Page 11 - Banking Finance October 2023
P. 11

ROUNDUP

         87 lakh as of August 2023, which is an  Increased  demand  for  ethanol  for  is for loans of up to 5 lakh, its chairman
         increase of 42 lakh devices year-on-  blending with petrol and diesel will  said.
         year, Paytm added.                 transform India's agricultural economy,  The state-owned lender will press the
                                            making farmers 'urja daata' (energy  pedal on its 'Prayaas Programme' that
         ONGC set  to  pump Rs.2            provider)," Gadkari said during the pro-  targets businesses that are looking for
                                            totype launch.
         Lakh crore for 'net zero'                                             loans between 1 lakh and 5 lakh, which
                                            While flex-fuel vehicles have been in-  are not served by other established
         Oil  and  Natural  Gas  Corporation  troduced internationally before, and  lenders  such  as  banks  and  even
         (ONGC) plans to invest Rs 2 lakh crore  Toyota launched a flex-fuel version of  nonbanking finance companies in gen-
         to achieve net-zero transition targets  its Corolla last year, this is the first flex-  eral.
         by 2038, said Chairman Arun Kumar  fuel vehicle compliant with India's BS-
         Singh.                                                                "The development finance institution is
                                            VI emission standards, according to the  ramping up the lending between 1 lakh
         During  a  press  conference  at  the  company.                       to 5 lakh as this sector is underserved,"
         company's annual general meeting
                                                                               said SIDBI chairman S Ramann. "Total
         (AGM), Singh informed reporters that  African Union, now a G20        MSME credit in the country is about 24
         Rs 1 lakh crore would be required by                                  lakh crore. Another 25 lakh crore is
         2030 to accomplish multiple green ini-  permanent member              needed in the next three years to sat-
         tiatives, with another 1 lakh crore to  The African Union (AU) became a per-  isfy the credit demand of MSMEs."
         be allocated by 2038.              manent member of the Group of 20
                                            largest economies (G20) of the world  State-run lenders and specialised insti-
         The ONGC has established goals to                                     tutions are accelerating lending to
         reach net-zero emissions for Scope-1  with Prime Minister Narendra Modi  small and medium enterprises as the
         and Scope-2 by 2038.               announcing its entry into the top glo-
                                            bal body.                          government looks to create more em-
         "Your Company is devising a roadmap                                   ployment opportunities. The state and
         for opportunities in renewable energy  In his opening remarks at the inaugu-  the regulator have designed multiple
         and low-carbon sectors. It aims to ex-  ral session of the two-day G20 Summit,  programmes to  ensure  that  credit
         pand its renewable portfolio to 10 GW  Modi made the announcement wel-  flows to the segment that serves mil-
         by 2030. We are dedicated to investing  coming the 55-nation AU as the new  lions.
         around Rs. 1 lakh crore by 2030 to re-  member of the grouping.
         alize our various green initiatives and  Shortly after the announcement, Union  In coming months, I-T may
         achieve Scope-I & Scope-II emission tar-  of Comoros President and AU chairper-
         gets by 2038," stated Singh at the AGM.  son Azali Assoumani took the seat as a  reopen many big old cases
                                            full member of the G20.            The  Central  Board  of Direct  Taxes
         Gadkari launches world's           "In keeping  with the  sentiment  of  (CBDT), guided by a Supreme Court (SC)
         1st BS 6-compliant flex-fuel       sabka saath (with everyone), India had  order issued in April, has sent out com-
                                                                               prehensive instructions to tax officials
         car                                proposed that the African Union should  regarding reopening of past cases un-
                                            be given permanent membership of
         Union Minister of Road Transport and  the G20. I believe we all are in agree-  der the Income-tax (I-T) Act.
         Highways Nitin Gadkari unveiled the  ment on  this  proposal.  With  your  The  instructions dated August 23-
         prototype of the world's first Bharat  agreement  (he  banged  the  gavel  aimed at ensuring a uniform practice-
         Stage (BS)-VI-compliant electrified  thrice)...," Modi said.          state that there will be no reopening
         flex-fuel  car,  developed  by  Toyota                                and reassessment of completed cases
         Kirloskar Motor.                                                      only where the decision of the appel-
                                            SIDBI eyes  growth from
         The car, which runs on 100 per cent                                   late  authorities has  become  final.
         ethanol (E100), is based on the Toyota  small-ticket MSME loans       While this provides some relief, the
         Innova HyCross. It can cover 40 per  The  Small  Industries  Development  coming months may see reopening of
         cent of its distance on ethanol and the  Bank of India aims to grow its assets  past cases and reassessments in several
         remaining 60 per cent on electric, with  by a quarter by accelerating its lend-  instances where the sums involved are
         the petrol engine shut off.        ing in the segment where the demand  significant.

            BANKING FINANCE |                                                             OCTOBER | 2023 | 11
   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16