News digest: Air India sale, stressed assets, PNB scam fallout, and more

Govt mulls allowing airlines with negative net worth to bid for Air India

The government is likely to relax the eligibility criteria for Air India disinvestment by allowing airlines with negative net worth to bid. However, non-airline companies may be told to satisfy minimum net worth conditions to prove their financial strength.

The evaluation committee of Air India, after discussions with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, had suggested that all bidders be mandated to fulfil a minimum net worth criterion, a source said. Read more...

PFC, REC, NTPC could form joint venture to bid for stressed assets

Two leading public sector lenders in the power business and a state-owned power-generating giant are likely to come together and bid for stressed assets that will go through resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Power Finance Corporation (PFC), which has a considerable debt exposure to the sector; Rural Electrification Corporation, which lends to development power schemes; and maharatna public sector undertaking (PSU) NTPC are thinking of forming a company that will buy out power projects.

The proposed venture might have equity participation from other PSUs like NHPC, PowerGrid, and Bharat Heavy Electricals. The companies are hoping to form the venture before the 180-day period set by the RBI for lenders to stressed companies lapses, according to sources. Read more...

Rs 129-billion scam fallout: RBI to resolve impasse over PNB liabilities 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to hold a meeting with the banks affected by the Rs 129-billion scam reported by Punjab National Bank (PNB) to end the stalemate over liabilities related to fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) issued in favour of the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups of companies.

“The RBI is expected to call a meeting soon to resolve the issue between the banks,” a source said, requesting anonymity. The due date of payment by PNB for LoUs worth half the scam amount, around Rs 60 billion, falls before March 31 this year. If PNB fails to pay other banks affected by the scam, Rs 60 billion will become non-performing assets on the books of the banks collectively in the first quarter of 2018-19. Read more...

AICC plenary: Rahul Gandhi says he wants to break 'walls' within Congress
 

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday sought to shape the contours of his party’s election campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as the battle of Mahabharata between the Kauravas of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), who are well organised with immense resources but are arrogant, who indulge in falsehood and are drunk on power, against the Pandavas of the Congress, who are humble, speak softly and are fighting for truth.
 

Rahul Gandhi’s presidential speech at the 84th plenary session of the Congress party, where he called for reform in the party, was reminiscent of his father Rajiv Gandhi’s speech at the centenary session of the Congress party on December 28, 1985, in Mumbai. Read more
 

US protectionism: Indian govt needs to do a Donald Trump, says Anil Agarwal
 

The Vedanta group, India’s largest aluminium exporter to the US, feels that Indian industry needs protection on the lines of what US President Donald Trump has done in his country.

The group, through Balco and Vedanta Aluminium, has a 2.3-million-tonne capacity and holds a 40 per cent market share in India.

Apart from Vedanta, Hindalco is the major Indian exporter of aluminium to the US. Their exports to the US constitute primary aluminium like ingot and billets. Read more...