New Delhi: Banks might face incremental debt issuance challenges as new norms limiting composition of the Basel III bonds in overall asset under management (AUMs) could affect investment appetite of AMCs, ICRA said on Thursday.

Recently, markets regulator SEBI issued a circular revising investment norms for debt mutual funds that invest in banks’ ‘Basel III’ debt instruments, and revised norms for valuation of the perpetual bonds.

According to ICRA, the new limitation on the composition of the ‘Basel III’ bonds in overall AUMs could affect incremental investments from larger AMCs which are closer to 10 per cent of their NAV (Net Asset Value) threshold limit for investments in these bonds.

Consequently, the ratings agency said that in case, banks are unable to replace the ‘AT-I’ bonds due for call in FY2022 with fresh issuances, the recapitalisation burden on the Centre could increase or these banks will have to curtail credit growth next year.

As per ICRA’s estimates based on industry data, mutual funds hold 30 per cent of the outstanding ‘Tier I’ bonds and 14 per cent of the outstanding ‘Tier II’ bonds as of February 2021.

Moreover, the holding of ‘Basel III AT-I’ and ‘Tier II’ instruments is estimated at 8 per cent of AUMs of the schemes holding these instruments, thereby limiting headroom for incremental investments.

“The yields on these bonds have already seen an upward trend since the circular was issued with an increase in traded volumes reflecting selling of these instruments.

“With constraints on investment limits, the funds may even become more selective in taking fresh exposures in such instruments.”

Besides, ICRA, in its outlook for banking sector for FY22, had estimated the ‘Tier I’ capital requirements for public sector banks (PSBs) at Rs 43,000 crore, of which Rs 23,000 crore is on account of call-options falling due on ‘AT-I’ bonds of PSBs, while the balance is estimated as the equity.

In the FY22 Union Budget, the Centre has already announced an allocation of Rs 20,000 crore as equity capital for recapitalisation of PSBs.

“If the market of the ‘AT-I’ bonds remains dislocated for longer period for aforementioned reasons and the PSBs are not able to replace the existing ‘AT-Is’ with fresh issuance, this would mean that the PSBs could stare at a capital shortfall based on the budgeted capital.”

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Mumbai: Fears of rising global inflation, along with domestic resurgence of Covid-19 infections, pulled down India’s key equity indices on Thursday.

High US bond yields spooked investors, while rising Covid-19 infections in many states led the markets to close in the red for the fifth consecutive session.

In the initial phase of day’s trade, both key indices had a gap up opening after the US Fed said that despite a rise in inflation, the growth will be the highest in the nearly 40 years.

The US Fed confirmed no hike in policy rates, which has come as a big positive for the markets globally.

Nevertheless, the rise in bond yields evoked fear in investors, while some sold on the prospects of incoming foreign funds.

The 30-scrip S&P BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) traded at 49,216.52 points down by 585.10 points, or 1.17 per cent, from its previous close.

The broader 50-scrip Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed in the red too.

It traded at 14,863.30 points, lower by 163.45 points, or 1.11 per cent, from its previous close of 14,557.85 points.

Gold Gains Rs 105; Silver Jumps By Rs 1,073

Gold rose by Rs 105 to Rs 44,509 per 10 gram in the national capital on Thursday, according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, the precious metal had closed at Rs 44,404 per 10 gram.

“Spot gold prices for 24 carats in Delhi were up by Rs 105 reflecting overnight rally in global gold prices,” according to HDFC Securities, Senior Analyst (Commodities), Tapan Patel.

Silver also jumped Rs 1,073 to Rs 67,364 per kilogram from Rs 66,291 per kilogram in the previous trade.

Navneet Damani, VP Commodities Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, “Gold prices rose after the US Fed in the policy statement yesterday maintained their accommodative stance, hence weighing on the dollar.”

After its two-day policy meeting, the US Fed reassured investors that it expects to keep its key interest rate near zero through 2023.

On Thursday’s trade, in the international market gold was quoting marginally lower at USD 1,738 per ounce while silver was flat at USD 26.36 per ounce.

“Gold prices traded marginally down with spot prices at COMEX (New York-based commodities exchange) trading at USD 1,738 per ounce on Thursday,” Patel added.

Rupee Up By 2 Paise At 72.53 Against US Dollar

The rupee erased some of its initial gains to end 2 paise higher at 72.53 against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking subdued equity market sentiment and a stronger dollar overseas.

Persistent foreign fund inflows and lower crude prices supported the domestic unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened strong at 72.48 against the greenback but failed to hold on to gains following a massive selloff in the domestic equity markets.

During the session, it witnessed an intra-day high of 72.43 and a low of 72.60. It finally settled 2 paise higher at 72.53 against the American currency. On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 72.55 against the American currency.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 585.10 points or 1.17 per cent lower at 49,216.52, while the broader NSE Nifty dropped 163.45 points or 1.11 per cent to 14,557.85.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.24 per cent to 91.65.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.35 per cent to USD 67.76 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth Rs 2,625.82 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

This story is a compilation of 1 IANS story and 2 PTI stories)

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Mumbai: India has moved down 13 spots in the latest global home price index finishing last at 56th rank in the quarter ending December 2020, a research report from Knight Frank said on Thursday.

According to the research report – Global House Price Index Q4 2020 – by the international property consultancy, against its 43rd rank in Q4 2019, India saw a decline of 3.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in home prices, leading to the drop in global position.

The Global House Price Index tracks the movement in mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide using official statistics.

In the 12-month percentage change for the period Q4 2019 – Q4 2020, Turkey continues to lead the annual rankings with prices up by 30.3 per cent YoY, followed by New Zealand at 18.6 per cent YoY and Slovakia at 16.0 per cent YoY.

India was the weakest-performing country in Q4 2020, with a decline of 3.6 per cent YoY in home prices, followed by Morocco with a drop of 3.3 per cent YoY.

The report highlights that 89 per cent of countries and territories saw prices increase in 2020, with several emerging markets performing strongly, including Turkey, which leads the index for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide rose at an annual rate change of 5.6 per cent on average in 2020, compared to 5.3 per cent in 2019.

Indian markets have finished last on the table owing to conditions created by the pandemic, the report said.

During 2020, the union and state governments have taken many steps to incentives spending and create demand. Steps included historic low home loan rates, reduction in stamp duty and other levies on residential purchases in key markets. Developers have added concessions to the government steps that have amounting to a further reduction in effective prices of homes. These steps have stimulated demand for housing in the latter part of 2020 but have kept prices at bay, Knight Frank said.

Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, “Low-interest rates and other demand stimulation measures by the Government have fuelled real estate demand. This has led to sales and launches in Q4 2020 witnessed a significant jump compared to the first three quarters of 2020. The pandemic has effectively changed end users’ the outlook towards ownership of homes leading many fence sitters to make their purchase decisions. As the vaccine roll out takes place, we expect normality to return, post which the government will have device measures to extend the current sales momentum.”

According to the report, markets like New Zealand (19 per cent), Russia (14 per cent), the US (10 per cent), Canada and UK (both 9 per cent) have recorded accelerated growth in rankings in the last three months due to a growth in housing demand. In the context of Asia Pacific, the performance remains surprisingly anaemic given its relatively efficient handling of the pandemic. Although New Zealand stood in second place, the region’s next highest ranking is Japan (5 per cent) in 27th place. Hong Kong and Malaysia both saw annual price growth slip into negative territory, and even Singapore’s growth rate was muted at 2.5 per cent.

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Mumbai: The Indian equity market traded on a negative note during Wednesday’s post-noon trade session as mixed global cues ahead of the US Fed meet subdued investors’ sentiments.

The two key indices opened on a flattish note and since then have traded in the negative zone.

Globally, the US markets had closed Tuesday’s trade on a slightly lower note.

Subsequently, Asian markets on Wednesday showed weakness as investors await the results of the US Fred’s monetary policy later in the week.

Around 1.20 p.m., the 30-scrip S&P BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex) traded at 50,220.24 points down by 143.72 points or 0.29 per cent from its previous close.

Similarly, the broader 50-scrip Nifty at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded flat.

The Nifty traded at 14,863.30 points, lower by 47.15 points or 0.32 per cent its previous close of 14,910.45 points.

“Only Tech stocks have shown some strength in the market other than that all major indices are trading in the red zone,” said Gaurav Garg of CapitalVia Global Research.

“ITC and INFY are the top gainers in the market while BPCL and NTPC are the top losers.”

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As per data provided by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), 149 in the year 2018, 103 in the year 2019 and 72 in the year 2020 making a total of 324 companies which have filed for bankruptcy during the aforesaid three years period.

This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

Giving more details, the Minister stated, as per data provided by the NCLT, 8,330 applications in the year 2018, 12,091 in the year 2019 and 5,282 in the year 2020 were filed under the IBC. Therefore, it appears that number of applications have not increased over the last three years.

As per the Companies Act 2013, companies are required to hold Annual General Meeting (AGM) within six months from the end of financial year. Therefore, financial statements and board report containing disclosure about CSR, are to be filed in MCA21data base within 30 days of the AGM. Thus, for the current financial year no filing has been made by CSR mandated companies.

(PIB)

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New Delhi: After buses and passenger cars, automobile giant Tata Motors might soon roll-out an electric variant of its small commercial vehicle.

In a conversation with IANS, Girish Wagh, President, Commercial Vehicle Business Unit of Tata Motors said the company has participated in ‘FAME Phase I’ scheme for electrification of buses.

Centre had introduced the ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India’ (FAME India) scheme to promote the manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicle technology.

“We have supplied more than 200 buses and cumulatively they have now covered more than seven and a half million kilometres, which has given us a very good experience.

“We are also keeping track of other segments to see what the customers are looking for, where it makes economic sense and therefore we are engaging with them, especially in the E-commerce sector to understand their needs,” Wagh said.

According to Wagh, the economic attractiveness of electric vehicles has been on the rise with respect to the ICE engine due to falling battery prices and rising cost of ICE engine vehicles with respect to increase in regulations.

“We are exploring quite a few segments and actually after buses, small commercial vehicles do appear to have more chance of being electrified. Both from the perspective of the requirements of the customers and also being that economical sense,” Wagh said.

Besides, he cited that the CV segment is getting the added push from an economic rebound which started towards the end of Q2FY21 and the Centre’s push for infrastructure creation.

“I think the infrastructure push by the government has a very positive impact on the commercial vehicle industry. Secondly, the E-commerce sector has been doing pretty well, the rural economy is doing well, and gradually I see that urban consumption has also picked up as a result of all this.

“More than interest rate, the actual availability of credit has improved. This has also helped the industry.”

On the rising ownership cost as well as fuel prices, he pointed out that so far the ‘actual demand’ has till now withstood this stress and the growth is expected to be maintained.

“We do have some headwinds. The pandemic is still not over, the commodity prices have risen, so off-late we have witnessed these headwinds.

“But as of now, the tailwinds in terms of overall economic recovery, seems to be picking up us ahead in the commercial vehicle industry,” Wagh said.

Demand For e-Vehicles In India More Than Doubled In 3 Yrs

The adoption of electric vehicle by commuters is on the rise in the country as falling prices and government support is pushing up demand and increasing adoption of these green vehicles.

In a written reply to a question on e-vehicles in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Minister of State for Heavy Industries Arjun Ram Meghwal said that number of registered electric vehicles as per e-vahan portal during the last three years has seen a consistent increase.

As against 69,012 units of electric vehicles sold in India during 2017-18, its numbers increased to 143,358 units in 2018-19 and again rising in 2019-20 to 167,041 units. The number included both two-wheelers, three wheelers and buses but two-wheeler sales have been upbeat.

The Minister informed the House that electric vehicles are being supported by the way of demand incentives under FAME India Scheme phase II to reduce the cost difference between the electric vehicles and ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles.

He said that government is also taking a number of other steps for promotion of electric vehicles in the country. GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12 per cent to 5 per cent; GST on chargers/ charging stations for electric vehicles has been reduced from 18 per cent to 5 per cent.

Moreover, Ministry of Power has allowed sale of electricity as ‘service’ for charging of electric vehicles. This would provide a huge incentive to attract investments into charging infrastructure, the Minister said.

The government has also granted exemption to the Battery Operated Transport Vehicles and Transport Vehicles running on Ethanol and Methanol fuels from the requirements of permit.

In the Budget of 2019-20, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced provision of additional income tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on the interest paid on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles.

In order to promote electric vehicles, the Government has notified for retro-fitment of hybrid electric system or electric kit to vehicles and has specified the type approval procedure of electric hybrid vehicles.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has notified certain specifications for the grant of licence to age group of 16-18 years to drive gearless E scooters/ Bikes upto 4.0 KW.

Also, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has made amendment in the Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) guidelines to provide for electric vehicle charging stations in private and commercial buildings.

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Bhubaneswar: The Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) has decided to extend the Cheque Truncation System (CTS) across banks in the country.

Earlier, the RBI had announced pan-India coverage of CTS by bringing all branches of banks in the country under an image-based CTS clearing mechanism.

As per the latest notification, the CTS is in use since 2010 and presently covers around 1, 50,000 branches. All the erstwhile 1219 non-CTS clearing houses (ECCS centers) have been migrated to CTS effective September 2020.

“It is, however, seen that there are branches of banks that are outside any formal clearing arrangement and their customers face hardships due to the longer time taken and cost involved in collection of cheques presented by them,” said RBI in a statement.

As per the statement, it has been decided to extend CTS across all bank branches in the country to leverage the availability of CTS and provide a uniform customer experience irrespective of location of her/his bank branch.

“To facilitate this, banks shall have to ensure that all their branches participate in image-based CTS under respective grids by September 30, 2021. They are free to adopt a model of their choice, like deploying suitable infrastructure in every branch or following a hub & spoke model, and concerned banks shall coordinate with the respective Regional Offices of RBI to operationalize this,” the statement added.

The RBI has also directed banks to share the roadmap to achieve pan-India coverage of CTS and submit a status report before April 30, 2021.

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New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said in the Rajya Sabha that fund under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for 2019-20 have been cleared.

TRS MP B Lingaiah Yadav had raised the matter during the Zero Hour in the House.

Responding on the issue, Sitharaman said several MPs from different parties had made representation on the matter.

“It is well known that for 2020-21 and 2021-22 the decision had been taken that no new commitments for MPLADS will be made, and, therefore, no allocation will be made,” she said.

The minister further said that whatever commitments have been made for the year 2019-20 will be honoured.

“I have cleared the file on it…For 2019-20, the year before the corona thing happened, every commitment, which has been made by honourable MPs will be fulfilled. However, as was the instruction or as was the notification made for the year 2020-21 and for the year 2021-22 no new commitments on MPLADS will be entertained,” she said.

Sitharaman said money has been cleared from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has assured her that they will be immediately sending the money to the districts.

MPLADS funds for 2019-20 have been cleared for MPs from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Under the scheme, each MP has the choice to suggest to the District Collector for works to the tune of Rs 5 crore per annum to be taken up in his/her constituency.

The Rajya Sabha Members of Parliament can recommend works in one or more districts in the State from where he/she has been elected.

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New Delhi: With Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying that all windows on cryptocurrencies will not be closed down, industry stakeholders on Monday said that a positive move at this point can unleash a host of opportunities for the country.

Her comments at an India Today conclave last week came amid speculation that the government may ban cryptocurrencies in the country.

“The very fact that the FM has mentioned willingness to experiment, shows the government’s resolve in bringing digital revolution. Collaborative efforts between stakeholders like us and the government is a must,” Sumit Gupta, CEO and Co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX, said in a statement.

The Finance Minister made it clear that the government intends to allow certain windows for people to do experiments on blockchain, bitcoins or cryptocurrency.

Reacting to her comment, Gupta said that research and development will provide scope for a robust fintech ecosystem to be developed within India.

“The focus will be to build and explore new indigenous products and financial technologies, while strengthening our monetary policies and accelerating technological development,” he said.

India’s leading cryptocurrency players, represented by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) last week appealed to the government of India not to ban cryptocurrency, while saying that a robust mechanism to regulate the ecosystem is needed.

Good governance and regulation of the cryptocurrency ecosystem in India will give impetus to the government’s Digital India vision, IAMAI said.

“The (FM’s) statement comes as a huge encouragement for the entire industry and we are eagerly waiting for the government to give more clarity on the regulatory framework around crypto assets,” Shivam Thakral, CEO, BuyUcoin, said in reaction to the Finance Minister’s comment.

“We strongly believe that time has come for India to embrace digital assets and benefit from the growth offered crypto assets.”

The government has listed the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 for introduction, consideration and passing in the current session of Parliament.

Reports indicate that India probably aims to launch its own digital currency i.e. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

This measure will be in line with many central banks which have begun planning to issue their own digital currencies.

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New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has released the final weekly instalment of Rs 4,104 crore to the states to meet the GST compensation shortfall.

Out of this, an amount of Rs 4,086.97 crore has been released to 23 states and Rs 17.03 crore to 3 Union Territories with Legislative Assemblies.

With the current release, 100 percent of the total estimated GST compensation shortfall of Rs 1.10 lakh crore for year 2020-21 has now been released to the states and UTs with Legislative Assemblies.

Out of this, an amount of Rs 101,329 crore has been released to the states and Rs 8,879 crore to the 3 UTs with Legislative Assemblies.

The Central government had set up a special borrowing window in October 2020 to meet the estimated shortfall of Rs 1.10 lakh crore in revenue arising on account of implementation of GST. The borrowings are being done through this window by the Centre on behalf of the states and UTs.

Starting from October 23, 2020, the borrowings were completed in 20 weekly instalments.

Under the special window, the Centre has been borrowing in government stock with tenure of 3 years and 5 years.

The borrowings made under each tenure are equally divided among all the states as per their GST compensation shortfall.

With the current release, the proportionate pending GST shortfall with respect to borrowing under both 5 years tenure and 3 year tenure has been concluded for 23 states and 3 UTs with legislatures. The remaining five states doesn’t have any GST compensation shortfall.

The amount released this week was the 20th instalment of such funds provided to the States. The amount has been borrowed this week at an interest rate of 4.9288 per cent. The total amount of Rs 1,10,208 crore has been borrowed by the Central government through the special borrowing window at an weighted average interest rate of 4.8473 per cent.

In addition to providing funds through the special borrowing window to meet the shortfall in revenue on account of GST implementation, the Centre had also granted additional borrowing permission equivalent to 0.50 per cent of Gross States Domestic Product (GSDP) to the states choosing Option-I to meet GST compensation shortfall to help them in mobilising additional financial resources. All the states have given their preference for Option-I. Permission for borrowing the entire additional amount of Rs 1,06,830 crore (0.50 per cent of GSDP) was granted to 28 states under this provision.

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New Delhi: Considering the sharp hike in prices of petrol and diesel, Union Minister of State for Finance, Anurag Thakur, on Monday suggested the states to think about reducing taxes on petroleum products.

In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Thakur said the Central government is ready to consider the idea of reducing tax on petrol and diesel, but all the states should also consider the matter.

“The state governments should reduce taxes on petrol. We (the Centre) will also try to reduce tax on petrol. Both the Centre and the states need to think about it (reducing taxes on petrol),” the minister said.

Thakur said the government is ready to discuss the issue to bring petroleum products under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST). He said the Centre levies excise duty on petrol and diesel, while the states levy VAT.

The minister said the price of crude oil was around $19 per barrel in March last year, and currently it is around $65 per barrel.

Asked why the government is not bringing petroleum products under GST as promised by the then Finance Minister late Arun Jaitley, Thakur said no state has so far given a proposal for the same.

“If any state feels that petroleum products should be brought under GST, the Centre has no objection in discussing the matter,” the minister said.

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New Delhi: India’s forex reserves have now become the fourth largest in the world at $580.3 billion surpassing Russia.

Emerging markets have been building reserves to guard against volatility due to Covid aftershocks.

Reserves for India and Russia have plateaued rising for months. India pulled ahead as Russian holdings declined at a faster rate.

India’s foreign currency holdings fell by $4.3 billion to $580.3 billion as of March 5, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday, edging out Russia’s $580.1 billion pile.

The world’s largest forex reserves league table is headed by China, followed by Japan and Switzerland.

India’s reserves are now worth 18 months of imports have been boosted by massive inflows by FIIs into the stock market and burgeoning FDI.

According to a recent report by Acuite Ratings, the Indian rupee has strengthened in 2021 so far on healthy portfolio inflows, and sharp downward adjustment in inflation.

“We expect India to post record BoP surplus of $105 billion in FY21, followed by a healthy surplus of $55 billion in FY22.

“While FX intervention from the central bank will continue in FY22, the pace is likely to ease with moderation in inflation. We expect gradual appreciation in the currency to play out with USDINR at 73.0 (with downside risk) in Mar-20 to 71.0 by Mar-21,” the report said.

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Mumbai: Adani Welspun Exploration Ltd (AWEL), a joint venture between the Adani Group and Welspun Enterprises Ltd, on Monday announced its first-ever gas discovery in Nelp-VII block MB-OSN-2005/2 in the Tapti-Daman sector of Mumbai Offshore block.

AWEL holds 100 per cent participative interest (PI) and is the Operator of this Block. Spread across 714.6 sq.km., the block is located in the prolific gas-prone Tapti-Daman Sector of Mumbai Offshore basin where production is already underway by another operator and other operators.

The pay zones and flow rates encountered have exceeded the company’s initial estimates, AWEL said in a statement.

With the information gleaned from adjoining fields/areas, this discovery is of substantial significance for both the Company and the Nation, the statement added.

AWEL was awarded the block under the New Exploration Licensing Policy VII bid round. Early indications pointed to the occurrence of gas-bearing reservoirs within the sandstone reservoirs of the Mahuva and Daman formations.

Speaking on the discovery, Sandeep Garg, MD AWEL, said, “In addition to being value accretive for the Company, this discovery could be a significant breakthrough for our nation given India’s focus to nearly triple the share of natural gas in its energy mix by the end of this decade.”

He added: “The company is also an operator with 100 per cent PI of an adjacent Discovered Small Field B-9 Cluster in this prolific gas bearing zone. The proximity of these two prospective Blocks will enable AWEL to synergise and optimize development of both the blocks.”

A company statement said that the drilling of the current well in March 2021 has confirmed the presence of substantial quantities of gas and condensate in the Block.

Out of the three potential zones identified during drilling, two objects tested by Drill Stem Testing (DST) flowed substantial gas and condensate to the surface. Object-I (3m), a clean sandstone reservoir, flowed 9.7 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas along with 378 barrels/day of condensate through a 28/64″ choke at a flowing tubing head pressure (FTHP) of 2659 psi. Object-II (15m), another thick clean sandstone reservoir, flowed 9.1 mmscfd of gas along with 443 barrels/day of condensate through a 28/64″ choke at a FTHP of 2566 psi.

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New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has invited applications for the second round of production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for large scale electronics manufacturing.

A recent office memorandum said the second round of PLI scheme is open for accepting applications and the last date of receiving application is March 31.

The tenure of the second round of PLI scheme is for four years and the incentive shall be applicable from April 1, 2021, it said.

As per the supplementary guidelines for the second round of the PLI, a total of 30 eligible applicants having the highest consolidated global manufacturing revenue in the target segment in the base year shall be selected and granted approval under the scheme.

The first round of the PLI scheme attracted global tech and electronics majors including Apple’s contract manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron, along with Samsung and local players like Lava, Dixon and others.

Companies approved under the first round of the scheme will not be allowed to apply under the second round of PLI scheme, said the guidelines.

However, group companies having minority or non-controlling interest in applicant companies approved under round 1 shall not be restricted from applying under round 2.

The ministry has identified discrete semiconductor devices including transistors, diodes, passive components including resistors, capacitors, printed circuit board, assembly, ATMP (assembly, testing, marketing and packaging) units among others as target segment for the second round of PLI.

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New Delhi: Fuel prices in the country have remained steady for a fortnight now even though global oil market remains volatile with regular variations in prices.

Accordingly, petrol continues to be priced at Rs 91.17 a litre and diesel Rs 81.47 a litre in the capital on Saturday. Fuel prices have not been revised now for 14 days.

Across the country as well the petrol and diesel price remain unchanged. But the pause has not helped in bringing down fuel prices that have crossed Rs 100 per litre (petrol) mark in several parts of the country.

Since the beginning of February crude has gained more than $7 per barrel that pushed OMCs to increase fuel prices on 14 occasions raising the prices by Rs 4.22 per litre for petrol and by Rs 4.34 a litre for diesel in Delhi. Crude is now sitting at around $ 69.2 a barrel.

The petrol and diesel prices have increased 26 times in 2021 with the two auto fuels increasing by Rs 7.46 and Rs 7.60 per litre respectively so far this year.

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New Delhi: Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani has achieved a remarkable milestone amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as he added the highest wealth to his fortune in the world, as per the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed that so far in 2021, Adani has added $16.2 billion, taking his total net worth to $50 billion. With this surge in his wealth, Adani is now the 26th richest person in the world.

He even beat two of world’s richest individuals, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, in terms of wealth generation this year. While Musk has added $10.3 billion to his net worth so far, Bezos has seen a downturn of 7.59 billion.

The development comes at a time when the Adani Group is rapidly expanding its footprint in diversified sectors, including airports business and data centres. Recently, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited announced that Windy Lakeside Investment Ltd, a unit of Warburg Pincus, will invest Rs 800 crore for a 0.49 per cent stake in the company.

Shares of several Adani companies have surged over the past one year amid the pandemic, adding to its Chairman’s wealth. Adani Enterprises’ shares have increased over four-fold in the past one year and the stock price of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has more than double during the period.

Google Co-founder Larry Page is ranked second in terms of highest gain in wealth with a growth of $14.3 billion.

Amazon Inc Founder Jeff Bezos is the richest person on the planet with a net worth of $183 billion, followed by Elon Musk with a net worth of $180 billion.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani is the 10th richest person in the world with a net worth of $84.8 billion. So far in 2021, he has added $8.05 billion of wealth.

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Mumbai: Snapping its three-session rising streak, equity benchmark Sensex tumbled 487 points on Friday, tracking losses in financial and auto stocks.

After gyrating 1,283 points during the day, the 30-share BSE index ended 487.43 points or 0.95 per cent lower at 50,792.08.

The broader NSE Nifty tanked 143.85 points or 0.95 per cent to end at 15,030.95.

Bajaj Auto was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling around 3 per cent, followed by Maruti, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, PowerGrid, ONGC, Titan and Infosys were the gainers.

According to Binod Modi, Head – Strategy at Reliance Securities, after seeing a brisk opening on favourable global cues, domestic equities fell sharply mainly led by selling pressure in financials and auto stocks.

“10-Year US treasury yield again surged back to 1.6 per cent on anticipation of spike in inflation led by USD 1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus backed faster economic recovery. This has weighed on investor sentiments,” he said.

Hardening bond yields and soaring oil prices are also expected to weigh on investor sentiment and may keep markets volatile in the near to medium term, he added.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo ended on a positive note, while Hong Kong was in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading in losses in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.09 per cent lower at USD 69.57 per barrel.

Rupee Climbs For 3rd Day, Up 12 Paise Against USD

Extending its gaining streak for the third day in a row, the Indian rupee advanced by another 12 paise to close at 72.79 against the US dollar on Friday amid some easing of crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the Indian unit opened at 72.66 but surrendered some gains as the trade progressed and closed the session at 72.79 — showing a rise of 12 paise to the dollar.

In the last three sessions, the Indian currency has gained 46 paise against the American currency.

Forex market was closed on Thursday on account of Mahashivratri’.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.57 per cent to 91.94.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.13 per cent to USD 69.53 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex slumped 487.43 points or 0.95 per cent to close at 50,792.08, while the broader NSE Nifty ended lower by 143.85 points or 0.95 per cent at 15,030.95.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 15.69 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. PTI MKJ

Gold Declines Rs 291; Silver Tanks Rs 1,096

Gold in the national capital declined Rs 291 to Rs 44,059 per 10 gram on Friday reflecting fall in international prices of the precious metal and rupee appreciation, according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, it had closed at Rs 44,350 per 10 gram.

Silver also tanked Rs 1,096 to Rs 65,958 per kg, from Rs 67,054 per kg in the previous trade.

The Indian rupee jumped 20 paise to trade at 72.71 against the US dollar in opening deals on Friday.

In the international market, both gold and silver were trading lower at USD 1,707 per ounce and USD 25.67 per ounce, respectively.

HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said, “Gold prices traded lower on Friday with dollar recovery paring some of the weekly gains.”

(This story is a compilation of PTI stories)

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New Delhi: Industry body FICCI has urged the government to include the retail industry in the list of ‘frontline workers’ and among the early recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine.

In a letter written to health minister Harsh Vardhan, FICCI Secretary General Dilip Chenoy said that country’s retailers have been on the front lines throughout the pandemic ensuring seamless flow of goods, products and services to people.

“Their early vaccination would not only ensure their own safety, but also help break the potential transmission of the virus to the larger communities they serve,” he wrote to the minister.

The Indian Retail and E-commerce industry employs around 40 million people. Those working across stores, distribution centers, warehouses and throughout the retail ecosystem are particularly at highest risk from the devastating impact of the pandemic.

Earlier, Arvind Mediratta, Chairperson, FICCI Retail and Internal Trade Committee and MD & CEO – METRO Cash & Carry India Pvt. Ltd said that the industry leaders jointly deliberated on the need for intervention of private sector in the ongoing vaccination programme and stressed upon prioritising retail employees as well as small retailers like mom and pop kiranas shops as front-line workers and incorporating them in the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

“The pandemic has reiterated the true value of the presence of these small businesses and kiranas in our neighbourhood. The kirana community along with retail employees should be recognised as ‘frontline workers’ as they have been serving the nation tirelessly despite being the most vulnerable to the risk of infection. These frontline retail warriors should be prioritised in the initial phase of the vaccination rollout,” he said.

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Chennai: With the conciliation meeting between bank unions and the Central government failing, about 10 lakh bank employees will strike work for two continuous days – March 15 and 16 – protesting against the government decision to privatise public sector banks, the All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) said on Thursday.

According to AIBEA General Secretary C. H.Venkatachalam, the conciliation meeting held between the bank unions and the Union Finance Ministry on March 4, 9 and 10 failed.

The unions said they would reconsider their strike call if the government agrees to reconsider their decision to privatise public sector banks.

As the Finance Ministry representative could not give any such commitment, the conciliation meeting did not yield any positive result, they said.

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New Delhi: Although businesses and economic activities around the world have resumed post the pandemic-related lockdowns, most countries are unlikely to return to their pre-pandemic activity levels until 2022, a report by Moody’s Investors Service said.

As per the report, a slow and bumpy global recovery is expected. It, however, added that despite the relative stability of its forecasts since last April, uncertainty around the macroeconomic outlook remains much higher than usual.

It also said that after a year in which the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the global economy and triggered a credit downturn, rating actions will be much more subdued in 2021 unless there is another major shock to global economic activity.

Although the crisis has created substantial credit challenges, the credit downturn is expected to be relatively short-lived, with risks slanted towards the sectors most vulnerable to restrictions on their normal activities.

“We don’t expect rating actions this year to match the pandemic-driven activity in 2020,” said Colin Ellis, Moody’s Chief Credit Officer for EMEA.

“Our current ratings and outlooks already incorporate the effects of the pandemic and associated support from policymakers. We continue to expect a slow and bumpy recovery, but volatility around the gradual recovery path is unlikely to be enough to materially affect creditworthiness by itself,” he said.

While asset prices and debt issuers’ market access have largely recovered from the shock, leverage metrics have shifted more permanently, as per the Moody’s report.

This is particularly evident for sovereigns, some of which have spent unprecedented sums to fight the pandemic and shore up economic activity, it noted, adding that debt affordability generally remains strong.

Issuers’ management of their debt dynamics as Covid-19 fades as a public health threat will be a critical determinant of their creditworthiness. Yet while these higher leverage levels pose significant medium-term risks, Moody’s does not expect defaults to jump again over the near-term.

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Paris: The global gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at 5.6 per cent this year if Covid-19 vaccination rollouts are fast and effective enough across the world, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.

World output is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels by mid-2021 and the global economy is expected to grow by 4 per cent in 2022 after seeing 5.6 per cent growth in 2021, the OECD said in its latest Interim Economic Outlook issued on Tuesday.

The OECD projected the US economy to grow at 6.5 per cent in 2021 thanks to “significant fiscal stimulus along with faster vaccination”, reports Xinhua news agency

It forecast that GDP will rise 3.9 per cent in the euro area, “where the level of fiscal stimulus is lower and vaccine rollout slower”.

Prospects are brighter in the Asia-Pacific region where several countries have effectively contained the virus and industrial activity has regained dynamism, the OECD said.

“In China, the GDP growth is projected to be 7.8 per cent this year; in Japan 2.7 perc ent; in Korea 3.3 per cent; and in Australia 4.5 per cent.

“The recovery is likely to be more moderate in the emerging market economies of Latin America and Africa amid a resurgence of the virus, slow vaccine deployment and limited scope for additional policy support,” it added.

“Speed is of the essence,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria.

“Vaccines must be deployed faster and globally. This will require better international co-operation and co-ordination than we have seen up to now.”

OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone said vaccination programs and stimulus measures should work hand in hand.

“Widespread vaccination of the adult population is the best economic policy available today to get our economies and employment growing again,” she said.

“If we don’t get enough people vaccinated quickly enough to allow restrictions to be lifted, the recovery will be slower and we will undermine the benefits of fiscal stimulus.”

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New Delhi: Telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday suspended the newly-implemented norms for commercial text messages for one week, following disruptions in SMS and OTP deliveries for banking, payment, and other transactions.

The norms with respect to content template for text messages came into effect on Monday.

The move to suspend the norms would enable the principal entities to register the template of SMS so that no inconvenience is faced by the customers, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

“In order to protect the interest of consumers, it has been decided that scrubbing of SMS by telecom service providers shall be suspended temporarily for seven days…,” it said.

According to the regulator, telecom operators are being asked to inform their principal entities to take immediate necessary action in this regard and facilitate their registration including SMS template in a time-bound manner.

The temporary suspension comes after transactions, including banking, credit card payment and certain other services that involve SMSs and OTP generation, faced an outage on Monday. The disruption happened after telcos implemented the TRAI norms for commercial messages.

The latest norms, based on blockchain technology, aim to curb unsolicited and fraudulent messages.

The norms require bonafide enities sending commercial text messages to register message header and templates, with telecom operators. The SMS and OTPs, when sent by user entities (banks, payment companies) are checked against the templates registered on the blockchain platform — a process called SMS scrubbing.

On Monday, banking and telecom companies traded charges over the SMS, OTP disruptions. Telcos have maintained that the payment companies and others entities did not do the needful even as the norms came into effect.

“It has been observed that some of the principal entities have not fulfilled the requirements as envisaged in Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR, 2018). As a result, their SMS were getting dropped after implementation of the scrubbing of SMS by telecom service providers,” TRAI said.

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New Delhi: PUBG Mobile developer Krafton has invested $22.4 million in the homegrown esports company Nodwin Gaming, the media reported on Tuesday.

According to TechCrunch, the aim is to “maintain some presence in what was once its key overseas market” after the ban on PUBG along with several other Chinese apps last year (although Krafton is a South Korea-based firm).

“With Krafton coming on board, we have an endorsement from the mecca of gaming and esports — South Korea — on what we are building from India for the world based on our competence in mobile first markets,” Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of Nodwin Gaming, said in a statement.

In a bid to re-enter the India market, PUBG Corporation in November said it is making a comeback with the creation of an Indian subsidiary and a new game.

With its South Korean parent company Krafton, PUBG Corp said it plans to make investments worth $100 million in India to cultivate the local video game, esports, entertainment, and IT industries.

Changhan Kim, CEO of Krafton, said that the company is excited to partner with Gurugram-based Nodwin Gaming to help foster the promising esports ecosystem and engage with our fans and players in India.

The immensely popular PUBG Mobile app was among the 118 Chinese apps that the Indian government banned in September over national security concerns.

To get the ban lifted, PUBG Corp made the decision to no longer authorise the PUBG Mobile franchise to China-based Tencent Games in India.

The Indian subsidiary will hire over 100 employees specialising in business, esports, and game development, PUBG Corp had said.

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New Delhi: Before Elon Musk-led Tesla finally makes its India entry, ride-hailing platform Ola on Monday announced world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturing facility called Ola FutureFactory that will have annual production capacity of one crore vehicles and will be operational by 2022.

The factory will generate 10,000 direct employment, along with additional jobs being created by Ola vendors and suppliers.

According to Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Group CEO, the Phase 1 will be ready with initial annual capacity of two million around June this year.

Built over 500 acres in Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu, the facility will roll out one scooter every two seconds at full capacity, Aggarwal told mediapersons.

“It will have 10 production lines running at full capacity. It will be the most advanced two-wheeler factory with 3,000 AI-powered robots built on Industry 4.0 principles,” he said.

It will be an integrated manufacturing facility, addressing all needs from battery to finished goods.

Ola Electric has also released first teaser visuals of the much-anticipated electric scooter.

The announcement came as Tesla made its official to enter the country and chose Karnataka over Tamil Nadu to firm up its roll-out plans.

Ola Electric last year acquired the Netherlands-based Etergo BV, an innovative electric scooter company known for its award-winning AppScooter for an undisclosed sum, and announced its foray into the premium electric two-wheeler market, both globally and nationally.

“With electric, digitally connected capabilities, two-wheelers will further emerge as the most preferred urban mobility paradigm around the world and empower every consumer. We look forward to building the best global capabilities in engineering, design, and manufacturing for these products to be made here in India,” Aggarwal had said.

With European design, strong engineering collaboration and Indian manufacturing and supply chain, Ola Electric said it aims to transform the over 100 million-strong global two-wheeler market, including more than 20-million Indian two-wheeler market, into a clean energy, digital future.

The company has plans to set up extensive charging and swapping networks around the country.

Ola Electric is also working with India’s leading power distribution companies towards developing a conducive EV ecosystem through the establishment of battery swapping and charging stations in New Delhi.

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New Delhi: Oil marketing companies have spared fuel consumers of yet another petrol and diesel price hike even though the global oil market is on boil with crude crossing a year high of $70 a barrel.

Accordingly, petrol continues to be priced at Rs 91.17 a litre and diesel Rs 81.47 a litre in the national capital on Monday. Across the country as well the petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged. This is the ninth consecutive day when pump prices of auto fuels have remained unchanged.

After a spike in global oil prices seen over the last two weeks with crude prices jumping close to $ 67 a barrel, prices had fallen to around $ 63 a barrel but it has risen again to cross $70 a barrel mark now after OPEC + decision to continue with crude production cut in April.

Petrol and diesel prices have been rising continuously since February 9. In the 14 increases since then, prices have gone up by Rs 4.22 per litre for petrol while diesel rate has risen by Rs 4.34 a litre in Delhi.

The increase in the previous weeks has taken petrol to cross historic high levels of Rs 100 a litre in several cities across the country.

The petrol and diesel prices have increased 26 times in 2021 with the two auto fuels increasing by Rs 7.46 and Rs 7.60 per litre respectively so far this year.

Oil companies executives said that petrol and diesel prices may increase further in coming days as retail prices may have to be balanced in line with global developments to prevent OMCs from making losses on sale of auto fuels.

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New Delhi: There is good news for consumers who are going to junk their old vehicles and buy a new one under the Vehicle Scrapping Policy as automakers will give about 5 per cent rebate on the new purchase, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said.

The voluntary vehicle scrapping policy announced in the Union Budget for 2021-22 provides for fitness test after 20 years for personal vehicles while commercial vehicles would require it after the completion of 15 years.

“Automobile manufacturers will provide about 5 per cent rebate on new car purchases” to the consumers in lieu of scrapping of the old, Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Minister Gakdari told PTI.

“There are four major components of the policy…Apart from rebate, there are provisions of green taxes and other levies on old polluting vehicles. These will be required to undergo mandatory fitness and pollution tests in automated facilities. For this automated fitness centres would be required through out in the country and we are working in that direction,” Gadkari said.

Automated fitness tests will be set up under public private partnership (PPP) mode while the government will assist private partners and state governments for scrapping centres, he said.

Driving such vehicles that fail to pass automated tests will attract huge penalties and also be impounded, the minister said.

This policy is going to be a boon for the automobile sector, making it one of the most profitable sectors which in turn would generate huge employment, the minister said.

The policy is touted as a major step to boost the Indian automobile sector, reeling under the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The minister said it would lead to a 30 per cent boost to the Indian automobile industry turnover to Rs 10 lakh crore in the years to come from the present about Rs 4.5 lakh crore.

Gadkari said: “Automobile industry turnover which is Rs 4.5 lakh crore at present is likely to swell to Rs 10 lakh crore in years to come with India becoming an automobile hub.”

The export component of this which at present is Rs 1.45 lakh crore will go up to Rs Rs 3 lakh crore, he said and added that once the policy comes to practice availability of scrapped material like steel, plastic, rubber, aluminium etc will be used in manufacturing of automobile parts which in turn will reduce their cost by 30-40 per cent.

He said the policy will give a boost to new technologies with better mileage of vehicles besides promoting green fuel and electricity and cut on India’s huge Rs 8 lakh crore crude import bill which is likely to increase to about Rs 18 lakh crore.

“This policy will result in increase in vehicle demand which in turn would boost revenue. Also, ancillary industries would come up in large numbers thriving on junk vehicles,” the minister said.

The minister said initially about one crore polluting vehicles would go for scrapping.

Of this an estimated 51 lakh will be light motor vehicles (LMVs) that are above 20 years of age and another 34 lakh LMVs that are above 15 years.

It would also cover 17 lakh medium and heavy motor vehicles, which are above 15 years, and currently without valid fitness certificates, he said.

It will give a boost to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign, he added.

Listing the advantages of scrapping, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry had earlier said that an old four-seater sedan will result in a loss of Rs 1.8 lakh in five years while for a heavy vehicle it comes to Rs 8 lakh for a period of three years.

“Structure and framework of scrapping policy is under work and green tax has already been notified. Many states have notified in ineffective way ….We want to advise the state governments through notification under Motor Vehicles Act to consider imposing green tax on older vehicles which cause more pollution,” Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane had said last month.

Presenting the Budget for 2021-22 in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 had said that details of the scheme will be separately shared by the ministry.

Gadkari had said the policy will lead to new investments of around Rs 10,000 crore and create as many as 50,000 jobs.

These vehicles are estimated to cause 10-12 times more pollution than the latest vehicles.

The government had earlier said it plans to impose green tax on old polluting vehicles soon in a bid to protect the environment and curb pollution while vehicles like strong hybrids, electric vehicles and those running on alternate fuels like CNG, ethanol and LPG will be exempted. The revenue collected through the green tax will be utilised for tackling pollution.

Under the scheme, transport vehicles older than eight years could be charged green tax at the time of renewal of fitness certificate at the rate of 10-25 per cent of road tax, as per green tax proposal sent to states for consultations after cleared by the ministry.

Industry experts said the policy will provide a fillip to the Indian government’s efforts to position India as a global automobile manufacturing hub, as well as benefit global automakers with manufacturing industries in India, including Japanese giants Suzuki, Toyota, Nissan, amongst others.

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New Delhi: With a view of listing the state-run insurance major Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the government has proposed to raise the authorised capital of LIC to Rs 25,000 crore.

As per the amendments proposed under the Finance Bill 2021, the authorised share capital of LIC shall be Rs 25,000 crore divided into 2,500 crore shares of Rs 10 each.

The share capital of the corporation shall consist of equity shares and preference shares, which may be fully paid-up or partly paid-up, said the Finance Bill.

“The corporation may from time to time increase its issued share capital, with the previous approval of the Centre, whether by public issue or rights issue or preferential allotment or private placement or issue of bonus shares to existing members holding equity shares, or by issue of shares to employees pursuant to share based employee benefits schemes, or by issue of shares to life insurance policyholders of the Corporation, or otherwise,” it said.

However, the central government shall at all times, not less than 51 per cent of the issued equity share capital of the corporation and for five years after the IPO, the Centre will hold not less than seventy-five per cent.

The mega IPO is likely to take place around Diwali this year.

Presenting the Union Budget for FY21-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that all the announced disinvestment processes, including the LIC IPO will be completed in the upcoming fiscal.

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New Delhi: Government may examine a proposal to extend provision of free LPG cylinders for Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries for three months again in FY22 to provide relief to over 83 million BPL households from rising price of the cooking gas.

The 14.2-kg cylinder’s price has risen by over Rs 125 per cylinder since January in the wake of a global price hike. This has taken up the price of a LPG cylinder to Rs 819 from Rs 694 in January. In fact since May last year the price of cooking gas has risen by Rs 237.50 in Delhi.

Sources said that with Covid pandemic still affecting the country and causing disruptions at different levels, government may come up with further stimulus measures even in FY22. Provision of three free LPG cylinders to Ujjawala subscribers may form part of these stimulus measures when they are announced.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package during the pandemic last year, free LPG cylinders were given to all Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries for three months. Cash amounts equivalent to the retail selling price of the LPG cylinders were transferred directly to the beneficiaries’ accounts.

The budget 2021-22 has also announced addition of 10 million beneficiaries under Ujjawala over two years. The government’s flagship scheme under which cooking gas connections are given free of cost to women of below poverty line (BPL) families.

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Mumbai: Snapping its three-session winning run, the BSE Sensex plunged by around 599 points to crack below the key 51,000-level on Thursday amid a meltdown in global shares triggered by a surge in US bond yields.

Intra-day, the 30-share BSE index fell as much as 905 points before ending the session at 50,846.08, showing a decline of 598.57 points or 1.16 per cent.

The broader NSE Nifty too closed with a loss of 164.85 points or 1.08 per cent at 15,080.75.

On the Sensex chart, HDFC, L&T, SBI, Axis Bank, Bajaj FinServ and HDFC Bank were major laggards dropping up to 2.62 per cent. Of 30 Sensex shares, 25 closed with losses.

“Domestic equities traded lower today mainly on weak global cues Financials and Metals indices were keg drags today, while FMCG, Pharma and IT indices were resilient. A sharp 6 bps rise in 10-Year USA treasury yield made investors jittery today, said Binod Modi, Head – Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Over the previous three sessions, the Sensex had risen by 2,344.66 points or 4.77 per cent, while the Nifty had added 716.45 points or 4.93 per cent.

Foreign investors had bought equities worth Rs 2,088.70 crore on a net basis in Indian capital markets on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

On Thursday, Asian shares too tumbled after an overnight surge in bond yields dragged Wall Street lower.

On the forex market front, the rupee ended 11 paise lower at 72.83 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, global crude oil benchmark Brent was trading 1.16 per cent higher at USD 64.73 per barrel.

Gold Prices Fall Rs 217; Silver Down By Rs 1,217

Gold prices on Thursday fell by Rs 217 to Rs 44,372 per 10 gm in the national capital, as vaccine rollout has boosted risk on sentiments lowering safe haven demand for precious metals, according to HDFC Securities.

The precious metal had closed at Rs 44,589 per 10 gm in the previous trading session.

In tandem, silver prices eased by Rs 1,217 to Rs 66,598 per kg as compared with the previous close of Rs 67,815 per kg.

“Spot gold prices for 24 carat gold at Delhi fell by Rs 217 reflecting overnight decline in COMEX gold prices despite of rupee depreciation,” said HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee was trading 18 paise lower at 72.90 against the US dollar.

Patel further noted that gold prices have kept lower trading range on stronger dollar and rise in the US treasury yields.

“The vaccine rollouts have boosted risk on sentiments lowering safe haven demand for precious metals. The traders may await for comments from US FED chairman later on Thursday,” he noted.

In the international market, gold was trading slightly higher at USD 1,717 an ounce and silver was also marginally up at USD 26.09 an ounce.

“We expect gold prices to trade sideways to down for the day with COMEX spot gold support lies at USD 1,700 and resistance at USD 1,740. MCX Gold April support lies at Rs 44,700 and resistance lies at Rs 45,200,” Patel said.

Rupee Falls By 11 Paise To 72.83 Against US Dollar

The rupee ended 11 paise lower at 72.83 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a rebound in the US dollar and muted domestic equities.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 72.99 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 72.62 and a low of 72.99.

It finally ended at 72.83 against the American currency, registering a fall of 11 paise over its previous closing.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 72.72 against the American currency.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.27 per cent to 91.19.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.34 per cent to USD 63.85 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 598.57 points or 1.16 per cent lower at 50,846.08, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 164.85 points or 1.08 per cent to 15,080.75.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,088.70 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

(This story is a compilation of PTI stories)

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New Delhi: Healthy rise in new orders accelerated India’s services sector output growth in February. Moreover, the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine led to an improvement in business confidence towards growth prospects.

However, employment declined for the third month in a row and companies noted the sharpest rise in overall expenses for eight years.

Consequently, rising from 52.8 in January to 55.3 in February, the seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index pointed to the sharpest rate of expansion in output in one year.

The seasonally adjusted index reading remained above the critical 50-mark that separates growth from contraction.

Besides, the latest reading extended the current growth sequence to five months.

Survey participants linked the upturn to improved demand and more favourable market conditions.

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