Daily News Roundup - Jan 2 2009

SBI and Bank of India abandon plans to revive branches in Pakistan. (FE)

Automobile Corporation of Goa, an associate company of Tata Motors, has decided to temporarily shut one of its plants in Goa. (ET)

Jindal Stainless buys chrome ore assets in Middle East and Europe. (ET)

Leela Hotel Group to launch 3 hotels this year. (ET)

Infosys may integrate IT & BPO operations to cut costs and add value. (ET)

Ravi Uppal takes charge as L&T Power MD & CEO. (ET)

13 PSU oil companies officers to go on an indefinite strike from January 7, 2009. (ET)

NABARD cuts refinance rate by 50bps.(FE)

Suryachakra Power Corp’s wholly-owned subsidiary, South Asian Agro Industries Ltd, 10MW biomass power project in Champa, Maharashtra commenced operations. (BL)

Godrej Consumer Products has bought back 2.4m shares for Rs31.1m under its buyback offer. (BS)

Alok Industries has decided to increase its proposed rights issue by 50% to Rs4.5bn from the earlier Rs3bn. (BS)

GAIL India buys LNG from Shell India at $11.7 per mmbtu to fill supply gap. (BS)

Maytas Infrastructure will continue to execute Hyderabad Metro Project. (BS)

GSPC is set to reduce prices of retail gas following sharp reduction in energy prices globally. (BS)

Hudco has approved a Rs1.4bn loan for the upgrade of two Uttar Pradesh thermal power plants. (BS)

Inflation slipped further to 6.38% for week ended December 20. (ET)

Exports fall 10% in November to US$11.5bn. (ET)

Finance ministry has asked the telecom department to double the floor price for 3G and wireless broadband spectrum. (ET)

Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) wants 5% hike in basic custom duty on import of paper and paper boards (FE)

I&B Ministry has turned down Trai proposal on monitoring cable service quality (FE)

Ministry of Steel has recommended a countervailing duty of 10% to the Ministry of Finance.

Country’s crude and natural gas production fell 4.3% and 28.6% respectively. (ET)

Government may tighten sugar exports. (ET)

Bank lending surges 76% during April – November. (ET)

Steel makers have decided not to reduce steel prices in January. (FE)

Indian retail industry grew by 10-12% in 3QFY09 compared to 35-38% growth in the corresponding period last year. (FE)

Government targets Rs1trn investment in infrastructure sector within the next two years. (BS)

Funds raised via ECB’s by Indian Corporates dropped by 35%. (BL)