NEW DELHI, Sept 15:
The Centre is working in collaboration with states to find out a permanent solution to make stress of discoms a “thing of the past”, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said here today.
Talking about his recent meetings with Chief Secretaries of the states on power issues, including ailing discoms, the minister said, “We had very good meetings. The states and the Centre are working together as one. The states are also conscious of their responsibilities.”
In two to three years, the discom distress would become a thing of the past, he added.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the National Biogas Convention 2015.
“The Centre is handholding them and supporting them in various ways to ensure that together we don’t look at the short-term solution to this problem (of ailing discoms),” the minister said.
He further said the government is committed to finding a permanent solution of the discom problem and “I am delighted that all the states uniformly have supported our ideas”.
Goyal had earlier said the Centre cannot be considered as a bailout bank for helping debt-ridden power distribution companies, and states will have to find a way out of the crisis.
The combined debt of power distribution companies (discoms) stands at over Rs 3 lakh crore. Faced with acute financial stress, many of these are unable to buy power.
The minister had clarified: “Some states have serious crisis (power) looming large. But at the end of the day, the Government of India can only facilitate the turnaround of these discoms. And we cannot finance it.”
On extension of the financial restructuring package (FRP), he had said the government has not finalised it.
Originally introduced in April 2012, FRP was implemented in October 2013.
In an attempt to restore power purchasing capacity of the debt-heavy discoms and enable banks to recover their loans, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved the scheme for financial restructuring of state discoms in September 2012. (PTI)
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11.NB
Mentha oil futures down
on supply pressure
NEW DELHI, Sept 15:
Mentha oil prices fell Rs 5.40 to Rs 921.60 per kg in futures trade today after participants reduced positions amid persistent supplies in the spot market against weak industrial demand.
In futures trading at the Multi Commodity Exchange, mentha oil for delivery in September was trading lower by Rs 5.40, or 0.58 per cent, to Rs 921.60 per kg, with a business turnover of Rs 560 lots.
Similarly, the oil for delivery in October declined by Rs 5, or 0.53 per cent, to Rs 934.30 per kg in 92 lots.
Marketmen attributed the fall in mentha oil futures to supply pressure amid higher output estimates against low demand from consuming industries in the spot market. (PTI)
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12.NB
Suvidha Infoserve
acquires AasaanPay
NEW DELHI, Sept 15:
Payments services major Suvidha Infoserve today acquired AasaanPay, the first Indian mPOS (mobile Point Of Sale) platform that was developed at the IIIT Hyderabad Campus.
The mPOS technology enables debit or credit card transactions and cash withdrawal on the spot or on the move using mobile phones and helps reduce the cost of merchant touch points.
Suvidha Infoserve, a USD 1.5 billion entity, said it plans to leverage the mPOS technology for tapping the utilisation of over 15 crore cards issued under the JanDhan Yojana by the government and another 50 crore debit cards issued by various banks.
Suvidha was founded by Mumbai-based entrepreneur Paresh Rajde in 2007 with angel funding by construction tycoon Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry. Its investors include Norvest Ventures Partners, World Bank Group’s International Finance Corp, Mitsui & Co and Reliance Capital.
As part of the deal, whose size was not disclosed, Hyderabad-based AasaanPay’s core technology team, led by Chief Technology Officer Pruthvi Sabbu, would shift to Suvidha.
Suvidha said the acquisition will fast track its plans to penetrate small merchants and tap bottom of pyramid customers, while taking the card-based transaction size to Rs 500 crore per month from Rs 15 crore currently.
A latest report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch said yesterday that mobile payments business in India is expected to grow 200 times in seven years to over USD 3 trillion. In this time period, the mobile payments will account for 10 per cent of the total payments in India which was just 0.1 per cent in financial year 2014-15.
Commenting on the deal, Suvidha Founder Paresh Rajde said, “We have been exploring several ideas to tap the 15 crore cards issued under Jandhan Yojana and enhance the card acceptance ecosystem… This technology acquisition will accelerate our merchant acquiring capabilities several times.
“Our technology will also find synergies for rapid expansion of new payment bank license holders.”
Suvidha has already have partnered with Axis Bank for launching India’s first Aadhar based e-KYC Prepaid card and for the mPOS with State Bank of India (SBI), he added.
AasaanPay was started by a team consisting of Sainath Gupta, Pruthvi Sabbu and Shashank Sahni in 2011, while Srikanth Chakkilam funded the venture in its initial days.
“Mobile is the next step in evolution of payments in India. Our technology will enable merchants to accept card payments and Cash@POS services in a hassle free way on their smart phone with the help of a card,” Gupta said.
Suvidhaa is India’s largest payment management company with 80,000 retail touch points across the country. (PTI)
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13.NB
Dr Lal PathLabs plans IPO;
files draft papers with Sebi
MUMBAI, Sept 15:
Leading diagnostic chain Dr Lal PathLabs is planning to go public and has filed draft papers with market regulator Sebi to raise funds through an IPO.
The Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) was filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India yesterday for the Initial Public Offer, wherein the promoters and other existing shareholders will collectively sell 1.16 crore shares of the company amounting to 14.1 per cent stake.
The total amount of funds to be raised through the IPO would depend on the offer price to be decided later.
Those participating in the share sale include main promoter Arvind Lal, as also other investors such as Wagner Ltd, Westbridge Crossover Fund and Sanjeevini Investment Holdings Ltd.
As per the DRHP filed with Sebi, the IPO would be made through an Offer for Sale and the proceeds would be remitted to the respective promoters and other investors and therefore the company will not receive any proceeds from the offer.
Kotak Mahindra Capital and Citigroup Global Markets India are the book running lead managers for the IPO.
The company said it is well-positioned to leverage upon one of the fastest-growing segments of the Indian healthcare industry.
Its total revenue rose to Rs 640 crore in the fiscal ended March 31, 2015, from Rs 544 crore in the previous year, while profit after tax rose to nearly Rs 88 crore from Rs 74 crore during the same period. (PTI)
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