Daily News Roundup - Oct 28 2011

IGATE Patni announced it had extended its multi-year, multimillion-dollar contract with The Mosaic Company. (BS)

Wipro Technologies is restructuring its computer infrastructure management services business by merging the global and domestic functions as part of an ongoing exercise to reduce overlap among different units. (ET)

ONGC Videsh Ltd’s acquisition Imperial Energy Corp has seen crude oil output dropping by 15% to about 15,000 barrels per day in the past three months as high tax rates deter the company from drilling new wells. (BS)



Larsen & Toubro, due to build and run a railway in Hyderabad, said it may have to "re-look" at the viability of the Rs141.3bn (US$2.8bn) project because of hold-ups in acquiring land. (ET)

The Delhi High Court has dismissed Bharti Airtel’s plea against telecom tribunal the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal that asked it to first pay half the Rs500mn fine imposed on it by the DoT before the hearing. (BS)

Japanese steel maker JFE Steel is keen to pick up a stake in an integrated steel plant planned by JSW Steel in West Bengal's Salboni. (FE)

Power Grid Corp aims at a 30% increase in revenue from its telecom business in the current fiscal (BS)

As part of beefing up its financial technology cloud model, FT Grid Polaris Software Lab announced the integration of its BPO arm Optimus with the parent company. (FE)

A group of officers, set up by the government to vet Air India’s restructuring plan, has recommended a Rs60bn bailout for the current fiscal. (BS)

Rural Electrification Corporation is looking at the option of funding power purchases on the IEX, the country's largest power exchange. (BL)

As a step to maintain the momentum of credit growth during the ongoing economic slowdown, State Bank of Bikaner &Jaipur will reduce its share of business in lending large corporate loans and, instead, focus on retail business. (BS)
Economy Snippets

The rate of food inflation inched up to 11.43% in mid-October, sharply higher than the previous week's annual rise of 10.60%. (BL)

While increasing the policy lending rate, the repo rate, by 25 basis points to 8.5%, RBI said the likelihood of a rate move at the December review was "relatively low". (BS)

The Reserve Bank of India announced deregulation of the interest rate on savings bank deposits with immediate effect. (BL)

The Government has announced a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) ranging from 15% to 38% for rabi crops such as wheat, mustard and gram. (BL)

The Reserve Bank of India is inspecting books of all the banks to assess the possible damage arising from defaults in the power sector. (ET)

The coal ministry will display within 15 days the list of 54 coal blocks to be allocated through competitive bidding and government nomination. (BS)