HOT MARKET NEWS & TRENDS

* BANKING : PNB, Corporation bank, UBI and BoM end special home loan scheme on
31st March.. SBI extends scheme for 1 mth

* RANBAXY : to expand its sales team by 50% to spur sales & regain top rank in
Indian mkt

* REL POWER : plans to refinance Rs 150bn loan to fund its UMPP at Sasan on
improved sentiment in global credit mkts.. to save Rs 3bn/yr in interest

* GMR INFRA : may tie up funds for its Rs 22bn Hyderabad-Vijayanagar highway
project

* GAIL : to invest Rs 60bn on 1k km pipeline in FY11.. to add 5k km by 2013

* UNITECH : board to meet on 6th April for potential restructuring of its
businesses by demerging telecom and hotel biz to unlock value for shareholders

* DR REDDYs : baord approves issue of 6 bonus debentures for every shr held

* HDFC : raises Rs5bn via 8.96% a5 yr bond sale

* YES BANK : mgt says to chalk out plan to offer host of retail loan products
over next few months.. plans to take share of current and saving a/c deposits
above 35% in a few yrs from current 10%

* SPICEJET : media rpts Sun TV promoter in talks with Wilbur Ross to buy its
entire 30% stake

* IGL : plans to borrow Rs 8-10bn in FY11 to undertake expansion

* HEG : board meet on 8th Aprill to consider fund raising options

Corporate News – Industry trends

– Ranbaxy Laboratories will hire nearly 1,500 marketing executives, expanding
its sales team by at least 50%, to spur sales and regain rank as India’s top
drugmaker. (ET)

– Banks, which are struggling to meet loan-growth targets for FY10, have
managed to stave off huge treasury losses as a surprising year-end surge in
bond prices helped them set aside less money to provide for possible losses on
investments. (ET)

– The government has deferred proposals of two telecom companies UAE-based
Etisalat and S Tel to raise foreign holdings in their Indian operations, after the
revenue department said plans of these companies amounted to treaty shopping
a term used by investors to use the Mauritius route to bring investments into
India. (ET)

– Actis, a key shareholder in Swaraj Mazda (SML), has not subscribed to the
company’s rights issue, fuelling speculation that it may exit the company.
This will lower Actis stake in SML from 17% to 12.32%. (ET)

– R-Power plans to cash in on the improved sentiments in the global credit
markets to refinance a Rs150bn loan that it had agreed to take from a
consortium of domestic institutions past year to fund its ultra-mega power
project at Sasan in MP. (ET)

– GMR Infrastructure is close to tying up funds for its Rs21.90bn Hyderabad-
Vijayawada highway project. (ET)

– Elcoteq, a Finnish contract manufacturer of electronic goods, said
negotiations for sale of its controlling stake to Videocon have failed to
fructify into a deal. (ET)

– Direct tax collections are set to fall short of the revised target in FY10. The
government had wanted to collect Rs4 lakh cr, but the actual take is expected
to fall short of this by Rs30k cr, meeting the original target set by Central
Board of Direct Taxes. (ET)

– SBI has trained a veritable army to sell mutual funds to its customers, in a
year-long programme that could change the face of the country's mutual fund
distribution business. Around 18,000 employees of SBI have passed a
mandatory industry test that makes them eligible to sell mutual funds. (Mint)

– Ericsson AB said it won a $1.3bn network expansion contract from Bharti
Airtel, its third major order in three days, and its largest deal in eight months.
(Mint)

– SKIL Infrastructure Ltd plans to raise about Rs15bn through an IPO by
October 2010. (Mint)

– The prices of petrol and diesel will increase by Rs0.50 and Rs0.26 a litre
respectively from April 1 in 13 big cities that switch to cleaner Euro-IV grade
fuel; petrol in Delhi will cost Rs47.93 a litre and diesel Rs38.10 a litre. (BS)

– Areva T&D India has won a contract for a gas-insulated sub-station package
from BHEL valued at c.Rs700mn. The order is scheduled for completion in the
fourth quarter of 2010. (BL)

– L&T’s Metallurgical, Material Handling & Water Operating Company has got
orders totalling Rs11.2bn from Sterlite Industries, Hindalco Industries, Tata
Steel, the Delhi Jal Board and Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam Ltd. (BL)

– Hindustan Dorr-Oliver Ltd has been awarded Rs2,676mn worth orders across
sectors of metals and minerals, environmental and manufacturing of heat
exchangers and pressure vessels for hydrocarbon, including an order from
Indian Oil for its new project. (BL)

– Sun TV promoter Kalanithi Maran, through his advisors, is talking to hedge
fund Wilbur L Ross to buy its entire 30% stake in low-cost carrier SpiceJet Ltd;
Maran’s representatives have offered to buy 51% equity in the carrier, provided
the hedge fund can rope in other shareholders into a consortium and create a
block offering majority equity in the company. (BS)

– L&T has accumulated an order book worth over Rs1 lakh cr. (BS)

– Indraprastha Gas Ltd is to take debt for the first time since its inception. The
sole supplier of compressed natural gas and piped natural gas in Delhi, Noida,
Greater Noida and Ghaziabad has planned to borrow Rs8-10bn in 201011 to
undertake expansion. (BS)

– Moving beyond a supplier-buyer relationship, India has offered Kuwait a stake
in ONGC’s Rs124.4bn petrochemical plant at Dahej in Gujarat and IOC’s
proposed chemical unit at Paradip. (BS)

– HCL BPO has signed a three-year deal with a UK-based utility to provide end-toend
business acquisition and support services for its boiler, insulation services
and energy saver products business. Experts peg the deal to be around
US$30mn. (BS)

Economic/Regulatory development

– The country's exports continued to be on a growth streak for the fourth month
in a row, to touch US$16.09bn in February 2010, registering a 34.7% increase
over US$11.94bn recorded in same month last year. This has prompted the
Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Anand Sharma, to assert today that the
exports are now “firmly rooted in the positive terrain. (BS)

– The FDI equity inflow into India in February rose 15.4% year-on-year to
US$1.72bn, overcoming the decline recorded in January; Cumulative FDI inflows
for April-February stood at US$24.68bn. This is 2.8% lower than US$25.39bn for
the corresponding period last year. (BL)

– The Department of Economic Affairs announced that India's external debt as
of end-December 2009 had risen by 11.9% to US$251.4bn as against
US$224.6bn according to the end-March 2009 estimates. (BL)

– For the third consecutive fortnight, state-owned oil retailers raised aviation
turbine fuel prices, this time by 1.4%, in line with firming global rates. Jet fuel,
or ATF, rates in Delhi have been raised by Rs573.15 per kilolitre, or 1.4%, to
Rs48,841.40 per kl with effect from Thursday. (BS)

– The Ministry of Environment and Forests scrapped two proposed hydel
projects on the river Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand and suspended work on another
mega project in the state; We have decided not to go ahead with the
Bhaironghati and Pala-Maneri power plants to ensure free flow in the river in
Uttarakhand,” said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh here. (BS)