Daily News Roundup - Apr 12 2010

Reliance Industries has entered the US gas exploration market through a JV with Atlas Energy in a deal valued at US$1.7bn. (BL)

Reliance Industries finds more reserves in KG-D6 block, it may contain 1-2 trillion cubic feet of reserves. (ET)

A team from ExxonMobil is set to assess the eastern offshore asset of ONGC for a possible partnership. (BL)

Maruti Suzuki invests Rs2.9bn in upgrading its hatchback WagonR that will be rolled out from a new platform with a new engine by the end of this month. (BS)

GMR Infrastructure plans to raise up to Rs5bn through the issue of unsecured non-convertible debentures on private placement basis. (BS)

Tata Motors plans to sell part of its shareholding in Tata Cummins, a diesel engine joint venture company. (ET)

Reliance Industries is likely to tie-up with Japanese firm Mitsui as an investor in its Special Economic Zone project in Haryana. (ET)

Centum Learning, the training and education arm of the Bharti group, plans to invest Rs1bn in the next three years to diversify into training school children and expanding its presence by opening campuses across the country. (BS)

Bharti Airtel to work with Ericsson, Nokia Siemens on 3G. (BS)

SAIL and Posco may seal a deal by the end of next month to set up an estimated Rs150bn steel plant in Jharkhand. (BS)

Tata Tea and Pepsico are exploring joint venture opportunities in non-carbonated ready-to-drink beverages in the health and wellness category. (BS)

Nalco receives investment approvals from the Indonesian government for its proposed Rs165bn offshore aluminium smelter-cumpower project.

SEBI approves the IPO of Glenmark Generics, the wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. (ET)

Reliance Capital has made a foray into the Dubai market by commencing financial advisory business in the Gulf nation. (ET)

Corporation Bank seeks overseas companies to partner with for its entry into the general insurance business. (BS)

BHEL unit plans to re-enter the defence business. (BS)

Videocon Industries is understood to be making moves to acquire consumer electronics business of Philips India. (BS)

Reliance Infrastructure expects governments in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat to invite bids to develop regional airports, which it is interested in taking up. (BS)

GAIL (India) says it isn’t possible to streamline the price of natural gas sourced from different fields and sell it at a uniform price to all sectors. (Mint)

C&C Construction is in talks to Hilton and Golden Tulip for a management tie-up for the Rs600mn hotel it is developing near Mohali. (BS)

GMR Energy, the power generation arm of GMR Infrastructure, finalised plan to raise US$200mn from Singapore-based Temasek Holdings. (BS)

Jet Airways plans to hike fares by 10-15% this quarter. (BS)

Ramkrishna Forgings plans to establish a castings unit for automobile components at Bidadi in Karnataka for an investment of Rs1.5-2bn. (BS)

Tube Investments acquires 17.58mn shares in Cholamandalam DBS Finance from DBS Bank, Singapore increasing its sake to 57.41% from 30.93%. (ET)

SpiceJet shareholders reject an offer by the Reliance ADA Group to pick up a 51% stake in the airline for Rs40-45 per share. (BS)

Bhushan Steel’s cold rolling project at Sankrail in West Bengal has hit a roadblock as land prices have hit the roof. (BS)

MMTC plans to open 100 outlets, including company owned, through joint venture and through stockists in the near future. (BS)

ADF Foods is eyeing a couple of overseas acquisitions in the Rs500mn - Rs1bn range. (BS)

The Airports Authority of India is entitled to charge airport development fee (ADF) and user development fee (UDF) like the developers of private airports, according to the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) chairman. (BS)

The cement industry hit double-digit growth in 2009-10, after a gap of three years, grows 10.5%. (BS)

Foreign institutional investors and their sub-accounts will have to disclose the exact structure they use to invest in India, according to the new guidelines from SEBI. (ET)

Foreign exchange reserves rose by US$2bn to US$279.0bn for the week ended April 2 against US$277.0bn in the previous week. (ET)

Employees Provident Fund Organization will now be able to invest its funds in corporate bonds of joint sector companies where the government has a minimum 26% stake. (BL)

IRDA asks insurance companies to go ahead and sell unit-linked insurance plans, notwithstanding order of SEBI banning 14 firms from selling ULIPs. (BL)

The Ministry of Defence plans to oppose a proposal from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to allow foreign defence corporations to establish fully-owned defence units in India. (BS)