Daily News Roundup - July 16 2010

L&T wins the Rs121bn Hyderabad metro rail project. (ET)

SBI merger with State bank of Indore approved by cabinet. Swap ratio of 34:100. (ET)

Tata Steel plans to raise annual production capacity up to 50mn tonnes from the present 30mn tonnes. (ET)

IOC plans to acquire oilfields in Africa as part of a US$1bn overseas investment plan. (BS)

IOC, HPCL and BPCL are expected to post net losses of nearly Rs100bn for the first quarter, which are unlikely to be compensated by the government. (BL)

US district court rules in favour of Sun Pharma, dismisses all of Taros claims. (BL)

JSW Energy plans Rs80bn investment with plans to add 2145 MW of generation capacity in FY 11. (ET)

The US ex-im bank has given a preliminary approval to a loan guarantee of US$600mn for the sale of mining equipment for the 3.9GW power plant of Reliance Power. (ET)

Essar Group will now be getting ~US$750mn more from Vodafone Group, over and above the fair market price if they exercise the put option for their 33.02% stake. (BS)

Dr Reddy’s Labs has entered into a pact with Alchemia to sell Fondaparinux sodium injection in all territories outside North America. (DNA)

The National Environmental Appellate Authority (NEAA) has revoked the ecological clearance given to the thermal plant to Nagarjuna Constructions. (BL)

Suzlon has secured an order to set up, operate and maintain a 37.8MW project at Jaibhim in Dhule-Nadurbur wind park in Maharashtra. (DNA)

Sesa Goa to invest US$500mn for expanding its mining and logistics infrastructure. (BL)

For Corus, subsidiary of Tata Steel, a synergy value of US$450mn has been identified for areas such as manufacturing, R&D, IT and financial and capital projects. (BL)

Arvind Mills plans organic foods segment. (BL)

MIC Electronics has diversified into LED lighting products, will launch 5 new products with 15 variants. (DNA)

Stone India to enter solar power business. (BL)

Tea production in Assam will decline this year because of pests attacks, driving tea prices higher, the state-run Tea Board of India said. (DNA)

Fuel price inflation declined to 14.27% in the week ended July 3 against 18.02% in the previous week. (ET)

State-owned oil firms today cut ATF prices by 3.3% negating the 3.2% hike that had been announced on July 1. (ET)

The Himachal Pradesh government raised VAT on 120 items from 12.5 to 13.75%. (BS)

Government imposes a penalty of Rs2.75bn on major telecom operators for activating mobile phones of unverified customers across the country. (ET)

Food Inflation rose 12.81% for the week ended July 3. (BL)

Commerce and Industry Minister is likely to meet Finance Minister, soon again to dispel the Finance Ministry’s doubts on SEZ. (BL)

Maharashtra government notifies 1% VAT on contract price of flats on agreements on or after April 1. (ET)