Top headlines: LIC gets IPO-ready, NBFCs brace for headwinds, and more

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Getting IPO-ready: LIC boosts shareholders' corpus to Rs 6,600 cr

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has increased the size of its shareholders’ fund to Rs 6,600 crore from Rs 100 crore in a bid to accommodate a larger shareholder base ahead of its public listing. The size of the fund has been enhanced by retaining two years' of dividend and issuing fresh capital, said an official. Increasing the size of the shareholders’ fund will help boost the number of shares for allotment in the insurer’s initial public offering (IPO). Read more

Govt companies, departments way short of capital expenditure target

Despite Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pushing central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to frontload capex, government-owned companies were able to spend only 63.3 per cent of their annual capex target of Rs 5.95 trillion in the first nine months of FY22. Slow capex by CPSEs, as well as central ministries may prove to be a hurdle for the finance minister, who is expected to substantially raise the capex allocation in the FY23 Budget. Read more

Shadow banks brace for headwinds as tighter dud-loan norms start to bite

On November 12, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to ring in uniformity in asset classification and income recognition across all lending institutions. Shadow banks, or non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), like commercial banks, are to test non-performing assets (NPAs) on a daily basis and upgrade them to “standard assets” only when interest and principal arrears are settled by borrowers. Read more 

Budget may be a work of restoration, but challenges facing FM no less steep

If the last Budget was about reviving India’s economy after the contraction of 2020-21, the upcoming one in 2022-23 is all about restoring its health to pre-pandemic levels. And, the challenges facing finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman are no less steep. Recovery has taken place in 2021-22 (FY22). Read more

Gati Shakti national master plan: States to get on board by March-end

The Centre is coordinating with all state governments, hand holding them to integrate state-wise data on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Gati Shakti’ platform for smoother and faster implementation of infrastructure projects in the country. Read more