Page 15 - Banking Finance September 2021

ROUNDUP

sues to make the regime simpler, as tual event on the occasion of release was more than 20 per cent lower than
was intended," the official said. of an installment of PM-KISAN. it was in the corresponding period of
Modi also said while India has become 2020," Vyas observed.
BSNL narrows consoli- self-sufficient in rice, wheat and sugar, it
dated loss was not enough as the country is hugely Cabinet approves amend-
dependent on imported edible oils. ments to LLP Act
State-run telecom firm BSNL has nar-
rowed its consolidated loss to Rs The Centre has already been running In a booster shot for the startup eco-
7,441.11 crore in the financial year a National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil system, the Cabinet has approved
ended on March 31, 2021, according Palm to boost oilseeds and palm oil amendments to the Limited Liability
to an official. production in India for the last few Partnership Act, 2008 to bring LLPs on
years with an aim to lower imports. a par with large corporates, which
The company had posted a loss of Rs
15,499.58 crore in 2019-20. Sources said the new Mission plans to enjoy the ease of doing business due to
increase oil palm cultivation to 1 mil- the government's recent efforts in
"The loss has come down mainly due lion hectares by 2025-26 and 1.7-1.8 decriminalising several provisions of
to reduction in employee wages on million hectares by 2029-30. the Companies Act.
account of voluntary retirement opted
by 78,569 employees," a BSNL official As many as 12 offences under the ex-
said. India witnesses addition iting LLP law are proposed to be
The revenue from operations of the of 16 million jobs decriminalised through the latest set of
amendments.
company declined by 1.6 per cent to India witnessed an addition of 16 mil-
Rs 18,595.12 crore in 2020-21 com- lion jobs in July mainly in the agricul- Once the proposed changes to the LLP
pared to Rs 18,906.56 crore it reported ture and construction sectors, how- Act are effected, the number of com-
in 2019-20, the official said. ever, the number of salaried jobs fell poundable offences under the legisla-
BSNL's net worth has come down to Rs by 3.2 million in the same month, ac- tion will come down to seven from 21,
the total number of penal provisions
51,686.8 crore during FY2021 from Rs cording to the Centre for Monitoring
Indian Economy (CMIE). will get reduced to 22 from 24, and
59,139.82 crore in the previous year. there will be only three non-compound-
"India saw an addition of a massive 16
The outstanding debt of the company able offences, said NirmalaSitharaman,
increased to Rs 27,033.6 crore in million jobs in July 2021. But, all the Finance Minister.
FY2020-21 from Rs 21,674.74 crore in additional employment provided by
FY2019-20. India in July was of poor quality. 18.6 Govt clears total FDI in
million additional people were em-
ployed as small traders and daily wage PSU oil
PM announces mission to
labourers," CMIE's MD and CEO The government cleared 100% FDI
make India self-sufficient Mahesh Vyas said in his analysis. (foreign direct investment) through the
in edible oils He said most of these were engaged automatic route in public sector oil

As India's import dependency on edible in agriculture where 11.2 million addi- companies, paving the way for over-
oil continues to rise, Prime Minister tional people were employed. seas investors to acquire Bharat Petro-
NarendraModi announced a Rs 11,000 The number of salaried jobs, which are leum Corporation, which is up for sale.
crore National Edible Oil Mission-Oil mostly better quality jobs, fell by 3.2 The clearance will allow foreign com-
Palm (NMEO-OP) to make India self- million in the same month, Vyas said. panies to invest in other state-run oil
sufficient in cooking oils, including palm companies that the government may
"The big jump in employment seen in
oil. divest in future.
agriculture in July is a reflection of the
"The government will ensure that increase in sowing activities. Monsoon The current policy caps FDI in state-
farmers get all the facilities, from qual- has been playing truant this year. This owned oil companies at 49% but allows
ity seeds to technology under the mis- has delayed kharif sowing activities. By 100% foreign holding in the private
sion," Modi said while addressing a vir- the end of June 2021, kharif sowing sector entities.

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