New York-based hedge-fund Harbinger Capital Partners joins Sterlite in the race for Asarco. (BS)
Pantaloon Retail is close to sealing an equity partnership deal between one of its subsidiaries and French retail giant Carrefour. (BS)
The NTPC-BHEL JV has zeroed in on Andhra Pradesh to establish Rs60bn power equipment manufacturing base in Chittoor district. (BL)
Axis Bank plans to raise Rs30bn debt in local or overseas markets for meeting its tier-I and tier-II capital needs. (FE)
Zydus Cadila and Israeli generic major Teva have settled their patent disputes over active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make generic versions of GlaxoSmithKline’s heart drug and Johnson & Johnson’s anti-psychotic drug. (ET)
Bharti Group has ruled out any revision in its proposed deal to buy 49% stake in South African telco MTN. (ET)
Tata Teleservices plans to offer services on the GSM platform. (ET)
Voltas has secured two orders worth Rs3bn for electro-mechanical projects for the new generation airports in India. (FE)
SpiceJet plans to acquire a rival budget airline and to start international and regional operations. (ET)
Sun Pharmaceuticals has filed a case against Taro Pharmaceuticals in the Tel Aviv District Court requesting the court to order it to publish audited financial results. (ET)
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar have added 2.8mn and 2.7mn subscribers respectively in April 2009. (ET)
NTPC seeks Government’s help to resolve fuel supply issues. (FE)
Ratnagiri Gas & Power has signed a five-year contract to buy gas from Reliance Industries. (ET)
Jet Airways is in talks with Gulf Air, Oman Air to convert lease deals. (ET)
Moser Baer has received Rs125mn order from Mahagenco for development of its 1MW solar power project at Chandrapur. (ET)
Gujarat NRE Coke has raised Rs500mn by issuing non-convertible debentures to two state-run lenders. (FE)
CPCL’s capacity to go up by 1mt from October. (BL)
The Government will consider Air India’s IPO on the bourses only after the capital market improves. (FE)
Corporation Bank raised Rs5bn through Upper Tier II bonds. (BL)
Ashok Leyland plans to develop CNG vehicles. (ET)
SAIL to recruit about 600 employees in FY10. (FE)
Religare has signed an agreement with global reinsurer Swiss Re to set up a 74:26 JV for health insurance. (BS)
Afcons Infrastructure, the infrastructure arm of Shapoorji Pallonji Group has forayed into the offshore oil and gas segment. (FE)
The directorate general of hydrocarbons has challenged the authenticity of London-based Hardy Oil & Gas’s claim of having huge gas reserves in KG basin blocks - D-3 and D-9. (ET)
General Motors has filed for bankruptcy and plans to set up a new company in 90 days. (ET)
PepsiCo has doubled its investment target in the beverages business to Rs10bn in 2009. (ET)
LG Electronics plans to invest Rs1bn in promotion of its home appliances in the current year. (ET)
Economy Snippets
The trade deficit narrowed 50% to US$5bn in April 2009 as imports fell 37% against a 33% fall in exports. (BS)
The Government is considering forwarding a proposal to introduce the auctioning of entitlements to borrow abroad to RBI. (FE)
The Indian Bank’s Association has denied any possibility of a 400-500bps cut in lending rates. (ET)
The proposal for auctions of 3G spectrum may be cleared directly by the Union Cabinet. (ET)
The Government has imposed an anti-dumping duty of US$0.36-1.9 per piece on the imports of compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). (ET)
Power minister said that awarding multiple UMPPs to a single company was a cause for concern as it could lead to execution delays. (BL)
The Communications and IT Minister pitches for 2-year extension of STPI scheme. (BL)
The Government plans to speed up its rural electrification program and to try to achieve the target of Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana by March 2010. (ET)
The IT Ministry is likely to extend tax sops to software parks. (ET)
The Government has no plans to privatise any existing airports. (FE)
India Inc has urged the finance minister to abolish FBT or alternatively allow it as a credit against income tax. (FE)
Railways register 5.28% yoy increase in earnings at ~Rs22.7bn in May 2009. (ET)
Telecom operators reported a dip in telephone subscriber growth rate with 11.75mn new users in April compared with 15.87mn in March. (BL)
Multiplex owners and producers to sign revenue-sharing deal this week. (FE)