Page 9 - Banking Finance March 2023

RBI CORNER

of India's Chairman Dinesh Khara said services has also been issued," a senior triggers for re-rating and whether the
the RBI policy statement reaffirmed government official said. volatility in the international market
the commitment to bring inflation could create liquidity issues. Bankers
"It is safe to assume that all platforms
down further and ensure financial sta- said that most of the group companies
that were taking advantage in India
bility in markets. "In principle, RBI are sound cash-generating businesses
like Betway have been blocked," an-
from its vantage position has with secured assets. However, there
other senior official said.
harmonised key measures, ensuring the are several greenfield projects that
The Ministry had not made public a
economy remains cushioned to the require large investments for capital
complete list of the apps that were
maximum extent from the impact of expenditure.
blocked. To be sure, such lists are
inflation in everyday lives," Khara said. Indian banks are not directly impacted
rarely made public since blocking or-
Das said the current account deficit ders passed under Section 69 (A) of the by the fall in the share price as they
(CAD) is expected to moderate in the IT Act are typically kept confidential. have not provided finance for lever-
second half of the fiscal 2022-23 and aged buyouts (where the shares are
The move marks the latest crackdown
remain eminently manageable and the security) as RBI rules do not per-
on offshore betting and gambling plat-
within the parameters of viability. In mit such financing. Adani Group com-
forms in India. Apart from that, it is the
the H1 of the current fiscal, CAD stood panies have not faced any problem in
first time that the government has
at 3.3 per cent of GDP. servicing their debt. A substantial por-
ordered to blocked predatory loan apps
tion of the company's debt is in the
- a menace that several institutions in
form of bonds issued in international
Central Govt blocks more the country like the Reserve Bank of markets.
India (RBI) and local law enforcement
than 200 offshore gam-
agencies have been trying to tackle
RBI's green bonds issu-
bling, predatory loan plat- over incidents of harassment of people
who have taken loans through such ance oversubscribed on
forms
apps, resulting in people dying by sui-
The Ministry of Electronics and IT debut
cide in some instances.
(MeitY) has issued orders to block more The 5-year and 10-year green bonds
than 200 sites and apps of offshore were issued at a premium compared
RBI asks large banks for in-
betting and gambling platforms like to the similar existing maturity sover-
Betway and Dafabet. formation on exposure to eign regular bonds.
The list of blocked platforms also in- Adani Group For the 10-year green bond - New GOI
clude over 90 apps engaged in The RBI has sought information from SGrB 2028 - the RBI received 170 com-
unauthorised loan services. Some of some large banks on their exposure to petitive bids worth Rs 19,367 crore -
these entities, sources said, had al- Adani Group following a rout in stocks nearly five times the notified amount
leged links to China and were conduct- of its companies. of Rs 4,000 crore. Of this, the RBI ac-
ing "unacceptable" data transfers and cepted 57 bids worth Rs 3,948.646
A senior banker told that the central
storage. crore.
bank already has a fair idea of the
For the 5-year green bond, 96 com-
The blocking orders have been passed banking industry's exposure to the
petitive bids worth Rs 13,525 crore
under Section 69(A) of the Information group, thanks to the Central Reposi-
were received, while the number of
Technology Act, 2000, following in- tory of Information on Large Credits.
bids accepted were 32 worth Rs
structions from the Ministry of Home However, since the exposure to the
3,993.124 crore, the RBI said.
Affairs, it is learnt. group was a large chunk of bank
credit, the RBI wanted to get an idea The RBI issued the five-year green
"The Ministry issued orders to block
of the liquidity position, the sanctioned bond at a cut-off yield of 7.10 per cent
138 apps that were involved in betting,
limits and the extent to which loans are and the 10-year green bond at 7.29
gambling and money laundering last
secured. per cent.
evening. A separate order to block 94
apps engaged in unauthorised loan The concern is whether there are any The 10-year sovereign green bond was
8 | 2023 | MARCH | BANKING FINANCE