Top headlines: Govt plans bank with $13.7 bn equity, Dec services PMI dips

Business Standard brings you top news of the evening.

Govt considers creating bank with $13.7 bn equity to fund roads, ports

India is considering a proposal to create a bank to help fund port, road and power projects as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration aims to lift Asia’s third-largest economy out of the recession. The new entity, likely to be part of the budget announcement in February, may have an equity capital of 1 trillion rupees ($13.7 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as the matter isn’t public. The existing India Infrastructure Finance Co., which has a 20 billion rupee corpus, will be merged with the bank, they said. Read more

Services sector loses steam, December PMI falls to 52.3 from 53.7 in Nov

Growth in India's dominant services industry continued to lose momentum in December as a resurgence in coronavirus infections weighed on new business and employment, a private survey showed on Wednesday. Asia's third-largest economy has been gradually recovering from a coronavirus-induced recession but is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels soon, especially within the service industry - the engine of economic growth and jobs in the country. The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 52.3 in December from November's 53.7 but held above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for a third straight month. Read more

Bidding for spectrum worth Rs 3.92 trillion to start from March 1

Bidding for the sixth round of spectrum auction for radiowaves worth Rs 3.92 trillion will start from March 1, according to a notice issued by the government on Wednesday. The Union Cabinet had approved a proposal for the auction of 2,251.25 Megahertz (MHz) of spectrum worth Rs 3.92 trillion at the base price on December 17, 2020. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has fixed January 12 for the pre-bid conference and last date for seeking clarification to the notice on January 28. Read more

WHO issues rare public rebuke to China for delaying virus team

The World Health Organization expressed disappointment with China for delaying the travel of experts to the Asian country to investigate the origin of the virus, in a rare instance of public criticism from the international organization. Chinese officials have not yet finalized permission to allow WHO-appointed experts to enter the country even as some of them embarked on travel, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a briefing on Tuesday. The delay comes despite months of negotiation and planning between Chinese officials and the 10-member expert team. Read more

Tata Motors to re-launch flagship SUV Safari in a new avatar this month

The Tata Safari, the erstwhile SUV which became synonymous with the segment and ruled the Indian roads for close to two decades, will soon be back in a new avatar codenamed Gravitas. In its new avatar, “The Safari will carry forward this rich idea and its strong legacy,” Tata Motors said in a statement. It will commence bookings for the new generation Safari, shortly. The model will arrive in the showroom later this month, the compoany said. Read more