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n house in downtown Mumbai, created a buzz as soon as it was announced a few years ago with blogs and websites speculating on the interiors and the cost of the project. The average estimate of the project cost was close to a billion dollars. It turns out that the actual cost might be much lower because the total insurance cover for the project is understood to be less than a couple of hundred crores. Now that the project is almost complete and the multi-storeyed structure is visible from several kilometres away, there is again a growing interest. The indication of the cost of interiors could again come from the fire insurance policy that the Ambanis are now in the market for. According to sources, this would well be the world's largest home insurance policy.
E-SOP OPERA
KERALA-BASED Federal Bank had an Esop scheme which was discontinued. As long as markets were subdued the absence of an employee stock option plan did not make any difference. However, now, with bank share prices on an uptrend, the bank is feeling the absence of this employee-retention tool. According to sources in the bank, in a few senior-level interviews, the absence of an Esop turned out to be a deal breaker in its attempt to recruit a senior executive.
SAHARA TOP EXEC QUITS
Pallav Agarwal, executive director of Sahara and perceived to be very close to Sahara supremo Subroto Roy, has suddenly resigned. Mr Agarwal not only looked after the group's NBFC business, but was also deeply involved with the Jet Sahara transaction, which gave the group a fresh lease of life. Group officials were not available for comment, but sources said that Mr Agarwal was likely to try out something on his own.
RUMOUR VICTIMS
Of late, there has been a spate of merger activity rumours centering around old private banks. The banks' managements themselves have clearly ruled out any plans to merge with larger banks. According to sources, one reason why such rumours are recurring is that some directors on the boards of these banks are keen on a deal taking place and are taking the names of new generation banks, such as Kotak Mahindra and Axis Bank, to keep the story alive. In the absence of any confirmation, people do not rule the idea of those having interest in the stock circulating these rumours.
PERFORMANCE PRESSURE
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has restarted the practice of meeting chairmen of large banks along with the chief ministers of the region, which he had started in the 70s when he was a minister of state for banking and revenue. The FM has already had a meeting with the chief ministers of the east. On Monday, the FM met with chief ministers of the western region along with bank chairmen. The next meeting will be of the northern states in Chandigarh next week. Bankers are, however, a bit wary of this meeting since the finance minister, who is pressed for time, will simultaneously do a review of the performance of public sector banks.
Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/
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