Daily Sector News Today – 23.10.2017
* AVIATION: Air India is likely to relook into some existing key contracts with its suppliers, including aircraft lessors and engine makers, as it seeks to trim costs ahead of stake sale by the government.
* BANKING: The Reserve Bank of India notified that 40 banks--21 state-owned and 19 private--would implement the interest subvention scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana in 2017-18 (Apr-Mar). Fresh additions to bad loans are likely to increase across the banking sector this year as the Reserve Bank of India finishes its supervisory assessment of lender accounts. The Reserve Bank of India has clarified that, in applicable cases, linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Moneylaundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 published in the Official Gazette on Jun 1. The government is considering diluting its stake on a priority basis in those banks where its shareholding is above 75%.
* CORPORATE: Mahindra Susten, a part of the Mahindra & Mahindra group, is close to setting up India's first battery-backed solar power project of utility scale in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The JSW Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Uttarakhand government for reconstruction and restoration of Kedarnath, the group said.
* ECONOMY: Members of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee, which voted to keep the policy repo rate unchanged earlier this month, were worried by the steeper-than-expected rise in inflation in July and August, and wondered whether the current growth slowdown was temporary or sustained. With the government liberalising foreign direct investment in most sectors, the focus is now on implementing the policies announced so far rather than opening up more sectors, a finance ministry official said.
* ENERGY: The Hero Group is close to acquiring almost the entire wind energy portfolio of the LNJ
Bhilwara Group, helping the buyer emerge as one of the biggest players in the rapidly growing sector that has seen large M&A deals in recent months. In an indication of accelerating consolidation in India's green energy space, Subhash Chandra's Essel Infraprojects has mandated Investec to find a buyer for its solar business.
* FINANCE: The government divesting stake in public sector banks could be one way of raising funds for recapitalising banks, finance ministry's Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal said.
* INFRASTRUCTURE: Led by Allahabad Bank, lenders to L&T Halol Shamlaji Tollway, a subsidiary of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects--are looking to sell 51% stake in the Gujarat road project and have mandated SBI Capital Markets to look for a buyer. Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said a blueprint for 142 expansion projects had been finalised to modernise 12 major ports and develop new harbours at a cost of about 900 bln rupees.
* PHARMACEUTICALS: In a move that could bring relief to the medical device industry that's been hit hard by price caps this year, the government may look at the middle ground of imposing a cap on the distributor and retailer margins. The government is considering curbs on the powers of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority so that the regulator can fix prices of only those new drugs which are on the National List of Essential Medicines.
* POWER: Pitching for letting private sector players operate and maintain its network, Mahadiscom, the cashstarved electricity distribution company of the Maharashtra government, is planning to invite international bids to implement franchisee model in six more locations. The severe electricity crisis in Maharashtra that led to huge load shedding incidents across the state a couple of weeks ago seems to be easing following improved coal supplies.
* RAILWAYS: Railway stations in 15 cities could soon offer residential apartments as part of a larger plan to redevelop them. These stations include New Delhi, Thane near Mumbai, and Howrah near Kolkata.
* STEEL: JSW Steel, TATA STEEL and VEDANTA are among the seven companies that have expressed interest in Bhushan Power & Steel.
* TELECOMMUNICATION: The Department of Telecommunications has reduced calling rates on satellite phones used by the country's armed forces and para-military units from 5 rupees a minute to 1 rupee a minute, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said. The government will soon come out with regulations to allow telecom operators to enter into agreements for sharing of network-related infrastructure or Common Telecom Infrastructure, a move that will not only bring down operational cost of these companies, but also check the menace of call drops.
* TRANSPORT: The National Highways Authority of India is set to get the power to approve projects with a construction cost of more than 10 bln rupees to ensure faster implementation of the Bharatmala programme. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, has received 12 initial bids from transporters on a tender for evacuating import containers from the four terminals of India's busiest container port to five locations and their nodes.
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* BANKING: The Reserve Bank of India notified that 40 banks--21 state-owned and 19 private--would implement the interest subvention scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana in 2017-18 (Apr-Mar). Fresh additions to bad loans are likely to increase across the banking sector this year as the Reserve Bank of India finishes its supervisory assessment of lender accounts. The Reserve Bank of India has clarified that, in applicable cases, linkage of Aadhaar number to bank account is mandatory under the Prevention of Moneylaundering (Maintenance of Records) Second Amendment Rules, 2017 published in the Official Gazette on Jun 1. The government is considering diluting its stake on a priority basis in those banks where its shareholding is above 75%.
* CORPORATE: Mahindra Susten, a part of the Mahindra & Mahindra group, is close to setting up India's first battery-backed solar power project of utility scale in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The JSW Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Uttarakhand government for reconstruction and restoration of Kedarnath, the group said.
* ECONOMY: Members of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee, which voted to keep the policy repo rate unchanged earlier this month, were worried by the steeper-than-expected rise in inflation in July and August, and wondered whether the current growth slowdown was temporary or sustained. With the government liberalising foreign direct investment in most sectors, the focus is now on implementing the policies announced so far rather than opening up more sectors, a finance ministry official said.
* ENERGY: The Hero Group is close to acquiring almost the entire wind energy portfolio of the LNJ
Bhilwara Group, helping the buyer emerge as one of the biggest players in the rapidly growing sector that has seen large M&A deals in recent months. In an indication of accelerating consolidation in India's green energy space, Subhash Chandra's Essel Infraprojects has mandated Investec to find a buyer for its solar business.
* FINANCE: The government divesting stake in public sector banks could be one way of raising funds for recapitalising banks, finance ministry's Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal said.
* INFRASTRUCTURE: Led by Allahabad Bank, lenders to L&T Halol Shamlaji Tollway, a subsidiary of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects--are looking to sell 51% stake in the Gujarat road project and have mandated SBI Capital Markets to look for a buyer. Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said a blueprint for 142 expansion projects had been finalised to modernise 12 major ports and develop new harbours at a cost of about 900 bln rupees.
* PHARMACEUTICALS: In a move that could bring relief to the medical device industry that's been hit hard by price caps this year, the government may look at the middle ground of imposing a cap on the distributor and retailer margins. The government is considering curbs on the powers of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority so that the regulator can fix prices of only those new drugs which are on the National List of Essential Medicines.
* POWER: Pitching for letting private sector players operate and maintain its network, Mahadiscom, the cashstarved electricity distribution company of the Maharashtra government, is planning to invite international bids to implement franchisee model in six more locations. The severe electricity crisis in Maharashtra that led to huge load shedding incidents across the state a couple of weeks ago seems to be easing following improved coal supplies.
* RAILWAYS: Railway stations in 15 cities could soon offer residential apartments as part of a larger plan to redevelop them. These stations include New Delhi, Thane near Mumbai, and Howrah near Kolkata.
* STEEL: JSW Steel, TATA STEEL and VEDANTA are among the seven companies that have expressed interest in Bhushan Power & Steel.
* TELECOMMUNICATION: The Department of Telecommunications has reduced calling rates on satellite phones used by the country's armed forces and para-military units from 5 rupees a minute to 1 rupee a minute, Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said. The government will soon come out with regulations to allow telecom operators to enter into agreements for sharing of network-related infrastructure or Common Telecom Infrastructure, a move that will not only bring down operational cost of these companies, but also check the menace of call drops.
* TRANSPORT: The National Highways Authority of India is set to get the power to approve projects with a construction cost of more than 10 bln rupees to ensure faster implementation of the Bharatmala programme. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, has received 12 initial bids from transporters on a tender for evacuating import containers from the four terminals of India's busiest container port to five locations and their nodes.
