Daily News Roundup - March 9 2012

Dr Reddys Lab and Mankind Pharma plan to add 1,000 personnel each to their sales and marketing teams in the coming fiscal at a time when most other drug makers are either consolidating or going slow on hiring. (ET)

Tata Chemicals signed loan facilities of US$375mn and the proceeds will be used to help refinance an US$825mn facility signed in 2008. (ET)

Mahindra Satyam acquired Delhi-based vCustomers BPO for US$27mn. The acquisition marks the entry of Mahindra Satyams’ BPO operations into other verticals such as retail and consumer technology in addition to enhancing its technical support business. (ET)



NTPC has offered to financially team up with Singareni Collieries Co Ltd to jointly develop some of the latter's viable mines in Andhra Pradesh. (BL)

ABB plans to enter the Engineering, procurement and construction space for solar projects in India. (BL)

Larsen & Tourbo board meets today to discuss Hexaware acquisition. (BS)

Renault-Nissan's plans for an ultra-low cost car in partnership with Bajaj Auto remains uncertain as it is not rushing to source a mini four-wheeler from the Indian automaker saying it is yet to complete analyzing the product. (BS)

Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover plans to set up an engine manufacturing facility in India to meet the demand in the country. (BS)

Kingfisher Airlines’ troubles increased as the income tax department issued a show-cause notice and the International Air Transport Association suspended the airline from its clearing house for the second time. (BS)

EdServ will invest Rs400mn in its newly launched EdServ Training Institute, an instructor-led training centre. (BS)

DLF is likely to close the current financial year with a realization of around Rs16bn from non-core asset sale. The fourth quarter of 2011-12 will be muted for the company, with all big ticket non-core asset sales now pushed to 2012-13. (BS)

Tata Steel, which had considered exporting slabs to its European facilities at the time of acquisition, as part of the integration process, is now working on a reverse strategy. (BS)

Economy Snippets
The chairman of CBDT has told senior officials that their career prospects would depend on their success in meeting targets for tax collection, raising fears among the wealthy of harassment. (ET)

The bilateral trade between India and Australia would double in the next five years, Australian High Commissioner in India Peter N Varghese said. The present volume of bilateral trade between the two countries is US$21bn. (ET)

India asked Indonesia to widen the proposed free-trade agreement between the countries to include more service sectors, including health and banking. (ET)

There is a considerable room to improve the business environment in India and boost corporate investments through measures like lowering of costs and better financial access, an IMF Working Paper said. (FE)