RBI imposes Rs. 1 cr fine on State Bank of Travancore
Mumbai, January 4 (PTI): Reserve Bank has imposed a penalty of Rs. 1 crore on an SBI associate bank, State Bank of Travancore, for violation of some of its instructions.
“This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank and its customers,” RBI said in a statement on Monday.
The monetary penalty has been imposed for violation of its instructions including reporting of data to Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC), it said.
RBI set up CRILC to collect, store, and disseminate data on all borrowers’ credit exposures.
Banks are required to report all such information here, including classification of an account as SMA (Special Mention Accounts), on all borrowers having aggregate fund-based and non-fund-based exposure of Rs. 5 crore and above.
The statement further said RBI had issued a show cause notice to the bank for not having complied with the directions issued by the bank on submission of accurate data to the CRILC.
After considering the bank’s reply, information submitted and documents furnished, RBI came to the conclusion that the bank had violated the instructions or guidelines issued, from time to time, which warranted imposition of monetary penalty on it.
IRB to build southeast Asia’s longest road tunnel
Mumbai, January 4 (IANS): The IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd. will construct southeast Asia’s longest tunnel at Zozi La, spanning 14.08 km, in Jammu and Kashmir, an official said here on Monday.
It has been issued a letter of intent to construct the tunnel at a cost of Rs.10,050 crore, making it the country’s biggest national highway project in terms of project cost, on a design, build, finance, operate, and transfer (DBFOT) basis, within seven years.
The project will include approaches on NH-1 (Srinagar-Sonmarg-Gumri Road), and provide an all-weather connectivity to the Leh-Ladakh region which remains cut-off from the rest of the world during winters.
IRB Infrastructure chairman-cum-managing director Virendra Mhaiskar said that the project of ‘national importance’ has a strategic and socio-economic importance as it will be will provide much-needed all-weather connectivity between Jammu and Kashmir and Leh-Ladakh which remains cut-off during winter to due to heavy snowfall.
“The project involves constructing the 14.08 tunnel, 10.80 km approach roads, with three vertical ventilation shafts, snow gallery of 700 metres and avalance protection measures,” Mhaiskar said.
Hoping to complete the project within the stipulated time-frame (7 years) in the tough Himalayan terrain, he said the concession period for the project is 22 years. Besides, the company would receive semi-annual annuity of Rs.981 crore from the ministry of highways, commencing after completion of construction of the project, twice every year till the end of the concession period.
With this prestigious project, IRB now expands its base to the ninth state in the country and its book increases to Rs.16,430 crore, including 20 Road BOT project, including 14 which are already under operation.
