Bangalore: Indian back office and technology delivery arm of Tesco Plc., Tesco Hindustan Service Centre or HSC, has appointed Sandeep Dhar as its chief executive.
Dhar, who was earlier the managing director of the India operations of Sapient Technologies, replaces Meena Ganesh at Tesco, who quit to start a venture on her own. Since its inception in 2004, Tesco HSC has grown to strength of 3000 employees supporting 13 countries in Europe, Asia and America with experience and expertise in providing information technology, business, finance and HR services to Tesco’s operations.
— Staff Writer
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Credit growth unlikely to slow, says Bhatt
Mumbai: State Bank of India (SBI) said credit growth is unlikely to slow in the fiscal second half, requiring the government and the central bank to ensure adequate cash in the financial system. Loan growth in the six months ending 31 March is expected to match the 29% increase in the first half, SBI chairman O.P. Bhatt said on Thursday.
“There is no problem of liquidity at this point of time,” Bhatt said. “There is going to be some pressure on liquidity next month as it’s a time when typically the busy season starts and government borrowings increase.”
— Bloomberg
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Citibank becomes first foreign lender to cut PLR
Mumbai: Citibank India on Thursday cut its prime lending rate (PLR), or the rate at which banks lend to their most credit-worthy customers, by 50 basis points to 15%. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
This makes it the first foreign bank to do so since the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, cut its key policy rate on 1 November. Finance secretary Arun Ramanathan had met foreign and private bankers on 5 November.
Chanda Kochhar, joint managing director and chief financial officer of private sector ICICI Bank Ltd, the second largest lender in the country, said on Thursday that the bank is evaluating the situation and will take a call on its interest rates later. She also said that interest rates should come down for the benefit of the economy.
— Anup Roy
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India plans to import 16mt coal this fiscal
Mumbai: Indian power companies may import 16 million tonnes (mt) of coal in the year to March, minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia said
Domestic production of the fuel needs to increase by 9% annually to meet the requirement of power companies, the minister said in Kolkata.
The Union government estimates the power industry will grow 9.5% annually in the five years ending March 2012 as it aims to end blackouts and sustain economic expansion. The nation has set a target of adding 78,755MW of capacity in the period and plans to add 100,000MW in the five years starting 2012. Power companies may import about 20mt of coal in the financial year ending 31 March, according to Central Electricity Authority.
The nation, one of the world’s five biggest buyers of coal, uses the fuel for more than half its generation capacity, which as of 31 January was 141,080MW.