RRB lending floor for weaker sections cut

Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) will need to extend only 10 per cent of their total outstanding advances to the weaker sections of the society from April 1. Apart from bringing down the floor level from the current 40 per cent, the Reserve Bank of India has also introduced a new category to the RRBs’ portfolio — priority sector — for which 40 per cent of their lending is to be directed. It is 25 per cent of this, or 10 per cent, that is earmarked for weaker sections. The definition of priority sector for commercial banks’ lending holds good for RBs as well, it is learnt.

14 companies reach FII equity ceiling

The RBI announced names of 14 companies in which foreign institutional investments have reached the SEBI-stipulated limit of 24 per cent. No fresh purchases by FIIs are allowed in these companies. The RBI has also released names of seven companies, including State Bank of India, in which FII investment has reached 20 per cent. The Government had announced in the Budget that the aggregate investment by FIIs in Indian companies would be allowed up to a maximum of 30 per cent, up from the ceiling of 24 per cent imposed by SEBI earlier. The companies will have to obtain the approval of its board of directors and also the shareholders for the same.

PM tells bureaucrats to focus on infrastructure

The Prime Minister, Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda, urged the top bureaucrats from economic ministries to focus on development of the infrastructure sectors to provide a thrust to economic growth. Mr. Gowda said the bureaucracy would have to sharpen its decision-making process to ensure a quick revamp of the infrastructure sector, without which much of the Government’s initiatives would come to naught.