The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has asked the finance ministry to spell out a clear legal strategy, including options such as a "golden share" or indirect control structures, to maintain strategic oversight in public sector entities if state ownership falls below 51 per cent.
The government on Wednesday put out the draft of a new policy that projects the country's power sector will need Rs 50 trillion in investments by 2032 and Rs 200 trillion by 2047, proposing ambitious reforms in generation, transmission and distribution.
As many as 2.17 lakh pieces of fake notes of various denominations were detected during 2024-25 compared to 2.23 lakh such notes in the previous year, Parliament was informed on Monday. Of this, highest -- 117,722 pieces -- counterfeit notes of 500 [MG (New) Series] were detected in FY25, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
A delegation of high-level executives from US public pension funds (non-profit and government sectors) is visiting India next week to assess and familiarise themselves with the investment opportunities in the country. These executives belong to various American states and cumulatively represent $1.8 trillion in assets under management (AUM) invested across the US and global markets. The United States (US) mission to India, which includes its embassy and consulates and the Department of Treasury, along with India's Ministry of Finance and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), is hosting the delegation.
Bengaluru-headquartered electric two-wheeler manufacturer Ather Energy is all set to file its draft red herring prospectus within the second week of September to the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for its maiden initial public offering (IPO), in which it is expected to raise over $450 million. On Tuesday, the fourth-largest electric two-wheeler maker in the country by volume raised Rs 600 crore from its existing investor, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), catapulting itself into a unicorn with a valuation of $1.3 billion.
The fund will promote domestic shipbuilding of all types and sizes to reduce India's dependence on foreign ships.
Next year Medica and Manipal will merge, making the amalgamated entity the largest corporate hospital chain in the country, overtaking Apollo Hospitals Enterprises.
'I'm pitching India for the strengths we offer, including the English language, engineers, doctors, nurses, professionals, innovative talent of startups.'
What made the tide turn in favour of the Adani group was the Covid-19 pandemic, which shut down airports the world over, including Mumbai. There was no cash flow and the firm started defaulting on salaries July onwards.
Electric scooter registrations of eight companies which represent 95 per cent of the market have seen a sharp fall of over 24 per cent in May. They have registered 32,680 electric scooters against 43,098 in April according to VAHAN data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways available till the evening of 31 May. Auto analysts say the fall is a reflection of the initial pent up demand in the market for such vehicles,which was evinced in huge bookings, being met.
US hedge fund Tiger Global and Japanese investment giant SoftBank have trimmed their investments in Indian start-ups by over a third - from $3.8 billion in the second half of 2021 to a mere $1.08 billion in H1 2022, according to data from Venture Intelligence. While SoftBank's investments in India dropped from $1.9 billion in H2 2021 by more than a fifth to only $0.33 billion in H1 2022, that of Tiger Global fell from $1.92 to $0.74 billion in the same period. Private equity (PE) fund trackers point out that this year most of the deals that Tiger Global has invested in are in the early stage (up to series D), and only a few are in the series E and above.
Only NIIF has stayed the course as a viable infrastructure financing institution.
Lenders have reported a surge in their bad loans in the six months to March after an asset quality review ordered by the central bank.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the upcoming Budget for 2021-22 will sustain the momentum of public spending on infrastructure and have a "vibrancy" to ensure the economic revival continues. She also said the pace of divestment, which has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, will pick up in the coming months. "We shall definitely sustain the momentum of public spending in infrastructure. Because that is the one way we assure that the multipliers will work and the economy's revival will be sustainable.... "I am conscious that the forthcoming Budget will have a vibrancy that is so required for the economy's revival, sustainable revival," she said at the Assocham Foundation Week. The Budget for the 2021-22 fiscal is expected to be tabled in Parliament on February 1.
The government on Friday sought Parliament's nod for an additional Rs 54,000-crore spending mainly to meet its obligation towards GST compensation to states and defence-related expenditure. Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur presented the second and final batch of supplementary demands for grants in the Lok Sabha.
The office, spread over 52,775 square feet carpet area, in Mumbai's suburban financial centre Bandra Kurla Complex, is on the fourth floor of the building 'Jet Airways Godrej BKC'.
Adani group is in talks to acquire a 50.5 per cent stake held by GVK Group in Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) and another 23.5 per cent of minority partners, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), and Bidvest Group, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Both lenders and Etihad are not comfortable with the entities holding stake in Jet as they have no proven credentials in running a big business
The Adanis were the highest bidder for the Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow, Mangaluru and Jaipur airports.
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.
While the interest from Hinduja is a positive sign for the grounded airline, executives of banks cautioned that there is no certainty that the deal will fructify. The cost of recapitalising Jet Airways is increasing every day.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's Adani group on Monday said it has reached an agreement to acquire GVK group's shareholding and control of Mumbai airport.
Of the three major Budget announcements related to the banking sector, privatisation of PSBs is the most audacious, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
In the new decade, the scene will change because the banks till recently had been challenged by the fintechs, but the techfins have now entered the arena, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Banks want government to retain 40 per cent of Jet slots at all airports to ensure a new owner can kick-start operations soon after taking over.
Govt to chalk out entry of sovereign funds from Abu Dhabi, Qatar into such projects.
According to preliminary information memorandum, Air India's new owner will be asked to list the company in some time
As a percentage of the aggregate Budget expenditure, it is 12 per cent.
Smart City Mission has unleashed an unprecedented enthusiasm and expectations both within and outside the country.
The Adanis', which already has won the bids to run six Airport Authority-built non-metro airports in Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangalore, bid to enter the country's second busiest airport by buying out Bid Services Division Mauritius from MIAL was stalled after GVK chose to exercise its first right of refusal, and matched the Rs 1,248-crore offer that the Adanis made to the Bidvest in March.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced slew of reforms for the masses.
The money is expected to be disbursed by the lenders consortium led by SBI after the Jet management submits an operational plan on how it intends to use the money till May 7.
'No commercial bank will be allowed to fail. There is nothing to worry about.'
The Singapore Minister applauded Prime Minister Modi's effort to make India the manufacturing hub of the world.
Modi govt must implement few policy measures which it announced in Budget 2015.
Fix India's real estate sector. Fix India's public sector banks, advises Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
With passenger growth pegged at 14 to 15 per cent, airport infrastructure could be a make or break business for both new players and incumbents.
Jaitley said the global volatility has thrown up challenges
With Indian infrastructure companies burdened with debt, global PE funds and developers sense an opportunity to buy the airports cheap