Modi govt to sell Air India, Bharat Petroleum by March 2020

News Network
November 17, 2019

Nov 17: Air India-Bharat Petroleum disinvestment: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Saturday said that the government is planning to sell state-run airline Air India and the oil marketing PSU Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) by March 2020.

The finance minister stated that the strategic disinvestment of the two state-run companies is critical for the government to meet its disinvestment target of Rs 1 lakh crore for the current fiscal year.

"We are moving on both with the expectation that we can complete them this year. The ground realities will play out," Sitharaman told the Times of India.

The finance minister added that there is a "lot of interest" among investors which is apparent in international roadshows ahead of Air India's sale. The government had to drop the national carrier's stake sale last year owing to investors' lukewarm response. But, it is counting on proceeds from disinvestment (which includes the strategic sale and public offers) to bolster its revenues in a year when tax collections suggest a likely fiscal slippage.

However, the government has been taking a lot of steps to arrest the downturn in the economy which is manifested in a lot of sectors coming out of distress, Sitharaman told the news daily. She further stated that the industry captains had contributed to improving their balance sheets and many of them were also mulling fresh investments.

The finance minister said that she expected GST collections to revive following an improvement in sales in some segments as well as owing to the government's measures to plug leakages lately. Commenting on the Supreme Court's recent verdict on Essar Steel, Sitharaman said that the ruling has strengthened the constitutionality and legal strength of the IBC law and it would have a significant impact on the balance sheets of banks in the next quarter.

She also claimed that there were indications of revival in consumer sentiment, which was exhibited in demand of around Rs 1.8 lakh crore in loans from banks at the outreach programme during the festival season.

"If consumer confidence is not on way to being restored, why would you think that such an amount would have gone out as loans during the two outreach programmes started by banks? And, it is all over the country," the finance minister told the news daily.

Comments

Mohammed
 - 
Monday, 18 Nov 2019

We will soon be known as India (Pvt) Ltd Country 

Mohan ss
 - 
Monday, 18 Nov 2019

Sell entire India to British, they were better than you, Acche din will come soon finally

shamshuddin mohammed
 - 
Sunday, 17 Nov 2019

AB BACHA KYA HAI ...................

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News Network
July 20,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 20: Karnataka Minister for Primary and Higher Education S Suresh Kumar today said that the results of the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) Examinations, held amidst Corona threat, will be announced in the first week of August.

Speaking to newsmen on Monday after visiting the evaluation centres in the City, said that the work is in full swing and it was proposed to announce the results by end of first week next month.

He said that the evaluation of the answer sheets are set to take another 10-12 days. Currently, evaluations of the answer sheets are taking place at 220 centres in the State.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
June 27,2020

New Delhi, June 27: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led union government of India is not ready to stop all imports from aggressive China in spite of mount calls to boycott Chinese products in India.

The Centre is reportedly considering to stop only non-essential imports from the neighbouring country.

However, the Inward shipment in sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, certain electronics and others will continue until a domestic alternative is found.

“India will gradually move towards import substitution. It will not happen overnight. In the meantime, attention has to be paid on production and job creation. We cannot throttle our industry. There are certain absolutely essential imports. Needless to say, those will keep going,” official sources said.

Sources said that both the government and the industry are in the process of identifying products that can be domestically manufactured in the medium term. There are certain chemicals, automotive components, handicrafts, cosmetics, agriculture items and certain consumer electronics, which can be manufactured domestically in the short to medium term. The government is doing all it can to raise the capacity of domestic industries.

However, there are certain other imports in the automobile and the pharmaceutical sectors which cannot be done away within the short to medium term. Their domestic production at the moment may not be that cost-effective.

The six-crore strong traders’ body CAIT has been at the forefront of such a demand and has launched a campaign to celebrate Indian Diwali this year with a total absence of Chinese goods.

“Ease of doing business, capital availability at lower rates and globally competitive logistics and energy costs are some of the prerequisites that the government should look into to ensure the growth of the domestic auto component industry,” according to Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Director General Vinnie Mehta.

Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava said, “People who are boycotting Chinese goods have to remember that in some cases it may lead to their being asked to pay more for the same product."

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency Acuite Ratings & Research has analysed the current import portfolio from China and found 40 sub-sectors have the potential to lower their import dependency on China. These sectors contribute to $33.6 billion worth of imports from China and about 25% of these imports can be substituted by local manufacturing without any significant additional investments.

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News Network
January 14,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 14: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the government of Karnataka while hearing the plea for ordering Judicial probe into the December 19, violence and police action in Mangaluru.

On December 19, the local police while taking action against anti-CAA and NRC protesters had fired at them which had killed two citizens. The police action was then followed by curfew in the region for over 48 hours.

The High Court bench hearing the plea of JD(s) leader Iqbal and Sullia Pattan Panchayat member Iqbal seeking its intervention to order judicial probe into the matter has issued the notice to the government.

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