Daily News Roundup - Jan 9 2012

State-run Northern Coalfields has agreed to surrender land required to mine two blocks attached to the Sasan ultra mega power plant to Reliance Power giving company the benefit of over Rs60bn over the life of the venture. (ET)

Sterlite Industries will offer to buy the government’s 49% equity share in group company Balco at a mutually-agreed price outside an earlier call option agreement. (ET)

Finance Ministry may infuse Rs14bn into Indian Overseas Bank to help it maintain Tier-I capital of 8% by March-end 2012. (BL)



The oil ministry has recommended to the Cabinet that Cairn-Vedanta’s $8.5-bn deal that was conditionally cleared in June should get the final consent. (ET)

Praj Industries Ltd has acquired a 50.2% stake in Mumbai-based Neela Systems Ltd for about Rs640mn. (BL)

Microbix Biosystems Inc, a Canadian company, and Cadila Healthcare Ltd have signed a letter of intent to market the thrombolytic drug in the North American markets. (BL)

Adani Group has decided to don a new corporate identity soon and has roped in England-based brand consultancy Wolff Olins to do the job. (ET)

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd has commissioned its third unit of 135 MW in Chhattisgarh which has increased its total power generation capacity to 917 MW. (BL)

AV Birla Group has turned its attention towards the cement operations of Lafarge in South Africa for a possible buyout. (BS)

National Thermal Power Corporation plans to foray into power distribution across the country. (BS)

GMR Infrastructure which is building the Male International Airport in Maldvies will now be able to collect airport development and insurance charges from this month. (ET)

Tata Power said the first 800 MW unit of the Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project has started power generation. (FE)

Agro Tech Foods plans to launch ready-to-eat meals, peanut butter and oil sprays nationally, and invest Rs1bn on capacity expansion in 2-3 years. (ET)
Economy Snippets

The ministry of agriculture proposes to extend subsidised crop loan of 4% for agriculture mechanisation. (BS)

The finance ministry is likely to get about Rs90bn extra in the next budget if the government restructures centrally sponsored schemes as recommended by an expert committee. (ET)

The government is putting in place a mechanism to handle the possible impact on oil supply to the country because of international sanctions on Iran. (BS)

Department of Telecom is mulling to set-up a pan-India secure network with an estimated cost of ~Rs4.5bn, providing a fool-proof infrastructure for telecom and Internet communication exclusively for government use. (BS)