On June 20, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) clarified to authorised non-bank prepaid payment instrument (PPI) issuers that PPIs may not be loaded from credit lines, and any such practice should be stopped immediately.
Continue Reading FIG Paper (No. 13) – RBI guidance on loading of PPIs through credit lines
The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) had notified its Fintech Incentive Scheme on February 2, 2022 (Scheme), setting up a framework to provide six grants to eligible applicants. The six grants, thematically, are for ESG financing (Green FinTech Grant), meant to provide early-stage capital for scaling up (FinTech Start-up Grant, Proof-of-Concept Grant, Sandbox Grant, Listing Support Grant), and aimed at supporting third-party incubation (Accelerator Grant), with the common thread among all being an intent to facilitate market access.
In the 2022-23 Union Budget announcements on February 1, 2022 (“Budget”), the Finance Minister introduced a proposal to allow the entry of world-class foreign universities and institutions in Gujarat International Financial Tec-City IFSC (“GIFT IFSC”), to offer courses in subjects pertaining to financial management, fintech, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, to facilitate the availability of skilled human capital for financial services and technology[1]. The announcement is seen as a progressive step, giving further impetus to promoting GIFT IFSC as the preferred International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) globally.
Continue Reading GIFT City Opens Doors for Entry of Foreign Universities in India
In the previous part, we first discussed the relevance of ESG disclosures for stakeholders involved in business processes, and then reflected upon the existing regulatory space for such disclosures along with the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (“BRSR”) framework, recently introduced by Securities Exchange Board of India (“SEBI”). Taking forward the discussion, this part will analyse the BRSR framework and suggest ways in which it could be further improved.
Continue Reading An Introduction of ESG Disclosures in Indian Regulatory Space – Part 2
The 2021 conference of parties (CoP26) on climate change was recently held in Glasgow, with the global community negotiating ways to manage climate change and mitigate its impact while ensuring that no adverse effect is felt on employment, food security, and living standards of the masses. Addressing climate change is one the most urgent tasks before us, particularly for India, due to rising threats from drastic physical events, such as floods, droughts, hurricanes, rising temperatures, and other climate change related events. It has become necessary to take immediate and consequential steps towards climate change adaption and mitigation; otherwise, the global community is set to lose trillions of dollars and millions of jobs.
Continue Reading An Introduction of ESG Disclosures in Indian Regulatory Space – Part 1
As the world moves towards clean and eco-friendly mobility fuel alternatives, the Government of India (“GOI”) is playing its part by framing environmental-friendly policies & regulations and encouraging the use of electric vehicles (“EVs”) in the country. The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan, 2020 had launched the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (“FAME Policy / Scheme”) in the year 2015. The FAME Policy was launched in two phases. FAME – I provided direct subsidies and grants for specific projects along with financial support for R&D, technology enhancement and public charging infrastructure. FAME-II, introduced in 2019 with a budgetary outlay of INR 10,000 crore, envisioned driving large-scale adoption of EVs, EV-related infrastructure and EV ecosystem development. Despite these efforts the EV market penetration currently stands at merely 3% of India’s total vehicle sales.[1]
Continue Reading Charging Up the EV Sector through Policy Reform