With Akshaya Thrithiya - an auspicious day by the Hindu calendar – falling on April 27, gold suppliers are hoping for a turnaround for the better so far as demand for gold is concerned! Since the gold prices in India having more or less hovered around the Rs 14,000-15,000 per 10-gram range for some time, the jewellery sales have plunged substantially. In fact, there was hardly any import of the yellow metal during February and March.  

The country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to extend the period of its concessional financing to the farmers against warehouse receipts by five months to September 30, 2009.

It should be noted that the state-run lender in February this year had started offering loans at a concessional rate of 8% to farmers against cold storage and warehouse receipts, in a bid to save them from falling prey to distress sale of their farm produce.

Earlier this week, the lender has extended its special home and car loans scheme last week at 8 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, for the first one year, till September

State Bank of India, the country's top lender, has agreed to lend Rs 10,000 crore to Vodafone-Essar, the Indian arm of UK-based telecom firm Vodafone Group to finance the company’s entry into 3G (third generation) telecom services and expansion of its operations.

According to sources, the five-year loan carries an interest rate of 13.25 per cent for the first two years; thereafter, it will be re-adjusted on the basis of the average prime lending rate.

The company intends to use the funds for network rollout, broadband operations, and to pre-pay part of its previous debt.

SBI Funds, a leading fund house of the country, has finally launched ‘SBI Gold Exchange Traded Scheme (SBI GETS) in the Indian market.

The investment objective of the fund is to seek and provide returns that closely correspond to returns provided by price of gold through investment in physical Gold.

According to official release, the scheme will invest 90%-100% in gold and gold bullion with medium to high risk profile and 0-10% in debt and money market instruments, with low risk profile.

That there is an apparent slide in deposit rates has become all the more obvious with two of India’s leading public sector banks – State Bank of India (SBI) and IDBI Bank – slashing their deposit rates, with the revised rates taking effect from April 13. The state-owned IDBI Bank also intends cutting its yardstick prime lending rate (BPLR) from April 15 onwards.