Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday announced a stimulus package for the economy, the third this financial year, cutting excise duty and service tax two percentage points each, effective midnight, and extending previous excise cuts beyond March 31, 2009.
Fox Star Studio India, the distributor of Slumdog Millionaire in the country, has managed to gross around Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) from the markets, surpassing collections of some of the biggest Bollywood hits of last year such as Rock On.
Full-service carrier Kingfisher Airlines has sought permission from the petroleum ministry to extend the date for paying dues to public sector oil companies for aviation turbine fuel.
This is one question that's uppermost in the minds of analysts, marketmen and industry experts even as the Company Law Board on Thursday gave the scam-tainted IT firm's stake sale plan the go-ahead.
In the case of Satyam Computer Services, L&T had acquired 8 per cent stake after the company's founder B Ramalinga Raju admitted to fraud, and had demanded representation on the company's board. The plea, however, did not find support. The promoters of Maytas had pledged shares with the two institutions and Sicom to raise funds.
The government on Tuesday moved the Company Law Board to remove the current directors of Maytas Infrastructure and Maytas Properties from their respective boards and declare them ineligible for appointment as directors of any other company. The CLB will consider the matter on February 24.
Revival hopes of the diamond industry have been dashed as gems and jewellery manufacturers feel that little help has been provided to them in the Interim Budget for 2009-10.
Troubles for the textile industry, which has been grappling with financial blood-letting both in international and home markets, are likely to deepen further. While there are fears of half-a-million more job losses, exports from the sector are likely to take a hit of about Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion), according to industry estimates.
On the second day of the summit, Indian vendors discussed ways to tackle the financial crisis head-on with innovation being the focal point. Most believed that there is enough opportunity within the country for the industry.
There were also reports that the board might opt for an open bidding process, which will bring in the much-required funds into the company. The board will also insist that only companies with a good track record can bid for the company. However, this could not be confirmed.
Punjab National Bank Chairman and Managing Director K C Chakraborty has emerged as the frontrunner for the post of the fourth deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on PE funding in Kolkata on Monday, Gopal Srinivasan, chairman, TVS Capital Funds, said TVS Capital had raised close to Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion), invested Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) and lined up another rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) investment. The company invested in retail, social infrastructure, media and entertainment.
Surinder Kapur, president of the company's 'vendor council,' said it has about a dozen representatives from Tata Motors and an equal number from the vendors. "We supply for about 4-5 per cent of our revenues to Tata Motors and we do not have payment issues," he said. Lumax, which derives about 15 per cent of its turnover by supplying almost half of the lighting solutions for Tata Motors worth about Rs 60 crore a year, said they had not experienced any payment issues.
The Satyam Computer Services board is expected to induct former managing director of Tata Chemicals Homi R Khusrokhan on the company's board of directors as Executive Director and former chief financial officer of Murugappa group Partho S Datta as Director (Finance).
The board meeting, which was expected to be held on February 5, was brought forward by a day. "Announcements relating to critical leadership appointments are expected to be made at the board meeting," the company's internal newsletter stated.
For instance, an oil marketing company availed of a short-term credit facility of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) from a public sector bank at less than 7 per cent. Non-banking finance companies, which were finding it difficult to raise resources from banks, can now avail of loans at 10.5-11 per cent as against 14-15 per cent in November.
The Kushan Pal Singh-led realty major has halted construction work on nearly 16 million sq ft of office and retail mall space out of the 62 million sq ft of planned construction. In the office space, the developer has stalled construction on nearly 12 million sq ft of office space out of the 36 million sq ft of space being planned.
Last week, the 20-hectare zone had got embroiled in a controversy amid reports that the state government was taking back the land. This was after allegations that the land was allotted in an unfair manner. But Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy said the government would not cancel the allocation as the company was "sound."
The aggrieved shareholders, who have come together under the banner of The Indian Film Company Requisition Group, has said in a fresh communication to IFC that they were legally entitled to get access to the share register. A copy of the communication was provided by Bankside Consultants, the PR agency representing IFCRG.
Ranbaxy's investment in the six-year-old joint venture for the 50 per cent stake is estimated at Rs 30.5 crore (Rs 305 million). Industry sources said the deal was unlikely to impact Ranbaxy's financials as revenues and investment in the joint venture was not significant. Sources said revenues from NPI were only $25 million in 2007 through the sale of four generic products.