Daily News Roundup - Dec 29 2011

RIL is in advanced talks with American defence giant Raytheon to create a joint venture that will pursue opportunities in homeland security in India and abroad (ET)

The coal ministry has turned down Coal India’s request to cut its production target for the year (ET)

Government to ask Sterlite for formal plan for buying 49% residual stake in Balco (BL)

M&M South Korean subsidiary Ssangyong is likely to fall short of its sales target for 2011 as debt woes continue to plague one of its largest markets Europe (ET)



Deepak Parekh resigns from Hind Unilever board (BL)

The petroleum ministry has asked a ministerial panel to decide if RIL can charge a marketing margin over-and-above the government-approved sale price for KG-D 6 gas (ET)

M&M will increase the price of its much sought after sports utility vehicle XUV 5OO by Rs30,000-55,000 from January 1,2012, on account of rising raw material prices and depreciation in rupee (ET)

ICICI Bank has increased its one-year NRE term deposit rate from 3.8% to 6.5% (BL)

Coal India set to recruit 2,100 executives in 2012 (BS)

DLF and Hubtown have sold an IT SEZ that they co-own in Pune to private equity fund Blackstone for Rs8.1bn (ET)

Reliance Power begins generation at 300-MW Rosa unit (BL)

Adani Enterprises shelves plans to buy ships for moving coal (BL)

Crisil downgrades DLF's debt programmes (BL)

TVS Motor develops common engine for all 2-wheelers (BL)

GSPL to tie up funds for Mehsana-Bhatinda line in January (BL)

Punj Lloyd has bagged a project worth Rs 1,050 crore from GMR Projects Private Ltd. (BL)

Subex plans to raise US$135mn through QIP, FCCB, GDR and ADR for repaying its debts (BL)
Economy Snippets

Businesses in six sectors, including oil refinery and production, mobile telephony, hotel and mining, will no longer have the benefits of infrastructure status as the government has decided to exclude them from its new uniform list of core sectors (ET)

Planning Commission pitches for a maximum 15% increase in plan spends, asks central ministries to remain prepared for far less (ET)

NHAI plans further tightening of bidding norms as well as strengthening of monitoring process (BS)

The Indian government is counting on aggressive investments from Japan to fund the proposed National Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) (ET)

Eastern Zone Mining Association (EZMA) has urged the Orissa government to allow lessees with all clearances to resume operations (BS)

Bank credit growth fell to a 21-month low on December 16 at 17% yoy (BS)