Ministry says capital infusion if loans extended only to productive sectors
Defence already accounts for one-third of the national capital spend, the government says.
Their favourite alternatives: Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Note, India is missing from that list. And this is despite an attractive financial incentive scheme for OSAT players. The reason, said a senior executive of a US chip company who had a meeting in Taiwan just a few weeks ago, is that "they want more predictability in government policy because they plan to put in big money."
L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank. NSE Nifty surged 168.05 points to 14,653.05.
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.
The government is working towards further review and simplification of the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to facilitate the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary Anurag Jain said on Thursday. The final decision will be taken by the Cabinet. The industry department is working together with the finance ministry's department of financial services (DFS) and department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) towards a successful listing of the life insurer on the domestic bourses, which is expected to be the largest in India.
Perhaps the finance ministry or NITI Aayog could take a detailed look at what governments actually deliver and at what cost; how their services can be improved and expanded where necessary; how much money can be saved through doing things differently; and how many things the government does which it can safely leave to the private sector, argues T N Ninan.
There is money to buy the central public sector enterprises, but buyers will need a firm assurance that the disvestment programme will keep environment issues front and centre of their corporate plans.
Though Kishore Biyani is selling stakes in group companies to pay off debt, a significant share price crash since January this year is making his task difficult.
For the first time, the government on Wednesday delegated financial powers for capital procurement projects worth up to Rs 200 crore to armed forces officials below the level of vice chiefs to help them meet emerging security challenges, officials said.
Government may also consider giving relief to some of the worst-affected sectors.
The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) has launched a probe into the books of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company (EARC) following allegations by a whistleblower of fund diversion and irregularities. The whistleblower, Paras Kuhad, a former additional solicitor general of India, had written to the Prime Minister's Office and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Kuhad has alleged that Edelweiss Group and Caisse de depot et placement du Qubec (CDPQ), a Canadian institutional investor, which hold stakes in the ARC, diverted funds and did not adhere to norms while making investments in EARC's instruments. Sources have indicated that a probe has been initiated, but the MCA did not comment on the issue.
The government needs to make the right policies and further execute them properly if it wants to move towards this goal
It may sound bizarre, but incidents of public sector bankers dying by suicide could probably equal the number of such bankers quitting their jobs, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Thailand, Indonesia want unconditional access to India's multi-brand retail space.
Sitharaman cancels Myanmar trip at last moment citing launch of Modi's Jan Dhan Yojana.
There are no regulations governing virtual currencies in India and the RBI has not given any licence to any entity/company to operate such currencies.
According to the latest Budget papers, the staff strength of central ministries and departments is estimated to rise by 276,796 to 3.44 million at the end of FY23, it would be up by 109,266 to 3.55 million in March 2024.
'India's edtech and start-up story will be in danger.'
The differences revolved around the two topics of how much reserves the RBI should carry and whether the finance ministry had precipitated matters by invoking Section 7 of the RBI Act, that allows it to give directions to the RBI in public interest.
Trading sentiment in the equity markets this week will be guided by global cues, Covid-19 trends and quarterly earnings by market heavyweight TCS, analysts said. Investors will also monitor movement of rupee and crude oil as well as progress of monsoon, they added.
Total foreign direct investment into India rose 2 per cent to the "highest ever" $83.57 billion in 2021-22 on account of various measures like policy reforms and ease of doing business taken by the government, the commerce and industry ministry said on Friday. Total FDI comprises equity inflows, reinvested earnings and other capital. In 2020-21, the inflow stood at $81.97 billion. It was $74.39 billion in 2019-20 and $62 billion in 2018-19. "India has recorded the highest ever annual FDI inflow of $83.57 billion in 2021-22," the ministry noted in a statement.
According to the EPFO estimates, there would be a surplus of Rs 151.67 crore after providing 8.65 per cent rate of interest for 2018-19 on EPF.
There is no reason for keeping an entire ministry with a total staff strength of 2,300, just for the oversight of a few aviation sector laws and regulatory bodies, notes A K Bhattacharya.
From a surge in airfares to rattled aircraft lessors to thousands of employees staring at uncertainty, it has been a month of continued turbulence since cash-strapped Go First suspended flights from May 3. As the government and other stakeholders hope that Go First restarts operations at the earliest, plans are being worked out for the budget airline's revival. A section of Go First staff are optimistic about restarting of operations, another section are pessimistic about the airline's future course considering what had happened to erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways, according to employees who spoke to PTI.
RBI had a board meeting recently.
In a multi-city protest on Monday, a large number of company secretaries (CS) and chartered accountants (CAs) came together to seek extension of the deadline for annual filing due to glitches in the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) portal. According to the Companies Act, firms are supposed to submit Form AOC 4 for filing of the balance sheet within 30 days of holding the annual general meeting (AGM). This deadline was over on October 29.
The government can also individually exempt the PSBs, that are to be privatisated from the two Bank Nationalisation Acts. This will bring such lenders under Banking Regulation Act, and make them companies, reports Nikunj Ohri.
The amount would enable the banking behemoth to fuel its business plans, particularly in the face of rising competition from private and overseas rivals with deep pockets.
Bharti Airtel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, plunging around 6 per cent, followed by TCS, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Tech Mhindra, Infosys and Hero MotoCorp. On the other hand, Titan, Ultratech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India and ITC were among the gainers.
Hit by Covid waves and slowdown, the Indian Railways has still not been able to return to its pre-pandemic passenger traffic, data by ministry of Railways has revealed. In February, the national transporter received 413 million ticket bookings - 43 per cent higher than the previous year, but only 61 per cent of the 675 million in February 2020. According to the statistics, that was the last time the Railways saw more than 500 million bookings in a single month.
The banks argue since the scale of credits is unforeseen, they will have to bear an unknown cost of servicing these accounts.
Sentiment in the market will also be guided by other major market movers like trend in the rupee, Brent crude and foreign capital flows.
As per the latest finance ministry data, the total balance in over 36.06 crore Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts was at Rs 1,00,495.94 crore as on July 3.
The posts of Chairman and MD in the private sector are held separately.
ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 18 per cent, followed by HUL, UltraTech Cement, RIL, TCS, HDFC, ITC and Asian Paints. Only HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank settled in the red. NSE Nifty zoomed 482 points, or 5.83 per cent, to close at 8,745.45.
'These firms do not contravene provisions of Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, which bar members of the countries not allowing Indians to practice accountancy in their jurisdiction to become chartered accountants in India,' said the committee, headed by Anurag Agarwal, a joint secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs, and such Indian audit firms cannot be equated with multi-national corporations.
Vodafone Idea (Vi) is in continuous talks with network vendors to finalise its 5G rollout plans, Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra said. "We are in early stages of 5G deployment. "5G is an important development and we are keeping our eyes on it," Moondra said on Wednesday in a post-result analyst call. Already five months behind rivals Jio and Airtel in the 5G race, Vi's efforts will be on the deployment of 5G in target geographies.
Punj Lloyd voluntarily deposited Rs 1.06 crore (Rs 10.6 million) on the spot through challans when excise officials visited them during an investigation in the matter.
It added that following this, the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare of Ministry of Defence vide communication dated November 7, 2015, conveyed the policy of OROP for the defence force personnel.