This month, advertisements for managing directors and the senior management team for the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development or NaBFID, should be out, signalling the start of a financial institution (FI) like no other the country has ever had. For this and other reasons government managers associated with the NaBFID project are convinced it should remain a 100 per cent government-owned entity. This is somewhat different from what former economic affairs secretary Tarun Bajaj said when the NaBFID Bill was being tabled in Parliament earlier this year: "To begin with, it will be 100 per cent government owned.
'Airports must look at their maximum capacity to handle passengers.'
After 'mutual funds sahi hai', it could be the turn of something like 'stock market sahi hai'. Ahead of what will be India's biggest initial public offering, expected later this year, the government and the insurance major are planning a high-decibel awareness campaign for retail investors to ensure their participation in large numbers. "It may be along the lines of the highly successful campaign on mutual funds," an official privy to the developments said. The campaign will mainly target investors in tier II and tier III cities, and will be organised through the vast network of LIC agents to make the policyholders aware about investing in stock markets.
Private equity firm Carlyle Group and associates will acquire a controlling stake of over 50 per cent in PNB Housing Finance by investing in the Rs 4,000 crore preferential issue of equity and warrants of the Delhi-based mortgage lender. After the proposed transactions, expected to be completed by January 1, 2022, Carlyle will also have the right to nominate the chairperson of PNB Housing Finance (PNB HF). This right will continue as long as it holds at least 40 per cent of the share capital on a fully diluted basis.
All FIPB records will now be digitised; old and unnecessary files will be weeded out
The majority have stayed away from getting into cash handling.
SBI has been reeling under a mountain of bad loans for the past few years as the key sectors in the economy are faltering.
One thing is for sure: It smacks of the regulator's lack of confidence in the bank's board, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Amid rising demand for coal freight and an aggressive push towards diversifying its freight basket, Indian Railways is planning to buy 100,000 more wagons over the next three fiscal years. The procurement plan will majorly comprise BOXN wagons, which are used to transport coal, said a senior Ministry of Railways official. Notably, the railways recently floated a sizeable tender worth Rs 35,000 crore of wagons, which had been in the pipeline since 2018. "Our Budget Estimates for freight increase were conservative.
Australia has blazed a trail for women's cricket in recent few years but some players are worried that the national board may trim back domestic competitions as part of cost-cutting measures.
Future Retail's (FRL's) independent directors have written a second letter to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), stating American e-commerce major Amazon never intended to invest in Future Coupons (FCPL) and the representations made by the US e-commerce player were completely opposite and contradictory to their own internal correspondences as submitted before courts. The directors also wrote to CCI that Amazon has obtained approval by making deliberate misrepresentations. By actively misleading the CCI and the regulator, it has to revoke the approval granted for Amazon's investment in FCPL.
Ailing telecom operator Vodafone Idea has flagged the industry's "unsustainable financial duress" in its latest annual report and hoped that the government would provide the necessary support to address "all structural issues" faced by the sector. In the chairman's letter to shareholders, Himanshu Kapania cited persistent challenges in the operating environment, amid "unsustainable pricing" and "hyper-competition" during FY21. Kapania expressed hope that government will support efforts to generate reasonable returns on massive investments.
Airports hold pride of place in the government's National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) programme to monetise public assets. Private airport operators, including the Adani group, Fairfax, GMR and Zurich Airport, are expected to evince interest in the next round of public private partnership (PPP) development of state-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI) airports. Industry analysts, however, do not expect bids to be as high as the last round, which saw Adani group gain control of six airports.
The Yes Bank Reconstruction Scheme 2020, shall come into force on March 13, the gazette notification said.
Lack of financial commitments from rich countries poses threat to Paris meet
US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday held their first in-person meeting in Bali, with both leaders underscoring the need to manage their differences and prevent a conflict, amid Beijing's coercive military posturing against Taiwan and in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
'There have been many cases where clients have indicated that they feel suicidal as they feel they have no other options to deal with their financial hardship.'
The regulator is more carefully scrutinising applications by infrastructure investment vehicles that have a limited number of investors. They have been asked to broaden their investor base before application approval, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Securities and Exchange Board of India is concerned about the structure being used for getting around tax requirements, according to one of the sources.
Rules for mining, roads, power and irrigation projects relaxed.
Among the other conditions of the Hinduja group for picking up a stake in Jet is that bankers must take a haircut of 80 per cent and that they should help negotiate with operational creditors like aircraft lessors for moratorium on certain immediate payments.
The Income Tax Department detected bogus expenditure claims and alleged transfer of share capitals worth crores of rupees through shell companies after it recently raided some entities in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, including people linked to the Samajwadi Party.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has just released a proposal to alter the regulations pertaining to the sponsor system for mutual funds. One of the reasons for the proposed changes is that there are two conflicting regulations that need to be clarified. The other reason is that the sponsor system may itself be outdated as it stands, and the proposed changes would allow new entities such as private equity funds and portfolio management services to enter this space.
Be a disciplined investor for attractive returns, says fund managers.
Merely bringing down the government stake below 51% may not find any taker for the PSBs. The government must bring down its holding to at least 26%, recommends Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The clarification by the National Securities Depository (NSDL) - which is tasked with monitoring foreign portfolio investor (FPI) investment in domestic stocks - that the accounts of top investors in Adani group stocks remain 'active' has helped prevent a $500-million selloff of shares. Analysts said a freeze of the FPI accounts, as reported by some media outlets, could have prompted global index providers to cut weighting of four Adani group companies from their global indices. Brian Freitas, an analyst at independent research provider Smartkarma, said if the FPI accounts were indeed frozen, FTSE and MSCI would have reduced weighting of Adani group companies at the next rebalance, since it would have meant that the large part of the free float was not tradeable.
The government, under the Finance Act, 2020, had allowed tax exemption for SWFs and pension funds in the case of incomes from investment in 34 key infrastructure sectors, including hotels, cold chains, educational institutions, hospitals, and gas pipelines.
A lot depends on how Srei shapes up under the new administrator and his team, which is critical for investors' interest.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal has expressed hope that the government and regulators will step in to ensure the sector remains a viable place for continued investments and asserted that the industry requires "long overdue" support to maintain its current 3+1 structure. In the latest annual report of Airtel, Mittal said as the sector's role in the economy becomes more pervasive, its challenges loom larger. Issues such as unsustainable pricing and low returns in a highly capital-intensive environment, coupled with legacy legal issues, "have extracted their toll", Mittal observed.
'You have to be a total anti-national bozo to shut down the Nokia plant in Sriperumbudur, which was the first large manufacturing plant for mobile phones in India.' 'Why was the unit shut down? Because of somebody's ego.'
If you are serious about countering the Chinese threat, then the best weapon is investing in real freedom, plurality, elections and democracy. Unfortunately, it isn't an approach all Indians currently seem to agree on, asserts Shyam G Menon.
The World Bank's executive board unanimously selected 63-year-old Malpass, who is currently Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs, as the bank's 13th President for a five-year term beginning April 9.
Is there more than meets the eye to Kitex Garments, the world's second-largest children's garment producer, abandoning Kerala for Telangana?
In stock market parlance, "meme stock" was certainly the word of the year. Coined to mean those stocks that gain sudden popularity on the internet with resultant high prices, it was used to derisively describe the behaviour of retail traders globally who entered the market in huge numbers in the two Covid-19 years. A recent study, "Market Concentration and Retail Participation in India", by the National Stock Exchange economics team led by their chief economist Tirthankar Patnaik shows unlike these impressions, the retail investors, at least in India, have not performed inconsistently.
The market watchdog had directed that pending completion of the probe, revenues from the co-location facility - starting September 2016 - be transferred to a separate bank account.
The remaining 0.35 per cent will be credited in December this year, if the EPFO is able to redeem its equity investments.
It could be a matter of concern that foreign shareholders of the NSE are registered in tax havens such as Mauritius and Cyprus.
Why can't we have a sunset clause for the ARCs, which is a global norm? questions Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The past appears to have interrupted the future of the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS). With two protected heritage buildings sitting in the way of the plan to redevelop the railway station, officials in the know say the project may end up back on the drawing board since the National Monuments Authority (NMA), the body tasked with the protection and preservation of monuments and sites, is yet to give its approval. "A nod from NMA is awaited before going into the next phase of bids for the redevelopment of the New Delhi Railway Station," a senior official of the Ministry of Railways told Business Standard. While the Railways ministry is hopeful of getting approvals from the NMA before the end of the current financial year, there is no clarity on this yet.
A landmark climate change deal was clinched on Saturday with the approval of India, China and the US, after days of tough negotiations in Paris.
As the feud continues between Zee and Invesco, appellate body NCLAT on Thursday directed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to give reasonable opportunity to the media major to reply to Invesco's plea for holding a meeting of shareholders, and also remarked that the tribunal made an "error" by not providing sufficient response time. With the order capping a day of fast legal developments at the NCLAT as well as the NCLT within a span of a little over an hour, the spat between Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and minority shareholder Invesco will now come up for hearing before the NCLT on Friday. Invesco is seeking the ouster of ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka and appointment of six new directors on its board.