Podcasts about life insurance corporation

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Tuesday, June 18, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:We have no market updates for you today, as the markets were shut on the occasion of Bakri Eid on Monday.Looking for a new property? You might soon be buying from insurance giant LIC. Anirudh Laskar reports that the Life Insurance Corporation of India is looking to sell some plots and commercial buildings. LIC is India's third-largest landlord, and hopes to net at least 6 billion dollars from these transactions. It has properties in marquee areas such as Delhi's Connaught Place and Kolkata's Chittaranjan Avenue. Since these have been with LIC for decades, a sale valuation of the properties will need to be carried out. Anirudh writes that ascertaining the value of these properties seems to be the biggest hurdle for LIC. Additionally, some of these properties are part of litigations against LIC, complicating the sale process.Last week, financial services company 360 One announced its acquisition of ET Money, a direct investment platform. Neil Borate writes that it's a puzzling transaction. Just FYI, 360 One was earlier known as IIFL Wealth. But now that ET Money, a mutual fund investment platform, will come under the ownership of a mutual fund, the operations get murky. ET Money might be incentivised to sell the products of its parent company but the markets regulator Sebi prevents such cross-selling or preferential treatment. ET Money also has a paid feature named Genius, an advisory service used by more than 75,000 people. How will this new acquisition play out under Sebi's regulations? ET Money's founders have maintained that no such conflicts will occur, Neil writes.When the pandemic set in, most industries came to a standstill, and took a while to get back on track. But the logistics sector wasn't one of them. In fact, with everyone stuck at home, more deliveries took place, propelling logistics to another level. Mahindra Logistics, a third-party logistics provider, was a beneficiary of the boom. The company now rakes in an annual revenue of more than Rs 5,000 crore. By FY26, it wants to double that figure. Madhurima Nandy writes that Mahindra's logistics arm is expanding at a dizzying pace to accomplish that. But it has also started a worrying trend: Mahindra Logistics has recorded a net loss for the first time since it listed on the markets in 2017. E-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho have beefed up their own logistical arms. How will Mahindra Logistics achieve its targets while maintaining profitability? Madhurima explores the possible answers.Ever since Jet Airways and Go First shut down, flight ticket prices have skyrocketed. But the new civil aviation minister has vowed to control these prices. Is this even possible? Anu Sharma explains that the Indian aviation market is quite seasonal. Fares aren't established or regulated by the central government. But the aviation regulator has a unit that monitors airfares on certain routes to not charge beyond a certain range of prices. The government already had regulated an upper and lower limit on airfares during covid — Anu writes that it might resort to the same measures if prices get out of control during the current peak summer season, when leisure travel is at its highest.The genesis of quick commerce in India was rapid: First there was Zepto. Swiggy's Instamart followed suit. Grofers turned into Blinkit after Zomato acquired it. Dunzo was forced to adapt. Others such as Big Basket also sped up their processes. But a couple of years later, we have a new entrant: Flipkart is ready to roll out its quick commerce arm, reports Suneera Tandon. Flipkart's quick commerce venture would be available in select metro cities in the next few weeks. The company will offer home appliances in addition to groceries. Will Flipkart be able to catch up to its established rivals? To find out, you might want to be ready to download yet another app.We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance. Show notes:LIC mega sale: Insurer to sell land, buildings to raise up to $7 billionET Money's acquisition by 360 ONE: Should you be worried or excited? After slipping into the red, can Mahindra Logistics execute a U turn? Mint Explainer: Can airfares be regulated? Flipkart's q-commerce entry weeks away, will take on Zepto, Blinkit, Instamart 

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Friday, June 14, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started:Equity markets rose on Thursday, with the Nifty up by 0.33 percent and the Sensex edging up by 0.27 percent.After a brief period of volatility, the markets seem to have settled down. Experts told Mayur  Bhalerao that the formation of a government and a clear policy directive following the election results have soothed investors. The surge in investor confidence is making stocks more expensive, with 18 percent of the stocks listed on the BSE trading at a premium of at least 25 to 50 percent, compared to their five-year median price-to-earnings ratios. After a brief acid reflux, investors are saying cheers to the markets yet again.The elections demonstrated that the Indian markets can be a real roller coaster ride. Exit poll results buoyed the hopes of investors and propelled the markets to new highs. However, when these polls turned out to be wrong, the markets crashed as results were announced. Typically, the average investor would consider some fundamentals of a stock before investing: the price-to-earnings ratio, quarterly and annual financial results, and sometimes the CEOs of the companies. Vivek Kaul writes that investors should now account for politics in their stock picks as well. While mixing politics and investing ethos isn't the ideal approach, June 4 showed us that some investors still resort to that line of thinking.The Life Insurance Corporation, better known as LIC, which provides life insurance to around 250 million people in India, holds a commanding market share of 61.5 percent. This dominance leaves only five other private health insurers operating in the country. However, LIC isn't content with maintaining its position; it is aiming for an even bigger slice of the pie. To achieve this, it is open to acquiring a private insurance company. Anirudh Laskar reports that LIC is seeking a composite licence, which would allow it to sell both life and non-life policies. If successful in obtaining this licence, LIC plans to buy out one of its competitors, potentially leading to considerable consolidation in the health insurance market, Anirudh notes in his story.With a new government at the helm, you might see more Indian airlines flying international routes. However, this is a two-way street: if a deal is struck with a foreign country to allow a route to India, that country's airlines must also be permitted to operate on the same route. In the past, this has proven tricky. Anu Sharma writes that international airlines have invariably made better use of these routes, and Indian flyers often prefer foreign airlines over Indian ones.Despite these challenges, opening up more bilateral routes will likely reduce airfares, ultimately benefiting customers. However, Indian companies might not gain as much from this increased competition.This year's NEET exam was highly contentious, marred by allegations of arbitrary grace marks and paper leaks that overshadowed the announcement of the results. A record 67 candidates secured the top rank in this year's exam, an unprecedented occurrence in the history of the National Testing Agency, which conducts the exam. The issue reached the Supreme Court, prompting the government to propose a solution: either accept the grace marks or scrap them and conduct a re-test. Krishna Yadav and Devina Sengupta report that students are understandably stressed and coaching classes have voiced the strongest objections to this announcement. These coaching classes, which train millions of kids for competitive exams like NEET, have raised valid concerns about the way this year's exam was conducted.We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance. Show notes:Markets say ‘cheers' again after a cocktail of emotions in past week Dear retail investor, here is how to account for politics in your investing LIC looks to buy a standalone private health insurer More rights for foreign airlines: who will fly high? Unease at coaching centres as NEET lands in SC; govt scraps grace marks

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. This is Nelson John, wishing all our listeners a safe, colourful and happy Holi. It's Monday, March 25, 2024. Let's get started:What really makes us happy, and how do we measure it? While happiness can feel like a deeply personal experience, varying greatly from one person to the next, there's an attempt to quantify it on a global scale every year. And in this pursuit of measuring happiness, it turns out India hasn't scored too well. India ranked 126 out of 143 nations surveyed in the World Happiness Report 2024. A partnership between consulting and research firm Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the report looks at six variables, including per capita gross domestic product (GDP), social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. Mint's national editor N Madhavan breaks down the report which deemed Finland as the happiest country in the world. India fared poorly on most parameters. The rankings are also being questioned by many for having countries stuck in deep economic crises and geopolitical conflicts getting a higher rank than India.    What do you think when you think of India's postal services? Is it just letters and parcels? Think again. India Post is making waves in an unexpected area: life insurance. The 140-year-old Postal Life Insurance scheme has seen a growth spurt of 14.5% this financial year, outperforming the entire insurance industry for the first time since FY21. Apart from the trust in a state-run insurance plan, there are other factors driving the growth in life insurance for postal services. Mint's Dhirendra Kumar writes about how the growth is also being driven by a digital overhaul, making premium payments and claim settlements a breeze online. While the private sector and the Life Insurance Corporation are facing their own challenges, the postal department's life and rural insurance schemes are thriving, with nearly 16% growth. This growth comes in a market that's still ripe for the picking, given India's low insurance penetration compared to global averages.  Starting up a business may be a dream for many, including celebrities and those in showbiz. But scaling it up and making it big - that's where the plot thickens! Many movie stars and sports icons ventured into launching their own brands. But a few years into the business, the hand over the reins to bigger companies. Mint's startups reporter Priyamvada C spoke to  industry insiders, who see more celebrity-led brands being acquired by bigger, professionally run businesses. Big names like Alia Bhatt, Masaba Gupta, and Hrithik Roshan have already seen their brands acquired by retail giants. While celebrity involvement can add credibility and market pull, the success of these brands hinges on more than just a big name. Rising customer acquisition costs and market saturation pose challenges, and the alignment with larger entities offers a chance to expand beyond. In a bold move to draw more global investors into India's infrastructure projects, the Indian government is setting its sights on auctioning off completed road projects directly to private sector Infrastructure Investment Trusts, or InvITs, leaving traditional bidders like sovereign wealth funds on the sidelines. This strategic shift aims to funnel global investments into the country's roadways through InvITs. InvITs are entities similar to mutual funds but focused on infrastructure, offering a modern avenue to finance projects like highways. Mint's infrastructure editor Subhash Narayan reports on the move that comes as part of a broader effort to boost investment in India's infrastructure. As the election season heats up with the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections just around the corner, an unlikely set of candidates are readying for a popular surge – FMCG companies.  With political rallies and large gatherings becoming more frequent, there's a notable increase in the consumption of packaged snacks and drinks. Parle Products and the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), known for the Amul brand, are among those preparing for this uptick. Mint's FMCG correspondent Suneera Tandon spoke to industry executives to examine the effect of elections on demand for consumer companies. Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head at Parle, told Suneera that a rise in disposable income for people with political parties doling out money and freebies results in a positive impact for FMCG companies.  To read any of the stories in today's episode, please click the links in the show notes.You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance. Mint Primer | Happiness report: Why it has raised eyebrows in IndiaA 140-year-old policy puts its stamp on postal department's life insurance bizHow celebrity brands finally reach the point of saleFor private InvITs, a new asset category is about to open upElections are coming, and snack makers are licking their lips

Despite concerns about Paytm Payments Bank being a ‘red flag', certain banks have reportedly shown interest in collaborating with it, subject to RBI approval. But, industry observers have questioned the sustainability of the payments bank if it is acquired by another entity, due to compliance issues.    Moving on, the Indian electric passenger car market is witnessing price cuts by automakers. Tata Motors recently slashed the prices of two of its popular EV models by up to 1.2 lakh rupees. MG Motor India also joined in, reducing the Comet's price by 1 lakh rupees. Additionally, it lowered the base price of its SUV ZS EV to 19.98 lakh rupees, from its previous price of 22.8 lakh rupees. Find out whether these price cuts could propel the electric car market forward.   Let us now move on to financial markets. Shares of Life Insurance Corporation, which were once synonymous with worst market debutants, have had a dramatic turnaround. From lows of about 550 rupees a year ago, the shares are quoting above 1,000 rupees mark now. What has been driving this rally in LIC's stock? And will the momentum sustain?    We have all experienced moments of crisis at some time in our lives. The world, too, has weathered its share of crises, ranging from wars and pandemics to economic turmoil and climate change. While many crises eventually come to an end, some seem to persist, shifting from one form to another. This ongoing state of crisis is referred to as ‘Permacrises'. This episode of the podcast explains the term that found its way to the Collins dictionary in 2022.

Indian benchmark indices — Sensex and Nifty 50 — are likely to make a muted start on August 11, as optimism over moderating U.S. inflation offset near-term domestic price concerns. India's GIFT Nifty on the NSE International Exchange was up 0.05 percent at 19,550 at 8:15 am. In the overnight session in the US, Wall Street equities edged higher after data showed that US consumer price inflation moderated in July, bolstering hopes that the US Federal Reserve is near the end of its rate-hiking cycle. Asian markets were subdued. Back home on August 10, the Reserve Bank of India held key rates steady as expected. Governor Shaktikanta Das said there could be substantial rise in headline inflation in the near-term and raised the retail inflation forecast for fiscal 2024, citing pressure from food prices. Both the Nifty and Sensex declined on Thursday, dragged by financials and consumer stocks. The bluechips have been little changed for the week, after logging losses in the previous two weeks. In today's session, Hero MotoCorp is likely to be in focus as the two-wheeler maker posted a rise in June quarter profit and is eyeing more premium bike launches. State-owned life insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) also reported a surge in first-quarter profit on the transfer of money to a shareholders' fund. Apollo Tyres' June quarter profit more than doubled on lower costs while Steel Authority of India posted a fall in first-quarter profit on rising costs. Tune in to the Marketbuzz Podcast for more cues ahead of today's session

①Russia said NATO should hold an emergency meeting to discuss investigative journalist Seymour Hersh's report that U.S. destroyed the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea. What are the latest? (00:50) ②China's consumer price index rose in January. What are the factors that contributed to the rise? (12:56) ③Sweden joins a few developed countries in discarding COVID vaccines as poor nations still suffer from vaccine shortages.(26:00) ④China's Wu Yibing becomes first Chinese player to win an ATP Tour title. How significant is it? (33:54) ⑤India's largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation, says it might review its stake in the embattled Adani Group.(46:30)

Watch this compelling conversation as we dissect the Adani empire, from dubious money laundering charges against his brother Vinod Adani to the stalled investment in Australia. Did the Life Insurance Corporation come out ahead in its 7-8,000 cr investment in Adani Group? Watch this conversation to find out! #Adani #AdaniGroup #India #Swamy

After offloading Air India in October last year, the government has now kicked off the process to sell its stakes in its subsidiaries which were not part of the deal. Air India has four subsidiaries which are Air India Airport Services Ltd, or AIASL, Air India Engineering Services Ltd, or AIESL, Alliance Air Aviation Ltd, and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd. And, the process to offload AIASL and AIESL is on. The government is also moving ahead with the privatisation of IDBI Bank. DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey has confirmed it this month, saying that the department would soon invite preliminary bids. The government holds a 45.48 per cent stake in the bank, while the Life Insurance Corporation of India, which is the promoter of the bank, owns a 49.24 per cent stake. The government will also reportedly invite financial bids for the privatisation of Bharat Earth Movers Limited in the December quarter. But, notwithstanding these moves, the overall picture regarding the government's disinvestment plans looks gloomy. For the current financial year, the government has budgeted to raise 65,000 crore rupees from disinvestment. But, even as half of the fiscal year is over, it has raised only about 25,000 crore rupees so far. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed the privatisation of two public sector banks in her 2021-22 Budget Speech. But, the amendment to the banking laws, which would have enabled the government to offload its stakes, has not been passed so far. Also, a research paper in the August issue of the Reserve Bank of India Bulletin lauded the role of PSBs. It argued that “big-bang” PSB privatisation would not be a panacea. While clarifying later, the RBI said that a gradual approach, as announced by the Centre, would result in a better outcome. Now, in September, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri indicated that the much-delayed BPCL privatisation may not happen in the near future. Puri made it clear that there was “no proposal whatsoever” on his table for now. And earlier this year, the Centre had announced the sale of Pawan Hans to a consortium. But, the sale was scrapped later as questions of impropriety and non-payment of dues were raised about a company that was part of the consortium. The privatisation of Central Electronics Ltd may also be called off and that of the Container Corporation of India Ltd is yet to be initiated. In May, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the sale of the government's entire remaining stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd, or HZL. The sale of the entire 29.5 per cent stake is estimated to fetch 38,062 crore rupees. But, this sale is also yet to go through and the government is in the process of appointing financial and legal advisors who will see it through to its conclusion. All of this has raised the question, is the government going slow on privatisation? The prevailing investment and economic atmosphere may have made the government go slow on privatisation, but going ahead, every such decision will also have to face another headwind, the fast-approaching 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Privatisation has always been a politically-sensitive topic, and thus, there may be doubts about the government going in for any big-ticket privatisations, especially of the two PSBs, during the remainder of its term. 

Reliance Capital's resolution has received tepid response as only four firms have made financial bids for the entire company, including its subsidiaries, under the insolvency process. IndusInd, Torrent, Oaktree Capital Management, and B-Right Realestate have submitted bids in the range of just Rs 4,000 crore. When the resolution process began, over 50 firms had submitted Expression of Interest for various assets, but only a handful of bidders were engaged. The bids have to be approved by a lender's committee. Lukewarm response for RCap asset: 1) IndusInd, Torrent, Oaktree Capital Management, and B-Right Realestate placed bids 2) All bids were placed in the range of Rs 4,000 crore. The process for asset sale of debt-ridden Anil Ambani's Reliance Capital had kick-started in November last year, when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) superseded its board for payment defaults and initiated bankruptcy proceedings. Y Nageshwara Rao was appointed administrator for the corporate insolvency resolution process. After Srei Group's shadow banking arm and DHFL, Reliance Capital is the third NBFC to go under insolvency under IBC. Reliance Capital has a consolidated debt of about Rs 50,000 crore. But to expedite the sale process, the lenders hived off two entities of RCap --- Reliance Commercial Finance and Reliance Home Finance --- into a trust for a separate resolution process. It was done so that the bidders don't deal with debt of these two entities, which is around Rs 25,000 crore. Secured creditors have claimed Rs 22,122 crore and unsecured creditors around Rs 3,212 crore after the company was sent to insolvency. Major lenders include Life Insurance Corporation, YES Bank among others. Reliance Capital's lenders had offered two options to all the bidders. Under the first option, companies had to bid for Reliance Capital as a whole, including its subsidiary companies. Under the option-2, bidders have the freedom to bid separately for individual arms of Reliance Capital. Due to a tepid response from the bidders, the lenders earlier had to extend the timeline for submission of bids and the resolution process several times. The deadline for completion of the corporate insolvency resolution process of the company is November 1, 2022. Reliance Capital's eight businesses were on the block for bidding including general insurance, securities and asset reconstruction businesses. Under the second option, Reliance Capital's general insurance received bids from Piramal Group, Zurich Insurance Group, and Advent International. While, the company's ARC business got bids from Jindal Steel & Power and UV Asset Reconstruction Company, Choice Equity, Global Fincap, and Grand Bhawan have placed bids for other assets of Reliance Capital. Please include the byte: Ashvin Parekh, Managing Director, Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services LLP says, the bids for Reliance Capital assets were on the lower side. Lenders have few options left before approving the bids. But the poor response indicates that lenders are in for massive haircuts. It also showcases bidders' concerns, especially over equity of Reliance General Insurance, held by IDBI Trusteeship on the behalf of Credit Suisse. IDBI Trusteeship has refused to release these shares for the ongoing NCLT led resolution process. The condition to make all-cash bids also proved a hindrance in the resolution process   Mukesh Chand, Senior Counsel, Economic Laws Practice says the committee of creditors will likely negotiate with proposed bidders. CoC will try and work out a best possible resolution plan with the bidders. If viable options don't come out in negotiation process, big haircut is on the cards.  As the bids are placed, the ball is in the lender's court now. They have to take a call on the value of bids and evaluate other options, including negotiating a better deal with the proposed bidders. Whatever may be the case, it is in the creditors' best interest to comple

As our country celebrates its Platinum Independence anniversary, here's a throwback on the many events that brought financial markets to where they are today. Even before India got independence in 1947, it had at least one stock exchange up and running in BSE in 1857. The other prominent exchange, the NSE, was incorporated in 1992, and was recognised as a stock exchange by market regulator Sebi in 1993. BSE, meanwhile, remains one of the world's oldest stock exchanges and the 8th largest exchange in terms of market capitalisation. One of the first few steps taken by the government post-independence was enactment of The Capital Issues (Control) Act that set the ball rolling for the Indian capital markets. And as investors equated investing in stock markets with wealth creation, the pool of investors kept growing over time. At the end of fiscal year 2021-22, the total demat account holders in India stood at 89.7 million compared to 35.9 million at the end of FY19 – up almost 150% in three years. In all these years, veterans have innumerable stories of booms and busts spread across decades. Within a decade of independence, India saw its first market scandal, involving Life Insurance Corporation of India and Haridas Mundhra group. The scam led to the resignation of the then finance minister. After the markets stablised, Reliance Industries launched its initial public offer in 1977, which market mavens say, brought about the equity cult in India. In fact, Dhirubhai Ambani had booked an entire football stadium in 1985 to hold its annual general meeting - a gala event for its 12,000 shareholders back then. And then there was no looking back for the equity markets then. After the big-bang ‘reformist' Budget in 1991, FPIs and FIIs were allowed to invest in Indian equities in 1992. Today, they hold stocks worth around a fifth of India's total market capitalisation. The period, thereafter, saw more frequent troughs than peaks. The Harshad Mehta scam hit the markets in April 1992, when the Sensex tanked 13%. While Mehta died in 2001, the stories of his modus operandi live on through OTT series like Scam 1992. The crashes that followed, include the Dot-com collapse of 2000; the 2004 fall post NDA's defeat in the national elections; and 2008's market slump amid the Global Financial Crisis. The GFC led to a sharp crash with the Sensex plunging 63% in 2008 to under 7,700 levels. 2008 also saw India's financial capital under siege amid the 26/11 attacks, rattling investors. The last market crash came in 2020, when the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Sensex and Nifty closed at their lowest level in four years, after nosediving 33% in just 13 trading sessions. In the commodity market, WTI crude oil futures dropped 306% on April 20, 2020, to settle at minus 37.63 dollars a barrel. The one-day plunge was the largest based on records going back to 1983. But, between these crashes, there were periods of massive gains. India's Sensex touched 1,000-mark for the first time in 1990, and marched to hit the 10,000-mark in 2006. The index, then, hit the milestone of 25,000 in 2014, and scaled mount-50K in 2021. The lifetime high for the markets was during the same year. Going ahead, as India looks forward to its Centenary year celebration 25 years down the line, equity investors in India are optimistic that the BSE Sensex 30 will have scaled the 100,000-mark by then.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the sale of the government's entire remaining stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd, or HZL. According to the closing price of the company's shares on Thursday, the sale of the entire 29.5 per cent stake would fetch around Rs 37,400 crore. As reported by Business Standard, an official has said that the government might sell its HZL stake in tranches through an offer for sale, or OFS.   So far, in the current financial year, the Centre has collected 23,575 crore rupees in divestment proceeds through the Life Insurance Corporation of India IPO and the offer for sale of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. If the Centre successfully carries out the divestment of HZL, it will find itself in striking distance of its Rs 65,000-crore divestment target for financial year 2022-23. This is good news. Especially given the uncertainty surrounding the government's plans due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But we need to dive a little deeper. After setting ambitious divestment targets in the last three years, the Centre, in Budget 2022, pegged the FY23 target at a conservative Rs 65,000 crore.  The pandemic and the Ukraine war have hampered the Centre's divestment and privatisation plans in recent months. In April, the Centre missed its revised divestment target for the second time in three years even after slashing it by 55 per cent to Rs 78,000 crore in the Union Budget.  Compared to the target, the FY22 divestment mop-up was Rs 13,530 crore, which included the Rs 2,700 crore received by the Centre from Air India's privatisation. So, what does the relatively better performance this year mean for the government? Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda expects govt might exceed target, and more divestment is in the pipeline. This will help with fiscal math, he says, adding that it will help govt in light of projected revenue slippages. However, the government has had a bumpy ride as far as privatisation is concerned.  In the case of Central Electronics and Pawan Hans, the nearly-completed privatisation transactions have hit a roadblock because of the winning bidders having pending legal cases against them. Then there is the big-ticket privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, which has fallen through with just one bidder remaining in the fray. At present, the government is working on a new strategy for selling its stake in the oil PSU. And, according to news agency PTI, the government is on course with the privatisation of two public sector banks (PSBs) -- Central Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank. It is also planning to sell indirectly held stakes in ITC and Axis Bank. And it is also trying to complete the sale of Shipping Corporation of India. Strategic disinvestment of Container Corporation of India is also lined up. Madan Sabnavis says the govt will go slow on privatisation. No clear cut case like Air India at present. So, it looks like the government has decided to follow Infosys' philosophy of 'under-promise, over-deliver'? Watch Video

Shares of state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) kick-started their journey at secondary markets on a weak note on Tuesday. Against the IPO price of Rs 949 apiece, they opened at Rs 867 on BSE -- wiping off nearly Rs 43,000 crore worth of investor wealth. While analysts are unperturbed with the stock performance, the government may have more to worry about than just LIC's stock. Take a dive into what LIC's weak debut means for this year's divestment target  The weak listing has brought down the market valuation of LIC to around ₹5.57 lakh crore -- from the earlier six lakh crore. Unstable market conditions is one of the reasons for it. Meanwhile, FMCG companies too are struggling. They have now resorted to “shrinkflation” to cope with the increased input cost, without passing on the price burden to consumers. The low cost packets of biscuits, chips, juices, soaps etc have shed weight. So, the same Rs 10 chips packet will have lesser chips, and more air.  Global headwinds and increased input costs are indeed taking a toll on India Inc. In an interview with Business Standard's Nikunj Ohri and Arup Roychoudhury, the new CII president and Bajaj Finserv chairman Sanjiv Bajaj offered some suggestions to deal with it. He claimed that cutting petrol and diesel duties will spur consumption and demand. Bajaj also said that inflation will continue to hurt margins of companies. However, that will not disrupt private sector capex revival, which is getting stronger.  Health and education are indeed the key to a nation's growth, as recently pointed out by Sanjiv Bajaj -- who wants the government to substantially increase the outlay in these sectors. Meanwhile, the government's efforts to tame the country's population have started paying off. Indian women are giving birth to fewer children now than in the past. And it is irrespective of their religion. From 5.9 in the 1950s -- when the population control programmes were launched -- the total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement level now. What does it mean? Let us find in this episode of the podcast.  Watch video

India's insurance goliath, Life Insurance Corporation of India, proved to be non-profitable for all categories of investors as its shares fizzled out on the bourses yesterday. Against expectations of a marginally lower listing, shares of LIC debuted on the BSE at 867 rupees, down nearly 9% against its issue price of 949 rupees.   They further fell to a low of Rs 860, before settling the day at Rs 875 apiece. With this, LIC's market cap stood at Rs 5.53 trillion at the end of its debut day. This means, investors lost roughly Rs 47,000 crore in the IPO, which valued LIC at Rs 6 trillion. However, analysts are unperturbed by the muted debut as they eye LIC's long-term growth prospects.   Girirajan Murugan, CEO of FundsIndia says LIC is a long-term play and recommends adding LIC to one's portfolio on dips. There may be a bit of selling initially due to overall market sentiment, he says, but BFSI stocks will rebound after geopolitical tension eases/    B Gopkumar of Axis Securities, too, opines that investors should not exit LIC's stock at current levels as it is a play on the growth story of the under-penetrated life insurance industry. LIC's sustained market leadership position, robust pan-India distribution network, and shifted focus towards profitable products will support margins and improve persistency ratios. All these factors will collectively make LIC an attractive pick from a long-term perspective. However, there's more to LIC's listing than what meets the eyes. Funds from IPO will be critical to bolstering government finances and meeting a deficit target of 6.4% of gross domestic product for FY23.   LIC's IPO was already slashed by almost 50% to ride the market volatility. And still, a tepid response to one of the most well-connected state-owned entities may prompt the government to re-think its divestment strategy.   Speaking to Business Standard, UR Bhat, co-founder and director, Alphaniti Fintech says govt still has scope to sell further stake in LIC. Govt may consider OFS when market sentiment improves, he says, but BPCL divestment is complicated. "Government needs to clean the company, offer what investors want," he says.   According to a Reuters report, the government is considering inviting bids for a 20%-25% stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation, instead of an outright sale of its entire 52.98%. Similarly, it will likely put on hold the sale of state-owned helicopter service provider Pawan Hans indefinitely, as per a Business Standard report. The Centre has missed its revised divestment target twice in three years. Now, achievement of this year's target looks difficult, too, which assumed the completion of the process to privatise BPCL and SCI, amid a market rout due to the spill-over effects of the ongoing war.   Against this backdrop, Bhat expects the government to receive decent market proceeds from various stake sales as and when market conditions stabilise and the govt re-works bid offers as per investors' interest. On Wednesday, investors will eye any rebound in LIC shares. Besides, they will also track March quarter results, and global cues for further market direction.  

At 10.5 billion dollars, Adani Group's buy out of Holcim India's stake in Ambuja Cements and ACC marks India's most expensive deal in the sector. With this, the Group has also leaped to second position in the cement industry, coming only after Ultratech Cement. While Holcim owns 63.19% stake in Ambuja Cements and 4.48% in ACC; Ambuja Cement, in turn, owns 50.05% in ACC.   The Adani family plans to make an open buy offer to buy 26% stake in these two companies from non-promoter shareholders, subject to regulatory approvals. Once approved, Adani Group will enjoy Ambuja and ACC's combined capacity strength of 67.5 metric tonne. Going forward, analysts believe that Adani Group may consider the merger of Ambuja Cement and ACC in the medium term as it will help them rationalise fixed cost quotients at both these entities.   Market analyst G Chokkalingam, for instance, believes that the acquisition would trigger re-rating of ACC and Ambuja Cements as businesses may merge under one entity. Those at Kotak Institutional Equities, too, believe that the Ebitda per tonne for Ambuja and ACC is lower than Ultratech Cement. And this gap can be covered by Adani through synergy benefit from eventual merger of the two companies. The benefits, it says, may include saving from existing royalty payment to Holcim, investments in cost-saving projects, and margin expansion opportunity through brownfield capacity expansion. That said, some analysts believe Adani may go for brand consolidation, rather than outright merger.   Speaking to Business Standard, Uttam K Srimal, Senior Research Analyst, Axis Securities says, ACC, Ambuja lost market share over last few years, but Adani's acquisition will bring aggression in expansion. While there may be more consolidation in the sector going ahead, there may also be brand consolidation as Ambuja and ACC hold strong brand presence across India.   That said, analysts see limited near-term synergies from the deal.   According to Gaurav Dua, Head – Capital Market Strategy, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, Ambuja and ACC are already operating at high utilisation levels. The takeover is unlikely to provide immediate output boost, he says adding that medium-term may see backward integration benefits and aggressive expansion will be eyed. Overall, from an investment view point, analysts expect ACC to see higher re-rating as the stock has, traditionally, been an affordable bet. At the bourses, ACC closed nearly 4% higher at 2,195 rupees per share, while Ambuja Cements rose 2.6% to 368 rupees per share on the BSE in Monday. In comparison, the benchmark indices closed 0.3% up. As regards Tuesday, markets will track the listing of insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India. Shares of LIC were trading at a discount of Rs 15-20 a piece over its issue price of Rs 949 in the grey market on Monday, suggesting a weak listing today. 

The race to acquire Ambuja Cements and ACC seems to be entering the final lap now. The two top contenders -- Gautam Adani and Sajjan Jindal -- are now vying to take over the two leading domestic cement companies owned by international building materials giant Holcim which is now exiting India after 17 years. There are some other contenders too, like India's top cement maker Ultratech. But why do all these leading firms want to buy Holcim's stake? And why did the Switzerland-based company decide to quit India which contributes 27% of its global sales volumes.  Holcim's decision to pull the plug on an emerging market like India has indeed baffled many. But, if reports are to be believed, it is doing so due to its commitment to check global warming. Similarly, but not on that scale, a 55-year-old engineer from Ladakh has been doing his bit to spread awareness about climate change for decades now. Sonam Wangchuk is now a familiar name in India, thanks to his now resounding voice on climate change and innovations in the cold mountains. His latest one is a carbon-neutral solar building that stays warm even in freezing conditions and can help clean the toxic air of Delhi and NCR. Business Standard's Nazia Iqbal caught up with him in Ladakh to know more. Like the weather, markets too are going through a volatile phase. Volatility in the secondary market against the backdrop of US Fed rate hike and ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has seen two companies – Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Delhivery -- trim the size of their initial public offers in May. Will more companies follow the suit as the markets are likely to remain choppy?  It may have hit the economy and markets adversely, but the pandemic was in a way good for the Indian pharma industry. India makes about 60% of the world's vaccines and 20% of generic drugs. The US is a major export destination. On its part, the US administration carries out regular inspections at offshore drug making units to ensure that they stick to the standards. In one such recent check, the US FDA has issued Form 483 to a firm. This episode of the podcast demystifies the Form 483 and more.

After public sector insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) trimmed the size of its initial public offer (IPO) from over Rs 60,000 crore to Rs 21,000 crore, Softbank-backed Delhivery has trimmed its issue size from Rs 7,460 crore to Rs 5,500 crore to align with the volatile market conditions.   Delhivery's IPO will be second biggest this year after LIC and among the top-five since 2021. Besides these two IPOs, nearly half a dozen companies plan to raise over Rs 7,500 crore via primary markets in May alone. According to a recent note by Prime Database, 54 companies plan to raise a massive Rs 1.4 trillion, including the LIC IPO, in 2022 and currently hold market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) approval. Another 43 companies, the note said, are looking to raise about Rs 81,000 crore where Sebi approval is still awaited.   The largest IPO in 2021-22 in terms of size, which was also the largest Indian IPO ever till the LIC IPO came around, was of One 97 Communications (PayTM) for Rs 18,300 crore.   So, what's in store for primary markets in the months ahead? Will the fund raising frenzy slow a bit?   According to Sunil Tirumalai, strategist at UBS Securities India, primary markets will definitely see a fallout of slowing flows and pressure on valuations. The downsizing of LIC IPO is an example of the same, he says. Now let's go to Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst, to understand the dynamics in details. IPOs involve long-term planning, he says adding that trimming the IPO size is a prudent thing to do given the current markets. Timing the IPO is difficult, but companies need to leave something on the table for investors for the IPO to garner subscription, he says.    So, will the volatile market conditions see companies trim their offer size? VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist of Geojit Financial Services says IPOs do well in a bull-market; key is to get the issue price right. LIC's original plan to offload 5% equity was an uphill task in the current market, he says adding that issuers need not wait for a ‘favourable' time / postpone issue. Message from the market is clear: Get the pricing right, he says.    Today, the markets will react to the US CPI numbers and how the global markets perform. Stock-specific action is likely to continue amid volatility.  

The wait is over! India's biggest ever Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) kicked off for subscription for retail institutional investors today, that is on 4 May. Since it's completely an offer for sale, all the proceedings will directly go to the government which is expecting to raise Rs 21,000 crores by selling a 3.5% stake of LIC, in a bid to replenish the public coffers that have been drained out by the pandemic. But moving on to the pricing details, the price band for this IPO has been set at Rs 902-949 per share for sale of 22.13 crores equity shares. There is also a discount offer of Rs 60 per share for its policyholders and Rs 45 apiece for retail investors and LIC employees. The LIC IPO will close on 9 May and the company will be listed on the stock exchange on 17 May. And the first two hours of the first day of bidding itself saw a pretty decent response with a subscription of around 28 percent by 12 noon. By the time of the recording of this podcast, it was at 58 percent. Expectedly, in the months leading up to this massive IPO listing, there's been a lot of buzz around this listing, partly because LIC which is a state-run insurance company, has been a household name in the country for several decades given that it's the biggest and the oldest insurance company in India. But after some newly listed stocks of companies Zomato, Nykaa and Paytm hit record lows after many weeks of record highs...there's also been a big question among policyholders and investors, and it is: to invest or not to invest? While that is a tricky question to answer, what are the pros and cons of investing? We'll take that question to our guest Prosenjit Datta, former editor of Businessworld and Business Today in the podcast today. We'll also hear from senior journalist Madhavan Narayanan on his take on why the government is going ahead with this IPO listing under volatile market conditions. Tune in! Host and Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur

In this SBS Hindi bulletin: The two men hoping to be Australia's next federal treasurer debate each other at the National Press Club; Indian insurance giant, Life Insurance Corporation of India launches its IPO; Novak Djokovic wins the second round of the Madrid Open, and more.

The much-awaited IPO of Life Insurance Corporation is set to open for subscription today, after it recorded bumper participation from anchor investors. The interest for the issue has been gaining currency, evident from its rising grey market premium and strong anchor book. Find out what analysts make of the issue and if you should subscribe to it.   Analysts are bullish about the LIC IPO, like the way G7 leaders are optimistic about ‘wooing New Delhi away from its longstanding alliance with Russia'. To this end, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the G7 leaders' summit next month as a special guest. But, that's easier said than done. Diplomatic efforts in the past haven't brought about the sort of response from India that the West had hoped for. What's going to be the possible outcome of this latest attempt? Around 11% fewer households demanded work under the rural employment scheme MGNREGA in April. The Centre has asked officials to plug leakages in welfare schemes and at the same time, some beneficiaries are returning back to urban areas as economic activity picks up. So, what led to this fall in demand for MGNREGA work in April?    The Drug Controller General of India has recently approved the emergency use of the Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax for children aged five to 12. Corbevax is India's first indigenously developed recombinant protein sub-unit vaccine. This episode of the podcast simplifies the new vaccine and elaborates how it can boost the immune response in your kid.    Watch video

The initial public offer of Life Insurance Corporation is set to open for subscription today.   At Rs 21,000 crore, the offer will be India's biggest issue till date. The next two biggest issues that hit the Street in the past were that of Paytm-owner One97 Communication, and state-run Coal India.   Globally, this is the world's fifth biggest IPO in calendar year 2022.   LIC's IPO witnessed robust traction from leading investors including SBI Mutual Fund, Axis Mutual Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life MF. The company raised around Rs 5,627 crore from anchor investors on Monday, at Rs 949 per share. However, much of this amount was raised with the help of domestic mutual funds as foreign funds invested little over Rs 1,600 crore. Analysts say the low demand may be because of the present risk aversion among foreign portfolio investors. Nonetheless, the government is hoping to see bumper subscription levels for LIC, riding on the back of retail and non-institutional investors. Over 8,500 crore rupees worth of shares have been reserved for retail investors, policyholders and employees in the IPO. LIC policyholders are entitled to a discount of 60 rupees over the issue price, the retail investors will be offered the issue at a discount of Rs 45 per equity share. Therefore, if you are someone who is wondering whether to apply for India's biggest IPO amid market volatility, here're the key things that you should know. LIC's total assets under management is over 3.2 times the total AUM of all domestic private peers. It also enjoys premium based market share of 64%. At the upper price band of Rs 949, LIC is available at a price-to-embedded value of 1.1x, which is at a discount of 65% compared to the average valuation of private life insurance players. This valuation, analysts believe, factors-in most of the negatives that the insurer is currently facing.   Speaking to Business Standard, Nirav Karkera, Head of Research at Fisdom says LIC is conceding market share to private peers, and its huge dependence on sales agent network could be a vulnerability. LIC's profitability, margins remain under pressure, he says.  The company's lower value of new business margin, that is indicative of profit margin, was at 9.9% for FY21 compared with 23-26% for private players. It further has lower short-term persistency ratio relative to private peers, which shows lower customer stickiness.   However, the insurer's strong market presence, coupled with the highest return on equity ratio, domestically, is keeping analysts bullish on the issue.   According to Karkera, LIC is capable of recouping lost ground and the IPO could be a long-term value creation story. LIC's growth prospects outweigh challenges, he says.    B Gopkumar of Axis Securities, too, sees LIC as a long-term investment bet. While he expects the near-term market volatility to weigh on the stock performance, he believes the under penetration of insurance and improving financialisation of savings could make LIC a long-term value bet. Given this, analysts remain uncertain about the initial listing gains, but view the IPO as a mid-to-long term investment opportunity. As of Tuesday, the stock was commanding a premium of Rs 60 per share, indicating a likely listing gain of 6%.   Overall, though the markets are volatile, analysts believe there is enough liquidity in the Indian markets for a large issue like LIC to get enough subscriptions. Watch video

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is set to become the largest listed insurance company in India and fifth largest listed insurance player globally. Kumar Shankar Roy and Hamsini Karthik discuss the much-awaited IPO's valuation, business nitty-gritties, rewards, and risks. Listen in! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/business-line/message

Life Insurance Corporation's much-awaited IPO is finally opening on May 4. But much like the initial euphoria around it, its size also looks diminished. Its current valuation is now Rs 6lakh crore, less than half of the expected value of around Rs 13lakh crore. Three years ago, the government had faced backlash for underpricing the IRCTC IPO. So is the government undervaluing another state-run behemoth? Or has it taken this call after due diligence?  LIC IPO may well attract a fresh wave of investors into the markets. Something similar had happened with OTT platforms during the lockdown, when people of all ages turned to it. In 2020, Netflix had added 36 million subscribers. But the streaming giant saw its customer base shrink by 200,000 during the January-March quarter. And it has projected a loss of another 2 million subscribers in the current quarter. Netflix is now mulling a low-cost subscription supported by advertising. What it would mean for it and for the Indian OTT ecosystem? After Netflix, let us move on to markets. It has been a rollercoaster ride for investors during the April F&O series, with bears having the slight edge. Will they triumph? Or will the bulls fight back today?  Russia-Ukraine war is not just shaping the markets. It is forging ties between countries too. India and the European Union (EU) agreed to establish a Trade and Technology Council early this week. What it is and what both the sides will gain from it, listen to this episode of the podcast to know.  Watch video

The government's plan to mop up over ₹60,000 crore by selling 5% stake of Life Insurance Corporation this financial year seems to have hit a roadblock. War in Ukraine has destabilised the markets, reportedly forcing policy makers to delay the IPO of insurance behemoth LIC. What are the implications of this delay? After India's top insurer, let us find out what the country's largest lender, the State Bank of India, is upto. The bank is revamping its mobile application to turn to a complete digital bank --- which will be named ‘Only Yono'. HDFC Bank, too, is working on a similar plan. What it means for future for banking?   After the digital banks, let us move on to markets. The ongoing buyback by Tata Consultancy Services has seen record participation, with investors tendering nearly three million shares on the fourth day. Of this, retail investors have tendered up to 1.9 million shares. So, what's driving investors towards the IT giant's buyback drive and should you tender your shares too?  Advancement in technology has made financial transactions safer -- including those happening for markets. Real Time Gross Settlement or RTGS system is one such example. Introduction of RTGS has cut short the risk to high-value payment settlements among financial institutions. This system is increasingly being used by central banks worldwide. Let us know more about it in this episode of the podcast.  Watch video

Uncertainty has gripped the LIC IPO because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the markets. An official told Business Standard that the government might have to rework Life Insurance Corporation of India's valuation for its IPO if the listing is pushed beyond May. It would also impact the market value of LIC, that is currently being internally estimated at 3-4 times of the embedded value   As of 30th September, the embedded value of LIC for the April-September 2022 period is pegged at 5.4 trillion rupees. This embedded value will have to be re-evaluated if the issue is pushed beyond 12th May, as approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. This would impact LIC's market value, which is internally estimated to be 3-4 times the embedded value. Under such circumstances, the government would also be required to seek fresh approval from Sebi for the life insurer's IPO. The government official said that while the Centre had planned the LIC IPO for the second week of March, market volatility due to the war has delayed the proceedings. Fresh papers would have to be filed, with updated valuation of the insurer, if the listing gets pushed beyond 12th May. LIC had filed its draft red herring prospectus with Sebi on 13th February. And the markets regulator had approved it last week. Now based on Sebi's feedback and after fulfilling certain requirements, the government will soon file the red herring prospectus too. This will include both the issue size of the sale and the pricing band. The government is looking to sell 5 percent of its shares in LIC. The market is expecting the size of the issue to be about 60,000-65,000 crore rupees, valuing LIC at around 13 trillion rupees. However, the insurer's valuation would only be clear once the government files the red herring prospectus. Since the markets have been choppy, there is an apprehension that there might be a major impact on the LIC IPO. This could hurt the government's plan to raise about over 60,000 crore rupees from the IPO. Whether or not the government can carry out the initial public offering of LIC before 31st March will also have an impact on the FY22 fiscal deficit target.     The government is monitoring volatility in the market on a daily basis. The decision to launch the IPO will be taken once this volatility normalises. The government is hopeful of bringing out the IPO before May. Watch video

The fallout of the Russia-Ukraine conflict might prove to be severe for India.   The rupee is close to 77 a dollar. Despite the Reserve Bank's attempts to manage this fall, the rupee has been Asia's worst-performing currency in 2022.   According to one financial daily, several brokerages, banks and treasury departments are fearing the rupee might plunge below 80 a dollar.   Meanwhile, the crude oil price has touched 130 dollars a barrel. Now it is feared to go past 150 dollars within a few weeks, or even 200, depending on how the conflict in Europe progresses.    According to a report by Kotak Institutional Equities, a likely drop in crude oil exports from Russia could keep oil prices elevated for a protracted period.   At an average crude oil price of 120 dollars a barrel, the report estimates an additional burden of 70 billion dollars on the Indian economy in FY23 above the FY22 level. This additional burden would be 1.9 per cent of GDP.   To soften the impact on consumers, the government might have to further reduce excise duty on diesel and petrol. Assuming a 10-rupee reduction per litre, there could be a decline of 20 billion dollars in excise revenues.   According to the report, an impact of 22 billion dollars might be directly borne by Indian households. Companies will face an impact of about 23 billion dollars, the bulk of which might also will be transferred to households.  The increase in commodity prices will have a direct impact on the economy as India imports 85 per cent of its oil requirements.   Based on the supply shock, real economic growth could be lower than predicted. The targeted fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP might be difficult to manage, even if nothing changes in terms of government expenditure.   Weakness in markets may also have an impact on the government's receipts. For instance, there is the risk of Life Insurance Corporation disinvestment public issue getting postponed.   Meanwhile, inflation, which is already out of the RBI's comfort zone, could be driven even higher not just by crude oil prices but also by edible oils. The central bank and the economy could face the double whammy of stalling growth and high inflation.   So what options do policymakers have for mitigating the economic fallout of the Ukraine war?   As oil marketing companies move to increase retail prices in the next few days after keeping them unchanged since November 4th, we have to see to what extent the government is willing to forgo its excise revenue to control inflation. Similarly, with the rupee at an all-time low against the dollar, the RBI has innovative strategies at hand to contain volatility.  Watch video

On Tuesday, Madhabi Puri Buch took over as the new chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which regulates India's $3.3 trillion stock market ecosystem. She has been appointed for an initial period of three years by the government and replaces Ajay Tyagi, whose five year term ended on Monday.  She joins at a time when the markets are volatile due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and India's largest-ever Initial Public Offering by Life Insurance Corporation of India is about to be launched. She brings many firsts to Sebi. Buch is the first woman to head India's stock market regulator. And at 56, she is the youngest chairperson. She is also the first non-IAS individual since 2002 as well as the first person from the private sector to lead the markets watchdog. However, she has had a more than 4.5 year stint as a Whole-Time Member of Sebi, a post just below the chairperson, till October 4, 2021.    Puri Buch has more than three decades of experience in the financial sector. An alumna of Delh's St Stephen's College and IIM Ahmedabad, she joined ICICI Bank as a Project Finance Analyst in 1989 and was there until 1992. She re-joined the private lender in 1997 and rose through the ranks to become an Executive Director in 2006. Buch then served as the CEO of ICICI Securities, the broking and investment banking arm of the ICICI Group, between 2009 and 2011.  During her stint at ICICI, she held different positions including the Head of Marketing and Sales, Head of Product Development, Head of Operations and the Head of Brand Marketing. She was among the handful of executives who were groomed by veteran banker KV Kamath, the founder and former CEO of ICICI Bank. Before taking charge as the only female Whole Time Member at Sebi in April 2017, Buch served as the Head of Business Development at private equity firm Greater Pacific Capital in Singapore and acted as a consultant for New Development Bank in Shanghai.  Besides, she has held non-executive director roles in several organisations, including Max Healthcare, Zensar Technologies and Innoven Capital. She is also the founder of Agora Advisory, a consulting and incubation firm. As a Sebi Whole-Time Director, she was part of many committees and handled the Market Regulation Department, Integrated Surveillance Department, Department of Economic & Policy Analysis, the National Institute of Securities Markets and IT Department among others. After the five-year term ended in October 2021, she was named the head of Sebi's secondary market committee in December.  During her previous stint at the regulator, she tried to inculcate a culture among her junior staffers to extensively use modern technology and data. In fact, she headed a technology panel that explored solutions for early detection of market anomalies. She had once said that turning Sebi into a tech savvy regulator was her single biggest achievement.

Just like the world, India too caught its breath and figured out the next course of action as Russian troops stormed into Ukrainian cities early Thursday. The Indian government is now scrambling all the resources to evacuate its 20,000 citizens from the eastern European country, whose air space has been shut since the offensive. Apart from this, the war will also have its economic consequences too.  Back home, the India's largest bourse, National Stock Exchange, is at the centre of a controversy. And at the heart of that controversy is a mysterious yogi everyone is talking about now. Chitra Ramkrishna, a founding member of NSE who was at the helm between 2013 and 2016, has told investigators probing alleged irregularities during her tenure, that she was being guided by the mystic who lived in Himalayas. But did that mystic really lived in the Himalayas? Or was he moving around in the plush exchange office of Mumbai? Meanwhile, the Russian invasion led to a bloodbath on Dalal Street. Global financial markets were rattled too. While most equity markets across the globe corrected sharply, Brent Crude oil hit the psychological level of 100 dollars a barrel. These developments along with other headwinds have kept the markets choppy in the February F&O series, which turned out to be one of the most volatile series since April 2021 F&O expiry. Will the March series be equally volatile? What should your strategy be in this backdrop?  Markets are eagerly awaiting the IPO of government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India or LIC. But even before it hits the primary market, LIC filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. This episode of the podcast tells more about this document and why it is filed.    Watch video

The Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC) mega IPO is set to hit the markets in March. It has generated a lot of interest amongst policyholders for whom the state-owned life insurance giant will be carving out a special quota. And, to make the deal sweeter for policyholders, LIC is also likely to offer a discount on issue price. The details and quantum of discount will be disclosed closer to the IPO. Irrespective of the discount, however, you need to understand the parameters key to an insurance company's valuation, LIC's performance and its future prospects and so on before taking the call to invest. This is particularly true if you are a first-time equity investor.

Michelle Martin and Ryan Huang talk about the latest scams to hit Crypto.com and OCBC Bank, and the MAS advisory to crypto firms against advertising. Next, they discuss India’s upcoming IPOs by Life Insurance Corporation and OYO Hotels and why investors are excited. Rounding up the agenda: China’s lowered interest rates, what the Bank of Japan will decide at today’s meeting, Singapore’s home sales and updates on Comfort Delgro.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government sold Air India to the Tata group for Rs 18,000 crore last year. It got just 15% of the total amount while the rest went to the debtors. The Centre had been trying to offload its entire stake in the airline for years. And after the nod of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the government is now taking LIC to the primary market to divest some of its stakes. The government says that it just wants to go for an IPO and not for a privatisation. We have also heard our Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that, “The government has no business being in business”. So the government's intentions on privatisation and disinvestment are very clear. But are these two terms different?  Let us start with disinvestment. It means the government or an organisation is liquidating or selling its stake in a company. But it will be less than 50% and the government or the organisation will still be in the saddle, calling the shots.  Governments often take this step to reduce their fiscal burden and re-allocate resources into other productive areas within a government-funded project or an organisation. It lowers the government's fiscal burden and provides funds for growth-oriented programmes and development. In 1999, the Indian government set up a separate department of disinvestment, which is today known as the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management or DIPAM. It operates under the Ministry of Finance.  The government announces its targets for disinvestment each year during the Union Budget. For the ongoing fiscal year FY22, the government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore. The plan includes privatisation of two public sector banks, public listing of the Life Insurance Corporation of India, Shipping Corporation of India, and many other PSUs. However, the Centre has so far garnered only a little over Rs 9,300 crore, mostly through minority stake sales in companies such as National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO), and Indian Petrochemicals Corporation (now Reliance Industries), among others.  This sum doesn't include the amount raised through the privatisation of Air India, which was sold back to the airlines' original owner, Tata Group, in October last year. This was the Modi government's first privatisation deal in seven years.  Now, let us understand privatisation. It refers to the sale of the government's majority stake, or the whole enterprise, to private investors. In case of privatisation, the government doesn't hold the resulting control and ownership. While the government is confident of mopping up Rs 1 trillion through LIC's IPO in this fiscal year, the planned privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is likely to spill over to the next financial year. This would mean that the government will miss its disinvestment target yet again. Watch video

Easing concerns about the potential severity of the Omicron variant lifted world stocks on Tuesday. According to White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr Anthony Fauci, the initial data regarding the variant was ‘encouraging', which bolstered confidence of market bulls. The S&P BSE Sensex vaulted 1,150 points intra-day but ended 886 points higher at 57,634. The Nifty50, meanwhile, ended above the 17,150-mark. However, caution is the word on the Street as technical indicators suggest volatile phase ahead. According to tech charts the current volatility has disrupted the positive momentum in the markets, dragging the benchmark Sensex towards the previous reversal mark. Given this, the index is facing stiff resistance at 59,000 level, while it has a near-term support at 57,000. As regards Nifty, the index is striving to hold the support of 100-days moving average, which is placed at 17,195. The immediate resistance comes at 17,550 and support stands at 16,600 levels. In the broader markets, the Nifty MidCap100 and the Nifty SmallCap 100 have managed to hold their support levels. The indices may see up to 5 per cent upside in the near-term. Fundamentally, this volatility and cautious approach may extend into 2022 as well, as global equities, including India, face multiple headwinds. For one, analysts say new variants of the Covid -19 infection that make current vaccines less effective is one of the key risks worth flagging. Secondly, stickier-than-expected inflation could lead to tighter monetary conditions and increase the risk of a policy error. According to analysts at Morgan Stanley, volatility in Asia's financial conditions may rise, if and when US 10-year real rates rise sharply in a short span. That apart, the third risk to equities, according to Street watchers, is lesser room for fiscal stimulus. This is because governments will likely wind down their unprecedented fiscal policy, and there could also be policy gridlock following the US midterm elections. Lastly, a slew of initial public offers, especially Life Insurance Corporation  and the National Stock Exchange, may hit the street in 2022, which is another reason why the secondary market liquidity may suffer. In a nutshell analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services expect sectors exposed to markets with rising Covid-19 cases may underperform in 2022. The brokerage expects sector rotation to continue and defensives like pharma, information technology and consumer to make a comeback till sentiment improves. As regards today, all eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of India's bi-monthly monetary policy outcome. Governor Shaktikanta Das will release the policy statement at 10 AM and will address the media later in the day. If the RBI maintains status quo in policy rates, as widely expected, it would be the ninth consecutive time since the rate remains unchanged. Given this, rate sensitive stocks such as autos, banks and real estate players will be on investor radar. That apart, shares of Nykaa, Fino Payments Bank, SJS Enterprises and Policybazaar are also expected to see volatility today as the anchor lock-in is set to unravel from today onwards. According to analysts, the anchor investor sell-off may keep these stocks under pressure as they have already made money on their investments and will not be willing to hold on for too long. In the primary market, the initial share sale of RateGain Travel Technologies will enter its second day today. The company's three-day IPO has been subscribed less than 50 per cent with retail portion seeing 2x subscription. Moreover, Shriram Properties will also launch its IPO tomorrow, which will run through Friday. The company aims to Rs 600 crore at a price band of Rs 113-118 a share.

In this episode of Eyeway Conversations, George Abraham speaks with Mahendra Galani who lost his eyesight at the age of 12. Mahendra was studying in a regular school at the time and he sat at home for a year and a half until his family learned about ways to educate blind children. He was then sent to Victoria Memorial School for the Blind in Mumbai, after which he pursued his degree in political science and psychology. He got his first job with Life Insurance Corporation of India, thanks to an advocacy campaign for recruitment of the disabled by National Federation for the Blind. At 32, he relocated to Austria, marrying his first wife. In Vienna, Mahendra had to learn German to interact with the native population. He also learnt computers which opened up job avenues for him. He worked as a telephone counselor and also wrote for local news magazines, before he joined hands with 'Dialogue in the Dark', an experiential exhibit to sensitize the able-bodied people on various aspects of life with blindness. Mahendra loves traveling, follows the game of cricket and plays chess for the blind. Tune in to listen to his exciting story, all the way from India to Europe. To access the podcast transcript, click on link: https://otter.ai/u/RYaKwcw0oQn-j7RosRwXe8mmCDM This podcast is supported by BarrierBreak Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, or IRCTC, charges a convenience fee of Rs 15+GST for bookings in non-AC coaches and 30+GST for reservations in AC ones when someone books the ticket online. On Thursday evening last week, the government announced it would take 50% of the total convenience fees collected. The next morning, the shares of IRCTC nosedived, falling as much as 30% in its steepest intraday decline since 2018 listing.   The shares recouped most of their losses and ended 7.5% lower after the government reversed its decision. This, in a way, signalled that the government would keep the interest of minority shareholders in mind while taking policy decisions with respect to listed PSUs.   At present, the government's 67.4% stake in IRCTC is worth Rs 45,600 crore. Over the past year, the IRCTC stock, a favourite of retail investors, has gained more than 200%, though it is down 30% from all-time high.   IRCTC earned Rs 299 crore in convenience fee in 2020-21. Collection from this segment was lower as online ticket bookings fell 43% last fiscal due to pandemic restrictions. In the non-pandemic year of FY20, it had earned Rs 350 crore in convenience fee. So, the move by the government would have garnered it a revenue of just Rs 150-200 crore. Last year, about 35% of IRCTC's revenue from operations came from convenience fees but more importantly, the fee contributes significantly to the company's operating and net profits.   Before 2014, there was no sharing of the service charge between IRCTC and Indian Railways, though the government decided the amount of the charge. The sharing started in 2014 in a ratio of 80:20. The ratio was changed to 50:50 in 2015 but the charge itself remained withdrawn for three years from November 2016 to encourage online bookings after demonetisation. It was restored in September 2019. Raising the service charge is more difficult as that would translate into higher ticket prices.   Although the government managed to arrest the value erosion in the IRCTC stock, the controversy could weigh on the investor sentiment towards PSU stocks, most of whom already trade at a significant discount to their peers. Policy uncertainty remains one of the biggest risk factors when it comes to investing in PSU stocks.   This is not the first time that the government move has worried minority shareholders. It has earlier sucked out cash from large PSUs by way of increased dividends from companies like Coal India, Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil and NTPC to name a few. To raise money, it has also sold shares at a huge discount to the market rate in the offer for sale (OFS).   In 2012, the government issued a presidential directive to Coal India to force the company to sign fuel supply agreements with power plants. Decisions like these have led to the loss of market value of PSUs. More recently, the oil ministry last week asked state-owned ONGC to give away 60% stake as well as operational control of India's largest oil and gas producing fields of Bombay High and Bassein to foreign companies with a view to increasing productivity. The two offshore fields account for two-thirds of ONGC's current oil and gas production. Without these assets, the company will be left with only smaller fields.   Will the IRCTC episode send a wrong signal to investors ahead of the listing of Life Insurance Corporation of India, as the government is known to interfere in PSU affairs? On risks of investing in PSUs and how the government's adventure with IRCTC might impact investor sentiment, Aditya Shah, chief investment officer, JST Investment, said: •                  IRCTC revenue share with government ended in 2016 •                  New order would have taken away 30% of IRCTC's revenue, 70% of EBIT •                  Valuation would have shrunk dramatically •                  Govt pulled out money from PSUs •         

Today, I will talk about the case of Life Insurance Corporation of India & Another v. Sunita, 2021 SCC OnLine SC 1013, wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court discussed the importance of good faith in a Contract of Insurance.To know more about it, please visit https://www.desikanoon.co.in/2021/11/supreme-court-on-contract-of-insurance.htmlTelegram: https://t.me/Legal_Talks_by_DesiKanoonYouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMmVCFV7-Kfo_6S42kPhz2wApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legal-talks-by-desikanoon/id1510617120Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3KdnziPc4I73VfEcFJa59X?si=vYgrOEraQD-NjcoXA2a7Lg&dl_branch=1&nd=1Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS84ZTZTcGREcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiuz4ifzpLxAhVklGMGHb4HAdwQ9sEGegQIARADAmazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/4b89fb71-1836-414e-86f6-1116324dd7bc/Legal-Talks-by-Desikanoon Please subscribe and follow us on YouTube, Instagram, iTunes, Twitter, LinkedIn, Discord, Telegram and Facebook. Credits: Music by Wataboi from Pixabay Thank you for listening!

Tracking the bullish sentiment in global peers, market bulls are likely to make a strong comeback on Dalal Street, early trends suggest. However, a sequential dip in industrial production in May and high June retail inflation could cap gains. India's industrial output grew 29.3 per cent in May on a low base, although the figure dipped 8 per cent sequentially. At the same time, retail inflation at 6.26 per cent remained above RBI's band for the second month in a row while it eased from 6.3 per cent in May. That apart, stock-specific activity is likely to remain high amid Q1 earnings season. At 7 am, Nifty futures on SGX traded 112 points higher at 15,800. Globally, Wall Street's main indexes closed at their highest levels overnight, lifted by Tesla and bank stocks as investors eyed the start of the second-quarter earnings season and a batch of economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.36 per cent while the S&P 500 gained 0.35 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.21 per cent. In Asia, stocks opened firmer on the back of strong trend in the US markets. Japan's Topix index gained 0.6 per cent, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.1 per cent and Kospi index was up 0.6 per cent. Now, a look at the stock-specific triggers that are likely to guide the market today Mindtree, Tata Metaliks, Deccan Health Care, Shree Ganesh Remedies and WS Industries are among eight companies that will release quarterly earnings today. Telecom stocks will be in focus after latest TRAI data showed Reliance Jio lead the market in mobile subscriber additions as it gained 4.7 million users in April even as troubled Vodafone Idea lost 1.8 million customers during the same period. Bharti Airtel added just 0.51 million mobile subscribers in April. Sunteck Realty's pre-sales grew 74 per cent YoY in Q1FY22 to Rs 176 crore and collections grew by 165 per cent YoY to Rs 172 crore. The market regulator Sebi has no jurisdiction to direct a listed company to adhere to its articles of association, PNB Housing Finance told the Securities Appellate Tribunal on Monday. The company said appointing a registered valuer to determine the price for its proposed preferential allotment will be in violation of company law provisions. Lastly, as the primary market remains abuzz ahead of the Zomato IPO, more companies will try to make the most of this bullish sentiment and hit the Street for fundraising. Digital payments startup Paytm could file its DRHP this week, suggest reports while MobiKwik has already filed DRHP for Rs 1,900 crore IPO with Sebi. That apart, the wheels have been put into motion for the launch of the most awaited IPO of the year by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved part divestment of the government stake in LIC via an IPO. The decision on issue size would soon be taken by a committee comprising Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Minister of Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, among others.

This Episode contains two poems written by me to pay homage to my friend Late Bichitra Nanda Behera. He died on 9th May 2021 due to Corona . We started our service career together in Life Insurance Corporation of India since 1984. He was still in service. He had more than a year to retire. I pay my homage to the departed soul through these poems. I also pay my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. I pray Almighty to rest his soul in peace. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Indian markets look poised to open on a gap-down note on Thursday as a record spike in Covid-19 cases in the country is likely to keep investors on edge. However, market bulls could take heart from strong global cues and the recent ramp-up in vaccine drive announced by the country. High volatility could also mark the session amid weekly F&O expiry. At 7.20 am, adjusted SGX Nifty was ruling 100 points lower at 14,190 vs Tuesday's close of 14,290. D-Street was closed for trading on Wednesday on account of Ram Navmi. The massive second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic vaulted past another grim milestone as India reported nearly 3.16 lakh fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day count recorded in any country so far. Deaths from the virus climbed to another high of 2,102 in the past 24 hours. The fast-rising Covid cases along with lockdown-like restrictions imposed by the states could harm India's economic recovery, opine experts, resulting in a correction in the markets. Meanwhile, in an update on the global markets, Wall Street rebounded in overnight session after a two-day decline in a broad rally as a tilt toward stocks poised to benefit from a recovering economy offset Netflix Inc's sell-off after its disappointing results a day earlier. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.19%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.93% while the S&P 500 also gained 0.93%. Tracking firm cues from US markets, Asia stocks bounced. Japan's Topix index rose 1.4%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.1% and the Kospi index rose 0.5%. That apart, crude prices edged lower for a third day on Thursday on a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories and concerns surging Covid-19 cases in India will drive down fuel demand in the world's third-biggest oil importer. Brent crude was trading 0.38% down at $65.07 a barrel in early trade after settling 2% down at $65.32 on Wednesday. Now, a look at the stock-specific triggers that are likely to guide the market today Cyient, Tata Elxsi and 10 other companies will release their quarterly earnings on April 22. Nestle India on Tuesday reported a 14.6 per cent year-on-year growth in its net profit at Rs 602 crore for the quarter ending March 2021. It was Rs 525 crore in the year-ago period. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandated KV Kamath committee has approved banks' proposal to restructure loans to Future Retail and Future Enterprises the two main arms of the Kishore Biyani-led group, a media report said. A year after announcing the merger of Den Networks, TV18 Broadcast, and Hathway Cable & Datacom into Network18 Media, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) called off the transaction. Life Insurance Corporation of India acquired 46,000 equity shares or 0.02% of paid-up equity in Voltas on April 19. LIC had increased its stake in the company to 5.01% from 4.99% earlier.

The One Take Show is honored to host Mr. Kapil Sankhla. Mr. Sankhla is the Managing Partner at Sankhla and Associates. His experience covers a broad range of areas relating to dispute advisory, litigation, and arbitration, corporate and commercial matters, white-collar crimes, employment, infrastructure, and aspects of public policy and administration, governance, and ethics. He has been listed as one of the leading lawyers in India in various publications from time to time. Mr. Sankhla has been the counsel for various government departments and the major representative clients include DDA, DSIDC, DJB, Waqf Board (Chandigarh), Life Insurance Corporation of India, and various private organizations like Sriram Life Insurance Company Ltd., SpiceJet Ltd., CH2M Hill, DHI India Water & Environment Ltd., Alchemist Group, MDLR Group of Companies, Era Infra Engg. Ltd. In this Episode, Sir talks about his journey with Law and His experience as a First Generation Lawyer. He also shares his opinion on Transparency and Arbitrariness in the Filing of Chargesheet.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam on Feb 1, Saturday tabled the Union Budget for 2020-2021. This Budget session has seen some important schemes for the North East being announced by the Finance Minister. Some key highlights are as follows: 5 archaeological sites including Shivsagar in Assam will be developed as iconic sites with on-site museums National Gas Grid to be expanded from 16,200 km to 27,000 km Krishi UDAN for improving the value realization in North East and tribal districts Major tax relief announced for individuals: Income between Rs. 5-7.5 lakh – Tax rate 10% Income between Rs. 7.5-10 lakh – Tax rate 15% Income between Rs 10-12.5 lakh – Tax rate brought down to 20% from 30% Govt. proposes to sell part of its holding in Life Insurance Corporation by way of Initial Public Offering announced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam on February 1, Saturday while presenting Union Budget for 2020-2021 at the Parliament. Sitharam did not elaborate much on the proposal. She also proposed that the government will sell its stake in IDBI Bank to private investors. Sivasagar district administration recently launched ‘Project Puhor'. The project is launched under its flagship programme Mission Soulful Sivasagar. Under the project, the district administration endeavours to light up the Sivasagar town and its adjoining areas by installing standalone solar LED lights. The project has been launched under the stewardship of Sivasagar deputy commissioner Dr MS Lakshmi Priya. The second Air India special flight to evacuate Indians from Wuhan has left Delhi this afternoon. The first special flight with 324 Indians landed in Delhi earlier today. The passengers returning from Wuhan will be put up at a separate facility in Haryana's Manesar set up by the Indian Army. At the facility, people will be put under observation. A qualified team of doctors and staff members will monitor the situation. Meanwhile, the death tally in China has risen to 258. Dr Thanikasalam Veni of Rathna Siddha Hospital in Chennai claimed that a certain herbal medicine if taken between 24-40 hours of infection can cure coronavirus. “When we treated the dengue virus with our medicine, many patients with reduced platelets count, acute liver failure, immunity deficiency and low white blood cell (WBC) were cured within 24-40 hours,” said Veni. “In coronavirus too I am confident our medicine will be very effective,” he told media organisations. Dr Veni has 25 years of experience in the field of Siddha and Ayurvedic medicines said that he is willing to help the Chine government or other authorities who need his support. Fugitive billionaire Nirav Modi, who is wanted by Indian authorities in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam appeared before a UK court on Thursday through videolink from his London prison and was further remanded in custody till February 27. Chakrapani Maharaj, President of Hindu Mahasabha told media that cow urine can cow dung can be used to treat coronavirus. A special yagna ritual will soon be performed to kill coronavirus," said Chakrapani. Chakrapani also said that he will carry out a special yagna to kill the virus and: end its effects on the world."