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In a first, Anil Ambani threatened with class action suit at AGM after massive erosion of wealth, frequent rating downgrades irk shareholders

Mumbai: Massive erosion of wealth due to poor performance leading to frequent rating downgrades has forced irate shareholders of the Anil Ambani Group companies to complain against the management and threaten to file a class action suit.

Speaking at the AMG of Reliance Power on Monday, a shareholder even threatened to make history by filing the country's first class action suit against the group companies, if the issues he raised are not addressed in the next two-three months. The shareholder, who claimed to be a corporate lawyer from the city, also said he has lost over 90 percent of the value of over Rs 3 crore investment in three of the seven Reliance Group companies.

He was particularly peeved at group chairman Anil Ambani pledging over 80 percent of his holdings in the company, blaming him for bad signalling. The shareholder said he will marshal 10 percent shareholders to launch the country's maiden class-action suit, in which a group of complainants sues a defendant or a number of defendants on behalf of a group, or class, of absent parties.

File photo of Anil Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Communications. Reuters file photo

The Companies Act 2013 has a section that enables interested parties to file class-action suits. But so far no case has been filed under this provision. In the West, it is a common practice.

"If I do not get satisfactory replies to my questions, in the next two-three months I will file a class action suit against RPower," the shareholder warned Ambani. He claimed to have invested over Rs 3 crore in the three group companies since 2005 and today the value of his shares is only a fraction of that.

"It is my hard-earned money which I have put in the company and your decision of pledging over 80 percent of promoter holdings since 2014 till date has destroyed me," the shareholder said.

It can be noted that as of Monday, the seven publicly traded Anil Ambani Group companies had a combined market value of a paltry Rs 18,525.62 crore, of which close to Rs 16,000 crore are of Reliance Nippon AMC alone.

The once-flagship Reliance Communications is the worst of all and at NCLT and closed down 1.28 percent to a paltry Rs 0.77 apiece with a m-cap of Rs 212.94 crore. Its 52-week high
was Rs 18.60.

Anil Ambani, at the Reliance Cap AGM says that the group has repaid over rs 35,000 cr in 14 months till May 2019; Nippon Life Deal created infinite rate of return on Rel Cap’s investment; amount has been exclusively used for debt reduction to make co stronger pic.twitter.com/rV3MjWGFco

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 30, 2019

Another one-time flagship Reliance Power, which had a dream-run with its mega IPO that was oversubscribed 72 times in February 2008, raising a whopping Rs 11,563 crore, today is the drag on the name of the group. Its m-cap stood a low Rs 617.12 crore on a share value of Rs 2.20, after plunging 8.71 percent on the BSE against a 52-week high of Rs 32.65. Similarly, RInfra today tanked 12.3 percent to Rs 29.30 on the BSE against a 52-week high of Rs 380.60, yanking down its m-cap to a low Rs 770.59 crore.

Reliance Naval & Engineering with a share price of Rs 1.34 that too after a 4.69 percent rally closed with an m-cap of Rs 98.84 crore on Monday on the BSE. Similarly, Reliance Capital tanked 12.32 percent to Rs 24.55 (from a 52-week high of Rs 319), pulling down its m-cap to Rs 620.38 crore. Reliance Home Finance, which will be shuttered by December, lost 4.5 percent to Rs 3.83 with a m-cap of Rs 185.79 crore.

Reliance Nippon Life AMC too shed 2.13 percent to Rs 259.80 after the announcement of closing its lending business, losing its m-cap to Rs 15,899.76 crore.

The shareholder also questioned the rationale for paying 13.9 percent interest on borrowings through bond raising even as one the company claimed to have reserves of over Rs 15,300 crore. On the promoter pledging, he also wondered if any of the money so raised by the Ambani family has been ploughed into any of the group companies.

Ambani, chairing the meeting, sat patiently on the dais as the shareholder launched the scathing attack.

Company officials tried to stop him citing rules that prohibit a speaker from taking longer, but Ambani allowed him to continue.

The shareholder frequently found support from fellow shareholders in his 15-minute speech but was also shouted down by a few.

The shareholder was peeved at the rating downgrades, claiming that he lost Rs 37 lakh of his portfolio in a single episode of a downgrade by Care Ratings recently. He also wondered how the company could not pay on borrowing of Rs 63 lakh from a bank despite sitting on a huge pile of cash and instead chose to take the ignominy of recognition as a defaulter.

The angry shareholder found support in two others. The first of his supporters said Ambani should give a clear picture of the status of the firm and maintain utmost transparency. The second wondered why despite taking over RPower's city distribution business in the financial capital, Adani Transmission has a market capitalisation of Rs 15,000 crore even as RPower, which is still holding on to the same business in Delhi, is still valued at under Rs 700 crore.

In his reply to the shareholders, Ambani said, "we will look at all the suggestions made and the issues raised we will deeply think about the issues and will do our best to address some of them," Ambani added.

The Reliance Power AGM was third along the six AGMs held by group companies on Monday.

Even though the fortunes at the bourses of the first two companies—Reliance Capital and Reliance Infra—are not so good, no shareholder voiced any particular concerns at those AGMs. Distraught shareholders also raised concerns in the RCom's AGM and sought clarity from the resolution professional who was chairing the meeting.

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PMC Bank saw massive cash withdrawals before RBI clamp down; some large depositors got whiff of whistleblower complaint: Report

Mumbai: Frenetic large cash withdrawals by a few large depositors of the now crippled Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) bank in the third week of September following a whistleblower leak, prompted the regulator to strict withdrawal cap from the cooperative last week, say sources.

Representational image. News18

This massive fund erosion began after some of these large depositors reportedly got a whiff of the whistleblower, reportedly a board member, leak to the regulator, which finally undid the bank on 23 September, the sources added.

It can be noted RBI had put PMC Bank strict restrictions including limiting withdrawals at Rs 10,000 and banning the bank from any lending activities for the next six months.

The whistleblower report has detailed the massive misreporting of NPAs by the bank, primarily because of its huge exposure to crippled developer HDIL that owes around Rs 6,500 crore to the bank—as much as 73 percent of its total loan book—as per the whistleblower and also its suspended MD Joy Thomas' admission to the RBI.

The RBI slaps such restrictions on banks if it finds withdrawals are beyond the prescribed threshold in any given period so that the interest of small depositors are protected. The action was necessitated as in case of PMC, the small depositors constitute around two-thirds of its depositor base, the source explained.

"In the initial inspection, the RBI has found that there was massive erosion of deposits from certain accounts. These withdrawals were large in nature. This resulted in the strict action by RBI," the source said.

While the RBI spokesman did not comment, the PMC administrator could not be reached.

PMC, which is among the top 10 urban cooperatives, had total deposits of around Rs 11,600 crore as of 19 September, and small depositors consisted of as much as 63 percent of this with an average balance of under Rs 10,000. Its loan book stood at Rs 8,880 crore of which it admitted as much Rs 6,500 crore are given to HDIL and are now NPAs.

While suspending the PMC management, the RBI put a slew of restrictions in the bank, such as limiting withdrawals to initially at Rs 1,000, which was later increased to Rs 10,000 during six months the period, resulting into widespread protest from the aggrieved customers, and also any other lending activities.

The regulator has found out that large withdrawals started from 17 September, after the whistleblower, has leaked the information to the RBI on NPAs of HDIL being hidden, which forced the then managing director Joy Thomas, to confess to the wrongdoings.

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PMC Bank crisis: Economic Offences Wing files case against bank management, promoters of HDIL; SIT to probe case

The Mumbai Police on Monday filed a case against the former bank management and promoters of HDIL in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank case. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) will be probing the case.

Based on a complaint by RBI-appointed administrator, the city police’s Economic Offences Wing filed a First Information Report (FIR) in the case for forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy against the officials.

The complaint was registered by RBI administrator Jasbir Singh Mattha in which he alleged that in the period starting 2008 till August 2019, the loans given to a particular company were not paid and had turned into NPA (non-performing asset). This information was not disclosed to the RBI as per banking norms, he said, according to a report in India Today.

“As per initial investigations, the bank’s losses since 2008 were Rs 4,355.46 crore,” police said, according to a PTI report.

The complaint, which names the bank’s Chairman Waryam Singh and its Managing Director Joy Thomas, was filed with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police, according to a police official and a statement seen by Reuters. It also names bankrupt realty company Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) and its Chairman Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, who were beneficiaries of the loans.

Modus operandi

Explaining the modus operandi of the case, the FIR said that HDIL promoters allegedly colluded with the bank management, to draw loans from the bank’s Bhandup branch. “Despite non-payment, the bank officials did not classify the loans as non-performing advances and intentionally hid the information about the same from RBI,” an official statement from the police said.

PMC Bank. PTI photo

They also created fictitious accounts of companies which borrowed small sums of money, and created fake reports of the bank to hide from the regulatory supervision, it said.

"Since the bank was growing, the Statutory auditors, due to their time constraints, were checking only the incremental advances and not the entire operations in all the accounts. They validated the incremental loans and advances and scrutinised the accounts which were shown by us," suspended MD Joy Thomas said in his confession letter to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), according to a report in Moneycontrol.

The FIR has been filed under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant or banker), 420 (cheating), and 465, 466 and 471 (related to forgery) of the Indian Penal Code along with 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy).

All decisions for granting of overdrawals to HDIL’s a/cs as per my instructions... Bank’s execs had no role in allowing overdrawlas in HDIL’s a/cs: #PMCBank fmr MD's #confession letter to RBI#PMCBankCrisis #bankfraud #PMCBankScam #Bank #Banking #PMC_BANK #JoyThomas pic.twitter.com/x8FltGezDL

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 30, 2019

The bank, which has 137 branches and over Rs 11,000 crore in deposits, has been put under restrictions since last week after the RBI discovered certain financial irregularities in the functioning of the multi-state lender.

According to sources, the overall exposure of the bank to the financially stressed HDIL group is around Rs 6,500 crore or over 73 percent of the advances, and all of it is not being serviced. Under the restrictions, which are to be applicable for six months, a depositor is able to withdraw only Rs 10,000 per account. It can also not take fresh deposits or extend any new loans.

The restrictions have led to a massive public outcry with people thronging the branches for their money. The RBI has said that 60 per cent of the accounts have balances under Rs 10,000 and will not be impacted by the measures.

A special team has been formed to investigate the case, police added.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week took charge of the bank and suspended Thomas and the bank’s board after uncovering lending irregularities at the bank, which has been barred from renewing, or granting any loans, or making investments without prior approval of the RBI.

The police complaint against PMC and HDIL officials was filed at the behest of an administrator, whom the RBI appointed last week to oversee the bank’s operations while it probes the lender. The RBI has placed curbs on withdrawals from PMC, prompting protests among thousands of PMC’s depositors, whose funds have been largely frozen.

The complaint alleges that the PMC and HDIL officials purposely misled the RBI for over a decade from 2008 to August 2019 by failing to disclose big accounts that had become non-performing assets by producing forged audit reports.

The now-suspended managing director of the crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC), Thomas, has reportedly admitted to the RBI that the bank's actual exposure to the bankrupt HDIL is over Rs 6,500 crore—four times the regulatory cap or a whopping 73 percent of its entire assets of Rs 8,880 crore, according to a PTI report.

PMC and HDIL did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The RBI said it had no comment.

The PMC case has sparked renewed concerns about the health of the country's troubled banking sector, which has been rocked by a multi-billion dollar fraud at a state-run lender, the collapse of a major infrastructure lender, bad loan issues at state-run banks and a liquidity squeeze that has hit shadow lenders.

More than two dozen co-operative banks are now under RBI administration, but PMC Bank—with total deposit base at over Rs 11,500 crore at the end of 31 March—and among the top five co-operative banks in the country, is by far the largest to be hit by such RBI measures.

India has more than 1,500 small urban co-operative banks that typically service small local communities in certain districts or states. Depositors at co-operative banks are in a relatively higher risk zone, but tens of thousands still bank with these lenders as they typically offer better interest rates on deposits.

--With inputs from agencies

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In a first, RCom AGM to be chaired by resolution professional today; firms in diversified group to hold their AGMs

Mumbai: In what is probably the first for any major corporate, a resolution professional will chair and address the shareholders of the Anil Ambani-run bankrupt Reliance Communications at the annual meeting with shareholders here on Monday.

Companies in the diversified group will be holding their annual general meetings (AGMs) in the financial capital.

On the venue front, there is a change from the past as the financially embattled group has chosen to hold the meetings in a city college instead of one of the biggest auditoriums in the city.

In his heydays, Anil's father Dhirubhai, widely credited for creating the equity cult, used to book cricket stadiums located to address the mammoth shareholder meets.

Post-division of the businesses, both Anil and Mukesh Ambani companies held their shareholder meets at the sprawling Birla Mathoshree auditorium in south Mumbai.

Starting at 10 am the AGMs of Reliance Capital, Reliance Infra, Reliance Power, Reliance Home Finance and finally Reliance Communication will be held at the audio of the KC College, where Anil Ambani was a student, officials said.

He will be addressing the meetings of all the companies, except the bankrupt RCom which will be addressed by the resolution professional, they said.

RCom is presently going through an insolvency process and the National Company Law Tribunal had in July appointed Aneesh Nanavati of Deloitte as the resolution professional.

Representational image. Reuters.

According to RCom's admission, financial creditors have made claims worth Rs 57,382 crore from RCom and its two subsidiaries as of June 16. Of this, over Rs 7,000 crore are from group companies themselves and over Rs 47,000 crore are from 53 banks including Rs 14,775 crore from two Chinese lenders.

RCom itself sought bankruptcy early February after its efforts to sell spectrum to Reliance Jio failed due to regulatory delays. The telco had in 2018 entered into an agreement with Reliance Industries to sell its spectrum for Rs 25,000 crore.

It can also be noted that it was RCom itself that had created troubles for Anil Ambani in the recent past, with regard to its dues to Ericsson, which had successfully sought Supreme Court's intervention to make the company pay Rs 577 crore.

Anil Ambani was personally staring at being jailed for contempt of the Supreme Court for a failure to pay the sum and had to be bailed out by his elder brother Mukesh Ambani hours before the close of the apex court-mandated deadline for payment.

As a result of the telecom price wars, the company has fully exited consumer-facing businesses which had made it into a household name in the past and is concentrating only on serving the enterprise segment.

(Disclosure - Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd)

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IRCTC IPO opens today, price band fixed at Rs 315-320 a share; all you need to know about the new offer

The state-run Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, will hit the market today with its initial public offering (IPO). It is likely to be the largest of the IPOs issued by the IR subsidiaries, at Rs 635-645 crore.

An IPO is a financial instrument through which an unlisted company offers shares to the public. The funds raised are used for various purposes, like working capital, debt repayment and acquisitions.

Representational picture. Reuters

Here are the details of the IPO:

• Indian Railways' subsidiary IRCTC has reportedly fixed the price band for its initial share sale offer between Rs 315 and 320 per share, said a media report
• The issue comprises an offer for sale of 2,01,60,000 shares of Rs 10 face value. Of this, 1,60,000 shares are reserved for employees
• The minimum bid lot is 40 equity shares and in multiples of 40 equity shares thereafter
• The IPO proceeds will go directly to the government
• The total share dilution amounts to 12.60 percent of IRCTC's paid-up equity share capital
• The government is planning to raise up to Rs 645 crore at the price band through the IPO, which will close on 3 October
• Last month, IRCTC had filed draft papers with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its IPO
• IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, SBI Capital Markets and YES Securities (India) are the managers to the offer.

IRCTC operates one of the most transacted websites (www.irctc.co.in), in the Asia-Pacific region with transaction volume averaging 2.5 to 2.8 crore transactions per month during the 5 months ended 31 August.

IRCTC, a profit-making entity of Indian Railways, reported Rs 272.6 crore net profit in FY19 and Rs 220.62 crore in FY18. The company''s revenue grew to Rs 1,867.88 crore in FY19 from Rs 1,470.46 crore in FY18.

IRCTC is the only entity authorised by the Indian railways to provide catering services to railways, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), .

IRCTC generated Rs 1,957 crore revenue during FY19, a rise of 25 percent from the previous fiscal, the firm’s DRHP stated. The PSU’s net profit jumped 23.5 percent on-year to Rs 272.60 crore during fiscal 2019.

Currently, IRCTC operates in 4 business segments, namely, Internet Ticketing, Catering, Packaged Drinking Water under the “Rail Neer” brand, and Travel and Tourism.

Earlier this year, IRCTC has launched its own payment aggregator system, IRCTC iPay to provide online digital payment option to passengers availing online travel-related services through the IRCTC website.

IRCTC has also diversified into other businesses, including non-railway catering and services such as e-catering, executive lounges and budget hotels.

The internet ticketing currently is 12-13 percent of the revenue and has a margin of about 60-65 percent, Mahendra Pratap Mall, chairman and managing director of IRCTC, told CNBC-TV18.

The CPSE has also diversified into other business segments like e-catering, executive lounges and budget hotels.

Three other Indian Railways subsidiaries to have come out with IPOs are: Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service) and IRCON (Indian Railway Construction Company Limited) , reported IANS.

The size of RVNL's public offering was Rs 477.11 crore, IRCON Rs 466.93 crore and RITES Rs 460.44 crore.

— With PTI inputs

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We need builders to build new India; HDFC keen to contribute to govt's Rs 20k cr realty fund, says Deepak Parekh

New Delhi: Making a strong case for supporting developers to help them come out of the crisis, eminent banker Deepak Parekh said the government incentives have helped the affordable housing sector gain traction but homebuyers now clearly want "right developers, the right price, right size and right financier".

Parekh, chairman of housing finance major HDFC Ltd, also said the government's proposed Rs 20,000 crore fund will help the realty sector in a big way to get their pending projects completed and his company is very keen to contribute to this fund.

Asked whether he would also like to join the board to help manage this fund as a reputed industry voice, Parekh, however, said it was too early to comment on that.

"This fund, in which the government will put in Rs 10,000 crore and a similar amount will come in from public and private sector institutions, is a path-breaking move. The government is doing its best in supporting this industry and we have to get over the past sins of buying land at high prices and building luxury apartments. There is a limit how many luxurious apartments can be sold," Parekh told PTI in an interview.

File photo of HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh. Reuters

He also said the perception about the entire sector witnessing a slump was wrong as phenomenal sales were happening in the affordable and mid-market segment.

He said HDFC Capital Affordable Housing Real Estate Funds' (H-Care) $1.1 billion fund has seen strong traction for every project where it has invested across regions, including in Delhi-NCR, Pune and Mumbai, and most of the projects were sold within days.

The fund is managed by HDFC Capital Advisors Ltd, which is headed by Vipul Roongta and is a 100 percent subsidiary of HDFC Ltd. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has invested 82 percent, 9 percent is by NIIF and 9 percent by HDFC in this fund.

He said the magic wand behind success of these projects is that all these developers are reputed ones and the pricing and unit size was spot on.

"Where the demand transformation has happened, is that the customer profile has moved towards end-users, because there is no appreciation and the rental yields on housing have come down," Parekh said.

"Fiscal incentives have come for affordable housing, which are very beneficial. We feel more projects should be launched in this segment because the demand is insatiable. What is key in real estate which not many people have followed is, you have to have the right developer, which is people with a good reputation and people who have delivered in the past. Then you need to have right-sized units and right price," Parekh said.

Parekh said all 8-9 projects launched by H-Care have done well and there are more in the pipeline, all of them by reputed developers.

"This month itself, we launched a project by Signature Global in Gurgaon on 13 September. We launched 680 units and within a week 30 percent were sold. Price was Rs 4,000 per square feet and the starting price of the unit was Rs 20 lakh. That is where the market is. There is no point in building expensive units," he said.

Even in Mumbai, developers need to make smaller units and they will sell, Parekh added.

Roongta said the lower margins in affordable housing are compensated by tax incentives and higher volumes.

He said most state governments are offering land at good locations and reasonable prices for affordable housing and projects linked to the Prime Minister's Housing Scheme.

"Ten years back, affordable housing was far away from cities, but now it is at decent suburb locations and even within cities. A combination of fiscal incentives and effective implementation of policies at state government level is making a big change," he said.

"We are seeing people ready to buy right projects, in low to mid-income segments," he said.

Parekh said, "Some people are crying there is no demand, but we are seeing there is demand."

He also said the government fund will help good developers finish their pending projects, which are non-NPA and non-NCLT.

Lakhs of homebuyers are yet to get delivery of their units as hundreds of projects across the country are delayed due to liquidity crunch and demand slowdown. In many cases, the projects have been declared NPAs or are under insolvency proceedings.

Parekh said, "There are also many developers who might be about to default and so they can get the help here. The difficulty if the NPA projects are included would be that in many cases of NPAs, the developers are not straight forward and how can a government-sponsored fund can finance those projects. There are some fraudulent or crooked ones and how do you distinguish between good and bad ones? But what I want to stress is that India needs developers to make housing, malls, offices and all, who you have to support them and hold their hands," he said.

"With RERA etc, now there is some kind of rethinking, after what we saw over-exuberance in the past of buying land at whatever price... people bought land at exorbitant prices in the past. There are some developers who are genuine and who might have been under stress due to lack of sales, or they bought too much land in one go and are now getting hurt. The trust factor is so low among potential homebuyers today. But if a Tata, Mahindra, Godrej or a Shapoorji or a DLF etc comes with a project, they do sell. Even our projects are getting sold because they are with reputed developers. They are also telling the prospective buyers that HDFC has given funding and taken the equity," he said.

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Govt may seek Rs 30,000 cr interim dividend from RBI to meet fiscal deficit target for 2019-20; last fiscal central bank paid Rs 28,000 cr

New Delhi: The government may seek an interim dividend of about Rs 30,000 crore from the RBI towards the end of the financial year to meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.3 percent of GDP for 2019-20, sources said.

The government finances have come under pressure due to moderation in revenue collection and a slew of measures taken to lift growth from a six-year low of 5 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal.

"If required, the government may request the Reserve Bank of India for an interim dividend of Rs 25,000-30,000 crore during the current fiscal," an official said.

The assessment in this regard would be made in early January, the official added.

Apart from the RBI dividend, there are other means of bridging any shortfall, including mop-up from disinvestment and higher utilisation of National Small Saving Fund (NSSF), sources added.

In the past, the government has taken the route of seeking interim dividend from the RBI to balance its account. Last fiscal, the RBI paid Rs 28,000 crore as interim dividend.

During 2017-18, the government received Rs 10,000 crore as interim dividend from the central bank.

RBI governor Shaktikanta Das. Image courtesy: PIB

Last month, Governor Shaktikanta Das-led RBI central board gave its nod for transferring to the government a sum of Rs 1,76,051 crore, comprising Rs 1,23,414 crore of surplus for the year 2018-19 and Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions identified as per the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF).

Out of the net income of Rs 1,23,414 crore for the year 2018-19, RBI had already transferred Rs 28,000 crore to the government as interim dividend in March 2019.

The government got a higher dividend of Rs 95,414 crore during the current fiscal as against the budgetary estimate of Rs 90,000 crore.

As far as gross borrowing is concerned, Budget 2019-20 pegged it at Rs 7.10 lakh crore for the current fiscal, significantly higher than the Rs 5.35 lakh crore borrowing programme for the financial year 2018-19.

Gross borrowings of the government during the first half of the financial year 2019-20 will stand at Rs 4.42 lakh crore, which works out to 62.3 percent of the total target for the entire year.

To pull the economy out of a six-year low growth and a 45-year high unemployment rate by reviving private investments, the government has taken a slew of measures, including a cut in corporate tax rate by almost 10 percentage points having tax implication of Rs 1.45 lakh crore.

As part of the exercise, the government also withdrew the enhanced surcharge on long- and short-term capital gains for foreign portfolio investors as well as domestic portfolio investors with revenue implication of Rs 1,400 crore.

Even with regard to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the all-powerful GST Council approved reduction in many items with impact on the exchequer.

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IRCTC IPO opens today, price band fixed at Rs 315-320 a share; govt hopes to raise Rs 645 cr

Indian Railways' subsidiary IRCTC has reportedly fixed the price band for its initial share sale offer between Rs 315 and 320 per share, said a media report.

The state-run Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will launch its initial public offering (IPO) tomorrow (30 September).

Representational picture. Reuters

IRCTC reportedly fixed the price band of its IPO between Rs 315 and 320 per share after talks with merchant bankers, said a report in Moneycontrol.

The government is planning to raise up to 645 crore at the price band through the IPO, which will close on 3 October, said the report.

About 2 crore equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each would be offloaded through the offer for sale by the government.

Last month, IRCTC had filed draft papers with markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its IPO.

IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, SBI Capital Markets and YES Securities (India) are the managers to the offer.

IRCTC is the only entity authorised by the Indian railways to provide catering services to railways, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

IRCTC generated Rs 1,957 crore revenue during FY19, a rise of 25 percent from the previous fiscal, the firm’s DRHP stated. The PSU’s net profit jumped 23.5 percent on-year to Rs 272.60 crore during fiscal 2019.

The CPSE has also diversified into other business segments like e-catering, executive lounges and budget hotels.

— With PTI inputs

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Why the festival season may not bring much cheer despite tax cuts by govt

Car sales in August fell the most on record and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd

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Why the festival season may not bring much cheer despite tax cuts by govt

Car sales in August fell the most on record and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd

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Saudi Arabia to invest $100 billion in India, eyes long-term partnership

Vision 2030 of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will also result in significant expansion of trade and business between India and Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia to invest $100 billion in India, eyes long-term partnership

Vision 2030 of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will also result in significant expansion of trade and business between India and Saudi Arabia

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Scrappage policy may bring in stricter norms for pre-2005 built vehicles

A committee of secretaries (CoS) recommended to the ministry redesigning of the scheme

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Scrappage policy may bring in stricter norms for pre-2005 built vehicles

A committee of secretaries (CoS) recommended to the ministry redesigning of the scheme

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Bodyguard to Saudi Arabia's King Salman shot in 'dispute': Report

Tributes poured in across social media for Major General Abdulaziz al-Fagham, with many including images of the bodyguard at work

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E-cigarettes banned to prevent youth from new way of intoxication: PM Modi

He also said there are several misconceptions being spread about use of e cigarettes, including the one which says that it is not harmful for health

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Privatisation plan of BPCL will need a prior nod of Parliament: Officials

India has a total refining capacity of 249.4 million tonnes of refining capacity and 65,554 petrol pumps and 24,026 LPG distributors

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HDFC keen to contribute to govt's Rs 20,000 cr realty fund: Deepak Parekh

"This fund, in which the government will put in Rs 10,000 crore and a similar amount will come in from public and private sector institutions, is a path-breaking move"

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COAI wants telcos to discuss issue of interconnect usage charges reasonably

The IUC was originally proposed to be made nil from January 1, 2020. But Trai is now reviewing the timeline

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Govt plans to constitute working group on proposed new industrial policy

The DPIIT had initiated the process of formulation of a new industrial policy in May 2017

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Threat of terror incidents along Indian coastline remains: Rajnath Singh

Not only in India, the whole world knows what will happen to terrorists, the defence minister said

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Govt plans to constitute working group on proposed new industrial policy

The DPIIT had initiated the process of formulation of a new industrial policy in May 2017

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Sebi takes guard against security threats, plans to hire agency

Information system infrastructure includes networking systems, security devices, servers and databases

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Priyanka hits out at UP govt, says administration protecting Chinmayanand

A post graduate student from Shahjahanpurhas accused Chinmayanand of rape

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Foreign investors pour in Rs 7,714 cr into domestic capital markets in Sept

Prior to this, foreign investors had pulled out a net Rs 5,920.02 crore in August

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Festival sale: Amazon 'War Room' buzz as it makes the first move

Amazon offices in Seattle, Singapore, Europe keep a close watch on the sale

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Foreign investors pour in Rs 7,714 cr into domestic capital markets in Sept

Prior to this, foreign investors had pulled out a net Rs 5,920.02 crore in August

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No plans to block Chinese firms from US stock exchanges: Treasury official

The administration is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on US stock exchanges at this time

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When Modi govt is seen borrowing more, rate cuts fail to boost bonds

The concerns persist even after an assurance from a government official that the borrowing plan remains unchanged

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Legal setback for Trump as US judge rejects policy of expanded deportation

Legal setback for Trump as US judge rejects policy of expanded deportation

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When Modi govt is seen borrowing more, rate cuts fail to boost bonds

The concerns persist even after an assurance from a government official that the borrowing plan remains unchanged

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Donald Trump to supporters: 'Our country is at stake like never before'

'They're trying to stop me because I'm fighting for you', said Trump

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Respect towards India increased significantly since 2014, says PM Modi

"The main reason is because of the 130 crore Indians who elected a strong government," the prime minister said

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Hong Kong braces for mass protests over weekend ahead of China National Day

A series of pro- and anti-Beijing protests is planned ahead of the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China on Tuesday

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PM concludes US visit, thanks Trump, US for exceptional hospitality

Modi also mentioned his 'excellent' bilateral meetings with international leaders and the roundtable with American industry leaders

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Nitish holds meeting over rainfall and flood alert, orders evacuation

Torrential rainfall in the catchment areas over a period of a few days in July had flooded more than a dozen districts of north Bihar leading to loss of more than 100 lives

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RBI initiates PCA against LVB over high net NPAs, insufficient CRAR

PCA was initiated after an on-site inspection, under the risk based supervision, carried out for the year ended March 31, 2019

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Go and invest in Pakistan: Rakesh Jhunjunwala tells British investor

The remark came as a retort to repeated questioning by a London-based investor at the World Hindu Economic Forum on the rising joblessness in India

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Go and invest in Pakistan: Rakesh Jhunjunwala tells British investor

The remark came as a retort to repeated questioning by a London-based investor at the World Hindu Economic Forum on the rising joblessness in India

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Asia's $640 billion bad-loan pile lures global investors, says Deloitte

China continues to dominate the region's soured loans, with a total of $295 billion held by Asian banks, while India is the second largest at about $160 billion

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Afghanistan presidential elections begin amid threats from Taliban

The Afghan voters have to decide among 16 candidates, including the incumbent President Ashraf Ghani.

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Won't forget Howdy Modi event, says PM, thanks US for 'exceptional welcome'

Modi said 'Wherever I went, whoever I met, be it world leaders, industrialists or citizens from all walks of life, there is a great spirit of optimism towards India'

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US-India relationship critically important, made major strides: Senator

"We need to continue growing this relationship, one that will extend long beyond the tenures of leadership in either country, " said Senator Bob Menendez

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Gandhi's London connect to be celebrated to mark 150th anniversary

The connect of that teenager who went on to become the leader of the Indian national movement can be found in many areas of the British capital

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India hits out at Imran Khan, says threat of nuclear war 'brinkmanship'

India exercised its right of reply to the statement made by Khan later on Friday and fielded its newest diplomat at its mission at the UN to fend off the allegations made by Pakistan Prime Minister

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Pak PM going door-to-door, creating content for cartoonists: Rajnath

Rajnath said there are some powers who want to do a Mumbai-like attack on Indian coastal regions, but "their desires will not be allowed to be fulfilled"

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US lawmakers urge PM Modi to lift communications blackout in Kashmir

Restrictions were imposed when New Delhi had on August 5 scrapped the state's special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated in into Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and La

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Best of BS Opinion: The importance of exports, the power of youth activists

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day

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RBI move caused lot of harm to depositors, could have managed the situation better, says suspended PMC Bank MD

Mumbai: The suspended managing director of crisis-hit Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank on Friday admitted past management did not keep the board in the loop about NPAs and also claimed it has an exposure of Rs 2,500 crore to HDIL, which is almost a third of its loan book.

The exposure to the crippled slum redevelopment-focused HDIL had grown to Rs 2,500 crore over the last six-seven years and but the now suspended management did not report the matter to the board that its largest customer has been an NPA from the past two-three years, Joy Thomas, who was suspended by RBI as managing director, told reporters.

The urban cooperative bank's loan book stood at around Rs 8,400 crore as of FY19, while its deposits stood at Rs 11,630 crore.

PMC Bank. PTI photo

"The board was not aware that the NPA (of HDIL) was not disclosed. It was sanctioned at the central office level," Thomas claimed without disclosing who took the call. It can be noted that PMC Bank chairman Waryam Singh was on the board of HDIL for over nine years ending 2018 and owns over 1.7 percent equity in the bankrupt realty company.

Thomas said, "the total exposure to HDIL is about Rs 2,500 crore, including the fresh two loans aggregating to Rs 96.5 crore extended as late as August 30. But all the loans are fully secured to the tune of 2.5 times with land and buildings."

"They have been repaying all these years and it was only since the past two-three years that they have not been able to service the loan," he said.

On 30 August, PMC had extended a Rs 96.5-crore loan to the promoters of the HDIL Group, again without informing the board, Thomas claimed.

The new loan was been given so that HDIL could repay Bank of India, and thus avoid NCLT proceeding, as the state-run bank was about to take the company to bankruptcy courts, he explained.

"My point is that sending HDIL, which is our oldest and largest customer, to NCLT would have affected us badly as the legal proceedings would have lead to a value erosion of collaterals," Thomas claimed.

When asked how the bank was able to hide HDIL's NPAs for all these years, he said, "I am not going to tell you how we got it hidden. It is that the RBI has not seen it."

It can be noted that the RBI carries out annual inspection of all urban cooperative banks balance sheet.

Thomas went to the extent of claiming that bank itself had gone to RBI on 19 September—just five days before the regulator put PMC under an administrator—and apprised it of the crisis with the HDIL account and sought some time to regularise the same as the company was close to sell off some assets and repay us.

"Our intention was very clear: We wanted to grow fast and the exposure getting reported could have created a run on the bank," he said.

The bank had sought time from RBI for a resolution plan for which it agreed to conduct a normal inspection which was also due, he said.

"The RBI had told us that normally a cooperative gets two months to clear the book during inspections, and we also thought we had that time. But the very next day, their inspection officers came down and collected all the information and on 23 September evening we got the order for restraining us from conducting normal banking operations,"

Thomas said, adding RBI move was a bit too strict which caused a lot of harm to depositors. "They could have managed it in a better way," he said.

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World Hindu Economic Forum looks to attract investments, boost prosperity

The World Hindu Economic Forum has earlier been organised in London, Chicago, Losa Angeles, Hong Kong, and Nairobi

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World Hindu Economic Forum looks to attract investments, boost prosperity

The World Hindu Economic Forum has earlier been organised in London, Chicago, Losa Angeles, Hong Kong, and Nairobi

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Sachin Mehta to head India ops of William Grant

​​After inking a deal with Modi Distilleries for bottling, which is the 130-yearold Scotch giant’s only bottling arrangement outside Scotland, it has for the first time placed an Indian, Sachin Mehta, at the helm of its local operations.

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Plastic ban may leave bitter taste for food delivery

The industry believes PM Modi could announce a ban on single-use plastic materials on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.

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Sachin Mehta to head India ops of William Grant

​​After inking a deal with Modi Distilleries for bottling, which is the 130-yearold Scotch giant’s only bottling arrangement outside Scotland, it has for the first time placed an Indian, Sachin Mehta, at the helm of its local operations.

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Spending on bread, protein-rich items fell in 2017-18

The private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) on bread, cereals and pulses was Rs 4.8 lakh crore in 2017-18, down from Rs 5 lakh crore in FY17.

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Trade war: Trump considers delisting Chinese firms from US markets

Major US stock indexes slipped on the news, which came days before China celebrates the 70th anniversary of the birth of the People's Republic on October 1

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Market starts on a volatile note on weak global cues; bank stocks, Tata Steel, Asian Paints among major losers

Sensex and NSE Nifty started on a volatile note on Friday, tracking weak cues from global markets as concerns over US political uncertainty kept investors on edge.

After dropping 175 points in the early session, the 30-share index pared all losses to trade 38.89 points, or 0.28 percent, higher at 38,879.19 at 0935 hours, while the broader Nifty advanced 5.85 points, or 0.10 percent, to 11,577.05.

#CNBCTV18Market | Market whipsawing between gains & losses; Heavyweights like HDFC twins, ITC & Infosys pulling Nifty up from low point during opening pic.twitter.com/VUCTgmAgYb

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 27, 2019

In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE barometer ended 396.22 points, or 1.03 percent, higher at 38,989.74. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty soared 131 points, or 1.15 percent, to end at 11,571.20. Top losers in the Sensex pack in early trade included Yes Bank, Tata Motors, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank and Hero MotoCorp, shedding up to 3 percent, a PTI report said.

#CNBCTV18Market | Index losers this morning pic.twitter.com/Jim3iLXeg0 — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 27, 2019

On the other hand, ITC, NTPC, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, SBI, HCL Tech, HDFC and Maruti rose up to 2 percent.

The rupee opened lower by 7 paise at 70.95 per dollar on Friday against previous close 70.88.

Representational image. Reuters.

According to traders, market volatility has heightened as concerns over US President Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry has made investors nervous around the globe.

Asian shares slipped to three-week lows on Friday as the release of a whistleblower complaint against US President Donald Trump added to uncertainties about the global economy, already reeling from the China-US trade war.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.42 percent, having fallen 1.72 percent so far this week, while Japan’s Nikkei slid 1.27 percent.

USS&P 500 futures fell 0.2% in Asian trading after the index dropped 0.24 percent on Thursday.

A whistleblower report released on Thursday said President Donald Trump not only abused his office in attempting to solicit Ukraine’s interference in the 2020 US election for his political benefit, but that the White House tried to “lockdown” evidence about that conduct.

The report came after the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi launched an impeachment inquiry into him this week.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading lower in their respective late morning sessions, according to Reuters report.

Shares on Wall Street too ended in the red on Thursday.

However, foreign fund inflow and stock-specific gains are capping the losses, traders said.

On Thursday, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net of Rs 737.17 crore, and domestic institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 339.28 crore, provisional data showed.

On the currency front, the rupee depreciated 4 paise against its previous close to 70.92 in early session.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.97 per cent to 62.13 per barrel (intra-day).

--With agency inputs

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Rupee opens 8 paise lower against US dollar amid drop in oil prices

The domestic unit on Thursday strengthened by 16 paise to close at 70.88.

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McDonald's to test veggie burger in Canada

Fast food giant McDonald's is dipping another foot into the world of plant-based "meat," announcing plans on Thursday to test a vegetarian burger in Canada.

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RB to expand market share in pain relief segment

The pain relief market is estimated to be around Rs 4,200 crore, which includes all forms of products in cream, gel, spray and balm.

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Top 10 biz headlines: LPG crisis, Sitharaman on liquidity issue, and more

From India bracing for an LPG crisis to Sitharaman commenting on liquidity issue, here are the top 10 business headlines on Friday

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For Wall Street, China's financial markets are bigger than the trade war

However, there are still significant hurdles in setting up shop in China

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Fund pick: Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund

Mirae Asset Large Cap Fund

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Stocks to watch: YES Bank, Phoenix Mills, ICICI Lombard, Coffee Day, NBFCs

Here's a look at the top stocks that may remain in focus today.

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A snapshot of MCLR and repo rate-linked new car loans offered by banks

Here is how the MCLR-linked and repo rate-linked new car loans offered by various banks stack up

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Whistleblower in Donald Trump-Ukraine scandal a former CIA officer: Report

The person's identity is protected by US laws supporting officials who go through proper channels to report gross misconduct by their colleagues or superiors

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TNPPCAHS MPharm merit list 2019: Log on to tnppcahs.org to check results

Candidates who appeared for the TNPPCAHS M.Pharm entrance exam can check MPharm merit list on the official website tnppcahs.org

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CRISIL keeps credit rating of Thomas Cook India unchanged; firm to consider transitioning to a new brand

Mumbai: CRISIL has kept the credit rating of Thomas Cook (India) Ltd unchanged, saying it has no linkage with bankrupt Thomas Cook plc in the UK.

"CRISIL's credit bulletin dated Sep 26, communicated to Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, reflects that the ratings of Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. remain unaffected as the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook PLC in UK has no linkage with Thomas Cook (India) Ltd," the ratings agency said in a statement.

The bulletin has elaborated that Thomas Cook (India) Ltd (TCIL) is a completely separate entity from Thomas Cook UK post-acquisition of 77 percent stake by Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings in 2012.

While TCIL is a brand licensee of 'Thomas Cook' brand in India, there exists no shareholding or business linkage between the two companies, it said.

"Hence, CRISIL believes that the liquidation of the UK-based entity should not have a material impact on TCIL's credit profile," it added.

While the brand has been licenced to TCIL until November 2024, TCIL is evaluating various options, including transitioning to a new brand.

"CRISIL's credit bulletin retains Thomas Cook India's rating reflecting the company's dominant position in the foreign exchange business and strong brand equity in travel-related services, a comfortable capital structure, and adequate liquidity," it said.

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Market Ahead, Spetember 27: All you need to know before the Opening Bell

Indian indices ended higher on Thursday and formed a bullish candle at the expiry of the September series of F&O contracts

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Vikram had hard landing; NASA releases images of Chandrayaan 2 landing site

Vikram was scheduled to touch down on September. 7. This event was India's first attempt at a soft landing on the Moon

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Saudi Arabia to offer tourist visas for the first time to diversify economy

The austere kingdom, which forbids alcohol and has a strict social code, is seen by many as a hard sell for tourists

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Hope to see rapid easing of restrictions in Kashmir from India: US

She also said that Trump "is willing to mediate if asked by both parties" -- although she noted that India has long rejected any outside role

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Economy to start looking up in days ahead, says Nirmala Sitharaman; private banks, financial institutions not facing any liquidity problem

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday hoped the economy will start looking up in the second half of the current financial year as consumption rises and banks increase their lending operations.

After meeting top management of private sectors banks, NBFCs, microfinance institutions and small finance banks, Sitharaman said that she had not heard of any liquidity problem from them. They also said there is enough demand for loans, she added.

Speaking at a press conference in Delhi, Sitharaman said: "I have not heard as a problem from anybody. Many of the MFIs and micro-finance units, which have come here from rural areas, said there is still demand and they are extending loans. On the whole, it was a very tonic-like meeting where I heard good things, positive thing," she said, and added that "the message I got is that consumption is happening," a PTI  report said.

Finance Minister @nsitharaman says one observation is made that service sector is showing high appetite pic.twitter.com/2w0mdPM49f

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 26, 2019

"Message I get from this meeting today is that consumption is happening. Demand will get back and motivate our economy to move at a faster rate. The coming half year, things will have to look up and pep up every other sector, even if there are one or two sectors in which there may be some stress," she said.

Finance Minister @nsitharaman says there is still good demand in deep rural areas pic.twitter.com/sQIOizM6mu — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 26, 2019

She indicated that economic slowdown seems to have bottomed out and the coming festive season will help the economy start looking up. The GDP growth in the first quarter of the current financial year slipped to an over six-year low of 5 percent.

File image of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. PTI

The Finance Minister highlighted that the service sector is showing a very high appetite for credit. She said: "Today more than 50 percent contribution to the GDP of the country is from the service sector. There is an immense possibility to reach out to them, provided, of course, there are some simpler tweaking that we can do using their salaries and cash they earn also as a part can be used for their credit assessment."

The minister further said the private sector banks and financial institutions told her that the slump in commercial vehicle sales is "cyclical" and likely to pick up in the next one or two quarters.

As regards slowdown in the passenger vehicle segment, she was told that it was driven by "sentiments" and will improve in near future.

Sitharaman said that the affordable housing scheme, which the Central government launched recently, has really taken off well, according to ANI.

During the meeting, banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) also suggested the limit for affordable housing eligibility should be raised to Rs 50 lakh from the current Rs 45 lakh.

On PMC bank crisis, the Finance Minister said, "At this stage, the RBI is handling it. Let a comprehensive picture to emerge. After that, the government will have to see what the best can be done so that there is some assurance given to the people who are affected."

Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar said public sector banks will hold outreach programme in 400 districts across the country during the festival season with a view to enhance credit disbursal.

In the first phase between 3 and 7 October, 250 districts will be covered.

Private sector banks have also been invited to join the outreach programme.

Noted private banker Uday Kotak, who is attended the meeting, said private investment will respond to the reduction in corporate tax. He said most banks will follow external benchmark-based lending from 1 October.

Finance Secretary Rajeev Kumar said: "Festival season is coming. Therefore, we have all decided to join the outreach programme and step up their efforts in various districts."Kumar said, "In 400 districts, there would be an outreach programme. The outreach programme is essentially to just go to the districts and convey that banks have sufficient so as the Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC)."

--With inputs from agencies

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HDFC Bank emerges as India's most valuable brand; Reliance Jio placed 9th among list of top 10 brands

The largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has emerged as the most valued Indian brand at $22.70 billion.

The list of top ten brands, prepared by the world's largest media buyer WPP, includes companies from banking, financial services and insurance, telecom and auto segments.

Representational image. Reuters.

A brand's overall fortunes had a direct bearing on the brand valuations, as seen in the telecom space, where Airtel's value fell by 10 percent to $10 billion, while Reliance Jio's value went up by 34 percent to $5.47 billion. The Mukesh Ambani-run largest telco was placed ninth in the list of brands, while the second-largest telcom firm was still holding to the fourth place.

Among the state-run companies, insurance behemoth LIC was placed second, valued at $20 billion with a 2 percent growth, while banking giant SBI was fifth at $8.40 billion with a surge of 7 percent.

A slowdown in the auto sector seemed to be playing on the valuations of largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, which had its brand value come down by 14 percent to $5.93 billion.

(Disclosure - Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd)

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PMC Bank has enough liquidity, depositors' money fully safe; HDIL sole reason for present crisis, says suspended MD

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) move to take charge of one of the country’s top five co-operative banks on Tuesday brought worried depositors out in protest and sparked renewed concerns about the health of India’s troubled banking sector.

Allaying fears of the depositors and customers, Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC), which is under the RBI management now, said it has enough liquidity to meet all liabilities and every penny of the public is secure.

Asserting that all its loans are fully secured, the management admitted that one large account-HDIL--is the sole reason for the present crisis leading to the regulatory action Tuesday when RBI superseded its management and placed it under an administrator for the next six months.

The regulator has also capped cash withdrawal at Rs 1,000 per customer during this period and also banned the bank from any fresh lending during this period.

Though the bank's now suspended managing director Joy Thomas did not disclose the exposure to HDIL, which he described as the largest and one of the oldest customers, he said all other accounts are safe and fully-secured.

PMC Bank. PTI photo

“We have ample assets to cover all our liabilities toward the depositors. All my loans are backed by adequate securities. It is just a question of time,” Thomas said in an interview with CNBC-TV18 on Wednesday.

"All other loans are more than fully-secured and there is no need for any customer to panic," Thomas told PTI in an interview Wednesday evening. "We have enough liquidity and back-up securities for all what we have lent. As a cooperative bank, we never do unsecured lending and our loan coverage ratio has always been
100-110 percent," Thomas said.

He said the bank has cash liquidity of around Rs 4,000 crore in the form of SLR (statutory liquidity ratio) and CRR or cash reserve ratio, while its liabilities are around Rs 11,600 crore.

Have ample assets to cover all liabilities of the depositors, says PMC Bank pic.twitter.com/4Wx3yFGLGD

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 25, 2019

One of the reasons for the RBI action is the highly under-reported NPAs, which according to sources are in high double-digits, while as per its FY19 balance sheet, it stood at a low 2.19 percent, which though was more than double of 1.05 percent in FY18.

Thomas admitted that the problem arose because of under-reporting of NPAs from the HDIL account. The slum redevelopment company, which has landed in cash crunch, has already gone to the bankruptcy now, has been delaying payments for the past few years.

"The divergence was only on HDIL. There was a difference between what we were reporting and what the actual numbers were. There was a delay on repayment for the last two-three years and we have been under-reporting that," Thomas admitted.

He, however, declined to quantify its exposure to HDIL, saying the loan is fully-secured.

Explaining that the problem is the delayed repayments by HDIL, he is sure of returning to normalcy sooner than later as the loan is fully-secured and the bank is in talks with HDIL for sell of its assets and recover the dues.

"We have been working with HDIL for the past many months and we know they are in advanced stages of monetizing their assets. That's why we are saying that we will be out of the problem soon," he said.

Describing HDIL as an old customer and the largest, Thomas said the firm has been supporting the bank for years, "when we were a single unit bank, they supported us, they also supported us when we were facing problems. When nobody was depositing even a penny with us, they had put in Rs 13 lakh way back in 1988.

"Nearly 40-50 percent of our turnover used to come from them only. We have earned a lot of profit from them...otherwise how can a young bank like ours have grown and come among the top five," he averred.

Thomas said HDIL has been facing problems for the last three-four years after they had lost some of the projects, including key slum rehabilitation projects near the Mumbai airport and other bankers stopped lending to it. However, he exuded confidence that the bank will be out of the regulatory restrictions much ahead of the RBI's six months period, say in two-three months.

He said the focus is to safeguard the interest of small depositors as it is the festive season and they would want money. "We have already approached the RBI for increasing the withdrawal limit to Rs 15,000. We have enough liquidity to serve that demand," Thomas said.

India has more than 1,500 small urban co-operative banks that typically service small local communities in certain districts or states. Over two dozen of these co-operative banks are now under RBI administration, but PMC Bank - with deposits of 116.17 billion rupees as of 31 March—is by far the largest to be hit by such RBI measures, a Reuters report said.

Depositors at co-operative banks are in a relatively higher risk zone as the supervision and administration of these entities fall under state governments and the central bank.

--With inputs from agencies

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PMC Bank says has enough liquidity, depositors' money fully safe; HDIL sole reason for present crisis, says suspended MD

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) move to take charge of one of the country’s top five co-operative banks on Tuesday brought worried depositors out in protest and sparked renewed concerns about the health of India’s troubled banking sector.

Allaying fears of the depositors and customers, Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC), which is under the RBI management now, said it has enough liquidity to meet all liabilities and every penny of the public is secure.

Asserting that all its loans are fully secured, the management admitted that one large account-HDIL--is the sole reason for the present crisis leading to the regulatory action Tuesday when RBI superseded its management and placed it under an administrator for the next six months.

The regulator has also capped cash withdrawal at Rs 1,000 per customer during this period and also banned the bank from any fresh lending during this period.

Though the bank's now suspended managing director Joy Thomas did not disclose the exposure to HDIL, which he described as the largest and one of the oldest customers, he said all other accounts are safe and fully-secured.

PMC Bank. PTI photo

“We have ample assets to cover all our liabilities toward the depositors. All my loans are backed by adequate securities. It is just a question of time,” Thomas said in an interview with CNBC-TV18 on Wednesday.

"All other loans are more than fully-secured and there is no need for any customer to panic," Thomas told PTI in an interview Wednesday evening. "We have enough liquidity and back-up securities for all what we have lent. As a cooperative bank, we never do unsecured lending and our loan coverage ratio has always been
100-110 percent," Thomas said.

He said the bank has cash liquidity of around Rs 4,000 crore in the form of SLR (statutory liquidity ratio) and CRR or cash reserve ratio, while its liabilities are around Rs 11,600 crore.

Have ample assets to cover all liabilities of the depositors, says PMC Bank pic.twitter.com/4Wx3yFGLGD

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 25, 2019

One of the reasons for the RBI action is the highly under-reported NPAs, which according to sources are in high double-digits, while as per its FY19 balance sheet, it stood at a low 2.19 percent, which though was more than double of 1.05 percent in FY18.

Thomas admitted that the problem arose because of under-reporting of NPAs from the HDIL account. The slum redevelopment company, which has landed in cash crunch, has already gone to the bankruptcy now, has been delaying payments for the past few years.

"The divergence was only on HDIL. There was a difference between what we were reporting and what the actual numbers were. There was a delay on repayment for the last two-three years and we have been under-reporting that," Thomas admitted.

He, however, declined to quantify its exposure to HDIL, saying the loan is fully-secured.

Explaining that the problem is the delayed repayments by HDIL, he is sure of returning to normalcy sooner than later as the loan is fully-secured and the bank is in talks with HDIL for sell of its assets and recover the dues.

"We have been working with HDIL for the past many months and we know they are in advanced stages of monetizing their assets. That's why we are saying that we will be out of the problem soon," he said.

Describing HDIL as an old customer and the largest and has been supporting the bank for years, Thomas said, "when we were a single unit bank, they supported us, they also supported us when we were facing problems. When nobody was depositing even a penny with us, they had put in Rs 13 lakh way back in 1988.

"Nearly 40-50 percent of our turnover used to come from them only. We have earned a lot of profit from them...otherwise how can a young bank like ours have grown and come among the top five," he averred.

Thomas said HDIL has been facing problems for the last three-four years after they had lost some of the projects, including key slum rehabilitation projects near the Mumbai airport and other bankers stopped lending to it. However, he exuded confidence that the bank will be out of the regulatory restrictions much ahead of the RBI's six months period, say in two-three months.

He said the focus is to safeguard the interest of small depositors as it is the festive season and they would want money. "We have already approached the RBI for increasing the withdrawal limit to Rs 15,000. We have enough liquidity to serve that demand," Thomas said.

India has more than 1,500 small urban co-operative banks that typically service small local communities in certain districts or states. Over two dozen of these co-operative banks are now under RBI administration, but PMC Bank - with deposits of 116.17 billion rupees as of 31 March—is by far the largest to be hit by such RBI measures, a Reuters report said.

Depositors at co-operative banks are in a relatively higher risk zone as the supervision and administration of these entities fall under state governments and the central bank.

--With inputs from agencies

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India's animal spirits are hushed as consumer demand remains subdued

Economic growth showed little signs of a recovery from a six-year-low

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India's animal spirits are hushed as consumer demand remains subdued

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HDFC Bank, Indian Oil launch co-branded fuel credit card for users from non-metro cities; to be available on RuPay, Visa platforms

Chandigarh: HDFC Bank in partnership with Indian Oil on Wednesday launched a co-branded fuel card for users from non-metro cities and towns, which will be available on both RuPay and Visa platforms.

The card was launched at an event here by IOCL's Executive Director (Retail Sales) Vigyan Kumar and HDFC Bank's Country Head, Payments Business and Marketing, Parag Rao.

The card offers customers the highest rewards and benefits on fuel consumption and will be available on both RuPay and Visa platforms, it was informed on the occasion by the bank and IOC officials.

Customers earn reward points known as 'fuel points' at over 27,000 IOCL outlets. They also earn 'fuel points' on all other spends such as groceries, bill payments, utilities and other shopping. These points can be redeemed for up to 50 litres of fuel annually.

Representative image. Pic courtesy: HDFC website

To apply for the card, the customers can visit the bank website or walk into the nearest bank branch, Rao said.

The card was also simultaneously launched across 135 Indian oil outlets in Bhopal, Lucknow, Indore, Ranchi, Kochi, Vishakapatnam, Guwahati, Nagpur, Shillong, Varanasi, Jalandhar and Panjim, among others.

Speaking on the occasion, Vigyan Kumar said that Indian Oil has been a pioneer in promoting digital cashless and digital transactions with more than 98 percent of the company's network of 27,000 plus retail outlets capable of accepting credit/debit card payments.

"In fact, more than 27 percent of all transactions at our petrol stations are through various digital modes. We are confident that this collaboration with HDFC Bank today shall give a boost to digital payments and cashless transactions in the country, in line with the Digital India vision of the prime minister," he said.

Rao said it is their endeavour to take digital forms of payments to the smaller towns and cities.

He said fuel consumption in India is rising and smaller cities and towns are major drivers of this growth.

"With more than 75 percent of our total branch network in such non-metro cities, we want to empower our customers in these locations by providing a product that is specifically designed for their changing needs and aspirations," he said.

Rao, who is the brain behind this card, said, "Our philosophy in terms of offering products across HDFC Bank is very simple. We try to see the primary top two needs of an individual and try to design a product which is focused on these needs of the customer."

Also, one of our and IOC's objectives in launching this card is to assist in this whole digital mission of saying how do you reduce cash. We have a lot of other initiatives with IOC in terms of digitisation.

"Simultaneously, as a bank, we are also expanding our merchant network everywhere so that a merchant in the rural area, either through a POS (a point of sale machine, which is an electronic device used to process card payments) machine or an app, we have a merchant app, could start accepting digital payments, which could be a card, other wallets, etc".

"In India, the penetration of electronic spends at customer level, I am not talking of institutions and businesses, is only about 10-12 percent, rest is still cash and cheque, so we have got a lot of space to grow...," Rao said.

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Sensex tanks over 300 points, Nifty tests 11,500-mark in early session; bank, IT, auto stocks trade negative

The equity benchmark BSE Sensex sank over 300 points in early session on Wednesday, dragged by losses in banking, IT and auto stocks amid negative global cues and foreign fund outflow.

The 30-share index was trading 303.70 points, or 0.78 percent, lower at 38,793.44 at 0930 hours, while the broader Nifty fell 92.70 points, or 0.80 percent, to 11,495.50.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE barometer ended with a meagre gain of 7.11 points, or 0.02 percent, at 39,097.14, while the Nifty settled 12 points, or 0.10 percent, lower at 11,588.20.

Zee Ent, SpiceJet, Power Grid, Marico, Titan, TCS are among major gainers on the Indices, while losers are HDFC, Axis Bank, Britannia, Bajaj Finance, UPL and AU Small Bank, HDIL, Bank of Baroda and Yes Bank.

Top laggards in the Sensex pack in early trade included Tata Motors, SBI, HDFC twins, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti, Infosys, ITC and ICICI Bank, shedding up to 3 percent.

#CNBCTV18Market | 2 metal stocks and 2 financials find themselves among the top losers in the opening hour of trade pic.twitter.com/efIP1iuGvW

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 25, 2019

Among sectors, except IT all other indices are trading in the red. Midcap and smallcap indices are also trading with marginal loss.

On the other hand, PowerGrid, RIL, NTPC, TCS, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel rose up to 2 percent.

#CNBCTV18Market | Here are the top gainers in the opening hour of trade pic.twitter.com/7CoojpSjMA

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) September 25, 2019

According to traders, domestic equities opened on a weak note tracking negative news from global markets, PTI said.

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday after the US lawmakers called for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, increasing the prospects of prolonged political uncertainty in the world’s largest economy.

Representational image. Reuters.

Top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi's announced the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, saying he betrayed his oath of office by seeking help from a foreign power to hurt his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.2%, Japan's Nikkei .N225 fell 0.55 percent, while Australian shares fell 0.66 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading significantly lower in their respective late morning sessions after US President Donald Trump put China on notice at the United Nations, declaring that the time of trade "abuses" by Beijing was "over" and calling on the country to protect Hong Kong's "democratic ways of life."

Global market sentiment also turned negative following top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi's announcement of the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, saying he betrayed his oath of office by seeking help from a foreign power to hurt his Democratic rival Joe Biden.

Shares on Wall Street ended in the red on Tuesday. The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 7 paise against its previous close to 71.08 in early session.

The dollar nursed losses against most major currencies as the impeachment inquiry sets the stage for a fierce battle between Democrats and Trump’s Republican Party over whether the president sought foreign influence to smear a political rival, Reuters said.

Sterling remained broadly supported in Asia after the UK Supreme Court ruled Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to shut down parliament was unlawful, a move that could thwart his plan to pull Britain out of European Union next month with or without a deal.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.71 percent to 62.65 per barrel (intra-day).

Oil futures declined, reflecting concerns that political uncertainty and US-China trade friction will weigh on global economic growth.

“There are a lot of factors out there that could potentially hurt market sentiment,” said Tsutomu Soma, general manager of fixed income business solutions at SBI Securities in Tokyo.

“However, some hedge funds have to close their books at the end of the month, so it may be difficult for the market to move.”

On Tuesday, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net of Rs 828.49 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 472.81 crore, provisional data showed.

--With inputs from agencies

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