Last month, Barun K Gorain, a non-resident Indian with Canadian company Barrick Gold Corporation came to Delhi with a $10-million proposal for suggesting a viable method to recover silver from Barrick's gold mines in Argentina.
Till some months ago, when several doctors led by Naresh Trehan left the hospital, the same area used to resemble a railway station -- such was the rush. It was a regular feature for patients to wait a couple of hours before the appointment with the doctors came through. Shivinder Mohan Singh, managing director of Fortis Healthcare which acquired the hospital from Escorts Ltd for Rs 585 crore (Rs 5.85 billion) in 2005, insists this only shows the efficiency of the doctors.
The finance ministry, in the explanatory memorandum to the Finance Bill 2008-09, proposes to withdraw the tax holiday which has been a window the petroleum ministry has been using to market the oil and gas exploration blocks under the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (Nelp) since 1999. The commitment to give a 7-year tax holiday to companies producing gas from Nelp blocks was finalised by the Union Cabinet after consultation with the finance ministry.
The tax holiday awarded by the Union Budget to healthcare and IT sectors has been greeted with enthusiasm. Major hospital chains had already announced plans to expand in tier 2 cities. The tax holiday has proved to be an added incentive. India needs 3.1 million new hospital beds in the next 10 years. The tax-holiday benefits are available for all new hospital projects except the ones coming up in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore & Ahmedabad.
The positive impact of the February 14 hike in petrol and diesal prices on oil marketing companies has been negated in just a fortnight with daily retail losses of these companies going back to over Rs 410 crore (Rs 4.1 billion) for the fortnight ended February 29. This is due to the steep rise in global crude prices in recent days. The retail prices were hiked by Rs 2 per litre for petrol and Re 1per litre for diesel.
Even as India is fast turning into the diabetes capital of the world, multinational drug companies are busy patenting new-generation diabetes medicines for exclusive marketing rights in the country.
LPG demand this fiscal is expected to be around 11 million tonne, against around 10.2 million tonne last year. It is the subsidised price of LPG, which is available at around Rs 21 per kg for domestic use. LPG for industries, which is outside price control, is sold at around Rs 58 per kg, up from around Rs 36 per kg last year.
Punjab is opposing Centre's area-based tax exemption policy while the underdeveloped states are lauding it as a "well deserved" package.
The revamping will start with its assets in Assam. The company will soon float tenders worth Rs 2,500 crore, a senior company executive said. ONGC has three fields in Assam - Rudrasagar, Lakwa and Geleki. The Rudrasagar field is almost 40 years old.
Petroleum Ministry is considering cutting down the number of independent directors on board in an oil PSU to 33%.
NPPA will begin analysing pricing trends of 74 bulk drugs that come under the government-notified price-controlled list every quarter.
Iran's proposal to transform the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project to an Iran-Pakistan-China (IPC) project is nothing more than an "empty threat", according to Indian officials, who say the move is fraught with technical and financial challenges.
Deals indicate growing interest of private equity firms in India's pharma and healthcare segments.
The move brings an additional 15 per cent of the retail medicine market worth over Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) under direct price control. All domestic companies, including drug majors like Ranbaxy, Cipla, Lupin and Dr Reddy's, have syrups and tonics in their product portfolio.
With anti-competitive practices of global pharma companies increasingly coming under regulatory scrutiny internationally, Indian public interest groups and the domestic medicine makers complain that India's competitive laws are not equipped to face a similar situation of monopoly in the sales of patent protected medicines in the country.
Kakinada is fast turning from a rice growing area to a buzzing town, thanks to Reliance's gas terminal.
India Inc is looking at the public sector to steer its ambitions, as former PSU heads are taken on board to lead the private sector.
Over 300 life-saving medicines may become cheaper by at least 25 per cent, if the finance ministry considers a proposal by its chemicals and fertilisers counterpart to provide customs and excise duty waivers on all drugs that are part of the National List of Essential Medicines. The chemicals and fertilisers ministry proposal has been supported by pharma companies, who have also agreed to pass on the benefits of such waivers by slashing retail prices.
Reliance, Lifecell and Cryobank have emerged leaders in the stem cell banking sector.
Drug makers join the chyawanprash bandwagon with sugar-free variants.
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