Government planning an easy credit scheme for rural households
The government is redrawing a micro-credit programme to help pull rural households out of poverty. The proposal is to lend up to Rs 1 lakh per family in the next three to five years, with the loans coming collateral-free and with subsidised interest rates. “We have simplified the process for accessing loans… We are getting into the details of livelihood each house can undertake so that the money can be lent accordingly,” said rural development secretary Amarjeet Sinha.
India jumps to 8th place on Global FDI Confidence Index
India has jumped one spot to 8th rank in the 2017 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index. Governance and regulatory issues made up 7 of the top-10 factors that investors consider when deciding on an investment destination according to the report. Last year factors such as domestic market size and cost of labour were the top issues for investors. India’s reforms to enable a ‘transparent’ and an ‘easy’ business environment, have made it an attractive destination for foreign companies, the AT Kearney report said.
RBI issues guidelines for bank investments into REITs, InvITs
The Reserve Bank of India issued guidelines on Tuesday for investments by commercial banks in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), including setting limits on the overall investments. The RBI said at a policy review earlier this month that it would allow banks to invest in REITs and InvITs. Among the guidelines issued on Tuesday, the central bank said banks would not be allowed to invest more than 10 percent of the unit capital of a REIT or InvIT.
RBI asks banks to raise provisioning rates for telecom sector loans
In a bid to ensure that banks are better prepared to deal with potential stressed assets, the Reserve Bank of India has asked them to put in place a board-approved policy for making provisions for standard assets at rates higher than the regulatory minimum, based on evaluation of risk and stress in various sectors. To make up for the provision at higher rates, banks are likely to up the lending rate for borrowers, whose asset classification is currently ‘standard’. A ‘standard’ asset is an one which is regular in paying interest/instalment to the bank.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
India Inc’s foreign investments jumps 2-fold to $3 billion in March
Foreign direct investment (FDI) by Indian companies in their overseas ventures jumped over two- fold to USD 2.99 billion last month. Indian firms had made investments of USD 1.42 billion in their overseas joint-ventures/subsidiaries in March 2016. Investments in March this year were much higher than the preceding month, February, at USD 867.53 million, the Reserve Bank data showed today.
Paytm may raise up to $1.5 billion from SoftBank
Fintech start-up Paytm, run by One97 Communications Ltd, is in talks with Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. to raise $1.2-1.5 billion in cash in a deal that could raise Paytm’s valuation to $7-9 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter. The deal, which has been in the works for nearly three months now, will see SoftBank buying some shares from existing Paytm investor SAIF Partners and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma as well as investing money in the company, the people mentioned above said on condition of anonymity.
Need for policy shift to boost ICT infrastructure: Report
E-tailers and modern retail have not made much progress in India, says veteran industrialist Adi B Godrej, who finds ‘Kirana’ merchants to be efficient, particularly in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) space. “They (e-tailers in India) are not making much progress, even modern retail in India is not making much progress,” the Chairman of the Godrej Group told PTI, while talking about the scene in this space. In FMCG space, over 90 per cent of the sales comes from ‘Kirana’ merchants, who are very efficient, added the former President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). “I think it (e-tailing) has not done very well in India, especially fast moving consumer goods. It may have done well in things like clothing and all that,” he said.
Vijay Mallya arrested, gets bail within few hours in London
Wanted tycoon Vijay Mallya was arrested in London on Tuesdaymorning, based on an extradition warrant. He was later granted bail and released on a bond of £6,50,000 and is scheduled to appear in court on May 17. “Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday, 19 April, arrested a man on an extradition warrant,” Scotland Yard said in a statement, adding that the liquor baron had been arrested on behalf of Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud.
Telecom Minister allays concerns over mobile tower radiation
Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha on Tuesday sought to allay concerns over radiation emitted from mobile towers, saying studies, so far, have not revealed any health hazards. The comments come in the wake of a Supreme Court order directing the deactivation of a BSNL tower in Gwalior on the plea of a 42-year-old cancer patient. “This is not the final order and it needs to be seen in that perspective. Let the final order come…Secondly, (given) the research so far, including by the World Health Organisation and even studies conducted in India by various institutions, I understand there is no ill effect of such (electromagnetic) radiation on the health of humans,” Sinha said on the sidelines of a CII event here.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
Tata Housing to invest Rs1,000 crore on projects in Africa
Tata Housing on Tuesday announced plans to expand to the African property market and will invest Rs1,000 crore to develop two projects in Kenya and Tanzania. The real estate arm of the Tata group plans to raise $200 million through private equity to fund the overseas operations. It recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Housing Bank and a private real estate firm to develop more than 4.5 million square feet of mixed use townships in Kenya and Tanzania.
Funding of corporate dividends by external borrowings may fall in FY17: India Ratings
Improved profitability is likely to lower the funding of corporate dividends by external borrowings. According to an India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) report released on Tuesday, the debt component of dividend funding is likely to reduce to around Rs5,800 crore each year during fiscal 2017-18 from an average of Rs9,000 crore in 2014-16. The rating agency said that debt-funded dividends (DFDs) as a proportion of the total dividends paid between 2017-18 may reduce to 13% from an average of 22% in 2010-16.
Rs 10 trillion umbrella road project to subsume NHDP
The ambitious Rs 10 lakh crore umbrella programme for roads, Bharatmala, will subsume the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), implemented by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998. This may be one of the last mega projects of the BJP government before it seeks public mandate in 2019, besides being the second-largest highway project after the NHDP that saw development of about 50,000 km of NHs as per global standards.
71% of CEOs in India confident of their cos growth, says survey
Even after facing challenges due to uncertain economic growth and rapid technological changes, 71% of company CEOs in India continue to be confident of their organisation’s growth in next 12 months, according to a survey. According to PwC’s 20th CEO survey (India report), 71% of respondents are very confident of their company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months. India’s CEOs are far more optimistic with respect to growth prospects than their global counterparts (38%), China (35%) and Brazil (57%), it added. The main drivers for this optimistic sentiments among Indian CEOs are strong growth fundamentals such as favourable demographic profile, rising income levels and urbanisation, the survey said.
Income Tax Department detects over Rs 540 cr black money in last fortnight
With the PMGKY black money window closed on March 31, the Income Tax department has detected over Rs 540 crore black money in the next 15 days as part of its nationwide operations to check tax evasion. Officials said the tax sleuths, in the first fortnight of the new financial year that began on April 1, have conducted multiple search and survey operations on entry operators (agents using banking channels to launder funds), shell firms, government officials, real estate players and other sectors. As per an official data compiled till April 15, the department has carried out “over 250 search and survey operations where the taxman raided at least 300 shell firms and detected more than Rs 540 crore of black money.”
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