India's first credit-led neobank, Freo, has tied up with Equitas Small Finance Bank to launch zero-balance savings account called 'Freo Save' that will offer a 7% interest rate on a minimum balance of Rs. 1 lakh.
The new product, Freo Save, will allow customers to make informed financial decisions and strengthen their credit profile in the process.
Apart from facilities such as zero-balance and interest rate of 7%, the savings account will enable seamless integration with UPI to make funds transfer and bill payments easier.
India has Fewer ESG Funds than other Top 10 Economies
India has fewer funds focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues than other top 10 economies, data shows, amid investor caution about ESG funds that have yet to build a track record in India's market.
The world's sixth largest economy has 23 ESG funds, Refinitiv data shows, compared to the United States and Britain with more than 500 each, while Japan has 182 and China has 119. Other economies in the top 10 also have more ESG funds.
BharatPe Launches P2P Lending App '12% Club'
BharatPe has launched a "12% Club" app that will allow consumers to invest and earn up to 12 per cent annual interest or borrow at a similar rate. BharatPe has partnered with LenDenClub (RBI-approved NBFC) for this app and lending arrangement. Consumers can invest their savings anytime by choosing to lend money on the "12% Club" app. Apart from this, consumers can avail of collateral-free loans of up to Rs. 10 lakh on the 12 per cent Club app for a tenure of 3 months.
Govt. Approves Extension of Terms of three MD-CEOs, 10 EDs of PSU Banks
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has accepted the proposal of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to extend the tenure of three managing directors and chief executive officers (MDs and CEOs) and ten executive directors (EDs) of public sector banks.
The ACC has approved the extension of tenure of S S Mallikarjuna Rao, MD and CEO of Punjab National Bank, until January 31, 2022, when he is due for superannuation.
The appointments panel has also approved a two-year extension for Atul Kumar Goel, MD and CEO of UCO Bank as well as A S Rajeev, MD and CEO of Bank of Maharashtra.
The DFS had written to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) suggesting the extension of tenure of MDs and EDs of public sector banks to ensure stability and continuity at state-owned lenders amid the pandemic even as the Banks Board Bureau identifies new candidates for the role of bank chiefs.
The ACC has also approved a two-year extension to Bank of Baroda ED Ajay K Khurana, ED of Canara Bank A Manimekhalai and P R Rajagopal, Bank of India ED. Terms of Sanjay Kumar and Vijay Dube (Punjab National Bank), Gopal Singh Gusain and Manas Ranjan Biswal (Union Bank of India), Vikramaditya Singh Khichi (Bank of Baroda), Shenoy Vishwanath Vittal (Indian Bank), and Alok Srivastava (Central Bank of India) as EDs have been approved for an extension until their age of superannuation.
RBI Promotes Ajay Kumar as Executive Director Effective
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has promoted Ajay Kumar as its new Executive Director (ED).
Prior to being promoted as ED, Kumar was heading the New Delhi Regional Office of the RBI as Regional Director.
RBI has now 12 executive directors, including a chief financial officer.
Aug 28, 2021
Infosys Hits $100 Billion m-cap, Fourth Indian Firm to Reach Milestone
Infosys crossed the $100 billion mark in terms of market capitalisation, becoming the fourth Indian company and the second Indian software exporter after Tata Consultancy Services to reach the coveted milestone as investors put their might behind technology service providers powering the digital transformation of businesses worldwide.
Reliance Industries (m-cap of $140 billion), Tata Consultancy Services (m-cap $115 billion) and HDFC Bank (m-cap $100.1 billion) are the other Indian firms in the club with Infosys.
RBI Imposes Penalty on 2 Co-op banks, 1 NBFC
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed penalties on two co-operative banks and a non-banking financial company (NBFC), for deficiencies in certain regulatory compliance.
A penalty of Rs. 3 lakh has been imposed on Jijamata Mahila Sahakari Bank, Pune, Maharashtra for non-compliance with the directions on exposure norms and statutory/other restrictions-urban co-operative banks (UCBs).
A penalty of Rs. 2 lakh has been imposed on The Muslim Co-operative Bank Limited, Pune, for contravention of/non-compliance with the directions issued by the RBI on Know Your Customer (KYC).
The RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs. 5 lakh on Seyad Shariat Finance Limited, Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu), an NBFC, for non-compliance with certain provisions of the Know Your Customer Directions, 2016.
Megha Engineering Hands over Oil Rig to ONGC
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure (MEIL) handed over an indigenously built oil and gas rig to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). This is part of a Rs. 6,000 crore tender bagged by MEIL in 2019 to supply 47 rigs to ONGC.
ONGC's order of 47 rigs to MEIL comprises 20 workover rigs and 27 land drilling rigs.
The first such rig was handed over in April while the second rig was delivered. By March 2022, it is going to deliver 23 rigs to ONGC.
Afcons Bags Largest-ever Infrastructure Project in Maldives
Afcons, the infrastructure arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, has signed a contract for the largest-ever infrastructure project in Maldives. The $530-million project is funded by the Exim Bank of India under the Indian grant and Line of Credit (LOC).
It involves constructing the Male to Thilafushi Link project, popularly called Greater Male' Connectivity Project (GMCP) over 32 months.
The project includes a 6.7 Km bridge and causeway network connecting Male, Villingili, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi islands. According to the government of Maldives, the bridge will be a national economic engine and lifeline connecting Hulhumale, Hulhule and Male with the proposed Gulhifalhu Port and the Thilafushi Industrial Zone.
Afcons operates in over 20 countries worldwide.
Infosys Public Services Bags Contract from Manitoba Public Insurance
Infosys Public Services Inc (IPS), a subsidiary of Infosys, has been awarded a contract by Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) to digitise driver licensing, vehicle registration, and International Registration Plan (IRP) services for over 900,000 Manitobans.
Infosys has partnered with Celtic Systems a leading DMV solutions provider to implement the Infosys Celtic Vehicle and Licensing Solution, built on Celtic's portfolio of products for Manitoba.
Infosys Celtic Vehicle and Licensing Solution consist of interoperable modules that digitise both the core and ancillary functions including driver licensing, vehicle registration, billing, analytics, and reporting for motor vehicle agencies.
Aug 27, 2021
Afcons Bags Largest-ever Infrastructure Project in Maldives
Afcons, the infrastructure arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, has signed a contract for the largest-ever infrastructure project in Maldives. The $530-million project is funded by the Exim Bank of India under the Indian grant and Line of Credit (LOC).
It involves constructing the Male to Thilafushi Link project, popularly called Greater Male' Connectivity Project (GMCP) over 32 months.
The project includes a 6.7 Km bridge and causeway network connecting Male, Villingili, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi islands. According to the government of Maldives, the bridge will be a national economic engine and lifeline connecting Hulhumale, Hulhule and Male with the proposed Gulhifalhu Port and the Thilafushi Industrial Zone.
Afcons operates in over 20 countries worldwide.
Govt. Launches Scheme to Support 300 Start-ups
The government launched a programme to support 300 IT start-ups under which it will provide seed funding, mentorship and market access with a view to creating 100 unicorns out of the selected start-ups.
The concept of the Startup Accelerator of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development & Growth (SAMRIDH) has been developed on the lines of Silicon Valley based accelerator YCombinator.
IT and Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that he has mentored over 20 start-ups earlier and understands the need of mentoring them during the most important part of their journey when their idea is getting converted into products.
Under the Samridh programme, the Meity will provide seed funds of up to Rs. 40 lakh for the selected start-ups and mentorship for six months.
Aviation Ministry Signs MoU with Adani Group
The Civil Aviation Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Adani Group for providing services, including customs, immigration and security, at the Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports.
The Centre had in February 2019 privatised six major airports of the country -- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati -- and through a competitive bidding process, the Adani Group won the rights to run all of them for 50 years.
The Adani Group took charge of the Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Mangaluru airports in October and November last year. It is yet to take charge of the remaining airports.
India's First Agri Sectoral Index GUAREX by NCDEX
India's first sectoral index in the Agri commodities basket, i.e. GUAREX was launched by the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX). GUAREX is a price based sectoral index that tracks the movement in the futures contracts of guar gum refined splits and guar seed on a real-time basis. This index product will offer a lot of opportunities to the value chain.
The weightage of guar seed and guar gum refined splits in the index will be 63 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively. The index futures will be cash-settled. Initially, Guarex futures contracts expiring in September and October will be made available for trading.
India is the world's largest guar producer accounting for 80-85 per cent of the output, while Rajasthan is the country's top producer with 80 per cent market share. Guar seed was sown on 1.81 million hectares so far this year, down from 2.25 million hectares logged in the same period last year.
Karnataka Bank Launches KBL FASTag
Karnataka Bank launched KBL FASTag for seamless movement of vehicles at toll plazas by facilitating automatic deduction of the toll amount.
Customers can procure FASTag through the bank's website or by approaching the nearby branch.
A FASTag can be pre-loaded digitally for the required amount and can be recharged online through credit card, debit card, net banking, IMPS, among others.
KBL FASTag can be used across all the toll plazas throughout the country, which are registered in the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme.
RBI Extends Tokenisation Services to IoT Devices
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended its card tokenisation services to any token requestor, including consumer devices such as laptops, desktops, wearables (wrist watches, bands, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc.
Tokenisation refers to generating random numbers instead of the actual card numbers keyed in during transactions.
So far, the facility was available only for mobile phones and tablets of interested card holders, in which there has been a considerable uptick of tokenisation usage.
This initiative is expected to make card transactions more safe, secure and convenient for the users.
RBI Okays Hitendra Dave as HSBC India Head
HSBC India said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Hitendra Dave as the country head for three years, effective August 2021.
Dave is a General Manager within the HSBC Group and a member of the Asia Pacific Executive Committee of HSBC, underlining the importance of the India business to HSBC.
Aug 26, 2021
Power Finance Corporation Inks pact with NHPC
State-owned Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) has signed a pact with NHPC Ltd to lend funds for the development of hydro projects.
NHPC is engaged in the development of hydropower in India and has also diversified into solar and wind power. It also provides consultancy services to hydropower and renewable energy projects.
PFC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NHPC Ltd to lend funds for the development of hydro projects by NHPC. PFC will also provide financial assistance for the acquisition of stressed projects.
Future Retail Appoints Sadashiv Nayak as CEO
Future Retail Ltd (FRL) appointed Sadashiv Nayak as its chief executive officer.
Nayak has been associated with Future Group for over 17 years. In the last 8 years as the CEO of Big Bazaar, he has played a pivotal role in making Big Bazaar what it is today, it said.
He had worked at various designations during his association within the Group.
FRL operates retail stores as Big Bazaar, fbb, Foodhall, Easyday and Nilgiris.
Nayak, an alumnus of NIT Karnataka and XLRI, Jamshedpur, has over 27 years of experience.
Nangia & Co LLP Becomes CERT-IN Empanelled
Nangia & Co LLP has been empanelled by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN), which will enable it to audit and assess government IT infrastructure.
The empanelment by CERT-IN empowers Nangia & Co LLP to offer its cybersecurity solutions, carry out IT security audits, including vulnerability assessment and penetration testing, ISMS Compliance Assessments, etc, of central and state governments, public sectors, and corporate organisations.
RapiPay Fintech Appoints Nipun Jain as CEO
RapiPay, a fintech company in the assisted payments category, has appointed Nipun Jain as the chief executive officer.
Jain has over three decades of experience as a retail banking professional with expertise in setting and scaling up of businesses, proficient in managing large retail assets, business banking, and branch banking franchise. Prior to joining RapiPay, he has previously worked with Yes Bank and ICICI Bank.
The leadership rejig at RapiPay is with an objective to gain foothold in Neobanking domain and thus expand the company's business further. RapiPay is working on expanding its footprint in the rural areas and Tier II cites to foray into newer businesses such as digital lending, POS, Digital Cards, Investments, Insurance and other financial services.
ReNew Power Seals Merger with RMG II
ReNew Power has completed its merger with RMG Acquisition Corporation II (RMG II). The move was needed to allow the listing and trade of Renew Power's shares on Nasdaq. Overseas companies use this route to list on the Nasdaq as it grants them access to American capital which would otherwise be limited to companies incorporated in the United States.
RMG II was a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganisation or other similar business combination with one or more businesses.
With this transaction, ReNew has received $610 million in net proceeds, consisting of funds from RMG II's former trust account and from a private placement in public equity (PIPE), after redemptions and transaction fees.
RBI Imposes Penalty on Dhanlaxmi Bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed fines of Rs. 27.5 lakh and Rs. 20 lakh, respectively, on Thrissur-headquartered Dhanlaxmi Bank and Gorakhpur-based NE & EC Railway Employees' Multi-State Primary Cooperative Bank. Explaining its decision, the central bank said that Dhanlaxmi Bank was being penalised for violation of norms related to the Depositor Education and Awareness Scheme while the action against NE & EC Cooperative Bank was due to deficiencies in its regulatory compliance.
Aug 25, 2021
Vedanta Makes Natural Gas Discovery
Billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta has made a natural gas discovery in a block in Gujarat that it had won in the open acreage licensing policy (OALP) round.
The firm has notified the DGH and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of a gas and condensate discovery (named 'Jaya') in its exploratory well Jaya1 (earlier Jambusar-Updip-1), drilled in OALP Block CB-ONHP/2017/2 in Bharuch District of Gujarat.
The block was awarded to the company in October 2018 and is one of the 41 areas awarded to it in OALP-I round of bidding.
The company holds 100 per cent participating interest in the block.
RBI Approves Re-appointment of Sandeep Bakhshi as ICICI Bank MD & CEO
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the re-appointment of Sandeep Bakhshi, MD & CEO, of ICICI Bank with effect from October 15, 2021, till October 3, 2023.
Bakhshi was appointed the MD & CEO of the bank, with effect from October 15, 2018.
Under Bakhshi, the bank in Q1FY22, reported a net profit of Rs. 4,616 crore, aided by an improvement in interest margins and lower provisioning.
ACME Group to Set up Green Ammonia, Green Hydrogen Facility in Oman
ACME Group signed a land agreement to set up a USD 3.5 billion green ammonia project at Special Economic Zone at the Port of Duqm in Oman.
The agreement was signed with The Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones, a Government authority of Oman.
The plant will be an integrated facility using 3 gigawatts peak (GWp) of solar and 0.5 GWp of wind energy to produce 2,400 tonnes per day of green ammonia with an annual production of about 0.9 million tonnes.
This would be the first facility of this scale to be operational by 2022. The facility is being built to export green ammonia to demand centres like Europe and Asia with an investment of USD 3.5 billion.
Nirmala Sitharaman Launches the National Monetisation Pipeline
Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman has launched the asset monetisation pipeline of Central ministries and public sector entities: 'National Monetisation Pipeline'. Asset Monetisation, means a limited period license/lease of an asset, owned by the government or public authority, to a private sector entity for upfront or periodic consideration.
The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) lists out assets and asset classes, under various infrastructure ministries, which will be monetised over a period of time. Which means assets will be monetised.
The pipeline has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with infrastructure line ministries, based on the mandate for 'Asset Monetisation' under Union Budget 2021-22.
NMP estimates aggregate monetisation potential of Rs 6.0 lakh crores through core assets of the Central Government, over a four-year period, from FY 2022 to FY 2025.
The top 5 sectors capture about 83% of the aggregate pipeline value. These top 5 sectors include- Roads (27%) followed by Railways (25%), Power (15%), oil & gas pipelines (8%) and Telecom (6%).
India Overtakes US to Become 2nd Most Attractive Manufacturing Hub
According to real estate consultant Cushman amp, Wakefield, India has overtaken the United States (US) to become second-most attractive manufacturing destination internationally.
India's improvement is driven mainly by cost competitiveness.
Ranking got switched due to plant relocations from China to other parts of Asia towards already established base in pharma, chemicals and engineering sectors.
China maintains its number one position according to 2021 Global Manufacturing Risk Index.
This index assessed the most advantageous locations for global manufacturing across 47 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas.
In the year 2020, US was at second position while India was at third.
US has slipped to third position. It is followed by Canada, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Lithuania, Thailand, Malaysia and Poland.