Newsmakers: Rs 8,351 cr rail line projects cleared, RBI employees set to go on strike and more

Air India to soon sell four flats in Mumbai to SBI
Debt-laden Air India will soon sell four residential flats in Mumbai to public sector lender SBI for about Rs 90 crore as the airline looks to raise funds by sale of certain assets. The proposal, which has been in the works for some months, was recently approved by the Cabinet, sources said.

Coal India unions oppose 10% stake sale in PSU
Employee unions at Coal India on Wednesday opposed the government's decision to sell 10 per cent stake in the miner , with one of the trade unions threatening to go on strike against the divestment. Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said the government expects to raise around Rs 20,000 crore from the sale of 10 per cent stake in Coal India (CIL). "We strongly oppose it (stake sale). We may also go on strike," Indian National Mine Workers' Federation Secretary General S Q Zama said.

Govt announces interest equalisation scheme to boost exports
In a bid to arrest the decline in exports , the Central government has announced an interest equalisation scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit with effect from 1st April, 2015 for five years. The rate of interest equalisation would be 3 per cent. The scheme would be available to all exports made by small and medium scale enterprises across 416 tariff lines. Merchant exporters will not be eligible for the sop.

RBI workers' strike on Thursday likely to disrupt settlements
About 17,000 employees of the Reserve Bank of India are set to go on strike on Thursday for better retirement benefits and to oppose reforms to the central bank, raising the prospect of disruptions to banks and markets. The four unions that have called the strike say the reforms will reduce the RBI's regulatory powers and take away debt management operations away from the central bank.

Infra boost: Nod to Rs 8,351 cr rail line projects
Seeking to give a boost to the railway infrastructure, the government gave its nod to four rail line projects in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at a cost of around Rs 8,351 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for the doubling of 189.278 km Kottavalasa-Koraput railway line with a completion cost of Rs 2,977.64 crore.