P B Jayakumar &Amp; Shobhana Subramanian In Mumbai

Stories by P B Jayakumar &Amp; Shobhana Subramanian In Mumbai

Jerry Rao's mission: Affordable housing

Jerry Rao's mission: Affordable housing

Rediff.com   21 Jul 2009

After bidding adieu to his technology firm, this ex-Citibanker-turned-poet is now indulging in his latest passion of providing affordable housing for the masses.

Indian pharma firms swallow bitter pill in US, EU

Indian pharma firms swallow bitter pill in US, EU

Rediff.com   16 Jul 2009

Regulators tighten net on safety grounds.

ArcelorMittal's Rs 40,000-cr project put on hold

ArcelorMittal's Rs 40,000-cr project put on hold

Rediff.com   15 Jul 2009

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.

Wockhardt gets CDR lifeline, with riders

Wockhardt gets CDR lifeline, with riders

Rediff.com   10 Jul 2009

Wockhardt Chairman Habil Khorakiwala can breathe easy, as bankers have approved the debt restructuring package he had sought three months ago.

Reliance Industries: Oil's not well

Reliance Industries: Oil's not well

Rediff.com   8 Jul 2009

The higher MAT and confusion over whether its gas is eligible for a tax holiday have hurt the stock.

ITC: Not hurt by the Budget

ITC: Not hurt by the Budget

Rediff.com   8 Jul 2009

The feeling was that the higher levy would prompt the company to increase prices in the process hurting volumes. But the unchanged central excise duty, analysts say, outweighs the VAT increases in Maharashtra and Delhi. As a result, estimates for the current year have been upped with expectations that the company could grow its top line by as much as 13-14 per cent driven by a 6-7 per cent rise in volumes.

Houses @ Rs 7 lakh: Dream or reality?

Houses @ Rs 7 lakh: Dream or reality?

Rediff.com   3 Jul 2009

It's wonderful that Jerry Rao is planning to build houses that cost Rs 700,000 or less. The former Citibanker's model is simple enough: land is bought with the equity capital while construction is financed through bank loans at market-related rates currently anywhere between 11 and 13 per cent.

Fortis rights' issue for Rs 1,000 cr in a month

Fortis rights' issue for Rs 1,000 cr in a month

Rediff.com   1 Jul 2009

Fortis Healthcare, promoted by former Ranbaxy owners Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, will raise Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) through a rights issue by the first week of August, to fund its expansion plan.

Tata Power to snap supply to R-Infra

Tata Power to snap supply to R-Infra

Rediff.com   26 Jun 2009

It will focus on sourcing 800 Mw for BEST and 477 Mw for its own distribution system from April '10. Sources said TPC on Thursday officially wrote a letter on the issue to R-Infra, informing them that it would support the ADA group company till March next year in the interest of Mumbai's consumers, and help R-Infra find alternative arrangements. While a Tata Power spokesperson declined to comment, an R-Infra spokesperson expressed surprise over the decision.

Wal-Mart faces ire over Ranbaxy drugs

Wal-Mart faces ire over Ranbaxy drugs

Rediff.com   26 Jun 2009

WakeupWalmart.com, an anti-Wal-Mart website which belongs to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, came out with a report two days ago titled, 'Wal-Mart's vaunted $4 prescriptions supplied by disgraced Indian manufacturer.' UFCW claims to have a membership of over 1.3 million workers in the US and Canada. WakeupWalmart.com mainly campaigns for the rights of Wal-Mart employees and consumer interests.

Godrej Consumer: A bright outlook

Godrej Consumer: A bright outlook

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2009

The company has been doing well -- it gained market share in both the soaps and hair colour categories in the March 2009 quarter, which pushed up revenues by 26 per cent. Even after that soaps continue to do well as does the hair colour segment where the company is understood to have added market share in April and May. The Street probably also has high expectations of the new managing director.

Reliance Infrastructure looks at domestic banks

Reliance Infrastructure looks at domestic banks

Rediff.com   19 Jun 2009

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.

Cheaper gas: fillip to R-Power's Dadri project

Cheaper gas: fillip to R-Power's Dadri project

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2009

Reliance Power's plans are to set up a 7,480-Mw project, which will be the largest gas-fired power project at a single location in the world.

SBI: Restructuring blues

SBI: Restructuring blues

Rediff.com   12 Jun 2009

The quality of the bank's loan book, which has perhaps grown far too fast, is a cause for concern. When the bank announced its annual results the number talked about was a reasonable Rs 8,000 crore. Now it appears that the standard loans restructured amount to nearly Rs 13,000 crore and taken together with pending applications is closer to Rs 21,600 crore or about 4 per cent of the loan book.

'Warrant'ing a change in rules

'Warrant'ing a change in rules

Rediff.com   5 Jun 2009

Why should promoters have an option to buy shares when other shareholders don't? Perhaps warrants can be done away with altogether since most promoters don't seem convinced about the value of their companies, says Shobhana Subramanian.

India: Too much too soon

India: Too much too soon

Rediff.com   4 Jun 2009

The Indian market must be re-rated but a further premium to emerging markets seems unjustified. The Indian market now trades way off its lows and at premium of around 50 per cent to emerging markets, compared with its long-term average of 8 per cent -- -in January 2008 it was trading at a premium of over 100 per cent. As Morgan Stanley says, broad market valuations as measured by market capitalisation to GDP, are now well past its historic average.

Rs 70,000 crore infra projects get finance closure

Rs 70,000 crore infra projects get finance closure

Rediff.com   28 May 2009

The latest to join the list of projects that have achieved financial closure are two power projects -- 1,050 Mw GMR Kamalanga Energy of GMR Energy coming up at Dhenkanal in Orissa and the second phase 300 Mw Rosa power project in Uttar Pradesh promoted by Reliance Power. Experts said financial closure for another Rs 100,000 crore worth of projects are likely to be achieved in this calendar year, mainly from the power and infrastructure sector.

NDTV Hindu: Local fare for Chennai

NDTV Hindu: Local fare for Chennai

Rediff.com   26 May 2009

Chennai has just got its own news and entertainment channel, courtesy a 50:50 joint venture between NDTV Ltd and The Hindu.

Quarter 4: Sales flat, profits sharply down

Quarter 4: Sales flat, profits sharply down

Rediff.com   15 May 2009

The numbers suggest the earnings performance of the broad market has been worse than that of the narrow market. For a sample of nearly 1,000 companies, excluding banks and financial services, net profits for the March 2009 quarter are down a very sharp 20 per cent year-on-year. That's not surprising because operating profit margins have come off by nearly 200 basis points, indicating that India Inc's problems have more to do with costs because the top line has held up well.

Retail biz: Need to develop strong value plan

Retail biz: Need to develop strong value plan

Rediff.com   8 May 2009

Here's how Westside scored over Shopper's Stop.