New Delhi, May 6
As many as 23 public and private sector banks and insurance companies were today accused of "running a nationwide money laundering racket, blatantly violating laws of the land" by online portal Cobrapost.

"In its continuing undercover operation, spanning several months, Cobrapost finds dozens and dozens of major public sector banks, and many more private banks, across the country are blatantly involved in money laundering, as are major insurers. In all, 23 banks and insurance companies have been exposed," the portal said.

Cobrapost alleged that the financial sector entities offered to open bank accounts and lockers for customers without following Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, convert their black money into white and obtain fictitious PAN cards.

Those named in the expose include SBI, LIC, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Reliance Life, Tata AIA, Yes Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Dena Bank, Corporation Bank, Allahabad Bank, Central Bank of India, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Federal Bank, DCB Bank and Birla Sun Life.

This is the second expose by Cobrapost. Earlier on March 14, it had alleged money laundering by top private sector banks - HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

Taking note of the development, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru said, "I have asked Indian Banks Association (IBA) to look into Cobrapost allegations...there is a need to examine allegations." He said three senior officials have been asked to look into the issue.

Talking to reporters, SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said the bank would investigate the allegations and take severe action against those found guilty.

"So far, it does not indicate if KYC violations have been done. But if they have been done, the people would be punished," he said.

On misuse of lockers to store black money, Chaudhuri said banks do not keep a check on what customers keep in their lockers.

Denying the Cobrapost allegations, Reliance Life said: "As part of its ongoing compliance efforts, Reliance Life will continue to examine any specific instances that come to light for appropriate remedial action, if any." Bank of Baroda general manager DD Singla said: "We are in the process of investigating the whole event...instances of deviation will be sternly dealt with as per our established procedure."

Cobrapost said, "Operation Red Spider 2 establishes beyond doubt that money laundering is not confined to private banks, and is not an aberration.

"It is rather endemic overarching the entire banking system and insurance sector, without exception, however shocking it might be. The scale is vast and unfathomable," the portal added.—PTI

New Delhi, May 6
Insurance regulator IRDA today said it is examining the allegations of money laundering levelled against LIC, Reliance Life, Tata AIA and Birla Sun Life and action will be taken against the guilty at the earliest.

"The insurance companies concerned have been asked to file a report on the allegations. The matter is under examination and appropriate action will be taken at the earliest," Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) said.

In its expose, Cobrapost has named as many as 23 public and private sector banks and insurance companies for allegedly "running a nation-wide money laundering racket, blatantly violating laws of the land." The four insurance companies which figure in the list are alleged to have violated the “Know Your Customer” and “Anti Money Laundering” norms.

Responding to Cobrapost allegations, LIC said it has effective system for compliance of all statutory and regulatory norms, but added that "in case violation is noticed at any level necessary action will be taken by the Corporation".

Taking a serious note of the expose, Tata AIA said: "We have initiated an internal inquiry into this incident and will take appropriate necessary action... Lapses in judgement and deviations from the rules are dealt with strictly." — PTI 

New Delhi:The government on Monday asked top financial institutions, including SBI, PNB, and LIC, to probe into the allegations of money laundering as exposed in a sting operation by Cobrapost.

Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru has asked the CMDs of various public sector banks to probe the allegations, the Finance Ministry said.

"Any officer/employee of your bank/institution who clearly appears to be advising potential customers along lines that would be an infringement of the legal process could facilitate money laundering/could defeat the KYC norms or the norms of due diligence prescribed by RBI and the law from time to time, may be placed under suspension with immediate effect pending inquiry,” it said.

"The bank may initiate a detailed scrutiny of such officer’s work and institute a special audit, if necessary, for this purpose. The inquiry must be initiated and completed expeditiously.” it added. — IANS

New Delhi, May 6
Facing heavy debt, Reliance Communications (RCom) today announced a hike in mobile call rates for both its GSM and CDMA pre-paid customers by up to 30 per cent.

The move comes as signs of market consolidation emerge following the Supreme Court’s order in February last, forcing several smaller firms to either shut down or scale back operations.

RCom has further cut discounts, extending price increases in the world's second-biggest mobile phone market.

Until recently, operators were locked in a fiercely competitive market and offered steep discounts to win customers, often sacrificing margins, but rising airwave costs and heavy debts have forced carriers to end that strategy.

Earlier, bigger operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Group Plc and Idea Cellular had also announced a cut on discounts on voice calls, effectively increasing prices.

"We have now corrected all Commitment Plans across the country and have increased tariffs between 20 and 30 per cent," said Gurdeep Singh, RCom's CEO for Wireless Business.

New tariffs will apply to all customers with immediate effect. The move is aimed at bringing in greater RPMs (revenue per minute) and profitability, the statement said.

Market watchers did not rule out the possibility of other operators following suit as most of them are facing heavy debts in the aftermath of 3G auctions and increasing operational costs.

The company has hiked rates under Commitment Plans 21 and 45 from 1 paisa per second to 1.2 paise per second.

It has also reduced benefit under special tariff vouchers, which enable mobile phone users to get services at discounted rates by up to 65 per cent. 

Mumbai, May 6
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today overtook FMCG major ITC to become the country's third most-valued company after TCS and ONGC.

At the end of the trade, RIL commanded market value of Rs 2,65,814 crore. This is about Rs 7,978 crore more than ITC's m-cap of Rs 2,57,836 crore.

Shares of RIL ended 2.53 per cent higher at Rs 821.50, while ITC's fell by 1.35 per cent to Rs 326.30 on the BSE.

RIL had last week slipped to fourth position in the list of top-10 most-valued companies of the country in terms of their market valuation.

TCS with a market capitalisation of Rs 2,86,703 crore was at the top of the chart, followed by ONGC (Rs 2,72,663 crore), RIL, ITC and Coal India (Rs 1,99,249 crore).

Market capitalisation or the value of a listed company is arrived at by multiplying the total number of its shares with its stock price on a particular day or time. This figure changes every day with the change in the stock price. — PTI

New Delhi, May 6
Perturbed by the negative growth in exports of handicrafts, the Standing Committee on Commerce has asked the government to take steps to boost exports of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), especially in labour-intensive sectors.

The report of the committee, which was placed in Parliament, said sectors like handicrafts and handlooms which are labour-intensive need special attention of the government.

“The negative growth in handicrafts sector is a matter of concern and is reflective of the lackadaisical attitude of the government towards the SME sector”, the report said.

The committee said the Commerce Ministry should lay more emphasis on markets with greater export potential like the SAARC region, South-East Asia and China instead of markets which are not doing well or are disadvantageously located.

It asked the ministry to diversify the export basket in terms of trade with China, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait since these five countries contribute 47 per cent of the total trade deficit of the country. It noted that items of exports from these countries are something which cannot be reduced in demand. In view of this, the committee recommended the ministry to undertake studies and carry out due diligence to market new commodities there and also build upon the volume of already traded items.

The report also expressed concern that the increasing current account deficit was being bridged through foreign institutional investment route. “These investments being transient in nature can’t be an alternative to increased exports”, it said.

It said decisive steps are needed to reduce the trade deficit and find ways and means to come up with the right policies to ensure that short-term trade deficits do not balloon beyond a sustainable limit. It also asked for adequate attention to three factors, namely infrastructure, power and availability of credit to boost exports. 

Mumbai, May 6
NTPC today said it expects to start production at its six coal blocks by 2017, which will help it secure an additional 40 million tonne of captive coal.

The six coal blocks include Pakri Barwadih, Chatti-Bariatu, Kerandari, and Chatti-Bariatu (South) in Jharkhand; Tallaipali in Andhra and Dulanga in Odisha.

"One of the mines in Jharkhand is expected to start production this year. We expect to start production in all the six mines by 2017," NTPC technical director AK Jha told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

He said, once these six mines start production, the company will be able to add nearly 40 million tonnes of capacity for captive use.

Last year, the Coal Ministry had cancelled allocation of five blocks - Chatti Bariatu, Chatti Bariatu (South), Kerandari, Brahmani and Chichiro Patsimal - to NTPC as it could not develop the mines within the stipulated time frame.

However, in January, the ministry decided to return the Chatti Bariatu, Chatti Bariatu (South) and Kerandari coal blocks to the nation's largest utility.

Jha further said the 800-MW Kol Dam hydel project in Himachal is expected to be commissioned this fiscal. Besides, he said that NTPC was planning to commission 100 MW of solar power projects this year.

"We are setting up solar power projects in different states, which are at various stages of development. We expect to commission nearly 100 MW by March next," Jha said. It is setting up 50 MW solar plant at Raigarh in Madhya Pradesh, 5 MW at Faridabad, 10 MW at Talcher (Odisha), 10 MW at Unchahar and 25 MW at Singrauli (UP) and 25 MW in Ramagundam (Andhra). — PTI 

New Delhi, May 6
The real estate sector attracted Rs 42,000 crore new investments during last financial year, down nearly 55 per cent compared to the previous fiscal, industry chamber Assocham said today.

"The realty sector in India attracted new investments worth over Rs 42,000 crore as of March 2013, which slipped from over Rs 92,600 crore a year ago," according to an analysis on real estate by Assocham.

The new investments in realty sector in Maharashtra have plummeted by over 55 per cent in the last fiscal, it added.

"Maharashtra has attracted outstanding investments worth about Rs 3,00,000 crore in the real estate sector as of March 2013, but the new investments in the sector dipped from over Rs 16,000 crore to just over Rs 7,000 crore during the course of last one year," the industry body said. While most of the states have seen a fall in attracting new investments in the sector, Gujarat has witnessed a surge of over 700 per cent as the state attracted investments worth over Rs 17,000 crore from just over Rs 2,000 crore in 2011-12.

"Kerala is another state, which has seen massive growth of over 550 per cent in attracting new investments in real estate, followed by Uttarakhand (400 per cent) and Rajasthan (175 per cent)," Assocham national secretary general DS Rawat said.

However, most of the other states have seen a drop of over 50 per cent in new investments in the realty sector during the aforesaid period, he added.

"Apart from Gujarat, Maharashtra (over 17%), Karnataka (10%), Tamil Nadu (8%) and Uttar Pradesh (over 6%) are amid top five states with maximum share in new investments attracted by real estate sector,” Rawat said. — PTI 

Mumbai, May 6
The rupee today closed down by 24 paise at nearly one-week low of 54.18 against the dollar on the American currency demand from importers and banks on the back of firm USD overseas. The rupee commenced strong at 53.78 a dollar. It immediately turned negative and logged a low of 54.24 before settling at 54.18.— PTI