RITES IPO oversubscribed 67 times New Delhi, June 23 (IANS): The initial public offering (IPO) of railways consultancy firm RITES closed on Friday with the issue getting subscribed more than 67 times, stock exchange data showed. The share sale of the state-run firm, earlier known as Rail India Technical and Economic Service, to raise around Rs 466 crore, received bids for over 169 crore shares against the total issue size of 2.52 crore shares, as per NSE data. At the end of Thursday, the IPO was subscribed 2.11 times. The price band for the issue, which opened for subscription on Wednesday, had been fixed at Rs 180-185 per share. Elara Capital India, IDBI Capital Markets and Securities, IDFC Bank and SBI Capital Markets are managers to the issue. Kharif crop sown over 115.9 lakh hec New Delhi, June 23 (IANS): The total area sown under kharif crop as on June 22 stood at 115.9 lakh hectares as against 128.35 lakh hectares at this time last year, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday. According to the ministry, rice has been sown in 10.67 lakh hectares, pulses in 5.91 lakh hectares, coarse cereals in 16.69 lakh hectares, sugarcane in 50.01 lakh hectares, oil seeds in 5.03 lakh hectares, jute and mesta in 6.91 lakh hectares and cotton in 20.68 lakh hectares. While the area sown under sugarcane is higher this year, the area under rice, pulses, coarse cereals, oil seeds, cotton and jute and mesta has reduced. Panel suggests 100% foodgrain packaging in jute bags Kolkata, June 23 (IANS): The Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) has recommended that 100 per cent of foodgrain produced should be packaged in jute for the current year, allowing a dilution of up to 10 per cent at a time and 30 per cent in the year, if jute mills fail to supply the bags within the permissible 30 days, an official said on Saturday. In its 26th meeting, the committee, which recommends jute packaging norms to the government, also suggested 20 per cent of sugar productions should be reserved for packing in jute bags. Considering that jute is a biodegradable and eco-friendly fibre, the jute industry requires “sustenance till it diversifies and captures the domestic and global market on its own steam,” the committee noted. Nearly 3.7 lakhs workers and 40 lakhs farmers are dependent on the jute sector for their livelihood and based on the last four years’ trends, as well as the targeted requirement to pack the quantity of food grains to be procured under the Food Procurement Programmea the demand is likely to be in the range of 28-30 lakhs bales during 2018-19, the official said.
