New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) In a jolt to real estate company Omaxe, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Tuesday banned the company’s top management, including Chairman Rohtas Goel, from the securities market for two years.

The markets regulator also barred the company’s Managing Director Mohit Goel and three others from the securities market for irregularities in the company’s financial statements.

The SEBI said in its “final order in the matter of misstatements and irregularities in the financial statements of Omaxe Limited” that these people have been “prohibited from holding any position as Director or Key Managerial Person of any other listed company for two years”.

The markets regulator also imposed a Rs 47 lakh fine on 16 entries which need to be paid within 45 days.

“SEBI was in receipt of complaints against Omaxe Limited for fraudulent transactions, diverted/siphoned of funds, misrepresented the financial statements, inflated turnover etc,” read the 126-page order.

As these allegations were serious in nature, the matter was taken up for further examination by SEBI, including conducting a forensic audit into the affairs of Omaxe. The order stated that these entities have “acted in concert to execute a fraudulent scheme which they tried to portray as normal transactions for the benefit of the company although it was experiencing loss, while also trying to portray that these as merely lending activities, thereby trying to maintain the price of the scrip of Omaxe for three years”.

According to the markets regulator, the real estate company misrepresented the financial statements during 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21 including revenue, debtors, advances, and expenses. The fraud was never disclosed to the shareholders of Omaxe.

The probe observed that “Omaxe and its management, knowingly, reported wrong, false, manipulated financial statements to create an impression among the investors that the financial statements as published by the company, were reflecting true and fair view of the company’s financial performance”.

“It was alleged that they were knowingly involved in manipulations/ irregularities in the company’s financials and thus, induced the investors for dealing in Omaxe scrip with an intention to deceit upon them in order to maintain the price of the scrip to take the advantage of their pledged shares,” read the SEBI order.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 30 (IANS) The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Tuesday launched India’s first website for passive funds at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), along with unveiling a comprehensive report on the Indian Capital Markets.

The website provides a comprehensive platform for retail investors and empowers them to easily access information and understand the Indian passive funds industry.

It provides in-depth information on aggregate industry data, fund-wise data, and screeners for selecting funds based on various parameters such as underlying index, AUM, tracking error, tracking difference, trading volume, TER, comparison of funds, etc.

Meanwhile, the report on Indian Capital Markets covers the most significant reforms, important milestones, and technological innovations in the Indian Capital Markets, steered by the regulator, Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs), and market participants, along with their impact on investors in the country, said SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch.

The report delves deeper into recent technological innovations and reforms, several of which are global firsts, findings from a retail investor survey across 12 cities in India and a nuanced analysis of benefits to investors.

“The transformation and growth of our Capital Markets is due to a collective vision to create a resilient, progressive, and technology-driven ecosystem that provides access, information and control to the Indian investor community, while ensuring guardrails for protection,” she said.

Buch said that it is critical for all MIIs and market intermediaries to foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, feedback for review of regulations, and swift tackling of emerging risks.

According to NSE’s MD and CEO Ashish Kumar Chauhan, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of India’s Capital Markets evolution over the years, propelled by active retail participation, sustained and high inflow by domestic institutional investors, and strong performance of listed companies.

“The MIIs and several other market participants have adopted and implemented SEBI’s initiatives with speed and technological agility to make this transformation successful. We would like to thank our regulator, investors, MIIs, and all the stakeholders for their participation and collaboration in this journey,” he added.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) GAIL (India) Ltd on Tuesday reported a 25 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 2,724 crore for the April-June quarter of 2024-25, compared to the corresponding figure of Rs 2,177 crore in Q1 FY-24.

The company said that the increase in profit was mainly due to increased gas transmission volumes, increased domestic natural gas marketing volume, and improved natural gas marketing margins.

The gas major’s revenue from operations came in at Rs 33,692 crore in Q1 FY-25 as against Rs 32,227 crore in Q1 FY-24. Profit before tax (PBT) in Q1 FY-25 stood at Rs 3,642 crore as against Rs 1,889 crore in Q1 FY-24.

On a sequentially quarter basis, revenue from operations was higher at Rs 33,692 crore in Q1 FY-25 as against Rs 32,335 crore in Q4 FY-24. PBT registered a robust growth of 28 per cent to Rs 3,642 crore in Q1 FY-25 as against Rs 2,842 crore during Q4 FY-24.

On a consolidated basis, revenue from operations stood at Rs 34,822 crore in Q1 FY-25 as against Rs 32,833 crore during Q4 FY-24. PBT in Q1 FY-25 stood at Rs 4,114 crore as against Rs 3,099 crore in Q4 FY-24. PAT (excluding non-controlling interest) was Rs 3,183 crore in Q1 FY-25 as against Rs 2,469 crore in Q4 FY-24.

GAIL Chairman Sandeep Kumar Gupta said that the company has incurred a capital expenditure (capex) of about Rs 1,659 crore during the current quarter, mainly on pipelines, petrochemicals, equity to JVs, etc. which is about 21 per cent of the annual target of Rs 8,044 crore. He further stated that GAIL has advanced its net zero carbon target for scope-1 and scope-2 emissions to 2035 from the earlier date of 2040.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 30 (IANS) The Markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), will not allow Paytm-like ‘contamination’ in the stock markets, its Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said on Tuesday.

The SEBI Chairperson added that Paytm’s problems were contained within its own banking system due to the absence of a Know-Your-Customer registration agency (KRA) system.

“A problem within Paytm stayed with Paytm and didn’t affect other banks. But if we allow Paytm into our system without KRA oversight, it could contaminate the entire market. We cannot allow that,” she said during an event at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) here.

Buch said that “our KRAs will always be in place to ensure that things are validated and to prevent any mischievous player from causing harm”.

She also added that “we will always have our KRA sitting in the middle to ensure that things are validated”.

“Otherwise, any mischievous player could come in and contaminate the entire system,” she noted.

Earlier this year, the Reserve Bank of India imposed certain restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank for lapses, including irregularities in the KYC process.

–IANS

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Kolkata, July 30 (IANS) The Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, Kumar Mangalam Birla, met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat Nabanna on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by the Chief Minister, while it was a courtesy meeting, Kumar Birla discussed business opportunities and investment in Bengal with CM Banerjee.

“They are having ongoing and in pipeline projects worth Rs 5,000 crore in different sectors like cement and paints manufacturing. They are also planning to open a world-class educational institute in the city besides other plans for fresh investment. We discussed all these and I assured him of our support,” the statement read.

The meeting came at a time when the opposition parties are often accusing the state government of forming ‘anti-industry’ land and SEZ policies which are deterring big-ticket investments in Bengal.

The opposition parties claim that the annual Bengal Global Business Summit is merely a showcase event that does not fructifying into actual investments.

They also claim that the state government’s policy of “no state government intervention in procuring land for industry” is the biggest deterrent for the investors to invest in Bengal which has a fragmented land-holding nature.

However, the Chief Minister has rubbished the allegations, claiming that there is no dearth of land for industry in Bengal since the state government has a ready land bank for the purpose.

She also claims that the days of strikes and lockouts in Bengal which were regular features in the previous Left Front regime are over now.

–IANS

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