Today Sector News – 09.04.2018
* AGRICULTURE: The government signed a $420-mln loan agreement with the World Bank to fund a project for small and marginal farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra.
* AUTOMOBILE: Banks are taking a cautious approach to lending to smaller automotive parts makers, fearing companies may default on repayments as was the case with AMTEK AUTO.
* AVIATION: The government on Friday withdrew its invite for initial bids to sell its 51% stake in Pawan Hans.
-Air India has approached aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation for renewal of its flying permit, expiring in June, even as the government scouts for potential buyer for the loss-making carrier.
-A subsidiary of European aerospace major Airbus and an Indian startup, it has incubated, aim to work with the state-owned Airports Authority of India to produce equipment for airports under the government's regional connectivity scheme.
-The government hopes that Air India will be listed on the stock exchange within three years after it exits from owning a majority stake in the airline.
-The government will not look at making any revisions to the transaction details for the divestment of Air India, as it is seeing enough interest from prospective overseas bidders.
* BANKING: Making its opposition for the existing non-fiat virtual cryptocurrencies official, the Reserve Bank of India has asked all entities it regulates to desist from providing services linked to virtual currencies, and also end any existing relationships within three months.
-The Reserve Bank of India has asked all payment system operator to move storage of their Indian business-related data within the country in six months.
-The Reserve Bank of India's proposal on Thursday to fix a minimum loan amount for working capital loans to large borrowers, was welcomed by banks, most of whom agreed that it was a positive move for the banking sector.
-The Reserve Bank of India has released norms for service providers carrying out cash management activities of banks, asking the lenders to ensure such contractors meet the specified financial and operational capabilities within 90 days.
-The Reserve Bank of India is delaying year-end bonuses to the heads of top private banks as it questions the size of the payouts citing the lender's performance issues.
-The Central Bureau of Investigation examined H.R. Khan, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in connection with the PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK fraud.
-Public sector banks made an upfront provision of 3.79 trln rupees between March 2014 and June 2017 towards stressed loans, which was nearly twice the provisions made in the preceding 10 years, the government said on Friday.
-At least 3-4 more banks are expected to be brought under Prompt Corrective Action frame-work because of deteriorating performance.
* COMMODITIES: Cane arrears in Maharashtra may swell further as sugar mills are likely to face working capital crunch due to a cut in funding by the state co-operative bank amid falling prices of the sweetener.
* CORPORATE: The board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the diversified conglomerate, will discuss the various mergers and acquisitions plans of the Tata group, especially with regard to the debt that it will be running up.
* DEFENCE: The Indian Air Force on Friday initiated the procurement of 110 fighter aircraft for its depleted combat force -- now languishing at 31 fighter squadrons against a desired strength of 42.
* ECONOMY: The Indian economy, which saw temporary disruption caused by demonetisation and the roll-out of the goods and services tax over the pas two years, will consolidate in the current fiscal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
* INFRASTRUCTURE: The National Highways Authority of India is looking to raise 85 bln rupees from Life Insurance Corp of India and another 100 bln rupees from the National Small Savings Fund to finance the ambitious road construction target under the Bharatmala highway development programme.
-The Centre has officially dumped plans to build a new port at Dugarajapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
* OIL AND GAS: New regulations to authorise laying, building, operating or expanding city gas distribution networks, notified by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board on Tuesday, will lead to higher penetration of city gas networks and more investments, and benefit consumers, ratings agency ICRA said in a note.
* PHARMACEUTICALS: The government has given R.K. Vats, additional secretary in the health ministry, additional charge of the post of chairman of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.
* POWER: Senior lawyer Shanti Bhushan has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the "unbridled discretionary power" of the chief justice of India as the master of roster of the court.
-Electricity tariffs discovered in the latest reverse auctions conducted by the Solar Energy Corp of India for 2,000 MW of wind power have brought relief to the industry. The lowest price quoted in the bidding which concluded late Thursday was 2.51 rupees/unit, 16% higher than the previous low of 2.44 rupees/unit discovered under any central government scheme.
-Doing a volte-face on its power-sector reform agenda, the Uttar Pradesh government has dropped a plan to implement the franchise model for privatisation of electricity distribution in the state's five cities, including capital Lucknow, and withdrew the tender documents inviting bids under the integrated service provider scheme for seven districts.
* RAILWAYS: The railway has inducted three state-of-the-art machines into its fleet to improve safety, reliability and economy in maintenance of tracks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said no to Railways signaling plan, which would have cost around 780 bln rupees when it came up at a meeting with the Railway Board on Mar 26.
* REGULATORY: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Securities and Exchange Board of India Executive Director Santosh Kumar Mohanty's appointment as a whole-time member of the market regulator.
-The Securities and Exchange Board of India is set to intensify its drive against individuals who misuse unpublished price-sensitive information to make illicit gains from the stock market.
-The Securities Appellate Tribunal has allowed SEBI to pass the final order by May-end in the case of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
-Market regulators are in talks to extend timings of currency derivatives trading, a move expected to help investors hedge their currency risks better.
* STEEL: Having concluded hearing from all the parties in the Essar Steel insolvency case, the Ahmedabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal is likely to pronounce the order no later than Apr 12.
-The National Company Law Tribunal's Ahmedabad bench said it would pronounce its decision by Apr 12 on petitions challenging the disqualification of ArcelorMittal and Numetal from bidding for Essar Steel.
-A marathon hearing for the Essar Steel insolvency case at the Ahmedabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal concluded on Friday with the bench asking the bidders to submit their written submission and circulate it amongst themselves by today.
-India will take up the issue of duty hike on certain steel and aluminium products by the US at the Trade Policy Forum meeting on Tue.
* TAXATION: The government clarified that the goods and services tax rate on supply of food and drinks by the Indian Railways or Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corp, or their licensees, both in trains and stations is 5%.
-The Income Tax Department wants to mine the goods and service tax payments data of businesses to ensure that no income goes untaxed.
-Goods and services tax refunds for exporters, worth over 50 bln rupees, are stuck as wrong filings of GSTR 3, a monthly return with the summarised details of sales, purchases and sales during the month along with the amount of GST liability, has not yet been revised.
* TELECOMMUNICATION: Vodafone India, the country's second-biggest telecom company, is set to launch an ambush marketing campaign in a bid to upstage Reliance Jio Infocomm during the two month-long Indian Premier League cricket tournament that starts Saturday.
-The telecom department will soon present the draft of National Telecom Policy 2018 to the prime minister for approval, after which the department may go for public comments.
-Telecom operators body Cellular Operators Association of India has approached the Department of Telecom demanding action against Sify Technologies calming that the internet services provider has been using spectrum in the 5 GHz band, which is in violation of the current laws.
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* AUTOMOBILE: Banks are taking a cautious approach to lending to smaller automotive parts makers, fearing companies may default on repayments as was the case with AMTEK AUTO.
* AVIATION: The government on Friday withdrew its invite for initial bids to sell its 51% stake in Pawan Hans.
-Air India has approached aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation for renewal of its flying permit, expiring in June, even as the government scouts for potential buyer for the loss-making carrier.
-A subsidiary of European aerospace major Airbus and an Indian startup, it has incubated, aim to work with the state-owned Airports Authority of India to produce equipment for airports under the government's regional connectivity scheme.
-The government hopes that Air India will be listed on the stock exchange within three years after it exits from owning a majority stake in the airline.
-The government will not look at making any revisions to the transaction details for the divestment of Air India, as it is seeing enough interest from prospective overseas bidders.
* BANKING: Making its opposition for the existing non-fiat virtual cryptocurrencies official, the Reserve Bank of India has asked all entities it regulates to desist from providing services linked to virtual currencies, and also end any existing relationships within three months.
-The Reserve Bank of India has asked all payment system operator to move storage of their Indian business-related data within the country in six months.
-The Reserve Bank of India's proposal on Thursday to fix a minimum loan amount for working capital loans to large borrowers, was welcomed by banks, most of whom agreed that it was a positive move for the banking sector.
-The Reserve Bank of India has released norms for service providers carrying out cash management activities of banks, asking the lenders to ensure such contractors meet the specified financial and operational capabilities within 90 days.
-The Reserve Bank of India is delaying year-end bonuses to the heads of top private banks as it questions the size of the payouts citing the lender's performance issues.
-The Central Bureau of Investigation examined H.R. Khan, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, in connection with the PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK fraud.
-Public sector banks made an upfront provision of 3.79 trln rupees between March 2014 and June 2017 towards stressed loans, which was nearly twice the provisions made in the preceding 10 years, the government said on Friday.
-At least 3-4 more banks are expected to be brought under Prompt Corrective Action frame-work because of deteriorating performance.
* COMMODITIES: Cane arrears in Maharashtra may swell further as sugar mills are likely to face working capital crunch due to a cut in funding by the state co-operative bank amid falling prices of the sweetener.
* CORPORATE: The board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the diversified conglomerate, will discuss the various mergers and acquisitions plans of the Tata group, especially with regard to the debt that it will be running up.
* DEFENCE: The Indian Air Force on Friday initiated the procurement of 110 fighter aircraft for its depleted combat force -- now languishing at 31 fighter squadrons against a desired strength of 42.
* ECONOMY: The Indian economy, which saw temporary disruption caused by demonetisation and the roll-out of the goods and services tax over the pas two years, will consolidate in the current fiscal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
* INFRASTRUCTURE: The National Highways Authority of India is looking to raise 85 bln rupees from Life Insurance Corp of India and another 100 bln rupees from the National Small Savings Fund to finance the ambitious road construction target under the Bharatmala highway development programme.
-The Centre has officially dumped plans to build a new port at Dugarajapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
* OIL AND GAS: New regulations to authorise laying, building, operating or expanding city gas distribution networks, notified by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board on Tuesday, will lead to higher penetration of city gas networks and more investments, and benefit consumers, ratings agency ICRA said in a note.
* PHARMACEUTICALS: The government has given R.K. Vats, additional secretary in the health ministry, additional charge of the post of chairman of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.
* POWER: Senior lawyer Shanti Bhushan has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the "unbridled discretionary power" of the chief justice of India as the master of roster of the court.
-Electricity tariffs discovered in the latest reverse auctions conducted by the Solar Energy Corp of India for 2,000 MW of wind power have brought relief to the industry. The lowest price quoted in the bidding which concluded late Thursday was 2.51 rupees/unit, 16% higher than the previous low of 2.44 rupees/unit discovered under any central government scheme.
-Doing a volte-face on its power-sector reform agenda, the Uttar Pradesh government has dropped a plan to implement the franchise model for privatisation of electricity distribution in the state's five cities, including capital Lucknow, and withdrew the tender documents inviting bids under the integrated service provider scheme for seven districts.
* RAILWAYS: The railway has inducted three state-of-the-art machines into its fleet to improve safety, reliability and economy in maintenance of tracks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said no to Railways signaling plan, which would have cost around 780 bln rupees when it came up at a meeting with the Railway Board on Mar 26.
* REGULATORY: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Securities and Exchange Board of India Executive Director Santosh Kumar Mohanty's appointment as a whole-time member of the market regulator.
-The Securities and Exchange Board of India is set to intensify its drive against individuals who misuse unpublished price-sensitive information to make illicit gains from the stock market.
-The Securities Appellate Tribunal has allowed SEBI to pass the final order by May-end in the case of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
-Market regulators are in talks to extend timings of currency derivatives trading, a move expected to help investors hedge their currency risks better.
* STEEL: Having concluded hearing from all the parties in the Essar Steel insolvency case, the Ahmedabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal is likely to pronounce the order no later than Apr 12.
-The National Company Law Tribunal's Ahmedabad bench said it would pronounce its decision by Apr 12 on petitions challenging the disqualification of ArcelorMittal and Numetal from bidding for Essar Steel.
-A marathon hearing for the Essar Steel insolvency case at the Ahmedabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal concluded on Friday with the bench asking the bidders to submit their written submission and circulate it amongst themselves by today.
-India will take up the issue of duty hike on certain steel and aluminium products by the US at the Trade Policy Forum meeting on Tue.
* TAXATION: The government clarified that the goods and services tax rate on supply of food and drinks by the Indian Railways or Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corp, or their licensees, both in trains and stations is 5%.
-The Income Tax Department wants to mine the goods and service tax payments data of businesses to ensure that no income goes untaxed.
-Goods and services tax refunds for exporters, worth over 50 bln rupees, are stuck as wrong filings of GSTR 3, a monthly return with the summarised details of sales, purchases and sales during the month along with the amount of GST liability, has not yet been revised.
* TELECOMMUNICATION: Vodafone India, the country's second-biggest telecom company, is set to launch an ambush marketing campaign in a bid to upstage Reliance Jio Infocomm during the two month-long Indian Premier League cricket tournament that starts Saturday.
-The telecom department will soon present the draft of National Telecom Policy 2018 to the prime minister for approval, after which the department may go for public comments.
-Telecom operators body Cellular Operators Association of India has approached the Department of Telecom demanding action against Sify Technologies calming that the internet services provider has been using spectrum in the 5 GHz band, which is in violation of the current laws.
