Govt in the process of setting up National Infra Bank: Finance Minister
Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said that the government is in the process of setting up a national bank for funding infrastructure investments. She stated that creating institutional structures, big thrust on monetising assets, and enhancing the share of capital expenditure in central and state budgets were three concrete steps taken by the government for building infrastructure. The minister is expected to introduce the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, 2021, in Parliament next week.
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Bharti Airtel to acquire 7.48% stake in Sandhya Hydro
Bharti Airtel Ltd said it will acquire 17.43 lakh equity shares (or 7.48% stake) in Sandhya Hydro Power Project Balargha. The cost of the acquisition is Rs 1.74 crore. Sandhya Hydro owns and operates a small hydro project of 9 megawatt (plus 10% continuous overload) in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh. It is a subsidiary of Continuum Energy, Singapore.
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Adani Green Energy to acquire 50 MW solar asset from SkyPower Global
Adani Green Energy has signed definitive agreements with Toronto-based SkyPower Global to acquire a 100% stake in a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that owns a 50 megawatt (MW) operating solar asset in Telangana. The cost of the acquisition is based on the enterprise value of Rs 317 crore. The SPV, Surajkiran Renewable Resources, was commissioned in October 2017. It has a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana at Rs 5.37 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
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Power Grid to acquire 74% stake in Jaypee Powergrid for Rs 351.64 crore
Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) has signed an agreement with Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd (JPVL) to acquire 74% stake in Japyee Powergrid Ltd (JPL) for Rs 351.64 crore. JPL is a joint venture (JV) between Power Grid and JPVL. After the acquisition, JPL will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of PGCIL. The transmission JV has a 214 km transmission link to supply electricity from the Karcham-Wangtoo hydropower project in Himachal Pradesh to Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan
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Failure at NSE clearing arm led to February outage: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said that shutting down of the system at NSE Clearing Limited (NCL) had led to the day-long trading blackout in the stock exchange on February 24, 2021. NCL is responsible for the clearing and settlement of all trades executed on the NSE, as well as risk management functions. “The major issue faced on Feb 24th was the ineffectiveness of inter-operability because of the shutting down of NCL”, said RBI in its State of the Economy bulletin. Another failure was the inability to switch NSE’s operations to the disaster recovery site.
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Barbeque Nation Hospitality IPO to open on March 24; price band fixed at Rs 498-500 per share
Barbeque Nation Hospitality Ltd will open its initial public offering (IPO) on March 24. The price band for the IPO has been fixed at Rs 498 – Rs 500 per share. The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 180 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 54.57 lakh equity shares by existing shareholders. Net proceeds aggregating up to Rs 54.62 crore will be used for setting up 26 new Barbeque Nation Restaurants during financial years 2022 and 2023.
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India’s crude oil processing hit 4-month low in February
India’s crude oil processing fell to its lowest level in four months in February 2021. According to provisional data released by the government, crude oil processing in February declined by 8.8% year-on-year (YoY) to 4.87 million barrels per day. On a monthly basis, crude oil throughput fell by 5.6%. Fuel consumption in the country also fell to a five-month low last month as higher retail prices affected demand.
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Future Group to challenge Delhi HC order on Biyani over RIL deal: Report
As per a report from Mint, the Future Group has decided to challenge the Delhi High Court (HC) order directing detention of its founder Kishore Biyani and attachment of his assets, while restraining the debt-ridden group from taking any step towards its proposed Rs 24,713 crore asset sale deal with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). The report states that an appeal challenging the order may be filed on Monday or Tuesday. On March 18, a single-judge bench of the Delhi HC ordered Future Retail not to go ahead with its deal with RIL, as it had willfully violated Singapore International Arbitration Centre’s emergency order.
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Govt receives Rs 747 crore from GAIL’s share buyback
The Central government has received Rs 747 crore from share buyback by GAIL (India) Ltd, said DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey. The total share buyback size was Rs 1,046 crore. The government’s current holding in the company stands at 51.45%. To meet revenue targets, the Centre wants public sector undertakings (PSUs) to either meet their targets for capital expenditure or reward its shareholders in the form of dividends or share buybacks.
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