Page 14 - Banking Finance November 2020

ROUNDUP

market is a "public good". SEBI hopes patterns of people during the Multi-modal logistics park
the initiative will help make available coronavirus-induced lockdown, it said.
data on the Indian securities market to "The impact of the pay cuts or delays to generate 20 lakhsjobs
researchers, policy makers and the was the next big reason why most bor- Union Minister of Road Transport and
general public. Highways Nitin Gadkarisaid that the up-
rowers resorted to borrowing, 27% of
coming multi-modal logistics park
respondents cited repayment of their
Govt seeks financial bids monthly instalments from the earlier (MMLP) will generate 20 lakh direct and
for monetising MTNL as- loan as the second-biggest reason be- indirect employment once completed.
hind borrowing. Designed as a state of art facility,
sets MMLP Jogighopa is envisioned to drive
The government has kick-started the Manufacturing PMI rises economic growth and trade competi-
process of monetising land assets of tiveness of the country through a truly
telecom firm MTNL and has sought bids to decade high integrated, seamless, efficient, reliable
from global property consultancy firms India's manufacturing may be back on and cost-effective logistics network. It
for managing the sale process. The track, rebalancing itself from the Covid- is aimed to improve the logistics effi-
Department of Investment and Public 19 impact, the purchasing managers' ciency and facilitate the Domestic and
Asset Management (DIPAM) has in- index (PMI) data, released by IHS ExportImport trade in the region. The
vited financial bids by November 9 Markit, shows. state government has transferred
from the firms for monetising flats, India's manufacturing PMI rose to 58.9 200acres of land belonging to Ashok
apartments and plots of MTNL which Paper Mill for the project.
in October, the highest it has achieved
have been divided into 5 clusters.
in more than a decade. Gadkari said that the project once
46% Indians borrowed to Driven by robust sales, the pace gath- completed would generate around 20
ered by manufacturing output--a cru- lakh direct and indirect employment.
run households during the cial component of the headline PMI-- He informed that the project, to be
pandemic was the quickest since October 2007, implemented with a cost of Rs. 1171
contributing to the PMI's gains, the crore in two phases, is proposed to be
Nearly half of Indians have primarily completed by 2023.
monthly report by IHS Markit said.
depended upon borrowed money to
run their households during the ongo- Headline PMI went past 56.8, seen in Exchanges should clear
ing COVID-19 pandemic, according to September, which was an eight-year
a report. high. listed firms' scheme of ar-
With job losses and pay cuts across indus- A PMI value above 50 indicates that rangements
tries, the lower middle-income group has activity expanded in a month over the Now, a no-objection certificate from
been affected severely and the pandemic previous one. But it should be noted stock exchanges, the National Stock
has led to a shift in perspective towards that the PMI is a month-over-month Exchanges and the BSE, will be re-
loans and borrowing preferences, said indicator, showing improvement over quired for listed companies for their
the report by Home Credit India, a local the previous month, and not over the scheme of arrangement.
arm of the international consumer fi- previous year. Also, independent directors will have to
nance provider with operations spanning In addition, manufacturers spent more certify that the scheme is not detri-
over Europe and Asia. on buying inputs in October too. The mental to the company shareholders
The report, based on a survey, showed reopening of sectors took overall con- and a valuer report will have to be
that 46% respondents borrowed fidence to a 50-month high. tabled.
money primarily to run their house- But on employment, the payroll num- These rules are a fresh dictate of SEBI
holds. bers are still low, and in fact, lower and will ensure that companies do not
The survey was conducted among than in the previous month, due to take shareholders for a ride and some-
about 1,000 respondents across seven pandemic-related restrictions on com- body is held responsible in case of
cities to understand the borrowing panies. lapses, experts said.

14 | 2020 | NOVEMBER | BANKING FINANCE