Daily News Roundup - Feb 8 2012

Jindal Steel and Power plans to spend US$300mn on developing new and existing mines in Africa to meet raw material demand. (ET)

Mahindra & Mahindra said it has closed the second phase of booking for its latest sports utility vehicle XUV500 and has received over 25,000 orders in a period of 10 days. (ET)

Kingfisher is in talks with Reliance Industries to use its infrastructure and logistics support to transport imported jet fuel from ports to airports and deliver it to the aircraft. (ET)



The oil ministry is making a fresh attempt to financially penalize Reliance Industries for the fall in natural gas output from the D6 block even as it wants to avoid arbitration over the same issue. (ET)

Pfizer said it will hive off its animal health division to a wholly owned subsidiary for a consideration of Rs4.4bn as part of a global internal re-organization. (ET)

Escorts' agri-machinery arm has entered into a one-year rate contract with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for supplying tractors to Central and State-level agencies. (BL)

Suven Life Sciences Ltd secured three product patents, two from the US and one from Mexico, for its new chemical entities meant for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. (BL)

YES Bank has tied up with the Buldana Urban Cooperative Credit Society to help the Society with its new customer service initiative entailing door-step para-banking services. (BL)

Megasoft will focus on near field communications this year, the emerging communication technology that promises to change the way people interact and buy things. (BL)

India Cements is expected to make an investment of around Rs5bn during the next two years, mainly in its power plant and coal project in Indonesia. (BS)

Equity holding of Akzo Nobel India Ltd's overseas parent is set to shoot up. After an off-market deal on January 31, Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd, the promoter entity has increased its stake in ANIL by 3.23% to 59.64%. (BL)

HPCL, which has been facing opposition for its Rs400bn refinery project in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, has decided to offer more money to villagers for their land. (BL)

Economy Snippets
The country’s ailing aviation industry sensed a streak of relief as a Group of Ministers headed by finance minister cleared a proposal to allow Indian carriers to import fuel directly. (BS)

To ensure undisrupted crude oil supplies from Iran amidst US sanctions, India will pay 45% of its oil transactions to Iran in rupee terms. (BL)

India’s economy will expand at 6.9% in 2011-12 owing to a slowdown in manufacturing, contraction in mining and deceleration in farm output on last year’s high statistical base, said the advance estimate of GDP released by CSO. (FE)

The Government has decided to allow export of an additional one million tonne of sugar and has cut the minimum export price for basmati by US$200 a tonne. (BL)

To promote transshipment at ports, the Centre is likely to relax the Cabotage rule so that foreign vessels may be permitted to carry cargo to Indian ports. (ET)

The fertilizer ministry may seek more funds from the finance ministry to meet its subsidy obligations as it needs more than the allocated amount to take care of the rising subsidy bill. (ET)