Daily News Roundup - July 16 2012

Tata Motors Ltd is developing a new line of fuel-efficient trucks and buses to fend off competition from bigger global rivals. It is also planning to upgrade its passenger car models and introduce new ones to reverse the company’s sliding market share in this segment, Chairman Ratan Tata has said. (BS) Jindal Steel and Power has set an August 10 deadline for Bolivian government to resolve the issues related to its US$2.1bn venture in Bolivia, or it will pull out of the Latin American country. (BL) Essar Oil has set a roadmap to invest an additional ~Rs20bn at its coal-bed methane block in Ranigunj of West Bengal. (BS) Coal India has lined up an investment of Rs75bn to develop railway tracks and related infrastructure to evacuate coal from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. (BL) Coal India will sign a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corporation to take over 50% in its explosives division, which will be spun off into a different company where CIL and IOC will have 50% stake each. (ET) TCS has applied for 5,900 H1B visas for America this year, up 1,400 from last year’s 4,500 applications. (BS) Nalco is in talks to buy Indonesia’s Ashan Aluninum (Inalum) for up to Rs80bn. (ET) In a move seen as delaying tactics, the oil ministry has posed a query to Reliance Industries on its coal-bed methane gas pricing that is a repeat of a question the firm had replied to over two months back. (BS) Tata Steel reported that its saleable steel output in the June quarter was down marginally at 1.74mt tons against 1.75mt in the same period last year. This was largely due to power outages which impacted downstream production. (BL) Power Grid Corporation is in discussions with three companies for setting up an equal joint venture to manufacture transmission equipment. (BS) DLF plans to cut its Rs230bn debt to about Rs170bn in this fiscal by selling at least two out of its three big-ticket non-core business by the year end. (ET) ONGC will begin gas sales from Gamij field in Gujarat to the private sector soon through e-bidding process. (BS) Economy Snippets For the month of June, exports fell 5.5% to US$25.1bn over a year, imports were down a staggering 13.5%, the biggest decline in 32 months, to US$35.4bn. (BS) The poor progress of monsoon in States such as Karnataka and Maharashtra has prompted the Centre to prepare a contingency kharif sowing plan. Agriculture Ministry officials said that contingency plans for seven States – Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – have been prepared. (BL) Telecom service providers have rejected the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India claim that a rate hike of just 5 paise would improve the profitability of operators even if the regulator’s proposals on spectrum pricing were accepted. (BS) The food ministry has proposed imposing 10% import duty on sugar, as the country has surplus domestic production. The zero-import duty regime expired on June 30. (BS)