Newsmakers: SBI puts on hold overseas bond issuance, Chennai airport to resume partial flight ops and more

RCom to sell tower, optic fibre business for Rs 30,000 cr
Reliance Communications, part of the Anil Ambani-led  Reliance group, has inked a pact to sell its tower and optic fibre assets in India to private equity firms TPG and Tillman Global in a deal estimated at about Rs 30,000 crore. RCom intends to utilise the proceeds of the proposed transaction to reduce its debt, which is estimated at about Rs 40,000 crore. The company said, "a non-binding term sheet" has been signed for the proposed acquisition of RCom's nationwide tower assets and related infrastructure by Tillman and TPG Asia.

GST logjam: CEA panel for dropping 1% additional tax
In recommendations aimed at breaking the GST logjam, a panel headed by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian suggested dropping additional one per cent tax on inter-state sales over and above the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate. The panel, however, did not favour putting the rate of GST , which seeks to replace all indirect taxes including excise duty, service tax and sales tax, in the Constitutional Amendment Bill. It has suggested a revenue neutral rate for GST of 15-15.5 per cent and a standard rate of 17-18 per cent.

Chennai airport to resume partial flight operations from Saturday
Chennai airport, where operations were suspended till Sunday in the wake of floods, will partially resume flight operations from Saturday morning with the runway found to be safe for landings and departures. "Flight operations from Chennai airport will resume partially from tomorrow. The flights will operate during the day time," Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman RK Srivastava said. The airport would open at 6 AM and flights would operate till day light is there, he said.

Small savings rates to be cut cautiously, says FM
The government will bring down interest rates on small savings "cautiously" so as to protect the interest of weaker and vulnerable sections, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. Citing example of girl child scheme launched last year, he said that "if after one year you immediately slash it down radically, it may not be very politically prudent and therefore, you have to move in that direction but you have to move a little cautiously".

SBI puts on hold overseas bond issuance amid mkt volatility
The largest lender of the country, SBI's $1-1.5 billion overseas bond issuance has been delayed following volatility in global financial markets, the Lok Sabha was informed. State Bank of India (SBI) has been raising resources from capital markets by way of bond issuances from time to time to take care of its asset growth and ensure repayment of maturing liabilities.