Tuesday 3 June 2014

BJP leader suspects Munde's death to be a planned conspiracy, demands CBI probe

Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Awadhut Wagh said that the death of Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde's death might be a planned conspiracy, and demanded a CBI probe in the matter and asked that unless an inquiry is done, they won't be satisfied. People think this could be a conspiracy. He said that Munde used to travel in a high security vehicle with guards, how come he was in a normal car?
Wagh said that the Munde used to travel across the nation in comfortable car with safety equipments. The Indica came and hit on Gopinath Munde's side and not otherwise. The car was overtaken from the left side.
BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has said that the minister's body would be placed at BJP headquarters today for party leaders to pay last respects. His last rites will be performed in Beed village in Parle district of Maharashtra tomorrow. Munde tragically passed away today morning after meeting with an accident while he was enroute to Delhi's IGI Airport

TVS Motor strengthens on reporting 27% growth in May sales

TVS Motor Company is currently trading at Rs. 131.05, up by 1.20 points or 0.92% from its previous closing of Rs. 129.85 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 131.25 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 133.90 and Rs. 130.30 respectively. So far 466865 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 139.80 on 29-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 28.10 on 31-Jul-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 139.80 and Rs. 120.50 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 6228.39 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 57.40% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 22.16% and 20.44% respectively.
TVS Motor Company has recorded 27% increase in total sales registering 2, 10,293 units in the month of May 2014 against 1,65,151 units recorded in the month of May, 2013. The company's total exports grew by 42% with sales increasing from 24393 units in the month of May 2013 to 34623 units in May 2014.
The total two wheeler sales increased by 26% from 159346 units recorded in May 2013 to 2,01,234 units for the month under review. Domestic two wheeler sales registered a growth of 24%, increasing to 174234 units for the month under review from 140056 units in the corresponding month previous year.
Scooters sales grew by 60% at 53924 units in May, 2014 from 33747 units in May, 2013. Motorcycles sales grew by 28% at 85475 units in May as compared to 66606 on Y-o-Y basis. Further, three wheeler sales of the company registered a growth of 56% at 9059 units in May as compared to 5805 units in the same month previous fiscal.

Hindustan Unilever to focus on innovation, rural distribution and digital media

Hindustan Unilever (HUL), country’s largest fast-moving consumer goods company, would be in coming months, shifting its focus on innovation, rural distribution and digital media. Rural distribution continues to be a key area of company’s focus. During FY13-14, the company reached out to 8,500 villages across India, with an ambition to improve the health and hygiene of children, through school contact and mohalla (neighbourhood) programmes. Also, it significantly stepped up investment in digital media, which is expected to be the media channel of the future. Besides, HUL primarily enhanced its direct retail presence in rural areas, adding 17,000 Shakti Ammas (female distributors) in 2013-14.
Moreover, HUL is driving the 'perfect village' initiative, through which consumers are educated about categories such as conditioners, face-wash, body lotions, fabric conditioners and liquid hand-wash. The initiative, which began in eight key states last year, is expected to be expanded this year.
Lastly, the company also is focusing on innovation across categories, especially in oral care, personal products and soaps & detergents, which account for about 80% of its business. HUL is India’s largest fast moving consumer goods company, with leadership in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. HUL's brands, spread across 20 distinct consumer categories, touch the lives of two out of three Indians.

Wipro announces Demand Management RDS for SAP HANA platform

Wipro’s Demand Management solution can be deployed rapidly to help customers get up and running quickly with SAP HANA.

Wipro Ltd. a leading Global Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company and an SAP global services partner, announced its Demand Management rapid-deployment solution (RDS) for the SAP HANA platform has been qualified by SAP. The solution combines SAP software and content with services from Wipro for a pre-configured solution to reduce risks and help clients achieve benefits quickly and affordably. Wipro’s Demand Management solution can be deployed rapidly to help customers get up and running quickly with SAP HANA.

“In line with our continuous focus on delivering real-time, transformational agility to our customers and to help them in their digital journeys, Wipro has developed the Demand Management RDS for customers in the manufacturing and consumer packaged goods industry,” said Bhanumurthy B.M., Chief Executive, Application Services and Strategic Alliances Wipro Ltd. “This solution, qualified by SAP, will enable better collaboration across business functions to consistently provide accurate forecasts. This will help re-align business priorities in real time. Wipro plans to continue to leverage the SAP HANA platform to deliver innovative solutions to address business challenges.”

Rapid-deployment solutions are typically ready-to-use combinations of best-in-class software, pre-configured content and pre-defined services that have been specifically tailored to industries or line of business needs, delivered at a fixed price with a fixed implementation time. They are designed to offer a quick, cost-effective method for standardizing processes and adopting the latest innovations with fewer migration risks. The average timeframe for a typical deployment is eight weeks or less, which helps customers lower the cost of implementation and speed time to value, while retaining the flexibility to extend the solution according to individual needs.

For more information, visit Wipro’s storefront on SAP Store, the online e-commerce channel or “e-channel” for enterprise solutions and services from SAP and its partners. SAP Store is the place for customers to gain instant access to the insight they need to make informed buying decisions. They have the ability to discover, try, purchase, and deploy a wide range of solutions from SAP and the SAP partner ecosystem.

Wipro’s domain expertise in the manufacturing and consumer goods industries supplemented by strong implementation experience around demand management solutions for SAP software and understanding of the in-memory processing capabilities of SAP HANA has enabled the development of this highly scalable platform. With a practice dedicated to SAP solutions across the globe, Wipro is a leading provider implementation services and rollout support for SAP solutions.
 
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Reduction in SLR is a welcome signal: ICICI Bank

The cut in the SLR is a welcome signal to reduce pre-emption of resources and create more room for banks to finance growth, Chanda Kochhar says

The policy reflects a balanced and pragmatic view of current economic conditions as well as the improved prospects for the economy following the decisive verdict in the recent general elections, Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank, said.
The decision to hold rates reflects the current level of inflation as well as the expectation of policy and administrative actions from the government in the coming months to address inflation as well as boost growth, she added.
The reduction in the Statutory Liquidity Ratio is a welcome signal of the commitment to reduce pre-emption of resources over time and create more room for banks to finance growth. The measures with respect to outward remittances and currency markets reflect both, the significantly improved confidence in the country’s external position which allows reversal of the extraordinary measures taken last year, as well as the focus on developing deeper onshore markets.

Canara Bank opens new circle office in Uttar Pradesh

Canara Bank, a leading nationalized bank, has opened the circle office at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Through this circle office, the bank is planning to provide better customer service in 60 of its branches spread over 24 districts of eastern UP.
Canara Bank has posted a fall of 15.79% in its net profit at Rs 610.83 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, as compared to Rs 725.38 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank has increased by 22.57% at Rs 11609.72 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 9471.57 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

Venus Remedies receives European patent for VRP008

Venus Remedies has received another patent grant for a novel antibiotic product VRP008 consisting of a carbapenem and a novel aminoglycoside (NCE entity) from European Patent Office (EPO). Pioneering into antimicrobial resistance research, VMRC is engaged in research for this product from the past 8 years.
The product is designed for mixed multi-drug infections for pediatric, geriatric and adult immuno-compromised patients where the risk of adverse events is high and very low amount of doses are required. It is expected to capture a wide range of market sector which is upheaval with antibiotics for wide indications.  Besides this, Venus has also received EU patent for its novel product Elores, Potentox, Vancoplus and Achnil.
Venus Remedies is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. The company provides formulations in area of antibiotics and oncological therapeutics. The company has two manufacturing facilities located in India and Germany. It manufactures Oncological and Cefelosporine Injectable products.

L&T gains on buzz of its plan to list both IT arms on bourses by July 2016

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is currently trading at Rs. 1655.20, up by 9.80 points or 0.60 % from its previous closing of Rs. 1645.40 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 1650.30 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1673.95 and Rs. 1649.40 respectively. So far 212465 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1650.00 on 02-Jun-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 678.10 on 28-Aug-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1650.00 and Rs. 1522.80 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 154278.25 crore.
The Institutions holding in the company stood at 55.07 % while Non-Institutions held 42.25% of the stake.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is reportedly planning to list both its IT arms on stock exchanges by July 2016. The two firms comprise L&T Technology Services and L&T Infotech.
The company reported a growth of 14.26% in consolidated net revenue for FY14 at Rs 85,128.4 crore from Rs 74,498 crore last fiscal. Of this, L&T Technology Services and Infotech together reported income of Rs 110 crore in FY’14.
L&T Infotech provides IT services and solutions in various verticals including banking, insurance, energy and utilities, auto and aerospace, while L&T Technology Services provides end-to-end services, including product design, analysis, prototyping and testing, embedded system design, manufacturing engineering, plant and construction engineering, asset information management and engineering process support.

SAIL, Tata Steel set to resume operations at iron ore mines in Odisha

SAIL along with Tata Steel are set to resume operations at their captive iron ore mines in Odisha after Odisha government gave its approval for renewal of mining leases. The decision will impact seven mines belonging to the two steel majors, out of the 26 mines that had to close down due to a Supreme Court order on May 16, 2014 which banned operations in mines working on second deemed lease renewal.
Following the ban, the entire process for granting approval for lease renewal was fasten by the state government to minimise disruption of mining activities and royalty losses. Moreover, the state government's approval would lead to renewal of lease for the next 20 years.

CII welcomes RBI move to cut SLR

CII recognizes that concerns about inflation has restrained RBI from reducing key policy rates but by easing liquidity in the system by lowering SLR it has ensured that funds would be available to the banking sector for onward lending which in turn would push investment and growth.

Reacting to the first bimonthly monetary policy announced by RBI today, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII welcomed the Central Bank’s decision to reduce SLR by 50 basis points stating that the policy announcement has shifted the spotlight back on growth while restraining inflationary pressures in the economy. The announcement heralds a new beginning in which both the RBI and the government would work in concert to push the growth agenda forward. Industry believes that the reduction in the SLR is a clear message from the RBI that growth is a priority with RBI and would help availability of capital.

Admittedly, CII recognizes that concerns about inflation has restrained RBI from reducing key policy rates but by easing liquidity in the system by lowering SLR it has ensured that funds would be available to the banking sector for onward lending which in turn would push investment and growth.

Going forward, CII advocates urgent supply side responses which would improve the productivity of agriculture and reduce the supply side bottlenecks in production and distribution. This would entail timely intervention to release excess food stocks in the market, permit key food imports, dismantle the system of administered prices, delisting perishables from APMC Act and creation of a Common Market for agricultural produce which would contain inflation within the comfort zone of the RBI and help reduce policy rates.

Reliance Industries trades higher on the bourses

Reliance Industries is currently trading at Rs. 1096.75, up by 14.40 points or 1.33% from its previous closing of Rs. 1082.35 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 1086.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 1101.90 and Rs. 1077.65 respectively. So far 166513 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1142.50 on 16-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 765.00 on 28-Aug-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 1106.00 and Rs. 1062.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 352883.23 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 45.30% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 29.86% and 21.41% respectively.
Reliance Retail (RRL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is reportedly planning to go online through launching e-commerce site. The potential of e-commerce combined with the network of physical store locations will offer tremendous choice and convenience at a great value to the consumer. Currently, the company is hiring people for e-commerce.
Reliance Retail (RRL) has grown into an organisation that caters to millions of customers, thousands of farmers and vendors. Based on its core growth strategy of backward integration, RRL has made rapid progress towards building an entire value chain starting from the farmers to the end consumers.

Castor seed futures trade up on improved demand

Castor seed futures traded up on NCDEX due to speculative buying at lower level. Further, rise in demand from consuming industries against restricted arrivals in domestic markets which in turn encouraged the investors to enlarge their holdings too supported the upside.
The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 3890.00, up by 0.15% or Rs 6.00 from its previous closing of Rs 3884.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 90110.00 lots.
The contract for July delivery was trading at Rs 4000.00, up by 0.10% or Rs 4.00 from its previous closing of Rs 3996.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 180440.00 lots on NCDEX.

Govt slashes import tariff on gold, silver

The government has slashed the import tariff on gold to $408 per 10 gram from $424 and silver to $617 per kg from $650 per kg, in line with global rates of the precious metals, which could lead to some softening in the prices. Tariff value or the base price is set to determine the customs duty on the precious metal and to prevent under invoicing. The government revises import tariff value on a fortnightly basis taking into account the volatility in global metal prices.
During the recent months, global gold prices have been declinilng as positive US economic data backed the latest Federal Reserve’s move to keep on reducing monetary stimulus which has dimmed the precious metal's appeal. Taking global cues, domestic gold rates in the national capital Delhi declined to 11-month low at Rs 27,400 per 10 grams.
Gold is the second largest import item for India after crude oil. The government had taken various measures like high customs duty of 10% and 80/20 rule to curb gold shipments to check country’s widening current account deficit (CAD). Gold and silver imports fell by 40.02% to $33.46 billion in FY14 due to these stern Government’s norms. Low gold imports also helped India to contain current account deficit (CAD) at 1.7 percent of GDP or $32.4 billion in FY 14 as compared to $87.8 billion, or 4.7 percent of GDP in FY13.

Potato futures edge higher on rising demand

Potato futures edged higher on MCX on the back of fresh positions built-up by speculators, driven by rising demand in the spot markets. However, easy availability of the commodity and increased arrivals from producing areas restricted the gains to some extent.
The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 1330.00, up by 0.45% or Rs 6.00 from its previous closing of Rs 1324.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 1496.00 lots.
The contract for July delivery was trading at Rs 1368.50, up by 0.31% or Rs 4.20 from its previous closing of Rs 1364.30. The open interest of the contract stood at 1441.00 lots on MCX.

Reliance’s arm plans to launch e-commerce site: Report

Reliance Retail (RRL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is reportedly planning to go online through launching e-commerce site. The potential of e-commerce combined with the network of physical store locations will offer tremendous choice and convenience at a great value to the consumer. Currently, the company is hiring people for e-commerce.
Reliance Retail (RRL) has grown into an organisation that caters to millions of customers, thousands of farmers and vendors. Based on its core growth strategy of backward integration, RRL has made rapid progress towards building an entire value chain starting from the farmers to the end consumers.

GMR infra trades with traction on the bourses

GMR Infrastructure is currently trading at Rs. 34.55, up by 0.35 points or 1.02% from its previous closing of Rs. 34.20 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 34.45 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 35.10 and Rs. 34.40 respectively. So far 1002250 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 38.10 on 26-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 10.65 on 06-Aug-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 35.15 and Rs. 31.90 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 13565.14 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 71.70% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 18.88% and 9.42% respectively.
GMR Infrastructure has reported that Honey Flower Estate and Namitha Real Estate have become subsidiaries of the company in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.
The company net consolidated profit has doubled to Rs 1,170 crore in the quarter ended March from Rs 579 crore a year ago, helped by income from its stake sale in Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen international airport
GMR Infrastructure is a Bangalore headquartered global infrastructure major with interests in Airports, Energy, Highways and Urban Infrastructure sectors. It has successfully employed the public-private partnership model to build a portfolio of high quality assets.

L&T to list both IT arms on stock exchanges by July 2016: Report

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is reportedly planning to list both its IT arms on stock exchanges by July 2016. The two firms comprise L&T Technology Services and L&T Infotech.
The company reported a growth of 14.26% in consolidated net revenue for FY14 at Rs 85,128.4 crore from Rs 74,498 crore last fiscal. Of this, L&T Technology Services and Infotech together reported income of Rs 110 crore in FY’14.
L&T Infotech provides IT services and solutions in various verticals including banking, insurance, energy and utilities, auto and aerospace, while L&T Technology Services provides end-to-end services, including product design, analysis, prototyping and testing, embedded system design, manufacturing engineering, plant and construction engineering, asset information management and engineering process support. 

IOB gains on plan to raise Rs 1,000 crore via various routesIOB gains on plan to raise Rs 1,000 crore via various routes

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is currently trading at Rs. 84.80, up by 0.45 points or 0.53% from its previous closing of Rs. 84.35 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 84.95 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 85.75 and Rs. 83.00 respectively. So far 498176 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 86.50 on 26-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 37.15 on 19-Aug-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 85.75 and Rs. 73.60 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 10426.34 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 73.80% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 17.14% and 9.06% respectively.
IOB is planning to raise Rs 1,000 crore through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), public issue, rights issue, preferential issue.
The proposed fund raising is in view of certain expansion plans of the bank, the implementation of Basel III norms, and consequent capital charge and there is a need to increase the capital to further strengthen the Capital Adequacy Ratio. Moreover, the bank will also raise around $500 million through medium-term notes (MTN).
In March 2014, the bank raised Rs 398.04 crore from Life Insurance Corporation through preferential basis. The fund-raising was primarily to augment long term resources and maintain a Tier I capital adequacy ratio of desired level.
IOB reported over four fold jump in its net profit at Rs 268.33 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 58.87 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank increased 9.79% at Rs 6,475.93 crore for quarter under review, as compared to Rs 5,898.15 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

Gold futures extend gains on fresh buying

Gold futures traded up on MCX as speculators created fresh positions after the precious metal recovered in the global markets. Moreover, fresh buying by local consumers to meet wedding demand impacted the sentiments.
The contract for June delivery was trading at Rs 26715.00, up by 0.05% or Rs 14.00 from its previous closing of Rs 26701.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 686.00 lots.
The contract for August delivery was trading at Rs 25778.00, up by 0.11% or Rs 29.00 from its previous closing of Rs 25749.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 9067.00 lots on MCX.

State Bank of Patiala plans to launch exclusive locker branch

State Bank of Patiala, an associate bank of State Bank of India is planning to launch a branch that will offer some services of beauty parlour along with the safe deposit locker. This is an exclusive account that will work as palour cum bank. The bank is establishing the branches in Mumbai and will start them most probably by the end of July 2014. The bank is also planning to roll out a couple of locker branches at Delhi and Chennai, albeit at a later date.
The bank reported 34.20% fall in its net profit at Rs 2234.34 crore for third quarter ended December 31, 2013 as compared to Rs 3396.06 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the bank increased by 14.91% at Rs 39060.76 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 33992.11 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2012.

Sasken Communication trades in green on the BSE

Sasken Communication Technologies is currently trading at Rs. 202.85, up by 1.60 points or 0.80% from its previous closing of Rs. 201.25 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 202.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 202.95 and Rs. 200.40 respectively. So far 1096 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 234.90 on 21-Apr-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 100.60 on 04-Sep-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 209.50 and Rs. 196.65 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 430.41 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 36.51% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 1.25% and 62.24% respectively.
Sasken Communication Technologies has been appraised at Level 3 of the CMMI Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). The appraisal was performed by QAI India. CMMI is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance.
An appraisal at maturity level 3 indicates the organization is performing at a defined level. At this level, processes are well characterized and understood, and are described in standards, procedures, tools, and methods. The organization’s set of standard processes, which is the basis for maturity level 3, is established and improved over time.
Sasken is a leader in providing Engineering R&D and Productized IT services to global tier 1 customers in the Communications & Devices, Retail, Insurance and Independent Software space.

Foreigners can participate in domestic fx derivatives market: RBI

Detailed operating guidelines will be issued separately.

With a view to improving the depth and liquidity in the domestic foreign exchange market, it has been decided to allow foreign portfolio investors to participate in the domestic exchange traded currency derivatives market to the extent of their underlying exposures plus an additional US$ 10 million. Furthermore, it has also been decided to allow domestic entities similar access to the exchange traded currency derivatives market. Detailed operating guidelines will be issued separately.

Subex trades higher on the bourses

Subex is currently trading at Rs. 11.51, up by 0.31 points or 2.77% from its previous closing of Rs. 11.20 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 11.20 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 11.75 and Rs. 10.72 respectively. So far 150008 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 13.30 on 23-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 4.41 on 02-Aug-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 12.44 and Rs. 10.26 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 194.80 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 3.89% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 0.11% and 94.93% respectively.
Subex will be leading the Capital Asset Management catalyst that will be demonstrated at TM Forum Live 2014, Nice, France. The goal of the project is to demonstrate a comprehensive, repeatable and scalable approach to understand and effectively manage all facets of network asset management.
Smarter network capital spending is now a critical need across operators. Effective, demonstrable programs around capital expenditure and network asset lifecycle management are rapidly becoming a boardroom level issue for telecoms operators. Implementing a comprehensive solution of Network Asset Management which manages, oversees, and predicts all facets of network capital expenditure is now required to provide management with the right actionable intelligence to make more informed and better capex decisions.
To explore more into the Asset Management space, Subex and other participating companies, along with TM Forum and Operator champion Econet have recently launched the Asset Management Project, to bring standards into the Network Capex and Network Optimization practices within operators globally.

Conducive environment for policy action likely: RBI

The decisive election result, together with improved sentiment should, however, create a conducive environment for comprehensive policy actions and a revival in aggregate demand as well as a gradual recovery of growth during the course of the year.

Lead indicators point to continuing sluggishness in domestic economic activity in the first quarter of 2014-15. The outlook for agriculture is clouded by the meteorological department’s forecasts of a delay in the onset of the south-west monsoon with a 60 per cent chance of the occurrence of El Nino. The ongoing contraction in the production of consumer durables and capital goods, coupled with moderation in corporate sales and non-oil non-gold imports, is indicative of continuing weakness in both consumption and investment demand. The decisive election result, together with improved sentiment should, however, create a conducive environment for comprehensive policy actions and a revival in aggregate demand as well as a gradual recovery of growth during the course of the year.

Premier Polyfilm to set up new unit in UP

Premier Polyfilm has received an approval for setting up of a new unit at company’s industrial plot at Sikandrabad District, Bulandshahar in state of Uttar Pradesh at an estimated cost of Rs 15.50 crore excluding Working Capital to be met by the bank loan and unsecured loan from promoters and internal accruals.
The said unit will manufacture PVC Sheeting and Films, Soft touch cushion type of Artificial PVC Leather cloth, knitted Fabric and PVC calendered Geomembranes and various other superior products. The board of directors at its meeting held on May 27, 2014 has approved for the same.
Premier Polyfilm was incorporated to manufacture wide-width PVC flooring, sheeting, PVC linoleum floorings, canal lining, leather cloth topping, shower curtains and other PVC products.

Ponni Sugars sells 3075 tonnes of sugar in May 2014

Ponni Sugars (Erode) has reported a sale of 3075 tonnes of sugar in the month of May 2014. The company’s sugar production stood at 569 tonnes in month of April 2014, while its sale stood at 3,587 tonnes.
Ponni Sugars (Erode) is an efficient and quality producer of sugar, catering to both domestic and international markets. The company is engaged in the manufacturing of sugar and it’s by products. It manufactures cane sugar, cane molasses and bagasse.

Escorts gains despite subsidiary reporting 6.36% fall in May 2014 sales

Escorts is currently trading at Rs. 128.70, up by 0.95 points or 0.74 % from its previous closing of Rs. 127.75 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 128.40 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 129.50 and Rs. 126.60 respectively. So far 139272 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 145.15 on 26-Dec-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 64.80 on 05-Aug-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 132.50 and Rs. 120.70 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 1570.82 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 41.97 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 9.06 % and 48.97 % respectively.
Escorts agri machinery segment (EAM), a subsidiary of Escorts, sold 5794 tractors in May 2014, down by 6.36% against 6188 tractors sold in May 2013.
Domestic tractor sales in May 2014 stood at 5704 as against 6122 tractors in May 2013, a fall of 6.82% over last year. However, export for the month of May 2014 surged 36.36% to 90 tractors as that of 66 tractors in May 2013.
Escorts offer a comprehensive range of tractors with more than 45 variants starting from 25 to 80 HP. The company also manufactures and markets a diverse range of equipments like cranes, loaders, vibratory rollers and forklifts.

Zee Entertainment strengthens after RBI hikes FII limit

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) is currently trading at Rs. 272.75, up by 7.35 points or 2.77% from its previous closing of Rs. 265.40 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 280.50 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 282.70 and Rs. 272.00 respectively. So far 263131 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 1 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 301.90 on 21-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 208.10 on 28-Aug-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 282.70 and Rs. 264.30 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 26325.90 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 43.07% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 51.37% and 5.56% respectively.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed up to 100% FII investment in Zee Entertainment. Following this, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can now invest up to 100%, revised from earlier limit 49%, of the paid up capital of Zee Entertainment Enterprises under the portfolio investment scheme.
As on March 2014, promoter shareholding in the company was 43.07% while FIIs held 47.94% shares. FIIs, NRIs and PIOs (Persons of Indian Origins) can invest in primary and secondary capital markets in India through Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).
Zee Entertainment is India’s largest vertically integrated media and Entertainment Company. Its portfolio consists of brands like Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Music, Zee Cafe, Zee Smile, Zee Action, Zee Premiere, ETC, ETC Punjabi, TEN Sports, Zee Studio, Zee Classic, Zee Trendz and Zee Sports.

Prestige Estates Projects to dilute 5% of promoters’ stake through QIP

Prestige Estates Projects has received an approval to dilute 5% of promoters’ stake in the company through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), subject to approval of members and other statutory authorities. The board of directors at its meeting held on May 26, 2014 has approved for the same.
Prestige Estate Projects commenced operations as a partnership firm constituted under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 on April 1, 1986 under the name and style of Prestige Estates and Properties. The partners of the firm were the Late S Razack, Irfan Razack, Rezwan Razack and Sameera Noaman.

IFC invests $20.4 million in Power Grid

International Finance Corporation (IFC) has made an equity investment of $20.4 million in Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL). The investment was through its participation in the follow on public offer (FPO).
The company lined up a project whose cost is estimated at about $16 billion out of which $1 billion is funded through an equity infusion in the FPO. The project comprises of several transmission lines and sub-stations in various parts of the country.
PGCIL is India’s principal electric power transmission company. It owns and operates most of India’s interstate and inter-regional electric power transmission systems with inter-regional power transfer capacity of about 20,800 MW and wheels nearly 45% of total power generated across India.

DEN Networks enters into a strategic partnership with Wipro

DEN Networks, a leading Indian cable distribution company, has entered into a strategic partnership with Wipro, a leading Global Information Technology, Consulting, and Outsourcing company, to revolutionize customer experience for the Cable and Broadband businesses of DEN networks. This alliance will help in accelerating DEN Networks’ evolution from being a B2B organization, to a B2C organization.
The strategic partnership is aimed at empowering DEN Networks’ customers with seamless connectivity and integration. Through this decade-long alliance, DEN Networks will be able to provide its Customers, Local Cable Operators (LCOs) and Partners with real time efficient services, thereby ensuring continuous engagement and zero downtime. The initiative will also help DEN Networks to streamline the deployment of its next generation services and provide quicker service activation, accurate rating and billing, and excellent customer service.
This agreement will allow DEN Networks to offer SMS and BSS user friendly solutions that will allow cable operators to deliver more personalized and sophisticated services to cable and broadband subscribers at sharply improved delivery time.
DEN Networks is India’s leading cable TV Distribution Company reaching an estimated 13 million households in over 200 cities across India. The company has been one of the frontrunners in the cable TV digitization process and has over 5.7 million digital cable subscribers. DEN is present in 13 key states across India.

Lakshmi Machine Works gains on plans of eyeing international markets

Lakshmi Machine Works is currently trading at Rs. 3384.00, up by 27.80 points or 0.83 % from its previous closing of Rs. 3356.20 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 3387.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 3387.00 and Rs. 3355.00 respectively. So far 966 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 3575.00 on 26-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 1725.10 on 31-Jul-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 3508.40 and Rs. 3333.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 3802.45 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 28.35 % while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 25.00 % and 46.66 % respectively.
In a bid to mitigate risk from growing competition in the domestic market, Lakshmi Machine Works will focus on new export markets, such as Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia and Vietnam. The competition has been intensifying in the sector with large global players entering the Indian markets and setting up facilities.
Sourcing and manufacturing by its competitors, instead of importing machinery, will add to the pressure and the company will focus on export markets such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, among others.
Currently, exports contribute 15% of the company’s annual revenue of Rs 2,241.62 crore and plans are on to increase the share to over 25% in the coming years.
Lakshmi Machine Works, founded in the year 1962 is a global player and among the top three manufacturers of the entire range of Textile Spinning Machinery ranging from Blow Room to Ring Spinning.

India Power’s arm takes over electricity supply, distribution business of Gaya, Bodhgaya areas

India Power Corporation’s (formerly DPSC) - wholly owned subsidiary - India Power Corporation (Bodhgaya) has taken over the electricity supply and distribution business of Gaya, Bodhgaya and other adjoining areas as distribution franchisee from South Bihar Power Distribution Company (SBPDCL) with effect from June 2014 as per the terms of the Distribution Franchisee Agreement executed on December 31, 2013.
India Power Corporation, one of the oldest power utility companies in India, was incorporated in the year 1919 in the state of West Bengal. The company generates 12 MW from its coal-based thermal power plant at Dishergarh and operates 95 MW of wind power plants in Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan, cumulatively.

Lakshmi Machine Works to focus on new export markets

In a bid to mitigate risk from growing competition in the domestic market, Lakshmi Machine Works will focus on new export markets, such as Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia and Vietnam. The competition has been intensifying in the sector with large global players entering the Indian markets and setting up facilities.
Sourcing and manufacturing by its competitors, instead of importing machinery, will add to the pressure and the company will focus on export markets such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, among others.
Currently, exports contribute 15% of the company’s annual revenue of Rs 2,241.62 crore and plans are on to increase the share to over 25% in the coming years.
Lakshmi Machine Works, founded in the year 1962 is a global player and among the top three manufacturers of the entire range of Textile Spinning Machinery ranging from Blow Room to Ring Spinning.

Subex to lead the Capital Asset Management Catalyst at TM Forum Live

Subex will be leading the Capital Asset Management catalyst that will be demonstrated at TM Forum Live 2014, Nice, France. The goal of the project is to demonstrate a comprehensive, repeatable and scalable approach to understand and effectively manage all facets of network asset management.
Smarter network capital spending is now a critical need across operators. Effective, demonstrable programs around capital expenditure and network asset lifecycle management are rapidly becoming a boardroom level issue for telecoms operators. Implementing a comprehensive solution of Network Asset Management which manages, oversees, and predicts all facets of network capital expenditure is now required to provide management with the right actionable intelligence to make more informed and better capex decisions.
To explore more into the Asset Management space, Subex and other participating companies, along with TM Forum and Operator champion Econet have recently launched the Asset Management Project, to bring standards into the Network Capex and Network Optimization practices within operators globally.

EID Parry to commence operations at sugar refinery in Andhra Pradesh

EID Parry India is planning to commence operations at its sugar refinery at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh in mid-June. The refinery project saw the light after a delay of nearly two years in its commencement, led by lack of gas supply. This led to a loss of Rs 120 crore to the company in the last two years on interest payments and depreciation costs.
Due to fuel concerns, the refinery has been converted to coal-fired project with an additional investment. The company said it was investing around Rs 60 crore in the changeover to coal-powered facility, completing an investment of over Rs 500 crore.
Moreover, the plant’s capacity could be increased to 2,000 tonne per day, and at the peak capacity for about 300 days the production is 600,000 tonne. For 2014-15, however, it would target 300,000-400,000 tonne.
EID Parry India manufactures and markets a wide range of products such as sugar, bio-products and nutraceuticals. Today, the company is one of the Top 5 sugar producers in India and is on the path to sweetening more lives around the world.

Copper futures climb on upbeat China PMI data

Copper futures climbed on Monday as Chinese manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in five months. Data released over the weekend showed that China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to a five-month high of 50.8 in May, above expectations for 50.6 and up from 50.4 in April, which suggested the world's largest importer of the industrial metal may be seeing its economy stabilize after a rocky start to the year.
Copper futures for July delivery settled up 1.5% at $3.1705 a pound on the Comex metals division of New York Mercantile Exchange. While, copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed by 1.28% to $6,932.50 a metric ton.

Tata Steel wins the Golden Peacock National Training Award, 2014

Tata Steel was recently conferred with the Golden Peacock National Training Award for the year 2014, one of the most prestigious awards for excellence in training practices in organizations as a whole. The award was presented to the company at a ceremony held at Thiruvananthapuram.
The Golden Peacock National Training Award identifies training that makes a real difference and offers benefits to the business/organization or to the community. It rewards organizations who exercise best possible control on their circumstances, show real initiative and commitment to development.
Tata Steel, the flagship company of the Tata group is the first integrated steel plant in Asia and is now the world’s second most geographically diversified steel producer and a Fortune 500 Company.

IOB to raise Rs 1,000 crore via various routes

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) is planning to raise Rs 1,000 crore through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), public issue, rights issue, preferential issue.
The proposed fund raising is in view of certain expansion plans of the bank, the implementation of Basel III norms, and consequent capital charge and there is a need to increase the capital to further strengthen the Capital Adequacy Ratio. Moreover, the bank will also raise around $500 million through medium-term notes (MTN).
In March 2014, the bank raised Rs 398.04 crore from Life Insurance Corporation through preferential basis. The fund-raising was primarily to augment long term resources and maintain a Tier I capital adequacy ratio of desired level.
IOB reported over four fold jump in its net profit at Rs 268.33 crore for the quarter as compared to Rs 58.87 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the bank increased 9.79% at Rs 6,475.93 crore for quarter under review, as compared to Rs 5,898.15 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

Tata Motors sells 37,525 vehicles in May

Tata Motors’ total sales including exports of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles in May 2014 were 37,525 vehicles, a decline of 24% over 49,304 vehicles sold in May 2013. The company’s domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles for May 2014 were 34,334 units, 24% decline over 45,430 units sold in May last year. Cumulative sales including exports for the company for the fiscal are 71,417 units, lower by 29% over 100,483 units, sold last year.
Besides, the company’s sales of commercial vehicles in May 2014 in the domestic market were 25,104 units, a 27% decline compared to 34,296 vehicles sold in May last year. LCV sales were 15,991 vehicles, a decline of 34% over May last year, while M&HCV sales stood at 9,113 units, a decline of 10% over May last year. The cumulative sales of commercial vehicles in the domestic market for the fiscal stood at 48,333 units, lower by 31% over last year. Cumulative LCV sales was 30,795 units, a decline of 39% over last year, while M&HCV sales stood at 17,538 units, lower by 13% over last year.
Besides, sales of passenger vehicles for May 2014 were at 9,230 units, lower by 17% over 11,134 vehicles sold in May 2013. Sales of the Nano/ Indica/ Indigo range in May 2014 were 6,932 units, lower by 22% over 8,927 vehicles sold in May 2013. The Sumo/ Safari/ Aria/ Venture range sales were 2,298 units, a growth of 4% over 2,207 units, sold in May last year.
Cumulative sales of passenger vehicles in the domestic market for the fiscal are 16,671 units, lower by 27% over last year. Cumulative sales of the Nano/ Indica/ Indigo range this fiscal was 12,585 units, lower by 29% over 17,845 vehicles sold, over last year. The Sumo/ Safari/ Aria/ Venture range sales stood at 4,086 units, 16% decline over 4,859 units, sold last year.
Further, the company’s sales from exports were 3,191 units in May 2014, registered a decline of 18% compared to 3,874 vehicles in May last year. The cumulative sales from exports for the fiscal at 6,413 units, was lower by 14% over 7,439 units, over last year.

RBI allows 100% FII investment in Zee Entertainment

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed up to 100% FII investment in Zee Entertainment. Following this, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) can now invest up to 100%, revised from earlier limit 49%, of the paid up capital of Zee Entertainment Enterprises under the portfolio investment scheme.
As on March 2014, promoter shareholding in the company was 43.07% while FIIs held 47.94% shares. FIIs, NRIs and PIOs (Persons of Indian Origins) can invest in primary and secondary capital markets in India through Portfolio Investment Scheme (PIS).
Zee Entertainment is India’s largest vertically integrated media and Entertainment Company. Its portfolio consists of brands like Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Music, Zee Cafe, Zee Smile, Zee Action, Zee Premiere, ETC, ETC Punjabi, TEN Sports, Zee Studio, Zee Classic, Zee Trendz and Zee Sports.

SAIL surges on registering 11% growth in May’14 sales

SAIL is currently trading at Rs. 93.85, up by 2.15 points or 2.34% from its previous closing of Rs. 91.70 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 93.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 94.05 and Rs. 92.70 respectively. So far 1,34,000 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 100.85 on 26-May-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 37.65 on 07-Aug-2013.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 96.05 and Rs. 86.20 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 38,760.00 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 80.00% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 16.79% and 3.20% respectively.
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has registered an aggressive sales growth of 11% in May 2014, at 1.06 million tonnes (MT), compared to 0.96 MT in same month last year (SMLY). Rise in exports was to the tune of 76% on a y-o-y basis during the month.
Besides, production at the company’s plants kept pace with Hot Metal production of 1.26 MT achieved in May ’14, registering a y-o-y growth of 4%.
The company has posted a marginal rise of 0.90% in its net profit at Rs 452.68 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 as compared to Rs 448.63 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income from operations of the company has increased by 10.15% at Rs 13509.21 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 12264.74 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

Ashok Leyland registers 9% fall in May sales

Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja Group flagship company in India, has reported a drop of 9% in May sales at 6,632 vehicles, as against 7,267 sold in same month year ago. In May 2014, the sales of its Large Commercial Vehicle (LCV) products witnessed a fall of 25% to 1,748 units from 2,335 units sold in the same month of last year.
The sales of its overall Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV) witnessed 1% fall to 4,884 units from 4,932 units sold in the same month of last year.
Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja Group flagship company in India, is engaged in the manufacturing of commercial vehicles and related components. The company’s products include buses, trucks, engines, defense and special vehicles.

lpca Laboratories inks agreement for creation of Strategic Biosimilars

lpca Laboratories (Ipca) and US-based Oncobiologics, Inc. have entered into an agreement for creation of a two-part alliance for the development, manufacture and commercialization of biosimilar monoclonal antibody products.
Under the first part of the agreement, Ipca will in-license and commercialize biosimilar products for the India and associated markets. These products will be developed by Oncobiologics to USFDA and EU regulatory standards for global commercialization. Initial manufacturing will occur in the USA by Oncobiologics and later by Ipca in India. The biologics covered by the agreement are among the most popular therapies in the world for immunology and oncology disease indications. The partnership is planning to launch the first product in 2017.
Under the second part of the agreement, Oncobiologics will replicate its Biologics R&D and manufacturing facility in India to create a world-class capability for Ipca for further biosimilar commercialization.
The Mumbai R&D facility will be designed for development and commercialization of complex monoclonal antibodies. The Manufacturing facility will be located in Vadodara and will utilize the latest single-use manufacturing platform. The R&D facility will be operational from 2015 and the manufacturing facility will be operational by 2016.

Prime Focus' arm inks pact with BARC

Prime Focus subsidiary - Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the global leader in media and entertainment industry services, has been contracted by the Indian Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to offer Play-out Monitoring Service to power one of the world's largest audience measurement programs. PFT’s globally proven CLEARTMMedia ERP platform bolstered with next generation content identification technology and Digital Services will help automatically generate play-out monitoring reports on a daily basis.
Audience measurement data is the de facto currency for media industry, being widely used by all stakeholders for planning, pricing, selling and buying advertising inventory on the medium. PFT will offer a robust play-out monitoring service which will check the actual telecast of each channel, capture the content at every point in time, and help link it back to the rating piece of the audience measurement system.
Prime Focus is a global visual entertainment services group that provides creative and technical services to the film, broadcast, and advertising market. The group offers a genuine end-to-end solution from pre-production to final delivery including visual effects, 2D to 3D conversion, video and audio post production, equipment hire, multi-platform content operations solutions and digital distribution.

Gopinath Munde passes away, funeral tomorrow

The Union Minister was been admitted at Munde's body will be taken to Maharashtra tomorrow for cremation after post-mortem is conducted

Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde was on Tuesday injured in an accident, while he was on his way to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. He was scheduled to take a flight to Mumbai.
The accident happened at around 6:30 am, when he was on his way to the airport. Munde was admitted at AIIMS Trauma Centre in Delhi, where he passed away.
Munde's body will be taken to Maharashtra tomorrow for cremation after post-mortem is conducted. BJP leader Munde was an MP from Beed district.

IDFC MF introduces Fixed Term Plan Series -98(90 Days)

IDFC Mutual Fund has launched the New Fund Offer (NFO) of IDFC Fixed Term Plan Series -98(90 Days), a close ended income scheme. The NFO opens for subscription on Jun 03, 2014 and closes on Jun 09, 2014. No entry load or exit load will be applicable for the scheme. The minimum subscription amount is Rs 10,000 and multiples of Rs 10 thereafter.
The scheme’s performance will be benchmarked against Crisil Liquid Fund Index and its fund manager is Harshal Joshi.
The investment objective of the scheme is to generate income through investments in Debt / Money Market Instruments and Government Securities maturing on or before the maturity date of the respective Plan(s).

Prime Focus' arm inks pact with BARC

Prime Focus subsidiary - Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the global leader in media and entertainment industry services, has been contracted by the Indian Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to offer Play-out Monitoring Service to power one of the world's largest audience measurement programs. PFT’s globally proven CLEARTMMedia ERP platform bolstered with next generation content identification technology and Digital Services will help automatically generate play-out monitoring reports on a daily basis.
Audience measurement data is the de facto currency for media industry, being widely used by all stakeholders for planning, pricing, selling and buying advertising inventory on the medium. PFT will offer a robust play-out monitoring service which will check the actual telecast of each channel, capture the content at every point in time, and help link it back to the rating piece of the audience measurement system.
Prime Focus is a global visual entertainment services group that provides creative and technical services to the film, broadcast, and advertising market. The group offers a genuine end-to-end solution from pre-production to final delivery including visual effects, 2D to 3D conversion, video and audio post production, equipment hire, multi-platform content operations solutions and digital distribution.

Sasken Communication Technologies appraised at CMMI Level 3

Sasken Communication Technologies has been appraised at Level 3 of the CMMI Institute’s Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). The appraisal was performed by QAI India. CMMI is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance.
An appraisal at maturity level 3 indicates the organization is performing at a defined level. At this level, processes are well characterized and understood, and are described in standards, procedures, tools, and methods. The organization’s set of standard processes, which is the basis for maturity level 3, is established and improved over time.
Sasken is a leader in providing Engineering R&D and Productized IT services to global tier 1 customers in the Communications & Devices, Retail, Insurance and Independent Software space.

M&M, Bharti Airtel and GAIL India to see some action today

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) reported a 12.86 percent drop in total sales to 37,869 vehicles in May 2014. The company had sold 43,460 units in the same month last year. M&M’s domestic sales stood at 35,499 units last month against 42,104 a year earlier, down 15.68 percent. Sales of passenger vehicles, including Scorpio, XUV 5OO, Xylo, Bolero and Verito, stood at 18,085 units (22,244 units), down 18.69 percent. Commercial vehicle sales declined 13.55 percent to 12,836 units against 14,848 units. Exports rose 74.77 percent to 2,370 units from 1,356 units.
Bharti Airtel is poised to conclude a much-anticipated deal to sell its towers in Africa in seven days, which could help the world's fourth-largest telecom operator rake in as much as $3 billion and help reduce debt. The Sunil Mittal-headed company has already shortlisted buyers from among four tower companies - Helios Towers Africa, IHS, American Tower Corp and Eaton Towers - for the sale. Bharti Airtel's net debt at the end of 2013-14 stood at Rs 60,541.6 crore ($10.4 billion), which would come down following the tower sale, thereby reducing the stress on the company's balance sheet. Over the past year or so, the company has been refinancing large parts of its debt pile by issuing overseas bonds, helping it to lower its net finance payouts.
Oil regulator PNGRB has slashed the tariff that state-owned GAIL Indiacan charge for transporting gas through its Dabhol-Bangalore pipeline. GAIL had proposed a tariff of Rs 73.49 per million British thermal unit for the 1,414 km line that connects the liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal of the Maharashtra coast with consumers in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) in a May 30 order stated that it had approved a provisional levelised tariff of Rs 44.65 per mmBtu with effect from February 18, 2013, the date of commissioning of the pipeline. The pipeline is to carry up to 16 million standard cubic meters per day of natural gas for consumption by users like power plants.
Maintaining emphasis on higher sales, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has registered an aggressive sales growth of 11% in May 2014, at 1.06 million tonnes (MT), compared to 0.96 MT in same month last year (SMLY). Rise in exports was to the tune of 76% on a y-o-y basis during the month. Production at SAIL plants kept pace with Hot Metal production of 1.26 MT achieved in May ’14, registering a y-o-y growth of 4%. The company is planning to increase its capacity to 19.5 million tonnes (MT) by September this year. At present, the company’s hot metal capacity stood at 14 MT. Moreover, the company will ramp up its raise hot metal capacity to 23.5 MTPA in the next fiscal. In this regard the company is implementing Rs 72,000 crore expansion programme.
MajescoMastek, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mastek, is increasing its focus on the North American insurance sector and expects the segment to contribute about 85 percent of revenues in the next couple of years. The company’s North American insurance business revolves around products and product implementation, and of the total 75 percent, a large part is in Property and Casualty (P&C) and some in Life and Annuity (L&A). MajescoMastek, which has more than 80 customers in North America, will look at increasing customer engagements, improving eco-system and tap cross-sell opportunities. It would also look at increasing growth through partnership with system integrators and increase investments in platforms such as cloud computing and suite deals. About 46 percent of Mastek’s revenue comes from North America, and insurance products and solution contributed roughly about two-third of North American business.
Drug firm Ipca Laboratories has inked an agreement with US-based Oncobiologics Inc to develop and manufacture biosimilar products targeting various diseases, including cancer. Under the first part of the agreement, Ipca will in-licence and commercialize biosimilar products for India and associated markets. These products will be developed by Oncobiologics to the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and European Union regulatory standards for global commercialization. Initial manufacturing will occur in the US by Oncobiologics and later by Ipca in India. Under the second phase of partnership, Oncobiologics will replicate its Biologics R&D and manufacturing facility in India to create a world-class capability for Ipca for further biosimilar commercialization.
The steel plant of National Mineral Development Corporation(NMDC) at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district is likely to become operational by next year. Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh expressed hope that there was a strong possibility that production at the plant might start by the next year. The plant, when completed, would be the second public sector steel plant of the Union Government, after Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), in Chhattisgarh.
Lakshmi Machine Works, India's largest and the world's third-biggest textile machinery maker will focus on new export markets, such as Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia and Vietnam, to mitigate risk from growing competition in the domestic market. LMW makes spinning textile machines with a capacity of 3.5 lakh spindles and has a market share of 60% market share (by value) and 70% (by volume) in India.
Local power producers, including Jaypee Power VenturesLanco InfratechGMR Infrastructure, and iron ore miner Sesa Sterlitehave offered to sell some of their power plants to India's largest power producer NTPC as lenders put pressure on them to divest assets to slash debt. State-owned NTPC has received more than 30 offers in response to its offer, known in industry parlance as expression of interest (EoI), made in April to purchase coal-fired power plants. Lanco, which has coal-fired power plants with a capacity of about 3,000 MW, had publicly stated its intention to sell some assets.
ITI has reported a loss of Rs 344 crore excluding grants for the financial year, 2013-14. This is the lowest loss reported in the last 12 years from 2002-03 onwards, since when it has been into losses. This has been achieved due to tight financial discipline undertaken in the last four years which included many cost reduction measures. Now the company is poised for turning around once the financial assistance in the form of revival package is sanctioned by the Government of India is received. Earlier, the Government of India had sanctioned revival package for upgrading its manufacturing facilities and clearing its balance sheet.
Hindustan Motors (HM) released half of the monthly wages of December 2013 as an advance payment to 2,600 employees of its non-operational Uttarpara plant in West Bengal. This has been done on request of the Labour Minister of West Bengal. Funds accrued out of the sale of scrap were used towards disbursing the advance wages. Employees received last wage payment in April for the month of November. On May 24, the management clamped a notice of suspension of work on the plant’s gate, citing fund shortage. Employees are not entitled for wages for the work suspension period. The management is slated to meet the Labour Minister later this week.