Etisalat says eyes India options, including Rcomm

Abu Dhabi\'s Etisalat said it was studying options in India, including a deal with Reliance Communications, while US telecoms giant ATT was named in media reports as another potential investor in India\'s No. 2 mobile player.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 8:35 am

Renault targets 200,000 electric cars in 2015

French carmaker Renault aims to produce more than 200,000 electric vehicles per year by 20152016, French paper La Tribune said, citing company sources.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 8:35 am

Import duty on supercritical equipment unlikely till 2012

Though the Planning Commission has suggested 14% import duty on supercritical equipment, CNBCTV18 learns that this is unlikely to happen till 2012. The duty, sources says, may however be levied from 2013 onwards. \"Orders for capacity addition till 2012 are already in place.\"
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 8:27 am

Fuel prices must be increased: Montek Singh

Statecontrolled fuel prices must be increased, a top adviser said on Monday.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 7:46 am

Murli Deora says need to raise fuel prices

Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Monday the country should raise stateset fuel prices as retailing firms were suffering losses.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 7:46 am

Asia\'s steel demand seen up 89% Tata Steel

Strong economic growth could boost steel demand in Asia by 9% annually in the coming years, an executive with Tata Steel said on Monday.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 6:34 am

Oil ministry wants gradual fuel reform

The oil ministry favours a quick switch to market prices for petrol and a gradual rise in diesel rates as part of a government drive to cut subsidies, three sources in the petroleum ministry said on Monday.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 6:34 am

Is the sugar industry getting back its sweetness?

It wasn\'t sweet anymore. As sugar prices across the globe was on downward drift, importers were on the sidelines waiting for them to stabilise before they could buy.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 6:31 am

Vodafone to move Bombay HC today in tax case: Sources

The HutchVodafone USD 11.1 billion deal that dates back to 2007, is likely to see the dawn of the day. It is being learnt that Vodafone would more the Bombay High Court today in the tax case.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 6:23 am

Cap infusion by govt will help us sustain growth: United Bk

A clutch of public sector banks had asked for some capital infusion from the Government of India. United Bank of India seems to have got the nod for Rs 250 crore of capital infusion. In an exclusive interview with CNBCTV, Bhaskar Sen, CMD, United Bank of India, gives more details.
Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 6:18 am

Section of Hyundai workers go on flash strike

The CPI(M) slammed the Hyundai Motor India management for 'declining to implement labour welfare laws,' and describing it as 'unconstitutional.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:58 am

Hyundai workers go on flash strike, affect production

A section of the employees of automaker Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Monday went on a flash strike at its manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur, near here, demanding the reinstatement of over 60 colleagues dismissed last year.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:57 am

IOC losing 1 bln rupees a day on fuel sales

State-run Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest oil retailer, is currently suffering a daily revenue loss of 1 billion rupees on fuel sales in the domestic market, its chairman told reporters on Monday.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:54 am

Sensex falls 400 points on weak global cues - Economic Times


Stock Watch
Sensex falls 400 points on weak global cues
Economic Times
MUMBAI: Indian markets opened with a gap-down Monday as jobs data from the US and as debt crisis in Hungary hurt sentiments. All the sectoral indices were in the red led by metals, realty and auto stocks. At 9:10 am, Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex was ...
Sensex ends down 321ptsBusiness Standard
Sensex apes global negative sentiments, down 2.19%Times of India
Sensex joins global selloff, RCom bucks trendNDTV.com
Stock Watch -India Infoline.com -SteelGuru
all 81 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:42 am

Bhopal gas tragedy | Keshub Mahindra among 8 found guilty

Bhopal: A court on Monday found the Indian unit of US chemicals firm Union Carbide and eight Indian employees guilty of negligence over one of the world’s worst industrial accidents that killed thousands of people in 1984.
Union Carbide plant in the central city of Bhopal accidentally released toxic gases into the air and the government says around 3,500 people died as a result. Activists say 25,000 died in the immediate aftermath and the years that followed.
The verdict is the first in more than 25 years that could lead to jail sentences of up to two years and fines for those convicted, though rights activists said the punishment would be too light.
Nityanand Jayaraman, of the Bhopal campaign for justice talks to Padmaparna Ghosh about his outrage at the verdict
Keshub Mahindra, current chairman of India’s top utility vehicle and tractor maker Mahindra & Mahindra, was the highest ranking person convicted on Monday. He was chairman of Union Carbide India Ltd, a unit of Union Carbide, at the time of the accident.
Others found guilty are  Vijay Gokhle, the then managing director of UCIL, Kishore Kamdar, the then vice president, J N Mukund, the then works manager, S P Choudhary, the then production manager, K V Shetty, the then plant superintendent and S I Quershi, the then production assistant.
Union Carbide’s Indian arm was also found guilty.
Those convicted can appeal to a higher court, a process that in India can take years.
Click here to view a slideshow of photographs of the defunct plant
Also See | S. Sriramachari, the man who conducted the autopsies in the wake of the Bhopal gas tragedy and who died of the after effects
“It’s actually going to be nothing. What is it? We’re looking at maximum punishment of two years or a fine. If that’s not the biggest joke, then I don’t know what is,” Rachna Dhingra, a Bhopal rights activist, said.
“There’s nothing to be happy about.”
The verdict in Bhopal applied only to Indian officials of the former Union Carbide’s Indian arm while separate cases have been filed against the company and its overseas officials.
Union Carbide had settled its liabilities to the Indian government in 1989 before being bought over by Dow Chemical.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:42 am

Exxon execs warn on curbing deepwater drilling

KUALA LUMPUR/BEIJING (Reuters) - ExxonMobil warned against quick reactive changes to deepwater drilling laws that damage long-term investment decisions and urged governments to take time to assess the reasons for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:38 am

Etisalat eyes India options including RCom

New Delhi/Amman: Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat said it was studying options in India, including a deal with Reliance Communications, while US telecoms giant AT&T was named in media reports as another potential investor in India’s No. 2 mobile player.
Reliance Communications, with a market value of about $7.5 billion, said on Sunday it was open to selling a stake of up to 26% to strategic or private equity investors.
A frenzy of deal-making speculation has surrounded the company, the only major Indian cellular carrier without a foreign strategic investor in the world’s fastest-growing mobile market.
Talk started soon after controlling shareholder Anil Ambani and his long-estranged brother Mukesh ended an agreement that forbade them from competing on each other’s turf, freeing Anil to bring new investors into his debt-laden company.
On Sunday, Reliance Comm said its board approved selling up to 26% at a premium to its current market price, which at current market prices would be worth about $2 billion.
The Indian mobile carrier did not give a time frame or any details about a possible deal, but media reports and a person familiar with the matter had previously cited Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat and South Africa’s MTN as potential partners.
“We did not make any offers to Reliance. We’re studying several opportunities in India, among them is Reliance,” Etisalat chairman Mohammad Omran told Reuters in Amman on Monday.
AT&T, the biggest US phone company by revenue, declined to comment on a report in the Wall Street Journal that the companies had talked about a transaction. The New York Times also reported that AT&T was in preliminary talks with Reliance Comm.
Finding a buyer willing to pay a high premium for a minority stake in Reliance Comm may be a challenge given the ongoing price war in India’s 15-player cellphone market and the heavy capital expense needed to build out third-generation mobile networks.
Reliance Comm shares rose 14% last week on deal talk but still ended Friday 80% below their early 2008 peak.
Bruising Market
In a sign of just how bruising India is, UK giant Vodafone last month took a charge of £2.3 billion ($3.3 billion) on its India business and is also fighting a $2.56 billion tax bill in the country.
Market leader Bharti Airtel, searching for more attractive opportunities elsewhere, is paying $9.7 billion to buy Zain of Kuwait’s Africa operations. Bharti is about one-third owned by Singapore Telecommunications.
“The event would indeed be positive for RCOM, if it happens, however, we would view it as negative for the sector,” Kotak Securities analysts wrote in a Monday note.
“This event would mean a further infusion of risk capital in the industry, without leading to any consolidation,” they said.
Reliance Comm had net debt of Rs19,900 crore ($4.2 billion) at the end of March and last month paid Rs8,585 crore for a 3G licences in an auction that was far more costly than had been forecast. A stake sale would help it cut debt.
AT&T has long been interested in India, which boats 600 million cellular subscribers.
The U.S. giant sold its stake Idea Cellular in 2005, though it continues to offer other services in the country. In 2007, it applied for an all-India telecoms licence, but is still waiting for approval. The company had been seen to be a possible bidder for 3G spectrum but ended up staying away.
A Reliance Comm official could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday.
“Some of these major players who are not present in India, if they want to give a sense to their shareholders that we are not missing the India cake, we are not missing the India theme as a strategy, so probably they may find it useful,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, equity head at SMC Capitals in New Delhi.
Shares Outperform
Reliance Comm shares rose as much as 6.45% early on Monday before easing to a gain of over 3%, outperforming a broader market that was off by 2.3%. More than 6.4 million shares were traded, three times their 30-day average full-day volume of about 2 million shares.
Reliance Comm also said that its board had approved pursuing other “appropriate strategic consolidation opportunities”.
Etisalat, which already has a start-up joint venture in India, said last week it was looking to buy a stake in an Indian operator and was in talks with several firms.
The Times of India newspaper last week said Etisalat, the Gulf region’s biggest provider of telecoms services, was in advanced talks to buy a quarter of Reliance Comm for Rs18,000 crore ($3.8 billion), a healthy premium.
Separately, India’s Economic Times newspaper reported last week Reliance Comm was considering a merger with MTN, with which the Indian firm had held tie-up talks in 2008.
One person familiar with the matter said last week a deal with Etisalat was a more mature possibility than one with MTN.
An MTN spokeswoman said on Sunday the company was not in talks with Reliance Comm.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:33 am

World markets tumble on fears over Hungary

World stock markets tumbled today, dragged down by weak US employment figures and fresh fears that Europe's debt crisis is spreading to Hungary.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:29 am

Cabinet panel seen raising fuel prices

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government is set to raise fuel prices on Monday to cut losses of state oil firms at the risk of stoking inflation further and angering voters but seen helping narrow the fiscal deficit.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:28 am

Reliance Communications: a timeline

Etisalat
9 April 2008
22 February 2010
2 June 2010
MTN deal
26 May 2008
28 May 2008
29 May 2008
2 July 2008
3 July 2008
7 July 2008
8 July 2008
9 July 2008
19 July 2008
14 November 2008
17 January 2009
Tower sharing deal with Etisalat
Slide show

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:28 am

India gold buying retreats; rupee weakness hurts

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India gold buying retreated on Monday afternoon, after witnessing a slight pick-up in the last session, as traders awaited falls in prices and a weaker rupee restricted its downside, dealers said.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:22 am

‘Twilight’ sequel shines at MTV Movie Awards

Los Angeles: The sun never seems to set on the “Twilight” movie franchise.
The second film in the vampire romance series won five prizes at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, just as the first picture did a year ago.
In what amounted to a two-hour infomercial for the blockbuster, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” was named best movie, while stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson picked up multiple honors.
Fans were also treated to an exclusive preview of the third film, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” which opens in theaters on June 30.
Stewart won for best female performance and best kiss, sharing the latter award with Pattinson. The real-life lovers staged a deliberately awkward smooch for the benefit of the overly excitable “Twilight” fans who seemed to dominate the crowd at the Gibson Amphitheatre near Hollywood. Pattinson also won for best male performance, and was named global superstar.
While the profanity-laced ceremony is tailored to MTV’s core audience of teens and twentysomethings, relative veterans Tom Cruise and Sandra Bullock gave the youngsters a few lessons in showbiz.
Cruise stole the show in the first half hour when he dropped his serious persona to take to the stage for a highly choreographed dance routine with Jennifer Lopez.
Reviving his bald alter ego Les Grossman, a boorish movie-studio executive character in the 2008 comedy “Tropic Thunder,” the 47-year-old actor wowed the crowd with a saucy, booty-slapping, crotch-grabbing performance that climaxed with a splits worthy of James Brown.
“It was a lot of fun,” he told reporters afterward.
Bullock keeps it in perspective
Bullock received a career achievement award, and briefly made out with Scarlett Johannson.
“Now that we have done that, can we please go back to normal? Because therapy is really expensive,” she said, evidently trying to defuse the outpouring of pity in the wake of her marital woes.
“Go back to making fun of me, I don’t care ... And I think when we all go to bed tonight, just to think about all the people that are being affected in the Gulf (by the BP oil spill) and just say a prayer for them.”
Betty White, the octogenarian “Golden Girls” actress riding a new wave of popularity, described Bullock as “a national treasure,” said she had seen all of her films, and hailed her “portrayal of Stevie Wonder in ‘The Blind Side.´”
Airing three months after the Academy Awards, the MTV event provides a welcome opportunity for stars to applaud themselves in the media spotlight. The winners are usually notified in advance, which explains why they have aisle seats and look underwhelmed when their names are called.
Still, British actor Tom Felton of the “Harry Potter” franchise said backstage that he was embarrassed to take the best villain statuette over Christoph Waltz, who won virtually every prize during awards season for “Inglourious Basterds.”
“It’s ridiculous really, isn’t it?” he told Reuters. “To be in the same category as him is a bit of a joke, really, let alone to actually beat him.”

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:21 am

IL&FS Transport JV achieves fin closure for Gurgaon metro - NDTV.com


IL&FS Transport JV achieves fin closure for Gurgaon metro
NDTV.com
PTI, June 7, 2010 (New Delhi) IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd on June 7 said that Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon Ltd has tied-up Rs 1088 crore for a metro project in Gurgaon. Rapid MetroRail Gurgaon Ltd, a joint venture between ITNL, ENSO Rail Systems Ltd, ...
IL&FS Transportation Networks JV achieves financial closureEquity Bulls
IL&FS Transportation JV achieves closure for Rs 10.88 bnMyiris.com

all 4 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:20 am

Cabinet panel seen raising fuel prices

New Delhi: The government is set to raise fuel prices on Monday to cut losses of state oil firms at the risk of stoking inflation further and angering voters but seen helping narrow the fiscal deficit.
A panel of ministers led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to review the heavily subsidised fuel pricing system for Asia’s third-largest economy at 4:30 p.m. (1100 GMT).
The move is keenly watched as an indicator of the Congress party-led coalition’s appetite for financial reforms that entail painful adjustments to freer market. It backed out a few months ago on freeing up farm prices after street protests.
While lifting price controls could raise the political temperature in India, it was unlikely to threaten the stability of the coalition because the key allies of Congress enjoy powerful ministries they will find hard to give up.
Union petroleum minister Murli Deora made a strong pitch for raising fuel prices ahead of Monday’s meeting, saying it was needed to cut losses of state-run oil companies.
Deora did not give more details but oil ministry officials, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters they favoured a gradual easing of controls, starting with a quick rise in petrol rates to cut subsidies without risking higher inflation.
The ministry wants diesel rates to be gradually increased to market levels and has recommended a small increase in the price of kerosene, used for lighting by the poor, and in cooking gas.
Indian Oil Corp chairman B M Bansal said the state-run firm was suffering a revenue loss of Rs100 crore ($21.2 million) a day on account of low state-set prices.
Deora was sympathetic.
“This is the right time to increase prices because oil companies are losing heavily on fuel sales,” he told reporters.
Political Concerns
Raising fuel prices would stoke inflationary pressures, already at levels uncomfortable enough for voters to slam Congress in municipal elections last week in the swing state of West Bengal.
Any decision would be with the approval of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress chief, who is expected to seek a balance between reforms and keeping the coalition stable and voter discontent under control ahead of over half-dozen state elections this year and next.
Oil industry officials say a move to market prices may increase petrol rates by 7% and diesel by about 9%.
The panel of ministers include two members from largest coalition allies Trinamool Congress and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), who face crucial state elections next year and would try to prevent or soften any unpopular hike. Both had opposed an increase in motor fuel prices in February.
Oil ministry officials said they wanted a cautious approach towards diesel prices as it raises transportation costs and has a wider impact on inflation.
“In one stroke we cannot raise diesel prices fully to market levels. Initially, the full burden of higher rates may not be passed on to the consumers,” a senior official in the oil ministry, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters.
Another source said the rates of politically sensitive kerosene and cooking gas may also be raised but state control over prices of these fuels was likely to continue.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:19 am

FOCUS - Electrical equipment cos head for growth on Plan spending

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian electrical equipment makers are set to return to the 15 percent-plus growth path this year and next on capex spending by state firms, although more competition will lead to pricing pressures, officials say.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:11 am

India eyeing coal assets in Australia

India is looking at buying coal mines in Australia through two state-owned entities in a bid to bridge the domestic coal supply-demand shortfall, a top government official said in Perth today.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:11 am

Deora says need to raise fuel prices - Economic Times


The Hindu
Deora says need to raise fuel prices
Economic Times
NEW DELHI: Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Monday the government should raise state-set fuel prices as retailing firms were suffering losses. The fuel pricing system is scheduled to be reviewed at 4:30 pm (1100 GMT) by a panel of ministers led by ...
Oil ministry wants gradual fuel reformMoneycontrol.com
Possible outcomes for fuel price reformsHindustan Times
Fuel prices have to be raised: DeoraZee News
domain-B -Stock Watch -The Hindu
all 184 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:09 am

Global air industry sees profit, warns on Europe

Berlin: Global airlines banished two years of economic misery with an abrupt turnaround in industry forecasts on Monday, though they were laced with a strong note of caution on Europe’s carriers.
The International Air Transport Association said it now expects global airlines to report a $2.5 billion profit this year, an improvement of more than $5 billion from its forecast of a loss just three months ago.
IATA chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said the global economy was improving more quickly than anyone expected, boosting traffic and yields sharply — something unthinkable even two months ago during Europe’s volcanic ash crisis.
But Europe, mired in bad debts and bad feelings from flight cancellations during the ash crisis, is expected to lag the turnaround — particularly if a summer of strikes paralyses air travel.
IATA most recently predicted worldwide industry losses of $2.8 billion in 2010, as airlines cut prices to fill seats. It said on Monday that Europe is still expected to lose that amount this year, almost 30% more than its forecast in March.
The global upturn is expected to be the highlight of the opening of IATA’s annual meeting and comments by executives bore that out.
German flagship carrier Lufthansa said Monday passenger numbers were improving, but yields on both long-haul and short-haul flights were still below the year-earlier level.
LAN CEO Enrique Cueto told Reuters on Monday his airline was optimistic based on June traffic figures so far.
Building Buzz
The general note of industry optimism could spread to planemakers represented at the Berlin Air Show to be held back to back with the IATA summit. A regional event usually dwarfed by the larger Paris and Farnborough air shows, the 8-13 June show could come into its own this year.
John Leahy, sales chief at Airbus, a unit of the aerospace and defence group EADS, told Reuters he would be unveiling deals at the show, but declined to elaborate. There has been speculation that industry heavyweight Emirates, the top Airbus customer, could be bulking up its fleet soon.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes told Reuters on Monday the planemaker was working on a number of deals to sell 777 and 787 long-haul aircraft.
But, as so often with the airline industry, the good news is tempered with more bad news.
In total, about 700 delegates representing more than 100 airlines are at the meeting, which is likely to also focus heavily on the industry’s response to Iceland’s volcano.
Strikes in Europe and unrest in Asia could add to the woes.
British Airways is in the midst of a series of cabin crew walkouts, and labour unrest looms at Lufthansa.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh, in Berlin despite being taunted by union leaders for not staying to negotiate an end to the bitter dispute over conditions, roundly criticized the Unite union that represents the cabin staff.
“They have failed in their efforts and they will continue to fail” to shut down the airline, Walsh told Reuters on the sidelines of a Oneworld airline alliance presentation.
Walsh also said there was no trade-off point for the airline between the cost savings it has made from cuts and the ongoing costs of the strike itself.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:03 am

Global air industry sees profit, warns on Europe

Berlin: Global airlines banished two years of economic misery with an abrupt turnaround in industry forecasts on Monday, though they were laced with a strong note of caution on Europe’s carriers.
The International Air Transport Association said it now expects global airlines to report a $2.5 billion profit this year, an improvement of more than $5 billion from its forecast of a loss just three months ago.
IATA chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said the global economy was improving more quickly than anyone expected, boosting traffic and yields sharply — something unthinkable even two months ago during Europe’s volcanic ash crisis.
But Europe, mired in bad debts and bad feelings from flight cancellations during the ash crisis, is expected to lag the turnaround — particularly if a summer of strikes paralyses air travel.
IATA most recently predicted worldwide industry losses of $2.8 billion in 2010, as airlines cut prices to fill seats. It said on Monday that Europe is still expected to lose that amount this year, almost 30% more than its forecast in March.
The global upturn is expected to be the highlight of the opening of IATA’s annual meeting and comments by executives bore that out.
German flagship carrier Lufthansa said Monday passenger numbers were improving, but yields on both long-haul and short-haul flights were still below the year-earlier level.
LAN CEO Enrique Cueto told Reuters on Monday his airline was optimistic based on June traffic figures so far.
Building Buzz
The general note of industry optimism could spread to planemakers represented at the Berlin Air Show to be held back to back with the IATA summit. A regional event usually dwarfed by the larger Paris and Farnborough air shows, the 8-13 June show could come into its own this year.
John Leahy, sales chief at Airbus, a unit of the aerospace and defence group EADS, told Reuters he would be unveiling deals at the show, but declined to elaborate. There has been speculation that industry heavyweight Emirates, the top Airbus customer, could be bulking up its fleet soon.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes told Reuters on Monday the planemaker was working on a number of deals to sell 777 and 787 long-haul aircraft.
But, as so often with the airline industry, the good news is tempered with more bad news.
In total, about 700 delegates representing more than 100 airlines are at the meeting, which is likely to also focus heavily on the industry’s response to Iceland’s volcano.
Strikes in Europe and unrest in Asia could add to the woes.
British Airways is in the midst of a series of cabin crew walkouts, and labour unrest looms at Lufthansa.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh, in Berlin despite being taunted by union leaders for not staying to negotiate an end to the bitter dispute over conditions, roundly criticized the Unite union that represents the cabin staff.
“They have failed in their efforts and they will continue to fail” to shut down the airline, Walsh told Reuters on the sidelines of a Oneworld airline alliance presentation.
Walsh also said there was no trade-off point for the airline between the cost savings it has made from cuts and the ongoing costs of the strike itself.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:03 am

BP faces another tough week despite well progress

VENICE, La./PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - BP faces another difficult week of tough questions from investors and U.S. lawmakers despite making progress in capturing an increasing amount of oil spewing from a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:01 am

RIL may enter nuclear energy business with US' Bechtel Corporation - Economic Times


RIL may enter nuclear energy business with US' Bechtel Corporation
Economic Times
NEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Industries (RIL) may foray into nuclear energy after being freed from a non-compete agreement with the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) that barred it from investing in some businesses, including power. ...
RIL to offer 3G, WiMAX devicesFinancial Express
RIL eyes at nuclear energy bizCommodity Online
RIL Likely To Foray Into Nuclear EnergyRTT News

all 6 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jun 2010 | 3:00 am

Oil prices fall below $70

New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, fell $1.82 to $69.69 a barrel in morning trade. Brent North Sea crude for July delivery shed $1.46 to $70.63.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:55 am

Etisalat says eyes India options, including RComm

NEW DELHI/AMMAN (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi's Etisalat said it was studying options in India, including a deal with Reliance Communications, while U.S. telecoms giant AT&T was named in media reports as another potential investor in India's No. 2 mobile player.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:48 am

Rupee off near 2-week lows as exporters sell dollars

Mumbai: The Indian rupee recovered from a near two-week low in afternoon trade on Monday, helped by some dollar selling by corporates and exporters, who sought to take advantage of the unit’s early fall, traders said.
At 1:42pm, the partially convertible rupee was at Rs47.21/22 per dollar, off a low of Rs47.47 - its weakest since 26 May - but still below its previous close of Rs46.84/85.
Dealers said exporters and some other corporates with dollar holdings were selling after the sharp fall, but there was downward pressure from weak shares and a strong dollar overseas.
Indian shares were trading down more than 2%, with financials leading the fall, as world stocks slid after weak US jobs data and Hungary’s debt woes slammed investors and cut down risk appetite.
Most Asian currencies dropped compared to the dollar. The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.3% and was also weighing on the rupee.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at Rs47.45, weaker than the onshore spot rate.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were both at 47.3475, with the total traded volume on the two exchanges at about $4.2 billion.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:48 am

Electrical equipment firms head for growth on plan spending

Mumbai: Indian electrical equipment makers are set to return to the 15%-plus growth path this year and next on capex spending by state firms, although more competition will lead to pricing pressures, officials say.
The sector grew a record 22% in FY07 before slipping to as low as 2.73% in FY09 amid an economic slowdown and recovering to 11.25% in FY10, data from the Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA) showed.
The growth is typically seen in the last two-three years of each five-year plan cycle and a key factor, analysts and officials say, is the sudden spurt in orders from state utilities which try to spend their allocation in the plan.
“Now that we are in the second half of the 11th five year plan, lot of projects would be in the process of completion, so obviously...momentum will continue,” said Rajesh Jain, chairman of transformer maker Emco Ltd and past IEEMA president.
The last five-year plan ended in 2007, the year of record growth, and the current plan ends in 2012.
The industry may grow 15% this year and could surpass the record 22% growth in the next financial year, S P More, director general of IEEMA, which represents makers of high-voltage transformers and sub-stations as well as low-voltage cables and switchgears, said.
Power Grid Corp, the state-run firm that transmits about 45% of country’s power, plans to spend about Rs15,000 crore in capex in FY11 and FY12 each, boosting overall order inflows for the players, analysts said.
Margins
However, with stiff competition, including players from South Korea and China, margins may be squeezed, they added.
“As the high voltage segment is taking off and the fact that there are more mouths to feed now..., individual company growth rate will differ,” a Mumbai-based analyst with a foreign brokerage said, predicting a 20% growth rate for the industry going forward.
Firms like Crompton Greaves, ABB Ltd, Areva T&D India, Siemens will fight out with overseas firms like TBEA Co and Hyosung to corner more and more orders in FY11.
But, product prices are already falling, highlighting the pressure on firms. High voltage transmission equipment prices have already declined by 20-25% from 2008 levels while distribution equipment prices have corrected 25-30%, BNP Paribas said in a note.
“We see no recovery in T&D prices over the near term. Also, given the entry of several new players in substation EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) business, we believe margins can remain at 6-9%” versus an average of 9-11%, BNP Paribas analyst Lakshminarayana Ganti said in a note.
Industry insiders support analysts’ view that there will be margin pressure going ahead.
“Next 12 months, I feel there will be some dip in EBIDTA margins,” Emco’s Jain said.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:47 am

Rupee near 2-wk low as exporters sell dollars - Economic Times


Indian Express
Rupee near 2-wk low as exporters sell dollars
Economic Times
MUMBAI: The rupee recovered from a near two-week low in afternoon trade on Monday, helped by some dollar selling by corporates and exporters, who sought to take advantage of the unit's early fall, traders said. At 1:42 pm, the partially convertible ...
Rupee Dragged Down By Wailing EquitiesIndia Infoline.com
Rupee should weaken today: Nirmal BangMoneycontrol.com
Rupee at near 2-week low as shares fallBusiness Standard
Press Trust of India -BusinessWeek -Business Mirror
all 23 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:42 am

Reliance Communication rallies on stake sale plan

Reliance Comm shares were up 2.5% today in the Mumbai markets that was down 2.3%, having risen as much as 6.5%.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:40 am

Fuel prices must be increased: Montek Singh Ahluwalia

A panel of ministers will today debate the political hot potato of reviewing the way it prices motor and cooking fuel prices, seeking a way to improve its financial health.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:31 am

Etisalat says eyes India options, incl Reliance - Reuters


The Hindu
Etisalat says eyes India options, incl Reliance
Reuters
NEW DELHI/AMMAN, June 7 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi's Etisalat (ETEL.AD) said it was studying options in India, including a deal with Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO), while US telecoms giant AT&T (TN) was named ...
India's Reliance, AT&T in Informal TalksWall Street Journal
Reliance Communications gains on talks of stake saleNDTV.com
Reliance communicationWebnewswire.com
Stock Watch -Economic Times -Times of India
all 222 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:30 am

Nano - Pantnagar plant not viable in longrun - Business Standard


Oneindia
Nano - Pantnagar plant not viable in longrun
Business Standard
As commercial production at Tata Nano's mother plant at nearby Sanand started earlier this week, vendors supplying components to the dual locations, here and to the other production unit at Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, feel continuing with a low-volume ...
Nano overdrive leaves parts cos gaspingEconomic Times
Nano grabs global attention on launch of Sanand plantZigwheels.com
After Nano, Tatas have more surprises for GujaratCommodity Online
SteelGuru -Sify -Stock Watch
all 22 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:27 am

Trade in Zain halted pending Bharti deal closure

In March, Zain struck a deal selling its operations in 15 African countries to Bharti Airtel but questions about what Zain would do with the windfall -- either invest or pay out to shareholders -- have persisted ever since.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:24 am

Kingfisher Airline to join oneworld alliance: BA

Berlin: India’s leading airline, Kingfisher, will join the oneworld airline alliance and launch a partnership with British Airways, alliance executives said on Monday.
“In just five years, Kingfisher Airlines has become the first airline in India with more 380 daily destinations,” British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh told a press conference.
“We will sign a code sharing in Europe for implementing later this month,” he added.
Code sharing allows airlines to offer services provided by partners and thus expand their networks.
With Kingfisher on board, the oneworld network will expand to some 800 destinations in almost 150 countries, with the addition of 56 Indian cities.
“We believe we are very well positioned, in the best position in the region today with Cathay Pacific. Of course we will continue to look for opportunities,” said Gerard Arpey of American Airlines, another member of the oneworld alliance.
Oneworld executives said however that there were no plans at present to add another Chinese carrier to the network.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:21 am

Southwest monsoon to advance - Moneycontrol.com


Reuters India
Southwest monsoon to advance
Moneycontrol.com
Monsoon rains, crucial for farm output in the world's leading consumer of sugar, grains and cooking oils, have revived after being stalled by a cyclone last week, weather officials said on Monday. Cyclone Phet near the Oman coast in the Arabian sea had ...
Rains claim three lives in GujaratPress Trust of India
Monsoon seen racing into Konkan by week-endHindu Business Line
Cyclone Phet weakensIndian Express
indiablooms -Daily News & Analysis -All India Radio
all 35 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:10 am

Boeing working on 777, 787 aircraft deals

'I continue to see airlines returning to profitability in 2011, and 2012 will be the year we see them really stepping up to wide-body orders,' Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 2:04 am

Exxon in discussions with China firms on partnership

Exxon Mobil was 'very encouraged' by China's recent gas price increase and moves towards a more market-based pricing.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 1:56 am

Ex-Union Carbide officials convicted over Bhopal gas disaster

BHOPAL, India (Reuters) - A court on Monday found the Indian unit of U.S. chemicals firm Union Carbide and seven Indian employees guilty of negligence over one of the world's worst industrial accidents that killed thousands of people in 1984.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 1:54 am

IATA now expects 2010 airline industry profit

BERLIN (Reuters) - Global airlines will turn a $2.5 billion profit this year, the industry's global trade group said on Monday, a stunning swing from the substantial loss the group forecast three months ago.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 1:48 am

Deora says need to raise fuel prices

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Monday the government should raise state-set fuel prices as retailing firms were suffering losses.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 1:42 am

Kone India to launch energy saving elevators in 2 years

These proposed elevators would save 50% energy and would work efficiently, Kone Technology senior vice-president Jussi Oijala said here.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 1:41 am

Sensex apes global negative sentiments, down 2.19%

A benchmark index for Indian equities Monday aped the negative sentiments ruling other Asian markets and was ruling 2.19 percent lower in morning trade.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Jun 2010 | 1:39 am

Rupee weakens by 46 paise against dollar


Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 7 Jun 2010 | 1:37 am

Southwest monsoon to advance - weather office

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Monsoon rains, crucial for farm output in the world's leading consumer of sugar, grains and cooking oils, have revived after being stalled by a cyclone last week, weather officials said on Monday.

Source: Reuters: Money News | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:48 am

‘SE Asia’s steel demand seen up 8-9%’

Ho Chi Minh City: Strong economic growth could boost steel demand in Asia by 9% annually in the coming years, an executive with Tata Steel said on Monday.
“After all the problems with recession, Asia has come back very strong,” and economies in the region were expanding at between 4-6%, Hemant Nerurkar, managing director of the world’s No. 8 steelmaker, told Reuters in an interview.
Based on an average gross domestic product growth of 6%percent in the region and a steel consumption rate estimated at 1.3 times GDP growth in developing countries, “you can expect a 9% increase for steel consumption,” Nerurkar said on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting.
“I have high hopes of Southeast Asia’s consumption of steel,” he said.
But the region lacked investment and also faced a shortage of scrap metal used for steel production, he said.
Taking an example of Indonesia, where steel per capital consumption stood at 30-40 kg, Nerurkar said it would be a major jump for the country to reach a world level of 250-300 kg.
Asked about progress on a $5 billion investment in a major steel project in Vietnam, Nerurkar said Tata had not secured an investment licence and work on site clearance for the complex has not been completed.
“Steel is a long-term business. It’s not something that you do in one year,” he said, adding that Tata Steel was working with the authorities and expected to obtain an investment licence “at the soonest time”.
The project in the central province of Ha Tinh is designed to use 100% of Vietnamese iron ore, which would help the country narrow its trade deficit by using local material, a Tata Steel official said.
Nerurkar said he expected steel consumption in Vietnam, which has projected its economy to expand to 6.5-7.0% this year from 5.32% growth in 2009, would grow 6% per year.
Vietnam produced 4.56 million tonnes of steel rods in 2009, up 19.1% from the previous year, and its steel imports jumped 13.8% to 9.63 million tonnes, government figures showed.
Asked to confirm news reports the group was in talks with Thailand’s Sahaviriya Steel Industries to sell the Teesside plant in England, Nerurkar declined to give details, but said: “SSI has interest.”
Last month steelmaker Corus, owned by Tata Steel, said it had hired Citi to sell its plant in northern England.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:36 am

Markets fall 2.1% on a global sell-off

Mumbai: Indian shares shed more than 2% on Monday as investors joined a global sell-off after weak US jobs data and concerns over a potential debt crisis in Hungary hit risk appetite. Financials led the fall.
Reliance Communications bucked the trend and jumped more than 6% after the No.2 Indian mobile operator’s board approved selling up to 26% stake to strategic or private investors at a premium to its current market price.
By 10:57am, the 30-share BSE index was trading down 2.1% at 16,759.06 points, with 27 of its components declining. The 50-share NSE index was down 2.2% at 5,022.50.
“Risk is off the table as there is uncertainty as to global developments,” said Vaibhav Sanghavi, director of Ambit Capital.
“It does not matter if a country is outperforming or underperforming right now. The money is flowing out of the system,” he said.
Foreign funds, which play a decisive role in setting direction, have sold stocks worth around $22 million this month after dumping $2 billion in May following a global trend to reduce risk exposure in the wake of the euro zone debt woes.
The benchmark index is down 4% so far this year, less than half the loss in MSCI’s measure of Asian shares other than Japan that has shed nearly 9%.
Reliance Communications was up 1.1% at Rs170, after rising as high as Rs179. About 3.9 million shares changed hands in first two hours of trade, about double the full-day average of nearly 2 million in the past 30 days.
Kotak Securities said any deal to get strategic or private investors would be positive for the company, but negative for the sector that has been battling wafer-thin call tariffs and severe competition.
“This event would mean a further infusion of risk capital in the industry, without leading to any consolidation,” the brokerage said in a note.
Financials fell after the finance minister told Reuters on Friday the country would not pause rate hikes for now.
Top lender State Bank of India was down 2.5%, while rivals ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank shed 3% and 0.9% respectively.
Metals makers dropped as Shanghai copper slid by its 5% daily limit and London futures slumped to near eight-month lows.
Aluminium maker Hindalco and non-ferrous metal producer Sterlite Industries were down 5% and 4% respectively.
Tata Steel, the world’s eighth-largest steel producer, and Jindal Steel and Power dropped 3.3% and 2.7% respectively.
Real estate firms DLF, state-run utility NTPC and outsourcer Wipro, three index firms that will be impacted by a new listing rule, fell between 1.7 and 5.3%.
The government said on Friday listed companies must have a public float of at least 25%, a move which could prompt tens of billions of dollars in share sales. Oil and Natural Gas Corp rose 0.1% ahead of a ministers’ meet to discuss deregulation of fuel prices.
In the broader market, losers were more than thrice the number of gainers on volume of 80 million shares.
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei was down 3.6%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 2.4%.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:33 am

Get ready to pay more as Govt set to hike fuel prices today

Transport fuel prices may rise by up to Rs 3.5 per litre if a high-power group led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that meets in New Delhi on Monday evening permits state-run oil firms to charge market rates for such products. Possible outcomes of price reforms | What to expect | See special
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:02 am

Delivery-based trades at a two-year high

Stock market turnover is well below its 2007 highs, but one statistic that has hit a new high recently is the proportion of trades based on
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

Negative bias seen on Hindalco, Punj Lloyd

What type of option strategy should I take in the coming week on Nifty. –
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

BGR Energy Systems: Buy

Investors with medium term perspective can consider buying the stock of BGR Energy Systems (Rs
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

Govt may allow oil cos to fix petrol prices

With the softening of international crude oil and product prices, the time is right and the stage is
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

Gold shines on safe haven appeal

Uncertainty continues to dog the commodity market. Prices are surely under pressure as a host of negative environmental factors are at play. European debt crisis, bank credit tightening, signs of China slowdown, currency uncertainties and others
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

Fear likely to surmount fundamental strengths

Stock markets are driven either by fear or by a reduction of it, rather than hope. All good news are priced in and only the bad ones needed to be factored in – this seems to be the written large on the wall of the equity
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

Animal health business set to take wings

Often seen as an extension of the pharmaceutical business, the country's estimated Rs 2,000-crore animal health industry is looking to raise its profile locally, besides aspiring to become “food factory to the
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

Proving what we know

One of the most intractable problems that humans face is how much money should be around, whether in their children's pockets or in the economy. In both cases, thumb rules have come to the rescue. The problem, however, is that no one quite knows
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

RCom board approves sale of 26% stake

Reliance Communication said on Sunday that its board of directors has granted in-principle approval to the sale of 26-per cent stake in the company to strategic or private equity
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

Gold may rise, test resistance

Comex gold futures ended higher on Friday after weaker-than-expected US employment data pushed the stock market and many commodities sharply lower, raising the safe-haven bid for bullion. The indication that the US economy is not recovering as
Source: Business Line - Home Page | 7 Jun 2010 | 12:00 am

Possible outcomes for fuel price reforms

Government will grapple with the political hot potato of deregulating fuel prices today, seeking a way to improve its financial health as it tries to shield its 1.2 billion citizens from high prices.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jun 2010 | 11:38 pm

Possible outcomes for fuel price reforms

New Delhi: The government on Monday will grapple with the political hot potato of deregulating fuel prices, seeking a way to improve its financial health as it tries to shield its 1.2 billion citizens from high prices.
A panel of ministers, empowered by the cabinet to decide the country’s fuel policy will review the fuel policy at 4.30 pm (local time).
Asia’s third-largest economy has been looking for new ways to reduce subsidies and set prices of motor and cooking fuel since the dismal failure of its 2002 bid to get state-owned refiners to fix prices every two weeks in step with global rates.
But this is a political minefield in a country where 410 million people live on less than $1.25 a day and any decision by the panel of ministers who debate the issue must have the approval of Sonia Gandhi.
Analysts worry that maintaining the status quo could discourage private sector investment in India’s under-developed energy sector and send a signal that the government would rather please its mostly poor and rural political base than push through pro-market reforms.
An official at state-run Indian Oil Corp said the current petrol price, Rs47.93 ($1) per litre, was Rs3.35, or 7%, lower than market rates, while diesel rates were 9% lower.
Shares of IOC and other state refiners Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd were down about 0.6% on Monday, but outperforming the benchmark index, which was down 2.22% at 10.30 am.
Electoral Risks
• Raising fuel prices would stoke inflationary pressures.
• An economically sound decision may help India narrow its fiscal deficit, but could yield electoral losses for the Congress in the half-dozen state elections scheduled this year and next.
• Many coalition allies would be unhappy with the unpopular measure, which is sure to be pounced upon by opposition parties including the communists who tried to unseat the government over a February hike in motor fuel prices.
• Rival Asian giant China, with its own billion-plus population, abandoned similar fuel price subsidies from January 2009 to great effect for then-struggling refiners grappling with losses, as Indian state-owned refiners do now.
• If India does reform its refined fuel policy during a window stretching from the end of the lawmakers’ budget session in May until Parliament gathers next for its monsoon session in August, here are the possibilities that could play out:
Eliminating Controls
• Lifting subsidies would trigger spikes of up to 15% in retail prices of diesel and petrol -- adding to the political pressure on a government already facing protests over rising prices of food and consumer goods.
• This option looks even more difficult in the wake of two fuel price hikes since the end of February.
• It could stoke inflation, forcing a tightening of monetary policy. The government’s fiscal deficit, now projected at 5.5% of the budget for the year ending March 2011, would probably shrink, freeing up capital for other programmes.
• In the fiscal year that ended 31 March, India spent Rs14,950 crore ($3.35 billion), or nearly 1.5% of all government expenditure, on oil subsidies, compared with initial estimates of Rs3,110 crore.
• Market rates would allow private firms Reliance Industries and Essar Oil, that now mainly export fuel, to consider domestic retail sales.
• Revenue would spike dramatically at retailer Indian Oil Corp, as well as Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, and upstream firms ONGC, Oil India and Gail (India).
• Higher retail prices could briefly dampen demand for fuel and vehicles.
• Scrapping government intervention would hit poor consumers, who have no access to electricity and use kerosene for lighting and cooking.
Partially Lift Controls
• India may end pricing controls on petrol, viewed as the rich man’s fuel, and gradually remove controls on diesel, which could spur higher inflation but ease its fiscal burden.
• It would help cut losses at state oil firms, but fuel demand may be hit briefly and could draw some opposition from the automobile sector.
• It may spur a change in fuel use. A large gap between diesel and kerosene prices may see the cheaper fuel being used to adulterate diesel.
• Introduction of a Unique Identity/Smartcards framework may follow to ensure a transparent public distribution system of kerosene and domestic LPG.
Keep Subsidies
• The government may decide to continue with the populist mechanism of subsidising fuel prices but would then face the risk of a ballooning fiscal deficit, and jettison its plan to trim the deficit to 4.1% of GDP by the end of March 2013.
• The finances of the public sector oil marketing companies would be hammered. Projected losses for the firms are estimated at $24.4 billion this year, based on an average crude price of $85 a barrel.

Source: Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 11:32 pm

Possible outcomes for fuel price reforms

New Delhi: The government on Monday will grapple with the political hot potato of deregulating fuel prices, seeking a way to improve its financial health as it tries to shield its 1.2 billion citizens from high prices.
A panel of ministers, empowered by the cabinet to decide the country’s fuel policy will review the fuel policy at 4.30 pm (local time).
Asia’s third-largest economy has been looking for new ways to reduce subsidies and set prices of motor and cooking fuel since the dismal failure of its 2002 bid to get state-owned refiners to fix prices every two weeks in step with global rates.
But this is a political minefield in a country where 410 million people live on less than $1.25 a day and any decision by the panel of ministers who debate the issue must have the approval of Sonia Gandhi.
Analysts worry that maintaining the status quo could discourage private sector investment in India’s under-developed energy sector and send a signal that the government would rather please its mostly poor and rural political base than push through pro-market reforms.
An official at state-run Indian Oil Corp said the current petrol price, Rs47.93 ($1) per litre, was Rs3.35, or 7%, lower than market rates, while diesel rates were 9% lower.
Shares of IOC and other state refiners Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd were down about 0.6% on Monday, but outperforming the benchmark index, which was down 2.22% at 10.30 am.
Electoral Risks
• Raising fuel prices would stoke inflationary pressures.
• An economically sound decision may help India narrow its fiscal deficit, but could yield electoral losses for the Congress in the half-dozen state elections scheduled this year and next.
• Many coalition allies would be unhappy with the unpopular measure, which is sure to be pounced upon by opposition parties including the communists who tried to unseat the government over a February hike in motor fuel prices.
• Rival Asian giant China, with its own billion-plus population, abandoned similar fuel price subsidies from January 2009 to great effect for then-struggling refiners grappling with losses, as Indian state-owned refiners do now.
• If India does reform its refined fuel policy during a window stretching from the end of the lawmakers’ budget session in May until Parliament gathers next for its monsoon session in August, here are the possibilities that could play out:
Eliminating Controls
• Lifting subsidies would trigger spikes of up to 15% in retail prices of diesel and petrol -- adding to the political pressure on a government already facing protests over rising prices of food and consumer goods.
• This option looks even more difficult in the wake of two fuel price hikes since the end of February.
• It could stoke inflation, forcing a tightening of monetary policy. The government’s fiscal deficit, now projected at 5.5% of the budget for the year ending March 2011, would probably shrink, freeing up capital for other programmes.
• In the fiscal year that ended 31 March, India spent Rs14,950 crore ($3.35 billion), or nearly 1.5% of all government expenditure, on oil subsidies, compared with initial estimates of Rs3,110 crore.
• Market rates would allow private firms Reliance Industries and Essar Oil, that now mainly export fuel, to consider domestic retail sales.
• Revenue would spike dramatically at retailer Indian Oil Corp, as well as Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, and upstream firms ONGC, Oil India and Gail (India).
• Higher retail prices could briefly dampen demand for fuel and vehicles.
• Scrapping government intervention would hit poor consumers, who have no access to electricity and use kerosene for lighting and cooking.
Partially Lift Controls
• India may end pricing controls on petrol, viewed as the rich man’s fuel, and gradually remove controls on diesel, which could spur higher inflation but ease its fiscal burden.
• It would help cut losses at state oil firms, but fuel demand may be hit briefly and could draw some opposition from the automobile sector.
• It may spur a change in fuel use. A large gap between diesel and kerosene prices may see the cheaper fuel being used to adulterate diesel.
• Introduction of a Unique Identity/Smartcards framework may follow to ensure a transparent public distribution system of kerosene and domestic LPG.
Keep Subsidies
• The government may decide to continue with the populist mechanism of subsidising fuel prices but would then face the risk of a ballooning fiscal deficit, and jettison its plan to trim the deficit to 4.1% of GDP by the end of March 2013.
• The finances of the public sector oil marketing companies would be hammered. Projected losses for the firms are estimated at $24.4 billion this year, based on an average crude price of $85 a barrel.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 11:32 pm

Sensex slides below 17,000 points in opening trade

The 30-share index, which had gained 95.36 points in the previous session, plunged by 430.96 points, or 2.52%, to 16,686.73 points.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Jun 2010 | 11:30 pm

ADAG firms up stake in Fame India to 15.28 pc

Reliance MediaWorks, along with two other ADAG firms, has acquired a further 0.25 per cent stake in Fame India, hiking their combined holding in the multiplex chain to 15.28 per cent.
Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jun 2010 | 11:26 pm

Fatpipe Networks IPO opens; should you subscribe? - Moneycontrol.com


Fatpipe Networks IPO opens; should you subscribe?
Moneycontrol.com
The Rs 49 crore initial public offering (IPO) of Fatpipe Networks India has opened for subscription today. It has fixed a price band at Rs 82-85 a share and the issue will close on June 9, 2010. Investment advisor, SP Tulsian and brokerage firm Hem ...
Fatpipe Networks IPO looks expensive: SMCMyiris.com
Fatpipe Networks' issue appears expensiveEconomic Times
vSpring Capital-Backed Fatpipe To Raise $10M In IPOVC Circle

all 4 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 6 Jun 2010 | 11:15 pm

Sensex slides below 17,000 level amid global sell-off

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today tanked over 430 points to trade below the 17,000 level in opening trade on major sell-off by funds and retail investors amid slumping global markets.


Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jun 2010 | 10:36 pm

Reliance Capital, MediaWorks buy more Fame India shares

Mumbai: Reliance Capital Partners said the company, along with Reliance MediaWorks Ltd and Reliance Capital Ltd have purchased 85,962 equity shares, or 0.25% of equity share capital of Fame India Ltd.
The purchases were made at an average price of Rs82.52 and a highest price of Rs82.60 a share through open market purchases, it said over the weekend.
Reliance Mediaworks and associates now hold 15.28% in Fame, from 15.03%, it added.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 9:47 pm

Sorting out the Ulip tangle

The dispute between the Sebi and the Irda over unit-linked insurance policiesis essentially a jurisdictional issue -- that is, it calls for deciding as to which regulator should regulate Ulips.
Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 6 Jun 2010 | 4:13 pm

SEBI move on MF expense calculation may add to volatility of returns - Economic Times


Stock Watch
SEBI move on MF expense calculation may add to volatility of returns
Economic Times
Last week, I wrote about how short-term debt funds, which form a 53% of the Rs 8.05 lakh-crore fund industry, are going to become somewhat more unstable in their returns than what their investors are used to. And since almost all investors of these ...
SEBI rules to make mutual funds, investor friendlyStock Watch
SEBI steps in to give fair idea of MF returns to investorsEconomic Times
Sebi order to MFsCalcutta Telegraph
mydigitalfc.com
all 13 news articles »

Source: Business - Google News | 6 Jun 2010 | 2:52 pm

RCOM board clears sale of 26% stake

The board of directors of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company, Reliance Communications have given in-principle approval to sell up to 26% equity in the company to strategic or private equity investors in order to raise funds.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Jun 2010 | 1:34 pm

AICTE rejects 66% applications to set up colleges in western region

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has rejected two-thirds of applications to set up new colleges in the western region in the first three months of this calendar year. The region comprises Maharashtra and Goa and the Union Territory of Daman and Diu.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 6 Jun 2010 | 1:05 pm

Don't touch CRR for now, says Basu

Key policy rates must be raised gradually, without hurting investment, job growth.
Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 6 Jun 2010 | 1:02 pm

Making music

It’s Friday night in New York City and young South Asians are looking forward to unwinding at The Bollywood Cruise that takes off from Pier 41 in Manhattan. Some 300 people show up. They’ve paid about $25 each for the pleasure of partying to the beats of DJ Ladla and DJ Karma – two DJs famous among Indian New Yorkers.
Both DJ Ladla and DJ Karma belong to a handful of DJs who started spinning in the mid-90s, spotting a business to organize parties for the 20-30 something crowd who wanted to dance to sounds of Bollywood mixes. They became wildly successful, making albums and earning a good living, while forgoing traditional jobs.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 1:00 pm

Anil's RCom needs cash, to sell 26 per cent stake

The Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications is all set to sell 26 per cent of its stake to a foreign partner to meet a need for funds to roll out 3G telephony services. HT reports.


Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:50 pm

House panel suggests drastic changes to innovation Bill

Mumbai: A panel of lawmakers has drastically revised a draft law on the intellectual property rights of state-funded institutions, relaxing patenting norms for their inventions and giving the government more control over them.
The new Bill will be submitted in Parliament on Monday, said Subbarami Reddy, a senior parliamentarian who heads the House standing committee reviewing the Protection and Utilisation of Public Funded Intellectual Property Bill, 2008.
The original Bill made it compulsory for all scientific institutions and universities working on government funds to patent their every invention.
It also allowed them to licence it out for commercial use on an exclusive basis, in a bid to make such institutions self-sustainable. Revenue was to be shared with the scientists.
Proposed by the science and technology ministry, the Bill was allegedly passed in haste by the Union cabinet without much public discussion and introduced in the Rajya Sabha. Detractors said it was a direct copy of the US Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, and not useful for a developing country such as India. It was even termed the “Indian Bayh-Dole Act”.
The criticism prompted the government to appoint the Reddy committee, which consulted the wider scientific community, patent law experts and public interest activists while reviewing the draft.
Public interest groups were concerned that compulsory patenting and exclusive licensing would lead to commercial abuse of technologies and inventions generated through publicly funded research.
Procedural hurdles in patenting and some punitive clauses worried the scientific community.
The original draft had proposed that the government take back half the funds already granted and stop issuing fresh funds to institutions that didn’t meet its terms.
A total of 52 amendments have been made to the original draft.
The panel has removed the requirement that every invention be patented, as well as the penal provisions, said a person who attended the committee’s hearings, on condition of anonymity.
“The legislation in its original form could have forced publicly funded institutions to transfer technologies without discretion to private hands, killing the very objective of public finance for institutional research in India,” said a representative of a global non-governmental organization (NGO) working in the area of healthcare.
The new draft proposes to give the government the right to use any invention patented by a state-funded institution, and to issue non-exclusive licences for the technology to any third party in the public interest.
It also mandates that public-funded institutions disclose all their patents as well as licensing and commercialization details on their websites for public scrutiny.
The revised Bill says that public-funded patents cannot be assigned without the government’s permission, and exclusive licences can be granted only when the licensee manufactures the patented product substantially in India.
“The Bill still focuses on the patent protection of publicly funded technologies, and doesn’t really look at many other issues pertaining to technology transfer and licensing in the public interest perspective,” said the NGO official quoted above. The official didn’t want to be named.
But Shamnad Basheer, a patent law expert and a ministry of human resource development chair at the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, hailed the Reddy committee’s openness to hearing suggestions from a range of stakeholders.
“This was a truly revolutionary process in law-making and I was pleasantly surprised at the level of openness and consultation,” said Basheer, who represented the intellectual property law fraternity at the standing committee hearings.
“Never before in the IP (intellectual property) law-making history has there been such a meaningful consultative process, where a parliamentary standing committee took pains to understand the nuances of a technical legislation from a wide array of stakeholders,” he said.
ch.unni@livemint.com

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:48 pm

Power firms oppose Andhra govt’s lower tariff demand

Hyderabad: Independent power producers (IPPs) are opposing the Andhra Pradesh government’s demand to sell half their expanded capacities at a reduced rate to the state-run utility Transmission Corp. of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (AP Transco).
The 2006 National Tariff Policy of the Union power ministry enables AP Transco to buy half the additional capacities of IPPs at the lower tarff mentioned in their power-purchase agreements (PPAs), which were signed more than a decade ago, says the state government.
“In terms of the National Tariff Policy, we can procure power from IPPs without going through the competitive bidding from expansion projects of existing IPPs, limited to 50% capacity of their existing capacities,” said Ajay Jain, chairman and managing director of AP Transco.
Jain added, the final tariff of the power thus procured from IPPs will be decided by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission.
IPPs in the state include GMR Infrastructure Ltd, Lanco Infratech Ltd, Konaseema Gas Power Ltd of the VBC group, Spectrum Power Generation Ltd, Reliance Power Ltd and two subsidiaries of GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd.
Their combined power generation capacity in Andhra Pradesh currently stands at 2,500MW. They are adding up to 6,500MW.
Though all of them were awaiting the next round of fuel allocation by the Centre to begin expansion work, four have already called for tenders for expansion projects.
They all say they are not obliged to sell their expanded capacities to government utilities at lower rates.
“It doesn’t make economic sense to sell the entire additional power to the state-owned power utilities at the low tariff based on PPAs, when we can actually sell the power in the open market at more than double the PPA tariff,” said a senior official of Lanco Infratech, who did not want to be named.
While the average tariff fixed through PPAs stood at Rs2.80 a unit, IPPs are selling the uncommitted power portion in the open market at a minimum price of Rs4.25 and at an average high of Rs8 a unit.
Spot prices of power in March touched a high of Rs7.9 per unit, indicating strong demand, according to a 29 March report of brokerage India Infoline Ltd.
“Continued high demand for power should result into firm merchant rates going forward. We believe merchant rates for the next one year should average at some Rs5.5-6 a unit,” the report said.
c.sukumar@livemint.com

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:46 pm

Board nod to RCom for 26% stake sale

Mumbai: Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), India’s second largest telecom services provider by subscribers, has won approval from its board of directors to sell a stake of as much as 26% to strategic or private equity investors, giving it the freedom to raise funds for expansion and seek consolidation opportunities.
Graphic: Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint
Graphic: Ahmed Raza Khan / Mint
A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that a 26% equity dilution would let the company raise up to Rs11,300 crore at the current market price. The actual amount would, however, depend on the extent of equity dilution and how much premium, over the current market price, RCom is able to extract from potential investors.
RCom and US telecom firm AT&T Inc., meanwhile, have sounded out each other’s interest about a potential transaction in which AT&T would take a significant minority stake in the Indian company, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The board approval follows the 23 May scrapping of the non-compete agreement between Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-Adag) and his elder brother Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
The tearing up of the agreement paved the way for the younger sibling to induct a third-party investor aboard RCom, which was thwarted in a 2008 attempt to merge with South Africa’s MTN Group Ltd after RIL invoked the non-compete agreement that gave it the right of first refusal to any significant stake that RCom wanted to sell.
“The board of directors of Reliance Communications Ltd has approved in-principle the induction of strategic/private equity investors into the company for an up to 26% equity stake at an appropriate premium to the prevailing market price, and also to examine and pursue other appropriate strategic combination/consolidation opportunities,” RCom said in a brief statement on Sunday.
As on 31 March, promoter holding in RCom stood at 67.6%. The proposed stake sale would be beneficial to shareholders as it would most likely happen at a premium to the current market price, said V.K. Sharma, head of private broking and wealth management at HDFC Securities Ltd.
“The fresh capital infusion is much-needed for the company as it already has a lot of debt on its books,” he said.
After hitting a 52-week low of Rs131.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 21 May, RCom’s shares have risen 27.6% to close at Rs168.15 on Friday. The firm’s shares gained 14% last week, fuelled by media reports about Emirates Telecommunications Corp., or Etisalat, being in talks to buy a stake in the Indian telecom operator. There were also reports of South African telecom operator MTN being in talks with RCom.
Regulations governing mergers and acquisitions in India’s telecom sector, however, do not permit Etisalat or any existing Indian telecom players to own more than a maximum of 10% in another telecom firm.
RCom has debt of Rs33,332 crore, including the Rs8,585 crore it paid the government for third-generation (3G) mobile phone service licences. A 2 June report by analysts Rumit Dugar, Manoj Singla and Udit Garg of Religare Capital Markets Ltd said that any “de-levering” of the books could act as an upside trigger for the stock.
“Increase in leverage of RCom has been an overhang, and is set to increase further with the 3G outflow,” it said. “This is going to stretch net debt/Ebitda to 3.9x,” Dugar, Singla and Garg wrote.
Ebitda, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, is a key measure of operating profitability.
lison.j@livemint.com

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:45 pm

Quick Edit | A case of indigestion

Global markets don’t like the fact that they have been forced to digest item after item of bad news. At the end of last week, they had to contend with tepid US job figures and the realization that Hungary’s sovereign default, as a government official admitted on Friday, was a real possibility.
With their palates troubled, investors can no more digest the public sector risk they were so willing to take on a year ago. And policymakers are finally starting to diagnose what the problem could be: their own policies.
At the Group of 20 (G-20) summit in April 2009, policymakers were exuberant about using “an unprecedented and concerted fiscal expansion” to combat the Great Recession. This exuberance officially came to an end on Saturday in South Korea, when G-20 finance ministers decided to drop support for fiscal stimulus.
As this newspaper has argued before, too much fiscal stimulus can be bad for health. India’s leaders should digest the idea too.

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:43 pm

JSPL seeks joint venture with CIL arm

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, led by Congress parliamentarian NaveenJindal, is seeking a joint venture with state-run Central Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, to jointly rejuvenate the latter's coal mines where production has been stagnating due to various "technical and economic issues".
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:38 pm

Small is big: SMEs on overseas drive

The Tatas and the Birlas showed the way, the economic downturn in the West gave them the opportunity. Indian SMEs are on an acquisition spree abroad, buying up firms and expanding their business horizon. TOI turns the spotlight on new breed of Indian MNCs
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:36 pm

Truck rentals soar to 3-yr high

Truck rentals, a key barometer for economic activity, has risen to a three-year high with a 3-5% increase in May. Besides, rentals since November 2009 has already gone up by 21-23%.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:34 pm

Batteries: auto segment growth offsets lower telecom offtake

Analysts have been concerned about rising lead prices and slackening demand from the telecom sector adversely affecting battery makers’ revenue and profit. But the outlook seems to be changing for the better.
True, the telecom batteries segment, which grew at 30-40% until 2008, when mobile telephony was on an uptrend, slowed in fiscal 2010. Mobile service providers opted for sharing of towers resulting in lower battery offtake. As a result, both the leading battery makers—Exide Industries Ltd and Amara Raja Batteries Ltd (ARBL)—experienced pricing pressure in the last several quarters. Exide has little less than 10% of its revenue accruing from telecom and ARBL has around 30%.
Graphic: Ahmed Raza Khan/Mint
Graphic: Ahmed Raza Khan/Mint
Of late, however, growth estimates are being revised upwards. A report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd estimates 16-20% and 25% growth in volumes for Hero Honda Motors Ltd and Bajaj Auto Ltd, respectively, in the current year. New passenger car launches could see volumes grow around 20-25%, while the commercial vehicle segment is estimated to grow at 12-15%.
In a nutshell, therefore, OE (original equipment) demand for both Exide and ARBL will expand in the coming quarters. In fact, both have lined up capacity expansion. In the March quarter, Exide, which commands a 70% share of the automotive OE segment, had said that capacity constraints had hindered growth.
Besides, high OE demand in the auto segment would boost sales in the after-market, albeit with a lag. Both companies have at least half their annual revenue accruing from the automotive segment.
The short point is that the buoyancy in the auto sector could offset the decline in telecom offtake. Batteries could register revenue growth of around 15% in fiscal 2011. ARBL’s revenue growth rate could be muted due to the high share of telecom in revenues. Of course, managements of both companies are de-risking the portfolio by looking at other areas of industrial batteries and the retail inverter and UPS (uninterrupted power supply) segments. ARBL may also explore opportunities in overseas markets.
Meanwhile, analysts’ consensus is that high lead prices could pull down the operating profit margin (OPM). During fiscal 2010, the average cost of lead purchased by battery makers was around $2,050 (Rs95,735) per tonne. OPM in the March quarter declined sequentially by around 2% for Exide and 4.5% for ARBL, on account of higher raw material costs.
Commodity watchers believe that lead prices will stabilize in a band of $2,100-2,300 per tonne for the next few quarters. Analysts feel that this could drag down the OPM by around 2-3 percentage points. For ARBL, pressure on margins could be higher due to pricing pressures in the automotive replacement markets and telecom. Exide might be better off as nearly 42% of the lead it uses is from captive smelters, where costs are lower.
Shares of both firms have been moving in a narrow band since January, depending on the lead price movement. Being the leader, Exide enjoys a higher discounting on its earnings. Its shares, at Rs120, discount the estimated fiscal 2011 earnings by 12 times, whereas ARBL’s price of Rs160 discounts future earnings by around eight times.
We welcome your comments at marktomarket@livemint.com

Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:34 pm

Going full throttle: Car sales zoom 40% in April

Car sales in India in April reached at an annual high of 39.5%, indicating consumer demand despite rising prices.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:33 pm

'Go for debt plans in short-term'

The talk about a possible rate hike by the RBI is getting louder on the back of strong growth numbers.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:32 pm

Public offers set to flood market over next 2 yrs

Investors on Dalal Street can expect crowding out of public offers over the next two years as companies and their promoters rush to increase public holdings in companies.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:30 pm

Pvt cos should manage infrastructure fund

Deepak Parekh-headed expert group has recommended that private companies should manage the proposed infrastructure fund with an initial capital of Rs 50,000 crore for financing projects in this crucial sector.
Source: India Business News | Business News - Times of India | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:29 pm

TCIL: Connecting the world

 

TCIL, a prime engineering and consulting company, is a public sector enterprise under the administrative control of the Department of Telecommunications. Set up in 1978 for providing expertise in all fields of telecom to developing countries. Its chairman and managing director R.K. Upadhyay spoke to HT on a range of issues. Excerpts


Source: HindustanTimes.com - Top Business News Headlines | 6 Jun 2010 | 12:28 pm

GM launches VC arm to fund innovation

New York: The American auto giant General Motors has set up a $100-million venture capitalist subsidiary to invest in companies that are developing new technologies in the automotive and transportation sector.
GM has said it has created a venture capital subsidiary General Motors Ventures, designed to help the company identify and develop innovative technologies in the automotive and transportation sector, the Detroit-based company, which till recently was the world’s largest auto company, said in a statement.
GM Ventures has been funded with an initial investment of $100 million and is currently exploring equity investment in a number of auto-related technologies and business models.
GM Ventures would be run by Jon Lauckner, who was GM’s former vice-president for global product planning, from 1 July. He would report to Stephen J Girsky, vice-chairman for corporate strategy and new business development at GM.
“We are constantly looking for ways to deliver the best technology for our customers. Our goal is to nurture innovative technologies to help bring them to the market, and to ensure our customers have access to the best technology available,” Girsky.
GM, which is 61% owned by the US government now after the 2009 bailout following its bankruptcy, last month posted a net income of $1.2 billion for the January-March quarter, against a loss of $5.9 billion in the year-ago period. Its total revenue during the quarter jumped by 40.32 per cent to $31.5 billion.

Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 6 Jun 2010 | 2:43 am