Headlines of 1Apr

Economic Times

RPL and Chevron Corp have mandated a consortium of six international banks to raise US$500mn.

Cairn India is still in talks with the Government about the financing of a pipeline to transport crude from its key Mangala field in Rajasthan.

The Government is considering a cut in import duty to contain steel prices.

Power Finance Corporation has floated a wholly-owned consultancy arm to provide services in the power sector.

RIL believes a 38.1mn cubic feet a day gas find in one of its east coast blocks is commercially viable and will submit an appraisal plan soon.

Ranbaxy Laboratories is selling the oral liquid manufacturing unit to its Romanian subsidiary, Terapia.

Wipro is setting up an 80-acre facility in Chennai by investing Rs7bn.

France’s Pernod Ricard has won the auction to buy the maker of Sweden’s Absolut vodka for US$8.9bn.

Dubai-based Arab Digital Distribution has won a 10-year contract for exclusive coverage rights for the IPL T20 tournament.

ArcelorMittal South Africa has announced another hike in the alloy's price that will come into effect from May 1.

Vijaya Bank has exceeded its business target for 2007-08 with a growth of more than 25%.

Kanoria Chemicals will spend Rs1.25bn on an alcohol-based chemicals plant in Visakhapatnam over 21 months.

Business Standard

Sabare International, a Karur-based home furnishings company, has taken ICICI Bank to court over a foreign exchange derivative contract.

To fund its Jaguar Land Rover buyout, Tata Motors, is preparing to divest stake in two of its 100% owned business units HV Axel and HV Transmission.

ICICI Bank may sell 12% in broking arm for Rs36bn. Goldman, Morgan, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Nomura among others are in the race.

Gammon India has clinched the Rs3.4bn re-densification project to build a Central Business District in a prime business locality of Bhopal.

ICSA will soon acquire two T&D sector companies with front-end marketing capabilities in the US and Europe.

Dabur is banking on the country’s rural and semi-urban areas for growth in the baby care segment.

Nitco Tiles is planning to open 12 Le Studio showrooms and 120 Le Express in next 18 months and is targeting revenue of Rs20bn by FY10.

Alembic is all set to bag a US$25-30mn manufacturing contract from a multinational company.

Gujarat Ambuja Exports is set to invest around Rs850mn in two different ventures, a soybean processing plant and its mandi venture.

To counter rising inflation, government has scrapped import duties on all crude edible oil forms, while cutting duties on refined edible oils and hydrogenated vegetable fats to 7.5%.

Cement companies are set to raise the prices of the building material by Rs3-5 per 50 kg on the back of rising input costs and higher demand.

In a move that will lower the bill of the five-million DTH consumers by 5-8%, Trai has asked channels to reduce rates by April 4.

The Government has extended till further notice the DEPB used by exporters to remit duties on exported products.

The country’s sugar production is estimated to decline about 10% this year due to low yield and a late start to the crushing season (Oct-Sept).

New deposits of coal, iron ore, bauxite and limestone have been discovered in the mineral-rich state of Chhattisgarh.

Hindu Business Line

Sun Pharma’s US arm Caraco has been asked to withdraw batches of generic Metformin, used to treat diabetes, on grounds of efficacy.

Cipla is set to sell its generic version of Deferasirox, a once-a-day oral iron chelator used to treat iron overload.

The GMR group is in the race for a 50% stake in InterGen, a US-based power company with plants in five countries.

Four Soft expects the merger of the company with Take Solutions to be completed within two months.

Country Club India is all set to expand its horizon through acquisition of properties in Dubai and Bangkok.

DNA

Havells India plans to enter electric motors business.

The Government is likely to raise the statutory minimum price

MINT

PSA Corp., owned by Temasek Holdings plans to acquire 49% in ABG Kandla Container Terminal from ABG Infralogistics for Rs2.4bn.

An ICICI Venture Funds Management Co., RFCL has acquired Bremer Pharma GmbH, a German veterinary care company.

Financial EXPRESS

For sugarcane to over Rs120per quintal for the 2008-09 season.

CERC has ruled that the transmission charges for the existing regional inter-state transmission system would continue to be pooled and shared by the regional beneficiaries as per the existing practice.

RIL has invited EoI for the development of its gas discoveries in the KG-DWN-98/3 deepwater block.