The eight team owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are all set to lock horns with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) by refusing to pay their next instalment of the franchisee fee which is due in January 2009.
Volatility in investments concern for RBI.
After successfully dabbling in organised retail in 2006, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India's largest private sector company, Reliance Industries (RIL), has now set his eyes on no-frills, low-cost housing."RIL has deep pockets and excellent execution skills. It has executed two large projects like the Jamnagar refinery and the KG-D6 basin in a record time. Another such large project is only obvious for the company to get into," said a source close to the development.
The heat from the cricket endorsement pitch is cooling, with rates falling between 25 and 50 per cent as advertisers shy away from new deals.Industry sources say the only major cricketer to have signed on for a new brand in the last six months is Yuvraj Singh. Up-and-coming players like Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina are charging Rs 40 lakh to Rs 60 lakh but have not signed any new individual deals in the last few months.
Over the past few months, Chandra, whose family also owns Essel, a leading packaging company for consumer products, has bought a massage clinic chain, launched an ayurvedic skin and health products brand and rejigged his US TV channel into a health platform.
The Centre has finalised sweeping changes to the country's foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to account for increasing concerns voiced by security agencies.
SET Max, the official broadcasters of the Indian Premier League (IPL)cricket tournament, has already hit a sixer with the third edition of the twenty20 league. The channel is estimated to rake in over Rs 650 crore, 30 per cent higher than it got in IPL-2.
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.