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[erarunkamboz-blog]

Love is in whole history of a woman's life, it is but an episodein a man's. #Happy #International #Women's #Day #1India (at 1 India)

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New Post has been published on News From Banks | Banking and Investment Blog

New Post has been published on http://www.newsfrombanks.com/update-1-india-to-inject-1-3-bln-to-shore-up-state-banks.html

UPDATE 1-India to inject $1.3 bln to shore up state banks

Sat Feb 28, 2015 6:52am EST

* Budget allocates $ 1.3 billion for state banks in FY16

* Says planned bank board bureau to guide on capital raising plans

* New bank planned to “fund the unfunded” (Adds details, comments)

By Devidutta Tripathy and Manoj Kumar

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI, Feb 28 (Reuters) – India will inject 79.4 billion rupees ($ 1.3 billion) into state-owned banks in the next fiscal year to bolster their capital reserves, a smaller-than-expected sum which means the sector’s heavyweights may have to turn to the market or curb lending.

Successive governments have poured billions into India’s bad-debt burdened state banks, even while warning the support was unsustainable. The Reserve Bank of India estimates lenders need more than $ 40 billion to meet global Basel III norms by 2019.

The government this year injected 69.9 billion rupees into selected state lenders, picking those that outperformed their peers in terms of profitability. It also allowed banks to raise funds by selling shares, provided the government retained a stake of at least 52 percent.

In his budget speech on Saturday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley outlined the more modest spending plans and said the government would also set up a bureau to improve governance and help state lenders develop capital-raising plans with “innovative financial methods and instruments”.

This, he said, was a move towards establishing a holding company for the state’s banking investments, a long-awaited step that should end state-directed lending and allow state banks to be run at arm’s length.

Ananda Bhoumik, a senior director at Fitch’s Indian unit India Ratings and Research, said the capital infusion was far lower than expected. The agency’s forecast was 200 billion rupees.

“We expect credit growth to be in the region of 14 to 15 percent for the next fiscal year. So, based on the banks’ current profitability and the expected credit growth, they would need a certain level of capital,” Bhoumik said.

Bhoumik warned there would be an impact on credit growth, particularly for mid-sized banks less able to tap the market.

India’s nearly two dozen state-run lenders, with state ownership of between 56 and 84 percent, dominate the country’s banking landscape.

Jaitley separately announced plans to set up a bank to help fund the small businesses which make up the backbone of India’s economy.

The Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank will refinance microfinance institutions, he said, allocating 200 billion rupees to the plan.

“These bottom-of-the-pyramid, hard-working entrepreneurs find it difficult, if not impossible, to access formal systems of credit,” Jaitley said. “Just as we are banking the unbanked, we are also funding the unfunded.” ($ 1 = 61.6489 Indian rupees) (Additional reporting by Dipika Lalwani; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and David Holmes)

[bernadetteucalh-blog]

UPDATE 1-India FY12 crude oil output seen up 1.3 pct y/y-govt

* Refining capacity expected to rise 20 pct by March 2012 (Adds details, background)NEW DELHI, Oct 18 (Reuters) - India's crude oil output is expected to rise only marginally in the fiscal 2011/12, a government statement said, which could force Asia's third largest economy to resort to costlier imports as it expands refining capacity.India, the world's fourth largest oil importer, ships in 80 percent of its oil needs to meet growing local fuel demand and feed its expanding refining capacity.The country's oil output is expected to rise an annual 1.3 percent to 763,800 barrels per day (bpd), while natural gas production is seen edging down to 51.68 billion cubic meters from a year ago, the government said in the statement on Tuesday.Higher output from Cairn India's Rajasthan block is expected to raise the oil output, while a fall in production from Reliance Industries -operated D6 block, off India's east coast, will nudge down the gas output, the statement said.Refining capacity is expected to rise 20 percent to about 4.65 million bpd at the end of the current fiscal year in March, it said.India has a surplus refining capacity but it still imports fuel as private firms, controlling over a third of current capacity, prefer to export.Unlike state fuel retailers, private firms do not get partial compensation from the government and upstream firms on sale of fuel state-set cheaper rates.Lower realisation on fuels sales along with rupee depreciation <INR/] and higher oil prices LCOc1 have hurt cash flows of the state oil marketing firms, resulting in higher borrowings and interest burden.The combined debt of state-run oil retailers -- Indian Oil Corp , Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -- rose 23 percent since March to 1.19 trillion rupees ($24.31 billion) in August.These firms sell diesel, kerosene and cooking gas at subsidised rates to help the government control inflation .India is aggressively pursuing oil diplomacy to ensure energy security for the country, the statement said.It is building strategic oil storage at three locations in southern India, sufficient to meet 90 days demand, as a hedge against crude price volatility and to ensure supplies in case of disruption.The first storage of 9.75 million barrels at Vizag will be completed by end of this month, while the second facility of about 11 million barrels at Mangalore will be ready by November next year, the statement said.An 18.76 million barrels storage at Padur will be completed by May 2013, it said.The statement said oil companies, which currently own oil storage capacity of 162.726 barrels, are building tanks to store 24.12 barrels more, taking India's overall all oil storage capacity to about 226 million barrels.

[denysealayton-blog]

UPDATE 1-India Hero Motocorp Q2 beats f'casts, confident of sales growth

* Co says sold record number of two wheelers in Q2Oct 18 (Reuters) - Hero MotoCorp , India's largest motorcycle maker, reported a better-than-expected 19 percent rise in quarterly profit, and said it is confident of growing sales despite concerns over rising inflation and fuel costs in Asia's third-largest economy.High interest rates that have dented car sales are expected to benefit two-wheeler manufacturers, with many first-time buyers plumbing for motorcycles or scooters in the world's second-fastest growing major auto market."We remain confident of carrying forward the buoyancy in our sales. We expect our retail volumes to peak during the festive month of October," Hero MotoCorp CEO Pawan Munjal said in a statement. He added the company was expanding capacity to meet the expected demand.Industry motorcycle sales in September rose 20 percent from a year previous, against a 1.8 percent fall in domestic car sales, industry data showed this month.Hero MotoCorp, which ended a 26-year joint venture with Japan's Honda Motors this year, said it sold a record 1.5 million two-wheelers during the quarter, a growth of 20 percent from a year earlier. The company has targeted sales of over six million vehicles in this fiscal year, Munjal had said in July.The New Delhi-based firm reported net profit of 6.04 billion rupees ($123 million) for its fiscal second quarter ended September, up from 5.06 billion rupees a year earlier. Net sales rose 28 percent to 57.84 billion rupees.Analysts on average expected net profit 5.6 billion rupees on revenue of 58 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Raw material costs increased by more than a quarter to 42.64 billion rupees.Earlier this year, Hero Investments agreed to buy Honda's 26 percent stake in the joint venture, formerly known as Hero Honda, for around $851 million.The deal gave Hero freedom to explore new products and export opportunities in markets where Honda has a presence, a move it had been barred from while in the joint venture, but marked its former partner as a competitor for domestic sales.It also faces growing competition from rivals such as Bajaj Auto .Shares in Hero MotoCorp ended down 0.4 percent on Tuesday ahead of the results, after rising as much as 1.1 percent, in a Mumbai market that fell 1.6 percent.Hero MotoCorp shares, valued at $8.1 billion, are down 0.1 percent this year, compared with a more than 13 percent in the sector index and a decline of over 18 percent in the benchmark index . ($1=49.3 Indian rupees)

[reynawnpbowers-blog]

UPDATE 1-India to grant Internet licence to Qualcomm-telecoms secy

NEW DELHI Oct 18 (Reuters) - India has agreed to grant an Internet service licence to Qualcomm Inc , Telecoms Secretary R. Chandrashekhar said on Tuesday, clearing the way for the U.S. chipmaker to launch broadband services in the country after its application for the licence was rejected initially.Qualcomm last year paid about $1 billion for wireless spectrum it won in a state auction in four of India's 22 telecoms zones. The company needs to get the so-called Internet Service Provider's licence to launch broadband services.The ministry had earlier cited Qualcomm missing the deadline for applying for the Internet service providers' licence as one of the reasons for rejecting the application. The ministry had also said Qualcomm applied for four separate licences, whereas it should have applied for just one.Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment. The company has previously said it fully complied with the application process and will work with the Indian authorities to resolve the matter.It last year sold a total 26 percent stake in its India broadband venture to Indian firms Global Holdings and Tulip Telecom to comply with Indian rules, which allow a maximum 74 percent foreign holding in local telecoms companies.Qualcomm, which is pushing for the deployment of LTE (long-term evolution) broadband technology, has said it is looking for more operator partners in the Indian venture and plans to eventually exit the business.Other firms who have wireless broadband spectrum in select zones include top telecoms firm Bharti Airtel , smaller carrier Aircel and privately held Augere and Tikona.A unit of Reliance Industries , India's most valuable firm, has wireless broadband spectrum in all the 22 zones of the country.None of the broadband spectrum winners have launched services yet.

[merissabcbosch-blog-blog]

UPDATE 1-India to grant Internet licence to Qualcomm-telecoms secy

NEW DELHI Oct 18 (Reuters) - India has agreed to grant an Internet service licence to Qualcomm Inc , Telecoms Secretary R. Chandrashekhar said on Tuesday, clearing the way for the U.S. chipmaker to launch broadband services in the country after its application for the licence was rejected initially.Qualcomm last year paid about $1 billion for wireless spectrum it won in a state auction in four of India's 22 telecoms zones. The company needs to get the so-called Internet Service Provider's licence to launch broadband services.The ministry had earlier cited Qualcomm missing the deadline for applying for the Internet service providers' licence as one of the reasons for rejecting the application. The ministry had also said Qualcomm applied for four separate licences, whereas it should have applied for just one.Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment. The company has previously said it fully complied with the application process and will work with the Indian authorities to resolve the matter.It last year sold a total 26 percent stake in its India broadband venture to Indian firms Global Holdings and Tulip Telecom to comply with Indian rules, which allow a maximum 74 percent foreign holding in local telecoms companies.Qualcomm, which is pushing for the deployment of LTE (long-term evolution) broadband technology, has said it is looking for more operator partners in the Indian venture and plans to eventually exit the business.Other firms who have wireless broadband spectrum in select zones include top telecoms firm Bharti Airtel , smaller carrier Aircel and privately held Augere and Tikona.A unit of Reliance Industries , India's most valuable firm, has wireless broadband spectrum in all the 22 zones of the country.None of the broadband spectrum winners have launched services yet.

[annvgxstotts-blog]

UPDATE 1-India to grant Internet licence to Qualcomm-telecoms secy

NEW DELHI Oct 18 (Reuters) - India has agreed to grant an Internet service licence to Qualcomm Inc , Telecoms Secretary R. Chandrashekhar said on Tuesday, clearing the way for the U.S. chipmaker to launch broadband services in the country after its application for the licence was rejected initially.Qualcomm last year paid about $1 billion for wireless spectrum it won in a state auction in four of India's 22 telecoms zones. The company needs to get the so-called Internet Service Provider's licence to launch broadband services.The ministry had earlier cited Qualcomm missing the deadline for applying for the Internet service providers' licence as one of the reasons for rejecting the application. The ministry had also said Qualcomm applied for four separate licences, whereas it should have applied for just one.Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment. The company has previously said it fully complied with the application process and will work with the Indian authorities to resolve the matter.It last year sold a total 26 percent stake in its India broadband venture to Indian firms Global Holdings and Tulip Telecom to comply with Indian rules, which allow a maximum 74 percent foreign holding in local telecoms companies.Qualcomm, which is pushing for the deployment of LTE (long-term evolution) broadband technology, has said it is looking for more operator partners in the Indian venture and plans to eventually exit the business.Other firms who have wireless broadband spectrum in select zones include top telecoms firm Bharti Airtel , smaller carrier Aircel and privately held Augere and Tikona.A unit of Reliance Industries , India's most valuable firm, has wireless broadband spectrum in all the 22 zones of the country.None of the broadband spectrum winners have launched services yet.

[vernettadchatma-blog]

UPDATE 1-India to grant Internet licence to Qualcomm-telecoms secy

NEW DELHI Oct 18 (Reuters) - India has agreed to grant an Internet service licence to Qualcomm Inc , Telecoms Secretary R. Chandrashekhar said on Tuesday, clearing the way for the U.S. chipmaker to launch broadband services in the country after its application for the licence was rejected initially.Qualcomm last year paid about $1 billion for wireless spectrum it won in a state auction in four of India's 22 telecoms zones. The company needs to get the so-called Internet Service Provider's licence to launch broadband services.The ministry had earlier cited Qualcomm missing the deadline for applying for the Internet service providers' licence as one of the reasons for rejecting the application. The ministry had also said Qualcomm applied for four separate licences, whereas it should have applied for just one.Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment. The company has previously said it fully complied with the application process and will work with the Indian authorities to resolve the matter.It last year sold a total 26 percent stake in its India broadband venture to Indian firms Global Holdings and Tulip Telecom to comply with Indian rules, which allow a maximum 74 percent foreign holding in local telecoms companies.Qualcomm, which is pushing for the deployment of LTE (long-term evolution) broadband technology, has said it is looking for more operator partners in the Indian venture and plans to eventually exit the business.Other firms who have wireless broadband spectrum in select zones include top telecoms firm Bharti Airtel , smaller carrier Aircel and privately held Augere and Tikona.A unit of Reliance Industries , India's most valuable firm, has wireless broadband spectrum in all the 22 zones of the country.None of the broadband spectrum winners have launched services yet.