Today Sector News – 16.03.2018

Today Sector News – 16.03.2018

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* AUTOMOBILES: Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India has launched three 2018 editions of its motorcycle models Livo, Dream Yuga and CB Shine SP priced between 52,741 and 62,032 rupees, ex-showroom, Delhi.

* BANKING: The Reserve Bank of India mandated government-owned non-banking financial companies to file periodic returns with the regulator. The government wants state-run banks to stabilise by resolving their bad loans before embarking on a plan to consolidate them. The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested two directors of Kolkata-based RP Infosystem--Shibaji Panja and Kaustav Ray--for an alleged 5.15-bln-rupee bank fraud.
 - Public sector banks said that all letters of undertaking have been verified by them and there are no more unauthorised or fraudulent letters of undertaking in the banking system. Bankers have decided to put in place more robust and secure risk management mechanism within six months to check fraudulent activity by unscrupulous elements in the aftermath of PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK fraud.

* ECONOMY: Telangana Finance Minister Etela Rajender has presented a 1.74-trln-rupee budget in the state assembly for 2018-19 (Apr-Mar) but did not raise any state taxes. India has compiled list of people it is considering to bar from leaving the country because of their involvement with companies that have defaulted on loans.
 - The subscriber base of the National Pension System is seen growing 40% in 2017-18 (Apr-Mar), with the corpus of the scheme increasing 35-37% during the period, said Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman Hemant Contractor said.

* ENERGY: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said India is a happening place as it is offering 1 trln rupees business in bio-fuel and bio-energy to the investors across the globe.

* FAST-MOVING CONSUMER GOODS: Suppliers to major FMCG companies that were given tax exemptions for investing in industrially-marginal areas of Uttarakhand, J&K, Himachal Pradesh and the North East have dragged the government to court over the apparent lack of such concessions in the Goods and Services Tax. Beer sales dropped last year after a ban on liquor sales near highways and rise in prices in a few states.

* MINING: The cabinet committee of Goa is of the view that auctioning the mining lease is the only way to resolve the crisis in the mining industry.

* OIL AND GAS: The government has raised base import prices of all edible oils. State-run oil firms will pay 16% less dividend to the government in 2017-18 (Apr-Mar) than they did last year, following easing of pressure after the Centre gained 370 bln rupees from sale of its stake in HINDUSTAN PETROLEUM CORP to OIL AND NATURAL GAS CORP.

* POWER: Power producers have asked the RBI to revise its Feb 12 guidelines on doing away with debt reorganising instruments, such as statutory debt restructuring. Power minister R.K.Singh will meet the heads of 25 independent power producers and the CMD's of NTPC, PFC and REC to discuss issues faced by the sector.

* REALTY: The Supreme Court has asked embattled real estate firm Amrapali Group and homebuyers to hold a joint meeting on Saturday to arrive at a consensus on the status of its various housing projects.

* REGULATORY: The recent probe by the Securities and Exchange Board of India into leakage of price-sensitive information such as financial results has brought into focus the role of all parties connected with the preparation of earnings. SEBI is yet to take a decision on the money held up in escrow accounts for nearly three years in the case of alleged bogus tax evasion via use of the stock exchange platform. SEBI has raised the exposure limit under exchangetraded currency derivatives trading for residents and FPIs to $100 mln across all currency pairs involving the  Indian rupee.

* STEEL: India would actively engage with the US on concerns raised by the latter on Indian export subsidy schemes before the World Trade Organization, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia said.