VRS pulls down bank bottomlines
Mumbai: The voluntary retirement scheme of banks has brought down the bottomlines of public sector banks down by 16 per cent. Thanks to heavy provisioning, the combined net profits of banks has come down to Rs 4,315.70 crore in 2000-01, from Rs 5,116 crores the previous year.
A favourable interest rate regime, however, helped somewhat to assuage the balance sheets, as also one-time settlement schemes for recovery of bad debts. Twelve public sector banks posted a rise in net profit, while 14 posted lower profits. Top of the profit making banks was Punjab National Bank at Rs 464 crore, while SBI, PNB, Canara Bank, BoB and Corporation Bank figured among the top five, accounting for 70 per cent of the net profit of all the public sector banks put together.

lose to 1,26,000 employees had opted for VRS, with a total benefit given to them being in the region of Rs 15,000 crore.
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Consortium in aid of US-64n rescue
New Delhi: The finance ministry is said to be trying to bring in financial support for UTI to help it tide over the US-64 imbroglio with help from the likes of the LIC, IDBI, and public sector banks, with the likelihood of the LIC coming in with a 10- to 15 year soft loan package.

Efforts are on to bring about an exit option for small investors with a repurchase price not below the face value, that is, Rs 10 per unit, with a limit for the number of units -- between 1000 to 2000 units -- that can be redeemed.

According to the Companies Act, a small investor is defined as one holding securities of value not exceeding Rs 20,000.

Meanwhile, the government has gone ahead with its probe on insider trading in the scheme, with letters to banks and large corporates to obtain details of redemptions from May this year.
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Govt may seek fourth cellular rebid
New Delhi: The government is said to be considering a rebidding exercise for the fourth cellular slots for the Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar circles, after having failed to elicit response in the first round.

The government had invited bids for fourth cellular operator in 21 circles for which the first round of three-stage bidding ended yesterday. None of the six cellular operators including Bharti and Reliance promoted Reliable Internet and Escotel bid for Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal and A&N.
At the end of first round of bidding the government is likely to get at least Rs 1,290 crore. The highest bid was for Mumbai, the Bharti group offering over Rs 203 crores.
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