Govt to review SEZ approvals

After violence in Nandigram, the Government has decided not to give further approvals for Special Economic Zones where acquisition of land is being resisted.

"When land is to be acquired and it is not decided how the land will be taken and justice done to farmers the freeze would remain (on SEZs even if they have other approvals)," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Study Conference.

Yesterday, he had said that the Empowered Group of Ministers on SEZs would look "distinctively" at the cases where land was not an issue and where acquisition was a problem.

This would ease the way for notification of around 172 proposals of SEZs, where land was available and formal approval of the Board of Approval has been received.

Read more at Financial Express

Govt to review FDI regulation: Kamal Nath

The Government said it is looking at having an uniform Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in different business segments within a sector as part of the review to streamline foreign investment regulations.

The same FDI limit in different segments within a sector would reduce the complexity and result in caps going up in different business area in sectors like media and aviation.

"We will see that...," Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said when asked whether the government plans to have a single FDI cap for an entire sector.

Nath said that the status review of the FDI policy and regulations was in progress to see how they can be streamlined.

Read more at Financial Express

Essar, Iran in talks for Azadegan oilfield

Essar Group is in talks with Iran to develop the giant Azadegan oilfield, where a deal with a Japanese firm ended last year, to ensure fuel for a planned refinery and steel plant in the Islamic nation, a company official said on Friday.

Azadegan is Iran's biggest oilfield with in-place reserves of 26 billion barrels. Japan's INPEX Holdings Inc. lost control of the field in 2006 but retains a 10 percent stake.

"December-end or early January we met Iranian authorities ... We are again meeting them later this month or early next month to take forward the issue," said Kharak Singh, head of exploration and production at Essar Oil Ltd.

Iran is drawing interest from Indian and Chinese firms, keen to help tap the world's second-largest reserves of oil and gas.

Read more at Financial Express

Ranbaxy gets tenative US nod for zolpidem

MUMBAI: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd said on Friday it had received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to manufacture and market zolpidem tablets, used to treat insomnia.

POSCO denies hostile bid by Arcelor-Mittal

SEOUL: POSCO Co Ltd , the world's third-largest steel maker, denied a media report on Friday that a senior Arcelor Mittal executive expressed interest in POSCO's M&A strategy when he visited South Korea last month.

The Korea Economic Daily said Arcelor-Mittal, the world's biggest steel maker, could be interested in making a hostile takeover of South Korean steel maker POSCO Co. Ltd.

Roland Junck, a member of Arcelor-Mittal's management board, met POSCO Chief Executive Lee Ku-taek last month, but M&A issues were not discussed, the South Korean firm said at the time.

"There was no discussion on issues related to M&A when the Mittal executive met POSCO CEO last month," an official reiterated on Friday.

The official also said the company was seeking to increase the number of investors supportive to POSCO's existing strategy to ensure stable management.

Significant concessions for Essar in deal with Vodafone

Shareholders' agreement announced, Ravi Ruia on Vodafone Plc board.

The Ruias of Essar have acquired significant concessions from global telecom major Vodafone, even as it announced the much-debated shareholders’ agreement in New Delhi today.

These include a favourable put option, a seat for Ravi Ruia on the Vodafone global board, veto rights, a comprehensive right of first refusal (ROFR), and the promise to use Essar’s proposed national and international long-distance infrastructure as well as assets of Essar Infrastructure Ltd, a specialised telecom tower company.

With an eye on becoming the leading mobile player in the country – it is currently India’s fourth-largest mobile service provider – Vodafone-Essar has drawn up a $5 billion investment plan for the next two and a half years. Read more at Business Standard

RIL to divest in oil and gas arm abroad

Chevron may be the partner.

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) will induct a strategic partner in its overseas oil and gas projects which are being spun off into a new entity.

Sources familiar with the development said RIL is to divest 20 to 25 per cent in the Dubai-based Reliance Exploration and Production DMCC, the holding company for RIL’s foreign oil and gas projects.

Global energy major Chevron Corporation, which has equity interest in RIL’s subsidiary Reliance Petroleum, might be the preferred partner for Reliance Exploration, they added. An RIL spokesperson declined to comment.

Reliance Exploration will house RIL’s interest in a discovered oil block in Yemen and an offshore exploration block in Oman and exploration projects in northern Iraq, East Timor and Columbia.

RIL is keen to acquire gas fields in central and West Asia.

Read more at Business Standard