According to a senior commerce department official, talks between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) - the 10-country trading bloc - have hit a roadblock, with some of the advanced developing countries demanding greater flexibilities from India.
As and when the sector opens up to FDI, the world's second-largest retailer will automatically get equity in Pantaloon Retail or will enjoy right of first refusal, said the sources.
NTT had earlier sought the combined 63 per cent stake of the promoters and private equity firm General Atlantic Partners, but their exclusive talks failed due to a valuation mismatch.
Earlier this week, commerce secretary Rahul Khullar met EU director-general for trade David O'Sullivan to review the progress so far. Several differences mired the process over EU's insistence on including social issues such as human rights, labour policies and climate change within the FTA purview.
The company, which finds itself at the centre of the real estate scam, as alleged by the Central Bureau of Investigation, is housed in a dilapidated building, and from the exterior, nobody can ever guess that the fourth floor of MMFSL would be so swanky.
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is looking for ventures into analogous sectors. While the state-run company is going for a follow-on public offer (FPO) in early 2011, it is looking at some aggressive expansion plans, and mergers and acquisitions as well, said Chandra Shekhar Verma, chairman and managing director.
Sajjan Jindal's JSW Energy moved a step closer to securing its coal requirements, signing a definitive agreement with the management of CIC Energy on Wednesday, to buy them out and take control of the Toronto-listed company. CIC Energy has an 'A-grade' mining-cum-power complex called the Mmamabula Energy Complex in Botswana, Africa. The field there is estimated to have 2.6 billion tonnes of high-thermal coal, mostly above 6,000 Kcal/kg of calorific value.
India and Canada aim at achieving a bilateral trade target of $15 billion in the next five years, even as both countries are beginning a series of negotiations to have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) soon that would yield significant economic benefit for both countries and lower tariffs over a large number of products, says Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, Canada.
The Department of Fertilizers (DoF) plans to bring in all policies, including the New Investment Policy meant to overhaul urea production, under one umbrella - Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) policy.
The Aditya Birla Group is back in acquisition mode, as group firm Aditya Birla Nuvo may bid for the carbon black division of Germany's Evonik Industries. The division, with annual sales of $1.3 billion and 1,700 employees across 12 countries, is the second largest in the world.
SEZs promoted by Reliance, Raheja, IFFCO may benefit.
The government has failed to reach a consensus on the issue of setting up plastic reprocessing units in special economic zones and is likely to defer its decision once again in the meeting of the Board of Approval on October 21.
Reliance Industries (RIL), India's largest private sector company, is finalising a new alliance with engineering and project management partner Bechtel Corporation, as it prepares to enter the power sector.
India may formally approach the World Trade Organisation's dispute panel against the European Union following the seizure of low-cost generic medicine consignments in European ports meant for other developing countries. The two parties have failed to reach an amicable solution during the consultation process.
Last week, Chandra Shekhar Verma did something rather uncharacteristic for a state-owned company chieftain, especially one reputed to be a stickler for rules. The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) chairman - its youngest ever - openly criticised the government.
The two arms of L&TFH are L&T Finance, with its retail, micro-finance and corporate loan portfolio, and L&T Infrastructure Finance.
Nine years after New Delhi started implementing its Plan B - bilateral trade agreements - to beat the impasse at the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round of liberalisation talks, India seems to be finally rolling.
The company is currently developing the Mmamabula Energy Complex -- a mining, power and potential coal-to-hydrocarbons facility -- in the landlocked southern African country of Botswana.
The diversified steel-to-telecom Essar Group, with revenues of $ 15 billion, is readying to consolidate its retail initiatives under one roof to maximise synergies and explore new avenues of growth. To shape its plans, Essar is forming a centralised retail think-tank at a group level to strategise the conglomerate's future course of action.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma had earlier said the government would not hesitate in assisting sectors that employed huge amount of people if they failed to achieve growth. Some of those sectors were handicrafts, textiles, leather, engineering goods, rice and carpets.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances