Tag: Business news

sensex today: Sensex, Nifty slip for third day; financial stocks drag – Times of India

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MUMBAI: Equity benchmarks sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to end marginally lower on Tuesday, tracking losses in financial stocks despite a firm trend in global markets.
A weakening rupee and selling by foreign investors also weighed on Dalal Street, traders said.
Falling for the third session on the trot, the 30-share BSE sensex ended 31.12 points or 0.06 per cent lower at 50,363.96. The broader NSE Nifty slipped 19.05 points or 0.13 per cent to close at 14,910.45.
L&T was the top loser in the sensex pack, shedding 1.56 per cent, followed by ICIC Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Finserv.
On the other hand, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy’s, HUL, HCL Tech, TCS and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers, spurting up to 4.87 per cent.
Domestic equities gave up initial gains and traded flat towards the final hours of the day despite favourable cues from global equities, said Binod Modi – Head Strategy at Reliance Securities.
“Financials once again dragged the markets. Notably, IT stocks were in focus today mainly on expectations of sustained earnings momentum in 4QFY21E and benefits from possible fall in INR.
“In our view, increasing concerns with regards to resurgence of Covid-19 cases in various parts of the country and resulted restrictions could be a near term risk for domestic markets. Additionally, volatile bond markets and soaring inflation will continue to weigh on investors’ sentiments,” he added.
BSE bankex, finance, metal, realty and capital goods indices fell up to 1.03 per cent, while IT, teck, telecom and FMCG ended on a positive note.
Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose up to 0.40 per cent.
World stocks were in the positive terrain ahead of the meeting of the US Federal Reserve and other central banks, with investors wagering on a continuation of dovish policy measures.
In rest of Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended in the green.
Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading with gains in mid-session deals.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.61 per cent lower at $67.77 per barrel.
The rupee pared its initial gains and depreciated 9 paise to settle at 72.55 against the US dollar.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,101.35 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

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PSU Bank Privatisation: Interests of workers of banks likely to be privatised will be protected, says Finance minister | India Business News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Amidst huge uproar from opposition and bank unions over privatisation of public sector banks, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday assured that the interests of workers of such banks will be completely protected.
While addressing the media after announcing Cabinet decisions, the Union minister said: “I want to assure it is not that the institutions are going to be closed or workers are going to be removed. Whether it is the salaries or scale or pension of employees, all will be taken care of.”

Stressing that not all banks will be privatised, the finance minister said: “We have announced a Public Enterprise Policy and identified 4 areas where public sector presence will be there. Financial sector too is included in this. But, not all banks are going to be privatised.”
Sitharaman’s statement comes at a time when bank unions have called for a two-day nationwide strike to protest against the privatisation of two public sector banks.
State-run banks across states have been on strike since Monday, leading to disruption in services as over 10 lakh employees have joined the protests.

Further, stressing on the operations of banks Sitharaman said that there are quite a few banks in the economy but we need banks which will be able to scale up.
Recollecting the move where the government had merged 10 PSU banks into 4 major entities last year, she said: “We need more banks of the size of the State Bank of India (SBI) to meet the aspirational needs of the country.”
She emphasised that even those banks which are likely to be privatised, the institutions too will continue to function after privatisation.
The minister also took a jibe at senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s tweet earlier in the day where he had accused the government of “privatising profit” and “nationalising loss”.

She said: “I would want him to engage in serious discussions, rather than throw these kinds of two liners every now and then.”

The minister further took on the former Congress President saying the UPA government also nationalised corruption.
“His daadi (Indira Gandhi) would have probably nationalised the banks, but nationalising of loss in the banks was during UPA time. And I would want to add one more — nationalising corruption is what they did.
“So nationalising corruption and privatising taxpayers’ money for the betterment of one family is all that Rahul Gandhi will have to take as a reply for that tweet…,” she said.
The senior BJP leader then advised Gandhi that he should do some more intense homework before speaking.
(With inputs from agencies)



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DFI in India: Cabinet clears proposal to set up development finance institution, says Nirmala Sitharaman | India Business News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the creation of a development financial institution (DFI) for financing infrastructure and development activities in the economy.
Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his gentle nudge to set up the DFI as announced in Budget 2021.
“Past attempts to have alternative investment funds were taken up, but for various reasons, we ended up with no bank which could take up long-term risk (which is very high) and fund development,” she said.
The DFI will help raise long-term funds. It will have a professional board and at least 50 per cent of the members will be non-official directors.

The institution will be set up on a capital base of Rs 20,000 crore and will have lending target of Rs 5 lakh crore in three years.
Its initial grant will be Rs 5,000 crore and additional increments of grants will be made within the limit of Rs 5,000 crore.
“I expect the institution to raise up to Rs 3 lakh crore ($41.36 billion) in the next few years,” the minister added.
In her Union Budget for 2021-22 presented on February 1, Sitharaman had proposed to allocate Rs 20,000 crore for setting up a development finance institution, with a view to partly fund proposed $1.5 trillion in infrastructure projects over the next few years.
The DFI will initially start with a government ownership of 100 per cent and gradually with time it would come down to 26 per cent, but not below it, Sitharaman said.

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Nirmala Sitharaman: Funds under MPLADS for 2019-20 cleared | India Business News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said in the Rajya Sabha that fund under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for 2019-20 have been cleared.
TRS MP B Lingaiah Yadav had raised the matter during the Zero Hour in the House.
Responding on the issue, Sitharaman said several MPs from different parties had made representation on the matter.
“It is well known that for 2020-21 and 2021-22 the decision had been taken that no new commitments for MPLADS will be made, and, therefore, no allocation will be made,” she said.
The minister further said that whatever commitments have been made for the year 2019-20 will be honoured.
“I have cleared the file on it…For 2019-20, the year before the corona thing happened, every commitment, which has been made by honourable MPs will be fulfilled. However, as was the instruction or as was the notification made for the year 2020-21 and for the year 2021-22 no new commitments on MPLADS will be entertained,” she said.
Sitharaman said money has been cleared from the ministry of finance and the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) has assured her that they will be immediately sending the money to the districts.
MPLADS funds for 2019-20 have been cleared for MPs from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Under the scheme, each MP has the choice to suggest to the District Collector for works to the tune of Rs 5 crore per annum to be taken up in his/her constituency.
The Rajya Sabha Members of Parliament can recommend works in one or more districts in the State from where he/she has been elected.

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Piyush Goyal: Railways will never be privatised | India Business News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Union minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that the Indian Railways will never be privatised and will always remain with government of India.
Replying to a discussion in Lok Sabha, the railway minister, however, stressed on the need to encourage private investment for more efficient functioning.
“The country can progress towards high growth and create more employment opportunities only when the public and private sectors work together,” Goyal said.
The statement comes amidst protests from lakhs of bank employees across states over privatisation of two public sector banks. State-run banks are currently under a two-day strike.
The minister further asserted that the sector has been focusing enormously on passenger safety and no deaths have been reported due to any rail accidents in the past 2 years.
“We are focusing on passenger safety. I am happy to say that there has been no passenger death in past two years. The last death due to train accident happened in March 2019,” he said.
Under the Modi government, investment in railways has been hiked to Rs 2.15 lakh crore in 2021-22 fiscal, from Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2019-20 fiscal.
Last week, railway board chairman Suneet Sharma had informed that as of March 12 railways freight loading for the financial year 2020-21 has surpassed the level achieved in the last fiscal.
“This gives us a great boost and proves how the railways has continued to be the driving force of the economy. We have loaded 1145.68 MT of goods in 2020-21 as compared to 1145.61 MT last year. This is despite the coronavirus crisis which had pushed us into a deficit of 70 MT from April to July,” Sharma had told news agency PTI.

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Bank strike enters day 2 as employees protest against privatisation – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Bank services like cash withdrawals, deposits, cheque clearances and remittances may be impacted across public sector banks (PSBs) on Tuesday as strike enters day 2.
Nine bank unions have called for a two-day nationwide strike to protest against the government’s policy to privatise more public sector lenders.
Around 10 lakh staffers joined te strike on day 1, which majorly impacted services across states.
However, branches of private sector lenders like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank remained operational as usual.
Services hit in Maharashtra
Banking services in Maharashtra were affected for the second day of the pan-India bank strike as around half a lakh employees of public sector banks, old generation private sector and foreign banks did not attend work.
In Mumbai, around 86 lakh cheques/ instruments worth Rs 6,500 crore were not cleared on Monday, bank union leaders have claimed.

Here’s what happened on day 1:
* About 2 crore cheques/ instruments worth about Rs 16,500 crore were not cleared across the country.

* Many ATMs were also out of cash on the first day itself.
* The strike saw 100 per cent participation from scale I, II and III bank employees.
* As per the call, on Monday, employees and officers joined the strike and the strike was a “total success”, C H Venkatachalam, General Secretary, AIBEA told news agency PTI.

* As services like deposits, cash withdrawal were hit, many banks asked their customers to use their digital modes like internet and mobile banking for transactions.
* The directions came after services like cash withdrawals, cheque clearances and other business related transactions were hit in PSU banks.
Why are bank unions protesting
Bank unions are of the view that privatisation is a negative step in a developing economy like India.
Last month, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) as part of the government’s disinvestment plan in the Union Budget for the next fiscal.
The government has already privatised IDBI Bank by selling its majority stake in the lender to LIC in 2019, and has merged 14 public sector banks in the last four years.
Who all are participating
United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, had given a strike call for March 15 and 16.
Members of UFBU include All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) and Bank Employees Confederation of India (BEFI).
Others are Indian National Bank Employees Federation (INBEF), Indian National Bank Officers Congress (INBOC), National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) and National Organisation of Bank Officers (NOBO).

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PF Account: Covid effect? 6.5% more PF a/cs closed between April-December | India Business News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The number of provident fund accounts closed between April-December of the current financial year has increased by 6.5% to 71 lakh, when the coronavirus-induced lockdown was at its peak and job losses were reported.
The number of accounts closed during the first nine months of 2019-2020 added up to 66.7 lakh. An EPF account is closed for a variety of reasons including retirement, job loss or a change in employment. There are over 5 crore active EPF accounts.
Withdrawals, however, rose by over 33% to Rs 73,498 crore during the nine months of the current financial year compared with Rs 55,125 crore in the corresponding period last year, Labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar said in Lok Sabha on Monday, while responding to a question by Congress’ MP Abdul Khaleque.

With the coronavirus pandemic throwing up unprecedented challenges, businesses facing closure and unemployment levels rising, partial withdrawals from the EPFO also surged in 2020. While the number of partial withdrawals in 2019 were pegged at 54.4 lakh, the numbers more than doubled to 1.3 crore partial withdrawals in 2020.
The government had opened a special window allowing Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers to dip into their retirement savings to tide over the corona crisis. In fact, individuals were allowed to withdraw up to 75% of their kitty, a facility which has been availed by many who lost their jobs.

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No plans to introduce diaspora bonds: Sitharaman – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government has no plans to introduce diaspora bonds.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, she said the government, in coordination with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Reserve Bank of India, has taken various steps to develop the bond market with a view to facilitate increased access to capital for corporates.
To a question on whether the government plans to introduce diaspora bonds to create an avenue for the Indian diaspora to invest in India, Sitharaman said, “The Government has no plans, as on date to introduce diaspora bonds”.
The steps taken by the government to deepen the bond market include reduced stamp duty rates and listing of commercial papers on stock exchanges.
Sitharaman further said the government has put in place an investor-friendly foreign direct investment policy wherein most sectors are now open for 100 per cent FDI under the automatic route.
Recently foreign investment in insurance intermediaries and the defence industry has been raised from 49 per cent to 100 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively.
“The Government reviews the FDI policy on an ongoing basis and makes significant changes from time to time, to ensure that India remains an attractive investor-friendly destination,” she added.

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Petrol under GST: No proposal to bring petrol, diesel, ATF, gas under GST: Nirmala Sitharaman | India Business News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: Amid record-high fuel prices, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said there is no proposal as of now to bring crude oil, petrol, diesel, jet fuel (ATF) and natural gas under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
When the GST was introduced on July 1, 2017, amalgamating over a dozen central and state levies, five commodities – crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) – were kept out of its purview given the revenue dependence of the central and state governments on this sector.
This meant that the central government continued to levy excise duty on them while state governments charged VAT. These taxes, with excise duty, in particular, have been raised periodically.
While the taxes haven’t come down, a spike in global oil prices on demand recovery has pushed petrol and diesel to an all-time high, leading to demand for them come under the GST.
“At present, there is no proposal to bring crude petroleum, petrol, diesel, ATF and natural gas under GST,” Sitharaman said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
She said the law prescribes that the GST Council shall recommend the date on which the goods and services tax be levied on petroleum crude, high-speed diesel, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), natural gas and ATF.
“So far, the GST Council, in which the states are also represented, has not made any recommendation for inclusion of these goods under GST,” she said.
The Council may consider the issue of inclusion of these five petroleum products at a time it considers appropriate keeping in view all the relevant factors, including revenue implication, she added.
Including oil products in GST will not just help companies set off tax that they paid on input but will also bring about uniformity in taxation on the fuels in the country.
Sitharaman has in recent weeks talked of inclusion of fuel under GST as well as centre and states taking a joint call on cutting taxes to cushion consumers against the spike in retail prices.
To a separate question, her junior in the finance ministry, Anurag Singh Thakur said excise duty on petrol was Rs 19.98 per litre a year back and is Rs 32.9 now. Similarly, on diesel, the excise duty has been raised from Rs 15.83 to Rs 31.8.
“The excise duty rates have been calibrated to generate resources for infrastructure and other developmental items of expenditure keeping in view the present fiscal position,” Thakur, minister of state for finance, said giving reasons for raising the levy.
On the impact of higher fuel rates on general prices, he said ‘petrol for vehicle’ inflation has increased from 7.38 per cent in January 2020 to 12.53 per cent in January this year.
Similarly, ‘diesel for vehicle’ inflation has increased from 6.44 per cent in January last year to 12.79 per cent this year, he said.
On fuel pricing, Thakur said the prices of petroleum products in the country are benchmarked to international product prices.
“Generally, the price of petroleum products in the country are higher/lower than other countries due to a variety of factors, including prevailing tax regime and subsidy compensations by the respective Governments,” he said.
The government ended subsidies on petrol in 2010 and on diesel in 2014. ATF pricing was freed in 2002.

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No new Rs 2,000 notes printed since 2019: MoS Anurag Thakur – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The government on Monday said that no new Rs 2,000 notes have been printed since April 2019, in an attempt to prevent its hoarding and curb the circulation of black money in the economy.
In a written reply in Lok Sabha, minister of state for finance Anurag Thakur said that printing of banknotes of a particular denomination is decided by the government in consultation the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to maintain desired denomination mix for facilitating transactional demand of the public.
“During the years 2019-20 and 2020-21, no indent has been placed with the presses for printing of Rs 2,000 denomination banknotes,” he said.
The move comes even as the quantum of the highest denomination currency note has reduced in the economy.
The minister informed the Parliament that 3,362 million currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination were in circulation on March 30, 2018. However, as of February 26, 2021, only 2,499 million pieces of Rs 2,000 notes were in circulation.
While, currency in terms of volume reduced from 3.27 per cent to 2.01 per cent, that in terms of trade fell from 37.36 per cent in March 30, 2018 to 17.78 per cent in 2021.
Rs 2,000 notes came into circulation in November 2016 after the government announced demonetisation and withdrew notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in an attempt to curb black money and fake currencies.
While a new Rs 500 note was printed, Rs 1,000 currency notes were discontinued. Instead, Rs 2,000 note was introduced.
In 2019, the RBI had stated that 3,542.991 million notes of Rs 2,000 were printed during the financial year 2016-17 (April 2016 to March 2017).
However, the number kept on reducing and only 111.507 million notes were printed in 2017-18, which further reduced to 46.690 million notes in the year 2018-19.
(With inputs from PTI)

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