Business Highlights

Following are the top business stories at 1908 hours: DEL13 BIZ-VIRUS-GOVT APPEAL Coronavirus pandemic: Govt appeals to top cos for contributions to PM fund New Delhi, Mar 31 (PTI) Seeking more funds for the fight against coronavirus pandemic, the government has appealed to top corporates to make contributions to the PM-CARES Fund. DEL107 BIZ-VIRUS-GOVT-DRUG SUPPLY No shortage of medicines to combat coronavirus outbreak: Govt New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday asserted that there is no shortage of medicines to combat the coronavirus outbreak and the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) is regularly monitoring distribution and addressing issues with the help of other departments, states and Union Territories.

DCM38 BIZ-VIRUS-BANKS-EMI Covid-19: Banks sensitise branches on EMI moratorium, other RBI relief measures New Delhi: Banks have started sensitising their branches about three months' moratorium on all term loans, including home, auto and crop loans, to help customers in overcoming financial difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent nation-wide lockdown. DEL44 BIZ-STOCKS-CLOSE Sensex rallies 1,028 pts; energy, FMCG stocks soar Mumbai:Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 1,028 points on the last day of the 2019-20 fiscal on Tuesday, led by gains in energy, financial and FMCG stocks amid recovery in global peers even as the number of Covid-19 cases continued to mount.

DCM1 BIZ-VIRUS-MALLYA Coronavirus: Mallya asks FM to consider his offer to repay Kingfisher Airlines' dues New Delhi:Embattled liquor baron Vijay Mallya, on Tuesday asked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to consider his repeated "offer to repay 100 per cent" of the amount borrowed by now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, in this time of coronavirus pandemic. DCM64 BIZ-DEFICIT Fiscal deficit touches 135.2 pc of budget estimate at Feb-end: CGA New Delhi: The government's fiscal deficit touched 135.2 per cent of the full-year target at February-end mainly due to slower pace of revenue collections, according to an official data released on Tuesday.

DCM56 BIZ-LD SPICEJET-PAY CUT SpiceJet to cut up to 30 pc salary of employees in March Mumbai: Budget carrier SpiceJet has decided to cut up to 30 per cent salary of its employees in March with Chairman Ajay Singh opting for the highest 30 per cent trimming in compensation, the airline said in an e-mail communication to the staff on Tuesday. DCM7 BIZ-VIRUS-G20 Covid-19: G20 trade ministers agree to ensure uninterrupted flow of vital medical supplies New Delhi:Trade and investment ministers of the G-20 group have agreed to ensure fair trade and continued flow of vital medicines as well as other essential goods to tackle Covid-19 pandemic.

DCM36 BIZ-LD BPCL-PRIVATISATION Govt extends BPCL bid deadline to June 13 New Delhi: The government on Tuesday extended the deadline for bidding to buy its entire 52.98 per cent stake in the country's second-biggest oil refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), by over a month to June 13. DCM17 BIZ-VIRUS-BORROWERS EMI Confusion prevails among borrowers over three-month moratorium as many get EMI reminders Mumbai: With many getting payment reminders, confusion prevails among borrowers, term-plan investors and credit cardholders over the implementation of the three-month moratorium on all loan repayments amid disruptions caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

DCM41 BIZ-VIRUS-WITHHOLDING TAX COVID-19: Govt extends validity of lower withholding tax orders by 3 mths till Jun 30 New Delhi: The Finance Ministry on Tuesday extended the validity of all lower withholding tax orders by three months till June 30 in view of hardships caused due to COVID-19 pandemic. DCM65 BIZ-GAS-PRICE Natural gas prices cut by steep 26 pc; huge dent in ONGC revenues New Delhi: Natural gas prices on Tuesday were cut by a steep 26 per cent to its lowest rate since the pricing was made formula-driven in 2014, a move that is likely to translate into lower CNG and piped cooking gas prices but also make a huge dent in revenues of producers such as ONGC.

DCM28 BIZ-OIL-BID ROUND Oil, gas bid deadline extended; bid rounds merged New Delhi: The government has extended the last date of bidding for the 11 oil and gas blocks on offer in the fifth bid round, and decided to merge the next two rounds into one in view of the COVID-19 lockdown in the country. DCM22 BIZ-FITCH-RBI RBI likely to cut interest rates by 100 bps in FY21: Fitch Solutions New Delhi: The RBI is likely to cut benchmark interest rate by another 100 bps in 2020-21 fiscal and continue to employ all policy tools at its disposal to support growth and financial stability to contain the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, Fith Solutions said Tuesday.

DCM51 BIZ-ONGC-IOC-PM FUND ONGC, IOC, other oil cos contribute over Rs 1,031 cr to PM COVID-19 fund New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and other public sector oil companies have contributed over Rs 1,000 crore to the Prime Minister CARES Fund to help in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic. DCM32 BIZ-VIRUS-SBI-PLEDGE SBI staff commits Rs 100 cr for PM fund to fight Covid-19 New Delhi: Employees of SBI have donated Rs 100 crore to the Prime Minister's relief fund to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

DCM63 BIZ-RBI-DEPUTY GUV Govt extends term of RBI deputy governor Kanungo by one year Mumbai: The government has extended the tenure of RBI Deputy Governor B P Kanungo by a year.PTI SHW SHW.