1. First Kisan Call Centre of North-East opened in Agartala, Tripura
First Kisan Call Centre (KCC) of North-East was opened in Agartala, Tripura. The KCC was launched by the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.KCC was FINANCED by the Tripura government. It will be run by a private enterprise with experts of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry.
The Kisan Call Centre will give immediate solution and real time advisory to farmers if they need expert consultation regarding seed procurement, agro-metric, fertilizer, soil health, pesticides usage and marketing of the produces.
Apart from that the farmers' portal will issue advisory for farm production under direct supervision of the experts.
2. Visit Britain roped in Saif Ali Khan to promote Bollywood Britain campaign
Visit Britain, the National tourism agency of Britain roped in Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan to promote an India-centric campaign, Bollywood Britain.
The agency through this campaign wants to focus on locations featured in Hindi films to attract more Indian visitors. It also wants to popularise Wales, Scotland and other destinations, which are not so popular among Indian tourists.
With this, Khan has joined the list of Indian celebrities promoting tourist destinations. Other Bollywood actors promoting tourist destinations include Amitabh Bachchan (Gujarat), Akshay Kumar (Canada) and Dia Mirza (Japan).
3. Maharashtra launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child
Maharashtra Government on 8 March 2015 launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child. The scheme replaced Sukanya scheme. As per the scheme, the state government will deposit an amount of 21200 rupees in bank for a girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family.
About Bhagyashree scheme
(i). The Bhagyashree scheme aims at providing one lakh rupee on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age.
(ii). The scheme was launched by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Bollywood actress Bhagyashree.
(iii). Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme.
(iv). The Bhagyashree scheme would be linked to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme of Union Government.
4. United Arab Emirates won the bid to host AFC Asian Cup 2019
United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the bid to host Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019. The AFC Asian Cup 2019 will be the 17th edition of the games.
The announcement was made by the AFC Executive Committee in a meeting at Manama, Bahrain.
The UAE defeated Iran Football Federation (IFC) to win the hosting rights by unanimous vote. Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Oman and Kuwait had all bid for the event, with China and Bahrain withdrawing after showing initial interest.
The UAE bid proposed to organise the tournament in three cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al-Ain. These all cities have stadiums that could host the games. It will be the second time that the UAE will host the Asian Cup. Earlier, UAE had held the AFC Asian Cup in 1996.
AFC Asian Cup is an international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
5. Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs released the data of top ten Corporate of 2014
Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs o released data of top ten Corporate of 2014. The pack of top ten corporate comprises of eight public sector undertakings and two private sector undertakings.
In term of assets, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the largest corporate with assets worth 3.68 lakh crore rupees. RIL is followed by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) with assets worth 2.52 lakh crore rupees and mortgage lender Housing Development FINANCE Corp (HDFC) with assets worth 2.25 lakh crore rupees.
Other entities in the top ten are Power FINANCE Corporation (4), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) (5), Rural Electrification Corporation (devil), Power Grid Corporation (7), LIC Housing FINANCE(music), Steel Authority of India Limited (9) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (10).
Power Finance Corp's assets stood at 1.94 lakh crore rupees, NTPC 1.80 lakh crore rupees, Rural Electrification Corp 1.53 lakh crore rupees, Power Grid Corp 1.40 lakh crore rupees, LIC Housing Finance 95777 crore rupees, Steel Authority of India 91962 crore rupees and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd 89333 crore rupees.
The list is based on data from 415886 companies which had filed their balance sheets for the year 2013-14 till November 2014.
The total reported value of the assets of all the 415886 companies was 117.08 lakh crore rupees and the share of top ten companies in the total value of assets was 15.3 percent in March 2014.
6. EU Investment Bank to step up project funding in India
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the financial arm of the 28-member European Union, is planning to step up FINANCING projects in India, officials of the bank said here.
Lucknow Metro project
“The bank is in talks with Indian officials regarding several projects, including FINANCING the Lucknow Metro project,” Sunita Lukkhoo, Regional Manager, South Asia at EIB, told visiting Indian journalists.
The Lucknow Metro project, one of the flagship programmes of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, is proposed in two corridors — North-South and East-West. The 23-km North-South corridor, which would connect Lucknow airport to the city, is being undertaken in the first phase and is estimated to cost over ₹7,000 crore.
Lukkhoo did not reveal how much money the bank is planning to lend to the project. “Another deal in the pipeline is the water supply project of the Madhya Pradesh government. The plan is to co-FINANCE the project with the ADB (Asian Development Bank),” she said.
FINANCING the water supply project in Delhi is also on the cards. All these projects are being implemented by the public sector.”
Long-term FINANCING
Recently, Luxembourg-based EIB, the world’s largest multilateral lender and borrower, had granted €45 million ($49 million or around ₹300 crore) to India’s biggest lender, State Bank of India, for on-lending to private businesses in the country. It was the second tranche of a €200 million loan approved earlier. The first tranche of €55 million was signed on June 25, 2014.
EIB officials said the bank is giving greater importance for long-term FINANCING in developing economies, including India. Lukkhoo said since 2011, the focus of its lending in India and other Asian countries was on three areas — environmental sustainability, social and economic infrastructure and local private sector.
Patrick Walsh, Director of Global Partners, EIB, also sounded optimistic about stepping up the India business. “We had some interesting meetings last week with some Indian representatives. There’s a huge range of potential projects we can work on. We are going to explore that with our colleagues in India,” he said.
Select sectors
When asked which are the sectors that the bank is focused on, he said: “We are looking at sectors involved in improving climate and climate change, small and medium enterprises and developing infrastructure, especially metros.”
At the end of 2014, the bank has lent €5.35 billion via 73 loans in 15 Asian countries. Of this, the largest share, 39 per cent, went to China, with India coming second with 19 per cent. In 2013, the bank signed on two projects in India — Exim Bank of India Climate Change (€150 million) and Srei Climate Change (€40 million).
Active in Asia
As of today, EIB has committed €1.07 billion loans to India for eight projects, including the €200 million SBI loan and another €200 million to India Infrastructure FINANCE Company Ltd, to finance projects that will contribute to the mitigation of climate change in the country.
First Kisan Call Centre (KCC) of North-East was opened in Agartala, Tripura. The KCC was launched by the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.KCC was FINANCED by the Tripura government. It will be run by a private enterprise with experts of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry.The Kisan Call Centre will give immediate solution and real time advisory to farmers if they need expert consultation regarding seed procurement, agro-metric, fertilizer, soil health, pesticides usage and marketing of the produces.
Apart from that the farmers' portal will issue advisory for farm production under direct supervision of the experts.
2. Visit Britain roped in Saif Ali Khan to promote Bollywood Britain campaign
Visit Britain, the National tourism agency of Britain roped in Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan to promote an India-centric campaign, Bollywood Britain.
The agency through this campaign wants to focus on locations featured in Hindi films to attract more Indian visitors. It also wants to popularise Wales, Scotland and other destinations, which are not so popular among Indian tourists.
With this, Khan has joined the list of Indian celebrities promoting tourist destinations. Other Bollywood actors promoting tourist destinations include Amitabh Bachchan (Gujarat), Akshay Kumar (Canada) and Dia Mirza (Japan).
3. Maharashtra launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child
Maharashtra Government on 8 March 2015 launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child. The scheme replaced Sukanya scheme. As per the scheme, the state government will deposit an amount of 21200 rupees in bank for a girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family.
About Bhagyashree scheme
(i). The Bhagyashree scheme aims at providing one lakh rupee on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age.
(ii). The scheme was launched by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Bollywood actress Bhagyashree.
(iii). Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme.
(iv). The Bhagyashree scheme would be linked to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme of Union Government.
4. United Arab Emirates won the bid to host AFC Asian Cup 2019
United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the bid to host Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019. The AFC Asian Cup 2019 will be the 17th edition of the games.
The announcement was made by the AFC Executive Committee in a meeting at Manama, Bahrain.
The UAE defeated Iran Football Federation (IFC) to win the hosting rights by unanimous vote. Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Oman and Kuwait had all bid for the event, with China and Bahrain withdrawing after showing initial interest.
The UAE bid proposed to organise the tournament in three cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al-Ain. These all cities have stadiums that could host the games. It will be the second time that the UAE will host the Asian Cup. Earlier, UAE had held the AFC Asian Cup in 1996.
AFC Asian Cup is an international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
5. Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs released the data of top ten Corporate of 2014
Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs o released data of top ten Corporate of 2014. The pack of top ten corporate comprises of eight public sector undertakings and two private sector undertakings.
In term of assets, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the largest corporate with assets worth 3.68 lakh crore rupees. RIL is followed by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) with assets worth 2.52 lakh crore rupees and mortgage lender Housing Development FINANCE Corp (HDFC) with assets worth 2.25 lakh crore rupees.
Other entities in the top ten are Power FINANCE Corporation (4), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) (5), Rural Electrification Corporation (devil), Power Grid Corporation (7), LIC Housing FINANCE(music), Steel Authority of India Limited (9) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (10).
Power Finance Corp's assets stood at 1.94 lakh crore rupees, NTPC 1.80 lakh crore rupees, Rural Electrification Corp 1.53 lakh crore rupees, Power Grid Corp 1.40 lakh crore rupees, LIC Housing Finance 95777 crore rupees, Steel Authority of India 91962 crore rupees and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd 89333 crore rupees.
The list is based on data from 415886 companies which had filed their balance sheets for the year 2013-14 till November 2014.
The total reported value of the assets of all the 415886 companies was 117.08 lakh crore rupees and the share of top ten companies in the total value of assets was 15.3 percent in March 2014.
6. EU Investment Bank to step up project funding in India
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the financial arm of the 28-member European Union, is planning to step up FINANCING projects in India, officials of the bank said here.
Lucknow Metro project
“The bank is in talks with Indian officials regarding several projects, including FINANCING the Lucknow Metro project,” Sunita Lukkhoo, Regional Manager, South Asia at EIB, told visiting Indian journalists.
The Lucknow Metro project, one of the flagship programmes of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, is proposed in two corridors — North-South and East-West. The 23-km North-South corridor, which would connect Lucknow airport to the city, is being undertaken in the first phase and is estimated to cost over ₹7,000 crore.
Lukkhoo did not reveal how much money the bank is planning to lend to the project. “Another deal in the pipeline is the water supply project of the Madhya Pradesh government. The plan is to co-FINANCE the project with the ADB (Asian Development Bank),” she said.
FINANCING the water supply project in Delhi is also on the cards. All these projects are being implemented by the public sector.”
Long-term FINANCING
Recently, Luxembourg-based EIB, the world’s largest multilateral lender and borrower, had granted €45 million ($49 million or around ₹300 crore) to India’s biggest lender, State Bank of India, for on-lending to private businesses in the country. It was the second tranche of a €200 million loan approved earlier. The first tranche of €55 million was signed on June 25, 2014.
EIB officials said the bank is giving greater importance for long-term FINANCING in developing economies, including India. Lukkhoo said since 2011, the focus of its lending in India and other Asian countries was on three areas — environmental sustainability, social and economic infrastructure and local private sector.
Patrick Walsh, Director of Global Partners, EIB, also sounded optimistic about stepping up the India business. “We had some interesting meetings last week with some Indian representatives. There’s a huge range of potential projects we can work on. We are going to explore that with our colleagues in India,” he said.
Select sectors
When asked which are the sectors that the bank is focused on, he said: “We are looking at sectors involved in improving climate and climate change, small and medium enterprises and developing infrastructure, especially metros.”
At the end of 2014, the bank has lent €5.35 billion via 73 loans in 15 Asian countries. Of this, the largest share, 39 per cent, went to China, with India coming second with 19 per cent. In 2013, the bank signed on two projects in India — Exim Bank of India Climate Change (€150 million) and Srei Climate Change (€40 million).
Active in Asia
As of today, EIB has committed €1.07 billion loans to India for eight projects, including the €200 million SBI loan and another €200 million to India Infrastructure FINANCE Company Ltd, to finance projects that will contribute to the mitigation of climate change in the country.
1. First Kisan Call Centre of North-East opened in Agartala, Tripura
First Kisan Call Centre (KCC) of North-East was opened in Agartala, Tripura. The KCC was launched by the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.KCC was FINANCED by the Tripura government. It will be run by a private enterprise with experts of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry.
The Kisan Call Centre will give immediate solution and real time advisory to farmers if they need expert consultation regarding seed procurement, agro-metric, fertilizer, soil health, pesticides usage and marketing of the produces.
Apart from that the farmers' portal will issue advisory for farm production under direct supervision of the experts.
2. Visit Britain roped in Saif Ali Khan to promote Bollywood Britain campaign
Visit Britain, the National tourism agency of Britain roped in Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan to promote an India-centric campaign, Bollywood Britain.
The agency through this campaign wants to focus on locations featured in Hindi films to attract more Indian visitors. It also wants to popularise Wales, Scotland and other destinations, which are not so popular among Indian tourists.
With this, Khan has joined the list of Indian celebrities promoting tourist destinations. Other Bollywood actors promoting tourist destinations include Amitabh Bachchan (Gujarat), Akshay Kumar (Canada) and Dia Mirza (Japan).
3. Maharashtra launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child
Maharashtra Government on 8 March 2015 launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child. The scheme replaced Sukanya scheme. As per the scheme, the state government will deposit an amount of 21200 rupees in bank for a girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family.
About Bhagyashree scheme
(i). The Bhagyashree scheme aims at providing one lakh rupee on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age.
(ii). The scheme was launched by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Bollywood actress Bhagyashree.
(iii). Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme.
(iv). The Bhagyashree scheme would be linked to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme of Union Government.
4. United Arab Emirates won the bid to host AFC Asian Cup 2019
United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the bid to host Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019. The AFC Asian Cup 2019 will be the 17th edition of the games.
The announcement was made by the AFC Executive Committee in a meeting at Manama, Bahrain.
The UAE defeated Iran Football Federation (IFC) to win the hosting rights by unanimous vote. Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Oman and Kuwait had all bid for the event, with China and Bahrain withdrawing after showing initial interest.
The UAE bid proposed to organise the tournament in three cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al-Ain. These all cities have stadiums that could host the games. It will be the second time that the UAE will host the Asian Cup. Earlier, UAE had held the AFC Asian Cup in 1996.
AFC Asian Cup is an international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
5. Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs released the data of top ten Corporate of 2014
Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs o released data of top ten Corporate of 2014. The pack of top ten corporate comprises of eight public sector undertakings and two private sector undertakings.
In term of assets, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the largest corporate with assets worth 3.68 lakh crore rupees. RIL is followed by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) with assets worth 2.52 lakh crore rupees and mortgage lender Housing Development FINANCE Corp (HDFC) with assets worth 2.25 lakh crore rupees.
Other entities in the top ten are Power FINANCE Corporation (4), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) (5), Rural Electrification Corporation (devil), Power Grid Corporation (7), LIC Housing FINANCE(music), Steel Authority of India Limited (9) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (10).
Power Finance Corp's assets stood at 1.94 lakh crore rupees, NTPC 1.80 lakh crore rupees, Rural Electrification Corp 1.53 lakh crore rupees, Power Grid Corp 1.40 lakh crore rupees, LIC Housing Finance 95777 crore rupees, Steel Authority of India 91962 crore rupees and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd 89333 crore rupees.
The list is based on data from 415886 companies which had filed their balance sheets for the year 2013-14 till November 2014.
The total reported value of the assets of all the 415886 companies was 117.08 lakh crore rupees and the share of top ten companies in the total value of assets was 15.3 percent in March 2014.
6. EU Investment Bank to step up project funding in India
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the financial arm of the 28-member European Union, is planning to step up FINANCING projects in India, officials of the bank said here.
Lucknow Metro project
“The bank is in talks with Indian officials regarding several projects, including FINANCING the Lucknow Metro project,” Sunita Lukkhoo, Regional Manager, South Asia at EIB, told visiting Indian journalists.
The Lucknow Metro project, one of the flagship programmes of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, is proposed in two corridors — North-South and East-West. The 23-km North-South corridor, which would connect Lucknow airport to the city, is being undertaken in the first phase and is estimated to cost over ₹7,000 crore.
Lukkhoo did not reveal how much money the bank is planning to lend to the project. “Another deal in the pipeline is the water supply project of the Madhya Pradesh government. The plan is to co-FINANCE the project with the ADB (Asian Development Bank),” she said.
FINANCING the water supply project in Delhi is also on the cards. All these projects are being implemented by the public sector.”
Long-term FINANCING
Recently, Luxembourg-based EIB, the world’s largest multilateral lender and borrower, had granted €45 million ($49 million or around ₹300 crore) to India’s biggest lender, State Bank of India, for on-lending to private businesses in the country. It was the second tranche of a €200 million loan approved earlier. The first tranche of €55 million was signed on June 25, 2014.
EIB officials said the bank is giving greater importance for long-term FINANCING in developing economies, including India. Lukkhoo said since 2011, the focus of its lending in India and other Asian countries was on three areas — environmental sustainability, social and economic infrastructure and local private sector.
Patrick Walsh, Director of Global Partners, EIB, also sounded optimistic about stepping up the India business. “We had some interesting meetings last week with some Indian representatives. There’s a huge range of potential projects we can work on. We are going to explore that with our colleagues in India,” he said.
Select sectors
When asked which are the sectors that the bank is focused on, he said: “We are looking at sectors involved in improving climate and climate change, small and medium enterprises and developing infrastructure, especially metros.”
At the end of 2014, the bank has lent €5.35 billion via 73 loans in 15 Asian countries. Of this, the largest share, 39 per cent, went to China, with India coming second with 19 per cent. In 2013, the bank signed on two projects in India — Exim Bank of India Climate Change (€150 million) and Srei Climate Change (€40 million).
Active in Asia
As of today, EIB has committed €1.07 billion loans to India for eight projects, including the €200 million SBI loan and another €200 million to India Infrastructure FINANCE Company Ltd, to finance projects that will contribute to the mitigation of climate change in the country.
First Kisan Call Centre (KCC) of North-East was opened in Agartala, Tripura. The KCC was launched by the Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.KCC was FINANCED by the Tripura government. It will be run by a private enterprise with experts of agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and animal husbandry.The Kisan Call Centre will give immediate solution and real time advisory to farmers if they need expert consultation regarding seed procurement, agro-metric, fertilizer, soil health, pesticides usage and marketing of the produces.
Apart from that the farmers' portal will issue advisory for farm production under direct supervision of the experts.
2. Visit Britain roped in Saif Ali Khan to promote Bollywood Britain campaign
Visit Britain, the National tourism agency of Britain roped in Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan to promote an India-centric campaign, Bollywood Britain.
The agency through this campaign wants to focus on locations featured in Hindi films to attract more Indian visitors. It also wants to popularise Wales, Scotland and other destinations, which are not so popular among Indian tourists.
With this, Khan has joined the list of Indian celebrities promoting tourist destinations. Other Bollywood actors promoting tourist destinations include Amitabh Bachchan (Gujarat), Akshay Kumar (Canada) and Dia Mirza (Japan).
3. Maharashtra launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child
Maharashtra Government on 8 March 2015 launched Bhagyashree scheme for girl child. The scheme replaced Sukanya scheme. As per the scheme, the state government will deposit an amount of 21200 rupees in bank for a girl child born in a Below the Poverty Line (BPL) family.
About Bhagyashree scheme
(i). The Bhagyashree scheme aims at providing one lakh rupee on maturity after the girl completes 18 years of age.
(ii). The scheme was launched by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Bollywood actress Bhagyashree.
(iii). Bollywood actress Bhagyashree is the brand ambassador of the scheme.
(iv). The Bhagyashree scheme would be linked to the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme of Union Government.
4. United Arab Emirates won the bid to host AFC Asian Cup 2019
United Arab Emirates (UAE) won the bid to host Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019. The AFC Asian Cup 2019 will be the 17th edition of the games.
The announcement was made by the AFC Executive Committee in a meeting at Manama, Bahrain.
The UAE defeated Iran Football Federation (IFC) to win the hosting rights by unanimous vote. Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Oman and Kuwait had all bid for the event, with China and Bahrain withdrawing after showing initial interest.
The UAE bid proposed to organise the tournament in three cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al-Ain. These all cities have stadiums that could host the games. It will be the second time that the UAE will host the Asian Cup. Earlier, UAE had held the AFC Asian Cup in 1996.
AFC Asian Cup is an international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
5. Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs released the data of top ten Corporate of 2014
Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs o released data of top ten Corporate of 2014. The pack of top ten corporate comprises of eight public sector undertakings and two private sector undertakings.
In term of assets, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the largest corporate with assets worth 3.68 lakh crore rupees. RIL is followed by state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) with assets worth 2.52 lakh crore rupees and mortgage lender Housing Development FINANCE Corp (HDFC) with assets worth 2.25 lakh crore rupees.
Other entities in the top ten are Power FINANCE Corporation (4), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) (5), Rural Electrification Corporation (devil), Power Grid Corporation (7), LIC Housing FINANCE(music), Steel Authority of India Limited (9) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (10).
Power Finance Corp's assets stood at 1.94 lakh crore rupees, NTPC 1.80 lakh crore rupees, Rural Electrification Corp 1.53 lakh crore rupees, Power Grid Corp 1.40 lakh crore rupees, LIC Housing Finance 95777 crore rupees, Steel Authority of India 91962 crore rupees and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd 89333 crore rupees.
The list is based on data from 415886 companies which had filed their balance sheets for the year 2013-14 till November 2014.
The total reported value of the assets of all the 415886 companies was 117.08 lakh crore rupees and the share of top ten companies in the total value of assets was 15.3 percent in March 2014.
6. EU Investment Bank to step up project funding in India
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the financial arm of the 28-member European Union, is planning to step up FINANCING projects in India, officials of the bank said here.
Lucknow Metro project
“The bank is in talks with Indian officials regarding several projects, including FINANCING the Lucknow Metro project,” Sunita Lukkhoo, Regional Manager, South Asia at EIB, told visiting Indian journalists.
The Lucknow Metro project, one of the flagship programmes of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, is proposed in two corridors — North-South and East-West. The 23-km North-South corridor, which would connect Lucknow airport to the city, is being undertaken in the first phase and is estimated to cost over ₹7,000 crore.
Lukkhoo did not reveal how much money the bank is planning to lend to the project. “Another deal in the pipeline is the water supply project of the Madhya Pradesh government. The plan is to co-FINANCE the project with the ADB (Asian Development Bank),” she said.
FINANCING the water supply project in Delhi is also on the cards. All these projects are being implemented by the public sector.”
Long-term FINANCING
Recently, Luxembourg-based EIB, the world’s largest multilateral lender and borrower, had granted €45 million ($49 million or around ₹300 crore) to India’s biggest lender, State Bank of India, for on-lending to private businesses in the country. It was the second tranche of a €200 million loan approved earlier. The first tranche of €55 million was signed on June 25, 2014.
EIB officials said the bank is giving greater importance for long-term FINANCING in developing economies, including India. Lukkhoo said since 2011, the focus of its lending in India and other Asian countries was on three areas — environmental sustainability, social and economic infrastructure and local private sector.
Patrick Walsh, Director of Global Partners, EIB, also sounded optimistic about stepping up the India business. “We had some interesting meetings last week with some Indian representatives. There’s a huge range of potential projects we can work on. We are going to explore that with our colleagues in India,” he said.
Select sectors
When asked which are the sectors that the bank is focused on, he said: “We are looking at sectors involved in improving climate and climate change, small and medium enterprises and developing infrastructure, especially metros.”
At the end of 2014, the bank has lent €5.35 billion via 73 loans in 15 Asian countries. Of this, the largest share, 39 per cent, went to China, with India coming second with 19 per cent. In 2013, the bank signed on two projects in India — Exim Bank of India Climate Change (€150 million) and Srei Climate Change (€40 million).
Active in Asia
As of today, EIB has committed €1.07 billion loans to India for eight projects, including the €200 million SBI loan and another €200 million to India Infrastructure FINANCE Company Ltd, to finance projects that will contribute to the mitigation of climate change in the country.
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