Business highlights

Following are the top business stories at 2000 hours:

DEL12 BIZ-PREZ-AADHAAR-ID New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to an ordinance that allows voluntary use of Aadhaar as ID proof for obtaining mobile SIM cards and opening bank accounts.

DCM8 BIZ-PAWAN HANS-BIDS New Delhi: Shortlisted bidders of Pawan Hans have time till March 6 to submit their financial bids for selling the government and ONGC's stake in the helicopter service provider, an official said.

DCM9 BIZ-NTPC-STRESSED ASSETS

New Delhi: State-run power giant NTPC has decided to acquire only those stressed power projects undergoing insolvency proceedings in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), with an aim to get fairer deals.

DCM11 BIZ-CPSE-ASSETS-SALE New Delhi: Niti Aayog has been tasked with drawing up a list of non-core assets of various CPSEs, both healthy and sick ones, as a first step towards finance ministry's plan to monetise such assets and unlock value to shareholders.

DCM15 BIZ-MUDRA-LOAN

New Delhi: With less than one month left in the current fiscal, banks will have to work overtime to meet the MUDRA loan lending target of Rs 3 lakh crore, as only about Rs 2 lakh crore have been disbursed till February 22.

DCM19 BIZ-ESSAR-SHALE New Delhi: Essar Oil & Gas Exploration and Production (EOGEPL) has received environment clearance for exploring shale gas reserves in its Raniganj block in West Bengal, an official said.

BCM2 AVI-JETAIRWAYS-AIRCRAFT

Mumbai: Beleaguered carrierJet Airways has groundedtwo more of its aircraft due to non-payment of lease rentals, taking the total number of planes on ground to 23.

DCM5 BIZ-FPI-INFLOWS New Delhi: Foreign investors poured in close to Rs 17,220 crore on a net basis into Indian equities in February this year, the highest since November 2017, amid clarity on government spending plans and positive sentiments.

DCM3 BIZ-ADANI POWER

New Delhi: The government has approved a Rs 14,000-crore special economic zone (SEZ) project of Adani Power in Jharkhand, which will export entire power generated to Bangladesh, an official said.

DCM17 BIZ-TCIL IPO New Delhi: State-owned Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) expects to raise roughly Rs 1,500 crore from its planned IPO and wants to retain part of the proceeds -- about Rs 600 crore -- for expansion and working capital needs, according to a company source.