Shriram City's Rs 200-crore NCD to open on April 16

Shriram City union Finance's Rs 200 crore non-convertible debentures (NCDs) will open for subscription on April 16. The company is aiming to garner Rs 100 crore through NCDs with an option to retain over subscription to the extent of another Rs 100 crore, aggregating to a total of Rs 200 crore.

NCDs are loan-linked securities issued by a company and cannot be converted into stocks and usually carry a higher interest rate than a convertible debenture. The issue would open on April 16 and close on May 16, as per draft prospectus filed with Sebi. The funds raised through the issue are to be used for financing and lending activities, to repay existing loans and meet business operations, including for capital expenditure and working capital requirements.

"Public issue by Shriram City of secured redeemable NCDs of face value of Rs 1,000 each, aggregating up to Rs 100 crore, with an option to retain over subscription up to Rs 100 crore for issuance of additional NCDs aggregating to a total of up to Rs 200 crore," the company said.

Corporate Affairs Ministry notifies 183 more sections in new company law

Corporate India will have to brace up for a comprehensively new company law regime from April 1 with the Corporate Affairs Ministry notifying most of the provisions under this new legislation enacted last year.On Wednesday, the Ministry notified 183 sections of this law including those concerning auditor rotation, one-person company and mandatory secretarial audit.This is in addition to the nearly 98 sections that were notified in the first phase. With the latest move, the company law will be substantially operalitionalised from April 1.The rules for the provisions are expected in the next few days.

The areas which are yet to be notified are compromise and arrangement, oppression and mismanagement, winding up, sick companies, special courts, national company law tribunal, national financial reporting authority and investor education and protection fund.With the latest changes, the responsibilities of Boards, committees and those of directors, including independent directors has significantly been enhanced, said Sai Venkateshwaran, Partner and Head, Accounting Advisory Services, KPMG in India.

Auditors’ reporting responsibilities have also been significantly enhanced together with more stringent penalties and independence requirements, he added.Companies will have to ensure compliance from April 1 as there is no specific transition period for most of the provisions, said Lalit Kumar, Partner, J Sagar Associates, a law firm.The exception will only be for the transition period provided in the company law itself (for example one year in the case of Board composition), he pointed out.Dolphy D’ Souza, senior partner, S.R.Batliboi & Co, said it’s absolutely clear that corporate boards will now have to gear up for the new regime from April 1.

L&T inches up as its arm bags orders worth Rs 1981 crore in March

L&T is currently trading at Rs. 1276.40, up by 1.20 points or 0.09% from its previous closing of Rs. 1275.20 on the BSE.

The Buildings a Factories Business of L&T Construction, subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has bagged new housing orders worth Rs 1981 crore in March 2014. A major residential order has been bagged in Bangalore from one of south India’s leading property developers which is also the company’s biggest residential order in this financial year. The scope of work involves civil, structural, MEP and finishing for 24 towers and 271 villas. The towers will comprise of two basements plus ground floor with levels varying from 18 floors to 29 floors and the project is scheduled to be completed in 42 months.

Another order has been received from an esteemed customer for construction of residential township in Gujarat. The project involves turnkey construction of 134 housing units. The construction includes civil, structural, MEP, finishes and other associated works.The Buildings a Factories Business caters to design a build construction of residential buildings including high rise towers, airports, information technology and institutional space, holistic health care centres, hotels, malls, cement plants, other factories and other commercial structures in domestic and international market.

Moody's put India at less vulnerable place on lowering CAD

Credit rating agency Moody's has came up with a report that is likely to soothe the nerves of outgoing government and give some respite to the coming government. In its latest report the ratings agency has said that the sharp fall in India's current account deficit (CAD), will limit its vulnerability to global financial market volatility, though persistently high inflation remains a major risk.

India's CAD, the broad measure of gap between dollar outflows and inflows, dropped sharply to $4.2 billion or 0.9% of GDP during the passing quarter (October-December 2013) from $31.9 billion or 6.5% of GDP in the same quarter last year, the lowest level in eight years. The decline was due to rising exports and measures to rein in huge gold imports. Now the country is looking on course to contain the deficit within $45 billion in 2013-14, down from $88 billion last year.

Moody’s Investors Service further stated that a reduction in India's current account deficit will limit its susceptibility to swings in global financial markets. The agency which rates India's sovereign debt at “Baa3” with a stable outlook, however warned that the country's high inflation rate still poses risk.