Page 757 - Business Finance
Vedanta declares 2nd interim dividend of Rs 1.85 per share amounting to Rs 685 cr
Metals and mining major Vedanta Ltd Wednesday announced that its board has approved second interim dividend of Rs 1.85 per equity share for 2018-19 amounting to the total payout of Rs 685 crore. "The board of directors of the company, in their meeting held on March 6, 2019, have approved second interim dividend of Rs 1.85 per equity share i.e. 185 per cent on face value of Re 1 per share for the financial year 2018-19," the company said in a filing to the BSE. The record date for the purpose of dividend payment is March 14, it said adding that the total payout is Rs 685 crore. "With this, the total dividend for the year stands at Rs 18.85 per equity share representing a dividend yield of eight per cent based on last one year average share price of the company," the filing said.
Hindustan Zinc appoints Kiral Agarwal as chairman
Hindustan Zinc Ltd Wednesday announced the appointment of Kiral Agarwal as its chairman. "Kiran Agarwal has been appointed as additional director and chairman of Hindustan Zinc Ltd, with effect from March 2, 2019," the company said in a statement. In this role, she will provide leadership direction to the company in achieving its vision and goals, the statement said. The development follows Agnivesh Agarwal stepping down as chairman of the company. "Agnivesh Agarwal has informed that he is stepping down as chairman and director of Hindustan Zinc Ltd to pursue other interests," the company had said in a filing to the BSE last month. Hindustan Zinc is one of the leading integrated producers of zinc-lead with a capacity of 1 million tonne per annum and a leading producer of silver.
India imports more oil in 5 years of Modi govt; 10% import cut by 2022 remains a dream (with graphic)
India has further strengthened its position of being a net importer of oil during the five years of the Modi government, floundering on an ambitious plan that entailed reducing countrys import dependency of oil by 10 per cent by 2022.
GST NAA finds Abbott Healthcare guilty of profiteering Rs 96.59 lakh
The anti-profiteering authority has found Abbott Healthcare guilty of not passing on the benefit of GST rate reduction to the tune of Rs 96.59 lakh to consumers and asked the Mumbai-based company to deposit the amount in the consumer welfare fund. While investigating a complaint, the Directorate General of Anti Profiteering found the company had not passed on the GST rate cut benefit while selling "Melaglow Rich (Niainamide) Depigmentation & Glow Restoration Cream". The tax rate on the product, which was 30.06 per cent in the pre-GST regime, was reduced to 28 per cent with the rollout of the goods and services tax from July 1, 2017, and further to 18 per cent with effect from November 15, 2017. However, during these periods, the base price of the product was increased from Rs 202.06 to Rs 230.90 per unit which resulted in an increase of the selling price and denial of passing the benefit of tax reduction to the customers. "Thus the total amount the benefit of which was denied to ..
PM inaugurates IOC's Ennore LNG terminal
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday dedicated to the nation Indian Oil Corp's Rs 5,150 crore LNG import terminal at Ennore in Tamil Nadu. IOC through its joint venture company, IndianOil LNG Pvt Ltd set up the 5-million tonnes per annum (MMTPA) capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Kamarajar Port, Ennore, the company said in a statement. The Ennore terminal is the first LNG terminal on the east coast in South India that will serve customers in the southern and eastern region. IOC said it bought a shipload of LNG from Swiss trader, Gunvor for commissioning the terminal. LNG ship 'Golar Snow' carried the supercooled gas from Qatar and berthed at the terminal on February 26 morning. The Ennore LNG Terminal project and associated pipeline infrastructure projects cumulatively account for investments of about Rs 9,000 crore. "In order to supply natural gas to various consumers, IOC is laying a 1244-km pipeline for evacuation of gas from Ennore terminal. The pipeline ...
Agri, MSME, other sectors to benefit from NABARD's institutional loans: Gehlot
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot Wednesday said various sectors including agriculture and MSMEs would benefit from the institutional loan scheme of NABARD in 2019-20. Gehlot was speaking after unveiling of NABARD state focus paper for the year 2019-20. He said the state government was continuously working for the welfare of farmers and NABARD's support will give strength to its efforts. NABARD Chief General Manager Suresh Chand said the bank has estimated to disburse institutional loans of Rs 1.94 lakh crore in the coming financial year 2019-20. As per the state focus paper, the bank aims to disburse loan of Rs 1.35 lakh crore in agriculture, which is 69.39 per cent of the total loans to be disbursed under the scheme. For MSMEs, loans worth Rs 36,032 crore would be disbursed, he added.
NHPC pays Rs 526.53 crore interim dividend to govt
State-run hydro power giant NHPC Wednesday paid an interim dividend of Rs 526.53 crore to the central government for 2018-19. The dividend payout bank advice was presented to Power Minister R K Singh by NHPC Chairman and Managing Director Balraj Joshi on Wednesday, a company statement said. The board of directors of the company in its 422nd meeting held on February 8 had declared an interim dividend at the rate of Rs 0.71 per equity share i.e. 7.10 per cent of the face value. The NHPC has more than seven lakh shareholders and total interim payout for 2018-19 worked out to Rs 713.20 crore. The company had paid the total dividend of Rs 1,436.31 crore at the rate of Rs 1.40 per share for 2017-18 that includes an interim dividend of Rs 1,149.05 crore at the rate of Rs 1.12 per share and final dividend of Rs 287.26 crore at the rate of Rs 0.28 per share. According to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management guidelines issued in May 2016 on the Capital Restructuring of ...
National Centre for Good Governance inks pact with Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Wednesday between the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) and the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) to ensure better utilisation of infrastructure facilities during training programmes, according to an official statement. K V Eapen, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), and Sameer Sharma, Director General and CEO, IICA oversaw the signing of the MoU between NCGG, DARPG and IICA, Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Eapen, who is also the Director General of NCGG, briefed the objective of the MoU that IICA will support the good governance centre for utilization of infrastructure facilities during the training programme of NCGG at Delhi and for academic and intellectual interactions for five years, the statement issued by the Personnel Ministry said. The NCGG has been set up by the government of India under the aegis of DARPG, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. It ..
Zinier raises $22 mn from Accel, Founders Fund and others
Zinier, a field service automation solutions provider, Wednesday said it has raised USD 22 million (about Rs 154 crore) funding, led by Accel along with Founders Fund, Nokia-backed NGP Capital, Qualcomm Ventures LLC and Newfund. The proceeds from the series B funding will be used to accelerate global growth and expand the platform to meet the growing needs of field service organisations, Zinier said in a statement. The statement pointed out that while field service organisations collect massive streams of the data in the field, they aren't able to utilise that data to increase productivity, reduce costs and boost customer satisfaction. Zinier's solution combines artificial intelligence and proactive insights to automate critical back office functions, while providing an all-in-one mobile experience for field technicians. "The market opportunity for platform-based, automated field service is reflected in the huge demand we've seen from customers in infrastructure-heavy sectors, such as
DHFL shares spurt 11 pc after auditor report on fund diversion allegations
Shares of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) zoomed 11 per cent Wednesday after a report by a chartered accountancy firm said there are no indications to confirm allegations that the company has created shell companies to divert funds. The scrip jumped 11.04 per cent to close at Rs 148.80 on the BSE. During the day, it zoomed 20 per cent to Rs 160.80. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), shares rose sharply by 11 per cent to close at Rs 148.75 apiece. The stock reacted positively after a report by a chartered accountancy firm with respect to allegations made against the company by Cobrapost. On the traded volume front, 53.76 lakh shares were traded on the BSE and over 5 crore shares on the NSE during the day. According to a Cobrapost expos in January, DHFL through layers of shell companies allegedly siphoned off Rs 31,000 crore out of the total bank loans of Rs 97,000 crore. DHFL had termed the allegation as "mischievous misadventure". According to the findings by chartered
MCX' cotton stock deposit touches all-time high at 1.81 lakh bales so far
Leading commodity bourse MCX Wednesday said the cotton stock deposit in its accredited warehouses has touched an all-time high of 1,81,200 bales on March 5. The stock deposit stood at 1,16,300 bales on the same day last year, the exchange said in a statement. The stock belongs to ginners, traders, farmers and corporates among other stakeholders who participated in the futures trading in cotton on the exchange platform. "This amply demonstrates the (cotton future) contract's ability to enable cotton stakeholders to effectively manage their price risk," MCX MD and CEO Mrugank Paranjape said. This shows the platform is not only providing efficient risk management tools to the stakeholders, but is also facilitating a robust system for participants to tender and receive delivery, Multi Commodity Exchange Clearing Corporation MD and CEO Narendra Ahlawat said. The highest ever cotton deposit in MCX accredited warehouses once again reaffirms the confidence of the cotton stakeholders in the ...
Infosys allots 2.79 lakh equity shares
Under Stock Incentive Compensation Plan
84% of Indian politicians' websites insecure: Study
At a time when the website of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remained inaccessible to users for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, a new study has revealed that 84 per cent of Indian politicians' websites are insecure.
IATA recommends risk-based approach to aviation security
Global airlines grouping IATA has recommended to the government a risk-based outcome-focused approach to aviation security in the country, which logged a double digit passenger traffic growth between 2014 and 2018. IATA (International Air Transport Association) in a study paper released Wednesday also recommended a slew of other measures such as allowing the use of mobile boarding passes, self-tagging options, adopting risk-based approaches instead of 100 percent in baggage screening and automation in immigration facilities, among others. "To sustain traffic growth in a continuously evolving threat environment and to ensure that capabilities and scarce resources are concentrated where the risk is highest, IATA believes in risk-based outcome-focused frameworks, balanced against industry stakeholders and governments capability, to manage threats," the study, titled 'Aviation facilitation and security priorities for enhancing the passenger journey at airports in India', ...
CII, MeitY ink pact on startups
Confederation of Indian Industry signed a three-year agreement with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Wednesday to strengthen the startup ecosystem in the country. "As part of the MoU, startups in electronics and IT sector, being incubated by MeitY, will be brought under the ambit of CII's Corporate-Start-up Business Connect Platform which will help them connect with industry for mutual benefits and gaining access to international markets," CII said. Companies will handhold the startups by mentoring them, guiding them, bringing them in the supply chain if possible and investing in them if they see potential for mutual business benefits. The pairing of the two will be purely on commercial basis, with business interest and profitability in mind on both sides. Under the MoU, mutual soft-landing platforms for startups between India and other countries will also be explored. The MeitY Startup Hub and CII will together work on creating an enabling ecosystem ..
Will roll out one Citreon model each year in India starting 2021-end: PSA Groupe
European auto major PSA Groupe brand Citroen plans to roll out one new model each year in India, starting end of 2021 when it aims to launch its first vehicle in the country, a top company official said. The company is also looking for around 90 per cent localisation in its products to make them cost efficient and affordable for the Indian market. "We will launch the first model latest by 2021 end and then every year after that we will have a new vehicle," Citroen CEO Linda Jackson told PTI here in an interaction on the sidelines of 89th edition of Geneva Motor Show. The company globally follows a strategy of launching only one new car every year in order to get the quality right, she added. Jackson said the company has developed a programme of international models which it will be introducing across a number of regions, starting India. When asked about the models, she said,"We are in process of launching electric cars in Europe but we are still offering diesel and petrol. So when we .
Samsung confident of regaining top spot in volume terms in India
Tech giant Samsung is confident of regaining its leadership position in volume terms in the hyper-competitive Indian smartphone market this year on the back of new products like the recently launched India-first 'M' series. Samsung Electronics President and CEO (IT & Mobile Communications Division) D J Koh said the company has been the market leader in terms of revenue in the October-December quarter as well as the entire 2018 calendar year. "They (Xiaomi) are number one in terms of shipment, but in terms of revenue Samsung is dominant number one in Indian market not only in fourth quarter of last year but full 2018, Samsung was number one. But in terms of number of devices, I want to bring back my position in volume terms," he told reporters here. Koh noted that Samsung is heavily invested in the Indian market with its largest mobile manufacturing facility and experience centre located in the country. "We are not relaxed, we will keep going... we have our own long-term roadmap...
Jio propels Mukesh Ambani to 13th spot in Forbes' billionaire list
The phenomenal growth of Reliance Jio, backed by its ultra-cheap data plans that has transformed the telecom scenario in India, has helped Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani move six places up to rank 13th in US magazine Forbes' "World's Billionaire list 2019".
Mumbai world's 16th most costly prime residential market: Report
Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, is the 16th most expensive prime residential market in the world, a Knight Frank report said on Wednesday.