Daily News Roundup - Jan 14 2009

Government tells Bombay High Court that NTPC would not be allowed to buy KG-D6 gas at less than US$4.2/mmBtu (BS)

IOC, HPCL and BPCL have put on hold investing US$600mn in sugarcane farms in Brazil for producing ethanol that was to be mixed with petrol for sale domestically (BS)

RIL to keep pumps shut till government grants level-playing field (ET)

ONGC seeks nod to dump methane blocks (ET)

DLF Assets plans to raise US$450mn (FE)

Unitech eyes US$560mn from PE funds (BS)

TCS gets significant portion of World Bank contracts that were previously serviced by Satyam (BS)

Gail India will invest Rs50bn in the next 3-4 years to set up a CNG corridor across the country (ET)

IDFC, BHEL and Gujarat State Energy Company to set up thermal plant at Ahmedabad. (BL)

SEZs set up by IT majors like Infosys, Wipro and TCS will soon be able to enjoy 100% tax exemption on profits (ET)

Tata Communications plans Rs10bn rights issue (BS)

Satyam Computers JV with Cisco Systems may fall through (ET)

NMDC scouts for partner to secure domestic coal assets. (ET)

Bank of Baroda eyes 29% credit growth in 2008-09 (BS)

Jet Airways in talks with foreign carriers for leasing out aircraft (BL)

UB finds Cobra Beer over-valued. (BL)

Jubilant Organosys through its subsidiary has entered into a drug discovery pact with a US-based firm, BioLeap Llc (FE)

Andhra Bank cuts BPLR by 75bps (BS)

Binani Cement inks MoU with Gujarat Government for setting-up a greenfield plant of 2.5mtpa (FE)

HOV services announces Rs50mn buyback (BS)

Government may allow 25% FDI in airlines (BS)

Government likely to cut fuel prices – petrol by Rs5/litre, diesel by Rs2/litre and domestic LPG by Rs25/cylinder (BS)

DoT suggests higher 3G spectrum auction price to cabinet (BS)

Auction of oil and gas blocks under NELP VIII could be delayed (BS)

The bidding process for setting-up city gas distribution networks in 14 identified cities to begin by January-end (BS)

RBI unlikely to cut key policy rates soon, says Mr.O P Bhatt, Chairman of SBI (BS)

The total telecom subscriber base increases 8.6% qoq to 353.7mn in the September-ending quarter (FE)

Mobile number portability launch delayed; services to begin in September 2009 in metros and in January 2010 pan-India (FE)

PSBs to cut interest rates on bulk deposits to a maximum of 7.5% for those with one-year maturity. (ET)

The Prime Minister’s Office tells petroleum ministry to consider linking petrol and diesel prices to the market when it finalizes a cut in pump prices later this week. (ET)

Government is expected to take a decision on raw sugar imports within a fortnight and increase domestic supply manifold. (ET)

DoT and Trai seem to have locked horns over the number of blocks of 3G spectrum to be auctioned. (ET)

Domestic air-traffic down 5% in 2008 (BS)