A consortium of British Gas, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Reliance Industries, which controls the PMT fields off the west coast, is spending about Rs 2,500 crore (Rs 25 billion) for reviving the reserve in this fiscal, while new wells are being drilled at the Cairn-operated Ravva field (off the Andhra coast) for small-sized additional discoveries. The Tapti field has witnessed 'natural decline in the production profile' during the first quarter ended June 2009.
Companies that made expensive overseas acquisitions lead the way in driving cost efficiencies.
Aditya Birla Nuvo is in talks with global private equity players Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR to sell shareholding in its proposed holding firm for its financial services business. The financial services holding company will house its asset management, insurance, stock broking, wealth management and private equity businesses.
To this end, the group is consolidating its global assets under GMR Infrastructure International (registered in the Isle of Man) for a public issue in London, according to an executive who did not wish to be identified, in a move that largely replicates what metals behemoth Vedanta did six years ago.
The US-based aircraft manufacturing giant will expand its manufacturing presence, launch subsidiaries and strengthen research and development (R&D) programmes in the country. Jeppesen, a subsidiary of Boeing, is close to setting up an office in Hyderabad, while another, Aviall, the company's spare parts subsidiary, already has operations from Noida.
V N Khare and S P Bharucha, both once Chief Justices of India, have been appointed to the arbitration panel to resolve the issue of sale of the government's residual 49 per cent stake in Bharat Aluminium Company to Sterlite Industries.
Sterlite Industries, the flagship firm of London-listed Vedanta, may get the support of rival bidder Harbinger Capital Partners in its takeover plan for the bankrupt US copper mining firm, Asarco. Harbinger has decided to withdraw from the race, informing the bankruptcy court that its plan to restructure Asarco should not be considered.
Ore and coking coal to come from Tata mines in Canada, Africa.
The company has a debt burden of Rs 14,500 crore.
The group also has plans to spend Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) on power generation. The London-listed giant will spend Rs 43,000 crore (Rs 430 billion) to enhance its capacity, in addition to its Rs 50,000-crore (Rs 500-billion) plan in power generation.
However, the company will go ahead with its plans in Jharkhand, and has secured iron ore mines and coal linkages to the project, company sources told Business Standard. An e-mail reply from the steel major said it was not expecting its projects in India to start before 2014.
Five Indian metals and mining companies are in the race for acquiring mining rights for the largest iron ore deposit in war-torn Afghanistan. The government has shortlisted Vedanta group's Sesa Goa, Essar Minerals, Ispat Industries, JSW Steel and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam for a bid for the 1.8 billion tonne Hajigak iron ore deposit.
The three-judge arbitration panel set up to resolve the controversy over the sale of the government's residual 49 per cent stake in Sterlite-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd has decided to meet in August, raising hopes of a resolution to the five-year-old dispute.
Grasim Industries, the leading cement maker of the A V Birla group, is not enthusiastic at a proposal to merge with its subsidiary, UltraTech, as it does not see value in the process at this stage.
Aditya Birla group flagship firm Hindalco Industries has decided to trim its overseas operations and is restructuring its capital expenditure in India in an effort to stabilise operations. As part of this overall plan, Novelis, which Hindalco acquired for $6 billion in 2007, is closing its sheet mill at Rogerstone in the UK, involving 440 job losses.
Sameer Nath, head of mergers and acquisitions for Citi Group Global Markets India, has been busy working on domestic restructuring and consolidation deals over the past six to nine months.
The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group company hasn't yet got the contract for executing the second phase of the Mumbai Metro, but Jalan's team has already started negotiating with domestic banks to tie up funds for the estimated Rs 11,000-crore (Rs 110-billion) project.
The Bombay high court, while pronouncing the verdict on the gas dispute on Monday, advised the Ambani brothers for the second time to settle their row in consultation with their mother.
While a number of players invested more in Indian companies, another set exited the market, making profits after March. The companies that invested included Saif Partners, which made a $24 million investment in Network18, and Times Private Treaties, which acquired 12 per cent in Jiny & Jony (for an undisclosed sum), according to data with analysts and brokerage firms.
The Tata group is strengthening the management super-structure within its group companies by extending the post of vice-chairman to three more companies - Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Tata Consultancy Services.