India on SALE! Coal India IPO Triggers Disinvestment Tsunami as SAIL, OIL India and ONGC on the Firing Line!Divestment may net Rs 59,000 crore.

Vedanta refinery expansion hits green roadblock!

Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - FIVE Hundred NINE

Palash Biswas

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Divestment may net Rs 59,000 crore!

Bengali Daily praises the Disinvestment drive and glrofies Two Bengli officials, one Disinvestment Secretary Sumit Bose and second, Parthasarthi bhattacharya, the Coal India Chairman. Economic Times publishes an edit pleading clearance for VEDANTA Steel Project in Orissa.

Festival Time is not over as yet. Sensex economy goes GA GA as Indian comapnaies tend to be controlled by Foreign Money. CWG Common Corruption and Styam Inflated Asatyam of Bubble Economy is overlapping everything.The government is set to beat its target of Rs 40,000 crore from divesting stake in public sector companies. The first half of the financial year saw the government raise a little over Rs 2,000 crore from stake sales in Sutluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and Engineers India Ltd [ Get Quote ]. But it will raise nearly Rs 22,000 crore in the current quarter, with the Coal India initial public offering alone mopping up Rs 15,000 crore.

Just see, I would be in Tamilnadu and Karnataka in November. It obliged me to read something extra and I was stunned to know that Tamilnadu is the most Urbanised state in India. It has got more than ten Percent share in the GDP. Its business ratio is amazing. IT Boom is Overwhelming. But in real economy, Tamilnadu is the most Poverty struck state.

On the other hand, Bangaluru IT Boom and Infrastructure development have been showcased in the general scenerio of Shining Sensex India, but the fact remains that Nothing has changed in rural Karnataka.

I have been in Jharkhand for Four years working as a professional journalist. I have also visited Chhattisgarh. Both the states are known for Industrialisation, Corporate war and Maoist Menace. Where the Majority Masses live under Poverty Line amidst abundance of natural resources!

Buoyed by an enthusiastic response to the ongoing initial public offer (IPO) of Coal India Ltd, the government plans to sell stakes in blue chip companies SAIL (SAIL.NS : 216 -4.35), Indian Oil and ONGC (ONGC.NS : 1350.45 -0.15) between January-March 2011. Coal India IPO of about Rs 15,000 crore was fully subscribed on the second day on Tuesday.

The January-March quarter is expected to generate another Rs 35,000 crore, with the issues of Steel Authority of India, Indian Oil Corporation [ Get Quote ] and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation scheduled. These could enrich the exchequer by a total of around Rs 59,000 crore this financial year.

While refusing to be drawn into speculation on the total mop up, Disinvestment Secretary Sumit Bose told reporters today that the government would like to meet its Rs 40,000-crore target.

On the kind of response that might be expected from the upcoming issues, he said the market had enough appetite and that the government planned to spread out the public issues. He did not think bunching big issues in the fourth quarter of the fiscal would create any problems.

Bose said after Coal India, the next public issue would be that of Power Grid Corporation of India, followed by Manganese Ore India and Shipping Corporation. Hindustan Copper [ Get Quote ] would follow. "By December, we plan to come out with four issues," he said.

While the government raised a little over Rs 25,000 in 2009-10, it mopped up only around Rs 4,260 crore in the first three quarters of 2009-10 through the public issues of National Hydel Power Corporation and Oil India.

The follow-on offers of Indian Oil, ONGC [ Get Quote ] and SAIL [ Get Quote ] are scheduled for the fourth quarter of the current financial year. The issues are expected to bring in around Rs 20,000 crore, Rs 15,000 crore and Rs 18,000 crore, respectively.

Of this, the government will get around Rs 35,000 crore. Indian Oil has floated requests for proposal for the appointment of merchant bankers. The government is also considering a stake sale in Rashtriya Ispat and MMTC. But these stake sales will only take place next year.

Govt to get billions from divestment in these PSUs

Last updated on: December 4, 2009 09:24 IST

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                Rediff Business Desk

Divestment is the government's mantra to earn big bucks at a time when the country is also feeling the ill-effects of the global financial crisis. Now that the Left parties are not a part of the United Progressive Alliance-II, the government has put divestment of public sector units on the fast track.
It plans to raise over Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) in 2009-10, which will help to cut down fiscal deficit and the expansion of public sector enterprises.
The government has asked all ministries to compile a list of state-run firms for sale of stake and listing on stock exchanges.
The Economic Survey had suggested the government sell at least 10 per cent in all unlisted profitable state-run entities and auction units that cannot be revived.
There are over 400 public sector undertakings under the administrative control of the central government, out of which nearly 50 are listed on the bourses.
The government plans to dilute its shareholding in blue ship public sector undertaking (PSU) NTPC by 5 per cent and in Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVNL) by 10 per cent. Another 5 per cent government stake will be off loaded in Rural Electrification Corporation Limited through public officering in the domestic market.
According to estimates, the three public offers are likely to fetch about Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) for the government.
Here's a look at the companies that will bring big bucks to the government's coffers: Click NEXT to read further...

http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/dec/03/slide-show-1-divestment-money-spinner-for-the-govt.htm

Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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Presenting the Union Budget in Parliament on July 6, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed estimated divestment proceeds of Rs 1,120 crore for 2009-10, while only a few days before that the Economic Survey had suggested that the government needed to raise Rs 25,000 crore every year by divesting its stake in state-run companies.
The response to depressing announcement in the Budget was swift and sharp: the stock market fell like a stone and lost 869 points and hundreds of crores of rupees in investor wealth.
"Public sector undertakings are the wealth of the nation, and part of this wealth should rest in the hands of the people. While retaining at least 51 per cent government equity in our enterprises, I propose to encourage people's participation in out divestment programme," the finance minister had said.
Two days after the Budget, the market however started to recover as buzz of divestment began to do the rounds. It was thought that the finance minister had tactically kept divestment a low-key affair in his Budget proposals so as to keep trade unions and others who oppose divestment of PSUs at bay.
The talk currently is that investors could look forward to divestment in NMDC (earlier known as National Mineral Development Corporation), Rail India Technical and Economic Services, Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Manganese Ore India Ltd, Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd and some other public sector enterprises.
But just what is divestment?
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture, is the opposite of investment. It means reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives. In this particular case, it refers to the government diluting its stake in some public sector companies, since the argument has for long been that governments should be in the business of administration and not in the business of business.

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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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Will planned divestment benefit India?
According to analysts, India's recent plans to sell stakes in state-owned enterprises would help it address many of India's existing economic concerns and alleviate the current 'fiscal stress'.
"As the authorities are severely cash-strapped -- with large fiscal deficits and public debt in recent years, proceeds from divestment can help to soothe the current fiscal stress," Moody's economy.com said.
Although divestment is not a long-term source of funding, it could provide a much-needed relief to the government Budget during the extraordinary global downturn that had forced policymakers to increase expenditure to sustain economic momentum, said analysts.
And the biggest gain may be an improvement in corporate governance.

Image: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee smiles as he leaves his office to present the Budget.
Photographs: Vijay Mathur/Reuters

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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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What does the government have to say?
The finance ministry said recently that the divestment programme will kick off with the dilution of government equity in listed entities, where public holding is less.
However, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla, in a recent interview, ruled out using the proceeds of divestment to finance fiscal deficit, even as it is expected to widen to about 18-year high of 6.8 per cent of GDP this fiscal.
"Basically, we will first go with the companies which are listed and where stocks in public float is much less -- 2 per cent, 5 per cent, etc. There is scope for that to increase," Chawla said.
There are at least 12 listed public sector units where public shareholding is less than 10 per cent. They include companies like NMDC, MMTC, Neyveli Lignite, Hindustan Copper. However, Chawla did not name the companies where divestment process could start.
Image: Workers arrange consumable goods as a customer (back) shops at a grocery store.
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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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Asked about the amount government aims to raise from divestment, Chawla said, numbers cannot be fixed as yet since these are only preliminary discussions.
"Now what will finally be agreed to? What will the Cabinet approve? What percentage? When it will happen? What will be the market price? That will determine the amount which is a function of number of shares and market price. So, there cannot be a maximum target per se," the finance secretary said.
Chawla indicated that the advise given by the Economic Survey about raising Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) from divestment every year might not happen this fiscal.
"What the Economic Survey says you should look at Rs 25,000 crore a year, but that may or may not happen every year. In the current year already four months or so have gone. There is time process, through which these companies have to go, so therefore for the current year it is very difficult to say what the amount will be," Chawla said.
He also said the proceeds from divestment will not be used to fund widening fiscal deficit. "The amount will not be used for to finance fiscal deficit, it would be used for high priority social sector programmes," he said.
There were speculations that the government may use part of the proceeds to finance fiscal deficit, but currently the proceeds go to the National Investment Fund, norms of which do not allow this.
Asked whether NIF norms will be changed, Chawla said, "That I can't say. The Cabinet will decide that. But, either way whether it is spent through NIF or otherwise, it will be spent on flagship social sector programmes," he said.
So let us take a look at some of the PSUs whose IPOs are expected to hit the market in recent future. . .

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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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Oil India Limited
Oil India Ltd may hit the market with an initial public offering on September 7. "As per the tentative schedule drawn, the IPO may open for public subscription on September 7 and will close on September 11," a petroleum ministry official said.
OIL, which produces 3.5 million tonnes a year of oil, will offer 2.64 crore equity shares to public in the IPO, while the government will simultaneously sell 10 per cent of its stake in the company to state refiners.
Post-IPO and disinvestment, the government's stake in the company will decrease from 98.13 per cent to 78.5 per cent.
The official said the IPO proceeds would be used to fund capex requirement for 2009-10 and 2010-11 when it had planned Rs 2,300 crore and Rs 2,400 crore expenditure, respectively.
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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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OIL has started discussions with bankers, including HSBC Securities & Capital Markets, JM Financial Ltd, Citigroup Global Market India and Morgan Stanley India for the IPO.
OIL was to launch its IPO of 11 per cent equity shares on November 10, 2008, but the reversal of fortunes on the stock markets led to the deferment of the plan.
Alongside the IPO, government is to sell 10 per cent of its current holdings in OIL to Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum.
IOC will get 5 per cent while HPCL and BPCL would take 2.5 per cent shares each.

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        http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/jul/22/slide-show-1-divestment-indias-new-financial-mantra.htm

Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd
BHEL said recently that it was sitting on comfortable cash reserves but if the government is keen on an FPO to raise money it could be done in the next financial year.
"We are a cash-surplus company, but if the government wants to bring out a follow-on public offer, they can, but I think only in the next financial year," BHEL chairman and managing director K Ravi Kumar had said.
The government, at present, holds a 67.72 per cent equity stake in BHEL, which would come down to 57.72 per cent if it divests 10 per cent equity.
Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Vilasrao Deshmukh had earlier said that the point of divestment in the company is still under consideration.
As a part of its 100-day agenda, BHEL would enter into an agreement with the Indian Railways for supply of stainless steel EMU coaches on a long-term basis.
It would synchronise eight thermal and hydro sets to generate 1,200 MW capacity.
The company would synchronise five captive power plants totalling 228 MW of capacity as a part of its 100-day agenda. Kumar said that the company has received orders worth Rs 10,000 crore during the April-June quarter.

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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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NHPC
The initial public offer of National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd to raise Rs 1,680 crore is likely to hit the market on August 7.
"If everything goes well the initial public offer is likely in the first week of August, tentatively August 7," NHPC chairman and managing director S K Garg had said recently.
NHPC would infuse 10 per cent fresh equity through this public offer to raise Rs 1,680 crore, while the government will divest its five per cent stake in the company.
It would come up with 168 crore shares of face value of Rs 10 each, which would be offered at a premium through book building process.
As per the Securities and Exchange Board of India listing norms, independent directors should form 50 per cent of the board which is headed by executive chairman. To meet this criteria, NHPC should have seven independent directors on board before it can go to the market.
The company filed the draft red herring prospectus with market regulator Sebi on August 6, 2008.
NHPC had also filed for DRHP in April 2007 but was not given permission by the market regulator as the company did not have the required strength of non-official directors on board, which it now has.

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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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BSNL and TCIL
The government believes the listing of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd would help improve the company's image and promote its growth.
"Two of our companies BSNL and TCIL are not yet listed. We would like to list them with 10 per cent divestment in each of them initially. But the timeline will be decided in consultation with the finance ministry," Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura said.
BSNL sources said there will not be any fresh equity, but only offloading by the government. The company will not get any proceeds from the IPO.
BSNL's net profit has hit a low of Rs 104 crore on revenue of Rs 34,937 crore, both down from a year earlier, hit by higher staff costs and declining income from services.
The government had planned to sell 10 per cent of BSNL and list its shares last year, but had to defer the proposal after opposition from a major workers union and the stock market meltdown.
TCIL's CMD Rakesh Upadhyay said whatever decision the government takes, the PSU will abide by it. No valuation had been done yet, he said, but the listing would be good for the company.
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Divestment: India's new financial mantra

Last updated on: July 22, 2009

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Opposition to divestment
The BSNL union has, meanwhile, decided to observe an 'anti-divestment day' on July 22 protesting the government's plan to sell its shareholding in the company.
"The plea of the management that IPO is necessary to mop up funds for development and expansion is far from the truth, as the BSNL has more than Rs 37,000 crore (Rs 370 billion) stashed in banks. It can be used for expansion instead of selling shares," V A N Namboodiri, convenor, joint forum of BSNL Associations, said in a statement.
The Joint Forum of BSNL Employees Association/Unions of Executives and Non-executives has said it would be sending telegrams to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Telecom Minister A Raja demanding dropping the IPO and disinvestment proposal, the statement said.

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AGENCIES

"During the first quarter (January-March) of next calender year, we will see the public offerings of SAIL, IOC (IOC.NS : 409.2 +5.85) and ONGC," disinvestment secretary Sumit Bose said on Tuesday. The government is confident of achieving its disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore by March 2011, besides achieving its stated objective of wide spread public ownership of profitable PSUs.

Bose said the market has the appetite to absorb these mega IPOs. The government plans to sell 5% stake in ONGC and 10% in Indian Oil to raise about Rs 21,000 crore this fiscal, Oil secretary S Sundareshan had said.

Steel Authority of India's first phase follow-on public offer (FPO) is estimated to garner about Rs 8,000 crore. SAIL chairman CS Verma said on Monday the first tranche of the company's 20% share sale programme could be launched in mid-December and if that deadline is missed the same will happen in January-February 2011.

Other companies that will see disinvestment of government stake include Power Grid Corporation that will come out with a share sale offer after Diwali. This will be followed by Manganese Ore India, Shipping Corporation and Hindustan Copper and all these will be completed by December. The government is hoping to complete these offers by December.

Wednesday October 20, 04:15 AM     Source: Indian Express Finance
Vedanta refinery expansion hits green roadblock
By Amitabh Sinha

In yet another blow to Vedanta, whose mining project in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa has already been blocked by the environment ministry, the company's plan to expand its adjoining alumina refinery in Lanjigarh has been adjudged by the same ministry to be in violation of existing laws.

The ministry is all set to tell the company that its ongoing six-fold expansion of the refinery from an annual capacity of 1 million tonnes to 6 million tonnes cannot be allowed because the required environmental clearances had not been obtained. The existing operating facility of 1 million tonne itself violates forest laws and needs corrective action, ministry officials claimed.

Incidentally, the refinery and the bauxite mining project at Niyamgiri hills were originally part of the same integrated project. The bauxite mined from Niyamgiri was to be processed at the refinery. While the mining project was embroiled in environmental trouble - which was ultimately blocked in August - a standalone clearance was given to the refinery to be operated at an annual capacity of 1 million tonne and with bauxite imported from other mines.

The refinery is operating at full capacity since 2007 with support of a 75 mw captive power plant. The bauxite is shipped from Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu among other states. The same year, the company applied for environmental clearance for the six-fold expansion of both the refinery and the captive power plant. But even as the application was being processed, the company started construction work on the expansion plan, for which it came under heavy fire from an expert committee headed by retired bureaucrat NC Saxena, who also recommended blocking the mining project.

The latest decision comes after a consideration of Vedanta's reply to a show-cause notice issued to it by the environment ministry in August this year asking why its refinery expansion should not be disallowed.

Vedanta had given a detailed reply and its officials had also made a personal appearance at the ministry to explain their version.

Coal India's mega public offering generated bids, mostly from institutional investors, worth 26,000 crore on the second day of the issue today, making the issue over-subscribed 1.71 times.State-run Power Grid Corp's follow-on public offer to raise up to $1.9 billion will hit the markets on Nov. 9 and close Nov. 12, its chairman and managing director told reporters.

"As suggested by DoD (Department of Disinvestment), it will be opening on ninth and will close on 12th November," S.K. Chaturvedi said.

The follow-on public offer by the transmission utility comprises new shares of 10 percent equity by the company and sale of another 10 percent by the government.

The proceeds will be mainly utilised for constructing nine country-wide high capacity power transmission corridors costing $13 billion (580 billion rupees), Chaturvedi said.

Another state-run company Coal India Ltd is accepting bids for up to $3.5 billion initial share sale, while the Indian government has a target of raising $8.5 billion from share sales of state-run companies in 2010/11.

Earlier, Power Grid, which carries 45 percent of the power in the country, posted a 42 percent jump in net profit to 6.5 billion rupees for the September quarter.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

Power Grid, which has projects in Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Dubai and Bangladesh, is the lowest bidder for transmission network strengthening project in Nigeria, Chaturvedi said.

However, due to a stalemate over final awarding of the contract, rates have gone higher, the 59-year-old chairman added.

"We have requested them (Nigerians) to allow us to revise our proposal, which they have agreed, and we are now in process to submit our revised proposal."

The government aims to garner up to Rs 15,400 crore through selling its 10 per cent stake in the country's biggest share sale offer so far.

The issue, which opened yesterday, got total demands for more than 108 crore shares against 63.16 crore equities on offer, data available with the National Stock Exchange showed.

In the portion reserved for the qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), the issue was oversubscribed 3.39 times, as per the NSE data.

The issue closes tomorrow for institutional investors. QIBs in all probability will make a beeline tomorrow on the last day of issue for them, analysts said.

The retail demand for the Coal India shares was only 35 per cent. The portion reserved for high networth individual was subscribed 54 per cent.

Analysts said participation from retail investors will pick up in the last two days as they usually follow the trend of institutional investors. Besides, there is one additional exclusive day reserved for them (October 21).

As many as 19.89 crore shares were on offer for retail investors.

Meanwhile, terming the IPO as a landmark, Disinvestment Secretary in Ministry of Finance Sumit Bose today said the issue will also get good response from retail investors.

"This is a great opportunity for the common man to have a stake in such a resource rich company," Bose said.

Employees quota was subscribed only 1 per cent, as per the NSE data. Coal India Ltd Chairman P S Bhattacharyya said shares set aside for employees may not be fully subscribed due to trade unions protests. "Trade Unions are not supporting the public issue, due to which there may be less participations in the staff quota," he said.

Coal India trade unions are observing a protest week, against the company's public offering.

The company has reserved 6.31 crore equities for the employees.

CIL is the world's largest coal prodcuer. It has a total manpower strength of 4 lakh as of June-end.

The issue is priced in the range of Rs 225 and Rs 245 a share. The government is divesting 10 per cent of its stake in the company.

At the upper end of price range, Coal India public issue is worth Rs 15,475 crore and at the lower end it would fetch about Rs 14,211.81 crore.

The navratna company is expected to list on the domestic bourses by November 4.
20 Oct, 2010, 07.25AM IST,ET Bureau

Don't stall Poscop

Environmental vetting of the long-delayed Posco steel plant in coastal Orissa needs to be constructive and forward-looking, and not be seen as an instrument to further delay and scuttle India's biggest FDI project in an industrially backward region.

Reportedly, three of the four members of an expert panel set up by the environment ministry want all initial project clearances scrapped and declared null and void. Such retrospective action would surely be drastic, atavistic and wholly uncalled for.

Instead of striving to right alleged past wrongs, the ministry needs to engage with the state government, Posco and other stakeholders, and oversee how environmental norms can be met and followed through in a time-bound manner. Reports say that the panel members want the Forest Rights Act duly implemented in the project area.

Forest dwellers — as indeed other project affected — must certainly be adequately compensated and provided for, with proactivity and speed. But it makes no sense to simply stall work at the proposed 12 million tonnes per annum steel plant, as the environment ministry has ordered since August. It needs to reconsider its decision.

It is nobody case that forest and environmental norms need to be glossed over to make way for Posco. However, with over 65% forest cover in the state — well above the national average — and the project site far away from the hinterland Fifth Schedule areas, the policy focus needs to be on fast-forwarding industrialisation and boosting economic growth.

All over the world, higher incomes have led to better environmental protection, standards and greater sustainability. In parallel, we clearly do need compensatory afforestation. Note that the Posco project requires 4,004 acres of land; over 3,500 acres belong to the state government, of which just under 3,000 acres is forest land. The bottom line is the pressing need for pragmatism in implementing environmental policy and to keep the big picture in mind.

Otherwise, the whole exercise — albeit well meaning — would be a throwback to the licence-permit raj, with its panoply of perverse incentives to throttle economic activity. It would entail a huge national cost and, hence, is eminently avoidable.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Dont-stall-Poscop/articleshow/6778364.cms

POSCO PRATIRODH SANGRAM SAMITI

Gadkujang, Nuagaon, Dhinkia Gram Panchayats, Erasama Block, Jagatsinghpur District, Orissa

MAJORITY OF POSCO ENQUIRY COMMITTEE CONFIRMS THAT POSCO PROJECT IS ILLEGAL

Today, three of the four members of the committee set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests confirmed that the POSCO project is illegal and that all of its clearances were obtained by breaking the law. The Committee has also found that the project has potentially very dangerous impacts on issues like water, air pollution, and the coastline, and none of this was ever properly evaluated. After a detailed discussion of the huge number of criminal actions by the company and the Orissa government, the Committee says (in the conclusion of the report):

"The POSCO project is an example of how a mirage of "development" can be used in an attempt to bypass the law. Such attempts, if allowed to succeed, will result in neither development nor environmental protection, but merely in profiteering. This will cause immeasurable harm to the nation and to the rule of law and justice in our society."

We particularly draw attention to the fact that the majority found that:

• The Orissa government and the Central government have violated the Forest Rights Act and tried to grab forest land that belongs to the people. This is the second official committee that has reached this conclusion.

• The project could cause environmental devastation particularly in regard to water, air pollution, coastal damage, danger of industrial disasters in case of cyclones, etc., all of which was ignored by the government.

• POSCO suppressed facts and tried to get around the requirements of law.

• The environmental, forest and coastal regulation clearances obtained by the project were all illegal and should all be revoked.

• The forest clearance can only be given subject to the recognition of rights and the consent of the gram sabha under the Forest Rights Act.

Those who keep talking of the POSCO project as one of "national importance" should answer these questions: would any other country in the world tolerate such violations of their law? Would South Korea tolerate an Indian company grabbing their land, breaking their laws and threatening to cause an environmental disaster? Is this what development means – robbing thousands of their lands and threatening lakhs with water shortage and other catastrophes?

As for the dissenting report of Ms. Meena Gupta, her position reflects her own interests. She was the Secretary that granted the environment clearance, and asking her to review it is like asking a thief to don a police uniform. Naturally she has said that all the clearances should continue. Her report is full of distortions, such as claiming that there are only 700 families in the area (when over 4,000 will lose their lands and/or homes). She tries to cover up crimes by saying that it does not
matter if the law was broken; all that is required is to impose some additional "conditions."

We call upon the Central government to heed the voice of the people and the findings of the majority report, withdraw all clearances and cancel this unjust, illegal and brutal project.

Abhay Sahoo, Chairperson, PPSS

19 Oct, 2010, 05.42AM IST, Arun Kumar & Rajeev Jayaswal,ET Bureau

Indian Oil Corp may hit Street in Jan with Rs 19,000-crore offer

State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will start shortlisting merchant bankers next week for its public issue that is likely to raise about Rs 19,000 crore, making it the largest-ever equity offer in the country, three government officials and a company executive said.

Half the proceeds would go to the government, which will offload 10% of IOC shares to help it meet its disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore this fiscal. In addition, the company will issue new shares amounting to another 10% of its equity capital to help the country's largest state refiner build new units.

The Rs 19,000-crore public offer, which would top Coal India's Rs 15,000-crore offering, may hit the market by January, adding to the rush of equity and debt issues aggregating to an estimated Rs 80,000 crore in the next six months.

Coal India managed to sell about a third of its shares offered in the IPO on Monday, the first day of the issue.

"The Cabinet note is under circulation. After views of relevant departments are incorporated, the Cabinet's approval will be sought," an oil ministry official said, requesting anonymity.

Confirming the development, a senior IOC executive said the company was in the process of appointing a merchant banker.

"If things move as per the present plan, the company may enter the market in January 2011," a government official directly involved in the stake sale said. "The company has planned to issue expressions of interest for the appointment of merchant bankers some time this week," he said.

As per the official, IOC is already working on the draft red herring prospectus internally and once the bankers are appointed, they will finalise the prospectus and file it with market regulator Sebi.

"Subsequently, the company will enter the market shortly as it qualifies under the fast-track norms," he said, referring to Sebi's rules that allow some companies to enter the market immediately after filing the prospectus.

There are chances that the IOC issue will enter the market even before the Rs 8,000-crore issue of SAIL, scheduled for January, the official said.

The government will give priority to the IOC issue, as it would fetch the exchequer over Rs 9,000 crore while in case of SAIL, the government's share would be Rs 4,000 crore, he added.

Of the disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore in the current fiscal, the government has already raised Rs 2,090 crore by selling stakes in Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and Engineers India .

After issues of Coal India and Power Grid, the government would have mopped up about Rs 22,000 crore. After IOC, Hindustan Copper and Manganese Ore, the total proceeds will cross Rs 35,000 crore. And with the SAIL issue, the government will achieve its disinvestment target. At the last closing price of Rs 405.50 per share on Monday, the market capitalisation of IOC is Rs 98,453 crore. At this price, the offer size will be Rs 19,690 crore.

ROAD AHEAD

1. Steel Authority of India Ltd.(SAIL)

PIB Press Release dated 8th April, 2010.

Raising of additional Equity by the Steel authority of India Limited(SAIL) and disinvestment of a portion of government equity in SAIL through Offer for Sale.

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The Cabinet committee on Economic Affairs approved the proposal for raising additional equity by the Steel Authority of India Ltd.(SAIL) to the extent of 10% of the paid up equity and disinvestment of a portion of Government of India's shareholding in SAIL by an extent of 10% through offer for sale, to be carried out in two separate tranches.

The further public offering(FPO) would comprise the first tranche of the fresh issue of 5% pre-issue paid up equity of the company and offer for sale of 5% of Government equity in SAIL. The CCEA has accorded permission for effecting the first tranche and the second tranche, similar to the first, would be issued at an appropriate time depending on prevailing market conditions.

The further offerings along with disinvestment would be carried out as per SEBI regulations and procedure adopted by the Department of Disinvestment which is the nodal agency for handling of disinvestment of Government public sector units.

As a result of the further public offer, there would be enhanced public holding in SAIL from the present level of 14.2% to 31% and it is expected that the enhanced holding would lead to greater depth in the market. As a result of the secondary offering and equity dilution, there would thus be larger public ownership of the company, leading to greater public oversight and increased accountability.

Background:

The disinvestment of Government's equity in SAIL is in line with the overall policy of the government that ownership of CPSEs would be shared with the public as articulated in both the President's speech to Parliament and FM's Budget speech. FPO of SAIL would allow for greater public accountability, and is expected to lead to greater depth in the market.

The proceeds from fresh issue of equity by SAIL would help in filling the resource gap in availability for funding SAIL's capital expenditure emerging from the increased pressure on steel prices and diminished margins. SAIL is presently amidst massive expansion plans for increasing its installed hot metal production capacity from existing 13.82 million tonnes per annum(MTPA) to 23.46 MTPA in the current phase.

To facilitate easy reference to SAIL website,link is being provided here.Please click here http://www.sail.co.in for the same

2.Engineers India Limited (EIL)

PIB Press Release dated 14th January, 2010.

Disinvestment of 10 Percent paid up equity capital in ENGINEERS INDIA LIMITED (EIL) out of Government of India shareholding of 90.40 PERCENT

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CCEA Decision

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today decided to disinvest 10% paid up equity capital of Engineers India Limited, out of Government's shareholding, in the domestic market through Public Offering. After this disinvestment Government shareholding in the company would come down to 80.40%.

It has also been decided that before the Public Offering the company will take the following steps:

(a) Issue bonus two shares for every one share;

(b) Split one share of the face value of Rs.10 into two the face value of Rs.5 each; and

Engineers India Limited is a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and is engaged in providing engineering and related technical services for petroleum refineries and other industrial projects. Government of India is holding 90.40% paid up equity capital of the company and the balance is held by the general public. The shares of the company are listed on the stock exchanges with less than 10% mandatory public shareholding.

To facilitate easy reference to EIL website,link is being provided here. Please click here http://www.engineersindia.com for the same

3.Hindustan Copper Limited(HCL)

PIB Press Release dated 15th June, 2010.

Disinvestment of 10 Percent paid up equity capital of Hindustan Copper Limited out of Government of India's shareholding along with issue of fresh

equity of equal size by the Company in the domestic market

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the proposal for disinvestment of 10% paid up equity capital of Hindustan Copper Limited out of Government of India's shareholding along with issue of fresh equity of equal size by the Company in the domestic market. The divestment will be done in the following manner:

(i) Issue of fresh equity by Hindustan Copper Limited to the extent of 10% of the pre-issue paid up capital of the company equivalent to 9,25,21,800 shares of face value of Rs.5 each in the domestic market as per SEBI rules and regulation.

(ii) In conjunction with the issue of fresh equity as at (i) above; Government to disinvest its 10% of pre issue paid up capital of the company, equivalent to 9,25,21,800 shares of face value of Rs.5 each.

(iii) Reservation of shares for employees of HCL will be on a discount of 5%, which will also be available to retail investors as per the guidelines of SEBI.

Background:

The paid up equity capital of the company is Rs.462.61 crore. Government of India is holding 99.59% paid up equity capital of the Company at present. The face value of the share is Rs.5 each.

To facilitate easy reference to HCL website,link is being provided here. Please click here http://www.hindustancopper.com for the same

4.Coal India Limited (CIL)

PIB Press Release dated 15th June, 2010.

Disinvestment of 10 Percent paid up equity capital in COAL INDIA LIMITED (CIL) out of Government of India shareholding of 100 %

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today gave its approval to divest 10% equity of the Coal India Limited out of its holding of 100% through book building process in the domestic market. One percent of the equity will be offered to the employees of CIL and its eight subsidiaries. The CCEA has also decided to allow 5% price concession to the retail investors in order to encourage greater public ownership of the public sector companies.

The CCEA also approved a 5% concession to the employees of the company and its subsidiaries to encourage their becoming stakeholders in the company. After this disinvestment, Government of India's shareholding in the company would come down to 90%..

Coal India Ltd. (CIL), a Central Public Sector Enterprise, is a Navratna Company engaged in production and marketing of coal and coal products. At present, the paid up equity capital of the company is Rs.6316.36 crore and the Government of India holds 100% of the equity in the company.

To facilitate easy reference to CIL website,link is being provided here. Please click here http://www.coalindia.in for the same

5.Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL)

PIB Press Release dated 22nd July, 2010.

Follow-on Public Offer for Power Grid Corporation of India Limited

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) of 84,17,68,246 (Eighty Four crore seventeen lakh sixty eight thousand two hundred forty six) Equity shares of Rs.10 each constituting 20% of existing paid-up capital. This comprises fresh issue of 42,08,84,123 Equity Shares (10% of existing paid-up capital) and offer for Sale (Disinvestment) of 42,08,84,123 Equity Shares (10% of existing paid-up capital) by selling Shareholder i.e. the President of India.

Additional resources generated through the issue of an FPO will be utilized by PGCIL in its investment programmes.

PGCIL will be required to approach the capital market for raising funds through issue of fresh equity for funding its investment programme commencing from Financial Year 2010-11. The requirement of funds to be raised through issue of fresh equity for funding the capital expenditure for the balance XI plan period will be in the order of Rs 4200 crore. The fresh issue of FPO would result in the PGCIL meeting with the CERC allowed norms of 30% equity contributions during the XI Plan period.

PGCIL went for a maiden Initial Public Offering (IPO) of equity shares consisting of issue of fresh equity shares with 10% of paid up capital and disinvestment of Government of India equity holding of 5% of paid up capital in October 2007 through the book building process and the issue was subscribed 64.50 times. The shares of the PGCIL got listed in the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange on 5.10.2007. PGCIL raised Rs. 2984 crore at the issue price of Rs. 52/- per share out of which Rs. 995 crore was paid to the Government of India towards the disinvestment proceeds and the balance amount, after meeting the issue expenses, was utilized for capital expenditure of identified projects during the financial year 2007-08 and 2008-09.

To facilitate easy reference to PGCIL website,link is being provided here. Please click here https://www.powergridindia.com/PGCIL_NEW/home.aspx for the same

6.Manganese ORE (India) Ltd. (MOIL)

PIB Press Release dated 9th Sep, 2010.

Disinvestment in Manganese ORE (India) Ltd. (MOIL)

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the disinvestment of 10% of total paid up equity of MOIL out of its holding through Initial Public Offering (IPO). The State Governments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have also decided to divest 5% each of total paid up equity in MOIL out of their shareholding along with the Government of India. This will lead to MOIL listing its shares in the Stock Exchanges. A portion of the shares to be offered for sale through IPO shall be reserved for the employees of the Company.

The CCEA has also approved to allow 5% price discount to the employees of the company under employees reservation quota to encourage their becoming stakeholders in the company. The CCEA has further decided to allow this 5% price discount to retail investors as well as to encourage the development of people-ownership.

At present, the Central Government holds 81.57% of the equity of Manganese Ore India Ltd. a Miniratna Central Public Sector Enterprise. The balance is held by the State Governments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to the extent of 9.62% and 8.81% respectively. MOIL is engaged in production of manganese ore, which is the raw material for manufacturing of alloys, an essential input for steel making and dioxide ore for manufacturing dry batteries.

To facilitate easy reference to MOIL website,link is being provided here. Please click here http://moil.nic.in for the same

6.Shipping Corporation of India Limited

PIB Press Release dated 5th Oct, 2010.

Disinvestment of a part of Government equity in Shipping Corporation of India Limited through "Offer for Sale" and raising of additional equity by SCI

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today gave its approval for:

(i) Issue of fresh equity of 10% by SCI of its existing equity amounting to 4,23,45,365 shares in the domestic market as per SEBI regulations.

(ii) Sale of 10% of the existing equity out of the Government shareholding amounting to 4,23,45,365 shares in the domestic market as per SEBI regulations.

(iii) Discount of 5% to retail investors on the issue price.

(iv) Reservation of shares of 0.50% of the issue size (i.e. 4,23,454 shares) along with discount of 5% on the offer price for employees of the company.

The divestment of SCI is expected to generate approximately ` 1300 crore.

Government ownership in SCI is currently 80.12% and after the above offer of sale and further issue of shares, the Government holding will be 63.75%. This disinvestment will develop a roadmap for higher people ownership of this company while ensuring that government equity does not fall below 51%.

SCI is a Navratna company with a consistent track record of profits and dividend. It is the largest shipping company in India owning 75 ships of 5.10 million dwt.

To facilitate easy reference to SCI website,link is being provided here. Please click here http://www.shipindia.com for the same

http://www.divest.nic.in/road.htm

Indian Oil plans record $4.3bn IPO

Financial Times - James Fontanella-Khan - ‎21 hours ago‎

Sumit Bose, India's minister of disinvestment, said on Tuesday that in the next few weeks the government would appoint the bankers for the issue, ...

Divestment may net Rs 59000 crore

Rediff - ‎18 hours ago‎

The first half of the financial year saw the government raise a little over Rs 2000 crore from stake sales in Sutluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and Engineers India ...

SNAPSHOT-Indian policy highlights on Tuesday, Oct 19

Reuters - ‎Oct 19, 2010‎

India will start the process for appointing bankers for a share sale in state-run refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC.BO) within a few weeks, Disinvestment ...

Half of 2010-11 divestment target will be met by Dec

The Hindu - ‎Oct 18, 2010‎

This involved a 10 per cent divestment and a 10 per cent fresh equity raising programme. After that would come the Manganese Ore India Ltd (MOIL) issue ...

Govt to kick off New Year with public offers of 3 navratnas

Indian Express - ‎19 hours ago‎

... offerings of SAIL, IOC and ONGC," disinvestment secretary Sumit Bose said on Tuesday during a roadshow for the initial public offer by Coal India. ...

New year bonanza! 3 big ticket PSU share sale in Jan-Mar

IBNLive.com - ‎Oct 19, 2010‎

... we will see the public offerings of SAIL, IOC and ONGC," Disinvestment Secretary Sumit Bose told reporters here during the roadshow of Coal India IPO. ...

India to Step Up Asset Sales in Next Six Months as Investor Appetite Grows

Bloomberg - Kartik Goyal - ‎Oct 19, 2010‎

... India Ltd., Manganese Ore (India) Ltd., Shipping Corp. of India Ltd., and Hindustan Copper Ltd. will be completed by December, Bose, the disinvestment ...

'Seven more firms will be divested this yr'

Sify - ‎Oct 18, 2010‎

... Disinvestment Secretary Sumit Bose said today. The companies â€" Power Grid Corporation, Shipping Corporation of India, Hindustan Copper, Manganese Ore ...

Disinvestment to bring in Rs.40000 crore by 2010-11

Economic Times - ‎Oct 18, 2010‎

The follow-on offer of Power Grid Corp of India Ltd , the state-owned power transmission company, would take place after Diwali while that of Hindustan ...

IOC, ONGC follow-on offer to hit market by January-March

Livemint - ‎Oct 18, 2010‎

In the entire divestment agenda, the Coal India IPO, which opens today, is a major one that will help raise close to Rs15,000 crore.

ONGC, SAIL stake sale by Mar '11, says Bose

Financial Express - ‎21 hours ago‎

The government is confident of achieving its disinvestment target of Rs 40000 crore by March 2011, besides achieving its stated objective of wide spread ...

Indian Oil Corp may hit Street in Jan with Rs 19000-crore offer

Economic Times - ‎Oct 18, 2010‎

Half the proceeds would go to the government, which will offload 10% of IOC shares to help it meet its disinvestment target of Rs 40000 crore this fiscal. ...

IOC, SAIL, ONGC stake sale in Jan-March: Bose

istockAnalyst.com (press release) - Manish Basu - ‎Oct 19, 2010‎

Unveiling the disinvestment calendar for the next six months, Bose said the public issue of Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd would follow CIL's initial public ...

SAIL, IOC, ONGC public issues to hit market in January-March

Daily News & Analysis - ‎Oct 19, 2010‎

"Disinvestment for SAIL, IOC and ONGC will happen in the last quarter of the current fiscal (January-March 2010-11)," disinvestment secretary Sumit Bose ...

Power Grid FPO to hit market on November 9

State-run Power Grid Corp's follow-on public offer to raise up to $1.9 billion will hit the markets on Nov. 9 and close Nov. 12, its chairman and managing director told reporters.

"As suggested by DoD (Department of Disinvestment), it will be opening on ninth and will close on 12th November," S.K. Chaturvedi said.

The follow-on public offer by the transmission utility comprises new shares of 10 percent equity by the company and sale of another 10 percent by the government.

The proceeds will be mainly utilised for constructing nine country-wide high capacity power transmission corridors costing $13 billion (580 billion rupees), Chaturvedi said.

Another state-run company Coal India Ltd is accepting bids for up to $3.5 billion initial share sale, while the Indian government has a target of raising $8.5 billion from share sales of state-run companies in 2010/11.

Earlier, Power Grid, which carries 45 percent of the power in the country, posted a 42 percent jump in net profit to 6.5 billion rupees for the September quarter.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

Power Grid, which has projects in Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Dubai and Bangladesh, is the lowest bidder for transmission network strengthening project in Nigeria, Chaturvedi said.

However, due to a stalemate over final awarding of the contract, rates have gone higher, the 59-year-old chairman added.

"We have requested them (Nigerians) to allow us to revise our proposal, which they have agreed, and we are now in process to submit our revised proposal."

CWG scam: Govt confiscates Rs 183 cr of Emaar-MGF's bank guarantee

Urban development ministry on Wednesday directed the DDA to confiscate Rs 183 crore bank guarantee furnished by Emaar-MGF after finding irregularities in developing Commonwealth Games Village, official sources said.

Further legal action would also be taken by the DDA against Emaar-MGF for recovery of other expenditure over and above the bank guarantee, added sources.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court refused to interfere with the ongoing investigation into the alleged financial irregularities in the recent Commonwealth Games held here.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said government has already appointed a committee to probe the alleged corruption in the Games and the issue can be raised before it.

The court was hearing a petition filed by advocate Ajay Agrawal seeking an independent inquiry into the alleged irregularities in various Games-related projects.

A similar petition was filed by a group of retired bureaucrats seeking the court's direction on the irregularities.

The petitioners had sought an independent audit of the work and sealing of records pertaining to tenders, work measurement and expenses above Rs one lakh related to the Games.

In the petition, advocate Aggrwal had made Games organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi , the cabinet secretary, the youth affairs and sports secretary and CBI as respondents.

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20 Oct, 2010, 05.47AM IST, Anuradha Himatsingka & Sangita Mehta,ET Bureau

Traders in a mad scramble for Coal India, SBI issues

KOLKATA | MUMBAI: The nation's biggest share sale from Coal India and the first retail bond offering by the State Bank of India were sold out as domestic investors borrowed to buy them, expecting high returns as overseas investors keep faith in economic and earnings growth.

Coal India's 63.16-crore share offering was subscribed 1.71 times on the second day while SBI's Rs 1,000-crore bond issue was subscribed 17 times. The bank may close the sale well ahead of the scheduled October 25, said an official at the bank who did not want to be identified.

"I decided to take a Rs 9-crore loan for the Coal India IPO so that I can leverage my own fund of Rs 1 crore," said Amit Aggrawal, a 37-year-old Kolkata-based trader. "This would increase my chances of getting more shares in the allotment 10 times and help me make a killing."

Investors and traders are chasing new shares and high-yielding bonds to beat the soaring inflation that's leading to negative real income from bank deposits which pay lesser than inflation. That's helping the government to move ahead in realising its target of raising Rs 40,000 crore from sale of shares in state-run companies, and private ones in raising capital for projects. But some believe that asset prices may be getting into a bubble zone as some exploit investor greed.

Institutions, for whom bids in Coal India close on Wednesday, bid the most on Tuesday, with subscriptions coming in for 96 crore shares compared with the 28.43 crore reserved for them, according to NSE data. Wealthy investors bid for 0.54% of the 8.52 crore reserved. Retail investors subscribed to 0.35% of the 19.89 crore set aside.

But bankers say they would get full subscriptions from these two categories too since they do it on the last day, which is Thursday. Although the benchmark Sensex fell 0.9% to 19,983.13, investors believe that it may be a short-term phenomenon and that the long-term outlook remains strong.

"We see India as a very powerful medium-term story with a real possibility that perhaps the Indian economy grows faster than China's economy, and if you are looking at the major emerging markets that have substantial population and a very strong domestic story, then India stands out," Adrian Mowat, strategist at JPMorgan Chase, told ET NOW. "So, yes I am a buyer of Indian equity for a 5-year term."

In the grey market, Coal India shares are trading at Rs 280 apiece, or 14% higher than the top end of the Rs 225-245 range set by the government for bids. "CIL is well positioned to capitalise on the high demand for coal in India," says HDFC Securities in a note. "The issue looks good from a listing gains as well as medium-term perspective."

From the return perspective, the SBI bonds also offer strong incentives for investors. State Bank is selling 15-year bonds, with call options, with a coupon of 9.25%, which is at least 125 basis points higher than government bonds. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. This is better than comparable bonds in the market such as the 8% Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation bonds that have tax benefits too.

Wednesday October 20, 04:11 AM Source: Indian Express Finance
Control key to FDI policy change
By Rajat Guha

The government is set to make key changes in FDI policy to remove certain inconsistencies and complexities that force investors to turn away. It is planning to align the Companies Bill 2010 and the FDI policy as far as definition of "control" in a company is concerned. Further, the present, four-way classification of companies in the FDI policy would be replaced with a simpler division of companies as foreign-owned and controlled (FOAC) or Indian-owned and controlled (IOAC).

The finance ministry, in a recent letter to the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), said that the definition of control in Press Note 2 of 2009 could be amended after receipt of written confirmation from the ministry of corporate affairs on what the Companies Bill says in this regard. The move follows a direction from the PMO to the finance and commerce ministries to resolve their differences and a series of inter-departmental meetings and consultations with the industry.

According to sources, the department of financial services in the finance ministry, in consultation with the RBI, would formulate views on foreign investment in new banks. Sources said while banks would not be exempted from the FDI policy prescriptions for determining their foreign-owned/Indian-owned nature, there could be a "carve-out" for certain select operations of the banks to provide level playing field between Indian and foreign entities. These select operations debt restructuring, strategic investments and other para-banking activities.

There is no specific definition of control in the Companies Bill before Parliament. But there is a term called "controlling interest" as per which a person or an entity will wrest control in a company, if he/it is the single largest shareholder in the company.

The parliamentary standing committee on finance has recently suggested that the term "promoter" needs to be defined in the Bill. So, the attuning of the FDI policy to the Companies Bill would require fine-tuning of the Bill to start with.

Currently, the FDI policy says an Indian company could be treated as owned by resident Indian citizens and Indian companies which are owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens if more than 50% of the equity interest in it is beneficially owned by resident Indian citizens and Indian companies which are owned and controlled ultimately by resident Indian citizens. An Indian company would be taken as controlled by resident Indian citizens and companies which are owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens and companies if the resident Indian citizens/companies which are owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens, have the power to appoint majority of its directors.

Apart from defining control, the finance ministry and the department of industrial policy and promotion have agreed to do away with the distinction under the present FDI policy between various categories of foreign-owned or -controlled Indian companies for the purpose of computing the FDI element of their downstream investments. The idea is to make matters easier for investors and policymakers, even while not diluting the spirit of the policy.

The Press Note 4 of 2009 classifies such companies (Indian companies owned or controlled by non-resident entities) into four distinct categories only operating companies, operating-cum-investing companies and investing companies and companies which neither operate nor invest. The four categories of companies are subjected to different treatments when it comes to the policy on their downstream investments. Now, instead of having four kinds of classifications, there would be only two kinds of companies - FOAC and IOAC.

The move will clear the confusion surrounding treatment of downstream investment for such companies.

Inflated accounts but did not embezzle money: Satyam's Raju

Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju on Wednesday said he never admitted to fraudulently appropriating money from the IT company.

Defending bail granted to him in the Supreme Court, Raju, interestingly, thanked the government for its efforts of putting the scam-hit firm back on the track.

During the proceedings, Raju's counsel former attorney general and senior advocate Ashok V Desai submitted that the confessional statement of January 7, 2009, of inflating the account books of Satyam Computers (now Mahindra Satyam) has no linkage with siphoning off money.

"There is no admission of any shiphoning off money, there is no admission of any guilt, but only of inflating the charts and accounts of the company," he submitted.

Opposing the plea of investigative agency CBI to cancel the bail granted to Raju, Desai contended that any court would take three to five years to complete the trial considering the large volumes and over 450 witness produced by the agency. Till such a long time Raju cannot be put behind the bars, he added.

"Still we are at stage of pre-charging. Only chargesheet has been filed and charges are not even framed. Even after one year and nine months, nothing has started and he has already spend more than 19 months in prison," said Desai.

He further said, "Trial would take if not five years then three years, with so many documents and evidences. I do not know why in such condition CBI wants to send him again back to him in jail ... CBI's contention of tampering evidences by him after getting bail does sound well".

Commending the government's role in reviving the company, he said, "Thanks to the reconstructive approach of the government including Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Corporate and CLB, several eminent people were put on company's board. Company survived thanks to the whole approach."

20 Oct, 2010, 06.29AM IST, Deepshikha Sikarwar & G Ganapathy Subramaniam,ET Bureau

Control redefinition to check indirect hold over Indian cos

NEW DELHI: The government will make it tough for foreign firms to exercise control over Indian businesses though indirect arrangements by updating the ambiguous definition of 'control' in foreign direct investment policy with the precise one used in the Companies Bill.

Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla has asked RP Singh, secretary at the department of industrial policy and promotion , to amend the definition of 'control' in FDI guidelines.

"The DIPP would take necessary steps to amend the definition of control in Press Note 2 of 2009, subject to the receipt of written confirmation from the ministry of corporate affairs, on the specific formulation of 'control' , which has been proposed in the draft companies bill," Mr Chawla said in a letter to Mr Singh.

While the DIPP is the nodal department for FDI policy, the finance secretary heads the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB), which vets investment proposals not falling within certain guidelines fixed by the government.

The current foreign investment policy says any Indian company 'owned or controlled' by a foreign company would be considered a foreign company.

While a more than 50% equity holding was sufficient for establishing foreign ownership, control was defined as ability to appoint a majority of directors.

This precluded other indirect ways of obtaining control such as lein over voting rights and equity purchase agreements -- a loophole used extensively by foreign investors to control Indian ventures without violating the sectoral caps. Such arrangements violated the FDI policy in spirit while paperwork was in order.

"A number of companies that show foreign investment much below 50% have issued quasi-equity instruments with voting rights to foreign investors," said a government official dealing with FDI policy changes.

"This allows the investor to effectively exercise control over the entity indirectly," he said, requesting anonymity.

The Companies Bill, which is under Parliament's consideration , has a more comprehensive interpretation of control . Apart from the already mentioned right to appoint a majority of directors, the bill defines control to include the ability to influence management or policy decisions.

Govt not considering freeing diesel prices: Oil Sec

The government on Monday said it would not free diesel prices from its control in hurry as the move would lead to sharp rise in price of fuel most used in the transport sector.

"There is no thinking at this juncture to move any further," Oil Secretary S Sundareshan told reporters here.

The government, on June 25, had decontrolled petrol price and had said that diesel would move at free price regime shortly. At that time, an ad-hoc Rs 2 a litre increase in diesel price was effected.

"The June decision was taken when crude oil price was at $73-74 a barrel. Sine then it has risen to $82-83 a barrel and it will be unfair to think that diesel price will be market determined at these levels," he said.

Freeing of diesel prices now would mean a further Rs 2.01 a litre increase in rates which will have cascading effect on the already high rate of inflation.

Since June 25 decision, petrol prices have been raised twice ... once in September and second time during the last week to reflect the rising trend in international crude oil prices.
18 Oct, 2010, 03.04AM IST, Dheeraj Tiwari & Subhash Narayan,ET Bureau

Retired bureaucrats board market-bound PSUs

NEW DELHI: The government is hand-picking retired bureaucrats to fill the post of independent directors in public sector firms slated to hit the market this year, diluting the spirit of the norms governing such appointments in the rush to meet the Rs 40,000-crore divestment target.

Clause 49 of the listing agreement requires companies to have independent directors in half of the board positions. The government is under pressure to fast-track these appointments as it could raise only Rs 2,090 crore so far this year from PSU selloffs. Several companies that will be taken up for divestment in the coming months do not have the required number of such directors.

The move to appoint former bureaucrats as independent directors may hamper the autonomy of these PSUs in the long run, said a senior official with the department of public enterprises (DPE), the nodal agency for nodal agency for all central PSUs. "As most of these officials have been in the government, how do you expect them to exercise their independent view," he said, requesting anonymity. "There can also be vested interests involved."

A quick look at the recent director-level appointments reveals that the government has preferred to name former bureaucrats, rather than searching for competent people from the industry. Recently, the government appointed Sheela Bhide and AK Rath as independent directors at Coal India, slated to list this month. Both are former Indian Administrative Services (IAS)officers.

A large number of retired bureaucrats are serving as independent directors on the board of several PSUs such as Shipping Corporation of India, which recently appointed former financial services secretary Arun Ramanathan on its board. Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, which hit the bourses in April 2010, appointed two independent directors in March — Ravi Dhingra and Bharti Prasad — again, both are former IAS officers .

The trend is also evident in the appointment of directors in National Hydro Power Corporation, which hit the bourses in August 2009. Of the six directors, two are ex-IAS officers.

"A company needs to make a judgement on the purpose of appointing an independent director," said Planning Commission member Arun Maira. "Does it want the independent directors to add value to the company by backing its judgement by his/her sound domain knowledge, or is the independent director being appointed to provide a moral compass to the company."

Chiefs of several PSUs, however, do not feel that having former bureaucrats as independent directors will undermine their autonomy. "One should understand that these people know in and out of the government functioning. There are certain issues in which their expertise will come in handy," said the chairman of a PSU, who asked not to be named.

20 Oct, 2010, 10.30AM IST, Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar,ET Bureau

India should not expect too much from Obama's visit

It would be unwise to expect too much from President Obama's coming visit to India. Indians were delighted when Obama became the first black President of the US. Yet, we are now obliged to be more sober.

Indians instinctively tend to prefer US Democrats to Republicans. But Republican Presidents have generally been better for India than Democratic ones. Democratic Presidents have generally been far tougher on India with regard to nuclear issues and Kashmir, and far more protectionist in economic relations.

President Clinton charmed many during his visit to India. But what did he actually do for India? Very little. On coming to power his "cap, roll back, eliminate" formula asked India to cap its nuclear arms, then roll them back, and eventually eliminate them, giving the Big Five a nuclear arms monopoly. He thwarted India from getting cryogenic technology from Russia for its missile programme. When India conducted nuclear tests in 1998, Clinton imposed economic sanctions.

To Clinton's credit, he pressured Nawaz Sharif to withdraw Pakistani forces and end the Kargil War of 1999. But this was because he wanted to avert nuclear war, not because he was pro-India or anti-Pakistan. Indeed his foreign policy tended to equate India and Pakistan. He did no more than slap Pakistan on the wrist for aiding terrorism in Kashmir. He was willing to collaborate with the Taliban on building a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan.

Radical change came with the Presidency of George W. Bush and the cataclysmic events of 9/11. For the first time the US saw Islamic terrorism in the subcontinent as a threat not just to India but also to the US and the whole world. Pakistan was forced at gunpoint to collaborate with the US in Afghanistan, and reduce assistance to militants in Kashmir.

Coincidentally, India's IT industry rose meteorically. Major powers, including China, stopped regarding India as a chaotic, poor country begging for aid, and instead acknowledged it as a rising economic power. Soon, Indian GDP accelerated to over 9%, and it became a global R&D hub and major exporter of brain-intensive manufactures (autos, pharmaceuticals).

President Bush was quick to spot the strategic implications. He saw that India had the potential to become a major economic power, along with democratic values and a common interest with the US in combating Islamic terrorism. Further, he could see that China would within three decades become a mighty economic and military power, throwing its weight around in Asia. He visualised India as a strategic counter to China. And so he went for a radical transformation of India-US relations.

He abandoned the decades-old US policy of hyphenating India and Pakistan in foreign affairs, and forcing India to sign the NPT. Instead, to the dismay of powerful lobbies in the US, he expended a huge amount of political capital—at a time of diminishing popularity—to pushing through exemption for India from US laws on non-proliferation, and persuading the Nuclear Suppliers Group to sell nuclear equipment to India even though it was not a signatory to NPT. This was justified by the Bush vision that India needed to be cultivated as a long-range strategic partner of unrivalled importance in the Asian region.

Tuesday October 19, 01:20 PM     Source: Indian Express Finance
Foreign investment rules
By Reuters

India is seeing a sharp rise in portfolio inflows as investors in slow-growing developed markets look for higher returns in buoyant Asia. The inflows have sent the rupee to a 25-month high against the dollar but finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has said further controls on capital inflows are not needed yet. There are restrictions on capital inflows, specially in the debt market, although capital is needed to offset a current account that hit a record deficit in April-June. However, analysts say that if the tide of hot money shows signs of destabilising the economy India may consider further controls to stem the flow.

The following are rules about the regulation of foreign investor access to the capital markets:

FOREIGN INVESTORS

FIIs must register with Sebi and then apply to RBI for permission to buy equities or other securities. Overseas retail investors have limited access to the securities markets.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

All spot deals against the rupee must be settled onshore. The onshore forward market can be used to hedge commercial transactions by foreign companies operating in India. Regular importers/exporters can hedge up to 100% of the past thee years' imports/exports, or the previous year's turnover, (whichever is less). There is a service tax of 12.36% on foreign exchange transactions at the time of settlement.

Investors can bet on the currency offshore through non-deliverable forwards and interest rate swaps.

FIXED INCOME

The only overseas investors permitted to buy Indian government and corporate debt are non-resident Indians and registered FIIs. Total FII investment is limited to a ceiling of $10 billion in government debt and $20 billion in corporate debt. Both ceilings were raised by $5 billion on Sept. 23. Foreign investors have to pay a 20% withholding tax on interest income, unless tax treaties with other countries say otherwise.

EQUITIES

Individual FIIs can not hold more than 10 percent of paid-up capital in a single stock and total foreign institutional investment in an individual stock can not exceed more than 24% of equity, unless the Indian company has passed a special resolution to say otherwise. Dividend income is subject to a 10% withholding tax. Short-term capital gains tax is imposed on the sale of stocks held for less than one year.

OFFSHORE DERIVATIVES

Many foreign investors, particularly hedge funds, invest in India via offshore derivatives, rather than register as FIIs. The SEBI has strict disclosure mechanisms for institutions issuing these products, requiring them to provide details of the ultimate beneficiary client. In the past year, foreign banks Barclays and Societie Generale were banned from issuing these products for failing to make the appropriate disclosure. Barclays has since had its ban lifted.
Monday October 18, 03:13 AM     Source: Indian Express Finance
A higher stake on indian market
By Noor Mohammad

Global power equipment major Alstom is sharpening its focus on the Indian power market as the government focuses on facilitating domestic manufacturing capacity for power equipment. India's electricity requirement is projected to grow at a sustained pace over the long term as the economy remains on a high growth trajectory. This offers huge business potential for a company like Alstom, which provides complete power plant solutions.

The French company has been manufacturing and supplying high-duty boilers for power plants across the world. However, it had limited itself in India to providing design and engineering for turbines.

"Alstom has been operating in the Indian market for the last hundred years. However, it was not in the business of manufacturing turbines," Guy Chardon, senior vice-president, Alstom Power, told FE, on a recent visit to India.

But when the Indian government formulated a supercritical policy in 2009 to promote indigenous power equipment capacity, Alstom was quick to reposition itself as a supplier of turbines by forging a joint venture (JV) with Bharat Forge (BHARATFOR.NS : 376.85 +6.4), a global leader in forgings.

"We have to fit with the policies of the government," Chardon said.

The Alstom-Bharat Forge JV has emerged as the lowest bidder for NTPC's contract for the bulk supply of 660 mw supercritical turbine-generators, beating competition from Bhel (BHEL.NS : 2499 -3.95) and a JSW-Toshiba consortium. This should help Alstom establish itself in the Indian supercritical turbine-generator market.

Alstom holds a majority stake in the JV, which is setting up turbine-generator manufacturing facility of 5,000 mw a year in Mundra, Gujarat.

"We have brought the right technology and made the right investment in the JV. Bharat Forge brings on the table knowledge of the market and knowledge of metallurgy and forgings," Chardon said.

"NTPC is one of the best thermal power generators in the world. The fact that the JV has come out as the lowest bidder for NTPC's project proves that we are very competitive," Chardon argued.

"We want the JV to become a leading player in India. We have provided people to build and run the manufacturing facility and will also provide it all the technological know-how and know-why required to make that happen," Chardon said.

Alstom is pursuing its boiler supply business in India through Bhel. It has licensed its boiler manufacturing technology to Bhel under a 15-year agreement.

Alstom supplies key components of boilers to Bhel from its manufacturing facility in Durgapur, West Bengal. Besides, Alstom is also entitled to a royalty on the licensed technology.

Power plants are very complex. Buying equipment is not like any other products. The plant design and specifications have to match with the quality of key physical inputs like coal and water. Alstom's competitive edge lies in the fact that it is a total plant solution provider, and not just an equipment supplier.

While Alstom does equipment supply for coal and gas-based power projects through Bhel, it has been bidding for equipment supply for hydropower projects on its own. It is implementing India's largest hydropower project, Lower Subansiri in Arunachal Pradesh, for NHPC.

The company also provides its services for the renovation and modernisation of ageing power plants through its JV with NTPC.

Alstom has partnered with IT services major Infosys (INFOSYS.BO : 3019.25 +6.95) to set up an R&D centre at Bangalore, which would provide engineering solutions. Application of these innovations help increase life and efficiency of mechanical components in power plants.

The French multinational has 4,000 people working at its manufacturing plants and R&D centres in places like Vadodra, Dugapur and Bangalore.

Alstom can expand its manufacturing facility in India on requirement. "Once you have a base, you can also expand,"Chardon reasoned. Alstom will complete hundred years of its India operations in early 2011.

Wednesday October 20, 06:53 PM     Source: Indian Express Finance
India wants only 'highly' paid foreigners
By Agencies

In an attempt to prevent foreigners from getting non-technical jobs, the government has made it clear that citizens of other countries will be taken only for highly-skilled assignments in India and should draw an annual salary of over USD 25,000.

In an order, the Home Ministry nullified a Labour Ministry circular which allows 1 per cent foreigners among the total work force in any project with a minimum of five and maximum of 20 people.

"An employment visa is granted to a foreigner if the applicant is a highly skilled and/or qualified professional, who is being engaged or appointed by a company/organisation/ industry/undertaking in India on contract or employment basis," according to the Home Ministry guidelines.

Besides, the ministry made it clear that employment visa shall not be granted for jobs for which qualified Indians are available and also for routine, ordinary or secretarial/ clerical jobs.

"The foreign national being sponsored for an employment visa in any sector should draw a salary in excess of USD 25,000 per annum," it says.

However, this condition of annual floor limit on income will not apply to ethnic cooks, language teachers (other than English), staff working for the Embassy/High Commission concerned in India.

The Labour Ministry had ordered that visa applications could be cleared by the Indian missions abroad at their level if the foreign national is skilled and qualified professional, technical experts, senior executives or in managerial positions and those kinds of skills which are not available in India.

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MARKET UPDATE

Wednesday, 20 October
4:53 PM - Today, the domestic bourses replicated previous session's extreme volatile movements, and finally closed below the 6,000 mark on Nifty. The benchmark indices kicked off the session on a weak note tracking negative global cues. The Asian markets were dragged following the weak closing for the US bourses overnight. Soon after the weak start, the indices gained strength and surpassed the baseline. But the upmove didn't last long and the market entered a volatile range with a negative bias. The rangebound trading broke when hefty selling pressure was witnessed during the final hour and the benchmarks were seen tasting fresh intraday lows. In the sectorial front, the Metal space was hammered the most as the index lost more than 2 per cent amid profit booking. Besides, the Realty and FMCG sectors also witnessed substantial selling and declined by more than 1 per cent each. Both the Nifty and Sensex closed well below the neutral zone. The NSE Nifty closed below the 6,000 mark, while the BSE Sensex ended below the 19,900 level.

The leading Indian bourses belled the day''s trade in a downbeat mood as the benchmark indices witnessed a gap down opening, taking cues from the global markets. But, soon the markets pared the losses and surged to the positive terrain. But the rally didn't last long and the markets entered a volatile range. The negative opening for the European bourses further fuelled the market drag. During the final hour of trading, the major blow passed over the domestic bourses as the benchmark indices broke the range on the downward side and tasted new intraday lows. The overnight US market closed on a weak note as participants opted to overlook some better-than-expected corporate results and rebound by dollar, dampening the morning sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed with a loss of 165.07 points or 1.48 per cent at 10,978.62, while NASDAQ in...                 » Send to friends
1:53 PM - The Indian bourses have made a significant recovery from the mid session lows and is hovering around the baseline with high violatilty. Though the 30-share Sensex have slipped to the 19,900 level, S&P CNX NIFTY has managed to clinch at 6,000 levels. The BSE Mid-Cap is also rendering mild support to the broader space as it is up by more than 20 points while BSE small cap is trading flat. The key benchmark indices opened the day's session on negative note equities were witnessing a sluggish session, continuously swinging between the positive and negative terrain due to lack of buying activity at higher levels. Post midsession, the bourses have recovered to hover around the baseline.

Some selling pressure is also seen among the Metal, Realty, CD and FMCG counters as the indices slumped 1.60 per cent, 0.76 per cent, 0.49 per cent and 0.48 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, buying support is witnessed among the CG, IT, Oil & Gas and HC counters as the indices surged 0.48 per cent, 0.48 per cent, 0.37 per cent and 0.34 per cent respectively. Overall market breadth is negative as out of total 2,963 stocks traded in the BSE 1,282 stocks advanced, 1,581 declined while 100 remain unchanged.

At 1:30 PM, the BSE Sensex was trading down by 20.33 points or 0.10 per cent at 19962.79 while the NSE Nifty was down by 12.8 points or 0.21 per cent at 6014.5.

The BSE MIDCAP was at 8312.65 up by 20.96 points or by 0.25 per cent and the BSE SMLCAP trading at 10639.2 higher by 0.24 points or by 0.00 per cent.

On the economic front, direct tax collections surged 19 per cent during the first six months of current fiscal, increasing the chances of the government collecting the budgeted Rs. 4, 30,000 crore for the entire fiscal year and ending with a lower-than-budgeted fiscal deficit. The government was able to raise Rs 1, 81,758 crore during the period, up from Rs 1, 52,625 ...                 » Send to friends
1:13 PM - The Indian benchmark indices are trading flat with negative bias amid high volatility. Further, fall in the domestic market was also fuelled by mix trend in the Asian stocks as China hiked interest rate raising fears that Chinese growth will slow and weigh down the global economic recovery. Additionally, the US market has also closed significantly lower overnight. Besides, in domestic front, equities are experiencing a sluggish session due to lack of buying activity at higher levels and profit booking in global markets also kept the bulls under check. On the sectoral front, Metal and FMCG declined by 1.53 per cent and 0.92 per cent respectively. The broader market indices are trading negative as BSE Mid Cap and Small Cap are trading down by 0.06 per cent and 0.20 per cent respectively. The key benchmark indices are currently trading lower with BSE 30-share Sensex below the 19,910 mark, while Nifty is below the 6,000 mark.

At 12.27PM BSE SENSEX was trading at 19,909.29 down by 73.84 (0.37 per cent) and the NSE Nifty was trading at 5,997.45 down by 29.85 (0.50 per cent).

The BSE MIDCAP was at 8,286.93 down by 4.75 (0.06 per cent) and the BSE SMLCAP was at 10,617.76 down by 21.20 (0.20 per cent).

On the economic front, direct tax collections surged 19 per cent during the first six months of current fiscal, increasing the chances of the government collecting the budgeted Rs 4,30,000 crore for the entire fiscal year and ending with a lower-than-budgeted fiscal deficit. The government was able to raise Rs 1,81,758 crore during the period, up from Rs 1,52,625 crore in the year-ago period. Further, it has already reduced the borrowing estimates for the current year by Rs 10,000 crore in the schedule released last month. Meanwhile, indirect tax collections also grew with strong imports growth and near double-digit manufacturing growth stimulating customs and excise...                 » Send to friends
11:53 AM - The benchmark indices have been extremely volatile in trade and hovering around its previous closing value, after a sell-off in last few sessions. In Asian markets, Chinese stocks rebounded from their morning lows on Wednesday, shrugging off pervious surprise quarter-point rate hike by Beijing and helping other regional markets reverse or pare their losses. The U.S. markets fell as financials retreat amid reports that NY Fed wants Bank of America to repurchase mortgages along with a surprise rate hike by the Chinese government. Back on the domestic front, State Bank of India''s first retail bond issue of Rs 1000 crore was subscribed over 17 times on Monday. Direct tax collections rose by 19 per cent to Rs 181,758 crore in the first half of the current fiscal compared to the same period last year.

On the sectoral front, out of 13 indices, 9 the indices were in positive and the remaining 4 were in negative. Metal and Bankex stocks were the main gainers.

The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was positive. On BSE out of total shares traded 2,835 shares advanced were 1,390 while 1344 shares declined and 101 were unchanged.

As per NSE, top losers were Sterlite (down by 2.52 per cent), Sesa goa (down by 2.28 per cent), SAIL (down by 2.04 per cent), HDFC (down by 1.96 per cent), Tata Steel (down by 1.93 per cent), HCL Tech (down by 1.37 per cent) and Suzlon (down by 1.36 per cent) along with others.

At 11.39 AM BSE SENSEX was at 19,963.52 down by 19.6 points or by 0.09 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 6,014.80 down by 12.50 points or by 0.20 per cen...                 » Send to friends
10:53 AM - The Indian bourses have significantly slipped below the baseline, after recovering from the lowest level and hovering around the baseline for some time due to profit-booking by funds as well as retail investors following weak global cues. The tepid tone in the market is mainly influenced by a weak trend in other Asian markets after China raised its benchmark interest rates to dampen the sentiment. Shifting of funds by investors towards the primary market to subscribe to Coal India Ltd's Initial Public Offer, which is the country's largest public offer so far, also weighed on the sentiments. Though the 30-share Sensex have slipped to the 19,900 level, S&P CNX NIFTY has managed to clinch at 6,000 levels. The BSE Mid-Cap and Small cap are also rendering some support to the broader space as both of them are up by more than 15 points each. The key benchmark indices opened the day's session on negative note but managed to erase most of the early hour losses and bounce to a higher level in the positive zone and after that hovered around the baseline for some time. However, it slipped back to the negative zone now following weak cues from the global space.

Among the BSE some buying support is witnessed among the IT, Teck, Oil & Gas, CD and HC counters as the indices surged 0.67 per cent, 0.61 per cent, 0.52 per cent, 0.46 per cent and 0.43 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, selling pressure is also seen among the Metal, Bankex and FMCG counters as the indices slumped 0.69 per cent, 0.06 per cent and 0.02 per cent respectively. Overall market breadth is positive as out of total 2,620 stocks traded in the BSE, 1,429 stocks advanced, and 1,120 declined while 71 remain unchanged.

At 10.30 IST, the BSE Sensex was trading lower by 35.29 points or by (0.17 per cent) at 19,947.83 and the NSE Nifty was trading lower by 16.35 points or by (0.27 per cent) at 6,010.95.

The BS...                 » Send to friends
9:53 AM - The markets belled the day's trade in a downbeat note as the benchmark indices witnessed a gap down opening on the back of weak cues from Asia following an overnight loss in the US as market participants opted to overlook some better-than-expected corporate results and rebound by dollar. Soon after the opening the domestic bourses gained momentum and surpassed the baseline. In the domestic front, the Healthcare sector witnessed buying interest as the space gained by nearly 0.50 per cent. However, on the flipside, the Metal index retreated by more than 1 per cent as profit booking took place. The BSE Sensex was trading above the 19,950 level in the early trade with the NSE Nifty above the 6,000 mark.

In the corporate front, Alembic rose 1.61 per cent to Rs. 69.60 as the consolidated net profit of the company soared by 63.81 per cent to Rs 21.77 crore due to 27.56 per cent rise in total income to Rs 363.43 crore in Q2 September 2010 over the same period previous year.

At 09:40 IST, the BSE Sensex was trading up by 6.39 points or (0.03 per cent) at 19,989.52 and the NSE Nifty was trading up by 0.75 points or (0.01 per cent) at 6,028.05.

The BSE Mid Cap was trading up by 32.43 points or (0.39 per cent) at 8,324.11 while the BSE Small Cap was trading up by 33.60 points or (0.32 per cent) at 10,672.56.

Gainers from the BSE Sensex pack were Tata Power up by (1.12 per cent) at Rs. 1389.90 followed by Wipro up by (1.07 per cent) at Rs. 468.60, TCS by (1.05 per cent) at Rs. 977.40, HUL by (1.00 per cent) at Rs. 299.20 and ONGC by (1.00 per cent) at Rs. 1358.10.

The Overall market breadth was positive as 845 stocks were advancing while 658 stocks declined and 52 remained unchanged on BSE.

In the Asian front, the major indices were tra...                 » Send to friends
9:15 AM - On Tuesday, the US market witnessed worst single-session drop in two months as market participants opted to overlook some better-than-expected corporate results and rebound by dollar. Market opened lower resulting in a loss of more than 1 per cent during the first few minutes of trade as Tech and material stocks experienced extensive selling pressure. Tech stocks were dragged down as large-cap tech plays like Apple (AAPL 306.81, -11.19) dropped drastically despite a better-than-expected bottom line, as sellers chose to make profit following its recent streak of gains. Further, Dow component IBM (IBM 138.03, -4.80) observed its worst single-session fall in five months after setting a fresh 52-week high in the prior session. Meanwhile, financials retreated amid reports that NY Fed wants Bank of America to repurchase mortgages along with a surprise rate hike by the Chinese government. Stocks were under pressure throughout the session, but the sell-off picked up steam in the afternoon following Federal Reserve Bank of New York are seeking to force Bank of America to buy back about $47 billion in bad mortgages that were packaged by its Countrywide Financial unit. Shares of Bank of America tumbled 4.4 per cent on the news. With the dollar up sharply and the broader market inclined to sell, commodities slumped, such that the CRB Commodity Index tumbled 1.9 per cent for its worst loss since late June.

In the major indices, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed with a loss of 165.07 points or 1.48 per cent at 10,978.62, while NASDAQ index finished lower by 43.71 points or 1.76 per cent to 2,436.95. The S&P 500 (SPX) closed lower by 18.81 points or 1.59 per cent to 1,165.9.

Crude oil for November contract plunged 4.3 per cent, to settle at $79.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

December gold closed lower by 2.8 per cent at $1,336.00 per ounce. Further, December silver also closed lower by 3.4 per cent at $23.78 per ounce.                 » Send to friends
9:14 AM - The FIIs on Tuesday stood as net buyer in equity while net seller in debt. Gross equity purchased stood at Rs 4,166.3 Crore and gross debt purchased stood at Rs 485.5 Crore, while the gross equity sold stood at Rs 3,350.6 Crore and gross debt sold stood at Rs 823.0 Crore. Therefore, the net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs 815.7 Crore and Rs (337.5) Crore respectively.                 » Send to friends
http://in.finance.yahoo.com/investing

Supertech to bring Rs 2,500 crore IPO in next 12-15 months

Real estate firm Supertech today announced its plan to launch initial public offer (IPO) in the next 12-15 months to raise Rs 2,500 crore.

The Noida-based developer has appointed global property consultant Knight Frank for valuation of the company.

"We plan to bring IPO in the next 12-15 months. We have hired Knight Frank for valuation of the company," Supertech Chairman and Managing Director R K Arora told reporters here after unveiling a new corporate logo.

Supertech, which is currently developing 35 projects worth Rs 10,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, plans to file the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator SEBI in the next 6-8 months.

Asked about how much funds would be raised, he said: "The valuation of the company is being done. But based on initial estimate, the IPO size would be of Rs 2,500 crore. The company would dilute stake up to 20 per cent".

Emaar MGF, Ambience, Sahara Prime City, Lodha Developers are among other developers which are planning to launch IPO.

The fund would be utilised for pan-India expansion. "We will soon be launching two housing projects in Mumbai and Bangalore. We will build 1,800 units over 150 acre of land. The company has tied up with land-owner," he said.

The company would invest Rs 500 crore on Mumbai housing project and another Rs 200 crore in Bangalore.

Besides real estate, Supertech is planning to increase its presence in the hospitality sector. The company is bringing three Carlson Group of hotels in Rudrapur, Haridwar and Meerut having a total of 350 rooms. These three hotels would be operational by Match 2011.

It would come up with its chain of budget hotels 'Hyphen' in Meerut. Currently, there is one budget hotel in Haridwar.

Public Sector Disinvestment: A Greedy Government?

Published: April 22, 2010 in India Knowledge@Wharton

Public offers for Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) and Coal India Ltd. in the near future will go a long way in determining the success of the Indian government's efforts to raise billions of dollars through disinvestment this fiscal year. Various news organizations reported this week that Coal India would try to raise US$2.9 billion in a share sale in August. Preparations were already under way for a US$3.6 billion SAIL issue.
Each of the offers would constitute around a third of the US$9 billion that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee proposed to raise through disinvestment in his budget announced in February. The first few issues of 2010 had been disappointing, mainly because the government overpriced them, some industry observers say. The Steel Authority offer would try to entice retail investors with a 5% discount to what institutional buyers would have to pay.
India's recent history of big public-sector offers -- both initial public offerings (IPOs) like Coal India's and follow-on public offerings (FPOs) like the Steel Authority's -- has involved the significant participation of another government organization, the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). In the US$2.2 billion follow-on offer of NMDC (formerly known as National Mineral Development Corp.), LIC saved the day. While high-net-worth individuals and retail investors bid for only about a fifth of their allotments, and the interest of foreign institutional investors was nominal, LIC bid more than US$1.5 billion. The issue, which closed March 12, was subscribed 1.4 times. In early February, LIC pumped in US$950 million in the US$1.9 billion IPO of electricity generator NTPC.
Critics question whether the exercise can truly be called disinvestment. "The government has achieved its objective of getting the money," says Arun Kejriwal, director of Kejriwal Investment & Research Services, who advises potential subscribers to public offers. "But has there been a price discovery? Has the ownership become wider?" About LIC's role, Kejriwal says: "It is not in anybody's interest to have such a large holding in one entity." He notes that in the one issue that gave a substantial return on listing -- the follow-on offer of Rural Electrification Corp. (REC) -- LIC came away without a share because it underbid.
The 'Pretense' of an FPO
"Why make the pretense of having an FPO?" asks business daily The Financial Express. "All that the government needed to do was place the shares with LIC, which could then have gradually offloaded the shares into the market. Because ultimately, LIC has ended with the biggest chunk of NMDC stock, and that's what it will have to do."
The government, meanwhile, says it has no role in LIC's decisions. "LIC makes its decision based on commercial factors," disinvestment secretary Sumit Bose told The Economic Times. "It bid for REC as well, but it was outbid by other institutions. LIC's equity drive is not just for public sector companies. LIC is also looking at dispersed ownership and expanding its portfolio. It is a big investor in IPOs of private companies as well." According to Bose, there has been no government arm-twisting in LIC's bids. Kejriwal counters, "Does anybody ever admit to arm-twisting? But actions and outcomes speak for themselves."
Public-sector issues for 2009-2010 took in just shy of the government's US$5.4 billion target. But the Union Budget hiked the goal for the current fiscal year. (See "Prudent and Progressive': Why India's New Budget Gets More Cheers than Jeers.") If the response is poor and issues list below their offer price, reaching the target could be difficult. The government's objectives should be more than merely balancing its books, Kejriwal says. Recent IPOs by private-sector companies such as Persistent Systems and DQ Entertainment have been oversubscribed and have listed at significant premiums to their issue price. "They were attractively priced," he notes. Adds Ajay Parmar, institutional equities head at Emkay Global Financial Services: "It is always advisable to leave something on the table for investors."
So has the government been too greedy? "I think I partly agree that the issues are being priced aggressively," Parmar says. "The argument for aggressive pricing is that the investment is good for the long term and one can get a decent return in a three- to five-year horizon. But a wise investor would not be encouraged to buy the stock after knowing that it is likely to get listed below issue price. For a large global fund, however, it makes sense to invest even at higher prices. First, this kind of participation gives them ownership in companies that are sometimes monopolies or preferred vendors for the government. Second, global fund managers are normally required to put a sizable amount of money in any company, and acquiring such shares from the secondary market would mean a significant impact" on market prices.
Traditionally, some degree of underpricing has been the norm in many countries. In the United States, the average first-day return on IPOs was 7% in the 1980s, according to a paper by U.S. academics Tim Loughran and Jay R. Ritter. Returns doubled to almost 15% for most of the 1990s before jumping to 65% during the Internet bubble years of 1999 and 2000. From 2001 to 2003, it reverted to 12%. "We attribute much of the higher underpricing during the bubble period to a changing issuer objective function," the researchers noted in their 2003 study. "The reason that IPOs are underpriced varies depending upon the environment."
A Case for Aggressive Pricing
Rajesh Chakrabarti, assistant professor of finance at the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB), agrees that IPOs and FPOs have traditionally left some money on the table to create investor interest. This is particularly needed for little-known companies. "It is not likely to be important for large PSUs (public-sector undertakings) that should be known to informed investors," he says. "It is the retail investor who stays out unless convinced of a significant underpricing. Institutions, with or without government prodding, seem to be okay with it. For the government, underpricing an equity offer is tantamount to transferring taxpayers' wealth to investors who constitute less than 5% of the population. It is time we stopped worrying about retail investors. Their proportion, vis-à-vis institutions, is already quite high in India as opposed to, say, the U.S." The government needs to be aggressive in pricing public offers, Chakrabarti notes. "Massive oversubscriptions are evidence of pricing inefficiency and should not happen. Optimum pricing would indicate the issue scraping through. So, in brief, we cannot say pricing has been overly aggressive in these [public-sector] issues."
There are vested interests in overpricing. Promoters set a fund-raising target with an objective to dilute as little of the stake as possible. Merchant bankers set an unofficial price-per-share target with the promoters. If they can get more from investors, they get part of the amount as a bonus.
For public-sector issues, the price is set by an empowered group of ministers; the bankers' role is limited. But they, too, prefer a higher price. For such high-profile issues, bankers often forgo fees. First, they build goodwill with the government, which can help them in other ways. Second, it's good to have such big IPOs on their CVs when they bid for private-sector new-issue assignments. Third, public-sector IPOs are tallied in end-of-year rankings. Reputation and size count in this arena. The bigger the issue, the better. So there is a bias toward higher pricing.
A Lottery Culture
In a way, the government can be blamed for building expectations, critics say. New issues have long been regarded as a gamble. In the pre-liberalization era, subsidiaries of foreign companies were forced to dilute at prices set by the Controller of Capital Issues, a post now abolished. Shares of blue-chip companies were on offer at ridiculously low prices. Anyone who got an allotment made a fortune.
The lottery culture continued when the first public-sector undertakings were disinvested. Bundles were created of shares of different companies and these were auctioned to large investors. Some of the companies paid off handsomely, others were duds. "It's a matter of what you are used to," Kejriwal says.
In the meantime, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has tweaked the rules, confusing the situation. The NTPC issue followed a French auction system, which nobody quite understood. "I think we need to see French auction from the Indian perspective," says Emkay's Parmar. "Let us test it for some more issuances." But after the NTPC issue, SEBI clarified that the French auction was just a suggestion. NMDC went back to the traditional book-building route.
SEBI has also mandated that qualified institutional buyers, which include foreign institutional investors, will have to put in 100% of the bid amount on application instead of the 10% at present. While this is yet to take effect, some observers fear that liquidity problems may temper the response to IPOs. "Bringing the institutions at par with retail players in terms of application money may have a temporary impact because of liquidity issues, but it is unlikely to be a significant one," ISB's Chakrabarti says. But foreign institutional investors put more than US$4 billion into the Indian markets in March, so even a temporary impact could cause a change in sentiment. Overall, however, the creation of a level playing field has been welcomed -- if SEBI doesn't backtrack. "This is a great move on the part of SEBI," Kejriwal says. "It will be good for the markets and retail investors who have been becoming more selective."
Investors' becoming more selective is not a purely Indian phenomenon. According to The Wall Street Journal, "despite a bullish outlook for Brazil's economy, local companies are running an obstacle course when it comes to IPOs." The Financial Times reports that "Beijing's regulators have injected a few more jitters into China's nervy but always hyperactive stock markets – taking a swipe at 'irresponsible' pricing of IPOs.... Media quoted an official of the China Securities Regulatory Commission as saying institutions were 'irresponsibly driving up' IPO prices. The remarks come amid an increasingly lackluster investor response to mainland IPOs."
But in China and Brazil, the government budget doesn't hang in the balance. In India, the finance minister is using disinvestment to balance his books. He has received a pat on the back from Standard & Poor's, which has raised its outlook for India to stable. But that outlook could easily be reversed if the disinvestment plans -- and the fiscal deficit -- don't meet targets.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4469

News for Disinvestment India

Reuters India

Divestment may net Rs 59000 crore‎ - 18 hours ago

... Disinvestment Secretary Sumit Bose told reporters today that the ... Bose said after Coal India, the next public issue would be that of Power Grid ...

Rediff - 82 related articles

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Divestment may net Rs 59000 crore

‎

Rediff - 18 hours ago

... Disinvestment Secretary Sumit Bose told reporters today that the ... Bose said after Coal India, the next public issue would be that of Power Grid ...

Govt to kick off New Year with public offers of 3 navratnas‎ - Indian Express

Indian Oil plans record $4.3bn IPO‎ - Financial Times

Half of 2010-11 divestment target will be met by Dec‎ - The Hindu

Financial Express - Reuters

all 82 news articles »

Reuters India

Power Grid FPO to hit market on November 9

‎

Economic Times - 1 hour ago

"As suggested by DoD (Department of Disinvestment), it will be opening on ... Another state-run company Coal India Ltd is accepting bids for up to $3.5 ...

Seven more firms will be divested this year

‎

SteelGuru - 12 hours ago

Mr Sumit Bose disinvestment secretary said that "The companies Power Grid Corporation, Shipping Corporation of India, Hindustan Copper, Manganese Ore India, ...

Govt lines up Navratnas to achieve divestment target‎ - Hindu Business Line

all 2 news articles »

Hindu Business Line

Coal India unions maintain anti-IPO stand

‎

Sify - 12 hours ago

According to Coal India, the response from its employees has been weak. ... "Though the middle class is greedy for money, we are against disinvestment. ...

Video: Coal India IPO gets decent start NDTV Profit

A Better Offer‎ - Times of India

CIL mega IPO may not see full subscription of staff quota‎ - Economic Times

Deccan Herald - Livemint

all 631 news articles »

Reuters India

CIL IPO is fairly priced: Anil Rego

‎

Economic Times - 9 hours ago

I would expect to see some upside this time because of the Coal India IPO ... back to the IPO market there and also to the government disinvestment process. ...

Nifty falls below 6000 as metal, realty shares slide

‎

India Infoline.com - 4 hours ago

The government plans to raise about Rs 15000 crore from divestment of 10% stake in Coal India. In overseas markets, Chinese shares ended slightly higher in ...

Market eyes FII moves, Q2 earnings‎ - Economic Times

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Indian Express

MMTC out of this year's disinvestment list: Finance Ministry

‎

The Hindu - 3 days ago

"The disinvestment in MMTC will not happen this fiscal. ... "I expect Coal India IPO to do very well. There should be huge response from retail as well as ...

The Hindu

LIC's pension arm seeks PFRDA nod to invest in IPOs

‎

Times of India - 3 hours ago

The government targets to raise Rs 40000 crore through disinvestment this fiscal ... and about Rs 1000 crore through Engineers India follow-on public offer. ...

Govt seek to garner Rs 45k cr through divestment

‎

NDTV.com - 2 days ago

Describing disinvestment as a worldwide phenomenon, Pradhan said the ... The government had raised Rs 25000 crore through stake sale in Oil India, NMDC, ...

Divestment to generate Rs 45000 cr: Govt

‎

Indian Express - 1 day ago

It has mopped up over Rs 1000 crore by divesting stake in Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, and around Rs 1000 crore through Engineers India FPO. ...

Government lists more disinvestment candidates

‎

Hindu Business Line - Paul Noronha - 6 days ago

After public sector company Coal India's IPO, Power Grid will hit the equity markets with its follow-on offer in November this year, said the Disinvestment ...

Video: Coal India: Landmark IPO in Indian markets NDTV Profit

FinMin upbeat on CIL IPO, expects huge response‎ - Business Standard

Coal India IPO may be priced at Rs 220-240‎ - Economic Times

Financial Express - Times of India

all 578 news articles »

Moneycontrol.com

Disinvestment to Help India Meet Budget Aim

‎

Wall Street Journal - Mukesh Jagota - Prasanta Sahu - 28 Sep 2010

"Big-ticket issues will come now," federal Disinvestment Secretary Sumit Bose ... The government will sell stakes in Coal India Ltd., the nation's biggest ...

Big-ticket offers like ONGC, IOC, MMTC to jump disinvestment queue‎ - Economic Times

Finmin confident to meet Rs 40000 cr disinvestment target‎ - Economic Times

Finmin confident to meet Rs 40000-cr divestment target‎ - Rediff

Moneylife Personal Finance Magazine

all 18 news articles »

Rediff

Centre, states gear up for MOIL offer

‎

Times of India - Udit Prasanna Mukherji - Partha Sinha - 1 day ago

He is confidant of achieving Rs 40000 crore disinvestment target for this fiscal, ... The company is the largest producer of Manganese ore in India, ...

Manganese Ore IPO by November Steel Secretary‎ - Moneycontrol.com

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Moneycontrol.com

RBI divests 72.5% stake in NABARD to Government of India

‎

India Microfinance Business News - 2 days ago

With this divestment, the Reserve Bank's holding in NABARD has come down to one per cent in NABARD. The Government of India currently holds 99 % of the ...

India Microfinance Business News

Cabinet approves 10 % divestment in SCI

‎

The Hindu - 5 Oct 2010

The Centre on Tuesday embarked on a two-pronged strategy, allowing disinvestment of 10 per cent of its stake in Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and ...

CCEA approves disinvestment of part of Govt equity in SCI‎ - All India Radio

Cabinet nod for SCI selloff‎ - Economic Times

Govt to hive off 10% stake in SCI‎ - Times of India

Indian Express - India Infoline.com

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TopNews Singapore (press release)

Needed: A pipeline of PSU offers to cool abnormal market rally

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Moneylife Personal Finance Magazine - Sucheta Dalal - Debashis Basu - 6 days ago

But even the current focus and speed is fairly unusual for the government of India and the Disinvestment Minister is able to work with PSUs to complete the ...

Indian Government To Divest 10% In IOC, 5% In ONGC‎ - RTT News

Govt to divest 10% in IOC, 5% in ONGC‎ - Times of India

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Rediff

Unions threaten 1-wk strike against CIL divestment

‎

Business Standard - 26 Sep 2010

"We are opposing disinvestment in Coal India and have taken a decision that employees will go on a seven-day strike opposing the 10 per cent disinvestment," ...

Coal India employees to strike against divestment‎ - Sify

Coal India IPO could raise 3.5 billion dollars: report‎ - AFP

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Metals stocks push markets lower

‎

Equitymaster.com - 10 hours ago

Buoyed by strong response from the ongoing Coal India IPO, the government plans ... Other companies which are on the disinvestment radar include Power Grid ...

Finmin not for curbing FII fund inflows for now

‎

India Today - 2 days ago

The Coal India IPO will be followed by public offerings of other blue-chip ... prices and lower realisations from the disinvestment of public sector firms. ...

PSU fears employees could stay away

‎

Indian Express - 1 day ago

Coal India (CIL) has apprehensions that the employees reservation portion ... been resistance from the trade unions on the proposal of 10% dis-investment, ...

CIL IPO: Unsubscribed staff quota may be offered to rest‎ - Economic Times

all 4 news articles »

Public offers of big-ticket PSUs to be advanced

‎

Indian Express - 10 Oct 2010

As per the plan being finalised by the department of disinvestment, the initial public offer by Coal India Ltd is likely to be followed by offers by Power ...

Cos raised Rs 13938 cr from primary mkts during Apr-Aug: Sebi

‎

Livemint - 6 days ago

Other public issues in the pipeline include Coal India's forthcoming IPO and disinvestment in Power Grid, Hindustan Copper, Manganese Ore India Limited and ...

CIL unions cancel strike plans, to observe protest week

‎

Economic Times - 10 Oct 2010

NEW DELHI: Trade unions in Coal India on Sunday said they have cancelled proposed one-week strike from October 18 to oppose the planned divestment of the ...

2010: The year of IPOs?

‎

Equitymaster.com - 5 Oct 2010

The government's US$ 10 bn disinvestment programme has a lot of ground to cover up. Coal India's IPO targeting to raise Rs 160 bn is slated to be the ...

India Inc poised to raise record funds via issues‎ - Economic Times

In 2010, Record funds raised by India Inc.‎ - TopNews Arab Emirates

all 21 news articles »

Policy impetus for IndianOil likely ahead of follow-on offer

‎

Financial Express - Gireesh Chandra Prasad - 21 hours ago

The department of disinvestment, the petroleum ministry and IOC have set up a ... So far this year, upstream firms ONGC, GAIL and Oil India have given Rs ...

WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

‎

CITY A.M. - 16 hours ago

Sumit Bose, India's minister of disinvestment, said yesterday that in the next few weeks the government would appoint the bankers for the issue, ...

Indian government eying INR 40000 crore through PSU disinvestment

‎

SteelGuru - 4 Oct 2010

Mr Sumit Bose department of disinvestment secretary told reporters that "We ... Steel Authority of India Limited and Coal India Limited would be carried out ...

Take staff on board in selloffs, PSUs told‎ - Economic Times

all 4 news articles »

SAIL to meet challenges through new initiatives: Chairman at AGM

‎

Business Standard - 1 Oct 2010

Shareholders of Maharatna company Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) ... SAIL and offer for sale (disinvestment) of 10% of the Government's holding in the ...

Shareholders approve SAIL-MEL merger‎ - The Hindu

SAIL chief says FPO to hit market by year-end‎ - Indian Express

SAIL FPO likely before Dec holidays‎ - Economic Times

all 36 news articles »

Moneycontrol.com

Finmin rejects RBI proposal on companies acquiring regional rural ...

‎

Economic Times - 4 days ago

... regional rural banks, a suggestion mooted by the Reserve Bank of India in a recent discussion paper on new bank licences. "The disinvestment mandate is ...

Manganese Ore files IPO draft prospectus with Sebi

‎

Business Standard - 27 Sep 2010

The government aims to raise Rs 40000 crore through divestment this fiscal. The other disinvestment candidates for FY10 include Coal India, MMTC, ...

News Roundup: Tata, L&T In Fray For Deutsche Postbank

‎

VC Circle - 1 day ago

... IOC shares to help it meet its disinvestment target of Rs 40000 crore this fiscal. ... (HinduBusinessLine) StanChart To Operate Stock Exchange In India ...

SCI appoints SBI Caps IDFC ICICI Sec as lead managers

‎

Moneycontrol.com - 6 Oct 2010

Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will file prospectus for its ... The FPO will include 10% disinvestment by the Centre and an issue of 10% equity shares. ...

ICICI Sec, HDFC and SBI Caps are appointed by SCI as lead managers‎ - TopNews Singapore (press release)

all 2 news articles »

Moneycontrol.com

Pipavav, ABG, Goodearth, Bharati offer stakes to Shipping ...

‎

Daily News & Analysis - Amritha Pillay - 6 Oct 2010

... have offered stakes to state-owned Shipping Corporation of India's (SCI) in ... "We expect the disinvestment and the FPO to happen this fiscal though ...

Sensex in India Drops; L&T and Bajaj Auto Net Soar

‎

123Jump.com - Chandrasekhar Atreya - 1 day ago

Stocks in Mumbai declined for the fourth day in a row as Coal India public ... meet its disinvestment target of Rs 40000 crore in the current fiscal year. ...

94% of PSU offerings since 2003 gained over 10% on debut trade

‎

Economic Times - 4 Oct 2010

Aiming to raise Rs 40000 crore through PSU disinvestment this fiscal, the government is divesting its stake in many state-owned firms, including Coal India, ...

Change of track

‎

Indian Express - 1 day ago

... one other department of the government of India and their accounts should be ... announcements. regionalize and start disinvestment in the railwaysBy: ...

Ennore Port in Talks with IPO for Expansion Funds (India)

‎

Dredging Today - 5 days ago

Ennore Port, India's only corporatised major port, is in talks with the Centre for an ... Once the ministry agrees, the Disinvestment Department in finance ...

Dredging Today

Ennore eyes IPO to fund expansion programme

‎

Economic Times - 2 days ago

Similarly, the Centre has approved Steel Authority of India and Coal India to ... Once the ministry agrees, the Disinvestment Department in finance ministry ...

BIPA Signed Between India and Sudan; Comes Into Force from Today

‎

Press Information Bureau (press release) - 2 days ago

BIPA between India and Sudan was signed on 22nd October 2003 by the Minister of Disinvestment and Communication and Information during his visit to Khartoum ...

No change in bidding system for i-bankers

‎

Livemint - Anirudh Laskar - 4 Oct 2010

Disinvestment secretary Sumit Bose has ruled out any change in the bidding ... (FPO) of Engineers India Ltd but Bose is confident of meeting the target. ...

Centre cracks whip on Games Village builder

The Hindu - ‎1 hour ago‎
PTI PTI Officials of developer Emaar-MGF at the CWG Village premises in April 2010. The government has ordered confiscation of Rs. 183 crore bank guarantee and initiation of legal action against Emaar-MGF for "deficiencies" and "delays" in construction ...

Emaar-MGF denies bank guarantee confiscated by DDA

Hindustan Times - ‎1 hour ago‎
Emaar MGF, the private developer of Commonwealth Games Village, on Wednesday denied that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had confiscated its bank guarantee worth Rs 183 crore. The company said that the guarantee had only been extended till Dec 31 ...

ITDC staff urinating in clean toilets, wrote EMAAR before Games

NDTV.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
New Delhi: In a press statement, real estate developer EMAAR-MGF has contested the landscape of charges being leveled at it by the government. For one, EMAAR says its Rs. 183-crore deposit to the government has not been confiscated or frozen by the ...

Fresh salvo against Emaar MGF CWG village

Moneycontrol.com - ‎2 hours ago‎
As the centre tightens the noose over all the mess in the run up to the games at the Commonwealth village, the fight between its builder Emaar MGF and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is intensifying with every passing day. ...

CWG scam: Emaar-MGF under scanner, ED may summon Bhanot

Times of India - ‎51 minutes ago‎
NEW DELHI: The Rs 183 crore bank guarantee furnished by Commonwealth Games village builder Emaar-MGF was on Wednesday ordered to be confiscated on charges of irregularities, as the ED prepared to question top officials of the Organising Committee for ...

CWG: EMAAR's response to charges of poor construction

NDTV.com - ‎2 hours ago‎
New Delhi: Real estate developer EMAAR-MGF may have to forfeit 183 crore it deposited with the government of India as a bank guarantee for the Commonwealth Games Village that it built. The government says it has frozen the account. ...

CWG Village builders penalised Rs 183 cr

IBNLive.com - ‎2 hours ago‎
New Delhi: The guests have left the Commonwealth Games Village and the ghosts are returning to haunt the builder Emaar MGF and DDA which were awarded the project. The Urban Development Ministry which governs the DDA has fired the first salvo against ...

Emaar MGF dismisses irregularities charges over CWG Village

Economic Times - ‎2 hours ago‎
NEW DELHI: Facing the threat of confiscation of its Rs 183 crore bank guarantee for alleged irregularities in the construction of Commonwealth Games Village , the builder Emaar MGF on Wednesday dismissed all charges against it saying all quality ...

Emmar-MGF fmay forfeit Rs183 crore for shoddy work at CWG village

domain-B - ‎2 hours ago‎
The government is likely to take punitive action against real estate developer Emmar-MGF for shoddy execution of the project for the development of the Commonwealth Games Village. Urban development minister Jaipal Reddy is reported to have directed the ...
All 31 related articles »

CWG
Commonwealth Games village
Emaar Properties
Delhi
Jaipal Reddy

Timeline of articles

Number of sources covering this story

	CWG scam: Emaar-MGF under scanner, ED may summon Bhanot ‎51 minutes ago‎ - Times of India
	Emaar-MGF's Rs 183-crore bank guarantee confiscated ‎3 hours ago‎ - Hindustan Times
	Games Village builders face ministry's wrath ‎17 hours ago‎ - Times of India
	DDA blames EMAAR for problems with Games Village ‎Oct 19, 2010‎ - NDTV.com

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NDTV.com

NDTV.com
Indian Express
NDTV.com
Oneindia
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Rupee reverses gains on corp dollar demand oil

Moneycontrol.com - ‎42 minutes ago‎
The rupee reversed gains on Wednesday as corporates stepped up dollar purchases on expectations the rupee will weaken going ahead when unsuccessful bidder's at the country's largest share sale repatriate funds. The partially convertible rupee closed at ...

Demand for Coal India issue unprecedented: Enam

Moneycontrol.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
The Coal India IPO has seen heavy-duty demand. India's biggest IPO has been subscribed at 11.4 times on day 3. The QIB book which closes today has seen blockbuster demand of over 24 times. The response has been quite unprecedented in Indian capital ...

Rupee remains stable against dollar for second day

The Hindu - ‎2 hours ago‎
PTI Helped by frenzied capital inflows, the rupee closed stable for the second day today at 44.34/35 against the US currency despite weak domestic equity markets. In another day of erratic movements at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, ...

Coal India IPO heavily oversubscribed on third day

Reuters - Sumeet Chatterjee, Prashant Mehra - ‎1 hour ago‎
MUMBAI (Reuters) - State-run Coal India's IPO to raise as much as $3.5 billion was nearly 12 times subscribed on by late Wednesday as big investors rushed into the offer during the final hours for institutional ...

Subscribe to Coal India IPO Hem Securities

Moneycontrol.com - ‎5 hours ago‎
India's largest coal producing company Coal India's (CIL) initial public offer (IPO) has opened for subscription. Hem Securities has recommended subscribing the issue, in its research report. The company aims to raise more than Rs 15000 crore through ...

Coal India IPO subscribed 11.4x, sees $ 35 bn demand

Moneycontrol.com - ‎5 hours ago‎
India's largest coal producing company Coal India's (CIL) initial public offering (IPO) has received overwhelming response from qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). It has been subscribed 11.4 times so far, reports CNBC-TV18. Reserved portion of QIBs ...

Coal India subscribed 11.4 times

India Infoline.com - ‎5 hours ago‎
Coal India issue sees total demand of US$35bn. The issue has been subscribed 11.4 times. The qualified institutional bidders (QIB) section was subscribed 24 times. The bids for retail HNI section to close on Oct 21. The company entered the capital ...

Coal India IPO oversubscribed 10.39 times on day 3

Tehelka - Lalatendu Mishra - ‎1 hour ago‎
Institutional investors on Wednesday committed huge amounts to India's biggest public offering, the Coal India Ltd (CIL) initial public offering (IPO), and in the process the IPO got oversubscribed by 10.39 times on the third day. ...

Coal India 40% cheaper than peers: Sanju Verma

Moneycontrol.com - ‎Oct 17, 2010‎
The Coal India initial public offer which has opened for subscription today has kept experts busy. Though most of them are bullish on it, some experts are negative on the country's largest IPO (previously Reliance Power was the biggest IPO, ...

Coal India — IPO: Invest at cut-off

Hindu Business Line - ‎Oct 17, 2010‎
Attractive valuations, a near monopoly status and a widening demand supply gap in the domestic coal market make Coal India an offer that investors should not miss. Investors can subscribe to the initial public offer of Coal India, the only unlisted ...
All 200 related articles »

Coal India IPO
Initial public offering
Institutional investor

Timeline of articles

Number of sources covering this story

	Rupee reverses gains on corp dollar demand oil ‎42 minutes ago‎ - Moneycontrol.com
	Coal India IPO institutional book fully covered ‎Oct 19, 2010‎ - Economic Times
	Coal India has potential for listing gains: Bonanza ‎Oct 19, 2010‎ - Myiris.com
	Coal India 34% subscribed on Day 1 ‎Oct 18, 2010‎ - Economic Times
	Metal stocks may get hammered due to CIL IPO Anand Rathi ‎Oct 18, 2010‎ - Moneycontrol.com
	Attractively priced CIL poised to touch Rs 300 Udayan ‎Oct 17, 2010‎ - Moneycontrol.com
	Coal India 40% cheaper than peers: Sanju Verma ‎Oct 17, 2010‎ - Moneycontrol.com
	Market to look at Q2 numbers, CIL issue for direction: Analysts ‎Oct 17, 2010‎ - Economic Times

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Coal India IPO gets decent start
NDTV Profit - Oct 19, 2010 Watch video
<div class="video-thumb thumbnail"><a class="js-link thumbnail-toggle" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="return false;"><img src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/coqDLT-GX44/default.jpg" alt="" class="thumbnail" width="120" height="90"> <div class="icon play-icon"></div></a></div> <div class="video-details"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqDLT-GX44">Coal India IPO gets decent start</a> <span class="source">NDTV Profit</span>  -  Oct 19, 2010 <div class="icon video-icon"></div> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coqDLT-GX44">Watch video</a></div>

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	Rupee reverses gains on corp dollar demand oil ‎42 minutes ago‎ - Moneycontrol.com
	Coal India IPO institutional book fully covered ‎Oct 19, 2010‎ - Economic Times
	Coal India has potential for listing gains: Bonanza ‎Oct 19, 2010‎ - Myiris.com
	Coal India 34% subscribed on Day 1 ‎Oct 18, 2010‎ - Economic Times
	Metal stocks may get hammered due to CIL IPO Anand Rathi ‎Oct 18, 2010‎ - Moneycontrol.com
	Attractively priced CIL poised to touch Rs 300 Udayan ‎Oct 17, 2010‎ - Moneycontrol.com
	Coal India 40% cheaper than peers: Sanju Verma ‎Oct 17, 2010‎ - Moneycontrol.com
	Market to look at Q2 numbers, CIL issue for direction: Analysts ‎Oct 17, 2010‎ - Economic Times

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Wednesday, October 20, 2010