Around the Market RBI's pilot project on public tech platform

The Reserve Bank of India has announced the launch of a pilot project for a public tech platform for frictionless credit through its wholly owned subsidiary, the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub. The public tech platform will enable frictionless delivery of credit by facilitating seamless flow of digital information required by lenders, the RBI said. Information will be presented in terms of both access and use cases of providers. The platform is intended to be introduced as a pilot project in a calibrated manner in terms of both outreach to information providers and use cases. It will bring efficiency to RBI's lending process in terms of cost reduction, faster disbursement and scalability. The end-to-end digital platform will have an open architecture, open application programming interfaces and standards, with which all financial sector players can seamlessly connect in a 'plug and play' model.

Barriers to 5G, 6G roll out in India

Telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India has warned the telecom department that de-licensing of spectrum in the 6 GHz band will hamper 5G advance and roll out of 6G services in the country. In a letter to the Department of Telecom, the Cellular Operators Association of India has requested the Department of Telecom to include 6 GHz spectrum. Supports its allocation to mobile telecommunications globally. The Cellular Operators Association said the 6 GHz band is the only additional contiguous spectrum available in the mid-band for international mobile telecommunications, which has already been auctioned. Hence, it is important for the future development of 5G technology and beyond, including a roadmap for 6G introduction in India. This spectrum will be crucial as India prepares an action plan for 6G. Delicensing this critical chunk of spectrum will severely hamper 5G+ and 6G services in India.

Challenges regarding loan transfer against bad banks

India's bad bank set up to buy legacy stressed loans from the country's lenders recently stalled such purchases due to disputes over pricing and future liabilities, bankers and industry sources said. Stressed assets worth over 500 billion rupees ($6.03 billion) are currently stalled from being transferred to the National Asset Reconstruction Company, the sources said. The National Asset Reconstruction Company, which was launched in July 2021 to buy two trillion rupees worth of bad loans, has bought 213.5 billion rupees of such loans as of July 17, a government statement in Parliament said. But, 'so far this financial year, no account has been transferred to the National Asset Reconstruction Company. A banker said, 'There are issues related to cost, account valuation, which is prolonging the entire transfer process, along with the delay in getting the security receipt from the government.

SEBI will facilitate the delisting process

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is planning to simplify the delisting process for listed companies. This step is important as any participant entering the listed market will be able to exit it. The regulator is also considering a review of insider trading rules regarding 'trading plans' disclosed by company insiders. SEBI has commented on how it has facilitated speedy settlement of various transactions including share sales, initial public offerings (IPOs) and mutual fund settlements. The regulator is exploring a new regulatory architecture for Indian markets in which the market regulator expresses its intent through rules and industry bodies come up with standard practices.

Hero MotoCorp : Promoter Family Settlement Agreement

Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp Ltd disclosed the details of the promoter family settlement agreement agreed by the family members. As per the agreement, Sunil Munjal exits the management and control of Hero MotoCorp and has also resigned from the post of Joint Managing Director. As per the agreement, the management and control of the listed entity rests with the family group of Pawan Munjal, Santosh Munjal, Renu Munjal and Sumankant Munjal and the use of 'Hero' has been agreed between the family group and Sunil Munjal. In an exchange filing following the disclosure of the 2016 agreement, the company clarified that the agreement pertains to the year 2016 and there has been no change in the management or control of the company in any way at present.

Home prices continue to rise across the country

In the second quarter (April-June) of the current calendar year, house prices in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) rose by an average of 14 per cent year-on-year, while house prices in the Mumbai metropolitan region fell by three per cent. This information has been given in a report. According to the report, house prices in eight major cities rose seven percent year-on-year in the second quarter due to strong demand. Kolkata saw the highest increase in house prices at 15 percent year-on-year. After this there was an increase of 14 percent in Delhi-NCR and 13 percent in Hyderabad.

Concerns about clean energy supply chains

According to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the United States needs a diversified supply chain in clean energy industries to avoid leaving the bulk of materials and processing to a handful of countries. As we move away from fossil fuels, we remain concerned about the dangers of over-concentration in clean energy supply chains. Clean energy inputs—from batteries to solar panels to critical minerals—are concentrated in a handful of countries. China, Indonesia and some African countries dominate large parts of the supply chain in raw materials and many technologies including processing, batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. As global investment in minerals increases, China continues to dominate supply and supply chains, posing a challenge to the energy transition.

2 percent decrease in coal import

In the first quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal year 2023-24, the country's coal import has decreased by 1.82 percent to 6.83 million tonnes. According to the latest report, the import of non-coking coal during the period under review stood at 42.9 million tonnes as against 47.4 million tonnes in the same period last year. However, coking coal imports were higher at 15.8 million tonnes as against 14.6 million tonnes in the same period last year. Coal imports declined by 25.24 per cent to 21.10 million tonnes in June, 2023 from 28.10 million tonnes in the same month last year. With the onset of monsoon, demand for imports has declined. Demand is likely to pick up again after the end of the rainy season and industrial activities will pick up in view of the upcoming festivals. India is among the top five coal producing countries in the world.