S&P upgrades India's credit outlook to 'stable'

In a huge sentiment booster for India, global rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday revised India's credit outlook to "stable" from "negative", acknowledging the improvement in the country’s economic environment. Though the agency has maintained its rating at BBB-, the revision in outlook will definitely boost the sentiments. India registered its fastest growth in nine quarters between April and June 2014. The new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to keep the fiscal deficit under control at 4.1 percent of GDP.

109 stocks from BSE-500 index hits three-month low

An over 1,000 points correction in the S&P BSE Sensex from its record high have seen 109 stocks from BSE-500 index hits three-month low.

Reliance Industries, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, Larsen and Toubro, BHEL, DLF, Tata Power Company, Reliance Infrastructure, Cairn India and Reliance Capital are among few notable shares touched three-month low on BSE during current week.

Jet Airways, Sun TV Network, Reliance Communications, Jindal Steel and Power, Shree Renuka Sugars, Ess Dee Aluminium and Parsvnath Developers have hit 52-week low today.

The S&P BSE Sensex hits low of 26,220 during intra-day trade today, fallen nearly 1,100 points from its record closing of 27,320 on September 8, 2014. At 1405 hours, the benchmark index was trading at 26,489.

The 50-share CNX Nifty index also declined 331 points at 7,842 from its lifetime high 8,173.

The foreign institutional investors have sold equity shares net amount of Rs 3,016 crore in past four trading sessions, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Shares of most of public sector undertakings (PSU) banks trading at their three-month low price on concerns of asset quality on account of their advances to companies whose coal block allocations have been cancelled by the Supreme Court.

Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Syndicate Bank, Uco Bank and United Bank of India  are touched three-month low.

Among the sectoral indices, S&P BSE Metal, S&P BSE Oil and Gas, S&P BSE Power and S&P BSE Realty hits three-month low.
 

China imports more gold for holiday; Indian demand set to climb

 Top bullion consumer China has been importing more gold in September than in the previous month due to demand from retailers stocking up for the upcoming National Day holiday, market sources said.

Demand in India - the second biggest buyer of the metal - is also set to pick up as the festival and wedding season kicked off this week.

With gold trading close to a key psychological level of $1,200 an ounce, markets are keenly watching physical demand in Asia - the top consuming region - to see if it could lend support to prices.

"The physical volumes have been high this month compared to August. I would say imports could be at least 30 percent higher than last month," said a trader with one of the 15 importing banks in China.

From Oct. 1, Chinese markets will be closed for a week, and retails sales are expected to increase.

Data on Thursday showed that China's net gold imports from Hong Kong alone tumbled in August to their lowest since 2011 as lower premiums deterred banks from importing big quantities.

Another trader said imports will remain elevated all through the fourth quarter due to seasonal demand.

"Since the price is near $1,200, we have seen more purchases. If gold dips below that level, we can see a further increase," the trader said.

Premiums on the Shanghai Gold Exchange were about $5-$6 an ounce on Friday, largely steady from last week.

In India, an inauspicious phase called Shradh - a period for paying homage to ancestors - ended on Wednesday, giving way to a string of festivals.

"Typically, as soon as Shradh is over, demand should kick in," said a dealer with one of the top bullion importing banks in India. "There is a feeling that gold prices will go further down, so some have chosen to wait a little longer before purchasing immediately."

"With gold prices lower, there are expectations for good demand this time as we head to October."

The nine-day Hindu festival of Navratri began on Thursday, which will then be followed by Dussehra, Dhanteras and Diwali - all considered auspicious time periods to buy gold jewellery, coins or bars.

Since the wedding season also kicks off around the same time, lasting all through the year, markets expect strong purchases. Gold forms an essential part of a bride's dowry in Indian weddings.

Monthly gold imports are set to rise by as much 50 percent from current levels while premiums could almost double to as high as $15 an ounce because of the festivities and wedding season, industry sources told Reuters earlier this month.

Indian premiums are currently less than $10 an ounce. In other trading hubs such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo, premiums were largely unchanged from a week ago.

Deepak Fertilisers revises offer price to acquire additional 26% stake in MCF

Sep 26,2014   12:05 Hrs IST

Deepak Fertilisers has revised its open offer to acquire additional 26% stake in Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF) from Rs 63 per share to Rs 93.60 per share. Meanwhile, Zuari Industries along with United Breweries (Holdings) and Kighfisher Finvest India have also revised their open offer to Rs 81.60 per share from Rs 68.55 per share. Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) is a part of The UB Group, a large and diversified business house. The group is one of the foremost multinational organizations based in the sub-continent with operations in many world markets. It has diverse interests – Brewing, Distilling, Aviation, Fertilizers, Life Sciences, Engineering, Research and Development and Information Technology.

SC coal ruling: SBI certain Rs4k cr exposure won't turn bad

India’s largest lender  State Bank of India has more than Rs 4000-crore exposure to companies that will be impacted by the recent Supreme Court judgement quashing 214 coal blocks. The bank has a loan exposure of Rs 4341 crore to six companies whose coal mines have been deallocated. Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman of SBI does not believe that the entire exposure will be written off. She does not see loans extended to power plants turning into bad loans. "Have to see what coal linkages these companies get," she told CNBC-TV18. The government has promised linkages despite cancellation of mines. SBI’s exposure to large companies such as  JSPL and  Hindalco stands at Rs 21,000 crore, while the same for  Usha Martin and others stands at Rs 5,000 crore. Despite all this, Bhattacharya does not see much of an impact on asset quality. She also does not expect any write-offs on JP Group, not even in the near-term. On power pass-through, she believes it is most definitely required, especially with respect to variable cost. She doesn’t see how consumers can be protected when prices go up. On upcoming Reserve Bank policy on Tuesday, she is expecting a status quo, with maybe some tweaking on the CRR side.

Ashoka Buildcon rises as its SPV receives sanction letter for premium deferment from NHAI

Sep 26,2014   11:43 Hrs IST

Ashoka Buildcon is currently trading at Rs. 130.75, up by 0.60 points or 0.46% from its previous closing of Rs. 130.15 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 129.55 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 136.00 and Rs. 127.10 respectively. So far 5080 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B' stock of face value Rs. 5 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 158.85 on 18-Jul-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 42.15 on 29-Oct-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 144.65 and Rs. 128.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 2112.92 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 67.53% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 17.15% and 15.33% respectively. Ashoka Buildcon’s SPV - Ashoka Belgaum Dharwad Tollway which currently operates 6 laning of Belgaum Dharwad section of NH-4 from km 433.000 to km 515.000 under NHDP Phase V in the state of Karnataka on DBFOT basis, has received a sanction letter from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the premium deferment for the mentioned project and has signed a supplementary agreement to the concession agreement with NHAI under its Premium deferment scheme. Ashoka Buildcon builds and operates roads and bridges in India on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. It currently operates one of the highest numbers of toll-based BOT projects in India.

HDFC, Sesa Sterlite, Hero laggards; Sensex, Nifty flat

The market is absolutely flat as weak global cues, the recent streak of FII selling and impact of the Supreme Court verdict on coal blocks remains an overhang. The Sensex is up 2.96 points at 26471 and the Nifty is down 0.35 points at 7911.50. About 1148 shares have advanced, 1182 shares declined, and 77 shares are unchanged. Sun Pharma is up 6 percent, reversing its early morning losses reacting to a Credit Suisse note that says the comoany has received the form 483 for the Halol plant. It lists 23 observations with no data integrity issues. Hence chances of an import alert are low now. Hindalco, ONGC, Tata Steel and M&M are top gainers in the Sensex. Among the losers are HDFC, Coal India, Sesa Sterlite, TCS and Hero MotoCorp. Globally, Asian markets are mostly weak reacting to the US sell off.  The dollar is at near-four-year highs against a basket of major currencies. Month-end dollar demand from importers also hurting the rupee.   

Cotton futures trade higher on bargain buying

Sep 26,2014   11:29 Hrs IST

Cotton futures traded up on MCX due to rise in exports demand and bargain buying by traders and stockists, who created fresh positions inducing demand for the fiber. Moreover, decline in arrivals and improved demands from millers, supported the price rise in futures market The contract for October delivery was trading at Rs 16910.00, up by 1.14% or Rs 190.00 from its previous closing of Rs 16720.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 1792.00 lots. The contract for November delivery was trading at Rs 16170.00, up  by 1.00% or Rs 160.00 from its previous closing of Rs 16010.00. The open interest of the contract stood at 2548.00 lots on MCX.

Rasoi trades jubilantly on the BSE

Sep 26,2014   11:34 Hrs IST

Rasoi is currently trading at Rs. 742.00, up by 43.80 points or 6.27% from its previous closing of Rs. 698.20 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 667.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 742.00 and Rs. 667.00 respectively. So far 5 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'B ' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 920.00 on 12-Sep-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 345.00 on 15-Oct-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 830.00 and Rs. 641.00 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 128.86 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.93% while Non-Institutions held 25.07% stake in the company.  Emami Group’s edible oil arm Emami Biotech has entered into agreement with Rasoi, edible oil arm of Rasoi Group to acquire edible oil brand ‘Rasoi’. The Rasoi brand of edible oils did annual business of around Rs 150 crore. Further, Emami group is planning to revive Rasoi and make it a national brand. The 70-years old Rasoi brand has a big lineage but its presence got limited to mostly the eastern region. The vanaspati market in India is estimated at around Rs 7,200 crore, led by Bunge's Dalda and Cargill’s Rath. Bunge bought Dalda from Hindustan Unilever and Cargill acquired Rath from Agro Tech Foods. Rasoi processes and sells vanaspati & refined oils (including Palm, Soya bean, Rice bran and Mustard oils) under the brand ‘Rasoi’. The firm was converted into a company and the name was changed to its present name in 1982. The manufacturing facility of the company is located at Falta in West Bengal and has installed capacity of 42,000 MT of vanaspati and 30,000 MT of refined oil.

Indian business environment continue to deter foreign investors: UN-ESCAP

Sep 26,2014   10:35 Hrs IST

Elements of the Indian business environment continue to deter foreign investors, according to Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UN-ESCAP, which also expects the macroeconomic uncertainties and structural constraints in India to continue to concern foreign investors. According to the commission, the country currently is experiencing slower economic growth, high current account deficit, and enduring high inflation and pointed that despite this the foreign direct investment inflows into India have grown by 16.5% to $28 billion in 2013. However, pressing upon the growing need for FDI, the commission in its Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2014, highlighted that with reforms of investments there would be a potential for attracting higher rates on investments in India and that higher FDI could help strengthen the economy and provide incremental level of productive employment, besides encouraging technological up-gradation. Additionally, the commission also highlighted that many sectors continue to retain the equity limits on foreign ownership, which is quite usual and that finding suitable joint venture partner could risk hampering FDI inflows. It pointed that FDI cap of 51% in the multi-brand retail was a major obstacle in the FDI inflows to the sector and that foreign investors have been awaiting positive signals from the new government, which was elected in early 2014.

City Union Back up 7%, RBI hikes foreign investment cap

Shares of  City Union Bank  surged 7 percent intraday on Friday after Reserve Bank of India raised its limit of foreign investment. The central bank has increased foreign investment limit in City Union Bank to 40 percent, following which the restriction placed on purchase of shares of the firm by overseas investors has been lifted. "...the foreign shareholding by FIIs/RFPIs in City Union Bank has gone below the revised threshold limit stipulated under the extant FDI Policy. "Hence, the restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the above company on July 18, 2014 are withdrawn with immediate effect," RBI said a release. Earlier the limit for such investment was 35 percent. The restiction was lifted after the company board passed resolution for purchase of equity shares by FIIs/RFPIs/QFIs up to 40 per cent (from 35 per cent earlier) of their paid-up capital. "Equity shares of City Union Bank can now be purchased through primary market and stock exchanges," RBI said.   At 11:02 hrs, the stock was quoting at Rs 83.20, up Rs 4.70, or 5.99 percent on the BSE.

Budget make or break for govt; Sensex at 30K unlikely: MS

Ruchir Sharma, Head Of Emerging Markets and Global Macro, Morgan Stanley Investment Management dismisses all the hoopla about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to the United States. While the first year of the Modi government should not be judged too soon, Sharma says it is the Budget next year that will be the make or break for the government. “All the investment talks in US will be just that. Talks and slogans. But from a domestic policy perspective, the second year beginning with the Budget will be critical for the government,” he says. On the road ahead, Sharma expects the rupee to depreciate to as low as Rs 70 against the dollar in the next 2-3 years. This, he says, will be beneficial for the economy. “If we want to grow by 6 percent, exports will be critical especially at a time when the global economy is weak. Hence, we need a competitive rupee for manufacturing advantage,” he further adds. Sharma also believes that the Sensex hitting a year-end high of 30000 is unlikely as the global economic environment is not conducive for the market rally.

Nifty above 7900, Sensex firm; Sun Pharma, Tata Steel surge

Sun Pharma recouped early losses, up over 3 percent. It had shed 3 percent in early trade after Credit Suisse in its note said the company has received the Form 483 for the Halol plant. US Food and Drug Administration lists 23 observations with no data integrity issues hence the chances of an import alert are low now. The observations are mostly procedural issues where resolution may take time and there is a possibility of approvals being blocked in the near term. 10:00am The market bounced back in morning trade with the Sensex rising 27.59 points to 26495.95 and the Nifty gaining 14.75 points at 7926.60 supported by buying in most beaten down sectors like oil & gas, metals, auto and select banks. The broader markets too rebounded with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices advancing 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. About 1043 shares have advanced, 954 shares declined, and 53 shares are unchanged. Deven Choksey of KR Choksey Shares & Securities does not see a rough ride for market in the October series. He says fundamentals – market as well as on the macro front – continue to remain strong and chances are it will only improve further. "Whenever the market runs ahead of time, it gets into a consolidation mood, I think that is what the market is doing right now," he told CNBC-TV18. Choksey advises investors to use every dip as a buying opportunity. He believes investors should look at all those companies where the fall is maximum. Hindalco Industries topped the buying list, rising over 3 percent followed by L&T, ONGC, M&M, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and DLF with 1-2 percent gains. Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Wipro and NTPC were up 0.5-0.9 percent. However, HDFC, ITC, Infosys, ICICI Bank, HUL, Cipla, Hero Motocorp, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy's Labs, Coal India and Sesa Sterlite fell 0.3-1 percent.

NTPC strengthens on inking contract agreement with NTPI

NTPC strengthens on inking contract agreement with NTPI

Sep 26,2014   10:23 Hrs IST

NTPC is currently trading at Rs. 137.40, up by 1.00 points or 0.73% from its previous closing of Rs. 136.40 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 136.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 137.80 and Rs. 135.80 respectively. So far 72871 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 168.80 on 06-Jun-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 110.90 on 04-Mar-2014. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 139.50 and Rs. 135.60 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 113498.82 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 74.96% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 22.27% and 2.77% respectively. NTPC has inked a contract agreement with National Power Training Institute (NPTI) for Skill Development of Power Plant Engineers across the country. Under this agreement NTPC will provide consultancy services to NPTI for procurement, engineering, supervision and testing of Simulators at six locations in the country. These Simulators will be installed at NPTI buildings at Badarpur in Delhi, Faridabad in Haryana, Durgapur in West Bengal, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and Allappuzha in Kerala. 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.

Hindustan Foods to manufacture, supply Pepsico products up to July 2015

Hindustan Foods to manufacture, supply Pepsico products up to July 2015

Sep 26,2014   09:08 Hrs IST

Hindustan Foods had entered into a Manufacturing and Supply agreement with Pepsico India Holdings to manufacture ‘Kurkure’ Extruded Products and any other products, as may be mutually agreed in future, under the trademark of ‘Pepsico’ at the company’s manufacturing facility located at Usgaon, Ponda, Goa, for the period up to June 30, 2014, is now extended up to July 31, 2015. Therefore, the company will continue to manufacture the products as said above to Pepsico on same terms and conditions as informed before, up to the period of July 31, 2015. Hindustan Foods manufactures high quality cereal based food products and a range of instant mixes, baby foods, instant porridges, breakfast cereals and health drinks.

Bharat Forge surges as its JV secures order worth Euro 130 million from NTPC

Bharat Forge surges as its JV secures order worth Euro 130 million from NTPC

Sep 25,2014   03:06 Hrs IST

Bharat Forge is currently trading at Rs. 797.90, up by 4.25 points or 0.54% from its previous closing of Rs. 793.65 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 792.00 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 815.75 and Rs. 782.50 respectively. So far 124056 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 2 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 934.40 on 11-Sep-2014 and a 52 week low of Rs. 244.00 on 30-Sep-2013. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 878.00 and Rs. 784.15 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 18483.87 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 46.74% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 30.60% and 22.65% respectively. Alstom Bharat Forge Power (ABFPL), the joint venture (JV) between Bharat Forge and Alstom, has bagged contract worth around Euro 130 million from NTPC. The order is for supply of two units of 660 MW supercritical turbine islands for NTPC’s Tanda coal power plant in Uttar Pradesh. The scope of work comprises, engineering, manufacturing, supply and commissioning of the two turbine islands and auxiliaries for the plant. The equipment for the project will be made at ABFPL’s manufacturing facility at Sanand, Gujarat, which is to be commissioned in October 2014. Bharat Forge is engaged in manufacturing of close die and open die forging, crankshafts, front axle beams, steering knuckle, connecting rods, rocker arm and many more components.

RIL, ONGC and Adani Enterprises to see some action today

RIL, ONGC and Adani Enterprises to see some action today

Sep 26,2014   08:50 Hrs IST

Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio Infocomm, a telecom arm ofReliance Industries (RIL), has raised $750 million as a loan backed by Korea Exim Bank, to partly fund infrastructure spending. The loan is guaranteed by RIL and will be primarily used to finance goods and services procured from Samsung Electronics for the infrastructure roll-out of Reliance Jio. The loan is for 12 years that includes a two-year availability period and repayable over 10 years thereafter. This is the first loan between Reliance group and Korea Exim Bank. The deal is Korea Exim Bank’s largest telecom infrastructure financing till date and the largest deal in India. Brazil’s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA discovered natural gas in a well being drilled to help measure the potential of a giant Brazilian offshore find. Petrobras, as the company is known, owns 75% and its Indian partner Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) owns 25% of the discovery. The discovery was made in an extension well being used to evaluate the Poco Verde prospect in the BM-SEAL-4 block. The well was drilled in 2,196 meters of water 58 kilometers off the coast of Aracaju, the capital of Brazil’s Sergipe state. The discovery is one of several in recent years in an area believed to hold more than 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Adani Mining took a step closer to the development of a $2.2 billion ($1.94 billion) coal mining project in Australia after the federal government approved construction of a rail haulage line. The Australian unit of Adani Enterprises needed the approval of Environment Minister Greg Hunt to proceed with the 300-km (186-mile) line, after last month gaining clearance from the state of Queensland. Known as the North Galilee Basin Rail project, it is being designed to connect collieries owned by Adani and potentially other developers in the largely unpopulated Galilee Basin to the east coast port of Abbot Point. JSW Energy would acquire Jaiprakash Power Ventures’ 1,891-Mw power assets. The move comes a day after talks in this regard between Jaypee Group and Reliance Power collapsed and the Supreme Court cancelled the allocation of four coal blocks of Jaypee Group entities JP Associates and Jaiprakash Power Ventures. JSW Energy and Jaypee Group has signed a memorandum of understanding for three operating plants - the 300-Mw Baspa stage-II plant, the 1,091-Mw Karcham Wangtoo plant (both hydro power plants) and the 500-Mw Bina thermal power plant. The deal was estimated at about Rs 12,000 crore, the sum Reliance Power had offered for the three plants two months ago. Indian state-run Andhra Bank has a loan exposure of Rs 4,346 crore ($711.8 million) to companies that have been ordered by the Supreme Court to return coal blocks. Andhra Bank’s total exposure to steel and power companies is between Rs 12,000 crore and Rs 13,000 crore. The bank’s net profit for first quarter ended June 30, 2014 declined by 53.74% at Rs 107.00 crore as compared to Rs 231.28 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2013. However, the bank’s total income has increased by 9.14% to Rs 4205.06 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 3854.16 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The bank’s gross NPA for the April-June quarter of the current fiscal stood at 5.98%, as compared to 4.73% in the same quarter of the previous year. Besides, bank’s Net NPA stood at 3.89% in Q1FY15. Alstom Bharat Forge Power (ABFPL), the joint venture between Alstom andBharat Forge, has secured a contract worth about Euro 130 million from NTPC. The order is for supply of two units of 660 MW supercritical turbine islands for NTPC’s Tanda coal power plant in Uttar Pradesh. The scope of work comprises, engineering, manufacturing, supply and commissioning of the two turbine islands and auxiliaries for the plant. The equipment for the project will be made at ABFPL’s manufacturing facility at Sanand, Gujarat, which is to be commissioned in October 2014. Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has finalized the technology agreement with Financial Technologies (India) (FTIL), thus paving the way for launch of new contracts up to March next year. The exchange will be allowed to launch contracts for the full year once Financial Technologies sells off its residual 15% stake to Kotak Mahindra Bank. The board of directors has approved the Master Amendment to Principal Agreements to be entered into between MCX and Financial Technologies for availing Technology support and Managed Services. Pursuant to this Agreement, MCX will continue to avail technology support and managed services from FTIL. In yet another low-fare offer, SpiceJet has announced 50 percent off on base fares on limited tickets for travel till March next year, on sale till Saturday. The offer would allow customers to avail themselves of 50 percent discount on available fares for travel in two phases - between October 28 and December 15 this year and from January 15 till March 31 next year. A customer can save up to 50 percent on tickets booked between today and Saturday midnight adding fares under this offer are non-refundable and non-changeable, barring taxes and fees. Havells India has announced its expansion plans for the newly formed States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh targeting business of Rs 500 crore in three years. As part of its expansion plans to capture the growing demand for electrical goods in Andhra Pradesh, the company inaugurated its new office in Vijayawada. The company plans to take its dealer network in Andhra Pradesh to about 300, up from 200. Apart from widening its dealer network, the company is planning to open 10 more Havells Galaxy showrooms in the state. Currently, there are more than 240 Havells Galaxy stores across India including three in Andhra Pradesh. The Heavy Industries Ministry will move the Cabinet with a proposal to shut down six sick central public sector undertakings, including HMT Watches. The companies are - HMT Watches, HMT Barings, HMT Chinar Watch, Hindustan Photo Films, Hindustan Cables and Tungbhadra Steel. The Ministry plans to spend Rs 1,080 crore towards one-time settlement through a voluntary retirement scheme for workers. The six companies have around 3,600 workers. HMT Watches, which is a subsidiary of HMT, has already submitted a voluntary retirement/voluntary separation scheme to the Government for downsizing its manpower.