Daily News Roundup - Feb 13 2014

Raj Television Network Ltd is on the lookout for a strategic investor with the promoters open to divesting a majority stake in the company. (BL)

Piramal Enterprises and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have jointly set up a US$500-mn fund to finance residential property projects in India. (BL)

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to remove the 26 % interest rate cap on loans given by micro-finance companies regulated by it is unlikely to significantly impact SKS Microfinance. (ET)

Havells India is aiming to double revenues from its popular brand -- Standard Electricals -- as part of foray into the domestic fans segment, a top company official said. (ET)

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), has signed separate agreements with consortia of international banks for raising US$2.5 bn offshore borrowings to fund the acquisition of a minority stake in an offshore gas field in Mozambique. (ET)

The West Bengal government has allocated 96 acres for NTPC's proposed 1,320-mw thermal power plant at Katwa, while local residents have agreed to add 150 acre to the land pool, raising hopes that the long-delayed project will get off the block. (ET)

Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals (DFPCL), a leading manufacturer of ammonium nitrate - an industrial explosive as well as a fertiliser used in agriculture - is set to benefit from the government's regulations on production, trade and imports of the chemical . (ET)

GCPL will launch a liquid vapouriser that claims to get rid of mosquitoes in 10 minutes. (BS)

Afcons Limited, having completed the EPC (engineering procurement and construction) work on the Kochi LNG terminal, is now looking for more such projects in this space. (BS)

United Bank of India has put the assets of Zoom Developers on the block for a fourth time, to recover dues of Rs30bn 3,002 crore from the developer. The bank reportedly tried thrice to sell the assets in the past. (BS)

Ashok Leyland is selling off it prime property in Chennai. This is part of a plan involving sale of immovable property to tackle the high debt it is facing following the slowdown in commercial vehicle sales over the last several quarters. (BL)

Economy Snippets
Growth in industrial production remained negative for the third month in a row, contracting 0.6 % in December 2013, mainly due to the sluggish performance of the manufacturing sector. The good news, however, came from the retail inflation numbers for January 2014, which eased to a two-year low of 8.79 % as against 9.87 % in the previous month.(BL)

Moving away from the usual formula of announcing populist measures, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge refrained from reducing passenger fares or announcing new projects in his interim budget 2014-15.(BL)

The RBI is discussing with market participants the possibility of setting up an exchange through which trade receivables of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can be sold in the market.(BL)