HOT FROM THE PRESS
* RIL: becomes largest natural gas producer in India as output touches >50mmscmd
* NTPC : identifies 3 more coal blocks in Indonesia for acquisition
* DHANALAKSHMI BANK : plans to raise R s4-5bn thru sale of shares in Q1 FY11
* HDFC BANK:HDFC converts warrants issued by bk into shares 2 days before expiry
* GLENMARK : plans to repay its debt of ~Rs 3bn by end of FY10
* M&M : signs agreement to form JV with global weapon system manufacturer, BAE
Systems.. JV to focus on land-based systems
* LUPIN : Co sued by Depomed Inc to block a generic version of Glumetza
diabetes drug
* SAIL : to cut flat product prices by Rs 500/ton
* CONSOLIDATED CONSTRUCTION : bags order worth Rs 4.05bn
* AREVA T&D : Alstom SA & Schneider Electric win bid to acquire parents T&D unit
* ABAN OFFSHORE : rpts co planning to list its Singapore subsidiary.. plans IPO
Corporate News – Industry trends
* NTPC Ltd, the country’s largest power generator, is eyeing acquisition
of coal blocks in Indonesia in a bid to meet the increasing shortfall in
the domestic supply of the dry fuel. “We have identified two-three
more coal mines in Indonesia,” CMD RS Sharma said (BS)
* After two consecutive hikes, state-run oil firms cut jet fuel by little
over 1% in step with marginal easing of crude rates. Following
this, aviation turbine fuel prices in Delhi will come down by Rs 455/KL
to Rs 39,968/KL effective Monday midnight (BS)
* Tata Steel said all shares of the company that were pledged by
another group company Tata Motors have been revoked. Tata Motors
has revoked 440,882 pledged shares, representing a 0.049% stake in
the company (BS)
* Cairn India has produced and sold a million barrels of oil from its
Mangala oil field in Rajasthan, the nation’s most prolific on-land field.
“Cairn achieved the milestone of successfully producing and delivering
one million barrel of crude oil in the early hours this morning (BS)
* Essar Oil has extended its “exclusive talks” to acquire three European
refineries of Royal Dutch Shell beyond end of November. Essar had
been working towards a deadline of November 30 for acquisition of the
three European refineries (ET)
* THE Mahindra Group will restructure its top management by
inducting several fresh faces into its key decision-making body to
reflect the US$6.7-bn conglomerate’s expanding business interests
(ET)
* Reliance Industries has become the largest natural gas producer in
the country with its over 50 mn standard cubic metres per day
(mscmd) output surpassing that of state-run Oil and Natural Gas
Corp’s (ONGC) (BS)
* Engineering and construction major L&T and Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Ltd announced the formation of a joint venture
to produce critical components for nuclear power plants such as special
steels and ultra heavy forgings (BS)
* Pharma major Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is planning to repay its
debt of around Rs 3bn by end of this fiscal, said a top company official
(ET)
* Siemens the Indian unit of German major Siemens— announced the
merger of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics with itself, with effective
from October 1 (ET)
* UTV Motion sells TV rights of 18 movies for Rs 950 mn; Colors, NDTV
Imagine Ink Syndication Deal That Includes 7 Unreleased Films Such
As Shahid Kapoor-starrer Chance Pe Dance (ET)
* The inflow of foreign direct investment in the Indian telecom
sector has shot up to Rs 98bn in the first half of the current financial
year, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. “The actual FDI inflow
in the telecom sector during April-October 2008 was to the tune of Rs
89bn, which has increased to Rs 98bn during April-September 2009
(ET)
* THE JSW Group, which was among the first conglomerates last year
to hold back most of its major capital expenditure and greenfield
projects due to the global financial crisis, has decided to revive two
projects estimated to over Rs 20bn together, encouraged by an
improvement in the overall manufacturing sector (ET)
* The country's IT exports under the Software Technology Parks of
India scheme logged an estimated Rs 834bn in the first half of the
current financial year, with Bangalore accounting for over 30% of the
total export basket (BL)
* Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd (CCCL), a Chennaibased
integrated construction service provider, has bagged orders
worth Rs 4050 mn, according to information it has given to the stock
exchange (BL)
* The Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) will raise Rs 3bn through
perpetual bonds in about a week's time, according its Executive
Director, Mr H. Ratnakara Hegde (BL)
Economic/Regulatory development
* India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.9% in July-
September 2009, up from 6.1% the previous quarter, beating
expectations and fuelling speculation that the government might look
at exiting stimulus measures (BS)
* India today proposed to invest US$6.5 bn to develop gas fields in
Iran and sought more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from that country
(BS)
* Telecom regulator Trai said it was looking at the possibility of
revisiting the telecom tariff issues which are currently determined by
market forces. “We are looking at the desirability and feasibility of
relooking the tariffs as a whole. We have not made up our mind,” Trai
chairman JS Sarma said (ET)
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