Business News at 05:30 pm on 8th February, 2024

Let’s begin, In what could be seen as a policy shift, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the central public sector undertakings had gained in strength over the last decade, with “most of them giving record returns” to the stakeholders. Investors have reposed their faith in CPSEs, thanks to the NDA government’s “efficient management of these entities in the last ten years,” he said in the Rajya Sabha. “Investors’ confidence is rising in PSU stocks. In the last one year, the BSE PSU index has doubled,” Modi said. “Today LIC shares at a record level,” Modi said taking potshots at the Opposition whom he blamed for spreading misinformation about the insurer.

Moving forward, the Indian Railways has requested an additional 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band from the Department of Telecommunications to enhance its safety and security systems, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in a consultation paper on the subject. Based on the reserve price, the value of the 5 MHz spectrum in the 700 MHz band is estimated to be Rs 19,635 crore. In a consultation paper on ‘assignment of additional spectrum to Indian Railways for its safety and security applications’, Trai said, the railways ministry had requested DoT to reserve 15 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band for this purpose and to begin with, 10 MHz to be allocated, free of cost.

Up Next, the Data by Primeinfobase shows that the share of domestic mutual funds in NSE-listed companies touched an all-time high of 8.81% at the end of the December quarter, up from 8.73% as of September 30. The rise in holdings was powered by a net inflow of Rs 58,198 crore during the quarter. However, Life Insurance Corporation of India’s share declined to an all-time low of 3.64% as of December 31. This was across the 277 entities in which its holding exceeds 1%. LIC is the country’s largest institutional investor. According to Pranav Haldea, MD of PRIME Database Group, this was primarily on account of profit-booking to take advantage of the bullish markets.

In other news, Oil India aims to spend Rs 6,000 crore in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the financial year 2024-25, Harish Madhav, the company’s director of finance, told FE in an interview. “For the next financial year, the investment target is close to Rs 6,000 crore. Depending on the requirement, we can invest more,” Madhav said on the sidelines of the India Energy Week. The company also sees its annual production of oil growing to 4 million tonne in FY25. Oil India’s annual production growth rate has been increasing by 4.5-5% annually in the last few years. Moreover, Oil India is also exploring blocks overseas in Bangladesh and Gabon in near future.

Meanwhile – As contracting for the construction of new highway projects this financial year lags behind targets by a huge margin the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has asked its implementing agencies to improve their progress in awarding of contracts. “Implementing agencies have been advised to expedite pre-construction activities like land acquisition, regulatory clearance for environment, forest, wildlife and no objection certificates from different authorities through frequent and pro-active coordination with the state government and other concerned authorities,” minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said in Rajya Sabha. “Periodic review meetings are being held at various levels on a daily and weekly basis, to monitor and expedite progress in sanction and award of projects,” the minister mentioned.
“Moving ahead, Personal computers and laptop maker Lenovo expects the demand in the segment to grow in the second half of the year backed by artificial intelligence features and upgrade to Windows 11. The company expects the growth to be largely in the commercial or enterprise segment and the premium gaming laptop segment in the consumer space.
“We do see some stimulus and demand on the premium coming through AI. The hope is that with AI, the commercial PC demand along with Windows 11 refresh should grow in the second half,” Shailendra Katyal, managing director at Lenovo India said at a media roundtable on Wednesday.

Lastly, GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a positive opening on Thursday. GIFT Nifty traded up by 32 points or 0.15% at 22,054 indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Thursday. Previously, on Wednesday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended up by just 1.10 points or 0.01% to settle at 21,930.50, while the BSE Sensex ended lower by 34.09 points or 0.05% to 72,152. The key stocks to watch in trade today are Bharat Petroleum Corp, Welspun Enterprise, ONGC, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Aster DM Healthcare, Astra Microwave Products, Black Box, Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities, and AstraZeneca Pharma India among others.