Staterun | Common News Update

Feb282021 by adminNo Comments

View: How the government can truly make India’s state-run banks efficient just like their private sector peers

Finance

Budget 2021 has finally made long-awaited policy pronouncements of a reformist nature in the banking and financial sector. Governments are prone to make announcements that catch headlines, but soon fade away with only half-hearted implementation. One says this with the hindsight of the declaration of divestment of the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) in 2015 and later of Air India. But genuine enthusiasm arises from the fact that after declaring that GoI would privatise public sector banks (PSBs), set up an asset reconstruction company (ARC) and establish a development finance institution (DFI) among others, the administration has started to take steps to implement these. It is encouraging that the finance ministry has already sought timelines from ministries on getting the deci...

Nov262019 by adminNo Comments

India asks state-run firms to clear over $1 bn, owed to green energy firms: Sources

Finance

NEW DELHI: India has asked state lenders to provide over $ 1 billion to government power distribution companies to clear longstanding debts to green energy firms that could hinder further investment, three sources familiar with the plan said on Tuesday. The companies owe solar and wind power generators including Goldman Sachs-backed ReNew Power and Softbank-backed SB Energy over 97 billion rupees ($ 1.35 billion), according to the Central Electricity Authority, an arm of the federal power ministry. Adding to the problems of the power generators, a new government in Andhra Pradesh state - which owes renewable energy firms more than any other state - wants to renegotiate its contracts, saying the prices it pays are inflated. The New Delhi government has asked state lenders Power Finance Corp...

Mar312019 by adminNo Comments

Federal tax breaks for donating to these state-run funds are on shaky ground

Finance

Things are looking uncertain for filers hoping to get a break on their 2018 federal taxes by contributing to state-run charitable funds. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which went into effect last year, limited to $ 10,000 the state and local tax (SALT) deduction filers can claim on their federal returns. And only taxpayers who itemize deductions would be eligible to claim this break. The new tax law increased the standard deduction to $ 12,000 for singles and $ 24,000 for married-filing-jointly in 2018. High-tax states, including New York, New Jersey and ...

Dec262018 by adminNo Comments

To check fraud, CVC starts examining audit reports of state-run banks, insurance companies

Finance

Probity watchdog Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has started examining audit reports of state-run banks and insurance companies to check incidents of fraud and suggest corrective measures, officials said Wednesday. The move assumes significance with banks reporting large scale fraud cases and the high number of bad loans or non-performing assets, they said. Vigilance Commissioner T M Bhasin told PTI the CVC is getting a review done of central statutory reports, concurrent auditors' reports and other auditor reports through chief vigilance officers of all public sector banks and insurance companies. "The same (audit reports) are analysed in the Commission and a corrective action plan is advised for time-bound implementation," he said. Chief vigilance officers act as a distant arm of the ...

Nov62018 by adminNo Comments

State-run banks need Rs 1.2 trillion in urgent capital: Crisil

Finance

MUMBAI: State-run lenders require an urgent Rs 1.2 trillion in capital in the next five months and government will have to take a bulk of the tab due to the weak market valuations of these NPA-saddled banks, says report. This is a little more than double the budgeted Rs 53,000-crore of capital infusion for the current fiscal year, Crisil senior director Krishnan Sitaraman said in a report Tuesday. If government decides to meet this need, this will put further pressure on the fiscal maths, thus its ability to meet the 3.3 percent fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal year. Already government has used up over 95 per cent of the deficit target or the market borrowings as of October end. The report comes even as government is asking the Reserve Bank to lower the minimum capital requirem...