Top headlines: Centre to step up borrowing; Adani Group wins big in FY22

India's big business groups owned by families continue to steal a march over their bigger rivals. More on this is our top headlines.

The Centre's borrowing from the bond markets in the first half of FY23 will be slightly less front-loaded than in previous years. Head further down for more on that and other stories in our top headlines.

Centre plans to borrow 59% of FY23 debt target in April-September

The central government plans to borrow Rs 8.45 trillion from the bond markets in the first half (April-September) of FY2022-23 to fund the revenue gap for reviving the economy, the finance ministry said on Thursday. This will be around 59 per cent of the lowered full-year gross borrowing target of Rs 14.31 trillion. “The borrowing is scheduled to be completed in 26 weekly tranches of Rs 32,000-33,000 crore. The borrowing will be spread under 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, 30 and 40-year securities (G-secs) and floating-rate bonds of various tenors,” the ministry said. Read more
 

Mukesh Ambani family case: I-T department concludes tax proceedings

The Income-Tax (I-T) Department has closed the proceedings against members of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s family under the provisions of Black Money Act, 2015, initiated by the department in 2019 for alleged undisclosed foreign income and assets. Read more
 

Adani Group wins big in FY22 with 88% surge in market capitalisation

India’s big business groups owned by families continue to steal a march over their bigger rivals. The big three business groups in terms of market capitalisation — the Tatas, the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate, and Adani Group — together accounted for 34.2 per cent of the combined market capitalisation of all family-owned enterprises in the country, up from 31 per cent at the end of March 2021 and 22 per cent at the end of December 2016. Read more

EVs face a burning question of safety after serial fire incidents

Serial fire incidents involving Okinawa Autotech, Ola S1 Pro and Pure EV within a week have prompted all the stakeholders, including the government and electric vehicle (EV) makers, to swing into damage-control mode. On Tuesday night, videos of an electric scooter model of Pune-based Pure EV, a seven-year-old EV two-wheeler maker, engulfed in flames in Chennai went viral on social media. It was the fourth such incident involving e-scooters within a week, putting in doubt the safety of battery-operated two-wheelers. Home-grown Okinawa, meanwhile, recorded two incidents. Read more
 

Linking PAN & Aadhaar is inevitable: What happens after March 31

Earlier, the permanent account number (PAN) of taxpayers, who had not linked it with Aadhaar, was set to become inoperative from April 1, 2022. However, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued a notification close to the deadline providing relief. Now, taxpayers can link their PAN with Aadhaar even from April 1, 2022 onwards. However, they will have to pay a fee now. Read more