The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has pulled up the department of revenue for rejecting all foreign direct investment proposals in which funds are routed through Mauritius and said it has taken a conscious policy decision to overrule such objections.
Traditional heavy spenders on cricket properties Vodafone, car maker Hyundai Motors, Reliance Communications and soft drink major Coca-Cola have decided to stay out of the bidding for the sponsorship of the Indian cricket team with the Board of Control for Cricket in India setting a steep base price to Rs 510 crore for a four-year deal for one of cricket's most coveted sponsorships.
Communications Minister A Raja has shifted responsibility for holding auctions for third generation or 3G telecom services to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee by requesting him, in a letter last week, to ensure that the defence ministry releases the spectrum it had promised on time.
Soft drinks and foods major Pepsico India Holdings Pvt Ltd has applied to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to invest an additional $200 million (around Rs 950 crore) as equity in its Indian operations.
Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is understood to be in talks with leading Indian telecom companies like Tata Communications (formerly VSNL), Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications that could bid for broadband wireless access spectrum to be auctioned by the government in January 2010.
Google, the world's largest search engine and one of the biggest internet brands, is understood to be eyeing opportunities in the third generation of mobile telephony, or 3G, in India.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India said it is 'closely watching' investments made by New York-based hedge fund Galleon, whose Sri Lankan founder Raj Rajaratnam was arrested for alleged insider trading on Friday.
Low-cost carrier SpiceJet Airlines, promoted by a group of investors led by the Kansagra family and Delhi-based Ajay Singh, is working on a plan to start international operations next year, making it the third private Indian carrier after Jet Airways and Kingfisher to fly overseas.
BSNL, MTNL respond to Vavasi despite advice to the contrary
About five new operators are ready to start operations by the end of this year, adding to the over eight incumbents slugging it out to grab a share in a mobile market that is expected to grow to 750 million subscribers by 2012 against over 450 million at present.
Essar group, which is buying out the Uganda and Congo assets of Warid Telecom -- a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Group and Singtel and is present in Kenya, has also reportedly been sounded out by Zain shareholders. A company spokesperson, however, declined to comment on the issue.
Slow domestic growth, global ambitions will prompt deals similar to MTN, say analysts
Jet Airways expects to raise over Rs 1,000 crore by selling 2.5 acres of premium land it owns in the Bandra-Kurla area in Mumbai. The move will partly help the company to raise about $400 million (roughly Rs 2,000 crore) to cut its debt burden of Rs 15,885 crore.
Permission for dual listing would require full capital account convertibility and therefore changes in regulations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act.
The deal, which will be the largest in the global telecom space, will be subject to South African government approval.
Airline managements are divided on the likely impact of the settlement of the Jet Airways imbroglio.
The government has sought to put an end to the ambiguities in the implementation of Press Notes 2 and 4, which significantly relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines, with the Commerce Ministry requesting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to make changes in the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to operationalise the guidelines. The direction from the government follows a number of references and queries from investors.
One reason for the upward revision in the forecast comes from the surprise growth of 9.45 per cent notched by the industry since the beginning of this year.
Claim breach in procedure, demand probes; Reliance denies charge
Halving the productivity-linked incentive will make its salary levels unattractive and put a heavier burden on junior staffers.