OPINION, P6 COMPANIES, P4 RENU KOHLI RBI must appropriately relay its demandcondition readings NATION, P5 EDITORIAL NEW OPPORTUNITIES FRAUD ALLEGATIONS Gig-worker platforms must learn from Urban Company, ensure fair compensation, key protections Ola restructures organisation, expands roles of top leaders US court rejects Nirav Modi’s plea seeking quashing of charges HYDERABAD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2021 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XVIII NO. 141, 16 PAGES, `6.00 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 SENSEX: 61,716.05 ▼ 49.54 NIFTY: 18,418.75 ▼ 58.30 NIKKEI 225: 29,215.52 ▲ 190.06 HANG SENG: 25,787.21 ▲ 377.46 `/$*: 75.35 ▼ 0.09 `/€*: 87.27 ▲ 0.11 BRENT: $84.93 ▲ $0.60 GOLD: `47,368 ▲ `184 INDIA IS forming a group that brings together staterun and private refiners to seek better crude import deals, oil secretary Tarun Kapoor said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with soaring oil prices, reports Reuters. Initially, the group of refiners will meet once in a fortnight and exchange ideas on crude purchases. Govt sanctions ad hoc bonus for staff for FY21 THE GOVERNMENT has sanctioned non-productivity linked or ad hoc bonus for central government employees for fiscal 2020-21, reports PTI. In an office memorandum, the Department of Expenditure under the finance ministry said the employees of central paramilitary forces and armed forces, too, would be eligible for the bonus. Reliance Retail buys majority stake in Ritu Kumar’s firm RELIANCE RETAIL Ventures Ltd (RRVL) has acquired a 52% stake in veteran couturier Ritu Kumar's firm Ritika Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount, reports PTI. "RRVL's majority equity acquisition in Ritika Pvt Ltd included completely acquiring Everstone's 35% stake in the company," a joint statement said. Global pension systems: India ranked 40th of 43 THE INDIAN pension system ranked 40th on overall index ranking out of 43 systems, and had the lowest rank in the adequacy sub-index, the 2021 Mercer CFA Global Pension Index survey released on Tuesday, reports PTI. The country needs to undertake strategic reforms to revamp the pension system so as to ensure adequate retirement income, it said. A-LISTER Sebi nod for `6K-cr PolicyBazaar IPO SoftBank, company founders to offload shares in sale offer SALMAN SH Bengaluru, October 19 PB FINTECH, THE PARENT firm of insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar, on Tuesday received approval from the Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (Sebi) to raise `6,017.50 crore through an initial share sale. A company spokesperson confirmed the developmentto FE but did not elaborate on other details of the upcoming initial public offer (IPO). PB Fintech had filed draft papers for its proposed IPO in August which included a fresh issue of `3,750 crore worth of equity shares and an offer for sale (OFS) of `2,267.50 crore by existing investors and promoters. The company’s existing investor,SoftBank,whichowns a 9.45% stake will offload shares worth `1,875 crore, while PolicyBazaar cofounders Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal will sell shares worth `345 crore in the upcoming IPO. Three other promoters are NPS MF SIP 20,000 15,000 NIFTY 50 2019 2020 2021 10,000 `3,750 crore worth of equity shares and an offer for sale of `2,267.50 crore by existing investors and promoters Finmin asks banks to work with fintech firms, NBFCs to step up disbursements BANIKINKAR PATTANAYAK New Delhi, October 19 Existing investor SoftBank will offload shares worth `1,875 crore Co-founders Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal will sell shares worth `345 crore Company is seeking a valuation of around $6 billion also expected to offload shares worth`47.5crore,accordingto thecompany’sdraftredherring prospectus.The firm is seeking avaluationofaround$6billion. PolicyBazaar’s DRHP also said the company may consider raising close to `750 crore by way of a private placement of equity shares ahead of the IPO. THE FINANCE MINISTRY has advisedstate-runbankstostart anationwideloanoutreachprogramme soon and take advantage of a potential rise in credit demand in the build-up to Diwali and thereafter, as the economy is on a path of “sustainedrecovery”,sourcestoldFE. The banks have been asked tosettargetsofloanstobesanctioned during the district-wise outreach programme and join hands with fintech firms and non-banking financial companies to step up disbursement to FRESH PUSH Finmin feels banks can gain from credit outreach during peak festival season ■ Banks advised to set loan sanction and disbursement targets during the outreach Continued on Page 2 Sensex Markets end lower after hitting record highs Intra-day, Oct 19 62,300 62,156.48 62,150 FE BUREAU & AGENCIES Mumbai, October 19 62,000 sought to stireconomic growth through sustained credit push, amid fears that bankers were increasinglyturningrisk-averse. Continued on Page 2 33,300 33,144.75 ■ Finmin wants ministries of agri, MSME, housing, health, labour and rural development to help enrol beneficiaries for insurance outreach Ahead of IPO, govt may permit 20% FDI in LIC AHEAD OFthe mega initial public offer(IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) slated for the March quarter of the current financial year,thegovernmentwilllikelyapprove20% foreign investment limit in LIC equity, an enabling provision aimed at attracting foreign investors in the IPO, reports Prasanta Sahu in New Delhi.However,full utilisation Midcap stocks lose some steam SNAPPING THEIR SEVENSESSION rising streak,Sensex and Niftyendedwith marginal losses on Tuesday. The Nifty Midcap index witnessed its biggest drop in the last six months during the day as investors rushed to book profit following the recent steep rally in most index members. The index fell as much as 885 points in intra-day trade before paring some losses and settling at 32,170.70, down 714.10 points or 2.2%. The sell-offwas also seen in small cap space as the Nifty They should also join hands with fintech firms, NBFCs to lend to small borrowers evensmallborrowers.Themove follows finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s instruction inAugusttostate-runlendersto initiate the outreach programme, as the government PROFIT TAKING oftheforeigninvestmentlimitwilltakelong. AccordingtotheamendmenttotheLICAct throughtheFinanceAct2021,thegovernment could dilute only 25% stake in LIC in the first fiveyearsandthegovernmentequitywon’tfall below51%atanypointintime.“So,49%public float in LIC is a long way to go,” an official familiartold FE. ■ Report on Page 2 61,850 61,716.05 61,700 61,550 61,400 Previous clsoe: 61,765.59 Open Close Smallcap100 index declined 1.7% to 11,480.70 points. Stockswithhighretailpresencesuch as IRCTC,TataPower fellanywherebetween7.2%to 10.7% on Tuesday. Continued on Page 2 Nifty Midcap100 Intra-day, Oct 19 33,050 32,170.70 32,800 32,550 32,300 32,050 31,800 Previous clsoe: 32,884.80 Open Close FE BUREAU Pension scheme for low earners coming a cropper Fresh enrolments under the voluntary Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan scheme, which guarantees monthly pension of `3,000 from the age of 60 years for domestic workers, rickshawpullers and other low-earners, have been dipping fast and may soon be down to zilch. As such, against the target of enrolling 10 crore people in five years from FY20, just a little over 45 lakh people have joined the heavily subsidised pension scheme till October 18 this year. PMSYM enrolment: 16,556 15,76,206 2021-22 (up to Oct 18) 2019-20 1,29,793 2020-21 Monthly enrolment in the current fiscal: 4,986 4,680 3,176 2,187 April 1,021 May June July Aug 85 Sept Source: Labour ministry 23 Oct (upto 18th) BAD LOANS Align your investments with your financial goals PPF The IPO includes a fresh issue of Meet festive demand, lend liberally,PSBs told Funds constraint? Special Feature ` FINE PRINT LOAN OUTREACH ILLUSTRATION: SHYAM IN THE NEWS India plans refiners' joint oil deals to cut import bill *As on Oct 18 Go for a judicious mix of investments across asset classes such as equity, debt and gold to achieve your financial goals. Invest in equity when the holding period is three to five years ■ Personal Finance, P7 QuickPicks HUL’s net profit rises 9% to `2,187 crore in Sept quarter HINDUSTAN UNILEVER (HUL) on Tuesday reported broad-based growth across categories during the July-September quarter, as mobility improved on the back of the government’s vaccination drive and lower infection rates, reports fe Bureau in Mumbai. Even though rural demand saw some moderation due to the base effect, urban demand held up. During the period, the company’s standalone revenues from operations grew 11% year-on-year to `12,516 crore, while net profit rose 9% to `2,187 crore. PAGE 4 Moody’s upgrades banking sector outlook to ‘stable’ MOODY’S INVESTORS Service has revised up its outlook for the Indian banking system to stable from negative, citing improvement in capital base and stabilising asset quality, reports fe Bureau in New Delhi. In its outlook report on the Indian banking sector released on Tuesday, the global rating agency expected the country’s economy to continue to recover in the next 12-18 months, with GDP growing 9.3% in FY22 and 7.9% in the following year. Moody’s forecast that the pickup in economic activity will ultimately drive credit growth, likely be 10%-13% annually, substantially higher than the current pace. PAGE 9 Mudra NPAs rise as Covid hits MSMEs SHRITAMA BOSE Mumbai, October 19 THE RATIO OF gross non-performing assets (NPAs), or bad loans,in the loans outstanding under the Pradhan Mantri MudraYojana (PMMY) stood at 11.98% as on March 31,2021, theMicroUnitsDevelopment& Refinance Agency (Mudra) has said in response to a Right to Information (RTI) query. In absolute terms,the value of gross NPAs in Mudra loans as on March 31, 2021, was `34,090.34 crore, while the value of loans outstanding under the scheme stood at `2.84 lakh crore on the same date.While comparable data on MudraloanNPAsforthelasttwo years are not publicly available, at FY18-end,the bad loan ratio under the scheme was a much lower 5.38%, as per Mudra’s annual report forthatyear. The pandemic has hit small NPAS IN MUDRA LOANS Gross NPA ratio (in %) Mar 31, 2021 11.98 Mar 31, 2018 5.38 Data for 2019 & 2020 unavailable Source: MUDRA businesses harder than their larger counterparts and that may be putting pressure on loans taken bythem,including Mudra loans. Continued on Page 2 CRED valued at $4 bn in new funding round CREDSAIDonTuesdayithad raised $251 million in a new fundingroundledbyexisting investors and private equity firms Tiger Global and Falconedge,valuing the fintech company at $4.01 billion, reports Reuters. “Two new investors — Marshall Wace andSteadfast—joinedthecap table. DST Global, Insight Partners,Coatue,Sofina,RTP and Dragoneer increased their investments in CRED with this round,” a CRED spokespersonsaid. ■ Page 4 HYDERABAD