Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code will drive creation of a new debt market
The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code will drive growth of debt market in India, which hardly exists in corporate and business financing, Dr. MS Sahoo, Chairman, Bankruptcy Board of India told Fe. While the country has a matured and bullish equity market, the debt market in India was yet to develop. The board was not concerned with default in bank credits or about the rising NPAs. It would mainly look into private creditors interest if their money got locked. “Banks have some protection in the areas of corporate financing but non banking debt is non existent. Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code would be instrumental in the growth of non bank debt financing, which would lead to reduce dominance of banks in areas of credit.
India’s contribution to world GDP to reach 17% this yr: PwC
India grew fastest among major economies worldwide at over 7.5 per cent in 2016 and will continue to drive global growth in 2017 with its share in the world GDP expected to rise to 17 per cent, a study said today. “Asia will remain the fastest growing region of the world, but the spotlight will shift away from China to India and Indonesia,” PwC’s global economy watch (GEW) said, adding that Indonesia is set to become the world’s 16th trillion dollar economy.
Airtel Payments Bank launches nationwide operations
Airtel Payments Bank on Thursday launched its nationwide operations with an initial investment of Rs 3,000 crore and offering an interest rate of 7.25 per cent for savings accounts. The bank was launched by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here. Leveraging Airtel’s existing user base of 260 million customers, the Payments Bank will have re the phone number itself as the account number, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said at the launch.
Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani keen to invest in Assam: Chandra Mohan Patwary
Assam industry minister, Chandra Mohan Patwary on Thursday said that industrialists, Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani has shown keenness in investing in Assam. Patwary is in Gujarat to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit. The minister in a statement stated that he interacted with Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani on the inaugural day of the Global Summit.
Attorney General clears way for Rs 3,050 crore penalty on Airtel, Vodafone and Idea
Paving the way for Rs 3,050 crore cumulative penal action on telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, the Attorney General is learnt to have opined that the Department of Telecom has power to impose penalty on grounds of poor quality of service. “AG has opined that DoT can impose penalty on telecom operators for violating quality of service rules,” a source said. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended imposing Rs 1,050 crore penalty each on Airtel and Vodafone and Rs 950 crore on Idea for violating quality of service rules.
TCS CEO N. Chandrasekaran appointed Tata Sons chairman
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, 53, will be the new executive chairman of Tata Sons from 21 February, the holding company of the $103 billion group announced on Thursday. Chandrasekaran, who has spent his entire career at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), is currently the managing director and chief executive of the software maker. He will take over the role at a time when the group is embroiled in a battle against its ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry to protect its reputation.
TCS names Rajesh Gopinathan as MD and CEO
Country’s largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) today named Rajesh Gopinathan as its new MD and CEO, after N Chandrasekaran elevated as Chairman of Tata Sons — the group’s holding company. TCS also appointed N Ganapathy Subramaniam as President and Chief Operating Officer. “Mr Gopinathan takes over from Mr N Chandrasekaran who has been appointed as the Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd, effective February 21, 2017,” TCS said in a statement. Subramaniam, who is currently President (TCS Financial Solutions) has also been appointed as a director on the board of TCS, it added.
Taj Mansingh row: SC asks DMC to reconsider auction
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to reconsider its decision to auction Tata Group’s Taj Mansingh hotel in Delhi within six weeks. There will be no change till then as the status quo ordered in November last year would prevail. SC passed the order at the end of a three-day hearing on the appeal of Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) against the Delhi high court judgment which allowed NDMC to end the 33-year lease and auction the property.
BoB declares 200 borrowers as wilful defaulters
The government-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) has issued a list of 200 entities it has declared ‘wilful defaulters’, with dues totalling Rs 2,212 crore. Among these are Surya Vinayak and Sai InfoSystem. This list is for the period up to September 2016. Legal action for recovery remains a priority, said executives. Punjab National Bank (PNB), also government-owned, had earlier put out its list of wilful defaulters. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), wilful default is deemed to have occurred when a borrower has not repaid despite capacity to do so. Also, there could be an element of diversion of funds for other purposes.
Sebi looks to lower brokerage fee to Rs 15 per transaction of Rs 1 crore
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is looking to lower brokerage fee to Rs15 per transaction of Rs1 crore as part of calibration of various other fees collected by the regulator from different market intermediaries. Even after reducing the brokerage fee, Sebi is expected to see an increase in its overall fee income as certain new charges would be levied including filing fee for draft scheme of arrangements and processing fee on application for relaxation in certain regulations.
USFDA to re-audit Dr Reddy’s Laboratories manufacturing facilities
Three manufacturing facilities of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd facing compliance issues with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) will be re-inspected by the US regulator during the current quarter ending March, the company said in a presentation at the J.P. Morgan Annual Healthcare conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. Dr. Reddy’s, India’s second-largest drug maker, received a USFDA warning letter on 5 November, 2015, regarding deviations from current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) at its active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) plants at Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, and Miryalaguda, Telangana, as well as violations at its oncology formulation facility at Duvvada in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, following an inspection by the agency.
Government to sell 51% stake in Pawan Hans, seeks bids to appoint merchant bankers
The government is learnt to have invited bids to appoint merchant bankers for selling its entire 51% stake in Pawan Hans Ltd through strategic disinvestment. Earlier last year, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved disinvestment of the government’s stake in the state-controlled helicopter services provider. While the government owns 51% equity stake in Pawan Hans, another state-controlled giant, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, owns the remaining 49% in it.
Crisil develops new credit rating system for infra projects
Credit rating agency Crisil has announced that it has developed a new credit rating framework for infrastructure projects that would facilitate greater participation by long-term investors and lenders. The new credit rating system is based on the ‘expected loss’ (EL) methodology. In the new methodology, the rating will be an expert judgement on EL over the life of the debt instrument by taking into account the two pillars of credit risk – the probability of default (PD), and the prospects of recovery. By also factoring in the prospects of recovery after default, the new system will complement conventional credit ratings that convey opinions on PD, Crisil said in a statement. “By combining the two pillars of credit risk, the new system provides crucial information to investors that is all the more relevant in the context of infrastructure projects, where debt tenures are way shorter than the economic lives of projects, ramp-up periods are unpredictable, and cash flows are volatile because of risks from counterparty, markets and operations.”
Source: The Hindu Business Line
NSE’s 45% stake purchase in CAMS under SEBI scanner
A 2013 deal wherein India’s largest bourse National Stock Exchange (NSE) bought a 45 per cent stake in Computer Age Management Systems (CAMS), a mutual fund transfer agency, is now under investigation by SEBI. NSE’s investment in an undisclosed wind power project is also under the regulator’s scanner. These investments will be termed valid only if SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) determines that the investment has been made in compliance with Stock Exchange and Clearing Corporation (SECC) regulations.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
India’s IIP rises 5.7% in November, retail inflation decelerates in December
India’s industrial production rose 5.7% in November, its fastest in 13 months, driven by a positive base effect, from a contraction of 1.8% the previous month, shrugging off the initial impact of demonetisation. Data separately released by the statistics department showed retail inflation decelerated to a two-year low at 3.41% in December, against 3.63% the previous month, as vegetable prices continued to contract.
TCS Q3 profit rises 8% to $1 billion, beats forecasts
At Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), the protracted period of subpar growth continued as India’s largest technology outsourcing firm reported a 0.3% dollar revenue growth, marginally higher than Street expectations, in the October-December period. TCS, which ended with $16.5 billion in revenue last year, has grown more than 3% on a sequential basis in a quarter only three times since October 2014. Worryingly, over these past nine quarters, it last reported an over 10% year-on-year growth only once, in the January-March 2015 period.
Reliance Jio free offer has created unfair competition: Sunil Bharti Mittal
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal on Thursday said Reliance Jio’s free offer is hitting the sector adversely and has created unfair competition in the market which his firm has challenged before court. “There is a problem. Any big thing if given for free or at less price then it becomes very difficult to compete with. It is unfair competition which is being discussed through you (media) and in courts,” Mittal said in response to the impact of Reliance Jio’s free 4G service on Bharti Airtel.
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