As the demand for a grand stimulus gathers steam, the government is targeting an investment of Rs 100,000 crore
With no sign of the global liquidity crunch abating, the government is planning to ease the lending norms for banks and financial institutions so that they can provide funds for the ambitious ultra mega power projects.
The lukewarm response to the proposed real estate development around the Delhi airport has put its Rs 8,940-crore modernisation in a financial bind.
Insurance, telecom, infrastructure, FMCG and energy are unlikely to downsize; Elsewhere, only top performers are safe.
The finance ministry is learnt to have raised a serious objection to the proposed relaxation in the foreign direct investment norms in restricted sectors such as telecom and insurance.According to sources in the government, in a meeting of a group of ministers on Tuesday, the finance ministry representatives argued that the proposed relaxation would effectively remove the current limits in the respective sectors. Sources said senior members of the GoM also objected.
Despite sharp erosion in the net worth of airline companies due to losses in the recent past, banks and financial institutions have decided to sanction loans to some of them including Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, while some of the companies in this sector are still waiting.
In another bid to mobilise funds for the cash-strapped realty major Unitech, promoter Ramesh Chandra and his family are in talks with leading Indian and global steel giants to sell their 25 per cent stake in Bhubaneswar-headquartered Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel Ltd.Investment banks said the Chandras, who bought the stake sometime in 2006 and 2007, are in talks with Korean steel giant Posco and Delhi-based Bhushan Steel, which owns 6 per cent in the firm.
Three major undersea cables -- the Sea Me We 4, Sea Me We3, and FLAG -- were cut, considerably slowing down India's internet and voice traffic. The extent of the damage is still being assessed.
If implemented, this will be music to the ears of shareholders and analysts who have been insisting that Satyam would be better off returning money to shareholders.
The crux of the problem it appears is one of "trust" and the perception that a unilateral decision was taken by the board, allegedly to favour Raju's sons' companies.
The government is considering a fresh stimulus of around Rs 20,000 crore for manufacturing companies and non-banking finance companies routed through the Stressed Asset Stabilisation Fund (SASF) Trust that is currently mandated to deal with bad and doubtful debts of IDBI Bank.
The key to last week's revival package, in the infrastructure sector, is the two-year old India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) and the efforts of its chairman and managing director, Surinder Singh Kohli.
UTI Asset Management Company (UTI AMC), India's oldest mutual fund, is in advanced stages of discussions to divest 26 per cent to a strategic partner.
The last couple of months have dealt a severe blow to IT firms, which has even prompted the top listed Indian IT services providers to inform investors that they need to scale down their growth expectations from the sector that, on an average, has been growing almost 30 per cent year-on-year.
D B Corp, the owner of the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, is in advanced discussions with broadcaster INX Media to acquire a stake in the company that operates the entertainment channels as well as a majority stake in its English language news channel NewsX. Both companies are promoted by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea, the former Star India CEO.
It all started with the advent and success of smaller laptops or netbooks, as they are called, in June 2008. Now, Indian and multinational PC makers like Asus, HCL Infosystems and Wipro are ready to give a push to the retail sales of even smaller desktops or Nettops, based on Intel Atom processors. Others like Dell, HP and Lenovo are expected to follow.
Terrorist attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and consistently exploiting India's gaping security loopholes -- both on terra firma and in cyberspace. Yet, India's seriousness about electronic surveillance as a preventive measure appears to be woefully inadequate.
The government and Reserve Bank of India are working on opening a massive Rs 75,000 crore refinance window to provide concessional funds for infrastructure, housing and small and medium enterprises by partly leveraging the country's foreign exchange reserves.
"While telecom operators may get a licence for spectrum and have the money to build networks, they may not necessarily have the management skills. We are in talks to explore possibilities of knowledge transfer and help operators build capacities by lowering entry barriers," said Barry West, CTO, Sprint, and president, Xohm. Globally, Sprint is not doing well. It is now banking on WiMax to boost its revenues.
Unitech Ltd, the country's second largest real estate firm, has decided to sell its 200-room budget hotel Courtyard by Marriott in Gurgaon ahead of its inauguration in January 2009.
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