Daily News Roundup - May 5 2010

The government has asked Reliance Industries to cut gas output from its eastern offshore KGD6 fields so that imported fuel stocks can be cleared. (ET)

The government said it is in the process of granting the Maharatna status to four state-run firms -ONGC, SAIL, NTPC and IOC. (ET)

L&T and UK-based Howden Global have signed a JV to design, engineer, manufacture and supply axial fans and air pre-heaters to Indian thermal power plants ranging between 100 MW and 1,200 MW. (BL)

HCL Technologies has signed a US$500mn strategic pact with pharmaceutical major MSD (also known as Merck & Co) for a period of five years. (BS)

Oil India and Indian Oil Corp has pulled out of the race to acquire Gulfsands Petroleum after the UK-listed firm refused the Indian firms’ request for due diligence before making a firm offer. (ET)

NMDC and MMTC are likely to finalise the iron ore export contracts with Japan and Korea by this month-end or early next month. (BL)

NMDC is keen to enter into coal mining with Coal India Ltd as a partner. (FE)

Ashok Leyland has reported sales of 6,500 vehicles for the month of April, compared with 1,750 in the same month last year. (BL)

Apollo Tyres will hike prices of its finished rubber products by 4.5%–5% across segments in June. (FE)

Videocon Industries has moved a petition to the World Bank seeking to revoke a three-year ban for misrepresenting information in a tender document in 2003. (ET)

Welspun-Gujarat Stahl Rohren will acquire majority stake in Saudi Arab-based pipe facility and a pipe coating facility. (BS)

Jet Airways is understood to have asked the MMRDA for six more months to pay for the 1.47-acre Bandra-Kurla Complex plot it bought for Rs8.3bn in 2008. (FE)

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals issued exclusive marketing rights for cholesterol control ezetimibe to another generic company Par Pharmaceutical Companies in an effort to strengthen its patent challenge case against Merck. (ET)

Sterlite Technologies will set up an LCD factory in Maharashtra at an investment of Rs96bn. (BS)

NDTV has terminated its agreement with Scripps Networks Interactive Inc, which it had entered into, to introduce lifestyle channels in India. (BS)

Adani Enterprises said it plans to raise up to Rs40bn through the issue of securities in global or domestic markets. (ET)

McNally Bharat said that it had bagged orders worth Rs1.1bn from Vedanta Group firm to provide engineering related works in Zambia. (FE)

The bid price for 3G spectrum continues to rise as it touched Rs107.5bn for pan-India operations on the 21st day of auction, assuring the government of Rs433.7bn in terms of revenue. (ET)

India is trying to mobilise opinion against the proposed international standard on corporate social responsibility that could give legal sanction to developed countries to reject exports from developing countries like India. (ET)

Parliament passed the budget 2010-11 with the finance minister remaining firm and turning down all pleas for a rollback of increase in duties on fuel. (ET)

The department of disinvestment (DoD) will move a proposal this week for divesting a 10% stake in Coal India through an IPO to cash in on the positive sentiment created by the recently closed issue of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam. (ET)

The finance ministry has rejected the petroleum ministry's demand for giving a seven-year income tax holiday to those who win sedimentary blocks for natural gas and coal bed methane (CBM) exploration in the next round of auctions later this year. (FE)

The corporate India Inc has raised US$4.32bn in March 2010 up by 300% over US$ 1.1bn mobilized in March 2009. (FE)

Government mulls sugar decontrol as the move has received a strong push from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Price. (BS)

The government extended the deadline for implementing cleaner emission norms for two-wheelers across the country till July 1, 2010. (BS)

SEBI has widened the scope of index-based options by allowing exchanges to offer option contracts based on Sensex and Nifty with a tenure of up to five years. (BS)

Under margin pressure due to the rising prices of natural rubber, the end-user industries have asked the Government for duty-free import of two lakh tonnes of rubber through a Government agency, besides a ban on exports. (BL)