There was no smooth surge in middle class prosperity for foreign businesses to tap into because of the Indian economy was mismanaged, argues Debashis Basu.
Gaurav Deepak has raised funds for about 100 new-age entrepreneurs.
Growing business opportunities fuelled by a robust economy and an increasing number of private equity investors are prompting investment bankers to quit their jobs and turn entrepreneurs.
Vedanta Resources (VRL), the diversified mining company headquartered in London, is giving final touches to a plan to raise up to $2.5 billion (about Rs 20,800 crore) as debt repayment deadlines near. The company owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal plans to do this by a combination of instruments, including issuing preference shares in the holding company to a slew of offshore investors from West Asia, and taking on another loan to refinance older debt at a higher interest rate. VRL, which is the group's holding company, is also looking to sell part of its 63.71 per cent stake in the Indian listed subsidiary Vedanta Ltd to meet funding requirements, said a banker close to the development.
On Thursday, Adani Enterprises announced that it will not go ahead with acquiring Macquarie group's two road companies at an enterprise valuation of Rs 3,100 crore.
A revival in investment is likely to be a key near-term initiative.
G20 finance ministers meet in London on Friday to chart the next steps out of the global economic crisis, with calls to curb bankers' bonuses as part of beefed-up financial market rules topping the agenda.
While inflation has stayed in the negative territory for past several weeks, analysts are wondering whether the interest rates have bottomed out with signs of economic recovery.
Jet is losing money fast, beset by high costs, low fares and cut-throat competition in its domestic market.
The possibility of key policy rate cut is not bright as industrial output grew by 6.8 per cent in January against just 2.5 per cent in the previous month.
Reserve Bank Governor D Subbaro on Tuesday said there is scope for banks to lower lending rates further, but most top bankers maintained that interest rates will remain the same in the near term and could even rise after 3-4 months.
In the quarterly review of its annual monetary policy on Tuesday, the central bank is also likely to lay out a more clear roadmap to conduct the government borrowing programme in a smooth manner and may hike the GDP and inflation forecast for FY'10, they said. To arrest the slowdown in the economy by stimulating demand the apex bank has trimmed its CRR to 5 per cent, repo and reverse repo rates to 4.75 per cent and 3.25 per cent respectively since October last year.
Currently, banks are closed every second and fourth Saturday of a month. Why shouldn't they be shut every Saturday? When most customers carry their banks in their pocket (the app on the mobile phone), there is no need to keep banks open on Saturdays, argues Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In January, banks had rejected SBI Caps' initial proposal on Air India's debt recast, which suggested converting a part of the carrier's debt into cumulative redeemable preference shares, with an eight per cent dividend.
Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL) is in discussions to acquire a 29.8 per cent stake in Tata Play from the Walt Disney Company, according to sources close to the development. This move is seen as part of RIL's broader strategy to deepen its footprint in India's television distribution sector. Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, currently holds a 50.2 per cent stake in the satellite television broadcaster.
Mallya's comments came a day after country's largest lender, State Bank's Chairman O P Bhatt said that rising levels of stressed assets may push up defaults in the domestic banking system and banks need to enhance their risk management mechanisms to tackle the issue. However, BoB has a comfortable liquidity position and has its NPA levels under control, Mallya said, adding, "the bank has adequate headroom to raise capital but did not have any immediate plans to do so."
For five consecutive policy reviews in 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) chose to hold rates, citing inflation threat. And when the prices did cool off a bit, it reminded all about the target to get the headline consumer price inflation at 4 per cent and the risks from food inflation. Heading into the new year, all eyes are on when RBI will cut the rates, especially after one of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members stressed on the need for such an action in the face of the US Federal Reserve's guidance for easing rates.
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While bankers and experts expect the lending rate to fall by about one percentage point in the near-term, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has strongly pitched for rate cut by the RBI in its monetary policy review later in the month.
Top bankers on Wednesday exuded confidence that Raghuram Govind Rajan, who today took over as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank, has the intellectual prowess to wade through the present difficulties facing the economy and wished him all success for the stint at Mint Road.
Swiss banking professionals under the agies of the Swiss Bankers Association met the Reserve Bank of India officials on Wednesday to discuss areas of cooperation. They also apprised the Indian banking regulator about the steps that Swiss authorities had initiated to implement stringent anti-money laundering laws.
The Supreme Court's decision to allow borrowers a chance to be heard before their accounts are flagged as fraudulent by lenders is expected to result in several cases being reopened where the borrower is aggrieved because of such classification, bankers said. Still, the reopening of cases would not be automatic. A borrower who is aggrieved by the 'fraud' classification will have to approach the bank and consequently, the bank will take the necessary steps so that the apex court's order is followed in letter and spirit, they said.
In a surprise move, the Reserve Bank on Wednesday left the repo rate unchanged at 7.75 per cent, while the cash reserve ratio too is retained at 4 per cent.
Officials from 22 banks made representations before the minister and his panel about the industry expectations from the next financial budget.
Leaving behind the luxe life and dapper suits of foreign banks, Puri and his team at the upstart venture shared fizz drinks, wore a footwear brand popular among the middle class, shared a rat-infested space in a yet-to-be gentrified work space to plan and execute it.
Head of state-run Indian Bank T M Bhasin had called for a CRR cut.
Some have been cherry-picked to assert the BJP's supremacy over its allies or, significantly, its leaders who charted an independent course in the recent past.
Bankers on Thursday said the status quo in the monetary stance of the Reserve Bank is largely on expected lines taken after considering the tight liquidity situation and overall cooling inflation numbers.
Bankers said on Friday interest rates are likely to be stable in the short term as the liquidity position in the country is comfortable. "Interest rates look stable for the time being... at least till April," O P Bhatt, chairman of State Bank of India, told reporters on the sidelines of Finance Minister P Chidambaram's meeting with bankers in New Delhi.
FM will meet public sector bankers tomorrow in a pre-budget meet to stress on credit targets and enhancing credits to minorities.
Bankers on Wednesday told the Reserve Bank of India that it will be difficult to make significant cuts in lending rates for about six months - the time required by them to shed high-cost deposits.
The venue for Saturday's meeting was shifted at the last minute from the headquarters of the India Banks' Association in Cuffe Parade to avoid media glare.
Sebi takes 6 merchant bankers to task for lapses in IPO
Former investment banker Ed Woodward will take on the top executive role at Manchester United from July, working with manager Alex Ferguson to hire new players for the 19-times English soccer champions.
The government by mid-January will appoint merchant bankers for the mega Rs 13,500 crore (Rs 135 billion) public offering of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which is targeted to hit the market in March.
The government intends to disinvest 5 per cent stake in PFC, while the company would issue fresh shares to the tune of 15 per cent through the follow-on public offer.
