Daily News Roundup - Jan 9 2013

Lenders to bankrupt Kingfisher Airlines have decided to take legal action against the airline company for its failure to repay debt of over Rs70bn despite repeated reminders. (ET) The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Hindustan Unilever against a magistrate’s direction to the police to conduct an inquiry into the veracity of an advertisement of its water purifier ‘PURE IT'. (ET) Marico plans to demerge its services business Kaya into a separate listed firm in a move that could help improve valuations of the parent company that has been weighed down by the weak performance of its services arm. This is effective April 1. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Jan 2 2013

Adani Power has requested the Coal Ministry to grant long-term coal linkage for its proposed thermal power plant in Maharashtra. (BL) Indorama Ventures plans to expand its annual US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) production capacity by 540,000 tonnes at an undisclosed brownfield location. (BL) Gujarat Ambuja Exports Ltd has started trial run production of its 750 tonnes per day (TPD) new maize processing, derivatives and other value-added products processing unit in Haven district of Karnataka. (BL) Aurobindo Pharma Ltd has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration to manufacture and market Rizatriptan Benzoate tablets. (BL)

Daily News Roundup - Dec 12 2012

Jaguar Land Rover, exploring an opportunity to start production in Saudi Arabia, has signed a letter of intent to begin a feasibility study. (BL) Mahindra & Mahindra will increase prices of its vehicles by over 1% across various models in January to offset rising input costs. (BL) ITC is willing to invest nearly Rs30bn in Bengal over the next four years. (BBL) Videocon Industries announced a new discovery of light hydrocarbons in a well, which is a part of a concession area of Sergipe Alagoas ultra deep water basin in Brazil. (BL)

Daily News Roundup - Dec 6 2012

Reliance Industries has sold its entire stake in an exploration block in Yemen to PT Medco Energi Internasional of Indonesia for US$90mn and has concluded the transaction. (ET) HDFC said a correction is unlikely in the runaway property prices in the metropolis, where the demand continues to be robust. (ET) The US’ Export-Import Bank has extended US$2.1bn credit to Reliance Industries to finance goods and services the Indian company will source from America for its new projects at Jamnagar. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Nov 30 2012

Hero MotoCorp Ltd reported retail sales of over 1.1mn units in October and November. (BL) NTPC said the first unit of 500 MW of the Vallur Thermal Power Project set up by NTPC Tamil Nadu Energy Co Ltd has started operations. (BL) The Supreme Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to "take action in the matter of prosecution" of the telecom companies and public servants mentioned in its report, prepared by A P Singh. The companies involved in the proceedings before the court were Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India. (BS)

Daily News Roundup - Nov 20 2012

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation has decided to put Rajasthan ahead of Maharashtra in its refinery commissioning dates. (BL) Gamesa Wind Turbines India has bagged an order from SJVN Ltd, for the supply of 56 wind turbines of 850 kW capacities each totalling 47.60 MW. (BL) Maldivian Airlines has signed a pact with the Apollo Hospitals to give discounts to each others’ clients. (BL) Karnataka Bank has raised Rs.2.5bn by issuing 10-year, tier-2 bonds. (BL)

Daily News Roundup - Nov 2 2012

L&T Construction has won new orders valued at over Rs10.6bn across various business segments in October. (BL) SAIL expects to expand its production capacity to 18mn tons by the end of current financial year, as it plans to commission two new blast furnaces. (BL) Oil India Ltd has started drilling operations in Gabon, South Africa for hydrocarbon exploration. (BL)

Daily News Roundup - Oct 23 2012

Within two months of cutting rates on home and auto loans by 25-50 basis points, the State Bank of India is seeing a major growth in these segments. While home loan applications have nearly tripled, demand for auto loans has risen four-fold. (ET) L&T Finance Holdings Limited said it has acquired Family Credit, a non-banking finance company promoted by France's Societe Generale Consumer, for Rs1.2bn. (ET) Hero MotoCorp is going all out to cash in on the festive season and has tied up with HDFC Bank to offer financing at 6.99 % across its entire range of products. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Oct 4 2012

Kingfisher Airlines is staring at a prolonged shutdown, as the cash-strapped airline told its employees that it cannot clear immediately the salary backlog of more than half-a-year. (ET) In a major relief to Bharti Airtel, the Delhi High Court granted a stay on a government order seeking mobile phone companies to stop offering 3G services via roaming agreements outside their licensed zones. (ET) State-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation, along with its affiliates, signed definitive agreements to buy a 65.12% stake in Gujarat Gas Company from London-based BG Group. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Oct 1 2012

Maruti Suzuki India is planning to offer low-cost houses to about 5,000 employees as it tries to walk the extra mile to improve relations with its workers. (ET) A government-controlled panel has approved Reliance Industries’ revised field development plan for MA oilfield in the predominately gas-rich KG-D6 block that will help the firm boost gas production. (ET) The engineers of Kingfisher Airlines went on a flash strike in Mumbai, making 80 passengers wait three hours in an aircraft for take-off clearance and forcing the cash-strapped airline to cancel 11 flights. (ET) Bharti Enterprises has started talks with Walmart and is hoping to form 50:50 joint venture to roll out retail outlets in India. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Sep 24 2012

BPCL which is setting up its first propylene unit in Kochi, said it is ready to offer 51% stake in the Rs60bn project to its Korean joint venture partner LG Chemicals. (ET) After cutting its base rate by 25 basis points, State Bank of India reduced its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by a similar margin. The public sector bank’s BPLR now stands at 14.5%. (BS) Diageo Plc is in advanced talks to buy a stake in United Spirits. (BS) Reliance Industries and its partner BP plan to surrender two more exploration blocks, reducing their tally to 14 from 21 a year ago. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Sep 10 2012

The disinvestment department has called in bids from merchant bankers and brokers to sell its stake in public sector companies like Nalco and NMDC, making it the government’s first move this fiscal year to cut its stake in state-run companies. (ET) The Delhi High Court dismissed Hoffmann-La Roche’s suit accusing Cipla of infringing the Swiss company’s patent for its lung cancer medicine Tarceva. (ET) The Supreme Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the alleged illegal exports of iron ore by companies such as Adani Enterprises, Salgaocar Mining Industries and Mallikarjun Shipping. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Sep 6 2012

Siemens Home Appliances plans to set up a manufacturing plant for its washing machines near Chennai. (BL) Infosys’ business process outsourcing (BPO) arm said that the company will hire 8,000 more people by end of this financial year. (BL) Undeterred by a recent setback in Bolivia, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) announced the acquisition of Canada’s CIC Energy Corp for Rs.6.5bn. (BL) Hero MotoCorp said that the inventory levels are running high with dealers with demand being slow, but it expects strong festive season demand to clear it. (BL)

Daily News Roundup - Sep 4 2012

Tech Mahindra is on the verge of announcing the acquisition of Hutchison Global Services, the India back-office unit of Hutchison Whampoa, for around US$100mn. (ET) Banks with rising bad loans are preparing to drive out firms such as Southern Petrochemical Industries Corp, India Cements, Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Essar Oil out of corporate debt restructuring so they can charge higher rates. (ET) Wipro has poached senior Infosys executive Shaji Farooq, who was overseeing its largest industry vertical in the most important market for software companies. Wipro has appointed Farooq the global head for new technology areas. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Aug 27 2012

MRF foresees a severe rubber shortage in the next 4-5 years. (BL) ONGC Videsh Ltd wants Iran to pay a higher return on the US$5-6 bn it plans to invest in developing Persian Gulf gas field of Farzad-B to make up for the risk involved in investing in US-sanctioned country. (BL) As part of its focus on taking banking services to villages, Indian Bank proposed to set up 1,525 ultra small branches in rural areas across the country, a top official has said. (ET) Marico's beauty and wellness arm Kaya, launched in 2002, is likely to miss its forecast to break even by 2013 as it continues investing in new stores and formats, a top company official has said. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Aug 16 2012

Reliance Industries has proposed to drill the first exploration in almost five years in the flagging gas fields at its own cost. (BL) Reliance Industries is in talks with BP to buy its petrochemicals plant in Malaysia as it seeks to replicate its domestic success in building fully integrated operations in all its businesses. (ET) The US drug regulator is expected to inspect Aurobindo Pharma Ltd’s two manufacturing facilities in Andhra Pradesh during September-December. (BS) Cipla has launched ‘Qvir’, a four-drug kit priced at ~158 to be used for treating HIV/AIDS. (BS)

Daily News Roundup - Aug 14 2012

The bauxite mining operation in Mali Hill in south Odisha’s Koraput district by Hindalco Industries Ltd has been stopped due to an agitation by the local tribal people. (BS) Oil & Natural Gas Corporation has decided to set up a Rs50bn urea manufacturing unit in North Tripura district in joint venture with a private company. (BL) Sun Pharma raised its offer price for the remaining shares of Israeli major Taro Pharma by as much as 60%. It will have to cough up about US$600mn for the remaining shares under the new offer. (BS) L&T has secured orders totalling over Rs20bn across business segments in the last 45 days. (BL)

Daily News Roundup - Aug 10 2012

In a fresh blow to the IT major, a former employee of Infosys has filed a suit against the company in a California court over alleged misuse of B1 visas. (ET) The Supreme Court has issued notice to Indraprastha Gas on the plea of PNGRB over the fixation of the maximum retail price, network tariff and compression charges for the gas by the regulator. (ET) Punj Lloyd said it has bagged a Rs3.3bn order from Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for process facilities & utilities at an upcoming crude oil storage cavern in Mangalore. (ET) Akzo Nobel India Ltd is setting up a new plant at Gwalior for decorative paints. The 60mn litres a year plant will cost Rs1.5bn. The company has also proposed to house a Rs500mn powder coatings manufacturing unit within the plant complex. (BL)

Daily News Roundup - Aug 7 2012

Tata Teleservices has slipped on performance parameters it promised to Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, giving the foreign investor an option to either exit the business or increase its stake in the JV. (ET) Aurobindo Pharma and Glenmark said they have received approval from the US health regulator to manufacture and market generic montelukast sodium tablets used for treating asthma and allergies. (ET) Ranbaxy Laboratories may have forgone the launch of its generic version of blockbuster sleep disorder drug Provigil during a lucrative six-month marketing exclusivity period as part of its regulatory settlement with US authorities, say analysts who estimate that this might have cost the drugmaker US$50-100mn in revenues. (ET)

Daily News Roundup - Aug 2 2012

Nirma Ltd’s proposed merger with Saurashtra Chemicals Ltd (SCL) has been given a go-ahead by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). (BL) DLF said that it is targeting to raise around Rs.30bn from sales of its 17.5 acre prime land in Mumbai and the deal is expected to close this quarter. (BL) Tulip Telecom Ltd has got a Rs.0.87bn order from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for hosting data centre space(BL) Uninor said that it will auction its business and assets in a bid to get maximum possible returns for its investors (BL)