Latest Indian Stock Market News & Trends

[insight]

* ECONOMY : rpts Railways are planning a 10-15% hike in freight rates for bulk
commodities such as steel, coal, cement and iron ore

* BANKING : Govt denies intention to prevent PSU banks from entering into non
core biz such as insurance and MFs

* TECH SECTOR : TCS, Wipro & Spanco shortlisted for Rs 1bn project designed to
automate emigration process from India

* TATA MOTORS : S&P raises outlook on Co to +ve from -ve, affirms "B" rating
on improved consolidated operatingg performance over the past two quarters

* GAIL :sets target to transmit 114.8mmscmd natural gas from dom sources in FY11

* TATA POWER : amongst others bids for geothermal power project in Indonesia

* NTPC : plans JV with IOC to explore the possibility of producing biodiesel &
manufacturing specialised lubricants for power plants

* CONCOR : mgt says expects to end FY10 flat or with marginal rise in profits
due to higher depreciation & slow recovery in exports.. sales to grow 6-7%..
FY11 to see 5-6% rise in PAT with 8-9% growth in sales

* FUTURE GRP : buys S Africa's Shoprite Holdings only store in Mumbai to be
used to unveil the new brand ostores stocking mostly food items

* MCNALLY BHARAT : bags order worth Rs 1.73bn from Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd

* POWERGRID CORP : board approves 3 projects at total cost of Rs 57.8bn


Corporate News – Industry trends

– Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) is selling its telecom towers for an
enterprise value of Rs13.18bn to Wireless-TT Info Services, popularly known
as Tata Quippo. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) will receive net cash of about
Rs9bn from the transaction. (ET)

– Dalmia Cement (Bharat) will split its business into four as it seeks to raise
funds for various businesses and expand them. (ET)

– Dr Reddy’s Labs has commissioned the commercial scale manufacturing
facility for pharma grade mPEG alcohols at its Cuernavaca facility in Mexico.
(DNA)

– The Yash Birla Group is planning an investment of over Rs55bn over the next
three years in emerging business segments like thermal and solar power,
wellness and lifestyle, garments and education. (BS)

– Larsen & Toubro has won Rs10.1bn order from ONGC for a turnkey project
for the Phase II of Mumbai High North re-development. (BL)

– BSNL is considering opening up its last mile local loop (fixed copper lines) for
broadband services to private players; this means private firms that find it
difficult to lay separate copper lines to each household, will be able to use
BSNL’s lines in return for a revenue-share. (BS)

– GAIL (India) Ltd aims to transmit 114.8 mscmd of gas during the financial
year 2010-11 as a part of the MoU signed with the Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas. (BS)

– Investors like General Electric, General Atlantic, Oak Hill Capital Partners
and Wells Fargo & Company have offloaded their stake in India’s largest
business process outsourcing company Genpact. The company will sell these
28 mn shares to the public through a secondary public offering. (BS)

– Air India is leasing out all freighters and will carry out cargo in the belly of its
commercial fleet to enhance revenue and make loss-making routes profitable.
(BS)

– Aircel has approached the sectoral tribunal TDSAT against BSNL, alleging that
the company raised "illegal, arbitrary and whimsical demand" for signal charges
for roaming calls. (BS)

– Tata Power Co. as part of a consortium with Indonesian firm PT Supraco
Energy.and Chevron Corp.'s Indonesian unit is among several firms which have
submitted bids for a geothermal power project in Indonesia. (Mint)

– Asian Genco Pte (AGP), which has investments in power generation and
engineering services businesses in India, said it has received a commitment of
over US$425mn from a consortium of global investors. (BS)

– Renault-Nissan Alliance, said the new car plant at Oragadam would
manufacture 200,000 cars, half for the export market, by 2012, and 400,000 by
2014. (BS)

– Reliance Communications is partnering with Polycom, a global leader in telepresence
and video conferencing services, to introduce high-resolution wireless
video-conferencing services. (BL)

– Azim Premji Foundation, the nonprofit organisation owned by Wipro, sold
810,000 shares on March 12 - the same day the Karnataka Assembly passed the
Azim Premji University Bill, 2010. The sale is expected to have fetched the
foundation close to Rs600mn, which may be used to part fund the university.
(BS)

– Sales of commercial vehicles for the 11-month period ended February 2010
grew by a robust 35%. (BL)

– Air India lost Rs7,500mn on the daily Mumbai-New York and Delhi-New York
daily non-stop flights last year, The Ministry of Civil Aviation has told a
Parliamentary Committee. (BL)

– More than 3 mt of imported coal are awaiting evacuation at the east coast ports
of Paradip, Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram due to non-availability of railway
rakes; causing concern to several power houses, steel plants and large number
of traders. (BL)

– Central Bank of India is in talks with India Post to rope in village postmen as
business correspondents. The bank's plan to increase BC appointments comes at
time when perception is gaining ground that the business correspondent model
has not achieved the desired impact since its inception in January 2006. (BL)

Economic/Regulatory development

– The Railways' freight for iron ore for exports is up by Rs300 a tonne from
Wednesday. The Railway Board has hiked the distance-based surcharge on iron
ore for other than domestic transportation. (BL)

– The annual aggregate capacity of ports in India will see a sharp rise by 2012, the
Minister of Shipping, G K Vasan, has said. According to the minister, the
annual capacity of the major ports will increase 74% to reach 1 bn tonnes in the
next two years. In 2008-09, their capacity was 575 mn tonnes. (BS)

International trends

– UK jobless claims unexpectedly fell in February at the fastest pace since 1997,
suggesting the economic recovery is strengthening as Britons prepare for a
general election within weeks; the number of people receiving unemployment
benefits dropped 32,300 from January to 1.59mn, the Office for National
Statistics said in London. (BS)

– Japanese power companies, including Tokyo Electric Power Company and JPower,
seek to make their presence felt in India; “They might not look at the
bigger projects like ultra mega power projects right away, but will look at
projects with a size of 1,200 to 1,400 MW,” said an industry source. These
companies were looking at opportunities in the Indian power sector and might
bid for some power projects soon, sources added. (BS)

[Xanthia Alysha]

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