Tuesday, September 29
On the occasion of the 13th Passport Seva Divas, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday announced the nationwide rollout of e-Passports and key advancements under the Passport Seva Programme (PSP), while acknowledging the contribution of passport authorities across India and abroad.In a post on X, the Minister said, “Seva, Sushasan and Garib Kalyan are three key pillars of governance that would lead us to a Viksit Bharat. They are all reflected with prominence in our Passport Seva Programme.”Highlighting progress over the last decade, Jaishankar said passport issuance has grown from 91 lakh in 2014 to 1.46 crore in 2024. He noted that this expansion reflects improved access and delivery of passport services nationwide.The Minister announced the full rollout of PSP Version 2.
The initial public offering (IPO) of HDB Financial Services, a non-banking financial company (NBFC) promoted by HDFC Bank, opened for subscription on Wednesday. The company aims to raise Rs 12,500 crore in what is one of India’s largest IPOs so far this year. The issue comes amid renewed investor interest in financial sector listings.The IPO will remain open till Thursday, June 27. The price band has been set between Rs 700 and Rs 740 per share. Ahead of the issue opening, the GMP is around Rs 74, which is 10% premium over the issue price.The offering consists of a fresh issue worth Rs 2,500 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of Rs 10,000 crore by parent HDFC Bank, which currently holds 95.5% in the company.Also read: Catch all latest updates on HDB Financial Services IPOStrong financials
Tata Steel Limited on Wednesday said that it has acquired 179.10 crore equity shares in its Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary, T Steel Holdings Pte. Ltd (TSHP), for a total consideration of approximately Rs 1,562.54 crore or $180 million.The shares acquired have a face value of USD 0.1005 each. After the latest infusion, TSHP will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, the company said in an exchange filing. The acquisition is part of Tata Steel's previously disclosed plan to infuse up to $2.5 billion into TSHP during the financial year 2025-26. The board of Tata Steel had approved this capital infusion through equity subscription in multiple tranches, according to the company’s earlier disclosure on May 12, 2025.
