Daily News Roundup - June 18 2012

Infosys has delayed bringing on board some of the 28,000 engineers hired from campuses to as late as July 2013, a visible sign of the growth engine slowing down. (ET) The Union Government may ask Coal India Ltd to import 45mn tonnes of thermal coal in 2012-13 to meet the projected demand of 393mn tonnes from the power sector during the year. (BL) To meet competition head on from the likes of Bharat Benz, VE Commercial, Mahindra Navistar, Tata Motors has lined up 50 new products and variants right from its sub-one tonne trucks to its heavy duty Prima truck range. The company will invest Rs15-20bn in the new line of products. (ET) State Bank of India extended its lower interest rates to small and medium sized enterprises by as much as 350bps, but the move ahead of a possible policy rate cut by the central bank may reduce its profitability. (ET) In a move to consolidate group holdings in affiliates, Tata Steel announced two simultaneous open offers to shareholders of Tinplate Company of India and Tata Sponge Iron. (ET) Larsen & Toubro said its construction arm has won orders valued at Rs10.76bn during April-June quarter of the current fiscal. It said its Metallurgical and Material Handling independent company has bagged an order worth Rs4.07bn from Bajaj Infrastructure Development to set up a coal-handling system. (ET) State Bank of India will raise up to US$2bn through an overseas bond sale in the next three months. (ET) Tata Teleservices has approached the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal for a direction to the government to allot additional airwaves for GSM services before the proposed spectrum auction. (BS) Shasun Pharmaceuticals Limited is planning for backward integration by entering into manufacture of intermediates, initially with starting material for some of its key active pharmaceutical ingredients. (BS) At a time when the whole country including Odisha is reeling under acute power shortage, the 3000 Mw power plant of NTPC at Kaniha, the second largest power station in India, is forced to regulate generation due to less supply of coal. (BS) Economy Snippets In a major relief to cash-strapped airlines, jet fuel (ATF) prices were reduced by a massive 5%, the steepest reduction in rates since February 2010. (ET) The government ruled out raising the 49% FDI cap in the aviation sector. The 1934 Civil Aviation Act says the management (of an Indian airline) has to be in Indian hands, majority of directors have to be Indian, civil aviation minister said. (ET) Indian companies have reported an average increase of about 10% in advance tax outgo in the April-June quarter, according to sources in the income tax department. (ET) The Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India have turned down the Power Ministry's proposal seeking refinance of Rs1,950bn accumulated losses incurred by State electricity distribution companies. (BL)