Government On A...Mission

There are 25 companies in the foray for the banking license, which include IFCI, Reliance Group, Bajaj Finance, Muthoot Finance, Aditya Birla Group, Shriram Capital and KC Land and Finance.

Infra Projects Worth Rs 22000 Crore Cleared By Government

Before the general election, the government seems to be in a hurry to clear infra projects. The finance ministry has cleared seven infra projects worth Rs 16057 crore. In its meeting of Public Private Partnership Approval Committee (PPPAC), the ministry approved six projects related to the ministry of transport and highway and one project of the ministry of shipping for the development of bulk terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT). At the same time, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has also given its approval for the much awaited six-laning of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway connecting Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, to be build at a cost of Rs 6284 crore.

Of the highway projects, the biggest approval worth Rs 6571 crore has been granted to Delhi - Meerut Expressway for around 150 kms that includes 6/8 laning of NH-24. At the same time, JNPT development will be done at a cost of Rs 2496 crore, while Eastern Peripheral Expressway would be built at a cost of Rs 6284 crore. This 135 km road will be built through Sonepat, Faridabad and Palwal in Haryana and Baghpat, Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and will act as a new ring road for Delhi.

Jalan Submitted Report On New Banking License; India post, IDFC and L&T Finance Among Frontrunners 

Former RBI Governor, Bimal Jalan has filed the most awaited report on new banking license to the government and in all probability new banking licenses will be allotted during this fiscal. Experts are also of the opinion that the election code of conduct won’t have any impact on the announcement. Regarding the banking license aspirants, India Post, IDFC and L&T are among the frontrunners, while companies against whom investigations are pending under various cases like 2G and coal block scam, have been left out in the report. The final call on the report will be taken by the RBI and licenses will be allotted before March 31.  

There are 25 companies in the foray, which include IFCI, Reliance Group, Bajaj Finance, Muthoot Finance, Aditya Birla Group, Shriram Capital and KC Land and Finance. Earlier, Tata Sons and Videocon had also applied for the license but later backed out. In the committee headed by Bimal Jalan, other members include former Sebi chief C B Bhave, former RBI deputy governor Usha Thorat and Director of RBI’s central board Nachiket M Mor. If sources are to be believed, the committee has strictly followed the fit and proper criteria of RBI, corporate governance practices of the group, their business plan and other minute details of their businesses. In fact, the committed stuck to the norms propound by the RBI last February that gives immense importance to last 10 years of clean track record. 

Government Clears IOC and BHEL Disinvestment

The government has cleared disinvestment of 10 per cent stake in IOC and 5 per cent stake in BHEL that will garner more than Rs 7300 crore to the government’s exchequer. As per the approval given by the empowered group of ministers, headed by finance minister, 10 per cent IOC stake will be taken by ONGC-Oil India consortium at 10 per cent discount, cornering 5 per cent each. This will happen in an off- market manner and a final call will be taken by the board of the two companies.

The newly appointed ONGC CMD, D K Sarraf, told DSIJ that the deal will be through on March 14 and he thinks that it is a beneficial deal for the company. This will give around Rs 5300 crore to the government at current prices. On the other hand, 5 per cent of BHEL stock will be taken by LIC via block deal, which will be completed during this fiscal. It will fetch more than Rs 2000 crore to the government. It is important to note that the ministry of heavy industries was opposing the disinvestment of BHEL stocks since the last 2 years citing bad valuation for the company due to slowdown in the capital goods space. But now the finance ministry has chalked out a different plan to divest government’s stake in Maharatna. 

SAIL Sales Grows By 7 Per Cent 

Due to improvement in infra and housing space, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) showed a good turnaround in terms of sales. During February, it continued the upward trend in its sales and production. The company registered 7 per cent growth in sales in February compared to the same month last year. For the cumulative 11-month period till February, SAIL’s sales in domestic as-well-as export markets grew by 8 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

SAIL plants kept pace with the rise in sales, as the company produced 1 million tons (MT) of saleable steel in February, marking a 7 per cent growth. It also witnessed 4 per cent production growth each in hot metal and crude steel, at 1.12 MT and 1.04 MT respectively in February. “Consistent growth in sales over the last few months has given us the confidence of reporting a better outcome in the coming months, which will further pick-up with the expected strengthening of the market,” explained CS Verma, Chairman SAIL.