Over 210,000 executives in estimated 240 central public sector undertakings are in for a bonanza with a pay revision committee recommending a massive hike in their annual cost-to-company. The hike ranges between 379 per cent at the highest level and 57 per cent at the lowest across companies and levels.
After the CPI(M), the crucial partner of the ruling UPA government, raised its voice against any attempt to shut down three public sector vaccine manufacturing units, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss has quickly moved to announce that it will upgrade the units and 'do everything to protect their interest'.
At least two public sector banks Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank have quietly increased interest rates on short-term deposits to raise resources and manage asset-liability mismatch. Union Bank has announced a special deposit scheme for 400 days, which offers 9 per cent interest. The scheme was launched much before the announcement of the monetary policy. Chennai-based Indian Overseas Bank has also raised rates for large deposits.
Mihir Tanna, Associate Director, S K Patodia & Associates, answers your tax queries.
Finance Minister Chidambaram has summoned chiefs of public sector banks on May 1. This meeting will be held 2 days after the annual credit policy to review their financial performance in 2007-08. The move is being seen in banking circles as a message from the Centre to ensure that the public sector does not take interest rate cues from the central bank alone. Detailed agenda of the meeting has not been circulated. Bankers are waiting for signals from the RBI's monetary policy
The new guidelines restrict bankers not just from advising private sector companies in the 'same line of business' on public issues.
Public sector lenders Canara Bank, Corporation Bank and Allahabad Bank have decided to lower interest rates on housing loans, preferring to keep their prime lending rates (PLRs) unchanged. ICICI Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer K V Kamath has indicated that the country's second largest bank would review interest rates only in 2008-09.
Tata Sons stake in the group's listed companies is now worth Rs 9.28 trillion, up 34.4 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. In comparison, the Government of India's stake in listed central public sector undertakings (PSUs) is currently valued at Rs 9.24 trillion
The staff of public sector banks had gone on a nationwide strike for two days beginning February 10 after discussions with the IBA failed.
The government on Friday slapped an export tax on petrol, diesel and jet fuel (ATF) while also joining nations like the UK in imposing a windfall tax on crude oil produced locally. A Rs 6 per litre tax on export of petrol and ATF and Rs 13 per litre tax on export of diesel is effective from July 1, finance ministry notifications showed. Additionally, a Rs 23,250 per tonne tax was levied on crude oil produced domestically.
With recruitment numbers having dropped off sharply since the liberalisation process got under way in 1991, large-scale retirements of people hired during the 1970s and 1980s will leave large gaps in the organisational structures of these banks.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
Kotak Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 3 per cent, followed by HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints and TCS. NSE Nifty surged 142.20 points to 15,098.40.
In Budget 2020-21, the Department of Space has been allocated Rs 13,949.09 crore, of which Rs 8,228.63 crore has been earmarked for capital expenditure.
HCL Tech was the top loser in the Sensex pack, skidding over 4 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra Dr Reddy's, Wipro, TCS, Titan and Infosys. NSE Nifty plunged 167.80 points to 17,110.15.
The department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) can also seek in-principle approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for strategic divestment of PSUs on a case-to-case basis considering investor appetite and sectoral trends.
Ulhas Joshi, Head -- Sales, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
Officers of public sector oil companies have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from August 21 if their demand for higher salaries was not met.
The nation-wide strike call has been given by United Forum of Bank Unions, consisting of nine national level unions, including AIBEA, NCBE, BEFI, INBEF, NOBW and AIBOC.
The posts of Chairman and MD in the private sector are held separately.
The government has shortlisted Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas for giving legal advice on upcoming mega IPO of India's largest insurance company LIC, an official said. Four law firms - Crawford Bayley, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Link Legal and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co - had made presentations before the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on September 24. Following presentations, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has been selected as legal advisor for the initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the official told PTI.
The UPA-II may not talk about this, but it continues to implement its programme to revive ailing PSUs by investing fresh capital.
The current power crisis is mainly on account of sharp decline in electricity generation from different fuel sources and not due to non-availability of domestic coal, a top official said on Sunday. The above statement assumes significance in the wake of reports of many states, including Maharashtra, facing power outages due to shortage of coal. In an interview to PTI, Coal Secretary A K Jain attributed the low coal stocks at power plants to several factors such as heightened power demand due to the boom in the economy post COVID-19, early arrival of summer, rise in the price of gas and imported coal and sharp fall in electricity generation by coastal thermal power plants.
Considering the scarcity of land for development projects in Kerala, there should be optimal use of the land being held by the public sector companies, experts said.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
At present, 58 per cent of the population has bank account.
Sources said the company had already applied for a licence to produce defence products.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday relaxed the norms for valuing perpetual bonds. The norms, which had sought to value banks' deemed residual maturity of Basel III additional tier 1 (AT1) bonds as 100-year debt from April 1, were strongly opposed by the finance ministry. In a statement released on Monday, the regulator said the maturity would be 10 years until March 31, 2022, and would be increased to 20 and 30 years over the subsequent six-month period.
The target of mopping up Rs 1.75 lakh crore from divestments of some of the public sector companies, including LIC and BPCL during the current fiscal, is on track and groundwork is being prepared for the goal, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said on Monday. On the COVID-19 pandemic, Subramanian said the impact of the second wave is lesser than that of the first one. In an interactive session, organised by Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the CEA said robust GST collections, over Rs one lakh crore per month for eight months in a row shows that consumption is picking up indicating positive signal for growth.
L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, ONGC and M&M. NSE Nifty jumped 119.20 points to 14,942.35.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet chiefs of public sector banks here on Saturday, at a time when industrial growth has decelerated to a 13-month low of 7.1 per cent and interest rates have moved northward.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)'s decision to require a minimum of 25 per cent public shareholding for government companies translates into around Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) in divestments in the next three years.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on Friday reported a 46 per cent jump in net profit for the three months ended June on the back of bumper earnings from oil and telecom businesses. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit rose to Rs 17,955 crore during April-June period -- the first quarter of 2022-23 fiscal year -- from Rs 12,273 crore in the year-ago period, it said a stock exchange filing.
Changing tracks helps. But, not taking the beaten path isn't always helpful. This is the story of two of India's biggest privatisations - Air India and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL). Nearly two decades after the last privatisation, a landmark divestment concluded this year when the loss-making national carrier Air India was sold to the Tatas.
Confronted with competition, state-run logistics companies are opting for joint ventures among themselves and with the private sector.
Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto and Infosys. NSE Nifty rose 76.40 points to 15,174.80.
Public sector banks want to pass on the increasing cost of funds to borrowers across the board, but are unwilling to take the plunge right away.
Dr Reddy's was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, HDFC twins, Infosys, M&M and PowerGrid. NSE Nifty slumped 137.65 points to 14,496.50.
Non-performing assets of banks have increased from Rs 2.75 lakh crore in March 2015 to Rs 7.33 lakh crore as on June 2017.
The government has appointed 10 merchant bankers including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India, and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities India to manage the mega initial public offering of country's largest insurer LIC. Other selected bankers include SBI Capital Market, JM Financial, Axis Capital, BofA Securities, JP Morgan India, ICICI Securities, and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co Ltd, a circular on the divestment department website said. "Government has finalised the book running lead managers and some other advisors for the IPO of LIC," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. The divestment department had invited applications for the appointment of merchant bankers on July 15.
