Daily News Roundup - Nov 16 2011

The promoters of Kingfisher Airlines are open to reducing their stake to 26% to strategic domestic investors, from the current 58.61%. (BS)

ICICI Bank plans to repatriate a part of the capital of its Canadian arm, as business growth has been crippled by stringent regulation. (BS)

India Cements has acquired a coal mine in Indonesia, which is expected to go on stream by January 2012, for US$20mn. The company is also in the process of setting up a 50Mw power plant near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu. (BS)



Jindal Steel & Power Ltd has committed an investment of Rs5bn for a downstream industrial park in Orissa (BS)

The All India Bank Employees’ Association has threatened a strike if banks proceeded with a bailout proposal for cash-trapped Kingfisher Airline. (BS)

HDFC Bank became India's top lender in terms of market capitalisation, overtaking State Bank of India. (BS)

Kingfisher Airlines is not shutting down, nor has it sought a bailout from the Government, the Chairman and promoter of the airline, Mr Vijay Mallya, said. (BL)

Hexaware Technologies has won a US$250mn contract from an existing client in UK to provide a range of services for the next five years, a top company official said. (BL)

Karnataka Bank Ltd is targeting a total branch network of 550 branches by March 2013, according to Mr P. Jayarama Bhat, MD and CEO of the bank. (BL)

POSCO will have full operational control of JV: SAIL (FE)

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board on Tuesday cleared the Rs82.50bn rights issue proposed by telecom services provider Uninor, a JV between Telenor Group and India's Unitech Group. (FE)
Economy Snippets


Petrol will be cheaper by almost Rs 2/litre, the first cut since January 2009. (BL)

The Standing Committee of Finance has indicated that it might not be able to submit its report on banking and insurance Bills during the winter session. (BL)

Exports from Special Economic Zones during April-September 2011 grew by 26.2% to Rs1764.80bn, the Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs said. (BL)

The RBI has increased the ceiling rate on export credit in foreign currency by 150 basis points, to LIBOR plus 350 basis points from the present ceiling rate of LIBOR plus 200 basis points, with immediate effect till from March 31, 2012. (BL)

The finance ministry's proposal to increase participation of FIIs in government securities market would help in cooling the yields and contain its borrowing cost, bankers said. (FE)

Nielsen estimates that the country’s rural FMCG retail landscape will grow from US$12bn in 2011