Daily News Roundup - Dec 6 2010

Dalmia Bharat Enterprises plans to invest Rs25bn to set up two greenfield cement plants in Karnataka and Meghalaya. (BL)

Larsen & Toubro has bagged an Rs7.2bn infrastructure contract from the Department of Transport, Abu Dhabi. (BL)



Opto Circuits India has acquired 76% of the outstanding common stock of US-based Cardiac Science Corp.; price of the acquisition was not divulged. (BL)

Godrej Consumer Products has decided to buy two domestic brands – Genteel (a liquid detergent) and Swastik (soaps) for an undisclosed amount. (BL)

Bhushan Power and Steel Group is planning a £450mn London flotation next year after appointing investment banks. (DNA)

HDFC hikes home loan rates by 75bps. (BL)

Siemens will invest nearly Rs4bn in the development of wind turbines in the country in the next two year. (BL)

Honda could end up selling its 26% stake to Hero Group at a substantial discount to the market price, but this will be offset by higher royalty payment till 2014. (BL)

ICICI Bank announced increase in both lending and deposit rates. (BL)

Nuclear Power Corporation and Areva would sign two agreements for developing a 10,000MW nuclear power project at Jaitapur in Maharashtra. (BS)

M&M will invest Rs2bn to set up a tractor manufacturing plant in South India, the location of which will be decided in the next three months. (BL)

DLF has sold 150 plots, garnering more than 5bn, in a township project at Gurgaon. (BS)

ONGC plans to spend US$1.8bn over three years to replace ageing infrastructure and maintain production at onshore oilfields in Gujarat. (ET)

Central Bank of India plans to raise Rs25bn through rights issue in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal to augment capital adequacy. (BL)

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is set to delist its troubled US-based subsidiary Caraco Pharmaceutical from the US bourses. (BS)

Pratibha Industries says it got an order worth over Rs3.5bn from Dubai Electricity & Water Authority. (FE)

Aurobindo Pharma gets tentative US FDA nod for depression drug. (FE)

Shipping Corporation of India is looking to spend around US$3bn on expansion activities over the next three years. (ET)

Maharashtra state government has refused to clear HCC’s additional claim of 6.5bn for completion of the Worli Bandra Sea link project in Mumbai. (BS)
Economy Snippets

Foreign exchange reserves drop by US4$bn to US$294bn in the week ended November 26. (BL)

Last-minute fares on domestic flights have fallen 20-25% from the previous high levels. (BL)

RBI Governor has asked banks to operate on lower margins so that they can offer higher rates on deposits and lend at lower rate. (BL)

Government says it plans to release more spectrum soon and that notices will be sent to errant companies that secured the licences along with 2G spectrum despite their ineligibility. (FE)

Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister approved the draft mining Bill, which will provide for sharing 26% of company profits with local populace in mining projects. (BS)