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Live Mint By Tanya Thomas Dated January 09, 2020 Reliance Infrastructure , part of the debt-laden Anil Ambani group, has received in-principle approval from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for a “harmonious substitution" of its Delhi-Agra toll road to Singapore-based Cube Highways and Infrastructure for  ₹ 3600 crore. Reliance Infra, which will receive equity payment of  ₹ 1700 crore from this transaction, said it would use 100% of the sale proceeds to pay off the company’s debt. By “harmonious substitution", the control of the asset moves to the new owner who will also take on responsibility for servicing the asset’s ongoing debt. Reliance Infrastructure, in an exchange filing on Friday, said its total debt was at over  ₹ 6,000 crore at the end of December 2019. The filing showed that the total amount outstanding was  ₹ 4,597.06 crore, of which the amount of default as on December 31, 2019, was  ₹ 1,048.70 crore. The total financial ...

The Telegraph TT Bureau October 06, 2019 The confidence of manufacturing companies about the immediate future has sunk to its lowest level in the past five years — marking a significant draining of optimism at a time the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee has slashed the growth forecast for this fiscal to 6.1 per cent from 6.9 per cent. Respondents to an industrial outlook survey carried out by the RBI have expressed deepening worries about rising cost pressures emanating from interest payments on borrowings, slump in order inflows and access to finance because of which they have become pessimistic about profit margins and have developed negative sentiments about selling prices. The survey computes two indices — one based on assessment about the existing situation and is named the Business Assessment Index, and the other based on expectations to compute the Business Expectations Index. Each indicator for the respective period is calculated as a weighted ...

The Business Line April 18, 2019 By ASHWINI PHADNIS How has the Indian aviation sector fared over the last five years? Ashwini Phadnis takes a look at the hits and misses The five years of the Modi government saw a lot of attention focused on the civil aviation space. The period saw the domestic aviation market witnessing double-digit growth for 52 months in a row, there were some big-ticket announcements like the UDAN scheme, and there was the passenger charter meant to give more power to the flying public. On the flip side, aviation infrastructure, especially air traffic management, did not keep pace with air traffic demand and towards the end of Modi’s term, all the private airlines were in the red, with there being uncertainty about Jet Airways’ future. Given these developments, and now that the country is in the process of electing a new government, FlightPlan looks at aviation during the five years of the NDA government. According to Diogenis Papiomy...

The Print 15 April, 2019 ANURAG JOSHI and RONOJOY MAZUMDAR Loans for projects came to Rs 520 billion in March quarter, the highest since 2011, compared with Rs 144 billion in previous quarter. Financing deals for Indian infrastructure projects are surging on market expectations that the next government will come through with at least some of the spending that politicians are promising now during a heated election campaign. Local-currency loans for projects came to 520 billion rupees ($7.5 billion) in the quarter to March 31, the highest since 2011, and compared with 144 billion rupees in the previous three months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As India aims to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024, the government is pushing to eliminate bottlenecks to growth, and is responding to voters’ frustration with problems such as an inadequate number of expressways, crowded commutes and congested airports. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said it will seek capital...

Economic Times April 14, 2019 PTI As many as 344 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have shown cost overruns to the tune of over Rs 3.16 lakh crore owing to delays and other reasons, a report said.  "Total original cost of implementation of the 1424 projects was Rs 18,17,469.76 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 21,33,649.81 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 3,16,180.05 crore (17.40% of original cost)," the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's latest report for December 2018 said.  The ministry monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above.  Of these 1,424 projects, 344 reported cost overruns and 384 time escalation.  According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2018 was Rs 8,06,997.78 crore, which is 37.82 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.  However, it said the number of delayed project...

Financial Express August 06, 2018 Urging Niti Aayog to formulate a policy for waste recycling, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said converting waste into wealth offers a more than Rs 5 lakh crore opportunity in the country. Gadkari said the policy can create huge employment potential and can bolster the country’s economic growth. “Economy of this waste recycling is of more than Rs 5 lakh crore. It has huge potential…NITI Aayog can formulate a waste recycling policy. This policy will see economic transformation of the country and create huge employment potential,” Gadkari said addressing an international conference on ‘Sustainable Growth through Material Recycling’ at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra here. The Road Transport, Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister said efforts should be made to convert waste into wealth. He said there are 12 thermal power plants along the sides of the Ganga river and the power ministry has iss...

Economic Times: June 24, 2018 New Delhi today declined to spell out its stance on a possible funding of a project linked to Beijing's ambitious One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).  "These things (loan proposals) are discussed at the board level and the final decision is taken keeping all interests and viewpoints in mind. We don't make our stand outside the boardroom," interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters here.  The minister was replying to a specific question on the government stance if a proposal for funding to a project linked to the OBOR initiative comes up before the AIIB.  So far, no project lending proposal linked to the OBOR has come up for funding before the AIIB, where China is the biggest owner with 31 per cent stake, economic affairs secretary SC Garg added.  India, the second largest shareholder of AIIB with an 8 per cent stake, has been opposed to the OBOR, which is b...

The Indian Express, Mumbai, June 25, 2018 The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved an investment of $200 million in the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to give a greater momentum to mega infrastructure projects. Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said: “I had a meeting with the president of AIIB, and he expressed satisfaction that India has shown a lot of enthusiasm, and put up very good proposals. I was also given the good news that today the AIIB Board has approved an investment in the NIIF, the first tranche of $100 million got approved today, which will be followed by a similar tranche.” Goyal added: “AIIB board has expressed satisfaction over the proposals put forward by India for infrastructure financing.” While stating that AIIB has matured as a robust infrastructure financier almost at par with any global bank, Goyal said, “Mumbai, which is the financial capital of India, is poised to become the infrastructure capital.” The AIIB w...

Business Line OUR BUREAU  February 05, 2018 ‘Will spur construction activities, provide relief for realtors, too’ NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 5 Infrastructure status given to the affordable housing sector will enable projects associated benefits such as lower borrowing rates, tax concessions and increasing flow of foreign and private capital, according to Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri. Speaking at an institutional investor event in Delhi on Monday, Puri said additional measures such as Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2016, higher tax breaks on home loans etc have also been introduced which will spur the housing and construction activities. “These will be effective in spurring the housing and construction activities, providing huge relief to real estate developers. Also, these would attract private a...

Business Line Our Bureau  February 04, 2018   A corpus will be created through the new road and infrastructure cess on petrol, HSD. Port projects, including channel-deepening works or capital dredging and shipyards, will be able to access funds from a corpus created through a new  ₹ 8 per litre road and infrastructure cess on petrol and high-speed diesel announced in the Budget. The existing Central Road Fund Act (CRF Act) will be amended and re-named as Central Road and Infrastructure Fund Act to facilitate the change. Other beneficiaries Other infrastructure projects that can benefit from the corpus include post-harvest storage infrastructure for agriculture and horticulture produce, including cold storage and cold chain (including cold room facility for farm level pre-cooling, for preservation or storage of agriculture and allied produce, marine products and meat). The Central Road Fund (CRF) was enacted in the year 2000 through a cess on petrol and...

The Times of India,  PTI  |  Jan 29, 2018, Beijing China today said it is ready to hold talks with India to resolve their differences on the contentious $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) that passes through PoK. Asked about Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale's interview to state-run Global Times in which he had said that differences on the CPEC should not be swept under the carpet, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China is willing to hold talks with India in this regard. "I noted the relevant report. Regarding the CPEC, China has repeatedly reiterated our position. As to the differences between China and India, China stands ready to communicate and hold talks with India to seek a proper solution so that these differences will not affect our general national interests. This best serves the interests of the two countries," she said. As to any differences arising between the two countries, the...

ABJA Investment Co (ABJA), a Singapore-based subsidiary of  Tata  Steel, on Thursday priced its dollar bonds having two different tenures to raise a total of $1.3 billion, bankers close to the deal told FE. ABJA priced its 5.5-year bonds at 4.45% to raise $300 million, while it priced 10-year bonds at 5.45% to raise $1 billion, according to sources. The initial price guidance on the 5.5-year and the 10-year bonds stood at 4.875% and 5.875%, respectively. This is the first dollar bond offering by a subsidiary of an Indian company in 2018. “It was a great deal. The paper got priced lower than where the previously issued bonds of the company were trading in the secondary market. We saw a huge demand from investors across Asia and Europe,” a banker said. Road shows for the deal commenced this week in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and London. S&P Global Ratings said in a release that it has assigned ‘BB-’ long-term issue rating to the proposed dollar-denominated, seni...

The Times Of India  Jan 18, 2018 India is keeping a hawk eye on the continuing presence of Chinese troops and their construction activities in north Doklam near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet trijunction, even as Army chief General Bipin Rawat said bilateral bonhomie had returned to the same level+ that existed before the 73-day troop faceoff in the region last year. The Indian security establishment believes People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers may return in "greater numbers" to the Doklam area (the Dolam Plateau), which is disputed between China and Bhutan, for some muscle-flexing after the harsh winter is over. "They have built infrastructure for it in north Doklam (separated from south Doklam by the Torsa Nala rivulet). But our troops, atop the watershed that dominates Doklam, are much better placed in terms of terrain. We are in a wait-and-watch mode, prepared for any eventuality," an official said. Indian troops will step in again if the PL...

Live Mint By  Navadha Pandey  &  Gopika Gopakumar Amrit Raj Dec 23 2017 Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd appears to have emerged as the highest bidder for most of the assets put on the block by the beleaguered Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), three people aware of the development said. “Bids have been received for all five asset packages. Reliance Jio has emerged as the highest bidder for 3-4 of the five asset packages of Reliance Communications. It seems unlikely that any other company can outbid Reliance Jio,” said one of the three people cited above. A banker, the second person cited above, confirmed that Reliance Jio was the highest bidder and that the Mukesh Ambani-led firm has shown interest in buying optical fibre assets, spectrum and tower infrastructure. “Others did not match the price that Reliance Jio was willing to offer,” this person added. The third person mentioned above also said that the company is interested in acqu...