Daily News Roundup - June 6 2012

The oil ministry has received a communication from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board saying the licence for one pipeline being planned by GAIL and four by Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure should be revoked as work has not progressed on the projects for a long time. (ET) The heads of the top three telecom operators — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular — sought Finance Minister’s "urgent and personal" intervention to stop the re-farming of spectrum proposed by the telecom regulator, saying it would have serious impact on the industry. (BS) Essar Oil announced completion of its Rs100bn expansion project at the Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, taking the annual capacity to 20mn tons, four months ahead of schedule. (BL) Maruti Suzuki has cut production of models such as the Alto, WagonR, Eeco and A-Star over the last few days by about 8% of its monthly capacity. (BL) Elder Pharmaceuticals has launched ‘Zalain’, a medicine used to treat fungal skin infections, in India in association with Spain-based drug firm Ferrer. (ET) Suzlon, has launched a new machine designed for low wind speed sites. (BL) The Australian government has deferred giving environmental clearance to a GVK group’s coal project after an arm of the United Nations stated that large-scale developments could pose a threat to certain ecological organisms along the coast of Queensland. (ET) GAIL (India) Ltd has launched bonds of Rs5bn with a green-shoe option of Rs2.5bn. (BL) VE Commercial Vehicles, an equal joint venture between the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, has restructured the organisation by merging its three profit centres — Eicher Trucks and Buses, Volvo Trucks and the powertrain unit. (ET) Adani Power Ltd entered the fuel supply pact with Coal India for Mundra plant in Gujarat. (BL) With ONGC deterring from building a refinery in Rajasthan, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has expressed interest in setting up a 9mn ton unit at the site of the massive oil find at Barmer district. (ET) Lupin has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market its generic Suprax capsules, used for treating bacterial infections, in the American market. (BS) Economy Snippets The HSBC India Services Purchasing Managers Index bounced to a three-month high of 54.7 in May from 52.8 in April. (BL) A 2% interest subvention for labour-intensive sectors and the Export Promotion Capital Goods scheme were extended by a year and their coverage widened. (BS) The panel of ministers headed by Finance Minister decided to sell up to 13.75 MHz of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in the upcoming auctions, raising the possibility of two mobile phone companies winning back their cancelled permits. (ET) Two months after increasing the freight, railways have increased the parcel and luggage rates by 25% on all goods with immediate effect, in a move that is expected to add to the inflationary situation. (BS)