India's privatisation push, once projected as a cornerstone of economic reform, has suffered another setback, with the Centre set to call off the IDBI Bank stake sale, highlighting the political and structural constraints shaping the country's disinvestment policy, experts say.
State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) is willing to dilute a 30-40 per cent stake in its upcoming greenfield refinery in Andhra Pradesh, with Gulf energy major Saudi Aramco and upstream player Oil India Ltd (OIL) likely to join as partners, a senior BPCL executive said.
Heavy rains caused severe waterlogging, traffic jams, and disruptions to local train services in Mumbai. Schools and colleges were closed due to a 'red alert' issued by the IMD.
India is working closely with Belgium to extradite fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who was arrested in Antwerp on Saturday based on a formal request from the Indian government. Choksi is wanted by Indian probe agencies in connection with a Rs 13,500-crore bank loan fraud case involving the Punjab National Bank (PNB). His nephew, Nirav Modi, is also facing extradition proceedings in the UK.
Bankers have decided to fight back against 'arbitrary arrests' and 'harassment' by probe agencies.
As banks' chase for customers to collect cheap deposits is not fructifying, they are forced to offer inflation-beating real interest rates on fixed deposits now, and state-run banks led by Punjab & Sind Bank tops the chart offering 8-8.50 per cent per annum deposit rate. Banks are forced to offer inflation-beating deposit rates for a tenor ranging from 200 to 800 days as credit growth has been far outpacing deposit mobilization throughout this fiscal, leading to a funding crunch.
In the biggest consolidation exercise in the banking space, the government on Friday announced four major mergers of public sector banks, bringing down their total number to 12 from 27 in 2017, a move aimed at making state-owned lenders global sized banks.
'A government whose policies are focused around making the life of ordinary citizens, specially the most deprived sections, richer; a government that prioritises education, health and transport, that doesn't treat its citizens as subjects who must come to it for everything, is rare in our country.' 'When such a government is thrown out, one is left stunned,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
Prayagraj is a must-visit place in 2025, but in January and February you can't miss the Maha Kumbh, a spectacular event like no other.
MCA blamed its financial troubles on non-receipt of payments from the Board of Control for Cricket in India for the last 10 months.
Private sector lenders have been communicating to their customers about their strong capital positions but it has not put depositors at ease.
With new private banks in the play, the going could become more difficult for the old-school state-run banks, already losing business and market position, forcing them to think hard towards consolidating and forming larger entities to garner big-ticket deals.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 48 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the relentless heat affecting health and livelihoods across large parts of northwestern and central India.
'It seems to be a bit of an aberration. It should be set right; there is a proper mechanism in place. In the normal course, the state police do not have any jurisdiction on central government employees,' the official said.
The govt plans to seek Centre's help for a re-assessment by the World Bank.
While 'Ram' and 'Sita' were the preferred names for many, a baby boy born to a Muslim family in the district hospital in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, was named Ram Rahim by his grandmother.
A railway official said a train has been booked for the Dussehra rally from Nanded city in central Maharashtra.
Sanjay Gulati, a resident of suburban Oshiwara, went to a protest march held outside a city court on Monday morning and had been under stress because of his deposit being stuck.
'He said the N D Studios wasn't functioning, shootings were not happening.'
The talk of governance reforms at public-sector banks seems to remain on paper, as a majority of them continue to be working with just a handful board members. Half of the board seat at these banks have been vacant. Ten of the 12 public-sector banks, even large ones like Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India - all except State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda - don't even have a chairman. In 2014, while splitting the post of chairman & managing director (CMD), the government had decided to appoint non-executive chairmen at these banks. SBI, which has an executive chairman and four managing directors, was an exception.
Bankers have hailed the Prime Minister's call to end "financial untouchability" and opened millions of accounts on the inaugural day itself.
While some states like Kerala and Telangana were badly hit by the strike, the impact was partial in Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra
Analysts say loan growth, Casa ratio and exposure to sectors under pressure did not indicate any stress at United Bank.
Bankers have been criticised for not passing the benefits of rate cuts
Mundra fills the vacancy created by the retirement of KC Chakrabarty in April, two months before his five-year tenure was come to an end.
The career bureaucrat-turned-central banker walked into the 19th floor corner room of the Reserve Bank on December 12, 2018. Since February 2019, the Das-led RBI has cut the repo rate by a whopping 135 basis points to support the sagging growth, including an unprecedented 35 bps reduction in August. As he completes one year at the helm, woes in the NBFC sector, overall health of the banking sector and steeply falling economic growth are among the major challenges that needs to be tackled sooner than later.
SBI is the third state-run lender to lower the lending rates after Indian Overseas Bank Tuesday and Bank of Maharashtra which also lowered their loan prices by 5 bps on loan tenors of one year and above, effective April 10.
Bankers back the new bankruptcy code, which would impose debt deadlines on failed firms and foresees up to five years in jail for debtors who conceal property or defraud creditors
The rising COVID-19 infections across the country are a matter of concern, but it may not impact the ongoing economic revival as one does not foresee lockdowns, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday. The economic revival will continue "unabated", Das said, asserting that there is no need for a downward revision of RBI's 10.5 per cent GDP growth forecast for FY22. Speaking at Times Network's India Economic Conclave, Das said, "We have 'insurance' to protect economic revival like a fast-paced vaccination drive, greater ability among people to follow COVID protocols", and one does not see lockdowns as well.
Bankers said high interest rate could make Indian economy sluggish given that inflation is around 5%
Among the private banking majors ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down 0.2%-0.5% each.
Where do the four members of the Supreme Court appointed panel to interface with farmers stand on the Modi government's farm laws?
Data compiled by NPAsource.com, a portal that focuses on resolution of stressed assets, shows that there are around 2,200 units in the commercial category and nearly 11,000 units in the residential segment funded by banks and other financial institutions and valued at over Rs 7,700 crore, which have turned NPAs and are on the block.
Referring to Modi, Adityanath and Union Home Minister Amit Shah as 'outsiders', the farmer leader said he has no objection if they become prime ministers after winning polls from Uttarakhand or Gujarat.
Strangely, a few days after filing the charges, the CBI teams arrived in Hyderabad and Mumbai to raid GVK's offices and found incriminating evidence, a reversal of the normal course of events.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit said, if home buyers are not ready to pay their outstanding amount, then the court will have to bundle up the projects.
Want the Congress MP to stop the process of transfer of stake, divestment.
Fadnavis claimed the BJP was "beyond running behind anyone" as the people of India were with the party and the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 7,409, as many as 764 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. Of the total 273 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 127 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 36, Gujarat at 22 and Delhi at 19.
Markets extended gains led by financials and capital goods shares coupled with a rebound in IT shares.