The retrospective tax controversy was highlighted by Vodafone, but Cairn Plc's continuing problems point to the impact this law has had on FDI in India's oil and gas sector.
The surge in deal value is largely due to the $12.9 bn Essar-Rosneft deal
Meeting in the midst of a raging controversy, an inter-ministerial group on coal blocks on Monday skirted a decision on cancelling allotments of 58 mines, but firmed up the guidelines for forfeiting of bank guarantees for failure to develop them.
AG is of the view that there is no point in dragging the matter further when it has already been "struck down" by one international forum, and also by the top Indian court.
Several leading industrialists, including Reliance Industries CMD Mukesh Ambani, Vedanta Resources Limited executive chairman Anil Agarwal, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Welspun Group chairman and Assocham president B K Goenka, attended the swearing-in ceremony.
India Inc expects the RBI to cut interest rates by early next year.
'The slide in growth has arisen primarily because we have an NBFC crisis on top of a banking crisis,' points out T T Ram Mohan.
ICICI Bank extended yesterday gains, rising 10% in two trading sessions
The first notice in the transaction relating to the sale of 67 per cent stake of Hutchison Essar Ltd was issued on March 15, 2007, under section 133(6) of the Income Tax Act.
The company has tied up with five distributors this year.
Noted banker Uday Kotak said the country's financial system is currently in a Darwinian mode as only the fittest lenders are able to survive. Kotak also said that historically, whenever there has been a problem with a private sector lender, it has been merged with a state-run bank.
India's biggest firm, Reliance Industries, has decided to cut salaries by 10 per cent in its oil and refining divisions. Several smaller companies like Kajaria Ceramics have followed suit with cuts as high as 40 per cent for those earning more than Rs 50 lakh.
Govt's move will facilitate entry of global giants such as Total SA of France, Saudi Arabia's Aramco, BP Plc of the UK, and Trafigura's downstream arm Puma Energy.
Four former Indian CEOs - three of them with telecom companies and one from soft drinks major Coca-Cola - have come together to start an angel partner firm, the Phi Group. Interestingly, the group has roped in two former bosses of global telecom companies for its international foray.
A battle between incumbent GSM and CDMA operators has broken out, with Marten Pieters, the managing director of Vodafone Essar, the country's second-largest telecom operator, lashing out at comments made by a competing operator, saying it was ridiculous to imply that incumbent GSM players like them were hoarding scarce spectrum.
Dhirendra Mulkalwar, one of the protestors who raised a protest banner at Essar's Mumbai headquarters, on why he joined Greenpeace's Junglistan group that is working to save India's forests.
UK telecom giant Vodafone has offloaded its 5.6 per cent direct stake in India's mobile leader Bharti Airtel to promoter Sunil Mittal's group for $1.6 billion, coinciding its acquisition of controlling stake in Hutch-Essar.
The Hinduja Group on Friday said it is likely to start examining the books of Hutchison Essar Ltd next week and has arranged funds for a possible bid to acquire a controlling stake in the mobile firm.
In the case, which will begin on Tuesday and last for five days, Indian tax authorities will argue that Vodafone, the UK-based mobile phone group headed by Arun Sarin, is liable for an estimated $2bn in taxes on its $11bn acquisition of local operator, Hutchison Essar, last year.
The Hinduja group says it will bid for Italian tyre and real estate major Pirelli's stake in Telecom Italia only if the acquisition gives it management control in Italy's largest telecommunications operator.
The Hinduja Group, which has evinced interest in acquiring India's fourth-largest mobile operator Hutchison Essar, is also considering to buy part of a controlling stake in Telecom Italia, media reports said in London.
The Ruias have received overwhelming response from international banks for funding of their proposed bid to pick up Hutchison's 67 per cent equity stake in Hutchison-Essar Ltd, in which they hold the remaining stake.
The government on Tuesday invited financial bids from all the nine applicants, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices and RCom, who had applied for participating in 3G spectrum auction.
The Hinduja group plans to go ahead and set up a Rs 25,600 crore (Rs 256 billion) refinery at Kakinada even if its indecisive project partner Oil and Natural Gas Corporation opts out. ONGC had put a slew of conditions, including Andhra Pradesh government giving 950 acres of land free of cost, sales tax exemption and fiscal concessions equivalent to a Special Economic Zone, for setting up the 15 million tons refinery-cum-petrochemical project at Kakinada.
'She was either overconfident that nothing will happen to her or she underestimated the gravity of the allegations.'
Hutchison Telecom is expected to complete the sale of its 67 per cent stake in the country's fourth largest telecom company, Hutchison Essar, before the Chinese New Year holiday, which begins February 17.
The government may be waiting for the outcome of an arbitration initiated against its levy of Rs 10,247 crore retrospective tax on UK's Cairn Energy Plc before deciding on appealing against losing a tax case against Vodafone Group, sources said. An international arbitral tribunal is expected to give a decree within next few days on Cairn Energy Plc's challenge to the Indian government seeking Rs 10,247 crore in retrospective taxes. If the arbitration award in the Cairn cases goes against India, the government has to pay the British firm over Rs 7,600 crore to reverse the dividend and tax refund it had ceased and shares it sold to recover part of the tax demand.
The Tata Group and three other top business houses have joined hands with the Jharkhand government to ensure medical treatment to the state's below poverty line population.
With commodity markets remaining soft and uncertain, it is likely the money will flow into equity markets with strong upsides, such as India.
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.
Etisalat, which is mulling an Indian foray, has since started discussions with several telecom companies including the Videocon Group's Datacom Solutions and Essar-controlled Loop Telecom for equity. Ravi Sharma, CEO of Datacom confirmed that Etilasat was one of the companies to which the company was talking but declined to offer details. Loop Telecom declined to comment.
Market regulator SEBI on Wednesday imposed a penalty of Rs 17.5 lakh on Delhi-based broker Suresh Bharrat for alleged irregularities in trading of scrip of firms like Essar Oil, Suzlon and Tata Consultancy S in the future and options market.
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.
Telecom major Bharti Group Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Bharti Mittal denied any attempt on forming a cartel with other telecom players to distort competition. Bharti Airtel had received a 'notice of enquiry' by anti- monopoly watchdog MRTPC. Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular too had received such notices. It was alleged that 3 GSM operators, by colluding, have simultaneously increased the price. Mittal said that MVNOs will not work in India due to existing tariffs.
The XLRI School of Management, Jamshedpur, invites corporates, entrepreneurs, professionals, MBA students and undergraduate students to attend its annual festival, Ensemble 2007.
'Is it advisable to have more number of scrips in small quantities or a few scrips in big quantities?'
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