Page 3 - Subhomoy Bhattacharjee

India sweetens oil block bids with lease reform, arbitration freedom

Expanded definitions, arbitration rights and lease flexibility mark major policy shift as government tries to revive interest in nearly exhausted oil exploration blocks

Ajay Narayan Jha steps down from Finance Commission with 6 months to go

The former finance secretary was appointed secretary, expenditure, in the Ministry of Finance in October 2017 and remained in office until February 2019

ED leads finance ministry pack, but conviction rates offer cold comfort

The finance ministry houses a dozen or so investigative agencies but the large pendency of cases in various courts and tribunals raises questions about where their efforts are headed

Govt looks to increase RRTS lines, but funding, viability questions remain

Even though the cost savings in time-value metrics are significant, the RRTS routes are yet to find a viable public-private financing model

A string of airports in Gangetic plains aims to change the face of travel

These airports in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal could also provide logistics services and help bring down notoriously high freight charges out of these states

More R&D, easier labour laws needed to counter Trump's tariffs, say experts

Providing more incentives to Indian industry to blunt the impact of the tariffs is unlikely to help, as will be any retaliatory measures; instead, lowering duties on intermediate goods will do more go

PM Modi's Sri Lanka visit aims to counter China's growing influence

Investment in the Port City, seen as a micro version of the Dubai International Financial Centre, is, however, not a priority for India

Rail passengers pick other options as space crunch hobbles ease of travel

The Railways has an ambitious plan to use land parcels to create holding areas for passengers but many of those spaces have been encroached upon, putting pressure on platforms and leading to stampedes

RIL's KG-D6 basin arbitration case highlights gaps in government's approach

The final outcome of all arbitral cases have gone in favour of the government; ironically, the finance ministry itself advised departments to exercise caution when challenging awards for larger cases

Steep hike in cess to pay for higher pension costs darkens outlook for CIL

JP Morgan recently cut the per-share target price of the state-owned firm by almost Rs 35, largely on account of a 250 per cent increase in cess on each tonne of coal output

Qatari Amir's visit comes even as India's natural gas usage falls

Besides, the US has also offered to sell India natural gas, a move that would certainly cut into current supplies from the West Asian nation

Railways' capex meets targets, likely to remain at the same level

Despite not getting any additional outlay in the Budget 2025, Railways officials are not worried since their spending numbers sit well with Budget Estimates (BE) for FY25

Budget 2025: Shipbuilding gets big push from govt eyeing global trade

The Maritime Development Fund announced by the FM will have a corpus of Rs 25,000 cr; besides, tax breaks and easier infra credit access to shipbuilders aim to reinvigorate the shipbuilding industry

Budget 2025: Individual credit score boost for 100 mn SHG members

Tucked away as an innocuous para in the Budget document, it says "PSBs will develop a 'Grameen Credit Score' framework to serve the credit needs of SHG members, and people in rural areas"

Pay commissions called for reforms in services, but little happened

While the larger issue of reforms in the civil services has hardly ever been acted upon, except the Sixth Pay Commission others have been prudent in offering wage growth

IIFCL listing on the cards could give a fillip to infra financing

While it signals a return to the government's strategic divestment strategy, the amount raised will fall far short of the spending target for the sector

As Census looms after years of delay, questions over expenditure persist

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is also expected to gather up the unspent capex and allocation for the current fiscal to push for a massive spending effort in FY26

Surety bonds vs bank guarantees: A financial shift in project risk-sharing

The surety bonds market in India has the potential to generate billions of dollars in premiums over the coming years

High premiums, claims disputes create disquiet in insurance landscape

During the winter session, a question was raised about insurance companies investing heavily in real estate or real estate investment trusts (REITs)

India's semiconductor ambitions take wing but water, talent issues remain

Semiconductor manufacturing requires extremely large volumes of pure and cold water, which only some states have; attracting the right talent also a challenge