SEBI makes IPO grading mandatory

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday made it mandatory for companies planning initial public offers to get rated by agencies and tightened disclosures for real estate IPOs.

The two decisions could affect some high-profile IPOs being planned by big developers, bankers said.

"The grading of IPOs will come into effect immediatly," SEBI Chairman M Damodaran said. "The fees to be paid for grading of IPO would be paid by companies," he said.

Read more at The Financial Express

France's Thomson mulling R&D centre in India

French technology group Thomson, which has eight research and development centres worldwide, wants to locate a ninth centre in India in coming years, its chairman said on Thursday.

This would be done by expanding its existing capacity in India and not through acquisitions, Frank Dangeard told the Association of French Economic and Financial Journalists (AJEF).

"We have eight research centres worldwide and we need a ninth centre. We need to have one in India," he said.

Read more at The Financial Express

Rahul Kirloskar appointed Maharashtra CII Chief

Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd (KOEL) Director Rahul Kirloskar was elected as Chairman of CII Maharashtra State Council 2007-08.

Newage Electrical India Ltd Managing Director Pradeep Bhargava was elected Vice-Chairman, a release said.

Rahul Kirloskar has been associated with the Kirloskar Group of Companies for more than 19 years at senior levels in different capacities, it said.

Bhargava has worked with the Central government and Public Sector in Indian Space Research Organisation and Atomic Energy Commission, Bharat Heavy Electrical India as corporate planner, implementing diversification into Power Electronics.

Mastek to hire 5,000 IT professionals

IT company Mastek will hire 5,000 professionals for a new campus at Mahindra Industrial Park in Chennai.

In the first phase, which is expected to be completed in the next one year, the company will recruit 1,100 professionals, it said in a release on Thursday.

The company also said it is building a centre of excellence at the recently launched Chennai facility to acquire competencies in mainframe technology, mainly in the insurance vertical.

The recruitments for this unit are under process, Mastek added.

Mainframe technology provides massive storage capacity and improves data security and flexibility in the client/sever design.

ABN Amro raises stake in India Cements

India Cements Ltd said on Thursday ABN Amro Bank has acquired 2 million shares or a 0.91 per cent stake in the company to raise its stake to 5.09 per cent.

Bank unions call off proposed 3-day strike

Customers of state-run banks can heave a sigh of relief with bank unions on Wednesday calling off their three-day proposed strike from March 28.

The proposed strike could have paralysed the entire banking services and put customers to severe inconvenience as it would have affected financial work for most of next week, since March 27 (Tuesday) is already a holiday on account of Ram Navami.

The three-day strike from Wednesday would have rendered the whole week futile for carrying out any emergency bank work. In fact, the income-tax department had already asked people to pay their taxes by March 23 to avoid inconvenience on account of disruption in services due to the proposed strike. Even the government would have faced problems as tax refunds etc for 2006-07 have to be made by March 31.

Read more at The Economic Times

Govt to scout wheat import markets despite good crop

Despite prospects of a bumper crop and sizeable stocks, India will likely be tapping world markets for wheat in a big way again this year and could once again pay dearly for its needs.

Firms might start scouting the market by mid-May, when purchases by state agencies from farmers taper off and output estimates become clear.

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has given strong indications that the government will be proactive on imports this year, after scrambling for costly purchases last year as output and stocks fell.

Read more at The Economic Times

Indian inks deal with Jupiter Aviation for Airbus MRO

State-owned carrier Indian on Thursday signed an agreement with Rajeev Chandrasekhar-owned firm Jupiter Aviation and Logistics to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at an estimated investment of Rs 300 crore. This facility -- for which aircraft maker Airbus is the advisor -- will be used for maintenance of airframes, the mechanical structure of an aircraft excluding engines.

Airbus’s parent EADS, which last month signed an MoU with Jupiter Aviation and Logistics to collaborate in aviation ventures, has authorised the Bangalore-based Jupiter to enter into the joint venture with Indian to set up an MRO. This facility is being set up under the offset agreement signed between Airbus and Indian.

The MRO facility will initially cover Airbus A 320 aircraft but later it will also cater to other Airbus family planes. The facility, to be set up in the next 24 months, would not only deal with the Airbus fleet of Indian, but would attract business from several airlines in the South Asian region using Airbus aircraft, Indian CMD V Trivedi told reporters here.

Read more at The Economic Times

Tatas eyeing Deutsche Telekom's German IT unit

In line with its strategy of global expansion through acquisitions, corporate giant Tatas are reported to be in advanced stages of talks for buying the IT business unit of German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom.

According to a report by German business weekly Focus Online, the Tata Group is currently studying the books of Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems unit. The Tatas are planning this deal through the European unit of Tata Consultancy Services.

T-Systems is one of the smallest units of Deutsche Telekom. It had reported a revenue of 12.5 billion euro (about Rs 73,000 crore) last year and has a total workforce of over 55,000 people.

When contacted, a TCS spokesperson in Mumbai said the report was completely speculative and the company did not comment on speculations.

Govt expects Rs 24,000cr inflow in chip making

The government expects to attract an investment of around $6-10 billion (approx. Rs 24,000-44,000 crore) by luring two-three fabrication units with at an investment of $2-3 billion each by 2010 now that it has notified (given formal consent) to the semiconductor policy it had announced on February 22 this year.

Union Minister for IT and Communications Dayanidhi Maran told reporters here: "An appraisal committee to be headed by Additional Secretary in the Department of IT will be formed very soon. The committee will receive expression of interest from interested parties and will submit its recommendations to the government." He said he would reopen negotiations with Intel and other companies to explore possibilities of them setting up units in the country.

An Intel spokesperson had then said: "Once the comprehensive policy document is circulated, we will evaluate and respond."

Read more at Business Standard

Rs 1 lakh car a global case study: J D Power

The much-touted people's car from Tata Motors could create a major dent in the top-end motorcycle sales with its lucrative price tag, which has become a global case study, global consultancy firm J D Power said today.

"If Tatas are able to get quality and customer satisfaction parameters right, People's Car could shift buyers from a top-end two-wheeler on account of its safety and convenience factors," it said.

"The two-wheeler market in India could see a dent at the top-end because of the Rs 1 lakh car, but how far reaching will it be will depend on the product's performance, after-sales service and overall customer satisfaction," Mohit Arora, director (India), JD Power, said.

Read more at Business Standard

FIIs net buyers of Rs 713cr in cash mkt today

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers of Rs 712.70 crore (provisional) today, according to data released by BSE.

While FIIs made gross purchases of Rs 2,439.25 crore, gross sales totalled Rs 1,726.55 crore.

FIIs were net buyers of Rs 164.50 crore on Wednesday, March 21, according to data released by Sebi today. While FIIs made gross purchases of Rs 1,395.40 crore, gross sales totalled Rs 1,230.90 crore.

ITC's Rs 300cr WB cigarette unit may be delayed

The Left Front has one more reason to be upset with the shipping ministry, which has already irked Left MPs by shifting the apex marine training college to Chennai at the expense of the existing college in Kolkata.

This time round, the ministry was reportedly sitting on the proposal forwarded by Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) to hand over to the company a plot of surplus land contiguous to the existing ITC cigarette factory in the port area in west Kolkata.

In consequence, the investment plan of ITC to expand the Kidderpore cigarette factory at a cost of Rs 300 crore may be delayed.

Read more at Business Standard

RIL, Rohm and Haas sign MoU for acrylic unit

Reliance Industries (RIL) and Rohm and Haas Company have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the joint construction of a world-scale acrylic-monomer complex in Jamnagar, India.

According to a release issued by Reliance to the BSE today, the proposed facility would have the capacity to make approximately 2,00,000 tonne of acrylic acid and its esters annually. "Materials from the facility are intended to serve as building blocks for environmentally-advanced products for paints and coatings, packaging adhesives, detergents, textile and construction materials. The new facility is expected to spur development of super absorbent polymers used primarily in the manufacture of baby diapers," the release added.

FM talks tough, asks cement cos to cut prices

Finance Minister P Chidambaram today asked cement manufacturers to cut prices claiming that a section of them was keen to co-operate with the government in this regard.

"We have information how much your (cement makers) sales have increased. How much your PBT has increased. How much your PAT has increased. So, you should come forward with some proposals (on moderating cement prices)," Chidambaram told reporters after meeting a delegation of cement companies.

The Finance Minister had called cement manufacturers for the second time after the Budget, which imposed dual excise duty structure on cement to rein in prices. The budget hiked excise duty to Rs 600 a tonne from Rs 400 if cement is sold higher than Rs 190 per bag of 50 kg and reduced it to Rs 350 per tonne if sold up to Rs 190. The move, however, failed as cement makers hiked prices by up to Rs 12 per 50 kg bag.

Read more at Business Standard

Cabinet clears 74% FDI in telecom

The Cabinet today approved amendments to Press Note 5 of 2005 that impose stiff monitoring needs for telecom service providers, increasing foreign direct investment from 49% to 74%.

Accordingly, remote access to networks in India will be permitted from approved locations, information and broadcasting minister P R Dasmunsi told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet. Such access will only be allowed to equipment suppliers, manufacturers and affiliates and will not allow access for monitoring calls and content.

It will also be mandatory for operators to keep an audit trail of all remote access activities for six months, send a compliance report twice a year to the government and maintain a 'mirror image' of all remote access information for online monitoring.

Read more at Business Standard

Sebi to allow short-selling by institutions

Sebi chairman M Damodaran said in Mumbai this evening that the board, which met today, has approved a proposal to allow short-selling by institutions.

The board also approved a proposal for mandatory grading of IPOs, which will be reviewed periodically.

On real estate IPOs, Damodaran said land bank details should be accompanied by ownership status, and valuations should be based on current prices.

On delisting via the book-building process, Damodaran said a final decision on the issue would be taken at the next board meeting scheduled in May.

Sensex soars 362pts, gains 878pts in four days

The Sensex opened with a significant positive gap of 126 points at 13,072, and did not bother to look back. The markets, which were on the recovery path, got another booster dose as the US Federal Reserve kept the benchmark interest rates unchanged yesterday.

Unabated buying saw the index rally to a high of 13,326. The index thus gained 1,010 points from the low of 12,316 hit last Friday.

The Sensex finally closed today with a hefty gain of 362 points (2.8%) at 13,308. In the process, the index is now up 878 points (7%) in the last four trading days.

Read more at Business Standard