Tag: FM

J&K L-G Manoj Sinha, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday said investments in the Union Territory are expected to reach Rs 35,000 crore by December 2021 and proposals for Rs 25,000-crore funding have already been received. Sinha highlighted the key reforms and steps taken for managing the UT’s economy during COVID-19, its growth potential and focus areas, besides putting across issues that require consideration by the Union government during interaction with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a meeting chaired by her.

Highlighting the steps taken for growth in the economy, the lieutenant governor said ”the investment in J&K is expected to reach Rs 35,000 crore by December 2021 and proposals for Rs 25,000 crore have already been received”. He said that land has been approved for proposals worth Rs 1,700 crore. ”Out of 6,000 acres of land earmarked for the development of industrial estates, 3,000 acres have already been identified.”

On the steps taken for managing the economy, the lieutenant governor said a holistic package of Rs 1,353 crore was announced during last year for inclusive growth by which 3.44 lakh account of borrowers involving Rs 750 crore were benefitted by an interest subvention of 5 per cent under business revival. The Union finance minister held interactions with chief ministers, finance ministers of all states and lieutenant governors of UTs via virtual conference, with a view to enhance the investment climate in the country and to step up investment, infrastructure, and growth through a consultative process in the post-pandemic world. Speaking on the tourism sector, Sinha outlined that the J&K Tourism Policy 2020 has been notified to boost the sector.

He said the tourist footfall has increased manifold in the UT during winter months. From 1,935 tourists in June 2020, the number has increased to 12,82,572 in September 2021, he added. Sinha also observed that the tax collection has shown significant growth and resilience and the UT is expecting to achieve the targets of the GST and excise collection over the remaining period of the year. Elaborating on the key focus areas of the UT, the Lt Governor said that after the democratic decentralisation in the spirit of 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment Act, 14 sectors have been identified for investment at a large scale with special focus on tourism and employment.

He said export promotion for agricultural and horticulture products, revival of handicraft and traditional art in J&K, development of heritage sites and enhancing pilgrimage tourism, and sports infrastructure improvement, among others, are priorities. Sinha added that under the Mission Youth, first-of-its-kind initiative, focus is being laid on livelihood generation, education and skill development, counseling, financial assistance, sports, and recreation with 4,500 youth clubs under process of establishment.

Moreover, under Mumkin, 250 vehicles have been distributed among eligible youth for their sustainable livelihood in transport sector, and 200 women applicants have been facilitated for generating their livelihood via Tajeswani scheme, he said. The lieutenant governor also put forth the challenges and issues faced by the UT, including resource gap, higher cost of delivery of services due to unique topography.

He also highlighted the issue of pending approvals of tourism projects under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP). He highlighted that J&K has been number one in the country for enforcing reforms in expenditure management and account of each penny is available in public domain. The funds are being spent after following all the norms.



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India needs 4-5 SBI-size banks to meet growing needs of economy: Sitharaman

Banking & Finance

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India needs at least four or five different State Bank of India (SBI) size banks to meet the growing needs of the economy, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. She also urged Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to develop a digitised district-wise map of bank branches so that locations with no banking presence are identified to ensure that they either have a physical or digital footprint.

“One of the driving forces for the amalgamation (of banks) was that we need to scale up banking to meet the new changing and growing requirements of the economy. But that was thought of even before the pandemic. Now all the more reason why we would need four or five SBIs in the country,” Sitharaman said at the 74th AGM of the Indian Banks’ Association.

SBI is India’s largest bank with total deposits of ₹37.20 lakh crore and gross advances of ₹25.23 lakh crore as at June-end 2021.

“Amalgamation is a very important exercise because the way in which the economy is shifting to a different plane altogether, the way in which the economy, together with the industry, is also looking at various ways of adapting to a post-pandemic era, there are ever so many challenges. And, in fact, even before the pandemic, one of the driving forces for the amalgamation was that India needs a lot more banks, a lot more big banks,” she said.

Financial inclusion

On the need to expand banking to achieve financial inclusion, Sitharaman said, “Even today, there are very many districts in which even big panchayats don’t have a physical bank. I am not saying that everywhere you need to have physical, brick-and-mortar banks. Digitisation has saved a lot of cost for you even without compromising on the service you provide. But even then there are such parts of this country which cannot but have at least one brick and mortar [bank],” Sitharaman said.

The minister observed that almost two-thirds of the panchayats have already been given optical fibre connections under the government’s optical fibre connectivity programme.

However, there are heavy economic activity dominant areas in which not even one bank prevails. The minister asked the bankers to closely look at the centres of economic activities, even if they are completely in rural areas.

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FM asks India Inc to look beyond banks for finance, BFSI News, ET BFSI

Personal Finance

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Mumbai: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told India Inc on Tuesday that there is a move to enable the industry to meet its funding needs from markets rather than banks. Among alternate financing measures, the government is looking at allowing insurance bonds instead of bank guarantees, a senior government official said.

In her first visit to Mumbai after the second wave of the pandemic, the finance minister addressed industry leaders at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) interaction on Tuesday evening. Later, she attended a dinner meeting with industry chiefs, including Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran.

The FM said that industry dependence on banks would be further reduced by the operationalisation of the new development finance institution, which will take over long-term lending and also provide competition to banks. The FM emphasised the need for government and industry to work together to “create India’s own equity capital”.

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FM speaks to IRDAI Chairman on Covid insurance claims

Banking & Finance

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that she had a talk with the Insurance Reguator on the issue of cashless treatment at networked and temporary hospitals for treatment of Covid patients.

In a tweet, the Finance Minister, mentioned “Reports are being received of some hospitals denying cashless insurance. Spoken to Chairman, IRDAI SC Khuntia to act immediately. In March 20 #Covid included as a part of comprehensive health insurance. Cashless available at networked or even temporary hospitals.”

In another tweet, the FM wrote, “As on 20/4/21, over 9 lakh #Covid related claims have been settled by insurance companies for ₹8642 Cr. Even tele-consultations can be covered. IRDAI shall direct companies to prioritise authorisations and settlements of #Covid cases.”

IRDAI issues clarification on cashless claims in Covid-19 cases

Taking a serious note of reports on denial of cashless treatment for eligible Covid-19 patients, the insurance regulator said cashless treatment facility cannot be denied. Business Line had reported this earlier.

“It is clarified that the policyholders are entitled to cashless facility at all such network providers (hospitals) with whom the insurance company/TPA (third party administrator) has entered into an agreement in accordance to the norms of service level agreement (SLA),” the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said in a circular.

IRDAI allows sale of short term Covid insurance policies till September 30

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India to propose cryptocurrency ban: senior official

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India will propose a law banning cryptocurrencies, fining anyone trading in the country or even holding such digital assets, a senior government official told Reuters, in a potential blow to millions of investors piling into the red-hot asset class.

The Bill, one of the world’s strictest policies against cryptocurrencies, would criminalise possession, issuance, mining, trading and transferring crypto-assets, said the official, who has direct knowledge of the plan.

The measure is in line with a January government agenda that called for banning private virtual currencies such as bitcoin while building a framework for an official digital currency. But recent government comments had raised investors’ hopes that the authorities might go easier on the booming market.

Bitcoin jumps to all-time high as cryptocurrency fever continues

Instead, the Bill would give holders of cryptocurrencies up to six months to liquidate, after which penalties will be levied, said the official, who asked not to be named as the contents of the Bill are not public.

Officials are confident of getting the Bill enacted into law as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government holds a comfortable majority in Parliament.

If the ban becomes law, India would be the first major economy to make holding cryptocurrency illegal. Even China,which has banned mining and trading, does not penalise possession.

The Finance Ministry did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

‘Greed over panic’

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, hit a record high $60,000 on Saturday, nearly doubling in value this year as its acceptance for payments has increased with support from such high-profile backers as Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk.

Cryptocurrency surge may continue, but regulatory uncertainties create bottlenecks

In India, despite government threats of a ban, transaction volumes are swelling and 8 million investors now hold 100 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) in crypto-investments, according to industry estimates. No official data is available.

“The money is multiplying rapidly every month and you don’t want to be sitting on the sidelines,” said Sumnesh Salodkar, a crypto-investor. “Even though people are panicking due to the potential ban, greed is driving these choices.”

User registrations and money inflows at local crypto-exchange Bitbns are up 30-fold from a year ago, said Gaurav Dahake, its chief executive. Unocoin, one of India’s oldest exchanges, added 20,000 users in January and February, despite worries of a ban.

ZebPay “did as much volume per day in February 2021 as we did in all of February 2020,” said Vikram Rangala, the exchange’s chief marketing officer.

Promoting blockchain

Top Indian officials have called cryptocurrency a “Ponzi scheme”, but Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman this month eased some investor concerns.

“I can only give you this clue that we are not closing our minds, we are looking at ways in which experiments can happen in the digital world and cryptocurrency,” she told CNBC-TV18. “There will be a very calibrated position taken.”

The senior official told Reuters, however, that the plan is to ban private crypto-assets while promoting blockchain — a secure database technology that is the backbone for virtual currencies but also a system that experts say could revolutionise international transactions.

“We don’t have a problem with technology. There’s no harm in harnessing the technology,” said the official, adding the government’s moves would be “calibrated” in the extent of the penalties on those who did not liquidate crypto-assets within the law’s grace period.

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