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Tulip Telecom in debt recast talks

Written By Unknown on Senin, 31 Desember 2012 | 23.25

Tulip Telecom Ltd, which defaulted on a USD 140 million convertible bond redemption in August, said on Monday it is in talks with lenders to restructure its long-term debt.

Tulip, which designs and manages communication networks of large enterprises, is negotiating for a moratorium on principal and interest payments with banks, and extending the repayment period, which could help ease the debt and interest burden, it said in a statement.

Tulip had consolidated debt of Rs 30.3 billion at end-September. It was not clear how much of this amount will be restructured by banks.

"The near-term outlook is mixed, considering liquidity constraints and a volatile market environment, despite strong business fundamentals," Chairman H.S. Bedi said in a statement to stock exchanges.

Tulip joins a long list of Indian companies that have turned to the corporate debt restructuring mechanism, a voluntary process whereby creditors approve an easing of repayment terms.

Last month, lenders to Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd agreed to restructure about Rs 110 billion of its debt, sources said.



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Tecpro gets Rs 95-cr order from South Korean firm

Tecpro Systems said it has bagged a Rs 95-crore order from South Korea's SK Engineering and Construction (SKEC) for supply of the entire coal and fly ash handling systems for a power plant it is building in the US. "Tecpro Systems has received an international order worth USD 17.4 million from SKEC for Paco power plant (2X160 MW) in Panama (Central America)," the Gurgaon-based engineering firm said in a BSE filing.

The scope of the order includes designing, manufacturing and commissioning of the entire coal and fly ash handling systems for the power plant. However, no execution time-line was given. SKEC is one of the top Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firms in Korea and is involved in a number of EPC jobs in the power sector across the world.

"This order will increase Tecpro's global presence across diversified geographies like Vietnam, Indonesia and South East Asia and Central America," Tecpro's Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Amul Gabrani said. The scrip of the company were trading at Rs 150 per share during the afternoon session on the BSE, up 0.94 per cent over the previous closing.



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Govt offers 17 coal blocks to PSUs, invites proposals

Initiating the process of allocation of coal mines, the government today invited proposals from PSUs for alloting 17 blocks to them, mostly for captive power plants.

"It has been decided to offer 17 coal blocks (14 coal blocks for end use i.e. for power and 3 coal blocks for mining) to different Government Companies/Undertaking (Central and State)," the Coal Ministry said in a statement.

Also read: Eight infra sectors' growth dips to 1.8% in Nov

The development comes in the wake of the government's repeated announcements to make policy for mines allotment transparent, following CAG terming potential losses of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer on account of blocks allotment to 57 private firms without auction.

"The Ministry of Coal has initiated the process of allocation of coal blocks under the amended provisions of Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation Act and Rules framed thereunder.

"In the first round the Government proposes to allocate coal blocks to the Government companies/Undertakings (Central and  State) for specific end use(power) and coal mining," the statement said.
   
The applicants have been asked to submit their proposals by January 30.

The blocks on offer are: Jilga-Barpali, Baisi, Banai, Bhalmunda, Kente and Kerwa in Chhattisgarh, Gowa, Pachwara South and Kalyanpur-Badalpara in Jharkhand, Mahajanwadi in Maharashtra, Kundanali-Laburi, Sarapal-Nuapara, Tentuloi, Chandrabila and Brahamani in Odisha, Gandbahera-Uhhenia block in Madhya Pradesh and Deocha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harinsingha inWest Bengal.

These blocks on offer have estimated reserves of 8.45 billion tonnes. Under Rule 4 of auction by competitive bidding of Coal Mines Rules 2012, the government has decided allocation of suitable coal blocks to the government companies that are authorised to undertake coal mining, the statement said.

Last week, an inter-ministerial panel, which was set up to look into coal block allocations to government firms came out with pre-determined evaluation criteria that include taking into account allotees' track record of developing the mines given to them.

The criteria include progress of the development of mines given in the past, the coal demand-supply gap of a state and the location of the plants among others.

Earlier, the Coal Ministry had informed the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) that it would soon issue notification inviting offers from the public sector for allocation of identified coal blocks.

The Coal Ministry had in May identified 54 mines for allocation. Of these, 16 had been earmarked for government firms, 16 for power sector and 22 for allocation through auction route.



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LIC trims stake in Tata Global Beverages to 7.63 percent

State-run Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has reduced its stake in Tata Global Beverages Ltd to little over 7 percent by offloading shares over a period of four months.

LIC sold over 1.28 crore shares, representing around 2.08 percent stake, in the Tata group firm. These scrips were offloaded between August 23 and December 26, 2012, through open market sale, Tata Global Beverages said in a filing to the BSE.

Prior to the sale, the public sector insurer held 9.71 percent stake in the company. Now, the shareholding has come down to 7.63 percent.

In a separate filing to the BSE, Sanofi India said, LIC has offloaded over two per cent stake in the company. These shares were sold over a five-year period between September 18, 2007 to December 26, 2012.

According to the filing, LIC offloaded 2.01 percent stake in Sanofi through open market transactions and the shareholding now stands at 3.06 percent.



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Morgan Stanley buys 67 lakh scrips of Jindal Saw

Foreign fund house Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) today picked up over 67 lakh shares of the pipe maker Jindal Saw for about Rs 85 crore.

According to bulk deal data available with the stock exchanges, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte bought 67.42 lakh shares of Jindal Saw. These shares were purchased at an average price of Rs 125.65 aggregating to a deal size of Rs 84.72 crore.

The scrips were offloaded by Valiant Mauritius Partners Ltd, a shareholder of Jindal Saw. As of September quarter, Valiant Mauritius Partners held 97.02 lakh scrips or 3.51 per cent stake in Jindal Saw, while Valiant Mauritius Partners Offshore Ltd owned 58.98 lakh shares or 2.14 percent holding in the pipe firm during the period.

Shares of Jindal Saw closed at Rs 128.6 on the BSE, up 1.62 per cent from the previous close. In a separate bulk deal, Reliance Diversified Power Sector Fund acquired 56 lakh shares of Bajaj Electrical for Rs 208 apiece valuing the deal at Rs 11.64 crore.



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IOB to raise funds through rights issue

State-owned Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) said the board has approved raising of funds through a rights issue. The board of the bank at its meeting held on December 29, approved a rights issue of 20 crore equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at a premium to be decided based on the market conditions, IOB said in a filing on the BSE.

At today's closing price, the bank will be able to raise about Rs 1,713 crore from the market. Shares of the bank closed at Rs 85.65 per unit, up 0.59 per cent on the BSE. Rights issue is offered to the existing shareholders of the bank. Government of India holds 69.62 per cent stake in the Chennai-based bank.

Also Read: Five stocks that can give big bang returns in 2013

The board in principle has also approved issue of "20 crore fully convertible preference shares of face value of Rs 10 each at par to be converted into equity shares of Rs 10 face value at premium (to be decided at the time of issue) at a future period not exceeding five years from date of issue by way of private placement," it said. This is enabling provision for raising the fund to enhance its capital base.

Meanwhile, another public sector lender Syndicate Bank said it has raised Rs 1,000 crore through bonds. The funds were raised by issue of unsecured, non-convertible lower Tier II bonds, Syndicate Bank said in a separate filing on the BSE. The bond was priced at 9 per cent payable annually, it added. Besides, Bank of Maharashtra has raised Rs 1,000 crore by issue of lower Tier II bonds.



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Apple to drop patent claims against new Samsung phone

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 30 Desember 2012 | 23.25

Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 09:04

Apple Inc has agreed to withdraw patent claims against a new Samsung phone with a high-end display after Samsung said it was not offering to sell the product in the crucial US market.

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Union Bank raises Rs 800 cr through tier-II bonds

Union Bank today said it has raised Rs 800 crore through issuance of lower tier-II bonds. "We have raised additional capital to the extent of Rs 800 crore by issue of unsecured redeemable non-convertible subordinated lower tier II Bonds," the bank said in a release.

The 10-year bonds have a fixed coupon rate of 8.90 per cent per annum payable annually, it added. Earlier, the bank had announced that it has received an enabling resolution from its board to raise up to Rs 1,500 crore through bonds over the next three months. State-run Union Bank posted 57 percent jump in net profit to Rs 554 crore during the second quarter of current financial year. Shares of the bank closed 1.37 percent up at Rs 274.15 on BSE today.



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Ratan Tata hangs his boots, Cyrus Mistry takes over

Corporate icon Ratan Tata on Friday retired as chairman of Tata Group after a 50-year run predicting that India's growth will reestablish after the 'passing phase' of a difficult environment, which will most likely continue in the next year.

Turning 75 on Friday, he kept away from the Bombay House headquarters of the USD 100 billion group but instead spent time with employees in the manufacturing facilities of Tata Motors in west Indian Pune city.

"At the request of the union, I spent the day - my last day prior to retirement, in the Tata Motors' various manufacturing facilities at Pune to say farewell to my shop floor colleagues. We have been together in good times and bad and have gained closeness based on mutual trust," he tweeted.

He said in his twitter message that going to the plants and receiving greetings from so many colleagues is a great emotional experience.

"I have been deeply moved by the sincerity and spontaneity of their greetings. I will always carry memories of this day with me through the rest of my life," Tata said.

In a farewell letter to all the employees, he asked the employees to live by the value systems and ethical standards the group had followed all along.

Cyrus Mistry, the 44-year-old chairman designate, who is likely to take over as Tata group Chairman tomorrow visited the office on Friday. He was groomed for the assignment by Tata for a year.

He chose group company Tata Motors' sedan Indigo Manza to travel to work on a day that marked an end of an era.

The narrow lane leading to Bombay House, one of the oldest buildings in the heritage Fort area of south Mumbai, had heavy media presence since morning in anticipation of Tata visiting Bombay House.

In his letter to employees, Tata asked his colleagues to show their "support", "commitment" and "dedication" to achieve success in these somewhat difficult times.

"The difficult economic environment that we face in the current year will most likely continue through most of the next year. We will probably see continued constraints in consumer demand, over-capacity and increased competition from imports," he said.

Tata said there will therefore be great pressure on Tata companies to reinvent themselves in terms of business processes and to dramatically reduce costs, to be more aggressive in the market place and to widen their product range to better address consumer needs.

"We will also need to contain our borrowings and work hard to retain our margins. This environment would once again call on you for your support, your commitment and your dedication to achieve success in these somewhat difficult times," he said.

Tata said the seemingly gloomy picture, however, will be a passing phase.

"I feel confident that the robust growth that India has shown over the past several years will be re-established and the strong fundamentals in the country will result in India once again taking its place as one of the economic success stories of the region," he said.

Tata, who helmed the group for 21 years after being chosen successor by his uncle, the iconic JRD Tata, in 1991, is credited with transforming the group through bold decisions including large global acquisitions, even as some of its peers struggled to stay relevant post economic liberalisation.

Mistry, who has been with the group since 2006 in various capacities hails from the Shapoorji Pallonji family, the largest private share holder of the group's holding company Tata Sons.



23.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mid-tier IT firms outperform big boys in 2012

Moneycontrol Bureau

The global economic downturn weighed on the Indian IT industry in 2012, a year, which saw old leaders slump, even as several smaller rivals thrived.

Tata Consultancy Services cemented its position as the top software services provider. It has maintained that it will grow faster than the 11-14 percent growth forecast by industry body NASSCOM for FY13.

Meanwhile, Infosys , once the benchmark, stopped issuing quarterly guidance this year and only expects to grow around 5 percent. Even this, analysts say, is going to be a tough ask in the current scenario. Many including Bank of America Merrill Lynch expect the Bangalore-based company is likely to miss its guidance.

Infosys' local rival Wipro too has struggled to keep pace in the changed economic environment, where customers are now taking longer than usual in finalising IT budgets and even cutting discretionary spends.

"We expect Infosys to cut their organic FY13 US dollar revenue growth guidance to 4 percent plus (from 5 percent plus) as the impact of accentuated seasonality may result in slower ramp up of deals, especially in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI). We expect TCS to deliver sector-leading US dollar revenue growth (3% quarter-on-quarter) followed by HCL Tech  (2.8% qoq) in organic terms," Goldman Sachs analysts Rishi Jhunjhunwala and Girish Ramkumar said in a recent report.

Wipro, which like Infosys has gone through a management rejig in the last couple of years, is also expected to underperform the broader industry, with just 2 percent sequential US dollar revenue growth in Oct-Dec (it has guided for 1.2-3.2 percent growth) and a weak 1 percent volume growth, according to the Goldman Sachs analysts.

Some analysts, however, have a contrarian view and believe Wipro, could in fact turn out to be the dark horse and stage a recovery next year.

"Wipro is likely to benefit significantly from the surge in IMS deals expected over FY13-FY14, strong growth in Energy & Utilities, and the BFSI's return to stability," says Priya Sunder of Avendus Securities.

While Infosys and Wipro struggled over the last year, smaller outsourcers like Hexaware Technologies saw strong growth.

Atul Nishar, Hexaware's chairman, recently said he was "reasonably" confident of outperforming the wider industry in 2013. This optimism came even as it was forced to cut its fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) guidance to USD 92 million from USD 94.7-96.5 million, due to changes to a project plan for a customer and impact on account of hurricane Sandy, which devastated the US east coast.

TCS, Infosys and Wipro, all have underperformed many of its peers over the last one year. Infosys and Wipro are down 17 percent and 3 percent, weighed down by their slow growth and near-term uncertainties. While TCS has gained 8 percent, many others like HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and MindTree are up 60-75 percent.



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Cyrus Mistry to formally take charge on Monday

Cyrus Mistry, the new chairman of the Tata Group, will formally take charge of his office on Monday, company sources said. Mistry, who was appointed chairman to succeed Ratan Tata, is the sixth chairman of the Tata empire. The Group was founded as a private trading firm in 1868 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. "Today and tomorrow being holidays, Mistry will attend office in his capacity as the group chairman only on Monday," sources at the Bombay House, the Group's headquarters, said.

Ratan Tata retired as chairman of Tata Group after a 50-year run yesterday. He, however, did not attend the office on the last day as he chose to celebrate his Diamond Jubilee birthday celebrations at the Tata Motors manufacturing facilities at Pune. Mistry, who was groomed for the assignment by Tata for a year, had made a visit to Bombay House. Ratan Tata, who helmed the group for 21 years after being chosen successor by his uncle, the iconic JRD Tata, in 1991, is credited with transforming the group through bold decisions including large global acquisitions, even as some of its peers struggled to stay relevant post economic liberalisation.

Mistry, who has been with the group since 2006 in various capacities hails from the Shapoorji Pallonji family, which is the largest private shareholder of the group's holding company Tata Sons. Born on July 4, 1968, Cyrus Mistry completed his graduation in Civil Engineering from London's Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine and followed it up with a masters in Management from the London Business School. He was chosen by a 5-member panel last year to succeed Ratan Tata.

During Ratan Tata's tenure, the group's revenues grew manifold, totalling USD 100.09 billion (around Rs 475,721 crore) in 2011-12 from a turnover of a mere Rs 10,000 crore in 1991. Tata led the group into some notable acquisitions, starting from Tetley by Tata Tea for USD 450 million in 2000, to steelmaker Corus by Tata Steel in 2007 for GBP 6.2 billion and the landmark Jaguar LandRover in 2008 for USD 2.3 billion by Tata Motors.



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Tap local tech knowhow to lead in auto, gadget biz: Hitachi

Welcome to The Forbes India Show on CNBC-TV18.  In this episode, meet Hiroaki Nakanishi, CEO, Hitachi who has been credited for the turning the Japanese company into a global technological giant.

Below is an edited transcript of the show on CNBC-TV18.

Q: This is the first time in Hitachi's over-100 year history that the board is meeting in India. What is the significance of this development? What do you and the board sense about the Indian market?

A: India is a very important market and our presence here is still not big enough. Our Indian operations contribute only one percent to total revenue. But with India growing, we are planning to emphasise our presence in the country.

Simultaneously, we are not simply interested in the business of selling products or manufacturing of products. We wish to be involved in total engineering, manufacturing and maintenance which will strengthen our position and enable us to export products from our Indian unit to other parts of the world.

Q: Your interest in India comes at a time when the economy is slowing down to cause a significant paralysis in manufacturing and infrastructure. So what make you confident about India?

A: India holds significant promise because the government has started to announce measures to boost and implement some of the infrastructure initiatives. The second aspect that has attracted our focus is the rapid rise in population and purchasing power of the middle-class. And that will significantly affect the economic environment in India. It is to emphasise our outlook on India that motivated the board to meet in India.

Q: Do you estimate a tripling of your revenues in India by 2015?

A: Yes, I expect we can do that.

Q: What will be the specific areas of opportunity in India?

A: From the viewpoint of organic growth, one product area that is growing very rapidly is home appliances or white goods. Currently, recently our engineering teams began to adjust air-conditioners to work in India as the weather in India is completely different from that in Japan. This is the kind of new trend that is driving the industry. However we do not have a big presence in other areas such as the automotive sector.

Q: In the US and elsewhere across the globe you are a significant supplier to the auto sector?

A: The Indian automotive industry is growing even though the economy is somewhat shaky. We think we have found the answer to the new challenges facing the automotive industry. We will tap India's strength in engineering, designing, maintenance and technology to enter and strengthen our presence in this sector.



23.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Apple to drop patent claims against new Samsung phone

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 29 Desember 2012 | 23.25

Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 09:04

Apple Inc has agreed to withdraw patent claims against a new Samsung phone with a high-end display after Samsung said it was not offering to sell the product in the crucial US market.

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Union Bank raises Rs 800 cr through tier-II bonds

Union Bank today said it has raised Rs 800 crore through issuance of lower tier-II bonds. "We have raised additional capital to the extent of Rs 800 crore by issue of unsecured redeemable non-convertible subordinated lower tier II Bonds," the bank said in a release.

The 10-year bonds have a fixed coupon rate of 8.90 per cent per annum payable annually, it added. Earlier, the bank had announced that it has received an enabling resolution from its board to raise up to Rs 1,500 crore through bonds over the next three months. State-run Union Bank posted 57 percent jump in net profit to Rs 554 crore during the second quarter of current financial year. Shares of the bank closed 1.37 percent up at Rs 274.15 on BSE today.



23.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ratan Tata hangs his boots, Cyrus Mistry takes over

Corporate icon Ratan Tata on Friday retired as chairman of Tata Group after a 50-year run predicting that India's growth will reestablish after the 'passing phase' of a difficult environment, which will most likely continue in the next year.

Turning 75 on Friday, he kept away from the Bombay House headquarters of the USD 100 billion group but instead spent time with employees in the manufacturing facilities of Tata Motors in west Indian Pune city.

"At the request of the union, I spent the day - my last day prior to retirement, in the Tata Motors' various manufacturing facilities at Pune to say farewell to my shop floor colleagues. We have been together in good times and bad and have gained closeness based on mutual trust," he tweeted.

He said in his twitter message that going to the plants and receiving greetings from so many colleagues is a great emotional experience.

"I have been deeply moved by the sincerity and spontaneity of their greetings. I will always carry memories of this day with me through the rest of my life," Tata said.

In a farewell letter to all the employees, he asked the employees to live by the value systems and ethical standards the group had followed all along.

Cyrus Mistry, the 44-year-old chairman designate, who is likely to take over as Tata group Chairman tomorrow visited the office on Friday. He was groomed for the assignment by Tata for a year.

He chose group company Tata Motors' sedan Indigo Manza to travel to work on a day that marked an end of an era.

The narrow lane leading to Bombay House, one of the oldest buildings in the heritage Fort area of south Mumbai, had heavy media presence since morning in anticipation of Tata visiting Bombay House.

In his letter to employees, Tata asked his colleagues to show their "support", "commitment" and "dedication" to achieve success in these somewhat difficult times.

"The difficult economic environment that we face in the current year will most likely continue through most of the next year. We will probably see continued constraints in consumer demand, over-capacity and increased competition from imports," he said.

Tata said there will therefore be great pressure on Tata companies to reinvent themselves in terms of business processes and to dramatically reduce costs, to be more aggressive in the market place and to widen their product range to better address consumer needs.

"We will also need to contain our borrowings and work hard to retain our margins. This environment would once again call on you for your support, your commitment and your dedication to achieve success in these somewhat difficult times," he said.

Tata said the seemingly gloomy picture, however, will be a passing phase.

"I feel confident that the robust growth that India has shown over the past several years will be re-established and the strong fundamentals in the country will result in India once again taking its place as one of the economic success stories of the region," he said.

Tata, who helmed the group for 21 years after being chosen successor by his uncle, the iconic JRD Tata, in 1991, is credited with transforming the group through bold decisions including large global acquisitions, even as some of its peers struggled to stay relevant post economic liberalisation.

Mistry, who has been with the group since 2006 in various capacities hails from the Shapoorji Pallonji family, the largest private share holder of the group's holding company Tata Sons.



23.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mid-tier IT firms outperform big boys in 2012

Moneycontrol Bureau

The global economic downturn weighed on the Indian IT industry in 2012, a year, which saw old leaders slump, even as several smaller rivals thrived.

Tata Consultancy Services cemented its position as the top software services provider. It has maintained that it will grow faster than the 11-14 percent growth forecast by industry body NASSCOM for FY13.

Meanwhile, Infosys , once the benchmark, stopped issuing quarterly guidance this year and only expects to grow around 5 percent. Even this, analysts say, is going to be a tough ask in the current scenario. Many including Bank of America Merrill Lynch expect the Bangalore-based company is likely to miss its guidance.

Infosys' local rival Wipro too has struggled to keep pace in the changed economic environment, where customers are now taking longer than usual in finalising IT budgets and even cutting discretionary spends.

"We expect Infosys to cut their organic FY13 US dollar revenue growth guidance to 4 percent plus (from 5 percent plus) as the impact of accentuated seasonality may result in slower ramp up of deals, especially in banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI). We expect TCS to deliver sector-leading US dollar revenue growth (3% quarter-on-quarter) followed by HCL Tech  (2.8% qoq) in organic terms," Goldman Sachs analysts Rishi Jhunjhunwala and Girish Ramkumar said in a recent report.

Wipro, which like Infosys has gone through a management rejig in the last couple of years, is also expected to underperform the broader industry, with just 2 percent sequential US dollar revenue growth in Oct-Dec (it has guided for 1.2-3.2 percent growth) and a weak 1 percent volume growth, according to the Goldman Sachs analysts.

Some analysts, however, have a contrarian view and believe Wipro, could in fact turn out to be the dark horse and stage a recovery next year.

"Wipro is likely to benefit significantly from the surge in IMS deals expected over FY13-FY14, strong growth in Energy & Utilities, and the BFSI's return to stability," says Priya Sunder of Avendus Securities.

While Infosys and Wipro struggled over the last year, smaller outsourcers like Hexaware Technologies saw strong growth.

Atul Nishar, Hexaware's chairman, recently said he was "reasonably" confident of outperforming the wider industry in 2013. This optimism came even as it was forced to cut its fourth quarter (Oct-Dec) guidance to USD 92 million from USD 94.7-96.5 million, due to changes to a project plan for a customer and impact on account of hurricane Sandy, which devastated the US east coast.

TCS, Infosys and Wipro, all have underperformed many of its peers over the last one year. Infosys and Wipro are down 17 percent and 3 percent, weighed down by their slow growth and near-term uncertainties. While TCS has gained 8 percent, many others like HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and MindTree are up 60-75 percent.



23.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cyrus Mistry to formally take charge on Monday

Cyrus Mistry, the new chairman of the Tata Group, will formally take charge of his office on Monday, company sources said. Mistry, who was appointed chairman to succeed Ratan Tata, is the sixth chairman of the Tata empire. The Group was founded as a private trading firm in 1868 by entrepreneur and philanthropist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. "Today and tomorrow being holidays, Mistry will attend office in his capacity as the group chairman only on Monday," sources at the Bombay House, the Group's headquarters, said.

Ratan Tata retired as chairman of Tata Group after a 50-year run yesterday. He, however, did not attend the office on the last day as he chose to celebrate his Diamond Jubilee birthday celebrations at the Tata Motors manufacturing facilities at Pune. Mistry, who was groomed for the assignment by Tata for a year, had made a visit to Bombay House. Ratan Tata, who helmed the group for 21 years after being chosen successor by his uncle, the iconic JRD Tata, in 1991, is credited with transforming the group through bold decisions including large global acquisitions, even as some of its peers struggled to stay relevant post economic liberalisation.

Mistry, who has been with the group since 2006 in various capacities hails from the Shapoorji Pallonji family, which is the largest private shareholder of the group's holding company Tata Sons. Born on July 4, 1968, Cyrus Mistry completed his graduation in Civil Engineering from London's Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine and followed it up with a masters in Management from the London Business School. He was chosen by a 5-member panel last year to succeed Ratan Tata.

During Ratan Tata's tenure, the group's revenues grew manifold, totalling USD 100.09 billion (around Rs 475,721 crore) in 2011-12 from a turnover of a mere Rs 10,000 crore in 1991. Tata led the group into some notable acquisitions, starting from Tetley by Tata Tea for USD 450 million in 2000, to steelmaker Corus by Tata Steel in 2007 for GBP 6.2 billion and the landmark Jaguar LandRover in 2008 for USD 2.3 billion by Tata Motors.



23.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tap local tech knowhow to lead in auto, gadget biz: Hitachi

Welcome to The Forbes India Show on CNBC-TV18.  In this episode, meet Hiroaki Nakanishi, CEO, Hitachi who has been credited for the turning the Japanese company into a global technological giant.

Below is an edited transcript of the show on CNBC-TV18.

Q: This is the first time in Hitachi's over-100 year history that the board is meeting in India. What is the significance of this development? What do you and the board sense about the Indian market?

A: India is a very important market and our presence here is still not big enough. Our Indian operations contribute only one percent to total revenue. But with India growing, we are planning to emphasise our presence in the country.

Simultaneously, we are not simply interested in the business of selling products or manufacturing of products. We wish to be involved in total engineering, manufacturing and maintenance which will strengthen our position and enable us to export products from our Indian unit to other parts of the world.

Q: Your interest in India comes at a time when the economy is slowing down to cause a significant paralysis in manufacturing and infrastructure. So what make you confident about India?

A: India holds significant promise because the government has started to announce measures to boost and implement some of the infrastructure initiatives. The second aspect that has attracted our focus is the rapid rise in population and purchasing power of the middle-class. And that will significantly affect the economic environment in India. It is to emphasise our outlook on India that motivated the board to meet in India.

Q: Do you estimate a tripling of your revenues in India by 2015?

A: Yes, I expect we can do that.

Q: What will be the specific areas of opportunity in India?

A: From the viewpoint of organic growth, one product area that is growing very rapidly is home appliances or white goods. Currently, recently our engineering teams began to adjust air-conditioners to work in India as the weather in India is completely different from that in Japan. This is the kind of new trend that is driving the industry. However we do not have a big presence in other areas such as the automotive sector.

Q: In the US and elsewhere across the globe you are a significant supplier to the auto sector?

A: The Indian automotive industry is growing even though the economy is somewhat shaky. We think we have found the answer to the new challenges facing the automotive industry. We will tap India's strength in engineering, designing, maintenance and technology to enter and strengthen our presence in this sector.



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RBI warns banks of pressure on profitability

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 28 Desember 2012 | 23.25

The profitability of banks is likely to come under pressure in the coming quarters in view of deteriorating asset-quality of banks mainly on account of the economic slowdown, the RBI said in a report.

"With the growth rate in GNPAs (gross non-performing assets) continuing to tread well above the credit growth and movements in slippages remaining upward, the profitability of banks may come under pressure in the coming quarters," RBI said in its latest financial stability report (FSR).

"The asset quality of banks has seen considerable deterioration during the half-year ended September 2012," it said, adding that the GNPA ratio for all banks rose sharply to 3.6 percent as at end September 2012 from 2.9 percent as at end-March 2012.

Net NPA ratio stood at 1.7 percent as on September 2012, as against 1.2 percent as on end-March 2012, it said. The report also said the recent deterioration in asset quality as well as proposed changes in provisioning norms could pose challenges for banks for migrating to the new global Basel-III capital risk norms.

Final guidelines for Basel III implementation have already been issued and it will come into force in a phased manner beginning January 1, 2013. Among the bank groups, the report said, public sector banks witnessed a high degree of deterioration in asset quality.

The growth rate of GNPAs at 45.7 percent as on end-September 2012 outpaced that of gross advances during same period, highlighting the rising concerns on asset quality, it said.

"The concerns on asset quality are also underscored by the increasing trend in the slippage ratio as well as ratio of slippages to actual recoveries (excluding upgradations)," it said.

However, the slippage-to-recovery ratio for all the bank-groups improved marginally during the quarter-ended September 2012. As regards restructuring under the CDR mechanism, it been in line with increase in non-CDR restructuring. According to data furnished by the CDR Cell, the report said there has been a spurt in the number of cases referred to the CDR Cell from the year 2011-12 onwards.

As against 49 cases involving Rs 22,620 crore referred during 2010-11, 87 cases involving Rs 67,890 crore were referred during 2011-12. During the April-August period of the current year, 59 cases involving Rs 30,640 crore were referred to the CDR Cell, it said.

The reasons for rise in restructuring may be attributed to the effects of global recession coupled with internal factors like the domestic slowdown, which have played a significant role in the deterioration in asset-quality, it said.

The RBI report said that aggressive lending by banks in the past, banks not exercising oversight on diversification into non-core areas by companies, banks not enforcing discipline on companies regarding unhedged forex exposures and delay in disbursements were areas on which banks ought to exercise increased control.

Delay in administrative clearances is an equally important reason for pressure on asset-quality which needs to be corrected, it said. "The spurt in restructuring of advances is a matter of concern, though it may not have systemic dimension. The Reserve Bank is closely monitoring the position. Some correction at the level of all stake-holders may definitely improve the situation," it added.

On capital adequacy, the RBI report said that although it has deteriorated since March 2012, capital adequacy remained well above the regulatory minimum. The decline in capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was observed to be more pronounced for the public sector banks, it said. The growth in risk-weighted assets of the foreign banks was lower over the period under reference, partly explaining the improvement in their CAR position, it added.

With regard to the liquidity position of banks, the report said it has improved over the last six months, reflecting the effect of the reduction in the CRR and SLR. "The ratio of liquid assets to total assets has increased from 28.9 percent as on March 2012 to 30.1 percent at end-September 2012," it said.



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Uttam Galva Group confident of turning Lloyds Steel around

Uttam Galva Group , which recently acquired a majority stake in the ailing Lloyds Steel, on Friday said that it would turn around the fortunes of the acquired company and planned doubling of the operating profit in about a year.

"We are confident of turning the company around. We hope that Lloyds Steel will attain net-profit levels in the next one year and its EBIDTA will double in that period," deputy managing director of Uttam Galva Steels, Ankit Miglani told mediapersons in Mumbai.

Uttam Galva Group, promoted by the Migalni family, acquired a 58.35-percent stake in Lloyds Steel, which posted a net loss of Rs 213 crore in the last two financial years. Lloyds Steel, with a steel-making capacity of 1 million tonne per annum, has a total long-term debt of Rs 441 crore on its books.

The company's board has now been reconstituted after the takeover by the Miglani family, though the erstwhile promoters would continue to hold their stake at about 21 percent for now.

Talking about the revival strategy for the company, Miglani said, "Lloyds Steel raised money for working capital from the secondary and tertiary markets which increased its cost of funds by 25 percent. Post acquisition, we are planning to raise working capital from public-sector banks, which will significantly reduce the cost of funds."

He also said it has already started discussions with a few PSU banks and expects to receive a letter of credit worth Rs 1,500 crore. "We will also increase the operational efficiency with better product mix," Migalni said, adding that the company plans to increase the production capacity to 0.75 million tonne per annum against the current 0.5 million tonne.

Referring to reduction of debt, Miglani said the company is rather under-leveraged with a debt-equity ratio of 1:1. Responding to a query on merger or delisting plans for the company, he said the Uttam group has invested Rs 647 crore in Lloyds Steel, including Rs 77 crore on an open offer to buy shares from the market but the new promoters have no plans to delist or merge the company with Uttam Galva as of now.

However, the name of the company may be changed. "We are mulling to change the name of the company to Uttam Value Steels. However, nothing has been finalised yet," Miglani said.

Talking about infusionof funds  by a strategic investor, he said," We are open to the idea of strategic investors coming on board by way of private equity." When asked if ArcelorMittal will invest in the company, Miglani said the company was open to the idea. ArcelorMittal holds around 33 percent in Uttam Galva Steel.



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Ratan Tata bids adieu

Corporate icon Ratan Tata today retired as Chairman of Tata Group after a 50-year run predicting that India's growth will reestablish after the 'passing phase' of a difficult environment, which will most likely continue in the next year.

Also read: Ratan Tata led the Group brilliantly: India Inc
    
Turning 75 today, he kept away from the Bombay House headquarters of the USD 100 billion group but instead spent time with employees in the manufacturing facilities of Tata Motors in Pune. "At the request of the union, I spent the day - my last day prior to retirement, in the Tata Motors' various manufacturing facilities at Pune to say farewell to my shop floor colleagues. We have been together in good times and bad and have gained closeness based on mutual trust," he tweeted.
    
He said in his twitter message that going to the plants and receiving greetings from so many colleagues is a great emotional experience.
I have been deeply moved by the sincerity and spontaneity of their greetings. I will always carry memories of this day with me through the rest of my life," Tata said
    
In a farewell letter to all the employees, he asked the employees to live by the value systems and ethical standards the group had followed all along. Cyrus Mistry, the 44-year-old Chairman designate, who is likely to take over as Tata group Chairman tomorrow visited he office today. He was groomed for the assignment by Tata for a year.
    
He chose group company Tata Motors' sedan Indigo Manza to travel to work on a day that marked an end of an era. The narrow lane leading to Bombay House, one of the oldest buildings in the heritage Fort area of south Mumbai, had heavy media presence since morning in anticipation of Tata visiting Bombay House.



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DGCA seeks more details from Kingfisher on finances

The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has sought additional details from Kingfisher Airlines on how it would fund its revival plan submitted to the aviation regulator for resumption of its flight operations, official sources said on Friday.

The DGCA has sought more details from the beleaguered carrier as to how it would garner funds for payment of dues to its lenders and vendors, apart from paying the pending salaries of its employees, they said.

Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal had informed DGCA chief Arun Mishra on Monday that the airline would require about Rs 652 crore over the next 12 months to run its operations and the amount would be put in by its parent company UB Group. Of this, Rs 120 crore would be needed to meet salary arrears for its employees.

However, there was no word from the UB Group as to how it would commit the funding and raise it from where. Banks have been unwilling to fund the cash-strapped airline. Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh had also said that the airline's parent company has not disclosed anything regarding funding.

Kingfisher's "financial picture is still not clear. UB Group has not said anything on the funding of KFA. Its plan is not backed by any clear funding proposal", he had said. The sources said the DGCA would soon seek additional details regarding the funding plan and hold talks with Kingfisher's creditors and other vendors including airport operators, before deciding on its application seeking permission to relaunch its services.

With the liquor baron Vijay Mallya-owned airline owing money to its staff, banks, airports and tax authorities, the sources said all these stakeholders needed to be convinced that the carrier's interim revival plan was viable. Kingfisher, which has a debt of nearly Rs 8,000 crore and accumulated losses and liabilities of a similar amount, has been grounded since October 1 after its pilots and engineers went on strike.



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HDFC Bank mops up Rs 1,405 cr from bonds

HDFC Bank on Friday said it has raised about Rs 1,405 crore from bonds to fund business growth. The bank has allotted lower tier-II bonds for an amount aggregating Rs 1,405 crore, HDFC Bank said in a filing on the BSE. The bonds in the nature of debentures were issued on a private placement basis, it said. Tier-II bonds generally have a fixed tenure and coupon rate.

Shares of the bank closed at Rs 832.55 per unit, up 0.6 percent on the BSE. HDFC Bank had raised Rs 565 crore from lower tier-II bonds in October. The bank posted a rise of 30.07 percent in its net profit at Rs 1,559.98 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 as compared to Rs 1,199.35 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

Total income increased by 24.47 per cent at Rs 9,869.77 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 7,929.38 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2011.



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GMR exits NHAI project in frustration over red tape

The GMR Group has walked out of the Kishangarh-Udaipur-Ahmedabad National Highway project 16 months after it won the project in a bid, reports CNBC-TV18. GMR had promised to pay the National Highways Authority Of India over Rs 9,000 crore on a net present value basis. The group says that it exited the project after waiting far too long for the grant of critical permissions.

According to Arun Bhagat, EVP and group head - corporate communications, GMR Group, "This is a 55 km-long, 4-6 laning of the Kishangarh- Udaipur- Ahmedabad stretch."

"We were awarded this in September 2011. At the end of about 16 months since the award of contract, certain critical permissions that were applied for were yet to be granted," he clarified.

"Despite doing whatever was required, the permissions were not granted and this forced us to serve a termination notice under terms of the contract."



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Odisha govt to dispose mining renewal lease within 3 months

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 27 Desember 2012 | 23.25

The Odisha government on Thursday said it would dispose all applications pertaining to renewal of mining leases within three months as directed by the Orissa High Court. "We have already started the process of disposing pending mining lease-renewal applications," director of mines Deepak Kumar Mohanty told mediapersons after the state government reviewed the status of pending applications.

The state government swung into action after Orissa High Court on its order issued on December 21 asked the state government to clear all the pending cases pertaining to renewal of mining leases within three months.

The High Court Division Bench of Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice BN Mohapatra on December 21 expressed anguish saying that they were extremely disturbed over the pending applications for renewal of mining leases and verbally observed that "the state government was deliberately delaying disposal of renewal applications".

Claiming that state government was working on the disposal of applications, Mohanty said there were 323 applications seeking renewal of mining leases. Of these, 50 mines were being operated on a deemed renewal basis. Meanwhile, the state government has recommended the applications of mining leases for approval to the Centre, he said.

Mohanty said one has to be careful before disposing the case as matters like environment and other clearances are closely linked to the process. "We have asked officials to expeditiously dispose the mining-lease applications to meet the High Court deadline," he said.



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Govt draft soon on checking RPower's use of Sasan UMPP coal

Power and Coal ministries will soon prepare a draft on modalities for monitoring safeguards related to Reliance Power's utilising excess coal from the blocks allocated for Sasan UMPP, for its another project in Chitrangi. Officials from the two ministries today held discussions on the issue.

"We discussed certain things. The focus is that Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) has the first right on usage of coal from the blocks allocated for the project," a senior Power Ministry official said after the meeting.

A draft in this regard would be prepared soon in consultation with the Coal Ministry, he said. Sources said the meeting was to discuss a suitable mechanism to monitor the safeguards stipulated by the EGoM about utilisation of incremental coal from Sasan blocks for the Chitrangi project .

In April, an EGoM headed by the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had decided not to review the earlier decision allowing Reliance Power to use excess coal from the Sasan UMPP mines for the Chitrangi project.

Both Sasan and Chitrangi projects are in Madhya Pradesh. The first unit of Sasan UMPP is expected to be commissioned in the next few weeks. "We stand by that decision (in 2008)... We cannot review decisions of the past but we can certainly look at the implication of those decisions in changing circumstances and what we need to do in the future," the then Law Minister Salman Khurshid had said after the EGoM meeting on April 28.

Khurshid had said the Attorney General had given an opinion that "surplus coal is such coal... that is available after satisfying the needs of a UMPP. "Now what to do with the surplus coal is the question and this is to be seen in a context that you have not to discourage a developer from producing coal".

Reliance Power bagged the 3,960 MW Sasan UMPP in 2007 through competitive bidding. The company was alloted Moher, Moher-Almohri and Chhatrasal captive coal mines for developing the project.

At the peak, these blocks' can produce up to 25 million tonne of coal per annum. Moher, Moher-Almohri can produce 20 million tonne, while Chhatrasal can produce 5 million tonnes.



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Cholamandalam to raise Rs 300 crore through securities

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company on Thursday said its board has approved raising Rs 300 crore in capital through an issue of securities. "The board of directors at a meeting today has approved raising capital up to Rs 300 crore by an issue of securities ... in one or more trenches, through private placement including QIP," Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company said in a filing to the BSE.

The approval of shareholders for the above issue has been proposed to be sought through a postal ballot, it said. Shares of the company, part of conglomerate Murugappa Group, closed down by 3.74 percent at Rs 270.10 on BSE.



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LT Hydrocarbon wins Rs 781-cr contract from ONGC

Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon has secured an offshore contract valued at Rs 781 crore from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). The contract, won against international competitive bidding, encompasses total 'EPCI' - engineering procurement construction and installation - of three wellhead platforms, spread over Heera and South Heera fields of the state-run exploration giant , a company statement said on Thursday.

The project, part of ONGC's strategy to re-develop Heera and South Heera fields off the Mumbai coast to meet India's rising energy demands, is scheduled to be completed by April 2014. These un-manned wellhead platforms will be connected with the nearby Heera process complex by subsea cables for remote operation, the statement said.

L&T has been serving the upstream hydrocarbon sector since the early 1990s. Recently, the engineering and construction conglomerate was awarded another contract from ONGC for three wellhead platforms.



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Steel demand likely to be 75 MT in FY13: Tata Steel

Tata Steel on Thursday said the total demand for steel in the current fiscal is likely to grow by 5.5 percent to around 75 million tonnes. The demand growth rate may be better next fiscal at around 7 percent bouyed by economic growth fuelled by reforms announced by the government, company managing director HM Nerurkar said in a statement.

"In the fiscal 2012-2013, growth in domestic steel demand is expected to be around five and a half per cent. Total demand is expected to be around 75 million tonnes, up from 71 million tonnes in 2011-2012," Nerurkar said. "In 2013-14, demand is expected to be higher at around 7 percent. Reforms announced by the government will provide a fillip to growth in the economy," he added.

The company expects a modest two-and-a-half percent growth in Europe next fiscal. Europe is slated to register a negative growth this year. Nerurkar said the formation of the Cabinet Committee on Investment for single-window clearance for mega projects would generate activity in the power and roadways sectors, among others.

"The expected lowering of interest rates by RBI in January will provide impetus to the manufacturing and consumer durables sectors, among others. The full impact of all these will be felt in 2013-14," he said.

The Tata Steel managing director said with the ongoing greenfield and brownfield expansions, India is expected to become the world's second largest producer of crude steel in the next two years.



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CCI approves proposed merger of DHFL and its two arms

Fair trade regulator CCI has approved the merger of Dewan Housing Finance Corp's two arms -- DHFL Holdings and First Blue Home Finance -- with the parent company.
   
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has said the combination is "not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India". Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) and First Blue Home Finance are engaged in business of housing finance while DHFL Holdings Private Ltd (DHPL) is an investment firm.
    
In an order dated December 13, CCI noted that DHPL and First Blue are subsidiaries and "the control over the actitvities carried on by First Blue and DHPL, before the combination, is with DHFL and will continue to remain with DHFL after the proposed combination".
    
"In view of the foregoing, the proposed combination does not give rise to any adverse competition concerns in India," CCI noted. DHFL indirectly holds 67.56 per cent in First Blue through its wholly-owned subsidiary DHPL.
    
Meanwhile, CCI has decided to initiate a "separate proceeding regarding imposition of penalty" under Competition Act since the three companies submitted notice seeking approval much late after their respective boards approved the deal.
    
The Board of Directors of each of the parties to combination cleared the combination scheme on September 28, 2011 but the notice for approval was submitted only on November 19, 2012.

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Govt may discuss usage of extra coal at Sasan on Thursday

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 26 Desember 2012 | 23.25

The power and coal ministries are expected to discuss on Thursday the modalities on how Reliance Power should utilise surplus coal from the blocks allocated for Sasan UMPP (ultra mega power project), for another project in Chitrangi.

The meeting would be related to coal blocks of 3,960 MW Sasan (UMPP) in Madhya Pradesh. "... They (power ministry) will hold a meeting on December 27 to discuss a suitable mechanism to ensure that conditions stipulated by the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) regarding surplus coal from Sasan UMPP are not violated by the developer," according to an official document.

The meeting is expected to be taken by ICP Kesari, joint secretary, power ministry, who also looks after UMPPs. In April, an EGoM, headed by the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, had decided not to review the earlier decision allowing Reliance Power to use excess coal from the Sasan UMPP mines for the Chitrangi project, also located in Madhya Pradesh.

"We stand by that decision (in 2008)... We cannot review decisions of the past but we can certainly look at the implication of those decisions in changing circumstances and what we need to do in the future," former law minister Salman Khurshid had said after the EGoM meeting on April 28.

Khurshid had said the Attorney General had given an opinion that "surplus coal is such coal... that is available after satisfying the needs of a UMPP". "Now what to do with the surplus coal is the question and this is to be seen in a context that you have not to discourage a developer from producing coal".

Reliance Power bagged the 3,960 MW Sasan UMPP in 2007 through competitive bidding. The company was alloted Moher, Moher-Almohri and Chhatrasal captive coal mines for developing the project.

At the peak, these blocks' can produce up to 25 million tonnes of coal per annum. Moher, Moher-Almohri can produce 20 million tonnes, while Chhatrasal can produce 5 million tonnes.



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Essar Power synchs 600MW unit at Mahan Power Project

Essar Power on Wednesday announced synchronisation of the first 600MW unit plant of its1,200 MW Mahan-1 project in Madhya Pradesh. With this, the total power-generation capacity of Essar Power stands at 3,910 MW, as against 1,220 MW at the time of the company's IPO in May 2010, a statement issued here said.

"Our focus now is on the development of Mahan coal block which will provide low-cost fuel source for the power plant," Essar Energy chief executive officer Naresh Nayyar said.

Mahan-I uses a combination of imported coal and coal sourced from Coal India 's e-auction process, while an application has also been made for an interim tapering coal linkage allocation from CIL, the release said.

Coal from these sources will be required until the nearby Mahan coal-block is operational.

Essar Power has received MoEF clearance for stage-1 of the Mahan coal-block. The second 600 MW unit at Mahan-I is expected to begin commercial operation during the first quarter of the next financial year, the release said.

Mahan-1 has investment of USD 1.2 billion and is the company's third coal-fired power project to commence commercial operation during the year, with a total capacity of 2,310 MW.

The Salaya-1 plant, also of 1,200 MW, was completed in June, while the 510 MW Vadinar P2-plant was completed in November. The Vadinar plant is provides power to Essar Oil 's refinery and availability of the coal-fired generation is having a positive impact on refining margins, it said.



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Fortis sets up committee to comply with Sebi norms

Fortis Healthcare on Wednesday said its board has formed a committee to evaluate options to comply with the minimum public shareholding requirement guidelines.

The company said its board has constituted an issue committee to evaluate various options available in order to comply with the minimum public shareholding requirement as specified under the Securities Contract (Regulation) Rules, 1957 and Clause 40A of the Equity Listing Agreement, Fortis Healthcare said in a BSE filing.

"The company is in the process of evaluating various options under the prevailing regulatory framework. Till date no final decision in this regard has been made," it added.

A company spokesperson when contacted said, as per the regulator's mandate, the promoters will reduce their stake in the company from 81 percent to 75 percent.

As per the guidelines of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) the public shareholding in all listed company should be 25 percent by June 2013. At present, Fortis Healthcare operates its healthcare delivery network in Australia, Canada, Dubai, Hong Kong, India, Mauritius, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Vietnam with 76 hospitals having over 12,000 beds.

Shares of Fortis Healthcare closed on Wednesday at Rs 115.65 per scrip on BSE, up 1.76 percent from its previous close.



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DGCA to ask Kingfisher for more details on its finances

Aviation regulator DGCA would soon seek additional details from Kingfisher Airlines regarding its finances, with Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today saying the cash-strapped carrier's parent firm UB Group has not disclosed anything regarding funding.

As Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) examined the beleaguered carrier's revival plan submitted two days ago, the Minister said its "financial picture is still not clear.

UB Group has not said anything on the funding of KFA . Its plan is not backed by any clear funding proposal." Official sources said DGCA would soon seek additional details regarding the funding plan and hold talks with Kingfisher's creditors and airport operators before deciding on its application seeking permission to relaunch its services.

With the liquor baron Vijay Mallya-owned airline owing money to its staff, banks, airports and tax authorities, the sources said all these stakeholders needed to be convinced that the carrier's interim revival plan was viable.

Kingfisher CEO Sanjay Aggarwal had, at a meeting with DGCA chief Arun Mishra on Monday, indicated that the airline would require about Rs 652 crore over the next 12 months for running its operations. Of this amount, Rs 120 crore would be needed to meet salary arrears for its employees.

This entire fund would come from the UB Group's resources as banks were unwilling to fund the cash-strapped airline, Aggarwal is understood to have said then. Recently, Mallya told the 17-lenders consortium that he was preparing to restart limited operations with a planned fund infusion of Rs 425 crore through internal resources.

Kingfisher, which has a debt of nearly Rs 8,000 crore and accumulated losses and liabilities of a similar amount, has been grounded since October one after its pilots and engineers went on strike.  As per the plan submitted to DGCA, Kingfisher would resume operations with five Airbus and two ATR turboprop aircraft and scale it up to an 11 ATR and 10 Airbus fleet within 10 weeks.

The entire operation of the airline had remained grounded for three months since October after a strike by its engineers and pilots, then a lockout declared by the management and, thereafter, DGCA suspending its flying permit which expires on December 31.

Kingfisher officials have claimed that there were no dues against oil companies, barring interest payments due to HPCL. Its dues to airport operators, including the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to which it has an outstanding of over Rs 250 crore, still remain pending.

"There is no date yet for the airline restarting operations. It will take DGCA a few days to examine the airline's interim plan. After DGCA gives the airline the go ahead, it will take another 6 to 8 weeks for the airline to begin operations," the sources said.



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Bank credit rises 16%, robust growth expected in Q4

Moneycontrol Bureau

The non-food credit or the amount that banks lend to individuals and companies, rose nearly 16% year-on-year to Rs 48.54 lakh crore for the fortnight ended December 14, 2012. However, it was marginally lower than 16.40%, recorded in the previous fortnight, showed data released by the Reserve Bank of India.

The central bank had projected 17% credit growth for 2012-13. Bankers are confident of achieving this growth mark in Jan-March quarter.  

"Banks will surely attain the RBI's credit growth projection towards the end of the financial year," an executive director of a south-based public sector bank told moneycontrol.com.

"Banks have just started lending to non-banking finance companies and branded real estate developers. This is a new segment wherein we are growing our book. Infrastrcuture sector is also adding some momentum due to previous sanctions. However, we are very cautious about manufacturing sector. We will expand our loans judiciously."

Bankers are of opinion that marginal fluctuation in credit growth is quite normal at this point of time. It is in the fourth quarter when credit expansion actually peaks. There was probably not a single financial year in the past when banks failed to meet the RBI projected credit off-take.

During the 15 days time, banks de-grew their credit book by Rs 8,900 crore. Experts observed that the brief lull period between Diwali and Christmas eve might have reduced the retail consumption. 

Meanwhile, deposits grew more than 13% year-on-year to Rs 64.34 lakh crore. This was way below the RBI projection of 16% y-o-y deposit expansion in 2012-13. Earlier, banks slashed deposit rates across the board. That coupled with the marginal revival in share market have wanned the attractiveness of high yielding deposit schemes. Hence, banks are struggling to raise deposits.



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Telcos to face upto Rs 10lk fine for false broadband report

Telecom companies will have to pay a penalty of up to Rs 10 lakh if they submit a false compliance report on quality of broadband services, according to sectoral regulator Trai .

"If the compliance report furnished by a service provider, providing broadband service is false it shall, without prejudice to the terms and conditions of its license be liable to pay an amount, by way of financial disincentive, not exceeding rupees ten lakh per parameter," Trai said in Quality of Service of Broadband Service (Amendment) Regulations, 2012.

The new regulations, which will come into effect from January 1, 2013, also said if a service provider offering broadband service fails to meet the benchmark of Quality of Service (QoS), then it will be liable to pay penalty up to Rs 50,000 per parameter.

Further, in case of second or subsequent such contravention, a penalty up to Rs 1 lakh per parameter should be levied on service provider for each contravention.

"These regulations prescribe financial disincentive on broadband service providers for noncompliance with the benchmark at a rate not exceeding Rs 50,000 per parameter for the first noncompliance and Rs 1,00,000 per parameter for subsequent non-compliance of the benchmarks," Trai said.

The parameters for quality of service include activation time of broadband connection, fault repair or service restoration time, billing issues, response time to the customer for assistance and connection speed, among others.



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Rel Life to hire 5,500 people in FY13 for new sales model

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 25 Desember 2012 | 23.25

Leading private sector insurer Reliance Life today said it has hired 2,500 persons under a new distribution model, wherein insurance agents would get fixed stipend and variable commission, while 3,000 more people will be recruited during the current fiscal.

The hiring plans were announced by Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC), part of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group's financial services arm Reliance Capital Ltd, alongwith the launch of 'Career Agency', a new distribution channel aimed at enhancing the company's reach and footprints across the country.

Under the new channel, RLIC plans to hire 5,500 career agents across 220 branches by end of 2012-13. Out of this, RLIC has already recruited around 2,500 career agents and deputed them at over 150 branches across the country and will hire about 3,000 career agents in the next three months.

RLIC said it is a first-of-its-kind distribution channel by any private insurer in the country that is based on stipend and variable commission pay-out structure.

"The main aim of Career Agency distribution format is to support new recruits during the learning phase so that they can concentrate on training and learning the ropes rather than being under the pressure of generating business to earn commission from the very first instance," RLIC President and Executive Director Malay Ghosh said.

"We will help them devote the requisite time and effort to develop a good understanding of the industry and look at it as a long-term career option," he added.

In the career agency distribution model, the recruited persons would be called 'sales trainees' and would be given a fixed stipend for a six-month training period. Once the advisor completes this training period and passes the licensing exam, the person would become a 'career agent' and moves to a variable commission-based pay-out structure.

The career agency distribution format is a highly successful sales advisor model of RLIC's strategic partner Nippon Life and it has been now adapted to the Indian Market.

The plan is aimed at focusing on Tier III and Tier IV cities and towns for hiring of prospective career agents.

"The basic objective of this distribution model is to increase number of the sales people in the field working for the company full time," Ghosh said.

The career agency is the third new distribution channel introduced by RLIC this year. Earlier, the company launched two new distribution models Life Plaza and Face-to-Face and added them in the existing sales formats.

The company had a distribution network of 1,230 offices and over 1,50,000 advisors as on March 31, 2012.



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Kingfisher files revival plan with air regulator: source

Grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines has filed a revival plan with the airline regulator, a senior government official said on Tuesday, in an effort to renew its operating license before it expires at the end of the year.

Kingfisher, which has not flown since October, has estimated debts of $2.5 billion and owes money to banks, airports, tax authorities, plane leasing companies, and its staff.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which suspended Kingfisher's licence to fly after months of cancelled flights and staff walkouts, has demanded a turnaround plan before the airline is permitted to fly again.

The DGCA wants all creditors to agree to the revival plan submitted by Kingfisher, and has not decided on its course of action, said the government official who has direct knowledge Of the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Bankers maintain they have the option of restructuring Kingfisher's loans for a second time, or infusing more capital, but they are awaiting a concrete revival or turnaround plan from the company, including capital injection by company chairman Vijay Mallya.

The airline did not say where it would find the money it needs, but mentioned it was in talks with several parties, including one in London, for new cash, the source said.

Mallya's United Breweries Group plans to invest 6.52 billion rupees in the airline as part of the turnaround plan it filed on Monday, according to reports in a local newspaper on Tuesday.

Kingfisher has tried unsuccessfully to raise cash for more than a year. It said earlier this month it was in talks with Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and other potential investors about selling a stake in the carrier.



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Qatar Petroleum keen to buy stake in Petronet LNG

Qatar Petroleum has expressed interest in buying a 5.2 per cent stake in Petronet LNG Ltd, a potentially conflict of interest proposition as it will give the gas supplier a vantage position in India's largest fuel importer.

Qatar Petroleum, the Persian Gulf country's state-run energy firm, has majority stakes in RasGas and QatarGas that along with other liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers in the world compete to sell fuel to India.

If Qatar Petroleum (QP) picks up 5.2 per cent stake as well as board position in Petronet, it will give the company an undue advantage over other suppliers as it will be privy to price and other negotiations, sources in Petronet's promoter firms said.

This will possibly be the first instance of a LNG supplier picking up stake in an importing firm.

Sources said Asian Development Bank (ADB) wants to sell its 5.2 per cent stake in Petronet since last year.

Petronet, which is registered as a private company even though public sector oil firms hold 50 per cent stake and Oil Secretary is its Chairman, has approached QP's 100 per cent subsidiary Qatar Petroleum International offering ADB's stake.

The PSUs -- Indian Oil, Oil & Natural Gas Corp, Bharat Petroleum and GAIL India -- had previously evinced interest in buying the ADB stake but the Oil Ministry blocked the move as it would have turned Petronet into a public sector company.

It was then offered to Qatar Petroleum International.

But the stake being picked up by QP will lead to a potential conflict situation, sources said.

RasGas, in which QP holds 70 per cent stake, supplies 7.5 million tonnes of LNG on a long-term contract to Petronet. It remains a potential supplier for the new terminals that Petronet is building at Kochi and east coast and a board position may give it an undue advantage, they said.

In fact, RasGas had in the contract to supply 7.5 million tonnes LNG promised to give 5 per cent stake to Petronet or its nominee in the liquefication plant in Qatar.

This clause was the same that RasGas had promised Korea's KoGas in a LNG supply deal.

Article 30.7 of the agreement with Petronet promised the stake at "no premium" but RasGas reneged on its commitment and demanded a premium from ONGC , which was nominated to take the stake. The talks broke down on the premium asked, sources said.

Sources said Qatar Petroleum getting stake is like vendor picking up a board position in a company that gives out contracts.

One seller on board will be disadvantage to other sellers, they added. .



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Three steel PSUs look to buy iron ore assets in Brazil

Three state-run firms, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, NMDC and MOIL , under the Steel Ministry are looking to acquire iron ore assets in Brazil, the world's second largest exporter of the steel-making raw material.

 NMDC has already started due diligence in a couple of mines in the Amapa province. The Steel Ministry has initiated talks with the Brazilian authority for identifying potential targets for the other two for acquisition, a source said.

 The source said all three of them are eager to have their presence in the mineral-rich Latin American nation, be it by way of acquiring stake in a company having operative mine or outrightly buying a yet-to-be-developed mine.

 A delegation, headed by Steel secretary D R S Chaudhary visited Brazil in November to scout for mines and investment opportunities by Indian companies in mineral sector.

 Chaudhury was accompanied by NMDC's Technical Director N K Nanda and MOIL's Chairman and Managing Director G P Kundargi, among others.

 "NMDC has the ambition to become a leading global player in the iron ore sector. Hence, it needs to acquire mines in various parts of the world," a senior Steel Ministry official said.

 The company is also increasing capacity to 48 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2014-15 from the current installed capacity of 32 MTPA.

 RINL, which is on the verge of increasing its steel- making capacity to 6.3 MTPA from the existing 2.9 MTPA, operates its plant without any captive mine.

 Manganese-ore maker MOIL has recently been mandated by the Ministry to increase production to cater to the growing needs of the steel industry. Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma has asked the company to look for acquisition of mines abroad for increasing both production and turnover.

 MOIL is also interested in buying manganese ore and coal assets.



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Plan panel sets $100 bn target for pharma sector by 2020

The Planning Commission has set a target for the Indian pharmaceutical industry to reach USD 100 billion by 2020 and account for 5 per cent share of the global drug industry in the next five years.

According to the final draft for 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) by the panel, the objective of the sector will be to cross the USD 60 billion mark in 2017, which will be 5 per cent of global pharma industry.

"By 2020, the (pharma) sector should be at USD 100 billion," it said.

Currently, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is valued at USD 22 billion and is the third largest in terms of volume and 13th in terms of value globally.

According to the draft plan, the exports of pharma products should rise to Rs 1.3 lakh crore by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan.

"The sector should employ 15 lakh people by 2015, 18.98 lakh by 2018 and 24.64 lakh people by 2022," it added.

According to the draft plan, which will be submitted to National Development Council (NDC) tomorrow, all the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) involved in production of pharmaceutical products should be self-sustaining by 2020.

In order to achieve the target, the Planning Commission has recommended various steps which include capacity building of private sector to meet WHO-GMP (World Health Organization- Good Manufacturing Practice) standards and other international manufacturing requirements.

The other recommendations include developing a common infrastructure in drug discovery and development such as manufacturing, distribution, exports and medical devices.



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Plan panel for audit of spectrum usage

The government needs to audit spectrum usage and refarming of airwaves to ensure efficient utilisation of the natural resource, the 12th Five Year Plan document has said.

The 12th Plan (2012-17) said a "significant amount of additional spectrum" would be needed with the introduction of new technologies, high bandwidth applications and increasing user base.

"While effective spectrum planning in this regard needs to be carried out, the requirement of spectrum in 60 GHz and above bands for all backhaul purposes, audit of spectrum usage and refarming of spectrum to ensure the efficient utilisation should also be taken into account during the 12th Plan Period," it added.

Under refarming of spectrum, telecom operators with 900 MHz airwaves will have to give these up and bid for the less efficient 1800 MHz at current prices.

These telcos will be allowed to retain 2.5 MHz spectrum in the 900 mhz band, but that will also have to happen at auction determined prices.

The 12th Plan targets provision of 1,200 million connections, mobile access to all villages and increase rural teledensity to 70 per cent, broadband connections of 175 million by 2017.

It also envisages making available additional 300 MHz of spectrum for IMT services and making India a hub for telecom equipment manufacturing by incentivising domestic manufacturers with thrust on IPR, product development and commercialisation.

"The 12th Plan Programmes for telecom sector are guided by the National Telecom Policy 2012. The thrust of NTP 2012 is on raising the competitiveness of Indian telecom sector, to make it a world leader," the document said.

The 12th Plan suggests that Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund needs to be leveraged for providing incentives for pilot projects, fixed wireline/wireless phones, use of renewable energy sources, telecom infrastructure and for wireline broadband in rural difficult terrain and Left wing extremist (LWE) areas.

On financing of telecom sector, the document said the sector should be allowed to access funding from Indian Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL).

"Telecom Finance Corporation may be created as a vehicle to access funds at competitive rates to facilitate the funding needs of this sector on requirement," it said.

Rationalisation of levies and taxes in the sector may also be reviewed from time to time to ensure affordable delivery of services to consumers, it added.

Further, it added that development of new applications, VAS and devices would be triggered by e-Governance projects and growth of broadband in rural areas.



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HCC-Coastal JV bags Rs 231cr order from NE Frontier Railway

Written By Unknown on Senin, 24 Desember 2012 | 23.25

Leading infrastructure firm Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) today said it has bagged a railway tunnel construction contract worth Rs 230.98 crore in joint venture with Coastal Projects Ltd from Northeast Frontier Railway.

The tunnel will be built between Kaimai Road and Kambiron Road stations on the new railway line being developed between Jiribam and Tupur in Imphal, HCC said in a statement. "The total cost of project is Rs 230.98 crore. The company's share in the total value of the contract is 60 per cent, i.e, Rs 138.59 crore. The project will be completed in 28 months," it added.

Also read: Railway Ministry pitches for fare hike of 5-10 paise/ km

The project scope involves construction of a single line broad gauge tunnel of about 4.9 km including earthwork, slope protection and stabilisation, RCC portal walls, permanent tunnel support, construction of side drains, rock supporting system and ancillary work, the company further said.

According to HCC, this is third order received by it from Northeast Frontier Railway on the new railway line between Jiribam and Tupur. The first two orders were also to build two different tunnels on the upcoming railway line. HCC is also constructing a 4.315 kms long Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge over Bramhaputra river near Dibrugarh,

Assam for Northeast Frontier Railway, it added. The Ajit Gulabchand-led company is among the leading domestic infrastructure companies with a group turnover of Rs 8,157 crore. The company has recently gone of corporate debt restructuring due to losses incurred in last few quarters. Shares of the company closed today at Rs 18.10 apiece on the BSE, up 0.25 per cent from the previous close.



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Sugar prices likely to fall in near term: Report

Sugar prices are expected to decline in the near term on higher carryover stocks and lower prices globally, IMaCS, a subsidiary of leading credit rating agency ICRA , said today.

World sugar prices are expected to decline in SY (sugar year) 2013 given the prospects of production surplus for the third consecutive year. Ending stocks are forecast to increase which could put pressure on world sugar prices, IMaCS said in a report.

The sugar year (SY) in India is from October-September. Production of the sweetener is expected to decline by around 2.4/2.6 million tonnes (MT) during SY2013 to around 24 MT.

Taking into account the carryover stocks of about 6.8 MT from SY2012, total availability of sugar in SY2012 is estimated at around 30.7/31 MT tonnes, the report said. By comparison, consumption is expected to increase to 22.7-23 MT, resulting in a surplus of around 8 MT.

Considering the ending stocks of 6.1 MT, exports are forecast to decline from 3.5 MT in SY2012 to around 2-2.2 MT during SY2013, it said. The outlook for by-products such as fuel ethanol is uncertain given the expected decline in sugar production during 2012-13 and low prices for ethanol fixed by the government, the IMaCS report said.

After three years of high growth when production increased at an annual rate of 22 percent, India's sugar production is forecast to decline around 8-9 percent during SY2013 to 24 MT primarily because of decline in cane production, it said.

Besides, cane diversion for gur (jaggery) could be higher because of higher growth in gur prices vis-a-vis sugar, higher cane arrears, and weakening financial performance of sugar mills, it said.

The production of sugar in India is dependent on the production and availability of sugarcane and its usage towards production of sugar, gur, and khandsari.

India's sugarcane output is forecast to dip by 6.2 percent during SY2013 because of 6.5 percent decline in yields caused by deficient monsoon at the start of the season.

Driven by the continued switching from gur to sugar, rising incomes, and growing population, country's sugar consumption is projected to increase by 2.5-3 percent annually in the medium term.

The demand from food industries and other non-household users, estimated to account for about 60 percent of total consumption, could provide additional impetus to longer-term market growth, the report said.



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Union Bank of India to raise up to Rs 1,500 cr via bonds

State-owned Union Bank of India today said it would raise up to Rs 1,500 crore from bonds over the next three months. The decision to raise funds was taken at the Board meeting held on December 22 , UBI said in a BSE filing.

The Board approved raising of additional capital funds not exceeding Rs 1,500 crore during the year 2012-13 by way of issue of Tier-I and Tier-II capital bonds as per eligibility, it said.

Meanwhile, another public sector lender Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has cleared raising up to Rs 1,350 crore from various bonds. BoM plans to raise up to Rs 350 crore from Tier-I unsecured, non convertible, subordinated, perpetual bonds (Innovative Perpetual Debt Instruments), the bank said in a separate filing to the BSE.

Besides, it intends to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore from lower Tier-II bonds in the nature of promissory notes. The bonds would have maturity period of 10 years. The issue opens on December 26, 2012, closes on December 29, 2012 and the deemed date of allotment is December 31, 2012, it added.



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IndusInd bank promoter sells 46 lkh shares for Rs 196 crore

One of the promoters of IndusInd Bank - IndusInd International Holdings, today offloaded 46 lakh shares of the private sector lender for about Rs 196 crore through open market transaction.

As per the bulk deal data available with the stock exchanges, IndusInd International sold shares of IndusInd Bank at an average price of Rs 425.43 apiece. The deal was valued at Rs 195.7 crore.

The entity held nearly 6.85 crore shares in the bank representing 13.12 percent stake, as on December 5, 2012. On the BSE, the shares of IndusInd Bank dipped 0.67 percent today to end at Rs 424 apiece.



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RBI rate hike hits investment growth the most

Moneycontrol Bureau

The impact of policy rate hike is more severe on the growth in investment demand and imports rather than the demand expansion in private and government consumptions and exports, revealed a RBI research paper.

"An interest rate hike has a significant negative impact on the growth of aggregate demand. However, the maximum impact is borne by growth in investment demand and in imports," said the RBI working paper series on "Estimating impacts of moneytary policy on aggregate demand in India" authored by Jeevan Kumar Khundrakpam.

"Impact on private consumption growth and exports growth is relatively far more subdued, while there is hardly any cumulative impact on growth of government consumption. Interest rate accounts for a significant percentage of the fluctuation in the growth of all the components of aggregate demand, except government consumption, while exchange rate has very little impact."

RBI had last hiked its interest rates by 25 basis points to 8.50% on October 25, 2011. Since then, the central bank shifted its gear to lower interest rate regime and slashed the repo rate by 50 bps till now. Repo is the rate at which banks borrow money from RBI.

The research paper pointed to a consensus that the credit policy affects real economy in the short run. Hence, it felt the urge to gauge as to which sectors of the economy are affected the most. At the same time, it tried to explore the impact of interest rate on each segment of aggregate demand including private consumption, government consumption, investment, exports and imports in India.

"Macroeconomic implications of reduction in aggregate demand due to slowdown in investment following monetary tightening would be different than those due to the reduction on account of slowdown in consumption demand," it cited.

RBI introduced the Working Papers series in March 2011. These papers present research in progress of the staff members of RBI and are disseminated to elicit comments and further debate. The views expressed in the working series papers are of authors only. The research was done taking quarterly data from 2000Q1 to 2011Q1.



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Aditya Birla Nuvo gets CCI approval for Pantaloon deal

Fair trade regulator CCI has given green signal to the takeover of Future group's Pantaloon brand business by Aditya Birla Nuvo . Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL), part of Kumar Mangalam Birla-led group, through a subsidiary has proposed to acquire a majority of Pantaloon format business from Kishore Biyani-led Future group.
    
"... the Commission is of the opinion that the proposed combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India," the CCI order, dated December 21, said.

Also read: Port mechanisation to increase revenue by 15%: Essar Ports
    
This order has come on an application filed on October 8. The proposed combination relates to acquisition of business of Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd (PRIL) by ABNL through the latter's subsidiary Peter England Fashions & Retail Ltd (PEFRL).
    
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had in August termed as invalid an application seeking nod for this takeover deal as the final deal was yet to be approved by the boards of the concerned companies at that time.
    
In late April, Future Group had said that Aditya Birla Nuvo would infuse Rs 1,600 crore into its flagship 'Pantaloon' and would acquire a majority stake in the store chain, which would be later demerged to be listed as a separate entity. As a part of the deal between the two companies, the Pantaloon format would be demerged from PRIL.



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AMFI to offer mutual fund details in e-format

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 23 Desember 2012 | 23.25

The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) today launched an electronic form of mutual fund common account statements (eCAS). "Mutual fund houses, in collaboration with AMFI have started issuance of mutual fund common account statements in an electronic form," it said.

Market regulator Sebi has mandated all mutual funds to provide a common account statement (CAS). "One of the main challenges to roll out CAS was to aggregate data across five registrars and presents a common account statement to an investor based on the PAN. Suitable independent partners had to be identified to address confidentiality related challenges.

"With eCAS, we believe investors will have further convenience and we will together make a positive impact on our environmental responsibility through this go-green initiative," Amfi chief executive H N Sinor said.



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German bank sues over Kingfisher Airlines planes

Germany's DVB Bank SE has sued aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Kingfisher Airlines to have two planes it financed for the troubled carrier deregistered, a possible first step towards recouping its funds.

The case underlines the problems that leasing firms and financing companies face in recovering grounded planes from Kingfisher, as airports, banks and tax authorities scramble for the crisis-hit carrier's assets.

International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC) - owned by U.S. insurer AIG - is also struggling to take back Kingfisher planes it owns, one of which, an Airbus A-320, has been impounded by tax authorities for non-payment of dues by the carrier.

The DGCA must deregister the DVB-financed Airbus planes, now parked in Istanbul, before the bank can put them to use or lease them out.

"Our main trouble really is with the DGCA, which should deregister the aircraft," Carsten Gerlach, senior vice president of aviation finance at DVB, told Reuters.

"We have now filed a writ petition at the High Court in Delhi against DGCA and also Kingfisher, strictly focused on deregistration," Gerlach said by phone from Frankfurt.

However, the DGCA argues that those aircraft were not financed by DVB alone, so deregistering them would make the DGCA answerable to other financiers, who are also trying to recover their money, according to a senior government source with direct knowledge of the situation.

The DGCA and Kingfisher did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, leasing company IFCL has also asked the DGCA to deregister four Kingfisher-operated planes, but it faces separate obstacles.

These planes include an Airbus A-320 parked at Mumbai airport that was impounded by tax authorities last week after the carrier failed to settle long-pending dues.

"People just go the airport, see a plane in Kingfisher colours, and stake their claim on it," the source said, referring to the tax authorities' impounding of the Airbus.

"What they don't understand is that the plane may not belong to Kingfisher at all."

Kingfisher, owned by flamboyant liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has hit back at the tax authorities' actions, saying it is illegal for authorities to seize aircraft that are owned by foreign lessors.

"This will send a very wrong signal to any foreigner who wishes to do business in the aviation industry in India," the airline said in a statement last week.

Kingfisher has 33 scheduled passenger planes registered in India, according to data from the DGCA. It had a fleet of 64 a year back, when it was India's No. 2 carrier by market share.

It is saddled with a combined debt load of $2.5 billion, according to one estimate, and has not paid salaries for months.

Kingfisher, which has not flown since October, had its license suspended in October after months of canceled flights and staff walkouts.



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Hinduja group acquires US based- Houghton Int'l for $1bn

The Hinduja group has done some christmas shopping for a whopping 1 billion dollars. Gulf Oil which is owned by the Hinduja group, has acquired US based Houghton International. This will make them the ninth largest in the lubricant space, reports CNBC-TV18's Sajeet Manghat.

This acquisition has been done through debt and equity. The debt comprised 70 percent and 30 percent. This will eventually be infused into Houghton International to work better. Houghton International is a niche player, which is basically into metal working fluids. In the USD 6 billion market, it has a share of 12 percent and that's where Hinduja Group plans to leverage.

It has 12 manufacturing facilities spread over 10 countries. This would enable Hinduja Group to increase its revenues from global markets. Houghton International has a 12 months sale of USD 858 million. It also has earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of USD 132 million. The Gulf Oil today has consolidated sales of nearly Rs 1,300 crore. So that's where the big picture is going to be come in.

It is not going to be an easy job for Hinduja Group because Houghton is in markets. Thes markets are traditionally weak in terms of economic activity, especially Europe, North America and Asia. This means that the improvement in the markets margins would be very modest. However, from the Hindujas point of view the synergies will work perfectly. They can leverage the partnerships and the facilities in across 10 countries. They can also offer Houghton access to new markets in Asia, especially India.



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Single FSA for PSUs and private coal consumers

There would a single "Fuel Supply Agreement" (FSA) draft for both public and private sector power companies seeking coal from Coal India Ltd . "There will be only one single FSA for both private and public parties," Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said on the sidelines of a two-day World Confluence on Human, Power and Spirituality conference.

However,minister did not elaborate. Coal India officials said at present, there were minor differences in the draft clauses for public and private power companies such as on security deposit and provision for arbitration clauses. The draft for PSUs allowed arbitration in case of dispute and there were some relaxations on security deposit. Jaiswal expected the FSAs would be signed by the power companies in a month's time.

NTPC , a major consumer had said recently it would sign FSAs after meeting the Coal India chief. Private companies in the past had accused Coal India of drafting the power supply document in favour of public power companies. The minister, however, said that there was no final decision so far on price pooling of coal.

Price-pooling was opposed by power companies, mainly state owned entities, and existing players. Speaking about the proposed coal regulator, Jaiswal said that the Group of Ministers would meet in the next few days to finalise the draft of the coal regulator bill.

Also Read

Environment clearance issue for coal blocks to be examined
India to surpass US as coal consumer in 5 yrs: IEA



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