Unrest at smartphone manufacturing unit in Noida points to deeper problems

At the Noida manufacturing of Hipad Technology, where workers went on a rampage on Thursday, unrest is not new.
In April, too, workers and locals had ransacked the unit, smashing glass windows and destroying CCTV cameras. Then, they had been demanding higher wages and better working hours, but their demands were not been met.

This time, they were protesting the sacking of 200 employees. Sources said the management decided to discontinue with the services of the workers as demand for mobile phone fell after Diwali.
The facility manufactures handsets for smartphone brand Oppo and power banks for market leader Xiaomi. According to industry sources, Oppo has taken a significant part of its 3 million unit sales from the factory in the July-September period. Realme, Oppo’s new brand launched on May 1, has sold a million handsets till September.
Some employees who faced the axe included trainees. An industry source said this hiring strategy was used by many handset manufacturers in Noida.
“Many handset makers have scaled up operations quickly. They often hire trainees not protected by strict labour laws, as they can be sacked easily,” said a source.
Oppo Mobile India has said it was aware of the incident and workers’ unrest and would try to make decisions in the best interest of its employees. Xiaomi Technology India declined to comment.
Problems galore
Incidents such as the one on Thursday have grown more common in recent times.
In July last year, protests turned violent at a plant operated by smartphone maker Vivo India. It was prompted by the abrupt service discontinuation of 50 workers. Vivo had claimed that the step was taken to improve productivity.
Before that, in March, the Noida unit of mobile phone maker Oppo was besieged by workers after reports of a Chinese executive of the company tearing the Indian national flag. The police had to take charge of the situation.
In July 2016, a protest broke out in the manufacturing unit of durables major LG India in Greater Noida. The protests, demanding better working hours and lower wages, went on for months.
ALSO READ: 'Sacked without notice', 100s of workers go on rampage at phone-making unit
A number of factors are responsible for this, said industry sources.
“Employing skilled labour and running a sustainable model for long requires large investments, forward planning, and strong human resource policies. Relatively new setups fail to meet these basic requirements,” said a senior executive.
The Noida conundrum
Noida is an important region in the map of handset manufacturing in the country. The largest hub of mobile manufacturing, it has 35 production units with a capacity of 200 million handsets a year.
The annual demand for handsets in the country is 450 million units.
Regular disruption, however, has the potential to impact supply.
Faisal Kawoosa, the founder of analyst firm TechArc, said halting production for a day or two might not impact supply, as companies can ramp up production. “But, if it extends beyond a week, then that might be a problem for the brand,” he added

GDP numbers indicate India's farmers are getting little for what they sow

The latest numbers on the price of agricultural produce give an idea of what's fueling the farmers' protest in Delhi.
Gross value added (GVA) during the September quarter (the second for the financial year beginning April 1) in agriculture, forestry and fishing rose 3.8 per cent at constant prices but 2.8 per cent at current prices over a year. This means prices increased at a slower rate in the period, compared to a year before.

In contrast, the gap between GVA at constant and current prices during the corresponding period of 2017-18 was a positive 1.7 percentage points.
"Farmers aren't getting remunerative prices. They incur a huge loss in selling their produce below the state-mandated Minimum Support Price (MSP)," said a senior leader associated with the farmers' protest.
According to a government statement, the production of kharif crops in 2018-19 is expected to rise by 0.6 per cent as compared to 1.7 per cent during the same period last year. Which means less of output growth has not meant better prices.
"A GVA of 3.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2018-19 is surprising, given that production of several kharif crops could fall as per the First Advance Estimate for the year. I think production of the allied sector, which has 55 per cent share in agricultural GVA, contributed," Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at CARE Ratings, told Business Standard.
Around 55 per cent of the GVA of this sector is from livestock products, forestry and fisheries, where the combined growth was 6.7 per cent in Q2.
India's kharif grain production in the 2018-19 crop year that started in June is projected to touch an all-time high of 141.59 million tonnes (mt), up 0.6 per cent from last year. Despite an almost 10 per cent overall shortfall in monsoon, rains were distributed well and were timely.
chart The total area under kharif crops is estimated this year at close to one per cent more than last year. According to the First Advance Estimate, rice production is estimated at 99.24 mt, about 1.8 per cent more than the final estimate for 2017-18.
This is despite several parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP experiencing drought-like conditions in the initial period of the four-month southwest monsoon season that started from June.
Coarse cereal output is estimated at 33.13 mt, around 2.2 per cent less than last year. Pulses' output is projected at 9.22 mt, from 9.34 mt last year. The drop is due to a shift towards sowing of soybean in place of more traditionally grown lentils in some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Total oilseed production is estimated at 22.18 mt, nearly 5.7 per cent more than last year's final estimate of close to 21 mt. Due mainly to a 22.6 per cent jump in soybean, despite a fall in groundnut production.
Cotton production is estimated at 32.48 mn bales (a bale is 170 kg), about 6.9 per cent less. And, jute production at 10.16 mn bales (each 180 kg), as against 10.13 mn bales last year.

Sebi starts probe against Sun Pharma, to also reopen insider trading case

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has initiated an inquiry into the affairs of pharma major Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on the basis of a whistle-blower complaint, said regulatory sources.
The sources said the market regulator was in receipt of a 150-page letter in which the whistle-blower accused the company of committing corporate governance and tax-related lapses, besides other securities market-related violations.

When contacted, a Sun Pharma spokesperson said, “We have not been contacted by Sebi in this regard.”
Sebi, according to sources, also plans to reopen an insider trading case against the company and its promoters that was settled through the consent mechanism.
Sun Pharma, its Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi, and nine others had settled the insider trading probe, paying Rs 1.8 million against the settlement charges in 2017.
ALSO READ: Sebi may reopen Sun Pharma insider trading case, probe promoters' lapses
While Sebi had not disclosed details of the case, it was probably linked to the acquisition of Ranbaxy by Sun Pharma from Japanese drugmaker Daiichi. The regulator had agreed to settle the proposed adjudication proceedings linked to the violation of the internal code of conduct for prevention of insider trading. No enforcement action was initiated for the alleged defaults.
Sebi starts probe against Sun Pharma, to also reopen insider trading case “The allegations raised by the whistle-blower are of serious nature. We will look into each one of them,” said a regulatory source.
Sources said Sebi had also taken cognisance of another note by Australia-based brokerage Macquarie on the faulty audit process and dubious practices used while raising funds through foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs). In 2004, Sun Pharma had launched a $225 million FCCB issue.
The foreign brokerage is learnt to have raised concerns about selecting a small-time London-based firm, Jermyn Capital Partners, to manage the issue. The Indian arm of this entity is believed to have had links with stock brokers Ketan Parekh and Dharmesh Doshi, both of whom had come under scrutiny for the market crash of 2002.
Besides, Sebi has referred the tax-related allegations to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Earlier this week, the Sun Pharma stock touched a six-month low after a foreign brokerage raised concerns about corporate governance practices at the drug major. On November 28, the stock fell 3 per cent during the day, but recovered partially to close at Rs 486.35 apiece on the BSE, down 1.47 per cent. On Friday, the stock closed at Rs 492.3, up 1.84 per cent from the previous close.

Give H1-B visa only to skilled, highest paid foreigners, says Trump admin

The Trump administration on Friday proposed major changes to the H1-B application process with the aim of awarding the visa to the most skilled and highest paid foreign workers.
Under a new proposed merit-based rule, a notice for which was issued Friday, companies employing foreign workers on the H1-B visa under the Congressional mandated annual caps -- would have to electronically register with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) during a designated registration period.
The H1-B visa has an annual numerical limit cap of 65,000 visas each fiscal year as mandated by the Congress. The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of beneficiaries with a US master's degree or higher are exempt from the cap.
The USCIS would also reverse the order allowing it to select H1-B petitions under the H1-B cap and the advanced degree exemption.
This is likely to increase the number of foreign workers with a master's or higher degree from a US institution of higher education to be selected for an H1-B cap number. As such the proposed rule will introducing a more meritorious selection of beneficiaries, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.
The DHS said public comments on the proposed rule can be submitted from December 3 to January 2.
"Currently, in years when the H1-B cap and the advanced degree exemption are both reached within the first five days that H1-B cap petitions may be filed, the advanced degree exemption is selected prior to the H1-B cap.
"The proposed rule would reverse the selection order and count all registrations or petitions towards the number projected as needed to reach the H1-B cap first," the DHS said.
Once a sufficient number of registrations or petitions have been selected for the H1-B cap, the USCIS would then select registrations or petitions towards the advanced degree exemption.
This proposed change would increase the chances that beneficiaries with a master's or higher degree from a US institution of higher education would be selected under the H1-B cap and that H1-B visas would be awarded to the most-skilled and highest-paid beneficiaries, it said.
The proposed process would result in an estimated increase of up to 16 per cent (or 5,340 workers) in the number of selected H1-B beneficiaries with a master's degree or higher from a US institution of higher education, the DHS said.
The USCIS said it expects that shifting to electronic registration would reduce overall costs for petitioners and create a more efficient and cost-effective H1-B cap petition process for the agency.
The proposed rule would help alleviate massive administrative burdens on USCIS since the agency would no longer need to physically receive and handle hundreds of thousands of H1-B petitions and supporting documentation before conducting the cap selection process, it said.
This would help reduce wait times for cap selection notifications. The proposed rule also limits the filing of H1-B cap-subject petitions to the beneficiary named on the original selected registration, which would protect the integrity of this registration system, USCIS said.

GDP data: Muted growth in major segments in GVA; economists not optimistic

The country’s economic growth slowed to a three-quarter low of 7.1 per cent in July-September 2018-19 from almost a four-year high of 8.2 per cent in April-June.
This was despite gross fixed capital formation, denoting investment activities, growing by double digits for the third straight quarter.

Growth in gross value added moderated to a three-quarter low of 6.9 per cent in Q2, pulled down by manufacturing, mining and agriculture, among others. The financial services sector saw a subdued growth rate.
Almost none of the major segments in gross value added (GVA), except electricity, which has a low share in GDP, and government-supported services, showed a rise in growth. Besides, the trade, hotel and communication segment rose only moderately higher in Q2 compared to that in Q1.
ALSO READ: GDP growth slows to 3-quarter low of 7.1% in Q2, still ahead of China
GDP growth was below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) expectations of 7.4 per cent. In its monetary policy report, the RBI had projected GDP growth to be 7.1 per cent in Q3 and 6.9 per cent in Q4. Along with a benign inflation rate, this will prompt the Monetary Policy Committee to not hike the policy rate in its review next week, say economists. This is the last crucial macroeconomic data before the policy.
GDP data: Muted growth in major segments in GVA; economists not optimistic Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg said GDP growth in second quarter seemed disappointing. The finance ministry's statement later said, "This quarter also faced the challenge of higher oil prices, resulting in a much higher import bill and the weakening of the rupee.
The Indian economy is on track to maintain a high growth rate in the current global environment." The sequential slowdown in GDP growth in Q2, the extent of which is largely in line with our expectations, confirms that the expansion in excess of 8 per cent recorded in Q1 was an aberration led by base effects, noted Aditi Nayar, principal economist at ICRA.
However, India continued to be the fastest-growing large economy with China delivering 6.5 per cent growth in July-September 2018.
In the first half of FY19, the economy grew at 7.6 per cent, up from 6 per cent last year. “First half GDP growth is quite robust and healthy. Still, the highest growth rate in the world,” noted Garg. Economists don't agree with the finance ministry's optimism that the economy is on track. SBI Chief Economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh said, “Signs are not rosy, and we expect GDP growth to slip below 7 per cent in H2FY19.”
ALSO READ: What next after mining, manufacturing pull down GDP data?
CRISIL lowered its projections for the economic growth 10 basis points to 7.4 per cent for the current financial year from 7.5 per cent estimated earlier. CRISIL Chief Economist D K Joshi said slowdown in private consumption dragged GDP growth down to 7.1 per cent in Q2. Growth in gross value added moderated to a three-quarter low of 6.9 per cent in Q2.
Growth in the second quarter was driven by public administration, defence & other services, which largely connote government spending. The sector grew by 10.9 per cent in Q2, up from 9.9 per cent in Q1, contributing 1.5 percentage points to growth in Q2FY19. However, manufacturing dipped to 7.4 per cent from 13.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
“The sharp slowdown in GVA growth of manufacturing in Q2 relative to the previous quarter is in line with the quarter-on-quarter decline in the aggregate EBITDA margins of a wide section of corporates, led by a rise in input and energy costs and rupee depreciation,” noted Nayar. Construction grew at a slower pace of 7.8 per cent in Q2, down from 8.7 per cent in the previous quarter, reflecting the seasonal impact.
“Typically construction slows during the July-September quarter due to monsoon and picks up thereafter,” noted Devendra Pant, chief economist, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).
GDP data: Muted growth in major segments in GVA; economists not optimistic The mining sector’s woes continued with the sector contracting by 2.4 per cent in Q2. Agricultural growth slowed to 3.8 per cent in Q2 from 5.3 per cent in Q1.
Within the services sector, trade, hotels, transport and communication remained range-bound, growing at 6.8 per cent in Q2, while financial, real estate & professional services dipped marginally to 6.3 per cent in Q2 from 6.5 per cent earlier.
On the expenditure side, investment remained healthy with gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) growing at 12.5 per cent in Q2, up from 10 per cent in the previous quarter. Its share in GDP (at current prices) has gone up to 29.2 per cent in Q2, the highest since Q1FY17. It is possible that increase in capital spending on road, affordable housing and railways pushed up growth, noted analysts.
ALSO READ: GDP numbers disappoint; 7.5% full-yr target possible if govt tempo keeps up
However, private consumption expenditure slowed to 7 per cent in Q2, down from 8.6 per cent in the previous quarter.
“While moderation in consumption growth in Q2 relative to the previous quarter was led by the base effect, prevailing disinflation in food prices has cast concerns on the sustainability of the strength of rural demand in the near term,” noted Nayar.
“Whether market prices rise closer to the revised MSPs for various crops would crucially affect rural sentiment and demand. While commentary by various corporates related to their Q2 earnings suggested that urban sentiment was mixed, the reduction in fuel prices may boost consumption,” she added. Some economists say the slowdown in growth, coupled with subdued retail inflation, could prevent the MPC from hiking rates in its monetary policy review next week.
ALSO READ: GDP numbers indicate India's farmers are getting little for what they sow
“Ind-Ra believes the FY19 may still end up with GDP growth of 7.3 per cent and the RBI may get the much-needed elbow room to keep the policy rate unchanged in the forthcoming 5th bi monthly policy review on December 5. If the current trend of growth inflation mix continues, a rate hike in the current fiscal year is ruled out,” noted Pant.

Asian shares soften as investors look to G20 summit

By Andrew Galbraith
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Share markets ticked slightly lower in early Asian trade on Friday as investors await a closely watched meeting between the Chinese and U.S. presidents in Argentina this weekend for signs of a trade war detente.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was down 0.1 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei <.N225> was up 0.2 percent.
The mostly muted market moves followed a mixed day on Wall Street, where stocks swung between losses and gains to ultimately end lower, amid conflicting signals on the outlook for trade talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 0.11 percent, to 25,338.84, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.22 percent to 2,737.8 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 0.25 percent to 7,273.08 at Thursday's close.
U.S. stock market futures pointed to more weakness on Friday, with S&P e-mini futures ticking down 0.14 percent to 2,740.5.
Investors are waiting for a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, at which the leaders are expected to discuss the countries' bruising trade war.
Adding to apprehension ahead of the weekend meeting were comments from a U.S. official, who said White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who has advocated a tougher trade stance with China, would attend.
Mixed signals from Washington about the prospects for a rapprochement with China on trade have led many investors to sit on the sidelines.
"Rather than jump at headlines, the market has taken a laid-back approach and prices are treading water until we see the outcome," analysts at National Australia Bank said in a morning note.
Defying the subdued mood, Australian shares <.AXJO> were 1.1 percent weaker, dragged lower by maker Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd , which fell 12.1 percent on a weak outlook for 2019.
"They billed it as another transformational year, which fund managers think means profit growth is not going to be that good," said William O'Loughlin, investment analyst at Rivkin Securities in Sydney.
Global investors also remain hesitant to shift positions significantly as they seek clarity on Federal Reserve policy direction.
Minutes of the latest Fed policy meeting showed that almost all officials agreed another interest rate increase was "likely to be warranted fairly soon," but opened debate on when to pause further hikes and how to relay those plans to the public.
The minutes follow comments from Federal Chairman Jerome Powell earlier this week that some took as indicating a dovish shift.
The yield on two-year U.S. Treasury notes , seen as sensitive to expectations of higher Fed fund rates, was at 2.8066 percent on Friday, down from a U.S. close of 2.813 percent.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes yielded 3.0261 percent, compared with a U.S. close of 3.035 percent on Thursday.
The dollar dropped 0.08 percent against the yen to 113.38 , while the euro was flat at $1.1391.
In commodities markets, U.S. crude prices retreated after rising on news that Russia is increasingly convinced it needs to reduce oil output along with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC and its allies are meeting in Vienna on Dec. 6-7.
U.S. crude dipped 0.1 percent at $51.41 a barrel.
Spot gold rose 0.06 percent to $1,224.38 per ounce. [GOL/]
(Editing by Sam Holmes)
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Repco Home Finance rebounds 11% from day's low

Shares of Repco Home Finance moved higher by 7% at Rs 364, bouncing back 11% from its early morning low on the back of heavy volumes. The stock of housing finance company slipped 4% to Rs 327 on Friday in early morning trade, extending its yesterday’s 4% decline on BSE after value investor Mohnish Pabrai's fund sold more than one percentage point stake in home lender for Rs 319 million on Thursday via the bulk deal.
On November 30, the Pabrai Investment Fund IV LP sold total 948,535 equity shares at an average market price of Rs 335.87 per share on the NSE and BSE.

The fund sold 385,327 shares at Rs 335.59 per share, the data on the BSE showed. On the NSE, data showed that the fund sold 563,208 shares at Rs 336.15 per share. The buyer’s names were not ascertained immediately, as the company has not disclosed that information in the bulk deal data.
As of September 30, 2018, Pabrai Investment Fund IV, LP held 1.93 million or 3.09% stake in Repo Home Finance, the shareholding pattern data showed. Pabrai Investment Fund 3 Ltd held 1.45%, while Pabrai Investment Fund II held 1.72% stake.
In the past six trading days, the stock of Repco Home Finance has dipped 18% from Rs 401 on November 21, as compared to a 3% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. It touched a 52-week high of Rs 739 on January 8 and a 52-week low of Rs 293 on October 19 this year.
At 10:58 am, the stock was trading 6% higher at Rs 361 on BSE, as compared to a 0.44% rise in the Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter jumped more than eight-fold with a combined 2.85 million equity shares changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE so far.

Vodafone Idea falls 6% as CRISIL downgrades NCD rating

Shares of Vodafone Idea dipped 6% to Rs 35.60 per share on the BSE after the rating agency CRISIL downgraded its rating on non-convertible debentures (NCD) of Rs 60 billion.
“The downgrade reflects continued pricing pressure in the mobile telephone industry, leading to weak operating performance of Voda-Idea. The company reported pro-forma earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of Rs 23.49 billion for the first half of fiscal 2019, against a pro-forma EBITDA of Rs 119.08 billion for the full year of fiscal 2018. Synergy benefits of the merger are expected to improve the EBITDA over the medium term. The timely realisation of synergy benefits will be a key monitorable,” CRISIL said in a rating note.

CRISIL believes the credit risk profile of the combined entity will continue to be affected by competition, while the quantum and timeliness of synergy benefits will be key rating sensitivity factors. Moreover, the support provided to the combined entity by its sponsors, Vodafone and ABG, will remain a key monitorable, it added.
The domestic telecom industry is witnessing intense price competition after Reliance Jio Infocomm launched its services. Average revenue per user (ARPU) per month declined to Rs 88 for Voda-Idea for the quarter ended September 30, 2018, from Rs 145 and Rs 132 for Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, respectively, for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. This led to a significant decline in operating margin of the combined entity to 9.4% during the first six months of fiscal 2019 from 18% in fiscal 2018 on a pro-forma basis.
CRISIL believes Voda-Idea's credit risk profile may be further impacted by continued competition, while the quantum and timeliness of synergy benefits will be key monitorable.
In past six trading days, shares of Vodafone Idea were slipped 20%, as compared to 3% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 32.55 on October 8, 2018, on the BSE in intra-day trade.

Real estate shares in focus; Prestige Estates, Oberoi Realty up over 5%

Shares of real estate companies are in focus, with Nifty Realty index gaining 2% on Friday, on hopes that liquidity may ease in the coming days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday relaxed rules for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
Prestige Estates Projects and Oberoi Realty were up 8% and 6%, respectively, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Indiabulls Real Estates, Godrej Properties, Sobha, Kolte-Patil Developers Brigade Enterprises and Sunteck Realty gained 1% to 4%.

At 12:05 pm; Nifty Realty index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 2%, as compared to a marginal 0.07% rise in the Nifty 50 index. Since September, the realty index had underperformed the market by falling 18% on liquidity concerns. On comparison, the benchmark index fell 7% till Thursday.
The RBI decided to relax the Minimum Holding Period (MHP) requirement for originating NBFCs, in respect of loans of original maturity above 5 years, to receipt of repayment of six monthly installments or two quarterly installments. This has been reduced from the earlier tenure of 12 months or four quarterly installments. These guidelines would be applicable to housing finance companies (HFCs) as well.
Commenting on the RBI’s move, Vibhor Mittal, Group Head (Structured Finance), ICRA said the relaxation in MHP criteria would primarily benefit HFCs and NBFCs offering mortgage loans where the loan tenure is typically more than five years.
According to a Business Standard report, the government will push harder on measures for providing liquidity in the financial system rather than changing governance norms of the RBI.
The official that the government’s argument – through Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg and Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar – will be on the liquidity stress in housing and consumer goods sector and how it is impacting further economic activity, added report. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT
Thus far in the calendar year 2018 (CY18), Nifty Realty index tanked 33%, against 3% gain in the Nifty 50 index. In CY17, the realty index zoomed 110%, as compared to 29% rise in the benchmark index.
Over the last few months, concerns have emerged on liquidity in the system, especially for NBFCs. Construction finance has been an essential component for real estate (RE) developers facing declining demand and lower cash flows. NBFC funding to developers posted a 35% CAGR over FY16-18.
“Over the last two years, various government initiatives and reforms such as demonetization, the introduction of RERA and implementation of GST have resulted in consolidation in the real estate industry. We believe the reputed players backed by strong execution track records stand to gain market share from small developers,” Karvy Stock Broking said in sector update.

Oil India turns ex-date for share buyback; stock down 7%

Shares of Oil India have slipped 7% to Rs 188 per share on the BSE in an otherwise firm market as it turned ex-date for the proposed buy-back.
The board of directors of Oil India in their meeting held on November 19, 2018, has fixed Monday, December 3, 2018, as the record date to determine the entitlement and names of the shareholders who are eligible to participate in the buyback; and the shareholders to whom the letter of offer and tender form will be delivered in relation to the buyback.

Oil India will buy back 50.5 million of its shares for a little over Rs 10.85 billion as part of the government’s push to cash-rich public sector units (PSUs) to part with their surplus either by paying higher dividends or through share buybacks, to help meet revenue targets.
The company set a share buyback price at Rs 215 per share through a tender offer. The nation’s second large oil explorer has a little less than Rs 200 billion of reserves.
At 10:20 am; Oil India was trading 6% lower at Rs 191 on the BSE, as compared to 0.54% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The stock was trading close to its 52-week low price of Rs 180 touched on October 10, 2018, in intra-day trade. The trading volumes on the counter nearly doubled with a combined 2.52 million shares changed hands on the BSE and NSE so far.

YES Bank continues recovery, surges 6%

Continuing its recovery, the stock of private sector lender YES Bank climbed as much as 5.92 per cent in the early morning deals on Friday.
After plunging to a fresh 32-month low of Rs 147 apiece on BSE, the stock of YES Bank staged a recovery on Thursday to settle at Rs 160.45, down 0.77 per cent. During this week, the stock has shed 15 per cent (as of Thursday's close).

In an exclusive interaction with CNBCTV18, the bank's management clarified that the CEO Rana Kapoor doesn't have any ownership in Morgan Credits and YES Capital.
Earlier a media report suggested Rana Kapoor's investment firms borrowed money from mutual funds and invested it as equity in a finance company.
Morgan Credits (MCPL) and Yes Capital (YCPL) are holding companies, owned 100 per cent by Radha K Khanna, Raakhe K Tandon and Roshini Kapoor (Rana Kapoor's daughters) Radha, Raakhe and Roshini are qualified, independent woman entrepreneurs and have put in place a professional management team under the brand 'The Three Sisters: Institutional Office (TTS:IO)' through which greenfield, start-up ventures have been established, PTI reported on Thursday quoting a statement as saying.
The management further said the Reserve bank of India (RBI) has all the access to information. Also, the reports about Rana Kapoor eyeing chairman seat has been taken out of context, said Rajat Monga, Senior Group President at YES Bank in the TV interview. The bank is looking to appoint a chairperson and finding a new CEO, Monga added further.
Shares of the bank have taken a heavy beating ever since the RBI trimmed Rana Kapoor's term as Yes Bank CEO in September till 31 January 2019. That apart, a series of downgrades from rating agencies Moody's, CARE Ratings and ICRA added woes to the shares of the bank.
Analysts at Investec Securities, however, appear unperturbed with the recent correction and a series of negative news flows against the bank. Citing an example of ICICI Bank, which was in similar predicament in April 2018 and February 2016, the brokerage firm believes YES Bank returns will improve sharply once the events get stabilised. It has maintained 'buy' rating on the stock, but has reduced growth assumptions and multiples leading to 3 per cent BVPS (Book value of Equity per Share) cut and 25 per cent target price (TP) cut to Rs 320 (from Rs 430) implying 100 per cent upside.
It said two fundamental differences exist between YES and larger corporate peers – lesser capitalised and higher dependence on wholesale funding, making YES Bank vulnerable to liquidity issues. "We believe liquidity is the more critical of the two and all the rating agencies (including Moody’s) have reiterated that the liquidity situation at the bank is comfortable. Also, YES now has more than 57 per cent of deposits as CASA & Retail TD (term deposits), with low dependence on short term instruments.
Since September 17, shares have tumbled 50 per cent from Rs 318.60 apiece. Investors in YES Bank have lost Rs 537 billion during the period. The market capitalisation of the bank declined from Rs 908 billion to Rs 371 billion, as of Thursday's close.

Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala settles insider trading case with Sebi

Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has settled a case with markets regulator Sebi after paying Rs 2.48 lakh towards settlement charges.
The regulator had initiated adjudication proceedings against Jhunjhunwala in 2017 for alleged violation of PIT (Prohibition of Insider Trading norms) in the matter of Geometric Ltd, now part of HCL Technologies.

Under settlement, an entity is allowed to settle charges by paying a penalty without admission or denial of guilt.
The "settlement order disposes of the adjudication proceedings initiated against the applicant viz Rakesh Jhunjhunwala," Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in an order dated Friday.
It further said that enforcement actions, including commencing or reopening of the proceedings, could be initiated if any representation made by Jhunjhunwala is found to be untrue.
Foreign investor Geosphere (Mauritius) Fund also settled a case with Sebi by paying over Rs 24 lakh as settlement charges, according to a separate order.
The regulator had initiated adjudication proceedings against Geosphere for alleged violation of FII (Foreign Institutional Investors) and FPI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) regulations in 2016.
While the adjudication proceedings were initiated, Geosphere submitted an application for settlement of the adjudication proceedings.
Thereafter, Sebi's High Powered Advisory Committee recommended the case for settlement on the payment of consolidated amount of Rs 23.98 lakh, which was subsequently approved by the regulator's panel of whole-time members, following which it remitted the amount and accordingly proceedings were disposed of by Sebi.

Hyundai India MD & CEO Y K Koo steps down, Seon Seob Kim to take over

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Managing Director & CEO Y K Koo has stepped down from his post. He is moving back to the automaker's head office in Korea. Koo will be replaced by Seon Seob Kim, head of the business operations division.
While HMIL officials were not available for comment immediately, Hyundai's global announcement stated that Kim would become the head of Hyundai Motor India headquarters. Sources said that normally Head of the operations used to have two year tenure, Koo got one year extension, which has ended now.

Koo's journey with Hyundai
Koo was the MD & CEO of Hyundai Motor India Limited since November 2015. New Elantra, New Tucson, Grand i10, New 2017 Elite i20, The Next Gen Verna’, 'The New 2018 CRETA', 'The All New SANTRO' among others were launched under his watch. "Till 2020, we are targeting to launch 8 new products, a power train, and related infrastructure that will entail a combined investment of over $1 billion," he had said.
His vision was to position Hyundai as a premium car brand in the country.
He joined Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea in 1984. He has over 34 years of diversified work experience in global markets with Hyundai.
Prior to Hyundai Motor India he was the CEO of Hyundai Motor CIS (Russia) for 3 years.
He had worked at Hyundai Motor India in an earlier stints for over nine years. He was one of the founding members of Hyundai Motor India’s operations in 1997. He played a key role in building sales and marketing operations from 2008-2011.
During his leadership, the company has strengthened its’s brand image through consistent growth and brought significant changes. According to the Brand Track Study 2017, Hyundai Motor India brand awareness surged from 77 per cent in 2016 to 80 per cent in 2017, brand preference went up from 69.7 per cent to 70.7 per cent and repurchase intention from 73 per cent to 76.2 per cent in the same period, says the company's website.

4 Indian-origin women among America's top 50 female tech moguls: Forbes

Four Indian-origin women have been named by Forbes among America's top 50 female technology moguls, a list that includes tech heavyweights IBM CEO Ginni Rometty and Netflix executive Anne Aaron.
Padmasree Warrior, former chief technology officer (CTO) of Cisco; Komal Mangtani, senior director at app-based cab aggregator Uber; Neha Narkhede, chief technology officer and co-founder of streaming platform Confluent; and Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan, CEO and founder of identity-management company Drawbrige; are in the list.

"Women don't wait for the future. The 2018 Inaugural Top 50 Women In Technology list identifies three generations of forward-thinking technologists leading more than a dozen tech sectors across the globe," Forbes said in its 'America's Top 50 Women in Tech 2018'.
Warrior (58) served in executive positions at both Motorola and Cisco and is now the US CEO of the Chinese electric-autonomous-vehicle startup NIO.
At the $138-billion Cisco Systems, she had help Cisco the tech giant grow in influence through acquisitions. She is also on the boards of Microsoft and Spotify.
"Warrior still finds the time to mentor other women in the tech industry, stay in touch with her 1.6 million Twitter followers and follow a nightly meditation routine," the business magazine said.
Mangtani, an alumnus of Dharmsinh Desai Institute of Technology in Gujarat, heads business intelligence at Uber. Currently, she serves on the board of nonprofit organisation Women Who Code and led Uber's $1.2-billion donation and partnership with Girls Who Code to increase access to computer science.
Narkhede, who studied at Pune university, had as a software engineer at LinkedIn helped develop Apache Kafka -- which can process the huge influx of data coming from the site in real time. The data-processing software has become the heart of Confluent, an enterprise Narkhede founded with her LinkedIn co-workers to build tools for companies using Apache Kafka, Forbes said.
The 32-year-old's firm counts Goldman Sachs, Netflix and Uber as customers.
Forty-three-year-old Sivaramakrishnan's company, Drawbridge, uses large-scale artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify the different devices people.
"As the number of devices people use on a daily basis -- computers, laptops and smartphones -- increase, advertisers need a way to show ads to a person across all their devices. Facebook and Google already offer these services to advertisers, but now they have a competitor with Kamakshi Sivaramakrishnan's Drawbridge," Forbes added.

Kisan March: Thousands of farmers protest in Delhi

Kisan March: Thousands of farmers protest in Delhi
Thousands of farmers from across the country took out a rally to Parliament street in Delhi on Friday to press for their demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce.
The farmers reached the national capital on Thursday at the historic Ramlila ground from different corners of the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, to participate in the two-day Kisan March

Coal scam: Delhi court holds ex-secy H C Gupta, others guilty of corruption

A Delhi court Friday held ex-coal secretary H C Gupta guilty of corruption and criminal conspiracy in a coal scam case relating to allotment of coal blocks in West Bengal.
Besides Gupta, Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar also convicted private firm Vikash Metals and Power Limited, one serving and one retired public servant ex-joint secretary in Ministry of Coal (MoC) KS Kropha and the then director (CA-I) in MoC, KC Samria in the case.

The court also convicted the firm's managing director Vikash Patni and its authorised signatory Anand Mallick in the case.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Moira and Madhujore (North and South) coal blocks in West Bengal to VMPL. In September 2012, the CBI had registered an FIR in the case.
All the five convicted persons were taken into custody by the court which fixed December 3 for arguments on quantum of punishment.
The convicts may get a maximum seven-year jail term.

UK court allows Indian banks to pursue surplus money from Mallya yacht sale

A consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) has secured a UK High Court order as part of efforts to help them pursue some of the funds owed to them in unpaid debts by embattled Indian liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya.
In a ruling by Justice Phillips in the court's Business and Property division on Wednesday, the 13 Indian banks were given permission to use certain information disclosed in court as part of a worldwide freezing order (WFO) against the 62-year-old businessman in an unrelated case involving the sale of a luxury superyacht believed to be previously owned by Mallya before he abandoned it last year.

The 95-metre vessel named 'Indian Empress' was "arrested" in Malta in March as maritime professionals' union Nautilus made attempts to recover over $330,000 in unpaid wages and other costs on behalf of its members.
It was successfully auctioned to Sea Beauty Yachting Limited for 35 million euros in September and renamed 'NEOM'.
The UK High Court order dated November 28 will assist the Indian banks to pursue any surplus money from that sale in Malta courts after all the creditors have been paid off.
Nautilus strategic organiser Danny McGowan said the maritime union has been collating members' claims and other details to ensure that the sums due are paid to them.
"The court has been completing the procedures to pay all the creditors including suppliers, service providers and financiers who were owed money by the former owner, multi-millionaire Vijay Mallya," Nautilus said.
In a ruling earlier this year, a UK High Court judge had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and upheld an Indian court's ruling that the consortium of 13 Indian banks were entitled to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds.
TLT LLP, the law firm which had won the landmark case for the banks in May, has been representing them in their efforts to recover their dues as part of the WFO.
The WFO contains an undertaking preventing the banks from using the information provided in response to the disclosure provisions in the case for any other civil or criminal proceedings without the court's prior permission.
However, under this week's latest ruling, the banks have been given permission to use certain information provided pursuant to the WFO in respect of arrest proceedings instigated in Malta by the maritime creditors of the 'Indian Empress' yacht.
Following the sale and the creditors being paid off, there is likely to be a surplus of money that would be due back to the yacht's owners.
The 13 banks comprise SBI, Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd.
The banks are seeking to secure that surplus in the Maltese courts rather than it being paid to the legal owner.
Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed by the Scotland Yard last year on fraud and money laundering charges brought by the Indian government, amounting to nearly Rs 90 billion.
A ruling at the end of his extradition trial is expected at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London next month.
In separate legal proceedings, he is also fighting to save his posh London home from foreclosure by Swiss bank UBS.
Earlier this month, he suffered a setback in that case after the UK High Court rejected many of the arguments relied on by his legal team. The case is scheduled for trial in May 2019.

End to bank freebies? Get set to pay GST on credit cards, ATM, cheque books

Soon, banks may pass the cost of goods and services tax (GST) on 'free services' to customers who maintain a minimum balance in their accounts. Reeling under a pile of bad loans and faced with the prospect of paying GST on ‘free services’ given to customers, private and public banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) are considering passing on this cost to them, according to a report published in Economics Times.
In October, BloombergQuint reported that the tax department had asked around 19 banks to pay more than Rs 150 billion tax on free services provided to customers who maintain a minimum account balance. According to the report, bank officials said that the amount would increase to about Rs 350 billion if interest and penalty is added to it.

Customers to pay more?
If the banks are charged for these services, the customers may have to pay a higher tax for holding a minimum balance account.
The freebies that banks provide to customers are:
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— Issuing cheque books
— Additional credit cards
— ATM usage
— Refund of fuel surcharge
The amount charged will differ from one bank to another.
According to an ET report, major banks have agreed to start charging 18% GST on the free services. “We have agreed in principle that we would start collecting GST from customers. The mechanics need to be worked out, but since we are not that big in retail banking, we will wait for the larger banks to come out with a methodology,” said the tax head of a multinational bank.
Impact on banks
The move, he said, will affect the common man and discourage the use of banking channels. "Customers will not prefer to maintain balance with banks, eroding money flow in formal channels, said PwC India’s Lunker.
Govt's U-turn over GST on freebies
In April, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) came out with a 32-page document covering frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the applicability of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the banking sector, after brouhaha ensued when banks were slapped with a service tax notice for non-payment of service tax - plus interest and penalty - on some of the free services extended to their customers.
The FAQ made it clear that free services, like ATM withdrawals and cheque book issuance, provided by banks to customers will not attract GST. It added that the CGST Act, 2017 specifically excludes money and securities. The former, as defined in the Act, includes instruments like cheques, drafts, pay orders, promissory notes, letters of credit, et al. "Therefore, activities that are only transactions in such instruments would be outside the definition of service. This would include transactions in Commercial Paper and Certificate of Deposit (as they are in the nature of promissory notes), issuance of drafts or letters of credit, etc," it explained.
GST was rolled out from July 1, 2017, prior to which central excise and service tax was levied on goods and services.

7 Indian IL&FS employees held hostage in Ethiopia over unpaid wages: Report

India’s foreign ministry is investigating claims by expatriates in Ethiopia who say they are being held hostage by local staff that haven’t been paid after the financier Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd began defaulting on $12.6 billion in debt.
Seven Indian workers from the shadow lender, which rocked financial markets after it began missing debt payments earlier this year, have been detained since November 25 at three sites in Ethiopia’s Oromia and Amhara states by unpaid local staff, according to an emailed letter from the employees.

They said the possible termination of some road projects being built by Indian and Spanish joint ventures may have triggered local employees to panic. The workers said police and officials are taking the side of locals against the expatriate staff and that they were caught in the “middle of corporate disagreements, blame games and bureaucratic issues.”
Oromia’s police commissioner general, Alemayehu Ejigu, the state’s deputy spokesman Deressa Terefe, and Amhara state’s spokesman Nigusu Tillahun didn’t immediately respond to two calls and two text messages.
An official at the Indian embassy in the capital Addis Ababa said it was “closely following up with local Ethiopian authorities and IL&FS management to resolve the issue,” while a separate official in the foreign ministry in New Delhi confirmed they were looking into the matter. A spokesman for IL&FS declined to comment.

“Concerns of project termination and absence of senior management from project camps might have triggered panic in local employees and led them to believe confining expat employees might force the organization to pay their salaries,” the employees wrote in a letter addressed to the Indian and Spanish ambassadors, as well as a number of Ethiopian ministries and the local World Bank representative.
Can’t Send Funds
The son of detained IL&FS employee Sukhvinder Singh Khokher said his father has been in touch with the Indian embassy and there are efforts underway to try and get the local Ethiopian staff paid.
"The local Ethiopian workers shut the gates and the local policeman support them," Satinder Pal Singh Khokher, who works for the Aditya Birla Group in Gujarat according to LinkedIn, said in an interview. “I have tweeted my concern to the Prime Minister of India."
According to the employees’ letter, management cited restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India for its inability to send funds. IL&FS had defaulted on paying both taxes and local employee pensions for nine months, the letter said. Ethiopian Revenue Ministry spokesman Addis Yirga and Attorney General Office spokesman Zinabu Tunu said by phone they couldn’t comment on the employees’ concerns expressed in the letter.
“We tried to reason with local employees and tried to assure that salaries will be paid in due course and restricting expat colleagues will not result in what they are trying to achieve.” the employees said in the letter.
The detention of IL&FS employees in Ethiopia, who were reported to be working on road construction projects for joint ventures between IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd. and Spanish firms Elsamex S.A. and Ecoasfalt S.A., illustrates the sprawling nature and global reach of the beleaguered infrastructure lender.
The firm hasn’t stopped missing debt payments even after the Indian government fired the lender’s board and tapped well-known Indian banker Uday Kotak to help lead the firm’s recovery as the company reeled under $12.6 billion of debt.
Representatives of Elsamex SA and Ecoasfalt SA in Spain were not immediately able to comment when contacted on their office numbers on Thursday.
Asking for Help
Several men identifying themselves as IL&FS employees in Ethiopia, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, have been tweeting Indian politicians asking for help.
“We 7 employee from #ILFS are hostages by local labor/staff at in Ethiopia from last 4 days coz of nonpayment of creditors and local salaries,” Neeraj Raghuwanshi said in a tweet on Nov. 27, in which he tagged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “#ILFS denied to send fund from India. Kindly save us. Day2day situation worsening.”
Raghuwanshi posted a screen grab of an email he wrote pleading for help, mentioning IL&FS’s local partner, the Ethiopian Roads Authority. He said the Authority would not take any action to help the detained employees before local staff were paid.
Ethiopian Roads Authority director general Habtamu Tegegne didn’t immediately respond to two calls to his office phone. The Spanish ambassador to Ethiopia, Borja Montesino Martínez del Cerro, didn’t immediately respond to two emails seeking comment.

SC asks RCom for Rs 14-bn guarantee, clears path for spectrum sale to Jio

Clearing the deck for the sale of Reliance Communications Ltd's spectrum to Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, the Supreme Court on Friday asked Reliance Communications to furnish a corporate guarantee of Rs 14 billion within two days to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the government.
The said corporate guarantee will be issued by Reliance Realty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RCom, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for RCom told the court.

Once the corporate guarantee is furnished by RCom, the government will have to give its NOC for the spectrum sale within one week that is December 9, a two-judge bench of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Navin Sinha said.
The order by the top court comes in the wake of Department of Telecommunications (DoT) challenging the Telecom Disputes and Settlement Appellate Tribunal's (TDSAT) October 1 permission to debt-ridden RCom to sell its spectrum to RJio.
In its petition before the top court, the DoT had remained firm on its stand that it would require a bank guarantee of nearly Rs 29 billion from RCom or RJio before it could allow spectrum sale. RCom, on the other hand, had repeatedly expressed its inability to furnish a bank guarantee as the company was undergoing insolvency proceedings.
On Monday, the company had told the apex court that its asset sale to RJio could be jeopardized if the necessary approvals were not in place by mid-December, which would further put at risk its debt repayment plans.
As part of debt reductions efforts, Anil Ambani-led RCom had, in December 2017, signed a Rs 250-billion deal with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio. The deal included the sale of assets mortgaged with different banks to avoid insolvency proceedings. The company expects to raise Rs 180 billion from sales of its wireless assets to RJio and real estate assets to Canada's Brookfield, and pare some of its Rs 460 billion debt.

LPG's subsidised price cut by Rs 6.5, market price slashed by Rs 133

Domestic cooking gas (LPG) price Friday was cut by Rs 6.52 per cylinder on account of tax impact on the reduced market rate for the fuel.
A 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder will cost Rs 500.90 in the national capital from midnight tonight as against Rs 507.42 currently, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country's largest fuel retailer, said in a statement.

The price reduction comes soon after six consecutive monthly hikes in rates since June. Prior to this price cut, rates had gone up by Rs 14.13 per cylinder since then.
Subsidised LPG rates were last hiked by Rs 2.94 per cylinder with effect from November 1.
IOC said non-subsidised or market priced LPG rates have been cut by a steep Rs 133 per cylinder to reflect fall in international oil rates and strengthening of the rupee. It will now cost Rs 809.50 per 14.2-kg bottle in Delhi.
All LPG consumers have to buy the fuel at market price. The government, however, subsidises 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each per households in a year by providing the subsidy amount directly in bank accounts of users.
This subsidy amount varies from month to month depending on the changes in the average international benchmark LPG rate and foreign exchange rate.
When international rates move up, the government provides a higher subsidy. And when they come down, subsidy is cut.
As per tax rules, GST on LPG has to be calculated at the market rate of the fuel. The government may choose to subsidise a part of the price but tax will have to be paid at market rates.
So, with the fall in market price or non-subsidised LPG price, the tax incidence on subsidised cooking fuel has also come down, leading to the current price reduction.
"Accordingly, the upfront cash payment by the consumer for purchase of domestic LPG refill will reduce by Rs 133 cylinder, i.e. from Rs 942.50 per cylinder to Rs 809.50 cylinder in December, 2018 in Delhi market," IOC said.
Subsidised cooking gas consumers will get Rs 308.60 per cylinder subsidy in their bank accounts for the month of December. The subsidy transfer in the customer's bank account has been reduced from Rs 433.66 in November.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

RBI cut Kapoor's term at YES Bank on governance, compliance issues: Report

The RBI has cited "serious lapses" in governance and a "poor compliance culture" at YES Bank as reasons for its "regulatory discomfort" in allowing Rana Kapoor to head the private sector lender, sources said, citing a communication from the central bank.
Asking the YES Bank board to appoint a successor to Kapoor latest by February 1, 2019, the RBI in its letter dated September 17 to the lender's then chairman Ashok Chawla also said the bank has displayed "highly irregular" credit management practices.
While Chawla, who resigned from the board earlier this month, was not reachable for comments, an e-mail sent to the RBI on the matter remained unanswered.
Despite repeated queries from PTI, YES Bank did not comment on specific "concerns" raised by the RBI in its letter, saying that "any communication exchanges between the Bank and its regulator (RBI) are secret, confidential and privileged".
ALSO READ: Will name new chairman, independent directors to RBI on Dec 13: Yes Bank
Sources close to the bank, however, said several of the concerns raised by the RBI have already been addressed and the same were reflected in its communication. They also claimed that the bank has complied with all corrective actions sought by the RBI, most of them having been done before the September 17 missive.
In a BSE filing on September 19, YES Bank had said it has been intimated by the RBI vide a letter dated September 17 that Kapoor may continue as the MD and CEO till January 31, 2019, but did not disclose any further details on the RBI's communication.
Sources citing the RBI's letter said the central bank also wrote about its "concern" relating to a steep hike in Kapoor's remuneration by the board while seeking a three-year reappointment, saying it was in defiance of its earlier recommendations to bank boards to cut CEO bonuses.
ALSO READ: Moody's slashes YES Bank's rating to junk status; bonds see record drop
The central bank said these happenings reinforce its "grave concern and regulatory discomfort with the role of the incumbent MD & CEO in the governance, management and superintendence of the affairs of the YES Bank."

Rejecting YES Bank's request for reappointment of Kapoor, the RBI said there have also been other serious violations of statutory and regulatory guidelines during the past three financial years at the bank.
Ever since the RBI curtailed Kapoor's tenure at YES Bank, its stock, which used to be a top pick of many brokerages, has taken a massive beating. In the two trading sessions after the RBI move, the stock crashed over 40 per cent and it is now down to its 33-month low.
The YES Bank board had written to the RBI on May 31, seeking reappointment of Kapoor for three years with effect from September 1.
ALSO READ: Equal rights sticking point in YES Bank promoters' talks to end conflict
Earlier, the RBI had in an April 11 letter said it had found a number of "serious lapses in the functioning and governance of the bank", which are matters of "utmost concern". The regulator had also flagged these issues to the then chairman Ashok Chawla, and had said that the corrective actions initiated at the bank were "post-facto".
The corrective measures were initiated after "persistent governance and compliance failure reflected by bank's highly irregular credit management practices, serious deficiencies in governance and a poor compliance culture", the central bank said.
The RBI also referred to its letter dated April 11, in which it had asked YES Bank's board to reconsider a proposal to hike the bonus and remuneration of Kapoor, apart from asking it to "claw back" the bonus paid to him for FY15 and FY16.
The letter further notes that the May 31 request from YES Bank seeking reappointment of Kapoor "did not even mention, let alone responded to" the April 11 letter from RBI, and also the deliberations by the board, and nomination and remuneration committee, which are also "conspicuously silent" on these aspects.
ALSO READ: YES Bank promoters conflict: Kapoor may smoke peace pipe with Kapur
On the contrary, the board decided to seek shareholders' nod for increasing Kapoor's remuneration and reappointment, the letter said.
The RBI is believed to have told the bank that the action to hold back the previous bonus due to the senior executives but not to claw back Kapoor's despite the RBI correspondence was "indicative of the poor governance standards".
Kapoor is the second private sector bank chief after Axis Bank's Shikha Sharma to have been asked to leave mid-way. While Axis Bank and Sharma accepted the regulatory diktat, YES Bank's board sought a re-look by the RBI, but the request was rejected.
YES Bank has been rocked with a spate of resignations, starting with chairman Chawla and three directors, with the latest being that of R Chandrashekhar for reasons not known in full. Former SBI chairman O P Bhatt also stepped down from the CEO search panel earlier this month.

Infra growth slows down to 4.8% in Oct; fertiliser, crude oil decline

The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors slowed down to 4.8 per cent in October due to contraction in the production of crude oil, natural gas and fertiliser.
Eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had grown by 5 per cent in October 2017.

Fertiliser production dropped sharply by 11.5 per cent, crude oil by 5 per cent and natural gas by 0.9 per cent in October over the year-ago month, according to the data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Friday.
The production of coal, cement and electricity, on the other hand, expanded in the month under review. During April-October 2018-19, the eight sectors recorded a growth rate of 5.4 per cent against 3.5 per cent in the same period last year.

April-October fiscal deficit crosses full year target at Rs 6.49 trillion

India’s full-year fiscal deficit target of Rs 6.24 trillion was breached October-end due to lower revenue collections, showed government data on Friday.
The fiscal deficit—the gap between expenditure and revenue—was Rs 6.48 trillion or 103.9 per cent of Budget Estimate (BE) during April-October of the current financial year. At end of October 2017-18, the deficit was 96.1 per cent of the BE. The government has budgeted to cut fiscal deficit to 3.3 per cent of GDP in 2018-19 from 3.53 per cent in the previous financial year.

According to the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the revenue receipts of the government totalled Rs 7.88 lakh crore or 45.7 per cent of the BE for 2018-19 as compared to 48.1 per cent of BE last year. The government has budgeted to mop up Rs 17.25 lakh crore revenue during the current fiscal.
Tax revenue was 44.7 per cent of BE compared to 51.6 per cent achieved in the comparable period of the last year. As per the CGA data, the total expenditure of the government at October-end was Rs 14.56 lakh crore or 59.6 per cent of the BE. The expenditure in terms of percentage of the BE was marginally higher in the year-ago period.
"Fiscal deficit figure shown in monthly accounts during a financial year is not necessarily an indicator of fiscal deficit for the year as it gets impacted by temporal mismatch between flow of not-debt receipts and expenditure up to that month on account of various transitional factors both on receipt and expenditure side, which may get substantially offset by the end of the financial year," CGA said.

Slow 7.1% Q2 GDP growth on policy uncertainty, experts disappointed

Subash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, said that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of 2018-19 was disappointing, however, he said that half-year growth at 7.4 per cent was robust and healthy.
Rupa Rege Nitsure, Group Chief Economist, L&t Finance Holdings Mumbai
"The GDP numbers are spot on in terms of what I had expected. There is an acute slowdown in demand and the numbers are reflecting what we have been feeling around us for some time now. Demand is slowing down at a faster clip in rural areas than urban areas. I expect the government to take growth-boosting steps as well as rate cuts by the monetary policy committee in the January-March quarter, as inflation has crashed with food prices falling. The risks of elevated oil prices and rupee depreciation are also controlled. There is rural distress. Both the government and the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) should focus on boosting growth. I expect the full-year (April-March) GDP growth at 7.2 per cent."

ALSO READ: New GDP data not in sync with real economy; sectors grew faster under UPA
Madhavi Arora, Economist, Edelweiss Securities, Mumbai
"Second-quarter growth data has surprised us on the downside and pose downward risk to overall 7 per cent + GVA growth in FY19. The second half of FY19 will likely see further slower growth on the back of unfavourable base effect and slower non-banking credit offtake and tighter financial conditions amid NBFC (non-banking financial company) stress."
"Besides, ahead of national elections, the investment cycle will continue to be fragile as policy uncertainty lingers. However, higher election-related spending could counter some of this growth moderation."

GDP growth slows to 3-quarter low of 7.1% in Q2, still ahead of China

India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate slowed to 7.1 per cent in the July-September quarter, weakening from 8.2 per cent in the previous quarter, just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government gets set for the Lok Sabha elections next year. The rate of economic growth in the same quarter last year had been 6.3 per cent.
With this, India clocked its slowest GDP growth in three quarters, but still remained ahead of China to retain the tag of the world's fastest-growing major economy.
Quarterly GVA (basic price) at constant (2011-2012) prices for Q2 of 2018-19 was estimated at Rs 31.40 trillion, as against Rs 29.38 trillion in Q2 of 2017-18, showing a growth rate of 6.9 per cent over the corresponding quarter of previous year, an official government release said.

The economic activities that registered growth of over 7 per cent in Q2 of FY19 over Q2 of FY18 were manufacturing, electricity, gas, water supply & other utility services, construction, and public administration, defence and other services.
The growth in the agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying, trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting, and financial, real estate and professional services was estimated to be 3.8 per cent, (-) 2.4 per cent, 6.8 per cent, and 6.3 per cent, respectively, during this period.
Though the rate of economic growth in the second quarter of 2018-19 looks respectable, a weakening trend could be a worrying sign, as the country needs a growth rate of over 8 per cent to generate enough jobs for the more than 12 million young Indians entering the labour force each year.
ALSO READ: India's Q2 GDP data to be out on Friday: Here's what to expect
While there was consensus that the economic growth in the second quarter would not be as high as 8.2 per cent recorded in the April-June quarter, estimates had varied from 7.2 per cent to 7.6 per cent.
ALSO READ: Q2 GDP growth likely fell to 7.4%; slowdown may stay till elections: Poll
On Wednesday, the Central Statistics Office announced revised growth estimates that made the Modi administration's record look better than the previous Congress-led United Progress Alliance governments.
ALSO READ: What exactly is a 'back series' of GDP and why it is important for economy?
According to the new set of data, India's GDP grew at an average 6.7 per cent during the nine years of the UPA regime (2005-06 to 2013-14). By comparison, the average growth rate under the current National Democratic Alliance government stands at 7.3 per cent. GDP growth for all years prior to 2012-13 has been revised downwards.
Earlier in the day, the equity markets remained cautious ahead of the release of GDP growth numbers. Benchmark indices S&P BSE Sensex rose 24 points, or 0.1 per cent over previous close, to end at 36,194, and the broader Nifty50 settled at 10,877, up 18 points, or 0.2 per cent, higher than its previous close.

Farm growth in UPA era better than 4 years of NDA even under new series

The new GDP back series data might have lowered GDP growth during the UPA era compared to the first four years of the current NDA regime, but what it hasn’t changed is the common perception that farm growth during UPA regime was better than the last four years.
The revised data shows that in the first four years of UPA-II, i.e. from 2009-10 to 2012-13, the average annual growth rate in agriculture and allied activities was around 3.9 per cent, while the average annual growth rate in the first four years of the NDA-II regime lead by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was 2.52 per cent.

Back-to-back droughts didn't help the first two years of NDA government as the farm sector was badly impacted due to its over-reliance on monsoons.
For the entire UPA era, starting 2005-06 and ending in 2013-14, the average annual farm growth according to the GDP back series data is 3.8 per cent which is again higher than first four years of NDA-II. However, these two periods aren’t strictly comparable because one considers a nine-year span and the other just four years.
The data also shows that in 2010-11, just after one of the worst droughts, India clocked perhaps one of its best growth rates in agriculture at 8.8 per cent. Even according to the old data, UPA's average annual farm growth was better than NDA's.
A jump in foodgrain productions aided by a normal monsoon might have contributed to this.
The data also shows that not only average annual farm growth was better during the UPA times, it was also more remunerative for farmers as the difference between the NDA and UPA growth rates at current prices was higher.
Though this meant higher retail prices for items of daily needs for the average consumer, it helped farmers.
Going forward, this could play a big role in the run-up to the 2019 general elections as falling farm prices and dropping rural incomes become major election issues.
The opposition will try to cash in on the superior performance of the agriculture sector during its regime and draw comparisons with the low growth during the subsequent years under NDA.
In the Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan state elections, an agrarian crisis borne out by low farm prices of major crops is expected to play a big role in determining the fate of ruling BJP.
“Till a few years ago, soybean in the open market fetched us not less than Rs 4,000 per quintal ever even for the worst quality, however, since the last 2-3 years we aren’t getting paid more than Rs 3,500 a quintal for the best quality, while input cost has gone up. In such a situation, how can we make ends meet,” wondered Lakhichand Sinam, a farmer in Soni village of Mandsaur, where police firing killed agitating farmers in 2017.
Growth of Agriculture and Allies Activities in constant prices –2011-12 base (updated As Per GDP Back series data)
Year Growth
2005-06 ----------------- 4.8%
2006-07 ----------------- 2.9%
2007-08 -----------------5.15%
2008-09 ----------------(-0.2%)
2009-10 ----------------(-0.9%)
2010-11 -----------------8.8%
2011-12 -----------------6.4%
2012-13------------------1.5%
2013-14------------------5.6%
2014-15 ----------------(-0.2%)
2015-16 ----------------0.6%
2016-17 ----------------6.3%
2017-18 ---------------3.4%
SOURCE: MOSPI

RBI should be held accountable for IL&FS crisis: Arvind Subramanian

Terming the IL&FS crisis as a regulatory failure, former chief economic advisor to finance minister, Arvind Subramanian, has said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should be held responsible for the crisis at one of the largest entities it has been regulating.
In a soon to be published book, 'Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy,' Subramanian says though RBI has a good reputation, it does not mean it's always right, as for years, the RBI was unable to grasp the seriousness of the loan repayment problems or identify the prolonged frauds of Nirav Modi and the likes.
"Now, with the recent shenanigans involving IL&FS being revealed, this failure seems to have encompassed not just commercial banks but also non-bank financial companies. For these failures, the RBI needs to be held accountable," he says in the book, published by Penguin Random House India.
The book will be first launched in Mumbai on December 7 and then in Delhi on the 9th.
Subramanian calls upon RBI to step up its abilities in two key areas of supervision and part with its mammoth reserves to recapitalise the ailing state-run lenders in a decisive manner.
"RBI must credibly step up its supervisory abilities, or even be willing to hand this over to a new agency created for this purpose. A second area is recapitalising public- sector banks in a decisive fashion, putting them back on their feet so they can lend again," he says.
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Subramanian had first made this view in the 2018 economic survey wherein he had called using the excess RBI reserves, including the forex reserves and its huge reserve capital of Rs 9.7 trillion for more productive purposes.
"The RBI has excess capital that can be profitably deployed for this purpose I realise that in making this suggestion, I am up against all the eminent current and former RBI officials, who argue that the RBI actually needs all the capital it has."
"These officials command the respect of the public, and for good reasons. But I think they are wrong" he says and quotes the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher who used to say, 'One man and the Truth is a majority.'

Though he is critical on the central bank on the IL&FS crisis, he praises the monetary authority for some of its recent steps like the asset quality review and showing the doors to erring private-sector bank heads.

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The RBI has done an excellent job of maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability, thanks to its illustrious governors and the strong team behind them, he says and cites the 2015 move of the RBI to initiate an asset quality review, which had an important impact on advancing the twin balance sheet challenge.
"More recently, RBI has been enforcing some discipline on some of the most troubled public-sector banks via the prompt corrective action framework," he notes and terms the decision on ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank as "impressive actions to account, and ensuring their exit."
"As a result of the RBI's strong track record, it has become one of the nation's key public institutions, like the Election Commission, Finance Commission and the Supreme Court, mainstays of the nation that research has repeatedly found to be critical for long-run economic development," he says.
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The former CEA also calls for a radical solution to solve the twin balance sheet problem and offers privatising public sector banks by amending the Bank Nationalisation Act as an effective way to achieve that.
He also flays RBI for not coming out with an effective mechanism to resolve the NPA problem and called for setting up a bad bank as a way forward.
"So far, the strategy has been to solve the twin balance sheet issue through a decentralised approach, under which banks have been put in charge of restructuring. In the current circumstances, however, effectiveness has proved elusive, as banks have been overwhelmed by the scope of the problem confronting them," he says.
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Therefore, he says "the time may have arrived to try a centralised approach, or a public sector asset rehabilitation agency. As so far, public discussion of the bad loan problem has focused on bank capital, as if the main obstacle to resolving the TBS issue was finding the funds needed by public-sector banks."
Subramanian was the chief economic adviser from October 2014 to June 2018 citing pressing family commitments and has returned to the US. In 2017 his term was extended for a year.

Ghosn signed documents to defer salary without telling shareholders: Report

Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn signed secret documents instructing aides to defer part of his salary without disclosing this to shareholders, a source close to the issue claimed on Thursday.
Ghosn and close aide Greg Kelly were arrested last week for allegedly conspiring to under-report Ghosn's income by around $44 million -- about half of what should have been reported -- over five fiscal years until March 2015.
The 64-year-old tycoon denies the allegations and has not been able to defend himself publicly while he is in a Tokyo detention centre.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the misreporting started in the fiscal year 2009/2010 when a new law came into force requiring any company executives earning 100 million yen ($885,000) or more to declare it.
"All of a sudden, he had to disclose his pay and when that happened, he started splitting it into two parts, one part that was disclosed and paid within that year, another part not disclosed, to be paid upon retirement in theory," said this source, who is familiar with the Nissan and prosecutors' probe.
Ghosn signed documents tasking a small number of his executive assistants -- excluding CEO Hiroto Saikawa, according to a local media report -- to arrange this division of his salary, added the source.
The businessman denies signing such documents, according to local media.
"Over the years since the law changed, the amount of undisclosed compensation grew and grew to the point where it was much larger than the disclosed amount of around one billion yen," the source claimed.
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Japanese law requires that the total amount -- including compensation upon retirement -- be disclosed annually, added the source.
But Nobuo Gohara, lawyer and former prosecutor, said "it is very doubtful if he was obliged to report it" if the charge Ghosn faces relates to postponement of his compensation until retirement.
The motive was reportedly to avoid shareholder and employee criticism over his high compensation.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, Kelly has told prosecutors he had "consulted with the Financial Services Agency about ways to fill in the financial report, and got a response there was no problem" in not reporting remuneration upon retirement.
The paper added that Ghosn denies any wrongdoing, telling prosecutors he consulted with Kelly "about dealing with the issue legally." Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for the FSA said the agency "cannot comment on the affairs of an individual company."
ALSO READ: Mitsubishi Motors follows Nissan, drives out Carlos Ghosn as chairman

Local media have also alleged in recent days that Nissan had provided Ghosn with luxury residences in four countries without any legitimate business reason, paying "huge sums" for residences in Rio de Janeiro, Beirut, Paris and Amsterdam.
The source confirmed part of this, saying that the residences in Rio de Janeiro and Lebanon "were paid for by the company but secretly."
The payments were made using a subsidiary based in the Netherlands and Kelly was responsible for setting up these arrangements, the source said.
Nissan's internal investigation report "does mention the fact that there were several apartments for which the company paid rents that were exclusively for M. Ghosn's use and did not come out of his housing allowance," added this source.
These expenses should have been disclosed as compensation but this was arranged without shareholders' approval and generally in secret, added the source.
ALSO READ: Arrested Nissan ex-chairman Ghosn denies alleged financial breach: Report
According to local media, Ghosn is also suspected of using Nissan's corporate money to pay a donation to his daughter's university and costs for a family trip.
And the Yomiuri Shimbun has said Ghosn paid some "advisory deal" money to his older sister -- $100,000 annually, for a fictive job.

Q2 GDP growth likely fell to 7.4%; slowdown may stay till elections: Poll

India's annual economic growth probably moderated to 7.4 per cent in the July-September quarter, according to a Reuters poll, weakening just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist led-government gets set for an election due by May.
That is still faster than China, but a come down from the more than two-year high of 8.2 per cent set in the June quarter and some economists foresee the slowdown continuing through to the election at least.

"The economy is likely to slow down in the second half of the current fiscal year (ending in March)," A Prasanna, chief economist at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership in Mumbai, said.
Prasanna was cautiously optimistic about the outlook, but much would depend on the election outcome.
"Any signs of political uncertainty could affect market and business sentiment," he said.
Meantime, while the growth rate may look respectable, the weakening trend is worrying as India needs growth of 8-per cent-plus to generate enough jobs for the more than 12 million young Indians entering the labour force each year.
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Having swept to power in 2014 promising to galvanise the economy, Modi has been criticised as even in the good quarters the unevenness of India's economy has meant that growth in jobs hasn't kept pace.
The unemployment rate rose to a two-year high of 6.9 per cent in October, and 29.5 million youth were looking for jobs, according to a report released earlier this month by Centre for Monitoring India Economy (CMIE), a Mumbai based think tank.
Several factors conspired to hold the economy back during the middle of this year, namely; a weak rupee, and a squeeze in India's shadow banking sector that hindered both investment and consumption.
At least one handicap has been removed as oil prices have come down sharply from their heights of earlier in the year.
But data for industrial production, vehicle sales, and tourism arrivals have made for a disappointing reading.
"India's growth is likely to soften in the September quarter, given the dismal consumption and investment trends following a liquidity squeeze in the shadow banking sector," said Charu Chanana, emerging Asia economist at Continuum Economics in Singapore.
The gross domestic product data will be released on Friday around 1200 GMT.
The Reserve Bank of India has forecast economic growth of 7.4 per cent for the financial year ending in March, recovering from 6.7 per cent in the previous year, slowest in four years.
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On Wednesday, a government panel announced revised growth estimates that made the Modi administration's record look better than the previous Congress-led governments.
Having estimated back in August that the Congress oversaw an average annual growth rate of 8.1 per cent during its decade in power, the Statistics Ministry revised that number down to 6.82 per cent for 2005/06 to 2011/12 period, putting it well below the 7.35 per cent average for the first four years of Modi's term.
Domestic headwinds
Some economists expect economic growth could slow to around 7 per cent in the second half of the current fiscal year due to state spending cuts, muted rural demand, and the statistical impact of higher growth in the same period a year ago.
A report released earlier this week by the State Bank of India, the country's largest commercial bank, said the government could cut its spending by Rs 700 billion ($10 billion) to meet budgeted fiscal deficit target of 3.3 per cent of GDP, as it fears a shortfall in tax collections.
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A fall in food prices has hit rural incomes in recent months, which in turn has dampened sales of consumer durables and other products.
More positively, the recent drop in inflation and oil prices and the rupee's recovery against dollar have removed pressure for an increase in interest rates, and a Reuters poll of economists predicted that rates will be left unchanged when the central bank's monetary policy committee meets on December 5.

'Discuss, dissect' GDP data: NITI Aayog V-C accepts Chidambaram's challenge

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Thursday accepted the challenge of former finance minister P Chidambaram for a debate on the revised GDP data which showed economic growth during the current NDA regime was better than that in the UPA rule.
"Hon. @PChidambaram_IN Ji,challenge accepted. Let's discuss & dissect back series data. I gave 3 hrs of detailed interview yesterday & it is somewhat disingenuous of you to say that I asked the media to not ask questions. Do give more coherent reasons for ur difficulty with new data," Kumar said in a tweet.

He was responding to Chidambaram who sought had a debate with Kumar over the new set of data.
"I wonder if NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar will agree to a debate the data than telling journalists that their questions are "undeserving of an answer," Chidambaram had tweeted.
Through more tweets, Kumar also stressed that NITI Aayog uses data extensively for making logical policy recommendations and the data is always based on assessment and quality check by eminent statisticians.
"Therefore, it was logical for @NITIAayog to provide the platform for its release. Pronab Sen would know that MOSPI & Yojana Bhavan worked closely together," he said.
Chidambaram had termed the revision of GDP data as a "hatchet job" by NITI Aayog and said it was time to windup the "utterly worthless body".
"Former Chief Statistician Pronab Sen is absolutely correct. NITI Aayog has nothing to do with tabulation of data," the former finance minister added.
Kumar, later, told PTI that at one point of time the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) was a department of the erstwhile Planning Commission.
He said NITI Aayog had provided platform to experts and statisticians to examine the GDP back-series) data.
"GDP back-series data is a technical thing, it has a huge macroeconomic impact, so we have done it in a more macroeconomic manner," the vice-chairman said and added he was deeply pained at people who politicised it for no reason at all.
On comments made by the former finance minister, Kumar said: "Chidambaram has done great disfavour to officers of CSO. CSO officials have done amzaningly technically detailed exercise".
In January 2015, the government moved to a new base year of 2011-12 from the earlier 2004-05 for national accounts. The base year of national accounts had been revised earlier in January 2010.
The CSO Wednesday released back-series data with 2011-12 as base year.
The new numbers show India's economic growth rate averaged 6.7 per cent during the Congress-led UPA regime as compared to 7.3 per cent under the present government. Previous numbers had put the average growth rate during the 10-year UPA rule at 7.75 per cent.

Maharashtra puts land purchase for Saudi Aramco's $44-bn refinery on hold

Maharashtra has put on hold the process to buy land for the country's biggest oil refinery that state-run oil companies are building with Saudi Aramco, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, after strong opposition from farmers.
The $44 billion refinery was seen as a game changer for both parties - offering India steady fuel supplies and meeting Saudi Arabia's need to secure regular buyers for its oil.

But thousands of farmers are refusing to surrender land, fearing it could damage a region famed for its Alphonso mangoes, vast cashew plantations and fishing hamlets that boast bountiful catches of seafood.
"The entire (land acquisition) process has been stayed. We haven't acquired any land," Fadnavis told state assembly on Wednesday as opposition parties and a coalition partner Shiv Sena were opposing the refinery.
The Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPL), which is running the project, says the 1.2 million barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery, and an integrated petrochemical site with a capacity of 18 million tonnes per year, will help create direct and indirect employment for up to 150,000 people, with jobs that pay better than agriculture or fishing.
RRPL, a joint venture between Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, has said suggestions the refinery would damage the environment were baseless.
Issues related to the land for the refinery will be sorted out by the state government soon given the importance of the project, RRPL Chief Executive officer B. Ashok told Reuters.
Land acquisition has always been a contentious issue in rural India, where a majority of the population depends on farming for their livelihood.
In 2008, for example, Tata Motors had to shelve plans for a car factory in Singur, West Bengal after facing widespread protests from farmers.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

RBI relaxes NBFCs' asset securitisation norms as sector faces IL&FS crisis

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday relaxed rules for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to sell or securitise their loan books, in a bid to ease persistent stress in the sector.
NBFCs can now securitise loans of more than five-year maturity after holding those for six months on their books, the Reserve Bank of India said.

Earlier, they had to hold these assets for at least one year, a banker said.
However, the relaxation on the minimum holding period will be allowed when the NBFC retains 20 per cent of the book value of these loans, the RBI said.
ALSO READ: Tight liquidity may prompt banks to stay away from NBFC, HFC bonds: Report
India's NBFCs, loosely known as shadow banks, are facing stress on their balance sheets after a debt crisis hit a large infrastructure funding company in September, triggering panic amongst investors and a cash crunch in the sector.
Following the massive volatility in the financial markets, the RBI and the government have taken steps to ringfence the crisis and support financing needs of the sector, including providing additional liquidity to banks and credit enhancement for refinancing needs.