Idea Cellular plans to challenge Rs 600 crore government penalty notice

Idea Cellular, one of the biggest cellular carrier of the country is planning to challenge a government notice asking for Rs 600 crores in penalties for alleged violation of terms and conditions of CMTS /UAS licenses while acquiring erstwhile Spice Communications.

Spice Communications (Spice) was amalgamated with Idea on March 01, 2010, after approval of Company Merger by Gujarat High Court on November 26, 2009 and Delhi High Court on February 05, 2010. Subsequently, in the matter of transfer of Telecom CMTS / UASL licenses held by Spice to Idea, the Delhi High Court had directed DoT to give its final decision on transfer of operational Spice licenses of Punjab & Karnataka in the name of Idea.

As per the latest communication received from the Department of Telecommunications on November 29, 2013, that the Department agreed to take the merger of companies i.e. Spice Communications with Idea Cellular on record and change the name of two Spice UAS licenses of Punjab & Karnataka Service Areas, subject to Idea paying financial penalty of Rs 600 crores besides other list of compliances within next 15 days.

Idea Cellular, an AV Birla group company, provides Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)-based wireless service at the pan-India level, it is present in all 22 telecom circles.

Shree Renuka Sugar soars on the buzz of stake stale talks with Wilmar International

Shree Renuka Sugar, reportedly is in advanced talks with Singapore-based agribusiness group, Wilmar International, for stake sale, in deal which is likely to be announced before month end. The company may issue fresh equity shares to Wilmar in a deal which is likely to trigger open offer.

Further, as per media reports promoters are trying hard to retain minority stake in company, which presently stands at 38.36%. Thus with this, If Wilmar, one of the world’s leading producers of palm oil, buys a majority stake in Shree Renuka, it will pave the way for its entry into important sugar markets, such as Brazil and India. Wilmar had set its foot in the sugar sector with its buyout of Australia’s Sucrogen. Since then, it has purchased mills and refiners in several countries, including Indonesia

Indian economy to grow at 5% in current fiscal: Finance Minister

Encouraged over the better-than-expected growth in GDP and a significant contraction in country’s current account deficit (CAD), Finance Minister P Chidambaram expressed confidence that the economy would expand by 5 percent and CAD would remain below the set target of 3.7 percent of GDP in current financial year. The CAD narrowed sharply to $5.2 billion, or 1.2 percent of GDP, in the July-September quarter of this fiscal, while, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a measure of the country's total economic output, grew by 4.8% for the reported quarter.

Hoping things will become better in the second half of the current fiscal, Chidambaram has said that Indian economy is passing through a ground of optimism and the government is looking forward to better performance in Q3 and Q4 as the recent improvement in some important sectors like manufacturing, better performance of exports as well as certain steps taken by the government will give boost to economic growth. Meanwhile, Government's forecast for economic growth is above the estimation of several global institutions including World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) that have projected growth rate of below 5 percent for 2013-14.

Furthermore, amid rising concerns over country’s widening fiscal deficit, which has already reached 84.4 percent for the full-year Budget estimates in the first seven months of 2013-14, Chidambaram said that the government will be able to achieve the disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore and contain the fiscal deficit within 4.8 percent of the GDP. However, during the first seven months, the government was able to garner only about Rs 1,150 crore through disinvestment.

NTPC to add 14,000 MW to its total capacity by 2016-17

With an aim to become a 128,000 MW utility in coming years, NTPC will add another 14,000 MW to its total capacity by the end of 2016-17. The installed capacity of NTPC at present is 42,500 MW which includes the capacity addition of 10,000 MW in the last three years.

The power company has registered a growth of 4.49% of power in this fiscal year in comparison to the last fiscal. The power production last year through the NTPC run power plants was 222.068 billion units which increased to 232.028 billion units.

The coal stations of the company also registered a growth of 6.67%. In the last fiscal the production from coal station was 199.054 units which have reached 212.39 units this fiscal. On the front of plant load factor, NTPC has scored over other power producers. The Plant Load Factor (PLF) at the coal station run by NTPC on an average was 87.63% while the national average of PLF was 69.93%.

RBI issues updated guidelines for stress-testing of banks

In view of the aftermath of 2008 global financial crisis that led many banks and supervisory authorities across the world to question whether the existing stress testing practices are sufficient and robust to cope with the rapidly changing circumstances, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued updated guidelines for stress-testing of banks which will be effective from April.

According to the guidelines, banks will have to stress-test themselves using shock scenarios involving credit risk, market risk, foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk and equity price risk. Among other things, the guidelines also cover on overall objectives, governance, design and implementation of stress testing programmes.

Further, RBI expects that the degree of sophistication adopted by banks in their stress-testing programmes to commensurate with the nature, scope, scale and the degree of complexity in the bank's business operations and the risks associated with those operations and accordingly has decided to classify banks into three categories. Under the classifications, the first group has risk-weighted assets (RWAs) of over Rs 2 lakh crore, the second RWAs between Rs 50,000 crore and Rs 2 lakh crore; and the third RWAs of under Rs 50,000 crore.

Additionally, the new guidelines underscored that stress tests should be conducted at least annually and the assumptions underlying the stress tests should be reviewed periodically. Such periodic reviews are necessary to ensure the integrity, accuracy and reasonableness of the stress testing framework. Also, it is required by the banks to communicate their risk profile to the respective boards and senior management for setting risk limits and allocating capital for various risks. Meanwhile, the guidelines mandate banks to preserve the document for stress tests undertaken by them, the underlying assumptions, the results of the tests, for a span of at-least five years.

Spicejet flies higher on allotting 1.5 crore equity shares to promoter

Spicejet has alloted 1.5 crore equity shares, after an equal number of warrants were converted to its promoter Kalanithi Maran at a price of Rs 36.18 per share. These warrants were exercisable for conversion into equity shares within 18 months from the date of allotment.

The amount paid for this purpose aggregated to Rs 54.27 crore, while the proceeds from the current infusion would be utilised towards working capital requirements of the company in accordance with the terms of the issue.

Post allotment, the holding of the promoters has increased to 53.48% in the company. Of total, which Kalanithi Maran individually holds 24.24%, while the balance 29.24% is held by KAL Airways.

L&T gains after winning orders

Larsen & Toubro rose 0.17% to Rs 1,068.35 at 11:24 IST on BSE after the company said L&T Construction won new orders worth Rs 1471 crore across various business segments in November and December 2013.

L&T Construction, a brand of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), said in a statement that its power transmission & distribution business segment received orders worth Rs 686 crore in both domestic and international markets.

The buildings & factories business segment bagged new orders worth Rs 461 crore.
The water & renewable energy business segment bagged an order worth Rs 142 crore from Karnataka Urban Water Supply & Drainage Board for providing, laying, jointing, testing and commissioning of waste water network under the 2nd stage waste water scheme to Tumkur City.

The heavy civil infrastructure business segment bagged additional orders valued Rs 182 crore from its ongoing jobs, L&T Construction said.

L&T's net profit declined 14.1% to Rs 977.51 crore on 10% growth in net sales to Rs 14509.51 crore in Q2 September 2013 over Q2 September 2012.


L&T is a $14 billion technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, with global operations.

NTPC gets nod for Scheme of Amalgamation

NTPC has received an approval from Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India on November 21, 2013 for the Scheme of Amalgamation of NTPC Hydro, a wholly owned subsidiary of company with itself.

Consequent to the amalgamation of the Companies and the Scheme becoming effective, NTPC Hydra shall stand dissolved without the process of winding up.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.

Corporation Bank moves up on inking MoU with Bajaj Auto for financing 3 wheelers

Corporation Bank, public sector lender has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bajaj Auto for financing 3 wheeler vehicles (Auto) manufactured by the auto major. With this tie-up, the bank will be the preferred financier for financing the Auto and will offer financing facilities to the eligible customers for purchasing the Bajaj autos through its branches.

Corporation Bank is a Mangalore-based mid-sized public sector bank which was established in 1906. Government of India is the majority shareholder holding 59.82% stake in the bank. As on March 31, 2013, the bank has 1707 branches and 1425 ATMs.

GAIL (India), FICCI organizes 8th Asia Gas Partnership Summit

GAIL (India) in collaboration with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organizing the 8th Asia Gas Partnership Summit (AGPS) on December 03, 2013. The Prime Minister of India will inaugurate the Asia’s premier natural gas event.

The 8th AGPS will bring together a host of industry leaders from across the globe over two days and is expected to witness the participation of over 46 speakers from 16 countries and more than 800 delegates.

The two-day conference with the theme ‘Asian Gas Market: Challenges and Opportunities in the Changing Paradigm’ will have six business sessions and a special session and feature some of the best speakers and experts in their areas.

RBI floats draft guidelines for Domestic Systemically Important Banks to avoid 2008 crisis re-play

In order to avoid 2008 crisis kind of situation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon announce a separate category of domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs), which will have to set aside more capital to cover risks and be subject to more intense regulations by the banking regulator. It will mainly cover banks having multiple financial services like insurance, broking and asset management and the list of banks falling under this category will be released by August 2015.

According to the draft guidelines floated for D-SIBs, these banks, which will be selected based on a pre-determined formula, will be required to maintain higher core tier-I capital ranging from 0.20 to 0.80% of their risk weighted assets.

Further, this classification system will be based upon the BCBS (Basel Committee for Banking Supervision) framework for global systematically important banks (G-SIBs) and will involve computation of composite systemic importance score for banks, which will be arrived at post-considering a bank’s size, interconnectedness, substitutability and complexity among other things. Based on their systemic importance scores, banks will be plotted into different buckets. Meanwhile, the higher capital requirements will be applicable in phased manner from Apr 1, 2016 and will become fully effective from Apr 1, 2019. D-SIBs will also be subjected to differentiated supervisory requirements and higher intensity of supervision based on the risks they pose to the financial system. Lastly, the RBI has invited comments on the draft guidelines till December 31.

RCom raises prices of 3G data by 27%

Reliance Communications (RCom) has hiked its 3G data prices by around 27% and the new rates have become effective from December 1, 2013 for new connections, while those subscribers on the old plan will continue with their old rates. This move comes four months after the operator unveiled its plan making its 3G cheaper than 2G, for both pre-paid and post-paid users.

As per the increased rates, the company’s Rs 123 pack which came with 1 GB data, will now provide only 400 MB. The same plan will now yield 60 per less data. The subscriber will have to shell out Rs 156 for 1 GB data. Moreover, its Rs 246 pack which earlier allowed downloads worth 2 GB, will now allow only 1.5 GB.

The company reported 800% rise in its net profit at Rs 81 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2013 as compared to Rs 9 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased by 13.50% at Rs 3472 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 3059 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012. 

Polaris Financial Technology trades firmly in early deals on BSE

Polaris Financial Technology’s Payments Hub from its iGTB division received a ‘Best in Class’ recognition for Payments Operations in CEB TowerGroup’s annual Payment Hubs Technology Analysis report, 2013. As a real-time payments solution that minimizes operational risk and improves the Straight Through Processing rate to over 90%, Polaris’ Payments Hub provides superior customer experience though a channel agnostic service layer with the flexibility to configure to meet changing customer needs, regulatory reforms and operational arrangements.

With a 360° view of corporate activities related to payments, it offers better risk management, supports centralized control of global payments operations and its robust exception handling process and AML and fraud management capability reduce Exception and Investigation and manpower costs.

Polaris is a full-spectrum Financial Technology major, using technology as an enabler to drive unprecedented operational productivity in Retail, Corporate and Investment Banking. Polaris services over 200 banks across the world, including 9 of the top 10 banks, with a comprehensive suite of products, services and consulting offerings.

Steel Strips Wheels reports 12% rise in November sales

Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL), a producer of automobile wheel rims, recorded an increase of 12% in wheels sales of 8,69,680 during November 2013 as against 7,77,433 in November 2012. Exports rose 5% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) with total sales at 1,04,106 as against 99,392 in November 2012. The export segment is growing steadily and is expected to move up going into fourth quarter with ramp up in new businesses coming into effect.

Two & three wheeler segment grew by 72% on the back of good volume growth across the customers and is poised to move with brisk pace over the coming months supporting overall volumes.

Meanwhile, the tractor segment volumes grew by 12% Y-o-Y and are expected to pick up good momentum again from fourth quarter onwards on the back of new developments and goods monsoon yielding record harvest. This segment is expected to grow at 15% going forward in the remaining 4 months of this financial year.

Wipro gains on plan to acquire Opus CMC

Wipro, a leading global Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Opus CMC (Opus Capital Markets Consultants LLC), one of the leading US-based providers of mortgage due diligence and risk management services, for a purchase consideration of $75 million that includes a deferred earn-out component. The acquisition will strengthen Wipro's mortgage solutions and outsourcing business and complement its existing offerings in mortgage origination, servicing and secondary market.

Opus CMC provides comprehensive risk management solutions to the mortgage industry in the United States. It has over 490 employees, including over 315 loan underwriters, spread across 5 centers in the US.

Wipro is a leading provider of analytics and information management solutions - enabling customers to derive actionable business insights from data to drive growth, enhance cost management and strengthen risk management.

Alstom T&D India wins order worth €9 million from Power Grid

All 765 kV equipment for these projects will be manufactured in Alstom’s transformer and reactor manufacturing facility at Vadodara in India.

Alstom T&D India has won an order worth approximately Rs. 790 million (€9 million) from Powergrid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) to provide 14 shunt reactors for 
the 765 kV electrical substations at Kanpur and Jhatikara in the Uttar Pradesh state. 

The projects are due for delivery in 2015. Alstom’s shunt reactors1 kV) installed on India’s Extra High Voltage (EHV) 765 kV electrical grid. The reactors are designed to maintain the 765 kV voltage level, whatever the load, by limiting transient over-voltages which can occur due to sudden load decreases. 

All 765 kV equipment for these projects will be manufactured in Alstom’s transformer 
and reactor manufacturing facility at Vadodara in India. 


Commenting on the order, Rathin Basu, Managing Director, Alstom T&D India Limited, said, “This contract further reinforces the confidence that Powergrid has in Alstom’s capability to deliver 765 kV products and solutions from its state of the art manufacturing facilities.”

Oil firms sourcing all dollars from market: RBI

RBI also said going forward, the OMCs have been advised to smoothen their daily dollar demand.

RBI said that state run oil refiners have returned to the foreign exchange market to meet all their dollar requirements as volatility in currency rates has eased over the past few weeks.
Beginning last week, the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have started accessing the FX market for their entire daily dollar demands. 

RBI also said Going forward, the OMCs have been advised to smoothen their daily dollar demand, so that the upcoming bunched up demands on any particular day is covered in advance in the forward forex market or covered on days with low demand. Apart from covering in the forward markets, the OMCs have also been advised to utilize the revolving lines of credit made available by banks with the specific objective of tiding over humps in dollar demands.

Finally, the Reserve Bank will consider opening the swap window to OMCs on the rare days when there is a pronounced spurt in dollar demand in the FX market.
Given the backdrop of broad stability returning to the forex market,  on the basis of an ongoing review of the demand conditions in the market,  OMCs have been allowed to source dollars even  beyond their  normal daily requirements. This process has already been put in place last week and it is expected that the excess demand of the OMCs will be funneled to meet their swap (second leg)  commitments over a period of time.
As indicated earlier, the Reserve Bank is closely monitoring the market  and will continue to keep all options open regarding settlement of  OMC swaps, including Rupee settlement, depending upon the evolving flow dynamics in the market.


In line with our earlier announcement, the swap windows for FCNR(B) funds and Banks' Overseas Borrowings have since been closed. The two swap windows have mobilized a sum of USD 34 billion. Since the RBI swap windows are now closed, going forward, any new funds raised from FCNR deposits or from banks' borrowings will flow directly into the market instead of to RBI's FX reserves .

Markets likely to open lower

Markets are likely to open in the red on account of negative global cues.  At 0830 hrs, the SGX Nifty was down 31 points at 6,222.

Overnight, U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, with investors unable to find new reasons to keep pushing shares higher after eight straight weeks of gains, while the mining sector slid alongside sharp drops in precious metals prices.

The major U.S. stock indexes hovered near break-even levels for much of the day after some encouraging economic data limited early losses, but turned lower in the last hour of the trading day.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.48 percent, to end at 16,009. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 0.27 percent, to 1,801. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.36 percent, to close at 4,045.

Asian shares slipped and the dollar firmed on Tuesday as an unexpectedly strong U.S. factory activity gauge bolstered expectations the Federal Reserve will soon reduce its stimulus, while the yen tumbled on speculation of further central bank easing.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1 percent.

The yen's weakness helped lift Tokyo's Nikkei benchmark 0.5 percent higher to 15,731.49. The index hit a six-month high of 15,756 in the opening minutes of trade, edging closer to a 5-1/2 year intraday high of 15,943 logged in May.