Daily News Roundup - Aug 8 2013

Havells India said it is targetting Rs 5bn revenue from Karnataka in the next two years. (ET)

BHEL said it has bagged a Rs2.65bn order from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited for supplying equipment for latter's refinery project in Kochi. (ET)

Emami is planning to invest nearly Rs10bn for setting up a cement grinding unit and a 450-bed hospital in West Bengal. (BL)

Cadbury India, part of Mondelçz International, plans to invest more than Rs10bn in the first phase of a manufacturing plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. (BL)

Cognizant Technology Solutions hopes to earn around US$500 mn this year from offering SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud) technologies to clients, according to its Chief Executive Officer Francisco D’Souza. (BL)

A consortium comprising Siemens Ltd, Siemens AG and Siemens China has won an order for a turnkey project worth approximately €70 mn from IL&FS Rail Ltd, said an official release. (BL)

Tilaknagar Industries (TI), is in talks with global giants like Suntory Holdings and Pernod Ricard to sell a 15-20 % stake in the company. (BS)

The first consignment of phosphoric acid from Tunisian Indian Fertilisers (Tifert), a Tunisia-based venture of Coromandel International Limited (CIL), has arrived at Kakinada, where CIL's complex fertilisers plant is located. (BS)

Larsen and Turbo Ltd (L&T) has been awarded Rs6.5bn contract for equipment supply and construction of 28 mega lift irrigation projects in Tel River basin by the water resources department of Odisha government. (BS)

While the National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) claimed it has 0.5mn tonnes of basmati paddy stocks at its designated warehouses in Punjab and Haryana, the trade believes disposing this may not be easy with the new crop set to arrive in the markets from mid-September. (BL)

The State Trading Corporation (STC) of Mauritius has renewed an agreement to source petroleum products from Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), ending uncertainty. (BL)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested the two owners of mobile handset maker Micromax, while they were allegedly giving a Rs3mn bribe to engineers of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation for clearance to a banquet hall construction. (BS)

Economy Snippets
The sub-committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council has expressed concern over the deteriorating asset quality of state-run banks.(ET)

A Parliamentary panel has recommended review of the Government’s decision to raise gas prices.(BL)

The Centre’s net direct tax collections grew 10.37 % in April-July at Rs 1160bn.(BL)

Housing finance companies (HFCs) can now lend more funds to real estate developers and individual home buyers. This is because the National Housing Bank (NHB), regulator for HFCs, has lowered the risk weights for loans extended by such companies. Lower risk weight means lesser capital that an HFC has to set aside for providing a home loan..(BL)

Excessive rainfall has hit kharif agricultural commodities, with five to seven % of crops feared damaged in major growing regions, especially flood-prone areas.(BS)