Page 19 - Fundings

Govt extends animal husbandry infra fund worth Rs 29,610 cr till 2025-26

The Union Cabinet on Thursday extended the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) till 2025-26. In June 2020, the government had approved setting up of AHIDF worth Rs 15,000 crore. According to an official statement on Thursday, the Cabinet approved the "continuation of Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) to be implemented under Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF) with an outlay of Rs 29,610.25 crore for another three years up to 2025-26." The scheme will incentivize investments for dairy processing and product diversification, meat processing and product diversification, animal feed plant, breed multiplication farm, animal waste to wealth management (Agri-waste management) and veterinary vaccine and drug production facilities. "Government of India will provide 3 per cent interest subvention for 8 years including two years of moratorium for loan up to 90 per cent from the scheduled bank and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC)

'Tata Steel to consider investment in UK plant, if govt funding available'

Tata Steel would consider additional future investments in its Port Talbot plant in the UK, if more government funding was made available, the company's Chief executive T V Narendran said on Wednesday. The UK government has already agreed to a 500 million pound package to support the loss-making steel plant which was facing shutdown over high carbon emission. The plant employs around 8,000 people. As part of its restructuring plan backed by the government funding, Tata Steel will replace the blast furnaces at the unit with electric furnaces to use recycled steel in order to reduce carbon emission. However, the installation of low-emission system will lead to a loss of 2,800 jobs as electric furnaces need less manpower. "The electric arc furnaces need not be the end, it is the beginning," Narendran told the Welsh Affairs Committee of the House of Commons. Earlier, steel unions had also suggested the UK government to put more money into securing the future of Tata Steel. The company

Ugro Capital raises Rs 250 crore in debt from Asian Development Bank

MSME-focused non-banking lender Ugro Capital on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 250 crore in debt from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The funding from the developmental lender through subscribing to its non-convertible debentures will be used for on-lending. The company had raised a similar amount of debt in December 2023 through a similar debt sale from the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO. Ugro has an asset under management of Rs 8,363.8 crore as of December 2023. Over the last five years, it has raised a total of Rs 9,137.8 crore in equity and debt from diverse institutional sources, Ugro founder and managing director Shachindra Nath said. Suzanne Gaboury, director-general for private sector operations at ADB, said MSME finance is a key driver for financial inclusion, and Ugro's efforts at solving the credit need of small businesses are in line with the bank's vision of promoting inclusive and sustainable prosperity in Asia and the Pacific.

Winning, losing and entrepreneurship

There have been numerous books on startups, big and small, but writer-entrepreneur and motivational speaker Alok Kejriwal's account of success stays with the readers

PNB board approves fund raising of Rs 7,500 cr via share sale in FY25

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Monday said the board of the bank has given green signal for raising Rs 7,500 crore through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP)/Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) during 2024-25. The decision in this respect was taken in a meeting held on January 29. The board gave nod for raising of equity capital for an amount aggregating up to Rs 7,500 crore in one or more tranches during FY2024-25 through Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP)/Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) or any other permitted mode or a combination, PNB said in a regulatory filing. The fund raising should be done in such a manner that the shareholding of the Government of India does not fall below 52 per cent, it added.

India sends $1 million emergency relief assistance to Papua New Guinea

The relief consignment worth $1 million was airlifted to the capital of West New Britain, Kimbe, from the Papua New Guinea capital, Port Moresby, for distribution within the West New Britain province

Adani Green Energy raises Rs 2,337 crore capital through issue of warrants

Adani Green Energy has raised Rs 2,337.51 crore through an issue of warrants to Ardour Investment Holding on a private placement basis. "Management Committee of Board of Directors of Adani Green Energy at its meeting held on Thursday, has approved the allotment of warrants of the Company, on a preferential basis by way of a private placement, to Ardour Investment Holding Ltd", a BSE filing stated. As per the filing, as many 6,31,43,677 warrants of Rs 1,480.75 each totalling Rs 23,37,51,57,789 are issued. Upon conversion and exercise of the warrants into equity shares of the Company (which shall rank pari passu to the existing fully paid-up equity shares), the warrant holder will hold 3.83 per cent equity stake in the Company, on a fully diluted basis. The equity shares issued upon conversion of the warrants so issued will be listed on BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited.

Indian Bank wholly-owned subsidiary to begin operations in FY25, says MD

Public sector Indian Bank is engaged in floating a wholly-owned subsidiary with a capital infusion of Rs 10 crore and it is expected to commence operations in the next financial year, a top official said here on Thursday. The subsidiary would largely focus on back-office processing, collection, sales and marketing, Indian Bank Managing Director and CEO Shanti Lal Jain said. "Around a week back, we got the financial approval. It will be a wholly-owned subsidiary. We will be putting Rs 10 crore as capital and we are in the process of recruiting people at the top level like CEO, CTO...," he told reporters. The plan to launch a subsidiary is to focus on sales and marketing, collection and recovery process, he said. "There are many works that we are doing. Call centre work, already we are in the process of recruiting people. Maybe in the next financial year, it will be in operation. This subsidiary will not be as big as Indian Bank, they will do our work, feet on the street for collecti

PE/VC bets drop for second year, down 11% at $49.8 bn in 2023: Report

Investments by private equity and venture capital funds declined for the second consecutive year in 2023 after the "funding winter" impacted 2022, a report said on Wednesday. The dedicated funds poured in USD 49.8 billion across 853 deals in 2023, as against USD 56.1 billion in 2022 across 1,273 deals, the report by industry lobby IVCA and consultancy firm EY said. The overall activity declined 34 per cent in 2022, after the all-time high of USD 75.9 billion reached in 2021. The decline in deals was largely because of a lack of interest in investing in India's startups, the report said, specifying that 2023 saw only 472 deals as against 815 in the year-ago period. The funds have "significant amounts of dry powder" and global funds are also looking to increase India's capital allocation, the consultancy's partner Vivek Soni said, adding that he remains "optimistic" about the Indian PE/VC scene for the new year. In 2023, growth investments was the largest segment for PE/VC bets with

More funds for steel sector under hydrogen mission if required: R K Singh

Union Minister R K Singh on Wednesday assured stakeholders that additional funds will be allocated for decarbonisation of the steel sector under National Green Hydrogen Mission, if required. Singh chaired a meeting of government and industry stakeholders of the iron and steel sector in order to discuss pilot projects under the mission, an official statement said. Officials of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Ministry of Steel and industry representatives from the iron and steel sector participated in the deliberations. The Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister said that the funds available under the mission should be used to develop technology for integration of hydrogen in steel making. "Some manufacturers have already begun to experiment using green hydrogen in the steel sector. The idea of this meeting is to decide the avenues in which the funds can be channelled to accelerate this transition, through a transparent selection process which also addresses the ...

Startup funding in India fell 62% to six-year-low in 2023: PrivateCircle

The funding deal volume fell by a sharper 72% in 2023 to 1,444 deals as compared to 5,114 deals in 2022

Hubergroup India in talks with banks, lenders for Rs 1,500 cr funding

The printing inks and chemicals specialist Hubergroup India, is engaging with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Capital, and others to acquire businesses from its German parent company

FinAGG Technologies bags $11 mn funding led by Blue Orchard, Tata Capital

FinAGG Technologies, engaged in MSME financing space, has raised USD 11 million (over Rs 91 crore) in a funding round co-led by global impact investment manager BlueOrchard and Tata Capital Ltd. The Series A funding round also saw participation from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and existing investor Prime Venture Partners, a release said on Thursday. Additionally, FinAGG secured capital from Gray Matter Capital through Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) to empower women entrepreneurs financially. The latest funds infusion will be directed towards expanding FinAGG's offline and online presence, enhancing global outreach, and driving product innovation, it added. "The money that we have raised will go into bringing disruptive changes in this industry. Our Product and Engineering department is currently working on bringing blockchain to an industry which worked on conventional pen and paper underwriting until recently. These new features will help us look at .

Private funding key to capture 20% of $1 trn space economy: Ex-Isro chief

The global space economy will touch the $1 trillion mark in the coming years and private investment is crucial to take India's share in it from present 2-4 per cent to 20 per cent, said former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) A S Kiran Kumar on Thursday. He was addressing entrepreneurs at the launch of LIBF EXPO 2024' organised by Lohana International Business Forum at the Helipad Exhibition Centre in Gandhinagar. India is now the fifth biggest economy in the world and is marching ahead to become the third largest economy in the near future. We will need the participation of a large number of private entrepreneurs to achieve that target, Kumar said in his address as the chief guest of the inaugural ceremony. Global space economy would reach the $1 trillion-mark in the coming years, he said. India's share in that economy, such as making launch vehicles or satellites, is just 2 to 4 per cent at present. If we want to capture a 20 per cent share in the future,

India share of venture capital funding lowest in 5 years, shows data

While the data shows that the world had 71 new unicorns (21 in Asia), India contributed only two of them, as compared with CY22 when it had 22

CredAble records a two-fold increase in loan disbursements in 2023

The company plans to raise $50-75 million by June this year in its series C round

State Bank of India floats scheme to raise funds for green projects

SBI will look at tapping family offices, entities that manage money for high net worth individuals, for garnering green money

Offshore syndication of loans at 15-year high, zooms to $21 bn in 2023

Over $4 bn deals on the cards in Jan-Mar as trend continues

Incubators give warmth to startups in India amid a funding winter

India has the second-largest network of startup incubators and accelerators with 718 such firms

Angel investments in Indian startups maintain pace amid funding winter

Overall deal volumes among startups have hit the skids, investment activity among the country's most active angel investment networks has held relatively steady