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EPFO may Allow Tweak in Equity Investments  Labour min likely to introduce proposal to hike contribution limit of 15%, risk-averse subscribers may be allowed to cut exposure Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscribers may soon get the option to invest more of their retirement contribution in stocks to potentially earn higher returns, a senior labour ministry official said.  The labour ministry is likely to introduce a proposal to increase the stipulated equity investment limit of 15% at the next central board of trustees (CBT) meeting on June 26. Any change in the norm will require the finance ministry to notify the new investment pattern. The EPFO has more than 50 million subscribers. The National Pension System (NPS) under the finance ministry gives subscribers the choice of investing as much as 75% in stocks. At the same time, risk-averse EPFO subscribers may also get the option to reduce their equity contribution under the plans being considered, said the offi

Niti Forms Sub-Group of CMs to Link Agri, NREGS The Niti Aayog has formed a sub-group of chief ministers to frame policy for greater synergy between agriculture and the Centre’s flagship rural jobs scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).  Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Sunday in a full meeting of the Aayog suggested that a committee of chief ministers be formed to suggest ways of using NREGS to create durable farm assets that help double incomes of farmers and reduce agrarian distress. The high-level group, comprising chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand, will have to submit its recommendations in three months.  Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be the convener of the committee.  “The move comes in the backdrop of the vision of the Prime Minister towards doubling farmers’ income by 2022 which requires a mult

Sebi Set to Revamp IPO Norms Efforts on to make it easier for legitimate sellers while clamping down on misuse The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is set to revamp initial public offering (IPO) norms to make them less onerous for legitimate sellers while clamping down on possible misuse. These include recognising a wider set of institutional investors such as alternative investment funds (AIFs) as counting toward promoters’ contribution in startups, requiring financial disclosures for three years rather than five and reducing disclosure of the price band to two days before the issue opens from five now. The board will meet on June 21 to discuss proposed changes in the Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements (ICDR), said a person aware of the matter. Regulations have also been rewritten to make them consistent and easier to follow. “There are cases of good companies where the promoter capital is not adequate for lock-in in an IPO,” said Prime Database managing

CAD at 2.5% of GDP not a worry, govt geared to deal with outflows: FinMin With rising oil prices, depreciating rupee and outflow of portfolio investments, there are concerns that CAD might rise in the current fiscal Current account deficit (CAD) at 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) won’t be a worry as the government has the required instruments to deal with any imbalance created due to foreign fund outflow, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said on Tuesday.  “2-2.5 per cent CAD is not a problem for us.... If there is stability, in the current year capital account (inflows) should be good enough to take care and we may not worry even if it (CAD) reaches 2.5 per cent,” Garg said.  CAD, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, jumped to Dollar 48.7 billion, or 1.9 per cent of GDP, in 2017-18 fiscal. This was higher than  Dollar  14.4 billion, or 0.6 per cent, CAD in 2016-17 fiscal.  With rising oil prices, depreciating rupe

Probe into 80,000 shell firms hits dead end as govt fails to trace PANs The government had sent notices to 226,000 companies for not filing statutory returns The probe into 80,000 shell companies struck off by the Registrar of Companies (RoC) in the first lot has hit a dead end. The government had not been able to trace the Permanent Account Numbers (PANs) of 80,000 companies, which was hampering investigations, officials of the corporate affairs ministry said.  “Banks were asked to furnish the transaction data of these shell companies. But they did not respond despite multiple reminders. Banks have told us that without PAN card details, it was not possible to track these companies,” one of the officials said. PAN is compulsory for any transaction above Rs 50,000. So far, the government has transaction details of only 73,000 companies. These companies deposited Rs 240 billion at the time of demonetisation.  Many of these firms were found evading taxes. In a recent communication

PSBs to focus on credit needs of 'genuine' companies, says Piyush Goyal PSBs promise to boost credit; 4,500 companies to be assessed; banks to work on two-stage process Public sector banks (PSBs), in a meeting with Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday, have decided to chalk out a road map for supporting the credit needs of “genuine” companies.  The banks would take up the credit needs of “genuine, deserving, well-performing and good companies” in two stages, Goyal said.  In the first stage, the PSBs will conduct a focused study on the credit needs of around 4,500 companies, with borrowings in the range of Rs 2 billion to Rs 20 billion. In the second stage, the credit needs of companies with borrowings of up to Rs 2 billion — mostly micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) — will be covered. “One of the thoughts before the PSBs is to support MSMEs along with genuine and good companies that need working capital finance or loans on investments in fixed assets and have