Daily News Roundup - Feb 18 2011

The government has kicked off a roadshow to sell 5% stake in ONGC to raise Rs120bn. (ET)

SAIL has initiated the process for its Rs70bn follow-on public offer and is planning to enter the market by March end or early April. (ET)

The government will expedite a decision on the controversial US$9.6bn Cairn-Vedanta deal but it will not accept any deadline from private companies. (ET)



NTPC has sought long-term pricing comfort from Petronet LNG Ltd. (BS)

BHEL has announced it has successfully test run its first indigenously manufactured turbine developed in collaboration with GE of the US and plans to deliver two more units by the end of the current fiscal. (BL)

IOC is losing a record Rs2.4bn per day on selling auto and cooking fuel below cost as government continues to bar it from raising rates in line with spurt in raw material cost. (ET)

IOC has sought a full rollback of duty on crude to keep petroleum prices under check. (ET)

Close on the heels of a settlement of a Class Action law suit in the US for US$125mn, Mahindra Satyam is planning to sue the former Satyam management and the company’s erstwhile auditor Price Waterhouse for a possible monetary damages claim. (ET)

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said it has filed an application for human trials in Netherlands for its molecule 'GRC 17536', which aims to treat pain and respiratory disorders. (FE)

HDFC has picked up a stake in Indus World Schools for Rs500mn. (FE)

Mahindra Navistar Automotives Limited is planning to launch tippers with a capacity of 25-tonne and tractor trailers with 40-tonne capacity before March in the domestic market. (BS)

L&T Infrastructure Finance Company would syndicate funds to the tune of a few thousand crore rupees for the first phase of Hyderabad Metro Rail project. (BS)

PTC India Financial Services, an arm of PTC India, is in the process of raising up to Rs1bn through the issuance of infrastructure bonds. (BL)

Marico, speculated to be selling its edible oil brand Sweekar, will look to restructure its portfolio including divestment of some brands as part of its growth strategy. (ET)

GVK Power and Infrastructure is in advanced talks to buy a coal mine owned by Australias Hancock Prospecting. (ET)

The Essar Group plans to buy Royal Dutch Shells Stanlow plant for about US$350mn. (ET)

The government will infuse Rs9.07bn as equity capital into two PSU lenders, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, as part of recapitalisation package to shore up equity capital. (ET)

Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Ltd, Australian subsidiary of Gujarat NRE Coke, will invest about US$200mn a year over the next two years to expand and modernise its coking coal mines. (BL)

Moser Baer India will offer end-to-end data security solutions inclusive of authentication keys, licensing tokens, mobile solutions and secure storage. (BL)

DishTV, the country’s leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) operator has launched 30 individual channels in High Definition (HD). (BS)
Economy Snippets

Food inflation eased to a nine-week low of 11.05% in the first week of February as prices of vegetables came down sharply from the previous week. (ET)

Deposit-taking NBFCs will have to maintain higher capital to risk-weighted assets ratio of 15% with effect from end-March 2012. (BL)

GSM-based mobile operators added 13.7mn new subscribers in January, taking the overall user base to 556mn. (BL)

The government banned four drugs, including use of popular anti-inflammatory drug nimesulide by children and may also prohibit domestic sales of antibiotic gatifloxacine and tegaserod used to treat digestion disorders. (ET)

Minister for corporate affairs Murli Deora has backed a proposal that makes it mandatory for companies to earmark a certain portion of their profits for spending on social causes. (ET)

The government will unveil the new series of consumer price inflation for rural, urban and combined (rural + urban), with the figures for January to be released today. (ET)

The Cabinet Committee on Security on Thursday said that it has annulled the Antrix-Devas deal on grounds that S-band spectrum was required for more strategic needs. (BL)

The Environment Ministry is likely to respond to the concerns raised by various stakeholders on issues relating to coal mining, while protecting the forest cover by March 15. (BL)