Open to join RCEP in future if we get favourable offers: Govt

Piyush Goyal said India was exploring trade agreements with the United States and the European Union to allow manufacturing and services sectors to benefit from access to large developed markets

A day after opting out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal, the government on Tuesday said it was open to being part of the grouping in the future if it got favourable offers addressing India’s concerns.

“Every government is always open to discussions and negotiations, but at present, the final decision is to stay out of RCEP,” Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. “Should the other countries come up with better offers in the interest of India’s industry and people, we will discuss it and do what is good for our farmers, industry, and the services sector.”

Goyal also said India was exploring trade agreements with the United States and the European Union to allow the manufacturing and services sectors to benefit from access to large developed markets. “We always talk to countries. The doors never shut for anybody,” he said, referring to RCEP.

He said reconciliation would follow if the 15 RCEP nations made sincere efforts to address India’s concerns, gave it confidence, and helped it balance this trade inequality. “At present, the final decision is to stay out of RCEP...(We will) do what is good for our farmers, industry and services sector”- Piyush Goyal

While the other RCEP nations have gone ahead with the deal after concluding the talks in Bangkok, they have also left the door open for India — the largest untapped consumer and industrial market. Negotiations, which started in 2012, will now culminate in a final deal being signed by 2020.

Bajaj Finance launches qualified institutional placement of Rs 8,500 crore

JM Financial, Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, and Nomura are advising the company on the share sale.

Bajaj Finance on Monday launched its Rs 8,500-crore qualified institutional placement (QIP). The shares will be offered in the range between Rs 3,860 and Rs 3,900 apiece. The share sale will help Bajaj Finance expand its lending at a time when non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) sector is plagued by a liquidity crisis.

The shares of Bajaj Finance ended Monday’s session at Rs 4,116. The offer price is at a discount of 5.2 to 6.2 per cent to the closing price on Monday. The share price of Bajaj Finance rose 55 per cent since the beginning of 2019, while the benchmark Sensex rose 11.8 per cent during the same period. In 2019, eight companies have raised Rs 22,312 crore through QIPs, against 25 that had raised Rs 16,587 crore in the previous year.

JM Financial, Axis Capital, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Morgan Stanley, and Nomura are advising the company on the share sale. The QIP would make valuation reasonable with the rise in book value...