The rupee depreciated 5 paise to close at 82.23 (provisional) against the US dollar, tracking surging crude oil prices and a strong greenback against major rivals overseas.
Besides, month-end dollar demand from importers and foreign capital outflows weighed on the local currency, which found some cushion at a lower level due to positive sentiment in the domestic equity markets, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.23. It finally settled at 82.23 (provisional) against the American currency, registering a fall of 5 paise against its previous close.
During intra-day, the Indian unit touched the peak of 82.21 and hit the lowest level of 82.29 against the dollar.
On Friday, the rupee had settled at 82.18 against the dollar.
Traders were also upbeat on the dollar following positive macroeconomic data from the US and robust sentiment in the global markets.
According to Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, the rupee declined on the strong US dollar and elevated crude oil prices.
"WTI crude oil prices breached the USD 80/barrel mark and are comfortably trading above the same. Month-end dollar demand from importers also weighed on the rupee. However, positive domestic markets cushioned the downside".
"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on the strong dollar and some felling by FIIs over the past couple of sessions. However, improved global risk appetite may support the rupee at lower levels," Choudhary said.
Choudhary said participants may take cues from India's fiscal deficit data expected to be released on Monday and PMI data later this week.
"Investors may remain cautious ahead of PMI data and jobs reports from the US this week. We expect the USD/INR spot to trade in the range of 81.80 to 82.80 in the near term," he added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07 per cent to 101.70.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.41 per cent higher at USD 85.34 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 367.47 points or 0.56 per cent higher at 66,527.67. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 107.75 points or 0.55 per cent to 19,753.80.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,023.91 crore, according to exchange data.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Adani Green Energy on Monday reported a nearly 51 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 323 crore in the June 2023 quarter, mainly driven by higher revenues.
The company had posted Rs 214 crore consolidated net profit in the quarter ended June 2022, a BSE filing showed.
Its total income rose to Rs 2,404 crore in the quarter from Rs 1,701 crore in the year-ago period.
With an operational capacity of 8,316 MW, it continued to have the largest operating renewable energy portfolio in the country, the company said in a statement.
Its energy sales increased by 70 per cent year-on-year to 6,023 million units in June quarter from 3,550 million units.
The solar portfolio CUF (capacity utilisation factor) has improved by 40 basis points year-on-year to 26.9 per cent in the first quarter with consistent high plant availability and improved solar irradiation, it said.
For the wind portfolio, the sale of energy has increased by 34 per cent due to strong capacity addition, though the wind CUF has reduced primarily due to relatively lower wind speed, which was higher last year, it added.
The solar-wind hybrid portfolio of 2,140 MW reported a strong hybrid CUF of 47.2 per cent, up by 380 basis points, helped by new plants with technologically advanced solar modules (including bifacial modules and horizontal single-axis trackers) and wind turbines, high plant and grid availability and improved solar irradiation.
"Our team's unwavering dedication has been instrumental in achieving consistent strong financial and operational milestones," said Amit Singh, CEO, Adani Green Energy.
The company aims to grow its renewable power capacity to 45 GW by 2030 through solar, wind and solar-wind hybrid solutions as major contributors.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Adani Green Energy on Monday reported a nearly 51 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 323 crore in the June 2023 quarter, mainly driven by higher revenues.
The company had posted Rs 214 crore consolidated net profit in the quarter ended June 2022, a BSE filing showed.
Its total income rose to Rs 2,404 crore in the quarter from Rs 1,701 crore in the year-ago period.
With an operational capacity of 8,316 MW, it continued to have the largest operating renewable energy portfolio in the country, the company said in a statement.
Its energy sales increased by 70 per cent year-on-year to 6,023 million units in June quarter from 3,550 million units.
The solar portfolio CUF (capacity utilisation factor) has improved by 40 basis points year-on-year to 26.9 per cent in the first quarter with consistent high plant availability and improved solar irradiation, it said.
For the wind portfolio, the sale of energy has increased by 34 per cent due to strong capacity addition, though the wind CUF has reduced primarily due to relatively lower wind speed, which was higher last year, it added.
The solar-wind hybrid portfolio of 2,140 MW reported a strong hybrid CUF of 47.2 per cent, up by 380 basis points, helped by new plants with technologically advanced solar modules (including bifacial modules and horizontal single-axis trackers) and wind turbines, high plant and grid availability and improved solar irradiation.
"Our team's unwavering dedication has been instrumental in achieving consistent strong financial and operational milestones," said Amit Singh, CEO, Adani Green Energy.
The company aims to grow its renewable power capacity to 45 GW by 2030 through solar, wind and solar-wind hybrid solutions as major contributors.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Monday as investors remained cautious amid continuous foreign fund outflows.
Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex went lower by 161.3 points to 65,998.90 in early trade. The NSE Nifty declined 48.45 points to 19,597.60.
However, later both the benchmark indices were trading flat bouncing back from the initial decline. The BSE benchmark quoted 10.26 points higher at 66,170.46 while the Nifty traded 1.40 points up at 19,647.45.
From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major laggards.
NTPC, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Power Grid, Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services were among the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,023.91 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"In India even though the underlying strength of the market is strong, FPI selling of Rs 5,000 crore during the last two trading sessions might restrain the bulls," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green.
The US markets had ended in the positive territory on Friday.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.58 per cent lower at $84.50 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark fell by 106.62 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 66,160.20 on Friday. The Nifty had declined 13.85 points or 0.07 per cent to finish at 19,646.05.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Monday as investors remained cautious amid continuous foreign fund outflows.
Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex went lower by 161.3 points to 65,998.90 in early trade. The NSE Nifty declined 48.45 points to 19,597.60.
However, later both the benchmark indices were trading flat bouncing back from the initial decline. The BSE benchmark quoted 10.26 points higher at 66,170.46 while the Nifty traded 1.40 points up at 19,647.45.
From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major laggards.
NTPC, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Power Grid, Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services were among the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,023.91 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"In India even though the underlying strength of the market is strong, FPI selling of Rs 5,000 crore during the last two trading sessions might restrain the bulls," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green.
The US markets had ended in the positive territory on Friday.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.58 per cent lower at $84.50 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark fell by 106.62 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 66,160.20 on Friday. The Nifty had declined 13.85 points or 0.07 per cent to finish at 19,646.05.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has sought the World Bank's assistance for upgrading infrastructure and capacity building in the state.
Speaking at a meeting with the World Bank's executive directors here on Sunday, Mr Shinde said the World Bank was not just a fund-giving body, but a source of knowledge for developing countries.
The partnership with the World Bank will help improve the standard of living of people in Maharashtra which has the best skilled workforce and modern infrastructure facilities, the chief minister said.
"We are working on improving green technology, disaster management, health services and port infrastructure facilities," he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also attended the meeting, said the government is planning to make Maharashtra drought-free by linking rivers.
"The government is planning to divert water from rivers flowing westward to the Godavari valley and linking rivers in Vidarbha will help in removing drought," he said.
The state government also sought assistance from the World Bank to improve traffic in Mumbai, green energy, as well as for improving services to people in each district and boosting economic development.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has sought the World Bank's assistance for upgrading infrastructure and capacity building in the state.
Speaking at a meeting with the World Bank's executive directors here on Sunday, Mr Shinde said the World Bank was not just a fund-giving body, but a source of knowledge for developing countries.
The partnership with the World Bank will help improve the standard of living of people in Maharashtra which has the best skilled workforce and modern infrastructure facilities, the chief minister said.
"We are working on improving green technology, disaster management, health services and port infrastructure facilities," he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also attended the meeting, said the government is planning to make Maharashtra drought-free by linking rivers.
"The government is planning to divert water from rivers flowing westward to the Godavari valley and linking rivers in Vidarbha will help in removing drought," he said.
The state government also sought assistance from the World Bank to improve traffic in Mumbai, green energy, as well as for improving services to people in each district and boosting economic development.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Go First has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking permission to refund money to passengers who had booked their tickets for travel on and after May 3, the day when the cash-strapped airline suspended operations.
The Resolution professional of Go First has filed a new application before the Delhi bench of NCLT, requesting "to permit the applicant/CD to make payment of refund to passengers of the CD whose airline tickets have been cancelled since May 3, 2023." Applicant here refers to resolution professional and CD refers to corporate debtor or Go First.
The application is scheduled to be heard by an NCLT bench comprising Mahendra Khandelwal and Rahul P Bhatnagar on Monday.
If permitted by the insolvency tribunal, this would be a significant relief for those air passengers, whose money is stuck with the Go First after the initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against the air carrier.
Go First had stopped flying May 3, 2023 and had approached voluntarily for initiation of CIRP against it, as it was unable to fly due to technical difficulties faced by the non-availability of engines from Pratt & Whitney.
On May 10, the NCLT admitted the plea of Go First to initiate voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings.
Earlier, several air passengers had approached NCLT directly by writing e-mail requests/phone calls for refunds of booked cancelled tickets.
On this, the NCLT had issued an advisory earlier this month on July 3, asking them to approach the RP to claim a refund as per the procedure of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
"It is requested that all the requests/claims for refund or any other related issues may be sent to the RP mentioned above as per the provisions of the IBC," it said.
Last week, NCLT rejected the claims of the lessors of aircraft and engines of Go First requesting to restrain it from commercial flying and held that aircraft are available for resumption of operations since aviation regulator DGCA has not deregistered them.
NCLT held that physical possession of the aircraft/engines would be "indisputably" with Go First and lessors cannot claim possession during the CIRP of the carrier.
The tribunal also declined the lessors' pleas for inspection of their leased aeroplanes and engines and strongly reiterated that it was the responsibility of the Resolution Professional to maintain them at the highest levels of efficiency/safety.
"The physical possession of the aircrafts/engines is indisputably with the corporate debtor (Go First). Therefore, in terms of Section 14(1)(d), the applicants would not be within their rights to claim possession of these aircrafts/engines," the NCLT bench said in its 29-page long order passed on the petitions filed by several lessors of Go First.
"The moratorium prohibits the recovery of the aircraft/engines by the lessors (applicants) from the corporate debtor," it added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Go First has approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking permission to refund money to passengers who had booked their tickets for travel on and after May 3, the day when the cash-strapped airline suspended operations.
The Resolution professional of Go First has filed a new application before the Delhi bench of NCLT, requesting "to permit the applicant/CD to make payment of refund to passengers of the CD whose airline tickets have been cancelled since May 3, 2023." Applicant here refers to resolution professional and CD refers to corporate debtor or Go First.
The application is scheduled to be heard by an NCLT bench comprising Mahendra Khandelwal and Rahul P Bhatnagar on Monday.
If permitted by the insolvency tribunal, this would be a significant relief for those air passengers, whose money is stuck with the Go First after the initiation of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against the air carrier.
Go First had stopped flying May 3, 2023 and had approached voluntarily for initiation of CIRP against it, as it was unable to fly due to technical difficulties faced by the non-availability of engines from Pratt & Whitney.
On May 10, the NCLT admitted the plea of Go First to initiate voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings.
Earlier, several air passengers had approached NCLT directly by writing e-mail requests/phone calls for refunds of booked cancelled tickets.
On this, the NCLT had issued an advisory earlier this month on July 3, asking them to approach the RP to claim a refund as per the procedure of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
"It is requested that all the requests/claims for refund or any other related issues may be sent to the RP mentioned above as per the provisions of the IBC," it said.
Last week, NCLT rejected the claims of the lessors of aircraft and engines of Go First requesting to restrain it from commercial flying and held that aircraft are available for resumption of operations since aviation regulator DGCA has not deregistered them.
NCLT held that physical possession of the aircraft/engines would be "indisputably" with Go First and lessors cannot claim possession during the CIRP of the carrier.
The tribunal also declined the lessors' pleas for inspection of their leased aeroplanes and engines and strongly reiterated that it was the responsibility of the Resolution Professional to maintain them at the highest levels of efficiency/safety.
"The physical possession of the aircrafts/engines is indisputably with the corporate debtor (Go First). Therefore, in terms of Section 14(1)(d), the applicants would not be within their rights to claim possession of these aircrafts/engines," the NCLT bench said in its 29-page long order passed on the petitions filed by several lessors of Go First.
"The moratorium prohibits the recovery of the aircraft/engines by the lessors (applicants) from the corporate debtor," it added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the focus of the government is on four Is -- infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness -- to make India a developed nation by 2047.
She said India has the necessary wherewithal to meet the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Besides several investor-friendly reforms undertaken by the government, she said, India has a very vibrant young population and the emphasis on skilling them to suit the requirement of the economy would yield dividend.
With the aim to build India a developed country by 2047, she said "the emphasis has been on four different issues (Is). We are looking at infrastructure (first I) in a very big way. In the last 3 to 5 years, consistently, the public expenditure for infrastructure building has been ramped up significantly and it will reach Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24." With infrastructure comes investment (second I), the minister said, adding that emphasis on investment will promote greater participation of both the public and private sectors.
So, she said, infrastructure is not just going to be physical such as bridges, roads, ports or airports, but also creation of digital infrastructure is given importance.
"We are looking for both public investment and private investment and creating necessary environment, the ecosystem as we often refer to for attracting private investment. And the global discussions which are going on blended finance is also something which we're looking at," she said at an event organised by CII here.
Pointing out that innovation is the third I, she said, "the government has opened up several areas inclusive of the space, nuclear energy, looking at getting out of fossil fuels. We have enough reasons to believe the youth today are giving us solutions, which are very good for the frontier technologies that we're talking about, as much as for the legacy issues which persist in India for which we need solutions." On the fourth I, inclusiveness, she said, "as we aim to reach for the developed nation in 25 years by focussing on inclusiveness, making sure that every section of India, the common man, is benefitted by everything that we do (whether) investment or reforms are trying to take schemes to the people." Talking about India's contribution to the G20 during its presidency, the finance minister said the grouping is working on contemporary issues like dealing with post-pandemic challenges and revival plan.
First agenda is how could multilateral development banks (MDBs) become nimble and address 21st century challenges and their capacity to generate and bring in more resources including from market and private sector to address current challenges expeditiously, she said.
The other issues under India's presidency are debt and debt-related distress that many countries are facing, she said, adding countries are waiting for debt resolution even 3-4 years after submitting application.
In this regard, a speedier and comprehensive approach is required whether it comes under common framework or outside, she said.
Citing example of Sri Lanka's distress, she said it required a quick redressal although outside of framework because it's a middle income country.
The third is looking at cryptocurrencies or crypto assets which are outside the central bank domain, she said, adding a collective solution or some kind of mechanism through which they can be regulated is required.
"At the moment countries tried some ways. India did not rush into coming up with regulation but we are looking at it because it's so technology driven. We think it is possible only when all countries can take a common approach. Each one can legislate upon them the way they want later within their country. There has to be a common approach in it getting some regulatory framework in place," the minister said.
The fourth agenda is Digital Public Infrastructure, and India in this regard has proven scale and also continuously bringing in newer building blocks.
So, she said, India stack is not just growing vertically but also now spreading into health, education, climate management and so on.
These are the four agenda points for G20 and there are lot of receptivity among the G7 on these issues.
Another continuing agenda is Cities for Tomorrow, Sitharaman said, adding, Japan in 2019 presidency talked about resilient infrastructure for future cities and expect constructive cooperation from G 7 Japan presidency.
She said G20 is now awaiting Volume 2 of Expert Group on strengthening MDBs, which is going to give the roadmap without doing away with the emphasis on poverty alleviation and shared prosperity.
The first volume, which was submitted at the third Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting last month, focuses on the broadening of vision, financial capacity and modalities of funding of the MDBs.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the focus of the government is on four Is -- infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusiveness -- to make India a developed nation by 2047.
She said India has the necessary wherewithal to meet the goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Besides several investor-friendly reforms undertaken by the government, she said, India has a very vibrant young population and the emphasis on skilling them to suit the requirement of the economy would yield dividend.
With the aim to build India a developed country by 2047, she said "the emphasis has been on four different issues (Is). We are looking at infrastructure (first I) in a very big way. In the last 3 to 5 years, consistently, the public expenditure for infrastructure building has been ramped up significantly and it will reach Rs 10 lakh crore in 2023-24." With infrastructure comes investment (second I), the minister said, adding that emphasis on investment will promote greater participation of both the public and private sectors.
So, she said, infrastructure is not just going to be physical such as bridges, roads, ports or airports, but also creation of digital infrastructure is given importance.
"We are looking for both public investment and private investment and creating necessary environment, the ecosystem as we often refer to for attracting private investment. And the global discussions which are going on blended finance is also something which we're looking at," she said at an event organised by CII here.
Pointing out that innovation is the third I, she said, "the government has opened up several areas inclusive of the space, nuclear energy, looking at getting out of fossil fuels. We have enough reasons to believe the youth today are giving us solutions, which are very good for the frontier technologies that we're talking about, as much as for the legacy issues which persist in India for which we need solutions." On the fourth I, inclusiveness, she said, "as we aim to reach for the developed nation in 25 years by focussing on inclusiveness, making sure that every section of India, the common man, is benefitted by everything that we do (whether) investment or reforms are trying to take schemes to the people." Talking about India's contribution to the G20 during its presidency, the finance minister said the grouping is working on contemporary issues like dealing with post-pandemic challenges and revival plan.
First agenda is how could multilateral development banks (MDBs) become nimble and address 21st century challenges and their capacity to generate and bring in more resources including from market and private sector to address current challenges expeditiously, she said.
The other issues under India's presidency are debt and debt-related distress that many countries are facing, she said, adding countries are waiting for debt resolution even 3-4 years after submitting application.
In this regard, a speedier and comprehensive approach is required whether it comes under common framework or outside, she said.
Citing example of Sri Lanka's distress, she said it required a quick redressal although outside of framework because it's a middle income country.
The third is looking at cryptocurrencies or crypto assets which are outside the central bank domain, she said, adding a collective solution or some kind of mechanism through which they can be regulated is required.
"At the moment countries tried some ways. India did not rush into coming up with regulation but we are looking at it because it's so technology driven. We think it is possible only when all countries can take a common approach. Each one can legislate upon them the way they want later within their country. There has to be a common approach in it getting some regulatory framework in place," the minister said.
The fourth agenda is Digital Public Infrastructure, and India in this regard has proven scale and also continuously bringing in newer building blocks.
So, she said, India stack is not just growing vertically but also now spreading into health, education, climate management and so on.
These are the four agenda points for G20 and there are lot of receptivity among the G7 on these issues.
Another continuing agenda is Cities for Tomorrow, Sitharaman said, adding, Japan in 2019 presidency talked about resilient infrastructure for future cities and expect constructive cooperation from G 7 Japan presidency.
She said G20 is now awaiting Volume 2 of Expert Group on strengthening MDBs, which is going to give the roadmap without doing away with the emphasis on poverty alleviation and shared prosperity.
The first volume, which was submitted at the third Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting last month, focuses on the broadening of vision, financial capacity and modalities of funding of the MDBs.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
India's top oil firm IOC on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 13,750 crore in three months to June 30 - the highest in a decade - as margins on petrol and diesel turned positive on softer oil prices.
Standalone net profit of Rs 13,750.44 crore, or Rs 9.98 per share, in April-June (the first quarter of current fiscal year 2023-24) compared with a loss of Rs 1,992.53 crore in the same period a year back, according to a company's stock exchange filing.
The profit was almost 37 per cent higher than Rs 10,058.69 crore net profit in the preceding quarter and more than half of the company's best-ever annual earning of Rs 24,184.10 crore recorded in 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022).
IOC posted a net profit of Rs 14,513 crore in January-March 2013 after it received fuel subsidy for more than one quarter during those three months.
Last year, IOC and other government-owned fuel retailers - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) - froze retail petrol and diesel prices to cushion domestic consumers from rising international oil rates.
That freeze led to the three retailers suffering heavy losses in not just April-June 2022 but also in the subsequent quarter.
Margins on petrol and diesel turned positive following softening of international oil prices in the June quarter, but rates were not revised, and the companies recouped losses they incurred last year.
BPCL earlier this week reported a net profit of Rs 10,644 crore in the June quarter. HPCL is due to announce its first-quarter earnings next week.
The fall in oil prices meant that revenue from operations for IOC fell 2.36 per cent to Rs 2.21 lakh crore.
Operational performance during the quarter improved as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 44.5 per cent to Rs 22,163 crore from Rs 15,340 crore, sequentially.
The company earned USD 8.34 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during the quarter ended June 30 against a gross refining margin (GRM) of USD 31.81 per barrel in the same period last year, the filing said.
Core GRM or the current price GRM for the period April-June 2023 after offsetting inventory loss/gain came to USD 9.05 per barrel.
IOC said fuel sales rose to 21.8 million tonnes in the first quarter from 21.2 million tonnes a year back. Its refineries processed 18.26 million tonnes of crude oil, up from 17.59 million tonnes in April-June 2022.
IOC, BPCL and HPCL temporarily abandoned the daily price revision last year and have not revised petrol and diesel prices in line with the cost. And the losses they incurred when the oil prices were higher than the retail selling prices are recouped with rates dropped.
The three firms have been making positive margins on petrol since the fourth quarter of the 2022 calendar year but diesel, which accounts for the bulk of the fuel sales, had been in the red.
But in May, margins on diesel turned positive with a small 50 paise a litre profit.
International oil prices had spiked to USD 139 per barrel in March 2022 in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war. They cooled to USD 75 during May-June.
At peak, oil firms lost Rs 17.4 per litre on petrol and Rs 27.7 a litre on diesel. In the October-December quarter, oil firms earned Rs 10 a litre margin on petrol but lost Rs 6.5 on diesel. In the following quarter, the margins on petrol moderated to Rs 6.8 a litre while diesel earned Rs 0.5 per litre.
Oil prices have firmed up this month, and the basket of crude oil that India buys has averaged USD 80 per barrel so far, making a reduction in rates difficult.
Holding prices when input cost was higher than retail selling prices led to the three firms posting net earnings loss. They posted a combined net loss of Rs 21,201.18 crore during April-September despite accounting for Rs 22,000 crore announced but not paid LPG subsidy.
International oil prices have been turbulent in the last couple of years. It dipped into the negative zone at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and swung wildly in 2022 -- climbing to a 14-year high of nearly USD 140 per barrel in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine before sliding on weaker demand from top importer China and worries of an economic contraction.
But, for a nation that is 85 per cent dependent on imports, the spike meant adding to already firming inflation and derailing the economic recovery from the pandemic.
So, the three fuel retailers, who control roughly 90 per cent of the market, froze petrol and diesel prices for the longest duration in at least two decades. They stopped daily price revision in early November 2021 when rates across the country hit an all-time high, prompting the government to roll back a part of the excise duty hike it had effected during the pandemic to take advantage of low oil prices.
The freeze continued into 2022 but the war-led spike in international oil prices prompted a Rs 10 a litre hike in petrol and diesel prices from mid-March before another round of excise duty cut rolled back all of the Rs 13 a litre and Rs 16 per litre increase in taxes on petrol and diesel affected during the pandemic.
That followed the current price freeze that began on April 6, which still continues.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
India's top oil firm IOC on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 13,750 crore in three months to June 30 - the highest in a decade - as margins on petrol and diesel turned positive on softer oil prices.
Standalone net profit of Rs 13,750.44 crore, or Rs 9.98 per share, in April-June (the first quarter of current fiscal year 2023-24) compared with a loss of Rs 1,992.53 crore in the same period a year back, according to a company's stock exchange filing.
The profit was almost 37 per cent higher than Rs 10,058.69 crore net profit in the preceding quarter and more than half of the company's best-ever annual earning of Rs 24,184.10 crore recorded in 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022).
IOC posted a net profit of Rs 14,513 crore in January-March 2013 after it received fuel subsidy for more than one quarter during those three months.
Last year, IOC and other government-owned fuel retailers - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) - froze retail petrol and diesel prices to cushion domestic consumers from rising international oil rates.
That freeze led to the three retailers suffering heavy losses in not just April-June 2022 but also in the subsequent quarter.
Margins on petrol and diesel turned positive following softening of international oil prices in the June quarter, but rates were not revised, and the companies recouped losses they incurred last year.
BPCL earlier this week reported a net profit of Rs 10,644 crore in the June quarter. HPCL is due to announce its first-quarter earnings next week.
The fall in oil prices meant that revenue from operations for IOC fell 2.36 per cent to Rs 2.21 lakh crore.
Operational performance during the quarter improved as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 44.5 per cent to Rs 22,163 crore from Rs 15,340 crore, sequentially.
The company earned USD 8.34 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel during the quarter ended June 30 against a gross refining margin (GRM) of USD 31.81 per barrel in the same period last year, the filing said.
Core GRM or the current price GRM for the period April-June 2023 after offsetting inventory loss/gain came to USD 9.05 per barrel.
IOC said fuel sales rose to 21.8 million tonnes in the first quarter from 21.2 million tonnes a year back. Its refineries processed 18.26 million tonnes of crude oil, up from 17.59 million tonnes in April-June 2022.
IOC, BPCL and HPCL temporarily abandoned the daily price revision last year and have not revised petrol and diesel prices in line with the cost. And the losses they incurred when the oil prices were higher than the retail selling prices are recouped with rates dropped.
The three firms have been making positive margins on petrol since the fourth quarter of the 2022 calendar year but diesel, which accounts for the bulk of the fuel sales, had been in the red.
But in May, margins on diesel turned positive with a small 50 paise a litre profit.
International oil prices had spiked to USD 139 per barrel in March 2022 in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war. They cooled to USD 75 during May-June.
At peak, oil firms lost Rs 17.4 per litre on petrol and Rs 27.7 a litre on diesel. In the October-December quarter, oil firms earned Rs 10 a litre margin on petrol but lost Rs 6.5 on diesel. In the following quarter, the margins on petrol moderated to Rs 6.8 a litre while diesel earned Rs 0.5 per litre.
Oil prices have firmed up this month, and the basket of crude oil that India buys has averaged USD 80 per barrel so far, making a reduction in rates difficult.
Holding prices when input cost was higher than retail selling prices led to the three firms posting net earnings loss. They posted a combined net loss of Rs 21,201.18 crore during April-September despite accounting for Rs 22,000 crore announced but not paid LPG subsidy.
International oil prices have been turbulent in the last couple of years. It dipped into the negative zone at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and swung wildly in 2022 -- climbing to a 14-year high of nearly USD 140 per barrel in March 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine before sliding on weaker demand from top importer China and worries of an economic contraction.
But, for a nation that is 85 per cent dependent on imports, the spike meant adding to already firming inflation and derailing the economic recovery from the pandemic.
So, the three fuel retailers, who control roughly 90 per cent of the market, froze petrol and diesel prices for the longest duration in at least two decades. They stopped daily price revision in early November 2021 when rates across the country hit an all-time high, prompting the government to roll back a part of the excise duty hike it had effected during the pandemic to take advantage of low oil prices.
The freeze continued into 2022 but the war-led spike in international oil prices prompted a Rs 10 a litre hike in petrol and diesel prices from mid-March before another round of excise duty cut rolled back all of the Rs 13 a litre and Rs 16 per litre increase in taxes on petrol and diesel affected during the pandemic.
That followed the current price freeze that began on April 6, which still continues.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
FMCG major Nestle India has "strong commitments" for local manufacturing with plans to invest Rs 4,200 crore by 2025, including in its 10th plant in the country at Odisha, its Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan said on Friday.
Nestle India, the maker of popular Maggi noodles, KitKat chocolate and Nescafe, is investing to create capacity as it sees "fairly robust" demand in coming years in the Indian market.
"The investments done are fairly significant... till the first half of 2023, about Rs 2,100 crore already been invested on capital investments," said Mr Narayanan in a media roundtable here.
These investments are for augmentation of manufacturing capacity, he said adding a third of that has gone into food space, another one-third on chocolate and confectionary and the rest on nutrition and others.
"Another Rs 4,200 crore is being spent between 2023 and 2025. This includes around Rs 900 crore for a new factory in Odisha," he said.
Last year in September, Mark Schneider, the CEO of Nestle SA, global food & beverage conglomerate and its parent firm, announced to invest Rs 5,000 crore by 2025.
Since its inception, Nestle India has invested around Rs 7,000 crore in the last 60 years here, said Mr Narayanan.
"This is the indication of where the promise for India stands and where the performance of the company is taking us," he said adding new manufacturing practices and technology and digital infra are coming as a bundle.
A good part of this support is coming from the Swiss parent firm Nestle SA, which is providing technology, process and management capabilities for the new system.
Detailing about the investments, Mr Narayanan said: "There will be probably two or three areas where it will go. One of course is for the new factory in Odisha, then there is further expansion of facilities further expansion of facilities in a coffee and beverages business that is also planned," he said.
Nestle will have phases III & IV of expansion at the Sanand (Gujarat) plant where it will be setting up confectionery lines besides noodles.
"Then there is an expansion plan for our Moga (Punjab) and also in our other factories such as at Ponda (Goa) for the chocolate factory," Mr Narayanan said.
Over the Orissa factory, Mr Narayanan said at this stage it would be a noodles factory but would also consider manufacturing chocolates and confectionery products there later stage.
"It's a fairly large kind of unit which we will be building there," he said adding "One of the targets for the company was to open something on the east side." Over the timeline, Mr Narayanan said typically it takes around two years to get one factory completed.
Nestle India is also working towards adding more female employees as per its commitment to diversity and inclusion. Now women represent one-fifth of its field force, and over 50 per cent of its board strength, said Mr Narayanan.
"As a company, we have close to 25 per cent of women in our in our workforce again it's something that I am very proud of," he said adding at Sanand, its latest factory, more than 50 per cent of the workforce are women.
Similarly, the coming plant at Orissa will also be a "citadel of diversity" with more than 50 per cent women operators.
Nestle India presently operates nine factories employing roughly 6,000 people here. India is among the top ten global markets of Nestle SA, a Swiss multinational food and beverages conglomerate.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today that Indian companies can now go in for direct listing on foreign exchanges as well as on the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) bourse in Ahmedabad.
The approval, which came after three years of announcement as part of the Covid relief package, will enable domestic companies to access foreign funds by listing their shares on various exchanges overseas.
A proposal regarding this was first floated as part of the liquidity package announced during the pandemic in May 2020.
"A direct listing of securities by domestic companies will now be permissible in foreign jurisdictions. I'm also pleased to announce that the government has taken a decision to enable direct listing of listed and unlisted companies on the IFSC exchange. So, this is a major step forward. This will facilitate access to global capital and better valuation," Ms Sitharmanan said.
The minister was speaking at an event to launch AMC Repo Clearing and a corporate debt market development fund to help deepen the corporate bond market.
Further, she called for a regulatory impact assessment so that regulated entities in particular and the markets in general can better understand the fallout of their decisions.
She also asked financial market regulators to focus on the quality, proportionality and the effectiveness of their decisions so that companies find further ease in doing their business.
Urging large municipal bodies to tap the debt market for their funding needs, Sitharaman said the government has been and will continue to incentivise cities to improve their credit ratings so that they get better pricing for their bonds.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
FMCG major Nestle India has "strong commitments" for local manufacturing with plans to invest Rs 4,200 crore by 2025, including in its 10th plant in the country at Odisha, its Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan said on Friday.
Nestle India, the maker of popular Maggi noodles, KitKat chocolate and Nescafe, is investing to create capacity as it sees "fairly robust" demand in coming years in the Indian market.
"The investments done are fairly significant... till the first half of 2023, about Rs 2,100 crore already been invested on capital investments," said Mr Narayanan in a media roundtable here.
These investments are for augmentation of manufacturing capacity, he said adding a third of that has gone into food space, another one-third on chocolate and confectionary and the rest on nutrition and others.
"Another Rs 4,200 crore is being spent between 2023 and 2025. This includes around Rs 900 crore for a new factory in Odisha," he said.
Last year in September, Mark Schneider, the CEO of Nestle SA, global food & beverage conglomerate and its parent firm, announced to invest Rs 5,000 crore by 2025.
Since its inception, Nestle India has invested around Rs 7,000 crore in the last 60 years here, said Mr Narayanan.
"This is the indication of where the promise for India stands and where the performance of the company is taking us," he said adding new manufacturing practices and technology and digital infra are coming as a bundle.
A good part of this support is coming from the Swiss parent firm Nestle SA, which is providing technology, process and management capabilities for the new system.
Detailing about the investments, Mr Narayanan said: "There will be probably two or three areas where it will go. One of course is for the new factory in Odisha, then there is further expansion of facilities further expansion of facilities in a coffee and beverages business that is also planned," he said.
Nestle will have phases III & IV of expansion at the Sanand (Gujarat) plant where it will be setting up confectionery lines besides noodles.
"Then there is an expansion plan for our Moga (Punjab) and also in our other factories such as at Ponda (Goa) for the chocolate factory," Mr Narayanan said.
Over the Orissa factory, Mr Narayanan said at this stage it would be a noodles factory but would also consider manufacturing chocolates and confectionery products there later stage.
"It's a fairly large kind of unit which we will be building there," he said adding "One of the targets for the company was to open something on the east side." Over the timeline, Mr Narayanan said typically it takes around two years to get one factory completed.
Nestle India is also working towards adding more female employees as per its commitment to diversity and inclusion. Now women represent one-fifth of its field force, and over 50 per cent of its board strength, said Mr Narayanan.
"As a company, we have close to 25 per cent of women in our in our workforce again it's something that I am very proud of," he said adding at Sanand, its latest factory, more than 50 per cent of the workforce are women.
Similarly, the coming plant at Orissa will also be a "citadel of diversity" with more than 50 per cent women operators.
Nestle India presently operates nine factories employing roughly 6,000 people here. India is among the top ten global markets of Nestle SA, a Swiss multinational food and beverages conglomerate.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today that Indian companies can now go in for direct listing on foreign exchanges as well as on the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) bourse in Ahmedabad.
The approval, which came after three years of announcement as part of the Covid relief package, will enable domestic companies to access foreign funds by listing their shares on various exchanges overseas.
A proposal regarding this was first floated as part of the liquidity package announced during the pandemic in May 2020.
"A direct listing of securities by domestic companies will now be permissible in foreign jurisdictions. I'm also pleased to announce that the government has taken a decision to enable direct listing of listed and unlisted companies on the IFSC exchange. So, this is a major step forward. This will facilitate access to global capital and better valuation," Ms Sitharmanan said.
The minister was speaking at an event to launch AMC Repo Clearing and a corporate debt market development fund to help deepen the corporate bond market.
Further, she called for a regulatory impact assessment so that regulated entities in particular and the markets in general can better understand the fallout of their decisions.
She also asked financial market regulators to focus on the quality, proportionality and the effectiveness of their decisions so that companies find further ease in doing their business.
Urging large municipal bodies to tap the debt market for their funding needs, Sitharaman said the government has been and will continue to incentivise cities to improve their credit ratings so that they get better pricing for their bonds.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Friday amid foreign fund outflows and weak trends in the US markets.
Extending its previous day's fall, the 30-share BSE Sensex went lower by 204.84 points to 66,061.98. The NSE Nifty declined 60.35 points to 19,599.55.
From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major laggards.
Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, Reliance Industries and Wipro were among the gainers.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green while Tokyo quoted lower.
The US markets had ended in the negative territory on Thursday.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.40 per cent lower at USD 83.90 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,979.44 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
The BSE benchmark had plunged 440.38 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 66,266.82 on Thursday, while the Nifty declined 118.40 points or 0.60 per cent to close at 19,659.90.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
India is likely to get the 3rd largest economy tag in 2027 (2027-28) if it maintains the current rate of growth, and in the process, will surpass both Japan and Germany, said SBI Research in its 'Ecowrap' report.
Earlier, SBI Research had expected India to become the third-largest economy in the world by 2029.
India is currently ranked third, a movement of seven places upwards of what it was in 2014.
Interestingly, the incremental increase by India between 2022-2027, is expected to be more than the current size of Australia's economy at USD 1.8 trillion, the report said.
"At this rate, India is likely to add USD 0.75 trillion in every two years, implying that India is all set to touch USD 20 trillion by 2047, at least on current numbers," the report said, adding that India's global share in GDP will cross 4 per cent by 2027.
The share of India's GDP is now at 3.5 per cent, as against 2.6 per cent in 2014 and is likely to reach 4 per cent in 2027.
State-wise, SBI Research said estimates indicate that at least two Indian states, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, will break the USD 500 billion mark in 2027 in terms of economy -- when India achieves the 3rd place in global economy.
"The GDP size of major Indian states in 2027 will be more than the size of some of the Asian and European countries like Vietnam, Norway and so on," it added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
India is likely to grow 6-6.3 per cent in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, Deloitte India said in its economic outlook, forecasting growth surpassing 7 per cent over the next two years if global uncertainties recede.
With the probability associated with a recession in major industrial countries this year trimming, several economic indicators such as the tight labour markets and reduced risk spreads post the US banking crisis suggest that downside risks to global growth are subsiding.
Yet, there remain significant uncertainties around the actions of the central banks of major economies and the oil price movements, the economic outlook said.
"Amid continuing global uncertainties, India continues to see strong economic activity," it said. "Keeping in view the resilience shown by the economy, Deloitte is optimistic about the outlook and has put out its expectation for this year and the next. Deloitte expects India to grow between 6 per cent and 6.3 per cent in FY 2023–24, and have a stronger outlook thereafter." If global uncertainties recede, growth is expected to surpass 7 per cent over the next two years, it said.
"India enjoys a Goldilocks moment currently. Our growth forecasts for FY 2023-24 remain similar to our April forecast, except that higher-than-expected growth in FY2022-23 has raised our base for comparison. That said, we have raised our lower limit of the range given the buoyancy in the economy," said Rumki Majumdar, Economist, Deloitte India.
Urban demand conditions have remained resilient as evidenced by the sales of mid-to-high-end segments of automobiles, the number of UPI transactions, and domestic air passenger traffic data. Rural demand, which was lagging, has also been rising lately as seen in the sales of tractors, IIP non-durable goods, and MGNREGA data.
Investment is also showing traction. The credit-deposit ratio has continued to improve strongly from the lows of the pandemic despite the rising interest rates. "Most of the lending is happening in the industry and services sector. This points to improving investment, which means that the supply side is gearing up to meet the rising demand," Rumki Majumdar added.
Inflation in the first quarter was 4.5 per cent, the lowest since the quarter of September 2019. GST collections remain strong, suggesting that revenue buoyancy will aid in improving the budgeted fiscal deficit ratio to GDP.
Among the global risks, Deloitte's economic outlook highlights the significance and future implications of the monetary policies pursued in the West.
Referring as the salsa of the Central Banks, the changes in the policy rates between the three major central banks - the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of England (BoE) - have been by 1390 basis points within a span of 18 months.
"Yet, these countries have not been able to tame inflation. The 12-month average inflation after the first policy rate hike is significantly higher than the 12-month average inflation prior to the hike in these countries. Comparatively, India has had better success in taming inflation with relatively lesser policy tightening," it said.
Rather, an aggressive monetary policy tightening has tightened liquidity conditions too quickly in countries that had ultra-loose monetary policies for over a decade. Since these countries also host a large share of global investors, such an aggressive measure has unnerved the sentiments, leading to capital outflows from emerging countries.
Deloitte does not expect these countries to ease policy rates soon as well. "The headline inflation levels remain above the central bank's target level of 2 per cent. Clearly, Atras (step backwards) seems unlikely for these Central banks. But Adelante (step forward) may also be challenging," said Rumki Majumdar.
The pressure on US banks, moderating housing demand, and the recent resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis will discourage the US Federal Reserve to raise policy rates for very long.
Among domestic risks, inflation is topmost. The risk of El-Nino and a below-normal monsoon can bring back the pressure on food prices. "We expect the fall in consumer prices to be short-lived as demand picks up along with food prices and the uncertainties around prices remain high. A quicker rebound in the supply side will be of utmost importance for keeping prices under check in the long run," Rumki Majumdar added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
India is likely to grow 6-6.3 per cent in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, Deloitte India said in its economic outlook, forecasting growth surpassing 7 per cent over the next two years if global uncertainties recede.
With the probability associated with a recession in major industrial countries this year trimming, several economic indicators such as the tight labour markets and reduced risk spreads post the US banking crisis suggest that downside risks to global growth are subsiding.
Yet, there remain significant uncertainties around the actions of the central banks of major economies and the oil price movements, the economic outlook said.
"Amid continuing global uncertainties, India continues to see strong economic activity," it said. "Keeping in view the resilience shown by the economy, Deloitte is optimistic about the outlook and has put out its expectation for this year and the next. Deloitte expects India to grow between 6 per cent and 6.3 per cent in FY 2023–24, and have a stronger outlook thereafter." If global uncertainties recede, growth is expected to surpass 7 per cent over the next two years, it said.
"India enjoys a Goldilocks moment currently. Our growth forecasts for FY 2023-24 remain similar to our April forecast, except that higher-than-expected growth in FY2022-23 has raised our base for comparison. That said, we have raised our lower limit of the range given the buoyancy in the economy," said Rumki Majumdar, Economist, Deloitte India.
Urban demand conditions have remained resilient as evidenced by the sales of mid-to-high-end segments of automobiles, the number of UPI transactions, and domestic air passenger traffic data. Rural demand, which was lagging, has also been rising lately as seen in the sales of tractors, IIP non-durable goods, and MGNREGA data.
Investment is also showing traction. The credit-deposit ratio has continued to improve strongly from the lows of the pandemic despite the rising interest rates. "Most of the lending is happening in the industry and services sector. This points to improving investment, which means that the supply side is gearing up to meet the rising demand," Rumki Majumdar added.
Inflation in the first quarter was 4.5 per cent, the lowest since the quarter of September 2019. GST collections remain strong, suggesting that revenue buoyancy will aid in improving the budgeted fiscal deficit ratio to GDP.
Among the global risks, Deloitte's economic outlook highlights the significance and future implications of the monetary policies pursued in the West.
Referring as the salsa of the Central Banks, the changes in the policy rates between the three major central banks - the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of England (BoE) - have been by 1390 basis points within a span of 18 months.
"Yet, these countries have not been able to tame inflation. The 12-month average inflation after the first policy rate hike is significantly higher than the 12-month average inflation prior to the hike in these countries. Comparatively, India has had better success in taming inflation with relatively lesser policy tightening," it said.
Rather, an aggressive monetary policy tightening has tightened liquidity conditions too quickly in countries that had ultra-loose monetary policies for over a decade. Since these countries also host a large share of global investors, such an aggressive measure has unnerved the sentiments, leading to capital outflows from emerging countries.
Deloitte does not expect these countries to ease policy rates soon as well. "The headline inflation levels remain above the central bank's target level of 2 per cent. Clearly, Atras (step backwards) seems unlikely for these Central banks. But Adelante (step forward) may also be challenging," said Rumki Majumdar.
The pressure on US banks, moderating housing demand, and the recent resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis will discourage the US Federal Reserve to raise policy rates for very long.
Among domestic risks, inflation is topmost. The risk of El-Nino and a below-normal monsoon can bring back the pressure on food prices. "We expect the fall in consumer prices to be short-lived as demand picks up along with food prices and the uncertainties around prices remain high. A quicker rebound in the supply side will be of utmost importance for keeping prices under check in the long run," Rumki Majumdar added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Adani Group-owned Mundra port in Gujarat handled over 5,300 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in July 2023.
With this the handling has crossed the pre-Cyclone Biparjoy levels of around 4,900 TEUs, Adani Group said in a statement on Thursday.
Group company Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) operates the Mundra Port which is the largest integrated transport utility in India.
"The average number of TEUs handled by rail at the Mundra port has crossed 5,300 in July, surpassing the pre-Cyclone Biparjoy levels of around 4,900," it said.
The cyclone disrupted operations and caused unavoidable operational downtime for around six days.
Mundra is the largest container handling port in India, having handled more than 6.6 million TEUs in FY23, making it an integral gateway to the north and central parts of the country.
Despite the disruption due to the cyclone, the port posted a commendable growth of 4.4 per cent year-on-year in Q1 FY24 in container handling.
A new berth, "T3", with a capacity of 0.8 million TEUs, is set to be commissioned in Q3 of FY23.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)
Adani Group-owned Mundra port in Gujarat handled over 5,300 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in July 2023.
With this the handling has crossed the pre-Cyclone Biparjoy levels of around 4,900 TEUs, Adani Group said in a statement on Thursday.
Group company Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) operates the Mundra Port which is the largest integrated transport utility in India.
"The average number of TEUs handled by rail at the Mundra port has crossed 5,300 in July, surpassing the pre-Cyclone Biparjoy levels of around 4,900," it said.
The cyclone disrupted operations and caused unavoidable operational downtime for around six days.
Mundra is the largest container handling port in India, having handled more than 6.6 million TEUs in FY23, making it an integral gateway to the north and central parts of the country.
Despite the disruption due to the cyclone, the port posted a commendable growth of 4.4 per cent year-on-year in Q1 FY24 in container handling.
A new berth, "T3", with a capacity of 0.8 million TEUs, is set to be commissioned in Q3 of FY23.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)
State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Wednesday posted a four-fold surge in standalone net profit at Rs 1,255 crore in the April-June quarter, mainly due to decline in bad loans and improvement in interest income.
The country's second largest lender had posted a net profit of Rs 308 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income in the first quarter of the current fiscal rose to Rs 28,579 crore as against Rs 21,294 crore, PNB said in a regulatory filing.
The lender's interest income also increased to Rs 25,145 crore from Rs 18,757 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
PNB managing director Atul Kumar Goel said the bank has earned highest ever quarterly profit in the last 12 quarters.
PNB recorded a 26 per cent growth in net interest income at Rs 9,504 crore, the highest ever for the bank.
The bank's asset quality showed improvement with gross Non Performing Assets (NPAs) easing to 7.73 per cent of the gross advances by June 2023 from 11.2 per cent a year ago.
The net NPA too declined to 1.98 per cent as against 4.26 per cent in the same period of the previous year.
Banking on recovery, Goel said, the bank expects gross NPA would come down to 6.5 per cent while net NPA to stay less than 1 per cent by the end of current financial year.
As a result, provisions for bad loans came down to Rs 4,374 crore in April-June FY24 as against Rs 4,814 crore in the year-ago period.
At the same time, the Provisioning Coverage Ratio increased to 89.83 per cent as against 83.04 per cent at the end of June 30, 2022.
As far as recovery is concerned, he said, the bank aims recovery of about Rs 22,000 crore during this financial year.
During the quarter, he said, the bank has made a recovery of Rs 5,417 crore from NPAs as against Rs 7,057 crore in the first quarter of the last year.
Asked about recovery from attached properties of Nirav Modi, he said, the bank expects Rs 50-100 crore from sale of properties during the ongoing quarter.
With regard to fresh addition to NPA, he said, slippages were Rs 2,258 crore during the quarter as compared to Rs 5,890 crore in the same period a year ago.
On a consolidated basis, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 1,342 crore in the quarter ended in June as against Rs 282 crore a year ago.
The consolidated financial result of the bank comprises five subsidiaries and 15 associates.
The capital adequacy ratio of the bank improved to 15.54 per cent at the end of June compared to 14.62 per cent in the year-ago period.
About capital, he said, the board has given the approval for Rs 12,000 crore fund raising during the current financial year. Of this Rs 7,000 crore would be raised from Tier I and remaining Rs 5,000 crore from Tier II bonds.
During the quarter ended on June 30, the bank has raised Basel III compliant Tier II bonds of Rs 3,090 crore. Further, during the same period, the bank has redeemed Basel III compliant Tier II bonds of Rs 500 crore on maturity.
He said further fund raising would be done as per the requirement.
Asked about business growth, Goel said, advances would expand by 12-13 per cent while deposit mobilisation would see a growth of 10-11 per cent during FY24.
Pending settlement of the bipartite agreement on wage revision (due from November 1, 2022), an adhoc amount of Rs 283.84 crore has been provided during the quarter ended June 30, 2023 towards wage revision. The aggregate provision held by the bank in this regard is Rs 743.35 crore as on June 30, 2023.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Private sector lender Axis Bank on Wednesday posted a 40.5 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 5,797 crore in the April-June quarter, mainly due to decline in bad loans and improvement in interest income.
The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 4,125 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income in the first quarter of the current fiscal rose to Rs 30,644 crore as against Rs 21,657 crore, Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.
The lender's interest income also increased to Rs 25,557 crore from Rs 18,729 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
The bank's Net Interest Income (NII) grew 27 per cent to Rs 11,959 crore while Net interest margin (NIM) for Q1FY24 improved to 4.10 per cent, up from 3.6 per cent in the same period a year ago.
On a consolidated basis, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 6,099 crore in the quarter ended in June as against Rs 4,389 crore a year ago.
On the asset quality side, the bank witnessed improvement with the gross Non Performing Assets (NPAs) easing to 1.96 per cent of the gross advances by June 2023 from 2.76 per cent a year ago.
The net NPA too declined to 0.41 per cent as against 0.64 per cent in the same period of the previous year.
However, the capital adequacy ratio of the bank declined to 17.08 per cent at the end of June compared to 17.28 per cent in the year-ago period.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Private sector lender Axis Bank on Wednesday posted a 40.5 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 5,797 crore in the April-June quarter, mainly due to decline in bad loans and improvement in interest income.
The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 4,125 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income in the first quarter of the current fiscal rose to Rs 30,644 crore as against Rs 21,657 crore, Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.
The lender's interest income also increased to Rs 25,557 crore from Rs 18,729 crore in the same quarter a year ago.
The bank's Net Interest Income (NII) grew 27 per cent to Rs 11,959 crore while Net interest margin (NIM) for Q1FY24 improved to 4.10 per cent, up from 3.6 per cent in the same period a year ago.
On a consolidated basis, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 6,099 crore in the quarter ended in June as against Rs 4,389 crore a year ago.
On the asset quality side, the bank witnessed improvement with the gross Non Performing Assets (NPAs) easing to 1.96 per cent of the gross advances by June 2023 from 2.76 per cent a year ago.
The net NPA too declined to 0.41 per cent as against 0.64 per cent in the same period of the previous year.
However, the capital adequacy ratio of the bank declined to 17.08 per cent at the end of June compared to 17.28 per cent in the year-ago period.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Sebi on Tuesday sent a notice to Yes Bank's former MD and CEO Rana Kapoor, asking him to pay Rs 2.22 crore in a case of mis-selling the private sector lender's AT1 bonds and warned of arrest and attachment of assets as well as bank accounts if he fails to make the payment within 15 days.
Kapoor has been in jail since March 2020 in connection with the DHFL money laundering case.
The demand notice came after Kapoor failed to pay the fine imposed on him by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in September 2022. In a notice, Sebi directed Kapoor to pay Rs 2.22 crore, which includes interest and recovery costs, within 15 days. In the event of non-payment of dues, the market regulator will recover the amount by attaching and selling his moveable and immovable property. Besides, Kapoor faces attachment of his bank accounts and arrest.
In September 2022, the regulator imposed a penalty of Rs 2 crore on Kapoor in the matter.
The case relates to mis-selling of the bank's AT1 (Additional Tier-1) bonds to retail investors by the bank's officials. It was alleged that the bank and certain officials did not inform investors of the risk involved while selling the AT-1 bonds in the secondary market. The sale of AT1 bonds started in 2016 and continued till 2019.
In its order, Sebi stated that Kapoor was overseeing the entire operation relating to the secondary sale of AT-1 bonds, taking regular updates from the team and giving them further instructions to increase the sales, thus creating pressure on the officials to ramp up the sales.
Further, the regulator stated that Kapoor was responsible for acts of misrepresentation or suppression of material facts, manipulation and mis-spelling of AT-1 bonds of Yes Bank to individual investors. Also, Kapoor pressured officials of the private wealth management team to devise a devious scheme to dump the AT-1 bonds on hapless customers of Yes Bank.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Sebi on Tuesday sent a notice to Yes Bank's former MD and CEO Rana Kapoor, asking him to pay Rs 2.22 crore in a case of mis-selling the private sector lender's AT1 bonds and warned of arrest and attachment of assets as well as bank accounts if he fails to make the payment within 15 days.
Kapoor has been in jail since March 2020 in connection with the DHFL money laundering case.
The demand notice came after Kapoor failed to pay the fine imposed on him by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in September 2022. In a notice, Sebi directed Kapoor to pay Rs 2.22 crore, which includes interest and recovery costs, within 15 days. In the event of non-payment of dues, the market regulator will recover the amount by attaching and selling his moveable and immovable property. Besides, Kapoor faces attachment of his bank accounts and arrest.
In September 2022, the regulator imposed a penalty of Rs 2 crore on Kapoor in the matter.
The case relates to mis-selling of the bank's AT1 (Additional Tier-1) bonds to retail investors by the bank's officials. It was alleged that the bank and certain officials did not inform investors of the risk involved while selling the AT-1 bonds in the secondary market. The sale of AT1 bonds started in 2016 and continued till 2019.
In its order, Sebi stated that Kapoor was overseeing the entire operation relating to the secondary sale of AT-1 bonds, taking regular updates from the team and giving them further instructions to increase the sales, thus creating pressure on the officials to ramp up the sales.
Further, the regulator stated that Kapoor was responsible for acts of misrepresentation or suppression of material facts, manipulation and mis-spelling of AT-1 bonds of Yes Bank to individual investors. Also, Kapoor pressured officials of the private wealth management team to devise a devious scheme to dump the AT-1 bonds on hapless customers of Yes Bank.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Tata Motors today reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,300.65 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, riding on sharp improvements in performance of its British arm Jaguar Land Rover and commercial vehicles business.
The company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 4,950.97 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing.
Consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 1,01,528.49 crore, as compared to Rs 71,227.76 crore in the year-ago period, it added.
Total expenses were at Rs 98,266.93 crore, as against Rs 77,783.69 crore in the same quarter a year ago, the company said.
On a standalone basis, loss after tax narrowed to Rs 64.04 crore, from Rs 181.03 crore in the year-ago period, the filing said.
Standalone revenue from operations were at Rs 15,733.05 crore, as compared to 14,793.12 crore, it added.
Overall, Tata Motors said it continued its strong performance in Q1 FY24 showing a sharp improvement driven by JLR and commercial vehicles businesses, whilst the passenger vehicles business was steady, the company said.
"FY24 has begun on the right note with all automotive verticals delivering strong performances. The distinct strategy employed by each business is now delivering consistent results and making them structurally stronger. We remain confident of sustaining this momentum in the rest of the year and achieve our stated goals," Tata Motors Group Chief Financial Officer PB Balaji said.
JLR revenues in Q1 FY24 was at 6.9 billion pounds, up 57 per cent (y-o-y), while profit before tax was at 435 million pounds, it said, adding the higher profitability year-on-year reflects favourable volume, mix, pricing and foreign exchange revaluation offset partially by higher inflation and supplier claims.
"We have had a strong start to the financial year and delivered our highest production levels in nine quarters and our highest Q1 cash flow on record. This is testament to the thousands of determined people in the business working tirelessly to deliver every aspect of our Reimagine strategy," JLR's newly appointed CEO Adrian Mardell said.
On the outlook for JLR, the company said Q2 production and cash flow is expected to be lower than Q1, reflecting the annual summer plant shutdown, while wholesales and profitability are expected to be more in line with recent quarters.
Tata Commercial Vehicles revenue was up 4.4 per cent at Rs 17,000 crore with domestic wholesales at 82,400 units, down 14.1 per cent y-o-y, while domestic retails were at 77,600 units down 14.3 per cent, the company said.
Tata Motors Ltd Executive Director Girish Wagh said the company successfully upgraded its entire portfolio beyond the mandatory requirements for BS6 Phase 2 transition.
"We were impacted in the earlier part of the quarter with availability issues due to this large transition but delivered sequentially improved performance as the quarter progressed," he added.
Looking ahead, Wagh said, "We remain optimistic on the demand environment even as it continues to face the headwinds of high interest rates, fuel prices and inflation. We will continue to drive our demand-pull strategy and step up our competitiveness with improved availability of our exciting range of products as the year progresses." On the passenger vehicles (PV) segment, Tata Motors said Q1 revenue was at Rs 12,800 crore, up 11.1 per cent driven by improved pricing with volumes growing by 7.7 per cent to 1,40,400 units.
The electric vehicles profitability is likely to improve in the second half of the year onwards, it added.
"The Passenger Vehicle industry in Q1 FY24 witnessed robust demand driven by new launches, especially in the SUV segment and EVs...
"In line with industry trend, SUVs continued to spearhead (Tata Motors PV) sales contributing around 64 per cent while sales of cars were buoyed by the multi-power train offerings of the Tiago and Altroz," Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd Managing Director Shailesh Chandra said.
On the outlook, he said, "We expect a stable supply chain and robust demand with the onset of the festive season in the second half of Q2 FY24."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Tata Motors today reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,300.65 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, riding on sharp improvements in performance of its British arm Jaguar Land Rover and commercial vehicles business.
The company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 4,950.97 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, Tata Motors said in a regulatory filing.
Consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 1,01,528.49 crore, as compared to Rs 71,227.76 crore in the year-ago period, it added.
Total expenses were at Rs 98,266.93 crore, as against Rs 77,783.69 crore in the same quarter a year ago, the company said.
On a standalone basis, loss after tax narrowed to Rs 64.04 crore, from Rs 181.03 crore in the year-ago period, the filing said.
Standalone revenue from operations were at Rs 15,733.05 crore, as compared to 14,793.12 crore, it added.
Overall, Tata Motors said it continued its strong performance in Q1 FY24 showing a sharp improvement driven by JLR and commercial vehicles businesses, whilst the passenger vehicles business was steady, the company said.
"FY24 has begun on the right note with all automotive verticals delivering strong performances. The distinct strategy employed by each business is now delivering consistent results and making them structurally stronger. We remain confident of sustaining this momentum in the rest of the year and achieve our stated goals," Tata Motors Group Chief Financial Officer PB Balaji said.
JLR revenues in Q1 FY24 was at 6.9 billion pounds, up 57 per cent (y-o-y), while profit before tax was at 435 million pounds, it said, adding the higher profitability year-on-year reflects favourable volume, mix, pricing and foreign exchange revaluation offset partially by higher inflation and supplier claims.
"We have had a strong start to the financial year and delivered our highest production levels in nine quarters and our highest Q1 cash flow on record. This is testament to the thousands of determined people in the business working tirelessly to deliver every aspect of our Reimagine strategy," JLR's newly appointed CEO Adrian Mardell said.
On the outlook for JLR, the company said Q2 production and cash flow is expected to be lower than Q1, reflecting the annual summer plant shutdown, while wholesales and profitability are expected to be more in line with recent quarters.
Tata Commercial Vehicles revenue was up 4.4 per cent at Rs 17,000 crore with domestic wholesales at 82,400 units, down 14.1 per cent y-o-y, while domestic retails were at 77,600 units down 14.3 per cent, the company said.
Tata Motors Ltd Executive Director Girish Wagh said the company successfully upgraded its entire portfolio beyond the mandatory requirements for BS6 Phase 2 transition.
"We were impacted in the earlier part of the quarter with availability issues due to this large transition but delivered sequentially improved performance as the quarter progressed," he added.
Looking ahead, Wagh said, "We remain optimistic on the demand environment even as it continues to face the headwinds of high interest rates, fuel prices and inflation. We will continue to drive our demand-pull strategy and step up our competitiveness with improved availability of our exciting range of products as the year progresses." On the passenger vehicles (PV) segment, Tata Motors said Q1 revenue was at Rs 12,800 crore, up 11.1 per cent driven by improved pricing with volumes growing by 7.7 per cent to 1,40,400 units.
The electric vehicles profitability is likely to improve in the second half of the year onwards, it added.
"The Passenger Vehicle industry in Q1 FY24 witnessed robust demand driven by new launches, especially in the SUV segment and EVs...
"In line with industry trend, SUVs continued to spearhead (Tata Motors PV) sales contributing around 64 per cent while sales of cars were buoyed by the multi-power train offerings of the Tiago and Altroz," Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd Managing Director Shailesh Chandra said.
On the outlook, he said, "We expect a stable supply chain and robust demand with the onset of the festive season in the second half of Q2 FY24."
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Number of entities, including individuals, who filed income tax returns increased by 6.18 per cent in 2022-23 to over 7.40 crore, of which about 5.16 crore declared zero tax liability, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.
"There has been a 6.18 per cent increase in the number of persons filing Income Tax Returns in F.Y. 2022-23 as compared to persons in F.Y. 2021-22," she said in the Lok Sabha.
India's gross direct tax collection grew 20.33 per cent to over Rs 19.68 lakh crore in 2022-23 fiscal.
As per the return filing data shared by Sitharaman, the number of persons who filed income tax returns during the last four years has shown an increase.
Over 7.40 crore ITRs were filed in 2022-23, of which over 5.16 crore had zero tax liability.
Similarly, for 2021-22 fiscal, over 6.94 crore ITRs were filed, of which over 5.05 crore had zero tax liability.
Over 6.72 crore and 6.47 crore ITRs were filed in 2020-21 and 2019-20 fiscal years.
Of this, over 4.84 crore and 2.90 crore assessees had zero tax liability.
The Government has taken several steps, like expansion of the scope of TDS/TCS, simplification of personal I-T, prefiling of ITRs, updated returns, new form 26AS and non-filers monitoring system, which has helped in adding taxpayers.
"E-mails and SMS reminders are issued to taxpayers to file their ITRs and pay their due taxes," Sitharaman said, adding the tax department is also undertaking publicity campaigns to raise awareness about filing tax returns. PTI JD CS MR
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The government has ratified the rate of interest at 8.15 per cent rate on deposits under the Employees Provident Fund scheme for the financial year 2022-23.
Retirement fund body EPFO on March 28, 2023, had marginally raised the interest rate on employees' provident fund (EPF) deposits to 8.15 per cent for 2022-23 for its over six crore subscribers.
As per an official order issued on Monday, the EPFO has asked the filed offices for crediting the interest at 8.15 per cent on EPF for 2022-23 into the accounts of members.
The order came after the finance ministry's concurrence to the EPF rate of interest approved by EPFO trustees earlier in March this year.
Now the EPFO field offices will start the process of crediting the interest into subscribers' accounts.
In March 2022, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had reduced the interest rate on EPF deposits for 2021-22 to a four-decade low of 8.10 per cent from 8.5 per cent in 2020-21.
This was the lowest since 1977-78, when the EPF interest rate stood at 8 per cent.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The government has ratified the rate of interest at 8.15 per cent rate on deposits under the Employees Provident Fund scheme for the financial year 2022-23.
Retirement fund body EPFO on March 28, 2023, had marginally raised the interest rate on employees' provident fund (EPF) deposits to 8.15 per cent for 2022-23 for its over six crore subscribers.
As per an official order issued on Monday, the EPFO has asked the filed offices for crediting the interest at 8.15 per cent on EPF for 2022-23 into the accounts of members.
The order came after the finance ministry's concurrence to the EPF rate of interest approved by EPFO trustees earlier in March this year.
Now the EPFO field offices will start the process of crediting the interest into subscribers' accounts.
In March 2022, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had reduced the interest rate on EPF deposits for 2021-22 to a four-decade low of 8.10 per cent from 8.5 per cent in 2020-21.
This was the lowest since 1977-78, when the EPF interest rate stood at 8 per cent.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The government has granted the sanction to prosecute Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation's joint drugs controller S Eswara Reddy, clearing the decks for initiating a trial against him for allegedly taking a bribe to favourably recommend Biocon Biologics' insulin injection, officials said Sunday. The CBI submitted the sanction for prosecution, accorded by the Director (Vigilance) in the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare, before a special court here.
Repeated calls made to the office phone of Reddy seeking his comments remained unanswered.
The agency has also received the sanction against Animesh Kumar, Assistant Drugs Inspector, who is a co-accused in the case, they said.
Apart from Reddy and Animesh Kumar, the CBI had also arrested Biocon Biologics' Associate Vice President L Praveen Kumar, Synergy Network India Private Limited director Dinesh Dua, who allegedly gave Reddy Rs 4 lakh as bribe, and Guljit Sethi, an alleged conduit of Biocon Biologics.
The arrests were made in June last year in the bribery case allegedly to waive the Phase 3 clinical trial of 'Insulin Aspart' injection, a product developed by the company to manage Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
However, Biocon Biologics, a subsidiary of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw-led Biocon, denied the allegations of bribery.
Reddy was suspended but the health ministry revoked his last year and reinstated him as the joint drugs controller. The agency had filed the charge sheet in August last year against the accused persons, but the trial had not commenced as the sanction for prosecution, a mandatory requirement before proceedings in a case against a government servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act can be initiated, was awaited, they said.
In its charge sheet filed in August last year, the agency alleged the bribe payment was made to Reddy after clearance from associate vice president of Biocon Biologics L Praveen Kumar, they said.
After the charge sheet was filed, the company had said in a statement that it follows global best practices in regulatory science which have earned it the distinction of being the only Indian company with the largest number of regulatory approvals for Biosimilars in ICH countries like the USA, Canada, EU, Japan amongst others.
"We have followed due process in seeking phase 3 waiver from DCGI for our biosimilar product Insulin Aspart, as per the current provisions and with precedence of the word 'protocol' used for such approvals. Insulin Aspart was approved by the EU and Canada respectively prior to the filing of an application before the Indian CDSCO, and this is one of the considerations for the grant of an Indian approval," the statement had said.
It said under the Indian regulations, approval for a foreign-approved drug is not an exception, as surmised by the investigating agency and is in fact, within the rules.
"The company has not made any payments to Bioinnovat Research or any other party named to facilitate the alleged bribe to the CDSCO official. We deny other allegations of wrongdoings in seeking approval for Insulin Aspart under existing provisions and precedence. We reiterate our confidence in the judicial system and have fully cooperated with the investigating agency," it had said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The government has granted the sanction to prosecute Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation's joint drugs controller S Eswara Reddy, clearing the decks for initiating a trial against him for allegedly taking a bribe to favourably recommend Biocon Biologics' insulin injection, officials said Sunday. The CBI submitted the sanction for prosecution, accorded by the Director (Vigilance) in the Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare, before a special court here.
Repeated calls made to the office phone of Reddy seeking his comments remained unanswered.
The agency has also received the sanction against Animesh Kumar, Assistant Drugs Inspector, who is a co-accused in the case, they said.
Apart from Reddy and Animesh Kumar, the CBI had also arrested Biocon Biologics' Associate Vice President L Praveen Kumar, Synergy Network India Private Limited director Dinesh Dua, who allegedly gave Reddy Rs 4 lakh as bribe, and Guljit Sethi, an alleged conduit of Biocon Biologics.
The arrests were made in June last year in the bribery case allegedly to waive the Phase 3 clinical trial of 'Insulin Aspart' injection, a product developed by the company to manage Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
However, Biocon Biologics, a subsidiary of Kiran Mazumdar Shaw-led Biocon, denied the allegations of bribery.
Reddy was suspended but the health ministry revoked his last year and reinstated him as the joint drugs controller. The agency had filed the charge sheet in August last year against the accused persons, but the trial had not commenced as the sanction for prosecution, a mandatory requirement before proceedings in a case against a government servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act can be initiated, was awaited, they said.
In its charge sheet filed in August last year, the agency alleged the bribe payment was made to Reddy after clearance from associate vice president of Biocon Biologics L Praveen Kumar, they said.
After the charge sheet was filed, the company had said in a statement that it follows global best practices in regulatory science which have earned it the distinction of being the only Indian company with the largest number of regulatory approvals for Biosimilars in ICH countries like the USA, Canada, EU, Japan amongst others.
"We have followed due process in seeking phase 3 waiver from DCGI for our biosimilar product Insulin Aspart, as per the current provisions and with precedence of the word 'protocol' used for such approvals. Insulin Aspart was approved by the EU and Canada respectively prior to the filing of an application before the Indian CDSCO, and this is one of the considerations for the grant of an Indian approval," the statement had said.
It said under the Indian regulations, approval for a foreign-approved drug is not an exception, as surmised by the investigating agency and is in fact, within the rules.
"The company has not made any payments to Bioinnovat Research or any other party named to facilitate the alleged bribe to the CDSCO official. We deny other allegations of wrongdoings in seeking approval for Insulin Aspart under existing provisions and precedence. We reiterate our confidence in the judicial system and have fully cooperated with the investigating agency," it had said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
