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) Sundram Fasteners is keen to add aero fasteners to its kitty but is wary of making a premature take-off. (BL) Wockhardt is set to exit the process of restructuring its debt, three years after it had first sought the lifeline. The company has written a letter to the CDR committee to work out the exit process without outlining a timeline. (BL) Siemens has bagged Rs19.7bn from NMDC to set up the latter’s steel plant at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh. (BL) Italian tile maker Panaria Group and Asian Granito India have formed a 50:50 joint venture to manufacture and retail luxury tiles under the Bellissimo brand. The two firms will invest Rs1bn over the next three to five years in the venture. (BL) Bhushan Steel expects to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Odisha Government in the current quarter, which will pave the way for the company mining 3.5mn tonnes of iron ore a year for its new steel projects. (BL) Strides Arcolab Limited has entered into an agreement with Gilead Sciences to promote access to low-cost generic versions of Gilead’s HIV medicine in developing countries. (BL) In a breather for Unitech Wireless, the Delhi High Court allowed the company to accept ‘expressions of interest’ from bidders interested in buying the company’s business assets. (BS) IVRCL Limited has bagged orders worth Rs6.2bn under its transportation, buildings and power divisions. (BS) The Mahindra & Mahindra group and Volkswagen—the two auto major groups—have evinced interests in setting up new manufacturing facilities in Uttarakhand. (BS) Economy Snippets RBI Governor D Subbarao has said the proposed elimination of fuel subsidy can lead to a massive 2.6% spike in inflation, an assessment that makes it even more difficult for the government to bite the bullet. (ET) Rating outlook for the Indian real estate sector continues to be negative for the second half of 2012 due to persistent sluggish demand, high construction costs and liquidity pressures, ratings agency Fitch said. (ET) The coal ministry has halved the production targets of captive coal mines owned by the private as well as public sector companies, a decision that is likely to exacerbate the shortage of the fuel supply in the country. (BL) Fitch Ratings has revised the 2H2012 outlook for the Indian retail sector to negative from stable in view of a sustained deterioration in the discretionary spending ability which is unlikely to improve over the short term. Fitch has revised down its real GDP forecasts to 6.5% and 7.0% from the earlier 7.5% and 8.0% in FY13 and FY14, respectively. (ET)