Defence public sector undertakings (PSUs) have been asked by the Centre to hold roadshows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to share their financials and business plans to reel in investors. Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Bharat Dynamics (BDL), Bharat Electronics (BEL), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), and Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI) have informed stock exchanges that they will conduct investor outreach programmes and participate in 'non-deal' roadshows and meetings with prospective investors from September 12-15. They will share their short- and medium-term growth plans, financial metrics, improvement in their stock performance/ market capitalisation - and make a pitch of sorts to prospective investors.

The Centre is looking to improve disclosures made by public sector undertakings (PSUs), and has asked such companies to share monthly progress made on capital expenditure targets and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives undertaken by them. New details such as gender-wise reporting of contractual workers, unused land, and profit share in joint venture companies have also been added in the list of disclosures. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), which publishes the Public Enterprises Survey and collects information for Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed with PSUs, is looking to integrate data collected from government-owned companies.

The Centre on Sunday said there are no plans to levy charges for making payments through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) while saying the service is a "digital public good with immense convenience". The ministry of finance said the concerns of service providers for cost recovery have to be met through other means. "UPI is a digital public good with immense convenience for the public & productivity gains for the economy.

The central government is looking to strengthen the boards of public sector banks (PSBs) by specifying terms of office and conditions of service for whole-time directors, and also seeking disclosures from all directors about interests in other companies. Through the Banking Laws Amendment Bill, the government is likely to introduce conditions for disqualification of whole-time and independent directors which are not specified in the current legislation. The Centre is seeking to introduce fresh changes that are aimed at strengthening the boards of PSBs, and holding their directors accountable, an official said.

Provisions in the Central GST Act say reduction in GST rates or the benefit of ITC must be passed on to consumers.

The Centre should privatise all public sector banks (PSBs), except the State Bank of India (SBI). This is because private banks have emerged as a credible alternative to PSBs with substantial market share. Also, government ownership hinders the ability of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to regulate the sector, according to a report by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is considering a proposal to make insurance frauds a parameter for calculating credit scores in an attempt to put a lid on the increase in such activity. The proposal, which is a part of the recommendations made by a working group formed by Irdai and the General Insurance Council, suggests that insurance frauds should feature when the risk profiles of individuals are evaluated and should be used to calculate their credit scores. A poor credit score can deprive a person of financial services such as loans and credit cards, and deter him from indulging in fraud.

Department of financial services secretary Sanjay Malhotra held a meeting with heads of PSBs, insurance companies and financial institutions for identifying ways to support Agniveers on completion of their tenure of duty.

The Centre is looking to continue maintaining an arms length in financial sector appointments.

The Centre has increased the premium rates for its flagship insurance schemes, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), for the first time in seven years due to "long-standing adverse claims experience", and to make them economically viable. The premium for PMJJBY would increase from Rs 330 to Rs 436 a year effective June 1, and the PMSBY premium would rise from Rs 12 to Rs 20, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. PMJJBY provides life insurance cover worth Rs 2 lakh to all account holders aged 18-50 years.

Five cities -- Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Surat -- ceded their power of procurement and agreed to a different procurement model to operate state-run buses.

The number of times public sector undertakings (PSUs) have held conference calls with investors, their capital management, and debt financing are among the parameters that the Centre will use to judge their performance for the first time, a senior official in the know said. The government will evaluate PSUs for FY22 based on new parameters that were finalised by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) in consultation with the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) last year, the official said. The government had included more conditions in the memorandum of understandings (MoUs) - used to set annual targets - that public sector enterprises sign with the DPE every year. These included a consistent dividend policy, which seeks to transfer dividends by PSUs every quarter; and market capitalisation or share price improvement over the sectoral index on an annual average basis for listed companies.

Global investors have cited the ongoing war and high valuations of Indian equity markets as a reason to skip the IPO.

For the initial public offering (IPO) of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the Centre has shortlisted 50-60 anchor investors, which include BlackRock, Sands Capital, Fidelity Investments, Standard Life, and JP Morgan, and will soon finalise its anchor book. The feedback from anchor investors has led to price discovery in LIC shares, valuing India's largest insurer at around Rs 7 trillion, said an official aware of the development. The "attractive valuation" is seen widening the investor base by providing an opportunity to more of them to participate in the IPO, the official added.

The Centre is unlikely to reduce its shareholding in Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for at least 2 years following the insurer's listing because such a move could affect returns for investors participating in the mega initial public offering (IPO). The government's stance was communicated to prospective investors during roadshows after many of them sought clarity on the Centre's plan for lowering its shareholding in the insurer to meet the minimum public shareholding norms. To this, the Centre maintained its stand that it would not look at any equity dilution in the insurer for at least two years to avoid downward pressure on LIC's shares.

The Centre has completed asset monetisation worth Rs 96,000 crore during FY22, surpassing the target of Rs 88,000 crore. For FY23, it has set itself a goal of Rs 1.62 trillion, and already has a pipeline of assets worth Rs 1.6 trillion under advanced stages of implementation, an official said. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday reviewed the progress made by several ministries and nudged departments to achieve the targets set for them, the official added.

The Centre's decision to not reduce the face value of shares of India's Crown Jewel - Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) - was taken to make shareholders feel they are acquiring something 'precious'. The face value of LIC's shares was retained at Rs 10, quoted in the draft prospectus, as it would also align the insurer's shares with those of its private sector peers. Even as the LIC Act was amended to "consolidate or reduce the nominal or face value of the shares", with the Centre's approval, it was decided to stick to the current face value of shares at Rs 10 without splitting the existing 6.32 billion shares.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan has paid up GST of Rs 1.09 crore on sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) worth Rs 7.15 crore following a notice by the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI), people aware of the matter said. Though Bachchan has deposited the amount, investigations by tax authorities continue, they said. Bachchan had entered into an agreement with Rhiti Entertainment Pte. Ltd, Singapore, for conversion of his content into NFTs by way of an auction.

The government may have to rework the valuation of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for its initial public offering (IPO) if the listing is pushed beyond May, an official said. The current embedded value of LIC, pegged at Rs 5.4 trillion as of September 30 and for the six-month period ended September, will have to be re-evaluated if the issue is pushed beyond May 12, as approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). This would impact the market value of LIC, that is currently being internally estimated at 3-4 times of the embedded value.

The Centre is considering relaxing some norms that led to the failure in attracting bids for assets of Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) as they look to restart the auction for their non-core assets. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had listed six properties of BSNL and MTNL for sale through its new e-bidding portal, developed by state-run MSTC, but the auction failed to garner an adequate interest. DIPAM had asked government-appointed property consultants to identify issues in the bidding criteria for resolution.