Daily News Roundup - Feb 13 2012

A consortium of 7 to 8 banks, including IOB, Union Bank of India and PNB, have an exposure to Century and its associate companies to the tune of Rs17-18bn of this Rs6-7bn has turned bad. (BS)

PowerGrid Corporation would raise Rs30bn through private placement of bonds before the end of March. (BS)

Global Offshore might sell 40% stake in its upcoming vessel to the Norwegian shipyard which is building it. (BS)

The Orissa Steel and Mines Department has asked SAIL to stop mining activities immediately at Bolani mines following the expiry of forest clearance on February 11. (BS)



YES Bank has approached the IFC for a US$75mn loan to augment its capital base and to prepare it for Basel-III implementation. (BS)

Puravankara Projects is looking to roll out 17mn square feet of residential projects in the near future. (BS)

Ashok Leyland is keen on acquisitions in China, Russia, Latin America. (BL)

GAIL (India) Ltd is looking at medium-term imported contracts to meet the growing gas demand amidst limited domestic supplies. (BL)

Syndicate Bank has approved for raising equity capital of the bank by issuing equity shares by preferential allotment to Government of India and others. (BL)

The Reserve Bank of India is probing the role of three public sector banks (PSBs) — United Bank of India, PNB and Indian Bank — for allegedly flouting norms in providing bank guarantees of Rs20bn to Nimbus Communications against an intangible collateral. (FE)

Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 gas fields may see a further decline in output until new wells are brought to production. (FE)

Oil India said its board of directors have agreed to issue 3:2 bonus shares. (FE)

Economy Snippets
Freight rates for dry bulk cargo have crashed 66.5% to 647 in the past two months. (BS)

The Maharashtra government is thinking of an entry tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), on its transportation through trucks from ports to storage terminals. (BS)

CII has suggested inclusion of the US under the Focus Market Scheme (FMS) and rollback of minimum alternate tax on Special Economic Zones (SEZs). (FE)

The government’s public debt in the September-December quarter increased by 3.2% to Rs33,826.45bn over the previous 3-month period mainly due to higher borrowings. (FE)

The capital market regulator is planning to make it mandatory for companies to disclose monthly sales, turnover or production figures first to stock exchanges before giving the data to industry associations or the media. (ET)

The government may approach the Supreme Court to seek more time to auction the airwaves held by companies whose licences were scrapped by the apex court earlier this month. (ET)