Top headlines: ALT's ESG rating under review, Srei group resolution & more

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S&P puts Adani Transmission's ESG rating under review over governance issues

Global rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) has placed Adani Transmission Ltd's (ATL) environmental, social, and governance (ESG) evaluation under review. This follows recent allegations of significant governance lapses at the Adani group of companies.

On January 24, 2023, a short-seller report (Hindenburg report) claimed there were significant governance issues at the Adani group. Many allegations relate to disclosures and actions at the shareholder level. Since then, equity and bond prices have plummeted for the group's entities, including ATL. Read more...

 

MSCI delays index weighting changes for two Adani companies to May review

Index provider MSCI said on Wednesday it will postpone implementation of updates to weightings for two of India's Adani Group companies, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission, to the May benchmark review.

The reversal of the updates to Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission in the February index review will be reflected in the MSCI Index Product files starting from Feb. 16, MSCI said. Read more...

Banks may recover close to Rs 15,000 crore from Srei group resolution

Banks are likely to recover close to 45 per cent of their claims from the Srei group resolution after lenders voted to sell the company to the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL). According to sources, the gross amount payable by NARCL is close to Rs 15,000 crore, as against the admitted claim of Rs 32,750 crore.

On Tuesday, NARCL — in which public sector banks have a majority stake — edged out Authum Investment and Arena-Varde to acquire Srei groups with 89 per cent of creditors voting for. Read more...

Old vs new: Soon, I-T portal may show which tax regime's best for you

The income-tax (I-T) department is working on a system-driven mechanism that will generate the calculation of both the old and the new tax scheme based on income and investment of taxpayers, helping them make an informed choice.

The move will help the government achieve its target of making two-thirds, or 50-60 per cent, of taxpayers switch to the new regime in the next fiscal year. Read more...

Foreign trade in rupee no great shakes despite surge in vostro accounts

Even as several private and public sector banks have opened special rupee vostro accounts to facilitate overseas trade in the rupee, the mechanism has started off only on a brief scale, a senior government official said.

“This is a new initiative, and there are teething troubles relating to the exchange rate mechanism and the repatriation of money. So, it has not fully taken off. But there are isolated instances of some banks that have started it,” said Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi, adding that there are exporters in Jaipur and other places that have started the rupee trade. Read more...