Page 5 - Funds

Govt spent railway safety funds on leisure items: Cong cites CAG report

Citing a 2021 CAG report, the Congress on Friday claimed the central government "misused" funds meant for railway safety on crockery, car rentals, furniture, laptops and foot massagers. "This is how funds specifically meant for railway safety were used. This is the CAG's finding," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter. Quoting the findings of the March 2021 CAG report, he alleged that the Narendra Modi government has been "misusing" Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) funds on crockery, car rentals, foot massagers, furniture and laptops. According to an official document, the national transporter spent more than Rs 1 lakh crore on safety measures between 2017-2018 and 2021-22 with a steady growth in expenditure on track renewal. Government sources also indicated that the railways will soon reply to the same Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) report cited by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to attack the Centre over the recent triple train ...

PNB to raise funds via share sale under Employee Stock Purchase Scheme

State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) has proposed to raise funds from the sale of up to 15 crore shares under its Employee Stock Purchase Scheme (ESPS). At the current market price, PNB would raise up to Rs 780 crore from the scheme. The bank proposes to issue and allot up to 15 crore new equity shares of the face value of Rs 2 each, ranking pari passu with the existing equity shares for all purposes and in all respects, including payment of dividend, under an ESPS in one or more tranches, PNB said in a notice regarding the annual general meeting. The meeting will be held on June 30, according to the bank. PNB-ESPS would be issued at such price or prices, and on such terms and conditions as may be deemed appropriate by the board in such a way that the government shareholding does not come below 52 per cent. The government holding in the bank stood at 73.15 per cent as on March 31, 2023. In 2018, the bank raised Rs 500 crore from its employees under the staff stock purchase ...

AWE Funds secures $15 mn commitment in first close of maiden fund

Investment platform AWE Funds on Wednesday said it has secured commitment worth USD 15 million in the first close of its maiden fund in India. The fund will invest in scalable innovation primarily across climate and sustainability, food and agriculture, healthcare, and additionally in education and fintech sectors while promoting gender equity and climate action as a differentiated strategy to seek commercial returns for its investors. AWE Funds said it "has secured USD 15 million in aggregate commitments and is targeting an overall fund of USD 45 million with a green-shoe option of an additional USD 15 million." Its 'Achieving Women Entrepreneurs Early Growth Fund I' is registered with SEBI. "The fastest growing market and an under-appreciated resource, in most countries are women. By focusing on gender equity and climate action which are very significantly and inextricably linked, AWE Funds' team is uniquely positioned to identify investment opportunities that deliver superior ..

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust plans to raise up to Rs 3,500 cr

Brookfield India Real Estate Trust plans to raise up to Rs 3,500 crore through issues of units to institutional investors or preferential allotment of units, mainly to fund its proposed acquisition of two commercial properties. Last month, Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET) and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC had announced an equal partnership to acquire two commercial properties in India for Rs 11,225 crore. The company had proposed to fund the acquisitions through an institutional placement of up to Rs 3,500 crore and said it might also consider other forms of fund raising, including preferential allotment of units. According to sources, Brookfield India Real Estate Trust has started the process to raise funds. When contacted, BIRET spokesperson said that the board of the manager of the REIT has approved an enabling resolution to raise up to Rs 3,500 crore through institutional placement, which is subject to unitholder approval. Of this, Rs 3,400 crore is proposed t

SoftBank Group Corp vision fund loses money mgain despite tech rebound

While SoftBank has lost money off and on for years, the latest results are surprising because technology valuations around the world have largely rebounded this year

Non-BJP state not exercising accountability, wasting funds: Jitendra Singh

Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday claimed non-BJP state governments are not exercising accountability and allowing pilferage and wastage of central funds. Addressing a press conference here as part of campaigning for the by-poll, he said the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government has been accusing the Centre of holding back funds for the state. However, the matter of fact is that the earlier grants obtained by the state government from the Centre were never utilised for the purpose for which they were meant, Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, said. "The central grants were used for their own priorities, and now for the release of further funds from the Centre when utilisation certificates (UCs) are being sought, they are unable to produce the same," he added. Many of the central grants instead of being used for development projects are being used for self-publicity through advertisements in newspapers and other media, and for organising extravagant programmes for the

Seeking alpha? Go for factor-based fund, limit exposure to 15-20%

While single-factor funds may underperformance at times, a multi-factor one could offer smoother experience

Growing dominance: Domestic investors now own a quarter of markets

The share stood at 25.72 per cent at the end of the March 2023 quarter, up from 24.44 per cent in the previous quarter, according to data from Prime Database

CIEL Group to raise Rs 150-200 crore in FY23-24 to fund acquisition plans

Staffing solutions provider CIEL Group has planned to raise Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore this financial year to fund its acquisition plans, a top official said here on Wednesday. The funds raised would be deployed for the current acquisition targets of seven companies mainly in the professional staffing segment and human resource technology domain, among others, Ma Foi and CIEL Group executive chairperson K Pandiarajan told reporters here. The city-based company recorded revenue of Rs 815 crore in FY 2022-23, a 57 per cent increase on Rs the 520 crore revenue recorded in 2021-22. "We are planning to infuse around Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore through private equity and we have retained one of the most respected investment bankers for the purpose," Pandiarajan said. "Out of the seven companies, we believe four will be acquired during this year and we intend to deploy the funds for this purpose. We will also deploy a significant part of the funds towards strengthening the digital ...

Govt considers bringing municipal bodies under TSA for effective funds use

The Reserve Bank of India also raised the issue in its latest report on municipal finances, citing significant data gaps and missing entries

Investors should stagger entry into medium-to long-duration debt funds

Take limited exposure, counter risk of possible decline in NAV with adequate investment horizon

Would rather beg to common people than Centre for funds: Mamata Banerjee

Banerjee said that although recently the Union government has released some funds under different centrally-sponsored projects, the released funds are negligible compared to the requirement

Not looking to raise funds right now, says Physics Wallah co-founder

Reports surfaced recently that the company was planning to raise $250 million in fresh funding, seeking a $3.3 billion valuation. However, Maheshwari denies that

Allocate to US-focused funds despite shifting tax landscape: Experts

Capitalise on the geographical diversification and currency hedge they offer

Fund raise via IPO more than halves to Rs 52,116 cr in FY23 from FY22

The total amount raised through initial public offerings (IPOs) more than halved to Rs 52,116 crore in FY23 from an all-time high collection of Rs 1,11,547 crore in the previous fiscal, according to an analysis. According to Prime Database, just 37 companies hit the main board listing process in FY23, much lower than 53 IPOs in FY22. Pranav Haldea, managing director of Prime Database Group, said Rs 20,557 crore which is 39 per cent of the total amount raised in FY23 was by LIC alone, without which the IPO fundraising would have been just Rs 31,559 crore in the year. Yet, FY23 is still the third highest in terms of IPO fund-raise, he said. Overall public equity fundraising also dropped by 56 per cent to Rs 76,076 crore in the reporting year from Rs 1,73,728 crore in FY22. While IPOs were worth Rs 54,344 crore (including SME issues) in the year, total fund raising through the capital markets stood at Rs 85,021 crore, of which Rs 11,231 crore were from the OFS (offer for sale) route,

Investors should make staggered investment in long-duration funds

Be, however, prepared for interim volatility and have a horizon of above five years

Bhopal gas tragedy: SC dismisses Centre's plea for additional funds

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the Centre's curative plea seeking an additional Rs 7,844 crore from the Union Carbide Corporation's (UCC) successor firms to extend higher compensation to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy that killed over 3,000 people and caused environmental damage. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said there was no rationale by the Centre to rake up the issue two decades after the settlement. The top court said that a sum of Rs 50 crore lying with the RBI for the victims shall be utilised by the Union of India to satisfy pending claims of victims. "We are unsatisfied with the Union of India for not furnishing any rationale for raking up this issue after two decades...We are of the view that curative petitions cannot be entertained," the bench said. The bench also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Abhay S Oka, Vikram Nath and J K Maheshwar had on January 12 reserved its verdict on the Centre's curative plea. Th

Lenders to miss March-end deadline to resolve key insolvency cases

Once an account is settled with the highest bidder paying their bid amount, then it frees part of bank's locked fund in an account which could be used for lending purposes

Tata Power Renewable gets Rs 2,000 cr infusion from GreenForest

Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) has received an investment of Rs 2,000 crore from GreenForest New Energies Bidco with allotment of 20 crore preference shares to the latter. "TPREL...has received the second and final round of investment of Rs 2,000 crore from GreenForest and has successfully allotted 20,00,00,000 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) at face value of Rs 100 each at par aggregating to Rs 2,000 crore on a preferential basis to GreenForest," a statement said. Subsequent to this second tranche, TPREL has now received an investment of Rs 4,000 crore. GreenForest holds 6.06 per cent equity in TPREL and on conversion of the above CCPS, it will hold 9.76-11.43 per cent stake in TPREL, subject to the equity valuation on final conversion. The completion of this equity infusion will fund TPREL's aggressive growth plans. Over the next five years, it aims to achieve a portfolio of 20 GW of renewable assets and a market leading position. "The completion of Rs

Record allocation for railways in M'rashtra will have good impact: Vaishnaw

The record allocation of Rs 13,539 crore for railways in Maharashtra will have a "very good effect", Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday. Addressing a press conference through video link from Delhi, Vaishnaw said that the allocation in the 2023-24 Budget for Maharashtra was 11 times the average allocation between 2009 to 2014. Saying that the union government was getting good cooperation from the Eknath Shinde-led government, Vaishnaw reiterated the charge that when Uddhav Thackeray was chief minister, the bullet train project did not get any clearances from the state government. "The deadline for Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train project (completion) is August 2026," he added. The production of Vande Bharat Express trains has been ramped up and a train is being manufactured in 7 to 9 days, he said. "We will modernize and redevelop 123 stations in Maharashtra. As for CSMT (in Mumbai), by March end tenders will be opened. Primary pre-work has already begun," Vaishnaw said.