Nifty holds 8500, Sensex firm; GAIL, Cipla, Coal India drag

Moneycontrol Bureau11:50 am Infra lending: In what will provide a huge comfort to lenders and infra firms and give a significant boost in revival of stalled projects, sources say that after months of consultations with stakeholders, the government has formed a drafting committee to expedite the revision of model concession agreements (MCAs).The drafting committee is expected to comprise of officials from the Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Financial Services and the Law Ministry, along with members of NHAI.The committee is expected to provide lenders may be given more role in the new concession agreements by giving them charge on receivables and making them co-insurers to a project along with the concessionare.11:30 am FII view: Lack of any overt measures to solve the problem of non-performing assets in the banking industry, is a disappointment, feels Suresh Ganapathy, banking analyst at Macquarie. In an interview with CNBC-TV18, he says it remains to be seen how the proposed Bank Board Bureau is different from the current selection panel. He says the reforms proposed in the Indradhanush package for state-owned banks need to be taken with a pinch of salt, and is skeptical if the appointment of private sector personnel in leadership positions will make a big difference.Don't miss: Coffee stocks rally 3-9% on hopes of 100% FDIThe market is holding gains. The Sensex is up 93.55 points at 27971.82 and the Nifty is up 26 points or 0.3 percent at 8503.30. About 1543 shares have advanced, 696 shares declined, and 124 shares are unchanged.Infosys, TCS, SBI, Wipro and Tata Steel are top gainers in the Sensex. Among losers are GAIL, Cipla, Coal India, Lupin and Vedanta.The much-talked about relief for PSU Banks appear convincing, says Gautam Chhaochharia, Head-India Research at UBS Securities. He admits it is difficult to predict if private sector best practices will be replicated by the PSU Banks five years down the line, but the direction is definitely positive. UBS remains overweight on the sector and advises buying SBI.  IT, the other talked about space, he believes the transformation of businesses to meet current needs will make it tough for IT companies to achieve double digit growth.