News digest: Global trade war, PNB scam, Fortis shake-up, and more

PSBs plan tighter lending norms for corporate loans above Rs 2.5 billion Public sector banks (PSBs) will discourage multiple banking arrangements for companies with exposure of more than Rs 2.5 billion in the banking system. and will move all such loans under the consortium of banks for better monitoring. “In case of multiple banking arrangements there is no discipline. There will, preferably, be consortium lending for loans above Rs 2.5 billion,” M S Sastry, deputy managing director and chief risk officer, State Bank of India, said on Thursday. All chief technology officers, chief risk officers and executive directors of PSBs met in New Delhi for a three-day workshop from March 12 to prepare a road map that banks can follow to strengthen their risk mechanism systems. Read more… Global trade war: India’s export promotion schemes challenged by US and WTO The Trump administration in the US has challenged India’s export promotion schemes at the World Trade Organization (WTO). India has promised to fight back the charge that it was misusing export subsidies and is set to reply within the next 60 days according to WTO rules. US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer’s office announced early Thursday that the US has requested dispute settlement consultations with India at the WTO over Merchandise Exports from India Scheme and Export Oriented Units Scheme among others. Read more… Aircraft grounding: Indigo, GoAir to cancel more than 600 flights The grounding of planes due to engine malfunction have led IndiGo and GoAir to cancel around 620 flights this month. IndiGo has decided to cancel around 480; the rest are of Go Air. The airlines will give passengers an option to choose an alternate flight or get a full refund.

IndiGo and GoAir cancelled around 70 and 55 flights on Wednesday and Thursday. The passengers who were affected were accommodated in another airline. "We have around 16 departure daily on Delhi-Mumbai route. If two flights are cancelled, we have a network to accommodate the passengers on other flights,” said a senior IndiGo official. Read more... Advantage shareholders in TPG Capital-Manipal Health battle for Fortis The brewing war between TPG Capital and Manipal Health Enterprises for control of Fortis Healthcare would be advantageous for Fortis’s shareholders as both parties are aggressively trying to raise their stakes in the company. According to sources, both TPG Capital and Manipal Health are eyeing a controlling stake in the company, which is likely to lead to two simultaneous open offers. Sources said both suitors would try to come up with premium offers to attract investors. Lawyers said this was an example of a hostile takeover where both investors could make competitive open offers to reach a reasonable shareholding in the company. Read more… Uber, Ola go slow on electric mobility drive as charging infra a concern The grand electric mobility plans of cab aggregators Uber and Ola have taken a back seat with charging infrastructure remaining a bottleneck. The government has also failed to issue a mandate on the adoption of electric mobility after its ambitious talks of a full-fledged shift to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. Over the past one month, the government has dropped plans of introducing an EV policy and has started work on an automobile policy that does not specify any EV targets. Read more…