1. Record fund raising by companies through IPO in 2021
Tags: Economics/Business
- In 2021 63 companies raised Rs 1.19 lakh crores through Initial Public Offerings (IPO).
- This is 4.5 times more than the fund raised in 2020 by the companies .
- In 2020 15 companies raised Rs 26,613 crore from the market through IPO.
- The largest IPO ever in India was that of One 97 Communication ,the parent company of Paytm of Rs 18,300 crore.
IPO (Initial Public Offerings ) When an unlisted company sells its equity shares to the public to raise capital.
Here unlisted company means a company whose equity shares are not listed on any stock exchange like NSE,BSE etc in India.
2. European Investment Bank will provide loan for Agra Metro Project
Tags: Economics/Business
- The European Investment Bank (EIB) had approved a total loan of Euro 450 million to fund the Agra Metro Rail Project.
- It has signed an agreement with the Government of India to provide 250 million euro as first tranche of the loan .
- Headquarters of European Investment Bank : Luxembourg
3. RBI fines Payment Operators
Tags: Economics/Business
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of ₹1 crore each on payment system operators One Mobikwik Systems Private Ltd. and Spice Money Ltd. for deficiencies in regulatory compliance.
- These two entities had not complied with the directions issued by the Reserve Bank on net-worth requirements for Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs).
- According to RBI the minimum net worth of a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs) shall be Rs 100 crore ,which has to be maintained all time.
- Under The payment and settlement act 2007 ,RBI is the regulator of the Payment operators and has the power to fine them if they do not follow the rules and regulation of RBI
NOTE
- The Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an interoperable platform for repetitive bill payments, and currently covers five segments -- direct-to-home (DTH), electricity, gas, telecom, and water bills.
- Banks or NBFC (Non Banking Finance Company) who have received licence from RBI can offer these services through the BBPS and they are called as BBPOUs or Payment operators .
4. KfW will provide loans to Madhya Pradesh for its energy reform programme
Tags: Economics/Business
- It will provide Euro 140 million reduced interest loan and Euro 2 million grant for Energy Reform Programme, Madhya Pradesh.
- The project comprises 2 components namely, implementation of smart meters & Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI); and separation of agriculture & non-agriculture feeders.
5. Foreign Loans to India
Tags: Economics/Business
KfW to provide USD 169.5 million loan to REC
- German Development bank KfW will provide an ODA loan of USD 169.5 million(Rs 1275 Crore ) to Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) to finance Power Sector and Renewable Energy Projects.
- This loan is being provided under the Indo-German Bilateral Partnership.
- The ODA loan will be deployed in part-financing power generation projects that are based on innovative solar photovoltaic technology,
ODA : Overseas Development Assistance
It is the government aid/loan given by the developed countries to developing countries for its economic development and welfare . The aid or loans cannot be used for military purposes or for commercial purposes like export promotions . The loan is given at a very low interest rate. And has a very long repayment period..
6. India added 33 Unicorns in 2021- the highest ever
Tags: Economics/Business
To the point:
- Hurun Research Institute has released the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021.
- According to the report India has displaced the United Kingdom to be third in the list by adding 33 "unicorns" in a single year.
- The United States and China occupy the first two ranks. The top-two occupants are home to 74% of the unicorn universe.
- The U.S. added 254 unicorns and now totals 487 companies in the coveted list, while China added 74 to take its tally to 301 start-ups having a valuation of more than $1 billion.
- The U.K. added only 15 unicorns to take its total to 39, and hence got displaced by India.
- India is in the midst of a start-up boom, more than doubling its unicorns to take its official tally of unicorns to 54, and overtake the U.K. to third place in the world.
Hurun India Future Unicorn List:
This list highlights India’s fast growing start-up ecosystem to investors, governments, family offices, aspiring entrepreneurs and the international community.
- Hurun Research Institute has classified these start-ups as:
- Unicorns (start-ups founded after the year 2000 with a valuation of US$1bn),
- Gazelles (start-ups that are most likely to go Unicorn in the next 2 years) and
- Cheetahs (could go Unicorn in the next 4 years).
The evaluation is based on regulatory filings, feedback from other entrepreneurs and some of the active India-focused VC funds and angel investors.
7. ADB loans to India
Tags: Economics/Business
The Government of India has signed various agreements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for financing various projects in India.
- ADB will provide $112 million for setting up a skill university in Assam.
- It will provide a $150 million loan for a sustainable housing project for the urban poor in the state of Tamil Nadu.
- It will provide a $350 million policy-based loan to the Government of India to improve access to urban services in India by accelerating policy actions and reforms to enhance service delivery and promote performance-based central fiscal transfers to urban local bodies (ULBs).
8. Rs 5.49 Lakh Crore recovered by Public Sector Bank from defaulters
Tags: Economics/Business
- The Finance Minister informed the Lok Sabha that public sector banks have recovered Rs 5.49 lakh crore from defaulters in the last seven years.
- She also said that Rs 13,109.71 crore was recovered from the sale of assets of the fugitive defaulters Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallaya and Mehul Choksi as of July 2021.
Fugitive economic offender
The Economic fugitive Offender act 2018, defines an economic offender as a person who has committed an offence like counterfeiting of currency notes,dishonouring of cheques, default on payment of loans etc and the value of offence is more than Rs 100 crore.
9. Vedanta buys Nickel and Cobalt producing company Nicomet
Tags: Economics/Business
- Anil Aggarwal company Vedanta ltd. has bought the Goa based Nickel and Cobalt producing company Nicomet.
- This will make Vedanta the sole company in India to produce nickel.
- Nickel, a strategic mineral, is a vital input for manufacturing stainless steel and batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
- Similarly, cobalt is a key element for lithium-ion batteries for EVs and energy storage systems, besides other use cases such as a superalloy for steelmaking.
- India’s demand for nickel is pegged at 45 Kilo Tonne Per annum (KTPA), which is entirely met through imports. Nicomet has a capacity to produce 7.5 KTPA nickel and cobalt.
- India imports its nickel mainly from Guinea and Australia.
10. Government allows Palm oil import without license to bring down the prices
Tags: Economics/Business
- The Government of India has allowed traders to import refined palm oil without licence for one more year till December 2022, in a move aimed at increasing domestic supplies and bringing down the high prices of edible oils.
- India is the largest importer of edible oil/palm oil in the world.
- The major source of Palm oil imports for India are Indonesia followed by Malaysia
- The largest producer of Palm oil in the world is Indonesia followed by Malaysia.
- The largest producer of palm oil in India is Andhra Pradesh followed by Telangana.
Palm oil is the preferred oil in India's Hotel/Recreation and Catering sector as it is comparatively cheaper than other soft oils such as soybean and sunflower, has a longer shelf life, and is stable at high temperatures used in frying. Meanwhile groundnut, soybean and mustard oils are popular household cooking oils in the country.
