New Delhi, March 21
Riding on a buoyant stock market, the government has raised Rs 9,500 crore from disinvestment through share sales of Axis Bank and the PSU exchange traded fund (ETF).

The government netted Rs 5,500 crore from the sale of a 9 per cent stake in Axis Bank held through the Specified Undertaking of the UTI (SUUTI) and has been offered Rs 4,000 crore from the PSU ETF.

The government sold a 9 per cent stake held in Axis Bank through SUUTI via a block deal on the stock exchanges. The block deal happened soon after the opening of the market in various trades in the price range of Rs 1,313-1,341 per share.

The government is expected to garner over Rs 5,500 crore through the sale of 4.2 crore shares or a 9 per cent stake.

SUUTI, formed in 2003, is an offshoot of the erstwhile UTI, held 20.72 per cent in Axis Bank. Pursuant to the deal, SUUTI’s holding will come down to 11.72 per cent.

The government under the revised Budget estimate had inked Rs 3,000 crore from divestment of residual government stake in private sector companies in the current fiscal ending March.

The other promoters of Axis Bank are Life Insurance Corporation, General Insurance Corporation, New India Assurance and National Insurance Company.

The CPSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) has so far garnered cumulative bids of over Rs 4,000 crore buoyed by strong demand from foreign institutional investors (FIIs).

The New Fund Offer (NFO) has been fully subscribed with FIIs putting in Rs 750 crore alone so far on the fourth day of the offer.

The government had targeted to garner Rs 3,000 crore from the ETF. As many as seven anchor investors, including the State Bank of India and insurance companies, have already put in Rs 835 crore into the NFO.

The insurers that have put money in the ETF are LIC, Bharti Axa Life, General Insurance Corporation of India, National Insurance Company, The New India Assurance and United India Insurance.

The CPSE ETF basket consists of shares of 10 PSUs, including Oil & Natural Gas Corp, GAIL India, Coal India, Indian Oil, Oil India, Power Finance Corp, Rural Electrification Corp, Container Corp, Engineers India and Bharat Electronics.

New Delhi, March 21
Asserting that there were no differences with RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty today said his resignation was a personal decision.

Chakrabarty, the senior most Deputy Governor of the RBI requested to be relieved on April 25, slightly earlier than his scheduled term end on June 30. The 62-year-old career banker said he had already informed RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan about his retirement plans and would remain in the office till April 25.

“I think I should have the discretion of deciding my own retirement date. Absolutely, there is no problem and this was communicated to the Governor well in advance. It was my personal decision,” he said.

On whether there was any difference with Rajan over policy matters, the outspoken Chakrabarty said: “There is no such problem... I am taking early relieve. I am not running away.”

As regards future plans, he said he would think about it after April 25. “At present there is no plan”.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan on Friday said the central bank was yet to move to inflation targeting and was still in discussions with the government on the same. He also reiterated his preference for targeting retail price inflation. “We haven't moved into inflation targeting as yet… That's something the Urjit Patel committee suggested, and its not something the RBI has accepted,” Rajan said. “We probably should focus on CPI rather than WPI. What the RBI has said is that we are exploring the recommendations of the Urjit Patel report, and there are some aspects of it which have to be discussed with the government,” he said.

New Delhi, March 21
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has favoured a review of curbs on gold import, saying the restrictions are leading to smuggling.

“I feel for a review. I am not in favour of making it so difficult that it leads to an increase in smuggling,” Sharma said.

In order to check rising Current Account Deficit (CAD), the government raised import duties and the Reserve Bank of India imposed curbs on import of the yellow metal and also laid down various pre-conditions for inward shipments of the precious metal.

He said there was a need to have a balanced approach on the matter.

Gems and jewellery exporters, which account for about 15 per cent of the country’s total shipments, raised concerns over the restrictions on gold imports and demanded easing of norms in this regard.

Gems and jewellery exports dipped 4.18 per cent to $3.59 billion in February. During the 11-month of the current fiscal, shipments declined by 7.15 per cent to $35.73 billion.

Gold and silver imports declined 71.4 per cent to $1.63 billion in February.

Sharma said his ministry was ensuring that the exporters got adequate gold to enhance overseas shipments of jewellery.

The enforcement agencies during the first nine months of 2013-14 have seized 1,074.41 kg of gold as against 326.23 kg during the entire 2012-13 fiscal.

According to reports, sleuths of the Revenue Department have seized gold worth about Rs 245 crore being pushed illegally through the country’s borders in the past one year. As many as 700 cases of gold smuggling so far have been reported across the country during 2013-14. — PTI

New Delhi, March 21
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will soon come out with a detailed framework for the implementation of new corporate governance norms that pertain to protecting whistle-blowers, having orderly succession plans and keeping at least one woman director on company boards.

A circular with regard to detailed corporate governance norms for the listed companies is in the process of being issued, official sources said. The SEBI board last month approved a proposal to amend the Listing Agreement with respect to these norms for the listed companies.

The clearance follows a months-long discussion among various stakeholders on draft regulations released last year.

The SEBI board was informed about the status of new norms at its meeting yesterday. They will take effect for all listed companies from October 1, 2014.

Every listed company will need to have at least one woman director on the board. Also, boards will have to adopt a policy on succession planning. The companies would also need to adopt a whistle-blower policy for employees. That apart, the norms seek to check all party transactions with entities linked to promoters and directors.

Besides, the number of directorship a person can hold on company boards would be capped, along with other measures to safeguard the interest of minority shareholders. — PTI

The norms Every listed company will need to have at least one woman director on the board The boards will have to adopt a policy on succession planning. The companies will also need to adopt a whistle-blower policy for employees The number of directorship a person can hold on company boards will be capped