Expressing the government's commitment to continue with reforms, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday assured India Inc that it is ready to do everything required to revive and support economic growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Stressing that there is a need to promote growth as it helps bring down poverty, she however said it would not be at the cost of inflation. RBI has been mandated to keep inflation at 4 per cent, with tolerance level of 2 per cent on either side.
'They want (the ownership and management of PSU banks) to pass into the hands of a private sector entity.' 'Ownership of these banks will go from the public sector to private sector.'
Chemical and Fertiliser Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday unveiled an expansion plan for government sector undertakings involved in the production of steel and particularly Steel Authority of India.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
12 out of 21 public sector banks reported declines in their loan books in the last financial year against seven such banks in 2015-16 and none in 2013-14.
Reliance had shut its 1,432 filling stations in March 2008 after sales dropped to almost nil as it could not match the subsidised price.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies on Thursday crossed the historic Rs 200 lakh crore mark for the first time, driven by a continuous rally in the broader market. Riding high on the bullish investor sentiment, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies reached a record Rs 2,00,47,191.31 crore at close of trade. The 30-share BSE index closed the day with a gain of 358.54 points or 0.71 per cent at its lifetime peak of 50,614.29. This is the fourth consecutive day of gains for the markets.
Emphasising the government's commitment to modernising and expanding PSUs, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said his government has no "divestment strategy" for state-run units.
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.
LPG customers of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) will continue to get cooking gas subsidy post-privatisation of the nation's second-biggest fuel retailers, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Friday. "Subsidy on LPG is paid to consumers directly and not to any company. So the ownership of the company that sells LPG is not of any material consequence," Pradhan told PTI. The government gives 12 cooking gas (LPG) cylinders of 14.2-kg each to households in a year at a subsidised rate.
"The Corporation has decided to offer a voluntary retirement scheme, with a view to enable employees who are not in a position to continue in service of the Corporation due to various personal reasons, to request for grant of voluntary retirement from the services of the Corporation," Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) said in an internal notice to its employees.
The Congress has alleged that the Gujarat government was playing with the lives of coronavirus patients to promote 'Dhaman-1' ventilators made by a firm `owned by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's friend'. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party called the allegations levelled by the Congress on Thursday as baseless and said the opposition party was maligning the image of a local manufacturer.
The public sector oil companies -- Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -- may suffer a Rs 25,000 crore revenue loss on fuel sales this fiscal, said S Behuria, chairman and managing director, IOC.IOC, BPCL and HPCL incurred a revenue loss of Rs 1.03 lakh crore on sale of petroleum fuel in 2008-09. The global rise in crude oil prices will increase the under-recoveries for PSUs on sale of fuel at controlled prices.
The UFBU is an umbrella body of nine bank employees unions of the country and claims to have members from public, private and foreign banks. "We are on strike from today as Indian Banks' Association did not concede to the bank unions demand for the wage hike," said United Forum of Bank Unions convener C H Venkatachalam.
Gains were led by realty, auto, capital goods, banking, infrastructure, metals, power, oil & gas, PSU and consumer durables sectors, which rose up to 3.30 per cent.
The government will retain 51 per cent stake in all public sector units, finance secretary Ashok Chawla said. The government has proposed to mop up Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion) this fiscal from divestment of stake in PSUs.
From a consumer point of view too this would bring about an improvement in the service levels of these companies as there would be more pressure on these companies to perform better and get profits.
The question mark over Vodafone Idea's survival is gone after the government's telecom package, managing director and chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar said in an interaction recently. The extended moratorium for spectrum payments and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues has indeed ensured that Vodafone Idea survives, at least for the time being, but questions remain. Answers to those questions may determine the future of Vodafone Idea and its power to stay in a difficult telecom market in the coming years.
Officers of public sector oil companies will go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday that may cripple aviation fuel supply within hours and hit auto fuel supplies in a couple of days.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday proposed to infuse Rs 7,940 crore funds next fiscal in the public sector banks.
'The consolidation of the world's fifth-largest economy in the hands of 15-20 corporate giants is a once-in-generation event, which we are focusing on.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday indicated that the full Budget for 2009-10 may announce a disinvestment of government stake in public sector companies. A host of companies waiting for the government nod for disinvestment include Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, railway consultancy firm RITES, National Aviation Company, and Ircon.
Unlike any other national asset, which is typically sold to the highest bidder, the profile of the bidder is the most important criterion for a licence to bank, and even for acquiring more than 5 per cent stake, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
With the privatisation of BPCL appearing inevitable, there are worries that the new promoter would soon move to lower wages.
As many as 20 public sector banks, including big ones like Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank, have failed to achieve the annual farm sector lending target till November, 2009.
Out of nearly 30 public sector undertakings and assets under 'strategic sale' plan, only the ONGC-HPCL plan has been completed
The All India Bank Employees Association, Bank Employees Federation of India, All India Bank Officers' Association and National Union of Bank Employees have given a call for one day country-wide strike.
The indices closed with losses for the week, with the Sensex declining 476.14 points, and the broader NSE Nifty falling 155.45 points during the period.
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 comments follow media reports that the government is looking to sell 10 per cent stake in Coal India to raise Rs 24,000 crore (Rs 240 day).
At present directors, chairman and managing directors of public sector companies are selected from that company itself or from other companies in the same area of operations.
With the restructuring process in full swing, public sector banks have stepped-up monitoring to keep non-performing assets (NPAs) at desired levels.
'I have been advising investors since the last couple of months to at least take their capital out.' 'Most of the people have made 50-60 per cent in the market, if not more, they must at least take their capital out.'
Public sector lenders led by State Bank of India said on Monday that they will look at further interest rate cuts.SBI chairman O P Bhatt told reporters after a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the bank is considering cutting its prime lending rate for the second time in as many months.
Under fire over the moves to appoint politicians who do not fit the conditions as independent directors on the board of public sector companies, the government has amended the eligibility criteria for the job.
The Reserve Bank of India is formulating guidelines that would allow government-owned banks get into the private equity business.
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