Business
‘TN govt may get into reform mode after local body polls’
The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government may get into reform mode post the local body elections likely to be held by the end of 2021, say party leaders and industry experts.
“Though a white paper on the Tamil Nadu government finances spoke about the necessity to hike tax rates and other things for those who can bear it, the state budget that was presented was a usual one. Perhaps the state government may get into reform mode after the local body elections,” K.C. Palanisamy, former AIADMK MP and MLA, told IANS.
Palanisamy said the local body elections may be held before the end of 2021 or February 2022.
Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan after declaring ‘once in a generation reforms a must’ and ‘business as usual’ approach cannot continue while presenting the white paper on the state government’s finances, came out with a relatively populist budget.
As per the white paper, reforms/restructuring in state government undertakings, statutory boards, power utilities, mobilisation of tax revenues, mode of subsidy deliveries were on the cards.
“As a debutant Finance Minister, he might have taken a soft approach with his first budget which is an interim budget,” Palanisamy said.
Industry experts said Finance Minister Rajan’s budget is nothing but a status quo or an extension of the previous AIADMK government’s budget.
“The white paper set the expectation that the Finance Minister will provide a reform budget to reduce the state debt. One could agree that he needed more time to come up with the actual reforms but least expected was the transformation roadmap, a timeline,” Sriram Seshadri, Founder and Managing Partner, Disha Consulting and formerly Partner and Managing Director, Accenture India, told IANS.
According to him, a white paper lays down the problem, analysis, probable solution.
On the other hand, the government’s white paper laid out the problem statement which was well known and the expectations were there on reform proposals in the budget which surprisingly did not happen, Seshadri said.
“As an economist, I feel satisfied that the budget didn’t provide for any of the poll promises. For an economist the white paper gave an expectation that there would be a reform and transformation roadmap but the budget was disappointing,” he added.
According to him, nothing was there in the budget for beefing up the state revenues while the debt was increasing.
“Tamil Nadu will cross the debt of Rs six lakh crore mark by 2021 end. Only solace is during the budget discussions in the state Assembly, the Finance Minister has said some of the poll promises will not be met such as revising the old pension scheme for government employees,” Seshadri added.
He said if there is a reform agenda with the DMK government it has to be rolled out soon and not wait for the next year’s budget.
However, he agreed that the government will take some reform steps mainly targeted subsidies to poor sections of the society, refine the rules for ration cards and revenue optimisation initiatives like tax reforms.
“Already Tamil Nadu’s economy is the fourth largest in the country and will slip to fifth or sixth place soon. Hence, the state should regain the momentum, cut the red tape and enable ease of doing business both in MSME and large industries,” Seshadri said.
While the government’s popularity endures it should take some tough decisions to reduce government spending, disinvestment and make announcements to attract investment, he said.
“Sterlite Copper (copper smelter unit of Vedanta Ltd in Tuticorin) closure is one of the stumbling blocks for investors to invest in a big way because there is no guarantee to their investment. The government should enable reopening of Sterlite within the guidelines of the pollution control norms. Likewise closely monitor to optimize revenue on the natural resources, mining and sand. The government gets less than Rs 1,000 crore revenue whereas the potential is much higher,” he added.
However, the signs of change in the government are seen in the budget by not implementing its populist poll promises like Rs 1,000 per month dole to the female head of the family.
“Instead the government had decided to conduct a study to identify eligible beneficiaries. This move is new as in the past the state government used to disburse financial assistance for almost all ration card holders,” K. Puhazhendi, Director, Perfint Healthcare, told IANS.
Referring to Rajan’s statement that the governance will be data-based, Puhazhendi said the government can mine data available in its own departments/municipal corporations.
The smart ration cards are linked with Aadhar cards.
Puhazendhi said the government employees themselves form a big database so that undeserved subsidies can be stopped.
“Data on property taxpayers, land owners, vehicle registrations, power consumers, ration card holders, data about government employees, shops and business establishments, factories and other data are available with different departments,” Puhazhendi said.
The government can collate and gather from the people with help of door-to-door data gathering. This could be a starting point to build a database and target the subsidies and other government schemes, he added.
Stressing that the government’s focus should be on making each department, municipal corporations self-financing, Puhazhendi called for a freeze on government hiring and investment should be made in information technology systems to digitise the services.
It is high time the state government goes in for public-private partnership in the tourism sector. The state government owns several hotel properties which are in need of private investment and management.
Business
CBI books Reliance Commercial Finance, its promoters in Rs 57.47 crore bank fraud case

Mumbai, Dec 9: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said it has filed a criminal case against Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL) and its promoters and directors over allegedly causing wrongful loss of Rs 57.47 crore to Bank of Maharashtra.
The case has been registered against RCFL — a company of Reliance ADA Group, its promoters/directors and unknown bank officials, on the allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct and thereby, the CBI said in a statement.
According to the statement, the loan account of Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd was declared an NPA by the bank on March 25, 2020 and also as fraud on October 4, 2025, for causing wrongful loss of Rs 57.47 crore to Bank of Maharashtra.
“RCFL was availing loans to the tune of Rs 9,280 crore from 31 banks/ FIs/NBFCs/Corporate Bodies, etc., including Bank of Maharashtra. A thorough investigation will be conducted into the allegations of defrauding all the banks/FIs, etc. by the accused company,” said the CBI.
The probe agency obtained search warrants from the court of a Special CBI judge, Mumbai and commenced searches at the official premises of RCFL at Mumbai and the residential premises of Devang Pravin Mody, Director of the company, at Pune, on December 9.
“Several incriminating documents have been observed and are being taken into possession during searches. Searches are in progress,” the CBI said.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a supplementary charge sheet against Reliance Power Ltd and 10 others, in the case of fake bank guarantees of Rs 68 crore submitted by Reliance Power Limited to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for the purpose of securing a tender issued by it. ED attached the proceeds of crime worth Rs 5.15 crore as well.
Reliance Power Ltd said in a statement that “ED allegations have not yet passed through judicial scrutiny and the Company has not been held guilty of any wrongdoing”.
“As per law settled by the Supreme Court, the company will get an opportunity to put across its case and facts before the court, even before cognisance, so filing of this complaint does not affect the affairs of the company in any manner,” said the company in an exchange filing.
Business
IndiGo Crisis Day 8: Mumbai Hit Hard As Flight Chaos Enters Day 8; Over 30 Cancellations Snarl City’s Air Travel

Mumbai: air travel operations remained disrupted on Tuesday as IndiGo’s nationwide aviation crisis stretched into its eighth consecutive day, causing large-scale cancellations and commuter chaos across the country. But Mumbai, one of IndiGo’s busiest and most critical hubs, continued to bear a brunt of the meltdown, with passengers facing uncertain schedules and repeated last-minute cancellations.
By 9:30 am, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport had already logged 31 IndiGo cancellations, including 14 inbound flights and 17 outbound departures. Long queues, anxious passengers and repeated rescheduling announcements dominated Terminal 2 through the morning peak hours, leaving thousands scrambling to adjust their plans.
Across India, more than 200 IndiGo flights were cancelled today. Bengaluru topped the list with 121 cancellations, followed by Hyderabad (58), Chennai (41) and Kerala with four. But for Mumbai passengers, many of whom rely on IndiGo for frequent business and leisure travel, the interruptions continued to be especially disruptive.
The turmoil, which began last Tuesday, has snowballed into a full-blown operational crisis. Over 4,500 flights have been cancelled between last week and Monday. Even though IndiGo claimed on Sunday that operations were ‘stabilising,’ the airline saw over 500 fresh cancellations on Monday alone, leaving passengers stranded overnight at multiple airports, including Mumbai.
The root of IndiGo’s meltdown has been linked to the airline’s inability to implement the second phase of India’s updated Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), which came into effect in November. The revised norms, aimed at cutting pilot fatigue and extending rest periods, required IndiGo to restructure crew rosters. However, the airline has reportedly been struggling with a pilot shortage, leading to a mismatch between the new regulations and its available manpower.
To reduce pressure on airlines and mitigate the ongoing disruption, aviation regulator DGCA temporarily relaxed certain night-duty and weekly rest requirements for pilots. This relaxation is expected to help airlines stabilise operations through emergency rostering flexibility.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu told Parliament that IndiGo did not raise any concerns during a crucial meeting on December 1, just a day before the cancellations spiralled. He attributed the chaos to the airline’s internal system rather than regulatory pressure.
The government has now decided to sharply cut IndiGo’s winter schedule. The airline, which operates 2,200 flights a day and commands nearly 60 per cent of the domestic market, will see its schedule curtailed, with several routes handed to other carriers to prevent further passenger inconvenience.
Business
LT Foods drops over 6.5 pc, other Indian rice stocks also slide

Mumbai, Dec 9: Shares of leading Indian rice companies fell sharply on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump hinted that he may impose fresh tariffs on agricultural imports, specifically targeting Indian rice and Canadian fertilisers.
The statement triggered immediate selling in stocks linked to the rice trade. LT Foods was the biggest loser, with its share price slipping 6.85 per cent to Rs 366.55.
Shares of KRBL also declined, falling 1.14 per cent, while GRM Overseas dropped 4.46 per cent.
The sudden slide reflected investor concerns that any new US tariffs could hurt export demand and impact earnings for these companies.
Trump made his remarks during a White House event where he announced new support measures for US farmers.
His comments come at a time when trade tensions between the United States and India continue to resurface.
India remains the world’s largest rice producer, with an output of 150 million tonnes and a 28 per cent share in global production.
It is also the top exporter, accounting for 30.3 per cent of global rice exports in 2024–2025, data from the Indian Rice Exporters Federation showed.
Despite this large global presence, India’s rice exports to the US are relatively small.
According to the India Brand Equity Foundation, India shipped around 234,000 tonnes of rice to the US in the 2024 financial year, which is less than 5 per cent of its total global basmati exports of 5.24 million tonnes.
West Asian countries remain the biggest buyers of Indian rice. Among the varieties exported worldwide, the Sona Masoori variety is especially popular in markets like the US and Australia.
The US, under Trump’s leadership, has already imposed steep tariffs on India, including a 50 per cent tariff — its highest — along with a 25 per cent levy on India’s Russian oil imports.
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