MUMBAI, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE VOL. LX NO. 280, 16 PAGES, `7.00 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E BUDGET FOCUS ON INFRA Easier rules to woo long-term capital Insurance & pension funds may get to invest in private SPVs BANIKINKAR PATTANAYAK New Delhi, November 29 THE GOVERNMENTIS weighing a raft of proposals, including relaxing rules to enable insurance firms and pension funds to put in long-term capital in infrastructure projects, as it seeks to spur job creation and bring the Covid-hit economy back on track fast. Extant regulatory norms effectively bar these investors that bring in patient capital from funding private-sector specialpurposevehicles(SPVs), while most infrastructure Centre cuts tax transfers to states by a fifth in October ● COVISHIELD SII refutes adverse reaction FE BUREAU Pune, November 29 firms are set up as SPVs.These long-term investors are also required to invest primarily in highly safe instruments. DESPITE A SHARP revenue slump, the Centre transferred budgeted amounts to state governments as theirtax share from divisible pool in AprilMay, but has since found this practiceunsustainable–October transfers were a fifth less than envisaged in Budget, at `37,233 crore (see chart on Pg 2).To be sure,manystates have in recent months seen a rise in own tax revenues (OTR) from the lows witnessed in the lockdown period. VACCINE MAJOR SERUM Institute of India (SII) on Sundaystronglyrefuted an allegation that Covishield, the vaccine candidate for Covid-19, which is in the third phase of human trials in India, triggered severe adverse reaction in a Chennai-based 40-yearoldvolunteer,andsaiditwould seek “damages in excess of `100 crore”for the“malicious and misconceived”claims. TheCovid-19vaccine,being developed by OxfordAstraZeneca, is widely believed to be the best bet for India among at least four others in thelaterstagesofhumantrials, for its relatively low price (`1,000fortworequisitedoses) andtestedstabilitywhenstored at 2-8 degree temperature. Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 Continued on Page 2 Govt, regulators reviewing norms that bar insurance firms, pension funds from investing in private infra SPVs Curbs on institutional investors for funding infra projects rated below AA up for scrutiny as well ■Proposed Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corp to be set up soon, to ease fund flow to lowrated projects ■Under National Infra Pipeline, `111-lakh cr capital investments envisaged up to FY25 PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, November 29 ● EMERGING TREND ● FASAL BIMA YOJANA WFH to spur contract hiring in small cities Private insurers’ profits jump, state firms falter Continued on Page 2 PRABHUDATTA MISHRA New Delhi, November 29 One scheme, contrasting tales SOME OFTHE private insurers seem to have cut against the grain and found a lucrative businessmodelunderthePradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY),thegovernment-supported crop insurance scheme. Claims to premium (CP) ratio of private insurers in kharif2019seasonstoodatjust 60%,and was as low as 23% in the case of one firm, implying theirhigh profitability. Claims to premium ratio (%) Continued on Page 2 60.5 113.2 Public-sector insurers 82.9 116.9 Private insurers 82.4 96.4 CONTRACT STAFFING IN Tier 2 and 3 cities is expected to see an increase now that companies are more open to employees working from anywhere,even their homes. The simplified guidelines for the BPO and IT-enabled services would, in particular enable companies to set up offices in smaller cities and towns. The additional number of contract employees estimated to be added thisyear bythe ITBPM sector is just about 25,000. However, Lohit Bhatia, president, Indian Staffing Federation (ISF) believes that increasingly organisations would look to hire not in the top 40 cities but in the next 200 towns. 74.2 79.9 SHUBHRATANDON Mumbai, November 29 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20* *Only for kharif season, rabi claims under process. Kharif 2019 (%) Bajaj Allianz Reliance General Universal Sompo HDFC Ergo SBI General 89.2 59.5 23.4 42.1 76.8 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD