Deora: Over $7bn investments likely in NELP VI oil & gas blocks
New Delhi: India expects over $7bn investment in oil and gas exploration through the latest auction of blocks and hopes to produce 20 million standard cubic metres of gas from coal seams from next year. Petroleum and Natural Gas minister Murli Deora said that the total investment under the sixth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-VI) would be much more in comparison to $1.7-2 billion investment under NELP-V.

The first round of NELP would commence production from 2007, he said, adding that "reserves of 650 mmt of oil and oil equivalent gas have been established in last five years".

The minister has recently visited London, Houston and Washington to promote oil and gas blocks under NELP-VI and third round of CBM policy.

"We have already sold data worth Rs40 crore to oil companies worldwide. We will collect about Rs100 crore by selling data only," Deora said, adding that the positive response from bidders was evident from the sale of data.

The bids for the CBM round will be received by June 30 while those of NELP-VI by September 15, 2006.
Back to News Review index page  

Thirty-three Indian cos. figure in Forbes' 2000
New Delhi: Thirty three Indian public firms, including ONGC, BHEL, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel, figure in the Forbes list of 2,000 biggest public companies of the world.

Among the Indian companies, ONGC at 256th position, is at the top, with a net profit of $3,282 million, followed by Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries ($1,746 million).

In the Asia-Pacific region, with 320 companies Japan has the largest number of companies in the list, followed by the combine of China-Hong Kong, with 64 companies. Two companies from Pakistan also figure in the list.

According to the survey, "...the home offices of the world's biggest public companies span 55 nations, but more than half can be found in the United States of America, Japan and the United Kingdom."

Among Indian companies, nine nationalised banks – including SBI, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Uco Bank and Indian Overseas Bank – figured among the list of biggest public companies.

SBI's net profit stood at $1,251 million and occupied the third slot among Indian companies. Another leading private corporate house, Tata, has three of its companies on the list – Tata Steel, TCS and Tata Motors.

The US-based Citigroup, a leading banking sector company, was on top of the list with a net profit of $24,638 million.
Back to News Review index page  

Gold shines the brightest in Kolkata – Rs.8.905/10gm
Calcutta: Gold prices breached the Rs8,900-level in the city today, the highest recorded in the country. The prices rose by Rs160, touching an all-time high of Rs8,905 per 10 gram, riding on the back of strong global sentiment.

In the international market, gold touched a 25-year high, topping $600, on the back of spiraling crude oil prices and a weakening dollar.

While the spike was sharpest in Calcutta, gold gained Rs105 in Mumbai, touching a peak of Rs8,810 per 10 gram.

In the Delhi market, which was closed during the day, there were some off-market deals in which gold rose by Rs80 to Rs8,850 per 10 gram, a level never seen before, as stockists enlarged their holdings ahead of official opening tomorrow morning.

Gold closed at Hong Kong at $601.60 an ounce, higher by $5.10 an ounce from yesterday's close of $596.50. It last hit $600 in 1980. Silver broke the $13-an-ounce-mark for the first time in 20 years, buoyed by the expected launch of a silver-backed exchange fund.
Back to News Review index page  

BSNL shortlists eight cos. for ILD traffic
New Delhi: State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), on Tuesday, decided to partner with eight carriers, including global majors France Telecom, Telekom Italia, SingTel, FLAG Telecom and MCI for carrying its ILD traffic.

At present, a significant part of the Rs4,000-crore worth of ILD traffic generated by BSNL's 60 million telephone users is routed through VSNL's ILD network, and the decision will come as a major blow to the erstwhile national carrier, now a Tata Group entity.

While the Tata-managed VSNL is also part of the panel of eight companies, it will now have to compete with the selected international carriers to offer the best price to BSNL for various international sectors. Indian ILD operators Bharti Tele-Ventures and Reliance Infocomm have also been empanelled by BSNL as its favoured partners.
Back to News Review index page  

2005 is default-free year for Crisil rated cos.
Mumbai: Rating company Crisil, in its annual study of defaults, has said that for the first time in a decade there has not been a single default among Crisil-rated companies in a calendar year (2005).

The study said Crisil had an accuracy ratio of 0.8 (the Gini coefficient) and compares favourably against Standard & Poor's global average of 0.84.

Non-banking finance companies, metal, mining and steel, textile and consumer products were the sectors that accounted for about 50 per cent of the defaults on Crisil-rated debt over the past 14 years.

Chemicals, construction and construction material, and automotive sectors were also among the sectors where higher default occurred, according to the study.

The majority of the defaults occurred during 1997-1999. This was due to economic recession, and structural and regulatory changes, especially in the financial sector, noted Crisil.
Back to News Review index page  

Excise claims of Rs.557-cr slapped on Tata Chem.
Mumbai: Tata Chemicals, the chemicals, fertilisers and food additives manufacturer, has been slapped with an excise demand of Rs557 crore by the central excise, Haldia commissionerate, the company has said in a notice to the stock exchanges.

The order, which covers the period from September 1, 1999 to September 30, 2005, demands excise duty of Rs278.35 crore and a penalty for a similar amount.

Tata Chemicals plans to contest the demand and is confident that its stand will be upheld. TCL's confidence stems from the legal advice that it has received and it does not expect any liability on this account.

Tata Chemicals contended that the order passed by the commissioner was "unsustainable in law and similar kind of order issued have been settled by various judicial pronouncements in favour of the manufacturers/companies".
Back to News Review index page  

EFI starts operations from new Bangalore facility
Bangalore: EFI, the world leader in digital controllers, superwide format printers and inks, and print management solutions, has announced its expansion plans for the Indian market by moving its operations to a new facility in Bangalore.

EFI India, a three year-old company, currently employs 150 people and plans to expand its workforce this year.

Speaking to the press, Guy Gecht, chairman of EFI Inc said, "over the past year, India has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for EFI. Our wholly owned subsidiary, EFI India, is the parent company's largest R&D venture outside the US, and is being scaled up to better manage the development of some of our key software products and solutions."

EFI India has been responsible for sales and marketing of its products through multiple original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and direct channel partners, including Canon, HP, Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Xerox. EFI's product portfolio consists of its powerful flagship product, Fiery controllers, as well as world-class print management systems, proofing products, web-enabled job submission tools and integration solutions.
Back to News Review index page  

UK fund Spinnaker invests in IG Petro
Mumbai: IG Petrochemicals Ltd (IGPL) has received Rs125 crore investment from Spinnaker Capital, a UK-based international fund. As part of the investment, Spinnaker will receive 1,25,00,000 optional convertible debentures from IGPL, said a release issued hereon Tuesday.

The proposed issue of convertible debentures on preferential basis shall be for Part A up to 13,50,000 at Rs30, while Part B will consist of 1,11,50,000 debentures at Rs200. The instruments shall be convertible at any time within 18 months from the date of issue.

While Part A will be compulsorily convertible at any time within 18 months, Part B may be converted at the discretion of the fund.
Back to News Review index page  

MRF tops in Tyre customer satisfaction study
New Delhi: MRF has moved up three rank positions from 2005 to rank highest in customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2006 India Original Tire Customer Satisfaction Index (TCSI) study released on Tuesday.

This is the fourth time MRF has ranked highest in the study. The study, which is now in its sixth year, analyses perceptions of new-vehicle buyers on five critical factors - appearance of tyre, durability of tyres, ride quality, traction and handling.
Back to News Review index page  

Industrial unrest: It's Hero Honda's turn at Gurgaon
Chandigarh/New Delhi: Industrial unrest hit Gurgaon once again, with over 2,500 contractual employees at the Hero Honda plant bringing production of two-wheelers to a halt.

The agitation comes nine months after a protest by workers of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, whose parent company has a stake in Hero Honda, received nation wide condemnation.

Hero Honda workers have been demanding immediate regularisation of 1,000 casual employees.

The Munjal-owned Hero Honda manufactures about 6,200 two-wheelers every day and has plans to raise the number to 7,000. The company has 1,200 permanent employees, while casual workers number around 4,000, who work in three shifts.
Back to News Review index page  

Zee to share DLF Cup rights with DD
New Delhi: Zee Sports has agreed to share the rights of the forthcoming DLF Cup to be played between India and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi with national broadcaster, Prasar Bharati.

The two broadcasters have agreed in-principle to jointly market the two One Day Internationals (ODIs) and will share the revenue on a 75:25 basis. Zee Sports will keep 75 per cent revenue while the rest will go to Doordarshan (DD). The joint marketing initiative has been undertaken to maximise resources.

Recently, Zee Sports acquired the global media rights for all matches that India will play on neutral ground i.e. non-ICC member countries. As part of the deal, 25 matches will be played over a period of five years (between April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2011) with an average of five matches per year. The global media rights comprise television, radio and Internet.
Back to News Review index page  

iGATE's Q4 revenues up 15% at Rs.636.5-cr
Bangalore: iGATE Global Solutions Ltd has reported a net profit of Rs5.5 crore on revenues of Rs636.5 crore for the year ended March 31, 2006 compared with a net of Rs21.2 crore on revenues of Rs580 crore in the previous year.

Net profit was lower as the company made a Rs11.1-crore provision for diminution in long-term investments, Phaneesh Murthy, CEO, iGATE, told a press conference. However, iGATE saw its operating profits increase to Rs61.4 crore (Rs32.5 crore last year).

Revenues for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 were Rs167.37 crore, up 15 per cent over the same quarter last year. Net profit was Rs4.7 crore compared with Rs 2.2 crore in the same period of last year.

The company added eight new clients during the fourth quarter. iGATE effected a selective salary hike in January, which impacted the fourth quarter margins by 1.12 per cent, Murthy said.

Further, the company expects to hike salaries of its offshore employees during the April quarter, which is expected to impact the margins of the first quarter of 2006-07.

The company added 1,200 employees during fiscal 2006 taking the total employee headcount to 5,152 at the end of the year. iGATE plans to add between 1,800 and 2,000 during fiscal 2007, Murthy said.
Back to News Review index page