RBI has drawn a roadmap to reduce surplus liquidity by over Rs 5 lakh crore by December 2021 even as the monetary policy committee has chosen to maintain a status quo on rates and its accommodative stance as well as growth projections.

This could be as good as it gets for borrowers as the withdrawal of liquidity will put pressure on bond yields, which could eventually get passed on to loans as well.

Announcing the liquidity normalisation roadmap, governor Shaktikanta Das said currently surplus liquidity is at an average of Rs 9.5 lakh crore in October so far and the potential liquidity overhang amounts to more than Rs 13 lakh crore. RBI plans to bring down the surplus liquidity so that its borrowings from banks under the reverse repo operation would come down to Rs 2-3 lakh crore by December 2021. It is currently around Rs 8.8 lakh crore. “We do not want suddenness. We do not want surprises. We do not want to rock the boat, more so, because we have to reach the shore, which is now visible and there is a journey beyond the shore,” Das said in his post-policy address, explaining the rationale behind not reducing liquidity.

Kotak Mutual Fund has collected over Rs 3,500 crore in its multicap fund, the initial subscription for which closed on September 22 and final data was made available on Wednesday. The mobilisation came from about 1.5 lakh applications, the fund house said.

“The new fund offering (NFO) by Kotak MF, which opened for subscription on September 8, 2021, has registered the highest ever collection” by the fund house through any NFO, the fund house said.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-owned Federal Bank's share price may rally as much as 30% from current levels on the back of a sharp recovery in business, according to various brokerage firms. The private bank has seen a strong recovery after the second wave of covid-19, and has reported a healthy 9.7% on-year growth in gross advances while the total deposit base has grown by 10% during the same period. The midcap bank stock has been in Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's portfolio since at least 2016. Federal Bank's share price is currently trading at Rs 85 per share, up 25% so far this year.

Analysts at Emkay Global believe Federal Bank is transforming itself into a next-gen private bank via its neo-banking tie-ups across assets, liabilities, and payments businesses. The brokerage firm believes that this strategy will not only help Federal Bank thrive in the new era of banking, but also reduce the incremental cost of business in the long run.

As fuel prices surged to all-time highs on Tuesday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said prices of petroleum products in the country depend on international oil rates and both the Centre and states have to together handle the issue of their rising cost.

Addressing a press conference at the Chhattisgarh BJP office Kushabhau Thakre Parisar here, she said prices of petroleum products in India, a big consumer of these imported items, depend on their prevailing rates in the global market.

Hence, both the Centre and states have to handle the fuel issue together as they impose taxes on oil products, Sitharaman said.

Despite COVID-19 pandemic, Khadi sale figures on Gandhi Jayanti crossed Rs one crore mark at Delhi’s flagship Khadi India outlet in Connaught Place on October 2.

This is for the fourth consecutive year since Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for “Buy Khadi”, that Khadi sale crossed one crore mark in a single day at Connaught Place outlet. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), which runs the outlet claimed here on Monday that the overall sale of Khadi products was recorded 1.02 crore on October 2—significantly high considering the pandemic situation after the second COVID-19 second wave.