State Bank of India (SBI) may carry out a planned Rs 10,000 crore sale of infrastructure bonds in the market this week, with the securities likely to be of 15-year maturity, sources told Business Standard. SBI, the country's largest bank, had last week said its board had approved the issuance of infrastructure bonds in the current fiscal year. It, however, had not mentioned the maturity of the bonds or when the sale would take place.
Nepal witnessed political turbulence in 2022 that dramatically turned rivals into allies and throned former guerrilla leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' as the prime minister for a third time, as Kathmandu made efforts to balance ties with immediate neighbours India and China with high-profile talks and visits.
India's industrial production slipped to an 18-month low, contracting by 0.8 per cent in August, mainly due to a decline in output of the manufacturing and mining sectors, according to official data released on Wednesday. The data showed that the previous low in industrial output growth was a contraction of 3.2 per cent in February 2021. Factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had expanded by 13 per cent in August 2021. The IIP grew by 2.2 per cent in July this year.
Power Minister A K Sharma blamed the 72-hour strike that began at 10 pm on Thursday on some 'irresponsible' leaders of the electricity department and said it was not in the interest of the employees.
The Indian Railways has decided to not cancel any more passenger trains to accommodate more freight traffic for coal transport. It will also gradually restore the ones it cancelled recently. The national transporter is of the view that coal supply is now reaching normative levels and does not need any more special measures. "Early data suggests that coal supply has stepped up since the passenger trains were cancelled.
Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday granted its approval for the acquisition of 100 per cent equity of indiaideas.com (BillDesk) by PayU Payments. The proposed combination relates to the acquisition of 100 per cent of the equity share capital of India Ideas Ltd (IIL) by PayU India. In a tweet on Monday, CCI said it approved, "acquisition of 100% of the equity share capital of IndiaIdeas.com (BillDesk) by PayU Payments."
'If private capex has to kick in, there should at least be 2-3 years of visibility.'
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said political parties that come to power on pre-poll promises of freebies should pay for those through budgetary provisions. Citing the example of free electricity being promised in many states, the finance minister said the burden for the freebies should not be thrust upon the power discoms or gencos. "If a promise has been made to the people at the time of the election, you are looking at a quid pro quo. "You should be, as a responsible party, assume after you come to power, make a provision in the budget for it," Sitharaman said, speaking at the FE Best Bank Awards event.
India's industrial production growth decelerated to a four-month low of 2.4 per cent in July, mainly due to poor showing by manufacturing, power and mining sectors, according to official data released on Monday. The data showed that the previous low in industrial output growth was recorded at 2.2 per cent in March this year. IIP grew 6.7 per cent in April, 19.6 per cent in May and 12.7 per cent in June.
Coal production by Coal India (CIL) has grown slower than the captive mines, awarded over the last six years. During 2020-22, production from the captive mines jumped by 38.5 per cent while CIL saw a tepid growth of 3.4 per cent, according to government data. In terms of dispatch to the power sector, captive mines have raced ahead, witnessing a growth of 72 per cent compared to 15 per cent for CIL. For the current fiscal year, CIL's production is expected to be around 565 million tonnes.
Per capita income has more than doubled to Rs 1.97 lakh in around nine years. Indian economy has increased in size from being 10th to 5th largest in the world in the past nine years. Seven priorities of the Budget, 'Saptarishi', are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector.
Very dense fog lowered visibility to 50 metres at the Palam observatory, near the Indira Gandhi International airport, at 5:30 am.
A severe cold wave brought the minimum temperature down to a numbing 1.5 degrees Celsius at the Ridge weather station in central Delhi.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a revision in the formula for pricing of natural gas and imposed cap or ceiling price to help cut CNG and piped cooking gas prices by up to 10 per cent. Natural gas produced from legacy or old fields, known as APM gas, will now be indexed to the price of imported crude oil instead of benchmarking it to gas prices in four surplus nations such as the US, Canada and Russia, Union I&B Miniser Anurag Thakur told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet. APM gas will be priced at 10 per cent of the price of basket of crude oil that India imports (Indian basket of crude oil).
India's industrial production grew in double digit for the second month in a row at 12.3 per cent in June mainly due to strong performance by manufacturing, power and mining sectors, according to official data released on Friday. However, the data showed that the industrial output growth is lower than 19.6 per cent recorded in May this year. It was 6.7 per cent in April.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Adani-Total Gas Ltd and Shell were among the 29 companies that bid and bought natural gas to be produced from the deepest field in the KG-D6 block of Reliance Industries Ltd and bp, sources said. IOC walked away with almost half of the 6 million standard cubic meters per day of gas sold in an e-auction on Wednesday while state-owned gas utility GAIL bought 0.7 mmscmd, Adani-Total Gas Ltd 0.4 mmscmd, Shell 0.5 mmscmd, GSPC 0.25 mmscmd and IGS another 0.5 mmscmd, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. Reliance-bp on Wednesday held an e-auction for sale of gas from the MJ field in their eastern offshore KG-D6 block after incorporating the government's new marketing rules to give CNG-selling city gas companies first priority over supplies.
Indian power industry has registered 15.5 per cent growth during April-December 2005. This was declared by Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers' Association on Tuesday.
"Independence means if government has done something wrong, you say it's wrong. But at the same time, you should have courage when the government is doing the right thing every day. You have to also say that," he Gautam Adani was quoted as saying by FT.
IEEMA is again approaching the govt. with hope and puts forth the most critical issues / concerns of the industry requiring urgent attention of the govt.
A greater payment security mechanism for power generation companies to ensure timely payouts for supply of electricity will be in focus in 2022 as stricter rules are on the anvil for 24x7 power supply amid discoms' outstanding dues at a whopping Rs 1.56 lakh crore. Mounting outstanding dues of distribution companies (discoms) to electricity generation companies (gencos) have been a perennial issue affecting the entire value chain in the power sector and are also a hindrance for the ambitious goal of 24x7 power supply across the country even when the payment for coal is made in advance. The situation persists despite the fact that discoms' dues become overdue after 45 days of generating bills and they also have to pay penal interest on the overdue amount in most of the cases to gencos.
Could it have been more reformist? Of course, but this is an election year Budget, observes Akash Prakash.
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.
Visa group will invest Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) for setting up a 1000-MW mega thermal power plant in Orissa and also engage in all-India power trading, diversifying from steel.
'Top lines will grow, volume growth will be there, but margins might also be impacted.'
Speaking at a press briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "As a staunch defender of cyber security, China firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyber attacks."
In a response to the August 3 order, the Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said till the time either the legislature or the poll panel steps in, the top court must lay down "dos and don'ts" for political parties in the 'larger national interest.'
For India to reach its bold target of having net-zero emissions by 2070, the country's solar power capacity would have to rise to over 5,600 GW, coal use particularly in the power sector will have to drop by 99 per cent by 2060 and crude oil would need to peak by 2050 and fall substantially by 90 per cent in the two decades thereafter, CEEW India has said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday surprised delegates at the COP26 climate summit with a bold pledge to cutting emissions at the world's third-biggest emitter to net-zero by 2070. Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a Delhi-based not-for-profit policy research institution, said, "The economic cost of India's net-zero 2070 transition (would be) over USD 13,000 billion between 2030 and 2100."
The current coal stock stands at 13.5 million tonnes at pithead power stations and 20.7 MT cumulatively at all power plants across the country.
In twin blows to Indian economic revival, higher food prices drove retail inflation to a five-month high of 7.4 per cent while factory output fell for the first time in 18 months. The second consecutive month of rise in consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation will add to the pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to again raise interest rates to tame high prices. Inflation has been above the targeted zone for the ninth month in a row and as per statute, the RBI will now have to explain to the government in writing why it failed to keep prices below 6 per cent.
India is unlikely to see a repeat of the 2021 energy crisis this festive season as coal-fired power stations across the country have comfortable levels of the fuel stock to meet electricity demand of the world's fastest expanding major economy.
The Centre has completed asset monetisation worth Rs 96,000 crore during FY22, surpassing the target of Rs 88,000 crore. For FY23, it has set itself a goal of Rs 1.62 trillion, and already has a pipeline of assets worth Rs 1.6 trillion under advanced stages of implementation, an official said. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday reviewed the progress made by several ministries and nudged departments to achieve the targets set for them, the official added.
Venkataraman Krishnamurthy, who is considered as the turnaround man of several Indian corporate houses like BHEL, Maruti Udyog, SAIL and Gail (India), passed away on Sunday at the age of 97. Krishnamurthy is considered as "the father of public sector undertakings in India" by many in India Inc. Born in the temple town of Tamil Nadu's Karuveli, he started his career as an airfield technician during the Second World War.
'If you look at the order books of capital equipment companies or money deployed on the ground, there is forward movement in terms of actual investment by the private sector.'
Chinese state-sponsored hackers had targeted India's power grids in Ladakh possibly for information on India's critical infrastructure or to prepare for sabotage in the future, according to the American cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
'I clearly recall how you immediately directed your administration to identify and allocate land, water, and other clearances in the shortest time possible.' 'That was the fastest decision-making process I have ever witnessed.'
China on Tuesday announced a major policy change for its crisis-ridden power sector by allowing coal-fired power plants to charge their industrial and commercial customers market-driven prices. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China said the electricity generated by coal-fired plants would discover price in market trading "in an orderly manner" from October 15. This is being done to pass on the high costs of coal and is being held up as the boldest reform in the Chinese power sector.
The Congress won 77 seats or 42% of seats in the 2017 polls. How then can Gujarat be called a BJP bastion, asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
On February 24, when Vladimir Putin announced a military operation on Ukraine, few would have thought that Indian government-owned GAIL India would feel the impact. The tensions over gas supplies were essentially a Europe-Russia problem, related to the sanctions western economies imposed on Moscow. But the EU depends on Russian imports for 40 per cent of its gas stocks, an over-dependence that Russia has underlined with Kremlin-owned Gazprom cutting its supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to 20 per cent, citing maintenance issues.
The panel's report also provides a range for fiscal deficit and debt path of both the Union and states and also recommended additional borrowing room to states based on performance in power sector reforms. Finance Commission is a constitutional body that gives suggestions on Centre-state financial relations. The report of the 15th Finance Commission was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
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