Mumbai, October 29
The benchmark Sensex shot up to an almost three-year high today, jumping 359 points as investors cheered the RBI decision to increase a key policy rate to tame inflation and at the same time enhance liquidity for banks.

Financial stocks ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC and State Bank of India contributed to almost half of the Sensex's gains. Auto stocks Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the top gainers on the index.

All 13 BSE sectoral indices advanced, led by interest rate-sensitive bank, realty and auto shares.

The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex initially traded in a narrow range and surged after the RBI policy review to settle at 20,929.01, a gain of 358.73 points or 1.74%. It was the highest close since the index finished at 20,932.48 on November 9, 2010.

The Sensex had tumbled 324 points over the previous five sessions.

The 50-share CNX Nifty on the National Stock Exchange flared up 119.80 points, or 1.96%, to end at an almost three-year high of 6,220.90. The SX40 on the MCX Stock Exchange closed 195.44 points higher at 12,445.13.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said it was important to break the spiral of rising price pressures to curb the erosion of financial savings and strengthen the foundations of growth.

"The market agrees with Rajan's decision that inflation must be tamed before we focus on growth," said Shrinivas Viswanath, co-founder of RKSV. "We may be on the path towards recovery as many things seem to be falling in place." The RBI seems to be tackling WPI inflation and the FY15 growth forecast pretty aggressively, said Viswanath.

The RBI increased the policy repo rate to 7.75% and cut the marginal standing facility rate to 8.75%, as was widely expected. It also increased liquidity provided through seven-day and 14-day term repos.

Short-covering ahead of the expiry of October futures and options contracts on Thursday also aided market sentiment. — PTI

New York, October 29
As many as 20 business families have found a place on latest list of India's 100 richest, with a collective fortune of $55 billion.

While Forbes magazine's India Rich List remains dominated by individual business leaders, those making the mark along with their family members are also quite a few and also include three in the top 10 — Hinduja Brothers (6th place), Adi Godrej & family (8th position) and Sunil Mittal & family (10th).

Individually, Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani continued to be India's wealthiest for sixth year in a row, with a networth of $21 billion while his younger sibling Anil Ambani bagged the 11th position with a fortune of $ 6.2 billion.

According to Forbes, Hinduja Brothers with a fortune of $9 billion scored the sixth rank, while Adi Godrej & family with a net worth of $8.3 billion are spotted at the eighth place. Sunil Mittal & family are ranked at 10th spot with a wealth of $6.6 billion.

Families in the top 20 list included Shashi & Ravi Ruia who bagged the 12th position with a wealth of $5.5 billion, while Savitri Jindal & family stood at the 14th rank with a fortune of $4.9 billion and Bajaj Family at 20th spot with a wealth of $3.1 billion.

As per US-based business magazine Forbes' annual list of India's 100 richest, released today, their total wealth grew by a modest 3% from a year ago to $259 billion.

Besides, the list comprises of 20 business families with a collective fortune of $55.52 billion. Out of these 20 families, majority of them are billionaires and only four are millionaires.

"Growth in wealth was lacklustre due to India's stumbling economy, which has been hit by inflation and a falling rupee," Forbes said. — PTI

New Delhi, October 29
Vodafone Plc of the UK today sought FIPB approval to invest Rs 10,141 crore in raising its stake in the Indian arm to 100%.

"Vodafone confirms it has filed an application with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to increase its holding in Vodafone India Ltd (VIL) from 64.38% to 100%," Vodafone said.

The telecom major said it has always maintained that it would like to increase its holding in the business and the plan of further investment demonstrates Vodafone's long-term commitment to India.

"The total inflow of foreign investment into India as a result of the proposed transactions will be approximately Rs 10,141 crore. Following the completion of these transactions, Vodafone will also consider providing additional funding to VIL by subscribing to equity shares of VIL," Vodafone said.

The UK-based firm will buy minority investors including billionaire industrialist Ajay Piramal, who holds 11% stake in Vodafone India. The remaining 25% interest is with undisclosed minority shareholders, who are understood to include Analjit Singh, chairman of Vodafone India. — PTI

New Delhi, October 29
NTPC today posted nearly 21% drop in its net profit at Rs 2,492 crore for the quarter ended September 30.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 3,142 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Total income decreased to Rs 17,059.4 crore during the period as against Rs 17,170.9 crore in same quarter of the last financial year (2012-13). — PTI

New Delhi, October 29
IT spending in India is projected to reach $71.3 billion in 2014, a 5.9% increase from the $67.4 billion forecast for 2013, according to the research firm Gartner.

IT services will record the strongest revenue growth at 12.1%, software revenue will grow 10% and the telecommunication services segment that accounts for 42.1% of the Indian ICT market, is set to grow 2% in 2014.

As per Peter Sondergaard, senior vice-president and global head of research at Gartner,“ "The digital world is here and this results in every budget being an IT budget. Every company is being a technology company, every business is becoming a digital leader and every person is becoming a technology company. This is resulting in the beginning of an era of the digital industrial economy.”

“The Digital Industrial Economy will be built on the foundations of the Nexus of Forces (which includes a confluence and integration of cloud, social collaboration, mobile and information) and the Internet of Everything by combining the physical world and the virtual,” Sondergard said.

The IT market in India is the third-largest among emerging economies and the fourth-largest among developing and mature Asia/Pacific countries.

The telecommunications services market which includes fixed and mobile, data and voice services will continue to be the largest IT segment in India with IT spending forecast to reach $30 billion in 2014.

The devices market, which includes mobile phones, PCs, tablets and printers is expected to total $23.5 billion in 2014, a 6% increase from 2013. IT services will record the fastest growth among the various segments, and it is projected to grow 13% to reach $11.2 billion in 2014. Software will account for $4.1 billion in revenue.

The Indian devices market will emerge as the largest segment of IT spend in India by 2017. Growth within this segment will be driven by the sale of mobile phones which will be among the fastest growing sub segments within the Indian IT industry.

New Delhi, October 29
The Telecom Ministry will take a call next week on spectrum base price for the third round of auction, which is expected within a few months, a top official said here today.

"Spectrum prices will be decided next week," Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui told reporters after meeting Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram.

The inter-ministerial panel Telecom Commission was to take a call on spectrum today but the meeting was cancelled.

Telecom regulator TRAI has recommended up to 62% cut in base price for premium spectrum in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata service areas. Vodafone holds it in all the three metros and Airtel in two.

TRAI has recommended reduction of about 37% in base price of 2G spectrum that was freed from the cancellation of 122 telecom licences by the Supreme Court in February 2012 in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

The regulator, however, has not recommended the auction of CDMA spectrum which saw only one buyer in March 2013 auction.

According to sources, the Finance Ministry representative in the Commission has asked for indicative base price for all CDMA and premium 2G spectrum in all circles that were not incorporated in recommendations made by TRAI. — PTI

Mumbai, October 29
Shares of Maruti Suzuki India today shot up by almost 9% its biggest single-day gain this year, after the company's net profit surged nearly three-fold for the quarter ended September 30.

Maruti Suzuki's scrip gained 8.19% to settle at Rs 1,636.90 on the BSE. During the day, the stock surged 8.88% to Rs 1647.40.

At the NSE, the stock rose by 8.75% to close at Rs 1,645.75.

In the process, the company's market capitalisation swelled by Rs 3,743 crore to Rs 49,447 crore. The scrip was the best performer among the blue-chips on both the key indices — Sensex and Nifty — during the morning trade. — PTI

New Delhi, October 29
Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily has approved taking away five gas discoveries from Reliance Industries in the KG-D6 block over the company's failure to meet timelines but has allowed it to retain three other finds.

The five discoveries — D4, D7, D8, D16 and D23 — hold 0.805 trillion cubic feet of reserves, and are worth $10 billion.

Moily in the October 9 order, however, agreed with RIL's contention that the company would retain D29, D30 and D31 gas finds to conduct tests for their confirmation, sources said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Gold falls on sluggish demand
New Delhi: Gold prices dropped by Rs 420 to Rs 31,930 per 10 grams in the national capital on Tuesday owing to slackened demand driven by weak global trend and investors shifting their funds to surging equities. Silver also declined by Rs 210 to Rs 49,590 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units. — PTI

Tata Motors unveils upgraded Sumo
New Delhi: Tata Motors on Tuesday launched an upgraded version of its entry level SUV Tata Sumo Gold, with price starting from Rs 5.93 lakh onwards (ex-showroom, New Delhi). The new Tata Sumo Gold, which is available in five variants, has been conceived keeping in mind passenger comfort and maximum all-round performance, Tata Motors said. — PTI

Rupee bounces back to 61.31/$
Mumbai: The rupee on Tuesday bounced back 21 paise, its biggest gain in more than two weeks, to close at 61.31 against the dollar after the RBI hiked a key interest rate to curb price rise and enhanced liquidity for banks. The rupee got a boost as stock market investors cheered the RBI’s steps. Fresh dollar sales by exporters amid sustained capital inflows also supported the local currency. — PTI