Indian financial news

The interface allows you to add multiple banks and transfer money, even between payment wallets, for a fraction of existing costsWant to check whether your friend or colleague wants to return the money you had loaned him? Send an SMS to his bank with a request for payment. The SMS will be forwarded to the friend or colleague and if he approves, the bank will pay. The Unified Payment Interface (UPI), launched last week in association with 21 banks, is expected to make some cutting-edge changes, such as the one mentioned above. Today, there are a number of options as far as transferring money goes; these are some new changes that will simplify life to a great extent. Now, there is the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) that helps transfer a particular amount immediately, and of course, payment wallets that let you pay at a merchant store by scanning a Quick Response (QR) Code by using a smartphone. Banking has already shifted to your smartphone with feature-rich apps."Digital payments have … [Read more...] about UPI: It’s not only about transferring money

While the Aircross will be a CKD, the company is setting up a production capacity of 100,000 units a year, in the first phase at its Thiruvallur plant, which is a JV between PSA Groupe and the CK Birla Group, reports T E Narasimhan. Image: The premium SUV, C5 Aircross. European auto major Groupe PSA, which is going to kick-start its journey next year with a premium SUV, said it is working on a new platform and India will be the first market to have products emanating from it. The company is planning to launch at least one car every year on this platform. Roland Bouchara, senior vice president–sales and marketing, India, PCA Automobiles India Pvt Ltd, said the company plans to launch its flagship premium SUV C5 Aircross in the Indian market by the second half of next year.The product will help push the brand in India and will be pave way for future launches as well. While this product will be a CKD, the company is setting up a production capacity of 100,000 units a year, in the … [Read more...] about PSA’s Citroen announces grand India plans with premium SUV Aircross

By Arvind Panagariya & Rajeev Mantri Two features of the regulatory regime have been central to the current malaise in India’s financial sector. First, until 2015, contrary to international best practice, RBI rules permitted banks to classify restructured loans as standard assets rather than downgrade them to non-performing status. Second, until the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) came along in 2016, the process of exit for defaulting firms and recovery of loans from them was cumbersome, costly and protracted. In good books Fearful that recovery of loans in default would be partial and take a long time, bank managers preferred to restructure loans before they went into default. Under the rules, restructured loans retained their status as standard assets. The incentive to follow this practice was especially high in public sector banks (PSBs), since any write-downs on loans in the event of default and partial recovery carried the risk of attracting the attention of … [Read more...] about The Bankruptcy Code isn’t broken, but it still needs fixing

New Delhi: India is likely to face questions about several major defence deals inked with Russia at the upcoming 2-plus-2 dialogue in Washington, with experts pointing out several high-value purchases from the US that have remained pending amid budgetary constraints. While India and the US are expected to sign a vital defence technology sharing pact, there is a sense of resentment in Washington over the lack of any major defence deal being signed in the past three years. Even on the technology sharing pact, last-minute consultations are still on. Experts are pointing to big-ticket contracts with Russia, where despite financial sanctions in place, special arrangements have been made to route money through and several big-ticket items on the agenda from the US where apparently, budgetary constraints have resulted in a goslow. The last big deals signed with the US were in 2016, with the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route being used. The Indian Army had then placed orders worth $700 … [Read more...] about India likely to face questions about Russian arms deals at talks in DC

NEW DELHI: India is likely to make its payments for Russian arms in euros to a Russia-nominated bank to bypass the threat of US sanctions for purchase of military hardware including the S-400 air defence missile system, people familiar with the details told ET. While certain payments for existing defence transactions have been processed through the rupee-rouble route, the people said that a solution was firmed up this month with Russia’s VTB Bank agreeing to receive money in euros. Over $4 billion worth of payments to Russia have bunched up for this financial year, with the biggest contract being the S-400 system, followed by the Chakra III submarine lease and the procurement of four frigates for the Indian Navy. Besides, two additional Russian contracts are expected this year for the supply of AK 203 rifles to the armed forces that will be manufactured in Amethi and the inking of an Army contract to procure Ka-226 helicopters that will be produced by a HAL-Russian Helicopters … [Read more...] about India likely to pay for Russian arms in euros to beat US sanctions