Mumbai, August 17
State-run Coal India today toppled Reliance Industries as the country's most valued company, ending billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led corporate giant's over four-year rein at the top of the market valuation charts.

With an over 2 per cent gain in its share price, the public sector coal giant today achieved a market value of Rs 2,51,296 crore, which was over Rs 4,000 crore more than that of private sector energy giant Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

RIL shares ended marginally down by 0.55 per cent, commanding a market valuation of Rs 2,47,129 crore at the end of today's trade at the BSE.

Interestingly, RIL had toppled state-run ONGC over four years ago to become the country's most valued firm, and now it has been overtaken by another public sector major as the biggest company in terms of market valuation.

ONGC is the country's third most valued company at present with a market capitalisation of Rs 2,37,200 crore.

A company's market capitalisation is determined by multiplying its share price with total number of shares.

Coal India's market value exceeded that of RIL for the first time at around mid-day by about Rs 200 crore and it further extended its lead during rest of the trading session.

A few minutes later, CIL's market valuation exceeded that of RIL at BSE also. At around 1206 hrs, RIL's market cap in BSE trade stood at Rs 2,50,468 crore, slightly lower than CIL's Rs 2,50,538 crore.— PTI

Washintong, August 17
US President Barack Obama will announce a double-barrelled economic package that aims to boost hiring and find budget savings that surpass the $1.5 trillion goal of a congressional deficit-cutting committee.

His ideas will be outlined in a major speech immediately after the Sept. 5 Labor Day holiday, White House officials said.

While no final decisions have been made, it is likely the jobs proposals will include tax cuts for businesses that hire new employees, tax cuts for the middle class, and support for sectors of the economy that are falling behind, the officials said.

The measures are also expected to include investments in infrastructure beyond the construction projects the president has been repeatedly calling for as well as some assistance for the long-term unemployed.

The White House also suggested that Obama would push the congressional "super committee" — set up this month to find more budget savings under the debt ceiling deal — to go beyond their $1.5 trillion target.

He plans to call again for a ‘balanced approach’ to reducing the deficit, with revenue increases alongside spending cuts, the officials said, also suggesting job measures may be included to offset painful cuts. The super committee is due to unveil a compromise package on November 23 that must be agreed by Congress by December 23. — Reuters

New Delhi, August 17
Beetel Teletech, part of India's Bharti Enterprises that controls top mobile carrier Bharti Airtel, launched a tablet computer priced at Rs 9,999 ($220) on Wednesday.

The 7-inch tablet, branded Beetel Magiq, runs on Google's Android operating system and supports both 3G and Wi-Fi networks, Beetel said in a statement.

Beetel is one of the largest makers of fixed-line phones in India.

A company spokesman said China's Huawei was their manufacturing partner for the tablet.

India is the world's second-biggest and the fastest-growing market for mobile phones, although computer penetration is still low.

Apple Inc began iPad sales in India in January this year, while Samsung Electronics launched its Galaxy Tab in India in November last year.

Bharti Airtel's closest rival, Reliance Communications this month launched a tablet computer priced at Rs 12,999.— Reuters

New Delhi, August 17
The government is likely to decide on the rights issue proposal of country’s largest lender State Bank India (SBI) in the next three months to fund its capital requirement for future business growth.

“We will be taking a call on rights issues or other options through which capital can be infused in SBI within next 2-3 months,” official sources said.

The government would also examine other route of capital infusion like follow-on public offer (FPO), Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), etc, taking into view the second quarter provisional numbers.

As of June 2011, the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of the bank stood at 11.6 per cent. Of this, Tier-I capital stood at 7.6 per cent at the end of first quarter, against the government’s desire of minimum 8 per cent.

Last week, SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri had said, "We are already in a dialogue with the government for the rights issue to bring new Tier-I...it should happen by the end of this fiscal".— PTI

New Delhi, August 17
Indian fast moving consumer goods firms will continue to look for acquisitions as most of them are gearing up to expand amid intense domestic competition, according to rating agency Crisil.

“Major FMCG players in India will continue to pursue acquisitions given the significant scope for expansion in under-penetrated product segments and geographies, and the intensifying competitive pressures in the domestic market,” Crisil said.

The agency said homegrown players will continue to scout for small to medium-sized acquisitions, mostly in populated developing nations where the targets are attractively priced.

“The overseas acquisitions by CRISIL-rated FMCG players, such as Dabur India and Marico in the recent past, have strengthened the acquirers' business risk profiles by enhancing their product offerings and geographical reach,” CRISIL Ratings Director Nagarajan Narasimhan said.

Moreover, prudent funding of acquisitions has helped the acquiring companies maintain stable financial risk profiles and credit quality, he said.

The agency also said Indian subsidiaries of global FMCG majors may pursue domestic targets as the size and cost of acquisition targets are unlikely to be constraining factors for these players.

Last year, there were 13 major acquisitions at an estimated cost of over Rs 5,000 crore.— PTI

New Delhi, August 17
The Centre is considering proposals from state governments to allow non-basmati rice exports of more than one million tonnes, Food minister K V Thomas said today.

Last month, the government had allowed export of one million tonnes of non-basmati rice at a minimum export price of USD 400 per tonne. However, the shipments have been put on hold following Delhi High Court order.

"There has been pressures from different states to allow export of additional quantity of rice to ease storage problem in view of bumper output of the grain this year," Thomas told reporters here.

He said the government was considering these proposals for grant of permission for additional quantity of rice.

Andhra Pradesh has demanded more exports as the state has revised upwards its rice production estimates to 11 million tonnes from the earlier forecast of 8.5 million tonnes, the minister said.

Similarly states like West Bengal and Orissa have also witnessed bumper rice crop, which has exerted pressure on their limited storage capacity of the grains, he pointed out.

India's rice production increased to 95.32 million tonnes in 2010-11 crop year (July-June) as against 89.09 tonnes in the previous year.

Asked about the legal tangle involved in export of one million tonnes of non-basmati rice, Thomas said this falls in the jurisdiction of Commerce Ministry which is looking into the matter.— PTI

New Delhi, August 17
After agreeing to accept all government conditions to get approval for stake sale in its Indian unit to Vedanta Resources, UK’s Cairn Energy Plc has written to state-owned ONGC seeking a no-objection certificate for the deal by September 21.

The government wants Cairn India to agree to pay royalty and cess on its all important Rajasthan block and seek consent of partner ONGC before its control can be transfered to London-listed mining group Vedanta.

Cairn India is opposed to the riders but its parent firm has demanded these be voted by shareholders where it along with Vedanta will vote for their acceptance.

Cairn Energy wants to wrap up the transaction quickly.— PTI

New Delhi, August 17
In good news for air travellers flying low-cost airlines, there will be no extra charge for the choice of their seats any more. This was stated by Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi in Lok Sabha today.

He said it was observed that few scheduled airlines were charging an amount of Rs 50 to Rs 4,000 for seat assignment, which was over and above the fare charge by the airlines. “To maintain transparency in tariff publication, Directorate General of Civil Aviation has written to scheduled domestic airlines on July 15 to withdraw such charges,” Ravi said in his reply.

Air India Express, SpiceJet, Go Air and IndiGo have withdarwn seat assignment, he stated.— PTI

BRIEFLY

V2 Retail posts Rs 4.77 cr loss in Apr-Jun
Mumbai: V2 Retail Ltd, formerly known as Vishal Retail Ltd, today posted a net loss of Rs 4.77 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. During the three months ended June 30, 2010, the company's net loss stood at Rs 19.47 crore, it said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.— PTI

DLF may challenge CCI order
New Delhi: A day after CCI imposed a fine of Rs 630 crore for abusing its dominant position, realty giant DLF today said the company is exploring all options, including challenging the order before Competition Appellate Tribunal.— PTI

AEGON Religare Life Insurance plan
Chandigarh: AEGON Religare Life Insurance today announced the launch of an online protection plan on a unit-linked platform called the AEGON Religare iMaximize Plan. This plan is available exclusively online and is specially targeted at high net-worth individuals (HNI) who are looking at protection of both, life as well as their goals and aspirations.— TNS

Jet-Kingfisher alliance clean: CCI
New Delhi: Monopoly watchdog CCI has found no competition issue in the 2008 strategic alliance between private carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines. The Competition Commission of India (CCI), which had ordered a probe into the alliance in 2009, has said that "no violation of either Section 3 or Section 4 is found to have been established against Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines and matter deserves to be closed".—PTI

Mahindra posts profit of Rs 662 crore
New Delhi: Diversified business house Mahindra & Mahindra today reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 662.3 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.— PTI