Author: Finance Khabar

New Delhi: In order to optimize its cost, State Bank of India (SBI) has planned Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). About 30190 employees will come under this. The total workforce of SBI was 2.49 lakhs by the end of March 2020. As of March 2019, this number was 2.57 lakhs. According to sources, a draft scheme for VRS has been prepared and the board’s approval is awaited. The name of the proposed scheme is ‘Second Innings Tap VRS-2020’. According to sources, a draft scheme for VRS has been prepared and board approval is awaited. The proposed scheme, ‘Second Innings Tap VRS-2020’,…

New Delhi: Nitin Sood, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of PVR has said that owing to the company’s cost control measures, its fixed costs for the future will be lower than it had before. Even after reopening, the company does not expect these to return to their previous levels soon. His message to the shareholders in PVR’s Annual Report said that the company is already in discussions with its developers for renegotiating the rental arrangements. Sood added that PVR’s other costs too will undergo reductions until some normalcy is restored. “We have also temporarily deferred a substantial portion of our planned…

New Delhi: In his message to the shareholders in the company’s Annual Report, he said that future prospects for the broad-based technology companies like HCL are stable and bright. Noting that a number of opportunities are playing out in the market, Vijayakumar said that digital transformation is being significantly accelerated across industries and digital programmes planned for completion in two to three years are now expected to close in a matter of months. “While momentum sectors such as Life Sciences and Healthcare, Online Grocery Distribution, Telecom and Tech continue to create strong demand, we are also seeing impacted sectors like…

New Delhi: Eight of the 10 most valued companies witnessed a total loss of Rs 1,11,799.05 crore in their market valuation last week, with ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries Limited emerging as leading losers. Tata Consultancy Services and HDFC Bank were the only gainers among the 10 most valued listed firms. Last week, the BSE Sensex plummeted 1,110.13 points or 2.81 per cent amid a global sell-off and weak economic data. The market capitalisation of ICICI Bank tumbled Rs 25,476.75 crore to Rs 2,57,073.30 crore. The valuation of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) tanked Rs 24,216.53 crore to Rs 13,16,947.89 crore.…

Mumbai: In a regulatory filing on Sunday, the lender said that it approved over Rs 47,000 crore of home loans under CLSS to homebuyers belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS), low income group (LIG) and middle income groups (MIG). “Subsidy under PMAY amounting to over Rs 4,700 crore has been passed on to these 2,00,000 homebuyers, becoming the only financial institution in the country to achieve this feat,” it said. HDFC added that it has been partnering and supporting the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and the National Housing Bank to work towards the government’s goal of ‘Affordable…

New Delhi: The appointment comes into effect from September 5, the company said in a regulatory filing. “Supratim Dutta has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company with effect from 5th September, 2020, in place of R. Tandon,” the filing said on Saturday evening. Dutta, joined ITC on November 1, 1990, soon after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and Cost Accountant. As per the filing, he has wide ranging experience in the company for nearly 30 years, covering various aspects of finance including planning, treasury, M&A, accounting, taxation, IT, investor relations and business strategy. He has also…

New Delhi:The government is mulling setting up at least one electric vehicle (EV) charging kiosk each at nearly 69,000 petrol pumps across the country to induce people to go for electric mobility. Besides, the government is also thinking of making it compulsory to install EV charging kiosks at all Company-Owned, Company-Operated (COCO) petrol pumps of state refiners. In a review meeting on EV charging infrastructure, Power Minister R K Singh suggested oil ministry top officials that “they may issue an order for their oil marketing companies (OMCs) under their administrative control for setting up charging kiosks at all COCO petrol…

Airtel is reported to revise data benefits for all its existing broadband customers to further strengthen itself in competition with Jio Fiber. Airtel’s broadband service is called Airtel Xstream Fiber. Airtel has 4 broadbrand plans – Basic, Entertainment, Premium and VIP. Of these, only VIP plan comes with unlimited data benefits. Limited data is offered on other plans. To avail unlimited data in any Airtel broadband plan other than VIP, the user has to pay an additional amount of Rs 299 per month. The basic plan of Airtel Extreme Fiber comes at Rs 799, with which 150GB of data is…

New Delhi: India has risen 158 places in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report in three years. With this, the country has come at number 27 among the comfortable countries for businessmen. This information was given by Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri during a press conference on Saturday. State Business Reform Action Plan 2019 Ranking was also released by the government during the press conference. It was released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, holding the number one position in the Ease of Doing Business rankings of the states of Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territories, while Uttar Pradesh…

New Delhi: Speaking at the 60th Annual Session id ACMA, which was held virtually on Saturday, Kant said the move will aide the country in reducing imports. “There is also need for new synergies such as with IT industry in the areas of power electronics,” he said. “India must look at using the first mover advantage for producing all components for EVs, thus driving towards the path of being a future global leader.” According to Kant, with EV battery prices set to go below $100, there is a huge opportunity in the sector to localise indigenising EVs. “The future course…

New Delhi: These guidelines will be called the Central Consumer Protection Authority (Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Necessary Due Diligence for Endorsement of Advertisements) Guidelines, 2020. These guidelines cover all advertising/marketing communications regardless of form, format or medium. They are applicable to the manufacturer/service provider whose products/services are subjects of the advertising/marketing communications, as well as to advertisement agency and endorser (wherever applicable) of the product/service. The guidelines said that an endorsement is required to take legal opinion or opinion from an advertising self-regulatory organisation which would be considered as “due diligence”. Every endorser endorsing a product or service shall…

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh and Telangana were placed at the second and third place, respectively in the ease of doing business for 2019, prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). While releasing the report, Sitharaman said the ranking makes states and UTs a better place to do business. The parameters include areas such as construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability and single-window system. The DPIIT conducts the exercise for all states/UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP). In the last ranking released in July 2018, Andhra Pradesh had topped…

New Delhi: Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways has decided to run 80 IRCTC special trains from September 12. Booking or reservation for these new IRCTC special trains will start from 10 September. Before these new special trains, Indian Railways is already running 230 IRCTC special trains. Earlier, Indian Railways started IRCTC special trains for the first time in May. In May, the Railways brought 30 AC IRCTC Special Train Services and 200 Special Train Services in June. Since that time, the Indian Railways has been monitoring the demand for these 230 IRCTC special trains and the number of passengers in it.…

New Delhi: India’s first bullet train project is set to be delayed by around five years, stuck as it is on multiple fronts – from low participation by Japanese companies to tenders being cancelled because of steep rates quoted by bidders. The Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project may be delayed by five years. The project, considered to be very close to PM Narendra Modi’s heart due to reasons like low share of Japanese companies, tenders canceled due to inappropriate rate of bidders for auction, delayed land acquisition, underground project including corona epidemic Can be fulfilled by According to the report of…

New Delhi: State-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has offered its employees stock options at one-third of the market price as the company looks to reward staff ahead of its privatisation. The board of BPCL on Friday “approved the proposed Employee Stock Purchase Scheme (ESPS) to the specified employees through the trust mechanism, subject to the approval of the shareholders”, the company said in a regulatory filing. While BPCL did not give details, a source with direct knowledge of the development said ‘BPCL Trust for Investment in Shares’ holds around 9.33 per cent stake of the company’s paid-up share capital.…

Southampton: The airline, which had already announced around 3,500 job losses, completed the rescue deal with major shareholders and creditors on Friday after various court approvals. Chief Executive Shai Weiss said that while the deal was a major step forward towards survival, more action was needed. “After the sacrifices so many of our people have made, further reducing the number of people we employ is heart-breaking but essential for survival,” he said. Airlines across the world have been slashing jobs and seeking funds after the COVID-19 pandemic grounded most flights earlier this year and demand has been slow to recover…

Seattle: The Seattle-based tech giant announced on Friday that it was expanding its workforce footprint in Bellevue, with new office space plans that will host a total of 25,000 employees in the next several years, the Seattle Times reports. That’s the same number of employees promised for Arlington, Virginia, by 2030. The Washington DC-area city won Amazon’s closely-watched HQ2 sweepstakes in 2018 by offering USD 573 million in cash grants and tax incentives. Amazon in exchange pledged to bring 25,000 new jobs that will pay on average USD 150,000 a year. Bellevue, meanwhile, hasn’t provided tax breaks or financial incentives…

New Delhi: At a time when the Centre is facing difficulties to disburse GST compensation to states on the low revenue collection, the Economic Advisory Council of the 15th Finance Commission has advised the latter to treat the financial year 2020-21 and 2021-22 differently in comparison to the next four years. The commission is to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters over the next five years starting April 1, 2020. An official statement said that during an online meeting of the advisory council with the commission, the council was of the view that the Finance Commission…

New Delhi: Taking cognisance of a bank employee being manhandled recently, the finance ministry has assured that the government is committed to the safety of bankers and swift action will be taken against the person involved in the incident. The incident of manhandling of a banker of State Bank of India (SBI) was reported from Wardha district of Maharashtra earlier this week. Earlier in June, a police constable in Surat, Gujarat allegedly manhandled a female employee of Canara Bank. Santoshi Kumari of Saroli branch of Canara Bank was allegedly abused and pushed for not being able to print passbook as…

New Delhi: DEA cited the uptick in manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, auto sales, e-way bills among others to show that the country is witnessing a recovery. It noted that as countries unlocked in the quarter starting in July, recovery is underway globally. “India, too, is witnessing a sharp V-shaped recovery. India’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), at 52.2, has moved into expansionary zone in August for the first time since the lockdown, presenting much required recovery prospects for the manufacturing sector,” the 33-page report said. It added that V-shaped pattern of recovery is seen in the high-frequency indicators including auto…