1. ICICI Bank Board Trusts Chanda Kochhar, but Do Investors Trust ICICI Bank Board?
On 28 March, the board of the country’s second-largest lender ICICI Bank Ltd issued a statement reposing its confidence in the corporate governance of the lender and the integrity of its head Chanda Kochhar.
The statement was a reaction to allegations that ICICI Bank disbursed loans to the Videocon group without following strict governance rules that would have otherwise avoided conflict of interest of Kochhar. Investigative agencies were said to be looking at the series of transactions including loans disbursed to Videocon group by ICICI Bank.
The bank’s stock dropped 6% on Monday as these allegations against its top official hurt sentiment.
(Source: Mint)
2. More Than 5 Lakh GST E-Way Bills Issued on Day 2 of Rollout
The GST e-way bill plan was off to a successful start with more than five lakh e-way bills generated till 7 pm on the first working day of its implementation.
The rollout of e-way bill without any glitches came as a relief to businesses that were fearing disruption to trade.
With the successful rollout of e-way bill — an electronic documentation for the movement of goods — a key anti-evasion measure under goods and services tax is now in place. The government is hoping that this will help in improving tax revenues under GST.
(Source: Mint)
3. ReNew Power Buys Ostro Energy in India's Largest Renewables Deal
ReNew Power Ventures acquired Ostro Energy in India’s largest renewable energy transaction, which is said to be more than Rs 10,000 crore, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The company is said to have paid 40 percent in equity and the rest in debt for acquiring Actis LLP-backed Ostro Energy, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. ReNew Power spokesman Pradeep Wadhwa declined to comment on the deal’s value.
ReNew Power, backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Japan’s Jera Co., Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, will become India’s largest renewable energy company after the acquisition with combined assets of more than 5.6 gigawatts.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
4. Three-Way Race for Essar Steel: ArcelorMittal, Numetal-JSW, Vedanta in Fray
Essar Steel, put up for bidding for the second time, saw companies owned by metal sector billionaires taking part on Monday. This time, lenders expect the valuation to cross the $6 billion mark and none or minimal haircut, with Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta, LN Mittal’s ArcelorMittal, and VTB Bank-owned Numetal, which tied up with Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Steel, making aggressive bids.
The bids, however, are subject to the decision of the Ahmedabad Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on suits filed by Numetal and ArcelorMittal against their first round bid rejections.
(Source: Business Standard)
5. Will Meet Fiscal Deficit Target of 3.5% of GDP for 2017-18: Hasmukh Adhia
The government is confident of achieving the fiscal deficit target of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2017-18, backed by robust revenue mop-up of both direct and indirect taxes, even as the gap between its revenue and expenditure overshot the revised estimate by 20 percent till February.
Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Monday said despite last year being full of revenue uncertainty due to the goods and services tax (GST) roll-out, the government had managed to achieve both direct and indirect tax targets for the financial year.
(Source: Business Standard)
6. Government Rules Out Excise Duty Cut to Cushion Petrol Prices
The government on Monday, 2 April, ruled out any immediate reduction in excise duty to cushion relentless rise in international oil prices that have sent retail diesel rates in India to record high, and petrol to four-year high.
The BJP-led government had raised excise duty nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs 2 a litre.
Asked if a second round of excise duty cut was in the offing, Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said, “Not as of now. Whenever we review it, we will let you know”.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
7. RBI Allows Banks to Spread Treasury Losses Over 4 Quarters
With a view to help banks spread losses incurred on bond yield movements, the Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to spread the provisioning they need to make for these losses over a maximum of four quarters.
Banks will also have to create an Investment Fluctuation Reserve (IFR) to protect against an uptick in yields in the future. The IFR shall be eligible for inclusion in tier-2 capital.
(Source: Moneycontrol)
8. US Stocks' Second-Quarter Start is Worst Since Great Depression
If you feel like the second quarter began badly, you’d be right.
US stocks had their worst April start since 1929, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The S&P 500 index slumped 2.2 percent, a rout exceeded only by its 2.5 percent decline 89 years ago, a prelude to the devastating crash later that year that brought on the Great Depression. (Back then, the index only comprised 90 stocks.)
China’s retaliatory trade tariffs combined with President Donald Trump’s criticism of Amazon.com Inc. to send equities into a tailspin Monday.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
9. Trump EPA Moves to Cut Obama-Era Mileage Rules on Vehicles
The Trump administration announced that fuel-efficiency regulations for cars and light trucks are too stringent and must be revised, beginning a process sought by the US auto industry to pare anti-pollution targets.
The EPA also said it was considering whether to revoke the waiver that allows California to set its own, tougher emissions rules.
The national greenhouse gas emission targets that were a signature element of former President Barack Obama’s climate-change policy are too aggressive, US Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt said in a statement Monday outlining the decision.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
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