As the demand for a grand stimulus gathers steam, the government is targeting an investment of Rs 100,000 crore
With no sign of the global liquidity crunch abating, the government is planning to ease the lending norms for banks and financial institutions so that they can provide funds for the ambitious ultra mega power projects.
The lukewarm response to the proposed real estate development around the Delhi airport has put its Rs 8,940-crore modernisation in a financial bind.
The finance ministry is learnt to have raised a serious objection to the proposed relaxation in the foreign direct investment norms in restricted sectors such as telecom and insurance.According to sources in the government, in a meeting of a group of ministers on Tuesday, the finance ministry representatives argued that the proposed relaxation would effectively remove the current limits in the respective sectors. Sources said senior members of the GoM also objected.
Despite sharp erosion in the net worth of airline companies due to losses in the recent past, banks and financial institutions have decided to sanction loans to some of them including Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, while some of the companies in this sector are still waiting.
In another bid to mobilise funds for the cash-strapped realty major Unitech, promoter Ramesh Chandra and his family are in talks with leading Indian and global steel giants to sell their 25 per cent stake in Bhubaneswar-headquartered Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel Ltd.Investment banks said the Chandras, who bought the stake sometime in 2006 and 2007, are in talks with Korean steel giant Posco and Delhi-based Bhushan Steel, which owns 6 per cent in the firm.
Bajaj family members are in the final stages of reaching a peace formula to their six-year-old dispute over the division of group companies and assets. Sources familiar with the developments said an announcement can be expected in the next 10 days, but did not want to divulge details.
The government is considering a fresh stimulus of around Rs 20,000 crore for manufacturing companies and non-banking finance companies routed through the Stressed Asset Stabilisation Fund (SASF) Trust that is currently mandated to deal with bad and doubtful debts of IDBI Bank.
Korean car maker Hyundai Motors India Ltd said it will have to lay off 2,000 temporary workers, about one-fourth of its labour force, to tide over a decline in car sales. The company employs over 8,400 workers, of which around 3,300 are temporary.
The key to last week's revival package, in the infrastructure sector, is the two-year old India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) and the efforts of its chairman and managing director, Surinder Singh Kohli.
UTI Asset Management Company (UTI AMC), India's oldest mutual fund, is in advanced stages of discussions to divest 26 per cent to a strategic partner.
This is the second project in the country in which a metro rail project is being undertaken through a PPP model after the 71-kilometre Hyderabad metro project was won by Maytas Infrastructure. According to industry sources, infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro had also initially shown interest for the project, but backed out finally.
This is the first time Hill & Knowlton, part of the WPP group that has several joint ventures in advertising, is venturing into India in this area. The Hong Kong-based company has presence in more than 41 countries across the globe. The PR business has been attracting the attention of international agencies and many have already set up JVs or signed partnerships with Indian players.
D B Corp, the owner of the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, is in advanced discussions with broadcaster INX Media to acquire a stake in the company that operates the entertainment channels as well as a majority stake in its English language news channel NewsX. Both companies are promoted by Indrani and Peter Mukerjea, the former Star India CEO.
The government and Reserve Bank of India are working on opening a massive Rs 75,000 crore refinance window to provide concessional funds for infrastructure, housing and small and medium enterprises by partly leveraging the country's foreign exchange reserves.
Unitech Ltd, the country's second largest real estate firm, has decided to sell its 200-room budget hotel Courtyard by Marriott in Gurgaon ahead of its inauguration in January 2009.
Days after NTT DoCoMo of Japan announced that it will buy 26 per cent in Tata Teleservices for $2.7 billion, NRI businessman C Sivasankaran has decided to put on the block his eight per cent stake in the company.
After 11 years of hanging like a sword on PepsiCo India Holdings Ltd, the government's condition that the company must dilute its equity in fully-owned downstream ventures is close to being waived.
AS Bindra, the father of ace shooter and Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, has defaulted to banks and financial institutions. The money claimed from Bindra is over Rs 75 crore (Rs 750 million). He had borrowed it in the 1990s to set up a meat processing plant under Punjab Meats Ltd.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) has rejected a proposal by Tata Investment Corporation (TIC) to issue zero coupon convertible bonds (ZCCBs) with detachable warrants to its shareholders.