Small Business
As the takeover battle between Bharati Shipyard and ABG Shipyard for Great Offshore heats up, analysts feel it is the right time for retail investors to book profits as the fundamentals of the target firm"s stock do not support sustainability of its current price.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers of Rs 875.92 crore (provisional) today, according to data released by BSE.
Gold futures prices fell by Rs 83 or 0.49 per cent at the Multi Commodity Exchange today as traders reduced their positions.
Tracking firming global trend, gold futures prices recovered by Rs 150 or 0.88 per cent today as traders indulged in enlarging their positions. Gold for far-month April contract rose by Rs 150, or 0.88 per cent to Rs 17,248 per ten gram with an open interest of 2,409 lots.
As part of a restructuring plan, the Chennai-based Pyramid Saimira group, which produces films, has decided to dilute 40 per cent stake in all its eight subsidiary companies. It hopes to raise up to Rs 300 crore by doing so.
Dealers bank on small NBFCs as big players opt out.
Freebies are no longer catching the fancy of prospective home buyers; instead they are seeking cash discount, as the real estate market shows signs of revival.
Twitter may have gained immense popularity as a microblogging website but in India majority use it as a source for news.
Log in to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn to keep alumni, students, aspirants updated about their institutes.
As many as five Indian companies, including ICICI Bank and Infosys Technologies, rank among the top 12 companies in the Asia Pacific region for being instrumental in building leadership capability within their organisation.
Around 4000 people, mostly farmers, today took out a rally against land acquisition by Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) in villages near Sanand.
India has tightened visa approval norms for Pakistan-born US citizens by making it mandatory for such applications to be cleared by New Delhi and is also mulling similar action on American nationals born in China, Afghanistan and Iran.The step comes in the wake of the FBI foiling an LeT plot to use Chicago resident David Coleman Headley to target Indian facilities.
Indian stocks rose, led by steel and car makers, after the government said sales of the alloy to auto manufacturers rose in the first seven months of the financial year.
Seema Sindhu / New Delhi January 7, 2010, 0:24 IST
Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland today reported a jump of 31.77 per cent in its net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 at Rs 88.61 crore on account of internal efficiencies and low input costs.
The stock pared all its gains and slipped into the negative to touch a low of Rs 1,595 . The scrip finally ended flat at Rs 1,606. The counter clocked volumes of 102,814 shares as compared to the two-week daily average traded volumes of 44,875 shares on the BSE.
Reaping benefits from its recent collaborative research programmes, Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company Cadila Healthcare, the parent company of Zydus Cadila group, reported an increase in its net profit by 39 per cent to Rs 131.92 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 from Rs 94.88 crore for the corresponding period last year.
K VENKATESH
Huge opportunities in the form of upcoming projects and robust revenue growth in existing businesses augur well for IRB Infrastructure.
Hinting at a buoyant economy in 2010, Uday Kotak, vice chairman and managing director, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd said that the total inflow of funds in India, comprising of insurance, FIIs and mutual funds may touch $ 40 billion.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 92.21 crore (provisional) today, according to data released by BSE.
Commercial vehicles major Ashok Leyland, Hinduja group"s flagship company, today reported an increase of 164 per cent in its sales in December 2009.
Terming the death of a swine-flu infected girl in Pune as "unfortunate", Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has said negligence on part of the private hospital which treated the 14-year-old was to blame for it.
Surjit S Bhalla / New Delhi December 08, 2009, 0:36 IST
Indian IT companies will have to be content with the existing visa options for the United States as the US Congress, the country’s highest lawmaking body, is unlikely to take up the issue of immigration reform in the short-term.
The United Arab Emirate"s average sustainable crude oil production capacity is set to increase by 12.5 per cent to 3.06 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2014, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated.
State finance ministers are likely to finalise rates for the goods and services tax (GST) at a meeting of the empowered committee scheduled for January 7, said Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather here today.
The Asian markets ended on a weak note.
Oil rose to near $82 a barrel today in Asia after a jump in US stock markets boosted investor confidence and helped extend a four-week rally in crude prices.
The World Bank is expected to increase its lending to India by over three times to USD 7 billion in 2009-10 compared to the average $2.3 billion for the last four financial years.
JD-S today intensified its agitation against the Bangalore-Mysore express highway project promoted by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), with party chief and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda staging a dharna with farmers at a village coming under the scheme.
The country"s most valued firm Reliance Industries (RIL) today said the public sector insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has hiked its stake in the company to 6.94 per cent over the past two years through open market transactions.
Novartis has ended the day at Rs 572, stronger by Rs 14 or 2.6%, on the BSE.
Stocks of 127 companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) have raced to touch their lifetime highs this month, even while the key domestic benchmark index, the 30-share Sensex, is still well below its all-time high of 21,000 that it had touched in January 2008.
Yuvraj bats for Ranbaxy’s healthcare brand
The condition of Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu, who is battling pneumonia, remained critical today with doctors putting him back on full ventilation.
The country"s second-largest two-wheeler maker, Bajaj Auto, today reported its highest ever net profit recorded in a quarter at Rs 402.83 crore, driven by good sales in the profitable bigger and sportier motorcycles category.
Pharma company Merck KGaA today said it has acquired Bangalore based Genei (India) Private by its wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, Merck Specialities.
The state health and family welfare department is looking to forge partnerships with the healthcare institutions in the private sector.
Five more persons, including an AIDS patient, died of swine flu in the city, taking the countrywide death toll in the pandemic to 23.
Hotels and retail stores in Pune have seen their sales drop 50 per cent. “We have seen a 60 per cent drop in the number of visitors and around 50 per cent in our total sales. We have sales of around Rs 3 lakh per day. So, over a week’s time we expect a drop of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 25 lakh in our collections,” said Srinivas Rao, regional sales manager, Provogue Studio.
Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL) has told the Supreme Court through an affidavit that the government has no scope to alter the utilisation of gas or the fixation of its price with regard to the former’s disputed contract with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
Buys 18 acre land adjacent to its existing plant.
Long dismissed as a price warrior, Acer is repositioning itself as a brand for the youth.
IT giant Wipro Limited, as part of its energy efficiency initiatives, is planning to reduce the carbon footprints from the present 3.96 tonne per employee to 2.5 tonne in the next five to seven years, said Laxman K Badiga, chief information officer of the company.
Biocon Limited, India"s second largest bio-technology firm, has announced the launch of Basalog, a human insulin analogue, which attempts to relieve diabetic patients of frequent insulin shots in a day.
Hiring activity is finally gathering steam among the Indian corporates. The job index increased by 4.1 per cent in Septmeber 2009 as compared to August 09, said the findings of Naukri JobSpeak. On the three month moving average, the index inched up from 715 in August ’09 to 719 in September’09.
As many as six among the top 10 firms added over Rs 28,415 crore to their market capitalisation in the past week, while companies like NTPC, NMDC and IT bellwether Infosys Technologies saw their valuations dipping.
NTPC should take all possible steps to protect its interest in gas dispute with RIL; it should follow the advice of Solicitor General, opines Attorney General.Price at which NTPC obtains gas is matter of public interest and will impact availability of power at affordable rate, opines Attorney General.
Over 12,000 BSNL employees in Gujarat circle boycotted work today as the strike by telecom C and D category staff entered the second day here.
Alstom Projects India has bagged a contract worth Rs 373 crores for the supply of boiler components to Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).
Ruias-owned Essar Oil has tied up $920 million to fund the expansion of its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat to 16 million tonnes, CEO Naresh Nayyar said.
Gas Turbine Research Establishment is looking to develop a marine version of Kaveri engine, originally intended to power India"s indigenous fighter jet Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, in partnership with the Navy.
Uttarakhand is experiencing another dry spell during this winter season with the last two months going almost dry.
Jai Arjun Singh / New Delhi November 21, 2009, 0:27 IST
On September 7, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, closed over 16,000 points for the first time in over a year. And the good news is that it has consistently been able to close above this mark.
Police are on the lookout for Congress MP L Rajagopal, who escaped from a city hospital where he was admitted after being brought from a hunger strike site over the Telangana issue.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah said revenues coming to the government in the form of taxes had taken a beating due to the turmoil in the state. “Trade was first affected by the agitations for a separate Telangana and now for a unified Andhra,” he told reporters here on Thursday.
Mafatlal Industries, a flagship company of Arvind Mafatlal Group, is planning to increase production of school uniform and corporate uniform by reducing capacity of non-profitable product ranges like industrial fabrics, sheeting’s, government supply products etc.
The Orissa government today approved proposals for setting up two medium scale steel plants, including one by Tata Sponge Iron Limited, official sources said.
Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) for the Posco steel project in Orissa will meet next month to finalise the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) package for the project affected persons.
The proposed Vedanta University is likely to get chairman of the Knowledge Commission Sam Pitroda as its first Chancellor, Orissa’s Higher Education minister Debi Prasad Mishra said on Thursday.
Amidst protest from Opposition Congress, Orissa government on Saturday re-introduced in the Assembly a controversial bill on setting up a university by Vedanta Resource Corporation in Puri district.
The Orissa government is yet to form the Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committees (RPDAC) for 13 large projects in the state.
The fate of the 1,320 megawatt (Mw) thermal power plant at Rajpura (Punjab) will be decided by next week. According to sources, the financial bids (related to power tariff) for the proposed project would be opened next week and sent to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) for approval.
Low interest rates, a revival in auto financing and strong spending based on improved sentiment boosted auto sales this year so far. This sales momentum should sustain going ahead as per most market analysts and the sector has seen earnings estimate upgrades all around.
India would, by the second-half of September, launch Oceansat-2 into the space, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair said.
On August 13, the National Remote Sensing Agency — a part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) — put India on the global cyberspace map. It launched Bhuvan — a geoportal which allows users to explore the virtual earth on the internet for free in a 3D environment with specific emphasis on India.
Business Standard / January 22, 2010, 0:34 IST
The stock market was volatile and moved in a narrow range during the week. Global cues were mostly subdued, and news flows were largely positive, resulting in limited downsides on weak days. However, the indices failed to give a clear breakout on the upside as well.
Higher crude price realisation, coupled with lower fuel subsidy, has helped Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) post a 23 per cent jump in net profit for the quarter ended December 31. Net profit was Rs 3,054 crore, compared to Rs 2,475 crore in the same quarter last year. Net sales for the quarter rose 23 per cent, to Rs 15,314.5 crore.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today said monetary measures are not required to contain food inflation, amid speculations that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may squeeze money supply to rein in surging food prices.
State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp plans to invest Rs 25,000 crore in setting up a 15 million tonnes a year refinery on the west coast.
A K Bhattacharya / New Delhi December 2, 2009, 0:09 IST
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said his government is ready to draft a separate policy for stainless steel manufacturers, provided they are willing to foray in gymnasium equipment and toys manufacturing as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR).
As much as 70 per cent of companies surveyed by the industry body Assocham prefer to work with NGOs to implement their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
Indian IT major HCL Technologies today said the cost-cutting phase necessitated by the global economic downturn is over and it will work with its global customers to help redesign their business.
Telecom service provider Aircel today said it will finalise a buyer for its 17,000 telecom towers across the country in the next six weeks.
China and India could reshape the global auto industry and pose a significant competitive threat in coming years, executives from the world"s top carmakers said at the Detroit auto show.
Realty firm Parsvnath Developers today reported a robust jump of over fourfold in consolidated net profit at Rs 24.90 crore for third quarter ended December.
Realty giant Unitech today reported a jump of 29.37% in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 31 at Rs 176.01 crore, thereby signaling a revival of demand.
Hinduja Group firm Defiance Tech today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dassault Systemes to market the Euronext-listed company"s solutions across Indian automotive, industrial and aerospace and defence sectors.
Evading taxes for long by calling itself a charitable organisation, the the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may now have to shell out more than Rs 100 crore as the Income Tax department is set to penalise the Indian Cricket Board for hiding details of its commercial activities.
Non-life insurers earlier offered discounts as high as 97 per cent in some cases.
Finnish handset giant Nokia today said it will form a joint venture with an investment firm New Alliance to offer mobile services in China.
Bikram Dasgupta, chairman and CEO, Globsyn Technologies, traces his love for gadgets back to 1995, when he bought a Nokia 1011, loaded with games and polyphonic ringtones. Little did Dasgupta know that within 14 years, his so-called premium model phone would pale against his Mercedes E Class and custom-fitted laptops.
Insiders, who have been chosen as CEOs of companies like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries and Steve Jobs of Apple, have faired better than those who have been brought in from outside, says a survey.
Big bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala today said the current bull run might “go bust” in the next one or two months. “If you see the formation of the indices, all stocks are going up, all indices are going up. There are minor corrections at every point. You cannot have this kind of rise — a peak without a burst. I think the burst will come within one or two months,” said Jhunjhunwala, partner, Rare Enterprises.
A fire-breathing Merc takes on the Audi. Who wins?
In a bid to check the global spread of swine flu, US President Barack Obama has announced that his administration is prepared to make 10 per cent of its H1N1 vaccine supply available to other countries through the World Health Organisation.
The Asian markets ended on a firm note. The Hang Seng soared 323 points to 20,356 and the Nikkei advanced 162 points to 10,414.
Kerala has emerged as the number one market for exterior emulsion paint companies like Asian Paints, Nerolac, Dulux and Jotun.
The Sensex dropped to a low of 16,537. The index has recovered now and is down 179 poinst at 16,537.
The US markets ended on a negative note on Friday.
Air passengers denied entry in Indonesia found no respite from the Delhi Consumer Commission, which exonerated Malaysian Airlines of any deficiency in service, citing absence of any reason for disallowing their entry by the immigration authorities of that country.
Infotrek Syscom, an electronics recycling company, is planning to enhance the current recycling capacity and to set up nationwide collection mechanism, warehousing and setting up the precious metal recovery facility at an investment of Rs 100 crore.
Drug maker Dr Reddy"s Laboratories today said it has launched a skin-care product, Strea Professional, in the country.
Tiger Woods says he"s taking an indefinite leave from golf to work on saving his marriage, using the word "infidelity" for the first time in a statement posted on his website.
There has been a sharp fall in securitisation of corporate loans in the last one year. In contrast, the volume of retail loans that were securitised almost doubled in the period.
FMCG major Emami today said its realty arm Emami Infra will be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in the next three-four months.
Power equipment supplier Bharat Heavy Electricals today reported a growth of 35.67 per cent in its net profit at Rs 1,072.50 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2009, over the same period last year.
Shree Cement today reported over two-fold jump in its net profit for the quarter ended September 30 at Rs 288.91 crore.
The markets have opened in the positive, mirroring the gains in the US and firmness across Aia. The Sensex is quoting at 17589, higher by 103 points and the Nifty is at 5254, up 29 points.
The stock erased all its gains and finally settled 4% lower at Rs 90. The counter witnessed trades of 14 lakh shares as compared to the two-week dialy average traded volumes of 10.41 shares on the BSE.
Jaiprakash Power Ventures today said it has appointed Sunil Kumar Sharma as Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company.
The British government plans to freeze the salaries of top bureaucrats and offer only minimal increases to other senior workers in an effort to control the country"s spiralling deficit, a treasury official has said.
Japan"s unemployment rate fell to 5.5 per cent in August, from a record 5.7 per cent in July, the first improvement in seven months, the government said today.
The economic crisis may have wiped off $300 billion from the wealth of America"s richie-rich club, but the net worth of many members, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, is still sufficient to buy "almost anything" that includes many a countries of the world.
Dhanalakshmi Bank is planning a brand transformation initiative which will include changing the logo and related branding treatment across all its customer touch-points.
The Indian markets have pared most of their gains and are now trading flat. The Sensex is now at 17,505, down 18 points. The NSE Nifty is at 5,228, down two points.
Undeterred by the real estate crisis after Dubai World’s request to creditors for a standstill on repayment of its $60 billion debt until May, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai) has stuck to its original plan to hold its national convention during January 23-25 in Dubai.
Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah will join policy makers, industry experts, who will be attending the third World Future Energy Summit to be held in Abu Dhabi next January.
The Ruias’ Essar Group is to acquire a 51 per cent stake in the telecom operations of the Dhabi Group, an investment company led by Abu Dhabi’s royal family, in Uganda and Congo for around $150 million (Rs 692 crore).
The Union government has decided not to make any change in the listing rules for insurance companies till a parliamentary panel on the subject has completed its job.
India"s largest manufacturer of passenger cars, Maruti Suzuki launched Eeco, a multipurpose vehicle here.
The government is taking no chances with its proposed divestment. The disinvestment department has hired a public relations firm to put out news of NTPC’s follow-on public issue. Clearly, the department feels NTPC’s own communications wing is not up to the job.
Former Bank of England policy maker Willem Buiter said Greece might be the first major country in the European Union (EU) to default on its debts since the aftermath of the World War II.
Cummins ended at Rs 444, higher by Rs 11 or 2.6%, on the BSE.
Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, the film production company, plans to invest Rs 457 crore to expand its movie entertainment business.
Two-wheeler maker BSA Motors today said it will invest Rs 50 crore in next fiscal, besides launching three new models, as part of its strategy to capture over 20 per cent share in the Indian electric scooter market by 2010-11.
Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao is scheduled to meet a group of select bank chiefs on Friday to assess the resource mobilisation situation and also seek their inputs for the next month"s second quarter review of the monetary policy.
After swelling to a nine-month high in the previous fortnight, the outstanding credit of Indian banks decreased by Rs 11,898 crore in the 15 days up to January 15 — its first fall in two and half months.
Home appliance maker Whirlpool today reported over two-fold increase in its profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 16.16 crore for the quarter ended on December.
A 20-member delegation from Karnataka today met Union mome minister P Chidambaram and demanded special incentives for its five districts.
While oil and gas companies are cash rich, focus on managements’ credibility and ability to run the business.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) and the Geneva-based Airports Council International (ACI) today signed an agreement for appointment of GMR Aviation Academy as a global training hub for the Asia-Pacific region.
Varun Energy Corporation, a group company of steel exporter Varun Industries Limited, has acquired uranium mines in Madagascar, an island nation in the Indian Ocean.
Surf"s up for Bombay Dyeing as its real estate projects and domestic textile demand take-off
Three persons, including a lawyer, have been arrested in connection with the murder of RTI activist and graft whistle-blower Satish Shetty at Talegaon near here, police said today.
Invest Rs 1 lakh in property or stocks and double it in six months’. Many would have received variants of this SMS in recent months.
Media and entertainment firm UTV Software today said its board has approved to raise Rs 100 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures to Life Insurance Corporation of India.
Inter-regulatory committee set up to fix norms.
Advance tax payments by several automobile, power, cement and banking majors in the third quarter have been stronger compared to the year-ago pay-outs.
Despite a sharp fall in treasury income compared to the year-ago quarter, private sector lender Yes Bank recorded a 19 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 125 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2009.
Pharmaceutical patents are just over a fourth of all patents granted in the country, but domestic drug makers account for almost all post-grant patent opposition filed, official data reveals.
Indian conglomerate Tata group-owned Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has appointed David Betteley as director for financial services.
China and India may not be the best of friends at global levels but when it comes to business, differences take a back seat.
While the recovery in sales volume is positive for Tata Motors, the gains are priced in
Arvind Subramanian / New Delhi December 23, 2009, 0:13 IST
The chief executives of Italian auto maker Fiat and oil major Royal Dutch Shell will not be seeking re-election to the board of Swiss banking entity UBS.
Japan"s top five auto makers have reported smaller year-on-year declines in their global production in August compared with July, showing signs of a bottoming out in auto production.
German automobile giant Volkswagen, which has picked up almost 20 per cent stake in Japanese car major Suzuki Motor Corporation, may source small cars from Maruti Suzuki (in which Suzuki has 54 per cent stake) for the European market and sell them under its own brand name.
Vinay Varshney, as he predicts the end of CFL lamps in a few years, points to the ceiling of the conference room at Maruti Suzuki’s factory in Gurgaon. It is then that we notice that the two holders, right above the two ends of the long table, have slots for three lamps, but only two are glowing.
Barter and exchange services provider BBX India is awaiting Reserve Bank of India"s (RBI) approval to start international trading in the country, a top company official said.
Ford Motor Co said it will spend 4 billion reais ($2.3 billion) to expand in the growing Brazilian market, the largest investment it has made in the country.
Ford Motor Co narrowed talks on the sale of its Volvo Car unit to one bidder, a consortium led by China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.
In the first three-and-a-half weeks of trading in the new year, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or the Sensex, has been range bound – a phase that many market experts would call a consolidation phase. And there are expectations that after the Union Budget, the market could enter a correction phase as well.
The markets have recovered from the low and touched a high of 16,495 - up 178 points from the day"s low of 16,317. The Sensex is now up 190 points (1.16%) at 16,479.
Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh spent the New Year in Dubai. Singh, who is reinventing himself, writes in his blog: “Off (sic) late, my level of sensibility and sense of political responsibility have taken a back seat. I have learnt to take personal criticism in my stride and for the first time in my political career I am giving more preference to my family. I have chosen to ignore the council elections in Uttar Pradesh. No one is indispensable. I am desperate to create my political dispensability to avoid unnecessary tension and a lot of hard work which is detrimental to my present health and against my doctor’s advice. I am an eternal optimist ... I want to reinvent myself as family oriented person…”
Three members of Goa"s leading football club Churchill Brothers were today granted bail after they were arrested here for allegedly misbehaving with an airhostess and other cabin crew members on board a SpiceJet plane.
Highway projects worth about Rs 110,000 crore will be executed in the country over the next three years, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways R P N Singh informed the Rajya Sabha today.
HDFC Bank’s board today decided to give a three-year extension to Managing Director Aditya Puri. His term was to end in March. Puri has been with the bank since its inception. HDFC Bank said the appointment was subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
The government today said it would act as a patriarch and bless public sector bank mergers that were based on synergy.
The volume of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals by India Inc slumped by 41 per cent to $3.3 billion in the June quarter over the previous three-month period due to the impact of the global economic slowdown, a report by consultancy firm Ernst & Young has said.
An expected recovery in the bank credit in the next few months may push up interest rates in the later part of the current fiscal, a top foreign banker today said.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates today said there has been a remarkable advancement of defence relationship between India and the United States in the last few years.
SkodaAuto India is looking to derive significant benefits from the expansion of its German parent, Volkswagen (VW), in the country. SkodaAuto, which was the first VW group firm to enter the domestic market about a decade ago, also intends to become more affordable in the long-term, enabling it to enter more segments.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) expects its annual earnings to grow by Rs 100 crore once it receives approval from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to charge user development fee (UDF) at nine airports. “We will annually earn around Rs 100 crore by charging UDF at eight of our airports. We have sent our request and will start charging as soon as we receive the approval,” said a senior AAI official who did not wish to be named.
There is unanimity in thinking among the intelligentsia that if India is to become an economic power, growth has to be inclusive and touch the lives of millions of people living in rural India. It is heartening to note that the Government is conscious of the fact and has taken unique steps to which will go a long way in alleviating the sufferings of poor people.
The Finance Ministry today said it expects an action plan to be ready by March this year for disinvestment in more public sector companies.
The government has rapped state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) for poor financial performance and made a case for disinvestment through an initial public offer (IPO).
The government today approved three port projects worth Rs 7,737 crore for developing infrastructure at the Jawaharlal Nehru and Visakhapatnam ports.
Seeking to deepen its bilateral defence and strategic ties with India, the US plans to sell to the country 145 state-of-the-art 155mm towed Howitzers worth $647 million.
The yield on government rates may show some volatility ahead of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) third quarter review of monetary policy.
Indian corporate houses have lined up investments worth $1 billion (around Rs 4,500 crore) in the Maldives, to fructify over the next two to three years. The houses include Tatas, Suzlon, GMR, Apollo Hospitals and Oberoi. “To attract more investment from India, the Maldivian government is planning to ease the procedures for India Inc and planning to offer various incentives,” said Ahmed Shaheed, the country’s foreign minister.
United Breweries Holdings (UBL) has forged an alliance with Heineken to distribute the Heineken brand in India. The partnership in India is expected to drive growth in one of the world"s fastest growing beer markets. As part of the agreement, Heineken will acquire Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) India -- Asia Pacific Breweries (Aurangabad) and Asia Pacific Breweries-Pearl -- for Euro 25 million (Rs 174 crore). Following completion of this transaction in the first quarter of 2010, Heineken intends to transfer these businesses into UBL during 2010. APB is a joint venture partnership between Heineken and Fraser and Neave.
Kirtika Suneja / New Delhi January 26, 2010, 0:43 IST
The country"s largest public sector lender, ICICI Bank, is raising up to Rs 1,200 crore by issue of bonds.
Amid India"s concerns over use of Nepalese soil by ISI and other anti-India elements, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said such apprehensions are being taken seriously but made it clear that an extradition treaty would have to wait for political stability here.
Nepal today sought to address India"s concerns with regard to fake currency being smuggled from here, pledging that it will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour as the two sides inked four pacts for cooperation in fields like infrastructure, power and science and technology.
Telecom service providers have added 44.21 million new subscribers in the quarter ended September 2009.
Country"s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank has sold its points of sale terminals that accept the debit and credit card payment to First Data Corporation for $80 million (about Rs 400 crore).
A rebounding stock market that gained two-thirds in the past year and an economy growing at 6 per cent have seen the combined net worth of India’s 100 richest people touch $276 billion, almost a quarter of the country’s GDP, business magazine Forbes said today in its annual rich list for the country.
The scrip erased all its gains and slipped into the negative to touch a low of Rs 356 and finally ended at Rs 362, down 2% from the previous close. The counter witnessed trades of 36,792 shares on the BSE as compared to the two-week daily average traded volumes of 4,417 shares on the BSE.
Prime Minster"s IT adviser Sam Pitroda today said 3-G auction process would be completed this fiscal.
State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has floated a tender for building an exclusive optical fibre cable network for the armed forces in lieu of their vacating radio waves. The network would be auctioned to mobile services’ operators for offering third-generation (3G) services. The tender, which was in the works for a long time, will set in motion the process of vacating spectrum by the defence forces.
Increasing competition and declining mobile call rates have taken a toll on the earnings of the country’s largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, which has posted 2.3 per cent growth in its net profit at Rs 2,209.8 crore for the third quarter ending December 31, 2009, against Rs 2,159.3 crore in the same quarter in December 2008.
Construction firm Patel Engineering Works said it has bagged nearly $1 billion (about Rs 4,600 crore) order for building a 350-km highway connecting Djibouti border to Ethiopia.
The Australian government has provided over A$8 million to fund the creation of the Australia-India Institute at the University of Melbourne. The institute is a platform to support research, training, executive briefings and policy advice for the benefit of both countries, according to Australia-India Institute Deputy Director John Webb.
Growing competition and declining revenues in India have prompted state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) to revive plans to enter overseas markets.
The per second billing introduced by telecom companies has come as a boon to millions of mobile users in the country, but it is proving to be a bane for cellular service providers as it is affecting their revenues, feel industry experts.
Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), the special purpose vehicle set up to implement the metro rail project in the city, had postponed the sale of Request for Qualification (RFQ) applications for global bids to July 24, according to municipal administration and urban development principal secretary and Hyderabad metro rail project chairman CVSK Sarma.
Global mining major Vedanta group today said that the Orissa government has assured it of raw material supply to run its aluminia refinery in the state.
Domestic 3rd quarter news weigh on sentiment.