Daily News Roundup - Jan 18 2012

Kingfisher operations may be hit as 50 pilots ‘report sick'. (BL)

Essar Oil is facing a sales tax liability of about Rs63bn following a Supreme Court order. (BL)

Reliance Communications has tied up with a clutch of banks for a loan to redeem its outstanding foreign currency convertible bonds worth Rs61.25bn. (BL)

Maruti Suzuki and General Motors (GM) have both announced a price increase on their cars for the third time this fiscal. (BL)



Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has firmed up plans to expand the manufacturing capacity of its newest Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) XUV 500 at its Chakan manufacturing base located near Pune in Maharashtra. (BL)

Suzlon Energy Limited has signed an MoU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh for development of wind power generation capacity in the state totalling to 3,000 megawatt (Mw) between 2012 and 2016. (BS)

Lanco Infratech has missed its quarterly repayment of loan for its 1,200 MW imported coal power project in Udupi, as the poor health of state distribution companies is taking a toll. (ET)

Kingfisher Airlines has told its creditors that it is likely to receive support in the form of equity infusion by end-March. (ET)

Marico said it is looking at acquisitions worth up to Rs10bn both in the domestic and overseas markets as part of its strategy to maintain a growth of 26-27% in the coming years. (ET)

Gail Opts Out of Race for BG’s Guj Gas Stake finding it over-priced. (ET)

Coal India Trade Unions Secure 25% Salary Hike. (ET)

Tata Technologies has been chosen by Michelin to display its electric mobility (eMO) engineering study EV at North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. (BS)

Videocon Realty & Infrastructure Ltd has sought the Centre's permission to withdraw its proposed 10 hectare-IT/ITeS Special Economic Zone at Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. (BL)
Economy Snippets

The Civil Aviation Ministry has announced a "broad consensus" in the Government on allowing foreign airlines to pick up equity of up to 49% in domestic scheduled airlines. (BL)

Gold jewellery is set to get dearer, after the Government changed the rule for calculation of import duty on gold as well as silver. (BL)

Banks authorised to deal in foreign exchange can grant permission to unlisted companies to hedge price risk on import/export in respect of any commodity (except gold, silver, platinum) in the international commodity exchanges/markets. (BL)

The Planning Commission will push for more reforms in the coal sector. (FE)