8,000 per year.
PSB chiefs tried to argue that liquidity is in surplus in the system and the problem was related to lack of demand in the economy, instead of banks' reluctance to lend, but 'the FM said it is a perception issue that loan is not available, which we need to dispel,', reports Somesh Jha.
The wheels turn for bicycles, as manufacturers go back to the basics. After motorised two-wheelers overtook cycle sales in the country, manufacturers are focusing on commuter segment again and reviving entry-level cycles.
Banks are set to sell dud-loans worth Rs 90,000 crore of 22 firms in the first tranche to the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL). It's reason for cheer given that such sales to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) have been poor in recent times. In fiscal 2020, their assets under management (AUM) contracted by 4 per cent; and in fiscal 2021, it fell by another 100 basis points to Rs 1.07 trillion. So, why are we where we are?
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Reliance, Birla Group, Airtel eye small finance banks.
'We have already sanctioned loans worth over Rs 3,000 crore to around 120,000 customers.'
In the 2020-21 Budget, the prime minister and the finance minister are keen to stamp their narrative, after various rollbacks following the previous Budget, said top government sources. Besides the scheduled meetings, the sources said, the Prime Minister's Office is expected to hold several meetings with top secretaries and officials on various ongoing schemes, their performance and also how some of them could be tweaked for better results.
'There is good indication that the economy is bouncing back, but the problem is, we should look at the eight quarters preceding March 2020.' 'The growth had fallen below 3.1% before March 2020.' 'So, the governments must realise that even if you transform the best of green shoots into banyan trees, you see only 3.1% growth.'
Observing that MSME sector plays an important role in the growth of the Indian economy, RBI said the restructuring of the borrower account has been extended by further one year to March 31, 2021.
Vogo, which has a fleet of over 12,000 vehicles mainly across Hyderabad, Mysuru and Bengaluru, is also betting big on India's growing traffic congestion.
State Bank of India, India's largest lender, on Thursday slashed interest rates on working capital loans to micro, small and medium enterprises by 0.5-1 per cent effective from December 16.
'Look at the number of billionaires, the number of new billionaires in India.' 'Adani and Ambani are not the only ones.' 'What's wrong with people making money as long as it benefits us?'
The case is related to the alleged irregularities in granting clearance by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to INX Media, once owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjea, for receiving overseas funds to the tune of Rs 305 crore.
IFMR Capital previously pioneered the multi-originator securitisation.
The NDA government will be following the footsteps of its predecessor, the UPA, which had introduced the concept of "loan mela" to boost credit by directing banks to lend to people through public meetings.
The labour ministry has made public a list of 60 officers -- essentially labour commissioners in 20 regions across the country -- along with their e-mail address and contact numbers. They will deal with distress calls from workers who are working under the 'central sphere'.
Each postman has undergone a three-tier training process, after which they were evaluated by the National Institute of Banking and Finance and given certificates.
With the world's worst outbreak of COVID pandemic stalling a nascent economic recovery, the government has begun assessing the impact of the second wave of infections on different sectors and may look at providing support at an appropriate time to segments requiring fiscal help. Some of the economic indicators, including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, still provide confidence and incoming data will throw some more light on the state of the economy, sources said. Services sectors like hospitality, tourism and aviation which had just started recovering were hit hard by the second wave of COVID, the sources said, adding these segments might need some support on an urgent basis from the government.
Is the worst over for Indian banks? The past two years saw them ride on treasury trades as deposits soared and credit growth dipped sharply. Gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs) moved south, and the provision coverage ratio (PCR), capital buffers, and profitability indicators are back at pre-pandemic levels. So, what's the plot ahead?
With Narayan Rane, the BJP looks to expand its footprint in Mumbai and Konkan. But a perceived self-goal by him may have galvanised the restive Shiv Sena cadre and voters to coalesce around their party. Dhaval Kulkarni reports
If appointed interim head, Vishwanathan would head the central board meeting scheduled this Friday
Long-term capital gains tax may be scrapped and the burden of dividend distribution tax could perhaps be shifted from companies to shareholders. Also, the Budget could provide income tax relief for the salaried classes, while proposing tax sops for small, medium and micro enterprises.
If the country is to meet its jobs and income challenge, there has to be a parallel focus on jobs in the formal sector.
A look at six indicators shows all of them have collapsed from positive growth in April to contraction in September.
A small-scale industrialist in Puducherry was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly posting 'offensive' messages on the micro-blogging site Twitter targeting Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram.
Fitch Ratings on Monday said the shock to economic activity from the latest wave of COVID-19 pandemic will be less severe than the one in 2020, but recovery is likely to be delayed as economic activity dropped in April-May. The global rating agency said there are growing indications that the latest wave of COVID-19 infections will add to risks among financial institutions (FIs) and anticipates that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may introduce additional measures to support the financial sector if indications of economic stress mount.
Market breadth is positive with 942 advances and 196 declines.
Simpler GST structure will be key poll plank, Congress sources tell Archis Mohan.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said opening of transport and highways will go a long way in instilling confidence among the public and cautioned towards maintaining social distance and adopting all safety measures like hand wash, sanitizing, face masks, etc while operating buses and cars.
The meeting, which would have representation from the ministries of finance, external affairs and micro and small and medium enterprises, would suggest steps to prepare the way for the annual supplement to the Foreign Trade Policy (2009-2014), expected to be unveiled in April.
Auto-debit payment bounces have gone up for the second consecutive month in May, emphasising the stress building up due to a halt in economic activities as authorities lock down various parts of the country to stop the spread of the virus in the second wave. According to the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) data, in May, of the 85.7 million transactions initiated, 35.91 per cent, or 30.8 million transactions, failed.
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