Explore Now Shares of
Punjab National Bank (down 2.21 per cent), Central Bank of India (down 2.09 per cent), Punjab & Sind Bank (down 1.93 per cent) and
Indian Bank (down 1.93 per cent) were the top losers in the index. While
Bank of Baroda (up 0.13 per cent) were among the top gainers. The Nifty PSU Bank index was trading 1.4 per cent down at 2283.3 around 01:30PM. Benchmark NSE Nifty50 index was down 5.85 points at 14923.65, while the BSE Sensex was up 28.61 points at 50423.69. Among the 50 stocks in the Nifty index, 18 were trading in the green, while 32 were in the red. Shares of Vodafone Idea, PNB, Bank of Baroda, SAIL and Tata Power were among the most traded shares on the NSE.
3
Ever since the finance minister (FM) announced in her budget speech that the government will privatise a couple of banks and a general insurance company in the coming financial year, speculation has been rife about the possible candidates for disinvestment. There has been another major announcement, that of raising the limit for foreign direct investment (FDI) in insurance to 74% which will, indeed, have a far-reaching impact on the insurance landscape in India. The rise in FDI cap merits a separate assessment; this article attempts to examine the likelihood of success of the privatisation effort.
What is not clear from the announcement is the reason for taking this step. Is it merely to meet the Budget deficit, or is this the outcome of a paradigm shift that the government has no business to be in business? Or the decision to privatise is driven by the government’s inability or unwillingness to keep pumping more and more capital in government-owned general insurance comp