News digest: Govt vs RBI, oil subsidy, real estate projects, and more

Centre says not asking RBI for money, only wants it to be less risk-averse

In what seemed to be a softening of its stance by the government in its tussle with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Garg on Friday said there was no proposal by the Centre to ask the central bank to transfer any specific amount. The issue being discussed was for an appropriate economic capital framework.

Garg’s statement, on Twitter, comes after extensive reports in the media of the latest face-off between the finance ministry and the RBI over the former referring to Section 7 of the RBI Act in its communication with the central bank last month. Read more 
 

Indian airlines look to cross China 'wall', but may land in soup over fares

After more than a decade, Indian aviation companies are planning to launch flights to the Chinese mainland.

Low-cost airlines SpiceJet and IndiGo are eyeing to launch flights to Guangzhou and Kunming in China, according to travel industry sources. While SpiceJet is planning to operate three weekly flights between New Delhi and Guangzhou, IndiGo may fly to either Kunming or Guangzhou. Read more

Govt mulls rolling over oil subsidy payment of FY19 to 1st quarter of FY20

With the oil subsidy shooting up this fiscal year (2018-19 or FY19), the government is planning to roll over payment of a major chunk of it to the first quarter of the next year (2019-20 or FY20).

By the end of September, the petroleum ministry’s internal calculations showed that the oil subsidy for the year was estimated to cross Rs 460 billion. Initially, it was expected to be Rs 250 billion. Now, the government plans to pay about Rs 200 billion in FY20. Read more

Vikram Singh Mehta steps down as independent director of Jet Airways

Jet Airways independent director Vikram Singh Mehta (pictured) resigned on Friday, citing time constraints and other commitments.

Mehta was also a member of the airline’s audit committee and his resignation comes three days before the finalisation of the company's second-quarter results.

Other members of the audit committee include Ashok Chawla and Harsh Mohan, according to the airline website. A senior Jet executive said Mehta’s resignation would have no impact on the result announcement on Monday. Read more 

Brand-name realtors snap up languishing projects, stressed assets

In stressed realty markets such as the National Capital Region and Mumbai, big players are going for outright land acquisition, joint ventures, and joint development agreements, as liquidity from non-banking finance companies for the sector dries up. The environment for consolidation is optimum as the sector was already reeling from the effects of demonetisation and implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) as well as the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA).

Leading the wave of consolidation are a list of the projects Godrej Properties has entered into in recent months: 1. A 1.7-million sqft housing project in partnership with Ace Group; 2. A 2.2-million sqft project in Noida Sector 43 with Shipra Group; 3. Read more