Kolkata: The fear of bad loans and limited lending opportunities to top companies have prompted several banks to shift focus towards the retail (individual loans) and small & medium enterprises segments. India Inc’s reluctance to borrow money is keeping bankers worried. While lenders were able to stem fresh impairment in their credit quality in the July-September period, low demand for corporate loans has decelerated the growth in […]
NEW DELHI: With global energy firms refusing to participate in the ambitious TAPI gas pipeline, India may propose getting a Chinese company to lead a consortium that will build the USD 10 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline. French giant Total SA had initially envisaged interest in leading a consortium of national oil companies of the four nations in the TAPI project, but backed off after […]
By Sankar Ray If all goes well, India and Russia will shortly ink the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India & the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan & Russian Federation. The coming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India next month is supposed to impart a new dimension to the bilateral ties between India and Russian Federation and speedy finalization of the FTA between the two […]
NEW DELHI: The Centre is likely to reallocate to state-run firms such — as NTPC and Damodar Valley Corporation — as well as state government utilities their captive coal blocks that had been cancelled by the Supreme Court. This leaves only half of the mines for auction to the private sector in the first phase in December. The coal ministry has assured most of the central […]
By Barun Das Gupta KOLKATA: Way back in 1994, the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao formulated India’s ‘Look East’ policy. Its aim was to strengthen economic ties, increase trade and commerce between India and her eastern neighbours and provide greater market access to one another for mutual benefit. Several projects like the 3200 km long India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway were taken up to accelerate the implementation […]
By Ashok B Sharma The annual feature, G 20 Summit, has turned out to be a mere talk shop. No substantial effort has been done at the multilateral level to salvage the global economy. Whatever efforts are been made, are at national level for generating more demand to keep up the growth pace of their economy. But with the emergence of strong leadership in India, […]
By S Sethuraman As the Modi Government completes its first six months with a record of hesitant, incremental moves on the economic front, growth recovery has at last become visible and looks to gain momentum to hit the targeted 5.5 per cent or slightly above, in fiscal ’15. Business sentiment is being bolstered by falling inflation and output modestly growing by 2.8 per cent in the […]
By Anjan Roy China is riding the crest of its economic success currently. It has taken one more step to make its currency globally traded and thus acceptable. China has announced what is known as the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stocks Connect from November 17. This in effect means off shore trading in the Chinese currency for purchase of stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges. Earlier, […]
By S Sethuraman A Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), by no means a new concept, was successfully pushed by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit in Beijing on November 11, projecting it as ‘historic’, in a move aimed at countering US-dominant trade moves in the region. The 21-member APEC, of Pacific rim nations, including the United States, China and Japan, now […]
Mumbai: The finance ministry will meet chief executives of public sector banks on November 20 to take stock of the progress made under the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). There will also be a review of the performance of the lenders. Hasmukh Adhia, the newly appointed secretary of financial services, who took charge on November 8, will chair the meeting. Adhia, a Gujarat-cadre IAS officer of […]
NEW DELHI: Less than a day after Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) announced a hike in consumer power tariff through power purchase adjustment charges (PPAC), it withdrew the order. This is the first time a tariff order has been withdrawn in Delhi since DERC was constituted in 2001. While the regulator said the order stands withdrawn till it receives complete information from various power generators on fuel […]
By Ashok B Sharma One might not have expected the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to be so quick in responding to the hospitality he received in India last month. In fact the G20 summit slated in Brisbane middle of next month has given this opportunity. Abbott is preparing to lay the red carpet for the Indian Prime Minister Narendrabhai Damodardass Modi. Abbott’s special welcome is […]
In the wake of yet another poor earnings report, Sprint is laying off thousands of workers. The telecom giant said it would cut loose about 2,000 workers as part of a cost-cutting program that aims to turn around the ailing company. In summary, Sprint reported operating revenues of $8.5 billion for its second fiscal quarter of 2014, which represents a $192 million operating loss. Marcelo Claure, the […]
NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry has asked Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan to provide greater flexibility to banks funding stalled infrastructure projects, after concerns were raised by senior bankers that some lending requirements were too ‘stringent’. A department of financial services communication to Rajan sought to de-link the extent of cost overruns as a condition for classifying any project as a restructured asset. […]
MUMBAI: Leading public sector banks have lowered some of their term deposit rates by up to 100 basis points as credit growth remains sluggish and liquidity in money markets has improved (100 basis points = 1 percentage point). The lenders who reduced deposit rates recently include the Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Andhra Bank. The State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and Central Bank of […]
New Delhi: The attorney-general (A-G) has recommended cancellation of a proposed defence deal for the acquisition of eight minesweeper vessels, estimated to be worth about Rs 6,000 crore, from the South Korean Kangnam Corporation after allegations of involvement of middlemen, official sources in the ministry of defence (MoD) have confirmed. The MoD had sought the view of A-G Mukul Rohatgi in the matter. The government may […]
Airline Emirates said on Monday it was ending its sponsorship of FIFA, a blow to soccer’s governing body as it investigates whether there was corruption in the bidding process for the next two World Cups. “Emirates can confirm that a decision has been made not to renew the sponsorship agreement with FIFA past 2014,” the Dubai-based airline said in a statement on Monday. “This decision was made […]
By Ashok B Sharma A definite shift in India’s Look East Policy is underway with added emphasis on Buddha diplomacy under the new dispensation. Prime Minister Narendrabhai Damodardass Modi plans to market the Buddha card to the countries in the region as India is the place of origin of Dhamman and Sangham. He indicated such a change in emphasis by his first official visit abroad to a […]
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who prefers to cut hierarchy and have direct interaction – be it bureaucrats or students – will next meet chiefs of public-sector banks. The proposed meeting comes amid rising bad loans and reports of various irregularities in state-owned banks. The prime minister is likely to take stock of the banks’ performance – an exercise usually undertaken by the finance minister. “Credit […]
NEW DELHI: The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (Aptel) delivered a technical knockout to 1,424 MW Adani Power over the weekend, quite similar to the one it delivered against 4,000 MW Coast Gujarat Power Limited (Tata Power) on September 15. The main case about giving compensatory tariffs to the two companies, however, continues in Aptel. Given the 18-month delay in the case already, a quick resolution is […]
Gold traded within 40 cents of a four-year low after the Bank of Japan boosted stimulus and the Federal Reserve ended asset purchases, highlighting divergent central-bank policies and hurting bullion demand as the dollar climbed. Silver retreated to the lowest level since 2010. “One printing press stops and another one cranks up,” Felicity Emmett, senior economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., wrote in a […]
National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates, has appointed a veteran former Barclays banker to run its consumer banking business, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday. Suvrat Saigal, previously head of consumer banking at Barclays in India, takes over from George Beatty, who resigned in January as NBAD’s general manager of consumer and elite banking. An […]
Mumbai: The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (Irda) has come out with a new product planner rule, by which an insurance company can file only five products for approval in a year. However, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s largest insurer, might be given a special dispensation by the regulator. In order to reduce the time taken for product approvals, Irda has asked life insurers for […]
Mumbai: Cairn India Ltd (Cairn India), the oil and gas unit of Sesa Sterlite Ltd, has initiated a polymer injection programme in the Mangala field in its Barmer oil and gas block in Rajasthan, said a company note released on Friday evening. This will help to arrest the falling output from the field and help the company in enhancing the oil recovery from the field. […]
