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The Indian Express State-owned power giant NTPC is planning to add 10GW of solar energy generation capacity by 2022, which entails an investment of around Rs 50,000 crore, to be funded mainly by green bonds, a source has said. At present, NTPC has installed renewable energy capacity of 920 MW, which includes mainly solar energy. It has formulated a long term plan to become a 130 GW company by 2032 with 30 per cent non-fossil fuel or renewable energy capacity. “The company will complete tendering of 2,300 MW of solar energy capacity by the end of this fiscal. Thereafter it has planned to add 4GW each in 2020-21 and 2021-22. “The company is open to any borrowing option in the market, which is economical. However, the company would mainly rely on green bonds which are offered for pure clean energy projects. The company wants to raise money through domestic as well as overseas green bonds,” the source said. The NTPC’s plans to add 10GW solar energy capacity assumes significan

The Indian Express In a move that may lift overall business sentiment, especially in the oil and gas sector, and will help the sector get rid of disputes choking investment in it, the government has constituted an expert committee for time-bound resolution of exploration and production disputes without having to resort to tardy judicial process. According to a government notification dated December 16, the three member ‘Committee of External Eminent Persons/Experts’ for dispute resolution will comprise of former Secretary of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas G C Chaturvedi, former Chairman and Managing Director of OIL and ONGC Bikash C Bora, and former MD of Hindalco Industries Satish Pai. The notification further stated that the panel will have a tenure of three years and the resolution will be attempted to be arrived at within three months. “The Committee shall exercise all powers and discharge all functions necessary for carrying out conciliat

Hindustan Times Rajeev Jayaswal The government is pushing ahead with its plan, underlined in Union Budget 2019, to transfer 75% of market watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) surplus to the Consolidated Fund of India, two government officials familiar with the plan said, adding that other financial sector regulators such as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) and the Pension Funds Regulatory and development Authority will also be required to do so. Sebi and some of the other regulators initially opposed the plan, citing concerns about loss of autonomy, but the government wants to go ahead with its plan, and finalise the transfer before the next budget is presented on February 1, 2020. The move would appear to be motivated by a desire to streamline processes and address issues raised in a report by the government’s auditor Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). If the transfers happen, a few thousand crores will be added to the Co

The Indian Express Sushant Singh The committee, sources said, created an index which measured the backwardness, area, remoteness along with the historical deprivation suffered by Ladakh. Although the committee for division of assets between the newly formed Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh submitted its preliminary assessment two months ago, many contentious issues remain. These pertain to division of immovable assets owned by the erstwhile state in Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Mumbai, besides allocation of government officials of various state departments to the two UTs. The three-member committee for division of assets between the two UTs, headed by former Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, submitted an interim assessment report in October where it recommended certain guidelines for division of assets. The final report of the Committee is expected by the end of the current financial year.The committee, sources said, created an index which measure

Business Line P Manoj  The port is of great strategic importance for the development of regional maritime transit traffic to Afghanistan and Central Asia. In a big breakthrough, the United States has given a written assurance to India that will help facilitate global banks to fund the purchase of equipment worth $85 million to be erected at Chabahar port which India is developing in Iran. In November 2018, the United States granted a waiver to the port from the sanctions it has imposed on the Persian Gulf nation. “We have to procure equipment for running the port, but because of the US sanctions, we are not able to procure,” a government official briefed on the issue said. “We have placed the orders for equipment, some as long as two years ago, but we are not able to open a letter of credit (LCs). Banks are not coming forward. The US had earlier given verbal assurances (on the waiver fine print) but were very reluctant to give anything in writing, and the banks

First Post The CBI has booked former Managing Director of Maruti Udyog, Jagdish Khattar, for alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 110 crore by his new company, officials said on Tuesday. In its FIR filed recently, the CBI has named Khattar and his company Carnation Auto India Limited for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 110 crore to Punjab National Bank, they said. The CBI has carried out searches at the premises of 77-year old Khattar and Carnation Auto on Monday evening, they said. Khattar was with Maruti Udyog Limited from 1993 to 2007 when he retired as Managing Director of the company, they said. After retirement, he had launched Carnation for which he got a loan of Rs 170 crore in 2009. The loan was declared non-performing asset in 2015 with effect from 2012, the FIR said. The agency has registered an FIR under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and cheating on a complaint from Punjab National Bank, the officials said. "Carnation is a bonafide busin

First Post The government on Tuesday said it envisions micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to contribute $2 trillion to the country's target of becoming $5 trillion economy by 2024. Under the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), 65,312 new micro-enterprises have been set up, the MSME Ministry said in its year-end review for 2019. "The Indian economy is likely to emerge as one of the leading economies in the world, with an envisioned GDP of $5 trillion economy by 2024. Our vision is to ensure that at least a contribution worth $2 trillion comes from the MSME sector," it said. Under PMEGP, 5,22,496 employment opportunities have been generated, and margin money subsidy worth Rs 1,929.83 crore has been utilized, the ministry added. PMEGP is a major credit-linked subsidy programme being implemented by MSME Ministry since 2008-09. The scheme is aimed at generating self-employment opportunities through establishment of micro-e

Business Line India doubled its artificial intelligence (AI) workforce in 2019 following advancement in technology and adoption of business intelligence, yet there are a large number of vacancies across sectors due to talent gap, according to a study. The number of AI professionals in India grew to 72,000 in 2019 from 40,000 last year as the number of companies working on AI projects tripled to 3,000 this year from 1,000 in 2018, according to a study on Indian AI industry by ed-tech company Great Learning. Large scale adoption of business intelligence, rising AI-based optimisation of enterprise processes, improved data management across organisations and bigger budgetary allocations from the government aided this growth, it added. However, the study found that close to 2,500 positions related to AI continued to remain vacant this year due to lack of talent despite the growth in number of AI professionals. The study is based on a survey among Indian professionals in AI a

Business Line The potential blacklisting of Pakistan by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) could have implications for capital inflows to the country, according to a report released by the IMF. The FATF, a global watchdog for terror financing, that kept Pakistan on the Grey List for an extended period till February 2020, had warned in October that Islamabad would be put on the ‘Black List’ if it did not comply with the remaining 22 points in a list of 27 questions. Pakistan submitted a report comprising answers to 22 questions to the FATF on December 6. “A potential blacklisting by FATF could result in a freeze of capital flows and lower investment to Pakistan,” said the IMF in its staff-level report that was finalised during the visit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team to Pakistan. The IMF programme continues to face significant risks, both from domestic and external factors, the report added. Terrorism financing investigations Potential

Busineess Line Shishir Sinha The report said that the macro-economic outlook is more subdued and uncertain than in recent years. International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board has advised India to complement its effort to strengthen the business climate by continued labour, product market, land and other reforms aimed at increasing labour market flexibility, enhancing competition and reducing the scope for corruption. “This will help harness India’s demographic dividend by creating more and better jobs for the rapidly-growing labour force and enhancing female labour force participation,” board said in its assessment. The board comprises of 24 directors who are elected by member countries and the Managing Director who serves as its Chairman. Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, this board holds consultation and accordingly an assessment report is prepared. The report noted the recent changes in economic parameters and policies and listed risks.

The Indian Express Aashish Aryan Scheduled commercial banks in India recovered a total of Rs 70,819 crore in Financial Year (FY) 2018-19 under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), compared to Rs 4,926 crore recovered in FY 2017-18, the Reserve Bank of India said in a report on Tuesday. The recovery by the banks have been made from the 1,135 cases admitted for corporate insolvency resolution by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in FY19, compared to the 704 cases admitted by various NCLT benches in FY18, the Reserve Bank of India said. For FY19, the total disputed amount involved in the cases admitted by NCLTs stood at Rs 1.66 lakh crore, compared to Rs 9,929 crore for FY18. The recovery percentage for FY 2019, however, fell by to 42.5 per cent from 49.6 per cent in the previous financial year. Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Secretary Injeti Srinivas had, in December last year, said that the NCLTs had helped recover close to Rs 80,000 crore in 2018, and e

The Indian Express RBI data shows Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities led to the rise in additional branches last year and those in Tier-5 and Tier-6 continued to witness a decline in the pace of addition of new branches. For the first time in three years the pace of opening of new branches witnessed growth as the scheduled commercial banks opened 4,518 branches in FY19 as against 3,938 branches opened in FY18. By comparison, the scheduled commercial banks had seen a decline in the growth rate of new branches opened in the previous two years. While in FY16 the SCBs opened 9,080 new branches, they opened 5,357 branches in FY17 and the number of new branches declined further to 3,938 in FY18. RBI data shows Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities led to the rise in additional branches last year and those in Tier-5 and Tier-6 continued to witness a decline in the pace of addition of new branches. “More than 50 per cent of the new branches were opened in Tier-1 and Tier-2 centres; on the other hand, th

Hindustan Times Anisha Dutta The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved an organisational restructuring of the Indian Railways, unifying eight services into one and making the Railway Board leaner in an attempt to overhaul and rightsize the 150-year-old state transport mammoth that operates 22,000 trains every day. The national transporter, which has struggled with colonial-era infrastructure and rising debt in its passenger and freight systems, was due for rationalisation, with the government setting up several committees to chart a road map. On Tuesday, the Union Cabinet cleared the proposal for a single cadre named the Indian Railway Management Service that will replace the current eight Group A services. The new service will be created in consultation with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to facilitate hiring in the next recruitment year. The government said the Railway Board, which is the apex body of the I

Hindustan Times The gathering also featured the first bilateral meeting between South Korea’s Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 15 months. China hosted the leaders of squabbling neighbours South Korea and Japan for their first meeting in over a year on Tuesday, flexing its diplomatic muscle with America’s two key military allies in Asia and seeking regional unity on how to deal with a belligerent North Korea. The gathering in the south-western city of Chengdu was held with the clock ticking on a threatened “Christmas gift” from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that could reignite global tensions over its nuclear programme. Kim has promised the unidentified “gift” -- which analysts and American officials believe could be a provocative missile test -- if the United States does not make concessions in their nuclear talks by the end of the year. The gathering also featured the first bilateral meeting between South Korea’s Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Min