Daily News Roundup - Jan 7 2013

The government has allowed Cairn India to further explore its prolific Rajasthan oilfields, which can raise the block’s output to 300,000 barrels per day from current 175,000 bpd, oil minister said. (ET) MAS GMR Aerospace Engineering is in talks with SpiceJet for offering aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul services for the airline’s newly acquired Bombardier Q400 fleet, a senior official of the GMR Group said. (ET) Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which is in the process of acquiring Netherlands-based specialty pharmaceutical company OctoPlus NV for about €27.4m, has so far managed to get nearly 80% shares in its favour. (ET) Infosys is changing course in its India business to focus more on deals from corporations rather than government, which now contributes about 90% to the company’s revenue in its home market. (ET) LIC Housing Finance, promoted by state-run insurance giant LIC, is planning to raise Rs7-10bn through external commercial borrowings, said CEO VK Sharma. (ET) Coal India has achieved 93% of its output target during April-November 2012, according to the nodal Coal Ministry’s statement. This is a 6.4% growth over the corresponding period of the previous year, it said. (BL) Prospects of commencing the Rs40bn L&T port-cum-shipyard at Kattupalli in North Chennai, have brightened following the State Government’s instructions to the company to absorb some more people from the local community. (BL) UCO Bank has sought Rs8bn from the Union Government to boost its capital adequacy ratio and fund its growth needs. According to Executive Director S. Chandrasekharan, the bank recently raised Rs10bn by way of lower tier-II bonds. (BL) Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation announced it has booked 2.25mn tonne per annum natural gas re-gasification capacity offerd by Petronet LNG Ltd at its Dahej terminal in Gujarat. (BS) Mahindra 2 Wheelers, part of the Mahindra Group, kicked off the new year with a re-entry into the motorcycle segment by unveiling two indigenously developed bikes. Powered by a 110cc engine, Mahindra 2 Wheelers showcased the all-new Centuro and Pantero bikes. (BS) National Aluminum Company, a navratna firm under Union ministry of mines, has pitched for allowing ‘open access’ norms in power trading in Odisha. (BS) Economy Snippets The HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 55.6 in December from 52.1 in November following robust increase in new business. (ET) SEBI has proposed cumulative voting for selection of independent directors, disclosure of appointment letters of independent directors to the shareholders and a certification course and training for independent directors. (ET) Led by healthy growth in personal income tax collection, the gross direct tax collection in the nine months till December of the current fiscal increased by 8.01% to Rs4.28trn. (ET) The finance ministry has asked public sector banks to review their exposure to non-core operations like insurance ventures to conserve capital and promote banking operations. (ET) High interest rates and infrastructure bottlenecks dampened India Inc’s business confidence in the October-December quarter. According to CII's quarterly Business Outlook Survey, the Business Confidence Index for Oct-Dec declined to 49.9 from 51.3 in the previous quarter. (ET)