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Areva T&D bags two contracts of Rs 290 crore from Essar
AREVA T&D India has bagged two contracts worth Rs 290 crore from Essar Projects for setting up latter's power projects in Jharkhand and Orissa. AREVA T&D India has been awarded two contracts by Essar Projects for their upcoming Power Projects at Tori, Jharkhand and Paradip, Orissa. Tori and Paradip are 1,200-MW Super Thermal Power and 120-MW Thermal Power Projects, respectively. The combined value of both contracts is around Rs 290 crore and the scope will include supply and installation of electrical Balance of Plant solutions for two 600-MW thermal power plants at Tori, Jharkhand and four 30 MW units thermal power plants at Paradip, Orissa.

ICICI Bank provides Rs.22 cr soft loan to TERI
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and ICICI Bank signed a ‘soft loan agreement' to promote research and development in the areas of nano-biotechnology, energy efficient technology, micro enterprise systems and other vital areas of sustainable development. The financial assistance amounting to Rs.22 crore from ICICI Bank under the ‘Technology Institutions Programme' of the World Bank will strengthen TERI's activities working on the entire spectrum of sustainable development. TERI plans to utilise the loan to focus on energy efficient improvements in Indian industry.

Jindal Steel makes second attempt at acquiring Rocklands of Australia
After one prior failed attempt to acquire Australian coal miner Rocklands Richfield, Jindal Steel and Power is at it again with a second try. The company has launched an open offer to acquire all shares of the company at $0.25 per share valuing it at $88 million. Jindal Steel and Power (Australia) Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd has initiated the open offer which will commence on May 5 and will end on June 6. The company is offering $0.25 per share which is at a premium of 43 per cent to the closing price of Rocklands as on April 18. Jindal Steel and Power, through its Mauritian subsidiary, Jindal Steel and Power (Mauritius) Ltd holds 14.46 per cent stake in Rocklands Richfields. Jindal has appointed Wilson HTM to act as its on-market broker for the share purchase. Deloitte Corporate Finance is the financial advisor to Jindal and Hopgood Ganim is the legal counsel to the company.

Powergrid Corp to develop transmission network in Kenya
PowerGrid Corp has signed an agreement for developing transmission network in Kenya. The details of the agreement are yet to be worked out. The company also signed an agreement for providing training to KETRACO engineers.

RIL: Decline in gas production from RIL-operated KG-D6 block under govt's scanner
The oil ministry will hold a meeting on Thursday to assess reasons for a sharp decline in gas production from Reliance Industries-operated KG-D6 block and may consider reallocating gas in favour of high-priority sectors, such as fertiliser and power. It is also considering moves to offset the shortfall with imports.

Reliance Infra arm close to tying up funds for Worli sea-link project
Reliance One Sealink Pvt Ltd, a special purpose vehicle floated by Reliance Infra, is close to securing financial closure for its Mumbai sealink project. ICICI Bank has given “in-principle approval” for a loan of Rs 2,000-crore - comprising $250-million (around Rs 1,125 crore) ECB and the rest (Rs 875 crore) by way of rupee term loan.

State Bank scraps teaser home loan scheme
SBI will discontinue the teaser home loan scheme from April 30. The prospect of having to make a two per cent provisioning for standard assets (against 0.4 per cent for other standard assets) entailing an outgo of Rs 587 crore on existing teaser loans in the March-end quarter clinched the decision to do way with the product. Otherwise, the bank's profitability for the reporting quarter would have been impacted to that extent.

Tata Steel, Rio Tinto to jointly develop new technology
Tata Steel may not have accepted Rio Tinto’s ongoing offer for Riversdale Mining shares as yet, but it has signed a licensing agreement with the global miner to support technological and commercial development of the environmentally friendly direct iron smelting process called HIsarna. The agreement covers how both parties will work together, sharing their existing knowledge of the two technologies that are combined in the new process. It also covers how benefits from future successful marketing of technology will be made available to both parties, as well as to the members of ULCOS, a consortium of European steelmakers in whose name the project was being carried out.

VIP may sell stake in Windsor Machines
VIP Industries is likely to sell its stake in the Windsor Machines Ltd, to Renaissance Equipment Pvt Ltd, along with other promoters. VIP, one of the promoters, holds 17.49 per cent stake in Windsor Machines. The promoters are expecting a final decision from the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) soon.

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Economic Times

Coca-Cola to take on Rasna at 5 price point
Henkel AG set to sell off stake to Jyothy
Price hikes, volume rise to negate cost pressure in FMCG sector
L&T to seek shareholders' nod to demerge electrical business
Fortis to pay about Rs 930 cr for 86% stake in SRL
Providence Equity Partners invests Rs 260 crore in UFO Moviez

Business Standard

AI fires one more salvo in fare war
Future Venture mulls IPO route to exit from investee firms
Plan panel targets 9-9.5% economic growth in 2012-17
Corporate debt issuances dip 50% in fourth quarter
Goldman Sachs 1st-quarter profit falls 21%
Muthoot to raise Rs 900 cr via IPO

Business Line

IRDA relax accounting norms for insurers
Samsung to sell hard disk drive biz to Seagate for $ 1.4 bn
SBI hikes lending rates by 25 bps
Unfazed by low returns, Vodafone to invest $1 b in India
Engg, oil drive 2010-11 exports to record $246 b

Mint

Margin woes persist at Persistent Systems
Goldman profit tops forecasts, shares climb
Novartis sales beat forecasts as Gilenya shines
IDBI Bank Q4 net up 62% at Rs 516 cr
J&J beats forecasts despite recalls

Financial Express

'Sovereign funds to buy 20% in India Inc'
DGH refuses to OK RIL KG-D6 spend
Vedanta buys 11 pct in Cairn India
Exports surge by 37% to $246 bn in FY'11
High oil prices to boost RIL, ONGC Q4
CMC Q4 net slips to Rs 43.96 cr
FDI dips about 25% in first 11 months of 2010-2011

DNA

Vesuvius promoter Cookson seeks buys
Cafe Coffee Day, Barista Lavazza raise prices 7-10%
Vedanta tightens grip on Cairn with Petronas help
Crisil expects to grow its SME ratings business ten-fold
Zee Ent beats Street, Goldman upgrades price, margin targets
India's Tata Power hybrid issue upsized to $450 million term sheet
Home registrations surge 24% in March in Mumbai

As per the media reports, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will commission two petrochemical complexes by 2013 at Dahej in the western Indian state of Gujarat and Mangalore in southern Karnataka stake The petrochem complex at Dahej is expected to cost $4.3 billion while the Mangalore plant will cost USD1.3 billion.

KEC International has completed the acquisition process of US-based SAE Towers , along with its subsidiary firms in Brazil , Mexico and America . The company has also completed the acquisition of home-grown Jay Railway Signaling. KEC International acquired Texas-based SAE Towers for $95 million (about Rs 440-crore) on a cash-free and debt-free basis. The acquisition process of home-grown Jay Railway Signaling has been also completed in terms of the definitive agreement. KEC had acquired Jay Railway Signalling for close to Rs 14-crore, barely a week after sealing the buy-out of SAE Towers Holdings.

Nestle plans to set up its first research and development centre in India , which will be operational by July 2012, at an investment of about Rs 230 crore. The new R&D Centre at Manesar in Haryana will be the 30th centre for the company worldwide and it will be used for facilitating innovation in a wide variety of foods, including culinary, cereals beverages and dairy products.

Synefra Engineering and Construction Ltd expects a investments of Rs 5,000-7,000 crore and to generate 10,000 direct jobs at its hi-tech engineering park at the Vadodara SEZ in the next three years. Originally established as Suzlon Infrastructure Ltd in 1998, the Tanti Group company that assumed its new nomenclature of Synefra E&C Ltd last year, has developed the Vadodara SEZ on 386 acres. Together with its two other eco-consciously developed and zero-waste SEZs at Coimbatore (373 acres) and Mangalore (641 acres), the company has so far invested $200 million (Rs 900 crore) on the three SEZ.

Crompton Greaves (CG) is  developing the Belwind wind energy farm off the coast of Belgium , one of Europe 's largest and deepest offshore projects. If proven successful, it could conceivably revolutionise the offshore wind model by eliminating one of its greatest downsides: the expense of the maintenance of offshore parts. CG has been marching across Europe with a string of acquisitions in recent years. Beginning with its 2005 acquisition of Pauwels, the Belgium-based power transformer maker, it has bought companies in the power systems sector in Hungary, Ireland, France and, most recently, in Britain. It thus already accounts for 30% of the distribution transformer market for renewable energy in Europe .

PVR has put its multiplex at Phoenix Mill mall in central Mumbai on the block with a price tag of Rs80-100 crore. It plans to sell the property and take it back on lease and aims to close the transaction by this financial year. PVR Phoenix has 65,000 square feet of area and is the only property that the theatre chain owns. The sale of the Phoenix Mill property will help fund PVR’s future capex needs. It plans to open 57 screens this year. PVR had bought the property almost five years ago for around Rs60 crore and spent another Rs25 crore. The sale will boost the company’s RoCE as the deal would unlock substantial cash, which is currently locked in. While the sale proceeds will help the company expand operations, the rentals could be as high as 1 crore per month.

Tata Steel has raised the prices of flat products by about Rs 1,000 a tonne on account of a pick-up in demand and the prevailing market trend.

As per the media reports, government owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) plans to invest about Rs15,000 crore in setting up a 9 million tons-a-year refinery on the west coast. The company is currently doing a feasibility study and expects to take an investment decision in next six months.

 

Bajaj FinServ, announced its entry into the infrastructure finance sector and appointed Anand K Gore as its chief executive. Bajaj Finserv, initially through Bajaj Auto Finance (BAFL), proposes to provide complete financial solutions to infrastructure companies and developers in the power, road telecom and railway sectors.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd plans to invest Rs18 billion to set up 11 hospitals in the country over the next two years.

Britannia is in a festive mood, as it looks to get a bigger mouthful of the market share during the festival-heavy August-December period. Currently, its revenues from the festival season stand at Rs 30 crore. Britannia wants to push this figure up to Rs 200 crore over the next three years.

Jindal Steel and Power said on Saturday it has resumed developing the El Mutun steel and iron ore mine in Bolivia, after Bolivia sanctioned additional land for the project.

Bombay Rayon Fashions said on Monday its board approved raising up to 5 billion rupees through various means. The board also approved allotment of 10 million optionally convertible warrants to the founders, it said in a filing to the NSE.

Indian port operator and developer Gujarat Pipavav has raised about 923 million rupees ($20 million) from anchor investors as part of an initial public offering to raise as much as $107 million. The firm, majority owned by APM Terminals, the port operating arm of Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk, has allocated 20.5 million shares to 16 cornerstone investors at 45 rupees a share, it said in an exchange filing.

Adani Power plans to expand its power generation capacity to 16,000 megawatts by 2014, Chief Executive Ravi Sharma said on Monday.

Cairn India said on Monday it had informed India's Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) of a discovery of oil and gas in an onshore block in the Krishna Godavari basin.

Jubilant Life Sciences, earlier known as Jubilant Organosys, has bagged $51 million worth of Contract Research and Manufacturing Services (CRAMS) contract from a US-based life science company. The contract is believed to be for the tenure of 4 years with an option to extend it by one year.

ngineering and construction major, Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) has won 2 projects worth Rs1,195 crore from ONGC to set up additional processing units (APUs) at its gas processing complexes at Hazira and Urain.

Prospects of a stronger bonding of the two giant economies of Asia viz. India and Japan is almost certain as the last round of talks that got over on August, 17, between the two nations, proved “extremely fruitful.” The signing of a trade partnership agreement called Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is likely to be done by the end of 2010, which will be after the next round of talks that are expected to be held early next month.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is looking to penetrate the Japanese drug market for generics through launch of its medicines for chronic diseases, as has been reported by some media sources.

Infrastructure construction major, Tantia Constructions has received a project worth Rs 51 crore from Chief Engineer, Metro Railway, Kolkata. The contract is for execution of civil engineering works of PSC via duct between Noapara and Dum Dum Cantonment and various civil works at Noapara in connection with integration of Airport Line with Metro Railway.

Maruti Suzuki may manufacture cars for German auto firm Volkswagen's global market on a contract basis, three newspapers said on Thursday, citing Maruti's managing director.

In an attempt to boost exports, the government has announced a bagful of stimulus measures in the review of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2009-2014, reports CNBC-TV18. The fresh export promotion sops will cost Rs 1050 crore, says Commerce Minister Anand Sharma

The BSE Sensex shrugged off weak Asian markets and nudged higher on Wednesday, propelled by export-led outsourcers after better-than-expected results and guidance from rival Cognizant Technology 

Maruti Suzuki may manufacture cars for German auto firm Volkswagen's global market on a contract basis, three newspapers said on Thursday, citing Maruti's managing director.

Maruti Suzuki may manufacture cars for German auto firm Volkswagen's global market on a contract basis, three newspapers said on Thursday, citing Maruti's managing director.