Daily News Roundup - May 19 2010

ICICI Bank will take over the crisis-ridden private sector Bank of Rajasthan and has offered a swap ratio of 1:4.72 for the deal - 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of Rajasthan. (FE)

RIL and RNRL began informal talks for a possible gas supply agreement in line with the Supreme Court verdict. (FE)

TCS’s outsourcing contract from the UK government for managing a state-sponsored pension scheme may be among the several projects that will be put on the block by the new regime in London. (BL)

ONGC said that it has been asked by the government to pay Rs50bn to cover refiners' losses from selling fuels below cost during January-March quarter. (FE)

SAIL has urged engineering exporters to enter into long-term contracts with his organization to overcome the shortage of raw materials facing them. (BL)

BHEL's industry sector segment recorded an all-time high growth of 40% in 2009-10. (BL)

Axis Bank plans to ramp up its retail loans and contribute about 25% of the total loan portfolio within next two years. (FE)

Ranbaxy Laboratories has run into fresh trouble in Europe, primarily UK and Denmark, for not adhering to stipulated safety warning requirements. (FE)

Jet Airways has decided to expand its global footprint before joining one of the world's leading airline groupings like Star Alliance and OneWorld. (FE)

Thermax signed a technology transfer agreement with Germany’s Lambion Energy Solutions in the area of energy generation from waste. (FE)

Ashmore and PTC India are planning to pump in US$100mn into their US$1bn fund, while the rest will come from domestic and overseas financial institutions and pension funds. (FE)

Godrej Consumer Products plans to raise US$150mn via sale of shares to fund its purchase of Sara Lee Corp’s stake in an Indian venture and other acquisitions. (FE)

CPCL proposes to scrap the oldest of its three units at its Manali refinery complex and build a new, 9mtpa refinery at a cost Rs100bn. (BL)

Suzlon has received regulatory approvals for lowering the conversion price of its zero coupon FCCBs expiring in June and October 2012 respectively to Rs97.2/share. (BL)

KSK Energy Ventures announced the commencement of power generation from the first unit of 135MW of the four-unit, 540MW coal-fired power project, based in Maharashtra. (BL)

MindTree announced a partnership with Carlyle Group where it will provide IT infrastructure management and support services for Carlyle's global data centers. (FE)

Founder of MphasiS plans to set up a housing finance corporation to provide loans to low income home buyers. (ET)

Shriram EPC bagged orders worth Rs1.3bn. (FE)

Reliance MediaWorks has expanded its UK operations with the installation of new facilities enabling it to handle processing films for Hollywood, British and European producers shooting in the country. (FE)

Indian Bank plans to tap the market by September to raise up to Rs10bn to meet its Tier-II capital requirements. (BS)

Aban Offshore board to meet on May 25 to discuss about raising long-term funds through FCCB, ADR and GDR. (BS)

BL Kashyap and Sons plans to raise Rs4.5bn through share sale to qualified institutional buyers. (FE)

Renuka Sugars is renegotiating its Rs15.3bn deal to acquire Brazilian sugar and ethanol maker Equipav. (BS)

JSW Steel nearly finalises share sale agreement with Japan’s JFE, after about six months of discussion. (BS)

BSNL plans to invest around Rs148bn this financial year and a similar amount for the next financial year as part of its capex plans. (BS)

Pfizer plans to cut 18% of its workforce, at its 78 manufacturing plants over the next five years. (BS)

Kumar Mangalam Birla plans to convert preferential warrants into equity in Aditya Birla Nuvo, earlier than the deadline for conversion which ends in December 2010. (ET)

Bhushan Steel plans to drop prices by Rs2,500-3,000 from June. (BS)

Jai Balaji Industries is in talks with national and international entities for a technical tie-up or joint venture partnership. (BS)

Orient Green Power Company an associate company of Shriram EPC has filed a DRHP with SEBI for its proposed IPO. (BS)

Rain Commodities board approves the transfer of cement business from RCL (holding company) to Rain CII Carbon (India) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary. (BS)

AEGIS is set to acquire a 300-person back-office unit of Virginia-based Sallie Mae. (ET)

Essar Oilfields Services Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Essar Shipping Ports & Logistics, won its first contract outside India valued at US$40mn from Vietsovpetro JV (VSP), an oil exploration and production company in Vietnam. (FE)

The EGoM on telecom, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, which resolved the 3G auction issue, will look into the 2G spectrum price recommendations. (FE)

In a bid to curb subsidies that threaten to derail the government’s ambitious fiscal consolidation agenda, the Centre is likely to let oil PSUs sell diesel and petrol at market prices. (FE)

An EGoM headed by the finance minister is likely to meet early next month to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices from government control. (FE)

Day 32 of the 3G spectrum auctions saw the provisional bid amount for pan-India slot touch Rs165.3bn. (FE)

SEBI issued a model listing agreement for small and medium enterprises seeking listing on the SME exchange. (FE)

Mumbai is unlikely to see any significant increase in hotel room rates in the financial year 2010-2011 as hospitality players add more rooms in the market, bridging the gap between demand and supply. (BL)

Trai to review 2G plan wired in controversy. (ET)