Daily News Roundup - Nov 11 2009

Reliance Industries announced the first discovery of oil in the Cambay basin, which, if proven, will add significantly to its hydrocarbon reserves. (ET)

Reliance Industries said the KG-D6 field is operating at less than 70% of the capacity as the government is yet to notify additional customers. (BS)

Harish Salve, the lawyer representing Reliance Industries, said there were no ongoing negotiations to reach an out-of-court settlement with RNRL to resolve the legal dispute over supply of gas from the Krishna-Godavari basin. (ET)

ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd has pushed back its plans to start the first phase of hydrocarbon exploration in Nigerian block OPL-279 due to technical reasons. (BL)

Infosys plans to increase its sales and client services headcount by 50% by the end of this financial year, most of which will happen in Europe. (BS)

NTPC’s 1,600MW Farakka and 2,340MW Kahalgaon stations have halted operations due to acute coal shortage. (BL)

Renault and Nissan announced a final agreement with Bajaj Auto to produce an ultra low cost car in 2012. (BS)

Wipro is eyeing acquisitions in the BPO space as it expects the sector to drive the growth for the IT industry. (BS)

Wipro plans to organise two-day walk-in interviews for experienced IT professionals across the country starting November 14. (BS)

Satyam said the US lawsuits filed against it should be dismissed because its home country is the proper place for the litigation. (ET)

Siemens energy unit has bagged an order worth Rs60.8bn from Qatar’s General Electricity and Water Corporation. (FE)

SAIL may cut prices of flat steel products sold in the spot market by Rs500/ton next month in line with international price movement. (ET)

Union Bank of India said it has sought financial assistance worth Rs180bn from the government to meet credit growth in the coming years. (ET)

Based on a trademark complaint filed by Sun Pharmaceuticals, Madras High Court directed Zydus Cadila not to sell its anti-depressant drug, Venz, in the domestic market. (BS)

Bajaj FinServ and Bajaj Holdings & Investment have received a licence from RBI to carry on the businesses of a NBFC. (ET)

IL&FS, that gained management control of Maytas Infra in September, reviewed the status of several projects and off-loaded stake in a couple of projects to improve the financial health of the company. (ET)

KSK Energy Ventures has decided to open the proposed Rs200bn issue of securities under a QIP. (ET)

REC said it has received approval from the power ministry for its proposed follow-on public offer. (ET)

Nagarjuna Construction has received five projects worth Rs72bn for construction related work. (FE)

Allahabad bank plans to open 26 centralized retail banking boutique across country by end of the current fiscal. (FE)

MMTC has invited bids for sale of 4,000 tons of imported tur in the domestic market. (ET)

Petronet LNG expects to award contracts for its second LNG jetty at Dahej in Gujarat next month. (BL)

Tata Chemicals has scaled up stake in Rallis India by 4% to over 50% through subscription of preferential shares for Rs8.9bn. (ET)

Moser Baer to infuse US$5bn in 10 years. (FE)

Following the commencement of exploration activities at its Mumbai offshore block, Adani Welspun Exploration, a JV between Adani Enterprise and Welspun Group, awarded a contract for three dimensional seismic survey to Western Geco, a Schlumberger Group Company. (BS)

Sundaram Brake Linings plans to invest Rs215mn in expanding capacity of its friction material unit. (BS)

Essar Paradip Terminals Limited, a SPV formed by Essar Shipping Ports and Logistics Limited and Essar Shipping and Logistics Limited, signed a concession agreement with the Paradip Port Trust for the development of a 14mmtpa deep draught coal berth at Paradip Port in Orissa. (BS)

Inorder to tap the small and medium garment retailers, Gokaldas Exports has launched its Cash-and-Carry retail format. (BS)

Royal Enfield, a division of Eicher Motors, plans to increase its annual sales to 0.1mn by 2013. (BS)

SEBI bars Pyramid Saimira from the stock market for seven years. (BS)

State-owned Orissa Mining Corporation is likely to get final approval from the Union ministry of environment and forests this month for the Niyamgiri hill mining project near Lanjigarh for supplying bauxite to the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminium. (BS)

Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation and NMDC will enter into a MoU by the end of this month for exploration of iron ore in Kadapa, Kurnool, Chittoor and Karimnagar districts in the State. (BL)

IIFCL plans to raise US$500mn through medium term notes to fund projects in power, road, ports and airport sectors. (BS)

Volvo-Eicher Commercial Vehicles, which is believed to have an order for ~150 buses under JNNURM, plans to roll out its semi low-floor buses by the second half of next year. (BL)

The FIPB has approved the proposal from Hathway Cable and Datacom for bringing in FDI of Rs166.5mn after its proposed IPO. (BS)

Indian Railways’ freight traffic rises 11.7% in October. (ET)

The government finalized changes in the FDI policy to account for concerns voiced by security agencies. (BS)

The state governments have proposed dual GST structure, with two rates for goods and a single rate for services. (BS)

The discussion paper released by empowered group said cross-utilisation of input tax credit between the central GST and state GST would not be allowed, except in the case of inter-state supply of goods and services under the IGST model. (BS)

The center has allocated Rs700mn and Rs400mn for setting up of two handloom parks in Tamil Nadu. (BS)

The Himachal Pradesh government decided to float fresh tenders for the 236MW Dugar project, 81MW Tingret, 70MW Mane Nadang, 60MW Lara, 40MW Kuling Lara, 13MW Suil and 7.5MW Kihil Bahl projects. (BS)

Finance Minister said India could achieve 9-10% growth in FY13 and 8% in the preceding year. (BS)

The Union government is likely to announce another incentive package for labour intensive export sectors by early December. (BS)

IRDA has set up a committee to finalise norms for listing of insurance companies. (BS)

Sugar millers in Uttar Pradesh have agreed to pay farmers ~Rs180/quintal for their produce. (BS)

Southern India Mills’ Association has urged the Centre not to register any further contracts for cotton exports and ban exports for the current season 2009-10 as total production will slip to 26mn bales against 29mn bales last year. (BS)

Various states have placed orders for purchase of 11,185 buses under the one-time scheme by the Urban Development Ministry to boost urban transport under the JNNURM. (BL)

NASSCOM expects Indian IT sector to return to double digit growth by the next financial year as global business sentiments improve. (BL)