Dhanlaxmi Bank plans to raise Rs 200 crore via QIP

Dhanlaxmi Bank is planning to raise Rs 200 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) or rights issue by the end of this financial year to strengthen the its capital base and finance expansion of its businesses in northern and western part of the country.

In a separate development, the bank is exploring options to sell additional shares to non-resident Indian (NRI) businessmen. In this regard, the bank is in talks with some of these individual investors and aims to raise over Rs 60 crore in next couple of months through preferential share allotment.

At present, Resident individuals have 43.50% stake in the bank, while NRIs hold 8.90% share in the private lender. The remaining shares are with banks and financial institutions, corporate bodies and foreign institutional investors.

Dhanlaxmi Bank is an 84-year old bank with a network of over 275 branches and 460 ATMs covering 160 centers across 14 states, the bank services a broad customer base of 1.6 million. The bank provides a suite of banking products and services to its customers across Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, Microfinance and Agricultural Lending and Small and Medium Enterprises Group.

Essar Steel ups steel prices by Rs 1,200-1,500 a tonne on sharp rupee depreciation

In a bid to pass the increased cost of raw materials to buyers, on account of sharp depreciation of rupee, Essar Steel has upped prices of steel by Rs 1,200-1,500 a tonne, compared with the hike of Rs 1,000-1,200 a tonne in August. However, with this development, other steel companies too are expected to raise their steel prices, since these companies have to shell out more for importing coking coal, crucial raw material for making steel. The hike could also in the backdrop of higher prices of imported steel which has also been caused by the weaker rupee.

Besides, JSW Steel, too earlier reported that it was planning to raise the prices of steel by 5%, beginning September 1, 2013. With its coal import bill going up by nearly Rs 1,500 crore, the company has no choice but to raise prices anywhere between 4% and 6%.

Essar Steel, the group’s flagship company of Essar Group, which is a global corporation with investments in the sectors of steel, energy (oil & gas and power), infrastructure (ports, projects & concessions) and services (shipping, telecom, realty and outsourcing and technology solutions).

TCS to seal 5-year contract worth Rs 200 crore with IT Department

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is in final stages of signing a 5-year contract worth about Rs 200 crore with the Income Tax Department to upgrade its IT infrastructure. The software major will upgrade IT Department’s nation-wide IT infrastructure, which will involve updating the software and the hardware to ensure seamless integration of services and information across all the offices.

Besides, TCS has also attained a market valuation of Rs 4 lakh crore -- becoming the second company in Indian markets after Reliance Industries to cross this milestone. At present, TCS is the only company with a market value of over Rs 4 lakh crore as RIL has slipped below this level.

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPO, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services.

ACC to invest Rs 3,000 crore for capacity expansion in eastern region states

In a bid to expand its capacity by nearly four million tonnes a year in three eastern region states, the cement major ACC is planning to invest Rs 3,000 crore in the next three years. Following this, the company’s total capacity will increase to 10 mt a year from the existing 6 mt a year in the East.

In separate development, the company is eyeing to set up 15 lakh tonne cement factory at Kharagpur, West Midnapore district in state of West Bengal entailing an investment of Rs 600 crore. The proposed factory would begin production within the next three years. The company has already initiated talks with the West Bengal government for the same.

Recently, the company has launched its premium cement brand ACC Plus+ in West Bengal. ACC currently manufactures 30 million tonnes of cement from 17 factories in India.

RBI to tackle with economic challenges one at a time: Raghuram Rajan

Amid rising doubts over the declining value of the rupee and widening CAD, the Chief Economic Advisor and RBI Governor designate Raghuram Rajan said that there is no magic wand to solve country’s economic challenges overnight and will endeavour to deal with them one at a time. Raghuram Rajan said that at present, there are various challenges for Reserve bank of India (RBI) like rupee depreciation, banking financial inclusion and prevailing economic downturn, but there are undoubtedly solutions to many of the problems and RBI will tackle with them step by step. 

Raghuram Rajan will be the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank and will succeed Duvvuri Subbarao who will leave office on September 4. Rajan will take new RBI governor position at a time when the domestic economy is struggling with slowdown. All the macro-economic indicators have deteriorated with current account deficit (CAD) widened to a record high of 4.8 percent of GDP in the FY14 and also domestic currency depreciated to a record low of over 68.50 against the US dollar. Further, Indian economic growth also slowed down to four year low at 4.4 percent in Q1 FY14. Besides combating with the key economic issues like rupee depreciation and high CAD, Rajan will also have to take a call on continuing with RBI's practice of mid-quarter policy review every 45 days, which was initiated by D Subbarao. 

RBI permits Tech Mahindra to raise FII limit to 35%

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed Tech Mahindra to raise the purchasing limit of equity shares and convertible debentures by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the company by up to 35% of the paid up capital. As of June quarter 2013, FIIs had holding of 26.79% in the company, as per data available on the BSE

The company passed resolutions at the Board of Directors' level and a special resolution by the shareholders, approving to enhance the limit for the purchase of its equity shares and convertible debentures by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), through primary market and stock exchanges up to 35% of the paid up capital of the company under Portfolio Investment Scheme.

Tech Mahindra is a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry with a majority stake owned by Mahindra & Mahindra.

Bank of India sells 1.03% stake in MCX for Rs 20.61 crore

Bank of India (BOI) has sold 1.03% stake in Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) for over Rs 20 crore through an open market transaction. BOI, which held 5.25 lakh shares or 1.03% in MCX as of the June quarter, offloaded its entire stake. The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 392.60 valuing the transaction at Rs 20.61 crore.

MCX, the leading commodity bourse, largely offers futures trading in non-agricultural commodities. The exchange contributes maximum business to the total turnover of the commodity futures market.

Suzlon Energy to mop up Rs 5,000 crore via various routes

Wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy is planning to mop up around Rs 5,000 crore through allotting equity shares, GDRs (Global Depository Receipts), ADRs (American Depository Receipts), FCCBs (Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds) or NCDs (Non Convertible Debentures) with warrants or such other securities.

The company will use the proceeds to meet the company’s financial requirements and improve the financial leveraging strength of the company.

Suzlon Group comprises of Suzlon Energy and its subsidiaries, including Repower Systems SE. Suzlon Energy is leader in wind energy in the India, which is world’s fifth largest wind energy market.

Shriram EPC’s JV bags order worth Rs 346 crore from Neyveli Lignite

Leitwind Shriram Manufacturing, an Indo European Joint Venture (JV) between Shriram EPC and Leitwind BV, has secured Rs 346 crore worth of contract from state-run Neyveli Lignite Corp for supply of wind turbines.

The scope of the work comprises procuring of land, designing, manufacturing, supplying, erecting, testing, commissioning and synchronising with grid.

The contract is related to a 51 MW wind farm at Kaluneerkulam, Tamil Nadu, and is expected to be completed within a period of ten months.

NTPC plans to bid for two UMPPs worth Rs 20,000 crore

State-run NTPC is planning to bid for two ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) worth Rs 20,000 crore each in Odisha and Tamil Nadu. The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) is expected to invite preliminary bids for the two UMPPs. Further, NTPC plans to aggressively bid for coal blocks during the auction.

At present, the company is working on coal blocks in Pakri Barwadih, Chatti-Bariatu, Kerandari, and Chatti-Bariatu (South) in Jharkhand; Tallaipali in Andhra and Dulanga in Odisha with total geological reserves of 3,732 million tonnes (mt) and mineable reserves of 

2,035 million tonnes (mt).

NTPC is the largest power generating company in the country. It has also diversified into hydro power, coal mining, power equipment manufacturing, oil & gas exploration, power trading & distribution.

M&M’s business unit MFCS inaugurates first workshop in Ludhiana

Mahindra & Mahindra’s (M&M) business unit - Mahindra First Choice Services (MFCS) multi-brand certified used car company, has launched its very first workshop in Ludhiana in the state of Punjab. The facility is spread over 25,000 sq. ft with 16 bays and a monthly capacity of servicing 1000+ cars of various brands.

With over 4 lakh cars, Ludhiana is one of the largest industrial hubs in the country and has been growing at an exponential pace over the last few years. The company is seeing immense potential in this market and is delighted to offer car owners in the city a world-class servicing experience.

Mahindra & Mahindra is the flagship company of the Mahindra Group. The company’s core automotive and farm equipment businesses have grown into market leaders whose triple bottom line ethic is driving industry trends towards technological innovation, social responsibility, and constantly improving customer satisfaction.

ACC eyeing to set up cement factory in Kharagpur

ACC is eyeing to set up 15 lakh tonne cement factory at Kharagpur, West Midnapore district in state of West Bengal entailing an investment of Rs 600 crore. The proposed factory would begin production within the next three years. The company has already initiated talks with the West Bengal government for the same.

The company has reported 38% fall in its net profit at Rs 259.09 crore for second quarter ended June 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 417.93 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company has decreased by 0.26% at Rs 2886 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 2893.54 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

SBI hikes stake in Indonesian subsidiary to 99%

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest bank, has acquired 23% shares of Bank State Bank of India, Indonesia (BSBII) in a recent deal with P. T. Ravindo Jaya. Pursuant to the acquisition, SBI holds 99% stake in BSBII while P. T. Ravindo Jaya holds 1% stake.

On the consolidated basis, the group registered 11.82% fall in its net profit after taxes and minority interest at Rs 4298.56 crore for first quarter ended June 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 4874.70 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank, on consolidated basis, has increased by 12.23% at Rs 52502.29 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 46782.70 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2012.

SAIL reports 16% growth in sales during the month of August ’13

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has registered a 16% growth in sales during the month of August ’13 by selling 10.86 lakh tonnes (LT) of steel products as compared to 9.38 LT in corresponding period last year (CPLY). The rise in sales was mainly on account of increase in flat product sales, which went up by 26%. While long products saw a growth of 3%, retail sales at 53,800 tonnes in the month were up by 62% on a month-to-month basis.

Concerted efforts to harness the rising dollar materialized in a significant growth in exports to a level of 31,000 tonnes, a CPLY growth of 36%. For the five month duration of April-August ’13, the cumulative steel sales stood at 47.8 LT, a growth of 7% over CPLY.

The growth in sales was backed by the diligent efforts of SAIL employees. Recently, employees of SAIL proved their mettle in the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar (VRP) and Prime Minister’s Shram awards. In the VRP awards announced for performance year 2011, SAIL gleaned 18 out of 28 awards, constituting 64% of the total awards won, also the highest number won by any PSU. Out of 116 VRP awardees, a whopping 76% were from SAIL alone. In the Prime Minister’s Shram Awards for 2012 announced early this month, SAIL won 6 out of the 16 awards conferred on PSUs; SAIL employees constituted half of the total Shram awardees.

Religare Enterprises to acquire Macquarie stake in wealth management JV

Religare Enterprises (REL) will be acquiring Macquarie’s stake in its wealth management joint venture - Religare Macquarie Wealth Management. Post completion of the transaction and necessary formalities, the legal entity will be rechristened as Religare Wealth Management (RWML) and will form a part of the broader Capital Markets Business of Religare group.

The equal partnership joint venture (JV) was formed in 2007 to serve the fast growing Indian High Net Worth individuals (HNI) client base, leveraging Religare’ s local knowledge and Macquarie’s global expertise. As of March 31, 2013, the JV has close to Rs 2,800 crore assets under management serving over 4,800 clients through its committed team of professional wealth advisors.

Religare Enterprises (REL) is one of India’s leading diversified financial services groups. REL offers an integrated suite of financial services including asset management, life and health insurance, lending, broking, investment banking, and wealth management.

Indian rupee opens at 66.28 per dollar

The Indian rupee opened at 66.28 per dollar versus 66 yesterday.

The dollar index gained to 82.3 levels, while the euro slipped a bit and the yen was at a one-month low nearing 100/USD.

NS Venkatesh, IDBI Bank said, "Expect markets to strengthen on the back of receding geopolitical risk from Syria and strengthening equity markets across Asia. The range for the rupee is seen between 65.10-65.80/USD."

Markets to extend the gaining momentum with a positive start

The Indian markets maintained their jubilant mood in the new week and overlooked a series of tepid economic data as traders went for buying in the beaten down sectors. Today, the start is likely to be in green taking cues from the good going in the regional peers. Traders will also be getting some support from the core sector data that rose 3.1% in July, lower than the 4.5% expansion in July 2012 but much higher than the 0.1% growth in June. Core sector accounts for nearly 40% of the index of industrial production (IIP), and the better number will boost the expectation of recovery in industrial activity. Meanwhile, RBI Governor designate Raghuram Rajan has said that there is no magic wand to solve the challenges before the country overnight and he will endeavour to deal with them one at a time. There will be buzz in the oil marketing companies as, though the international crude oil prices have started cooling down, it has been reported that under-recovery on diesel for the first fortnight effective Sept 1 was sharply upwards at Rs.12.12 per litre. Some action will be seen in the aviation stocks too, as ATF prices have been hiked by a steep 6.9 percent, taking the rates to lifetime high of Rs 75,031 per kilolitre.

The US markets remained closed on Monday on account of Labor Day public holiday, unable to give any cue to the other global markets. Though, the Asian markets have made an all green start with some of the indices even trading higher by over a percent. Commodity stocks in the region were trading higher on evidence of a pickup in global manufacturing. China's official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index was 53.9 in August compared with 54.1 in July. Nikkei has surged close to around three percent as the yen weakened.

Back home, Indian markets made a fabulous start of the new week and month, adding over a percent to their last two session’s gaining streak. The best part of the rally was that it came tailing the sanguine global cues despite slew of weak economic numbers. Markets looked in jubilant mood since morning as the rupee after some initial weakness once again started strengthening against the dollar, while there was buying in all the beaten down stocks that helped the markets firm up in the second part, it was the strong start of the European markets that gave further boost to the markets. On the global front, though the Chinese market ended flat but most of the indices in the region ended higher. Later the European markets too made a jubilant start after the final reading on a euro-area manufacturing index came at 51.4, up from a flash reading of 51.3,confirming that the region’s manufacturing recovery has gathered pace. Back home, the euphoric Indian markets got the support of strength in rupee, which after closing at 65.71/$ in last session, showed some upmove in early trade. Though, the rupee pared all its gains going forward, the equity markets not only managed to keep the momentum going but added pace in the second half with the support of FMCG, metals and oil & gas stocks. The Indian markets even overlooked the weak economic data of first quarter GDP numbers, which came at 4.4% much lower than street expectation and the fiscal deficit of the nation touching Rs 3.4 lakh crore or 62.8% of the budget estimate in first four months (April-July) only. There was some disappointment with the manufacturing activity slipping into contraction zone for the first time in more than four years in August. The HSBC Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from 50.1 to 48.5 in August. However, the numbers looked to be on anticipated lines and factored in, so the markets continued heading towards north. In the dying hours the markets got an added support of the non-sectoral sugar gauge, which surged anywhere near 10-20% for the day on hopes that the demand will increase due to the the upcoming festive season. Oil & gas stocks, especially the PSU oil marketing companies too gained around 1-2% after they hiked petrol and diesel prices during the weekend. IT stocks lost some sheen with rupee appreciation, while Auto index bounced back after many of the companies including Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motors and Ashok Leyland reported sales improvement sequentially. The Broader markets, mainly the midcap stocks bounced back and outperformed the benchmarks. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 266.41 points or 1.43% to settle at 18886.13, while the CNX Nifty climbed by 78.95 points or 1.44% to end at 5,550.75.