ICRA, a leading provider of investment information and credit rating services in India, is open for subscription with a public issue of 2,581,100 equity shares of Rs 10 each, for cash, at a price to be decided through a 100% book building process through an offer for sale by IFCI (18.6 lakh shares), administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (7 lakh shares) and State Bank of India (20,500 shares).
The price band for the issue has been fixed between Rs 275 to Rs 330 per equity share. The issue closes for subscription on March 23, 2007. The issue size at the higher price band is at Rs 85.17 crore.
It is also an associate of Moody’s Investors Services. Moody has 29% stake in ICRA. Remaining stake is held by leading financial institutions and banks like SBI, LIC, IFCI etc.
Read more at MoneyControl
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
ICRA IPO opens for subscription
Trai willing, ISD calls may cost less from April 1
International long distance calls (ISD) may become cheaper as telecom regulator Trai is considering reducing levy on both outgoing and incoming ISD calls from April 1.According to sources, Trai will be meeting this week to finalise the annual review of access deficit charge (ADC), a levy being paid by private operators to BSNL for rolling out services in remote and rural areas, which may be reduced on ISD traffic.The ADC on both outgoing and incoming ISD calls may be reduced by up to 50% and the current total ADC of 1.5% of gross revenue is also likely to come down to 1%.As per the road map, the total ADC, currently at Rs 3,335 crore, should be lowered to Rs 1,600-1,800 crore for FY08 before being phased out by next fiscal to 0.
Read more at Business Standard
RIL has $12 bn for gas find, transport
$5.2bn will be spent on gas production, while a larger chunk of $7bn on building gas pipes.
Reliance Industries is lining up investments of over $12 billion for production of gas from its fields in the Krishna-Godavari basin and its transport to consumers across the country.
While $5.2 billion will be spent on bringing the gas to production, a larger chunk of $7 billion will be invested in building gas pipes to transport it to consuming locations.
Production of gas from the K-G basin will begin by June 2008, the company’s president (oil and gas), PMS Prasad, told reporters.
There are three key pipelines that are being planned by the Mukesh Ambani-controlled company from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh — a 1,386-km pipeline to Bharuch in Gujarat at an investment of $4 billion, and two coastal pipelines to West Bengal and Chennai at an investment of $3-3.5 billion.
Read more at Business Standard
Ranbaxy in Lipitor patent suit with Pfizer in 17 countries
NEW DELHI: India’s largest drug-maker Ranbaxy has locked horns with the US-based world’s largest drug-maker Pfizer in 17 countries over infringement of patent of the latter’s blockbuster cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor. The company’s launch of the atorvastatin (the generic drug of Lipitor) is crucial in its plan to generate nearly $2 billion in sales over the next five-six years.The countries where Ranbaxy is into litigations with Pfizer for atorvastatin include the US, the UK, Norway, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Australia. Lipitor is the world’s largest selling drug with sales worth about $13 billion last year. The patent for Lipitor expires in 2010. During 2004-05, Ranbaxy had to reportedly shell out around Rs 160 crore to fight against Pfizer’s Lipitor drug. Ranbaxy has about 20 first-to-file (FTF) applications pending in the US, of which about 10 are in litigations — with atorvastatin being the big bet. FTF gives 180-day exclusive marketing period along with the patent holder.
Read more at Economic Times
India Inc carts money to pvt banks to duck strike
MUMBAI: India Inc, small businesses and cautious individuals have started transferring money to private sector and foreign banks in the wake of a strike call given by public sector bank unions for next week. Private banks have already sent letters to corporate customers having payroll accounts with them, to transfer money to these accounts to avoid a cash crunch during the last week of the financial year. Customers would face major problems as the next clearing operation after March 23 would, in all likelihood, only be on April 2. If talks do not fructify, bank trade unions have threatened an indefinite strike from May 3.
Read more at Economic Times
GoM on insurance likely to meet in few days
The Group of Ministers on insurance is likely to meet in a couple of days to take up the long-pending issue of raising FDI cap in the sector to 49 per cent from the current 26 per cent, opposed vehemently by the UPA's Left allies.
"They are trying to fix time. I am told it (the meeting) will happen tomorrow or day after tomorrow," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of joint venture asset management business between Canara Bank and the Netherlands-based Robeco.
Since only three days are left for Parliament to go for recess, the proposed comprehensive bill on insurance sector, in case approved by the Cabinet, could come only in the second leg of the Budget session.
Read more at The Financial Express
Land rows worry POSCO
A tense stand-off with farmers unwilling to give up their land threatens India's largest-ever foreign investment project, a USD 12 billion steel plant planned by South Korea's POSCO.
Opponents of the project have taken heart from events in neighbouring West Bengal, where plans to seize farmland for a chemicals complex were shelved after police killed 14 protesters.
"This has had a very good effect on the people struggling against the POSCO project," said protest leader Abhay Sahu. "This is an opportune time for us to move forward."
Read more at The Financial Express
Murthy is now chairman of Asia Biz Council
In yet another recognition to India Inc's growing prowess, Infosys Technologies Ltd Founder N R Narayana Murthy takes over as Chairman of the prestigious Asia Business Council (ABC).
The Asia Business Council announced key leadership changes at its Spring Forum held in Hong Kong on March 15-17, a press release said.
Murthy, who takes over as the chairman of the organisation with immediate effect, promised to take the Council to the ‘next level’.
Read more The Financial ExpressMedia, Showbiz set for a big show
The size of the Indian media and entertainment industry is expected to more than double to Rs 100,000 crore in the next four years on rising demand, technological improvements and greater investments, according to a report by industry body FICCI and consulting firm PWC.
The sector is projected to post a growth rate of 18 per cent annually to Rs one trillion (Rs 100,000 crore) by 2011 from about Rs 437 billion (43,700 crore) at present, according to a FICCI-PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) report.
Technological advancements, policy initiatives taken by the government to encourage investments and initiative by private companies will be the key drivers, it said.
Read more at The Financial Express
India to curb inflation without hurting growth
India is confident it can moderate inflation and the aim is to do so without hurting growth, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said on Monday.
"Government, in conjunction with Reserve Bank of India, has taken and will take fiscal, monetary and supply side measures to moderate inflation," Chidambaram told reporters.
"I recognise the burden of the people, but this burden will ease over the next weeks and months."
Read more at The Financial Express
Bharti goes into reinvent mode
Brand Bharti Airtel is on a reinvent mode. The northbound and highly diversified subscriber base and rapidly changing technology have prompted the Bharti Airtel management to look into its brand identity for the second time in its 15-year history.
With subscriber diversity growing by the day, the company is looking at increased segmentation of its consumers while delivering a common overarching message that binds all subscribers under one umbrella.
While on the one hand, the company is mulling value-based segmentation of its subscribers, on the other, it plans to segment its consumers both demographically and psychographically. Never mind the size of each segment, Bharti Airtel plans to have one universal message going across to all of them.
Read more at The Economic Times